"How is she?" she asked anxiously.
"My Tenshi�," Neko said sleepily, "did you come to take me to Heaven?"
Mi-chan frowned. She couldn't tell if Neko was attempting to make a joke, or if she was really so out of it that she was serious. "I don't know." Mi-chan answered truthfully. Her features were etched in fear, though, which only served to worry Tenshi more. "Please help her."
"I'll try." Tenshi took Neko in her arms. "No, Neko-chan, I came to take you to the hospital. My parents are going to pick us up and fly us there."
She undressed Neko's wound and touched it. Neko recoiled from the touch. "Gomen, Neko-chan, but I need to do this." She placed her hand on top of the wound, trying her best to will it to heal, hoping to take away some of the pain as well. She knew that wasn't enough, but it was a start. After that, all she could do was just share her life force with Neko.
"Arigatou� Tenshi-kun," whispered Neko.
Tenshi picked Neko up so that Neko's wounded side was resting against her. She put Neko's arms around her neck. "Can you hold on, Neko-chan?" Neko gave a brief shake of her head that served as a nod.
"Can't you do anything more for her wound?" Mi-chan begged her.
Tenshi shook her head. "Iie. When I was healing you, I only had a minor effect on your actual wound. That's why you still needed stitches. Ryo-sama said I was mostly just sharing my life force with you."
Mi-chan nodded. That made sense. And at least it had stopped bleeding.
She briefly considered asking Tenshi to heal her ankle, if for no other reason than to be able to help her get Neko to the hospital. But she quickly rejected the idea. She didn't want Tenshi to concentrate on anything but keeping Neko alive.
Neko rested her head down on Tenshi's chest and closed her eyes. "You're warm� Tenshi-kun�," she whispered.
"Neko-chan, listen to me. You've got to stay awake, okay?" She looked at Mi-chan, her face filled with regret. "It's my fault. I should have been with her."
"Iie, you couldn't have known�." Mi-chan was interrupted by the sound of the helicopter. Both girls looked up grateful for its presence.
When it arrived, Haruka landed it a little bit down the beach, and Tenshi ran over to it with Neko in her arms. Mi-chan followed, as fast as she could with the bum ankle. As soon as they were all on board, Haruka took off, taking care not to crash into the cliff.
"That's really dangerous," she grumbled. She turned to Tenshi. "A normal date, huh?"
Michiru showed more concern. "How's she doing?"
"Not good," Tenshi whispered. Tears welled up in her eyes, as she hugged Neko closer to her. She had been too busy saving Neko to actually be afraid for her until now.
Michiru gave her an encouraging smile. "I'm sure she'll be fine, now that you're with her." Tenshi was relieved to see Haruka suddenly smile as well. "That's right," Haruka agreed supportively.
"Arigatou," said Tenshi, as she finally allowed herself to cry. She checked to make sure that Neko was still conscious. Her eyes were only half-opened, but she was awake. "Don't leave me, Neko-chan," she whispered.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Neko had struggled to keep awake, but at some point before they reached the hospital, she had lost consciousness, even with Tenshi there. Or perhaps because she was there, since Tenshi's life force was very warm and had eased the most intense pain in Neko's side.
When she opened her eyes, she was no longer in Tenshi's warm embrace, but rather in a hospital bed.
"So you finally decided to join me?" came a voice Neko knew all too well.
"Mi-chan, you waited in the hospital with me?" Mi-chan hated hospitals with a fiery vengeance.
"Of course, silly." Mi-chan was seated in a chair right next to Neko's bed. Neko noticed a pair of crutches leaning against the wall and immediately felt guilty for causing Mi-chan to hurt herself. Mi-chan followed her gaze. "They're only for a few days. Apparently I sprained it. The doctor said I wouldn't have needed them if I wasn't so stubborn and didn't continue running around on a bad ankle."
"Gomen nasai," Neko lowered her eyes.
"Yamate. It's not your fault. I chose to jump off that ledge."
Neko struggled to sit up. "Watch it! Don't tear your stitches!" Mi-chan warned. She started to get up to help.
"Stay." Neko said, giving her a look. She finished without Mi-chan's help. "We don't want your doctor to yell at me for further aggravating your ankle."
Mi-chan quickly changed the subject. "Ne, you kicked that yoma's butt!"
"I almost got killed, Mi-chan!"
"Yeah, but you killed him first. Man, I would have liked to fight him. I could have put my fencing skills to use. But you did it without knowing anything about swords! You really held your own, especially since you weren't even transformed most of the time. And that move you did to finish him off was brilliant."
Neko smiled at Mi-chan, appreciative of the praise. "I did okay," she finally conceded. "But I'm glad you and Tenshi were there to rescue me."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
