Chapter 60 Injured.

'Shit! My head hurts…'

Sam thought, carefully opening his eyes only to be met with a blurry white world.

"Doctor?"

He heard a familiar voice, however it sounded quiet and distant.

"Commander! he's awake!" Someone else shouted.

"... Th… ree?" The word barely came out of his mouth, but a moment later a shadow loomed over him masking the white background.

"You're in a really bad shape, huh, old man?"

His eyes began to gradually focus and soon he saw the cute face of the young Valkyrie smiling down at him.

"Wha… t's… going…"

"It's better if you don't speak at the moment." Came another voice.

Zero three moved away, letting a white haired woman take her place.

"... A… lice…?"

"For the time being please focus on resting." The commander said with a grave expression. "You can leave the rest to me."

Reassured by the words of the woman he loves, Sam slowly closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

~◇~

The next time he opened his eyes Sam felt much better. His head still hurts, however it subdued a little allowing him to notice the pain throughout his while body.

"What… the hell…"

"Doctor?"

Turning to the right Sam saw the face of his girlfriend, Kurokami Shizuru, as she looked at him with eyes full of concern.

"Shi… zuru…"

"Yes, it's me." She said with a relieved smile.

"What… happened…"

"Don't worry, everything is fine now." The Asian girl said, taking her glasses off to wipe away the tears that began to accumulate. "You were attacked on your way back to your room. Thankfully Ms. Zero Five arrived before it was too late."

Listening to the retelling, Sam began to remember what happened before he lost consciousness. He was on his way back to his room after drinking a little too much. Hearing the rustling of leaves he turned around to check and was hit in the head. Everything after that is gone.

"The… culprit…?"

"... Sadly we have yet to catch them." Shizuru said, her eyes cast down. "According to Ms. Zero Five they were three adult males, however because they had their faces covered have yet to figure out their identities."

"I… see…"

Breaking into a sudden fit of coughs, Sam felt the pain intensify. Shizuro brought a glass of water, lifted his head and helped him drink it. With his thirst quenched he began to feel much better, although hunger struck next and his stomach began to rumble.

"I will peel some apples for you." Shizuru said.

Seeing her warm and caring smile, Sam began to feel another kind of pain.

"Sorry, Shizuru…" he said.

"Hm? What for?" She asked looking a little confused.

"For everything."

The guilt weighing on Sam's heart kept getting heavier and heavier. Seeing the girlfriend he cheated on dutifully taking care of him made him realize how much of a horrible person he is.

"How long… how long was I asleep?" He asked, trying to divert his attention to something else.

"A little over a day." Shizuru said, her eyes on the knife peeling the red apple. "You were in a really bad condition. It took quite some time to get your bones back to how they were."

"Is… that so…"

"Yes. Your injuries have been treated without a problem, however it will take some time before you're able to move."

Medical technology has improved quite a lot in the years that followed the appearance of the Calamities. While it still can't repair humans the same way as the Valkyries, it's still good enough to put them back together into a stable state as long as they haven't been turned into powder.

"Here, Doctor." Shizuru held out a slice of apple and spoke with a smile. "Say a~h."

Though he felt a little embarrassed, Sam closed his eyes and opened his mouth. As he slowly chewed while ignoring the pain in his jaw he kept thinking about his situation and what led to it.

"So… they didn't catch the culprit…" He asked.

"Yes. There is an investigation going on, but we have yet to reach any results." She said before feeding him another slice.

"Well, we know their motive at the very least." He commented before biting.

"Do we?" Shizuru asked.

A few seconds passed as Sam carefully chewed. When he was done he had to struggle through the pain of swallowing which wasn't as strong the second time.

"Well, it obviously has something to do with the Valkyries. Probably some fanatics are angry that I have some authority over the weapons."

"Really? I thought you were just their doctor?"

"Well, I doubt anyone knows this but… you could say I got a little promotion."

"O~h… wait… what?"

