Chapter 1: The Big News

Hey everybody! I just wanted to thank all of you who may have read my last story. It is a work in progress and I am sorry it is taking me this long to update it. Now, here is my second story for you all, titled An Unexpected Recovery. This story is set just ahead of the anime Mother's Rosario arc; basically, I am changing events from the light novel. Therefore, I suggest that if you have not yet read the light novel, do NOT read this story. This story contains SPOILERS regarding the series, although I will be changing the light novels path a little. As always, if you like this story, please review any suggestions as to how you want it to go, and favorite and/or follow as you see fit. Well, now that I have finished my little rant, I give you the story. ENJOY!

The year was 2026. Yuuki had received word no more than four months ago that there was no hope for her, that she had six more months to live; that the AIDS virus would take hold of her physical body and kill her in just six months. Upon hearing that news just 4 months ago, all she could do was cry out her sorrows. Her mom and dad had passed away just two years ago, and her sister had passed just last year form that same disease. Now truly alone, she didn't know what to think about the last 6 months of her life.

At first, she thought things would get better. She thought she could surpass the disease, and that she would be able to live in peace someday. Then, people found out she was infected. Shouts of hate and disgust began to fly her way, and soon enough, she began to gradually get worse. By March of 2025, she was sent to the hospital for treatment and care. Later on, she was introduced to the virtual reality and VRMMORPG's. The doctors said that this would help her get her mind of things and to relax. So she played.

By the second month of hospitalization, she had delved deep into those immersive worlds. She had met new people and seen so many amazing things. In fact, she got to the point that she didn't want to leave those worlds. She wanted to stay in them foreve.r, because in those worlds, she wasn't ill. She wasn't struggling for her life in those worlds. She was strong and healthy, and was becoming even stronger even though her own physical body became weaker.

Then, that fateful day came. Yuuki remembered it exactly. October 10, 2025.

One of the lead doctors came in to Yuuki's room while she was eating lunch. A ham sandwich with cheese and an apple along with some orange juice was all she was given, but for her, it was delicious. The doctor got closer to her bead, which had her full dive device, the MediCuboid, hanging just above it. "Yuuki... there's something we need to tell you. Something important," said the doctor.

Yuuki stopped eating, and looked up at the doctor. "Sure, what's up?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"Well... I don't exactly know how to put this... your family got killed not that long ago by the same disease that afflicts you now, and well... I don't exactly WANT to tell you this... ummm..." stammered the doctor.

"Oh, geez, will you just say it already!" said Yuuki, frustrated that the doctor was in the room.

"Well... based on some tests that we have conducted over the time you have been here, we have concluded that... well... you aren't going to make it," the doctor explained.

"Wait, what are you talking about?! Spit it out!" shouted Yuuki in shock.

"Yuuki, based on our results, we conclude that you only have six more months to live," finished the doctor.

Yuuki just sat there in shock. She had always imagined that she would leave the hospital happy and healthy. That she would be taken care of and cured some day. But all she got was six more months. Six more lousy months in the hospital. "When did you determine this, doctor?" asked Yuuki.

"Just last night, as we were looking at some tests that we conducted over the course of your stay," the doctor explained, "We determined that at the rate the virus is affecting your body, it will completely take hold and kill you in six months time."

Yuuki was in despair. She didn't know what to think. It was as if all her hopes and dreams had gone down the drain. In an instant, that sadness turned into rage.

"Get out," said Yuuki.

"Excuse me?" asked the doctor.

"I said GET OUT! OUT, OUT, OUT, GET OUT!," Yuuki screamed. She was mad. All her dreams were not going to come true. She would be confined to the hospital until the day she died. The doctor backed off and got near the door.

At that moment, Yuuki wanted to fly. She wanted to soar and get away from this hospital and her life. She wanted to live free of the disease and grow up a normal student. She slowly curled up into a sitting ball, desperately trying to hold back the tears. "Why can't I live like a normal kid? Why do I have to suffer?" thought Yuuki.

The doctor near the door witnessed that she was slowly shedding tears. He saw her pain, her anguish at being trapped in this situation. Then, she felt someone give her a hug. She hadn't even realized that she was curled up with her knees close to her chest and tears rolling down her eyes. When she turned to where she felt the hug, she saw the doctor there with her.

Looking at him do that, she started to cry even more. Not because of her situation or because of the news, but because she had someone to be there with. Through the night, he stayed with her, watching her sleep peacefully.

As Yuuki thought about that day, she got more and more depressed. She finally decided to stop and go back online.

Lately she has been going online a lot. Maybe it was because, deep down, she hoped to be like that person online: strong, healthy, and living out her life in peace. As she thought about these things, she lay down on her bed and brought down her full dive device, the Medicuboid, near her head. The device was about the size of a medium watermelon, yet somehow light. It looked like a newer version of the Amusphere, except with a part that shields the top part of her skull. The thing also functioned like an Amusphere. So after she decided on what game to play, she laid down on the gurney, put on the device, and shouted, "Link Start!"

A bright white light shined and it seemed as though she was sucked in. Then all of a sudden, she got a message in the corner of her screen. "Oh, great, now what's up," Yuuki wondered. The message read, "Yuuki, Big News for YOU. As soon as you log in, log back out so we can tell you all the details! Signed, Doctor Lawrence." "Hmm, that's odd. What could he mean", Yuuki wondered.

She did as the doctor told her. As soon as she entered her in-game avatar, she opened her main menu and logged out. As soon as she logged out and removed her MediCuboid, she saw the face of the head doctor, Dr. Lawrence. He was a short, muscular man in his late twenties with a little goatee just beneath his lower lip. He had on a white coat and an ID badge pinned to his coat's lapel. "Hey, Yuuki, how have you been faring?" he asked.

"Well, I could be running around and playing with other kids, if that's what you mean'" Yuuki responded sarcastically.

"Now, now," Dr. Lawrence said, "No need to get all fussy when we have such good news to give you!"

"So, what is this 'good news'," Yuuki asked.

"Well, based on your condition," Dr. Lawrence began, "The team that looks over you, along with myself, have agreed to begin treatment with an experimental cure that we have just developed," the doctor finished ecstatically.

At first, Yuuki didn't know what to think. "An experimental cure? What is he saying," Yuuki thought. Then, it hit her. "A chance to get out of here. To be rid of the virus and to live freely among other kids!" Yuuki was in shock. Tears began to stream down her face because she couldn't hold them back. A chance to be free and to live the way she wanted to live was all she wanted.

"Treatment will begin tomorrow at around 8 AM. You better be ready," Dr. Lawrence said with a smile. As the doctor's exited, with Dr. Lawrence at the rear, Yuuki whispered, "Thank You, Dr. Lawrence." Dr. Lawrence just smiled in response. This may be the longest night of her life, but it would be worth it in the end, because she would get treatment that may very well help save her life.