'Something's getting in the way.

Something's just about to break

I will try to find my place in the diary of Jane.'

-Breaking Benjamin, Diary of Jane

Chapter 5: And There Was a Moment

From the mind of the patient in room 97

"I have a job for you." Maka says.

I lift my head up from the book I'm reading and take a peek at her. She doesn't have her usual 'do what I say or I'll whack you' kind of expression right now. It's more of a 'I honestly need your help with something so don't be an ass' face. She looks worn out and distressed, I can tell she hasn't been sleeping. I haven't been sleeping either. Crona has kept us on our toes since the beginning. It's been a 10 days now since she had arrived that morning. She still doesn't go to the regular sessions yet. I'll see her on occasion though. It's strange, right when I think she's going to open up to me again, she completely shuts down.

I kind of missed her holding my hand.

"What kind of job?" I ask, returning my immediate attention to my book.

She let out a hufff. Maka despises asking for my help. It's not that we hate each other, we just have a bit of a rivalry. I think it started when I first met her and I mentioned that her breast size was drastically below the average. She hit me with a book. Ever since then we both had a tendency to get on each other's bad sides. Also Maka often gets angry with me when I try to improve some of the patients. She uses the phrase "They're fine just how they are!" quite a lot. I suppose she doesn't see things as clearly as I do. If she did, then she could tell that obviously things are not fine.

"Well...we're going to be short on staff for a few days...and...uhhh, I know this is really unprofessional but...We need someone to look after Crona."

At the sound of her name my body tenses up, I'm not sure why though.

"You're asking a patient to supervise another patient?" I ask.

"I know it sounds stupid, but...I know you well enough Kid, to know you wouldn't do anything that stupid. Actually...you'retheolyreponsblewnhrrr."

"What was that?"

"You're the only responsible one here." She mutters.

I grin at the compliment, those were rare with Maka.

"Thank you." I say smugly. "What do you want me to do with Crona?"

Her mood seems to have lightened a bit. She reaches into her breast pocket and presents me with a folded piece of paper. I unfold it to reveal a list, no not a list, a schedule.

This time it is my mood that is lightened.

"I can do it." I say. I simply adore schedules as organized and precise at this one. Each activity has a very specific time slot and a short transition period from one activity to the next. It has several breaks and chunks of time kept aside for Crona to compose herself.

This schedule was a challenge for me, especially considering I would be engaging in each one of the activities with Crona. Crona refused to budge at all if she felt threatened, which was almost always.

Maka beamed at my acceptance to the mission.

"Thank you Kid!" She says. I feel a little bit of satisfaction at her smile. Maka didn't often smile at me. She had a cute smile, it made me think of a little kid in a candy shop.

"Of course. Should I get Crona up in the morning?"

"No I think I could get her up, just be sure to be in her room by around 8:20 okay?"

"Alright."

I wake up right on time in the morning, as always. I go through my routine but this time it isn't Tsubaki that knocks on my door. Nurse Maka is waiting outside once I open it. She places the slip of paper into my hand.

"I'm sure you can follow this. She's getting a bit more used to the routine but she can become stubborn sometimes. Don't push her okay? Just give her space and try to guide her in the right direction."

I quickly skim the list of things for Crona to do today and nod.

"I'll do everything exactly how it should be done. You can count on me."

Maka flashes me a quick smile, then she says:

"Crona is in room 14, near the front. Please knock before you go in."

"Of course." Why wouldn't I? That would be against routine.

She nods, then opens her mouth to say something else but I cut her off.

"It's okay Maka. I'll take good care of her."

She still looks nervous. I can tell she cares a lot about the patient in room 14.

"Right...Just don't do anything stupid! Don't freak her out." She demands.

"I won't." I say this as I'm walking down the hall, toward room 14

I knock exactly eight times on the door, 4 with my right hands and 4 with my left. There's no answer, as expected.

"Crona, it's me Kid." I announce. "I'm coming in."

