Trying a new format, let me know if you like it:
-o-o-o-o-o
The night was a long and restless for the now red eyed young woman seated on the smooth navy blue bench inside the emergency care ward. The events playing out again through her sleep and nutrient deprived mind in agonizing slow motion for the seventh or eighth time.
The nurse was carrying her out to a separate room, then dragging her lead feet into the surgery. The still white eyes of her mother asking her where her heartbeat went. How the doctor depressed the paddles into the tender bosom and side of her chest. That the lights flickered as the smell of singed hair and rapid spasms rocked Mitsuru's body from the voltage trying to jump start her heart.
One nurse then attached two pads to her chest and the monitor remained silent with the telltale flat blue staying stable. The doctor charged the paddles again as Dr. Hind ran over double handing a syringe into the middle of Mitsuru's still chest, then sent the amber liquid squirting into the stagnant blood stream. Hind turned to the doctor with the defibrillator and nodded then stepped to one side and held Mitsuru's shoulders.
Another charge rocked the unresponsive supine body. A second passed as the docs kept working on another charge when Mitsuru's body seized up and arched it's back upward. The silent EKG erratically beating sending the trauma team into a frenzy.
Hind: "We need a blood transfusion stat; her heart doesn't have enough pressure." She placed her face an inch above Mitsuru's mouth and turned to examine down towards her chest. "Breath's weak, but there."
Doctor: "Nurse, get two O bags for Miss Kirijo." He begins extracting a clear fluid into another syringe while holding the wounded leg down. "We need more people to hold her down or we won't be able to work." He waves the paramedics in from outside the nurse runs off to gather the aforementioned blood bags, the paramedics both enter and grab her legs to prevent Mitsuru's thrashing to jostle her tourniquet loose.
Hind: Grimacing, "We don't have time! She'll wear her heart out and die anyway waiting." She grabs a bag out of the table cabinet with one hand, the other resting her weight on the resurrected woman's right shoulder. "Prep her daughter," Hind tosses the bag to one of the paramedics.
He catches the medical football to begin the long sprint to the game saving touchdown. He grabs Nicole's by the arm from the corner and leads her next to a chair on her mother's left.
Paramedic 1: "Roll up your right sleeve and stay still, if you start to feel light headed tap my arm." Nicole begins to comply and the man hands her a stress ball, "Squeeze down after I get this in." He wipes down just below her own pale right elbow joint with a disinfectant wipe and then ties a length of rubber tube around her bicep. "Okay. 1. 2. 3," He slides a sizable needle into the visible vein on the well-toned now blushing Nicole.
Hind: "Good, good." She hands a larger clear tube running up to a bag with its own clear tube peeking out the bottom. The doctor takes the last tube and slowly inserts it into a vein in Mitsuru's arm and then the original end is popped into place; seated and attached to the needle in Nicole's arm.
Crimson blood oozed out quickly out and up the tube into the empty bag. Then dripped into the receptical quite quickly. Within minutes it was half filled and was slowly draining into the feeder tube destined for her mom's arm.
Paramedic 1: "Okay, maim. That's all we can take." Moments later the nurse came rushing back linebacker style with her diminutive frame carrying two new recently warmed bags. The paramedic retrieves them from the slightly out of breath girl and places them on a silver shining tray. "Thank Jesus."
The nurse steading herself on the back of Nicole's chair begins to calm her breathing, then grips the shoulders of Nicole. Nicole's hearing was going in and out like a toddler was flicking her on/off switch like a game in her brain. She could gather that the short brunette was motioning her to follow her outside. She took one last look at the woman who cared for her all her life only just having color return to her face with cracked open eyes being pumped full of blood. She burned that sight into her mind as the tiny woman kept her from collapsing onto the tile.
They made It outside the emergency surgery room and the nurse gently reclined Nicole into a chair. The world spinning around her as she worked these chain of events over and over and over in her memory. Her instincts saying her mom could pull through, that she was going to be back and better than ever in three weeks. She'll be the same imposing invincible force of nature like always just to get her way. Her mind hung on that word, Huh, invincible. . . Oh god?
