"Among the casualties are N-1 Grand Prix Runner up Hikari Netto-" there was a click as the T.V. was turned off. An uncomfortable shift was accomplished as the small body lay down amongst the sheets. The sharp clatter of the remote rang out as it was dropped unceremoniously onto an eerily bare nightstand. Another rustle traveled through the room as the occupant of the bed rolled over to escape the blank screen. Well he tried to anyway. The cast encasing the bedridden boy's leg was large and clunky at best, as it ran from the sole of his foot to the top of his knee.

"-Closed segmental break along the Tibia; .2 subgroup, Fibula broken in spiral wedge.
-Physical Therapy Recommended"

There was a grunt, then silence. Watching the scene from the top of his PET, Rockman half expected the brunette to sigh. No such thing was done, although the action could have been implied for all the melancholy that hung in the air. It would have been nice to talk, or at the very least turn the television back on. Normally, rotting one's brain out with programs of notorious wrong-doers, car chases and cardboard cutout heroes was very low on Rock's list of 'Things to allow my netOp to do' It was somewhere around the 'Letting him cook' area. But now…it was a bit different. For the moment, the noise would have been welcome. It was a shame that visitor hours were over, the navi mused, because then there would have been someone to share the awkwardness of the situation with him.

It saddened him to think that being in the same room as Netto had become awkward.

But, at least the room itself was nice. It was bland, boring, dull, uninteresting and unexciting, but quaint nonetheless. A potted plant stood at attention on the windowsill, a clock ticked silently in a corner of the room, and the aforementioned TV sat patiently across from the single bed. It was all very…white. But white was still a nice color (shade?), a healing color, a peaceful color…and it was the same color that Netto had been when they reached him.

"Traumatic Bleeding on left forearm; caused by laceration along ulnar vein. Emergency Tourniquet applied at 2:06AM by Ijuin Enzan. Removed at 2:58AM by Kishi Shunsuke. Blood Transfusion begun-"

Well…perhaps more of an ashen color. He wasn't quite sure. Whatever the case, the cause was still then same. First, it had been the situation. Then, it was the blood. Or had it been the other way around? How embarrassing, he'd been so positive of it just a moment ago, and now he actually wasn't sure. He'd been too busy worrying, pacing and pleading, to really pay attention as to whether reality had set in before the blood loss or not. But that was missing the whole point! Yes, the main point. The point that he should have been grateful for. The point that ruled out all others. The point that Netto was here now, was receiving care now, and was more of a healthy color now. That was what mattered. It was trivial that he wasn't quite the same as he'd been, Netto would get there. Slowly but surely, he would get there all the same. Rock had enough faith in his friend for that much.

Although, Rockman still would have felt better if there had been a way around the stress. Post-traumatic stress was a natural occurrence in cases like this. There was nothing to worry about. No abnormalities to obsess over. …Or so he'd been told. The blue navi's opinion was still wavering on the matter. On one hand, the doctor knew what he was talking about. He hadn't gone to graduate school to screw up his representation of statistics. But on the other hand…

…well…it was Netto.

Call him conceited, but his Netto-kun was different from all those other children in the ward. Rock couldn't place his finger on the exact reason (and he doubted he ever would) but he was sure that Netto was different. He was positive. How many other fifth, well, eighth now, graders had taken down a net mafia? Much less multiple ones. If Netto could cross fuse, repel a dark aura, break free of a parallel reality on memories alone and still manage to find time to be with his friends, Rockman didn't doubt that he could come over the shock of a few wounds.

Yuuichiro had said the same thing. The blue navi had pointedly looked elsewhere as the graying doctor had given the brunette father one of those looks. The kind where you wanted to tell the truth, but knew you'd regret it later. Later, Rock would dismiss this tidbit of memory as nothing more than his overactive creation banks supplying his processes with one too many melancholy scenarios. He'd probably end up sharing this anecdote with Netto, who would then ceaselessly poke fun at him for the rest of the day.

He…missed that.

"Netto-kun" he couldn't control the impulse, couldn't suppress the urge. It was just a whim, he wanted to hear a voice. He wanted to hear a specific voice. Not the pitying tone of the nurses, not the detached manner held by the doctors, not the driving interrogations of the police; He wanted…But Netto needed his rest, needed his quiet! …he didn't need his navi making things worse. Netto couldn't…he didn't want to…speaking was just…just what? It still just wasn't right that Rock had drawn attention to…Netto didn't need to be reminded…

"Netto-kun" it was more forceful now. No, he needed to stop it! But Netto really did...did what? He really…he really did need the help. This was supposed to be one of those things that you couldn't do by yourself, right? Right? Of course, he admonished himself. He was going to help!

"Ne-" 'Help…' he stopped.

He…couldn't help. No matter how much he wanted to…Rockman suddenly remembered that he couldn't help. The death of a human was something…different. Even the death of a human he didn't particularly know. The death of a human that Netto hadn't even particularly known…not for long at least. He couldn't seem to comprehend…he couldn't quite figure out how this one loss, a loss of a person pretty much unknown, could affect his netOP this much. Perhaps...perhaps it was the fact that there was more than one human. The loss of more than one human, that might have been the reason. But still...Rock didn't quite know the answer. And he wanted to know why he didn't know.

Maybe it was just his programming.

Navis and programs couldn't be killed. They could be deleted, corrupted, zipped, fragmented, moved, copied and much more…but they weren't killed. If nothing else, they stuck around the undernet and made a nuisance of themselves. No matter if he was Saito, no matter if he was based off the DNA of a long-dead human, no matter that he himself could easily possess memory data pertaining to his own (Saito's, he corrected himself quickly) death, despite all that, he was still a NetNavi who was unable to imagine a sudden gap which was the loss of a human life.

And up until now, it had been a topic that had eluded Netto as well.

"Netto-kun" it was quiet, and not meant any ears but Rock's own. It was there just to reassure the blue navi, just to make sure that he remembered that his NetOP was there, to remind him that despite this tinge of mortality that had been imposed upon his musings, Netto was still alive.

To lose Netto…that would have been one thing. That would have been…devastating. It would have…have been…he didn't dwell on it. But all the same…he would have been able to grasp why it felt wrong to have a gap. It would have been processed by his .EXE files and accordingly dealt with by the proper mirror of human emotion that his AI (and a hint of DNA he supposed) allowed.

But Netto was still here. With him. Alive. He wasn't the one with the white sheet over him. Wasn't one of the ones that Rock was struggling to understand the death of, wasn't one of the ones that had left behind a grieving family. And despite however pale he was, despite the bandages and bruises, despite the fact that he refused to talk…

He was there. And that was what mattered.

Anyway…originally this was supposed to be a one-shot, but now I've got a whole backstory about how Netto ended up in the hospital, why Rock is obsessing about death, etc, in my head, so more chapters coming. Anything to make this angsty and drama-y pile of...something better would be much appreciated. Although, thanks for reading even this far.

…and please feel free to correct me on my medical-diagnosing…I'm just a high-school student with an internet connection :P

(and about Saito, sorry, couldn't resist. This is anime-based however. Just go with 'Saito exists, but Netto doesn't know')