Fenix nodded, accepting the clothing. This was much better--he'd no longer have to worry about flashing someone if he moved the wrong way.

After the curtain was closed, there would be a minute or two of just rustling. Getting dressed was possible when he was in bed and didn't have to worry about exposing himself, but it was still awkward due to his current level of strength.

"Okay, I'm done," he called eventually, now dressed in the gown and scrubs. The towel was off to the side on the bed, no longer necessary. Now having both a top and a bottom, for the first time since he woke up he felt like he was actually clothed.

Prompted by Fenix announcing his decency, Mayako pulled the curtain open. That was much better; Mayako was much more comfortable having him in the same room with Emma, now. Though, that didn't mean that she was completely comfortable with it. She, like Rebbecca, hoped that maybe having someone from outside Hillcrest stay with Emma would help her get over her troubles a bit, but she was still weary of it . . . as Rebbecca probably was, too. In the worst case scenario, Emma would drag Fenix down, and they'd have two mentally and emotionally sick patients to attend to, while having little to no expertise in that field.

"Now you really fit in," Emma whispered offhandedly.

Emma making comments like that was why Mayako was hesitant. She winced silently, but had her back facing Emma.

"A-anyways. I w-was going to make a l-large round of dinners. A-and I wanted to know if either of you had any requests?" Mayako looked to Emma particularly.

"I'd prefer something in red," was Fenix's comment on the clothing. Blue was always more Zach's color, but they didn't tend to make red hospital clothing. Wouldn't do if you couldn't tell when a patient was bleeding, he supposed.

As far as the food went, he said, "Nothing in particular." Which was always his response. Everything Mayako made was delicious, for one. And he was used to getting by with whatever he could afford anyway--if it was edible, he'd eat it.

"O-okay . . ." Mayako bit her lower lip in thought. "I-I'll just have to make something th-that will sit with your stomach well."

Which wasn't out of the question, considering the fact that this was a clinic. Not many of the patients staying there as temporary residents were able to ingest heavy foods, and understandably so. The extremely sick or elderly (or extremely sick elderly), as well as special cases like Fenix, couldn't hold down heavy foods. It had to be light, something that didn't weigh down the digestive system. By now, Mayako had a wide variety of recipes that fit that particular need. She had only been volunteering at the clinic for a few months, now, total (although not straight through); after cooking there for that long, some of the recipes and ideas were completely devoted to memory.

"Wh-what about you, Emma?"

"I'm not hungry," the girl replied.

For a moment, Mayako didn't say anything. Emma didn't look over the pages of her book, and just continued reading unabated, while Mayako stared at the floor, her eyes half shut, her mind reeling. She had much the same problem as Rebbecca, not knowing what to say to Emma sometimes, afraid that something might set her off into a worse mental or emotional state. One thing was for sure, though: she needed to eat.

". . . E-Emma . . . y-you . . . you really need to eat something . . ." Mayako lamented.

"Why? If I'm not hungry, there's no point in eatin'."

"I-if . . . if you d-don't eat . . . y-you'll . . ." Mayako didn't want to say it, but the last word was heavily suggested: die.

Emma, still no looking up from her book, remarked with little regard to Mayako's concerns or her own well being: "I'd be better off."

Mayako sighed. She wasn't going to fight with Emma, and getting her to eat would have required food to be forced down her throat or literal injections of nutrients into her blood. The former may very well cause an adverse reaction such as attempting to bite off her own tongue, considering the otherwise scant options for creating a self inflicted death. They all wanted to avoid that at all costs.

And so, Mayako relented, and was on her way back to the kitchen, "O-okay. I'll be back in a bit."

Seeing the exchange between Mayako and Emma helped clue Fenix in on the situation. Like Rebbecca, Mayako was being very careful of what she said around Emma. They were worried about her, and judging by the bandages on her wrists they had good reason to be. Not to mention it sounded like she hadn't had anything to eat in sometime.

It's not my concern. He wasn't a doctor, so it wasn't his place to worry about Emma. He didn't know what happened to her, and didn't particularly care to know. If she didn't want to get better, she wouldn't. If she did, she'd eventually come around. It was practically impossible for a person to starve themselves to death by choice--if there was food available, they'd eat it sooner or later.

Still, he couldn't help but voice his opinion in a way. "You're an idiot if you pass up Mayako's cooking." It didn't take long being in the clinic for him to arrive at that conclusion.

Emma said nothing. It was like that well into the evening. Mayako had come back with food, an early dinner for all the those who wanted it. She went around the rooms and delivered the dinners accordingly, and took note of who wasn't eating just yet, so she could make dinners for them later.

