In another world, another time, in a hospital much (but not much at all) like this one, it had been an Alternian troll in the bed, and Ruka the visitor. Not playing the role of doctor or nurse, as here, nor that of a concerned friend. In a room not-much like this one, Ruka had met the boy for only the second time—the first, during circumstances that had led him to be placed there to begin with, when she saved his life.
He, with all the power a foreign fate had granted him, could know the innermost hearts of those around him. But not all; only their shades, their shadows and their darkness. When he met her, that second time, he had sensed a hurt and a darkness so black and furious within her that it scared him—that he became more frightened of her, sitting calmly on the edge of his hospital bed, than he had of the ones who murdered his friends. In her most hidden heart, she was more frightening to him than the one who had ripped the eye from her crying face.
It was from that darkness—that anger, that fury—that Ruka's arms began to shake, her teeth grinding together and her expression pulling back into a grin more suited for a beast of prey. If humans could combust for anger, the whole hospital would have been consumed in seconds.
"Is that so?" The pitch was off, even for illness. "You really believe that? You, who has never stepped foot on the human world Earth until landing on this island, you think you understand how it works? You, who has no recourse except other Transports, you think we're an accurate picture of humanity?" Her head shook, once to each side, but the motions were so much sharper now. "If you really want to understand, I'll tell you. I want you to see it for yourself."
Her head canted to one side, sharp, bitter, her chin lilting up towards the door to the room. "This hospital is full of people infected like this, isn't it? And some just aren't recovering, are they? I want you to find one of them. Someone that was born in this country, raised here, that just isn't going to make it. I want you to sit at their bedside, and hold their hand. I don't care how old they are, what gender they are. Anyone on that verge. And I want you to sit with them until they die, Kanaya."
Air hissed in through her teeth, whistling and wet, and the exhale was little better.
"I want you to watch their heart monitor flatline—" Her hand gestured to her own, spiking at an increased speed for aggravation. "—and watch them try pumping them full of electricity to restart their dying heart. I want you to feel their pulse stop. I want you to hear the last. Breath. They take. And I want you to stay with them, you know, this dead human who's never seen any world save this one.
"When they take that body from the room, go with them. Stay with them, no matter what. Run so fast in circles around the gurney they can't see you, I don't care. But you follow them, and stay with them. And then you fucking tell me how long it takes before that person is respawned."
Her mouth pulled back into another smile, like hooks into her cheeks. "Then. We'll talk. About what death is."
no subject
He, with all the power a foreign fate had granted him, could know the innermost hearts of those around him. But not all; only their shades, their shadows and their darkness. When he met her, that second time, he had sensed a hurt and a darkness so black and furious within her that it scared him—that he became more frightened of her, sitting calmly on the edge of his hospital bed, than he had of the ones who murdered his friends. In her most hidden heart, she was more frightening to him than the one who had ripped the eye from her crying face.
It was from that darkness—that anger, that fury—that Ruka's arms began to shake, her teeth grinding together and her expression pulling back into a grin more suited for a beast of prey. If humans could combust for anger, the whole hospital would have been consumed in seconds.
"Is that so?" The pitch was off, even for illness. "You really believe that? You, who has never stepped foot on the human world Earth until landing on this island, you think you understand how it works? You, who has no recourse except other Transports, you think we're an accurate picture of humanity?" Her head shook, once to each side, but the motions were so much sharper now. "If you really want to understand, I'll tell you. I want you to see it for yourself."
Her head canted to one side, sharp, bitter, her chin lilting up towards the door to the room. "This hospital is full of people infected like this, isn't it? And some just aren't recovering, are they? I want you to find one of them. Someone that was born in this country, raised here, that just isn't going to make it. I want you to sit at their bedside, and hold their hand. I don't care how old they are, what gender they are. Anyone on that verge. And I want you to sit with them until they die, Kanaya."
Air hissed in through her teeth, whistling and wet, and the exhale was little better.
"I want you to watch their heart monitor flatline—" Her hand gestured to her own, spiking at an increased speed for aggravation. "—and watch them try pumping them full of electricity to restart their dying heart. I want you to feel their pulse stop. I want you to hear the last. Breath. They take. And I want you to stay with them, you know, this dead human who's never seen any world save this one.
"When they take that body from the room, go with them. Stay with them, no matter what. Run so fast in circles around the gurney they can't see you, I don't care. But you follow them, and stay with them. And then you fucking tell me how long it takes before that person is respawned."
Her mouth pulled back into another smile, like hooks into her cheeks. "Then. We'll talk. About what death is."