The air even in the hallway felt chilled as she stood in front of an examining room. Ryu’s family doctor stood before her with a clipboard in hand, and worry on his face.
“Can I see him?” Rosette asked, “Is he okay?”
“Oh, ee is fine, Madame.” He said with a smile, “Ee just needs to rest.”
“Then why do you look so worried?” she asked nervously.
“Um, well, I’m worried that ee will be discovered ‘ere.” He said, “I am not de only one to use des room.”
“Can’t you lock it?” she asked. The doctor sighed.
“I can, but de locks are electronique, Madame. Anyone with a key card can get in, if they ‘ave permission to do so.”
“What if he sleeps against the door?”
“The door swings both ways.” He said.
“Can we hide him?”
“I don’t ‘ave a sheet big enough and you can hear ‘im breathing from out here.”
“So what can we do?” she asked, staring at the floor. Dr. Lanse searched for a solution, when one was staring at him from the wall. The answer was printed on a needle disposal box and his eyes lit up as he quickly turned and strode down the hall. After returning from his office he placed a large biohazard sign on the door which said ‘Do Not Enter’.
“Ow’s dat?” he asked. Rosette smiled.
“Perfect!”
Rosette slipped inside the darkened room and with a nod from Dr. Lanse, she shut the door behind her. The air felt like it was outside, and she pulled her jacket closer around her as she tried to peer into the darkness. It took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust, and even then she could barely make out the huge sleeping dragon in the corner. She didn’t realize before, but this room was huge, like an operating room. As she crossed the room, she began to feel anxious and she eyed the walls, which seemed to be lined with some kind of drawers. At first she thought it was a filing room, where medical records were stored, but she spotted a rather large package of tags, and it finally hit her. This was the morgue.
She stood frozen in the middle of the room when she finally realized where she was, but pushed her fear behind her as she inched forward once more. She tried to ignore the drawers on the walls and focused on the large object in the corner. She knelt beside it in the dark and put her hand on his huge head, feeling the rough scales and pointed horns. He didn’t wake at first, which worried her more. She couldn’t even hear him breathe in the silence of the morgue, but sighed in relief when she saw his huge body gently lift and fall.
“Five more minutes, Rosette…” he muttered, “I’m tired.”
“You had me worried, you know!” she said, “You shouldn’t strain yourself like that. You should have told me.”
“I’m sorry, Rosette.” He mumbled, “I broke your bed.”
“Never mind about that.” She said in a soft voice. “You just rest for now. Get better. Do you need anything?” The light in the hallway across the room flicked on and shone through the small window. Ryu’s eyes seemed to glow in the dark as he stared at the floor.
“I’m sorry Rosette, I really am.” He said, “I didn’t want you worrying about me when you have to worry about your mother too.”
“Isn’t that for me to decide?” she asked, “I care about you, you know! You have to tell me when you’re not feeling well.”
“Rosette……”
“Promise me that you won’t do it again? You can trust me you know.” She said.
“I know.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.” He said.
“What do you mean, she’s been moved?” Dave yelled at the nurse. She straightened up in her chair and pulled at her uniform.
“Sir, I think you should calm down.” She said in a stern voice.
“I’m sorry.” He said, taking a breath, “Where is she now?”
“As I said before I was interrupted, she’s been moved into intensive care.” She said.
“Can I see her?” Dave asked.
“Visiting hours are restricted in intensive care.” She said, “No more than two family members at a time, and only between four and six PM.”
“But I’m her husband!” he exclaimed, “There must be an exception!”
“I’m sorry, sir, but these are the rules. They exist so that the patient can recover after all.”
“I want to talk to someone in charge of her!” he demanded.
“Well this is the emergency wing, sir. You may want to try the ICU down the hall.”
“Thanks.” He muttered and strode down the hall. A few nurses in the hall moved out of the way when they saw him coming, and they caught a glimpse of tears forming in his eyes before he burst into the ICU waiting room.
“I want to see my wife!” he demanded at the nurses station. A young nurse jumped and turned away from her computer.
“Y-Yes sir! Name please?”
“Pegasus.”