She, herself, had something to eat, and ate in the room with Fenix and Emma. After they were done, she left with the dishes and was gone for awhile, cleaning. The entire time, the bare minimum was said between them all. She came back shortly thereafter, and feeling content with the fact that her work was done for the day, she collapsed onto the bed next to Fenix's, and released a content sigh. Well, she could stretch out and relax for now. There would probably need to be some sort of movement later, to help one of the patients or the like. She could just enjoy the moment for the moment, at least.

"S-so, F-Fenix? S-since you have a wheelchair, now, I-I can take you around the village tomorrow, if you want," Mayako mentioned as a statement, but was truly asking a question.

If he didn't feel like getting some fresh air tomorrow, then she wasn't going to go that extra step, but if he did, in fact, want to see the village . . . well, it had been a while since she had been out and about, herself. It actually had been at least five days since she left the clinic; the last time she did, it was to accompany Urikuse to Galaens to stock up on medication they needed.

Emma's lack of response to his comment had him curious. She seemed to have no problems unleashing her tongue on him before, and yet when he actually said something antagonistic she didn't even react.

It could be explained many ways, but maybe the real reason was that the subject was Mayako. From what he observed, she seemed to be very protective of her, something that evidently didn't change after...whatever happened to her.

If he was smart, he'd just leave the issue alone. He was a stranger here--his sleeping face was familiar to them, but they didn't know him at all, really.

He didn't end up dwelling on it long; Mayako returned with their food (notably, none for Emma) and they ate in silence. When she left and returned again, only to collapse on the bed, he briefly wondered if she intended to sleep in the room with them, but was distracted by her implied question.

"I'd like that," he stated, wanting to find out more about the village he was stuck in for the time being. There was a pause, one that was likely becoming familiar to Mayako, as he attempted to figure out how to broach a subject. And as always, he ended up just saying it outright. "Could I have a pen and some paper?" It was the first time he'd actually requested something.

Paper might have been in the room. A pen, though, was not. It was among a list of relatively sharp objects that they weren't going to keep in the same room as Emma--and that was that. They, as in Urikuse, Rebbecca, and Mayako, didn't want to risk Emma trying to do something drastic again, like make the wounds on her wrists larger and more fatal. A pen and a fair amount of willpower would allow someone to do that, though, especially if there were already lacerations to begin with, which could be further opened and dug into with the right tool. Mayako didn't want to think about how thorough Emma had been anymore; Emma knew anatomy, she knew it well. She knew what thresholds flesh, arteries, muscles, fat, bone, and veins could take. They were lucky to have been capable of saving her life.

"Nhhhhh . . ." Mayako tried to keep her groan silent as she stood up again, "Y-yes, we do. Hold on . . . I-I'll get it for you."

Mayako was gone for only a moment, leaving for a minute, and returning with a book in hand with which to write on, paper, and an ink pen. She handed these to Fenix and stood in wait by his bed. If she sat down again, she wasn't going to be getting back up.

"Thank you." Fenix took the paper and pen and leaned back, drawing his knees up so that they were at the same level as his head and setting the paper on them. It was a few moments before he realized that Mayako was still standing there, waiting to see if he needed anything else.

"Ah...I just thought I should write a letter and tell everyone I'm still alive." It only recently occurred to him to do so, being that he still had trouble accepting that he'd been here for half a year on top of the days he'd been conscious. "It'll be a bit before I finish." His way of letting her know he didn't need anything else.

He just ended up staring at the blank page, though, unsure of what to say. He was a blunt person, and he were talking aloud he'd probably say something along the lines of, "I'm still alive, I'll return as soon as I can," but he realized that wasn't sufficient for a letter.

"I-it's okay," replied Mayako, "I . . . I think I'll go check on some of the other patients while you're busy."

She had to busy herself doing something while Fenix was writing. Ideally, after he was done writing his letter, she'd be able to give it to Rebbecca, she could have it mailed out sometime in the near future, and Mayako would be able to (hopefully) lay down for the rest of the night . . . unless Fenix needed something else.

Mayako wasn't resentful of him requesting something--she was just tired, that was all. When she spoke, she sounded tired, but not upset in the least. This was something she was actually somewhat used to, all things considered. Patients often needed something in the middle of the night, and if she was around to hear, she had to get up and check on them--those patients who were temporary residents, that is. Not many but the elderly, weak, and terribly ill ever stayed in the clinic for some time, and even then, they needed quite a bit of money to pull it off. If they had the cash for it, it was fine.

