"I'm in here, Mayako-chan." The feminine voice came from inside the household part of the building, where Rebbecca was sitting down to a light lunch. Unsurprising, since she stayed up so late she also slept in much later than usual.

"Hmm...seems familiar, having a kid who doesn't climb out of bed until the afternoon," she teased. Granted, Mayako actually had a good reason for it.

"So how's sleeping beauty doing? Oh, and help yourself to some lunch if you want, though it's probably a bit bland compared to what you can make." She gestured towards the food on the table--all items quick to make and that could be left out without spoiling, so that Urikuse could eat too whenever he got the chance.

"I-it's not that late, i-is it . . .?"

The way she said is sounded like she was picking on someone who wasn't there, but also as if she were asking for the time. Mayako hadn't figured that it was the afternoon already. If it was, then this was possibly the first time she had slept in that much for a month or two.

Initially, Mayako didn't know if Rebbecca was complimenting--and picking on--her, or talking about Fenix. She didn't habitually sleep like this, and Fenix had been in a coma for months on end . . . well, it wasn't hard to figure that one out. Nonetheless, the still sleepy young girl plucked some light lunch for herself and took a seat nearby Rebbecca.

"H-he seems to have slept well . . ." She realized how difficult it was to explain, so instead, she just asked: "W-well, y-you came in r-right before I woke up, right? I-I don't think he's changed much s-since then."

Rebbecca shook her head. "Nope, it wasn't me. I've been out here." She shrugged. "And don't worry, it's not that late yet--it's right around noon." Her son had always been a late sleeper, but with the arrival of Etsu he only got worse.

On the news of Fenix, she said, "Glad to hear it. If he's sleeping well, he'll recover his strength that much faster."

"When we're done eating, I'll show you how to help him with muscular therapy--assuming he stays in good health here, that'll be the largest part of caring for him. Well, that and helping him get around until he can walk."

"Oh, and when he's up for it, you might want to help him get into the bath--five months without bathing isn't great for hygiene, coma or not." Of course she and Urikuse had kept him sanitary, but that really wasn't the same as being clean. It might not directly relate to his recovery, but it would put him in a better state of mind which could only help.

Unless he was like their last young long term patient and hated baths.

"O-okay," Mayako nodded, a bit nervous.

She had never been shown yet how to bathe--or just help the process of bathing--a patient. In most cases, this meant that she'd have to be around a complete stranger, who just so happened to be nude, attractive or not, and she'd possibly have to be a little . . . physical about it, too. At least, that's how it went in Mayako's mind, and the concept had her relatively nervous. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that. Hopefully . . .

"W-well, um, I think th-that muscular therapy a-and helping him walk c-comes before bathing him, r-right . . .?" Mayako asked with a nervous laugh. It was pretty clear that she was a bit hesitant about it.

She had finished eating by then, too. They could go about the process at any time, but the fact remained that Mayako may have been a little more comfortable if she was just watching the process of helping a patient bathe, rather than actual hands on learning. Especially with someone around her age--or, at least, a few years older than her.

Rebbecca shook her head, grinning. Mayako was just too much sometimes. "I didn't say you needed to bathe him, dear. Just help him get in, and I'm sure it won't be long before he can lift soap."

Though it was a bit understandable that she might get the wrong idea, given for a time many of the baths taken in the house were not taken alone.

"We'll just lend him a pair of Eld's swim shorts and he can bathe himself. All you need to do is be there if he needs something and to help him in and out. If he asks you to scrub him, just tell him Urikuse'd be happy to do it," she said with a laugh.

Naturally, if a patient actually needed to bathed she or her husband took care of it--a young girl like Mayako wasn't expected to do something like that, especially for a boy who looked relatively close to her age.

"O-okay, then," Mayako sighed in relief.

Truth be told, there had only ever been one person she was ever considerably intimate with, and being in any similar situation--well, this one wasn't particularly intimate, but being around and having to bathe someone close to her age (who would also be potentially attractive if healthy and cleaned up) . . . that would have still been awkward.

"Sh-should we go, then?" Mayako asked. She'd never seen any sort of muscular therapy, and considering that she'd have to be doing this--since the others were busy and all--she wanted to get a good example in mind.

