AN: Many, many apologies for taking so long! You would seriously not believe the week I've had... I've been trying for the past few days to get this one typed up, promise! I didn't have the time to proof-read it so if you all could do that for me and let me know where the errors are, I would really appreciate it! First of all, thank you for your concern about my cold. I went to the doctor and now they have me taking 4 pills a day to get rid of it. So far it hasn't worked, but I'm still trying! Second, in my author note at the end of the previous chapter, I meant me knowing the whole routine with emergengy dispatchers was pathetic, not the chapter. I'm glad you guys liked the detail with the dispatcher. I'm going to keep working on getting stuff typed up. I have one more chapter handwritten and hope to get it typed up in the next few days and posted. The one after that should be veeeeery long and I'm still working on it. It will take place in Lyoko... well sort of. I've been working on some drawings for G-Force 4 of the characters he created and if he thinks they're good enough, he might let me show you them. Maybe. Anyways, here's your chapter! Read, review, and enjoy!
Ulrich sat in the waiting room surrounded by Yumi's parents, Odd, and Jeremy. He had already been interrogated by the doctors, then Yumi's parents and friends. Everyone was quiet as they processed the information they had just received from the emotionally and physically exhausted brown haired boy. Odd sat on Ulrich's left side, and Mrs. Ishiyama sat on Ulrich's right. Jeremy and Mr. Ishiyama chose nearby chairs as they all waited for news on Yumi's condition. Ulrich's shoulders were slumped in defeat, and the worried boy hung his head and covered his face with his bandaged hands. If only I would have left the dance right away instead of dancing with Emily, he thought, maybe I could have been there and kept her from getting hurt. It's all my fault...
As if reading his friend's mind, Odd clasped Ulrich's shoulder tightly as a reassurance and said quietly, "You did what you could. Now it's up to Yumi and the doctors. She'll be fine, don't worry."
After a few moments of silence, a doctor walked out of the emergency room and over to the small group. Odd withdrew his hand from Ulrich's shoulder and all but the distressed brown haired boy looked up at the doctor expectantly.
"Ulrich, could you please come with me for a minute?" she asked gently.
"How's Yumi?" he asked, standing up slowly, his bandaged hands falling limply at his sides.
"She's stable now and we're working on assessing her smaller injuries and warming her up," the doctor replied.
"Will she be ok?" Mrs. Ishiyama asked anxiously.
"Yes, but we need to keep her here for a few days for observation." At this news, the group visibly relaxed.
"So she won't be paralyzed?" Mr. Ishiyama asked.
"It is possible that she will temporarily be paralyzed until her muscles start healing, but after that she'll be able to move around like she did before the accident," the doctor reassured him.
"May we see her?" Mrs. Ishiyama asking, fighting tears of relief.
"In a little bit," the doctor replied, "Follow me please, Ulrich." The doctor turned around and walked back into the emergency room with Ulrich right behind her. When he saw Yumi, his breath caught in his throat. She was laying on her left side and wires were attached to various points on her body and an IV had been started in her right wrist. A small pile of blankets covered her, except for her back, which was left open. Yumi's skirt and shirt had been removed and she was now dressed in a two-piece hospital gown. The back of the shirt was left open and a diagonal strip from her left shoulder to her lower right back was bruised. Yumi's arms rested outside the blankets and where the long-sleeves of the gown ended, bandages began. Like Ulrich, her palms were wrapped in white gauze. The boy could see a darkish smudge on Yumi's right cheek that he hadn't noticed before.
"We need your help," the doctor said, breaking Ulrich's concentration, "Some of the bruising on her body doesn't match your description of what happened. Neither does the scrapes on her hands. Could you show me again where the branch was when you found her?"
Ulrich walked closer to the raven-haired girl and brought his hand close to her back, but didn't touch it. He marveled at the fact that, toward her lower back, the bruise was nearly as wide as his hand.
"The leafy part was up here," Ulrich said, pointing to Yumi's left shoulder where the bruising was the smallest, "And the part that had broken off from the tree was just past her side over here." Ulrich pointed to a spot about an inch away from the top of Yumi's right hip.
"Were there any smaller branches nearby or on her arm or face?" the woman asked.
"No, at least not that I could see," Ulrich answered, "Why? I only see a little bit of something on her cheek."
Silently, the woman doctor rolled Yumi's right sleeve up carefully until a large bruise was exposed. Speechless, Ulrich walked around the bed until he was on Yumi's other side. It was then that he saw the full bruising on her cheek.
"We suspected the bruises on her arm and cheek were not from tonight's incident," the doctor said, rolling Yumi's sleeve back down carefully.
"But I saw her this morning and she didn't have any bruises on her," Ulrich said, still staring at the black and blue mark on Yumi's cheek.
"How about later in the day?"
"I saw her at the dance, but I didn't get too close," Ulrich replied, "The only time I got a good look at her was when she was in the hallway with her boyfriend and I didn't see any marks then either." Ulrich hated calling Theo Yumi's boyfriend, but he knew it was true and he wanted to help the doctors as much as possible so Yumi could get better sooner. Speaking of Theo, where was he? Surely he would want to be here with Yumi too, right?
