Soul of the Dragon

Chapter 43: A Friendly Bother Part 1

Lise rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling. The whiteness of it stared back at her. She sighed and blew a tired raspberry. Rubbing her eyes she sat up in her bed.

Crow sat with his back to the foot of Fish's bed. The covers spilled out at random; around Fish, in Crow's lap. It was all very sweet, considering.

Looking even more uncomfortable in his sleep, Yusei sat in a chair pressed up against the bedside table. He'd fallen asleep sitting up with his arms crossed.

The dragon girl smiled gratefully at all of them, and sighed. She slid the covers off her bed as quietly as she could. Nobody moved, so she deemed it safe to step out of bed. There was no way she was changing in there with the boys so she gathered her clothes together for the bathroom.

Luckily the door didn't creak when she opened it. Crow and Fish could sleep through little sounds, but Yusei was a light sleeper. It was always a challenge not to wake him. As opposed to herself; Lise had slept through just about everything. She smiled to herself and silently slipped out of the room.

Angela's swelled head took up the majority of the television screen during her broadcast. Behind her was a group of orange dressed men picking at the rubble surrounding the Arcadia Movement. "We're coming to you live from downtown New Domino City where last night a mysterious force rocked the entire city. Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the blast, and the strange lines they left. Although there were no fatalities, 120 people seem to have simply vanished. There were also scattered reports of strange glowing lights in the sky... Now, with the people demanding answers as to what really happened last night, our eyes have turned to a young woman who was found unconscious in the rubble; apparently the only witness to this disaster..."

A nice black car pulled up to the front of a hospital. Reporters swamped the man and woman that exited the car.

"Would you care to speculate on the rumor that the government is actually involved?"

"No comment."

"Do you know the victim, Senator?"

"No comment."

"They say she's the infamous duelist known as the Black Rose!" The last reporter called out as the hospital doors closed behind the Senator and his wife.

Akiza lay supine on a hospital bed. Wires were stuck to her forehead, and machines surrounded her and monitored her status. The heartbeat monitor pulsed rhythmically.

"Doctor, her blood pressure seems to have stabilized and her pulse is strong," the nurse reported. "But she's still not showing any signs of movement."

"Poor Akiza..." Luna said empathetically. She, Jack and her brother stood just outside the psychic's room.

"Hey I just realized something," Leo piped up. "We've got three Signers right here! Four if you count me. That's good, right Jack?"

"Leo, for the umpteenth time, you are not a Signer," Luna repeated halfheartedly. "But you may be on to something. Jack, do you think we were brought together for a reason?"

"Perhaps Luna," Jack replied. "But I think we'll need-"

"Akiza!" Jack was interrupted by a red-haired woman and brown-haired man that had just run in. The woman pressed her hands and nose to the glass separating her from the psychic. "My little girl..."

"Doctor!" the man and woman ran over to the nurse and doctor when they joined the Signers outside Akiza's room. "Will our daughter pull through?"

"Please, she's all we have."

"I think it would be best if we talked inside," the doctor said and lead the two worried parents to Akiza's bed. "It's a complete mystery. Physically speaking she's in perfect health. It's like I told her friends outside: I think she's in this coma because of some sort of emotional trauma..."