When they arrived at the hospital they were able to get in fairly quickly. Jeran and Null were both brought in to be examined and treated. Silvia however was forced to stay in the waiting room while everything was being decided. After a while a nurse came out to Silvia to tell her that her father’s arms and were actually in very bad condition and that he shouldn’t have been using them as much as he did. They were cleaning and correctly taking care of his limbs how but he was also going to have to come in several times a week to get skin grafts to fix his limbs completely.
When Silvia asked about Null the nurse seemed nervous. The nurse said that they couldn’t seem to figure out what was wrong with her other then the fact that her vital signs were all very low. The nurse told Silvia that it was similar to being in a coma but that they didn’t have any idea what the cause is or how to treat it. They were however giving her and IV because Null had started to become malnourished because she hadn’t eaten in several days. They would be able to hold her for several days but if she wasn’t getting better then they would need to find another place to keep her.
Silvia nodded in understanding. She knew that Jeran’s arms and legs had bothered him more then he let on. She knew he had been eating the pain killers like candy. She made sure that the nurse knew that but apparently Jeran had already told them that. She was more worried about Null, she hadn’t woken up or stirred since Silvia had seen her again. She could only hope that Null would get better.
Silvia waited in the lobby until they eventually released her dad. He was in a wheel chair and one of his arms was in a sling. His arms were also wrapped with fresh bandages. Silvia asked him, “How did you say you were doing?”
“Well, they can’t seemed to figure out what caused my injuries but they say I should eventually get better. However they are very angry that I have been using my limbs so much. They said I should never have been walking around with them in that condition. So I’m confined to this wheel chair until further notice. My arms were less damaged so I’m allowed to us them if I need to as long as I don’t lift anything heavy.” Said Jeran
“I heard something about you needing skin grafts dad.” Asked Silvia. He had probably also gotten for prescription pain killers which would be more useful they the bottle he had been taking before.
“Yeah, to really recover I need to get some skin grafts, otherwise my sense of touch will never come back. I didn’t realize that before because I only seemed to have a sense of pain. They took some skin samples from me however it is going to take them a while to grow me some replacement skin.” He smiled a little, “On the plus side this completely destroyed my fingerprints and replacement skin is going to have completely different ones.”
Silvia laughed dryly, “Sure, I’m sure you could have changed them for cheaper then burning off all the skin on your arms. But at least your going to be alright. It seems that Null still isn’t waking up and the doctors have no idea what is wrong or how to fix it.”
“That seems to be a common theme. Maybe it has something to do with nano-machines which none of them have had any experience dealing with.” Said Jeran.
“There is that and I guess we will have to trust in her nano-machines to be able to cure whatever is wrong with her. Do you have any idea about what Zolurious did to her.” Said Silvia.
“No,” said Jeran shaking his head. “By that time I had gotten there she was already like this. It might even have been caused by her own nano-machines. I really don’t know enough about them to be able to tell you what the cause is, even the doctors would know more then me.”
Silvia looked sad, “Well, I guess we will just have to wait then for her to get better.” Jeran only nodded in response. Then they asked the nurses where Null was being kept so that they could visit her. The nurse directed them to the third floor and they went up there to see had she was doing. They entered and found that she was sleeping in the bed connected to several medical instruments and an IV drip. They took a seat and watched her for maybe thirty minutes before getting up and leaving.
After leaving the hospital they began looked for a place to rent. They would be staying there for who knows how many weeks so it would be better to find a place to rent then stay in hotels. They searched around for several hours looking for a good place however nothing struck them as a good place so they stayed that night at a hotel. Silvia called the hospital and told them that they would be staying there until further notice and to contact them if Null showed any improvement.
It was a two bed hotel room with an attached kitchenette which would have to do until they found a good place to rent. After getting set up there Jeran and Silvia went out shopping. Since they had lost everything one the other ship they needed to get new clothes and supplies. Jeran tried to remember Null’s sizes while they were out shopping but Silvia dissuaded him and told him that they should bring Null shopping after she had gotten out of the hospital.
