The hospital is quiet; unsurprising, since it's still early in the morning. Weiss relishes the lack of noise, only occasionally broken by the sound of monitors beeping and the soft footsteps of staff in the hall. Occasionally, a nurse will come in to check one of the machines that are monitoring Ruby, but aside from those brief visits, Weiss is left alone.
It's nice: both the quiet and being by herself. Since arriving in Vacuo, Weiss feels like she's hardly had any time to herself. It's understandable, since there's so much that needs to be done and so many people depending on her, but it is exhausting. A break from the chaos and demands of being a huntress, no matter how fleeting, is incredibly welcome.
Ruby's quiet, even breathing is the loudest sound in the room, and Weiss closes her eyes and savors the reminder that her partner is still with her. This is what she'd been missing last night when she'd tossed and turned restlessly in a futile attempt to get some sleep. Things just aren't right without Ruby around.
But Ruby is still here. And she's going to stay here, as long as Weiss can do something about it. Whatever happened, whether something attacked Ruby or-it's still difficult to think about-she hurt herself, they're going to figure it out and make sure that it doesn't happen again.
The ringing of her scroll interrupts her train of thought, and Weiss reluctantly opens her eyes to see who it is. Seeing that it's her sister, she decides not to ignore the call. "Hey, Winter."
"Hello, Weiss. How are you doing?"
"I'm okay," she tells Winter. "I'm at the hospital, visiting Ruby."
"And how is Ruby?"
That her sister even thinks to ask, to take the time to inquire into how Weiss' partner is doing, is a sign of just how much Winter has changed in the past few months. Slowly but surely, now that she's out from under Ironwood's thumb, her sister is remembering how to be a person again. "Ruby is going to be okay. She's still unconscious, but the doctor says that she's going to make a full recovery. Hopefully she'll wake up soon."
"That's good to hear."
"Yeah." Taking a deep breath, Weiss steels herself for what she's going to say next. She knows that Winter isn't going to like it, but that doesn't matter. They're doing this for Ruby, after all. "I want to take over the case that Ruby was investigating. I need to figure out what happened to her and make sure that no one else gets hurt."
"Weiss," her sister begins reluctantly. "You agreed with me that there probably wasn't even a Grimm involved in the incidents that Ruby was looking into. I know it's hard, but sometimes these kinds of things just happen without any kind of outside force to cause them."
"Ruby thought that a Grimm could be involved, and I trust my partner's judgment. Please, Winter." Weiss sighs. "I need to do this."
"Very well." Winter gives a sigh of her own. "I'll do my best to ensure that all of the relevant information is passed along to you and your teammates. Please keep me updated on any developments."
"I will," Weiss promises her. "Thank you, Winter." She ends the call, tucking away her scroll and glancing up to check on Ruby, only to jump to her feet in surprise.
Because Ruby is waking up, her silver eyes half open as she blinks in confusion.
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