Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Gifted Moon Academy ❯ Healing ( Chapter 24 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

After Tahtsu had taken Rinsi to the infirmary, thus causing a buzz of excitement as nurses got her to a bed and stuck her with IV's of whole blood and saline solution to replace the liquids she lost, it seemed like it would be a long night. However, it passed, and Rinsi had slept rather well. There was no possible way she couldn't after passing out from extreme blood loss.
When she awoke the next morning, however, she felt horrible. It took a moment of thought before she remembered why. She had walked in on Ichio strangling Nakya, and had attempted to knock him out. Because of this he fell out a window, and she caught him, but was badly injured in the process. She remembered removing a large chunk of glass from her gut and sealing it enough to keep from bleeding to death right then and there before everything went black. And she remembered that comforting warmth she felt as she slept, trying to wake up.
Considering the events of the previous night, it should have been no surprise she was in the nurse’s office. However, Rinsi couldn't help but wonder who had brought her there. The last thing she remembered seeing before passing out was the ceramic surroundings of the bathtub she had crawled into, to prevent a mess, which had been thoroughly painted with her blood. She thought Mooney probably went to get her some help, but she didn't know who it was that helped her, or where that sensation of warmth came from.
Rinsi looked around for a moment. All around her were sterile white walls, and the steady beeping of a heart monitor next to her. She thought it was rather annoying and looked for whatever was clipped to her that measured her pulse and blood pressure like that. However, she was so tired that she couldn't be bothered with it. For now, she just wanted to sleep for a few days.
But she couldn't. She had classes to teach and was surprised if she hadn't already missed one. She'd have to talk to the head mistress about that later. She was sure she would understand.

Min hardly attempted to make conversation to the young woman who so cheerily greeted her. A 'hello', her name, and a nod or whatever to about anything Rinsi said. Min mostly ate through the short chat, establishing herself once more as not much of a talker.
A while after Rinsi excused herself, Min finished her meal and left the cafeteria. She strolled towards the sound of screaming, then followed pained feelings towards the infirmary. How unusual was it to find the woman who she'd just recently met lying in the nurses office, half drained and nearly dead? Eh, not very.
Min quietly questioned the nurse as to Rinsi's condition and how it had happened and what had been done to help her. Turning to Rinsi, Min rolled her eyes. She felt the nurse was rather incompetent - this should have been an easy fix and, had she the patience or personality for it, Min would have thought herself to be better qualified for the position.
Min let these ideas slide to the back of her mind as she looked down to Rinsi. It appeared someone had already started healing her, but didn't quite finish. Lifting her hands, they began to glow. Min seemed hesitant, but then held them an inch over the wounds, careful not to actually touch. That should be enough to finish what was already started, but that was probably about it.
"Get well.." She whispered
Min backed away slowly, intent on getting to her dorm before she might suffer any punishments.
As Rinsi slept, her consciousness having faded once again in spite of her trying to stay awake, she felt a familiar warmth flow through her body. It wasn't the comforting warmth she felt before, though it was comforting to her. No, this energy was different, yet familiar. It held a healing power, which she easily recognized, herself being a healer. She peeked her eyes open just as Min was leaving, a smile spreading across her face.
"Thank you." she replied as the woman was leaving the room.

Ichio had steadily backed up when the cat had come to retrieve Tahtsu. As he thundered back down the hall toward Rinsi, Ichio turned and began walking blindly, his eyesight fuzzy. He blundered down the hallway, bumping into chairs and nearly taking a tumble down the stairs when he reached them. He kept looking down at his hands, the red of his blood the only thing that pierced the fog covering his eyes. He somehow made his way to the front doors, stumbling out as blood dripped down his arms and back, staining his clothes a rust color. Yumi beat against the inside of his skull. If she'd had a real form, she'd be frothing at the mouth from her effort. Staggering about in the rain, Ichio wandered to the forest, tears streaming from his blind eyes. He fell against a tree, wheezing as his head swam. He was losing blood, and fast. Sliding down to sit against the tree, Ichi dropped to his side, his head out from under the protection of the tree boughs. Rain streaked his face as he lay there, fighting Yumi as his heart attempted to continue beating.

