Sorry I've taken so long to write this folks ^? had a couple of nasty experiences with hospitals myself that made me reluctant to continue this fic. I really appreciate the time people took to write to me and support they gave in motivating me to get off my lazy arse and get going on gtmp. Thanks particularly to my Jackie Chiang, Carp, and Tim Nolan, all who've been great friends and given me fantastic feedback on Give me the Passion. Give me the Passion Part 5b ~ 12 By Asynca "Haruka-san?" Haruka yawned, blinking the fuzziness of sleep out of her eyes, to see the shape of a large man standing over her. The adrenaline kicked in without her permission, and she jumped violently, awakening the small girl curled up in her lap. The man laughed shortly as Haruka's vision cleared. "I'm sorry, am I disturbing you?" "Mamoru-san?" A little intimidated by his towering height, especially while she was sitting down, she felt compelled to stand, and began to, when Mamoru guessed her reasoning, and sat in the waiting room chair opposite her. Haruka smiled slightly in recognition. In her lap, Hotaru yawned and turned her face outwards to look at the newcomer. The man smiled politely, however it was clear he was deeply concerned. "I... heard about the most recent events." He didn't need to say how, Haruka had already figured that Usagi would go running to her Mamo-chan after seeing her idol in such pain and discomfort. Instead of commenting on the girl's predictability, she nodded slightly. "I actually came by to give Michiru and Setsuna these..." He moved a hand, and two bunches of stunning red roses that Haruka had somehow failed to noticed earlier were drawn to her attention. Haruka vaguely remember a similar bunch being offered to Michiru by Mamoru's alter-ego after a performance, and Michiru had taken the bunch politely, glancing at Haruka, who had not been pleased. Mamoru continued, "I was going to leave the roses, naturally, but the door to your room was locked." Haruka frowned, "Locked...?" Squinting, Haruka tried to recall exiting the room with Hotaru. Hotaru had walked demurely down the corridor, and Haruka had... left the door open. Maybe the hospital staff had been back? No... that wasn't possible; Setsuna was due for a dose up for three more hours. Setsuna couldn't possible have got up and closed the door by herself... "That's wrong, the door shouldn't be locked! Are you sure you had the right room?" Mamoru nodded, "I checked the names by the door. I thought that you might now want to be disturbed, so I went to leave the roses at the front desk. The nurse there said Michiru had gone into surgery and you were in the waiting room with your child." Perching sleepy Hotaru on one hip, Haruka stood, "I don't like the sound of this. I'm going to go and check the room." Unlike most, Mamoru was able to match Haruka stride for stride as they journeyed through the hospital towards the room. Just as Mamoru had reported, the door to their room was shut. Haruka tried the handle, twisting it viciously to no avail, her heart beginning to pound violently against her ribs. The door was most definitely locked. "Your charming powers don't include picking locks, do they?" Haruka looked at Mamoru, who shook his head. Haruka straightened, taking a deep breath, and roaring, "NURSE!" Haruka's loud and demanding voice brought three nurses rushing to help them. Eventually, one of them produced a key from a bundle for the door. Haruka spun the key, bursting through the door with her free hand. Once open, a series of shrill beeps were audible from the other side of the room, over which a curtain was pulled. Haruka raced across the room and thrust aside the curtain, not at all prepared for the sight before her. Setsuna was sprawled out on the bed, her eyes jammed impossibly wide open, taking shallow breathes with great difficulty in heaving gasps. Her complexion had gained a yellow-bluish tinge, and around the corners off her mouth, foam and blood had accumulated. As they watched her, suddenly she began to spasm, all the muscles in her body contracting and a raw moan was forced out of her throat. