After Koji- part 6- Awakenings
The next morning, she opened the blinds to let the slits of sunlight beam in. The hospital room's white walls glowed in the morning light. Jun stretched and yawned, gazing out the window, lost in her thoughts. She had not slept, only dozed off and on through the long night. Ken and the others had remained on base, anxious to hear what would become of the new patient.
"Coffee?" Expecting to see Ken, she whirled around to see Joe standing in the doorway.
"What are you doing here? Were you looking for the 'crazy Swan'? Or is it to kill the 'Gallactor agent' with your bare hands? I know you won't be happy until he's dead, but it won't bring your parents back, Joe…" She turned back to the window.
"Whoa…" He held his hands up in defense. "I'm not here to stir things up. I just have trouble understanding how you can help someone who would've killed you. He's not the same person you once knew, Jun."
"He is the same person, you'll see…he just got led astray, it could've happened to any of us." She sat on the edge of the bed and stroked the hair on Koji's forehead.
"I caused this, I broke up with him, and soon afterward, he ended up getting mixed up with Katse. He asked me to help him. Katse will kill him if he finds out he escaped." She looked at Joe with glistening eyes. "Everyone deserves a second chance."
"Jun, I still don't trust him, but …if it's important to you, I'll back you up. For the team's sake…and for your sake." He handed her the coffee and walked out. It was obvious that Ken had been working on Joe, trying to get him to patch things up with Jun. This was Joe's way of apologizing. She smiled to herself as she sipped the hot coffee.
"Jun…is it really you?" She heard a raspy voice behind her. Koji was awake and squinting in the light. He could only see a dark outline of Jun encased in a blinding light. He put his hand over his eyes.
"Oh…let me close the blinds a little…" She closed the blinds, and returned to Koji.
"I…thought you had died…" Jun grabbed Koji's hand. "How did you survive?"
"I couldn't die, when I realized that you were a member of the Science Ninja Team. It gave me hope, just seeing you again." He cleared his dry throat. "I ejected at the last possible moment and made myself scarce…I was afraid I'd be discovered by Katse. So much for dying with honor... but there'd be no honor if I died serving Galactor, I had to make things right."
"I knew you were still the Koji I …cared for…" Jun stammered as she poured him some water. "Here."
She continued. "I guess you know now why I was so busy before. Being a part of the team, I couldn't tell you the truth, so I had to break things off."
"Then when I saw you again, I almost killed you. Some friend I turned out to be…I could've helped you…gotten you away from Katse." The Swan's eyes welled up with tears.
"Jun, there was no time…we had to be stopped…" Koji interrupted and cupped his hand on Jun's face.
"Actually, until I found you, I thought I had killed you with that missile. I couldn't forgive myself." The swan began to sob gently. "Will you forgive me?"
"Of course, I deserved it…don't forget…I was a traitor…with Galactor."
"After I left you, I continued stunt riding. I met some unsavory characters who offered me a lot of money to train their men." Koji shook his head in disbelief. "And, well, the rest is history…some people will do anything for money…you should be forgiving me."
"Let's just work on getting you better. Then we have to figure out a way to keep you from being discovered by Katse." Jun bent down and kissed his forehead.
The doctor entered the room. "Jun, I need to speak with Koji, alone…and you need some rest, young lady…" He smiled at her.
"Yeah, I didn't get much sleep last night…I had a lot on my mind…"She grinned as she headed for the door. "I'll be back later to check on you, Koji."
