Wren Takimoto threw herself onto her bed and screamed into her pillow. She had just lied to her two best friends in the entire world!

But it was for the best, she kept telling herself. If they were to know the truth, they would only be sad and dreary for the next month, and they'd be hassling me every chance they could get, just like Dao. They don't need to know the real truth. It would only hurt them.

There was a soft knock on the door.

"Come in," Wren situated herself on her bed, underneath the covers of her blanket. A nurse walked into the room with an IV and a bag of red liquid. Wren cringed when she realized that it was blood.

"Good evening, Wren," the nurse said, beaming. "How was your Friday night? Out with the girls, I'm guessing?"

Wren giggled. "Yes, Mona, I went to the movies with Riku and Risa Harada."

"Hmm…Harada, eh? Oh yes, their father works for that large factory downtown, doesn't he?" Wren nodded.

"Yup. That's him." Mona took out a cleaning pad and rubbed Wren's left elbow-crook with it. "What do we have today, Mona?"

"Well, let's see," she took out three syringes, one full of a blue liquid, another hooked up to an IV bag, and the last hooked up to the bag of blood. "Here's a pain-killer…"

"Oh, I love those. It puts me out right away." the nurse and patient chuckled together.

"Then I'm going to hook you up to your IV so that you get more fluid in you…"

"I thought we only did that once a week."

The nurse shook her head. "Dr. Dao wants you to go on one a day now."

Wren moaned. "Every night? Why?"

Mona shrugged. "Not even God knows, my child." Mona saw Wren eyeing the bag of blood with distaste. "I'm sorry, Wren, but you know that you are low on blood. Blood transfusion is the only thing that can help you right now."

"They ran out of O negative at the hospital in Hokkaido, so I haven't had a transfusion in weeks."

"It's a wonder that you're still alive, child. Your luck should have run out by now." Wren smiled weakly.

"I'm afraid it may have run out, Mona…" Mona looked down, and then back up to the pale girl.

"Perk up, my sweet. You never know. There could be someone out there with your compatible bone marrow type that's even close to home."

"We can only hope," Wren muttered as she closed her eyes and waited for the small tingling sensation in her elbow-crook. When it came, Wren breathed deeply in and out.

"You certainly are a pro at this, Wren," Mona complimented, going around the foot of the bed and beginning to clean one of the veins that sat on top of Wren's wrist. "Now we'll do the IV." Wren relaxed again as she felt yet another stinging sensation and felt the fluid rushing into her veins, as if they were desperate for nutrients. "Relax now, Wren," Mona soothed, placing a comforting hand on Wren's shoulder. Wren continued breathing in deeply.

"Can we…do the painkiller now? I'm really starting to feel that blood now…" Mona smiled and injected the blue liquid into the IV bag. Wren watched as the blue liquid traveled down the IV tubing and entered her vein.

"It should be working its way through your body now." Mona mentioned, rubbing Wren's shoulder gently. "Would you like me to stay here while you sleep?" Wren laughed dryly.

"You have other patients, Mona, and most of them need you more than I do. If I need anything, I'll call you, I promise." The old nurse smiled warmly and exited the room. Wren slowly began to feel the pain leave her, and she knew that the painkiller was working. She sighed with relief and fell into a shallow sleep.