It was a full day before Yang, Weiss, and Blake got any word of Ruby's condition. A full day of worrying for Weiss and Blake, and outright despair for Yang. Their dorm seemed empty without Ruby bouncing off the walls or rallying the team for some crazy new idea. When the announcement finally came over the intercom to report to the infirmary, Weiss, Blake, and Yang were very nearly at the end of their ropes.
As Team WBY walked through the doors to Beacon's in-house hospital, one of the best in Vale, they were met by a tall man in a white doctor's coat and wireframe glasses. "Hello, young ladies," the man said in a deep rumbling voice, "My name is Dr. Redmond. I assume you will want to see your leader."
Dr. Redmond lead the three girls deeper into the hospital, stopping in front of white door with the inscription "Rose, Ruby". Without further ado, Dr. Redmond opened the door and let the girls in to the medium-sized white room where Ruby slept.
Yang, Weiss, and Blake were met with the sight of a pale but healthy looking Ruby sleeping with white sheets pulled up to her chin, and an IV drip attached to her arm. The three girls immediately rushed to her side, with Yang reaching out and almost grabbing Ruby in a hug before the doctor cleared his throat.
"Please, Miss Xiao Long, let her rest a moment longer." Doctor Redmond told Yang, pulling out his scroll and tapping it as he did so. "I suppose you will want to know the extent of her injuries before we go further-"
"What's wrong with her, doc? Why isn't she awake?" Yang cut in, desperately wanting to make sure for herself that her beloved sister was alright. Dr. Redmond looked her in the eye and said soothingly, "Deep breathes, Miss Xiao Long. Your sister has been in a medically induced coma since she was brought in, and we have only just made preparations to bring her out now." With Yang calmed by his soothing, professional demeanor, Dr. Redmond looked at his scroll for a few moments, then continued. "Ruby Rose was brought in with the report that she had been poisoned while fighting a group of Grimm. While unusual, this has happened before." The doctor paused for a moment, looking at the group of young girls around him. "Though I will say I have never seen a venom so... destructive."
"Destructive? What do you mean?" Blake asked, frowning. "What... did it do to her?"
"Excellent question, Miss Belladonna." Doctor Redmond replied. "Most venoms attack a certain organ or system in the body, attempting to disable the victim in some way. This venom, however, as more... indiscriminate. For a start, it ate through her aura, no easy feat. This is most likely why Miss Rose was reported to be acting strangely after she was poisoned- her body was fighting the venom with her aura." Doctor Redmond broke off, making eye contact with each of the girls before his eyes settled on Ruby. "After depleting her aura, the venom began to deteriorate nearly every system in her body. This, in addition to mild frostbite, was the state we received her in."
Weiss flinched noticeably at the mention of frostbite, and Yang shot her a venomous glance. "See what you did?" Yang hissed, though her heart wasn't in the rebuke. Doctor Redmond turned to Weiss, asking, "Was it you, Miss Schnee, who put her in that block of dust?"
Weiss nodded, her eyes fixed on the floor as she cursed herself for hurting Ruby even more. She was somewhat surprised when the doctor reached out a hand and patted her shoulder. "That was good thinking, Miss Schnee." Doctor Redmond said in his deep voice. "It slowed the progress of the venom. Miss Rose was in bad shape when she was handed over to us by the paramedics- I cannot guarantee she would still be alive had you not done that."
Weiss, despite the situation, couldn't help but smile slightly. Her plan had worked! She had saved Ruby! Her moment of elation was brought crashing down by Doctor Redmond's next few words. "However, I have not gotten to the worst of Miss Rose's injuries."
"What could be worse than her whole body being destroyed?" Blake asked, putting an arm around Yang as the blonde girl flinched at the thought of worse things happening to her dear Ruby.
"Those injuries, while serious, were easily solved." Doctor Redmond replied. "The application of healing dust was able to bring her out of the danger zone, and young Miss Rose has a powerful aura to heal her. However..." Doctor Redmon paused, gathering his thoughts. "Do you three know what the blood brain barrier is?"
Weiss and Blake nodded, while Yang looked confused. "Umm... the what?" Yang asked, frowning as she slipped out from under Blake's arm and moved over to where Ruby slept.
"The blood brain barrier, Miss Xiao Long, is a precisely what it sounds like: a membrane that prevents harmful molecules in the blood from moving into the brain. In this case, however..."
Weiss gasped, and Blake her hands over her mouth in shock. "You don't mean... Weiss whispered, a brand new fear moving through her.
"Yes," The doctor confirmed, mostly for Yang's benefit. "The venom was able to infiltrate Miss Rose's brain. The imaging we have done points to the sections of her brain associated with memory, emotion, and speech sustained heavy damage."
"Didn't you just... you know... use healing dust on her? Yang asked, a note of desperation entering her voice. Weiss was feeling the desperation as well. All the joy she had felt, knowing she had saved her partner, was now frozen in her chest. While she hadn't taken a huge number of anatomy classes, she was certain that any damage in Ruby's brain could change who she was...
