Chapter 3
"You call this help?" Tsume growled as they entered the lower level of the hospital. "This is more like some hell hole, look at the people here," he said as they found a place to put Hige down.
"I told you, this is all they would give us," Kiba answered. Tsume looked like he was going to say something else, but didn't.
The waiting room they had been forced into was overly crowded. Almost all the people there seemed near death, but they only sat waiting, for what felt like days. Old, young, middle aged. All kinds of people were there. Hopefully they wouldn't find out that wolves were there too. Even though everyone in the waiting room was sick and dying, they looked like they didn't want any strangers either.
One old woman came up to Tsume and threatened him with her cane. He merely glared at her and said nothing. Something about their faces, made all the people there uneasy. Maybe they knew, maybe they just wanted them gone, so they could be taken care of first. What ever it was, they would just have to wait and see.
Toboe looked at the plastic band around Hige's wrist. They had refused to give a last name for Hige. But how could they give one, if he didn't have one? The band marked him being here. Here at this thing called a hospital. Though he didn't it find as very much of a hospital. But it was better than nothing. Toboe said it himself. At the rate this is going, Toboe thought, maybe nothing would be better. He sighed.
Hige was asleep again. He couldn't stay awake for much more that ten minutes. It was probably best he got some rest though. But Toboe wanted to hear him talk, just so he would know that he was still alive. As long as he knew Hige was alive, he wouldn't worry as much. As long as he knew that.
Another hour went by. It had three hours now. The all had been sitting very quietly. The low murmur of the people in the waiting room was all they could hear, and the nurse coming out every hour or so to bring in a new patient. Every time the amount of people went down, new ones came in to fill it back up. Tsume was becoming extremely impatient and agitated. He didn't like being surrounded by such a large crowd. He could barely stand the smell of them all. Then again, none of them could stand the smell.
"Kiba, how long are they going to make us wait in here?" Toboe leaned forward to see over Hige.
"I'm not sure, but I'm going to go find out. This is getting annoying just sitting here," Kiba stood up and walked over to the nurse's desk. He waited in front of her, but she didn't seem to notice him standing there. About five minutes passed, she still didn't notice Kiba. He looked over and saw a hand bell on the desk. He tapped his hand on it, and it rang. The nurse finally looked up from her paper work.
"How may I help you?" she said in an uncaring voice. She showed no interest in what was going on around her at all. Though Kiba couldn't blame her much.
"We've been sitting here for a while now, how much longer until our friend can be taken care of?" Kiba made sure the nurse knew he was angry by his tone of voice.
"What's the name?" she asked, not even looking at him, but rather her nails.
"Hige," Kiba gave a quick answer.
"No last name?"
"No. Any more questions?" Kiba was becoming more irritated. The nurse shook her head. She turned in her swivel chair over to a pile of papers and sorted through them until she found the one with the name Hige across the top. She scanned over them, seeing the deal they had made with the hospital about doing this for free. She rolled her eyes.
"It will only be a bit longer, so just hold on," the nurse said as she dropped the papers back down on the desk. "Please go back to your seat sir," she said, giving him a slight glare. Kiba held back his anger and went to sit down.
"So what did they say?" Toboe sounded anxious to know.
"It should only be a bit longer," Kiba said as he crossed his arms on his chest. Toboe slumped back in his seat. This was going to be a long day.
Another hour. When they said it would only be a little longer, they didn't think they meant another hour. Things were starting to get ridiculous. Tsume looked like he was getting ready to kill something. Toboe wouldn't move at all from Hige's or Tsume's side, he was sitting in between both of them. Kiba had just kept an eye on everyone, making sure they didn't act out and pull to much attention to them selves. But he had to watch to make sure he didn't do it himself too. Suddenly another nurse-the one that took people to the doctor-appeared in the doorway.
"Is there any one here named, Hige?" she asked in a light gentle voice. She seemed entirely too nice to belong in that hospital. Kiba stood up. He signaled to Tsume to pick up Hige again. Tsume growled, but did it anyway. Toboe gladly stood along with Cheza.
"We're going with him," Kiba said as they walked over to the nurse. She looked at all of them. They seem very odd, she thought.
