• CHAPTER 32 - MIKU'S PASSION

    Nobody wants to admit it, but there's a part of them that feels like they're dying when somebody they hated or were angered with is on the brink of death. You want to take back everything, cater to their every whim, just do anything to prevent their passing. You sometimes even feel like their condition is your fault, but there's always people to pull them through.

    My sobs were quieting but my tears kept spilling. Kai never removed his head from my chest and he listened to my uneven breathing and my speeding and hurt heartbeat. Takeuchi, whether he was going to live or die wasn't determined. Kai couldn't hear anything going on in his head and Matsuda had no new updates. Takeuchi was in a coma-like stage after that stupid brown-haired mutt smashed his skull in. I didn't think it was possible for mythical creatures to be in a condition like Takeuchi's, but Kai said it was extremely rare.

    "Kai, I want to see him," I pleaded, "I need to see him."

    "You need to take it easy," Kai mumbled, barely lifting his head to meet my eyes with his.

    "I can't! Not until I see him!" he was my little brother, my best friend.

    Kai touched my face with four of his fingertips and the same grave and depressed countenance froze on his face, "You're in bad condition yourself. You can see him when you're released."

    I swiped his hand away, infuriated, "He might not be alive when I'm released! He could die at any moment!" my tears continued to overflow.

    "Don't think about his death, please," Kai pleaded in a whisper, "Just keep hoping for the best."

    "What do you think I've been doing for the past three years?!" I shouted, "Everytime I want something to turn out better, it turns for the worst! Aya's death, for example! I kept wishing her better, never leaving her side and she just dies on me! My parents were murdered!"

    I looked away from Kai and wept feverishly again. I winced at the pain in my right shoulder and Kai stroked my head and pushed a red button on my bed, signaling the nurse to arrive, "I'm going to have the nurse give you more morphine. You need rest as well."

    My infuriated adrenaline rush caused the pain in my shoulder and after another short second, I ripped off the heart rate clip on my left middle finger and ripped the needles out of my arm and my hand and sat up straight. Kai was able to push me back down with ease, despite that I was at my strongest I ever was in my seventeen years.

    "Arisa, you're not well! You need to stay down!" Kai panicked.

    I was pretty sure I was on the verge of insanity from everything I had been going through. Everything...everything from the past three years to now was all too much, I wanted it all to end. The heart rate machine was beeping continuously since I removed the clip from my finger and after another moment of Kai holding me down, about three nurses rushed in and surrounded my bed as I continued to thrash and refuse morphine. They got to me, first attacking me with needles and immediately injecting the morphine and after a few minutes I was already drifting off to a slumber and they found it safe to clasp my finger once again. I was still stupid enough to try and get off the bed and the nurses left after Kai made sure he'd continue to watch over me. He stood next to my bed, leaned over, and kissed my forehead.

    "I'm sorry I had to do this," he whispered, his cool breath sweeping across my forehead.

    "Tell me everything will be okay," I cried, "Tell me Takeuchi will live."

    "He will, Arisa, he will," Kai reassured in a whisper.

    Kai stood up straight and I grasped his hand before he could move again. He probably wouldn't have been able to feel it if my skin wasn't so warm, "Stay here,"

    "I will," he promised, "I'm never going to leave you."

    I took one last deep breath and blinked slowly with my heavy eyelids, "I love you...," I cried.

    Kai bent over and kissed my forehead again, "Love you too," he kissed my lips, "We'll all pull through this."

    My eyelids grew heavier with every passing second from the morphine and the heart rate monitor was finally beeping at a steady pace, indicating my relaxation. I gripped Kai's hand as tight as I could but it was no harder of a grip than as if anybody was barely lifting a feather or a pencil. One more tear slipped out of the corner of my eye and Kai lightly licked it off as I closed my eyes and slipped into unconsciousness once again.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    There was some aroma in the air that caused me to wake again after several hours. I didn't open my eyes until I heard high-pitched and quiet squealing coming into the room slowly, almost sounding like a cart. The aroma strengthened and my mouth watered.

    "Here's your food, Mr. Uketomeru," a nurse whispered, and I could tell she was probably just starting out by the high-pitched voice.

    I cracked my eye open and that dumb broad nurse was interlocking her fingers together, crossing her ankles, twisting her hips lightly and biting her lip with a flirtatious smile on her face, her eyes looking up at Kai. If it were a halfway normal day, I'd have freaked out on that dumb broad. Kai ignored her flirting attempts and grasped the cart and nodded his head.

