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The FFML Refugee List

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma, despite the many times
I've hung out in the bushes at Rumiko's house, begging
her to adopt me.  She does know English right?
Hmmm....

Note:  C&c is greatly appretiated, especially the
nitpicky grammar kind.  There always seems to be
something I've missed...

-----------------------------

Lost Days Lamenting Lost Days
Part Three

Finally, after almost a month in the hospital, Ryouga
was getting discharged.  He sat in the lobby, dressed
in a pair of black drawstring pants and a white
cut-off shirt that Ranma had let him borrow, and
filled out form after countless form.

After what seemed like an eternity, he signed his
signature on the last one, picked up his crutches, and
hobbled over to the nurse's desk.   The nurse behind
the desk turned and smiled at him.  Luckily, she was
one of the younger, nicer ones, unlike that one nurse
that kept ranting about her retirement.

"Here are the release forms."  He handed the stack of
papers to her.  She took them with a suspicious smile
and air of cheerfulness.

"I wish you a speedy recovery!  Goodbye!"  

Ryouga shivered as he felt himself being watched by
every member of the staff.  Why was everyone on this
floor anyway?  He shrugged and hobbled away on his
crutches as the staff stood perfectly still smiles
plastered on their faces.  They waited until security
confirmed over the intercom that Hibiki had indeed
left the building.

Several moments of silence hung in the air, until . .
.

"Yes he's gone!"  Cheers rose up from the crowd. 
Streamers fell from the ceiling and someone else hit
the play button on a stereo.  The upper floor filled
with happy vibrant music as the staff of the hospital
danced around the room.

Tears of joy ran down one of the nurse's faces.  She
wiped the droplets off with her sleave.

"Oh I'm so happy!  Finally the nightmare can end!"  

A doctor standing next to her nodded his bald head in
agreement.  "If he had stayed any longer I might have
become a patient myself!"  

His buddy, the physical therapist patted him on the
back.

"You think you had it bad.  I know my blood pressure's
never been higher.  I thought I was going to keel over
when he lifted that 400 pound barbel.  I didn't even
know we HAD a 400 pound barbel!  And then he actually
apologized saying he was 'out of shape'!"

Two pretty young nurses approached them from behind. 
One idly chewed on a celery stick from the refreshment
table.

"You guys have got nothing on us."  The nurse flipped
her blond hair back and swallowed the rest of her
celery.  "We were the ones taking care of him.  Do you
have any idea how many blood transfusions we had to
perform?!"  Her brunette friend nodded in agreement.

"I think he had some kind of hydrophobia too.  No one
told us we'd be taking care of a mental case.  What
the hell did he mean by 'cold water could be deadly'
anyway?"  The physical therapy doctor shook his head.

"Hibiki is . . . Hibiki.  It's one of the great
mysteries of the universe.  I don't think he's meant
to be understood."  The group nodded sagely in awe of
his wisdom.  Several minutes passed as the group idly
thought about the bright futures they had in front of
them.  Suddenly, the brunette looked up and gasped.

"Weren't we supposed to tell him to wait for his
friends to pick him up?"  The group paused for a
moment and then shrugged collectively.  The blond held
her drink up in the air.

"Oh well, its not our problem anymore!"  The group
laughed loudly, their chuckles bordering on full blown
Kuno laughs.  The rest of their colleagues looked
nervously over there shoulders and wondered if the
group was just a bit over due for their vacations.

----

Ukyou sighed as she walked next to Akane and Ranma on
their way to the hospital.  Akane and Ranma refused to
acknowledge each other.  Both were still mad over an
earlier argument.  Ukyou felt like beating them both
to death.  She knew what she had seen that night. 
They . . . as horrible as it sounds, actually love
each other.  Worse, she couldn't even be in denial
anymore and pretend that one night was a fluke.  She
kept catching Akane or Ranma glancing at each other
with guilt written on their faces.  They each wanted
to apologize but their pride was waiting for the other
to say it first.  It was so sweet Ukyou thought her
teeth were going to rot out.

Her hand tightened in anger as she tried to force
herself to ignore her companions.

'I swear next time one of them looks at the other I'm
going to jump in and start swinging.  We're close to a
hospital after all.  They'd be ok.'

She entertained the thought for a moment and then her
shoulders slumped.

'I can't even play the victim in good conscious. 
Shouldn't I be happy for Ranch--err Ranma?  Besides,
I'm not the one that got hit by a tractor trailer. 
I'm going to have to break this to Ryouga.  Better
that I do it than him walking in on the two and
blowing up half of Tokyo.  I owe him.'

Ukyou grimaced.  She hated owing anyone.  All her life
she had been the brave independent women able to stand
on her own two feet.

