We were all worried. I couldn't believe it when I heard. I'd never felt so guilty in my life. I can't let it end with this. I have to do something. --Mizuno Ami ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hospital Three loud knocks echoed through the hall of Makoto's apartment building. Outside her door the building's superintendent stood in a small pool of water. Makoto's neighbor had called him after noticing the puddle of water and knocking on the door to find no answer. With a sigh the super reached out and turned the knob, much to his surprise the door was unlocked. He opened it slightly and glanced in. "Kino-san? Are you here? It's the superintendent. I'm coming in." He called into the apartment. He stepped in and his foot made a squishing sound as it came down on the wet carpet. He heard the sound of the kitchen sink running and walked toward it. Seeing the source of the water flow he quickly turned the faucet off. "Hmm...I'll have to bring the wet-dry vac up here..." He mumbled as he stared at the sink. He turned to survey the damage and saw something that made his eyes go wide. Kino Makoto was lying on her side against the wall unconcious. Her clothing soaked with bloody water and her once white blouse was now mostly pink. "Kino-san!" Said the super as he rushed over to her. He knelt down and immediately felt for a pulse. He found one and relaxed slightly. He glanced around the room quickly and spotted a phone hanging on the wall. He snatched it from it's cradle and dialed for an ambulance. <<<<<<>>>>>> Tsukino Usagi was walking briskly down the street when an ambulance rushed by her. She shot it a worried glance but didn't think anything more of it. She had other things on her mind. Namely the cooking lessons promised to her by Makoto. Usagi had gone to Makoto a few days ago begging her to teach her to cook, after all what's a wife if she can't cook? That had been Usagi's reasoning anyway. And despite Makoto's insistance that Mamoru would love her even if she never learned how to cook Usagi was determined to learn. Soon enough Usagi was able to see Makoto's building in the distance. As well as the ambulance parked in front of it. Usagi's eyes widend and she ran foreward, fearing the worst. She arrived at the ambulance just as a few of the EMT's were wheeling Makoto out of the building. Usagi dashed past the EMT's and leaned over the unconcsious Makoto. "Mako-chan! Are you okay?" Hearing no reply from the brunette, Usagi burst into tears and tried vainly to hug Makoto. One of the EMT's pulled Usagi away while the others loaded Makoto into the ambulance. "She'll be alright," said the EMT soothingly, "she's just unconcious. You can visit her at the hospital if you like." He suggested as Usagi unwittingly burried herself in his chest. He patted her head lighlty. "Don't worry, your friend will be alright." Usagi only nodded slightly and pulled away, trying to keep her composure. She turned sharply and ran back the way she'd came. She had to get home. Had to get to the hospital. Had to get to a phone. <<<<<<>>>>>> The ambulance screeched to a halt in front of the emergancy room of the nearest hospital. A small crew had gathered to greet the ambulance, and quickly unloaded Makoto and rushed her to the nearest available room. Once there she was transferred to a bed as the doctor on call entered the room. The doctor raised an eyebrow upon seeing the young brunette. "She looks so familiar..." She thought as she picked up the patients chart. "Kino Makoto..." Thought the doctor as she looked over the information. "That sounds so familiar." She gave Makoto a quick look over and determined that there was nothing seriously wrong with her. The cuts on her ankle and foot would need to be bandaged properly, as well as the small cut on her head. The doctor left the work to a nurse and went back to her office. The doctor sat down and began entering information about Makoto into her computer. A few moments later a nagging feeling caused her to stop. That girl had been so familiar. She just couldn't place where she knew her from. Deciding to seek some outside council on the matter she picked up the phone and pressed 'One' on her speed-dial. "Hello?" Came a weary sounding voice over the line. "Dear? Are you alright? You don't sound good." Asked the doctor with obvious concern. "It's nothing, what's up?" Asked the voice. "You never call me from work." "Oh, it's just that they brought in this girl a few minutes ago and I know that I know her but I can't quite place from where." Explained the doctor. "So why did you call me?" Asked the person on the other line. "Well, I thought you might know her. Does the name Kino Makoto sound familiar to you?" The silence the doctor received in response worried her immensely. "Ami? Are you okay? Do you know her?" "Is she okay?" Asked Ami weakly. "Yeah, just unconcious. Took a pretty nasty shot to the head but she should be okay." Explained the doctor. Though the explanation gave little solace to Ami. "I know her, she's one of my friends from school." Said Ami finally. "Oh, well if you want to see her you can stop by. You know what visiting hours are right?" Asked Ami's mother. "Yeah, I do. Is that all you needed?" Asked Ami, desperate to get off the phone. "Yeah, that's it. You okay?" Asked her mother. "I'm fine." Said Ami. "Okay, well I have to go. Bye Ami, I love you." Said the mother warmly. "Bye, mom." Said the daughter as she laid the phone gently into the craddle. Ami pulled her knees to her chest and sat up in the corner of her bed. Guilt washed over her like an encroaching tide. She burried her face into her body as the tears began to flow. <<<<<<>>>>>> Usagi, Rei, and Minako had gathered in a hospital waiting room soon after Usagi had made her calls. Rei glanced at the small piece of paper in her hand. "The nurse said Mako-chan's in room 309." She informed the group. "Where's Ami?" Asked Minako. "I couldn't get a hold of her." Said Usagi. "Did you try her communicator?" Asked Rei. "Yeah, she didn't respond to that either. I even went to her house before coming here but no one answered the door." Said Usagi. "Well, let's go see Mako-chan now. We can try to get a hold of Ami later on." Said Rei. The other two girls followed her to a nearby elevator and the group took it to the third level. They exited the elevator a few seconds later and walked left out of the door. "303...305...307..." Said Minako softly as they walked past the rooms leading to 309. When they arrived the door was opened slightly and the name "Kino Makoto" was written on a small sign that hung on the door. Usagi gently pushed the door open and peeked into the room. Sunlight filtered through the half-drawn curtains and illuminated the lower part of Makoto's body. There was a slight chill in the room and it was deathy silent apart from the steady beeping of Makoto's heart monitor. The three girls moved into the room slowly and took seats near their incapacitated friend. They sat motionless for what seemed like hours in total silence. "Excuse me, ladies?" Said the nurse softly, startling the girls out of their contemplation. "Visiting hours are over, you can come back and see your friend tomorrow." The girls only nodded and quietly filed out of the room. As the got on the elevator they were joined by another woman. Usagi recognized the woman as Ami's mother and turned to her. "Excuse me, but I'm a friend of your daughter Ami. We were wondering if you knew where she was today?" She asked politely. Ami's mother looked at her curiously for a moment before responding. "Um, as far as I know she's been home all day. Were you here visiting Makoto?" Asked the doctor. Usagi nodded slightly. "We tried to call her because we knew she'd want to come with us to see Mako-chan. But we couldn't get a hold of her." Explained Usagi. "Hmm...I can talk to Ami when I get home if you like. She seemed pretty upset when I called her this afternoon." Said Ami's mother. "Oh...okay. Tell her we missed her today." Said Usagi. "Right, I'll tell her. Thanks," Ami's mother looked away as she struggled to put a name to the face she was talking to. "Usagi." Said Usagi, effectively filling in the blank. Ami's mother just smiled and nodded, an instant later the elevator door opened and the three senshi quietly filed out. Ami's mother took the elevator down to the parking garage underneath the hospital and drove home a little faster than usual.
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