Life's path, supposedly one of the longest, hardest treks one can take. Yet, one of the most desirable. What is so hard? Move your feet and try not to die. Easy.... right?

Wrong.

For me, it wasn't easy, well, it had its moments. Especially in the last few months. My dad had just recently gotten news that he was dying, some foreign disease I'd never heard about, they had only given him months to live. He had done nothing to deserve this, he was a good man with kind eyes, a comforting smile...

I shook the images of my father, suffering from my head, trying my hardest to contain my emotions. Emotions are something I don't usually have to fight against, but, the months of added stress to my already busy life, has taken it's toll. I haven't woken up, drowning in the sudden urges to burst out and cry, I have no tears, but the desire to is ever present. Some days, I really hate being a woman...

I keep moving though, keep my feet pushing forward. Hearing the draw of my tennis shoes on the grit of the pavement just being thankful for the life I have. Besides, if you don't appreciate what you've got, you might end up with nothing.

Looking at my watch, I gasped. Damn, I was late again, Mister Karashi was sure to be cross with me today. I pushed my feet faster, going from a slow walk to a fast jog, on the verge of running, when I rounded the corner and ran into a large black wall, or at least that's what I figured it was. I thought my skull was going to crack open. Then, feeling the ground rush up to meet me, I saw a rush of white, black and purple, then the pain was gone. Everything was black, peaceful...

Easy.

***


Thump. Thump. Thump. The straight throb of blood flowing through my head woke me, a sudden wave of pain washed through my head, making it harder to open my eyes. But, I was curious. There were other noises in my head, it sounded like muffled voices, as if I were trapped beneath a thick sheet of ice, listening to the people above. I forced my eyes to open, feeling them peel open as if glued together, I noticed how light it was, even though my eyes were still concealed behind my heavy lids.

Finally breaking the seal on my eyes, I noticed how the room was white. Just white. Everything. The blinds, the chair next to my bed, the floors. Everything. Everything except... him.

There was a man in the room, a man completely covered in black, head to toe. Even his hair was black. Except his skin, the lightest shade I'd ever seen. He was terribly pale, I wondered if he was sick and trying to call dibs on this room next. But then I saw his expression. His jaw was taut, and his eyes were angry...and, purple? Contacts? They had to be, I had never seen such beautiful eyes, they were dark and mysterious, but open and very easy to read. He had a bandage over one eye, barely visible under his long hair. I studied his face, his high cheekbones, the straight line of his lips. He was talking, but I never actually heard what he was saying, I was to enraptured by his features. But then, he caught me looking at him, his expression turned into a glare directed in at me. He nodded in my direction, not dropping expression.

"Well! Glad you could join the living!"

He was in my face before I realized it. This man was different, his blue eyes swimming with a constant white swirl and he shone a light into my eyes, I continued to look at him. He wasn't like the other man, much leaner, his face more slender and he was much more cheerful, his expression was much more pleased than that of the other stranger. This man had a head of blond hair, which he pushed out of his face as he checked my other eye. His hands were soft, gentle as they stretched the skin above my eyes, making sure he had the full picture.

"Looks good. Your lucky you were brought here, you clonked your head pretty bad, dear. Okay, now. Can you tell me your name?" Stepping back, revealing himself to me, I concluded he was the doctor, I mean, it was quite obvious, but his lab coat and tie confirmed my assumption. I attempted to sit up, only to be hit with a wave of nausea that forced me back down.

"Better sit tight until 'Doc' takes a better look." This voice was deeper, much more tense. There was almost a bitter edge to it.

"Ugh. What happened?" Pinching the bridge of my nose, and closing my eyes, I slowly lowered my head, feeling the hard pillow underneath my still pulsing head.

"Well? Audra?" The doctor's voice was unmistakable in the short silence. So, the other man was named Audra? Hmm...

"Uhh... " He rubbed the back of his neck, his expression lightened. "You were running' down the street and I kinda collided with you. We hit pretty hard, and when you landed, you never got up, so I brought you here, hoping Uriel could help."