"Is that one Hige?" she asked pointing to the boy being supported by Tsume. Kiba nodded his head. "Okay, just follow me please," she lead them down a white hallway. The lights reflected off the white tiling of the floor and gave the hall an odd glow. Toboe looked around at the blank walls, which were also white. There was no color, just white. The only other thing was the doors, and they were brown. But there weren't many doors.
Tsume didn't want to put Hige on his back again, so he just had Hige's arm around the back of his neck and helped him walk. Toboe stood on the other side of Hige just in case Tsume would slip or something. Cheza seemed to be hiding behind Kiba. Toboe thought maybe the nurse didn't even see her there. But it didn't really matter.
"Here is the room. The doctor will be with you momentarily," she smiled at them and left, closing the door behind her. The room she left them in, was equally as white, only it had some more color. There was a small bed with blue sheets and a border of flower wallpaper went around the whole room. A small counter with a sink and a couple cabinets were in one corner. Tsume laid Hige down on the bed.
"OK, we've made it this far, question is, how long are they going to make us wait for the doctor?" Tsume asked.
"I'm not sure, but it better not be much longer," Kiba said as he leaned against a wall. Cheza placed her head on Kiba's shoulder. Toboe plopped down in a chair near the sink. Tsume saw a stool near the door and drug it over some and sat down.
Just as they all settled, a knock came on the door and a woman walked in. It wasn't a nurse, but she was the doctor. Her dark brown hair was pinned into a bun, and she wore a white lab coat. It wasn't that long. They could see the blue shirt she had on underneath it. A small silver chain with a cross hung around her neck. Her deep emerald green eyes gleamed in the light.
"I'm Dr. Reynolds, and I apologize for the long wait," she said as she closed the door. "I'm not very impressed with the nurse in that station myself," she added. The comment was more to herself than them. "Well since he's the one on the bed," she pointed to Hige. "That's Hige, right?" she asked in a flat tone. Though she was a bit nicer, they could tell she wasn't going to be charming with them.
"Yea that's him," Kiba answered. She pulled out a clipboard that she had under her arm.
"Now, what's wrong with him," she looked at them. It was clear that they didn't know. "All right, then what are his symptoms?" she asked.
"He was sneezing at first, cough, fever, lose of strength, and pain is all we know of," Kiba said.
"I see, well let me run a check up, this should only take a minute or so," she said as she got a stethoscope out of her pocket. She placed it over Hige's chest and listened as he breathed. She went to one of the cabinets and got an ear thermometer and a cover. She covered the end and took his temperature. A few seconds later, it began to beep. She took it out of his ear and shook her head slightly.
"Your friend here isn't doing to well," she spoke up. "But I suppose that was obvious," she mumbled. "He has a temperature of 101.4 and his breathing isn't too good. You wouldn't happen to know how he got this sick would you?" she asked putting her things away.
"Well we were on our way here from the last city and we had to travel through that empty land out there," Toboe answered right before Kiba. He didn't know why Toboe answered, but it didn't bother him any.
"Wait, you came from Magus city?" Dr. Reynolds asked. Her voice seemed panicked now as if something was seriously wrong. Toboe nodded his head. She stopped for a moment, thinking on what to do. She quickly composed herself.
"Well, I suggest we get your friend on a breathing machine and such. If you'll excuse me, a nurse will be in shortly to take him upstairs to set him up and everything," she smiled a strange smile. They knew something was wrong. Now a new concern had arisen, what was going to happen to Hige?
OK!!! So this chapter was kinda boring . . . it was to me anyway, but I still liked it. I thought I would just leave you guys hanging for a bit longer! Sorry. Hehe ;; THANK YOU SOO MUCH FOR ALL THE REVIEWS!!!!!! This is probably the best turn out I've had for a fic in a while . . . COOLIOS!!! Yes I just said coolios . . . I am an odd person, hehe. Well anyway, the reviews make me want to finish it all the more! So please enjoy this chapter and all future ones to come!! What's in store for Hige and the others? Who's to know! Well I do, but I'm supposed to cuz I'm the writer! Lol , okay, I'm done ranting for now. Ja ne!
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