'Xia, now would be an excellent time to wake up' I heard Tao's voice somewhere in my subconcious but I didn't want to wake up, I didn't want to be in pain anymore. Just leave me alone.
But my body didn't listen and I opened my eyes anyway.
'Thank God' Tao breathed.
'Where am I?' I asked.
'In the hospital' he replied 'no no don't try and move' he said when I tried to sit up and cringed.
'What the hell happened to me?
'You don't remember? I shook my head.
'Not a thing' I answered.
'You were attacked...bitten...by a ghoul called Kris'
'But how am I here? What do they think happened to me?
'They know what's wrong' he said 'there's been attacks all over the place for ages, hospitals are equipped for dealing with ghoul attacks'
'Oh...okay'
'Do you feel okay?' he asked looking worried.
I nodded but it didn't look like he believed me but he dropped the subject.
'Tao?'
'Hmm?'
'Am I going to be like you now? because of what Kris did?' I asked quietly.
'It's not like that Xia' he said
'Then how does it work?' I said 'I'm scared Tao'
'You don't need to be, it's alright' he sat on the edge of the bed and hugged me 'to tell you the truth, no one really knows how a person becomes a ghoul' he said 'but it's all to do with biology and how you're born so you'll be fine'
'I never liked science in school' I muttered and Tao laughed. It was the first time I'd seen him genuinly happy and I really hoped it would last.

'Xia?' a nurse came in 'oh sorry, I didn't know you still have a visitor'
'It's alright, what is it?' I asked.
'It's good news, you're healing at a good rate'
'Already? what do you mean?' asked Tao.
'Well let's see shall we?' and she slowly removed the dressings and bandages from my neck and shoulder. I cringed in pain as they peeled away 'see almost completely healed up' she smiled.
'How is that possible?' Tao asked.
'It's simple really, when we realised that Xia's injuries were inflicted by a ghoul, it made sense to use that fact to help her, so during the surgery she was injected with extra RC cells in order for her to be able to heal quicker' she said seeming quite pleased with herself 'it also means that Xia will be protected from further injury in the future' of course none of this made sense to me but Tao looked horrifed.
'You did what???'
'What's the big deal?' I asked confused.
'I don't see a problem either, your girlfriend is healed a lot quicker than she would normally'
'I'm not his girlfriend' I muttered.
'Get out' Tao growled to her 'while you still can'
'Tao don't be so rude'
'Leave!!' he shouted and she practically ran out of the room.

'Tao, what's going on? what's wrong with me?
'Hopefully nothing but...' he sighed 'you remember when I said it was about biology on how someone becomes a ghoul?' I nodded 'well the RC cells that that nurse mentioned are how it happens, they build and build until eventually they come out of the body as a kagune'
I stared at him 'are you telling me that turned me into a ghoul?!'
'Hopefully not, hopefully the concerntation they gave you was only enough to heal, not to change you'
'T-tao' I whispered.
'Hmm?' he mumbled and I buried my face in his neck and cried.
'I'm scared' I whispered into his skin.
He my hair 'I know but it's okay, I'll look after you MeiMei'
I looked at him and frowned 'Tao, it's me Xia'
He blinked 'I'm sorry' he said.
'It's okay' I replied 'I know you miss her'
'What I said still stands though, I'll look after you'
'I know you will' I smiled and snuggled back into him.