Author's Note - Just in case anyone is unclear about ages in this story, these are the ages =3
Natsuki - 16
Nao - 14
Mikoto - 14
Mai - 16
Chie - 16
Shizuru slowly opened her eyes, and looked straight up at something white above her head.
Did I actually die and go to Heaven...? Shizuru drowsily thought to herself, as she felt lightheaded and completely unlike her usual self. What happened to me...? Shizuru continued to wonder, as she tried to move her arms and legs.
A swift jolt of pain went through her right leg, left arm, and chest causing a pained gasp to slip through her lips.
Okay...so I'm probably not dead, and in Heaven...that hurt way too much for me not to be alive, Shizuru concluded as her ruby-coloured eyes focused in on the white object above her head, and she realized that it was a ceiling. She then tried to move her head, but something around her neck prevented her from doing so.
A neck brace? Shizuru wondered worriedly to herself. Then suddenly everything came flashing back to her mind, about what had happened to her. Mikoto, the apple, chasing after the panicked dark-haired girl, the car, pushing Mikoto out of the way, and finally...being hit full-on by the car. And then...an Angel appearing before her...an Angel with Natsuki's face and voice.
Shizuru felt her eyelids begin drooping slowly shut again. She felt drained and weak, and she just wanted to know where Nao and Mikoto were.
And if her Angel would pay her a visit again.
~o~o~o~
The next time Shizuru opened her eyes she looked up and into worried, tear-filled lime-green eyes.
"Oh thank God , you're finally awake Shizuru! Mikoto and I have been so worried!" Nao exclaimed tearfully as she held Shizuru's free hand in her own, while sitting in a chair beside where Shizuru lay.
Shizuru blinked slowly, as her brain played catch-up once again with all the events that had recently transpired. "Nao..." Shizuru breathed out, as tears also came to her eyes. "Where's Mikoto? I've been so worried about you both," Shizuru said around a dry mouth. Her throat and tongue felt so dry, and it was a little difficult to talk.
"I'm right here, Shizuru," a new, soft voice spoke up and Shizuru moved her eyes over to her other side, where she saw Mikoto holding a small cup of water. The poor girl's hands were shaking as she held the cup in both hands, desperately trying not to spill any of the liquid while she also struggled not to burst into tears. The golden-eyed girl soon lost the battle with her emotions, and Nao was just able to reach out and grab the cup from Mikoto's hands before it fell. Mikoto then threw herself forward, wrapped her small arms as best she could around Shizuru's prone form, and hugged the honey-haired girl as she sobbed piteously.
"I'm sorry, Shizuru! I am so so sorry! It's my fault you were hurt so badly! You could have died. I'm so sorry...so sorry..." Mikoto trailed off, sobbing softly against Shizuru's chest.
Shizuru bit back the pain that Mikoto's weight against her chest was causing, as she didn't want the distraught girl to feel any worse than she already did.
"So I'm in a hospital then?" Shizuru asked softly, as Nao came up behind Mikoto and gently moved the small girl off of Shizuru's chest. Shizuru held in her sigh of relief that the pressure on her chest was now gone, so Mikoto wouldn't realize how much extra pain she had caused her.
"Yeah, you are. After the...accident...the driver of the car called an ambulance, and once the paramedics arrived they immediately took you to this hospital. It's owned by the family of the girl who was in the car that hit you...Natsuki Kuga," Nao informed Shizuru, as she led Mikoto over to the chair she had been sitting in before. Nao gently eased Mikoto down onto the seat, while she stood behind the sniffling girl and gently rubbed her shoulders.
"Natsuki..." Shizuru breathed out, as she felt her eyelids slowly begin drooping closed again.
"Why do I...keep falling...asleep like this..." Shizuru murmured, as she desperately tried to fight the call of slumber. There were so many things she wanted and needed to know. How were Nao and Mikoto taking care of themselves without her? Why hadn't Child Services come and taken them all away by now? How badly was she injured? How long had she been in this hospital owned by Natsuki's family?
Where was Natsuki herself?
