Brave Nurse Shinji

An Evangelion fan fiction by rojo

Disclaimer: I don not own Evangelion or its characters. Wish I did but I don’t. The idea for this story is all mine.

Shinji walked across town heading for Rei Ayanami’s apartment building. In his head he was reliving what had happened last time he was here when he had gone to deliver her new ID card.

And planning on how to prevent that from happening again.

Finally he quit trying to come up with ideas as her building came into view. Shinji slowly walked up the stairs as if it was his death march.

He came to the door of Apartment 402.

He knocked and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Shinji frowned and knocked again, harder this time.

"What the hell, Misato said she was home."

Shinji stood in front of the door and listened to the repeated clang of…something in the distance.

"Man, that’s really annoying. How can she stand that?"

Shinji looked around and frowned again.

"Ha ha, that was easy. What was I so worried about." Shinji said to himself nervously as he turned to walk down the stairs.

And a single thought jumped to the forefront of his mind stopping him.

He walked back to the door.

Shinji turned the handle to find the door unlocked.

Slowly he eased the door open as he called out, "Ayanami, I’m here to check on you. Misato sent me over. She said you were sick."

He kept talking saying the same thing over and over like a mantra as he walked into the apartment so that there would be no way she would not hear him.

As he came to the end of the small hallway he saw that her bed was empty. In fact the entire apartment appeared empty except for the trash and a few clothes strewn on the floor.

Empty.

That left one place that he could think of.

He headed toward the bathroom skittishly.

"Ayanami, are you in there?"

Only the slight sound of trickling water answered him.

Shinji took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Just in case, he ducked his head in and then back out.

The showerhead was running. The bathroom was empty except for the small shower stall at the back.

In that brief instance he knew that he had seen a blurry form behind the shower curtain. The figure had been slumped against the wall. And in Shinji’s mind the figure could only be one Rei Ayanami.

Shinji pressed himself up against the door.

"Oh, my God." He whispered to himself.

Not looking into the bathroom he nervously called out, his voice cracking, "Ay…Ayanami, are you ok?"

There was still no answer, only the sound of water falling.

"Rei, please answer me." He called out desperately.

His mind was in turmoil.

Shinji fumbled out his cell phone and tried to dial Dr. Akagi’s number. His hands shook and he dialed the wrong number twice before getting through.

"Hello."

"D-Dr. Akagi. I-I…I’m at Rei’s apartment and she’s passed out in the shower. Help…What do I do?"

"She what…Ok, right. Is she breathing?"

"I…don’t know."

"What…just look at her. Does she have a pulse?"

"I don’t know. She’s in the bathroom. I’m standing outside."

"What the hell are you doing? Go in there. I need to know if she’s still alive."

"She’s naked." Shinji said quietly.

"What! Do you want her to die? Get in there!"

"But…" A feeble protest.

"You little…" Ritsuko paused and composed herself. "Look Shinji, you are the only one who can help her. You Have To Go In There." Dr. Akagi pronounced the beginning of each word more forcefully then the last.

Shinji clenched his fist and closed his eyes tight.

I can help her. I have to help her. She protected me and now it’s my turn.

"Shinji, she might be in danger. Ple-…"

"Ok, I’ll do it." Shinji blurted out.

Cell phone in hand, he walked stiffly into the small, dim bathroom. Trying to look anywhere but at Rei, Shinji carefully pulled back the curtain and turned off the water getting himself wet in the process.

"Is she breathing?"

"Uh…umm…"

Ritsuko heard a hard swallow over the phone. "Shinji, answer me."

"Ok!…ok."

Shinji looked down at Rei’s still form. She was leaning in the corner of the shower stall. Her thin arms were draped at her sides and her head rested on her shoulder.

Her chest rose and fell slightly.

"Sh…she’s breathing." Thank God.

"Ok, now listen to me carefully. I want you to check her pulse. It’s just like we practiced in basic first-aid training."

"Right." Gaining more confidence he bent down and took her small wrist into his hands.

After a moment. "Ah…it’s normal."

"Good, she probably just passed out from exhaustion. Is she hurt anywhere else?"

"Uh…" Shinji turned bright red. "Not that I can see."

"I want you to check and see if she still has a fever."

Resting the back of his hand on the First Child’s forehead Shinji felt heat pour off her skin.

"I think she has a high fever. I’m not sure."

"Does it look like she hit her head on anything?" Ritsuko sounded less worried than before.

"No, she looks good…I mean fine! She looks fine."

"Shinji, I am going to come over there. Put her in her bed."

Ritsuko hung up.

"But…"

Shinji put away his cell phone and stooped over Rei.

"Ah…uh…Rei. Can you hear me? No, of course she can’t, you idiot. She’s passed out." Shinji mumbled to himself as he worked his hand behind Rei and under her arm. This was made more complex by the fact that he was trying to look at the ceiling.

"God, Rei, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me for touching you."

He pulled her up and got his other arm under her long legs.

Grunting, he lifted her off the shower floor.

"Wow, you’re heavier than you look Rei." He chuckled as he carried her to the bedroom.

"It’s just funny that you have to be out cold for me to be comfortable around you."

Carefully setting her down Shinji covered her with a blanket.

Shinji laughed a little at his own situation. "I guess this isn’t so bad. I mean I seem to be more talkative."

He smoothed out the blanket and sat on the edge of Rei’s bed.

His face took on a look of deep seriousness.

"I’m…just glad that you’re ok. You really sacred me there for a minute."

The Third Child looked down at the sleeping girl and brushed back a stray blue hair from her face.

"I…was thinking earlier about how strong you are Rei. I wish I could be like that. I’m just weak…so weak."

Looking at all the trash on the floor he idly kicked a discarded bandage box.

"I mean I was scared to come in and help you because…god, I’m weak. You would have helped me without a second thought. Nothing seems to bother you."

Shinji rested his head in his hands.

"I wish I knew you better. Ha, we always end up in these situations."

Shinji paused and then continued his one-sided conversation.

"I guess I was thinking a lot today…about you. I wondered if you were happy. I hope you are. Someone like you deserves to be happy after all that you’re been through. I was really worried because you're my friend and…"

Shinji built up all of his courage.

"And maybe this is the only time I feel I can say this to you Rei but you’re really special to me."

He sat and listened to her soft breathing and the construction noise that seemed so far away.

"…thank…you…Ikari…" came a soft, weak reply.

Shinji sat blot upright, his eyes wide.

Please Read and Review. The more you review the faster I write.

Author’s Note: Well, unexpectedly I couldn’t sleep and just wrote…and wrote. And chap 2 was done. I know it’s a short one but it came out a day after the other one and I started it when I posted Chap. 1. That’s fan service for yah, as Misato would say. The apartment number I got from the manga. I think it's different in the series but I'm not sure. A huge thanks to all those who reviewed and wrote me email. Kimberly, Judging eagle and chewy all offered advice or pre-reading service. A special thanks to you guys. Kim, I changed the plan I little for Rei so I haven’t put your advice in to play but it will help out greatly in chap 3. So I guess I will throw the chapter a week timetable to the wind. Schedules suck anyway. I have chap 3 started and hopefully you'll see it soon. If you have any questions please feel free to email me. Sincerely, rojo