Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Fruits Basket characters or such brilliant work; it all belongs to Takaya-sensei who is the coolest authoress ever! Besides me of course, LOL I kid I kid! Enjoy the next chapter!
The Forgotten
Chapter 4: Fevers and Nightmares
The dark figure which haunts Olivia's dreams appeared before her.
"Nowhere to fun," he stated coldly, black eyes locked on her green. Turning, Olivia sprinted as fast as she could across the prairie in which she stood. All of the sudden the scenery changed to the poppy field, in the realms of the dead, from The Sight. Stopping, the girl could see the ghostly shadows of all the spirit wolves as they came toward her, their crimson eyes glowing in the sunlight. Running faster, Olivia's heart pounded, almost as fast as the footsteps behind her. The eerie red flowers swayed, practically undisturbed by the two figures that were making their way through the field.
"You can't run forever my sweet," the dark voice called to her. Olivia kept running, until she reached the end of the field. Looking in at the forest ahead of her she paused nervously. One look behind her sent her darting into the trees at tops speed. When she was sure she was far enough ahead of her pursuer, she stopped. Breathing heavily she leaned back against a tree. Hearing the footsteps behind her getting closer she took off again. Seeing a ditch ahead, Olivia accelerated, preparing to jump over it. Upon reaching the edge of the ditch the girl bent her knees and sprung from the ground, but when she landed on the other side something was different. She had four gray paws, alert ears, and gold attentive eyes that didn't change colors.
"Come back my sweet," the figure beckoned from behind her. The wolf sprinted towards the clearing ahead.
Hatori walked out from his office to check Olivia. She had been sleeping since 11:00am, and it was now exactly 7:00pm. As he came into his living room, the doctor jumped when he saw a small gray wolf asleep on his couch.
"Oh dear," he sighed. Turning back towards his office to get the thermometer, Hatori pondered what to do. Returning shortly after he was relieved to see Olivia's lithe form under the blanket. Throughout both transformations the girl remained asleep, 'She must really be out of it,' the doctor figured. Kneeling down by her he put his hand to her forehead. Her breathing was labored and she felt pretty feverish. Inserting the thermometer carefully under her tongue, Hatori took out his stethoscope to check her breathing.
Not only was her breathing labored but she was wheezing and having apparent trouble keeping air flowing through her lungs. He noticed she would often become short of breath as well. The thermometer beeped after a short few minutes, revealing Olivia's temperature to be 103.5.
"It's gone up 2.2 degrees on medicine?" Hatori said aloud. "That's not good," the blanket had fallen off her shoulder and fearing it would slip lower, the doctor placed it up by her collar bone. Stirring slightly, Olivia allowed her extremely pale green eyes to flutter open.
"H-Hatori?" she asked weakly, trying to focus on his face.
"Olivia, you're very ill, I'm afraid if your fever doesn't go down I'm going to have to take more drastic measures." He explained calmly. She nodded.
"Ice cold shower treatment eh?" she laughed quietly.
"Right," he smiled slightly. "But listen, I'm going to need to wake you up every 30 minutes about, because," Hatori paused, 'How do you tell someone you're afraid that if they fall asleep they might die?' he tried again "Well because-"
"Because you're afraid I'll pass out, and my body temperature will rise to a dangerous level causing me to go into a state of status epileptus where there would be a high risk of me seizing to death, correct?" she closed her eyes again. Hatori was speechless.
"A-are you in medical school?"
"Yes sir," she smiled, eyes still closed. "But I'm contemplating quitting,"
"Too hard?" he figured. She laughed timidly.
"Not at all doctor, my interests have drifted slightly, from medicine to astronomy, but I do enjoy neurology, and after the hell I went through to get into med. School, there's no way I'm quitting that easily." She sighed. Hatori once again found himself fighting a smile; this girl lying deliriously on his couch certainly had a unique way of making sarcastic remarks in a non-offensive way. A charm if you will and a very special quality.
"Not even a bit confusing?" he pried curiously.