Rinsi was healed enough that she could do whatever she wanted. However, she was too exhausted, mainly from blood loss, to do anything. She hated it, but she'd have to lie still and wait for her body to bring up the blood volume back to normal before she could do anything. A day. Two tops. Then she'd be out and the first thing she would do is hunt down Nakya and Ichio and make sure they were okay, and that Ichio was being dealt with, hopefully without the police being involved.
"Mooney," she said to the cat that had been curled up on her lap the entire time, "do me a favor and see if Nakya and Ichio are ok, and that Ichio is confined to a room in the school."
Mooney meowed his protest. His master was obviously weak, and he didn't want to leave her alone.
"Don't take that tone with me." she scolded. "I'm fine. I'll just rest for now. Please, make sure my friends are okay."
With a final meow, partly in protest, and partly in affirmation, Mooney ran off, trying to pick up the scent of either Nakya or Ichio.
It was Ichio that Mooney first picked up, but his scent was coming from the principal’s office. Instead, it was coming from outside, in the direction of the forest. Mooney ran in that direction, knowing full well that he couldn't bring Ichio to the office without his consent. But at least he could make sure Ichio was okay, like his master asked him to. He found Ichio lying on the ground, all but writhing. He nuzzled Ichio's face, as if trying to keep him conscious.
Nakya struggled to keep her eyes open. Hearing footsteps, she moved her eyes in their direction and saw Ichio stumbling to the forest. Shortly after, she saw Mooney run after him. Frowning slightly, she slowly stood up.
'Mooney followed Ichio into the woods. I can't go after them, I'm sorry..' she said, connecting her thoughts to Rinsi's.
Hoping Rinsi would understand, she slowly made her way back into the school. She still felt disoriented, and she wasn't sure why. Why had Ichio tried to... kill her? As she wandered through the halls, she heard noise coming from the gym. Making her way inside and over to the bleachers, she sat down. She saw Ki'iro and some other boy. Most likely they were about to train.

After heading back to his own dormitory to rinse off, and after cleaning Ichio's entire bathroom of Rinsi's blood, he sighed heavily. A bead of sweat dripped down his forehead as he finished. Surprisingly, Tahtsu didn't have his sword with him. Figuring it was best if he left it in his room, since he was going to visit Rinsi, he left it lying upon his bed. His hair had been tied up in a pony-tail so it didn't get covered in blood, but his hands were dry and cracked. The dents and cracks in his hand were filled with Rinsi's blood.
Tahtsu rocked onto his feet and moved over to the sink. Figuring that the blood wouldn't stain if he constantly rinsed it with water (which it wouldn't) he began scrubbing his hands. Finally feeling clean and satisfied, Tahtsu began his way down the hall towards the nurse's office. As he approached, her heard the soft beep, beep, beep of Rinsi's heartbeat. He smiled softly, she must be okay. He walked inside of her room and sat next to her bed. Not wanting to touch her, he waited for her to come around.
"Good morning," he said simply.
After yet another quick nap, Rinsi woke up to Tahtsu sitting next to her bed. He was smiling a bit, and this in turn made her smile, and blush a little. She was glad to see him, and glad to see that he had decided to visit her.
"Hi there!" she said cheerfully. "How's it going? How are you? And Ichio and Nakya?"
Tahtsu's smile faded quickly, he looked away from her, at the wall-anything. He shook his head,
"I don't know where they are, or how they are," he said simply, a flash of pain shot across his expression. Looking back at her, he forced a small smile. "Do you have a cat?" he asked her.
"Yeah, his name is Mooney." Rinsi said. "I'm sorry if I upset you. I take it Mooney found you?"
