The squad car pulled up into the parking lot and Eileen got out. "We're here..." She mumbled, shooting an angry glare to the gangsters every now and then.

He glared angerly. His shoulder pulsating and bleeding the bullet still in his shoulder he let out a small whimper as a sharp pain soared through his body. He was only 17 years old.

Kakashi:Suck it up nejiHe hissed.

"They can wait." He huffed under his breath, while struggling out of the car. He was livid at the thought that Kakashi wouldn't be staying in jail long, so he wasn't about to let him see the doctor before he was treated.

The officer limped towards the main door, then staggered into the hospital. There were some traces of blood on his face, and a particularly nasty bruise along the side of his head. But aside from getting punched and kicked, it was his foot that needed care. A knife had peirced through his shoe and was embedded a good inch and a half into the center of his foot.

With the swift effciency born of her trade, a salt-and-pepper haired lady made her way toward Ryan, infamous white coat trailing behind her. Her voice was polite but somewhat bruque and business-like as she spoke to him. Well then... back again, Officer Sohmers? I always thought the boys in blue took care of their own better than this. She herself had never treated Sohmers, but she'd heard about his many visits here, and had also heard that he was one member of the police force that was at least half-way honest. So she gave him a soft smile and signalled to a nurse, who began to show the way into an exam room.

Through the pain, he managed a vague but not all-to-happy smile, "Yeah, I wish it were that way." There was a sarcastic scoff to his tone as he openly spoke out against the ACPD. If the force wasn't so corrupt, Kakashi would still be in jail, and he wouldn't have ended up back here.

Ryan followed after the nurse now, using the wall as a brace. When he reached the room, he sat down on the table, muttering under his breath, "Damned ninjas..." If anything, he could at least be thankful that the gang didn't use guns; bullets were much harder to dodge than swords and knives.

There was so much hustle and bustle at hospitals, that Ghost tended to stay away from them. Nurses everywhere, many of them freaking out over something or another. Shaking her head, the albino woman made her way through the hospital on silent feet. It was eerie, how she made no sound, that and the way those red eyes would drift this way and that, taking in others and measuring them with one look. She looked young, 19 at most. But in reality, Ghost, Or Ivy, as her real name is, was 21. She was sported a cut in her leg, a little one that only needed a few stitches, but she figured she'd get it looked at since it had been a rusty nail that had done the trick.

She passed a room, halted, and backed up a few steps to look inside again. She walked right into the room, and leaned against the wall with her eyes on Ryan's foot. Now thats something you don't see everyday. Her voice. Oh god, her voice. It was like music. Those red eyes lifted to Ryans, and she smiled. Taunting. A Devil may care sort of smile. Ghost. Killer of the Mindless, destroyer of the evil. Well, sort of. She herself wasn't so good.

A distant numbness was beginning to creep ever so subtly into his conscious as the adrenaline faded away. The throbbing, radiating pain was catching up to him, and his mind was shifting towards the affects of shock. Just the sight of the bloodied knife sticking up from his shoe was enough to turn his stomach. At least it wasn't sticking out of his abdoment, like his previous encounter with Kakashi.

Ghost's initial passing hadn't been noticed by the officer, as his attention began to grow less accute. But the lyrical quality of her voice snapped him from the stupor of shock, and he looked vaguely in the killer's direction. It took a moment for Ryan to register exactly what he was seeing; this woman was at once frightening as she was stunning and beautiful in her own way. The eyes... those eyes were so striking against such a pale and hueless face! Ryan glanced briefly to his impaled foot when she mentioned the injury, then back to her. "You must not be from around here, then." He quipped back with a wry, half-hearted grin.

She smiled, and her eyes lit up with laughter. No, certainly not. I Move to much to stay anywhere. She said softly to him. She knew how to work her voice to her advantage, and her looks as well. Her slightly slanted eyes lowered, as did her head, causing her cascade of silvery white hair to fall partially into her face before she glanced up. Are you from around here, Officer? She had moved to Atroe City to get away from cops, from the high life. But.... This cop..... Something drew her to him. Like a moth to a pretty flame.

Never before had he seen such ghostly white hair, and never before did he imagine that he could find a spark of attraction to such an unusual-looking lady. That voice, for one, was just as special as her snowy features. "I live not to far from here, actually. On the west side of town." Was he bragging? Maybe... though it didn't really matter, since Ghost didn't know of the differences between West and East Atroe. "What brought you to this place?" Ryan asked next, finding that talking was a great distraction from the blade, and what ever the nurse might be doing to remove it.

The nurse began to bustle efficiently about the room, eyes going briefly to Ghost as she came in, but not expelling her when it became clear that she was neither getting in the way nor bothering the patient. Just as she managed to get out everything they would need, Dr. Marachek entered the room, instantly going down on one knee to examine Ryan's foot and determine what sort of damage the knife had done.

