The Bond of the Broken

Tatyina pressed her hand to her chest when Talia struggled to speak. She shook her head. She didn't need to hear words from the girl. She just wanted her to recover and do her best. But then she watched as Talia scrawled a note.

"I'm... fine..." Tatyina whispered. "Please..." She said, holding out her hand, trying to snake it so it was resting on Talia's leg. She set it there and smiled. "Worry about healing. I'm alright." She insisted in her whispered voice.

She looked at the second note and tilted her head. "It was the same as you." Tatyina said and lowered her head a bit to catch her breath. "But, I chose this path.' She said and smiled at Talia. "As long as... I touch others hearts... I'm ready to face anything without regrets." Tatyina's head lowered and her grip started slipping off of Talia's leg. "I just want... you to be ... alright. Right now, that's all that matters to me."

Talia cringed when Tatyina put her hand on her leg. It didn't hurt, but she was still concerned this girl could be out to get her back. She stared at Tatyina as she explained everything to her. Surely she had to be mocking her at this point. But it didn't seem like she was. Of all the people Talia could have put in the hospital, why was it Tatyina? Why not Akashi or Cassie or...ANYONE else in the world? Of all the people to take out her anger on, she chose the purest, kindest woman of the entire roster. At least Cassie had done this to her out of vengeance. What possible motive did Talia have? How could she ever justify this to herself?

Before realizing it, Talia found herself crying again. This time not for herself. But for Tatyina. The head brace prevented her from saying "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," but she tried anyways. It came out as complete gibberish since she couldn't open her mouth for better or worse. She wanted to confess to Tatyina at that moment that it really was all Talia's fault. But she couldn't. Not with this stupid thing on her head. Her hand reached up and gripped Tatyina's as tightly as she could muster in her state. And she kept crying. She couldn't be happy. She didn't deserve to be happy.

Tatyina watched as Talia began to cry. She couldn't understand why and she couldn't understand the gibberish that she was trying to speak. But she could feel the warmth in Talia's hand. She started crying too but had a smile on her face. "Please don't speak. Don't struggle for... my sake." Tatyina said and pulled on the hand enough to rest her forehead against it. It was nice to touch another human. To have real contact, real warmth. She wanted Talia to experience that too.

"Just focus on getting better. I'll..." Tatyina couldn't hold herself anymore and fell backwards. She was splayed out on the cold floor and laid there weeping and smiling. It wasn't too much longer when a nurse came in to check up on Talia and quickly rushed to aid Tatyina and put her back into her bed. She was scolded for moving on her own and Tatyina apologized. The nurse helped her finish off her soup before checking up on Talia and leaving the two alone once more. Tatyina closed her eyes.

Cassie slowed as she approached the door. The sign on the door had three big, white numbers and some friendly looking Japanese written next to them. She couldn't read it, but she didn't have to. She knew what was inside room number 212.

She drew a deep breath, her hands trembled uncontrollably, and her knees felt so weak she thought she might splat on the floor right there and have to wait for a nurse to find her. Then they'd probably put her in room 212 too, and then she'd be stuck, lame, and doomed.

Out of panic, she kept walking, and tried to play it off like she wasn't sure where she was going. She paused and looked up at signed the hung down from the ceiling, and pretended to be figuring out which way she had to go. The only word on the signs she could read was "cafeteria", though she was only looking through the signs. Sweat condensed on her forehead and her palms were slick with anxiety. She knew she couldn't do anything but go in. She had to do it. Maybe she'd just try again, and slower this time.

She drew another breath, let it out slowly, and turned around. This time, as she approached the door, a nurse, moving much faster than her, clip-clopped up from behind her and she lost her nerve. She turned away at the last moment, and the nurse strode past her. She walked with so much purpose it made Cassie jealous. She wished she could just clip-clop her way through the place like that. Walk into the room and say "hey, sorry I killed you" and clack her way back out to her modestly-price Japanese-made luxury car, in black pearl.

She waited again until the hallway was empty and everything was quiet. Here goes nothing.

She stepped gingerly through the door and glanced around. The smell of flowers mixed with that of sterile hospital equipment and made Cassie imagine it being loaded with floral-scented tongue depressors. Another step in and she could see the foot of her bed.

She held her breath. She took another step and could see her legs under the sterile, white sheet. She held her breath. One more step.

