Emmia's Coma

Luna just stood in front of Emmia's bed lost in her thoughts. A silence had enveloped the room which was broken when a nurse entered the room.

"I-I'm here to check Emmia's v-vitals," the nurse managed to get out in front of Seril.

Seril just nodded, acknowledging her intent.

The nurse sighed softly and moved to check Emmia's condition while circumventing Luna.

Luna watched as the nurse checked the iv drips, the monitors, and the blood pressure of Emmia. After doing so, the nurse noted down a few points and then laid the pad down on a table beside the bed.

Softly laying her hand on Emmia's forehead, Luna watched as the nurse activated her gift.

She watched the universal energy spread out from the nurse's palm in thick strings. Almost like wires, each connection of the universal energy connected itself to different parts of Emmia. From here various pulses of universal energy were sent back and forth from the nurse's palm to Emmia's body and back again.

Luna gazed at the process with fascination while Seril observed as well, already used to the process by now.

"How is she?" Seril questioned the nurse as soon she retracted her palm from Emmia's head.

Flinching slightly at the voice, the nurse answered shakily, "Her vitals are stable, no change from before. There aren't any abnormalities or any problems within her body."

Fear arose in the nurse as she remembered how terrifying Seril had been the day Icarth had come to cause trouble. She had been forced to stay and watch over Emmia out of fear that Seril would do something to her otherwise.

"So why hasn't she woken up...." Seril asked sharply.

"I-I d-don't k-know," the nurse squeaked, stepping away from Seril and moving behind Luna using her as a wall. Although that worked as well as an elephant hiding behind a dog.

"Hah...I'm sorry," Seril apologized after seeing the nurse's reaction.

"You can leave," Seril added after watching the nurse fidget behind Luna for a while.

The nurse felt tears of happiness welling up in her eyes as she fled from the room.

'Finally! It's so suffocating in that room...' the nurse thought despondently as she made her way through the corridors.

It was just her bad luck that she was assigned to be Emmia's overseeing nurse. The reason was obvious to anyone working in the hospital. Seril. She was almost always present in Emmia's room emitting such an intimidating aura at all times that made every nurse and doctor shiver.

And it was she who had to deal with it the most.

Seril's piercing red eyes drilled into her each time she entered the room. And that beautifully cold face that watched her every move until she left the room. It all just compounded the stress she felt.

'Why meee....' The nurse cried out internally as she made her way to her supervising doctor's room.

"M-miss Kurenai, may I come in?" The nurse called out after knocking.

"Yes Ari dear, please come in," an aging voice called out from the room.

Ari entered the room as silently as possible and faced her superior.

Doctor Kurenai, one of the lesser-known doctors of Spectrum Hospital but one of the best in the city by a good margin. She was the one who was assigned Emmia considering the person who brought her in.

A tall woman sat at the desk, her gray hair cleanly tied up in a bun. Her eyes which were slightly glazed over scanned the document in her arms.

"Come sit dear." Doctor Kurenai kindly requested Ari.

"Yes ma'am," Ari responded and sat herself down on the visitor's chair on the opposite side of the desk.

Wanting to finish things quickly, Ari placed the documents on the desk and mumbled, "Ma'am, I've checked up on Emmia for the day, her vitals are stable and her condition is still the same."

"I see..." Doctor Kurenai acknowledged while placing the document in her hands on the desk.

Looking at Ari in the eyes, Doctor Kurenai smiled softly, "Dear, you need to speak clearly. Please repeat what you said."

A stab of shame pierced Ari and she nodded hastily. "I've finished checking up on Emmia. Her vitals are stable and no anomalies. But her condition remains the same so far with no sign of her waking up." Ari repeated her words with a slower pace for the doctor to understand.

Doctor Kurenai nodded slowly and picked up the documents that Ari had laid on her desk.

"I see, unfortunate that there wasn't any change..." Doctor Kurenai murmured and opened the document.

"You can go dear." Doctor Kurenai excused Ari to leave.

'Yes!'

"Yes ma'am," Ari replied with a peppy tone. Getting up, she started to leave when Seril's piercing eyes appeared in her mind.

'So why hasn't she woken up?.....' Sefir had snapped at her. To be frank, Ari had no clue what was wrong. Even with her gift, there wasn't anything that she could see that was forcing Emmia to stay in a coma. But yet Emmia was still asleep a whole week after when she was expected to wake up.

'I mean I am curious, maybe the doctor has some idea....' Ari thought as she slowed her steps.

'But I would have to interact with her.....' Ari hesitated as the thought of talking with anyone for more than required made her feel weak at the knees.

But remembering Seril's dejected countenance after asking for Emmia's condition for the nth time sparked something inside Ari.

Turning to face the doctor, Ari called out hesitantly.

"Doctor, may I ask something?"

"Oh? Of course dear." Doctor Kurenai accepted her request and put down the document.

Gulping to try to dislodge the lump in her throat, Ari asked, "Do you know why Emmia is still in a coma? A-After all I don't think there's any reason why she should still be in a coma."

"Hmm, it's hard to say dear. In this world with all sorts of gifts popping up from everywhere, there might be something from a gift affecting the girl. Or it may be an internal problem that your gift couldn't pick up on. You should use this opportunity to grow your gift and deepen your understanding of the human body." Doctor Kurenai advised Ari in an elderly voice.

"Yes ma'am," Ari accepted her answer and finally turned around to leave.

"Oh and don't forget my words dear, what have I told you?"

"My life before others," Ari repeated the phrase which was almost engraved in her at this point.

"Good."

Ari left the room feeling slightly hazy for some reason.

'Ah, I need to sit down.' Ari sighed to herself.

Sitting down on a deserted bench in the hallway, Ari massaged her temples.

'....there might be something from a gift affecting the girl. Or it may be an internal problem that your gift couldn't pick up on....'

'That's what Doctor Kurenai told me but then.....my gift....'

Ari gazed at her memory space to check her gift just in case.

Name : "Ari Hanza"

Gift : "Complete Body Scan"

Mentor : "Kurenai Sekijo"

'Why is my gift called that if it can't detect some anomaly...' Ari thought bitterly her mind a swirl of various emotions and self-loathing currently being at the forefront.

Ari massaged her forehead more vigorously to ease the mounting pressure on her. Of course, the pressure was only mental, yet its presence started to physically weigh on her head.

'Let's see another patient....no, I'll just rest for now....' Ari decided and promptly went to sleep on the bench in the hallway.