Rinsi felt bad when she saw the look of pain on his face. She was worried about her friends, but figured they would be okay. At least Ichio would be. She wasn't sure about Nakya, and hoped Mooney found her first. But when he asked if she had a cat, the only thing she could guess was that Mooney found Tahtsu and brought him to Rinsi, which meant that the comforting warmth she felt while unconscious was Tahtsu carrying her. Her face warmed at the thought of this.
"Yes, your feline did find me,"
He shuddered softly at the thought of Rinsi in that state. It was hard for even him to think about that. He had no intention of seeing anybody he cared about in any form of harm or anything related to that. Shaking the image out of his head, he looked back at Rinsi and spoke.
"I brought you here," he said simply.
"Thank you." Rinsi said, smiling as brightly as she could. "That's two times I owe you now. I'm starting to bring up quite the bill! Speaking of which, I owe Mooney a salmon dinner for that. He's a really good kitty. How are you doing, Tahtsu?"
Rinsi had seen him shudder, and wasn't sure if it was because of Mooney, or because of how he found her. She imagined anyone would be disgusted at such a scene, but it really couldn't be helped. She had to get that glass out of her stomach before she bled to death internally, and removing it meant blood spray anyway.
He smiled softly, for her sake.
"You owe me nothing, m'dear," he said softly. "Do you know when you will be able to leave this place?" he asked.
Hospital-type settings made Tahtsu extremely nervous. He didn't like the technological advances that the world had made.
"I'd be out right now if it weren't for needing to replace body fluids." Rinsi said smiling and blushing, "The wounds are healed now, thanks to Min. I should be out tomorrow."
Rinsi was flattered that he thought there was nothing to repay, but she kept the bill in mind anyway. She was just happy that he seemed concerned about her, and there was no way she'd let him get away without repaying him for saving her life twice.
Smiling legitimately this time, he looked out the door.
"I have some cleaning I still need done. I need to shower as well..." he said softly.
He definitely didn't want to leave Rinsi, but she seemed utterly safe here.
"I will come visit you this evening, m'dear," he said as he stood and turned to leave. He rushed to his dorm room and closed the door.
"I look forward to it." Rinsi said, also smiling genuinely.
Rinsi had caught that look of not wanting to leave, and it thrilled her. She knew she had strong feelings for him, but had wondered if it was the same for her with him. Yeah, he seemed to care, and she loved it, but her friends would have done the same anyway. However, none of her friends would have had that look. She smiled brightly, as happy as ever.

Ichio looked up as Moony began to nuzzle his face. He couldn't see the cat, but he somehow knew it was trying to tell him something. He couldn't focus very well, but he managed to get up onto a sitting position, then onto his knees. He didn't want to stand, he'd probably pass out.
"Please, find someone. I can't stand." He said to the cat, not caring if it could understand him or not.
He started crawling towards the cat, hoping it had come from the school.
"I need, to find someone who can help me." Yumi kicked him again, and he went down to one elbow.
"Leave me be. You'll get your turn when I'm dead." He whispered, pulling himself forward again.
Nakya frowned slightly, realizing she hadn't heard back from Rinsi. She glanced at Ki'iro, but he was busy. Standing up, she quickly slipped out the door, her shoes squeaking in the hall. Taking a deep breath, she focused her thoughts on Ichio as she walked out the front door.
'Has anyone come for you yet?"
Nakya continued walking, but picked up the face. Picking her way through the woods, she came upon Ichio, on all fours on the ground, bleeding badly, beside Mooney. Furrowing her brow, she groaned softly.
'Why are you doing this Nakya?' she asked herself after cutting of connections with Ichio.
Bending down, she picked him up gently, placing his arm around her shoulder and slowly began making their way back to the school. Nakya moved in silence, not wanting to speak with him, but he needed help. Moving pain staking slow, they climbed the stairs. Flicking her hand, a hand formed of ice opened the front door for her as she helped Ichio through. Making their way through the halls to the nurse, Nakya glanced down, making sure Mooney was following her. Opening the door, she walked in. As the nurse saw her with Ichio, a panicked look flittered across her face. Nice, how professional. Moving Ichio over to a free bed, she laid him down and quietly sat in a nearby chair.
