A Piece of Me

Alive

The world was strangely dark, though she could still feel the gentle support of the flat surface on her hip and cheek. The last that Mercy could recall was that it had not been nighttime, but the evidence in front of her eyes suggested otherwise. Nothing else told her any better, she couldn't feel anything besides the surface that she was supposedly on. Even then, it felt so distant from her. Where was she exactly? Perhaps she was at home, getting ready for bed after all. Yes, that sounded pleasant right then.

Moments before she felt herself drifting away from her thoughts, she heard a shout that was so familiar to her. It felt so dear and touched with a tone of some emotion she could not identify at the time. However, she couldn't bring herself to open her eyes or move from where she laid. "Perhaps I'll find out later, once I wake up," she thought to herself.

Even then, a tinge of regret crept into her mind, gone as quickly as all the other unpleasant sensations that she may have felt at that moment. There was something about that voice that made her feel regretful for not staying awake just a little bit longer, to find its source.

The source of the voice that had shouted, "Angela!"

* * * * * * * *

A small murmur came from her lips as Angela rolled onto her side, her legs curling up slightly as if to drive away some phantom chill that had crept up on her body. She nestled her face against the soft pillow that she laid on, wrapped in the warm embrace of the blanket that had been tenderly placed around her small frame. Eventually, her eyes opened slowly, the light from above reflecting off the blue hue of her iris, before squinting slightly. It was definitely not a light she wasn't used to, though it was strange to be on the receiving end of it. She sat up slowly, letting out a soft grunt as she pushed her body to move after what felt like a long nap.

"Angela! You're awake!"

She blinked twice and turned her head to her left side, where her vision settled on the stoic green visor of a robot who was leaning forward on his seat as if wanting to get up. That was strange at the very least, for him to be half standing yet not quite there. Did he want to approach her? Or had he been leaving and she surprised him?

"Don't push yourself too hard, it's best if you rest for a bit more. You've been through quite a lot after all," the gentle voice came from the visor, causing her to blink once before nodding once in affirmation. The cybernetic figure seemed to stay standing that way for a moment, as if indecisive about what to do, before pulling his chair closer to her and sitting down once more.

Angela did not notice this latter part though, barely even registering the gentle tap of the wooden chair against the floorboard as the figure placed the chair down gently. The irony of his last statement struck her as she gazed at the TV monitor mounted on the wall opposite to where she sat. After all, she was a doctor, which made hearing that line rather than giving it feel rather amusing. Of course she knew where she was, everything from the lighting and decoration to the room structure itself said a hospital room.

"How long have I been here?" She asked calmly, her blue eyes returning to the visor of the figure besides her. Despite the hard cold steel that harbored an emotionless visor, the figure seemed to be quite caring. That much was clear from the way he addressed her, with a voice that was as soft as the pillow she had been laying on, as if embracing her in the same way with his words.

"Three days. Everyone was quite worried about you. I'm glad that you're awake now though. Your injury ... was quite serious after all." The voice seemed to have hesitated for a moment, as if not wishing to go into the details of that matter toward the end. However, she supposed that was fair. Even as a doctor addressing the patient, she had a hard time earlier on in her career when it came to the topic of their injury. She got better at it of course, but for anyone without experience it was only natural. Which brings a thought up to her, one which made her chuckle gently before smiling at the figure in the visor, speaking gently.

"I'm sorry, I must admit that at first I had thought you to be a robot sent to supervise me. That was rude of me. May I know your name?"

Her smile dipped a little as she looked at the figure. While his body didn't move, she knew it was a male due to his voice, he gave off a sense that something was very wrong. Even if his face could not visibly turn pale nor could his hand become any colder than the natural temperature of his steel body, something gave her a sense that he had just suddenly frozen up in shock. After a short moment, Angela opened her mouth slightly as if to ask him if something was wrong, only to be interrupted by a soft chuckle that felt a bit forced in a way that even his robotic visor could not obscure.

"My name is Genji. Genji Shimada."