I diciplined myself quite a bit to finish this chapter before summer break started, but if you read the part I wrote at the bottom, then you'll know that I'll probably post this chapter twice, this one and an edited one later on. But if you guys like the chapter the way it is now, then just tell me and I'll just start working on the fourth chapter, kk?
Also, the feedback on this has been simply amazing, people. Keep up the good work and keep on sending me your reviews/views/critiques!
And yaaaay you guys get to meet my new character in this chapter! D
Disclaimer: none of the Ouran High School Host Club characters belong to me, although I wish they did.
X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X
The rythmic beeping of machines and tick-tocking of a wall clock filled the slightly darkened hospital room. A young girl with dark brown hair lay motionless on her bed, the moonlight rippling over the bedsheets and across her face, giving her a luminescent appearance. Several cords snaked out from beneath her sheets and connected with bags filled with fluids and drugs, all hanging untouched beside her. Her chest rose and fell slowly as she slept eerily peacefully. One of the bags, containing a sedative required to keep her asleep until she recovered, was alarmingly low. If the bag were to empty and the drug was no longer being pumped into her, then she would wake - most likely screaming in pain.
The clock on the wall read 11:32 PM. On the far side of the room, a red light switched on and an alarm began beeping. A boy, who sat on the opposite side of the room, looked up from the book he was reading and turned towards the sound. He marked the page he was on and set the book down, then climbed out of his bed and quietly went to shut the alarm off. Then, picking up the remote from the girl's bed, pressed the CALL button to alert the nurses. A good while later, one of the night nurses walked into the room. The boy turned to her.
"...Her bag is empty. She needs a new one." the boy said to her. The nurse nodded and left to get a new bag. She returned soon after and replaced the bag, unscrewing the IV cord from the empty bag and attaching it to the new one, then disposing of the old bag.
"Thank you, Kyo, for alerting me." the nurse said to the boy before she left. Kyo nodded, then climbed back into bed and opened his book.
Kyo, a sixteen-year old male, had just recently been moved into the same room as Haruhi. He had long black hair that hung somewhat limply around his face. His eyes were dark, but gentle and kind. Tonight, like countless other nights, he sat up in his bed, a small wall lamp over his head, either reading a book of some sort or sketching in a tattered black notebook beside his bed. He rarely slept, and was beginning to become a bit of an insomniac; dark cresents had already started to appear under his eyes. The doctors and nurses who tended to him recommended, sometimes even demanded, that he at least try and sleep for more than two hours every few days. But he simply ignores them.
He glanced up at the clock again: 11:43 PM. It had taken a whole eleven minutes to get Haruhi's medicine bag changed. Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.
"Stupid nurses." he thought aloud to himself as he angrily opened his book again. "They should just leave a replacement bag by her bed so I can simply replace it when the other one empties, without having to wait for the nurses to get off their asses and come do it themselves."
The remainder of the night went smoothly. Kyo glanced over at Haruhi every half hour or so to check and see if she was still alright. At around three in the morning, Kyo placed his book back on his stand, then stood and walked over to the door. Quietly, he closed the door just enough so there was a small crack of light still making its way into the room from the hall, then went back to his bed. He turned off his small light, then wormed himself beneath his covers and fell asleep.
X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X
-The Next Morning (a few hours later)-
All around her, she could hear voices. Voices talking, whispering. The voices...they sounded so familiar to her. Like they belonged to someone she knew. To someone that she cared for, who cared about her, who wanted to talk to her and have her respond. But that was it: she couldn't respond. Every time she heard the person - or people - say something to her, she would try to say something back, but feel her throat blocked by something, making it impossible to talk or make any sound. She wanted to talk to them, to let them know that she was alive, that she had survived...
Survived what? What was this incredibly uneasy feeling? This feeling that she had been violated in some way? Why was she in so much pain? She tried to remember, but when she tried, some kind of force made her stop thinking, stop trying to think altogether.
There was another voice, but this one was unfamiliar to her. She was confused, frightened, afraid. She couldn't open her eyes, couldn't speak, couldn't move.
She was afraid. Afraid that someone would harm her, or that someone had already harmed her, and she was just merely sitting there, expecting more of the torture.
Far off, she could here a child whimpering, like they were trying to prevent themselves from crying. She wanted to wake up, to go and comfort the child, to show them that she was alright, and they didn't need to worry anymore. She wanted to wake up. She needed to.
