The boy was thrown backwards, and landed hard on the concrete. Lightning flashed, and a girl fell into the street, her hand landing limply beside her. A stream of red came from under her, and a door slammed shut. Panicked voices were heard, and then shouting. A sharp pain tore through the boy's leg before he felt hands on his shoulders and was lifted up off the ground.
Yuki woke up in a cold sweat. His leg was sore, and when he reached his hand down he felt a cast. Within several seconds, Hatori was at his side, with Shigure and Ayame behind him.
"How are you feeling?" Hatori asked him.
"What… What happened…?" Yuki heard his own groggy voice.
"You were in an accident." Hatori explained as he took Yuki's pulse. "You broke your ankle, and bruised pretty well all over. Do you remember?"
Yuki saw a pool of red, and a hand fall to the wet ground.
"Toh… Where's Honda-San?" He bolted up and looked at Hatori.. It wasn't until then that he noticed Kisa sitting in the corner, with tears gliding silently down her face. As soon as she met his gaze, she turned away.
"Perhaps we'd better take him to her..?" This was the first thing Ayame had said all day. His voice was uncharacteristically serious, and he sounded worried.
"Yes… Take me to her." Yuki's voice was strained, and he heard the anxiety in it.
The two minutes it took them to get Yuki onto a wheelchair seemed like two eternities to him. The hallway seemed to never end, and at the moment he saw what was awaiting him when it finally did, he wished it hadn't.
Tohru was lying on a bed, and her face looked incredibly peaceful. In fact, she would seem to be only sleeping, until the nurse came up to rearrange her bed sheets. When they were lifted up, all that could be seen was bandages, soaked through with blood.
"I'm sorry, Sohma-Kun," The nurse said when she saw Yuki appear. "Shall I wait to change her bandages until he leaves?" She glanced at Yuki again, then back at Hatori.
"No, they need to be replaced now." Hatori said. Yuki desperately wished he could look away from Tohru, but his eyes were glued to her.
A deep gash ran across her side, with too many stitches to count. Her shoulder was bandaged as well, and when he moved into the room he saw a bandage taped to her left temple.
Yuki felt like a stone was dropped on his stomach, and couldn't breathe. He felt his eyes stinging, but didn't want anyone to see any tears, so he bent his head over.
"..How did that happen?" He looked up at Hatori. "What's wrong with her?"
Hatori sighed. His shoulders dropped a little, and he wheeled Yuki over by the bed. "She was in front of you, that's what the driver said. She was hit first, and much harder. Some of the metal was broken on the front of the truck, and it was what cut Honda-san. Her head hit the pavement rather hard." Hatori paused. "She fell into a coma."
"So… What does that mean…?" Yuki asked, not sure of what to think.
"Well, most comatose patients recover within a few weeks or even days. We just need to keep a watch on her. This cut desperately needs to be taken care of. It damaged some back and rib muscles, so we need to make sure it heals properly."
Yuki didn't know what to think. How could Tohru be like this? Maybe… maybe if he had gone in front of her instead…. Maybe she would only have a broken ankle to deal with. Maybe she would only have a few bruises. Maybe she wouldn't be in a coma.
Yuki felt his eyes stinging again.