Disclaimer: I am afraid that I do not own Sailor Moon. I do, however, own some of the hilarious situations that they get themselves into. Read and enjoy!
Hello again! I figured because I haven't updated this story for a while, I should post longer chapters to make up for the wait. I don't know if anyone noticed, but my last chapter was around 1,000 words longer than my longest chapter before this break, and this chapter will be around 1,000 words longer than the previous one. I plan to make up for lost time!
Oh yeah, and don't worry: there's plenty more to come!
The Sailor Senshi Rise Again:
Chapter 9: More Injuries
"Huh? Whuzzat?" Makoto slowly blinked her eyes to rid them of sleep. She turned toward Haruka, who had woken her. Haruka was violently moving around, twisting the covers around herself. But that was not what had awakened Makoto. It was Haruka shouting incomprehensible words, punching and kicking foes that weren't there.
"Maybe Haruka's finally remembering something," Makoto thought to herself. Feeling less lightheaded, she slowly stood up, and walked over to Haruka's bed. "Hey," Makoto said, gently shaking Haruka's shoulder, "Haruka. Wake up. I want to ask you someth—"
Before Makoto could finish her sentence, Haruka punched Makoto square on the nose, causing Makoto to fly back against the opposite wall, blood trailing along and splattering onto the floor. Makoto slammed against the wall with a groan, and slowly slid down, landing in a crumpled heap, unable to move.
Haruka opened her eyes, absorbed the scene, and said, "What happened? Why are you on the ground? Why are you bleeding? Did someone come in here and attack you? Where is he? I'll fight him!" Haruka tried sitting up, but was too restricted by her covers to move. "And he tied me up too, did he?" With that, Haruka ripped the covers apart, jumped up out of bed, and hurried over to Makoto. This simple action made her dizzy, however, causing her to sink down to the floor next to Makoto. Haruka weakly shook Makoto's shoulder. "Hey kid. What happened?"
Makoto slowly pushed herself up. She slowly wiped off the blood onto her shirt. "Well," she said weakly, staring at the blood-soaked rag that had once been her sleeve, "you were having a nightmare."
"I don't see how that caused this to happen," Haruka said, taking in the sight of Makoto's face.
"You were punching and kicking foes that weren't there, and I guess you thought I was an enemy, and you punched me in the face! You sent me flying across the room!"
Haruka stared disbelievingly for a few moments, and then looked at her hands. Her right definitely bore a trace of blood. Wiping it on her shirt, Haruka started, "Well, sorry kid—"
All of a sudden, the same nurse from before banged open the door and came running over to the two girls. "I heard a ruckus and came running! What happened?"
Haruka rolled her eyes. "Who says 'ruckus' anymore? That's like a 50's word."
Makoto shook her head, causing some blood to go flying. "Shut up, Haruka."
Haruka looked as though she was going to punch Makoto yet again, but then, she burst out laughing. Makoto did as well.
The nurse looked back and forth between them. "You both must be delirious from all of this blood loss."
Makoto was still laughing. "Ha-ha! Probably!"
Haruka was also still laughing. "But I haven't lost any blood for a while!"
The nurse silently pointed to Haruka's bandaged head. Makoto looked over, and immediately stopped laughing. Haruka's bandages were soaked in blood. "Probably from all the moving around she did. Plus the exertion of her running over to help me," Makoto thought. Makoto shook Haruka's shoulder. "Haruka, the nurse is right! You're bandages are soaked!"
Haruka stopped laughing, and her eyes widened. Very slowly, Haruka wiped her hand on her bandages. She saw her hand covered in blood, and said, "Well, THAT'S probably not good." Her hand dropped to her side, and Haruka passed out.
Makoto turned to the nurse quickly. "Help me get Haruka back onto her bed." The nurse nodded, and together, the two half dragged half carried Haruka back to her bed.
