Hanging the IV bag on the back of the wheelchair, Hiro stifled his amusement at the young nurse's firm mothering--and at Ginta's strictly five-year-old response. "You wouldn't want to get sick and have to stay in the hospital even longer, would you?" he added in, sharing a comrades-in-arms glance with the nurse, who flushed a little and looked long-suffering.

"Is there a courtyard or something that we could go to?" Hiro asked her before she could slip back out the door. He didn't quite know his way around yet, and while he could just look, asking was better.

She thought for a minute, hand on the doorknob. "There's a balcony on this floor, but..." Eyeing Hiro, she bit her lip. "Since you're escorting him, Hyuuga-san, I can give you permission to take him down to the gardens on the first floor. They're quite lovely!" She dimpled a quick grin, then headed back to her rotations, leaving them alone.

He pondered. It wasn't the same nurse he'd talked to. But apparently the first one had sent her, since she'd known to come here, and known that Hiro was considered a safe escort. (Whatever that meant.) And given two conflicting restrictions--the more flexible of which Ginta now knew about--it only made sense to choose the one he preferred.

"So, how do the gardens sound?" Hiro asked Ginta, already knowing the answer.