DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).
Okay, so it's not exactly an epilogue, but I think this is the best way to link Demons and Tricks, which have several events in between them that are far longer than could possibly be put into an Extra Dimensions story.
CHAPTER 17
Her Desperate Act
REAL WORLD
Shinjuku General Hospital
12:32 JST
4th July 2010
"So he just…froze up?" Henry asked, hoping he had grasped what a saddened Mari was saying as they stood in the waiting room. Mari nodded in response.
"And then he was thrown into a building…by Mammothmon's trunk…" MiniDonmon, now sitting on her head, said sadly.
Jeri felt like she was going to be sick. She'd never liked seeing anything particularly bloody or gory, and from her glimpses of Ryder's form earlier, this was one of those things, with his left side majorly damaged from his leg to his head, concentrated in the centre, with bruising all over him. She felt particularly sick since it was her friend that had been injured, and was still in a coma, which could last for any length of time, and the longer it lasted, the less likely he'd ever wake up again. Even if he did murder someone the day before, this wasn't how she wanted anything to turn out. She wanted to help, but felt the same feeling of helplessness that everyone else around her was feeling, events slipping through their fingers without any way for them to grab. Jeri glanced around at her fellow Tamers.
Rika looked blankly to the ground as she leaned against a wall, Takato looking to her from where he sat nearby on a seat, himself in thought and conversation with Chaos. They had entered a game of waiting, one with an unclear end, if there were to be an end or not. Even Terriermon, normally one to put some enthusiasm on things (even if it was misplaced or mistimed in most cases) had stayed silent. Takato secretly wished he'd brought Guilmon, but at the same time he would be far too large to roam around a hospital like this. Guilmon was always able to cheer him up somehow though, and he felt like that was what he needed right now. A friend who was always able to get past things and return to happiness, without Calumon's extreme naivety that made him difficult to talk to.
Rey looked sadly to Mari, as the red-brown haired girl sat down on the seat, frowning as the partner of the black vixen looked to the ground.
"You okay?" Rey asked, moving her head forward to see Mari's face, covered slightly by her disrupted hair.
Mari shook her head. "No…not at all…" she answered despondently.
Rey looked to the ground, the dull light grey floor not exactly helping their moods as the fluorescent lights shone down on them. "I'm…I'm really not sure what to say…"
Jeri frowned, looking to Henry for some hint of guidance as to what they could do, but only receiving a gentle shake of the head in response. Terriermon, on the other hand, chirped away with his usual response. "Momentai…" he said.
"What does that mean again?" Mari asked, looking up at the dog-bunny.
"It means 'take it easy'…" Henry explained.
Mari frowned and looked to the floor again. That wasn't exactly reassuring.
"Oh man, we go to a theme park for one day and look what we miss!" complained a voice.
"That's not exactly appropriate…" another voice said.
"Oh great, people with even less tact than Terriermon…" Elecmon complained.
"That'll cheer us up for sure…" MiniDonmon added sarcastically.
Mari looked up, and around, to see Kazu, Kenta, Ryo and MarineAngemon entering. Takato noted the absence of both the older boy's partner, and the rust-coloured android of the loudmouthed one, but then again, Cyberdramon and Guardromon weren't exactly made for hospitals.
"Great, just what we needed to cheer up the mood of today…" Rika complained.
"Hey, we're not that bad!" Kazu argued.
"Yeah, it's just Kazu!" Kenta complained, yelling louder than his friend.
"Hey, I'm not that bad!" Kazu complained back.
"You're in a hospital, shut the hell up!" Rey complained, ironically shouting louder as she stood up to glare at the pair and making Kazu and Kenta wince back in fear.
"You're scarier than Rika…" Kazu commented.
"Come on you two, you're in a hospital, please be quiet…" Jeri pleaded.
"Jeri has a point; you're not exactly being sensitive…" Ryo added.
"Fine…" Kazu complained.
Rika stepped forward off the wall, glancing to the father of her child. "Goggles, I'm going to clear my head by getting away from these nutters…" she said, walking away down a corridor. Takato nodded in response.
"What's made her so uptight?" Ryo asked.
Takato frowned. The reason behind it was far more complicated than could be explained in a place like this, although even Takato couldn't be entirely sure. It was probably a combination of mood swings, the whole pregnancy thing, and seeing one of her friends in pain, or rather multiple friends.