Fenix should have been awake by then. They'd eaten their lunch, and now that it was a decent time in the afternoon, there was a good chance that Fenix was awake and ready for something like this. He didn't look like the type who'd want to be cooped up in bed forever, after all.

"Alright. I'll show you both the exercises; many of them he won't need any help with, but someone should be present when he does them anyway, to make sure he's actually doing them, and so that he doesn't hurt himself or anything."

Of course, that part didn't need to be repeated to Fenix, but she imagined he'd want to get up and moving as soon as possible anyway. At least it sounded that way from what little they knew about him.

She led the way back to the room, where Fenix was indeed awake. He was sitting up in bed, looking out the windows, and wondering how out of it he must have been to have missed them before.

For little while there wasn't much for Mayako to do; Rebbecca performed a routine checkup on him, something she'd have witnessed many times by now. Fortunately Fenix was in good health; other than being weak from the coma, he was fine. His actual injuries had been healed for some time now.

Afterward, she demonstrated and ran him through the exercises that would best help him regain his strength. There were a lot of them, too. It wasn't really muscular therapy so much as simply working out to build up the muscles he'd lost.

Before she left to take care of more patients, though, there was one thing left she needed to say. "Ah...he'll hate me for saying this, but don't worry about your bill. Thanks to a friend of ours, and an acquaintance of yours, it's all taken of. So, make sure you thank Tyr the next time you see him."

"Tyr?" Fenix asked, not recognizing the name.

"Ah, Sturm. Tyrian Sturm."

"Oh." That gave him a bit to think about--that that man had saved him, even though he'd ignored his advice and at the time thought the man was scum for even suggesting that course of action.

His gaze drifted to Mayako for a moment. But if I hadn't acted how I did, she'd be... He shook his head; there was no sense worrying about what-ifs. She was fine, he was fine, and it sounded like everyone else was too. "I'll do that."

"Alright. Well, I have to help Urikuse make the rounds, but I'll stop back in to check on you later."

Fenix nodded as she left, then turned to Mayako, as if to ask what was next.

The process of physical therapy didn't seem too bad--well, the first part, that is. Just muscle exercises and all, helping him lift his legs and arms until he could do it on his own. That was going to take time, though. Maybe a week? A few days? That was a best case scenario. It was going to be awhile before he was up and around, walking as he had before the coma, though--that much was for sure.

It was good that she was there to watch, though. That meant she could help him out later, and if they ever had a case like this again, she'd not need this sort of instruction later.

"Sturm . . . Sturm . . ." Mayako thought out loud, "I-I think I remember someone with that name c-coming over for a day. Um, I-I wasn't actually over, but I saw him. S-sort of tall, k-kind of . . . spooky, r-right?"

That may have been more than enough information for Fenix to suggest some issues that Mayako currently . . . had memory of? Perhaps. If she didn't recognize the man, though . . .

Fenix tilted his head to the side, confused by her response. "You didn't see him before, then?"

Of course, that was entirely possible for all he knew. She'd been grabbed by Theleaus before he'd come around from getting pistol whipped in the head, and he could hardly blame her for not paying attention to those around her. And of course, she'd been pretty much out in his arms when he got her away from him.

"Well, he was--ah, nevermind, it's not important." Fenix may have lacked tact, but even he realized it was probably better if he didn't bring up Sturm being there that day in Galaens, especially the part about him being for killing her...

"N-no?"

Why would I have?

It was difficult to forget a name like Sturm, though---especially with that guy's demeanor and all. Mayako hadn't really talked to him much; Emma was more interested than she, or everyone else for that matter. Tyrian Sturm just had this look that was just altogether intimidating. Sleepless, with a constant look of brooding and unfeeling angst. Well, that was the just of how Sarah described him. She definitely didn't like him.

Nonetheless, Mayako was sitting in the chair next to Fenix's bed again. Rebbecca had since left, leaving the two of them alone. Mayako didn't know if she should go and check on other patients right this second, or if she should be doing that later--or . . . well . . . they had already checked up on Fenix during the bit of physical therapy, so . . . she probably could go on with the day as usual, but she at least wanted to make sure that everything was all right, or if he wanted something else, or had something to ask . . .