"It's the medication they gave you. It causes extreme drowsiness. The doctor says that lots of rest will help you heal better and faster," Nao answered, as she leaned forward to once again hold Shizuru's hand.
Shizuru's eyes blinked once...twice...then they closed fully, just as the voice of her special Angel filtered in through her sleep-drowsed mind.
Natsuki...you came...
Shizuru then drifted off to sleep once again.
~o~o~o~
The next time Shizuru opened her eyes she was once again looking up into green eyes. They didn't belong to Nao this time though, and Shizuru blinked a few times to clear the haziness from her mind. Once she had, she was able to focus in on the smiling face above her. Shizuru felt her heart twinge faintly in disappointment, when she realized it wasn't Natsuki's shining, emerald-green eyes she was looking up into. The gently smiling face above her did bear a striking resemblance to Natsuki though.
"Hello Shizuru, how are you doing today, my dear?" the older woman asked in a soft, melodious voice.
Shizuru blushed lightly at the strikingly-beautiful woman leaning over her, and answered shyly, "I'm okay I guess. I'm a bit disorientated. I'm not really sure what happened after my...accident. And I'm not really sure how long I've been laying here, or how bad my injuries are. Can you...please tell me what happened and what's...going to happen to me, Mikoto, and Nao?" Shizuru asked in a soft, scared whisper. She felt like the child she truly was in this woman's presence, and all the fear and worry she usually kept hidden inside, so that she could be strong for her younger sisters, came bubbling up to the surface.
The woman smiled at Shizuru again, recognizing the fear for her loved ones and for herself, in the young girl's garnet-red gaze. The older woman reached forward slowly, and gently ran her fingers through the chestnut bangs hanging over Shizuru's forehead.
"Looks like you need a small haircut, my dear," the woman said in reply, as Shizuru's eyes closed softly at the woman's gentle touch.
This touch...this feeling...it reminds me of...Mama...before she passed away..., Shizuru thought faintly to herself, as the now-familiar lethargic feeling of the drugs in her system began to take hold of her once again.
"My name is Saeko Kuga. Nao and Mikoto are currently under my and my husband's care. As are you. I'll go into further details once you've rested up again, and the doctor releases you to be taken home. To my family's home. You've been here at this hospital we own for about a week and a half now. You sustained injuries to your leg, arm, chest, and head. That's why time seems to constantly be flowing away from you, my dear. You were actually in a mild coma for the first three days, and you have needed lots of rest to recover, to the point that you are at now. So sleep well, dear child. We'll talk more when you wake again," Saeko said, as she tenderly stroked her palm down the side of Shizuru's face.
Shizuru nodded drowsily as she stopped trying to fight sleep's pull, and once again drifted off into a healing sleep.
~o~o~o~
In what was becoming a recurring theme for Shizuru, to open up her garnet-red eyes and stare up into worried green ones. This time though a brilliant smile lit up her face, as she gazed up into the face of her Angel.
"Natsuki..." Shizuru breathed out, as an answering smile lit up Natsuki's face.
"Shizuru..." Natsuki answered back, as she lightly squeezed the chestnut-haired girl's hand.
"Shizuru, I'm so...sorry for what happened. It was my fault that you were hit. If I hadn't told my driver to go back to that spot we had first met, then we wouldn't have been driving by and hit you," Natsuki said with a sad, guilty frown as she gently rubbed her thumb across the back of Shizuru's hand.
"It wasn't Natsuki's fault. I should have been paying closer attention to Mikoto, and what she was doing at the nearby fruit stand. The events that followed after because of my distraction at that time were my fault," Shizuru said earnestly, as she tried to sooth Natsuki's guilt-ridden feelings.
Natsuki smiled weakly at Shizuru, and continued to lightly stroke her thumb across the back of Shizuru's hand. The sensation of Natsuki's finger drawing soothing circles across her hand, sent a small shiver down Shizuru's back.
"We'll be moving you soon. The doctor says that it's now okay for you to leave, and that as long as you get plenty of rest and don't move around too much on your own, you should be mostly healed in 6-8 weeks," Natsuki said, as she leaned forward to lightly fluff the pillow behind Shizuru's head.
