Waking up in the nurse's office was not something that Emmia expected to happen.
'Where am I?' Emmia wondered for just a second before a splitting headache followed.
"Uhh," Emmia groaned as she squeezed her eyes shut.
'Still not helping,' Emmia thought as the piercing pain behind her eyes didn't lessen in the slightest.
Following that, she moved her hands to either massage her eyes or rip them out.
'Whichever one is easier to do,' Emmia decided.
Following through she got a glimpse of her hands which were oddly....red.
'What the?' Emmia creaked her eyes open and tried to observe her hands but soon gave up.
'Pain first.'
Emmia started to massage her eyes by pushing her palms against them and rolling them across the whole area.
"How do you feel?" A voice spoke up from her bedside.
Emmia paused for a moment to register who spoke.
"Luna," Emmia acknowledged and continued her massage.
"I feel like shit."
"Mmm," Luna murmured.
"What happened?" Emmia asked, having already pieced together that she must be in the nurse's office.
"....you passed out at the end of UE," Luna supplied after a pause.
"What?" Emmia frowned and a spike of pain shot through her skull.
Utilizing her free fingers, Emmia rubbed her forehead as well.
Before Luna could answer, a brisque voice answered Emmia's question.
"You pushed yourself too hard and then nearly boiled yourself alive." Ms. Sophia shifted past a curtain and checked on Emmia's condition.
"Ms. Sophia, I-" Emmia tried to say something.
"Don't talk. Here drink some water first," Ms Sophia ordered passing a glass of water to Emmia.
Shakily, Emmia accepted the glass of water and nearly spilled it all over herself trying to sit up.
Luna caught Emmia just in time and helped her sit up comfortably in the bed.
Emmia shot a grateful look and chugged the glass of water down.
"What happened to me?" Emmia asked passing the glass of water back to Ms. Sophia.
"Like I said," Ms. Sophia repeated. "You nearly boiled yourself alive. Or more like baked I would say. Not too much water left in you."
Emmia noted the redness of her skin through her half-open eyes and nodded in agreement. It *did* look a lot like she just got out of an oven.
"Honestly I just don't what Melvin is thinking sometimes. I just want to give a piece of my mind to that-" Stopping suddenly, Ms Sophia exhaled heavily.
"Nevermind. Surprising you're fine for the most part except for a severe case of dehydration and looking like a carrot."
"That's...good?" Emmia said unsure of herself.
"Just rest up for the rest of lunch and then you can be on your way. Lunch is on the table," Ms. Sophia pointed towards the parcel sitting near Emmia's bedside and hurried off.
"Thanks, Ms. Sohpia!" Emmia managed to croak out before Sophia was outside earshot.
Waving at her patient, Sophia returned to her office to jot down her observations.
While she was treating Emmia, Sophia had taken the liberty to check up on Emmia's condition after waking up from the coma.
'Her condition seems to be better than before. The nerves look like they've reached the limit of their growth. I need to keep checking on that. They seem to be much more refined, with universal energy. I think whatever that shithead Melvin is doing is helping her.' Sophia ran through her thoughts and made a mental note to call Seril tonight.
------
Emmia stared at the boxed lunch sitting just out of arm's reach, her stomach rumbling softly.
Shifting her eyes to meet Luna's, Emmia asked, "Have you eaten?"
"...no," Luna shook her head.
"You should go eat."
"...You might need help."
"I think I can manage to eat lunch by myself," Emmia said matter-of-factly.
"...then go ahead," Luna motioned to the lunch box while not moving.
Narrowing her eyes, Emmia observed Luna.
'Is she...mad?' Emmia thought hesitantly.
'It's not really clear...well lunch first.'
Emmia reached out for the box and soon realized that no amount of stretching was going to help her reach the box.
'Well ok, I'll just have to get up then,' Emmia thought resolutely. She was already too far in trying to prove Luna wrong at this point.
Flexing her legs, Emmia found that she could barely move them.
'Huh?' Emmia hesitated for a moment before setting her legs on the ground. Under Luna's watchful gaze, Emmia stood up defiantly.