Or make her never wake up again.
Answering Yang's question, Doctor Redmond said, "Sadly, no. We don't really understand how the brain works, but it has been proven to be too complicated for healing dust. The results of such a procedure are... not good."
As silence descended on the group, with Blake and Weiss joining Yang next to Ruby's bed and hugging one another to numb the pain, Doctor Redmond cleared his throat again.
"Auras are capable of incredible things, so she might pull through unharmed. Either way, I have chosen to move ahead with her resuscitation." Reaching into a cabinet on one of the walls in the room, the doctor pulled out a hypodermic needle and a small medical kit. Moving over to Ruby, he moved the covers slightly to expose the young girl's arm, and began to swab a place on her upper arm with a cotton ball. As the sharp smell of alcohol filled the room, Yang asked slowly, "What are you doing to my sister?"
Doctor Redmond replied, "This shot contains stimulants that will bring Miss Rose out of her coma. She should wake in less than half an hour." As the doctor pulled the cover off the hypodermic needle, he smiled disarmingly at the young group of girls. "I assume you will want to be here for that." Without further ado, the doctor pushed the needle into Ruby's skin, depressed the plunger, and then covered the place of the shot with a small bandaid. "Now," Doctor Redmond said to the three girls, "You ladies just have to wait. I have other patients to attend to, but I will return later. Hopefully Miss Rose will be awake by then." With that, Doctor Redmond exited the room, leaving a silent team RWBY behind him.
If the day long wait for news on Ruby's condition was bad, to Weiss the quiet room was ten times worse. She and her teammates huddled together as they stared at Ruby, waiting for a twitch of an eyelid, an intake of breath, anything to show that the girl was going to be okay. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of the young Rose breathing softly in her sleep.
Finally, Yang broke the silence. "Guys... can we talk about something? It's... too quiet." Neither of the other girls answered immediately, still looking at Ruby's sleeping face. Finally, Blake chimed in, "What is there to talk about? Maybe you should just appreciate silence once in a while, Yang."
"I can appreciate silence!" Yang pouted, seeming hurt. "I'm sure you can," Blake replied,rolling her eyes, "So why don't you try to exercise that ability more?"
"Hey, are you saying I'm too loud?" Yang cried, before realizing what she was doing. "Okay," she admitted, "Maybe you're right. Maybe."
Weiss turned away from the two, sighing at their antics. She, for one, felt like this was not time to be joking. Weiss hadn't had a friend in a long time, and definitely not one like Ruby.
Sighing again, Weiss' eyes fell to Ruby, again looking for a sign of life...
She yelped when she found Ruby staring back.
At the sound of Weiss' yelp, Blake and Yang spun to face her and Ruby, both having similar reactions to Ruby's sudden life. "Ruby!" Yang cried, a weight lifted off her sisterly heart, "You're okay!"
Yang and Blake hugged, almost jumping for joy. Weiss, attempting to maintain her calm Schnee demeanor, couldn't stop herself from reaching a hand out towards the young girl on the bed, who was still being strangely quiet.
When Ruby flinched away from the outstretched hand, a look of fear and confusion on her face, Weiss felt the same tightening in her chest that she had just before Ruby collapsed. Something was wrong...
Yang had no such compunctions. She pushed past Weiss, ignoring her surprised "ah", and wrapped her younger sister in a hug. "Oh Ruby, I'm so glad you're okay!" Yang shouted, tears beginning to form in her eyes despite her joy. As Ruby struggled weakly against the hug, Yang simply tightened her arms, overjoyed at the recovery of her younger sister.
Then Ruby managed to yank an arm free, curled her fist, and punched Yang in the jaw.
Eyes widening, a hand going up to the place where Ruby had slugged her, Yang reeled back. Her tears began to flow free as she stared, hurt, at her younger sister. "Ruby... what...?" Yang whispered, all her joy gone in an instant.
Ruby met her gaze head on. Ruby wrapped her arms protectively around herself, eyeing Team WBY with a mix of anger and genuine fear. Ruby opened her mouth as if to speak, frowned, and closed it again. She continued to stare down the girls around her, as if daring them to make another move.
Team WBY was, to say the least, confused. Ruby was awake again, but... at the same time she was not. Her silver eyes, normally so full of life, seemed dead and dull in a way Weiss knew would haunt her dreams for quite some time. Weiss stepped forward uncertainly, and Ruby glared at her like a cornered animal. The ferocity in those dead eyes threatened to stop Weiss in her tracks, but she refused to be so easily cowed.
"Come on Ruby, it's me! It's your partner, Weiss!" Weiss crooned as she stepped towards Ruby, hands held out non threateningly. Ruby seemed to relax slightly at the tone of her voice, but when Weiss got close enough to touch her, Ruby's body stiffened again as she again flinched away from her partner.