"No, I enjoy it because I'm learning new things, not only learning but, the key to successful schooling, understanding them. I think my favorite class is my advanced calculus class though,"
"You enjoy math?" Hatori raised an eyebrow and slumped down against the couch.
"Yes, always have."
"I would guess you were an honor student then? Spelling and geography bees, mathletes,"
"Nope, I was on the high honor roll yes, but I was an art student through and through. I took orchestra, 2-D art, 3-D art, art metals, anything with the word art or the phrase "environmental protection". Where you found those activities you usually found me, there or the soccer field."
"That explains the Green Peace shirt," he smirked, she laughed lightly.
"Ah: she inhaled suddenly in pain.
"What's wrong?" the doctor asked worriedly.
"Oh, I'm sorry, nothing, just my belt buckle was digging into my back." She smiled before coughing weakly.
"Oh," Hatori blushed, "You should probably get dressed, unless you're too weak."
"No, I'm alright," she assured him, sitting up slightly.
"Okay, I'll go get you some tea," he said as he stood to leave.
"Thank you," Olivia smiled gratefully as he shut the door. She dug her clothes out from under her and began to slip then on tiredly. Soon after she sat back down both, relieved that the task was done and completely dressed. There was a soft knock on the living room door. "Oh, um, come in." it felt weird telling someone to "come in" to their own house but she respected his manners. Handing her a cup of tea, the doctor sat on the end of the couch.
"Are you alright?" he asked, looking over at her. The girl nodded.
"Thank you for the tea." She told him smiling. He returned the smile and nodded.
"You should try to get some more sleep," Hatori suggested watching Olivia yawn. She nodded her agreement before closing her eyes. Standing up, the doctor left her be and returned to his work hoping the fever would go down.
Olivia was human again, and still running. From the same dark figure she wasn't sure, she just kept running. Through the forest, the eerie moonlight drifting downward, and sinking to their level. Still unaware of what was pursuing her, Olivia ran as fast as she could, forward or backward, she wasn't sure. Her keen hearing didn't pick up footsteps beside her own so she stopped. Lying down, she put her ear to the earth and listened. Nothing. No vibrations or anything. Sitting up Olivia looked around at her surroundings. She saw nothing to indicate she was in any apparent danger, so she leaned back against a nearby tree.
"Looking for me my sweet?" the voice lulled from behind her. Closing her eyes Olivia stood up. When she opened them again, the scenery had changed once again. Now she stood on the top of a building, a tall building at that, in a big city at night. Looking over the edge, Olivia realized it must be a skyscraper she stood on, judging by how high it was. The girl turned to face her attacker.
"Stop chasing me! What do you want?" she screamed over the wind. The man smiled, dark eyes scrutinizing her every move.
"If you don't come willingly, I'll have to use force, and I don't really want to hurt you my sweet, but it seems," he watched as Olivia strengthened her stance, ready for the fight. "It seems you leave me no choice." He said sarcastically, stepping forward. Olivia stepped forward to match him. He reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her toward him, before twisting back, wrenching her shoulder.
"Ahhh!" came her outcry of pain. Turning away Olivia flipped the man, landing him flat on his back.
"How dare you," he got up slowly, lifting himself from the roof concrete. The girl he spoke to looked around for a weapon of some sort. Her eyes fell upon a metal bar to her left and she began discretely moving towards it. Finally she was close enough to reach down and grab it. Her attacker saw her sudden movement and yelled, "Put that down my sweet," he was now standing, "we wouldn't want anyone to get hurt, now would we?" he began coming forward. Olivia raised the bar.
"I swear, if you come any closer, you'll be the only one to get hurt." She warned.
"Oh, is that a threat?" he cooed. The wolf swung the bar and smacked the man upside the jaw. He backed up, clutching his face, she could see blood dripping down his chin. He spit some of it out and came toward her. The girl backed up, still clutching the metal bar. Without warning he reached out and grasped the other end of the bar and pulled Olivia closer to him.
"You really are a little bitch aren't you?" and with that he used the bar and flung her towards the adjacent wall. Flying through the air, completely off the ground, Olivia hit the brick, and she hit it hard. Sliding to the cold concrete she felt completely helpless, like she couldn't move. Her breath became labored and she kept slipping in and out of consciousness. The throbbing in her head was the only thing Olivia could feel as everything went black.
