It has been one week since Adam Taurus had put his plan into motion.
seven people were dead as a result of the rampage that Adam Taurus masterminded. The list of those who had died included Winter Schnee, the Mother of Adam Taurus, the father of Scarlet David, Scarlet David himself, Adam Taurus, And an Adam's county sheriff's Deputy by the name of Clover Ebi and an unnamed college student.
The Entire community was traumatized and was emotionally tearing itself apart with grief…
Now it was falling on school psychiatrist Cinder Fall to try and put at least nine of them back together.
Sitting across the table was Ruby Long, who was sitting next to Penny Polendina, was rubbing her neck with visible bruises on her throat from her near strangulation. Her sister Yang Branwen was sitting with her right arm in a sling next to her boyfriend Neptune Vasilas, her now long time boyfriend. Blake Belladonna sat with her "Close friend" Weiss Schnee who was openly weeping into her hands while Blake rubbed her back.
As Cinder glanced over she saw the faces of Ren Lie and Nora Valkyrie, Nora was openly weeping, Cinder assumed, for her fallen friend. Ren looked like the surface of a pond hiding a fast-flowing current that threatened to swallow him whole.
Sitting on the far end, Noticeably distant from the others, was Sun Wukong, an interesting case to say the least. His actions led to the police being able to sweep in and save several lives… But he carried himself with a look that he was drowning in an incredible amount of guilt.
Cinder clapped her hands to get all eyes on her before she said: "Okay then, who wants to start?"
02/07/2000… One week before
Mina Arc stormed through the doors of the emergency room with Sam Nikos, Ren, and Nora close behind her. Neo had offered to stay at Mina's home with the baby so she wouldn't have to drag her along.
Mina looked around and saw the exhausted faces of three the three faces of Ruby, Blake, and Weiss as they all say in a triangle of arranged seats in exhausted and troubling silence. Mina shouted out for them as she ran over to them and pulled Blake and Ruby into a hug.
Blake and Ruby were both taken back, Blake was not hurt but was still seeing things through a daze after she had less than an hour ago helped take the life of her ex-boyfriend and tormenter.
Ruby meanwhile tried to crook her neck in a way that caused her the least amount of pain from the hug as dark bruises ringed her next in the shape of the fingers that tried to take her life at the same time.
Mina sobbed into their shoulders as she blubbered out "Oh thank god you're both okay… We all came as soon as we heard that your home was attacked!"
Ruby could only give Mina some soft pats on the back to try and calm her as Blake gripped Mina tightly as she was feeling too numb to even cry at the moment, let alone speak.
After a painful few moments, Mina pulled away with a look of the kind of wide-eyed frantic tension that one only wears on their face when they're teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown. "Where's Jaune at… is he around, in the bathroom maybe?" Mina said as her whole body shook and the tears still flowed from her eyes.
As Mina looked around still asking about her soon Ruby met eyes with Sam Nikos who clearly could tell something terrible had happened and was starting to tear up.
Weiss who was keeping the other girl's company was the one to speak up. "Ja-Jaunes not here with us Ms. Arc…"
Mina looked at Weiss with a look of blank shock as Weiss kept speaking "We… We know he's alive right now…" Weiss said as she started to frantically rub her eyes. "T-The Paramedics took him straight to surgery... The.. They don't know if he's going to make it." Weiss finally spat out as she fell to her knees sobbing loudly.
Mina took a step back and covered her mouth as Sam quickly stepped up behind her and grabbed onto Mina before she fell over from the shock of what she was hearing.
A sign language interpreter behind Ms. Fall interpreted for Ruby as she signed out [I… I still hear the screams Mina let out when she found out about Jaune.] Ruby paused to blow her nose. [Late at night when I'm trying to sleep… I don't know if I'll ever not hear those screams…]
Penny pulled her into a hug as Ruby started to softly sob. Ruby didn't have her hearing aids in, she had been leaving them off her ears in the vain hope it would silence the screaming she would hear.
Sam frantically held her friend close to her chest letting her long time friend scream away the pain she was feeling as Weiss was helping her girlfriend sit down. Weiss was still wearing the same nightclothes she had just changed into before all hell had broken into.
