Stitched Together

Chapter 20: Dyeing to Change

A rhythmic beeping. The soft murmur of voices. A certain soreness. Light. So much light. My eyes burn as they flutter open. Where am I? Did I die? I groan and grip my stomach. Are those bandages? My eyes finally adjust and I find myself in a hospital bed. I let out a small sigh of relief. Still alive, thank goodness. I attempt to sit up but let out a sharp noise and fall back. With an injury like this, in my state, it's going to take a while to fix if I don't eat anything. I did get stabbed straight through though, so it's understandable. Suddenly, my hazy thoughts clear and I remember everything that happened. I shoot up, ignoring the pain and whip my head around. Juuzou, Shinohara, everyone, are they okay? "Woah there, calm down," a nurse is startled by my sudden movement. She places a hand on my shoulder and steadies me.

"The others... the other investigators, where are they? Are they alright?" I question urgently, my head slightly spinning. She goes quiet and looks at the ground. "Investigators Yukinori Shinohara, Koutarou Amon, Seidou Takizawa, Hideyoshi Nagachika, Akira Mado, Juuzou Suzuya, where are they?" I raise my voice in panic. She can't look me in my pained gaze as she fiddles with the ends of her hair. There is a knock on the door and a familiar face walks in. Akira's eyes widen at my being awake. I fling myself off the bed, yanking the needles out of my arm, much to the nurses dismay, and run over to her. I squeeze her, but my legs go weak and she hastily props me up.

"Reina! What are you doing?" she gasps. The nurse runs around frantically for a moment before darting out the door. My vision immediately blurs and I feel like I could get sick. She forces me to sit back on the edge of the bed. "Please don't over exert yourself. Ah, you're bleeding again," she puts a hand on my shoulder and gently touches my wound, making a sharp, searing pain shoot through me. I try to talk but my head is muddled and all that comes out is an agonized groan. "I don't know how you survived that, but please don't push you luck," she looks at me concerned when the doctor enters. If I wasn't a ghoul then I definitely would have died, but I need something to replenish my RC cells. I refuse to be stuck here for months like a human. The doctor changes my bandages and I look down at the now stitched up wound. Stitches...

"Juuzou," I mumble painfully. Akira stops and looks away. The doctor leaves after giving me several heavy duty painkillers, and she pulls up a chair and sits directly across from me.

"The doctor said no vital organs were hit, so don't worry," she mumbles, trying to seem like her cold, put together self. Something has her extremely upset though, I can tell. I take a breath and try not to move.

"Seidou, Amon, Hide, Shinohara... Juuzou, where are they Akira? I want to see them," I state quietly. A terrible look crosses her face before she straightens her posture.

"It is with a heavy heart that I tell you investigators Kotarou Amon, Seidou Takizawa, and Hideyoshi Nagachika... were not accounted for after the raid on Anteiku," she tries to say formally, but her voice cracks slightly like she's holding back tears. My eyes widen and I put a hand over my mouth.

"No..." was all I could choke out as I shake my head in disbelief. Once she sees the tears rolling down my cheeks, her own eyes become glassy. She must be in ruins on the inside. Akira cared about Amon and Seidou greatly. Hide... I didn't know... I didn't now that conversation would be our last. He was a ray of sunshine in the office, whom wanted nothing more than to better others and find Kaneki. She takes a deep breath and shuts her eyes, clearly trying to keep herself together.

"Investigators Juuzou Suzuya and Yukinori Shinohara made it out alive...but..." she stops and shakes her head sadly. "Shinohara will no longer be able to serve in the commission of counter ghoul," she finishes, a small tear falling from her eye.

"What do you mean Akira? Shinohara's fine right? It can't be just us and Juuzou left. We-we were all so happy the way we were. Everyone can't be gone. Akira what do you mean!" I shout in sorrow. Thank goodness the painkillers kicked in, because sobbing like this would be excruciating. She stands quickly, hiding her eyes with her bangs.