"Don't let her head touch the pillow; we don't want that to soak as well," the nurse instructed. Makoto nodded, holding up Haruka's head. "I'll get the bandages. You just hang on and try not to pass out yourself." The nurse hurried over to the same cabinet as before, riffled through it for a few seconds, and produced the same golden bandages as before. He ran back over to Haruka, and slowly began to undo the bandages. "We don't want too many bandages wrapped around her head," the nurse said in response to Makoto's questioning look. "Too much pressure on the skull is not a good thing." The nurse discarded the blood-soaked rags into the trashcan, and then slowly began to wrap the new bandages around her head. Once the bandages were taped up, the nurse sighed. "She should be good for now. But make sure she doesn't exert herself too much from now on." He looked at Makoto, who was as white as her bed sheets. "You should get back to bed and rest. You look ready to fall."
Makoto nodded, and, with the nurse's assistance, slowly walked over to her bed, which she plopped down onto with a sigh.
The nurse looked at Makoto with concern. "Is your nose broken, or just badly bruised?"
Makoto tenderly moved her nose back and forth; it appeared to be fine. "Just bruised, I think."
The nurse looked relieved. "Good. That means all we have to do is pack it with some gauze." He riffled through the drawers again, and produced a thick, white material. He handed them to Makoto. "Just put them up your nose—" Makoto snorted, causing her to cringe as the pain in her nose peaked. "I know it sounds funny. But just do that, and you should be fine. Make sure you drink the orange juice as well."
Makoto nodded. "Okay."
"Just call me if you need anything, like more juice. Oh, and make sure Haruka drinks some too when she wakes up." He turned to leave.
"Wait!" Makoto shouted. The nurse turned towards her. "What about Ami's mother? Dr. Mizuno?"
The nurse smiled. "I'm afraid that Dr. Mizuno has retired for the night. She said that she could really use a break after everything that's happened. Don't worry," the nurse said hastily as Makoto looked at the ground, "she doesn't mean that it was too much trouble. It just wore her out. She said she wanted to take care of you, but she was just too tired. Besides, I'm also a very good nurse. Just call for Nurse Jones if you need something." And with that, Nurse Jones exited the room.
Makoto picked up the pitcher, and was surprised to see her hand shaking with the effort it took to pick it up. "Wonderful. I can't even pour myself a glass to drink without wearing myself out. It's a wonder Haruka did all that she did before passing out." Makoto carefully poured herself a glass, than poured one for Haruka. She was nearly finished her cup when Haruka groaned.
"What happened?" Haruka groaned.
"You fainted. Nurse Jones patched you up." Makoto handed Haruka a glass of orange juice. "Just drink this, okay?"
Haruka downed the glass in one swig. "Can I have some more?"
"You've got two arms that aren't broken. Get it yourself." Makoto joked.
Haruka chuckled, and managed to pour herself some. Makoto pretended not to notice how much Haruka's hands were shaking. "You're pretty tough you know. Not many people stand up to me, let alone fight me. You seem like a good person to be friends with." Haruka took a sip.
"Ha ha. Yeah, I guess so." Makoto finished her cup and poured herself another. "What were you dreaming about, just out curiosity?"
Haruka seemed troubled. "Well, as you probably know, it was fighting." Makoto snorted. "Yeah, yeah. Well, it was about something strange." Makoto listened carefully. "I remember something about shaking the world." Haruka looked over at Makoto. "I know, you probably think I'm going crazy, right?"
"Uranus World Shaking?" Makoto thought. "Maybe she IS getting her memory back." "I don't think you're going crazy. I think you might be getting your memory back." When Haruka looked at her strangely, Makoto added, "Are you sure that it doesn't mean anything relevant to you?"
"No. Do you know what it means?"
"No… no. I think we should just go back to sleep. That'll help your memory. I bet you'll have remembered everything by tomorrow." Makoto put the gauze into her nostrils. She looked over and saw Haruka grinning at her. "What?" Makoto asked defensively.
"Nothing." Haruka turned to her side facing away from Makoto. "Goodnight, freak."
"What did you say?" Makoto asked menacingly. Haruka pretended to give a great, grumbling snore. Makoto laughed, then instantly fell asleep, still a little woozy from all of the night's events.
"HI!" a surprisingly loud voice boomed.
