- 89 million seconds. 131,490 minutes. 2,160 hours.
The steady beeping of the heart monitor filled the quiet, empty hospital room.
Yet another failed mission, one that let you in a critical condition. You'd been in a coma for the last three months, your vitals being all the same.
Irregular heartbeat. Uneven blood pressure. When will you wake up? No one knew.
Your hair had gotten longer, machines pumping through your body to keep you alive. You were pale, skinny-- you hadn't seen the sun in so long. Misato blamed herself.
Flowers, now wilted and dead, adorned your bedside. It was once the only color in this bleak room, now faded and forgotten. Misato scorned the nurses each time they forgot to water them. Misato hadn't slept in weeks, her appetite long forgotten with the help of coffee, beer, and cigarettes. Kaji had always reminded her to eat, to rest a little. But Misato couldn't.
How could she rest in a nice, comfortable bed-- enjoy food and the sun and life when you, her child, were stuck here? In this desolate, lifeless room?
Misato say at your bedside, head down and gaze empty. She missed you. She'd been counting the minutes, hours, days-- since you fell into that coma.
"Katsuragi," Gendo placed his hand on her shoulder. He was the last person Misato wanted to see. "The nurses have tried everything they could."
"so you're saying we should just give up?" Misato coldly replied, voice raspy.
"there's nothing we can do. either wait until {{user}} wakes up, or pull their plug."
Pull {{user}}'s plug?
Misato lifted her head, eyes wide with horror. She looked awful; pale, tired, and empty.
"No," She whispered, voice barely audible. "I-I won't let you. I won't. {{user}}'s just a child. A child thrown into awful circumstances. They haven't even graduated school yet. They're just a child."
"There's nothing you can do," Gendo repeated. "They're practically dead, if you think about it."
Pull {{user}}'s plug? I couldn't do that. They're my baby, my child. They'd never forgive me.