"Uriel?" I questioned no one in particular. The doctor bowed.

"Please to make your acquaintance, Miss. We've seemed to skip over my question. Your name, please." He smiled a big teethy grin. Audra nodded.

It took me a moment to come to terms, I had been to involved with these two gorgeous men to remember a simple thing like, my name.

"R-Rinaya. Rinaya Marugo" The name spilled out from my mouth as if it were some sort of child, rushing over to a mother with an ice cream cone. I couldn't help notice Audra and Uriel stiffen and exchange glances at the mention of my name.

"R-Rinaya. Alright. You age?" His hand rushed across a clipboard.

"Is this really necessary?" I winced, hoping I hadn't sounded rude. Uriel looked at me, more curiously, than offended.

"It's more of a test to see if you've sustained any serious damage. Are you uncomfortable with my questions?" Of course I wasn't, it was just awkward talking to two complete strangers, filling them in on information about myself. Why did Audra have to be there anyways? Where they secretly going to send me out of the hospital a day later and then kill me? I doubted that a doctor would do something like that, but what about the mysterious man behind him? Good thing I was excellent at hide and seek!

"No." I sat up, most of the nausea had faded by then. "I'm just wondering why I have to spill all my personal information in front of a stranger. I mean, Your a doctor, I get that. But... Does he have to listen to?" I saw his purple eyes darken and smolder when I twitched my thumb in his direction. He bit his lip, almost as if keeping himself from shouting curses or death threats at me. I stiffened, returning his fire. Why did he have to be so damn angry?

"What?" I sternly asked him, quickly losing my nerve. He continued his death glare.

"Is there something about me that offends you?" I asked, looking down at myself throwing my arms out beside me, probably looking like a complete idiot.

"What brought you to assume that?" His tone was calm, stern as mine had been just a few short moments ago. He crossed his arms and gave me a smug look. He was mocking me, or at least trying to. To me it seemed more like flirting. Disgusting.

"Well, your kinda starring at me. And I don't see any reason for you to. I'm not one of those women who cower in the face of a man in black wh-"

"Stop fighting! My goodness, you've just met, and your fighting like an old married couple!" Uriel was slightly irritated, but chuckled as he noticed the look on Audra's face. it looked like someone had just slapped him with a dead fish.

Trying to stifle a laugh myself, I rubbed my eyes, feeling as if I hadn't slept in years. I groaned and laid back once again. Suddenly a loud, annoying beeping noise, Uriel looked down at the small black box clipped to his jeans and looked at Audra. "Are you going to continue to disturb young Rinaya here or are you going to come help me?"

Audra shuddered, thinking of all the possible tasks Uriel would've given him. Raising his hand he stated, "I think I'll pass."

Uriel turned to me, "Excuse me dear, I have a few more patients to attend to at the moment." I nodded and he left without another word. He was leaving me alone with this suspicious man, all alone. What if he tried something? Like... I shuddered. What if he was a rapist? Not that! Please not that. I have always been deathly afraid of Rapists. Ever since I was about seven. I was walking home from school and there was this man across the street, he was wearing a tattered shirt and ragged jeans. His tennis shoes had holes in them, revealing his big toe. His teeth were rotted and black. His eyes wore this crazed look that I could never forget. He was dirty too. So dirty, his face was covered in grease and sweat. He came over to me, and I was unaware of his intentions. I was just an innocent young girl, walking home from school. He came up to me. Asking where I was going. I told him, I was very naive. He asked me where my house was, I told him and he said he'd show me a shortcut, of course, I was up for that, but as we reached this shortcut  his intentions became very clear...

Little did I realize, he had come to sit beside me, and while engrossed in the memory, I had cringed away from him, holding my limbs against myself in order to keep myself hidden. He was about to sit, but saw me cringing and his face twisted into a look of curiosity. Clearing my throat, I relaxed and shifted into a normal position. He still stared at me and then shook his head. "I'm not gonna kill you. Jeez, what do you think I am?"

