Michael is sitting on the bench in front of the door to the emergency room as he has a worried look on his face as he wondered about Lakshmi's condition. He knew that as a Player she is a bit more durable than a normal human. But he still worries that her life might be in danger, after all she had lost some blood when she was injured.
The door to the emergency room opened as he raised his head and saw a doctor walk out of there as he stood up and looked at the doctor.
"Doctor? Is she okay?" Michael asked the doctor.
"She will be fine. She had lost some blood but we have given her blood back so she will be fine. Though her left leg is not something we can do anything about." The doctor said to him.
"Is she awake?" Michael asked him concerned.
"Yes. We are going to contact her family now but you can talk with her. After a few minutes she will be taken to her own room." The doctor said to him as he nodded.
"Thank you." Michael said as he walked past the doctor.
He entered the room and saw Lakshmi on the bed with one nurse near the bed and one nurse writing things down on her notepad. The three of them looked at him when they heard him coming. The two nurses looked at him in confusion while Lakshmi has a look of relief on hers.
"Michael." Lakshmi called out happily.
"Lakshmi. How are you?" Michael asked as he went to stand at her bed.
"I guess I'm okay for now. Thank you for getting me here." Lakshmi said to him with a smile.
"It's fine. The doctor said that you will be fine so you can rest easy." Michael said to her with a smile.
"He told me. I'm sorry for worrying you like that." Lakshmi said as she apologized to him.
"Don't be. You were injured so you had no need to apologise to me." Michael said to her as he sighed.
"Still... thanks." Lakshmi said with a smile.
"Don't mention it." Michael said as he looked at his friends state.
There wasn't any blanket on her so he was able to see her full body and he saw her left leg, or rather the lack of her left leg. It filled him with a sense of guilt as it was Shen's attack which caused her to lose her leg.
But his thoughts were interrupted when the nurse near him called him.
"Excuse me, we have to take her to her room now." The nurse said to him.
"Ah yes. Of course." Michael stammered a bit when he heard that but he caught himself.
After that Lakshmi was wheeled out of the emergency room and placed in a room of her own as Michael also entered it. After he helped Lakshmi by picking her up and placing her on her bed the two nurses went away with the stretcher leaving the two alone.
"I still can't believe this happened." Lakshmi said as she looked at her left leg.
"I know. I'm sorry that you lost your leg like that. If that door hadn't appeared then you would still have it." Michael said guiltily.
"Hey, if you weren't there then I would've already died. I wouldn't have even become this strong if you hadn't been there for me." Lakshmi said with a frown, not liking how he talked about it.
"But still... I can't help but feel guilty. You're my friend. Of course I would feel guilty about you losing your left leg." Michael said to her with a sigh.
"I said it's fine. Tell you what, why don't you buy me some fruits and snacks." Lakshmi said to him with a smile as she got the idea.
"I can do that. But if you have any problems then call me quickly." Michael said to her.
"Sure." Lakshmi said as he nodded and walked out of the room.
He went and bought some fruits and snacks for her and immediately went back to Lakshmi's room and placed them on the table near her. She smiled appreciatively at him before she took out an apple and bit into it, only to get a light chop to her head courtesy of Michael.
"Ow. What was that for?" Lakshmi asked him as she held her head.
"You should first wash it before eating it. I'll wask it." Michael said as he took the apple and went to wash it.
"It won't matter much though. I'm a Player." Lakshmi said to him with a pout.
"Sure." Michael said with a small smile before he washed the apple.
He then walked back to her and silently gave it back as she took it and started to eat it. He took out a chocolate bar for himself and ate it as he enjoyed it.
"Don't you like chocolate a bit too much? I have seen you eat at least one chocolate a day." Lakshmi said to him with a raised eyebrow.
"I like eating chocolate a lot. So yeah, I may eat it a bit too much." Michael said with a smile.
"Your teeth will not be in good shape." Lakshmi said to him dryly.
"I'm a Player." Michael said with a mischievous smile on his face.
Lakshmi blinked as she opened her mouth at hearing him using her own words on her. She then chuckled a bit before she looked at him fondly.
"Thank you." Lakshmi said to him with a smile.
"I thought I told you that thanks wasn't needed." Michael said to her with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes but I'm talking about all of this. For being such a good friend, I am not that lucky when it comes to making friends. Most of the ones I had weren't that close to me and we drifted apart from each other after we reached high school." Lakshmi said with a sad tone.
"Huh. Guess we have something in common after all. I am kind of introverted, I don't have much of a problem with talking to others but it's more like I don't approach others for it. I don't have many friends and those that I did have when I was little, we have already separated until I can't even contact them anymore." Michael said as he got sad as well.
Don't get him wrong he liked his childhood classmates, but after so long it's getting hard to even remember some of their names. Despite how he acted, and how silent he was during school and other times, he really cared about the company he had with the kids and was quite sad that he couldn't contact them and talk with them, maybe even exchange a few short words.
He was only able to talk with Lakshmi was because he was able to find topics that he was able to talk with her and that she was also eager to talk with him as well. Most of the time, others would talk to another person even if he was talking with them due to them being more approachable than he is. He usually stays silent and has a neutral face but he has been improving in that regard, or so he likes to think.
"S-Sorry. I guess I shouldn't have said that." Lakshmi said as she realised that she made him remember those things.
"It's fine. Let's talk about something else." Michael said with a smile as she nodded.
*Slam!*
But their attention was taken by the door to the room being slammed open as they looked at there with shock and surprise. Lakshmi's eye's widened when she saw two girls standing at the doorway. Michael blinked when he saw them as the two girls looked and spotted Lakshmi on the bed.
"Lakshmi!" Both girls shouted with worry etched on their faces as they dashed to her.
The two pushed Michael out of the way as they looked at Lakshmi worried.
"Y-You two.." Lakshmi stammered as she looked at him.
"Oh God. Your leg." The first girl said horrified as she looked at her missing leg.
"Why couldn't you just stay put?" The second girl said as she looked at her.
"Umm, excuse me." Michael called out a bit hesitantly.
The two girls turned and looked at him when they heard him. However the face of the two girls became ones of anger as they glared at him. He immediately raised his right hand to grab ahold of the spear that was about to hit him courtesy of the first girl as she glared at him as he stopped her.
"You bastard! My sister is in this state because of you!" The first girl shouted in anger as she glared at him.