Rey glanced to Rejimon. "I think the vending machine's still broken, can you get me a soda?" she asked, looking to her. Rejimon nodded, leaping forward, and bouncing away in a move that would either scare hospital staff or amaze them with the cuteness of it all. Rey looked back to Mari, who oddly hadn't actually cried yet, although her eyes had reddened.
Jeri frowned, saddened at seeing another of her friends in pain, and in this case, they were actually conscious to feel it. "It'll be okay…" she reassured, her words known to be empty. "I'm sure he'll make it through it all…"
"So what exactly happened?" Ryo asked, looking to Henry.
"He was hit by a Mammothmon's trunk into a building…" Terriermon summarised, taking Henry's place in the response and attempting to show what happened with his ears and small hands.
Ryo frowned. "I'm surprised he's still alive…"
"Yeah, I mean, I don't think many people could survive that…" Kazu noted. "I sure couldn't…"
"That's a big change to 'I can do anything'!" Elecmon noted, before ignoring Kazu's glare.
"Can we do anything?" Kenta asked. Takato shook his head.
"We're just playing the waiting game now…they're working on him at the moment I think…" he answered.
"I hope he's okay…" Kenta replied.
"Yeah, me too…I guess he took a lot of heat over what he did yesterday?" Ryo replied.
"Yeah, even from himself…" Jeri replied. "I guess…I guess we never really considered having to do something like this…"
"Yeah…" Kazu noted. "I'd probably be too scared to do that…"
"But are we going to have to do it again?" Takato asked.
"I hope not…" Jeri answered.
Mari looked to Rey, who had seemingly become transfixed by something on her D-Arc. "Maybe we can go back in there now?" she asked, more of a request than a query.
Rey looked up, before nodding. "Okay…we'll go have a look…" she answered, standing up and helping her friend up, unnecessary as it was. She took her hand, trying to smile to reassure her, but her own feelings were as fearful as those of the Second Angel.
Takato looked to his daughter; a subtle questioning going on between the pair before Rey lightly shook her head, gesturing for the others not to follow. That was the last thing Mari needed right now, as they walked away down the hallway.
12:45 JST
Rika, in a mix of sadness and anger, wasn't entirely sure where in the hospital she had ended up, as she wandered looking for something to occupy her time with. She had been thinking about everything, everything that had been thrown into their lives recently, be it the prospect of killing, the reality of injuries, or the prospect of a child, who they already knew the identity of. She knew Renamon was following her quietly behind, ensuring that she didn't wander into any dangerous situations, so that was not her concern at this particular moment.
She paused, looking around. She would need to find her way back to the waiting room at some point in the near future.
A strange form caught her eye, an oddly familiar form as she looked back down the corridor to see what could only be described as a small version of Kyubimon, its own eyes widening as it looked back, frozen like a deer in headlights.
She glanced over the form, wondering if her eyes were deceiving her. The creature was clearly smaller than her own partner Kyubimon, as its mouth widened. It turned, beginning to run away, it's black and red neck ornament fluttering as its nine large yellow tails swished around, they dwarfing the creature's body. Its golden eyes were briefly displayed, red lines running underneath the slits.
Rika broke into a run, pacing after whatever it was. The creature glanced behind in fear, before its expression turned to be far more determined, and it leapt away down a hallway. Rika turned into the hallway and stopped, to see nothing but your bog-standard hospital hallway.
Renamon appeared next to her. "Rika, what were you chasing?"
Rika looked to her, not really sure whether she was seeing things or not. She shook her head. "Nothing, don't worry…"
She must have been going insane.
'Stupid pregnancy…driving me nuts…'
12:46 JST
A patient quaked in fear and shock as a purple imp and a white fairy leapt through their window, and began walking across to the door, ignoring them.
"Geez, why don't we get told about dese sorts of things anymore? I really need to get a cellphone…" Impmon mumbled, Calumon staying out of the complaining and simply being curious about his new surroundings.
"What is this place?" he asked, looking around as they stepped into a hallway.
"It's a hospital; it's where humans go to heal…"
"That's silly; can't they just heal on their own?"
"No, but that'd probably make things a helluva lot simpler…I've been here before, when Ai and Mako's mom broke her foot…"
Impmon stopped in surprise as he saw a small version of Kyubimon looking at him. Impmon blinked in surprise, as Calumon pulled on his mouth in curiosity.
The fox's eyes widened, and it turned running away. "Have to get away from them…" it said, in a female voice, as it darted into a corridor to the left.
