AN- This is the continuation of Things Lost. This fic, as evidenced by the title, will follow Ruby as she travels down the long, hard road of recovery. Some action in this story, and it will definitely be rated M, as Ruby is going to go through a lot, and she and the rest of her teammates are going to see some things that are hard to bear.

A bit of background, I worked on the ICU as a Nursing Assistant, so I understand the daily life of patients. I am not, however, a nurse or a doctor. I am not authorized in the slightest to give any sort of medication, and my knowledge of more advanced medical procedures is somewhat limited. However, for what Ruby is going to be going through, what I know should be enough. Anyone in the audience who has medical knowledge/training, feel free to correct any glaring mistakes that I make. Thanks!

While there isn't likely to be any character death (I don't think), there is still going to be death in this story, and it might be a bit emotional. This story, then, is an homage to all hospital workers out there and all patients who need, really need, the care found in Emergency Departments, ICUs, and medical floors. Ours is a difficult and oftentimes thankless job. We are screamed at, peed and shit upon, sometimes assaulted, and we get to know people only for them to die in our care, because that's what they wanted and needed. All this and more is going to be in this story.

This story, my readers, is going to be my most personal fic that I have ever put up, because while the characters are fake and the world is fictional, it is all too real to me. I live this, every day. Tread lightly, please, and remember that in your comments. The patients will not be real, and shall have more than just their names changed from any real patients that I may have encountered, but my experiences, both uplifting and tragic, will take a part in this story.

As always, read, enjoy, and please review! Your thoughts are terribly important to me.

Edit 22 Feb 2016: Not much of a change, Yang just remembers almost losing her arm when fighting Adam Taurus during the big battle against the Faunus. The changes are mostly found in the second paragraph. Enjoy!

The Price Paid

Her baby sister shouldn't be so still. Yang looked down from the observation room as the surgical team moved in a complicated yet intricately seamless dance around the operation room. She watched as they cut away ruined flesh, clamped torn blood vessels, and sawed away bone. She sighed heavily, heart aching as she looked away, if only to steel herself for the next look at the quiet, still body on the brightly lit table. By the time she and Weiss had arrived, Ruby had been prepped for emergency surgery, x-rays and CT scans revealing the extent of the damage. The surgeon had found her just before the operation began, and explained what he was going to be doing in a solemn, matter-of-fact voice. She had wanted to scream at him as he told her that the damage to her right arm was too severe, they couldn't save the amputated portion. She's my sister, you fuck, act like you care! she had wanted to scream as he quickly pointed out the terribly dislocated elbow, the crushed radius, the burnt ulna.

"We're going to have to amputate above the elbow," he had said with as much passion as if he was discussing a tragedy on the other side of the continent, and her hand had reflexively gone to the deep scar on her right arm, where Adam had nearly cut it off. The memory of fire, of screams in the distance, and of thick, desperate fear overwhelmed her for a moment, and she took a moment to again realize just how lucky she had been. The only reason she had been able to keep her arm attached was the split second realization that the bastard was baiting her. A minor shift to her stance resulted in his sword striking Ember Celica rather than unprotected flesh. Even so, it had cut deep, splitting her radius and cutting halfway into her ulna. The pain and shock had been so much that she had passed out. But at least she had kept her arm, whereas Ruby…she had felt her eyes start to go red, but then she had to force herself to face the grim reality of this poor surgeon. This was the best trauma center in all of Vale; to this man, Ruby was just another patient. A terrible thing had happened, and he was going to do the best to fix it, but he had to have done operations just like this dozens of times, and had operated on those worse off who knew how many times?

It had been nigh impossible for her to swallow her rage and calm down enough to ask the right questions, but somehow she managed, if only barely. "Her eye?" Entirely destroyed, all the Aura in the world couldn't bring it back. After the amputation, he was going to clean out the socket. "The burns?" Stabilized with emergency Aura, but thirty percent of her face was badly burnt, second and third degree. The primary concern was the arm and her airways, but after she was stabilized, skin grafts might be an option. "Any other injuries?" Yes. We spotted internal bleeding in multiple areas, three of which require surgical intervention. "Am I allowed to observe the procedure." Ordinarily, no, but given the patient's identity and the circumstances surrounding her injury, you and you alone are allowed to watch, as you are her only family that we were able to get in contact with. Would you like security to escort you to the observation room? "Yes, please."

A big and solid looking dog Faunus had taken her to the room where she now stood, and offered his most sincere condolences as he excused himself. And now she was alone in the dark room, thoughts and heart tortured as she looked down into the impassive, bright hell that was steadily tearing her sister apart in an attempt to save her life. Never before had she felt so helpless, so damn useless! Even as deep in her torturous thoughts as she was, she was still alert enough to hear the soft shift of fabric behind her.

She blinked, straightened, turning her head slightly to the side. "Why am I not surprised that you managed to get in here?" she asked into the darkness.

"Sebastian and I know each other. The security field is not so large that two Faunus in high ranking positions would be unknown to each other."

Yang glanced back at Blake, taking in the trenchcoat, the gloves, the slicked back haircut, and the bandage along her cheek. The Crimson Claw had been determined, and had managed to wound more than just the one of them. Again that rage roared up in an inferno that screamed for justice, for revenge, and she remembered the feeling of skull collapsing under her gauntleted fist with relish. Feeling the flames crackle around her as the room lit up with her Aura, she forced herself to breathe deep and slow. Last thing that she wanted was to set the fire alarm off.