She cried.
Not wept.
Not sobbed.
Not whimpered.
She cried, hard. Cried her eyes out. Destroyed the little bit of mascara she wore and just; well, cried.
The world around her melted away. Sounds coming from all around began to muffle and the colors that popped and invaded her perception dulled. Her fingers forgot they were clutching the padded arm rests and grasped air in a withered grip. Her feet drawing under the chair and drew her knees up and into her empty chest.
She sat in her own silence trapped in those thirty minutes, watching it play out one final time in high definition depression. The last frame her mother's silent lips asking "Who could did this?"
Nicole felt a pang of . . . something. Something unknown. Something visceral and untamed rising in her gut. A haggard breath ran out screaming from her now chilled lungs, leaving them empty and yet tempering the building fire inside of her.
The voice that spoke to her just hours before commanded inwardly, "What will you do now?"
She inhaled again for the first time with purpose in what felt like forever and responded to the wind, "Good question." Nicole stood up quickly, too quickly. She instantly felt the blood leave her brain and the train of thought derail itself just at it left the station. "Whooa, fuck." A hand rose to hold the wobbly forehead steady.
Nicole: Grabbing the nurse in passing, "How's she doing?" She pointed to the room containing her mother. The nurse explained that they repaired the artery that was severed in her leg and got her blood pressure under control. Although they got her filled up and Mitsuru was breathing unassisted, she has yet to awaken and the staff wouldn't know more till they got a look at her scans. "Was my mother with someone? And if so where is she?"
Nurse: "Yes, she had a companion with her. Was the one who gave the 911 call actually. I think was her name Harriett, came in banged up too. Broken nose, bruised ribs, fractured wrist. Real nasty hit she took. Said she caught your mother as she was flung across the room from a gas explosion." The nurse flicks her forearm a couple of times rapidly. "Think they set her up in the emergency care center, two halls down and make a right."
Nicole: "Thank you. I'll be back soon." She waved the woman away and followed the path provided over to a large help desk and waiting area. A raven haired woman sat, gingerly tilted to the left side of the chair and brow furrowed. A large white and yellow splint sat across her otherwise fair skinned face. Nicole walked up to the injured woman and says glumly, "Hello, you are Harriett right? I'm Mitsuru's daughter."
Harriett: The woman perks up at the newcomer, "That would be I, Yes." She winces and extends the non-injured left hand for a shake. "Sorry about everything but I heard she's not dead anymore so that's at least something." Nicole takes it and they exchange a weak grasped greeting. "One second I was alone and the next I had a flying frozen Mitsuru lasered at me. Tried catching her, seems she makes a good cannonball however."
She makes a wild hand gesture of her left hand careening toward her splinted right one into a large explosion of hands when they came into contact. "Back of her head broke my nose and rattled my cage pretty fiercely. The suit of ice broke my hand and bruised my ribs, real swell time. Came out of my daze to find I'm covered in blood! Not mine I quickly realized and my limited medical training kicked in and I jammed my thumb in her cut to pinch the vein. Chanted 'don't die on me' about seventy times until the actual first responders got there. You should know the rest." Harriett tilts her head back to relieve pressure from her nose.
Nicole: Harriett massages the small dark bruise on her forehead that is just visible on Nicole's closer inspection. "Doctors say anything about a concussion?" Harriett just shook her head no. "Hmm," Nicole takes a seat next to Harriett, "Any ideas what happened?"
Harriett: "No, one second she was walking through the door ahead of me and next she was gone." She points a finger and draws a circle in the air, "Searched the room she vanished in for twenty or so minutes before she came shooting right at me."
Nicole: "Remember seeing any blue Lights?"
Harriett: She squinted her eyes together and looked up at the ceiling, "Not that I can recall. No."
