#14
Kyo awoke with a start and sat bolt upright, gasping for air as he looked around nervously. To his horror and cringe-inducing embarrassment, he found his gaze meeting a fellow student's; pale, pretty and looking thoroughly unimpressed.
"Jesus." he said finally, punctuating the long and awkward silence. "Sorry about that."
He laid back down, his head landing on the fluffy pillow with a soft flump. Visiting a hospital was an egregious way to spend the evening, but being a patient within that very hospital was ineffable.
As he stared at the brilliantly white ceiling, he could not help but reflect on the very few times he had been here. The horrific injuries that Dark had inflicted upon him far outstripped the severity of his previous visits, but this one came with a new element: Mei. He found that he was much more comfortable being treated by the head nurse than an attractive female who looked to be the same age as he was. Silently cursing himself for being so concerned with matters that should have seemed trivial, Kyo glanced over at Mei who was still engaged with the task of finding gauze.
"No. No way. I am not having my bandages changed by her." he thought to himself firmly, sitting back up and swinging his legs around the hospital bed.
"Well, uh, thanks for waking me up... guess I'll be off now..." he said feebly, getting up to his feet. The pressure was almost enough to make him collapse but, fortunately, he was able to grab the bedside desk and steady himself.
It was mortifying enough to be entrapped in the hospital with Mei as the only other company, but what made his skin crawl even more was the defeatism he had displayed in his battle with Dark. He had almost willingly resigned himself to ablution by fire as punishment for what he had done.
#13
Carolyn reluictantly let go of Cancer and turned around to face Dark instead. What was this, a witness convention?
"I don't have to answer to you!" she shot at him sullenly.