Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's: Rainbow Stardust (OLD)

Chapter 24: Not All Wounds are Physical

I had vague, foggy memories of waking up. Being pumped full of drugs and also nearly dying would do that to you. I wondered for a long time if it was a dream, when I reached out and Yusei took my hand. Or if I dreamt the sound of battle, of people calling my name.

In the end, my first concrete memory was in the middle of the night. I had tried to reach for the red button beside my bed, but I was too short and my body hurt too much, so I couldn't ask for water properly. I'd had a bad dream that night and dehydrated myself by crying. I could feel it on either side of me on the pillows. Tears stained them, both recent and old from the past night. For me to lose that much hydration from crying--and also most likely from my general lack of movement for several days--it was only natural that I'd need water.

It felt so real, though. In that dream, Akiza had created a rose whirlwind, a storm in which everyone--including my friends--were all caught up. She had thorns protruding from her entire body, trapping everyone, including herself, and drawing blood in the worst ways possible.

So that night, I'd woken with a start, afraid for Akiza and everyone else. I didn't even properly remember what happened in the Arcadia Movement building until about half an hour passed and I stewed properly in my thoughts.

I... was out? I was freed?

Liquid and Okita... Wherever they were, they... weren't here now. My room was empty. All I heard was the beeping of my own heart on the machines, the whirring humming around me, and the occasional rustle of the blankets laid across me, as well as the tubes they'd stuck into my hands.

I don't know how long I laid there, blank-faced, but one of the machines--one hooked up to my head, I imagine, where my brainwaves were recorded for all to see--must've notified a night-shift nurse that I was awake despite not being able to ring the button, because eventually someone came and opened the door.

"Miss Reviar? How are you feeling?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but only succeeded in heaving a couple dry coughs before giving up. The nurse then promptly returned with water.

My recovery was faster than I'd expected. Those few hours of sleep I'd had did wonders for... a lot of my shallower injuries, actually. Even my scarred mark was healing up a little. The burns were still there, but the other cuts and miscellaneous parts that stuck out a lot stopped bleeding. My scars closed up.

Still, as it turned out, I'd landed awkwardly on my arm, and both my knees had gotten considerably weak from the fall. Thankfully, somehow, I only managed a sprained ankle and wobbly legs. The worse I'd gotten out of it all was a couple of broken ribs, which were set right with surgery. Other than that the actual injuries were, for the most part, gone. They called it a medical marvel.

I called it magic.

Since I couldn't go to sleep, I ended up sitting up and the nurses moved the button closer to me near my good arm, after I apologetically mumbled about not being able to reach it last time.

The sun couldn't have risen quick enough. The blinds were shut tight, but I'd managed to ask the nurses to open them eventually. It felt too sterile in here without the sunlight. It still felt too sterile with it, but at least a little bit less so.

And finally, when visiting hours opened, I heard word that two people would be visiting me at a time. The first to visit me were Liquid and Okita, who looked... fine. Alive, well, and relieved and happy to see me.

And very, very decidedly not dead.

Liquid embraced me first--a little too enthusiastically, as evident from my squeak when he accidentally jabbed at an injury near my ribcage--but I returned it with as much vigor as I could muster, nonetheless. He scolded me half-heartedly, mostly rambling about how relieved he was when I'd woken up.