"What?" Haruka groaned, opening her eyes. Usagi blearily came into view. "Who're you?"
Usagi laughed. "I'm Usagi, remember?"
"No."
Makoto stirred in her bed. She sighed when she saw Usagi. "Usagi, what are you DOING here?" Makoto turned to look at the clock on the wall. "It's only 8:00 in the morning. Don't you usually sleep in till noon?"
"Ha-ha," Usagi scoffed. "Usually yes. But I came here early because I was concerned about dear Haruka here." Usagi pinched Haruka's cheek.
Haruka slapped Usagi hard in the face. "Don't touch me," she said idly.
Usagi fell off her wheelchair from the force of the slap. She began to sniff, and then burst out sobbing. "You MEANIE!" she shouted.
"Does she always do this?" Haruka asked Makoto.
"Usually. And it's usually brought on by you slapping her." Makoto shook her head. "Then you usually slap her again."
"I would but I can't reach her." Haruka started laughing.
"You guys are so MEAN! Makoto," Usagi whined, "you're just egging her on! Stop giving her false memories to make her torment me!"
Makoto started to laugh. "But they're NOT fake, Usagi."
Just then, all of the Senshi followed by Ami's mother rushed into the room. "There you are, Usagi!" Rei shouted, relieved. "We walked up to the front desk, asked if Haruka was available, then turned around and saw that you were GONE!" She shook her head. "Why are you always such an idiot?"
"Am not!" Usagi whined, as she stuck out her tongue at Rei. "You're just always mean to me!"
"Mean enough to help you back into you wheelchair?" Rei said smartly. Usagi said nothing as Rei helped back into her wheelchair.
Michiru walked over to Haruka. "Are you feeling better? Do you remember anything?"
Haruka shook her head. "But I think I might remember your names. "Michelle," she said, pointing to Michiru, "Mataru," she pointed to Hotaru, "Trista," she said, pointing to Setsuna, "Lita" she pointed to Makoto, "Mita," she pointed to Minako, "Yama," she pointed to Ami, "Sunny," she pointed to Rei, "and Serena," she said, finally pointing to Usagi.
Everyone stood in silence for a moment, and then Michiru patted her shoulder. "Close enough."
Haruka looked annoyed at the pat, but tolerated it. "So if this… Serena is as late as you say she always is, why is she here early?" She looked over at Makoto. "That answer didn't seem truthful to me, let alone you. You looked like you didn't believe her for a second."
Makoto shook her head. "No, I didn't." She turned to Usagi. "What was the REAL reason, Usagi?"
Usagi started to speak, but was interrupted by Minako, "Well we all got together really early, and decided that we should come visit you. We couldn't sleep knowing that you and Haruka were injured. Well, Usagi could." She gave Usagi a sour look. Usagi cringed away. Minako laughed to take the sting out of it. "Just kidding, Usagi. Anyway, we all went over to her house, dragged her up onto her wheelchair, and came here."
Makoto nodded. "I see."
Hotaru snorted. Everyone looked at her. "What is it, Hotaru?" Setsuna asked.
"What's that there for? Did you forget how to blow your nose, Makoto?" Hotaru joked. Everyone laughed and Makoto blushed.
"No, no!" Makoto shouted, taking out the gauze now caked over with dried blood. "My nose was bleeding last night, so I used this gauze to soak up the blood. Gauze, not tissue."
"Why was your nose bleeding last night? You shouldn't be losing too much blood after that donation." Ami's mother closely observed the gauze now in the trashcan. "And this DOES look like a lot of blood."
Makoto laughed nervously. "I get nosebleeds really easily. A lot too, right, Ami?" Makoto asked, turning towards Ami.
"I can't lie, especially in front of my mother," Ami thought. "I wouldn't really know, Makoto."
Makoto rolled her eyes but then looked Ami's mother straight in the eyes when the latter looked back over to her. "Fine. You don't have to tell me the real reason, but just make sure it doesn't happen again. Especially," Ami's mother looked at her clipboard, "since you're free to go."
"Really? I can leave?" Makoto said, getting up slowly from her bed.