Blake watched her with calm eyes almost freakishly devoid of passion. But Yang knew well enough that her girlfriend had long mastered the art of appearing stoic even when she was wracked by emotion. If she felt even an iota of the feeling that Yang was, she must be concentrating very hard on appearing cool, calm, and collected. "Blake…how did we let this happen?" she asked, voice tortured as she shot another glance at her sister. Oh, God, they had completed the amputation, skin loose around an upper arm that would never again lead to a living elbow and hand. The surgeon paused, one of his assistants wiping his brow, and he made a comment that had the room nodding.

Blake said nothing for moments that dragged into eternity, instead choosing to walk up next to Yang, resting her head against Yang's shoulder. Yang blinked, shocked. If Blake was looking for comfort like this in a public space, she must have been much more shaken up than Yang had expected. Without thought, Yang brought her arm around her lover, holding her closer. They stood in silence, drawing comfort from each other's presence. But finally Blake sighed. "They have been getting more and more dangerous and intelligent. Maybe we've killed all the stupid ones, I don't know. But now we're going to have to install even more security measures." She made a growling noise, deep in her throat. "That's going to take even more time and money, and those bastards will figure out new ways around them. Bloody vicious cycle!"

Yang squeezed her, bringing her even closer. "Hey, you've been doing a great job! You have to admit that attacks have gone down, and that more and more shipments have been reaching their destinations since you took over security."

Blake scoffed, even as her hands came up and fisted in Yang's jacket. "But what attacks remain are getting more and more deadly. What can I do to stop the madness? The more of these attacks occur, the more humans think we are monsters!"

Yang crooned softly, petting the back of Blake's head. "It's okay, it'll be okay," she whispered, even as she looked down on bloody evidence that proved that things wouldn't be okay, not for a long time. "What about the White Fang? The more peaceful factions have finally been getting recognized as peaceful organizations in the other cities. Maybe they'll be interested in helping fight against the Crimson Claw. Your last intel report said that both groups were hostile towards each other, right?"

"…Yeah. I don't know, though, I'll have to talk to some of my contacts. I don't know how willing they'd be to help the SDC."

"You've done so much already, of course they'll be willing to help! Schnee Dust is the leading company in Faunus work rights, and that's because of you and Weiss! The White Fang can't ignore that. If Weiss is assassinated, things will surely deteriorate, even the most stubborn of White Fang members should see that, right?"

"I don't know…some of the goat Faunus can be really stubborn," Blake retorted in a deadpan voice.

Yang couldn't help it. The laugh wasn't long…more of a surprised snort of amusement than a chuckle, but it was something. "Well, we'll work with some of the other Faunus, the more open-minded ones. And last I checked, the new leadership liked Ruby after she helped them with that Grimm infestation and the violent crowd of humans."

"Yeah, that is true." Again, they stood in silence, watching the surgeon make a small, skilled incision on Ruby's stomach, assistants and nurses standing by with various tools and suction tubes. Even in her uneducated eyes, Yang could see that this team really did work very well together. "Yang?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think that they're mad that we missed our reservation at the restaurant?"

It was the dry tone more than the words that had Yang give out a bark of laughter. Good grief, two jokes in only a few minutes…Blake was really trying to get her mind off of what had happened. "If they are, fuck 'em. We'll have Junior send his goons to go mess with them."

"Nothing too serious, I trust?" Blake asked drily.

"Nah, of course not. A couple of bad reviews, maybe overacting the parts of gangsters, nothing permanent. 'Hey, waiter, I asked for the filet mignon to be shaped like a fish, what gives?' she asked in a mockingly deep voice.

"I think that that's just about the best that they could manage."

"Heh. Did I ever tell you about how a bunch of them were beat up when they tried to rob a shop that Ru…" she started, and then drew to a close, grin fading quickly, her eyes once again looking down as the surgeon tied off a row of neat stiches that closed his incision in Ruby's toned stomach.

Blake frowned, grabbing Yang's hand tenderly. "Hey, there's nothing more that we can do from up here. Let's go. I'm sure that there's a veritable crowd waiting for some news. And Weiss…she's alone right now."

Yang sighed, tightening her fingers around Blake's. "Yeah, you're right. He knows what he's doing, doesn't need to worry about me jumping through the window to beat him up if I think he messed up or something."

The door opened, and closed. Silence once more reigned in the dark room that continued to bear witness to the efforts of the team down below, racing to fix what damage they could before time ran out for one of the most renowned huntresses on the entire continent. This room, and others like it, had all watched, and would continue to watch as those who paid the heavy price of the preservation of civilization came under the scalpels of those who sought to reverse, to lessen the price carved out of flesh by those who wished malice upon the protectors of Vale. The rooms had seen glorious victory and heartbreaking defeat, but one fact had always rang true. The price paid was heavy, at times almost unbearable, but the peace and posterity bought with wrecked and shattered bodies was worth any cost that had been or ever would be demanded of the brave men and women who answered the call of the hunters and huntresses who had gone before them. Generations before and generations after would be brought to this room for healing when their strength had failed them, secure in the knowledge that by bearing that terrible price, they ensured that civilization would continue, boldly proclaiming to the creatures of Grimm and the enemies of peace and tranquility in one fell voice, We will not go gentle into that dark night…forevermore shall we fight! We may be broken, we may be slain, but our siblings will rise up again! Oppose us if you dare, THIS price we shall always bear!