Thorny Remembrances Chapter Two It was early in the morning when Serena?s mom hollered up the stairs. ?Serena! Telephone! It?s important! Wake up!? She tried to absorb the information, but rolled over and went back to sleep instead. SERENA!? The voice was so loud that she couldn?t ignore it. Sitting up, she grabbed the alarm clock and squinted her eyes in the dark. ?Two-thirty-eight. Who would be crazy enough to call this late?? ?SERENA!? her mother?s voice called again. ?I?m coming!? she called back pulling herself out of bed. She shuffled down the stairs to the kitchen phone. Her mother was still sitting at the kitchen table. ?Yeah? And this better be good,? she said into the receiver begrudgingly. ?It?s Darien. I?m at the hospital tonight. They just brought in Lita; gunshot wound to the lower back. She?s in surgery right now. Can you come down here?? ?Yeah,? she looked at her mom who nodded. ?My mom will drop me off. Is she going to be okay?? ?I think so, but I knew you?d want to be here.? ?Okay, I?m on my way.? ?Are you going to call the others?? he asked. ?Let me get there first.? ?Okay, I?ll look for you in the waiting room.? The two hung up and Serena ran upstairs to throw on some clothes. A few minutes later her mother was dropping her off at the Emergency Room entrance. Serena promised to call when she got news and that Darien would bring her home. Inside the large waiting room, Serena stood by the doors to the treatment area. It wasn?t long before a tall, dark-haired young man entered and looked around. ?Darien,? she called. ?Over here.? He spun around to see her, long blonde hair tied into two ponytails, tired and worried looking. ?I?m glad you?re here. She just came out of surgery. She?s going to be okay. Lita was real lucky. The bullet missed her organs and major arteries.? ?Can I see her?? ?She?s in post-op right now. As soon as they move her into recovery I?ll take you back. They?ve already assigned her a room. I?ll walk you to it. C?mon.? She fell into step behind him. Relieved she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. But, determined that Darien wouldn?t see her cry she tried to hold them in. He was at work, and didn?t have time to comfort her. Besides, she told herself, she was there to comfort Lita. He held the door for her as they went into the private hospital room. ?I pulled some strings and got her a room by herself. I get along real well with her doctor,? he said. She tried not to make eye contact, afraid that she?d burst. He pulled her close. ?Go ahead and cry. Don?t try to hold it in. I was scared too.? Serena broke in the sweetness of his voice and sobbed. ?What happened Darien? A gunshot wound? How?? ?I don?t have all the answers. I heard she was on the train when some guys held it up. I don?t know where she was headed or why,? he answered. ?I left her house this evening at about nine. She was going to bed, had a sore back. She?s been sick you know,? Serena backed up looking for a tissue. ?Well, she?s going to be all right. We?ll ask her when she feels up to talking. My shift is over in another hour-and-a-half. I?ll hang around until you?re ready to go home. You call the others and let them know what?s happened. I?ll go see if she?s can have visitors yet.? He left her in the room alone. She picked up the phone to call Rei, Ami and Mina. A few minutes later, Darien appeared again. ?I can take you in now,? he said leading Serena through the door and a maze of hallways and elevators. ?She?s in the recovery room. You can only stay about five or ten minutes. She may not even be awake.? ?Just as long as I can see her, see that she?s all right.? Lita sat propped halfway up leaning to one side, tubes and wires connecting her to an assortment of beeping machines. Her eyes were shut; one was swollen from the left jab the guy on the train had delivered. Serena?s eyes were wet with tears again at the sight of her friend looking so fragile. She took the chair beside the bed, holding Lita?s hand in hers. She put the hand to her cheek, praying silently for her comfort. ?Hey,? said a weak voice. ?Hey yourself,? Serena said trying to smile, squeezing Lita?s hand lightly. ?I?ll leave you two alone,? winked Darien. ?An orderly?s work is never done.? He pulled the white curtains around the bed to give the two girls some privacy. ?Lita, what happened? Do you remember?? asked Serena. ?Darien said you were trying to stop some thugs on the train.? ?Yeah,? Lita replied eyes half shut. ?I?d had it under control if they hadn?t had that gun. That?s what I get for not paying closer attention.? ?Stop that! You need to rest,? she said rubbing her hand, trying to calm her. ?Besides, it could have happened to any of us.? ?Yeah,? said Lita groggily. ?In a little while they?re going to move you into a private room. I?ve called the others. We?ll take turns sitting with you, until