As if on cue, the door to the hospital room opened, and Doctor Redmond stepped through. He took quick stock of the situation, looking from Weiss, standing next to Ruby's bed wringing her hands, to Yang crying into Blake's shoulder, to Ruby's dead gaze that was now fixed on him. "What is the problem here?" Doctor Redmond asked, frowning. "Miss Rose appears to be awake."
Yang turned to him, her eyes full of tears. "She... she... she hit me! Ruby wouldn't do that!" Saying it out loud made Yang burst into tears again, and Blake once again pulled her into a hug.
Doctor Redmond's frown deepened, and he walked over to Ruby's bed, giving Weiss a comforting pat on the shoulder as he passed her. He bent down to put his eyes on the same level as Ruby's, asking, "What seems to be the matter Miss Rose?"
Ruby opened her mouth, but closed it with another frown. The doctor leaned back and stroked his chin thoughtfully, seeming to think hard for a moment. He nodded thoughtfully, and asked, "Miss Rose, can you understand me? A nod will suffice." Ruby nodded slowly, shooting glances at Weiss, Blake, and Yang as she did so. "I thought so." Doctor Redmond continued. "In that case, do you know who I am?"
Ruby slowly shook her head. With a heavy sigh, Doctor Redmond asked one final question. "Do you know who these girls are?"
Ruby shook her head.
Every single one of the older girls flinched, and Yang began to sob again, though this time her tears were answered by Blake's, who hugged Yang even tighter as the two tried to come to terms with what had just happened.
Weiss was too shocked to even begin to cry. Ruby didn't remember her. She had lost her Ruby. Weiss brought her hands up to her mouth and closed her eyes, the pain momentarily too great to handle. And I thought everything was going to be okay... Weiss thought. What a fool.
Doctor Redmond turned to the distraught girls with a grave look on her face. "I feared something like this would occur. I believe the damage to Ruby's brain was great enough to do two things." The doctor sighed heavily and looked at each girl in turn before continuing. "I believe Ruby's memory has been damaged, and her ability to speak has gone as well. Physically, she can talk, but the part of her brain responsible for that speech is too damaged to function anymore."
The silence in the room was deafening, with the exception of Yang's hiccupping sobs. After there was no answer for a few moments, Doctor Redmond turned back to Ruby. "Get some more sleep, Miss Rose." He told the young girl. "It seems you aren't out of the woods yet."
As Ruby lay back down on the bed, though without taking her eyes off the group around her, Doctor Redmond said to Team WBY, "We are going to have to keep Miss Rose for a little while longer, it seems. Now, I'm going to have to ask you three to return to your dorms."
"But... wha..." Yang blubbered through her tears, desperately not wanting to leave Ruby's side. Weiss was slightly more coherent in her response. "Sir, is she... is Ruby going to get better? What's going to happen to her?"
Doctor Redmond looked at her for a moment, and said matter-of-factly, "I don't know. I will have to run a few more scans on her to understand more fully the extent of the damage. As for recovery... auras are capable of miracles beyond what medicine can bring. Her recovery is possible, though I will say this: it is not likely. As to what happens to her from here... I will bring this matter to Ozpin."
Pausing before continuing, Doctor redmond began to move Team WBY out of the room. "Regardless, staying here will only cause more pain for you three." The doctor cracked a sad smile as he said, "I know she was your friend, but nothing can be gained by staying. We will do everything we can to bring your Ruby back to you. Trust us."
Grudgingly, Blake, Yang, and Weiss filed out of the hospital room, Blake and Yang still supporting each other. As the three girls trudged back down the hallway and out the door to leave Beacon's infirmary, Weiss turned left as Yang and Blake went right to return to their dorms. In response to Blake's questioning look, Weiss mustered a smile and said, "I think I'll go to the library. I need to calm down a bit." The faunus girl looked at her strangely for a moment, then nodded quietly and continued walking with the distraught Yang.
As soon as Weiss rounded the bend from them, she slid to the ground against the wall in the empty hallway. Bringing her knees up to her chin, Weiss began to cry like she hadn't cried in years. A part of her, the Schnee part, screamed at her to get up. The rest of her, however, knew only despair. Weiss had felt that Ruby was so special, so precious, and now she was gone. Ruby was still there, still breathing, but that didn't mean anything if Ruby wasn't Ruby.
At that thought, the weight of the situation hit Weiss all at once. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed even harder, crying for all the time she had spent alone, times that had been ended by a little girl in red. As Weiss cried, there alone in the hallway, she could only muster one thought.
Ruby... oh Ruby...
I may have lied about the whole "murdered" thing. Kind of.
Anyway, second chapter! Such a happy story so far, isn't it? More importantly, update schedules. I am quite bad at the whole "deadline" thing, so I can't really promise anything, but I hope to have about 2 weeks between chapters. I can dream, at least.
As always, please review, and I'll answer the ones I can. I need the motivation, at least.