Another Fortunate Accident

Ch. 6 – Relative Matters


Priss stood outside the door to the hospital room, staring at the doorknob. "Just like going on stage…" except she knew it wasn't. Going on stage for a show was simple compared to this. On the stage, she knew what was coming, the familiar crowd reaction, the rehearsed musical chords, the accustomed lighting arrangement. No matter how much she tried to rehearse this time, it just didn't seem right. For the entire ride over from Nene's apartment to the hospital she had practiced the lines. They never seemed to express what she truly felt… not even close.

The door unexpectedly jerked open as a nurse nearly ran Priss over trying to exit the room.

"Oh! Sorry Miss… Yamazaki," the apologetic nurse read off of Priss' hospital pass, "I didn't know you were out here."

"Um… don't sweat it," Priss replied nervously, carefully peeking her head past the nurse and into the room.

"Go on ahead, she's awake and feeling much better now."

"Priss? Priss is that you?" an anxious voice called out from the bed nearest the door.

Priss walked in slowly and leaned against the door with her arms behind her back, pushing the door closed with her body as not to enter too far into the room just yet. She looked down at her feet and breathed in deeply, going over the rehearsed lines in her head one more time. "Good to see your awake now," she started cautiously. Priss made the mistake of looking up at Linna… seeing the tears falling off her face. Whatever semblance of order remained in her mind was gone in that instant.

"Nene said you had run away for some reason… I didn't think you would come."

Damn that girl! Priss seethed to herself. Regaining a bit of composure, she fell behind her shell for a moment and tried to answer. "Well… you can thank Sylia really. She somehow found me in the middle of nowhere and told me you were awake."

"Maybe she's tracking you?" Linna teased with a slight smile forming on her face.

"What? Tracking me?" she copied the words that she hadn't even considered yet this evening. "Wait… my bike! Jesus, she's got my bike bugged!" Priss howled out in rage, face contorting wildly. "Dammit I should have known better!" Linna giggled at the exaggerated response from her friend.

"What's so funny!" Priss shot out, not in the least bit amused.

"Your face… you should see it right now…" Linna started to laugh harder before stopping suddenly. She grabbed for her midsection in obvious pain… Priss winced as well, reminded of just what she had to do.

"How do you feel?" she asked, unsure of how else to address the topic.

"I've been better," Linna responded truthfully, relaxing some after the spasm died down. "My head feels like I was used as a battering ram, and you can see how this is doing…" she punctuated by lifting up her gown enough to show the large bandage wrapped directly over her midsection, covering from just above her underwear to just below her ribcage. "It looks worse than it feels, except when I laugh. So no more jokes please…"

Priss wasn't in much of a joking mood after being reminded of the carnage she had caused. Her hands began to shake behind her back in response to the unpleasant memories.

Linna could tell from across the room that Priss had tensed up for some reason and decided to change the subject. "Hey, didn't that nurse call you Miss Yamazaki?"

"Oh… that," Priss replied as her body relaxed momentarily. "Well, Sylia suggested a way I could see you after normal visiting hours. I guess they won't let just anybody in here to visit."

"What? Your natural charm didn't win the hospital staff over?" Linna asked with a smirk.

"Hey, I thought you said no jokes!" Priss replied sarcastically.

"I'm the sick one remember… I'm allowed to break the rules."

Priss had to smile broadly at the tone of Linna's remarks. Maybe it was her spirit that was the real reason she let Linna follow her after rehearsal that night… the night she brought her into the Knight Sabers. The cycle of memories leading to the 'accident' started anew in her mind. Priss recalled Linna's original determination to join the Knight Sabers. She wondered if her actions had extinguished the fire as a tear escaped from one eye.

"Priss?" Linna's voice pulled her out of the trance and back to the present. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she lied, still unsure if wanted to continue the discussion.

Linna decided to try and get her talking once more… to see if she could get Priss to open up to her. "So, how did you get in?"