Ichio felt someone pick him up from the ground. He couldn't see who it was, but he had a sneaking suspicion it was Nakya. He kept silent, focusing on putting one foot in front of another as he followed Nakya blindly. When she laid him in one of the beds, he felt the nurse cutting off his jacket and shirt. She gently cleaned the blood from the wounds on his arms, making him cringe.
"Nakya? Is that you?" He asked, hoping she hadn't just left him there.
He stared unseeing at the ceiling, feeling tears of pain fall from his eyes as the nurse bandaged his upper arms.
"Why did you.... why did you save me? After what I did to you?" He asked, closing his eyes since they seemed to serve no purpose.
Don't speak to her! You're nothing! Nothing to her! Yumi screamed in his head, sending a sharp pain through his head. He grimaced, without enough energy to cringe from the pain.
Staring at the floor as the nurse cut Ichio's clothing off of him, her mind was blank. Why had she saved him..? Did she believe him? About what he had said about Yumi? Frowning slightly, she reached up and rubbed her temples. Hearing Ichio's voice calling out to her, she bit her lip. Should she answer him?
"Yes, it's me Ichio." Her voice was soft but broken. Hearing his next question, Nakya hesitated, thinking over her answer carefully. "Because I deserved it and I believe you..”
Looking up at Ichio, he saw tears of pain fall from his eyes. Turning her gaze to the nurse, her eyes full of anger.
"Can't you be more careful?" she snapped at the nurse.
The nurse stared at Nakya in shock before turning to get Ichio something for the pain. Standing up, Nakya gently wiped away his tears. The nurse came back and gave him a shot of morphine before quickly finishing bandaging him up. As she left, Nakya moved the chair closer to his bed and sat back down. Reaching over slowly, she took his hand in hers.
"I'll be here as long as you need me to, Ichio." she said, her voice breaking slightly.

Rinsi heard a commotion in the room next to hers. She recognized those voices, too. It was Ichio and Nakya. She was glad they were okay, but them being in the same room right now was really not a good idea. She had hoped Nakya had the sense to stay away from Ichio for now, but she was wrong.
Oh, great. Rinsi said, shaking her head, Just what we need. More drama than last year. I was hoping to stay out of it this year.
Ichio felt a hand brush away his tears, then a slight prick in one arm, followed by a sluggish pulse of pain-relief. It had to be morphine. He felt the same as his first day in the hospital, drugged up enough on morphine it got into Yumi as well.
"It won't work. It's not the physical pain. It's her." He murmured, the morphine already messing with his speech.
"It hurts you to me near me, doesn't it? After what I did to you?" he asked, turning his head towards Nakya.
He opened his eyes. His pupils were a milky white, and his irises were a bright ivory. He blinked at her, trying to see through the dark fog.
Hearing Ichio's sluggish words, Nakya quickly let go of his hand. She caused him pain? He says this to her after she went and found him bleeding to death and brought him back inside?! Instead of feeling angry, Nakya felt tears form in her eyes.
"Sorry." she whispered.
If she had known it was going to cause him pain, she would have left when she first brought him here. Standing up, the chair scraped on the floor and she winced. As she was about to walk away, she heard Ichio's question.
"Yes, it does, and I'm sorry me being here causes you pain. I'll go now."
ending down, she kissed him gently on the cheek, before standing up again. Looking at the nurse, she said
"Please take good care of him. If he needs anything, just send for me." Giving the nurse a weak smile, she walked to the end of the bed and looked at Ichio for a long moment.
Ichio heard a chair scrape as Nakya stood. Sorry? What was she talking about? His mind tried to understand what had happened.
"Why... Why are you sorry? It's not your fault she's attacking me." he slurred, one hand lifting lazily from the bed as he searched for Nakya.