Shizuru's honey-coloured eyebrow slowly rose at the time given for her recovery, and that's when the russet-eyed girl truly looked down at her body to take full stock of her injuries. The first thing she realized was that the neck brace she remembered feeling a day...two days ago perhaps...was now gone. Shizuru wasn't even really sure how much time had passed since she first drowsily opened her eyes. But now that she was fairly cognizant and awake, she intended to take full advantage of it. The next thing that she realized was that she had a cast wrapped tightly around her left arm, and another fully wrapping her right leg.
"You also have bandages covering your chest," Natsuki said in that same guilt-filled voice she had earlier, as she noticed Shizuru looking down at her body, trying to see where she was injured.
"Your leg and arm were broken, two of your ribs were severely fractured, and you suffered a pretty bad concussion," Natsuki continued softly.
Shizuru absorbed the news of her injuries quietly. She then opened her mouth to ask Natsuki a few questions about what would happen next, when a nurse dressed in cheerful pink scrubs came into the room. She smiled kindly at Shizuru and told her it was time for her to rest again. That's when Shizuru noticed the IV coming out from her inner arm, right above her cast. The friendly nurse inserted a needle into the spot made for it, and Shizuru could almost feel the cool soothing feeling of the medication coursing through her veins, as the sleeping pain medication began doing its job.
"I'll talk with you later, Shizuru. For now you rest up, and get better," Natsuki said, as she got up from the chair she'd been sitting in, and began to pull her hand from Shizuru's. Natsuki stopped however when Shizuru held tightly onto her hand, not letting the dark-haired girl go. Natsuki looked down and into Shizuru's slightly fear-filled eyes, and she gave the chestnut-haired girl a soft smile as she understood why there was fear in Shizuru's eyes.
"I'll be here the next time you wake up again. I promise. Oh, and Nao and Mikoto are doing well also, so you don't need to worry about them. I'm looking out for them for you," Natsuki said softly and shyly, as she reached forward with her free hand. Her hand paused briefly and hesitantly above Shizuru's forehead, before she continued to reach forward and gently stroked her fingers through Shizuru's bangs.
Shizuru's eyes closed at the sensation of Natsuki's soft touch, and the sleep medication flowing through her body.
"You need a haircut," Natsuki said with a soft, quirked grin as she slowly pulled both her hands back. Shizuru hummed with a soft smile, as she finally allowed Natsuki to gently pull her hand from her own.
"I'll see you later, Shizuru. Sweet dreams."
Shizuru then dreamed that she felt soft lips press gently against her forehead.
Of course that was only just a dream...right...
~o~o~o~
The next time Shizuru opened her eyes, the ceiling was no longer a plain white. It was a creamy-pastel, and a cool breeze was blowing lightly across her skin. Her ruby-red eyes opened wide and a small, light yawn escaped her lips. Shizuru then quickly began to notice other changes in her current surroundings. The bed she was now laying upon was soft, plush, and comfy. There was also an open screen door across the room, that opened out to reveal a cheery, sunlit day. There was a cherry blossom tree with branches filled with the beautiful pink blossoms, right before the balcony that the open screen door led out to. Shizuru realized then that she must be on an upper floor of a building.
"Hello, Shizuru," a rich, velvet-soft voice that she was quickly beginning to look forward to hearing often, spoke from the side of the bed she had yet to look over to. She quickly turned her gaze to follow after that enticing voice, and she saw Natsuki sitting by the side of the bed in a beautifully-made, wooden chair with a quirky grin on her face.
"Told you I'd be here the next time you woke up," Natsuki said as she gently took Shizuru's hand into her own, and gazed deeply into Shizuru's shining, garnet-red eyes.
Shizuru bestowed upon Natsuki a beatific smile, as she lightly squeezed the raven-haired girl's hand. Natsuki returned the smile with one that reached all the way up to her sparkling, emerald-green eyes before she spoke softly again.
"Welcome home, Shizuru. Welcome home."