Priss answered cautiously, still wary of the topic she needed to discuss. "Well, Sylia suggested I see Nene about a fake ID."

"Why am I not surprised… she's probably part of the Yakuza in her spare time."

"I'm not sure about the Yakuza, but she did set me up as your cousin."

"My cousin!" Linna laughed out lightly, careful not to put too much strain on her stitches.

"Just don't ask me about the family tree…" Priss remarked with a smirk.

"My cousin, huh…" Linna pondered briefly, "…you know, Priscilla Yamazaki does have a certain ring to it, doesn't it?"

Priss was caught flat-footed by the question. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Her slightly biting tone confused Linna. "Your name on the ID silly, what did you think I meant?"

"A marriage proposal, or something like it," Priss answered almost emotionlessly.

Why does she always take these things the wrong way? "Why, are you afraid of a commitment?"

Priss smirked at the question. "No, but I'm only committed to my music."

"What about the Knight Sabers?" Linna asked light-hearted. When Priss didn't reply immediately, she had second thoughts about asking the question. "What's wrong?"

"I'm done with the Knight Sabers."

"What? But why? It can't be just because I screwed up again, or that a boomer managed to hurt me, is it?"

She still thinks the boomer did that to her… "No, I'm just tired of putting up with Sylia's crap. She tried to use you today… use you to keep me under her thumb…" Her voice ratcheted up in intensity with every word spoken. "… I'm sick of being used like her puppet. She can fight her own damn battles from now on!"

"So you're just quitting then."

"Yeah, I guess so."

Linna could hardly believe her ears. The woman she had strived so hard to catch up to, almost pattern herself after was giving up. "That doesn't make any sense Priss. You were fine two nights ago after taking out that military boomer. What happened… what happened during the last battle?"

Silence fell over the room like a blanket. Linna, propped up in bed, stared at Priss; who had broken eye contact and now stared at the pattern of the floor tile, body suddenly drawn tense. She began to fidget with the doorknob as Linna realized she was losing her.

"What happened Priss? Why did you… apologize to me?" Linna recalled as the voices replaying in her mind.

The words cut through Priss' shell like a knife as the truth began to rear its dark and ugly head out of her concealing ignorance. "I thought you didn't remember what happened?"

"I don't… mostly. All I can remember is… is you… holding me… comforting me… apologizing to me… begging me not to quit." Tears of recollection fell on both ends of the room as Linna struggled to search for the events not even a day old yet. "I just remember you Priss… just you."

"Linna, I… I'm… sorry," was all Priss could find the courage to say.

"Sorry for what? What did the boomer…"

"It wasn't the damn boomer, it was me!"

Linna stopped and waited, trying to guess at the meaning of her words.

"Damnit… it's my fault you're here, not that boomer. I… I hit you with my knucklebomb…" Tears flowed freely down her face as she accentuated the pain by rubbing her right fist, trying unsuccessfully to wipe away the bloodstain in her mind. "…so, it's my fault."

Linna covered her stitched up midsection with her hands as she tried to pull the pieces of her memory together. It doesn't make any sense… she wouldn't just hit me with a knucklebomb! "Why… why is it your fault?"

"Look at yourself! I almost… killed you. I thought you were… dying… in my arms." Her voice cracked badly as she choked back the tears, trying vainly to express herself… "I… I can't…" she started before turning around and facing the door. I tried damnit! It… It's just too much…

Turning the doorknob to leave, a cry from the bed stopped Priss from opening the door.

"Priss! Wait!" a dry voice yelled out as Linna attempted to get up to stop her. Unfortunately, she leaned too far over the side of the bed as she pulled on the freshly repaired wounds under the bandage. Pain scorched through her abdomen as she felt a few stitches pop out of place. Linna's body reflexively doubled over to protect itself, causing her to completely lose balance… jerking towards the hard floor below.