"Thanks for your help, Ulrich," the doctor said kindly, once again breaking Ulrich's concentration, "We'll be moving her to her own room now. Would you like to come with her? I'll let her friends and family know what's going on."
"Thanks," Ulrich said, still watching Yumi as the nurses began preparing for the move, "What happened to her hands, anyway?"
"That's another thing we couldn't figure out," the doctor admitted, "They were scraped like yours, only shallower, but hers weren't bleeding. In fact, they were already beginning to heal. It looked like they hadn't been cleaned properly when they were injured either because we found dirt in the wounds."
"I see," Ulrich said, even though he didn't.
"Sir, are these yours?" a nurse asked, carrying over Ulrich's jacket and over-shirt.
"Yeah, thanks," Ulrich said, taking the items. Ulrich's clothes were still soaked and he had abandoned the blanket when he got out of the ambulance. The intensity of the past events had made him oblivious to the cold and now that the worst was over, it all came flooding back. The cuts on his palms began to sting and an opening door left in a cold gust of air that washed over the emergency room occupants and sliced through Ulrich's drenched clothes. Though he tried to hide it, Ulrich couldn't help but shiver. The nurse noticed this and a practiced eye saw the fatigue he also tried to disguise.
"Doctor, I think we should keep him for observation tonight also," she said, "Why don't we put them in a double room?" The doctor caught on and nodded her agreement.
"That and a hero's treatment," the doctor said.
"I'm no hero," Ulrich protested.
"In her eyes, I'm sure you are," the nurse said, "Now let's get you into some dry clothes and up to your room." Too tired to argue any further, Ulrich trudged after the nurse. She found Ulrich a spare set of hospital clothes and handed the brown haired boy the light blue outfit. She then steered him to a small room where he could change. When he came out, she took his wet clothes from him.
"I'll have these washed and dried and sent up to you in the morning," she promised. Ulrich kept his coat and over shirt, along with his cell phone. "Now you just go up those steps and it's the first door on your left - room 113."
"Thank you," Ulrich said as he started climbing the flight of stairs. Each step seemed to get larger and his weary body's protest grew stronger with each stair. Finally reaching the top, Ulrich pushed open the door to the room he and Yumi would be sharing. He was surprised to see the dark haired girl had already been brought up, along with her family and friends.
"Nice clothes," Odd remarked, "Are you trying to start a new trend?" The two blond boys sat on a couch which had been pushed up against one of the walls opposite the two beds. The two hospital beds were side-by-side with the headboards against another wall and an aisle between them. Yumi's bed was closest to the door, while his was next to the window. Two chairs had been pulled up on either side of Yumi's bed and they now contained her parents.
"Leave him alone, he's had a rough night," Jeremy said quietly to Odd.
"It was just a joke," Odd said lightly.
"What did the doctor tell you?" Ulrich asked Yumi's parents.
"They said she has some bruising on her back from the branch and should stay in bed for at least a day. They also said she has a slight concussion and a cut on her forehead from when she hit the sidewalk. The strangest thing they noticed was she's suffering from malnourishment. I saw her eat lunch today, though," Mrs. Ishiyama said, "The doctor says she's lucky not to have been completely paralyzed from the blow to her back." At this, Mrs. Ishiyama began to tear up and her husband put a comforting arm around her shoulders.
"I'm glad she's going to be ok," Ulrich said, walking toward his bed.
"If you hadn't found her..." Yumi's dad began, then broke off as emotion overwhelmed him.
"What we want to say is, thank you," Yumi's mother said, smiling warmly at Ulrich.
"It was nothing, really," Ulrich insisted, placing his hand on the bed to steady himself.
"I think it's time we left, Odd," Jeremy said, standing up, "We'll come by and see you two in the morning."
"Bye," Ulrich said to his friends' retreating backs.
"You should sleep now," Mrs. Ishiyama said, standing up. Once Ulrich has set his coat, over shirt, and the cell phone on an empty chair, he climbed into bed and tried to pull the covers over himself. The bandages on his hands impeded him and Yumi's mother walked around to Ulrich's bed and tucked him in.
"Goodnight, Ulrich," she said. She almost bent down to kiss his forehead as she had done to Yumi when she was younger, but she stopped herself and settled on brushing stray hairs from his face instead.
"My wife and I will be staying in the room next door if you need anything," Yumi's father said gruffly as he stood up.
"Yes, sir," Ulrich said as his eyelids began to droop. The last thing he saw before he drifted off to sleep was Yumi's unconscious body.
AN: I hope you liked that chapter! I was thinking about having Yumi paralyzed, but decided it would add to the story more if she could still move around. Ok, here's your spoiler for the next chapter! Enjoy!
'What happened? Where am I? Why is it so dark? What are all these wires and tubes attatched to me? Why do I hurt so badly? My head aches, and my back too. What's wrong with me?'
Yes.. I know... as a spoiler that sucked, but I can't reveal too much, now can I? Leave a review as you go, please. Thanks!