As Maka was loaded into the ambulance, Soul felt a battle of different emotions inside of him. Relief, that she was relatively OK. Regret, from what he had said earlier. Guilt, that she was hurt and he abandoned her. Confusion, that she could look at him with those hate-filled eyes. Maka was a caring and forgiving person; for her to hate anyone was unheard of, but the deep fury that was revealed in her eyes could only be described as such.
The ambulance doors closed and Soul got a glimpse through the windows of Maka closing her eyes as an oxygen mask was placed on her face. "We'll be taking her downtown. You kids need a ride?" one of the paramedics asked.
"No thanks. I'll follow," Soul replied, still a bit stunned. "Blair, you can ride with me."
"HA! I can BEAT you to the hospital on my own two feet!" Black star scoffed.
Soul jogged to his motorcycle which was in a parking spot nearby outside the apartment building. "Wait Soul!" Blair called after him. When she reached him at his motorcycle she held out something and asked "Can you hold this? I don't have any pockets." She was holding out a cell phone with a cracked screen. It was evidently currently useless, but potentially salvageable. "A paramedic gave it to me. They think it's Maka's. It was near her when they found her in the street," she said sadly while looking down.
Soul's heart skipped a beat as he felt a pang of guilt at the last sentence. He imagined her lifeless body fading in the street while he was nowhere around to help her. "Yeah, sure," he answered as he gently took the phone and pocketed it.
…At the hospital…
Soul and Blair arrived in Maka's hospital room to find Tsubaki, Black star, Kid, Patty, and Liz already there. "How did you guys know to come here?" Soul asked Kid.
"We were heading to your apartment when we ran into Black star and he told us of Maka's condition."
"OK you guys! You need to clear out! She only just got here." A bossy nurse demanded. "She'll be fine, but she needs x-rays and for her wounds to be addressed."
Another nurse approached the large group of friends and gave them a friendly smile, as if to apologize for her co-worker's stern behavior. "Don't worry. She's in good hands now. I'll take you to the waiting room and we'll be sure to keep you updated."
The group obeyed orders and began to follow the nurse out of the room. Soul hung back a little and before completely exiting the room he took another look at Maka resting in her hospital bed. She opened her eyes and locked them on Soul, as if she immediately felt the unwanted attention. The hate from earlier persisted in her eyes. Just then, the doctor approached her bed, unwittingly interfering with the unspoken conflict. Soul decided to leave and quickly caught up with the rest of the group walking through the labyrinth of hallways.
"Can anyone get in touch with her parents?" The nurse was asking.
"Heh, good luck," Soul scoffed. "Her mother is out of the country and there's no way she'll want her father here."
"Well, legally we have to contact a parent or guardian. I guess her father would be easier to contact?"
"Yeah, just go walk down to the local cabaret club. I'm sure you'll find." Soul quipped. "But seriously, he has no custody of her and it won't be a pretty scene if she sees him here. I'm the one who lives with her. I can take care of her."
"Oh," the nurse quietly said, surprised about Soul's comments of her father. "Well, I guess that makes you her guardian then!" she smiled while trying to avoid the subject any longer.
Yeah, 'guardian,' Soul depressingly thought.
They reached the waiting room. "Well, here you are. They're taking her x-rays now, so it'll be awhile. Bathrooms are over there. Also, we have free coffee and vending machines down that hall. Well, I mean the coffee is free. Not the vending machines, of course. You know what I mean!" She nervously laughed at the end of her babbling. "I'll be back with some updates as soon as I have them!" she said quickly and then ran off.
"What a weird one," Liz mumbled.
"Yeah, not cool," Soul concurred.
"I don't care what you think about him!" Blair yelled.
"Huh?" they all said and turned to her.
"Say what you want about him but Maka's father deserves to know about his little girl!" Blair continued with a defiant look on her face. "If you don't tell him then I'll go get him myself!"
"OK. Well, it's your funeral." Soul replied while waving her off with a turn of his hand while walking past her. Blair stomped off as the rest of the group sat down in a deserted corner of the large waiting room. The chairs were lined up against the adjoining walls and Soul, Black star and Tsubaki sat in chairs on one wall, while Kid, Liz and Patty sat in chairs on the other.
After a few moments of silence Soul sighed and spoke up, "So, does anyone know why Maka hates me?"
"Well, I wouldn't say 'hate' – " "Yeah, what happened? Why does she hate you?" Tsuabaki and Black star spoke at the same time. They had evidently picked up on her negative vibe as well. Soul sighed even louder.
"Clearly, I don't know the whole story," Kid began, "so being an unbiased observer, I would say she is angry that you 'left' her in a burning apartment building," he stated matter-of-factly.
"Hey! I didn't leave her!" Soul shouted angrily.
"That's not what you said earlier!" Patty chirped.
"I mean… I didn't know she was there. She said she was staying out for the night. I didn't know she came back."
"Well you should have looked anyway," Kid said unsympathetically, with his arms crossed and eyes closed in disappointment.
Soul looked at him in disbelief. He really wasn't in the mood to be told what he should or should not have done.
"That's what Maka will say," Kid continued and opened his eyes to glare at Soul, as if examining his soul.
"You're right! But I really thought she wasn't home. This isn't the first time we got in an argument and she spent the night somewhere else," Soul lamented.
The group sat in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes until Kid nervously began tapping his foot.
"Dude, what's your problem?" Black star asked, annoyed.
"Are you worried about Maka?" Tsubaki asked with concern.
"No. No, that's not it at all…" Kid began rambling while looking down. "I know she will be fine. I saw her. She's hurt but fine. It's something, something much… worse…" His eyes widened as they moved quickly, observing every inch of the room.
"Oh no…" Liz sighed as Patty began laughing.
"Huh?" Soul asked confused.
"This room is horribly asymmetric! Why would you put THREE paintings on one side of the room and TWO on the opposing wall!? And the entryway! I don't even need a measuring stick to tell you it's CLEARLY off center!" He grabbed his head as if trying to assuage a major migraine. "Not to mention we're all condensed to one corner of the room! Ohhh! I can't take it anymore!" and he ran out of the room.
"Oh, dear. I guess that's our cue to leave," Liz said embarrassed, as Patty laughed even harder. Liz stood up and took her phone out of her pocket. "Soul what's your number? I'll text you all of ours and you share with Black star and Tsubaki and text me back theirs." She looked at them for approval. All three nodded. Soul told her his number as she typed it into her phone. "Great. Now, keep us updated and don't hesitate to ask if you need anything. Tell Maka I hope she feels better!" She called out while dragging a laughing Patty behind.
Soul, Black star, and Tsubaki watched them leave in bewilderment.
"How can that be worse than Maka being injured?" Black star questioned.
"I guess he's that confident she'll be OK." Tsubaki reasoned. She's always the optimistic one. But Soul wasn't convinced.
AN: I thought this would only be a 2 chapter story but it looks like it'll be stretched out to 3! And if you remember I said yesterday that this story was inspired by an Inuyahsa episode, I did my research and found it's episode 12 "The Soul Piper and the Mischievous Little Soul" (if anyone cares)
A big thank you to all the kind reviewers! :)