Chapter 13
Author's Note: First, thank you all so much for the awesome feedback I got during the Hunt arc. I am so happy that you guys approve of my story. The next arc is probably going to begin soon, though, from the way it looks now, I might have to do a little time skip (not this chapter), much to my dismay. It won't be a large one, probably just a few weeks. I am only considering this since Team RWBY is going to be, more or less, out of commission for the duration of their healing process. I wouldn't think that would sound interesting to write (or read) about, but, if you disagree, and would prefer for me not to time skip at all, please let me know and I can probably take the time to write something interesting to fill in the weeks of healing. Basically, let me know how many fillers you want. Regardless of the time skip, I do still have a few more chapters in mind before I would even consider it as I need to tie up a few loose ends. :P Please leave me more reviews so I can make this the best story in all of the world…or at least the best story in my house.
"Yang! That's the second time; stop it." Blake lectured.
"I can't help it, my arm hurts like a bitch!" Yang said.
"I don't care. You can't hit the nurses just because the medicine hurts." Blake stated with Ruby nodding her head in agreement.
Yang sighed, "I don't need any–"
"Yes, you do. Shut up." Blake said as she glared at Yang. Another nurse made her way into Team RWBY's room, albeit with trepidation. "She won't be acting up any further." Blake explained to the nurse before shooting her eyes back to her partner. Yang is many things, some positive and some negative, but nevertheless, she always kept her word. "Yang, do not move until the nurses are done." Blake ordered. At the end of the Hunt, Blake's aura was at a higher level than Yang's, so Yang was doing everything that Blake said for that day, as per their agreement.
As the nurse began to put bio-dust into the wound and disinfect it, Yang's eyes shut tight. Every twitch that Yang made caused the nurse to become slightly defensive. Finally, the nurse finished with the cleaning and began to stitch the wound up so the bio-dust could work its magic. "Your arm should be fully healed within the next month or so. It depends on if you let it heal or not." The nurse said with slight sarcasm as she began wrapping the elbow.
"So what can I do with my arm?" Yang asked.
"Nothing until the doctor says otherwise." The nurse stated.
"But, I can't let my workouts fall behind!" Yang complained.
"You cannot use this arm. If you tried lifting anything more than a pound, the elbow would just get dislocated again." The nurse explained.
"Can't you make it go faster?" Yang asked.
"No." The nurse said.
"Damnit! This sucks." Yang said.
"Stop complaining. You should be happy that your elbow hurts more than your side." Blake said.
"Speaking of which: if you see any form of infection, like inflammation, swelling, or discoloration, head to the emergency room. Your body shows no signs of rejecting your new kidney, and your vitals are normal." The nurse explained.
"Since I'm sure she's going to go and exercise anyway, what places should she avoid working?" Blake asked.
"Ideally: all of them. But if she's going to anyway, don't work the right side of your body or any chest or ab exercises." The nurse said.
"You heard her, Yang." Blake said.
"Yeah, okay." Yang sighed.
"Have you heard anything about Weiss, yet?" Ruby asked.
The nurse checked her scroll and began reading through a few messages. "It looks like the surgery isn't finished yet, but everything is looking good so far. She's responding well to the blood transfusion; they've already removed about two inches of her large intestine, and they're currently replacing her liver."
Ruby began to comb her fingers through her hair and wipe her eyes from her crying. "Thank you…" she said.
"She'll be fine, Rubes." Yang said. The older sister grabbed a black marker to her right and drew a vertical line over her left eye, mimicking Weiss' scar. "I'm a Schnee! It'll take more than an ugly monster to take me down." Yang said in a surprisingly good Weiss impersonation causing both Ruby and Yang to chuckle.
"Okay, I have some medicine for all of you." The nurse said as she finished wrapping Yang's arm. "Pain medicine." She said as she gave each of the girls a bottle of pills. "Take two a day for a month, one when you wake up and another a few hours before bed. No drinking alcohol or operating machinery while taking them. It should go without say that there will be no missions or fighting until you're healed. If you still need more pain meds after the month, you'll have to schedule an appointment with your doctor." The nurse explained.
