Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon: Future

Chapter 54: Lighting the Way Through Darkness

PRETTY SOLDIER SAILOR MOON: FUTURE

Chapter 54: Lighting the Way Through Darkness

"Midori!" Chibi-Usa screamed and impulsively shot to her feet. Several other people in the crowd stood up and gazed at the fallen girl in concern. Without thinking, Chibi-Usa nudged her way past some people in the same row as her, with Hotaru and Hikaru struggling to follow her. The trio reached the stairs and hurried down to the stage while medics and school staff attended to Midori. They reached the scene as two nurses worked to resuscitate her with CPR, while a teacher called for an ambulance. Midori was disturbingly pale and comatose, not responding to any external stimuli whatsoever.

"My goodness!" the medical student from earlier exclaimed. "How is she this cold!? If we had known she was this sick, we would have asked her to come another day!"

"I can help out!" Hotaru offered the nurses, and she tried to get Midori's heart beating again with rhythmic pushes on her chest.

"What's wrong with her!?" Chibi-Usa despaired. "Midori, talk to me! You're still okay, right!? Open your eyes!"

Hikaru had to grab her shoulders to keep her from interrupting the medics, and he exclaimed, "Don't worry! The ambulance is on its way!"

"I don't believe it! She has to go to the hospital!? Ahh, was it a mistake to bring her here!? I should have realized-!"

"It's not your fault! No one knew that this would happen! She might have some illness that even she doesn't know about!"

"Y-You think so?"

"Don't blame yourself. All we can do is stay by her side, for better or for worse."

Chibi-Usa calmed down and hugged Hikaru tightly, resisting the urge to sob dramatically. She desperately prayed that the 'better' part would happen rather than the 'worse'.

****

The ambulance took Midori to the nearest hospital, and several doctors examined her for any symptoms that they could find to diagnose her with some kind of acute attack. Unfortunately they couldn't find anything wrong with her externally, which meant that they had to run further tests to see if there was something internal. Her breathing returned steadily but she didn't regain consciousness, so she was given an oxygen mask and placed in a room for now.

Chibi-Usa, Hotaru and Hikaru had followed the ambulance and anxiously waited for a chance to see her. When the nurse told them that they could visit Midori, they reached her room and entered. A heart monitor was connected to the unconscious girl, so the only thing they could hear was the steady monotone beeps representing her heartbeat.

"Midori..." Chibi-Usa whispered.

"How tragic for this to have happened when she was doing what she loved most," Hikaru said. "I've asked the doctors what's going on, but no one seems to have any idea."

Hotaru frowned and murmured, "It's hard to believe that in this day and age, someone can fall ill with a disease that we've never heard of before."

"Is there anything we can do for her?" Chibi-Usa wondered sadly.

Hotaru closed her eyes in contemplation for a moment, then said, "Now that I think about it, there was a massive wave of negative energy emanating from her right when she collapsed."

"So you felt it too?" Hikaru asked her.

"Yeah. It definitely wasn't natural."

"I wonder..." the boy mused. "Perhaps it is related to the darkness lurking within Midori's soul."