I walked with Ino down the hospital hallway to Lee's room with flowers in hand to wish him well. We were all a little shaken up after going to visit Sasuke only to find that he was gone. The nurse was worked up too, but she had calmed down enough to lead us to Lee's room. She stopped at the door to Lee's room and knocked on the door.
"Lee, can we come in? Two pretty girls have come to see you!" Her voice was cheerful like before with Sasuke. She pushed the door open. She gasped, dropping the clipboard once more. "Not Lee too! Where could he have gone?" The nurse asked fanatically. "He shouldn't be able to get out of bed yet!"
"This is weird." Ino said quietly.
We looked around the room hoping to find a sign of where he could have gone to.
"Look." I pointed to the window.
The window to Lee's hospital room was open. The curtain flowed softly from the breeze. Ino and I walked over to the window. Outside was Lee was in the courtyard, in pajamas, doing push ups even with his left arm and leg in a cast.
"123...124...125." Lee's voice wavered and breathed heavily. His now fragile frame was being pushed to its limit. His right arm shook from exhaustion.
"Come on." I said, before jumping out of the hospital window. Ino followed behind.
"If I cannot do 200 push ups, then I will do 300 squats." Lee said to himself. The nurse rushed to his side.
"Lee, you shouldn't be out of bed!" The nurse informed him. "What do you think you're doing?"
He ignored her worries and continued to do another pushup. His right arm shook as he struggled to push himself back up.
I hurried over to Lee hoping maybe he would return to himself after seeing me.
"Lee." I whispered. I knelt down next to him rested my hand on his good shoulder.
"Keep away from me!" He yelled looking at me. "I must finish my training." He said to himself more than he said to me. It was as if he was in a trance. I fell back shocked at his reaction. This wasn't the Lee I knew.
His injuries were bad. Really bad. Well...His days as a ninja are over.
He breathed heavily. His eyes closed. His face twisted in pain.
"Just one more." Lee said through the pain before his arm gave out from under him. He collapsed onto the ground.
The nurse took over, rolling him onto his back. Poor Lee had passed out from exhaustion.
"Girls, stay with him until I get a stretcher." The nurse pushed herself to her feet.
"We will!" I answered.
The nurse disappeared into the hospital. Ino rushed over to Lee's side. Neither of us could believe what had just happened.
Ino looked at Lee with an open mouth. I closed my eyes tight trying not to cry. I reached out from Lee's hand letting the tears fall.
"Why?" I asked. "Why are boys like this? Why do they push themselves to the limit?"
"How am I supposed to know? I'm not a boy." Ino retorted.
I snorted at Ino's comment. "Right, sorry." I answered.
The nurse came back with another nurse and a stretcher.
"Has his state changed at all?" The first nurse asked.
"No, ma'am." I answered. I let go of Lee's hand, standing up. Ino stood next to me. We watched Lee get hauled onto the stretcher.