"S-so, um . . . h-how did you sleep?"

"Alright. It's always nice to sleep in a bed." Since he spent most of the time on the road, and much of it was off the beaten track, most nights were spent in a sleeping bag on the ground. Only when they were in cities on business or back at the church did they get beds.

Granted, he'd techinically spent the last several months in a bed, but that wasn't the same thing as sleeping.

The thought of a sleeping bag reminded him of something he'd forgot to ask the doctor, though. "Is my stuff here?" he asked curiously. Like anyone who spent much time on the road, he carried a pack full of supplies with him. Among other things it should have a few changes of clothes in it.

"Y-you had--" Mayako started, but stopped herself prematurely.

You had belongings with you? Uh oh . . .

"U-um, n-no, w-well, wh-when Remmy brought you here, h-he didn't bring a-anything that belong to you or . . . w-well, y-you only had the clothes you were wearing at the time . . ."

Well, this was unfortunate . . . and kind of awkward. They didn't have any sort of article of Mr. Black's--just the clothes he came in wearing. For the time now, he was just wearing one of the hospital gowns--nothing special.

". . . i-it's been a few months, too, s-so . . ." Mayako didn't say it, but if she went on, she'd have mentioned something along the lines suggesting that his stuff had probably long since been picked up and hocked by someone in Galaens.

"...So it's probably long gone," he finished with a sigh. It was nothing that couldn't be replaced though, and the worth of what he had probably paled in comparison to what he should have owed the clinic, so he was willing to call it even.

Besides, the most important items he kept on his person: his necklace, his knife, and his coin-purse, which if Mayako was right should all be with his clothing. He was actually probably better off than Zach was, as he kept most of the money to prevent the irresponsible treasure hunter from squandering it on whatever caught his attention.

Though, when he thought about it he should check. "Could you get my clothes for me? I'd like to see what I still have."

"I-I'm sorry . . ." Mayako apologized after Fenix's initial disappointment regarding the loss of his things . . .

Though, they did still have his clothes, and when Fenix asked her to go retrieve them for him, it had her thinking of where they were. It was a tough call, if only because it had been so long since they stashed his clothes somewhere. At one point, they stashed away the culmination of his clothes somewhere in the clinic, but where? Mayako hadn't actually been helping at the clinic at the time, so she didn't know for sure . . .

It wasn't like she couldn't find out, though. "S-sure. I'll be right back."

She wasn't gone for too long, just about a half an hour or so. At first, she had tried looking for them by herself, but that didn't turn out well, as she kept leading herself to the patients belongings room--and there was nothing of the sort there. After a discussion about it with Rebbecca, it was concluded that Eldridge Tsukimono, the son of the couple that ran the clinic, must have mistaken the clothing for his own. The youth wasn't there anymore, but he left some of his clothing behind--and with help, the articles were found.

Mayako returned with folded up pants carried under one arm, footwear with her left hand, and other various essentials he had on him with her right--and clung to her chest, too, for all that she didn't have the room on her person for to carry. These were dropped onto the bed that Mayako had stayed in last night.

"I-I found them," Mayako remarked nervously, "B-but I--I couldn't find a shirt, though. Tsukimono-sama said you didn't have one at the time."

"No shirt?" Fenix asked, momentarily confused. Then it came back to him: he'd given her his shirt, since hers had been...removed. He tried not to dwell on the specific memory of it, as it made it difficult for him to look at his caretaker.

Again, he really couldn't think of a good way to bring it up without referencing that night, so he just stated bluntly, "You probably still have my shirt, then." It was odd that they didn't just put it with the rest of his stuff, but he figured it was probably shoved aside and forgotten.

"I guess it's not urgent, though." There was no sense in making her go fetch it now, as he assumed it would be at her house. Not knowing the scale of the clinic or the town yet, he assumed having her get it now would be too inconvenient. "Are my coinpurse and dagger there?" he asked, not being able to reach or see them from where he lay. If they were there, they'd probably be on his belt.