Ch. 6
"Hey Nero it's Gale, just calling to see when you will be back with food. Ivory was wondering when you will get back. Call me when you get this bye."
"Hey Nero, Gale again. It has been three hours since I last called. Could you call me back when you get this?"
"Nero, we're getting worried. Are you ok? It has been at least nine hours since you left, please call me when you get this."
End of messages. To delete messages, press seven. To repeat messages, press pound.
"Well, it seems like your team is worried about you, wouldn't you say?"
The man sat there, holding Nero's scroll. Suspended from the ceiling in front of him, hung a unconscious Nero. He reached forward and smacked Nero across the face.
"When I talk to you, you are to respond. Do you understand?"
Nero jarred awake from the force of the slap and looked around.
"Where am I?" He hesitated. "Who are you?"
"Puny huntsman. I am something from legend. Well, I will be soon. Once I finish my master's bidding. And as to where you are," the man said with a crooked grin. "Well, that would just ruin all the fun, now wouldn't it?"
"Wait I recognize you, you were the one four years ago that tried to stab Ms. Schnee."
"That is right, now let's have some fun."
"NO! STOP!"
Nero jolted awake in a hospital bed. He didn't recognize where he was. The last thing he remembered was, a woman in a red dress. His left eye flared in pain. He touched the area around it. To his surprise, it has warm, burning. He placed his hand over it. The darkness seemed to cool it. He looked around the room. It was a normal room. White walls, a single window, all the machines a hospital room would have, and chairs around the room. And in one of these chairs place right next to the bed sat a white haired girl. At first he thought it was Weiss but this girl had her hair up in a bun with a few strands flowing down her face. Then, he thought it might be Winter, but as the girl woke up and raised her head, he could see it was neither. The girl's eyes opened and were shocked to see Nero staring back. She jumped out of her seat and looked at him. He could see she was uneasy, so he relaxed his gaze.
"Who are you?" Nero asked looking out the window.
"I...I'm Doctor Áspro Fotiá, I was told to keep an eye on you till you woke up. You are lucky. When you showed up here you were within an inch of dying."
"What happened to me?"
"We don't know. We were hoping you could tell us."
"When you say I was within an inch of death, what do you mean?"
"Your right arm was broken in three places. Both legs were severely broken, most your ribs were broken, major internal bleeding. Your back was broken. You shouldn't have survived. It was surprising that somehow you walked here, as soon as you walked through the doors you collapsed"
Nero unhooked the IV in his arm and stood up.
"No, don't move yet. You have to stay in bed."
"Why are you lying?"
"What?"
"If I was as hurt as you say i was, how come i can stand? I would still be in casts."
"That's cause… you… you have been in a coma for almost four months. We thought you would never wake up."
Nero stumbled. Áspro ran over and caught him.
"Now please, lay back down. You need rest."
"Based on what you said, I have had enough rest for a lifetime. Where am I?"
"Vacuo General Hospital. You do live in Vacuo, right?"
"No i'm from Vale, how did i get to Vacuo? I need to get back now." Nero walked for the door.
"No you can't. You need to rest," Áspro said grabbing his arm.
"Listen, lady. I have to get back to my team asap. Now let me go, or you are coming with me?"
"Actually, that could work."
"What?"
"As your doctor, if I accompany you to Vale and continue to administer your physical therapy, you could leave today."
"Then let's go. Where are my clothes?"
"That may be a problem."
"Why?"
"We got all the blood out of them but, well I can show you." Áspro lead him down the hall. They approached the nurses station. On duty was a twentyish year old redhead with her face buried into the computer. Áspro cleared her throat.
"Ms.Biały, can you please get patient #00015376's belongings?"
"Of course, mam."
The redhead stood up and walked into a small room connected to the nurses station. She walked back out with a bin with a name plate marked with #00015376. She handed the container to Áspro.
"Thank you, Ms.Biały."
"Your welcome Doctor Áspro."
Áspro opened the bin and pulled out his shirt. It was torn in half down the front, with holes sprinkled around the clothing item.
"The rest aren't in much better shape."
"It will have to do."
Nero dropped his gown and got dressed all while the two women stood and watched helplessly.
"There. They aren't ripped to bad, mostly just the shirt and a few holes in the pants," Nero looked up at the women. "What are you looking at?"
They both looked away, their faces growing red.
"Nothing. Now let's go."
Áspro said continuing down the hall. They entered the front lobby and Áspro walk to the reception desk. Nero stood waiting for her to lead him to the next point, when he got an eerie feeling. He turned his head to see the door just as a certain girl jumped at him.
"Weiss?" Nero said taking a step back and catching her. "How did you find me?"
"The second you went missing, my dad had people looking for you. As soon as we found you, I came as soon as I could,' She said looking up at his face.
"Who's this?" Áspro asked, walking up to the pair of teens.
"Áspro, I would like you to meet the heir to the Schnee Dust Company, Weiss Schnee. Weiss this is my doctor, Ms. Áspro Fotiá. She is going to be coming back to Vale with us to administer my physical therapy."
"Nice to meet you, ," Áspro said, sticking out her hand.
"Nice to meet you, too Doctor Áspro. Now let's leave. I have an airship standing by at the nearest port," Weiss said, turning around and walking to the door. Close behind her, Nero followed. And almost frozen, Áspro stood still. Suddenly she realized she had to follow and started to run to catch up.
"Come on, slow down."
**Authors Note**
Hey guys sorry for the gape in posts again I've been having some family problems lately and should be able to start posting on a normal basis soon. As always please leave a comment with questions or helpful critiques. See you next time.
RDE