It dropped as he listened further. He turned his head away from the chair where she'd been sitting.
"I'm... so selfish. I'm sorry."
He knew he'd done something horrible to her, but at the moment the only things that seemed concrete were that he didn't want Nakya to leave him, and he really wanted Yumi to calm down and stop pounding against his head.
"Yumi... Stop." He mumbled as she struck once more, this time harder.
Hearing Ichio speaking to her, Nakya froze. It felt as if there was a vice on her heart. She really couldn't keep doing this. She heard Ichio apologize again, and tried to tell herself he didn't mean it. When she heard him tell Yumi to stop, she looked at him quickly.
"Yumi's hurting you?" she asked.
Closing her eyes, she spoke quietly and quickly to Ichio.
"I need your help to get into Yumi's mind. Just relax, I may be able to get her to stop..."
Moving over to the bed quickly, she sat beside him, holding his hand. Closing her eyes once again, she sent her thoughts out in search of Yumi's mind. There was Ichio's mind. His memories... Best skip past those. Finally making her way into Yumi's mind, she searched around looking for a weak spot. All the while she was speaking soothing words to Yumi. Was that one right there? Taking a leap of faith, Nakya grabbed onto it with her mind and began squeezing it, hoping Yumi would fade out. As she squeezed with her mind, she began squeezing Ichio's hand.
Ichio felt more tears fall down his cheeks as Nakya took his hand, this time not from the pain. He nodded his head almost imperceptibly, trying to relax his muscles. It wasn't hard, considering the morphine in his system, but he focused on letting his mind relax, letting go of his pain and worry. Yumi made one better aimed punch before she noticed Nakya intruding. Ichio's face contorted, then relaxed as Yumi backed into a corner. She felt Nakya's presence like a dark shadow under a cloud, cold and uninviting. No, stay back! She yelled, unsure how to attack the intruder. Her normal methods didn't work, and there was nothing she could do to stop Nakya. I won't listen to you! He's a plague on me, and on you and everyone else in this world! He deserves to die! She screamed, shuddering as Nakya grabbed something tender.
It was a memory, one that she'd repressed far enough that it no longer existed to her, though it steadily slipped closer and closer to the front of her mind, unnoticed. It was before her parents died, when she had just turned three. She'd wandered away from the house, unlocking the kiddie gate and front door as her parents took a light nap. She walked the street, looking at the bright colors and rushing people on the street. One man in particular seemed to take interest in her, asking where she lived, and why she'd left. "I'm looking at the colors." She'd replied before the man picked her up and carried her to the police station. There had been evil looking men there, men who scared the wits from her. She cried for a while, before one man yelled at her to shut up. She hid her face then, and Ichio spoke to her. Go up to him. Tell him who's boss so he'll leave you alone. He said, instilling courage in Yumi. She approached the man behind bars, holding up one hand and pulling what little energy she could manage into her palm. Before she could release it, the man reached out and took her by her hair, shaking her roughly and threatening to kill her. She cried for days after her parents retrieved her, tears in their eyes. She was afraid of the men from the station, and did not venture out again.
She'd attributed such horror to Ichio, since he'd been the one to suggest facing him. She felt the memory snap, at a climax, and she fell into unconsciousness, exhausted. Ichio opened his eyes, dull colors and shadows returning to his eyesight.
"She's.... asleep." He turned his head to face Nakya, her face blurred, though her shape was evident. "What did you do?" He asked, since he'd been focusing on relaxation the whole time.
She could hear Yumi telling her to get away, but Nakya ignored it. As she grabbed onto the memory, images flashed before her eyes, audibly gasping, she opened her eyes slowly only when she heard Ichio's voice.
"I made he remember things, and sleep.." she said slowly. "Does it feel better now?"
Her concern was audible in her voice but there was a hint of something else. Fear? Pain? Betrayal? She wasn't sure what it was, but she didn't like it. Realizing she was still holding his hand, she placed it on the bed gently.