“Pegasus, Pegasus, Pegasus, ah here it is, Diane Pegasus, right?”
“Yes, where is she?”
“She’s in for an MRI at the moment, sir, but they’ve moved her into room one eleven.” The nurse said.
“When can I see her?” Dave asked, calming down. At least now he was getting some answers.
“Visiting hours are from four to six PM.” She said, “You said you were her husband, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well if you take a seat, I’ll let you know when you can go see her, but it may take a few hours.”
“I’ll wait.” He said, and flopped down in a chair.
The next thing he knew he felt someone sit next to him, and he groggily opened his eyes.
“How are you doing?” Rosette asked. Dave shook out the cobwebs.
“Oh, man! I fell asleep?” He stretched, “What time is it?”
“Almost four.” She said.
“What! Nurse, has my wife finished her MRI?” he called, to his surprise a different nurse stood up and peered over the desk.
“Name please?”
“Pegasus.”
“No, sir. She’s still doing tests. Shouldn’t be too long more.”
“For some reason, I just don’t like hospitals.” He grunted, “Anyway, how’s Ryu?”
“He’s going to be fine.” She said, “He just needs to rest in peace.”
“And where were you all this time?” he asked, and her face flushed.
“I fell asleep too.”
“Where?”
“With Ryu.” She said, “I can’t believe I slept in there.”
“Where?”
“He’s in the morgue.” She said. A couple sitting across from them suddenly looked at her with odd expressions, and she realized what she had just said, and how it sounded. The couple quickly got up and left with disgusted faces.
“You slept in a morgue with Ryu?” he asked.
“Yes, he didn’t want me to leave.” She said, “I think he was scared.”
“What would he have to be scared of in a morgue?”
“There’s lots of metal in there and most of it are bars.” She said, “He has a phobia of bars.”
“Oh really? I didn’t know.” He muttered, “What’s he doing now?”
“Sleeping.” She said.
“Oh. I see.”
“Sir, your wife just got out of her tests.” The nurse interrupted, “You can go see her in five minutes.”
“Thank you, nurse.” He said, standing up, “Remember Rosette, he’s there to support you, no matter what. Just don’t be afraid to rely on him.”
“Don’t worry, Dad. I trust him.” She said with a smile. Her smile froze on her face as she saw a blur of red and black flash behind her father and disappear down the hall, leaving the doors swinging behind it. A stack of papers on the nurse’s desk blew up into the air, leaving them speechless.
“What the hell was that?” the nurse stammered, standing up and peering down the hall.
“Oh, no!” Rosette gasped.
Rosette ran down the hall with her father trailing behind and several staff behind him. As she rounded the corner, her sneakers squeaked on the linoleum when she saw him standing just outside the door. He was again wearing his black cloak, but it wasn’t doing any good. The tip of his tail still scraped the floor and his wings made the cloak bulge on his back. He did have a humanoid form, but that was it. Standing a foot taller than Rosette, he peered down through the window, and a claw extended to the doorknob.
“Ryu! What are you doing?” she cried, “You have to hide!” she began to panic as the sound of footsteps became louder. Without saying a word he pulled the door open and ducked inside, leaving it open for Rosette to follow and she closed the door behind her.
“What are you doing, Ryu!” she repeated. This time he turned and stared at her with his yellow, but soft eyes and raised a claw to his snout, telling her to be quiet.
Ryu inched forward and cleared his throat, which came out rather as a growl, and someone behind the curtain began to move.
“C-Come in.” she coughed. Rosette’s eyes went wide as Ryu pulled the curtain back, revealing her mother lying in the hospital bed before her. Ryu managed to go around the bed with out knocking anything over, and Diane smiled as she looked up into his monstrous face.
“Hello, Ryu!” She said, “How have you been?”
“I’m getting along.” He said, “How are you feeling?”
“Not too good.” She moaned, “These doctors have poked me in places I didn’t know I had.”
“I’m sorry.” He said, bowing his head.
“Ryu, what’s going on?” Rosette asked, stepping up to the bed, “You shouldn’t be out when you’re looking like that!”
“That’s not important, Rosette.” He said, “I’m more concerned with her.”