"I don't know... What are you?" I pushed him, but he didn't falter.

"We'll save that for another time..." He was so calm, so sure that we would. What was he planning to do with me?

"Another ti-"

"How old are you Rinaya? You don't seem old enough to be running down the street alone." He interrupted. my eyebrows pulled down in an angry line. Rude, impolite...

"Nineteen." I murmured glumly.

"Seriously? Wow! I thought you were at least fifteen. Your short!" He laughed. I opened my mouth in disgust. I knew I was short, five-foot-four to be exact... But so what?

"Shut up!" I nearly yelled, though, I don't really care about my height, lots of people used to bug me about it. Hell, even my dad did. But, coming from him, it was much more irritating. He just made me so angry! And for no apparent reason.

"Calm down!" He raised his hands, protecting his face. I crossed my arms, angrily. And he leaned against the back of the chair, his hands behind his head, stretching. I looked at him.

"Don't you have better things to do than watch me? I'm not a kid you know... I can take care of myself." He looked at me, analyzing the expression I wore. He laughed.

"Yeah, I can tell..." There was a large note of sarcasm in his voice. He smiled at me mockingly.

"Excuse me? If I recall, you were the one who knocked me out, remember?"

"Yeah, but you were the one running. I was just standing there doing nothing, you're the one that hit me."

"Ugh. I'm not fighting with you about this." I turned my head, not wanting to look at him. Unbelievable I thought to myself. The door opened and Uriel walked back in, his friendly doctor smile once again present on his slender face.

"Hello again. Rinaya? I just want to get an X-ray of you head if you don't mind, so we can see if there is any bruising, Okay? I have you scheduled to be there within the next few minutes, you're lucky we had a spot opened!" He smiled his teethy grin, his mouth stretching from ear to ear. I shrugged.

"Sure, then can I go?" I was tired of this hospital, and tired of Audra. Uriel nodded. He cam over to me, grabbing the huge stand next to the bed. It had a bag of clear liquid in it. And a tube that ran directly from it. I followed it with my eyes, finally realizing where it ended. In the back of my hand. I started to feel numb, and I shuddered.

"Something wrong, Rinaya?" Uriel asked, concerned.

"Needles. I hate them." I closed my eyes and breathed for a few minutes. Uriel chuckled and helped me out of the bed. I immediately noticed the horrible outfit I was wearing. One of those damn patient outfits. The tiny blue polka dots. The opened back and- I immediately reached back and closed the split of the gown. I could feel heat flooding my face. I looked behind me, Audra still sitting in the chair, laughed.

"Pervert..." I muttered. Audra automatically stopped. His face bewildered.

"You in for a big surprise from your doctor friend, kid." His comment was directed at Uriel, who raised his chin in a proud movement.

"I am not a pervert, I just appreciate women in their true forms." His voice was calm, and possessive. I immediately stiffened at his side.

"What the hell does that mean? Are you a sex addict?" I looked at him, pure horror in my expression, I could feel the fear running through my veins. Uriel just looked at me.

"Let's go get your X-ray done..." His tone was dark and sulky. He started walking, the pole that held the medicine they were giving me, still in his hand. I had to run to avoid feeling it jerk out of my hand. We left Audra behind, still laughing. Who were these peculiar people? What did they want from me?

The X-ray was good, no bruising, which meant I could leave the clutches of these strange men. No longer would they continue to watch me. It was comforting, to know I could go home to my father. Oh crap! How long had I been here? Was he worried? I thanked Uriel for his hospitality and nodded at Audra who returned the gesture.

"Oh! If there's anything you need here's my card." He handed me a very professional looking business card, which had his office and personal home phone numbers. I thanked him again.

I didn't have very far to walk. My house was just a few blocks away. Besides, it felt good to be on my feet again. It wasn't until I reached the house that my stomach twisted in the familiar sense of nausea.