Big thankies to Kaiana Alicia Kaiba for a character and story alert. =D See bottom Author's Note for more details!
The drive to the closest hospital was an hour long. Kain had to take the only bridge to the mainland. It was the longest bridge and was the bulk of the drive. Now that it was his lunch "break," he knew that all the traffic congestion had been long gone. All the workers who lived on Sea Bells took the highway at the two rush hours of the day; one in the morning, and one in the evening.
There was one toll that Kain had to get through, but being in the emergency vehicle with his sirens going he passed all that with ease. It was not every day that an emergency happened in their small town.
Through the entire ride, Kain kept on looking back at her. He still did not know her name but he knew that whatever is was had to match her. Since there was no change in her condition, he focused on the road. The wind was blowing hard and it forced him to keep the hummer from swerving (This was actually a funny sight; a large, tough machine being blown away by the ocean breeze).
Soon, Kain was at the hospital which was right off the highway, as per expected. At the emergency room entrance, he honked his horn and ran around the front to pick up a limp girl and carry her to an awaiting gurney. The nurse station was is array; this visit was the beginning of an abnormally quiet day.
The nurses hooked her up to an intravenous hydration supply and a heart monitor. The head nurse then took him to the desk to fill out paper work…. But he did not know anything about her. Kain assured the nurse that he will send for her belongings immediately. He borrowed the phone and called up the newbie to bring in the bag.
Meanwhile, the girl herself was undergoing intensive healing. The doctors bathed her body in cold water, trying to ease up the burns. They told Kain that they will give her anesthesia and keep her under while they tried to applied a pain relieving medication to her. The doctors also concluded that she had hyperthermia and she will be given paracetamol in her intravenous drip to bring down her fever. That was all they could tell him.
Kain waited in the entrance for the newbie, named Alicia, to bring the girl's apparatus. She walked in the door a few minutes later. The breeze form outside whipped her hair around her face. She was not as tan as Kain, but she still had some color to her. Her lithe frame seemed to glide across the lobby floor, which was quite a comparison to her athletic body.
"Hey, I brought her belongings. How is she?" Alicia asked.
"She's stable and they hooked her up to an IV drip. She was dehydrated pretty badly." He said solemnly. His face looked pained and stressed. Alicia knew that her boss was overworked. She might as well keep his mind off of what mentally fatigued him.
"So….. how did you find her? Were you creeping on her?" she humored. He did not laugh at that. His eyes actually got a darker shadow on them.
"No, I was making my daily rounds. She has been here since this morning; even before I did. She had a camera set up, so I thought she was a crazy artist. I just let her be. Then I patrolled on my lunch break and found her. She must have fell asleep in the open sun." he explained nonchalantly.
Alicia thought through the scenario. Why would he patrol through the forest? No one goes there. Everyone knows the stories about what is beyond it… But she shrugged it off, not really caring about some chick that just made her beloved boss anxious for her safety.
Then, a doctor came to talk to Kain. The doctor wanted to know what circumstances she was under when Kain found her.
"She suffered from heat stroke, and should be waking up soon. You can go talk to her, but since you're not family, we can only allow about ten minutes." Kain nodded and walked to the door. He knocked and heard a soft "come in." The voice seemed strained.
He saw a weakened form on the bed. She had pillows surrounding her injured body. Her hair was still wet; the water droplets were following a trail down her neck underneath her hospital gown. Her face was long and, surprisingly not burned. It seems that she only had sunscreen on her face.
Awkwardly, Kain came in and sat in the chair next to her. She was looking at him suspiciously. She finally started to talk.
"May I help you?" She asked, defensively. She seemed not to want to have strangers around her.
"Yes, sorry for being so rude. My name is Kain Akatsuki*. I was the lifeguard who brought you here." He introduced himself. It took her a few seconds to comprehend what he said.
"Lifeguard? But I was not swimming. I was in the cove, nowhere near the beach." Her instincts suddenly changed from sort of strange to creeper alert. She wanted him out of there as fast as possible.
"I'm head lifeguard, so I have to make rounds through the entire beach accessible area. I always walk in the forest during my break." He kept it cool, knowing full well what she had pictured him as. He knew he was definitely not that type of person, especially towards the feminine sex. He kept all details to a minimum as he told her how he found her.
"So you did the hero move and saved the maiden in distress. Nice job. Now, if you would leave, I need to have some aloe rub-" He stood up at that and picked up a blue bottle on the bedside table.
"Lift you gown," he commanded. She looked shocked. Right when she was going to rebut him, he interrupted. "Turn around so I can get your back. That was where it was, right?"
"Uhhh…. yeah. Thanks, I guess." She lifted up the back and moved her hair to her shoulder. He pressed the cool gel to her still burning skin and she gasped. "I was not expecting it to be freezing!"
"You'll get used to it soon." He smirked, bemused. "By the way, I brought one of the lifeguards to bring your stuff up from the cove. She's-"
"I'm here!" She interjected, slamming open the door. "Ruka, are you okay? Jeez, I did not know it was you who Kain brought here until I looked at your license! I'm a horrible best friend!"
"Oh shut it drama queen. I may have had my things stolen without you. And I really need that video. It's the ending to my senior project. And I'm really close to the deadline, considering classes are over in two weeks." Ruka responded.
"Yeah, well… What were you doing with Kain? All I saw was a bare back with some sexy hair on the shoulder." She smiled, starting to laugh. Ruka blushed, know she would never hear the end of that. Kain, on the other hand, was very confused.
"So you guys know each other? How?"
"Well our parents were friends before she moved here. She used to visit us here all the time. But now she lives her!" Alicia was really excited over this. "What's wrong, Kain? You think I contaminated her mind with my awesomeness?"
Kain shook his head. He had to get going.
"I have to go check up on the other newbies, so I will catch you later. Alicia, please take care of her. Ruka, nice meeting you. I hope we can see each other soon, hopefully not in a hospital." The girls smiled and waved as he closed the door.
"So, Ruka, when are you going to make a move on him. Besides the 'I'm so helpless. Can you rub me up with medicine while you look at my sensual back?' card." Ruka hit her with a pillow, but she was still blushing. "Gyah! I'm sorry!" Alicia dodged another blow to her head. "But you are still blushing. You like him."
"So what? How many nice, hot guys are on this freaking island anyway. Besides him, none. They're all either taken or morons. You know that I can never date one of them. Idiots are not, under any circumstances, acceptable. As are douche bags. I just cannot stand them!"
"Yeah, well you finally stepped down from your high horse to have a somewhat civil conversation with a man. That's a big step." Alicia gave Ruka a smile. "And when you are out of the hospital, we will go to the beach and you will hang out with him all you want."
"Thanks, Alicia. I love having a best friend like you."
"Honey, I'm your only friend." Ruka slapped her across the face with the pillow again.
*I used Akatsuki's surname as his actual name to make it easier to type and because Kain is another way to spell a name (Caine) in English speaking countries. I moved them out of Japan in this story, that's why I labeled it AU for Alternative Universe.
I hope this is satisfying! I have not idea when I will be able to finish and post another chapter, but it is finally getting to spring, so I will be outside more... Please do not expect any certain date that I will have this finished by. 8D I will make this story last FOREVER! xD