She stood at the foot of the bed and stared down both Dark Angel, her tormentor, and Talia, her friend. Her lifeless body looked genuinely peaceful, even with the horrid bandages wrapped around her head. Cassie wondered how she had managed to injure her jaw... she almost marveled at the idea that she'd even be capable of such a thing. She was so little! How on earth could she hurt someone like this?

She could only just make out the gentle rise and fall of Talia's chest, and she felt a wave of relief wash over her like cool rain. She wasn't dead. Emboldened by her self-aquittal of the murder of the girl, Cassie reached out her hand to touch Talia's foot.

She froze, inches away. What if she woke up? Her heart was beating so loudly she was sure she would wake up every patient in the wing, but she couldn't resist. She needed the contact, she was sure everything could be okay again if only she could touch her. If she could just hold her and rock her and reassure her, everything would be okay. She would forgive her. They would forgive each other. That's what people did.

She inched her hand closer.

While Talia rested and slept, Tatyina merely rested quietly with her eyes closed. When the door clicked open, her eyes opened halfway but her body didn't move. She watched as Cassie timidly approached Talia's bed. A smile crept over Tatyina's face but she remained still.

As Cassie reached out for Talia, Tatyina spoke in her whispered tone, her gray eyes opening fully. "I'm so glad you came to visit Talia-ue. Thank you. You're a kind person." She said in her soft whispered voice.

Cassie put her hands over her mouth to stifle her gasp and hopped back at least a yard. She'd been so transfixed on Talia that she hadn't noticed that there was another bed, let alone someone in it. Let alone someone in it who was awake. And watching her.

She recovered, and soundlessly she stepped back to the foot of the bed. Her soft green eyes stared impassively at this new girl. She looked sick, enough that it made Cassie uncomfortable. She might've been more compassionate were she not ready to bolt for the door at any moment.

What she said, though... if she only knew. No one in the hospital knew that Talia's killer, for lack of a better term, was standing over her bed while she slept. She should be arrested, if anything, sport or not. People like Cassie shouldn't be allowed to just roam around as they pleased.

The other red haired girl looked as though she'd been in the hospital for quite a bit longer, and yet she had none of the effects of visitation around her. Cassie wondered if anyone ever had, and her heart ached, for Tatyina and Talia both.

"How come you're in here?" She finally asked in a hushed voice like a whisper, mirroring Tatyina's.

Tatyina sucked in a breath when Cassie gasped. She shook her head, her messy blood red locks spilling over her face. Tatyina weakly lifted her hand and pushed away the hair.

"I'm a wrestler in the AFW." She said in her soft whisper. "In my last match, I was hurt so badly that I was comatose for several months. It's the same as Talia-ue." She said, nodfing to her sleeping roommate.

Tatyina smiled wearily. "I'm just thankful that Talia-ue has people around to give her the strength she needs to recover."

Cassie's stomach turned at the thought. She instinctively tried to feel sympathetic to Tatyina, for the suffering she'd obviously had to endure. She found, however, that her sympathy was overshadowed by her guilt. She felt as if she could've been the one who put this frail girl in a hospital bed, and she felt like any minute Tatyina would realize what Cassie was and Cassie would have to run away.

She didn't want anyone to ever find out what she really was. She knew she had to hide. She told herself this over and over, because at the same time she wanted to confess to everyone and run into their arms and cry until everything was all better.

"What about you, do you have people to give you strength to recover?" She asked carefully.

"Emily-ue has stopped by. And some kind soul has been sending me flowers. I know not who, but their kindness has warmed my heart. And Talia-ue and you as well. Thank you for your kindness. Your warmth, I am truly greatful for it." Tatyina said and smiled at Cassie.

Tatyina closed her eyes. "Please forgive my intrusion, ue-sama, but what relation do you have with Talia-ue? I feel as though your souls are connected and it fills me with great relief."

"Emily..." Cassie echoed softly. She didn't know anyone named Emily. At least not since high school.

She blinked. All the flowers were for this girl? She shook her head. She had assumed that they were for Talia, but probably only because she didn't know who Tatyina was. She fidgeted with the hem of her yellow t-shirt. She didn't know what to say.

She paused. She looked down at the floor and thought about the question, but she had a question of her own, and she needed an answer to it. "Who did this to you?" She said, and her voice breaking slightly. "And... what's your name?"