The Road to Recovery
By DrummondType2
Part I: Shattered
Shizuru was sitting in the lobby of Fuuka General Hospital. Her face was blank, and the color was gone from her face. She and Natsuki had each taken steps to ensure that they were one another's emergency contacts. It was something she'd hoped never to have to use. But when the phone had rung in their shared apartment that night, she'd known before even answering that something was terribly wrong.
Her heart was pounding in her chest as she waited for news.
"Fujino-san?" she heard a voice ask softly. She turned, and saw a group of familiar faces. Nao was the one who had spoken, being surprisingly polite. Beside her was Mai Tokiha, her face tortured with worry, and Mikoto Minagi, who looked like she was on the verge of tears.
"Is there any word?" Mai asked.
Shizuru shook her head quietly.
"What the hell happened?" Nao asked.
"There was a drunk driver," Shizuru said in a soft hush, "He sideswiped Natsuki and she went off the road. Then he plowed into a retaining wall, himself. Natsuki is in surgery, now."
"Natsuki…" Mikoto now had tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Hey, I've seen the Pup wipe out on a rainy road and come out of it with just a few scratches," Nao said calmly, "She's…she's gonna be fine."
"Fujino-san?" a tall man in scrubs, wearing glasses, came out to the lobby.
Shizuru rose from her seat, "Doctor? Is Natsuki…?"
"First, the good news," the doctor said, "She's alive."
The collective wave of relief was palpable. Even Nao was wiping away tears of joy from her eyes.
"Now, I want you to prepare yourselves," The doctor said softly, "She was very badly hurt, both from the initial impact of the car, and from the fall down the cliff side. Luckily, she was wearing her helmet, and it took the brunt, so there's no head trauma. However, we were unable to save the left leg. It was utterly crushed by the impact with the car. It was only hanging on by a few strands of torn flesh when the EMTs got to her. We had to amputate just under the knee. Also, her left arm is broken. That will take about eight weeks to heal properly. And several of her ribs were broken in the fall. And, she's pretty bruised, as well."
"Oh, Natsuki…" Mai was tearing up again, her hands over her mouth.
"May we see her?" Shizuru asked with a dry throat, barely able to form the words.
"She's heavily sedated right now, and she needs her rest. I can allow one person to stay with her. She'll need someone with her when she finally comes out of the anesthesia. Also, she is still unaware of the extent of her injuries. When she is conscious, I will explain the situation to her, and discuss further treatments and prognosis for recovery."
"I will stay with her," Shizuru said. No one protested, "I will need a change of clothes. Both for myself and for Natsuki. Doctor, how long before she can come home?"
"We'll need to observe her for about a week. If there are no complications, we should be able to see her on an outpatient basis after that."
"Fujino, give me the key to your place," Nao said, "I'll pack a bag for you."
"Thank you, Yuuki-han," Shizuru offered a faint smile, "Doctor, can you show me to Natsuki?"
Shizuru tried to brace herself for the worst, tried to mentally prepare herself for what she would see when she reached the room. When she saw Natsuki, however, she winced. She hated that she'd winced. She hated herself for it, and also thanked God that Natsuki hadn't witnessed it.
The dark-haired beauty was laying in the bed. Her face was unmarred, and her eyes were closed in peace. But it was a false, drug-induced peace. She was draped in a white sheet, her arms laying over the top of it. One arm had an IV drip connected and taped firmly in place, and the visible flesh was badly bruised. The other arm was in a cast. There was a distinctive void on her left side where a leg should have been, while the right hand leg was clearly visible against the pure white cloth.
"She looks so frail," Shizuru said to no one in particular. But the doctor heard and nodded.
"It's not Natsuki Kuga's first stay with us," the doctor sighed, "I was there, ten years ago, when they pulled her from the wreckage of her mother's car. She surprised me, you know, how quickly she recovered. Oh, she was our guest for a year, but when she first came out of the drink, there were moments I doubted she'd make it at all."
"Natsuki is a fighter," Shizuru agreed softly, wiping at her eyes.
"Yes. There's a chair here for you, and I've had them bring in a stool to use as an ottoman. The nurses will be in every so often to check her stats and change her dressings as needed. I can't stay, I'm afraid. But I'll see you in the morning."