"Olivia, sorry to wake you but-" Hatori stopped short as he walked in to the sight of Olivia lying half on the couch, and hardly breathing. He ran over and kneeled by her, stethoscope out. Her lungs sounded like they only filled with a fourth (if even) of the amount of air they should. "What-" the doctor was puzzled. 'What is going on?' he wondered, trying to figure out what to do. 'Wait,' she was having a lot of trouble inhaling (not that, you know, she really could inhale) the small amount of air she could and she sounded really wheezy. 'It must be an asthma attack of some sort,' he concluded, reaching out to sit her up. Placing her so her head was against his shoulder, he tried to wake the sleeping girl.
"Come on Olivia, please, wake up," he urged nervously, rubbing her back lightly. "Please, wake up." The doctor was worried, 'Oh my God, she's going to die,' the realization came all to clear. If he didn't help her, Olivia would die, she was already losing circulation to her hands. Reaching down to put her back on the couch he noticed an inhaler lying on the ground. 'Hers?' he guessed checking her wrists for a medic alert bracelet or anything to indicate she had asthma. He found none but upon picking up the inhaler in question he saw the name: 'Olivia Lee Johnson, issued: December, 1998, expires: December, 2006.' Rereading it again, he began to shake it up. 'Johnson?' he thought curiously, 'Oh well I'll ask later, it's clearly hers.' Uncapping it, he lifted her chin and sprayed twice.
"Breathe, Olivia, please, breathe…"
Olivia felt like she was floating in space, with the darkness and emptiness she was experiencing. Stars surround her, calling to her, bringing her to them. Calling her out of her head, into their world.
"Come child," one speaks, "let your weary heart be at ease here."
"But I must go back! I must I-" Olivia was cut off.
"Hush child, you have come for a reason, you have climbed your staircase to the stars. Now see beyond your diamond eyes. Look around you dear, what do you see?" the star asked.
"I-" Olivia looked around her, "I see vast emptiness, peace, there is also loneliness, I cannot stay here." She shook her head in dismay.
"But you've been alone all your life child, why change now?"
"Because-maybe, I-"
"You feel things now that you never imagined possible. There is wisdom and knowledge in your voice. Intellect and ambition, also sadness and fear. Fear of what chases you,"
"I do not fear him-"
"But there is fear in your voice, and do not lie." The star scolded.
"Sorry…" the girl lowered her head.
"Who are these Sohmas child?"
"My family…" Olivia said sadly.
"Child I-" this time Olivia interrupted.
"Please, can I go back, can I go back to my family?" the girl pleaded desperately.
"Well my dear, that is for you to decide." And then Olivia was alone…
End of Chapter Quote
"I come outside… to my surprise the sky has landed…"
Hey reviewers! The time has come once again to reply to reviews! Hooray! Lol I'm a loser but a loser with a pen name… as my friend would say tricky, tricky, LOL love ya babe look for your name down here!
Peeka-chan: Hey girl! Thank you so much for reviewing! And thanks a ton for letting me borrow the manga it's really good can't wait till the second one comes out! Oh! Big news! I'll have the seventh Furuba for you to borrow the minute we come back from break! Unless I like see you at a book store somewhere wink lol LYL!
DarkGoddess29: Hey! Glad you like my adding of color, the wall thing is hilarious! Ha ha! I will update in shorter periods of time I hope, I'm trying to be as fast as I can sorry if it takes too long but I am trying! LOL! LYL
Bballstar42: Hey Merry! Thanks for reviewing, I'm flattered you think so highly of my writing but it's really not that grea- I'm doing it again aren't I? Sorry I'm trying at that too, jeese, shouldn't good grades be enough? Lol… Cya soon
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Silver Sorceress: HEY! My biggest fan, lol Thanks so much for reviewing! I'm glad you like it and thanks for the other two review too, I'm glad to hear you like Olivia, she likes to be liked lyl talk to you soon