Ultima Ratio

Chapter 15: Wake-Up Call

Part Two: Status Quo

The first thing Akira noticed was the harsh scent of disinfectant and excessive laundry detergent. The second thing was a faint undertone of cinnamon, specifically something sweet. That was enough to capture Akira's attention, but her eyelids were too heavy to open and investigate. In fact, her entire body felt like she was stuck in cement, and the weight of it all made her muscles ache.

But as the harsher smells faded, the sugary cinnamon only grew stronger. Eventually, Akira rallied enough energy to lift her eyelids, promising herself that she could let them close in the event of a false alarm.

When she finally opened her eyes, she was greeted by Danya's blank face filling her vision from a quarter meter away.

Akira swore, first in shock and then in discomfort as her body protested to her flinching.

"What are you doing?" Akira groaned, her hoarse voice nearly unrecognizable to her ears.

Any response was put on hold as Akira delved into a fit of coughs, and each hack sent a ripple of pain through her muscles. After a few seconds, Akira paused long enough to see Danya simply standing beside her, patiently waiting for Akira to continue. What Akira could have really used was something to drink, but her coughing resumed before she could get the request out.

"Wa...ter..." Akira finally managed to gasp.

Three coughs later, a cup of water was forced into her hands. It took half of it for Akira to regain her breath, and only then did she finally take in her surroundings.

Immediately, she knew she was in a hospital, most likely the one at Base. The layout and furnishings matched the one Danya had occupied not long ago, with the only difference being the lighting was a normal white instead of red. That, and Akira was now the patient while Danya settled back into the steel chair at her bedside.

Danya looked surprisingly casual, but Akira supposed she had only seen her in rags, hospital clothing, and a military uniform. Now, Danya was wearing a loose white T-shirt with airy, olive green shorts and the black boots from her combat uniform. After a closer inspection, Akira realized Danya's shirt was inside out, and a backwards "ARMY" print in large block letters could be seen through the fabric.

"What were you doing?" Akira asked, her voice still sounding like her throat was made of sandpaper.

"Just now?" Danya said. "It sounded like you were waking up, so I thought I'd make sure."

"By getting in my face?"

Danya shrugged. "I was trying to see if you weren't just pretending to be asleep."

"And I can't? You do it all the time."

"Exactly. I can't have everyone stealing my moves."

As much as Akira wanted to argue, she didn't have the energy nor the voice to continue. Now that she was more aware of her surroundings, she was quickly realizing just how awful she felt. Her body was stiff and achy, and the slightest movement sent a throbbing pain straight to her head. Every breath she took felt much too shallow, and somehow, she felt too warm and too chilly at the same time.

But just sitting in bed, while wearing nothing but a thin white hospital gown, she belatedly noticed, gave her nothing to do but simply simmer in discomfort. She needed a distraction.

"What happened?" she asked, then took another sip of water when an itch nagged at her throat. "How long was I out?"

Danya frowned. "I don't really know. I just know you were...yelling a lot. Then that swan princess injected you with something that stopped that, at least, but...you were still out for over a week."