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and she remained this way for several seconds, before Hotaru, who had been witnessing the whole event, put her hands over her eyes, and began a number of high-pitched screams beside Haruka's ear. The nurses came out of their shock, and rushed into action. Around Haruka, things were racing, doctors names were called, buttons were pressed, electrical equipment was wheeled in. Haruka, unable to move, could do nothing but watch. Mamoru put a hand on her shoulder, warmly. Normally Haruka would have shrugged it off, and scowled at the man, however, all she could process was that... it had happened again... to Setsuna, and she had let it. After a moment, Mamoru leaned forewords and lifted the distraught child out of Haruka's arms, saying carefully, "Let's go for a walk in the gardens, shall we?" Hotaru didn't uncover her eyes, but she did stop screaming. However, down before Mamoru had made it out of the room with the little girl, the girl began to sob violently, repeating Setsuna's name continually. Haruka could hear the child all the way down the corridor. "She's got some sort of toxin in her... how on earth?" On of the nurses had turned over Setsuna's arm and found a syringe mark on her vein. Soon, a short man rushed in, wearing a doctors coat, and saw the nurse examining Setsuna's arm. "Get a swab of that, find out what's in her. Have any of you given her a new drip today? No? Well somebody who had access to her would have done this..." He turned, and saw Haruka staring blankly at him, unable to assist the nurses. "You, what are you doing in here, who are you?" "Uh, I-I'm..." "He was locked out of here, we had to let him in." One of the nurses operating a respirator offered. "He's been here for two or three days, with Kaioh-sama." Another added. The doctor raised an eyebrow, guessing the identity of the tall youth. "Very well, then. Kaioh-san in is recovery at the moment. You'll be in the way in here." With a last glance at Setsuna and the nurses, Haruka was pushed out of the room by the commanding doctor. At last, the woman came to her senses, the realisation sinking in. She spun and caught the arm of the doctor as he re-entered the room, "Will Setsuna... be alright?" The doctor's expression didn't falter, he must have often answered such questions. "I haven't examined her yet. I can't give you an informed medical opinion until I have done so. Please note that you may hinder assistance to your friend if you remain in this room." Haruka was briskly ushered out of the way, where she stood, dazed for a moment. Finally her rational mind recovered, with all those other nurses around, Vixen surely wouldn't be able to do anything to Setsuna without someone noticing, but Michiru... Haruka's powerful legs wasted no time in giving her a push off down the corridor towards recovery, bystanders stood aside for the formidable figure in motion. Unlike at races, Haruka felt numb; the seriousness of the situation draining all emotion from her. Not bothering to stop in time, she nearly crashed into the front desk. "I'm Tenoh Haruka, Kaioh Michiru is in Recovery and I am desperate to see her." The nurse on duty looked up from her forms, amused by the display. "Visitors are not allowed in Recovery." Not in the mood for arguing, Haruka had to restrain herself from strangling the patronising woman. "Look here, miss, one of my friends also in Kaioh Michiru's room has just been injected with something toxic by someone. I don't want the same fate to befall Michiru." The nurse faltered with her mechanic reply, registering Haruka's explanation, yet unsure whether to believe it. For a brief second Haruka watched the conflict obvious on the nurses' face, before the nurse stuttered, "I'm sorry, sir, visitors are not allowed in Recovery." Haruka took one brief, disgusted look and the nurse and began walking straight past her through the double doors. The nurse ran after her, but was afraid to stop the tall youth. Inside, three beds were positioned against the wall, hooked up to numerous machines. Haruka located Michiru, and walked up to the sleeping body, ignoring the two nurses surveying the post-surgery patients. Michiru was dozing peacefully, her eyelids fluttering slightly. Haruka let out a sigh of relief, smiling slightly at the image. "What are you doing in here?" One of the nurses asked sharply, before looking quizzically at the nurse who had failed to prevent Haruka from entering the recovery room. Flustered, the nurse shrugged, and corrected her crooked glasses. The more senior nurse abandoned hope of an explanation from her, and marching directly up to Haruka, took her wrist firmly. "Sir, you are breaking not only hospital regulations but health regulations!" Haruka snapped out of her grasp, and defiantly held her ground, "Listen here, your hospital is incompetent! A patient has just been given a potentially lethal dose of something by one of your employees! I'm here to make sure no accidents happen to my Michiru before I can transfer her to another hospital!" Silence. The three women stared, stunned, at the tall blonde youth as Haruka wiped the corner of her mouth, breathing heavily from her sprint up the hallway. For a moment, nothing was said, the