"Thank you." Ruby and Blake said, followed by Yang after a slight hit from Blake, as the nurse left the room.
"How are you, Blake?" Ruby asked.
"I'm fine. I'm more worried about you, Ruby. How are those burns?" Blake asked.
"So long as I have pain medicine, I don't even feel it. The shrapnel wasn't fun to get pulled out, but now that it's done, they're fine too. My arm is what's going to handicap me the longest, though." Ruby explained as she lifted her cast.
"First broken bone, Rubes. That's an important event…like popping your cherry!" Yang said.
"Yang!" Ruby pouted.
"I'll never understand how you two could have been raised together, attend the same school, and still have such conflicting personalities." Blake said before the room to their door opened revealing none other than the Knight-General himself.
"I hope you're feeling well, ladies." Sir Donovan said.
"Hell yeah." Yang said.
"I think she means 'Yes sir, I am. Thank you for paying for our medical treatment.' Or something like that." Blake said, getting a chuckle from the General.
"That's good to hear. I came here to begin your training." Sir Donovan said, causing the girls eyes to grow wide at his words. He then pulled out his scroll and a USB cord. "May I please have your scrolls for a moment." He said. The girls were definitely confused, but complied with his orders.
"Do you need Weiss' also?" Ruby asked.
"Yes, please." The General said as he gathered each of their scrolls and connected them to his own, one by one. "All finished. First and foremost, you'll need to access your email and find the form I sent you. After you sign it, you will officially be under my guidance; I will be your administrator. Secondly, I have added a few books to each of your scrolls. They will be marked 'other' in the 'textbook' category. I want you to read them and, yes, you will be tested on them. They may seem strange for you to read, but I assure you there is a reason. Finally, I have accepted a mission that requires my presence for up to three weeks. I have added my contact number into your scrolls as well; If you ever need anything, please let me know. Regardless of the time or reason, I am going to be here for you for the next four years…so, please do not hesitate to call me or shoot me a text."
"Thank you." Blake said while looking through her scroll.
"Yeah, thanks. How long are the books?" Yang asked.
"Really, Yang?" Ruby asked.
"What? I'm a fighter, not a book-worm." Yang stated.
"Well, throughout time, the best warriors have been skilled fighters AND brilliant strategists." Sir Donovan explained.
"Not all of them…" Yang mumbled.
"Yang. Read the books." Blake ordered causing Yang to sigh.
"Hmm. You don't seem the type to submit just because of a pretty face, Yang." The General joked.
"She bet a day of obedience for having a higher aura at the end of the Hunt. She lost." Blake said with a smug grin.
"It's probably a good thing that you won, Blake." The General stated. "Anyway, do you have any questions before I head back home to pack for my mission?" he asked.
"When can we begin signing up for classes?" Ruby asked.
"As soon as you sign the form I sent you; another E-Mail will be sent to you with a link for the Beacon student portal." Sir Donovan explained.
"And classes start in a month, right?" Yang asked.
"Yes. I should return before you have to start your classes and it will be at this time that I will test you on how much you've learned from these books." The General stated.
"Yes sir…and we'll be sure to tell Weiss the same." Blake said, the mere mention of Weiss' name causing Ruby to regress into her earlier worrying.
The Knight-General walked toward the door, stopping at Ruby's side. "She'll be fine, I'm sure." He said.
"You really think so?" Ruby asked.
"Don't worry. I wanted to train your team because of the potential I see in all of you. If I honestly believed that one of you wouldn't even be able to begin your training, I wouldn't have volunteered to be an admin." The General explained.
"Cool. Thanks." Ruby said, gaining a small smile followed by the doors to their room opening. The sight of a familiar snow white hair entering brought Ruby to tears of happiness. The young leader slowly stood up from her bed and walked over to her partner.
