"Excuse me! Are you... er, Rosabella Nanami?"
A timid sounding voice shook Rose out of her thoughts as she mindlessly walked through the airport to her departure gate. After another heart-wrenching goodbye from all of her friends, it was time to return back to New Yosaka City.
"I... um, yes. I'm Rosabella Nanami. How may I help you?"
She turned and found herself facing a cute looking, though very anxious, female.
"My name is Mika... Are you interested in joining the San Fransokyo Medical Center as... um... well working there?"
"... I-I would really love to! Oh, wow. That offer sounds very nice, and it's sweet of you to have scouted me out to ask but I'm about to board a flight back to my home in New Yosaka City..."
"O..Oh."
Rose watched the female deflate, her head now hanging with the most heavy look of despair in her eyes. She was quickly taken back, however, when Mika shot her head up and suddenly held out a manila folder, offering it to Rose.
"You... used to attend the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, c-correct?"
Rose cautiously took the folder and nodded.
"And I'm sure you are w..well aware of the fire that occurred at the exposition hall...?"
"Well... I wasn't present at the time, but yes. I do know about the tragic incident."
"I-I see... then you might want to look at the contents of that folder..."
Rose pursed her lips together and felt her forehead crease as she opened the folder with the most perplexed expression plastered to her face.
San Fransokyo Medical Center Patient Information Sheet
A sudden feeling of dread filled the girl as she held the folder of papers, her hands starting to subtly shake.
Name of Patient: Tadashi Hamada
Rose stopped after reading the name, looking up at the other female with an sort of panicked look in her eyes. This couldn't be right... Tadashi was dead... it had to be someone else with the same name... or something... Regardless, the girl continued to read, her whole body now very visibly trembling.
Circumstances of the accident: Severe third degree burns and anoxic brain injury
She stopped again and looked back up at Mika, her pained expression clearly asking for some sort of explanation. Anything to calm the unnerving emotions she was currently experiencing.
"He... a-after the fire was finally put out they discovered his body... he was at first presumed dead b-but it turns out he's actually just in a coma as a result of the head trauma he experienced after the building blew... causing him to most likely fall backwards and hit his head against the ground..."
"B-But... that's not possible," Rose began closing the folder and returned the information back to the other girl.
"He should've been burnt in the fire..."
"He should have... But since the architects who built the building wanted to ensure that they built a strong building meant to withstand various accidents... the doors were what proved to protect the patient. The building had two sets of doors upon entering the building... and it was deduced that the patient had only passed through the first set before the fire completely engulfed the building."
"The... doors? But they were only glass, they should have just been blown to bits when the fire finally grew out of control."
Mika shook her head, eyes locked with Rose's as she continued to speak.
"They were destroyed when paramedics arrived the scene... glass s-shards scattered everywhere. But at the time of the explosion... those 5 inch thick glass doors created a sort of temporary shield for the patient... protecting him from the initial blast of the fire that would have normally burnt him if he weren't behind those doors..."
Rose grit her teeth and closed her eyes, trying her best to calm her quickening pulse and shallow breath.
"Tadash- this patient... he's in your hospital right now?"
"Y-Yes."
"Why are you looking for me then? I wasn't... I wasn't here at the time of the incident."
"H-He... er. The patient. While in the ambulance transporting his unconscious body from the exposition hall to the hospital... he said your name."
"..."
"Or... he really only said 'Bells', which greatly confused all of us... but once he was finally treated and situated in his own room... he said 'Rose'."
"..."
"S-Since I was tasked with looking over him... I thought that maybe once he w..woke up... whenever that might be... he might want to see whoever this mysterious 'Rose' he was murmuring about..."
"Then why trace it back to me?"
"I...er, well. I thought it was strange that he said those two words so I put them together in hopes of figuring out any sort of better clue... but I only got 'Rose Bells'... and that didn't make much sense to me at the time t-time... Uhm, then I remembered reading about you in the newspapers... as the head nurse and student of SFIT..."
"Why... was I in the newspaper?"
"I wanted to apply to SFIT... and I k-kind of looked to you as my model..."
"..."
"S-So anyways, I remembered your name and did a little research on you... and now I'm here. T-Though I also know you're a terrific and knowledgeable person... so that's why I asked if you wanted to work at the medical center..."
"..."
"But... but I guess I've been holding you up for too long... you most likely have to leave soon..."
"..."
"It w-was a pleasure meeting you, Rosabella... I hope you come back to San Fransokyo soon..."
"..."
The girl stood, glued in her spot, as she watched the timid female begin to walk away. It took her a moment to finally shake off the stunned feeling before she ran after Mika.
"W-Wait!"
"...?"
"I... I'll... I would love to work at the medical center..."
"But don't you have to leave...? Like... r-right now?"
"... I'm sure my parents won't mind the delay... in fact, they might be ecstatic to hear that I've got a job now doing what I love most..."
"Ah... that's great news to hear... then if you would please f-follow me... I'll take you to the hospital..."
Rose nodded and sniffled, wiping at her eyes as she began to cry once more.
"...!?"
Mika looked at the girl with a distraught expression and stammered.
"W-What's wrong? You don't have to do this if you don't want to..."
Rose shook her head slowly, letting the incessant stream of tears roll down her face as she let out a sob, her lips curled into a smile.
"It's not that...
It's just...
Tadashi is alive."
✿✿✿ Author's Note ✿✿✿
DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN! Oh boy, Tadashi is alive! Do you know what that means?
A sequel!!!
You can find the sequel, "Immortals", on my profile page!
Thanks for sticking to the end!!