Nonetheless, Mayako came by every so often to glance in and see if Fenix was done yet before moving on--likely to talk with Rebbecca or some of the patients. There really wasn't much left to do for the day.

For a long time Fenix was silent, just staring at the page. I probably seemed like he was either incredibly dull, but the truth was that he was composing the entire letter in his head before writing any of it down. It looked better that way, if there was nothing crossed out or anything.

In the end, it read:

To Everyone:

I hope this letter finds you well. You're probably wondering what happened to me, but I'm still alive. We ran into some trouble down in Galaens--I was injured. I fell into a coma, and only recently woke up. I'm told it's been several months. I'll need more time to recover, but I'm doing fine. I'll come back as soon as I can.

-Fenix

He decided not to mention Zach at all in the letter, because he didn't know what happened to him and didn't want to worry about them. For all he knew, he was up there waiting for him to return as well, and would end up reading the letter aloud to everyone and probably making fun of him. And if he wasn't...well, that would be his mission after he made sure they were doing fine.

The handwriting wasn't the best ever, if only because he still lacked the coordination for precision, but it was legible--probably still more so than his mentor's scrawl.

Sighing, he let his posture fall, ready to give the letter and pen to Mayako when she returned.

She dropped by soon after, and found Fenix having finished his letter and waiting for her. Mayako approached the bed and stopped by his side, examining the letter with her head tilted to the side before she accepted it.

Mayako didn't read the letter--that would've just been a blatant invasion of privacy. She was a bit curious about it, though. Fenix had people that cared about him, or people he cared about, but they were absent for the entirety of his treatment here in Hillcrest. Well, he was supposedly a "John Doe" with a name--or, rather, a "Mr. Black." That's all they had on him, and couldn't find anyone to contact--so Mayako assumed. So, him going out of his way to contact someone grasped her interest. The letter, folded up, was gently taken from him, as was the pen. Maybe if he lived far away, she could send him a letter? Maybe . . . ask him how he's doing, check up on his health and the like. She didn't have anyone to write letters to, because all those she knew were in this village, or indisposed.

"I-if you don't m-mind me asking . . ." Mayako started worriedly, "Wh-who are you sending a letter to . . .?"

"The children back at the church," he replied. He realized after a moment that it was rather vague, so he considered how to explain. His was pretty far removed from the kind of life Mayako seemed to know, Theleaus aside.

"My home's up in an old church in the Uncharted Territories," he explained, "though I spend most of my time traveling. We actually don't get postal service up there, so it's addressed to a town on the northern border of this country where they'll check."

"The kids there are all orphans. They're mostly self-sufficient now, but the extra income we make goes their way." While some might have said might have bragged about this in a see-how-noble-I-am kind of way, and most would have been at least a little proud of themselves, Fenix simply stated it as a fact.

It was perhaps because Fenix did not boast his kindness that Mayako was impressed. Emma didn't seem to care either way, and, in fact, may not have even been listening at all. Her nose was in her book, and both Fenix and Mayako were tuned out. Mayako, on the other hand, was intrigued.

"W-wow! You really take care of orphans like that . . .?" Mayako asked--quite impressed.

For the moment, she completely forgot about the fact that her legs hurt, or that she needed to go give Fenix's letter to Rebbecca before she starts to wind down and get ready for sleep (though, that still wouldn't be for a few hours). Mayako was more interested in Fenix, now; she didn't know anyone that took care of orphans, and quite frankly, she appreciated it more now that she was in a vaguely similar situation. She and Emma both. The only reason they weren't out on the street was because of the Tsukimonos; Emma, for example, didn't have the money to afford this, but they were keeping her there anymore.

Unable to help herself, she asked: "How long have you been doing that?"

"Ah, well..." Fenix looked away from her as a hint of red rose to his cheeks. He stated it the way he did because he didn't think he deserved any special recognition for it. Given his background, how could he refuse to help them if he could?

Recovering, he turned to face Mayako again. "There's enough older kids that they can mostly take care of themselves--they grow a lot of their own food. But we've been helping them for...four or five years now, I think?" He wasn't quite sure off-hand...living the way he did, he didn't really mark calendars or keep any kind of schedule. "Maybe six," he thought aloud, remembering he'd been out of action for half a year.

He felt too embarrassed at the thought that she thought he was somehow noble or better for this, though. "It's not much, though...if they weren't staying at the church I grew up in, I probably wouldn't be helping them," he explained.