"Speak of the devil…" The General stated. "Told ya so…" he finished while looking at Ruby.
"Devil? Even Yang doesn't go that far." Weiss said softly earning a laugh from her teammates.
"Well, if she's in a good enough mood to make jokes, then I'd say the surgery was a complete success." Sir Donovan stated matter-of-factly.
"How ya feeling, Ice Queen?" Yang asked.
"I feel much better than earlier, that's certain." Weiss said. "How have you all been holding up?" she asked.
"I sustained the least amount of damage, so I didn't need much in the way of medical care. Just a few stitches, some antibiotics, and pain medicine." Blake said.
"Basically, my right half is broken, I got a new kidney, a few ribs broke, a concussion, a few bullet holes…uhhhh…other than that, I'm good. I'll make a full recovery, though." Yang said.
"That's good to hear." Weiss said as she looked to her right to see Ruby sitting next to her with her arms crossed on the bed and her head resting in her arms. It was obvious she had been crying from looking at her bloodshot eyes. Weiss took her left arm and combed her fingers through Ruby's hair and asked, "Ruby? How are you holding up?"
Ruby looked up, lifted her head, and began rubbing her eyes before speaking. "My right arm is broken, though it wasn't that bad…there won't be any permanent damage. I have stitches basically everywhere from shrapnel, and both of my arms are burned. I'll be fine, though…" Ruby stated.
"That's good, stop looking so down, Ruby. From what I've heard, we'll all be fine." Weiss said in a surprisingly uplifting tone.
"You'll be fine?!" Ruby asked immediately.
"Yes." Weiss said with a slight chuckle. "The wound in my upper body was almost completely fixed with bio-dust, and what couldn't be fixed with dust, was fixed with a graft. My lower wound was a bit worse; they removed five centimeters of my colon–"
"Hey, that nurse said that they removed two inches from your large intestine!" Yang interrupted.
"That's the same thing, Yang…" Blake said in an almost exhausted tone.
"Yeah, maybe I should put a middle school anatomy book in that scroll next." The General said.
"Oh my goodness, Yang." Weiss said after pushing her hair out of the front of her face. "Anyway, they also replaced my liver. They will have to take my vital signs every fifteen minutes for an hour. If my vital signs remain normal, then we'll know my body will accept the liver. Other than that, I received more bio-dust and another graft." Weiss finished.
Ruby began to wipe tears from her eyes again, "Thank…goodness…" she said in between gasps of air.
"Why are you crying? We'll be fine and we were successful!" Weiss said.
"But it was my orders that got you hurt…if I can't complete the mission and keep my team safe, what good am I?" Ruby wept.
"Ruby Rose, stop crying this instant. It was no one's fault that I got attacked from behind, except my own." Weiss lectured.
"But, I was the one that ordered Yang to follow me to occupy the soldiers. I let the Grimm through!" Ruby exclaimed as more and more tears began to flow. Ruby laid her head down and wept into her arms. Weiss placed her arm around her small leader and attempted to comfort her.
"I think we can all agree that there are things we need to improve upon. None of us got out of this unscathed." Blake stated.
"And that is what he is here for." Weiss said as she leaned Ruby's head over to see the Knight General. "Right?" she asked.
"Of course. And like I said, if you need any help or just want to talk, just let me know. Anytime, anywhere, any reason, I'm available." The general said as he continued to the door.
"Thank you, sir. We won't let you down…and I'll make sure that Yang does her work." Blake said.
"Yeah, yeah. Thanks Knight-bro!" Yang said
"Thank you, General Donovan." Ruby said rather sheepishly.
"Indeed. Thank you, sir." Weiss said, still leaning her arm across Ruby's shoulders.
"Sir? General? Perhaps there is something you can learn from Yang…let loose a little. We're going to be spending a lot of time together and probably putting our lives in each other's hands. So, let's be on a first name basis, at least." The General said as he leaned against the rim of the door. "Name's Lionel. I look forward to working with you." Lionel said with a smirk.