"Yes. But just make sure you take it easy for a while, and drink constantly." Ami's mother turned to leave. But just as she got to the door, she stopped. "By the way, how was Nurse Jones? I'm sorry, but I was just so worn out from yesterday that I had to take a break. He's my most trusted nurse."
"He was fine, Dr. Mizuno," Makoto said truthfully.
"Good." Ami's mother walked out the door.
"So you feel well enough to stand?" Ami asked, supporting Makoto.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll be fine Ami." Makoto said. She really did feel almost 100 percent.
"Forgive me, Haruka," Michiru said quietly. She pulled out a big, titanium hammer, and brought it down onto Haruka's head with tremendous force. Haruka loudly groaned.
"What the heck was THAT for, Michiru?" Everyone shouted.
Michiru dropped the hammer onto the bed. "I'm sorry, Haruka!" Michiru screamed, tears flowing down her face. "This was the only way I could think of to bring your memory back! Hitting your head hard lost your memory, I thought another hard hit could bring it back!"
"Why not just LISTEN to Ami's mother and try to jog her memory back by recreating past events? I thought THAT was the plan!" Rei shouted, furious.
"I've HAD IT with all of you!" Haruka shouted. She picked up the hammer, and brought it down onto the top of Michiru's head. Michiru groaned weakly, and collapsed, blood pouring down onto her face.
"This situation is totally out of control!" Setsuna shouted. She gently picked up Michiru, with some help from Hotaru, and placed her on Makoto's recently occupied bed.
"I swear, if Michiru loses her memory, I just give up!" Rei sighed in exasperation.
Just then, Ami's mother same running through the door. "I heard the commotion. What happened?" She looked down at the groaning Haruka and the unconscious Michiru. "Why is Haruka bleeding again, and why is the other girl unconscious?"
Everyone looked at each other. "It's… a long story," Ami said finally.
Ami's mother looked at each girl in turn, then, after a long pause said, "I expect a FULL explanation when I get home, Ami."
"Yes Mom," Ami said quietly as her mother briskly walked away.
"How do you LIVE with her, Ami?" Usagi asked. "She gave us the death glare."
"You get used to it," Ami said quickly. "Lucky she didn't notice this," she said pointing to the blood covered hammer.
"We'd better get rid of it," said Minako, throwing it out the window. A sound of a cat snarling in pain was heard.
"That's… one way to do it," Setsuna said, looking at Minako strangely.
"Uh… What happened?" Michiru groaned.
Before anyone could respond, Haruka shouted, "You hit me in the head with that stupid hammer, THAT'S what happened! So I hit YOU back!"
Tears started up in Michiru's eyes. "I was only trying—"
"Yeah, yeah. You were only trying to bring back my memory. I know," Haruka muttered, turning away.
There was an awkward silence, which was finally broken by Ami. "I should probably give you guys some new bandages." Ami went to work unwrapping Haruka's blood-soaked bandages, while Hotaru rifled through the drawer for new ones.
"Here you go, Ami," Hotaru said, handing over the bandages.
"Thanks, Hota— wait," Ami said, inspecting the bandages more closely. "Why are there blue ones here, too?"
"That's… my favorite color," Michiru said through gritted teeth.
"Ah. Okay. I'll wrap these for you in a few seconds. I gotta wrap Haruka's first, so she doesn't lose more blood than she already has." Ami meticulously wrapped the bandages around Haruka's head, which was still bleeding profusely. "There." Ami sat back and admired her work. "If anything else happens to you, we might even have to give you new stitches. So don't do anything—"
"I KNOW!" Haruka shouted. Everyone stared, unnerved. ""I know," Haruka said in a softer voice. "But… could you just help Michiru?"
Everyone gasped. "You… remember me?" Michiru asked, wide-eyed, all pain in her head forgotten.
Haruka nodded slowly. "Yeah. You were the one that was talking to me in my vision, weren't you?"
Everyone looked at Michiru, grinning. Michiru responded without embarrassment, "Yes. We were just TALKING," Michiru added, glaring at the other girls. Everyone started to giggle. "Do you remember what I said?"