Nicole stands and begins to pace back and forth, thoughts abuzz with hundreds of idea bees vying for the main spotlight. None were successful in garnering her full attention and her frustration was building. Failing to find an answer to any of her many questions she did what she always did when unsure. Her phone in hand she hit the speed dial on one and after one ring a familiar voice answered, "Hello?! What's going on there?! Are you okay Nicole?!"
Nicole: "Yes Uncle Junpei, I'm okay. Mom on the other hand . . . ." Nicole bites her lip trying to find the right way to put it.
Junpei: The sound of a car horn could be heard, "I got a call from Nebraska Medical, said she was in critical condition." A car door slam echoes over the handset. "What happened over there, did you go into the Dark hour?"
Nicole: "I don't know how to break it to you –" Nicole slowly went over every detail she could recall. Doing her best to keep the shake creeping up in her voice suppressed, she recounted the details of Mitsuru arriving at the hospital. She felt the emptiness coupled with an anger in her again when relaying giving her mother blood. "The doctors told me she's stable as can be and should be fine for now. But, she still hasn't woken up. I'm not gonna lie uncle, I'm worried 'bout mom."
Junpei: He stayed silent for a good minute. Nicole could see his somewhat dorky look as he hunched over and held a fist to his forehead whenever he got deep in thought. The sound of him snapping his fingers together preceded his now gruff voice coming over the airwaves. "Okay, Listen to me clearly kiddo. Go to the Mountain Gala hotel with Harriett, ask for the room under Kirijo. Go to the next room down the hall and knock, inside should be two young women named Vossi and Geller. Stay with them and wait till I get there in roughly twenty-seven hours."
Nicole: "Gala hotel, next room over, Geller and Vossi. What about getting revenge for mom though?" She parrots back with a tiny bit of annoyance, "And what about the fact I got my Persona? Do we really have to wait till you get here if there are three of us?"
Junpei: He has a twinge of fear come through in his voice, "If what ever did this beat your mom that badly, I don't think you three can handle it. Persona or not." He exhales into the handset, "Just wait okay. Only one day being benched and then we can work on this together. I have to go now; they're calling for boarding."
Nicole: "Okay Uncle Junpei, I'll talk to you later."
Junpei: "See ya soon."
The line went dead after their exchange of goodbyes, leaving the conflicted nineteen-year-old to ponder her next move. "This is my chance to step up and be the hero mom is, she only could have been taken down because she was alone." Her mind was made up. Step one was to find those two agents and find the ones responsible for Mitsuru's current state. Harriett and Nicole shared curt but sincere goodbyes and that she'd check in on her tomorrow after sleeping.
She went to the emergency ward's help desk and asked to look through her mother's belongings and retrieved her small ergonomic purse and cell phone. After grabbing them, she hailed an Uber and walked out to the front entrance where a new black haired security guard sat smiling and enjoying spaghetti. The guard waved while maintaining his smile with sauce coating the corners of his mouth. The minutes passed and a fairly new white SUV pulled up.
Nicole strode to the rear passenger side door and opened it, plopping herself into the middle seat. The foreign driver inquired to make sure that he had the right address to which Nicole confirmed. Afterward he turned on the stereo and let a quiet pop mix play over the speakers and began the slow nighttime drive. The town was peaceful albeit small in comparison to the big cities she was used too.
The surface level tranquility was never broken the entire trip, and once done Nicole gave the drive a five-star review and exited to see a two story log cabin style lodge and hotel combo on the outskirts of town. A gravel path trailed off behind the left side of the large hotel structure to other smaller personal buildings and shared cabins. The slight dusting of snow up on top of the hills behind it made the perfect visage of a Bob Ross painting.
The sizable double door entrance stands while imposing its authority over Nicole's average five foot six height. (167.6 cm) Grabbing the handle, she found that opening them proved to be fairly simple and took almost no effort. Inside was small, but beautifully decorated with intricate paintings and smooth marble sculptures. The large red rug laid out in front of the main counter sold the VIP treatment. A plump middle aged woman with rosy cheeks looked up from her horn rimmed glasses and thick aged novel at her guest.
