Neon Genesis Evangelion - Nothing Will Ever Change This

Disclaimer- I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of the characters. I do, however, own the characters that I introduce into the NGE storyline.

Chapter 32: Hi There

Lake

"Almost there… steady… now drop it!" A large crane was lifting Sam's entry plug from the dark lake. I was able to see Cass trying to push his way to the front to get a better view of it. "Okay, now get me a few men, this is hard to open without a machine." About five guys came and they all pulled on the two hatch-handles. Soon enough, they parted and the smell of dead air went everywhere. Sam was hunched over in the chair.

"Oh my God…" I muttered absent mindedly. She was so pale; her normally brown hair was almost black. The most terrifying thing was that here eyes were still open, showing grey pupils.

"Good God… get Akagi down here!" Misato was in a panic. Why? She was already dead, that was obvious. In a couple minutes, Ritsuko arrived at the scene and talked to Misato for a couple of seconds. Her eyes went wide and she jumped in the plug, picking up Sam and running back to NERV.

---

NERV

"Where the hell is she! I want to see Sam!" Cass was still being held by police men. He was struggling profusely, and obviously could not move.

"Dr. Akagi, what happened?" I was talking to the pale woman.

"Sam… she's… alive…" She was stuttering.

"WHAT! How? She was in there for more than a day! The life support only lasts twelve hours, what about the rest of the time?" she just nodded.

"Shinji, I really don't know. Saying that it was a miracle would be an understatement. The CAT scans showed that her heart was the size of a grapefruit, yet still pumping. The MAGI says that the air pressure inside of the plug was 24 PSI. She should have died instantly, but her body kept on going," How was this possible?

"But… she… can I see her? Please?" Akagi nodded and led me to a hospital room. There laid an unconscious Sam. "Why… is she so small?" Her body was tiny compared to normal.

"The constant pressure for that long literally shrunk her," shrunk?

"Her eyes, they were grey. Why?" I just thought that it was because she was dead.

"Shinji… God, I can't even talk…" she started to get teary-eyed, "She's blind. When the pressure suddenly shot up, her eyes didn't have time to adjust, and her retinas collapsed."

"So… when will she wake up?" this actually brought some happiness to Akagi's face.

"That's about the only good news. She is not in a coma, she's just unconscious. I predict that she will wake up by the end of the day. Shinji, I need you to stay here with her. When she wakes up, she will panic at the changes to her body, you need to comfort her." I simply nod, sit down and wait.

---

NERV

I have been waiting for a five hours now, and it was starting to get REALLY late. I'd say that it was about seven in the morning, and I was about to fall asleep. Before I do, I get up to go see Sam.

"Please wake up soon," I put a hand on hers and stare at her for awhile. Suddenly, her eyes shoot open and she begins to thrash around and scream.

"HELP! I can't see! Cass! Help!" she started to cry.

"Shhh! I'm here Sam, I'm here. Calm down," I hugged her and held her still.

"Shinji? What's going on? Why can't I see?" that last part actually made me shiver.

"Just calm down," I lean back and look into her grey eyes, "I'll tell you later. How do you feel?" How will I tell her?

"Fine, a little weak though. I feel really small. What happened out there, Shinji?" she was calming down now.

"Gluttony jumped on top of you and from then on we don't really know. We thought you were dead, you even had a tomb stone put in. I found your entry plug in the lake," her eyes widened.

"I remember! I saw it coming towards me, so I hit the eject button. Shinji, this is starting to get creepy. Please take this blindfold or whatever you have on me off." She puts her hands on her face and feels around for a piece of cloth. Her fingers finally find her eyes… her open eyes. "Oh my God…"

"Sam…" I hug her again. She cries into my shoulder. I look out the window and see the sun slowly rise up from the mountains. "I'm sorry…"

"Let me se… let me TALK to Cass. Please." I leave and get him from his room – which he was locked in.

"Come on," he follows me and we walk slowly to her room. He has changed back into his normal army outfit. "Cass… you have to know something. Sam is… she's not the same as when you last saw her."

"What happened?" I look at him, his normally strong face was dropping and his eyes had bags under them.

"She is… blind." He stops dead in his tracks and bows his head.

"Shinji… please tell me you're joking." I shake my head, and then he falls to the ground, pounding the tile with his fists. "Damnit!" his hands start to bleed, I just leave him alone.

"Cass, she wants to talk to you." He jumps up and pushes me to the hospital.

"Show me where she is! Now!"

"Don't worry, I will. Just calm down before you see her. She doesn't need this extra stress." She could literally die because of it.

"Fine… I'm ready. Open the door." I do and he sees her. "S… Sam?"

"Cass! You're here!" she would have jumped out of bed if she could.

"Sam… I'm… so sorry. This is all my fau…" she puts a slim finger on his mouth.

"No. No it wasn't. I was careless and paid for it. Don't blame yourself." He stares at her growingly blank eyes and falls to his knees and cries into her stomach.

---

One Hour Later

Cass still hasn't left her side, and neither have I. Asuka joined us a couple of minutes ago, and freaked out seeing her friend like this. She was still crying silently in the chair.

"Children, I need to talk with you. Because of recent… incidences, all of you will be skipping this year of school. All of your test scores show that you will be able to, so you will not be attending school." That deep voice came into play just then. I turn to see Gendo, blankly staring at us. "Sam, however, will be going to physical therapy and – if she wishes – will attend classed to learn brail."

"Sure." Came a response from Sam. I was surprised that she did reply at all.

"Good. Your physical therapy will begin tomorrow. Be ready early in the morning. Also, even though this is a given, council needs proof that you can't pilot anymore," she quivered a little at the last part, "so I need you to sign this." He takes out a piece of paper that looked like a contract.

"Real fucking funny! You know damn well she can't see to sign shit!" Asuka was up in his face now. Even though he was at least five inches taller than her, she was staring him down.

"I realize that, but I need…" Sam cuts in.

"Just give it here, sorry if my handwriting is sloppy." She was actually joking around. Even after all of this, she still jokes around! Gendo puts his finger where she needed to sign until the pen made contact with it. She scribbled what looked like her name and he left.

"Asshole," Asuka muttered as he walked off. I'm sure he heard it because he stopped for a second, then was on his way.

"Lunch is here! Oh! I didn't know she had guests, hi." A nurse came in with a bowl of soup. "If you don't mind, you have to leave. I have to feed h…" Cass takes the bowl from her.

"I'll do it. I'm sure you have other patients," she understands and walks off. Asuka and I move aside and let him lean next to her. Even her eyes were wide as dinner plates.

"Cass… you don't have to…" she was having trouble comprehending his actions.

"I want to. Now just wait, it's still hot," both me and Asuka just stood there staring as we watched him spoon feed her. For those few moments, he actually looked like a parent with a child. When she was done, he spoke up, "I'll take care of you…"

A/N- I was actually going let her stay dead, but I decided against it. I have plans for her… Anyway, now that the kids don't have school, what will they do now? Will Cass actually take care of her? Find out in the next chapter; Waves, until then, keep on keepin' on!