The Asian girl stopped working her hands and turned to Sam with wide open eyes.

"It only happened recently, and I still don't know whether it's safe to tell anyone." Sam sighed, feeling the sleepiness return. "I mean, just look at me. This happened even though the commander is the only one who knows."

"You really are in a bad spot, Doctor." Shizuru smiled wryly, feeding him another slice. "Your position isn't as enviable as one would think."

"True…"

"Well, seeing that the Valkyries came to see you multiple times in the past two days, I wouldn't say you're entirely innocent."

Glancing to the side, Sam felt his whole body shudder as saw the raven haired girl smile at the knife in her hand. Noticing his gaze she turned the smile at him before picking another slice of apple and putting it in his mouth.

"Doctar really is such a playboy." She said, slowly pushing the slice with her finger. "Being able to charm even the lifeless weapons. I can see why other men would be angry at you."

"W-what are you talking about, Shizuru?" Sam asked, doing everything in his power to maintain his calm. "You realize that's not possible, right?"

"You said it yourself, didn't you? That the Valkyries are programmed to act the same way humans do when they experience a certain feeling."

"Well…"

"Seeing how worried they were, and the looks they gave you, their feelings are clear." Leaning in toward him, Shizuru whispered in a low voice. "Doctor, are you trying to break the hearts of our precious weapons?"

"Huh?"

"Odin sure is a cruel man. To make them as human like as possible. Did he not consider the ramifications of that decision? Worst of all, he had to go and make all of them female. It's as if he wants to watch the world burn."

"Um, Shizuru, you're starting to sound a little bit wierd?"

"Is that so?" Backing away a little, she smiled at him for a second before closing in and placing her lips on his. The kiss took Sam by surprise. Not that it was unwelcomed, however he felt that there is something off about it.

"Sam…" backing away slowly, Shizuru looked him in the eyes, a warm smile on her lips. "Love is a powerful emotion. You should always be careful of who you fall for, and more importantly, who falls for you."

"Old man! Are you still asleep!"

The strange mood suddenly shattered as the voice of an energetic young girl came in. Zero Three barged into the room, looking livelier than ever. Shizuru went back to her seat before anyone noticed and Sam held a hand to his forehead feeling a sharp headache.

"This is the medical bay. Keep your voice down." He said.

"Ooh! I see you're up already!" Ignoring his statement, the young Valkyrie exclaimed.

"Doctor!"

The next moment two new faces popped up in the room. With a worried expressions, Zero Five and Nine rushed to his side.

"How are you feeling, doctor?" Nine asked.

"I'm sorry, if I was quicker I would've…" Five began apologizing, tears gathering in her eyes.

"I'm fine, and no need to apologize." Sam said with a sigh. "Anyways, what are you doing here?" As if noticing it just then, Sam turned to Shizuru remembering what she said about the Valkyries visiting him.

"The commander gave us permission." Zero Three answered .

"Really?"

"Yes. Those two kept nagging her until she give in. They haven't been doing well in our missions in your absence. Nine even got injured yesterday."

"Three! You shouldn't bother Doctor with such trivial things!"

"Trivial, you say? You call spacing out while facing a C class calamity trivial?"

"Is that true, Nine?" Sam turned to the blond Valkyrie with a stern glare.

"Well, I was so worried…"

Sam found it difficult to believe. The Valkyries' emulated emotions shouldn't be capable of affecting their combat capabilities. A moment of thought told him that there must have been other factors that led to the incident.

"Anyways, since I've been here the whole time how did you get through your examination?"

"The commander took care of it." Zero Three said with a grin. "Old man, someone is able to do your job even though they know nothing about it. Doesn't that make you look useless?"

"Well, I won't deny that."

Sam didn't really care about it, already knowing that Alice is capable of covering up for him if any accidents occurs. That said, he felt an incredible sense of relief remembering that he didn't touch any of the Valkyries before being assaulted. With him not being there to alter the examination results, this incident would've turned out much worse.