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[Un]broken (Emi prologue), Chapter 3: Phantom

Jul 21st, 2012
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  1. The head nurse in charge of Emi's case feels... frustrated, to say the least. Her outburst was not out of the ordinary. Some would blame it on the anesthesia, but one also had to consider the circumstances. She had experienced a lot of loss in less than an hour, discovering both the death of her father and her amputated legs.
  2.  
  3. The rage she showed was directed at everyone in the room. At the nurse, for not doing the impossible and saving her father. At her mother, for some reason unbeknownst to him. She was being irrational, yet expecting an eleven-year-old to react any other way would be like teaching a chicken how to fly: possible, but not likely.
  4.  
  5. He leans back in his desk chair and places a finger on each temple, massaging gently. “This one's going to be stubborn,” he mutters to himself. Thankfully, he was able to stay professional and mask his emotion in the presence of his patient. If the /girl/ was capable of that kind of rage, God only knows what her /mother/ could do.
  6.  
  7. Someone knocks on his door. He closes the case folder lying open on his desk. “Come in,” he invites, still trying to bottle his annoyance with the girl. The latch clicks open. A tall woman stands in the doorway, brown hair tied into a shoulder-length, braided ponytail, her curves clad in an auburn floral dress. “Evening, Mrs. Ibarazaki.”
  8.  
  9. “Meiko,” she corrects. “I insist. And good evening, Nurse... Toriyama, was it?”
  10.  
  11. “That's right. Please, call me Hideo. Or even just Nurse is fine.” As professional as he tries in his mannerisms, he prefers casual names, especially in the confines of his office.
  12.  
  13. “Right. Nurse.” She imprints the name in her mind.
  14.  
  15. He pulls up a side chair and offers it to her. She accepts, smoothing out the back of her dress before sitting. “So, Meiko,” he begins, “what brings you here?”
  16.  
  17. “I just... I wanted to apologize for Emi. I've never seen her act that way before.” Her voice is laced with regret, like she could have done more to help ease the tension in that moment.
  18.  
  19. “Please, don't worry about it.” He gestures her to stop. “I've seen patients react very differently after waking up from sedatives. With how much anesthesia we pumped into her system between the accident and the surgery, it had to be expected.” She isn't a fan of that answer, still hanging her head in regret. A slight frown breaks his ordinary smile. “I shouldn't have barged in, anyways. That wouldn't have ended well under any circumstances.”
  20.  
  21. “That doesn't excuse what she did.”
  22.  
  23. /No, not really/, he thinks. /But I'm not trying to excuse her. ...Maybe I should change the subject./ “How's she feeling right now?”
  24.  
  25. Her sigh is long and heavy. “As well as we can expect, I suppose. She wanted some space after you left. As far as I know, she's still lying in bed.”
  26.  
  27. He chuckles a bit to himself. /It's not like she can go anywhere./ “That reminds me,” he says, causing her to pick up her head. “We probably have a chair for her. Being able to get around /is/ rather useful these days.” His attempt at a joke goes unnoticed.
  28.  
  29. “Is the chair really necessary?”
  30.  
  31. “It's standard practice. And, given her current condition, she needs to learn how she'll be moving about for the rest of her life.”
  32.  
  33. Meiko arches her eyebrow. /The rest of her life?/ she wonders. /But she just... wait. They don't know, do they? I didn't get the chance to tell him./ “Nurse?” He turns his attention to her. “How likely is it that you were wrong about her legs?”
  34.  
  35. He scratches his chin. “It's definitely possible. Why do you ask?”
  36.  
  37. “Before you came in, she... she moved them.”
  38.  
  39. He flinches. “Interesting.... You're completely sure?” She nods. “Hm... I'll check it out before I leave later tonight. Thanks for the heads up.” The warm smile returns.
  40.  
  41. A quick glance at the clock tells him that it's well past 9pm. He stands from his chair and walks over to put a hand on her shoulder. The bags under her eyes weren't quite noticeable until he got this close. “You should head home,” he suggests. “You need your rest.”
  42.  
  43. “I can sleep here,” she protests with a yawn. “In case she needs me.”
  44.  
  45. “Don't you worry. We'll take good care of her.” She's too tired to argue with him. He offers her a hand and lifts her out of the chair, then shows her to the door.
  46.  
  47. She seems surprised as he shuts off the office light and walks outside with her. “You're leaving too?”
  48.  
  49. “Yeah. I'll pick up a wheelchair for Emi and then head home myself.” His hand moves to her shoulder again, trying to reassure her. “Take care of yourself, Meiko.”
  50.  
  51. Before he starts heading down the hallway in the opposite direction, she stops him. Her voice is but a whisper. “There's one more thing you should know.”
  52.  
  53. His eyebrow arches inquisitively. “What's that?”
  54.  
  55. “Whatever you do... don't try to baby her.”
  56.  
  57. /Easier said than done, in my line of work./ “I'll do my best, Meiko.”
  58.  
  59. She thanks him and heads off down the hallway to the main entrance, while he walks toward the supply area. His office is on the third floor - along with his patients, all children - so he has to take a flight of stairs to reach his destination.
  60.  
  61. The hallways are completely barren. It's already late enough, and he's here well beyond his normal hours. If you can say the head pediatric nurse of a major hospital even has normal hours. He sees not one more soul. /Kinda creepy, to be honest/, he says to himself.
