A/N: How long has it been since I updated? Too long, that's how long... Here's chapter 5, a pivotal part of the storyline of Dream Angel. The next chapter might take a while, though... but it's really not too far from the end anymore...


Chapter 5: Another Day

I awoke in Rei's useless body again. I wanted to know what it all meant. What was Hojo doing in Lyre's world? I knew something was wrong. I couldn't help but be worried about Lyre. I sat up, and found myself somewhere different from where I passed out. An I.V. drip was protruding from my arm, and it all came together: I was in the ICU.

"What happened?" my throat was dry, and the words scratched on their way out. It felt like I had spent the last few days screaming endlessly.

"So, you're up." It was Nurse Lee. "You had a pretty bad attack, there..."

"Huh? oh, H-how long was I out for?"

"Three days." Her answer came quickly. She knew what I was doing to ask before I said anything. "Here." She put a pitcher of water on my table. I reached out to grab it, but didn't have the strength. "Let me." She poured me a cup, and brought it to my dry lips. "Drink up..."

I hated myself. Even the simplest of tasks were impossible for me. The least I could offer was gratitude.

"Thanks"

"There, you sound much better!" She was cheerful as ever. I've never seen her as anything less.

"Oh, I also have some news for you..."

"News?" I knew it was going to be something bad. Whenever the hospital wanted to deliver bad news, they had Nurse Lee do it; they knew I could never get mad at her...

"First of all..." She was hesitating. It couldn't be good. "It seems that your condition has worsened... You can't have a roommate." Her head drooped. I knew there was something more to this all. "But you wanted it that way, right?" I could see the pain she was hiding behind her false smile. There was something else, but what?

"Also..." Her head drooped once more, and this time it was accompanied by a grimace.

"Also..." She couldn't hold back her tears any further. "Doctor Hojo is missing!"

"What?" He was missing, and then... I saw him... as Lyre, I saw him... "I-I'm sure he's fine..." I stammered, still trying to get over the shock. Hojo went missing, and then... He appeared to Lyre... What could it mean?

"He's been gone for three days! How can you say that?"

That was when I knew: Lyre is real. If Hojo disappeared while I became her, and as her, I saw him, then... "He has to be. "

I said that because I knew it was true, as much as I wished it weren't. I have known Nurse Lee for all of my life, and not once have I ever seen her cry. Not once, until now; All because of Doctor Hojo, and I hated him even more for it.

Her head was resting on my shoulder. I began stroking her hair, comforting her, as she did for me countless times.

"Rei! I'm so sorry!" She cried, in-between sobs. "I shouldn't be doing this..." Her sobs were getting louder. I had to be strong for her. "You shouldn't have to see me like this. I shouldn't be putting you through this..."

"It.. It's okay..." I wasn't sure of how to act in this situation. I had always been the one crying, and she was always the one comforting me. I had to be strong for her.

"Oh, Rei!"

Her warm body embraced my own. Her face was mere inches from my own, and she looked me dead in the eye.

She was vulnerable, and so was I. She needed me, and I needed her. I don't know who started it, our faces began approaching each other.

It wasn't long before her lips met mine. They were warm and wet, soft...

'My first kiss...' I thought, as her tongue passed between my lips. I didn't know what to do, so I let her. It felt nice, but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to like it. I felt my face heat up and grow flush as her cold, thin hands began caressing my breasts. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't take it.

How was I supposed to feel? It felt right, but a part of me knew this was wrong. I pushed her off of me. It was just a reaction, but I could tell that I shouldn't have.

"Nurse Lee, I..."

But I was too late. There was so much racing through my head - all at once. So many thoughts, so many emotions, my world had been turned upside-down.

And she was crying. Nurse Lee was crying when she ran off, and it was all my fault.

I didn't know what to do. I've always seen Nurse Lee as a mother, but now, after what just happened, I don't know what to think...

'What would Lyre do?' The only thought in my head. 'No! This is my problem... Rei's problem, and Rei will solve it!'

But why did it have to happen this way? Everything is so complicated. If this is what it means to solve my problems... If this is what it means to live, then...

'I'll have no part of it!'

I reached over to my table. There was a spork left behind by Nurse Lee. 'How poetic,' I placed the tines toward my own white flesh. 'to die from a tool left behind by her, of all people...The one who brought me to this point, as well as the one who saved me from it countless times before...'

The tool found its purpose digging through the pure virgin snow to reveal the red earth below.

'So ironic...' My hand went numb immediately. Seconds later, my vision blurred, and everything began fading to black.

I smiled, looking at the pretty mess I had wrought of myself. Blood soaked the bed sheets, as well as my actual skin. I began to feel light-headed

"Oh my god, Rei!" It was Nurse Lee. I couldn't see her, but I could still hear. "Rei! No! Y-you can't do this to yourself, I'm not worth it!" I felt her hands grasp my shoulders, and she began to shake me.

"N...nurse Lee?" I could barely get the words out.

"Don't talk..." She brushed the hair from my face. "Rei, I..."She began crying again.

"D...on't cry..." It took everything I had left to wipe her tears away. I was tired, so I closed my eyes. I couldn't hear a thing, but I felt a tear streak down my face, and a slender finger wipe it away.


A/N: As I said, not far from the ending... two or three more chapters at most. I hope you'll all be there.