A/N Hello again to all my amazing and wonderful readers, reviewers, followers, and fans. Another chapter has arrived for your perusal and enjoyment. Big congratulations to wanna see a trick for being the 100th review! *Gives virtual chocolate chip cookies*

Chapter 48- Mui's Adventure

Dr. Julia had been run ragged the past few days with the surprise virus that was sweeping through Koza. Appointments were back to back, barely leaving her time for a lunch.

Thankfully, she had her intern, Mui, there with her. She took the cases that weren't as bad, helping greatly with the work load.

Julia had shipped off the laptop and hard drives on an overnight shipment. Lewis was looking through it all at that same moment. The doctor took a deep, cleansing breath as she looked over the schedule of patients.

"56," she breathed out loud, thinking no one else was near her. Her long fingers pushed her glasses up to pinch the bridge of her nose. The booked solid status the clinic had endured the past 3 weeks had finally tapered off a bit. Hopefully, if the weather cooperated, the epidemic was coming to an end.

Allowing her glasses to return to their original position to rest on the bridge of her nose, she scanned the hallway that lead to the waiting room. Nurses were busy prepping rooms and retrieving patient files. She absently watched their pale uniforms blur by the coral colored walls of the hallway. The good doctor hoped that her intern was enjoying her much deserved vacation back in her home in Hanoi... and came back safely with at least some information.

~0~

Almond colored eyes shifted down to her feet as the young lady opened the door to her old job. It was quiet at Bach Mai on this unusually cool day. Winter was coming on strong, bringing the outside temperature to about 20°.

The petite woman gratefully opened her coat and shook the cramp from her hand, resting the briefcase she had carried in against her leg.

She took in the young, dark haired man at the receptionist's desk. Obviously a new addition in the past four years she had been gone. His dark, almond shaped eyes took in the woman in a brown trench coat and hat, resting a briefcase against her leg. "How can I help you?" he asked.

Before she could respond, a familiar voice called out, "Nurse... I mean Doctor Mui!"

The small figure turned to take in her old friend and colleague. She had a few more gray hairs and a few more lines creased the corners of her eyes, but Doctor Minh still looked the same as ever. She breezed up to the young woman and continued with a genuine smile displaying her happiness. "I am so glad you made it!" she cried enthusiastically. "I heard that you had a flu epidemic in Koza," she commented as she grabbed Mui's briefcase and the two began to trek to her office. "Is the virus finally under control? Are you still booked solid? I'm surprised Doctor Silverstien let you come!"

The pair finally made it to the door with a small metal plate the spelled out Doctor Minh Trahn. The gynecologist opened her door and allowed her guest in while she continued her questions until they were both safely closed in.

Even though the stern dean of medicine was on the other side of the planet, the two women still remained cautious. Just as in any large group that works or goes to school, there are cliques and gossipers. The last thing either of them wanted was for one of those two types to get wind of this.

Mui pulled her chair next to her long time friend and colleague's desk. In a whispered tone, she spoke as Minh double checked her lock and scooted to the desk carefully. "What did you find? The Okamuras were nearly shoving me out the door when they came to the clinic."

Minh pulled a manilla envelope from the top drawer of her desk. It was still quite dusty in spite of being handled- which one could tell from the fingerprints that graced the exterior. Her brown eyes flashed excitedly as she spoke, "This is so exciting! I almost feel young again from the adventurous spirit alone!" At her younger colleagues rolling eyes, she shook it off and began to tell her of the events that occurred. "Well, it seems that even after I badgered Dr. Richmond to look into the mysterious birth, he still would not budge, but… it seems that Nurse Khar from the records department was just as curious."

Mui leaned in expectantly.

"She searched through the old file system that was in place before everything went digital. Seems the old woman had an idea that our 'Jane Doe' had been here even longer than we thought."

Mui raised an eyebrow at this. It was true that there were rumors all over the hospital about the woman in 602, but those rumors had always seemed too far-fetched to yield anything.