Haruka closed her eyes, concentrating. "No… but… it was something… important." She looked at Michiru. "Can someone get her some bandages, NOW?"
"Typical Haruka," Makoto said, shaking her head. "Never says 'please' or 'thank you'." Everyone laughed, including Haruka.
"Yes of course," Ami said in a tone like her mother's when she was about to perform an operation. "Blue, right?" she asked, turning towards Michiru.
"Yes, Dr. Mizuno," Michiru said sarcastically. Everyone laughed and Ami blushed.
"She's just kiddin'," Makoto said, wrapping an arm around Ami's shoulders. "Although you'll be a great doctor someday, right guys?" Makoto asked the group at large. Everyone replied 'yes' so earnestly, Ami brightened in an instant.
"Alright. This'll only take a second," Ami said, starting to wrap the aquamarine bandages around Michiru's head, which was covered in blood but had actually stopped bleeding.
Once she was finished, Michiru muttered a quiet, "Thank you."
"No problem. Though you should probably get some rest. You're lucky it's not a concussion," Ami lectured.
"Yeah. That's a lesson we'll never forget," Makoto joked. "Never hit Haruka on the head with a hammer, or you'll get hit 10 times harder!"
"Hey! I'm not pathetic!" Michiru protested. "Her hit wasn't even that hard!"
"Fine. You want to get hit again?" Haruka asked threateningly, raising her fist.
"Really?" Ami asked in disbelief. "After all the trouble I went through to bandage both of your heads, you're going to get them bleeding again?"
"Just jokin', just jokin'," Haruka said calmly, lowering her hand to her head to feel how much damage had been done. Wincing, she added, "I don't think I could take much more."
After everyone had finished laughing, Setsuna added some sense to the conversation. "Do you think that you're well enough to go on the race track yet?"
Haruka considered this. "Other than the pain in my head, I feel fine." With the help of the other Senshi, Haruka slowly eased up out of her bed, everyone standing right next to her in case she started to fall. "See, I'm fine." Haruka started to walk with surprising strength towards the hospital door. She had her hand on the doorknob when she stopped suddenly. She then started to tip back over. Rei and Minako caught her and carried her back over to her bed, where she weakly said, "Guess I'm STILL not ready to leave yet."
Michiru slowly eased out of her bed, and came over to Haruka's. "That was still brave, what you did." She patted Haruka on the hand which the latter didn't seem to mind as much.
Usagi rolled her eyes and pantomimed throwing up in disgust. Everyone laughed. Michiru whipped around and looked at everyone, but they had stopped laughing and Usagi had ceased her show.
Just as Michiru was about to ask why they were laughing, Ami's mother walked in. Looking at the group she announced, "Visiting hours are over, everyone." Everyone groaned.
"What?" Hotaru complained. "We just got here! How long are hospitals open?"
"Visiting hours are at the discretion of the doctor taking care of the patient," Ami's mother explained. "I seem to notice that every time Haruka has visitors, she inevitably ends up getting injured in some way." She made a shoeing gesture with her hands. "Go on, go on. You can all visit her tomorrow when she recovers from today."
"But Mom," Ami complained, "school starts up again tomorrow. We won't be able to come until lat—"
"No buts," Ami's mother said briskly. "I don't want any of you to harm my patient. The more she rests, the quicker she'll recover and will be able to leave." She gained a gentler tone. "I'm sorry everyone. I know you want to visit, but the entire recovery will go by smoother if she's just left to herself for a while to rest."
"I'm fine! None of them could actually hurt me." Haruka said proudly. "Can't the patient decide when the visiting hours are, since she's the one being visited?"
"I'm afraid that decision is all up to me," Ami's mother said in a strict yet kind tone. She turned back to the other girls. "You girls will have to leave now. I promise that I will allow you to visit Haruka tomorrow."
The girls departed, but not before Michiru briefly grasped Haruka's hand. Haruka looked at her strangely for a moment before hesitantly squeezing her hand back. Michiru smiled, and then followed the rest of the girls out the door.