"...ru...hi...ru...hi..." A distant voice called out, but everything they were saying didn't make any sense.
"...ha...hi...ha...hi..." The voice called out again. It sounded to her like they were calling her name. She tried to speak again, but found she was still incapable of doing so. She felt so helpless. So useless. Tears welled up in her eyes.
A hand, so soft and delicate, touched her cheek and gently wiped away the tears. She recoiled at the feeling, at the sensation of suddenly being touched, when she could not see anyone in the darkness of her mind. The hand - it was warm. The fingertips were smooth, and the palms were as well. She wanted to wake up. To open her eyes and see the person who was so kind to her. To find out where she was, where the other people were. She needed to wake up!
X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X
Tamaki tried again to rouse her, calling her name softly. The others crowded around the foot of Haruhi's bed - Honey sat up on the edge of the bed, hugging his stuffed pink bunny, and whimpering slightly. One of the attending nurses had told them that they could try to wake her, but was doubtful that she would come around.
It had been a few days since she was admitted into the hospital, and since then, has been in a comatose state. Being in a coma was an obvious reaction by her body. Her mind must have known that something was wrong and she needed time to heal, so her mind simply shut down. The doctors told the Host Club, as well as the head of the school, the situation that she was in, and that it was likely that, when she did manage to wake up, she would either: a) suddenly remember all of the events and be traumatized, making her feel insecure and making it nearly impossible for her to go back to school any time soon, or b) she would have amnesia and wouldn't recall any of the events, making it an even greater shock to her when they tell her what had happened to her and why she was in the hospital, as well as making her insecure and making it impossible to have her go back to school any time soon. Everyone just prayed that she would remember everything, so they wouldn't have to tell her everything.
After calling her name for a second time, Tamaki stopped. He had noticed tears forming on the corners of Haruhi's eyes. He reached up to brush them away, but Kyo reached her first. He gently wiped away the tears, but was slightly alarmed to see her body tense at his touch, and brought his hand back.
Tamaki heard soft footsteps coming towards him, and turned to see Honey walking towards the head of the bed, clutching his pink stuffed rabbit. When he reached Tamaki, he lifted his rabbit up and placed it beside Haruhi's arm on the bed, shifting one of its arms so it appeared to be holding onto her hand. Tamaki reached down and ruffled Honey's hair a little, smiling kindly at him, before Honey walked back over to Mori and sat down in his lap. Kyo watched Honey's little act and smiled.
A soft shuffling arose from Haruhi's bed, and everyone turned their attention to her; Her head was moving from side to side, her eyes contorting slightly, as though she were trying to wake up. Tamaki placed a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed it, calling her name softly.
The world seemed to have stopped for a moment as every eye stared at her. Everyone had been so anxious, so nervous, for the past few days, just waiting for her to wake back up and to let them all know that she was alright. The room seemed to pulse with the collective heartbeats of all of those closest to her. Kyo looked around nervously, now unsure on whether he should be this close to her or not.
Slowly, very slowly, Haruhi opened her eyes.
X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X
I've been trying to improve my writing style for months now. I hope you like my new-er style (if you noticed it). I was reading the book Skellig (forgot the author) and tried using the author's writing style. I think I like it better now than before. It's easier this way. Anyways, I really hope you all were satisfied with this chapter. Send me your feedback on it, whether it be positive or constructive (don't like flamies).
I'll try and write the fourth chapter during the summer, but if I do manage to finish it during the summer, I most likely won't be able to post it until I go back to school in the fall, seeing as I no longer have internet at my house and am not able to reach a place that has internet because all of the friends that I have that have internet are all too busy doing their own things and palling around with each other to even realize that I still fucking exist. D It's been happening a lot lately, especially when my two best friends decided to start going steady. AND, not too long after they got together, my now-ex-boyfriend, Chicken De Noodley Noodle III, broke up with me. Even though it's been a few months now that we haven't been together, I'm still sort of angry/depressed about it. I mean, without the internet and with my closest friends ignoring me, how the hell am I supposed to fill the void that has now formed in my heart? You tell me.
' Sorry about the little anger speel that I did there. I just get so pissed when my friends are too busy paying attention to each other to even notice me.
I might add more onto this chapter, since it isn't really finished yet, but I just wanted to get it on the internet before school let out for the summer. So yeah. But anyways, there's still more to come! (I hope o.o;)