you?re better.? ?No, that?s okay. You don?t have to baby-sit me. The doctor said I?ll be all right.? ?We?re not baby sitting you.? ?Still, don?t you have school? I?ll be fine. I?m used to spending time by myself,? Lita assured her. ?Well, at least let me stay a little while. I was so scared when Darien called.? Lita nodded. Soon after, a nurse pulled the white curtain back and began checking Lita?s bandages, the readouts on the machines and her vital signs. ?We?ll be moving her upstairs in a few minutes. You?ll need to leave now,? she said authoritatively to Serena. ?I?ll see you upstairs Lita.? Lita held up a hand letting Serena know she?d heard her. Serena walked back through the double doors into a smaller waiting room. Ami and Mina sat in the corner and stood as soon as they saw her. ?How is she?? asked Ami. ?Did she say what happened?? ?No, not really. I only know what Darien told me. She was on a train when some guys tried to rob everyone, and got shot.? ?But she?s gonna be all right?right?? chimed in Mina. ?Mm-hmm,? nodded Serena. A young man sitting in the corner with a tired looking older woman, stood and joined their conversation. Are you young ladies friends of the girl who stopped those robbers from cutting off that ladies finger?? he asked pointing to his companion. ?Our friend stopped a robbery on a train tonight,? answered Ami. ?Yes, well, we were on that train when it happened. Your friend probably saved this woman?s life.? The lady he?d been sitting with walked across the room and extended her hand to Ami. ?My name is Tawny. I feel so bad about your friend getting shot. He?s right, she probably saved my life, as least my hand.? She held out her hand as if showing them a treasure. ?One of the men was about to cut off my finger in order to get my ring. I couldn?t get it to come off.? She looked down as if embarrassed. ?She interceded on my behalf. She beat up the one trying to hurt me. She?d probably beaten them all if the big guy hadn?t of had a gun.? ?Yeah, she was amazing. Just leapt right over me and began punching the guy, like some sort of martial artist on TV,? commented the fellow. ?Wow!? said Mina. ?Do you have any idea why she was on the train? Where she was headed?? ?She said she was on the way to a clinic, had some sort of shoulder problem. But man, I couldn?t tell it by the way she was punching. Your friend is something else,? he smiled. Serena sat back listening to the story. She wondered why Lita was taking the train to the clinic. There was one around the corner from her apartment. And why would she tell someone she had a problem with her shoulder, she had a cold and a sore back?unless she hurt herself later that evening. Either way, Serena was glad that Lita had been able to help the people on the train, even at her own expense. "Isn?t that just like Lita?" thought Serena aloud. ?By the way,? continued the young man, ?could I give you my name and number? I mean, for your friend. I?d like to buy her dinner, or send her flowers here at the hospital, or something.? ?What a lovely idea,? chimed in the lady. ?Here?s mine as well.? The young man and older lady scribbled on some scraps of paper and handed them to Mina. They promised they?d be checking in on Lita?s condition later and left together, still discussing what an amazing evening it had been. Darien appeared around the corner, still in his white orderly?s uniform. ?They?ve let me off a little early. I can walk you all to Lita?s room, then I?m going to the locker room to change clothes.? The girls followed him, not talking. ?How long until Lita will be here?? asked Serena. ?I?d like to get a drink.? We should check to see if Rei?s downstairs, too,? said Ami. Darien assured them it would be a little while. He offered to stay in the empty room just in case, while they grabbed a soda out of the machine and checked the front lobby for Rei. They scampered off, still talking about Lita?s condition. Darien knew it wouldn?t be that long before Lita was brought in. He?d hoped to have a few minutes alone with her. Training to be a doctor, he could read a medical chart. He knew that the bullet wound had been serious, but not as serious as the loss of blood from the stab in her shoulder. He?d already talked to the couple in the waiting room. Lita hadn?t been cut on the train. She?d knocked the knife to the floor before anyone had a chance to use it. And the doctor had noted other bruises and abrasions, some recent some not so recent. He sat on the foot of the white bed and waited for her to be wheeled in. He didn?t have to wait very long. Soon the door swung on and an orderly turned on the overhead light. ?Easy,? the blond haired man called to his assistant as the moved the gurney over the bumpy threshold into the room. A few minutes later, Darien was helping them move Lita into the new bed. ?Thanks,? they called to