Kohta:
I woke up, my head pounding from the drug they had used. I rolled over, coming face to face with Kaede.
"I thought…" I broke off, my voice echoing in my head painfully. She shook her head, handing me a glass of water.
"I came back," She whispered, her face pale and her eyes slightly glazed. Something was wrong. I looked at her hands, and they were red with blood. She had a washcloth folded and pressed against her thigh. She was bleeding out. They must have shot her. Somehow.
"Kaede. We need to take you to the hospital." I murmur, my head reverberating my words.
She shook her head vehemently.
"They will find me. By now they probably have men everywhere. We need to leave this house soon. They will be here before dawn."
I glance outside; it is dark out. The moon is dim and the stars are faint, making me feel a sense of subdued melancholy.
"At least let me look at it?" I murmur, my voice more of a hiss as I sat up. My body felt sore and my head felt heavy. She moves the compress and my eyes widen. A bullet was sticking out of the wound, which was already festering slightly. It would be infected soon, but she would die of bloodloss before that could happen. I take her hand, leading her to my car. She doesn't resist, and gets in the seat next to me. I begin to drive to clinic that isn't usually busy. It Is run by a local family, whose son I went to school with for several years. I hand Kaede a hat, and she begrudging puts it back on, but makes no move to get unbuckled.
"A friend of mine's family runs this clinic. It isn't a mainstream hospital of any kind. Look," I gesture to the lot, "there is only one other car in the lot." She frowns, before putting the rest of her hair into the hat. No pink locks were visible. She opened her car door, and walked inside, me not far behind her.
I walk up to the front desk, small beads of sweat running down my face.
"We are closed," A balding man behind the desk intones.
"Please. My friend was shot." I murmur, my voice pleading but somehow calm.
"What?! Why would you bring her here? There are plenty of-" He breaks off before taking a deep breath. "Bring her in through that door."
Kaede gets up slowly, clearly dazed. I grab her arm, helping to balance her, the fogginess in my head beginning to fade. The man tells me to wait in the waiting room, and so I take a seat.