Jeran usually didn’t have many changes of clothes, something he had picked up while he was a soldier, but even he knew that he needed some clothes other then the one he was wearing. It was torn, stained, and missing the sleeves and legs. It was a retched thing and he was glad to get rid of it and pick up something new. However, because of having to use a wheelchair, Silvia had to help him change his clothes and pick out things. It was rather embarrassing to be treated like an infeable by his own child, that wasn’t supposed to happen for a least another fifty years.
After shopping for clothes Jeran and Silvia went out to eat. Most of the restaurants were full so they picked a street vender selling some kind of food that they couldn’t pronounce. It looked weird but it tasted fairly good so they didn’t complain. The grocery store was also nearby so Silvia went shopping food while he dad was forced to follow her and push the cart along. Silvia didn’t trust him with any sort of food selection so she did all the work.
By the time they were done shopping they were getting sort of tired. Time was mostly relative on a space station so it was still just as busy as ever but it had been a while since they landed to the two of the returned to the room. They headed back to the room and finally began the rest that they probably deserved for a long time.
Several days past with them going to the hospital every day to visit Null. She was still unconscious and they worried how long that might be for. Jeran also received further treatment for his wounds which the doctors seemed to have classified as a strange cases of sever burns. It was in the morning of the fourth day that they received a call from the hospital telling them that Null had woken up. They said she she was still very weak but she had requested to see them.
They rushed to the hospital as quickly as they could and headed up to her room. When they arrived they found that she was sleeping and feared she had fallen back into a coma. However she woke up when they shook her. She smiled weakly when she saw them and said, “Hello, I’m pleasantly surprised to see both of you again. I take it you ignored my orders and came back for me?”
Jeran nodded, “I’m to blame for that. I went by after you escaped are dragged you out of that black mess. And in return I need to stay confined to while wheel chair until some skin grafts are ready for me. Zolurious was not in any shape to able to stop me to at least you were able to do something right.”
“Idiot,” said Null as she turned away from him, “You didn’t have to hurt yourself to rescue me.” Plus if he hadn’t been disabled then he would have easily been able to beat you.” Silvia thought that Null sounded a little embaroused but her dad probably missed it.
“You don’t even know the whole of the story.” Said Jeran, “Because I went to rescue you Silvia got captured by General Solvar. Then after I had dragged you out of the mines he tried to kill me to get the weapon codes from me. You should have seen his face when I told him I had already destroyed them. But you should really thank Silvia, she is the one who managed to get us a ship and help us to escape. I was too wounded at that point to do it myself.”
Null looked at Silvia, “Really? Despite your father’s stupid actions you seem to be becoming a responsible adult. Jeran would probably kill himself if he was left on his own so try and take care of him until I’m better.”
Silvia nodded happily, “I will, though for right now we think we should be safe. It will probably take our followers a long time to find out where we are, hopefully enough time for both of you to get better again.“
“Well, at least some good has come out of my insane plan. However it will probably take me a while to get better. My nano-machines are extremely taxed and my body is close to falling apart. I would like to say that it is easy to fix but I currently have my hands full trying to fix all my bodies problems. I can honestly say though that I am glad that I got this IV, it helped immensely.”
Silvia asked, “Does that mean you were conscious during the time that you were in a coma?”
“Not really, I drifted in and out but I haven’t been able to do anything other then rest until I managed to do some basic repairs. Zolurious was more vicious then I thought he was going to be. I honestly didn’t expect him to be able to match me that much at close range while I had a built up nano-machine supply. Even with my advantage I only managed to make it a draw, and even then he did much better then I did with dealing with the fall out.”
Jeran said, “Well that was much better then either of us would be able to do. Your technology might be very dangerous but at least it is powerful enough to deal with an ANGEL, even if they do have an advantage. That is much more then I can say about anything that I could do.”
“True, and it lets you recover faster, the doctors didn’t know if you were ever recover but here you are awake after only a few days on an IV. That is also much better then either of us would be able to do.” Said Silvia.
“I suppose that is true, but it will still take me a couple of days to get out of the hospital. Much as I don’t like staying here it is the swiftest route to recovery so I should take it.” Said Null.