"Doctor," Shizuru spoke as he turned to leave. He paused, "Thank you, Doctor. For saving her. I know you did all that you could for her."
The doctor nodded, "I only wish I could have done more. She may sleep for a few hours before waking. Or it may be days. But when she wakes, the grieving will begin."
~~*~~
Nao was on the train heading to the apartment shared by Kuga and Fujino. She knew how to get there, of course. She'd been there before. In fact, the first time she'd ever been there, she'd had the Pup tied up in Julia's webs, orchestrating a trap for Fujino. And of course, Fujino had torn through Nao's trap with ease and rescued Kuga, then had her monstrosity of a Child rip Julia to shreds, and killed Satsuki Yuuki, miles away in her hospital bed. The irony was not lost on Nao that she was now racing to help Fujino and Kuga.
"Damn!" Nao punched the wall of the elevator and blinked, trying to clear the tears from her eyes, "You survived me, Pup! How'd you go and get trashed by some…run of the mill drunkard. Damned idiot!"
She reached the right floor, and went to the door, opening it. She made her way to the bedroom, where she found a duffle bag and started looking through the clothes. She picked out a couple of Fujino's blouses, and a skirt and a pair of pleated pants for her. For Kuga, she grabbed a raglan t-shirt and a pair of shorts. She wanted Kuga to be comfortable, and losing a leg…
She leaned forward, resting her head against the wall, pounding on it sharply with her fist. She turned to leave, having a couple of changes of clothes in the duffle bag. She was nearly to the door when she saw something that made her pause. Sitting on a shelf was a row of pictures. The first time Nao had been there, it had been occupied by only one half of a burned old picture that featured an eight year old Kuga and a dog, and the bodies of her parents, the faces consumed by some long ago fire. She'd callously tossed that to the floor as she prepared an ambush. Now, over a year later, she found herself looking at row after row of framed pictures. There was one of Tokiha and Kuga, Kuga looking a bit uneasy, Tokiha holding her arm, a warm smile on her face. There was one of Kuga laughing as she did rabbit ears on an oblivious Mikoto. There was one of Fujino fawning over a sleeping Kuga on the beach, Kikukawa and Suzushiro in the background. Then there was one from their beach trip when they'd force fed spicy food to Kanzaki. Fujino had taken the shot. It was Mai, Mikoto, Suguira, Kikukawa, Kuga, and Nao herself. Kuga was holding her, and there was a genuine smile on her face.
Nao felt the strength leave her legs as she looked on that picture, and she felt the tears begin to flow.
"I'm sorry, Kuga!" Nao sobbed silently to herself, "I'm so, so sorry. You and I could have been friends from the start. We could have…But I was so damned caught up in myself, and…And now, you're hurt, and I'm just so…useless!" Nao didn't know how long she had sobbed to herself, but eventually she was able to rise to her feet and collect herself.
"Just…let me be there when she wakes up. I want to tell her that she's my friend," Nao said, holding the small gold crucifix that Yukariko had given her.
~~*~~
"Mai…will Natsuki…?"
Mai wanted to ease Mikoto's worries, wanted to tell her that Natsuki would be just fine. But she had gone through so much with the loss of her own mother, and the burden of caring for Takumi, and there had been so many times when people had sugar coated things and outright lied to her. And she knew, in her heart and in her head, that they had been trying to be kind to her. But she also knew their kindness was poisonous, because it hid the harsh reality from her that she eventually had to face head on. She didn't want to be brutal with Mikoto, but she didn't want to hide the truth from her, either.
"I don't know, Mikoto. I hope she'll be okay, but she's all kinds of hurt right now. And worse, she doesn't even know, yet, just how hurt she is. When she wakes up, it's going to be a whole new world for her, and it's going to be a hard one."
"She's pretty strong, though," Mikoto said with hopeful cheer, "I mean, when I first met her…"
Mikoto trailed off. Then she looked at Mai with big watery eyes, "Mai, when I first me Natsuki, I tried to kill her! I…"
"Hey, now," Mai smiled at her gently, "Natsuki took shots at you, too, you know. You two started getting along alright after that. For what it's worth, Mikoto, I don't think Natsuki took it personally. You certainly didn't take her shooting at you personally."
"Maybe we should make something yummy for her," Mikoto suggested, "What's Natsuki's favorite?"
