She paused to check the time on her left wrist while lifting up her right arm to savor the cup of coffee on her hand. This was supposed to be the most relaxing hour of the day, with all the students gone home and the documents are finally done after six hours of reorganizing them. She was standing somewhere near the staircase when someone suddenly crashed into her, making her loose her grip onto the coffee mug. It shattered onto the ground with a loud clash. She looked up long enough to meet the eyes of the young man who was in front of her. Kouji! She thought vehemently to herself. Then she traveled her gaze down onto the bloody figure that was held on his arms. "Izumi!" she murmured with bewilderment. She was stunned into silence, oblivious to how much blood a person can loose. She looked awful, with blood soaked her whole shirt and she was unconscious. Ms.Naruto quickly regained her composer and glared at him. "Kouji you little bastard, what the hell did you do this time!"
Kouji looked away with no hesitance, trying to hide his fear. He was frightened, and his face was so paled as if the blood on his face was drained out. He hauled Zoe a bit higher onto his arms and walked pass his principal. "I don't have time for this."
"Where do you think you're going?" she grabbed his sleeve with force just in time to pull back.
"Let go!" he shook off her hand with frustration. "I have to take her to the nurse room."
"It won't help her much." she retorted reasonably, her eyes were filled with concerns. "I'll have to call the ambulance over."
It was four more minutes till five and Kouichi walked up to the garbage can near the theater to throw away the dried-up bouquet that was supposed to be for Zoe. He sighed with disappointment and was about to walk back home when tiny droplets of rain hit his forehead, sending shivers down his spine. "It's raining again?" he muttered under his breath then wheeled around as someone reached out to shield him from the rain with an umbrella. "Misha?"
She smiled timidly to him, feeling queasy all over."Hey,what are you doing here?" He didn't feel like telling her about the flower bouquet part so he just said, "Oh, I'm about to go home now." As he began to walk passes her, she tagged along his side and looked warmly into his face. "Can I walk with you?"
He pondered for a second and smile as he nodded. She walked a bit closer to him and stole a quick side-way glance at him. Being beside him made her feel warm all over, she grinned sweetly to herself as she thought about that someday, maybe she can rest her head on his shoulder or holding his hand, her fantasies suddenly made her blushed. "So do you know where Zoe is?" He asked randomly, "she was supposed to come here after school."
The thought about his concerns over Zoe made her feel uneasy, as if there was a tight knot inside her stomach. Her mouth felt too dry to speak up, so she clasped her lips together to make up a smile as she shook her head. She felt bad about lying to him, but she was reluctant to inform him about Zoe's whereabout. She can't do anything but to enjoy this moment of being alone with him, that's all she wanted to care.
He looked down on the ground as she strode beside her, "I see," He started to feel a bit worried. "I called her cell but no one picked up, and I don't have her home phone number." "Actually she lives with me, you want me to call home to see if she's there?"She took out her cherry-red cell phone from her back pack.
"She lives with you? Doesn't she live with her parents or something?" He asked with curiosity, feeling awkward about asking it.
"Actually no," she spoke up softly, pushing back a lock of her hair behind her ear. "Her parents passed away a few years ago." He suddenly stopped and gazed at her with astonishment. " That's awful!" Misha looked at him innocently, partly with sympathy. "I know what you mean. At that time, she was only a little girl and she doesn't even have any relatives."
He broke into silence for a few seconds and inquired with perplexity again. "How come I never heard her mention it before? Not even when we were little?" She unexpectedly felt a jolt of jealousy, "You guys know each others since you guys were little?" He nodded, "So how did she wind up living with you and your family?" The red light at the road finally turned green, he placed a hand on her shoulder to gesture her to walk across the road. Her heart skipped a beat as he touched her shoulder, his soft touch suddenly tickled her with a warm sensation. She regained her focus on the road and continued. "Well, since my dad was a really good friend of her mom, he decided to adopt her. Beside, he loved Zoe to the last bit." "How?" He shifted his hand away from her shoulder and hooked his thumbs into his pockets. "Well, you see, Zoe's mom was my dad's biggest crush ever since he was little. And since Zoe's quite a resemblance of her mother, I guess that's why my dad adored her so much." She looked at him once again, wondering how his face could light up so radiantly. He turned to her and grinned, "Well, I'm glad she's fine now." "You still want me to call home to see if Zoe's there?" "Yeah, please. I'm kinda worried."
She reluctantly dialed the numbers, paused to lift the phone and pressed it against her ear. "Hey moms . . . yeah, I'm coming home soon . . . no, not really . . . oh come on . . . okay listen, I was wondering if Zoe's home right now . . . she's not . . . oh, okay, well do you know where she is . . . oh, k, well then me back if she's home okay . . . All right then, bye mom!" Misha turned off the phone. She bit her lips nervously, she was wrong, Zoe wasn't home after all, she doesn't even have to lie to Kouichi in the beginning. "I guess she's not home after all." He exhaled heavily. "Did she tell you that she was going somewhere after school?" She shook her head modestly, "The last time I saw her, she was at the school." "Well then, I'm going back to school to see if she's there."Somehow, from deep inside, she doesn't want him to go. So she decided to tag along. "Wait, I'm coming too."