The arrival of the doctor made it hard for Ryan to focus solely on Ghost now. He gave a nervous laugh as he forced himself to turn his eyes back onto the blade, "Damn crazy new gang we have; at least they don't use guns." Moving his leg slightly, Ryan gritted his teeth against the pain as all the 'humor' drained from his face. Truthfully, he was scared. Terrified. Never had he been the blatent target for assassination before.

The tounge of his black tennis shoes had done well to buffer most of the knife's momentum. The blade had went in an inch and a half, slicing neatly between two of the long bones of the foot. It was mostly just muscle damaged, but it hurt like hell.

She moved silently again, and god that silence was just as mysterious as the girl herself, and she sat next to Ryan. She stared at the knife a moment, tilted her head and smiled. It does give some fascinating details about its user though. She murmered softly. She pointed at his foot and said to him Japanese orgin, the user isn't very good at wielding it. Even if you did dodge it and get out of the way, one must know to anticipate such things so therefore it would have been wiser to throw two blades at one time. She said to him, then a slight dusting of red colored her cheeks. Sorry. You probably didn't want to hear that. Um..... I'm Ghost. Whats your name? Or would you like me to just call you officer? She teased him slightly, hoping to take his mind and eyes off the pain.

Her brow creased in though as she began to think about how they were going to do this. With the tennis shoe on, it was very difficult to tell whether the knife had ruptured any major arteries, but she knew she could not take the shoe off the normal way without removing the knife and risking Ryan losing a lot of blood. So, she switched to plan B. Well, Mr. Sohmers, I'm afraid you're going to have to get a new pair of shoes, or else possibly a new bloodflow. I'm sure you'd rather replace the shoes.

With that warning she stood, grunting a little as she heaved her heavyset frame up from the floor, and moved to the counter, where she loaded up several needles with local anesthetic and painkillers before coming back to Ryan. Right, I need you to hold as still as you can. A gesture with the head brought the nurse over, moving to brace the young man's leg with both her hands with the peculiar detachment of the medical proffession. She seemed not to notice that the leg she was holding happened to be attached to a good looking young man. To her, it was just a limb. Amazing.

Giving Ryan a moment to brace himself, she folded down the tongue of the shoe as far as it would go and began to inject the medications, moving to a four-beat rhythm so that the nurse would know when to brace it.

Starting to feel a little sick to his stomach at this point, Ryan was glad to have Ghost to help occupy his attention. A faintly paler face was turned back to look at the ashen lady again, "He was fascinating alright." Ryan huffed sarcastically, picturing the spikey white-haired man with his bizarre clothing and array of shiny weapons. "You know a lot about these kind of weapons then?" He added next, an idea sparking in his mind - she could possibly be of assistance to him later. He'd have to get her name, maybe her number, ask her out to dinner later...

It was with happy surprise that she gave out her name without him asking. "Ryan." The officer replied with a returned smile. And then the fun was over, as he listened to Dr. Marachek. "A new pair of shoes doesn't sound all too bad." He gave a weak attempt at a laugh as his hazel eyes drifted towards the blade again. Oh, now he really felt nauseous...

Hands gripped the edge of the table tightly, so that his knuckles began to pale white. His face contorted briefly with each injection, testifying to the pain each one caused. Now, he was really beginning to hate that stupid Kakshi fellow!

Her sharp eyes caught his paling face, and, without looking up, she raised her voice to that tart, feirce note of people who are used to others minding them. Stop looking at it, Mr. Sohmers. If you pass out on me, I'll have to keep you here overnight. Now stop it. Short, straight, and to the point. No nonsense, that was Dr. Marachek. She finished injecting the medicines, and flicked the foot gently at the site to set them to working a little faster.

Giving the foot a moment to numb, she began to gather together all the tools she would need. In a trice, she had the shoe sawed off, the sock cut away, and now that she could see no major veins had been ruptured, she was ready to remove the blade. Hold him. This soft word was sent to the nurse, and Laura braced her free shoulder against the upper part of Ryan's leg, counting slowly... she had to wait until the young officer relaxed, or the force of the blade coming out would damage the muscles beyond repair, possibly leaving him crippled. No, she began to count, silently, slowly... then, finally, she reached 27, a random number, but one all the staff at the hospital used for this type of situation. At a consensus, both nurse and doctor pushed Ryan's leg hard against the exam table, not giving the young man time to react as Dr. Marachek lifted the blade out of the foot.

Gauze! was the immediate order, and as if by a miracle, gauze was placed in her hand. This was pressed tightly against the wound, so tightly that it would surely have caused a great deal of pain if she hadn't numbed the foot. As it was, he shouldn't be able to feel more than a distant twinge. Lie down, Sohmers. The "mister" was dropped, knowing that officers almost reflexively responded to an authoritative voice using their last name and an order. Regardless of whether he moved, she began to lift his leg so that he would be forced to lie back, moving to elevate the foot and staunch the bloodflow.

