So apparently his situation was worse than he thought possible.
They stated that he "sustained too much damage to be able to stay conscious" and "In danger of fatal levels of injuries." He didn't exactly pay attention to the nurse as if all her words went into his one ear and went out in the other. Based on what the nurse said others would have thought that he was in a precarious situation, yet in his opinion his wounds were not serious... Although he was the last person anyone should ask. He has been in perilous situations since he was 8.
After she finished her review of his conditions, next entered Heaven Canceller. He was as of yet unsure of the doctor's personality, and he had no idea if he was going to lecture him for coming to hospital so soon after his last stay... Now that he thought about it, he didn't even last 24 hours.
"How is she?" He asked him before the doctor could have the chance to speak. "I hope she is in much better shape than I am."
The doctor took a glance at his clipboard.
"She only received minor scratches. A day in hospital should be fine. You, on the other hand, won't survive much longer if you continue to receive these kinds of injuries." He gave Haru a gentle yet reproaching glance. "You somehow managed to avoid messing up the wires in your jaw, but you received significant harm, including multiple open wounds and a second concussion."
"—Yes," he needed to pacify the doctor first before saying anything else, it seemed. "I'll stay within this hospital as long as my body needs to. I'll make sure that from now on I won't receive as significant damage as this one, I promise. But about that girl, doctor..." Haru paused briefly, as if he was considering what and how to say what he had in mind. "Her lifespan is, how should I say, limited, right?"
Clones manufactured within factories were produced in the matter of weeks. In order to accelerate their growth one would inject them with all sorts of chemicals. But at the faster rate of production came the con of having a shorter life; this was not a concern for them as they were killed almost immediately after they were produced. This was the conclusion he arrived at with some thinking. He hoped that he was wrong; he did not go so near the death's doorsteps to have her die at early age.
The doctor appeared surprised at Haru's knowledge about the situation. "Legally I am not allowed to give out info of other patients. But I will not say that you are wrong."
A short silence followed. He just went through a truly difficult fight to keep her alive. She can't just die so soon after this.
"...She has nowhere else to go." Haru continued. "She is a result of a scientific experiment. Technically speaking she is considered dead right now. I can't tell you much about this since I am not even supposed to know this information. But, she needs a place to stay." He gave a determined stare at the doctor. "Please let her stay at the hospital for the time being. I'll pay the bills, and whatever else the hospital needs."
Unbeknownst to Haru, Heaven Canceller already knew much of the evil behind the clone experiment. He also had some sort of idea as to what Haru was exactly fighting against. He came to the conclusion that Haru had a very good reason to receive these injuries.
"Don't worry about money. I'll make sure the hospital will take care of her." Heaven Canceller moved toward the door. "A week's stay should be sufficient for you. I would make you stay for more, but I presume you don't have that much time on your hands. I'll go tell her the news."
Haru smiled.
"I'll tell her the news." Gently lifting himself up from the bed, he sat on the nearby wheelchair. "I have other things to talk with her, anyway. This is the only time I'll move away from the bed, I promise." He said before the doctor could have the chance to protest.
Taking out his phone and quick dialing to a number, Haru held it near his ear while rolling the wheelchair with one hand.
3 tones, 6 tones, 9 tones, 12 tones... And someone picked up.
"Erm, hello! This is Index Libror—excuse me, I'm sorry, this is Kamijou speaking, that, hello, hello?" Index sounded very nervous as she spoke into the phone.
"...If Touma sounded like you, I would be much worried." Haru replied dryly. "Is he at home? I need to talk to him."
"Oh, hi Haru! So all voices within the telephone do sound different!" A knocking sound was heard. Was Index prodding the phone?
"Well, of course they all sound different. Otherwise it would be inefficient. Touma is not at home then?" He seriously hoped he was.
"Touma is at something he called 'supplementary classes'. He apparently needs to take classes in summer."
"...I see." Well, this was bad... "At what time does he usually come back?"
"I think around at the end of the day, at 9, maybe?"
