"Jeezus. I can't believe this shit."
Sachiko looked across the hospital room at her pacing friend. Emmie was Sachi's closest friend. They acted like sisters, even though they'd only known each other a couple months. No one would mistake them for family though. The Satos had some Japanese descent, and it was obvious genetically, even though they didn't spend a lot of time with their father's side of the family. Sachi's hair was black, her eyes almost as dark, but her skin was the blinding opposite of that. Probably because she didn't get out much.
Emmie was taller by a several inches, and though she swore there was no Irish in her blood, she could've fooled anyone. The freckles and red curly hair that she tried to cover up were accompanied by a set of gray eyes that Sachi swore glowed when she got upset. Sachi wouldn't mind having legs that were as long as Emmie's or her beautiful angular face.
The differences in physicality were only emphasized by their differences in personality. Sachi wasn't super outgoing, but what she lacked in that, Emmie made up for in liquid fire. And Emmie wasn't always....rational. Or friendly. So they balanced each other out.
"Yeah, I can't believe I found a half naked almost dead guy in the woods, either." She said, trying to crack a joke.
Emmie flipped around, her hair whipping behind her.
"That....that...." she spat, pointing at the man.
"That...victim?" Sachi supplied.
"Sachi...He...Well, he..." her friend looked frustrated.
"Was clearly mistreated and left in the woods?"
Emmie's eyes narrowed, and if Sachi hadn't been paying attention, she would've missed it.
"I had to end up involved. Drag his lousy butt out of the woods-" she rambled.
"Hey! Emmie, cut him some slack. You don't even know the guy." She defended. "Plus, I seem to recall that I held about half of his weight to get him to the car."
Emmie smirked at Sachi and said playfully, "He's not half bad looking without all the dirt, you know."
Without clumps of mud, he had unruly orange hair that made Emmie's look dark. His face was almost angelic, but his brows had a little line between them as if he scrunched them too often. He had a gorgeous body too. Tan, and fit. 'Man, what does this guy lift? Logs?'
The nurse had to shower and sponge him off to see what was wrong. The most intriguing part about this man was the patches of tangerine orange on his legs that didn't seem like a tattoo, but more an actual part of his skin.
It was true. He wasn't even a quarter bad looking.
Sachi politely moved her eyes away from the unconscious man in a hospital gown, and studied her friend's worn boots. She had to feign disinterest. The curiosity would pass, and once he was better, she would move on with her life.
Her eyes drifted back to his form, still as a rock on the hospital bed.
"Sachi?" Emmie asked.
"Uh...Yeah?" she dragged her eyes back to her friend.
"We've been here for a little bit. Do you want an afternoon pick me up? A coffee?"
Sachi knew Emmie was worried because Emmie thought coffee was nasty and voiced her opinion of "bitter bean water" often. She loved to prod Emmie about it.
"C'mon doll. You need a little distraction. You can take me to your wack temple of worship for hot beverages. This is a one time deal, you know. Otherwise I wouldn't set foot inside that house of sin."
Sachi grinned at that last part and allowed her friend to drag her out of the hospital room, but her eyes lingered on the man. It felt...like she was abandoning him.
Uncertainty crowded into her mind and jammed her systems.
A whisper called out, but the man hadn't moved.
Something tugged at her.
She didn't realize she'd stopped until Emmie's momentum jerked her.
"Sachi. He's going to be okay. We can bring him back a nasty bean drink for when he wakes up, alright?"
She nodded slowly and started to move.
In her head, her thoughts lingered on what she could've sworn that guy had whispered:
Safe.