Author's Note:

Well, didn't mean to leave you on a cliff-hanger (I'm talking to you if you're one of the thirty-some people who read chapter 14), but I had to run to class. Here's chapter 15 with (hopefully) much more to come!

There was a steady beeping and hiss coming from somewhere. Weiss could sense various tubes plugged into her arms and one that ran down her throat. A small clip on her finger was pressing in with a small spike that was slightly unpleasant, but she couldn't seem to move enough to do anything about it. Her body felt like a lead brick as she forced her eyes open.

A white ceiling with fluorescent lights greeted her, telling her she could be anywhere that was indoors. She looked around, trying to see anything out of her peripherals, but all she could see was a large red bag hanging on a stand beside a machine with a digital screen that seemed like gibberish was scrolling across it.

She finally worked up the strength to pull her head to the side. She found herself looking at a rather disheveled and sleeping Ruby sitting in a chair next to the machine that kept beeping.

"Ruby." Weiss tried to talk, but her voice was dry and came out as barely the ghost of a whisper. The tube in her throat didn't help much and she felt as if she was about to puke.

The beeping machine stuttered slightly as she regained her composure. She remained like that for a long time, not having the strength nor the will to look away from her teammate.

The sun appeared behind the blinds, creating a white dot on the dark canvas. Weiss watched as it slowly sunk down the window, falling behind Ruby's head and illuminating her as if she were some divine being in an opera.

A noise interrupted her thoughts as the door clicked quietly open and closed. A slight pause in the footsteps indicated a hesitation before a woman in a white lab coat stepped into view.

"Hello, can you hear me?" The woman asked quietly. "Blink for yes."

Weiss blinked. She smiled and scribbled on a board she was holding.

"Well, you're very lucky to be alive. We currently have you hooked up to an artificial respiratory system that was needed during surgery. We should be removing it tomorrow morning. Until then, I'd like you to rest as much as possible. I'll be giving you a dose of sleeping medicine, alright?"

Weiss realized what the doctor was saying, but that was when she remembered what had happened.

"R-Ruby." She whispered out, fighting the urge to vomit once again as the tube rubbed awkwardly around her throat.

"Oh, right." The doctor put down the syringe she was about to inject into a fitting in Weiss's wrist and moved over to wake the sleeping girl. "Miss Rose, your teammate is awake."

"Huh?" Ruby rubbed her eyes as she slowly woke up. "Weiss…"

Ruby's eyes snapped open quickly and looked over at Weiss with tears ready to fall. "Weiss! You're alive!"

"Please keep it down, Miss Schnee still needs rest. I will be giving her something to sleep till tomorrow when the life support technicians come to remove the systems. She won't be able to talk until then." The nurse explained quickly.

Ruby nodded and sat back in her chair as she watched the doctor finish her work, pushing the plunger down into the tube and sending the chemical into Weiss's veins. The doctor left as Ruby kept watching Weiss.

"I was really scared, Weiss." Ruby said as the tears in her eyes finally leaked forth. "I thought you were going to die."

Weiss couldn't respond even if she wanted to with the tube running so uncomfortably down her throat.

"I'm so happy you're okay." Ruby smiled as she wiped some of the tears from her cheeks. "I'm going to go let the rest of our team know you're okay. I'll be back soon."

Ruby jumped up and left without a second of hesitation. Weiss couldn't understand why she didn't just wait for her to fall asleep, but she supposed it didn't matter.

Weiss felt her eye lids start to fall and she fell into a dreamless sleep. Ruby still hadn't returned by the time she finally gave in to the medication and closed her eyes.

End Note:

Thanks for reading, and I have a little announcement that may be of interest to some of you:

I post updates on my profile every now and then (trying to do at least a monthly thing) where I give information about my series and the occasional fun fact. This time I also started a sort of contest-of-sorts so if you're interested, check it out. I'll update my profile with a winner when one is determined. Best of luck to those who decide to enter!

EDIT: Also for those of you who need another hint for the contest, check my profile.