...

"We have activity on the scanner Doctor, I believe she's waking up."

I tried to open my eyes, but the light stung whenever I got so much as a sliver of an eyelid open. I opened and closed my eyes repeatedly until they had adjusted comfortably to the light.

"Hello, Seraphim. I'm Doctor Ergame, I've been your primary physician since you were brought here six weeks ago."

"Sith weeths?" I stammered out, my mouth and jaw not matching the words I had formed in my head.

"Sorry, the slash wounds you suffered caused some nerve and muscle damage along your jaw and cheek. Your speech will be a little slurred, but we can set you up for speech therapy once you feel up to it. Your wound has been healing well, and most of your other injuries have healed while you've been asleep. You had some significant brain swelling, so we had to induce a coma to allow it time to heal itself without added strain."

"Kath. Wherths Kath?" I asked, hoping they'd understand who I was asking about. The nurse looked at the Doctor nervously, and walked out of the room.

"There's a detective that we were supposed to call when you woke up. I'm afraid you'll have to wait until he gets here to find out about your... 'incident'. The doctor took a final look at my readings, nodded to show they looked okay and then left as well. All I could do was stare up at the ceiling and wonder what happened in the last six weeks while I was unconscious. Where was Kazuto? I felt tears pool up in my eyes and escape down the sides of my face. I silently wept until I fell asleep once again.

"Hello? Miss Seraphim? I'm from the Shinjuku Police Department, my name is Nakamura. I'm sorry to have woken you. I'm aware that speech is difficult for you at this time, so I will try to be brief." I sat up in my hospital bed and looked at the detective. He seemed a bit odd, standing hunched over with his arms wrapped around his stomach. He held a file in one hand, and he walked over to the nearby chair and sat down.

"The night of the attack was Halloween night. You left your school dance and stopped to use the bathroom at the nearby convenience store. After leaving the bathroom witnesses say that you tried to stop a man who was attacking a woman in the store. Afterward the couple beat you and slashed your face and knocked you out. Nod if you remember all of that please Miss." I nodded my head and struggled again to ask where Kazuto was. The detective's face changed expression, as he flipped to the next page in the file.

"Before passing out, your friend Kazuto Akino struck the man with his baseball bat and tried to attend to your facial wound until help could arrive. I'm sorry to have to tell you this Miss Seraphim, but Kazuto was killed that night. As he was helping you, one of the two struck him from behind with his own bat. Apparently he was hit several times before the couple fled. By the time the police and Ambulance arrived, your friend was gone and you were unconscious."

I couldn't hold back the tears. All this time asleep, not aware that the only person in the world who really cared about me was dead was too much for me to handle. It couldn't be true, he can't be gone. I had just spent my happiest day with him. It was just last night, not six weeks ago! I continued to sob, the detective even stood back up to offer a sympathetic pat on my back. As I started to grow exhausted from crying, I began to compose myself again and calmed down.

"Thid you catth them?" I asked. I had to know that the two monsters that tore our lives apart were sitting in a prison cell. They just had to be. No one could possibly get away after committing a crime so brutal. I looked at the detective waiting for an answer. His expression didn't give me the hope I'd longed for.

"While you were unconscious, the two were indeed caught and arrested. Their trial has already happened. None of the customers in the store, or even the employees themselves were willing to testify against the couple. The cameras in the store weren't in operation at the time of the incident either. The store was fined for that violation at least. You were hospitalized at the time and even if you had been awake, the court deemed that someone with brain trauma couldn't provide reliable testimony." I started to weep once more after hearing that. I could remember nearly the whole attack, I still saw their faces in front of me. And they considered me ineligible to prove that they beat me nearly to death and took my best friend's life? This was quickly growing into one of the worst nightmares I could imagine.

"Weer are they?"

The detective cleared his throat and continued. "On previous arrests the man had been deemed mentally unstable by the court and was sentenced to short stays in psychiatric wards. Unfortunately they ruled this case the same way. He's currently committed to Tokyo's criminal psychiatric center. His girlfriend was also declared mentally ill, however she is serving a short sentence for possession of narcotics and a weapons charge for the knife she was carrying when she was arrested. I'm very sorry for this Miss, I regret that the Justice Department of Tokyo has failed you and your friend." He hung his head down, he really did feel upset about what happened, I could tell this wasn't the first time he'd had to give bad news to a victim.

"I'm thur you did your behht." I tried to offer him some comforting words, but my speech was so fucked up it wasn't funny. He picked up his head and nodded with a slight smile on his face. He closed his file and stood up, once again wrapping his arms around his middle and leaning over.

"It was nice to meet you Miss Seraphim, I'm sorry I couldn't have brought you better news. I sincerely wish you well in your future." He bowed to me and left the room.

What was I supposed to do now? I lost the only person I'd really felt a true connection with. Where could I possibly go from here? I held no interests in anything before, and seriously doubt I'd find anything worth focusing on again. Family? Mother always pushed me to do the things that she wanted me to do. She used me to live out the life she wanted for most of my younger years, pageants and contests mostly. No wonder I grew to hate people and fear crowds. And she couldn't stand it when I refused to give into her demands and desires anymore. I noticed that since I woke up, she hasn't visited the hospital once. It's doubtful she did while I was asleep too. I don't expect much support at home. I suppose all I can do is take things one day at a time.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I've thought about ending my life too. But if I did that, I'd be killing Kazuto all over again. He sacrificed himself so I could live. This life I have now is precious because he gave it to me. As painful as I expect the rest of my life to be, I'd never dishonor him by taking it carelessly.