It had only taken the doctors twenty-five minutes to arrive in the end, but Reina could have sworn that the wait had been longer than an hour. Still dressed in clean white shirts and equipped with the same briefcases as before, they had given Reina a curt nod before she brought them downstairs to the bedroom. Fortunately Nina had still been awake, and so with a methodical approach the pair of doctors rattled off a series of yes no questions as they conducted their examination.

Stern-faced and silent besides a few quiet questions and some jargon that Reina couldn’t understand, the doctors were impossible to read, and the subsequent lack of hints left her with nothing to do but wait for them to finish. She had initially cleared the small room out so that the doctors could have some space, but the result was that she had been left alone to fruitlessly watch their expressions for any clues on Nina’s condition.

Thankfully the wait wasn’t too long. Most of the groundwork had already been done on their previous visit according to the doctors, and so besides asking Nina a few questions there wasn’t actually that much else for them to do. The fact that their questions were a lot more concise than anything they had been able to ask her certainly helped, and as a result they were probably able to form a decent picture of her condition in a short period of time. Only twenty minutes after they had first stepped into the bedroom, the final briefcase was latched shut as the doctors both stood and gave Reina a brief rundown of the situation as she led them back to the door.

“So?” Jade asked as Reina stepped back into the bedroom. The group had piled in to check on Nina as soon as the doctors had left only to find her asleep, so now their attention quickly turned to Reina as she was the only person who would be able to shed some light on the situation. She wouldn’t have been surprised if they had tried to listen in on the conversation when the doctors were leaving, but she would only be able guess what they had and hadn’t heard.

“Well I guess that’s a good sign at least,” Saela said with a blank expression as Svanda stepped into the room behind Reina. It was evident to everyone present due to the smile on her face that she was relieved, and it was almost certainly due to the fact that Reina had probably just told her that Nina didn’t pose any risk to her.

It was looking like Terminus wouldn’t be so much of a problem after all.

“She’s sedated at the moment, but she should recover,” Reina finally said as she stopped at the foot of the bed. “If everything goes to plan, she’ll be a bit more comfortable by the time she wakes up tomorrow morning.”

“Get out of bed comfortable?” Jade asked.

“Be carried out of bed comfortable, if we’re lucky,” Reina replied as she looked around at the group. “The doctors have given me some serious painkillers for her if she feels the need, but I’d rather not use them. Something tells me she’s going to want to keep away from medicine for a while, but we’ll wait and see. Who’s going to watch her for now?”

“I’ll do it,” Svanda said with a slightly sheepish expression as she raised a hand. “I haven’t had the chance yet.”

“Alright,” Reina nodded as she turned for the door. “Everyone else, there’s nothing to see here unless you’re keeping Svanda company. As Nina’s sedated, she won’t be waking up until tomorrow morning.”

Ignoring the orderly shuffle of chairs behind her, she exited the room before heading upstairs. Early evening light filtered through the shutters to create strips of shade across the living room floor, but she didn’t pay them any attention as she pushed her way through the door to the balcony. It was slightly cooler outside than it had been downstairs, but it was still warm enough to warrant the loose summer clothing that they had all adopted. ‘Pleasant’ was probably the word she would have used if she needed one, but how she felt was irrelevant right now as she sat down on one of the canvas chairs that was by the window before looking out to sea.

The sun would set on the other side of the mountain, but that worked for her. Sure, she would miss the moment when the sun dipped below the horizon, but now she had an unimpeded view of the sky which stretched across the horizon with a tinge of pink running through it. Like a gradient it continued upwards as a seamless blend of colour, and no matter where she was, it was always something that amazed her no matter how many times she looked at it.

It was amusing to think that she was often up there, high in the sky above the world, but at the same time it was strange because you couldn’t fully appreciate it unless you were below it.

What she admired was ultimately intangible.

“Nice, isn’t it?” Trim asked as she opened the door. Instead of sitting, she walked to the railing before placing her hands upon it and leaning forward, staring out across the ocean. “Don’t get skies like this in Luem.”

“Maybe we do, and you just don’t see it,” Reina replied as she leaned back in her chair. “How about we camp out on the roof of JE-22 and find out?”

“If SuTSU caught us up there we’d be admiring the sky in the Badlands before we knew it.”

Reina chuckled before letting out a sigh as she closed her eyes, enjoying the gentle breeze that drifted across the balcony. It was relatively quiet now as the hubbub of the day was behind them, although she could still hear muted voices from some of the nearby houses. Somebody close by must have been grilling meat on the balcony as the scent reached her nose, and the thought suddenly made her remember that they hadn’t organized dinner yet. Svanda was usually responsible, but if she was going to be looking after Nina then something else would need to be arranged.

“I’m hungry,” Trim said at almost the same moment before pausing. “Svanda isn’t cooking?”

“We’ll have to figure something out. Do you have any ideas?”

“Nope.”

Reina frowned as she thought about what to do. Maybe she would just send Trim and Aline out to the shop as usual and tell them to buy whatever they felt like. Surely someone could put something edible together using whatever they brought back, even if it wasn’t amazing. Trim, however, was clearly tired.

As if on cue, the door to the balcony opened as Saela’s head appeared, her black hoodie still pulled up over her head. Reina didn’t know how she survived in the heat, but if she was comfortable then she reasoned that it didn’t matter. What did matter was that Saela was here, and if Saela was here then she probably wanted something.

“Can I go outside?” Saela asked quietly. “Just for a little while?”

Reina paused as she studied Saela’s expression before a slight smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She knew what Saela wanted, and she wouldn’t particularly feel bad about using it to her advantage either. Maybe it was even a win-win if you looked at it from the right angle, although Saela’s poor habits were something that she would have to iron out sooner or later.

“On two conditions,” Reina finally said after she pretended to think it over for a moment.

“Okay.”

“First, get changed before you head out. Go with something that… fits in a little more.”

“Alright.”

“Second, bring some food back, enough for everyone. I’ll give you the money for it after.”

Saela frowned when she realised that she had just been roped into food duty, but quickly straightened herself up before nodding and disappearing back inside. Through the window, Reina watched on as she crossed the living room while taking an absentminded look into the kitchen before heading down the stairs.

“You know she wants to go and have a smoke,” Trim said quietly as she turned around and leaned back against the railing. Running a hand through her hair before she began to idly play with her ponytail, a wry smile appeared on her face as she looked at Reina. “She didn’t have a choice but to say yes.”

Reina shrugged in response as though she was the one who hadn’t had a choice. “I have to let her vent every once in a while. It’s killing two birds with one stone as far as the food is concerned, and this way I can leave my window open at night without hearing her duck down the side of the house.”

“Ooh,” Trim chuckled. “Busted.”

“It will only turn awkward if she realises,” Reina replied as she pushed herself out of the chair. “She’s still young, so there’s time to work on things.”

“Hard to think of her as young when you heard about what she did during the rescue,” Trim shrugged. “But maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised after I think about what she usually gets up to in her spare time.”

Reina grasped the door handle before opening the door to the living area. “She’ll come around eventually. Come on, let’s get the table ready and we’ll see what she turns up with.”