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A pair of pink eyes slowly flutters open as the person laying slowly tries to get up from the bed. Mikan almost trips on the floor as she immediately rushes beside the person to assist them.
"Y-You're awake! I-Is there anything I can get for you?" Mikan asked nervously.
"Water please," requested the patient as she slowly sits and coughs while Mikan clumsily fills a glass of water.
Kaede didn't know what happened to her but by the time she wakes up, her body felt heavy like she's been beaten up several times and her voice was very dry and raspy like she's been strangled to death. She looks around the hospital room and sees lots of medical equipment attached to her chest, arm and even head. What she finds stranger is that she had no recollection of being brought to the hospital.
Mikan served the glass of water and Kaede drinks it. Mikan proceeded to check the pianist's vital signs and removed some of the medical equipments attached to her now that she's finally awake. Despite just being awake, Kaede looks disheveled and tired. Her eyes are dull, skin is quite pale and her blond hair have grown past shoulder length.
"K-Kaede, right? How are you feeling? I-I'm Mikan, D-Doctor Mikan Tsumiki," Mikan stated while checking the pianist's blood pressure.
"I feel a little dizzy and my throat hurts for some reason. I...I don't even remember being confined in this hospital. What happened to me Doc?" said Kaede in almost a whisper. Her throat hurts so bad but the water from earlier helps a lot. Mikan stopped writing down Kaede's symptoms in her clipboard and took the now empty glass from her patient. She sets the clipboard and the glass on the bedside table.
"Do you...remember being trapped in a strange school with other students?" asked Mikan cautiously. At that moment, memories rushed back in her mind. She remembers the horrors of the killing game; Monokuma, the Monokubs, the exisals, the students she met there, a mastermind lurking among them, her plan to end the game only for her to kill someone innocent, the class trial and of course her very own execution! A rush of terror and panic caused her to scream.
"The killing game! I have to stop the mastermind!" Kaede shouts. She attempts to get out of the bed but was forcibly stopped by Mikan.
"K-Kaede please calm down! L-Listen to me.The killing game is over! It's okay now!" Mikan explained while stopping the frantic girl from getting up.
"P-Please calm down. It's all over. You're the last person to wake up," added the doctor.
"Wake up? What do you mean? What's going on!?" Kaede asked, visibly terrified. Her breath hitches as she feels cold sweat on her face. Her hands begin to shake and her complexion grew paler remembering the traumatic events that had happened. Kaede was so sure she died. She felt the life leave her body during her excruciating execution as she was hanged on a giant piano. So why is she alive now?
Mikan held Kaede's shaking hands and sat on the side of the bed.
"Kaede. I've been in your position before. I was the ultimate nurse before becoming a doctor. L-Like you, I'd been a part of a virtual killing game. Anyone of my classmates who died in the game was put in a coma too. As for your case, you're the last person in your class to wake up from a state of coma," Mikan explained.
" You're a fighter, you know. The other doctors said you're a lost cause but some of us insisted to keep your life support running," Mikan continued, trying her best to comfort her. Kaede fell silent for a bit. She was forcing herself not to cry.
"Thank you Doc. For taking care of me and for not giving up on me," she finally spoke. Mikan smiles sympathetically at the pianist.
"I know you have lots of questions in mind but for now, you should rest to regain your strength. I'm gonna s-schedule you for physical therapy sessions soon. I'll administer pain killers and will bring you your medicines," added Mikan before grabbing her clipboard. Kaede caught a quick glance at the notes written in it and a tiny detail caught her eye, the date.
Mikan was about to leave Kaede alone but stopped on her tracks when Kaede asked a question.
"Just one more thing, Doc. H-How long have I been in a coma?"
Mikan's response sent a chill down Kaede's spine. Her heart seemed to stop beating and she felt as if someone threw a bucket of cold water all over her.
"A d-decade."