Weiss was trying her best to hold it together for Blake's sake. She was falling apart on the inside, the screams coming out of Mina were blending with her own memories of her sister's screams as she was slowly murdered while she hid in her room causing her to quietly shake as she held tightly onto Blake.
Weiss was trying her damndest to comfort Blake who was still blankly staring at the ground while constantly rubbing her hands.
"It's okay Blake, I'm here for you now okay?" Weiss muttered out in a shaky raspy voice. She looked over nearby where Tukson was keeping a close eye on her and forced a smile to let him know she was okay for the moment.
"I'll fall apart later, but they need me right now… It's how Winter would handle this." Weiss thought as the double doors of the emergency room opened again and the last person she thought she would see came in with a frantic look on his face.
"D-Dad?" Weiss stammered out as her father's head snapped and looked.
"My god Weiss!" Jacque Schnee all but shouted as she walked over and in an uncharacteristic sense of frantic urgency and threw his arms around both her and Blake.
"I'm so sorry Weiss…" Her father quietly muttered not even pretending to maintain his normal level of stoicism.
Weiss tried to say that she was okay, but the cracking sob that came out stopped her.
"I'm hurting for your sister as well, it's okay I'm going to take you home tonight okay?" Jacques said
"I can't go back to that house dad…" Weiss sobbed out.
"I didn't say I was taking you back to yours and winters house I said I was taking you back home." Her father declared through a voice that was cracking as he said the words. "I never should have let your, mother, cast you out the way she did…"
"Dad, I… I can't…" Weiss started to say.
"I've made arrangements for Ms. Belladonna to also stay with us as well, I'm having Klien prep a room for her as well." Her father said with confidence.
"There's no way on earth mom would-" Weiss stated
"Your mother will not be a factor…" Jacques said.
"I found out that my dad had thrown my mother out of the home. He went so far as to buy her a first-class plane ticket to go back east to her family that very evening," Weiss said. "Dad refused to tell me what was said that caused him to do it… I know that he was quick to file for divorce a few days later."
Weiss said wiping tears "I lost a sister… and a mother. But I don't feel bad about losing my mother…" Weiss stated as she folded her arms around herself. "How screwed up is that?"
Blake looked at Weiss and smiled trying to reassure her.
"Ms. Schnee, I understand the pain you're going through right now, I know traumatic situations can divide families at times when they should be pulling together-" Ms. Fall started to say.
"My mother is a homophobic bitch that threw me out of my home because I'm gay, and it cost my sister her life…" Weiss flatly stated to ms fall. "I'm not planning on shedding tears for her…"
"I understand ms Schnee. I hope you and your father can come together during this trying time then." Cinder said, trying to put on a warm smile.
They had been there for almost three hours waiting on news about Jaune. Penny had shown up with her father and Sun Wukong who was choosing to sit as far away from the others as he could. Penny was talking to the girls about what had happened on her end. According to Penny, Sun had come over to her place to warn her what was going on which prompted the original police call.
Sun sat off to the side not talking to anyone while Penny was chatting him up. Mina had walked over to him and thanked him for warning the police about Adam. Saying that her son and Husband might both live because of the choice he made.
Sun forced a smile and refused the gesture "I… Don't want to be praised, ma'am… I did some terrible shit for Adam… One police call won't forgive that…"
Mina was about to say something when everyone in the lobby heard her name called out. Mina turned and looked at the doctor who was gesturing over to her. Mina walked over to the doctor with a nervous frantic look on her face.
"Ms. Arc I just wanted to let you know your husband is going to be okay, he lost a lot of blood but we managed to patch him up and he'll be okay to come home in a few days." The doctor said to her.
"How bad is he?" Mina said.