Hostess: "Good Night maim, what brings you here so late at night?" She closed and sets her book aside after folding the corner over. "Needing a room?"
Nicole: "Should already have one Miss. Under the name of Kirijo." She digs around inside her wallet to find her I.D. "I'm Nicole Kirijo as you can see."
Hostess: "My goodness, like as in the fancy infirmary that opened up on the other side of town two years ago?" She turns and begins to dig through a pile of keycards. She triumphantly draws out a blue stripped card out of the heap of plain white ones.
Nicole: She puts her hand on the back of her neck and rubs it while adverting the aged woman's gaze, "Yeah, that's us. By chance did a pair individuals check in to the room next to mine?" The woman hands over the key card and sticks her tongue out the side of her mouth.
Hostess: "Not supposed to tell about private information; but since it's under your name as well, Yes. Two young ladies not much older then you checked in to room 28 about four hours ago and have just gotten an order of burgers sent up. I hope you have no issues with them doing so."
Nicole: "That's no issue. Thank you." Nicole turns to leave with the hostess warbling the directions to her room as she navigates towards the labeled stairs. She ascends two at a time, taking the landing and pivoting with a baseball trick her uncle taught and finished the second set just as fast.
The second floor had a multicolor carpet that had a wavy optical illusion stitched into that made the world sway around it. Took a second to adjust but Nicole found to just keep her eyes focused on the doors along the hall. At the very end, the hall split off in two directions but the rooms lead up to 26 on her left and number 28 the following one. She made the turn and strolled up and knocked three brisk times.
There was rustling on the other side and the tramping of footsteps echoed through the door. It swung open to show a woman eye-level to Nicole with greyish yellow eyes and near white blond hair. She had an oversized Casting Crowns shirt acting as a dress and slipping down one shoulder. Her pale skin a drastic offset to the dark black shirt made her almost glow in an otherworldly light.
The Blond: Her entrancing beauty almost instantly diminished when she began unabashedly scratching her small but shapely behind. "Evening, what can I – Oh wait! You're Mitsuru's kid!" She turned around while beckoning Nicole in with an enticing single waggling finger and provocative smirk. "Diana, our gracious host has arrived." She took up a seat on the bed next to a wide shouldered brunette woman.
Diana: The handsome and angular jawed woman looked up from the last bits of a hamburger half devoured and its minutes were numbered. She gulped down the most recent chuck she tore out violently as their new boss entered. "Nice to meet you maim." She continued to consume her meal off her rapidly empting plate aside the still half full one next to it.
The Blond: With an exaggerated flair, "and I, am Amy Ariel Geller." The blond extends a hand to shake, but instead when Nicole grips in the customary way Amy brings Nicole's hand to her lips and kisses her knuckles. Nicole recoiled near immediately after the shock of the stranger's warm lips grazing her hand and her face flushed slightly. Amy gripped her baggy shirt covered stomach and laid back launching into a hearty bout of laughter. "The look on your face! Priceless. . ." She finished her outburst of laughter as Diana gobbled the last of her meal.
Diana: Pointing at her roommate's plate, "Gonna finish your dinner?"
Amy: Still stifling her laughter while laid on the bed, "Naw, feel free Di." She sits up and begins wiping away the small rivulets from her eyes as Diana starts her omnivorous onslaught on the half eaten vegan burger. "Sorry, sorry." She looks Nicole in the eyes with a shine of playfulness in her off color eyes, "I just couldn't resist."
Diana: Through mouthfuls of food she manages, "Don't worry about it. She does and will continue to do this kinda stunt to everyone we meet." After consoling the teased girl, she takes the last bit of the side salad down for good.
Nicole: "No it's fine. I'm just not in the best of mood or mental space right now." Nicole retreats a bit in the conversation from remembering the events of the day, "It's been kind of a rollercoaster today."
Diana: "Yeah, we got the call about your mom being in an accident and headed over here to stay out of the way instead of take up space at the hospital." Diana's gaze softens while Amy's eye blazed a very obvious 'Oh Fuck' across her previously aloof face. Her eyes switched between Nicole and Diana's own searching for the words to say.