him as they pulled the gurney back out the door after them. ?See you guys later,? Darien replied, waving. He smiled at Lita, knowing she was uncomfortable and still under the effects of the drugs administered during surgery. He?d almost decided to ask his questions later when she spoke up. ?You know. Don?t you,? she didn?t look at him. ?Yeah.? ?Are you going to tell the others?? ?Why don?t you explain what happened to me. We can decide together what to tell them.? She smiled, tears welling up in her eyes. He reached over and took her hand. It hurt him to see all the IV needles poking into her wrist. Darien knew that all the girls had a crush on him, but right now he felt a kinship with Lita. He served as a big brother to them, except Serena-his girlfriend. Right now, though, he knew Lita needed more than a big brother. ?I was in a fight before I got on the train. A guy tried to jump me in an alley downtown. I beat the crap out of him, but not before he managed to stab me in the shoulder. I couldn?t transform because he would have seen me. Same with the train.? ?What were you doing downtown late at night, by yourself? Serena said you were home in bed, sick. Said she?d tucked you in when she left.? ?I guess I kinda got stir crazy, so I went for a walk.? Lita began to get defensive. ?Look, I?m not trying to beat or trick anything out of you. Relax and rest. You can tell me when you?re ready.? She stared across the room for a minute, and then began to tell him everything between great heaving sobs. She told him about the uselessness she felt when she wasn?t fighting; how somehow fighting and winning validated her. She shared her need for the adrenaline rush; how alive it made her feel. And, finally she told him how alone she was. He held her in his arms as she cried, not knowing what else to do. Her understood how she felt, more than she knew. If it weren?t for Serena, he?d probably be going through some of the same emotions. But he had Serena. Who did Lita have? The other girls, but was that enough? At night when Lita turned out the light to go to bed, were her friendships with Ami, Rei, Mina and Serena enough to sustain her need for family, her need for closeness, her need for intimacy? ?I?ve been going out at night to fight for months now. I was on the train to the clinic a few blocks from here because I?d been to the one by my house too many times. They were beginning to think I was in a gang or something.? ?Honestly, that?s what the doctor here thought when he saw all your cuts and bruises,? he told her. ?But I told him there was no way.? ?But Darien, I?m helping people. That?s a good thing. Whether I?m doing it for the right reasons or not is immaterial. Right?? ?Lita?? he was interrupted by the sound of the other girls voices in the hallway. ?We?ll talk about this later. I won?t tell anyone.? He smiled as she leaned back into the bed, wiping her tears on the pillowcase. ?We found Rei in the lobby, lost as usual,? said Serena tossing her hair defiantly. Rei started to say something, but then saw that Lita had all ready arrived in the room. ?Lita, are you okay?? she said sitting in the chair by the bed. ?Yeah, I?m gonna be fine. The doctor said I?d need to stay for a couple of days, but then I can go home.? ?Will they be sending a nurse by to help you?? asked Ami. ?Do they know that you live alone?? ?I hadn?t thought of that,? said Lita looking down. ?It doesn?t matter,? smiled Serena, ?we can all help her.? ?Yeah,? chimed in Mina. ?My mom will let me stay with you. I?m sure of it.? ?Both Darien and I are going to school to be doctors. We can help with the medicine and therapy. The others can take care of chores, lessons and errands,? Ami said tying up the plan in a neat ball. ?Thanks guys, but I?m sure they?ll send a nurse by. We?ll see.? Lita didn?t seem sold on the idea. ?Well, you?re going to have to excuse me. I have to go change into my street clothes.? Darien gave Lita a little wink, letting her know that he remembered what he?d said about talking later. Serena walked outside to say goodbye to her boyfriend. ?I?ll be back down in a little while to take you home. Ya?ll should work out a schedule to where she has someone here pretty often, but leave her some down time. The nurses are nice here. They?ll call you if she needs some company.? Serena agreed then rose up on her toes to kiss him. She had no idea how much comfort he found in her touch. He surprised her with a tight embrace and told her how lucky he was to have her. She was blushing when he released her. The next afternoon, all the girls, save Lita, met at Rei?s grandfather?s temple for their Scout meeting. Luna had some disturbing news for the girls. ?Listen up,? her voice rose to drowned out Rei and Serena?s bickering over who got the last of the cookies Mina had brought. ?This is serious. There?s been another awakening.?