'I'll just let him stay at Ucchans for awhile, give
him some free food, and then send him on his way when
he's recovered.  Oh . . . and tell him about Akane and
Ranma's new found "relationship".  That ought to be
_FUN_.'  

She made a mental note to take him far away from her
restaurant.  Maybe she could tell him in front of the
Nekohauten . . .  A small mischievous smile graced
Ukyou's lips.

Looking up in surprise, she found herself in front of
the hospital.  The group decided that the stairs were
quicker and bounded up them, sometimes entire floors
at a time.  Once on the top, Ranma led the way and
pushed open the doors to the third floor.

They weren't expecting a party.

"Argh!"  Akane held her hands over her ears to block
out some of the loud blaring music.  "What's going
on?!"  

Ranma shrugged and pushed through the party goers. 
Ukyou and Akane followed close behind.  He was
terribly tempted to jump over everyone's heads to the
information desk but decided Akane might consider that
"rude".

"Hey!"  Ranma poked a nearby doctor lightly in the
back to get his attention.  The bald man turned to
regard him.  "Hey, we're here to pick up pig boy."  

The man blinked.

"Pig boy?"

"Pig Boy.  You know Hibiki."  A hush suddenly fell
over the room as every eye turned to regard Ranma.

"Err . . . did I say something wrong?"  Ranma gulped.

----

"I can't believe I was so stupid!  STUPID!  STUPID!"

Step . . . crutch . . . step . . . crutch

Ryouga hobbled down a suburban street, several blocks
away from the hospital.  His crutches left huge holes
in the sidewalk.  It was too late to turn back now,
the hospital was already out of his line of sight.  He
was going to try to make it to Ucchans.  Ukyou had
been nice enough to offer him a place to stay until he
recovered, might as well take advantage of the
situation.

Passerby gave him a wide berth.  Whether it was from
consideration for his injuries, or the fact that he
was glowing bright green, he wasn't sure.

"Mommy?"  a little boy asked his mother while tugging
on her sleeve.  "Does that man have rabies?"

"Shhh . . . come on dear.  Try not to make direct eye
contact."  She hurriedly ushered her child away while
looking nervously over her shoulder.

Ryouga stopped.  Rabies?  What does--HEY!  

He blushed.

I've got to calm down.  Things can't be as bad as they
seem!  I couldn't have walked that far away from the
hospital.  Probably err . . . maybe?  It's no big
deal, I'm just practically a cripple, wandering around
aimlessly through the streets of Nerima.  NO BIG DEAL!
 

He paused.

Damn it!  I just made myself depressed!

He started hobbling down the street again, more angry
than he had been before trying to "cheer himself up". 
He glanced around him.

Ok Hibiki.  You're in the commercial district.  The
Nekohauten should be close to here.  Right?  Maybe two
more blocks or so.

Amazingly, two more blocks down.  It _WAS_.

He stood gaping in front of the doors in amazement. 
He stood in shock for several moments until Shampoo's
"get well card of death" came to mind.  Perhaps,
standing in front of the Nekohauten wasn't such a good
idea.  He started hobbling down the road again.

"Heh, guess everyone gets lucky sometimes.  So . . .
this is kind of fun.  Wonder what's going to be next? 
How about four blocks up and take a right? . . . Why
not?  I'm lost anyways."  

He followed his own directions, not caring that it was
the same equivalent of letting the devil do you
favors, and found himself standing in front of
Ucchans, four blocks and a right later.

He stood silently gaping at the small restaurant.  His
mouth hung open.  He had never been lucky this many
times in a row.  It was like the universe was playing
a joke on him, except this time it wasn't cruel.

He walked up to the door and knocked lightly (Ukyou
would kill him if he broke the door), and waited for
an answer.  None came.  He peered through the glass
and noticed a note.

"CLOSED"
WENT LOOKING FOR THE JACKASS
TIME RETURNING:  UNKNOWN

Something about this was weird.  It was on the edge of
his mind.  It had to do with his time at the hospital
what could it . . .

He froze.

NO WAY!  IT COULDN'T BE! . . . COULD IT?  

Ryouga bit his lip.  What was wrong with him? 
Thinking  _THAT_ could actually happen.  But still . .
. what if it was?

He looked down the street.  If he was wrong he'd
regret it, dozen of times over.  But. . . he HAD to
know.  Turning, he headed down the road, and headed
for his destination.

He reached the Tendo Dojo in ten minutes, without
getting lost once.  He fell to his knees in shock as
an impossible thought overwhelmed him.  He didn't know
what deities had caused it, why, or how it happened,
but it was true.  It had to be.

He had a sense of direction.
------------------------------


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Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee           
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