"He's waking up!"
That was the first thing I heard as I slowly regained consciousness.
"Damn, can you not yell right into my ear?"
"Spike, you were… unresponsive for a whole week," a concerned voice said.
My awareness slowly returned, and I recognized Tonny's face — he looked relieved.
"A week?" I asked in disbelief, trying to sit up, though I felt weak. "What happened?"
"A girl who'd been here for a few days, waiting for you to wake up, apparently called an ambulance. When you got here, they operated on you right away. They pulled out three bullets — one grazed your liver… Do you have any idea how lucky you are? And by the way, how does a broke guy like you even have life insurance?"
"Remember when the Arasaka Tower exploded — along with one of the main reactors? I got compensation from a charity for my loss. That included life insurance and 50,000 credits, of which I spent 42,000 to buy my bike."
"I see. Oh, that reminds me, I should probably let that girl know you're awake."
I wondered if he even believed me. And why did he seem so unfazed?
While we kept talking and waiting for the girl to show up, doctors occasionally came in to check my vitals.
Within ten minutes, the girl burst through the door.
"Are you an idiot?" she snapped unexpectedly. "You tell me it's too dangerous — and then you get three bullets in your side!"
Tonny, clearly overwhelmed by the situation, said:
"I'll, uh… leave you two alone… I think I need to go shopping or something."
Once he shut the door behind him, I asked, "Why were you even at the scene?"
"Well, it's possible I may have tracked you…" she mumbled. "But is that seriously the first thing you have to say to me? A 'thank you' would be nice."
I grinned. "Thanks. But, by the way… what's your name?"
"Rin. My name's Rin," she said, embarrassed — probably because she'd saved my life and I hadn't even known her name.
"What a weird name."
"You're called Spike, you don't get to talk!"
"Fair point. So, do you know when I can get out of here?"
"I think the doctors said you'd have to take something that closes your wounds overnight and stabilizes your vitals. But you should probably ask them yourself."
"I will. So… you free next— sorry, this Saturday?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I'll take you to the festival. If you want. Consider it a thank-you."
"Sure, why not. Just get better first — it's still four days away."
"Hey Rin, one more question."
"Go ahead."
"What happened to the guy I fought?"
"Well, there was nothing in the news about a corpse in a parking garage, so I'm guessing he survived."
"Damn," I muttered.
3.1
The same day I woke up, the doctor gave me some kind of injection to stabilize my vitals and close small to medium wounds.
Two days later, I was discharged and ready to go home. For some reason, Rin was waiting outside the hospital, waving enthusiastically — sitting on my motorcycle.
"Here I am!" she shouted.
"How do you even have my bike, and how'd you get it? I locked it."
"You should really work on what you say to people first thing. Your friend Tonny gave me the spare keys — for the bike and the lock. I figured I'd do you a favor and bring it here. Thought you might be happy."
"Of course he did… Well, uh… thanks, that was… nice of you."
"You're really not great at saying thank you, are you?" she teased. "Anyway, I thought we could stop by Rodrigo's first."
Actually, that wasn't a bad idea — I should probably talk to him about the job. Only…
"Did you just say we? Why are you following me everywhere? Apparently you even waited for me to wake up in the hospital."
"Well… I didn't really want to bring it up, but… honestly, it's because of what you said in the parking garage. About losing everything, and all that."
"Don't worry about me, I do just fine on my own. Anyway, scoot over. I'm driving."
"No way."
"Oh yes, way," I said, giving her a tired look.
She resisted for a moment, but then reluctantly did as I asked.
3.2
When we arrived at Rodrigo's, the first thing he said was:
"Thank God you're alive! What the hell happened?!"
Not surprising — he probably had no idea what had gone down.
"The client was the terrorist who blew up the Arasaka Tower. Apparently, he had his reasons — and now he wanted to blow up the headquarters. He wanted me to smuggle a van full of explosives into the loading dock. He would've blown the place sky-high during the festival. I stopped him by driving the van into the water — and I had my own reasons for wanting payback. But the guy still had a gun, and with his last strength, he put three bullets in me."
"If I'd known…" he said angrily. "Did you at least kill him?"
"I don't know. Rin said there was nothing in the news about a body in a parking garage."
"Damn… Well, did you at least mess him up good?"
"Until he passed out."
"Then I thank you in my son's name. He worked for Arasaka as an electrician. He was supposed to install something new in the tower."
"I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
"Take your savior out to eat. Something nice," he said, glancing at Rin, who wasn't really part of the conversation.
"I was already gonna take her to the festival as a thank-you, but if you're offering a free meal, I'm in," I said, smirking.
Rodrigo turned to Rin. "Guess you'll still get your story after all. Make it a good one."
"Yeah… we'll see," she said thoughtfully.
Oh, right — I'd forgotten she was a reporter, and originally just wanted a story.
I turned to her. "Hey Rin, how about tonight at 8 at the Liberty? I'll pick you up."
The Liberty was one of the best restaurants in the world — and I'd always wanted to eat there.
"What?! No way. It's way too expensive, and you can hardly ever get a table."
"Don't worry, the owner owes me one. Had to get his family back from a blackmailer once. Huge pain in the ass. He'll give us a table in the VIP lounge and a night on the house."
"Well… in that case… I guess I can't say no," she said shyly.
We said goodbye to Rodrigo and went our separate ways home.
"I'll pick you up at 7:30," I called, laughing.
"I'm looking forward to it," she said, blushing.