"You know, I swear I just saw a miniature version of fox-face…" Impmon noted.
"Yeah…" Calumon added. "Where are we going?"
"Like I have a clue…"
12:48 JST
Dr Imai looked to Mari and Rey as they approached, frowning. The majority of the nurses who she had been assisting her had now gone onto other jobs.
Her eyes were drawn to the redness around Mari's eyes. Dr Imai knew that she couldn't promise anything to these people; it was one of the unwritten rules of being a doctor. She also had learnt to become more emotionally detached from the cases of death and major injury she encountered, simply in order to survive as a doctor. Seeing the misery that was being caused to these children, however, and being unable to do anything about it, she couldn't help but feel saddened by it all, as she glanced back to the boy's form. She then glanced down to her chart, nothing an all-too familiar acronym, CTD. Circling the drain.
His bleeding had been taken under control again, and his heart rate had stabilised, but the doctor knew they were working with borrowed time. These failures had become regular, all it would take was for one to be beyond their abilities and he would be lost.
She didn't plan to tell Mari and Rey that unless they inquired, the former looked like she couldn't take that sort of news.
"His heart rate has stabilised again…" Dr Imai reported. Rey nodded, while Mari walked past, to look at the boy. Further drips and wires had appeared in the interim, and his eyes were still closed.
"Is he still in a coma?" Mari asked.
"Yes, he has fallen into a deeper coma unfortunately…the talking appears to have been his memories repeating, it's unlikely to reoccur, although we really cannot be sure on anything at the moment…"
Mari placed her hand on Ryder's hand gently, before gently stroking her hand along his lower arm, noting his complete lack of reaction. She glanced to his dimly glowing D-Vice, its brightness fluctuating, never a good sign as she moved her hand to his wrist, pressing down and feeling his heart beating as the heart rate indicator indicated.
Rey and Dr Imai looked to her, not wanting to speak and interrupt. Even DarkRenamon stepped forth from her perception filter to watch. Mari frowned, before looking up to Dr Imai.
"He's going to die, isn't he?" she asked bluntly, a strange mix of determination and anger in her eyes, breaking the expectations of grief and sadness, or even hope. Dr Imai paused, she wasn't expecting this sort of response at all, and was unsure how to reply. Unfortunately, this pause was exactly what Mari didn't want, as she walked away, pacing faster and faster.
"Mari!" Rey called, lifting her hand, and pausing when Dr Imai put her hand out to stop her.
"I'm a doctor…I'll try to talk to her…" she advised. Rey nodded, as Dr Imai began to walk. Rey frowned, having no idea what she could do to help herself, and grateful that someone else was attempting, hoping that the professional nature of the doctor would help in her talking to Mari.
She turned to Ryder, frowning. "Are you happy now? You cause pain to Mari so many times…be it leaving, saying the wrong name, even obnoxious and unintentional things but…" she spoke, walking to the foot of his bed.
Rey paused, looking to his face, and smiling weakly.
"I can see why she likes you…and…" Rey glanced to her hand, noting it blink out of existence periodically. "…I guess my fate, your fate and Mari's fates are entwined, even if you don't have one…so…"
Rey walked alongside Ryder, grasping his hand, and noting his heart rate machine drop ten places.
"I'm willing to take some pain for this…heed my words, even if you can't hear them, I am going to be so pissed off at you if this doesn't work, so it better…" she said, looking to her hand, which began to glow.
Rey felt her eyes droop, the energy drain taking hold as Ryder's body glowed a gold hue. It wouldn't wake him up, but Rey sincerely hoped that it would at least bring an end to the chance for death, and give him a chance for recovery.
Rey collapsed to the ground, attracting the attention of a passing redhead who was to be her future mother. "What the hell?" Rika asked.
12:50 JST
"You okay Takato?" Jeri asked, glancing down to the boy who had been all but silent since Mari and Rey had left, seeming deep in thought. Henry had also been giving concerned glances, while Kazu and Kenta's emotions had been more of boredom. Ryo seemed himself in thought, and Suzie was saddened, as Lopmon sat on her head as she sat in one of the seats.
"Uh…yeah…" Takato replied glumly, looking up out of his thoughts.
"What's on your mind?" Henry asked, sitting on one side of Takato while Jeri sat on the other, Takato feeling a distinct impression of being boxed in. Terriermon and Elecmon's eyes beamed down on him, as he suddenly felt in the spotlight.