The door opens and I see Crona sitting in the middle of the room. She's hugging her knees to her chest again and shes...looking right at me. I'm a bit startled at first but her wide eyed stare shifts into a more casual gaze. Her body relaxes just slightly.

Crona raises her hand a bit and her fingers move back and forth. It's probably the most awkward and uncomfortable wave I've ever seen. Despite how unnatural it looks, it's actually very...cute.

I wave back and flash her a smile.

A pink blush tints her cheeks and she quickly looks away.

Again...very cute.

"It looks like you're already dressed." Honestly, I had no idea if she was or not. She was always wearing the same black dress. How would I know if she wore it to bed too?

Thankfully she nodded, clarifying that she was indeed prepared to face the day.

I take a peek at the schedule Maka gave me and read the word written after 'Dress for the day'.

"Did you brush your teeth yet?" I ask her.

She shakes her head.

It's 8:30 now.

The list says 'Dental Hygiene at 8:30'. Absolutely perfect timing!

"Come on then, lets get you cleaned up."

Crona is staying in room 14. It is one of the few rooms that have been specifically designed for...special cases. It is virtually impossible to hurt yourself or anyone else in these. While they're not nearly as empty as the solitary confinement room, they're fairly spacious.

Because Crona is in room 14, there is no sink. So I lead her out and we begin to make our way to one of the powder rooms.

She follow close behind me, and after a few feet, she grabs my hand again. I smile at the familiar feeling. I have to admit, I really missed it. I don't bother turning to look at her, I know she won't face me.

We still have 27 more minutes until the other patients wake up, so I figure there is no harm going into the girls restroom along with Crona. I was told to keep an eye on her at all times after all. Inside, on the second sink from the door, there is a plastic bag with a purple toothbrush inside and strawberry flavored toothpaste. On the bag it is labeled 'Crona' in a black sharpie marker. She walks over to the sink, retrieves her toothbrush, and proceeds to brush her teeth.

Except...she's doing it wrong.

The proper way to brush your teeth is in ten little circles on each tooth! Crona is simply just brushing up and down. Unacceptable!

Before I know what I'm doing I find myself behind Crona and moving my arm around her to steal the brush. Her shoulders tense up and her head turns to a 100 degree angle, trying to look over her shoulder. I use my other hand to push her head back into place, facing forwards.

"Hold still and open your mouth." I say.

Cautiously, she does. I use the bathroom mirror to guide my hand, all the while being careful to keep the sight of my hair blocked by Crona's head in front of me. I shove the brush in her mouth a bit too forcefully and she flinches, letting out a startled whimper.

"Sorry."

Eventually I get the hang of it and I'm able to brush each tooth properly. However...I do make a rather strange discovery.

Crona has 28 teeth in total. There are no wisdom teeth, either because they have not grown in yet or because they were removed. That isn't the strange part though. On her upper jaw, the first molar on the left side is gone. On her lower jaw the second molar on the left side is gone as well. It is very unlikely that these teeth just decided not to grow.

They were pulled out.

I cringe at the image and then remove the brush from Crona's mouth.

"All done. You may spit now."

She still has a very frightened and confused expression on her face, there's a bit of toothpaste on the side of her mouth which both annoys me and humors me.

She spits into the sink and then I wipe the remainder of toothpaste off her mouth with a napkin.

"There, that wasn't so bad."

Crona gives me a looks that suggests she disagrees with me.

8:40 and I'm attempting to get Crona to eat breakfast...Attempting. Maka had a pre-made meal for her in the room. It consisted of grapes, a yogurt cup, a slice of toast with jam, and orange juice in a thermos.

We both sit cross legged on the floor with the meal neatly arranged symmetrically (courtesy of myself) on a plate. She stares at the meal with a pained expression, like the food is mocking her or something. The room has become excruciatingly silent. I never cared for the silence of the hospital. I don't like loud noises any more, but silence, along with nothingness, is something that seems to pull me from reality. It's unpredictable and dangerous. I don't like it.