His comments caused the three girls to start laughing. "How about the mask? Can we see what you look like, too?" Yang asked.
"Woah, sweetheart. You have to buy me dinner, first." Lionel joked. "But, in all seriousness, I wear the mask for a reason. The Knights hide who they are, not simply as a matter of tradition, but as a matter of basic principle." He added, almost intending for it to sound like a riddle.
"Principle?" Yang asked.
"Yeah, in fact, let's see if you ladies can figure out what that principle is. Why does a knight where a mask?" Lionel asked.
"Will that be on the test?" Yang asked.
"Maybe." Lionel said with a smirk. "Answer it correctly, and I'll show you my face." He finished,
"Cool. I'ma call you Lion, though. Alright?" Yang asked.
"Do as you wish…" Lionel said as he turned and walked through the door while waving his hand. "Good evening, ladies." He finished.
"Bye." The girls said in unison. As soon as he left the room, the same nurse from earlier came into to check on Weiss.
"I just need to check your vitals really quick, Miss Schnee." The nurse said.
"Give it to us straight. How long does she have?" Yang said, feigning sadness.
"Yang!" Ruby pouted.
"Well, according to her vital signs, she has quite a while, yet." The nurse said.
"See Ruby. No harm done." Weiss said causing Ruby to give her a smile.
"We will have to move you ladies later on tonight. This is our surgical recovery unit and we'll need this space for other people that come through here. As soon as we get the rest of your vitals, Miss Schnee, we are going to move yourself and Miss Xiao Long. of you to two separate rooms." The nurse said.
"That's fine. What about Rubes and Blakey?" Yang asked.
"Miss Rose can stay another night if she wants, but the doctor has given both, Miss Rose and Miss Belladonna, the okay to go home." The nurse explained.
"We can't stay together?" Ruby asked.
"No. Our patient rooms are one person only. We can have a cot brought into their rooms if you want to spend the night." The nurse said.
"Yes, please. Could you one in each of their rooms?" Ruby asked.
"Sure. Is there anything else that I can do right now?" the nurse asked.
"No, I think we're good. Thanks." Yang said.
"Alright. I have my nurse's contact number on the board over here. If you need anything, just give me a call." The nurse said as she pointed over to a dry erase board before making her exit.
"Well, I'm beat. I'm going to sleep until it's time for us to move to the new room." Yang stated as she laid on her good said and covered herself up with the sheet.
"I'll go and grab some lunch. Do you all want anything?" Blake asked.
"Can you get me a cheeseburger?" Yang asked. "Oh! And fries!" she added.
"I can't eat anything until tomorrow morning…but thank you, Blake." Weiss said. "I think I'll also get some sleep." She finished as she gathered her sheets and blanket.
Ruby looked at the faunus with her eyes downcast, "Thanks, Blake…but I don't want–"
"Ruby, you need to eat something." Weiss interrupted.
"I'm not really that hungry to–" Ruby's words were immediately cut off by her stomach's growling.
"Ruby, please don't torture yourself. You're not going to help yourself and I certainly don't feel any better seeing you like this." Weiss explained.
Ruby tilted her head down and covered her eyes with her hair. Blake saw that Ruby's hand was squeezing Weiss' tightly, "I'll bring you something to eat, Ruby. What would you like?" Blake asked.
Ruby shook her head, "No, you don't have to–"
"Get her a shrimp fajita." Weiss said, knowing that Ruby loved seafood.
"No problem. I'll be back later." Blake said as she slid the hair out of Yang's already sleeping face. She then turned to the door and left.
"I'm going to get some sleep as they come in here and get my vital signs. Try and do the same." Weiss said in a kind tone as she laid on her back. Ruby, still holding onto Weiss hand, laid her head in her arms and closed her eyes. "Dunce."