Not needing to be told twice, Ryan averted his gaze from the glistening metal and forced himself to look about the room. Then his eyes settled back on Ghost, and he felt a slight flush of embarrassment creep into him, bringing a brief and sheepish smile to his face. He tried to be tough and macho in front of the beautiful lady, but his panic-striken heart and nauseaous stomach were not cooperating. Just as he was trying to think of something funny or witty to say, he heard the doctor's next orders, "Hold him."

At first, Ryan tensed up. And when the counting reached number 'three', he almost flinched. But nothing happened, and the counting continued. Again at 'ten', he tensed up in anticipation, but the blade wasn't removed. Forgetting her previous instructions, the officer looked to the blade again as the counting continued, and his timing couldn't have been worse. 'Twenty-seven....'

"Ohhh..." Now he really didn't feel good. There wasn't much for pain, but the sight of the blade coming out had much the same affect. He was glad for the next order, and readily eased onto his back, closing his eyes tightly for a minute. This made the sickness ebb from his stomach, but it didn't do a whole lot to help his ego.

She ignored his embarrassment, because his health was definitely more important than his ego. So her gravelly voice came as she held his foot aloft. Told you, didn't I? As she began to bandage the foot up, her gaze slid to the nurse, who moved toward him and shoved a glass of water in his hand, making sure he had it firmly clutched before letting it go. Laura's voice came again. Drink slowly, and deep breaths. Do it, Sohmers. Brusque, efficient, and it set oddly against her soft touch as she began to wrap the foot, applying an antibiotic under the gauze before securing it with medical tape. She grabbed up his chart, scribbled a bit, and then left a prescription on the counter. Valerie, stay with him. Don't let him up for ten, and then make sure someone else picks up the meds and drives him home.

The brunette dotted her head to Dr. Marachek, and the middle-aged lady moved toward Ryan, looking him in the eyes. Have a nice life, Mr. Sohmers. And don't come bloodying my hospital again, okay? The words were unfriendly, but the motherly smile on her face made up for it. Ryan was about the same age as her son, Jackson, and he aroused something like exasperated affection in her. With a smile and a gentle pat on the shoulder, she left the room.

Slowly, his eyes opened back up. The queaziness was waning more, but he didn't feel one-hundered percent just yet. His gaze flickered to the doctor as she scolded him, and he closed his eyes once more, "Ughh." Ryan groaned in a simple reply, knowing that she had been right all along. When the glass of water was handed to him, he pushed himself up a little, just enough to take a few sips of water before lying back down.

He hardly felt what was happening to his foot, and he was glad for that. Just a few more minutes, and he could be on his way home again. When the doctor spoke to him again, he gave a wry smile, "I'll try not too." As soon as he said it, a twinge of fear ran down his spine. Kakashi would be in jail for no longer than a night, and then he'd be back out for revenge.

She watched the entire process with morbid fascination, and she waited until the knife was out of his foot and he was laying on his back before she responded. It was hesitant, as if she were picking her words carefully. I know about all weapons. Blades, however, are the most easiest and deadliest to use if you know what it is your doing. She was still lying next to him, and she said softly I can drive you home, if you would like.

There was something... different about Ghost. Not just that she was albino - it was her personality and actions... something that was just a bit different. He couldn't put his finger on it, but whatever it was, it made him at once wary and fascinated. But of course, faced with a beautiful woman, he ignored the faint warning in the back of his mind without a second thought.

His smile returned in full force now as he listened to Ghost talk. "That'd be great if I could get a lift home." Truthfully, he was hesitant to call Natalie. He was worried that the Akatsuki may be waiting for his return, and the last thing he wanted was for his baby sister to get caught up in the crosshairs. Ryan eased himself off of the table now, thankful that his foot was still very much numb. "Sounds like you know alot about weapons. Maybe you can teach me a thing or two about them." He said jokingly, although he honestly wouldn't mind learning how to use some of those melee weapons.

In the distance, Ryan thought he heard the voice of his sister. All that joking, witty light in his eyes drained away in a flash. A dreadful feeling enveloped him, making the previous pain of the knife seem trivial in comparison. "I thought I just heard..." Ryan cut himself off, trying to listen for the voice that he was sure had been Natalie's.

Soon enough, there were a rush of footsteps outside, and it sounded as though they went into the room next to his. Maybe he was just paranoid about her safety, but he was sure he had heard her voice... "Hey, I'll be right back..." Ryan said absently, his brows furrowed with great concern. Standing up slowly, he hobbled out of the door to investigate.