Mai found herself laughing, "Mayonnaise."
"Well, maybe we can get her something else," Mikoto made a face.
"We'll make a cake for when she gets out of the hospital," Mai said decisively, "I'll talk to Fujino about it, later. Listen, we need to get some rest, because we're going to spend time at the hospital tomorrow when they're open for visiting hours."
Mikoto looked pensive, "I don't know if I can sleep, Mai. I'm worried about Natsuki."
Mai hugged her, "Me, too, Mikoto. Me too."
~~*~~
Natsuki had known from the instant she saw the car careening down the road that there was trouble. She could have avoided trouble, but there was a minivan ahead of her, and there were kids visible in the back windows. If she tried to go around, they'd be hit by the car coming up behind them.
"This is gonna suck," Natsuki hissed to herself. She watched the car in her rearview try to pass her, and she held her place behind the minivan, hoping to give them some cover.
She watched the guy pull up alongside her, and it was the mountain to one side, and the drunk driver and the ocean to the other. And then he swerved again.
The impact was searing agony. She knew the instant she felt it that her leg was crushed. She lost control of the bike, and watched helplessly as she went over the edge.
"Shit," she managed to exhale painfully. Then everything was black. Then it was cold.
She woke to an all too familiar scent, and a horrifically familiar sound. Her nostrils detected the faint hint of utter sterility that could only be a hospital room, and the sound of a heart monitor. She felt the light pressure on her righthand index finger that could only be the device to monitor heartbeat and oxygen saturation. But there was something else.
Natsuki supposed it was easy enough to belief in psychic powers, having already lived through the HiME Carnival. But she had also died once, and in the arms of the person she loved most in the world. Ever since that time, she could feel when Shizuru was near her. And she could feel it now. That reassuring warmth and tenderness was there, beside her.
She opened her mouth to talk, only to find her throat dry and pained. She was under an oxygen mask, then.
There was a dull undercurrent of pain, and she wondered how badly she was hurt.
She forced her throat to work, "Sorry I missed dinner, Shizuru."
"Natsuki!" she heard Shizuru's voice. She heard tears in that voice.
"I'm okay, Shizuru," she heard herself croak, "Well, okay, I hurt like hell."
"Nurse! Nurse! She's awake!"
Natsuki heard a shuffling noise, and she felt hands on her body.
"Kuga-san, can you feel this?"
"OW! Yes! Oh, a catheter, too?"
"Natsuki?" Shizuru sounded concerned.
"Not my first rodeo," Natsuki sighed, then, holding back tears she asked, "I lost the leg, didn't I?"
"Natsuki, you knew?"
"The minute the car hit me," Natsuki sighed shakily, sniffing a bit, but otherwise maintaining her composure, "I'm so tired."
"That's the drugs," the nurse said matter-of-factly, "And trust me, without them you wouldn't be able to sleep right now."
Natsuki nodded, "I believe it."
"Natsuki, I'm staying here. So if you need anything…"
"My throat is so dry," Natsuki said.
"I can get you some ice chips," The nurse said, "Let them melt in your mouth. Don't chew them."
"I don't think I could chew right now," Natsuki sighed, "It hurts too much."
The nurse gave Shizuru a cup full of ice chips, "Let her melt them slowly. One at a time."
"Yes, of course," Shizuru bowed. She offered ice to Natsuki, who allowed the cold melt to saturate her dry throat.
"I'm sorry, Shizuru," Natsuki sighed.
"It wasn't your fault, Natsuki," Shizuru shook her head, "The other driver was drunk."
"Not about that," Natsuki tried to smile but found the act to be too painful. Still, she pressed on, "I'm sorry that I'm naked under this stupid backless hospital gown, and I can't do anything about it."
Shizuru marveled for a moment, then gave a sobbing laugh, "That's…not important right now, Natsuki. I just want you to get better."
"That chair isn't going to be very comfy, Shizuru," Natsuki felt her eyelids growing heavy again, "Why don't you go home and rest? Gotta…keep…your strength… up, too, y'know."
Natsuki yawned as the drugs took hold again.
"She's right, you know," the nurse said, "It's going to be a long night, and you'll be wiped out, come morning."
Shizuru shook her head, "I woudn't be able to sleep, knowing she was here alone. I'll stay."