"Well his right Clavicle is broken so he has a few months of recovery ahead of him, and the loss of blood and the painkillers will keep him lethargic for a couple days, but he'll be able to go home in about two or three days," The Doctor said. "I'm going to recommend some Antibiotics and pain medication he ca-"
"I'm sorry doctor, I was asking about my son," Mina said, fighting back tears of relief for her husband…
"Our ER staff still has him in our surgical unit trying to save him… I won't lie, he's lost an incredible amount of blood and we're having an uphill battle just to keep him alive… but I'm told the odds are good he'll survive the night." The Doctor said.
"What about after tonight?" Mina asked.
"I don't know how to answer that question yet, I'm sorry Ms. Arc, we'll keep you informed as we go." the doctor said to Mina as her tears started to become pained sobs.
Nora was next to Mina in a second hugging her "Ms. Arc, this is Jaune we are talking about, he's always been the type to never give up the fight."
Blake who had been snapping out of her stupor winced for a moment at Nora's words.
"Your right Nora, thank you," Mina said forcing a smile for the young redhead. Before she returned to her seat.
Blake and Mina made eye contact for a moment before Blake dropped her head in shame sobbing again.
"No one here blames you Blake" Mina half-shouted from where she stood "The son of a bitch I'm blaming is already in hell." She finished before she stepped into the women's bathroom with Sam right behind her.
"I wish I can pretend that I believe what Ms. Arc was saying…" Blake said to no one in particular. "I really do, but… Adam… He…"
"You need to learn how to accept that you're not responsible for what he did Blake." Cinder started with an air of certainty in her voice. "You're no more responsible for what Adam did than a homeowner would be for a forest fire that burned his home down."
Yang said from her seat "Yeah Blake, I don't blame you for my arm"
"Or me for my chest." Neptune followed.
"Thank you… I hope I can learn to believe that myself" Blake said somberly.
"No one blames you for Jaune either," Penny said.
The entire room's atmosphere changed like Jaune's name was strong enough to suck the air out of the room leaving everyone in at a momentary loss for words.
"I should have…" Blake started to say before she was cut off by Penny
"You should have what? Went out there with Jaune so Adam could have murdered you?" Penny protested. "I'm sorry, But as much as Jaune's condition hurts my heart, I wouldn't want to see you die for him, he wouldn't want that either."
Ruby signed out [I was there too, I feel just as guilty for not going out to fight with Jaune, but I can't help but feel like we would have only been in the way if we did.]
"Nora and I knew Jaune longer than anyone else in this room, and I know that from all the times Jaune got in fights to protect Pyrrha or even bailing one of us out that he wouldn't have had it any other way," Ren said as well.
For a moment the only noise of the room was the ticking of the wall clock.
Ruby looked at her watch [Oh crud I'm sorry I told Mina I would head over to the hospital to stay with Jaune so she could go home and take care of Mr. Ozpin and the baby!]
"That's okay Ms. Long, I did tell Alan I would give you a ride over there today." Cinder said.
[Hey Ruby, I got to give your mom props for actually allowing you to go spend all that time at the hospital… I'm kinda wondering when was the last time you slept in your own bed though?] Yang signed with a look of concern on her face.
[I just can't stand sleeping with the idea he might wake up alone in that hospital,] Ruby signed with a deeply saddened look on her face. [I know I wouldn't want to wake up alone in there.]
Yang put on a forced smile. And replied [Right, of course, just let us know if you want one of us to take a shift so you can feel your own pillow for once okay?]
Ruby smiled faintly and nodded before she stepped out.
The room went silent for a moment before Yang broke the silence. "It's going to be hard on her when he finally passes…"
"Are we so sure that Jaune's not going to make it?" Nora asked.
"I remember what the doctor said when they broke the news to Mina…" Weiss said…
"We all do…" Ren said as well.
The head surgeon had the decency to clean up before he came out to address the group, daylight was threatening to break over the horizon in the early hours of the following morning. Most of them except for Mina and Blake had to be woken up from the short naps they all succumbed to during the grueling six hours the hospital staff was in there fighting to stabilize Jaune.
All of them were staring with tired anxious looks. Even people that didn't have a reason to still be there like Tai and Summer Long, as well as Penny's and Weiss's fathers were still there waiting for this moment to learn if Jaune was going to be okay.
