A Sky Full of Stars

| 9 || The Med Student |

//

Mami had it coming, she always did. She knew something was wrong as she watched Tomomi deteriorate over the days and weeks but hadn't done anything about it. There were times when she just couldn't take it, seeing the girl give herself away and coming back bruised, so Mami avoided her eyes. She would work overtime even when she didn't need to, study at the school until night and found events to attend. Escape. Run away. Even though all she wanted to do was the opposite, she was weak.

Now, the face of reality bounced off every mirror, each pair of eyes, and every stainless steel appliance that surrounded her in the kitchen where she worked. Phone in her hand, she was frozen for a full two seconds before her feet picked up and fast walked through to the back door. She did everything as quickly and calmly as possible; informing others she had an emergency, getting a shift change, and borrowing her co-worker's car all the while her heart was raging inside. Tomomi's voice on the other end of the line sent her the most terrifying feeling of fear. She sped down to the location she had been given, ignoring the honking cars and gripping the wheels tightly. Mami started feeling the hatred for herself boiling at the bottom of her being and it hurt so much she wanted to cried.

The car halted in the middle of a mostly empty parking lot the moment she saw Tomomi laying on the ground. Mami got out and sprinted towards her; dropped onto her knees behind the girl's back and leaned over to inspect the wound. Tomomi had the phone in her hand and was breathing shallowly, her other hand cradled over her abdomen.

"Tomomi! Tomo- Oh shit," Mami swore when she felt the wetness on her palm. The unmistakable colour of red bled over the girl's hand as she pressed it back against the wound. As carefully but swiftly as she could, Mami lifted the half-conscious girl up by supporting her by the shoulder and brought her back to the car. She laid Tomomi down in the back seat and lifted her shirt to better see the damage. Mami winced and covered it back up; immediately she thought that they needed to get to a hospital.

"No hospital..." Tomomi said weakly.

"You're losing a lot of blood, Tomo, we need-"

"No hospital!" Tomomi grabbed Mami's shoulder and gasped painfully at the sudden movement. She breathed laboriously, squeezing her eyes shut and clamping a hand over her stab wound tighter than before, blood slowly leaking from under it.

"Okay, okay! No hospital, okay? Just, don't move," Mami panicked. She lowered the girl back down slowly, doing her best to strap her in with a belt while her hands shook slightly. After finally getting the buckle in she covered Tomomi with her sweater and got up to the driver's seat. She pressed the gas pedal automatically, steering out the parking lot even though she didn't know where they could go. It was obvious they couldn't pay the hospital fees without them losing what money they already had and Tomomi wouldn't be able to work back the money afterwards. Mami still had her sponsor but it'd be very hard to go to school when she had no place to stay. It could work out though, it could, yet Tomomi refused knowing all that. Now Mami was faced with a dead end and a sinking, sinking feeling. She couldn't lose Tomomi. In a millisecond she snapped back to when they first met, to why she had come back, and that was when a sudden memory struck her. She grabbed her phone and steered the wheel towards their rundown place, dialing a number she never thought she'd call again. 

"Haru? It's Mami. I need some help."

//

When they got back Tomomi was as pale as a thin sheet of paper, purple to the lips and hands cold. Mami did exactly as Haruna told her over the phone. She laid Tomomi on the blanketed floor, stripped her top off and pressed a clean shirt to her wound. Letting Tomomi press on it herself in the meantime, Mami washed her hands and grabbed the first aid kit she'd bought a while back. Tomomi still had her eyes shut as the pain faded in and out – she could hear someone calling her name but it sounded blocked, like she was listening through a wall. It felt like her head was spinning, or maybe it was the room since she could feel her head on the floor. Mami called to her roughly, forcing the girl to open her eyes.