*Disclaimer: ::grins happily:: I own SM, I
DO, I DO!!! ::giggles insanely:: And I can
draw purdy purdy manga Mamos. ::draws a stick
figure:: Aren't I good? Aren't I Naoko?
Eh? I'm not? Oh... ::dejected:: Well, then I
guess I don't own SM...darn the luck.

Medical Miracle
Chapter 17: Waiting for Dawn
By: The Rose Society
Rating: PG-13
Email: EtrlSlrMn@aol.com
http://www.geocities.com/the_rose_society/

*Tokyo Hospital*

	Haruka paced the waiting room floor,
quickly and angrily. The ambulance had
taken forever to arrive at Usagi's house.
Prior to that, Ami had spent what seemed
like hours working on trying to revive
Usagi. When the ambulance finally arrived,
they loaded Usagi onto a stretched and into the
van. Ami and Rei had accompanied the medical
personnel and Usagi in the ambulance, racing
toward Tokyo Hospital, the wail of the sirens
clearing their path. The rest of the group,
all six of them, had then crammed into Haruka's
car. The professional racer sliced through
Tokyo's traffic, the devil's own luck keeping
her from being pulled over.

	Once at the hospital, Ami and Rei
told them that Usagi had been rushed into
the emergency room and that the doctor would
inform them of Usagi's condition as soon as
possible. Michiru, the most outwardly calm of
the group, used her cell phone to call Shingo.
Following her lead, Setsuna phoned Dr. Hongo 
since it was the doctor's day off, while Ami
got the nurses to page her mother. Trying to
help, Minako offered to call Mamoru.

	"He's not answering," Minako said,
her voice strained as she hung up her cell
in surprise. "I got sent to his voice mail."

	"NANI?!" Rei screeched. Several other
visitors looked at the outraged priestess in
surprise. She looked ready to choke someone.

	Makoto placed a calming hand on Rei's
shoulder. "Calm down, Rei-chan. Don't get so
upset about this."

	Rei whirled on the taller woman, her
anger finding a new target. "Don't try to
calm me down, Mako-chan! Mamoru is supposed
to be her boyfriend. Usagi needs him to be
by her side at this moment and that man is
off to kami knows where, not answering his
cell phone!" Rei clenched her fists. "Usagi is
in there, fighting for her life. And Chiba
Mamoru, her supposed boyfriend, can't even
bother to answer the pho--" A sob stopped Rei's
rant and she collapsed against Makoto's shoulder.
Makoto gently hugged Rei, letting the woman
express her grief.

	Taking out her own cell, Hotaru
said, "I'll contact him, Minako. Don't
worry about him. I'm sure one of us will
reach him." Punching her buttons to send
a text message, Hotaru was glad to have
something occupy her, something other than
dwell on the fact that Usagi might be dead.

*********************************************

	Mamoru sat on the couch, waiting
for his name to be called for his
interview. He had been on time after all,
since the interviewer was running behind.
The room was nicely furnished, the leather
couch was not cheap, nor was the work area
desk of the secretary. There was a real
potted plant in one corner, unlike the fake
silk ones other hospitals had. The paint
job was a nice blue-gray, a welcomed change
from the normal sterile white of most
hospitals.

	Suddenly, the quiet silence of
the waiting room was broken by the shrill
ring of his cell phone. The other nervous
applicants glared at him. Sheepishly,
Mamoru quickly pushed the button to have
the call forwarded to his voice mail
without checking to see who it was. He
didn't want to be distracted during his
interview. It was important to project an
air of dedication.

	Returning to his thoughts, Mamoru
contemplated how his life would change if
he got this position. It was make things
a whole heck of a lot easier on him. As
chief resident, it would bring a lot of
prestige to his resume. Not to mention,
the hospital itself had a pretty
respectable oncology ward. Not as
prestigious as Tokyo Hospital, of course,
but it was still pretty good. As chief
resident, he would be able to do a lot
more things, perhaps hastening his rise
in the medical bureaucracy.

	His phone rang again. Again, his
fellow interviewees shot death glares in
his direction. Impatiently, Mamoru slid
his phone out to silence it.

	The door to the other room opened
and a woman read aloud from a list of names.
"Chiba Mamoru? The interviewer is ready for
you now. You may enter."

	Mamoru nodded, his gaze still on
the phone. It was a number he did not
recognize. Deeming it unimportant, he
bent to pick up his suitcase. Another beep
came from his phone, indicating a text
message. Frowning, Mamoru thought, 'Who
in the world keeps bothering me?'

	The message read: Urgent. Usagi
rushed to emergency room. Please answer.