This was definitely not a good news. He needed to contact Touma as soon as possible in order to explain the situation to him. "Hmm, I see. Well, when he does come back, tell him to give me a call, okay?"
"I will! Can I hang up now? Touma said that for every minute you spend on a phone, you die a day earlier!"
...Whiskey,
Tango,
Foxtrot.
"Um, what?" Haru blankly replied. "He said that?"
"Mm-hmm!"
"Well, he was lying then. Calls don't kill you. Why would anyone invent a utility with unnecessary side effect such as that?"
"Wait, so you don't die earlier...?"
"If it did, why would everyone use it? It's like inventing a communication spell that also slowly kills you. Why would anyone use it?"
"Waahhh! That Touma! He always says such stupid things!" She sounded quite indignant at Touma's lies. "Oh, I can't wait until he comes back home..."
"...Well, now that you know. I'll call back later."
"Okay. See you later Haru! Bye!"
Clicking his tongue, Haru snapped his phone shut. He needed to tell Touma about the situation at hand; perhaps it was too big of a request, asking him to intervene in this situation... However, at this point the next clone in line for the experiment was probably dead, and as time went by more and more would be massacred. He had no simple solution to this problem other than asking for help. If what Touma said about his right hand was true, then could it possibly pierce through the impenetrable barrier Accelerator had around himself? Would he even accept his request for help? No one would be able to think less of anyone that would refuse this insane request. Heck, he considered himself rather insane and extreme when pushed to his limits.
Pushing open the door to the room she was located within, he went inside, rolling his wheelchair. The clone was sitting up on her bed, staring outside the window. She still had her goggles on her head.
"Well, here is the news." Haru moved closer toward the bed. "Since no one is supposed to know that you are alive, you are staying in this hospital until further notice."
He seriously hoped that Heaven Canceller did not tell the clone about her limited lifespan. Ignorance was a bliss.
"...Well, I mean, living in hospital sounds worse than it is, I'm pretty sure. You have hospital food, which is a definite plus, and then maybe you'll get to meet new people, and spend some time recuperating, and, yeah, it'll be a blast!" He was trying to conceal his concern by beaming at the clone. "Oh, and did they tell you much about your condition? I think you're fine, since you didn't take that much damage from the battle, so you should be up and running soon—"
"Misaka already knows." she interrupted his nervous rambling.
Visibly deflating, he stopped, and carefully decided how to continue this conversation.
"...Do you know how much time you have left?"
Crud. Even when he was carefully selecting his words he still sounded like a boneheaded jerk for asking that insensitive question. For love of all things holy...
"They have predicted that Misaka has several years left." She sounded so nonchalant, like she was stating how nice the weather outside was, instead of foretelling her untimely death. He now truly wondered if the emotional revival done by the Nerve-Wrecker 2000 was temporary, and if the clone had now locked her emotions within her once more. No one can quite possibly be that calm about the prospect of their death.
"Are you fine with this?" Haru questioned. "Personally, I wouldn't be able to stand knowing when I'll die."
Perhaps now she thought that all the effort they went through had been in vain? He himself had many decades; she had a couple of years. How did she even feel about this? Did she simply not care? Was she hiding her emotions?
"Misaka knows how much time Misaka has before dying. However, Misaka is still very much happy."
See, that he didn't understand. How could she still be happy after news like this?
As if sensing his inner question, she continued. "Misaka now has reason to live. Misaka now knows that someone will be mourning for Misaka when Misaka dies, that someone is willing to sacrifice themselves for Misaka's sake. Is that not enough reason to be content?"
He sat there, silently gazing at the clone with unfaltering eyes. In truth, he became speechless at her words, and was suddenly overcome with a sense of... how should he describe this... Pleasure? Happiness? Heartwarming? Gratitude? Uplifting? Whatever it was, it came from the bottom of his heart, and slightly warmed up his face and his ears. Pushing out air from his nose, he turned his gaze to the ground with a smile on his lips.
"Thanks... Imouto."