A Year of Jubilee [The Death Note Fanfic]

Chapter 8

Three years earlier

Pastor William Andrews rushed through the entrance doors of the Chicago Heart of Trust Hospital as fast as his feet would carry him. Rushing to the front desk, he let words tumble out past his labored breathing.

"There was a girl—about early twenties—car accident," he stammered out, trying to catch his breath. "I mean, she was in a car accident. Ah, um, brown hair, and—" He gestured wildly in an attempt to come up with more descriptions.

The woman at the desk listened to him calmly—clearly she was accustomed to this sort of frenzied behavior in her work environment—then scrolled through a list on the computer monitor in front of her. "Yes," she said after a moment of quick study, "They notified me about you coming. Room 106B, down the hall and to your left."

"Thank you." He ran in the direction that she pointed.

His rushing was all in vain though, for he found that when he reached the door of 106B he was barred from entering. So for twenty minutes he paced the floor outside of the room, wringing his hands and waiting. One would have thought it was his own daughter behind that door. As it stood, however, he had no daughters, and this girl was a complete stranger to him.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity to him, a doctor stepped out along with the paramedic from before.

"This is the guy," the paramedic indicated William with a pointed finger. "Glad you made it, man," he addressed William.

The doctor extended a hand. "I'm Dr. Saunders."

William reached out and shook his hand. "William. Er—Pastor William Andrews."

"Thank you for making it, Pastor. I heard about what happened and I understand you'll want to know how the patient is doing. She's still passed out from shock, but all her vitals are stable now. It will probably take her a year or so to recover and rehabilitate, based on her injuries. Do you know if she has any family we can contact?"

"I—I don't know. I never met her before today."

"I see." The doctor stopped to make a note on his clipboard.

William tried to wait patiently but couldn't. "Could I see her?" he asked.

Dr. Saunders looked up. "Yes, but she's still unconscious at the moment...You could come back, anytime during visiting hours."

"Ah." William suddenly felt very heavy and tired from the past hour of frantic rushing and worrying. The girl was safe, and that was what mattered. "I think I will."

"In the meantime, Pastor, I was wondering if you could answer some questions so we can better fill out her patient file. Gary here—" He indicated the paramedic beside him, "Told me the details of the incident already, but if you could confirm..."

William was exhausted but nodded. "Yes." He silently prayed for strength. "Of course."

Darkness was the first thing that Jubilee was conscious of when she came to. Darkness, and cool air. Then, gradually, the sensation of stiff sheets against her skin also came into her awareness. A gentle, electronic beeping sounded somewhere over her head. An aching in her bones and a dull throb that stretched along the back of her neck and straight into her skull permeated her consciousness.

She groaned weakly.

It suddenly dawned on her that the darkness she was seeing was the inside of her own eyelids. She was about to make the effort to crack them open, when a faint memory flitted through her mind of what she had seen the last time she opened her eyes.