  62.  
  63. The supply room is chock full of various odds and ends. However, it's kept meticulously organized, and it isn't hard for Nurse to find what he's after. The wheelchair is about three-quarters of the size of an adult's chair, adjusted for shorter arms and legs. The stack remains folded against the wall for compact storage. He grabs the collapsed chair with both hands, lifts it onto his shoulder, and heads back up to his floor.
  64.  
  65. Emi's door is closed tight, the muffled sounds of a quiet television coming through. Nurse knocks twice with his free hand. No answer. Is she ignoring him? The TV doesn't sound that loud, so she must have heard him.
  66.  
  67. Curiosity gets the better of him, and he needs to deliver the wheelchair anyway. The door creaks open, his eye peering through the crack. It looks like Emi is curled up in a ball, rolled over on her side and enveloped in the bedsheets. /Whew. Just asleep./
  68.  
  69. He opens the door just enough to slip inside, heading for the opposite wall. The chair is unfolds easily, and he sits it upright next to her mattress. She flinches from the sound, but doesn't wake, instead rolling over to her other side. He watches the sheets twist and turn as she moves. The wrinkles morph around what's left of her legs as she shifts into a more comfortable position.
  70.  
  71. “So...,” he whispers, “she /can/ use them....” He smiles. He's never been happier to be wrong.
  72.  
  73. Before he starts to leave her room, he reaches up and clicks the television off. The sudden change from still noise to complete silence makes her stir again, into consciousness this time. He takes notice, and her half-open eyes scan him sleepily.
  74.  
  75. “You...,” she whispers. “You're the nurse from before.”
  76.  
  77. He nods. “Yep. Came by to give you a wheelchair so you can move around.” She turns her head to follow his finger and groans. While not completely lucid, she doesn't appreciate the sight, nor the idea of being confined to a chair and a bed for any period of time.
  78.  
  79. He sits in one of the visitor's chairs, pulling it closer to her bedside and clasping his hands together, elbows on his knees. He's giving her a chance to talk, if she wants to. “How are you feeling, Emi?” he asks.
  80.  
  81. She steals herself away for a moment, unappreciative of the pity routine. /I should still probably answer/, she tells herself, /since he's a grown-up and all./ “A bit... a bit sore,” she responds, her voice quivering and still hoarse from disturbed sleep. “Sometimes... it kinda, I dunno, hurts when I touch my legs. Like they're still there, I guess.”
  82.  
  83. “Perfectly normal. It's called phantom limbs. You'll probably have them for a while... maybe forever.” She doesn't like the sound of that. “But they'll come less and less as you grow up.”
  84.  
  85. She tries to right herself, and he considers stopping her. But he remembers Meiko's words: 'Don't try to baby her.' She manages to sit up, leaning back on her hands for balance. It will take some time before she figures out how to sit on a completely flat surface again. “What's your name?” she asks.
  86.  
  87. “Toriyama,” he answers. “Hideo Toriyama. But call me Nurse. All the kids here do.”
  88.  
  89. She cocks her head. “All the kids?”
  90.  
  91. “Yep. All my patients are kids. Just like you.” That idea she likes. Lots of kids means more playmates. “You sleep with the TV on?” Nurse asks. He's just trying to make small-talk at this point.
  92.  
  93. She responds with a slight nod. “It's... calming.” Her hand reaches for the remote sitting on her nightstand, and she flips it back on. “I hate quiet.”
  94.  
  95. Neither of them say anything for a while. She keeps her eyes glued to the television. He struggles to find something to say. /I should probably let her show me her legs/, he thinks. /It would probably motivate her, if only a little bit./
  96.  
  97. “Say, Emi... Your mom said something about using your legs.” She turns her attention to him, her face flared. He continues, “Can you show me?” She smiles and nods, folding back the covers over her lower half. Her thighs slide back and forth slightly. She even bends her knee back lightly. It's not much, but it's a start, and enough to make Nurse smile back at her.
  98.  
  99. She giggles at his happiness. “Proud?”
  100.  
  101. “Very.” He stands up from the chair, deciding that it's time for him to head home. “I'll have someone come in tomorrow so we can get you fitted for some new legs. How does that sound?” Her face lights up completely. “I figured as much.”
  102.  
  103. He turns toward the door to leave, but she stops him. She has one more question, even though it will crush the mood. “Nurse? Before you go...”
  104.  
  105. He turns back around. “Yes, Emi?”
  106.  
  107. “How long was I... y'know... out?”
  108.  
  109. “A week or so. Why?”
  110.  
  111. “Did... did anyone come visit but Mom?”
  112.  
  113. He shakes his head. “No one else.” She looks away, dejected. Her own friends basically abandoned her. Even Ryota. Nurse senses her sadness and tries to soothe her. “It's alright. I'm sure you'll have plenty of visitors now that you're awake. They probably just wanted to give you time to get better.”
  114.  
  115. She buys it, but not completely. She knows that she'll never really 'get better.' “I... I hope you're right.”
  116.  
  117. “I know I'm right.” He pulls the sheets up to her chest as she lies back in an attempt to comfort her. All she can think about is her father tucking her in at night, and it makes her wary of him. /I can't let him close/, she reminds herself. /I can't let him close. I can't let him.../
  118.  
  119. “Now get some rest,” Nurse says as he steps into the doorway. “We need to get you up to speed in the morning.”
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