Shooting a victory look at Luna, Emmia was about to say "See? I'm fine. You should go eat now." When the words froze in her mouth as she slipped.
In her elation? Or more like in the moment that the blood all drained from her head from standing up too fast, Emmia had failed to notice her trembling legs.
Emmia's eyes widened as she felt herself lose balance. Flailing her arms widely, Emmia caught onto something as she held on with every ounce of strength that she had. Which lucky for Luna wasn't too much.
Emmia was clutching one of Luna's arms while the other hand was pulling at Luna's collar. Luna quickly used her other arm to pull Emmia up and stop her from ripping her collar free from her uniform.
Securing Emmia in her arms, Luna laid her on the bed.
"Should I help now?" Luna asked Emmia with what Emmia could swear was a smirk.
"Fine," Emmia relented after a pause.
Using her arms to push herself against the frame of the bed, Emmia thought about why she had fallen so suddenly.
'I mean I was weak yesterday...but I was fine today morning.'
'Did I not completely recover?' Emmia thought with some surprise.
'Probably,' Emmia concluded as she watched Luna unpack the lunch box. Suddenly the feeling of being embraced by Luna flashed by in Emmia's mind, somehow all in excruciating detail.
Luna's slightly panicked face as she rushed to grab Emmia. Her surprisingly strong arms wrapped around her to support her. Her-
'Wait wait wait wait. What am I even thinking!?' Emmia breathed in to stop herself from blushing fiercely.
'She just wanted to help me.' Emmia affirmed in her mind and then tried to focus on something that wouldn't remind her of the embrace.
"..Would you like the salad first or last?" Luna asked after analyzing the lunch box for far too long.
"What?" Emmia shelved her thoughts and raised her face to meet Luna's eyes. Then she remembered how close Luna's face had been when she had caught her.
'LOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE. ANYWHERE ELSE.' Emmia thought furiously as her eyes shifted around until they landed on Luna's crumpled collar.
This was a mistake as Emmia soon realized.
'That looks...wait was that ME??' Emmia panicked once more when Luna's voice cut through again.
"Would you like the salad first or last?" Luna asked patiently.
All Emmia heard was, "...like...first...." through the pumping of her own heart.
"YES," Emmia replied a little too loudly.
"I- uh mean first," Emmia coughed hastily to make up for her outburst.
Luna quirked an eyebrow at Emmia's beet-red face that matched the rest of her skin tone.
Handing her the salad, Emmia took it and started eating it with an intensity that Luna had never seen before.
'I guess she really likes salad?' Luna thought after seeing Emmia shovel the salad down.
Suddenly as if remembering something, Emmia half looked up from her bowl and asked Luna, "What about you?"
"...what?" Caught off guard, Luna almost failed to answer.
"I mean what are you going to eat for lunch?" Emmia clarified a little too fast.
"...I guess I'll have to rush to the cafeteria....after you're done," Luna answered almost shrugging her shoulders too. She really didn't have any other option.
'She's still weak from that coma I guess.' Luna noted to herself after seeing Emmia rest her arms for the fifth time while eating.
Now, Emmia herself had yet to realize her own weakness. She was too busy trying not to blush inexplicably and focus on anything except Luna.
Emmia thought for a while before turning to Luna, this time without blushing. "Then let's just share the lunch."
Luna cocked her head.
"I mean there's too much for me alone. Anyways, I don't think you'll be able to make it to the cafeteria before I finish, so it would be better if you just ate here. And I don't think-" Emmia stopped herself after seeing Luna nod, a small smile playing on her lips.
Luna reached for the other box which had a tasty dish of steaming pasta, when Emmia stopped her.
"Here. Let's finish this first," Emmia pushed her half-eaten bowl of salad toward Luna.
Luna searched for another fork and disappointedly only came up with a spoon and a knife.
Emmia glanced at her own fork for a second before she heard the sounds of Luna tearing the small covering around the spoon.
Inexplicably Emmia simultaneously felt a sense of relief and disappointment as if she had just missed a huge opportunity.