"She's calm now. She stopped yelling and hitting me." Ichio nodded, whispering.
He gave a weak smile, looking back to the ceiling.
"My eyesight is coming back a little, too."
He spoke to the ceiling, not moving as Nakya took her hand from his.
"Thank you. For all of this. I don't deserve it after everything I've put you through." he said, noticing an odd tone in her voice.
What had Yumi remembered? Was it something bad? Something that Ichio had done to her? He didn't know, and couldn't find the courage to ask. His head swam as the nurse inserted an IV into his arm, a morphine drip running in with his saline solution. He closed his eyes, then opened them abruptly to look at Nakya.
"You must hate me." He said, as if it were fact and not a question.
"Good." she whispered. "It's not like I could let you die after everything we've been through, right?" she asked, laughing softly.
Chewing her lip slightly, a solitary tear rolled down her cheek. Seeing Ichio look at her, she wiped it away quickly.
"I don't hate you... I just don't understand why you did it. You said you'd never hurt me. Granted I deserved it, but yeah..." Her pain and confusion was clear in her voice as she spoke.
Ichio blinked quickly, trying to force his eyes to see again. The most he could make out was dark shapes and bright areas of light. It was as if someone had stolen both color and line from him.
"Nakya. Don't... Don't say that. It's not true. You didn't deserve any of that." He said, still fighting the morphine that threatened him with stupidity and deep sleep. "I don't know why I did that to you. Something inside me snapped. I don't know what, or why." He mumbled, feeling tears well in his eyes.
"But it was horrible of me." He turned his head away from Nakya's shape, and his tears began to stream. "I'm sorry. Rinsi shouldn't have saved me. I should have kept falling, and paid for my sins right there." He whispered as another pulse of morphine made his head fuzzy.
Nakya frowned as she listened to Ichio.
"It's not all your fault. Besides, I have a feeling Yumi was behind it."
Looking down at the bed, Yumi's words rang out in her head.
"Whatever she tells you, she's not right you know.." she said softly.
Frowning as she listened to him continue, Nakya gasped.
"Ichio! I swear to god, if I ever hear you say something so stupid ever again...!" Her voice was angry but there was fear in it as well. "You already tried to kill yourself once. Do you not remember how it affected all of our friends? Me? Don't you ever say that again!"
Ichio closed his eyes, and turned back to Nakya. There were still tears dripping from his face, but they had slowed.
"Nakya." He whispered without opening his eyes. "You still don't understand, do you? All this time, and you still think that's what I was trying to do?" He chuckled, sitting up a little to try and keep his head from being overcome with fuzziness.
"Yumi hates me. She pretends so well to love me and care about me, but deep inside, she hates me, almost as much as I hate her. We're at war, and we have been since the day she was born." He wiped a single tear away, then opening his eyes to look at it.
"She's winning." He said, seeing only his finger, a darker shape in the midst of a white background, most likely sheets.
"She's stolen my eyes, and she's messing with my strength. She's stronger than I am, and I won't last very long." He sighed, then looked up at the misty form of Nakya.
"She's going to kill me someday, and it won't be painless. Sometimes I think it's better to die by my own hand than by hers." His pupils were a light gray, with a now snow-white iris. The whites of his eyes were bloodshot, making the rest of his eyes glow.
As Nakya listened, she felt the color drain from her face.
"Like gone, gone? You can't go! There's got to be something we can do!"
She could hear the fear in her voice and she knew that Ichio would be able to as well, but she didn't care.
"I can stop her for you, I can make sure nothing happens!" Her body began trembling as she began thinking of ways she could stop Yumi.



Tahtsu quickly made his way back to the Nurse's Office. He wanted to make sure Rinsi was doing better than she had been before. Sighing as he remembered his conversation with his family, an expression of pain shot across his face. He stopped before he entered the office, the smell of complete cleanliness, the beeping of the machines; everything bothered him. He shook his head and forced himself to walk into the Nurse's office. He walked past Nakya and Ichio and sighed happily; he was glad that they were atleast safe. Closing his eyes after he glanced at Ichio and all the tubes in his arms, he walked into Rinsi's room. Opening the door, he smiled softly at her.