	Mamoru froze in place. Usagi...
emergency room?

	"Chiba-san? You shouldn't keep
the interviewer waiting," said the woman
with a slight frown. She placed a hand on
her hip, as if to emphasize the fact that
their time was important and not to be
wasted by the lowly applicant.

	"I have to go. My girlfriend was
just rushed to the hospital." Frantic,
Mamoru hastily grabbed his things. "Is
there a way I can re-schedule?"

	The woman was not sympathetic.
"Chiba-san, our hospital will not be
kept waiting. If you walk out of here, you
won't have a chance for the position. As
you can see, we have no shortage of very
qualified applicants for this position.
This is a chance that you should not miss."

	Mamoru just stared at the woman.
He had to make a choice: Usagi or his career,
something that he had for years, been working
hard in order to achieve. The long nights of
staying up to the wee hours of the morning,
keeping awake through coffee alone, studying
chemical reactions and parts of the human
body. The agonizing application process to
medical school. Being chosen for Harvard's
very prestigious and very challenging
medical program as a international student.
Suffering all of Dr. Hongo's barbs and
criticisms. Could he truly just throw it all
away? After all, this was probably his best
shot at obtaining such a high position in a
very well-established hospital. The choice
was clear.

	"If that's the case, then I don't
want any position at this hospital." That
said, he walked out of the office, the woman
and the other applicants staring after him,
open-mouthed in shock.

*Tokyo Hospital*

	Mamoru jumped out of his car, jamming
his finger on the auto-lock device as he
hurriedly ran toward the emergency room doors.
Thank goodness there was space in the staff
parking lot. Otherwise, he would have parked
his car in the ambulance lane in front of
the ER doors if he had to. Running quickly
through the automatic glass doors, he ran up
to the nurses station.

	"What's Usagi's status," he asked, a
little breathlessly.

	The older nurse blinked at him in
surprise. "Nani? Ano, excuse me young man..."
Luckily for the nurse, Haruka intervened
before Mamoru began to hurl obsenities about
her slowness and her mental capabilities.

	"Mamoru-san, over here" Haruka looked
grim as she led him to the waiting room.

	Once he arrived, Mamoru immediately
asked Ami, "How is she?" He had to know. The
not knowing was killing him. All sorts of
possibilities were racing through his mind,
none of them pleasant. But then, he noticed
Rei, sobbing, in Makoto's embrace. A spike
of terror stabbed him. He couldn't breathe.
He couldn't think. "Is..is she," his voice
dropping to a choked whisper, "...dead?"

	Seeing Mamoru turning whiter than a
sheet, Ami reluctantly answered, "We don't
know if Usagi is still alive. She collapsed at
her home earlier today. The doctors rushed her
into the emergency room and are working on
her right now, as we speak. They haven't come
out to tell us anything yet." Mamoru collapsed
into a chair, unable to do much of anything
else. He felt drained, completely unable to
think, let alone move.

	Haruka finally spoke again, after her
curt message to Mamoru earlier. "Dr. Mizuno
is in there right now, as well as Dr. Hongo."
Her normally mischievous eyes were red from
suppressed tears as she unclenched and
clenched her fists. She sat down as well,
putting her elbows on her thighs so that
she could clench her hands together. She
wanted to be doing something, anything, to
help Usagi. But medicine was not her field of
expertise. Give her a race car, a race track
or any type of open space, and she'd give you
one heck of a race. But here, her hands were
tied. She couldn't make the doctors go any
faster, just like she couldn't adjust the
wheel and have Usagi get all better. Sometimes,
fate was a cruel master.

	Suddenly, three more figures appeared
on the scene. A very pregnant Naru looked
wildly at the somber group. "Is Usagi ok?"
Her husband, concern etched on his features,
tried to get his wife to sit down, but the
red-head just waved him impatiently away.
"Tell ME!"

	A young man approached the women, whom
Mamoru recognized as Shingo. Looking very much
like a lost little boy, Shingo asked, "Minna,
is onee-chan ok?" Fragile, he was so fragile.
As if one harsh comment would shatter him.
Unfortunately, reality was like that. It didn't
much care if you were able to handle it or not.
It just dealt you a hand of cards and left you
alone, to deal with it or crumble. His green
eyes darted from one woman to the other, never
really focusing one any of them.

	Keeping a cool head, Ami took the newly
arrived people aside and informed them as best
as she could of the current situation.

*********************************************

	Self-Control looked worriedly over the
scene. What was going on? It's first appearance
in such a long time, and this is how it was
going to make the scene? In the middle of a
crisis. Crap...not a good thing.