"I'll be frank, we managed to preserve the life of Jaune Arc, but I'm sorry to say that he's in a deep coma." The Doctor said. "We'll allow visitors, but we do ask you to keep it to one or two at a time. We have him hooked up to life support to help the body until it recovers enough to handle breathing on its own."
The entire group due to a combination of shock and exhaustion could only stand and listen in a state of emotional numbness until Tai spoke up.
"Is he going to wake up?" Tai asked with an uncertain tone.
"Frankly, it would be really nice of him if he did, but it's all up to him now, and the odd's are not in his favor." the doctor said somberly.
"Thank you for everything," Mina said. "How long can we keep him on life support?"
"Your insurance has approved a week as o-" The doctor started to answer
"Horse shit, my family will pay for his care for as long as it's needed" Jacque Schnee declared.
"Dad I-" Weiss started to say.
"He helped put down the monster that murdered your sister Weiss, I owe it to the Arc's to take care of their son and give him the best chance we can give him." the Elder Schnee declared.
"Thank you, Mr. Schnee," Mina said feeling humbled by the gesture.
"You don't need to thank me, your son has been nothing short of a marvelous friend to my daughter," Jacques said before after a short pause he turned to Weiss and stated. "We should get back to our own homes for now, please do call if anything changes."
"We'll see all of you later after we try and sleep okay?" Weiss said with a strong emphasis on the word "Try."
"Yeah let's get you home to kiddo, Yang and Nep will be here till… tomorrow anyways." Tai said.
[You mean later on today right?] Ruby signed as she followed her dad out.
Tai blinked a couple times as his shoulders slumped "Yeah… I mean later on today…" Tai said as he put a protective arm around his daughter, "Let's get going."
Sam turned to Mina and frowned "Did you want me to go take over for Neo back at your place?"
"Yeah… I think I should stay for a while longer, at least till I can talk to Alan…" Mina said with a flat emotionless tone to her voice.
Sam pulled her long time friend into a hug "I'm here for you, I've been where you're standing. If you need anything I'm here." Sam whispered before pulling back and gesturing to Ren and Nora to get ready.
The last one's out was the group Penny came with, Penny walked over to Mina and asked: "Did you want me to stay as well?"
"Go get some rest kiddo, Like I said this isn't the first time my son's fought his way back from the brink," Mina said flatly while forcing an exhausted smile.
Penny nodded and gave Mina a short and uncertain hug before leaving with her father and Sun.
Mina met the eyes of the doctor who nodded and said: "I'll let you know when you can see them…"
Mina smiled and sat down as the weight of the world fell crashing on her shoulders.
"Hey Akito I thought you said you weren't planning on posting an update this week?" You might find yourself asking.
"I lied" I reply.
So this entire chapter is 100% Quarantine boredom fueled. I got a lot of work done on the novel but this story is never to far from my head. Especially now that i'm in the stage of needing to start laying out the threads that's going to make up the rest of this storyline and oh buddy is this one going to take a turn here.
I did want to talk a bit about the reason for letting Jaune speak since a couple of you pointed it out in the reviews. Uh, I told myself in the long list of limits i'm allowed to set for myself for this story, one of them is "If I ever let Jaune speak, he needs to make it one hell of a moment."
I can't honestly think of anything more in character for Jaune in this story than him getting so pissed at a person that he overcomes his disability for the singular purpose of telling someone to go fuck themselves. That was my personal "fuck yeah moment." I have a few more of those in next handful of chapters from surprising characters but for now, I'm glad you all decided to stick around for the long ride.
Dragon Lord, Good to see you as always and yeah, I couldn't not let Ruby get in for a few solid hits in the fight. Malkor13 and Calamk The fallout for me where the real meat of this arc is going to be, It sounds weird to have a climactic final battle and then say "Yeah that was the set up for the actual arc" but here we are yeah?
Chinaluv and Big Bad Beowulf it's good to see you both, I hope the Lockdown isn't driving yall to crazy. Same for you Malkor13 cause whew lad I am going bonkers over here.
Other than that, I want to take the moment to thank all of you for reading as always, and I'll see you all next time.