Amy: "U-um, I'm sorry. That was disrespectful of me to do and won't happen again boss." She turns off toward a neighboring wall seeing if will tell her what to say next after her poor showing of tact.
Nicole: Shrugging it off, "It's okay. I've already mostly come to terms with it." Her body language spoke a different story as there was a slight shiver that wracked her every so often. "They restarted her heart and got her stable enough to breath on her own. Her audience both looked at her with concerned and sympathetic faces scrunched up feeling a fraction of the pain.
Amy: "No really, I'm sorry. And speaking of which you need a hug." She steps up and takes her in a big squishy hug with the shirt dress billowing around both of them in a protective halo. Nicole just lets her arms hang around Amy with an even more stunned expression then lets her arms slowly reciprocate the embrace. "There, there." Amy pats Nicole's back.
Nicole: Closing her eyes slowly and letting the gentle hug envelop her as she suppresses the slight urge to cry tears of relief. Then remembers the whole reason she came here and physically shakes her head out of the funk it was in. "No, no time for pleasantries," She grips the shoulders of the platinum blond and pushers her an arm length away softly. "My mom wasn't in an accident, someone did this to her."
Diana's face instantly shifts of one of a caring homely mother to the visage of pure anger and hatred. Amy's face slowly hardens but still looks caring in the end but a flame behind the yellowing irises. Both turn to each other in unison and nod in a machine like routine of agreement.
Diana: She turns her still enraged face to Nicole, "And you came here to us so we can find this fuck and force feed him his own liver. Let's get too it then."
Amy breaks out of Nicole's hands and retrieves a suitcase out from beneath her bed as Diana does likewise. Both in perfect synch unlock and unlatch the black leather satchels and lift their respective lids open. The now standing six foot two woman starts to piece together a rifle's upper receiver and barrel as the smaller one drops the mag of a Glock, pulls the trigger, slips the slide forward, and switches to a new handgrip with a selector switch.
Nicole is lost in trance of the systematic assembly of weaponry when the adrenaline leaves her and the gravity of two women brandishing firearms in order to hunt down a human hits her.
Nicole: Steading herself after the dizzy spell, "I'm grateful for the enthusiasm girls." Diana stops assembling the rifle bolt with the firing pin a tooth pick seated in her jaws and looks up, "We cannot go out tonight, its late and I'd pass out with too much stress." Amy sets the pistol down now as well. "I've been up for forever it feels like, I'm missing blood and I'm stressed to all hell. Not exactly the best time for a man hunt."
Diana and Amy both sullenly step away from their gear and come back to the now seated Nicole.
Diana: "Diana: "Yeah, we both kinda let the excitement of an OP get to us." She closes the case and walks over to now seated girl and pats her shoulder. "But first thing in the morning we're tearing this city apart to find this bastard. Now get some rest, you need it."
Nicole blushes a little at the Amazonia woman doting on her like a caring mother or wife, and now she can feel the exhaustion finally catching up. Her legs began coagulating into lead where she sat. She gave the world her last few breaths before the walls around her close in as her eyes shut. The stresses of the day melt away and exhaustion does its thing and Nicole falls into a deep peaceful slumber. Her last though on hoping that she at least had peaceful dreams.
If only she would be so lucky.
/Welp/
Made the Monday hit time. Noice.
If you've made it this far thank you.
And if you want to read more please give this story a follow so I know you're enjoying it :)
And of course the new comers of Harriett, Amy, and Diana are all new unknowns. Hope you guys can figure some of them out soon.
1) Man, are they gonna find the individual(s) in question?
2) What would you have done in this situation?
And of course some Music I like
Adam Jensen - Pretty Please (Pop)
Against Me! - Baby, I'm an Anarchist (Punk)
Band-Maid - Real Existence (J-pop Hard Rock)
Blues Saraceno - The River (Classic Country)