Time slowed as Priss realized Linna's predicament. There wasn't time to think, just react. She heard Linna's muffled scream on the first leap halfway to the bed. On the second, she was lifting Linna back into the bed, arms cradling her shoulders in support.

Linna returned the embrace with one arm holding onto Priss for dear life. She still held the aggravated section of her body with the other.

Priss gently lay her head into the pillows, caressing her face with one hand in an attempt to relieve the obvious pain Linna was now in. "What the hell were you thinking?" she gently scolded through misty eyes.

"I couldn't let you leave… not like that," Linna replied softly. Another wave of agony swept over her face as it forced her to let go of Priss. Both hands tried to smother the source of the discomfort as she spoke. "… suppose I got carried away though."

"No, it's my fau…" Priss started. Her words were cut off as Linna reached up with one hand behind Priss' neck and pulled her down towards her.

Closing her eyes, Linna 's lips gently brushed against Priss' cheek. She lowered back into the pillow slowly pulling away, eyes still closed. "It was an accident… I know it. You don't need to say anything else because …I forgive you." She opened her eyes to see Priss' misty brown eyes gazing down into her soul. Those eyes… They spoke so many things to Linna in the past few weeks… Intensity… Danger… Passion… Anger… and now… something else. "Priss?"

Linna's voice broke through the startled trance the gentle kiss had put her under. "Yes?"

"Why did you let me follow you that night?"

Priss looked away for a moment as yet another question caught her by surprise. "I've wondered that myself a lot today," she said, leaning back to look into Linna's face once again.

"You know even if you had left without me…"

"…you wouldn't have given up anyway," Priss finished for her. "I guess that's why. You are a fighter… somebody I wanted as a teammate."

"Priss…"

She continued on, determined to carry through on her promise to her heart. "I didn't realize how responsible I felt for you joining until last night. I felt like… I wished I hadn't let you follow me… maybe I wouldn't have…"

"Shhh…." Linna held one finger to Priss' lips, holding her guilt in check. Priss took that finger and the hand it was attached to in her own and softly smiled.

"…maybe you wouldn't have been hurt by the boomer." Priss noticed her heart beating loudly in her chest from Linna's touch. So strange… this feeling.

"If you wouldn't have let me follow you that night, I might not have ever know you like I do now. I think that would be worse than this little scratch," Linna emphasized by rubbing the bandage under her gown from the surgery.

"Just a scratch, huh?"

"Well, it does ache like all Hell, but I've seen you do worse to a boomer before."

Priss tried to let go of Linna's hand as she backed off at the semi-attack. "Thanks. I feel a whole lot better now."

Linna could tell Priss was only half-joking with the comment, but refused to let go of Priss. Instead she pulled her down into another hug, grunting a bit at the strain on her abdomen. "I shouldn't have said that, I'm sorry," she spoke softly into her ear.

"Look who's apologizing now," Priss remarked softly in return.

The warm breath of Priss voice on her ear stirred the memories and emotions inside the recovering woman. Calming words of encouragement replayed themselves as Linna tightened the embrace.

"What's wrong?" Priss asked in response to the change in Linna's grip. She didn't answer right away. She didn't want to let go of the feeling… not ever.

The realization frightened her as the implications of her feelings weighed on her heart. Why did she have to decide to quit now… Linna, steeling herself inwardly, decided to act now instead of waiting to see if she would change her mind. "Priss, have you ever thought about…" was as much as Linna could whisper out before a loud knock on the door silenced her question.

"What?… Who's that?" Priss asked while turning her head to see the door to the room opening.

"Are you sure this is the right one?" a female voice spoke as an older man and woman entered the room.

Priss didn't recognize the couple, but she had a sinking feeling about who they probably were. Turning back towards Linna, the look on her face confirmed her fears. "Mom? Dad?" Linna nearly shouted out. Her cheeks flooded with crimson at the thought of just how to explain the compromising situation she was currently engaged in.

To be continued…