“What are you saying?” she stammered. She heard voices outside the door that seemed to be her father standing next to the door, trying to get the staff to look elsewhere for them, but they were giving him a hard time. After a few minutes, the staff left, and there was a knock on the door.
“It’s me.
“I guess I should tell you, but there’s no way to really prepare for this.” He said,
“You know, don’t you?” Dave said, “She’s not going to make it, is she?” Dave’s voice shook as he finished his question and Ryu simply bowed his head.
“I’m sorry.”
“How do you know? What makes you so sure?!” he yelled, but Rosette put her hand on his shoulder and he calmed down, wiping the tears from his face.
“We can sense these things.” He said, “That’s why I had to get here fast.”
“Y-You mean, now?” he stammered, “No! It’s too soon!”
“Ryu, what are you saying?” Rosette cried, “You didn’t rush down here to watch her die!”
“No, I didn’t.”
“But you said that you couldn’t do anything for her!” Dave yelled.
“I have magic! I’ll do what I can!” he roared. Rosette glanced down to see her mother again unconscious and gasping for breath. Her fears were confirmed when she eyed the heart monitor and tried to deny it, but couldn’t. Ryu was right. She was fading away.
“You said yourself that you can only destroy things!” Dave yelled.
“I’m a fire dragon! Fire not only can destroy things, but can also purify.”
“What do you mean?” Rosette sniffed.
“Fire is also used to disinfect things.” He said, “And like the Phoenix
“Ryu, what are you going to do?” Rosette cried, “Don’t!”
“I have to Rosette. It’s the only way.” He said. His last words was followed by the shrill whine of the heart monitor. With a roar, a wall of flames erupted between them, and he appeared once more in his full dragon form, crushing the bed behind him and sending medical equipment crashing to the floor. He spread his wings as far as he possibly could in the confines of the cramped hospital room, and both he and her mother became engulfed in flame. Rosette barely had enough time to draw breath to scream when a bright flash blinded her and she passed out.
She awoke to the sound of something loud that reminded her of the heart monitor when it flat lined, but for some reason this sound was even more jarring. Her head was a jumble of picture and sound as she tried to clear her head, but the annoying sound seemed to spit into her thoughts before they could be sorted. It took her a while to realize that it was a fire alarm.
She found herself lying against the wall in the hallway, just outside what was left of her mother’s room. With her father lying next to her on the floor, she struggled to stand, and she limped over to the burnt wreckage of the hospital room. There was barely anything left. Smoke spilled out through a large hole in the outer wall and cold winter air rushed in to replace the heated air near the ceiling. As she stepped forward, she gasped when she saw that the only thing to survive the blast, was the hospital bed. The bed didn’t have a scratch on it, or was seared in any way, but tears began to flow when she saw that her mother was still lying on the bed, and she was breathing.
The rest of the evening was a blur, mostly due to shock. Both her and her father stared off into space as the firefighters began to put out the remaining fires, and the damages were assessed. Still no one could explain how the room could explode, let alone leave the patient untouched, and miraculously cured. After moving Rosette’s mother into another room for observation, the police turned to the only two witnesses, and they weren’t talking. Unable to do anything else, they let them go and they both drove home in silence.
“Rosette…..” Dave began, but sighed when he couldn’t finish. He had a pretty good idea about what had happened, but he wasn’t sure about what do to about it. He couldn’t go back and change anything. Even if he could, he knew in his heart that it would have turned out the same. Still, with his daughter still in shock, he felt like it was his duty to help her, and the first step would be accepting what had happened.
“H-He was a good kid.” He stammered. The wipers flapped back and forth in the night but still the car remained silent, “He did it for you, Rosette. He did it for us!” Rosette turned from the window and the tears on her face shone in the dim light.
“He sacrificed himself to save my mother!” she cried, “I could never choose between him or Mom, but I didn’t want him to do it either! There had to be some other way!” Dave pulled over to the side of the road and she collapsed into his arms and cried. “There had to be another way! I loved him, Dad!”
“I know, honey. I know.” He said, with the wipers still flapping in the storm.
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