So I break it.

"You must eat. It's healthy to have a good breakfast each morning. Here,"

I pick up her untouched plastic fork and stab one of the grapes. I bring it to her mouth and say "Open please."

She shakes her head and brings both hands to hide her mouth. I notice she's trembling slightly. Sighing, I place the fork back down.

"Why not?"

"She'll be mad."

The sound of her voice startles me. I wasn't aware Crona had begun to speak again. It was nice to hear her voice once more, though the tone was dark and somber.

"Who? Nurse Maka?"

She quickly shakes her head again.

"Then who? Crona no one will be angry with you."

"No no! Don't lie to me!" She speaks a little louder this time and her body shakes a little more with every word.

I hold up my hands in defense, hoping that she will see I'm not any threat to her. "I promise you are in no danger. I promise."

Crona is shaking violently now. She pulls her legs closer and hides her head. She's shutting down again.

Now I get a bit more worried. I decide that asking her questions won't do any good so I settle on trying to comfort her.

"Crona," I say, keeping my voice stern but calm. She lifts her head ever so slightly to the sound of her name.

The next move I make is risky. It can either have a good outcome or a horrible one. Slowly, very slowly, I bring my hand to her face to touch her cheek.

Just like how she did when I first encountered her.

My fingers just graze her skin before gently resting on it. My hand molds to cup her cheek. Her pale skin feels soft, it's nice. No blemishes or scars or anything to disrupt her pureness. For a second I forget my original intention. Quickly I'm brought back to it and look her in the eyes.

"You're safe. No one is going to hurt you okay? I will protect you."

Her eyes become watery with tears, but this time I have a feeling it's not from fear. I think...I think she's actually happy. I feel a tight grip around my wrist and I notice she's holding on to me.

When the tears start to fall she turns her head down but her grip tightens.

"Crona?"

"There was a moment." Her voice cracks and she pauses, taking in a breath. "There was a moment I felt safe. When y-you said...You said..Y-Y-" She begins sobbing now, honestly I'm a bit shocked.

I know how incredibly difficult it is to get these "moments". For me it's moments of control, moments of content, moments where I can actually breath before my compulsions take control of my life once again. Even if it's just a moment, it still means that control, safety, freedom, it all exists. There is a way out of our suffering, we were just given a small taste of what it's like. These moments are sacred, they are reminders to keep going. They are hope.

I wonder how long it was since Crona had a "moment".

It takes a few minutes, but soon enough Crona calms down and lets go of my arm. I remove my hand.

She wipes her eyes with her sleeve and places her hands in her lap.

"T-thank you." She says, a light blush tinting her cheeks. "It..it was nice." And then I witness the smallest, most humble little smile I have ever seen. It must be the tiniest smile in existence, but it's still there.

The tiny gift has me beaming.

"Of course. I'll always be here." I pause for a second, then repeat my previous words: "I will protect you."

Her eyes open a little wider and her blush turns a little darker.

Her smiles grows a little wider.

And I know I've done something right.

A/N: I know I'm a jerk. This came out WAY too late and I'm really sorry about that. I wish I had a better excuse other then writers block but honestly that's all I've got. I'm going to try to get up the next chapters on time but things have just been kinda hectic recently. Ugh I'm really really sorry guys. I hope none of you gave up on this story. Sorry x_x

Anyway I hope this chapter and the next one makes up for it at least a little bit.

One other thing: I've been craving to RP lately. I haven't done that in years and I'd like to do it again for fun. I'm hoping it will exercise my creative mind a bit more to prevent future writers block. I'd like to do some Soul Eater RPing, I don't really care if it's with OC's or canon characters, but I'd like to have some fun with you guys down in the forum part of :3 SO if anyone is willing to RP with me please say so in the reviews and give me a forum to follow.

I need more internet friends anyway :P

Again, I'm really sorry. Reviews are much appreciated, even though I'm a jerk and don't deserve them.