Rinsi had been reading a book when she heard footsteps. Looking up, she saw Tahtsu standing in the door way, smiling. She smiled in return, very much glad to see him.
"Hi Tahtsu!" she said cheerfully. "What's up?"
Tahtsu sat down next to Rinsi's bedside and laid his hand on her bed.
"Nothing, was just coming to check on you. When do you believe you will leave this wretched place?" he asked softly.
Rinsi stared at Tahtsu for a moment. She hadn't pegged him to be squeamish about infirmaries. She smiled brightly at him, adding in a hint of mischievousness.
"Technically tomorrow, but I'm going to see if I can break out tonight." she whispered, as if afraid of being over heard by a nurse. She added to that a mischievous wink and smile.
"So, whaddayasay? Are you willing to give a prisoner a nail file to file through the bars?"
Rinsi couldn't help but giggle a little, though she tried to keep it quiet. She liked being playful, though she normally didn't get much of a chance to.
Tahtsu forced a smile at Rinsi before looking down at the floor. He already was in a horrible mood, and being in this place was definitely not where he wanted to spend his day. Frankly, he would probably rather be alone, but he knew Rinsi craved his company. He sighed heavily before answering her.
"M'lady, I do not think it wise for you to try to escape when you should be resting," he said simply to her.
"Yeah, I know." Rinsi said, her smile fading. She could tell he was uneasy, probably because of the hospital type setting. "But I can rest in my room. I'll just be sure to drink a lot of orange juice and take plenty of iron supplements. Is something wrong? You seem upset."
"N-no, nothing." He replied simply.
Tahtsu was definitely the type of person who would refuse to tell somebody what was bothering him. He was the type of person to hide things from the other so they wouldn't be bothered or stressed by his own problems.
Rinsi stared at him for a moment. She knew his type. Never talks about what's bothering them, so as not to bother others with their problems. That was okay, she guessed, but that also meant bottling everything up until they exploded. However, if she pried it would only push him away. So, instead, she smiled at him warmly.
"Okay then. Just know that if you ever need someone to talk to, you can talk to me if you want."
"Yeah.. Yeah sure," he said as he glanced up at her for a second before returning his gaze to the ground.
Tahtsu fiddled with his thumbs and let his hair fall in front of his face. Reaching into one of his pockets, he pulled his cell phone out. Now, he wasn't exactly one for technology, but writing letters seemed to take a bit too long in this day and age. Idly, he flipped it open, and flipped it closed.
Rinsi could tell he didn't like being in that setting. She didn't want to hold him up, but at the same time she thought it would be rude if she asked him to leave. Besides, she didn't want to ask him to leave, unless he had something he had to do already. She began carefully peeling away the tape that held the IV's still, cringing a bit as she pulled the needles out of her arm that were dripping fluids right into her veins. She quickly tied the tubes so they wouldn't drip all over, and turned off the heart monitor so it wouldn't go wacky when she removed the cuff and clip from her arm that measured her pulse and blood pressure. Once she was all detached, she slowly sat up and sat still for a moment as she waited for her head to stop swimming.
"You don't like hospitals, do you?"
"I don't favor technological advances, no."
He looked up at her and cringed as he saw what she had done. Tucking his cell phone away in his pocket, he sighed again. Was his family going to call him? Were they okay? He closed his eyes. Propping his elbows on his knees, he laid his head on his hands.
Rinsi stood up slowly, though still nearly blacked out. Her head swam and things started going black, but once she loosened her knees a bit and took a few deep breaths, she was fine.
"That's too bad." she said, bracing herself against her bed for a moment to regain her balance. She still felt very weak, and knew she would be until her volume of liquids came back up. "A lot of the technological advances are kinda fun, ya know? Well anyway, let's blow this Popsicle stand."