Chapter 34: Loss

His eyes shot open.

Whiteness was all around him, the sound of the heart monitor and a breathing tube present. Slowly, he sat up, rubbing his bandaged body. When he got down to his left arm, he froze, eyes quickly snapping to the missing limb.

Takabi wanted to scream.

Where was it? What had happened to him? Where was he?

He steeled himself, slowly looking around at the bright room. An empty bed was to his right, sheets tossed over on the floor. It was stained with sweat and, seemingly, vomit. The shower in the bathroom was on, but quickly turned off when Takabi unhooked himself from the machines and stood. Wobbly at first, he used the bed to hold his support.

His chest was heavy. Something told him not to turn around.

So he didn't. He focused on the bathroom, even as Garuga's voice filled the room.

"You shouldn't be up." Takabi kept his eyes ahead of him as the Dragon walked around. He was dressed in a black turtleneck and khaki pants.

"What's with the get up," He asked, voice dry.

"I can look proper if I want. How do you feel, kid?" Garuga watched him closely.

Takabi tried standing on his own, but quickly fell back and held onto the bed. "Thought so," He said, crossing his arms. "You took a pretty hard beating, ya know."

"I lost my arm… pretty hard is an understatement."

"Not really. At least not for you." He smiled softly, sitting in a chair by the table towards the bathroom. "Your arm will grow back. Just, since your body isn't used to losing limbs, it's going to take a little while. We have time though."

"No, we don't!" He said. "I have to go back! Find that High Breed thing. Make it pay for all those people it killed!"

Garuga dropped his smile, leaning back in his seat calmly. "The people you know, or don't know about?"

"The hell are you talking about," He asked him. Garuga's silence disturbed him a bit. He shook his head, turning. "I have to…." He stopped cold.

Everything left his mind. Sound faded. His heart rammed against his ribs. He forgot everything he wanted to do, wanted to ask, when he saw her face.

Bruised and battered. Eyes closed, and dark blue hair in a heavy mess. She wasn't moving, and her chest was barely rising. He moved from his bed, only to fall on his face from his weakened body.

Garuga hurried over to him to help him stand, but he pushed the dragon off him, making him crash into the glass on the wall and shatter it. Tears spilled from his eyes when he reached her bedside.

"Nana!" Her name left his throat in a pained cry.

The door swung open, Rose and Jewel rushing. When they spot Takabi at her side, they tried their hardest to pry him off her bed. He fought, and fought and fought against the two, both yelling at him to calm down and breathe.

He wouldn't.

He couldn't.

"What happened to her!"

The bathroom door opened. Kairas stepped in in a white gown usually seen in hospitals, wrapped in a thick gauze. His eyes were baggy, a scar under each green orb. He said nothing as he watched his brother, only thinking of the pain he must be in.

"Both of you, let me go!" He yelled.

"Takabi, stop it! You need to rest," Rose screamed at him.

"Screw rest!" He yelled, body erupting in violet. Tattoos rushed up his left, a strong glow filling the room.

Anger, sorrow, hate. Every negative emotion he knew of filled his brain, filled his heart.

He wanted blood.

"I'm gonna kill whoever hurt her! Let me go!"

The two refused. Garuga stood, approaching Takabi and kneeling in front of him, opening his arms and wrapping them around the boy tightly.

"She's in a coma." He said bluntly. "I did what I could to at least save those close to you… I truly did, Takabi. I arrived to you and them too late. We survived the blast, just barely."

Takabi, relaxed his body, violet tattoos fading away. The tears in his eyes welled up even more intensely, words lodged in his throat as if to choke him. He rested his head against Garuga's shoulder, crying softly.

"The whole city was destroyed. Everyone. Dead. Gone."

"What about Michael and Mary," He choked.

Garuga nodded solemnly. "They were just out of reach for me with the little time I had. Do you want a drink? Water? Coffee?"

He shook his head, using his right arm to hug Garuga back, allowing the tears to flow freely. "Who lived," He asked hesitantly.

"Rose," He began. "Jewel, and the other girl, Ariel. That was all. I even went back to check, on the off chance someone else survived. All I saw was ash."

"All of it gone.." He raised his head, using his remaining hand to wipe away the waterworks. "We're In the Bunker?" He tapped his foot against the floor, noting the vibration, signifying movement. "Where are we going?"

"We'll get to that later." He looked back at Nana. "Do you want to say anything to her?"

"I…" He wished to speak. To hold her. To cry in her arms, telling her he loved her, and how he wished so much for her to wake up. "Yeah… Can… I be alone with her?"

Nodding, Garuga turned to Rose and Jewel, gesturing for them to follow. Rose placed a hand on his shoulder and kissed his forehead. "We'll be outside if you need us, okay?"

"Yeah… Thank you, Rose."

Jewel nudged him next. She smiled softly, sympathetically, but said no words. Kairas was the last to leave. He took the crutch by the door, using it to keep himself stable as he walked by his twin. "Don't let this distract you from what's important. I know it hurts," He paused looking at him. "But she would want you to keep fighting till she woke up. She's in a coma. Not dead."

Takabi didn't even glance his way before stating, "What if she never wakes up, Kairas… I can't live with the idea of being without her. I just can't."

His brother was silent for a long, agonizing minute. He mulled over words to say in his mind, and couldn't think of anything he could say that would make any sort of difference. The reality was there WAS a possibility she would never wake up.

"No offense, but we're what? Seventeen now? On the off chance she doesn't wake up, keep an open mind."

The resulting glare Takabi gave him made Kairas sigh. He mulled over another response and said, "You have to have hope that your voice will reach her, even in the deepest slumber. It did for me." He smiled softly to himself. "You're special, my brother. I hated you, hated humans in general. Yet what you said, really made sense to me. It's not healthy to hold onto my hate for our father, But it's better than taking it out on innocent people. Don't let the anger control you. It's a part of you, and always will be, but it doesn't define you."

With that, he left the room, and shut the door behind him.

Takabi walked towards Nana's bed once more, holding her hand tightly, watching her with worry filled eyes.

Hope lingered in his heart, even as the feeling of her skin grew a bit colder. "You will wake up. I know you will, and I'll wait for you, however long it takes." He closed his eyes, placing his lips against her forehead. Softly, he pressed, before pulling away and saying, "Nana. No matter what, I love you. I will love you, and always will love you. You've been so important to me all this time, and I had the nerve to forget you for seven years, yet you probably thought about me every damn day… Look how the situation reversed." He chuckled softly to himself, pulling a seat up to sit, hold her hand and occasionally stroke her hair.

Patience. Above all else. For her, he would have patience. "It's my turn now. Rest up, Angel."