nurses still composing themselves from the shock of being attacked by someone who was a lesser authority than them at the hospital. At last, the senior nurse placed the clipboard she had been reviewing emphatically on the bench. "Do you realise what you are implying? False accusations will not give you leeway to remain in the recovery room, young man. You'll learn that when you finally mature." Her hand itching to slap the nurse, Haruka took a step towards the women, looking to insult the insensitive supervisor, "For all I know, -you- could have accidentally mismeasured a dose of something and given it to her. I refuse to leave my Michiru in the care of incompetent hospital staff!" "Get out!" Having been directly insult by any one else, the nurse most certainly would have resorted to physical force to remove Haruka from the suite. However, Haruka's shear size, apart from her taut physique and clear vitality prevented her from even considering it. Before anything else could occur, a young, probably recently graduated, pimply doctor poked his head into the room. "I need a cardiac unit.. hurry! And get some adrenaline out of the fridge..." Unmoving as the nurses rushed to pull a huge machine out of a cupboard and wheel it out the flapping doors, Haruka stood her ground, half expecting the senior nurse to try and drag her out after the machine. Once all the commotion had been wheeled up the corridor, Haruka felt the realisation sink in... the cardiac unit was for Setsuna. The youngest nurse, probably from the same graduation class as the pimply doctor, stood in limbo at the desk, unsure whether to continue the senior nurses plight to extract Haruka from the suite or let it be. Haruka decided for the girl. "How is she? What does that number mean?" Haruka pointed to a machine connected to a clamp on Michiru's finger, stroking the back of Michiru's hand briefly. "And this number, here, does it mean she's healthy?" "Tenoh... Haruka-sama? I'm sorry.. I read about what happened Kaioh-sama in the papers..." A quavering voice; this shy girl couldn't be more than twenty. Remembering herself again, she attempted to respond to Haruka's questions. "The first is her diastolic blood pressure... and that's her systolic... it's very low, but that's only to be expected." "Is she going to -?" "Everything looks fine, she's got mild bradycardia, but it's not serious. Try not to touch her... you might give her an infection... here, wear a mask." The nurse reached out a surgical mask over to Haruka, like a peace offering. "Thanks... Yuumi," Haruka smiled slightly, reading the girl's name tag as she slipped the mask over her head. "Yunami." The girl blushed, having to correct a celebrity. "Sorry... Yunami. When will Michiru wake up?" Haruka adjusted the mask, muffling her voice. "Within the next twenty or so minutes, I assume... she's been in here for and hour already." The nurse paused, unsure whether to continue, "Sir... we do have showering facilities for visitors in this establishment." Haruka was suddenly reminded of how dreadful she must look; unwashed hair, body and the rather potent stench of Michiru's blood on her, as well as her own bodily smells that had collagulated over the past couple of days. It was Haruka's turn to blush, "I... haven't left Michiru's side since I found her... except when they take her into surgery... then I had little Hotaru to take care of." The nurse frowned, "I understand after the incident you described why you'd distrust the staff now.. but before? We have excellent surveillance equipment-." "...that can be pulled out, tampered with and turned off but anyone wandering around the hospital corridors... please don't assume my paranoia is unjustified." Ignoring the nurse's request about refraining from touching post-surgery patients, Haruka stroked Michiru's cheek gently. The anaesthetised woman stirred slightly, but showed no sign of emerging from her chemical-induced sleep. The nurse frowned, and Haruka could feel, rather than see, her watching the couple intently. "My shift ends on the hour... but I could watch her for you while you shower..." Haruka's immediate suspicious expression made the nurse bite her lip, "You don't trust me either," she realised. Haruka wasn't sure whether the gut feeling she had to trust this girl was induced by some external power or genuine. But she did want to look nice for Michiru... "Well... I've got an idea... I can shower when I'm back in the room with her. I'll leave the door open so I can hear everything. You just have to make sure no one comes in... Besides, Michiru would be awake then... Would you do that?" &*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&* *&*End part 5*&*