Minh opened the file and pulled out an admittance sheet. At the top was the name Mau Xanh and her age was listed to be 17. Mui perused the pages in front of her and found the name of the person who had brought her in- William Green. 'An English name?' she wondered, but it was a familiar one as well. Somehow she felt that the name should be Doctor William Green, but she wasn't sure why. There was something she had read somewhere, something she had seen…

Minh noticed the young light brown eyes got a far away look suddenly and asked, "Is there something I'm missing?"

Mui looked up and shook her head to clear the thought. Her brown brows came together as she responded, "No. No… just a random thought." She then continued to the date of admittance and both her brows nearly shot up to her hairline. "She was admitted in 1990!?" Mui cried out as quietly as she could.

Minh nodded sagely and added, "That's not all. According to the papers, when she was brought in, the same gash she had in her head was just as it was then. The man that brought her in stitched her himself. Did a good job too for someone that isn't a surgeon."

Quirking a brow, the younger commented, "How do you know he isn't?"

Silence fell heavily in the room, the two holding each other's gazes prisoner.

Minh finally folded her arms over her chest and eyed her friend warily. Going through the life she had made her skeptical as well as critical. "What does the Red Shield have to do with this?"

Sighing loudly, the young brunette shrugged and replied, "I really don't know. It's just that the birth and the mother were such an anomaly. It's not often that a comatose patient mysteriously becomes pregnant and gives birth just to die. It's even weirder that the woman was here 31 years and never aged a day." Giving the woman at her side a knowing smirk, she added, "...and to the leading scientist in genetic research, you know that this sort of genetic puzzle would be irresistible."

Minh finally gave the younger woman a real smile. It had been some time since she had last spoken to the renowned Dr. Silverstein and noted it was good to have a connection like that in one's back pocket.

As the gynocologist was left to her musings, the intern for the Red Shield looked over the pages of their not so mysterious patient's file. There were records of her vitals, the discovery of the pregnancy that baffled everyone in the hospital. What the young brunette was looking for, she seemed to have a difficult time finding. No emergency contact, no relatives, not even a home address. "How did she get admitted like this?" the confused Mui asked.

Minh gave her a curious look before she noticed what Mui was looking at. Now she really was confused. Even back in those days, they would not admit someone without some form of identity or an address at least. The doctor noted the name of the admittance nurse and grabbed the file and Mui's hand.

It was an odd sight, one of Bach Mai's most respected doctors, storming out of her office with a stern look on her face, and dragging a confused looking woman that once had been a nurse.

~0~

The weather in Koza had taken a rather chilling turn. The tall woman had to wear a her black trench coat and gloves to work. Her boots clicked on the sidewalk as she headed hurriedly to the warmth and friendly atmosphere of the pub. The wind was whipping at her short hair and causing color to darken on her face.

Something was following her, she knew it. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing at attention, but the usual red did not haze her vision, telling her that whoever was following her was indeed quite human. That thought alone brought her a bit of comfort, but spilling blood this near to Omoro raised her ire a notch more.

"Hey there, missy," called out a slimy voice as her shoulder was roughly grabbed, pulling her around. She was now facing down three slime balls. One was a little older, maybe forty, with a scar on his cheek and a shock of black hair coming out from his blue knit cap. He was rather chunky and came off as a rough character.

The second one was rather slender, but well built. He had a devilishly handsome face and eyes that looked like polished amber. He too had dark hair poking out from under a knit hat, but he was better dressed. In that instant, she knew who these men were and what they wanted.

The third she had recognized immediately as one of the usual patrons in Omoro. He was very tanned and clearly an American or European. His blonde hair gave him away. Kai said his name was Joe or Joey… something like that. He spoke to her and she narrowed her eyes in warning. "Come on there, sweet thing, we just want to show you the easy way to become an American."

She sneered evilly at them and replied in perfect English, "Been there. Done that." At their shocked responses, she decided to enjoy a bit more of the terror she could inflict on these unwitting souls. Her hand slid slowly down her side as she spoke, easing closer and closer to the razor sharp sickles that she liked to carry. It would be a challenge just to get two of them at the same time, without spilling any blood, "You three thought you cornered a kitten…"

Eyeing her prey, she sized them all up. The older one would cry out for sure, maybe put up a damn good fight, so he'd be her first victim. She smirked with the knowledge that this fellow wouldn't know what hit him.

