Super short chapter about Kyuubi's night in the ICU.

Kyuubi realized at some point in time that he just was. He was immersed in darkness as far as the eyes could see, not knowing where he was or when. It felt like he was floating in an abyss, in-between a black hole and vertigo.

Kyuubi didn't know why, but he suddenly felt pressured, as if he was drowning in the darkness, wanting air and being denied it. His entire being thrummed with pain, although it felt distant and encompassing.

Something was coming in the dark, he could feel it.

There was no way out of the vast, inky darkness, it had become him. As time progressed (seconds, minutes, hours?) Kyuubi felt like the darkness was crushing him under its weight and drowning him. He fought to bring his head above the metaphorical water of his existence, but the harder he tried the further he sunk.

He was panicking, what was happening to him?

There was a blinding white light, a shock… and then he ceased to exist.

********SaSuNaRu********

The monitors beeped loudly from the ECG machine hooked up to Kyuubi Uzumaki in the ICU. The alarm caused a small button to light up at the nurse's desk on the ward. She paged the Doctor before running towards the cause of the problem. As she ran, the Doctor rounded the corner and joined her a moment later

"Anna, who is it?" the man in his white lab coat askd while they rushed to their destination.

"Machine twenty one, the patient is Kyuubi Uzumaki, Doctor Kuro."

They ran up to the patient to notice he was going into cadiac arrest.

"Get the defibrillator!" Doctor Kuro shouted.

The patient machine gave the rate at which the patient's heart was beating and the pressure, he realized it was a case of ventricular tachycardia; Kyuubi's heart was beating too fast. While the woman went to get and prep the machine, he performed CPR on the patient, compressing his chest and breathing into his mouth while blocking his nostril at intervals. Kyuubi's eyes were rolling back into his head while his body stiffened.

Anna arrived a moment later and set things in place.

Doctor Kuro took the shock pads from the nurse. He quickly looked back at the machine at Kyuubi's heart rate…

"His BPM is seventy five per minute and rising. Blood pressure is one fifty two over one twenty. Is he ready?"

The Doctor looked back to see Kyuubi's gown was opened and his chest was revealed. He paid no mind to the c-section scar above the pelvis, he was the one to remove the fetus.

"Ready Doctor," Anna said.

"Clear!"

Doctor Kuro then put the shock pads on Kyuubi's chest, one over his right breast and the other under his left. There was a low explosion type sound and he immediately pulled the pads back. He looked back at the machine when all the graphs became one straight line. Kyuubi's heart had stopped.

"He's flatlined, Doctor," Anna pointed out. By right, the defibrillator depolarizes a critical mass of the heart muscle, terminates the arrhythmia, and allows normal sinus rythm to be reestablished by the body's natural pacemaker, in the sinoatrial node of the heart. It was doing its job, shutting it down so the heart could restart normally.

Doctor Kuro looked at the woman. "Ready again?"

She looked at the machine to make sure it was charged to send the next volt through Kyuubi's upper body. "Ready."

"Clear!"

Once again the pad was placed on Kyuubi's chest and a therapuedic jolt of electricity was applied. Doctor Kuro looked back at the machine, fearing the worst. Normally, if a patient didn't recover after the first shock with the defribillator, then their chances of waking up after that lessened greatly.

Two shocks and Kyuubi Uzumaki was still flat-lining. His long red hair, now limp and dry, framed a face too pale for comfort.

"Ok, once more, Anna. If he doesn't make it after this, we'll write up his death certificate and send him to the morgue."

Anna, not knowing the man's family but remembering them from the day before, prayed that Kyuubi would make it. His family, especially his brother (he introduced himself on his first visit), did not look like he would be able to take the news. He was most shaken out of all who visited, him and the tall haired, petite police officer. She silently prayed in her head for a better outcome for their sakes.

"Ready."

"Clear!" Doctor Kuro shouted before applying the defibrillator once again.

Suddenly, Kyuubi's eyes widened and he gasped loudly, filling his lungs after it stopped working for about a minute. His back arched off the bed before his head hit the pillow limply.

Doctor Kuro looked at the machines that went from flatlining to having a steady cursive run, indicating his patient's vital signs.

"Well, back from the dead. He's a lucky one, isn't he?" the man chuckled.

Anna's heart swelled and she smiled broadly. "I'm really happy he made it."

Doctor Kuro sighed in relief before administering an anti-arrhythmic drug to decrease the likelihood of another abnormal rhythm of Kyuubi's heart beat. He watched as the man slipped back into unconsciousness, then he readjusted his clothes. He then administered a sedative to make sure the young man remained asleep. Anna returned the defibrillator machine while he put an oxygen mask over the red head's face. He then looked at his IV bag to make sure that things were flowing normally.

Anna returned a moment later.

"He'll be alright now Anna. You can return to your post, but keep an eye out for this one just in case," Doctor Kuro instructed.

Anna nodded then walked away, happy she wouldn't be delivering any sad news to any family member tonight.

/tbc