The Black Rose

Chapter 12

"Yuki!" Sayaka caught the girl as she collapsed and saw her blood staining the palm of her hand. "She's bleeding out! We need to patch up these wounds and give her a blood transfusion! Hurry, she's losing too much blood!"

As all this was going on, Yuki's consciousness was fading in and out. The voices around her were dulled out, as if she were underwater, and her vision was slowly fading as she lost more blood.

"Argh, we don't have much time! Hurry take her to the clinic!" Those were the last things she heard before she finally passed out.

Yuki then fell into what felt like an eternal slumber. A cold, empty sleep without dreams. Her whole body was numb, her eyelids too heavy to open. She didn't even care if her heart was beating right now or not. She could only sleep. Time seemed to come to a halt. She didn't know how long she had slept. But she couldn't move or speak. She was frozen.

Soon, she could feel the world start to move again as time started moving around her. Her eyes were still closed, but she could hear voices speaking and became aware of where she was. She felt herself laying on a soft bed with a thin blanket over her. There were tubes in her arms and she could hear an annoying, monotonous beeping noise.

"A clinic...." After she realized where she was, she slowly started waking up more. With effort, she slowly started opening her eyes, blinking furiously as she regained her vision and started looking around.

To be honest, Yuki didn't like hospitals or clinics too much. The plain room designs were boring and the stale scent and taste of dust and medicine was not her favorite. The buzzing of the fluorescent lights was also a bit annoying, and her eyes still haven't adjusted to the brightness since she had just woken up.

"How long have I been sleeping..?" she wondered as she looked at the time. From what it looked like, a whole day had passed. She then saw the tubes connecting her arms to a blood transfusion.

Not long after she woke up, she heard a knock at the door. She looked and saw Sayaka standing there.

"Hey, I see you woke up."

Yuki tried to speak, but no voice came out. Her throat felt dry and hoarse. Sayaka handed her a chilled water bottle.

"Here, drink."

Yuki lifted her heavy arm and took the water bottle, slowly opening it before gulping the cool water down. It felt like she was drinking after being out in the desert, it was absolute bliss with each gulp. After she had finished drinking, she let out a heavy sigh and set the water bottle down.

"How long have I have been out?" She asked.

"Half a day." Sayaka replied.

"Oh. I have to go, Rena probably will be worried."

"Oh no you don't. Your body still needs to recover, the doctor says you need to stay here one more day," Sayaka protested. "And no sneaking out. Takamina asked me to look after you while everyone is back at the agency."

"No, I can't leave Rena alone. I need to see her," Yuki tried to get up, but she collapsed back onto the bed.

"I'll have Sae and Jurina go check on her."

"D-don't worry. I'll be fine..."Sayaka shook her head. "Stay and rest. Your body needs it."

Seeing that her protests were futile, Yuki simply surrendered and laid back on the bed. "Fine."

"Good. Now, are you hungry? The food here is pretty bland, so I can go get you something."

Yuki agreed. Hospital and clinic food was bland and tasteless. She could eat normal food like any other human, it's not as sustainable as drinking blood, but she needs to put up with her current conditions for now.

"Just go to McDonald's or something. I'm starving," Yuki said lowly.

"Alright. Don't go anywhere," Sayaka said one last time before leaving.

Once she heard Sayaka's footsteps fade, Yuki ripped out the tubes from her arms and slowly got up. Her legs were still weak and wobbly from being asleep for so long, so she took minor steps first.

After she saw the hallways were clear, she started walking down the hall, often using her invisibility powers to hide when she saw a hunter passing by.