    "Thank you," he whispered back politely, also polite enough to let her know he rejected her.

    The nurse left with a defeated sigh and shut the door behind her. Kai looked over at me and I was too slow to shut my eye again, "I know you're awake,"

    I waited for a few silent moments and finally opened both of my eyes, my drowsiness testifying against me. Kai reached for the bed control and held the button to raise the top half of my bed. I looked at what was on the cart and he had ordered food. I was pretty sure he ordered something for himself too because there was a large bowl of nikujaga (meat and potatoes in a bowl). Another bowl, which I assumed was mine, was filled with the aroma of kitsune udon but with atsuage (baked tofu) rather than naruto (fish sausage) and it was placed adroitly next to a plate of jakopi tofu and a large glass of iced water.

    "I got you something to eat since you haven't in a while," Kai sighed and frowned.

    I didn't even notice my hunger; I couldn't feel it with all the stress I was going through. Whenever I'm stressed, my appetite is suppressed. Kai turned the cart so that the tray was hovering above my thighs and he removed his bowl of nikujaga and sat on a dark blue chair that was almost placed on top of the hospital bed...so yeah, his chair was pretty close to me. I tucked my hands in my lap and stared at my food apatetically. I sighed and leaned back onto my bed, refusing the food.

    "Arisa, eat," Kai declared.

    "I'm not hungry," I sighed.

    "You're thin enough as it is; eat,"

    "I'm not hungry," I hissed.

    "Do you want me to force-feed you?" Kai sighed, irritated.

    I knew I wouldn't enjoy that, so I caved into his desires and picked up my chopsticks and tried to eat my noodles with my left hand since it still hurt to move my right arm. It was quiet in the room without the T.V. on and the silences were depressing because we both knew what was on each other's minds.

    "Matsuda said he's still unconscious," Kai updated, looking down at his food, "He hasn't made any progressions."

    I was finished with my food, even though I didn't even eat half of it, and I pushed it away from me after taking a giant swig of water, "Take me to Takeuchi's room," I demanded.

    "Arisa--"

    "No, Kai, don't start!" I interrupted. I was sure I'd be yelling ten times louder if I still wasn't so drowsy from the morphine.

    Kai didn't say anything. He only placed his empty bowl on the tray and rolled the cart away from me. He played with my bangs and he avoided eye contact.

    "Are you sure you want to see him, despite the condition he's in?" he whispered.

    I nodded and sighed and grabbed his hand. I held his hand up to my cheek and closed my eyes and sighed again, "Maybe if we're there, he'll have a better chance of healing," I knew he deeply wanted to apologize to Takeuchi for getting angry with him, he felt guilty.

    Kai paused for a moment and pressed the green button on my bed with a little sticker of a telephone and it beeped after a few seconds, "Yes?"

    It was a nurse, "We're calling from Arisa Kurabashi's room," Kai started smoothly, "Would it be okay to remove her for several minutes?"

    There was a pause on the other line and some soft talking, probably with a doctor. After another minute or two, the nurse responded, "Yes, permission is granted. Do you want me to come by with a wheelchair?"

    Kai smiled weakly, "Yes, please," and the nurse hung up.

    Kai stared at me in the eyes and slid his other hand onto my other cheek and held my face in his hands carefully and searched my eyes. I stared at him with as much desperation as I could manage and he sighed, leaned in, and kissed me passionately. We continued to kiss even as the nurse entered with the wheelchair and she had to clear her throat to get us to stop. She was an older nurse, probably in her fourties or fifties and she gave us the stare as if to say "typical teenagers" and carefully started removing the needles from my arm and my hand. She unclasped the heart monitor clamp and turned the machine off so it wouldn't freak out when it detected no pulse.

    "When you two come back in, call me back down immediately so I can hook her up again," the nurse informed and left after Kai refused help with putting me into the wheelchair.

    Kai picked me up swiftly and carefully and delicately placed me in the wheelchair and propped my feet onto the foot plate that suck out. He must have noticed the goosebumps that appeared on my arms after he removed me from my blankets because he opened what seemed like an enlarged microwave and pulled out a blanket. He adroitly wrapped it around me, trying not to disturb my shoulder pain and kissed my head.

    "You ready?" he asked.