The pretty boy in the middle looked like all talk and no show. Her smirk widened as she pictured him passing out cold from the sheer terror she was about to inflict. But now the third- he's caused too much trouble to be allowed to live. Finishing the sentence, Mary Frances released the sickles, "...but instead you've found a hungry lioness!"

Before a response could be formed, the two victims were grasping at their throats and the deep gashes there. As expected, the third fell to the ground and began to scramble along the concrete with his horror filled amber eyes glued to the macabre scene. This seemingly young woman had completely dispatched his partners in an instant and was now… ugh! It made his stomach lurch in disgust. The older friend's horror filled, dying eyes tried to look down as the thing they thought was a young woman, latched on to the wound and began sucking away the crimson life force. The other was choking on his own blood as the woman wrapped her arms around the one she was draining and the one that was dying and took to the skies.

All was done in less than 5 seconds and the only survivor scrambled to his feet, leaving behind a puddle of his own urine as he cried out incoherently into the evening as he fled for his life.

The young woman dropped the now dead and drained corpse into the ocean. below her as she flew at speeds a human could not see. Looking at her remaining victim, his eyes were rolling to the back of his head as he was in the throws of death, blood spilling on his open jacket and soaking his shirt.

Her mouth came to his wound and sucked up a bit of the life force before she breathed into the wound and pressed her free hand over it to keep the air from escaping. The man's eyes came back to life, and she informed him. "Don't worry, fuck face, I plan on letting you die too. I just wanted to tell you something first."

At this, the man gave a confused expression as he tried to gasp for air, only making gurgling sounds. The princess gave him another deep breath and continued, "Your kind ruined my fucking life. Maybe it wasn't so great before, but it was damn better than what I went through at the hands of traffickers like you." She smirked, "Don't worry, my owner is long dead- like you're about to be."

With that, she gave a snarl and attacked the wound, sucking it dry. The man tried in vain to flail and protest, but to no avail. The end was the same and he was carelessly flung into the deep waters below. All evidence washed away and no teeth marks for the authorities to question. Just a couple of bad guys that got a taste of their own medicine.

Finally feeling sated and at full strength once again, the princess turned her flight path to allow the waves to crash into her as she remained in flight, washing away the blood. By the time she made it to shore, she would be dry from the winds whipping at her in flight.

But something still troubled the young princess. The blonde had been the only one she had seen at Omoro and she knew from the way he carried himself and the women he spoke with, that he was a human trafficker. Amber eyes, she searched her memory for a man that looked like that, but she couldn't think of anyone. Who was this man and why did he never approach anyone? The answer was clear, he was learning the ropes. How many more were out there?

The blast of warm air and atmosphere brought a smile to the princess's face. Nodding to her cousins, Hibiki and Kanade, she made her way to the bar and the few patrons already clamoring for a drink. As she removed her jacket, she watched the twins in their usual dance of taking orders and delivering food.

A clamor from the kitchen brought another face she had not seen in a while. The queen was balancing a tray of food as she turned her angry gaze through the kitchen doors and shouted at Kai, "You didn't have to shove me out! I was waiting on the tempura for table 3!"

With a huff, she brought the order to table 3 with a smile and an apology for the late arrival of the tempura shrimp. Mary Frances was doling out beer to a few of the guys she had become acquainted with as Saya passed by the bar and gave her a small smile, which she returned. The start of their relationship had been horrid, but it had now improved to shaky. The princess would take it. After all, she did just get her dad to open up to her.

'Dad,' she mused as she took and filled orders, 'I have a dad now.'

The princess and the Myagusuku/Otonashi household all moved like a well oiled machine that night, smiling and doing what they love.

~0~

Mui wondered what was wrong with Minh. Why was she dragging her down to the basement? What did this have to do with the nurse that had admitted the young woman that day?

They came to the dimly lit entry way to the records room. At one time, this place was where all the records and paperwork were stored from what a patient was allergic to, to if and when they paid their bill. These days, those things were all digitized. Doctors and nurses ran around with tablets rather than clip boards and files. It was all done on computers.