I guess "it" was right, escorting her to the hospital was the best way. I quickly rushed into the hospital while the paramedics rushed in with an ambulance stretcher where Zoe was. I listened as the paramedics informed the attending physicians – who seemed to be materialized out of the thin air. I was the one who injured her, but somehow, I couldn't care more. I've done all I could. "We've got a female from a weaponry assault," the paramedic breathlessly told a tall man with grey hair, supposedly the attending physician. " Her vital signs are not stable. She'll need an immediate surgery."
Another doctor and two nurses appeared by the stretcher and began to work on the girl. I glanced across the aisle to spot "it" with "its" arms folded across "its" chest. "It" does seem worried, it's not like "it" to be that concerned about someone. I quickly ignored "it" and looked back at what the paramedics were doing. I never ceased to be amazed at the way the people working in the ER seemed to function as a perfectly coordinated system. They hardly exchanged a word except to report immediate findings about the patient's vital signs, such as blood pressure, respiration, and temperature.
"Volunteer!" Called out one of the medical technical standing by the stretcher. The volunteers ran over to the technician. "Take this to the blood lab. Tell them we need a rush on this blood typing. This patient's lost a lot of blood and she's going to need transfusions. We'll be in Trauma room one." The guy nodded. He was wearing these latex gloves and dressed in a burgundy shirt. He placed the vial of blood into a plastic bag identifying the contents as a biomedical hazard and rushed off to the blood lab. Ms.Naruto stole a quick glance at Kouji who was across the aisle from her. He was too distracted by what was going on, that he'd no idea that she was looking at him. "Oh God, please don't let anything happen to Izumi." She secretly murmured to herself, unable to bear the thought of having Zoe dead right in front of her eyes.
It's been years now and she was surprised that both Kouji and Zoe didn't remember her, not even after what happened that day when Kouji saw his own mother got hit by a car and passed away right in front of him. She felt twisted with sickness inside her heart at the thought of the dead body.
Kouji moved aside as the doctors and nurses surrounded the stretcher. On the count of three, they transferred Zoe onto a hospital gurney and rushed her toward one of the Trauma rooms. As they rounded the corner, he heard, "Code blue! Defib at three hundred! We're losing her! We'll have to restart her heart with an electric shock." The words hit him like a nightmare, he was frozen in shock. He could feel his skin begin to vibrate to the pounding of his heart. He wasn't prepared for this, he looked around to find the place teemed with activities. People hurried back and forth. The noise level had noticeably gone up compare to the other rooms in the hospital. It reminded him very much of the time when his mom was sent here after the car accident.
Just then, the volunteer came back from the lab, his face was paled with nervousness as he was confronted with the physician. "Well, where's the blood? We have to do the transfusion now!" The volunteer looked troubled, "This is ridiculous, but the blood lab is out of blood type O, which it's what the patient needs! I guess it's not surprising since there were so many blood transfusions done today."
Kouji stood silently then finally spoke up, "I'll donate my blood to her." The sentence startled ms.Naruto, she looked at him, the expression on his face told her that he was sincere.
"All right then, what is your blood type?" The volunteer asked.
"Mine is O, just let me help her."
The physician nodded with a grin, "Alright then, follow me to the blood lab."
She watched as Kouji went into the elevator with the volunteer and the physician, finding herself being astonished by his generosity.
The intense surgery was dismissed after a few hours, Zoe was brought out of the Trauma room, still at a state of unconsciousness. Ms.Naruto let a deep sigh of relief and was about to tell Kouji something when she realized that he left the hospital long ago. After checking on Zoe, she left the building as well.
I hated the hospital, I hated the people there, I hated the fact that it smelled like ammonia, but most of all, I hated the memories that I've left here. My stomach felt sick as I realized that I have to visit this place once again after these long, grueling years. I crutched down onto the floor in the waiting room during that girl's operation. The wound on my arm was hurting me like a predator tearing apart its prey, I can't breathe under that strong scent of ammonia in the building. Somehow, I felt weak after I came out from the blood lab, the doctor must have done something to me when she drew out a good portion of my blood. I stared silently in the empty room, or so I thought of as an empty room, "It" was there with me. Of course, we didn't talk to each other. I took a quick glance of "it", and somehow, the day of mother's death abruptly flooded back into my head. She was escorted into this hospital as well, and they couldn't even save her. The thought was too painful, I suddenly shot up from my position on the ground and ran off into the cold, crisp air of a silent night.
I didn't feel like going home, even if I know that they're probably trying to call me right now. I stayed there for a while, after I was sure that "it" left the building, I went back in there. The nurse told me that her room was number 564, so I stepped inside the door when I spotted the room number that was printed on the door. She had plastic tubes attached to her wrist and nose. I didn't give a damn about her, even if she died. Somehow, I just wanna see her holding her umbrella once again. I liked that sight of her there in the rain, when she stood in front of me, holding on that yellow umbrella. There was something about it that made me feel so warm inside. But I better not go there. My art teacher wanted me to sketch "inspiration" , the most exquisite form of beauty as she'd once said. And, I guess I've finally found one.
Well, that's it for now, sorry it's so boring and long. I promise to make the next one better. And sorry that I didn;t update for so long once again, 'cause my old computer broke down and I have to order another one all the way from America.Well, I hope I'll find you reading on my next chapter...'cause it's gonna be really cute!