Were Rika here, Kazu, Kenta, Suzie and Ryo not, and the setting not being a drab, dreary, hospital waiting room, Takato would've felt that it was a perfect time to tell them about Rika's pregnancy. However, it was hardly an ideal time, so he decided to do what he did worst: bluffing.
"Nothing really…"
Henry frowned, it was clear that Takato was lying; no-one could pull that sort of true thinking expressions without actually thinking. Jeri cottoned onto the same thing, but neither were sure how to put this across.
"Liar…" Terriermon insinuated.
"Terriermon!" Henry complained.
"Hen, he's clearly thinking about something, his single brain-cell is working at capacity!"
Henry groaned, while Takato laughed nervously, hoping that something would interrupt this particular moment.
"So spill it!" Terriermon exclaimed, pointing a short black finger at Takato.
"Geez, what's going on here toots, the Spanish inquisition?"
"Who are you?"
"Is Ryder okay?"
Ask and you will receive. And, like buses, in this case three arrived at once. Takato, Henry, Jeri and a peeved Terriermon turned to face Impmon and Calumon having arrived in one corridor, Kristy and Kudamon from the main entrance, and a small version of Kyubimon with a black and red neck ornament and golden eyes in another, Suzie looking over it curiously.
The Kyubimon panicked, turning and beginning to run. Takato cocked an eyebrow, before standing up, eying his chance to escape this difficult moment.
"Hey, come back!" Takato called, pacing down the hallway.
"Jeri? Is Ryder okay?" Kristy asked, walking over to the rest.
"Yeah, I wanna know too..." Calumon asked.
"How did you two find out?" Henry asked curiously, looking to the Imp and the fairy.
"No thanks to you guys..." Impmon answered. "Calumon heard Jeri on the phone…it's getting pretty desperate when we have to spy on youse…"
"How are we meant to contact you?" Elecmon asked.
Impmon was about to object, before realising that he had no way to answer and simply 'hmph'ing.
"So…is Ryder okay?" Kristy asked, sick of the bickering about how they found out.
Jeri frowned. "I'm not sure…he was hit by an enraged Mammothmon into a building, so he's not looking that good either…"
Kristy's eyes widened. "No way!" she said in surprise. "I hope he survives…" she then said sadly.
Jeri bent down, noting Kristy's sadness and trying to comfort her, despite her own nagging doubts. "I'm sure he will…" she said to the girl. "We just have to hope he'll pull through, okay?"
Kristy frowned, nodding. "I hope he does…where are Sis and Takato?" she asked.
"Takato has gone chasing after…a miniature version of Kyubimon I think…and Rika is…somewhere in this hospital…"
"Oh…can I see Ryder?"
"Mari and Rey are visiting him now; he's unconscious so he isn't going to be able to talk to you…" Suzie explained. Kristy nodded sadly, sitting down on one of the seats.
"What was that Kyubimon wacko anyway?" Terriermon asked. "Did Renamon shrink or what?"
"I'm not sure…maybe Takato will find out…" Henry replied.
"Well, we could go looking for then?" Kenta mooted.
"Yeah, I'm bored stupid here!" Kazu complained.
Kristy groaned. "I understand why my sister hates you…" she muttered.
"Hey, it's not our fault, she just has issues!" Kazu complained.
"Yeah, we never did anything to her…" Kenta argued.
"Erm, guys, can we keep it down, we are in a hospital after all…" Ryo pleaded.
"Fine…" Kazu and Kristy said, crossing their arms. Jeri chuckled slightly at the sight, before looking to Henry.
"For once though, I think Kazu has a point…" she commented.
Terriermon faked a heart attack, rolling back off Henry's head. Henry groaned, picking his partner up by the ear.
"Henry, let me down!" he complained. "You're hurting my ear!"
Henry ignored his partner, looking round the group. "Okay, so we'll split up and look for them…"
"Right!" came the resounding, and oddly cheerful reply.
Terriermon 'hmph'ed', and attempted to cross his arms. 'WE'RE IN A HOSPITAL!' he yelled in his head.
TO BE CONTINUED…
So some more mysteries begin, as the hospital drama (of sorts) continues. Calumon and Impmon are back in the story, as are Kazu, Kenta and Ryo, so it's going to be interesting to see how it affects the flow, particularly when the Digidestined begin to arrive. Please review.
Next time…
Is Rey okay? Will Ryder be okay? What's up with the chibi-Kyubimon?
Find out in 'Her Daughter', Chapter Eighteen of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.