A rather young nurse popped her head up from the laptop her fingers were flying over. Mui wore a look of confusion when Minh asked for the archivist. The intern never knew that the hospital had one.

The young nurse popped her gum and rose from her seat in a surly way. After Minh knew she was gone, she explained, "That was our new records clerk. There are so many files to be digitized here that we needed to hire a few people to help with it. The woman we are looking for, Nurse Nong, is the archivist. She organizes files and logs them for us so that these younger ones, as she calls them, can digitize them."

Mui recognized the name immediately as the nurse that admitted the comatose patient. Within a few minutes, the nurse shuffled to the desk. Her careworn face told of many years and many smiles. With a wave of her aging hand, the younger nurse was back to work, and completely oblivious to what was going on. "Doctor Tranh, how nice to see you again. It has been some time since you were last here looking for the file on room 602."

"Nurse Nong," Minh replied courteously, but abruptly, "yes, it is about the patient that was in that room…"

"You know that they haven't allowed any one else to use that room since the poor girl died?" the elderly archivist interrupted. Tutting and shaking her head, seemingly ignoring the fact that she had been spoken to, the woman continued, "Never really had much a chance, that one. So young and such a terrible wound to the head. Looked like she had been cut with a samurai sword- like in those old films. Such a deep wound."

"You admitted her," Mui accused, bringing the aging woman's dark eyes to look at her.

"Yes, I did," she agreed as it seemed the woman suddenly thought clearly and was ready to face the world. "I remember that man who carried her in. Rather slender with penetrating eyes behind very dirty glasses. The name he told us was Green and he almost seemed to be glad to be rid of the poor girl. She had already been stitched up- and impressively well for some passing tourist he claimed to be."

"Why didn't you get an address, or at least a village of origin?" Minh asked, hoping the moment of lucidity would last a bit longer.

The nurse's eyes turned very stern suddenly and she glared at the young doctor, "She didn't have one. Green, the man that brought her in, claimed he found her while he was hiking in the swamp."

Mui gave Minh a skeptical look and turned back to the nurse to ask a question, "Nurse Nong, do you have the address of the man who brought her in?"

She shook her head and replied with a sigh, "No. He collapsed on his way out of the hospital and died. There is a file on his autopsy here- he died of advance stage leukemia. The only thing left of him are his personal affects."

Mui's heart thundered in her chest as she felt her head become as light as a feather. This could be the evidence they were looking for. The small woman sucked in a breath and swallowed hard, allowing her brown eyes to dart between the two women in her presence. She HAD to stay cool, she couldn't let on that this could be important. This was for Doctor Julia, for that poor teen who died bringing a baby into this world only for that baby to die in an orphanage, and for the Red Shield- the company that had saved her from the fate of becoming a monster. Steeling her nerves, the young-looking woman asked almost nonchalantly, "You don't happen to have those personal affects anymore, Nurse Nong?"

The aged nurse raised a finger shakily as her eyes twinkled in response, "I… think they are in the back…" her voice trailed off as she disappeared through a heavy door.

The two doctors looked at each other and Minh asked, "Don't you find it quite a coincidence that this man who is obviously a surgeon was hiking in the swamp, not a place any tourist would go- if you ask me, where this girl just happened to be injured by a SWORD?"

Minh remained silent as she awaited the return of this nurse. The thudding of her heart was drowning out the sound around her. For a moment, beautiful blue-grey eyes flashed in her mind, bringing the stinging feeling of held-back tears to burn her nose. This could be the answer that the poor little miracle baby should have had. Perhaps finding any answers would bring the little girl peace in the afterlife.

Shuffling through the door, a loud huff announced the return of the nurse. A dusty old box was unceremoniously dropped onto the counter in front of them. Inside was a few articles of clothing, a wallet, what looked like a doctor's bag from a time long ago, and a dusty red book.

Mui lifted the book, demanding that her fingers not shake and willing her heart to start beating again. Somehow, she just knew without a doubt this was what they had been looking for without even knowing it.