	But Self-Control was nothing if not
resourceful, so it gathered its formidable
control and kept Mamoru from breaking into a
pile of emotional mush.

	Too bad it couldn't do the same thing
to the Voice.

	The Voice sat there, on the mental
ground, blubbering like a baby, his cries
randomly interspersed with a "USAKO!"

	Irritated, Self-Control said, "Kami,
will you stop it already? Kami knows we have
enough things to handle without you going
all crazy...well, more crazy on me!" It
returned to the task of beating all the other
emotional figures back with a whip and a chair.
It felt like a bloody lion-tamer. Aw heck, it
was even dressed like one. Grumbling something
that sounded remarkably like, "Stupid author,"
Self-Control cracked its whip again, driving
Sorrow back another ten steps. "Will you get
with the others so that I can contain this
situation properly?" Oh no, Helplessness was
advancing on its location. With a deft flick
of its wrist, Self-Control drove the other
aspect back to its original position deep in
the psyche.

	The Voice just sat there, sobbing and
gasping, ignoring the overworked Self-Control.
Sighing, Self-Control used its wicked whip
skills to drag the lump of Voice to the others.
It was getting very tired of this. If it didn't
get a rest soon, the others were going to
break out in a tidal wave.

*********************************************

	Dr. Mizuno tiredly removed her surgical
mask, tossing it into a nearby medical waste
container. She headed toward the waiting room,
where no doubt her daughter and the rest of
Usagi's friends and family were waiting for
news.

	When the sleepy Hotaru noticed the
doctor's thin figure approaching, she
immediately shook the other sleeping figures
awake.

	Dr. Mizuno frowned, assessing the
heavy bags under everyone's eyes. "You are
all very stressed. Perhaps you should all go
home and come back when you've rested."

	Naru rose from her seat, assisted by
Umino. Her hand on her back to help relieve
the pressure of her swollen belly, her
fatigue was quite evident in her listless
eyes and face. But her mouth was set in a
line of stubborness. "Iie, Mizuno-san. I,
for one, will not leave until I find out
what is going on with Usagi and get to see
her."

	Keiko frowned even more, a furrow
between her delicately shaped brows. "Naru,
you're seven months pregnant. You really
shouldn't be here." Getting no answer but
Naru's stubborn expression, Keiko admitted
defeat. "All right, very well, you can all
stay, since I assume none of you will be
leaving."

	Setsuna broke into the conversation,
her strong voice laced with anxiety. "Doctor,
please, tell us what is going on. We've
been here for what seems like an eternity
when it's only been two hours."

	Dr. Mizuno sighed. Biting her lip,
she tried to inform the group of what was
happening. "Usagi's tumor was increasing
the pressure on her brain. That caused her
to collapse. Right now, they have called in
a neurologist to see what he can do to help.
Usagi has been taken to the operating room
and he's getting started immediately. I was
asked to leave, since it was not my area of
expertise and I would just be in the way."

	"How long will it take, okaa-san?"

	Dr. Mizuno faced her daughter. "It
depends, Ami. It depends on a number of
factors. If the doctor can't work fast
enough, it could very well lead to fatal
consequences. Demo, I have faith in the
neurologist. He is the finest in his field.
If anyone can help, he can."

	Makoto spoke up, asking a question
that the others wanted to, but couldn't.
"If it works, Mizuno-san, will Usagi be ok?"

	A small smile graced Dr. Mizuno's
haunted face. "We can hope so, Makoto. At
least she'll be alive. Demo..." and she
trailed off.

	"What, doctor," asked Shingo. Dread
began to gnaw at him again. He knew Dr.
Mizuno and she hardly ever prevaricated like
this.

	Shaking her head, Dr. Mizuno replied,
"I don't want to speculate until the
neurologist assesses Usagi. We'll all find
out then." She glanced at her pager. "I have
to go now. I have some patients to check up
on. The neurologist has been told that he
is to inform you all as soon as he knows
anything. Ami, call me when you find out,
ne?" Ami nodded. "Good. Minna, try to get
some rest. It's been a long day," she
glanced at her watch, "rather, just a long
morning for us." With a small nod, Dr. Mizuno
left, off to her rounds. She didn't want to
tell them what the doctor suspected, what
they all suspected. At least, this way, they
could hold onto hope for a little longer.

Translations:
	None

Author Notes:

	Hee hee...my stupid month of testing
is almost done! Wai wai! And I was able to
write another chapter. It's amazing! We'll
just have to see if I can keep it going ^^;
Until the next chapter...

~The moonlight carries the message of love.~
~Tsuki no hikari wa ai no message.~