    I nodded again and prepared myself severely for whatever I might or might not expect when we go to see Takeuchi. I counted down the long seconds until we arrived at the door of his chamber.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    His room was the same dull shade of white-grey on the walls and floors as it was in my room. The door to his room opened into an itty bitty hallway about ten feet long and there was a bathroom to the right. Kai pushed the wheelchair into the room slowly and dramatically. When we rounded the corner, I was devastated to see Takeuchi hooked up to more machines than I was, even though he probably didn't need them. His wounds were probably all healed, but he was still on his deathbead. Matsuda turned around to face us from the window and surprise washed over his face and at the same time, relief.

    "Arisa," he breathed out of relief, "You're up?"

    I nodded but my attention was taken from me as I noticed somebody, a girl, standing next to Takeuchi's bed, holding his hand and ignoring mine and Kai's presence for a moment. I heard a muffed sniff come from her and she looked like she was rubbing her eye. Her hair was black with a deep blue shine and it fell to her shoulders and she seemed tall and slender. When she turned around slowly, purple rings crowded under her eyes and her face was pale. I scanned her a little longer and my eyes met her swollen pregnant belly, around six or seven months along.

    "You're...," I tried to put it together; pregnant and holding Takeuchi's hand, "Miku?"

    Her face seemed a little surprised as she wiped away a tear and she nodded in confirmation, "And you're Arisa?" her voice cracked.

    I nodded and froze where I was. Why was Miku here? I know she's his pregnant girlfriend and all, but she shouldn't see him in this condition. She shouldn't be in contact with the one who will possibly be responsible for his shortened life. She slid her free hand over her swollen belly and sighed deeply, trying to keep herself from breaking down.

    I looked over at Matsuda, "How long as she been here?"

    "Matsuda told me what happened," Miku stated before Matsuda could say anything, "I bought a plane ticket right away and met Matsuda at the airport against my parent's knowledge."

    "She's been here for about a day," Matsuda answered my question.

    She was only here for such a short time and she's already in grave condition, and it's not a good state to be in when you're expecting. I couldn't hold back anymore and I buried my face in my hands and cried out loud in guilt and devastation. Kai knelt next to me and held my head close to his chest and tried to hush me softly.

    "I'm sorry, Miku! I'm sorry for what I did to him!" I gripped Kai's sleeve.

    Miku only stared at me with tear-stained cheeks and gripped Takeuchi's hand tighter, "It's not your fault, Arisa. He was only trying to protect you." she looked over at me, "You're like his sister. I'm not angry with you." she made her sentences short and articulated.

    "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I whispered under my breath.

    When I opened my eyes again, Miku was standing only a few short feet in front of me, "May I speak with you...in the hallway?" she asked, but looked over at Kai for permission to speak with me.

    Kai nodded and without anymore comments of questions, he rolled me out into the hallway with Miku following. Kai found us a private corner a few doors down from Takeuchi's room and Miku carefully sat herself on the bench.

    She smiled up at Kai, "I've got it from here,"

    Kai smiled back at her, but it was weak from exhaustion and full of sympathy. Kai left swiftly and shut Takeuchi's door behind him as he re-entered the room. Miku took a deep breath and leaned back against the wall and rubbed her belly once again. Her eyes dawned on her belly and she smiled at it passionately, the half Werewolf half human combination of her and Takeuchi growing inside of her.

    I stared at her belly as passionately as she was and I was curious, "When is it due?"

    "Some time in March," she confirmed. Her eyes glowed as she looked at me again, "Right around Takeuchi's birthday."

    Takeuchi...he's going to be seventeen, "And your parents don't know that's he's a Werewolf?" I kept it quiet when I said that last word, afraid patients or visitors would hear.

    Miku shook her head delicately, "No,"

    "Is the pregnancy...hard?" Takeuchi had told me about some complications that could go on in the later months.

    She nodded her head this time, "Yes, many days. It keeps me up all the time and kicks incredibly hard." she breathed out a small laugh, "My parents think it's a sugar-high baby like I was."

    I giggled along with her, "Do you have names?"

    Miku burrowed her eyebrows together, "No," she sounded surprised, "He's never been around that much to talk about it."

    Out of nowhere, tears dripped from her eyes again and she buried her face in her hands, "I'm so scared! What if Takeuchi ends up dying?! What if he won't live to see the baby?!" she sobbed.

    My heart ached even more when she said that and tears sped down my cheeks but I didn't cry out loud. All of this emotion, all of the crying she's been doing every moment Takeuchi was out of her grasp, and now she was about to lose it forever. She needed him for the birth and everything, they were each other's support, much like Kai and I, but this relationship was so much stronger. She could die from the baby if Takeuchi were to die...everything in her world would come to an end...