It's in the Eyes
I Can Read Your Thoughts
Honesty
Honestly, I don't see what the big deal is. Sure, a lie's a lie, but if the truth hurts, then what's the problem of candy coating a situation that would have otherwise been just aweful? People say it all the time; Don't ever lie, it's bad. But then people say; If you've got nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all. So if lieings out, and telling the truth's not an option, are we supposed to just keep quiet?
Kagome sighed as she stretched out on the living room sofa, pressing the button on the remote to turn the TV off. A whole of five hundred channels, and nothing was on. What good was cable if you didn't get any entertainment out of it? She could have sworn that four hundred and ninety nine of the five hundred channels were advertisements.
When the phone rang, it was a luxery she couldn't aford to miss out on, and she jumped for the reciver. "Hello?"
"Kagome. How are you?"
Oh, thank god. She thought.
"Hojo!" She giggled. "I'm so glad you called. You wouldn't believe how bored I was."
She heard his laugh, and gigled with him. "Your always bored, Kagome."
"Not when I'm entertained."
Kagome had been dating Hojo for nearly a year now, having met him through Tokyo Tutors her freshman year of highschool. It didn't take much to convince her of their copatability, and they're time together was fun, if not as exiting as she would have liked. Still, Hojo wasn't fond of technology, and having him call meant one of two things; He wanted her to help him nurse at the local hospital, or he wanted to go to the movies.
Right on que; "Would you like to volunteer with me? They've run low on staff for the night and the childrens ward is going crazy."
She thought. Bad TV, or the possible future diagnosis of Chicken Pox?
"Sure thing, Hojo." It was a crime really, the things she would to resort to so as not to be bored.
"Perfect, I'll pick you up in ten."
He was early. Of course he was early, thought Kagome, punctuation was as important to him as it was nonexistant to her. She climed in the passenger seat of his black subaru, leaning across the seat to kiss his cheek.
"Hi, there, Stranger." She told him, pecking another to his jaw.
"Kagome." Hojo breathed, cupping her cheek and planting a kiss to her forehead. He pulled away and shifted gears. "Buckle up."
"Safety first," Kagome muttered, strapping up and strapping in.
"Safety first." Hojo responded, reaching over and gripping her hand. "I'd hate to have you injured on my watch." He winked at her.
"Your such a dork." She giggled. "So we're in the kids ward today?"
"Either that or the psychiactric ward."
"We've never been there." Kagome mused. "At least, not together."
Hojo switched lanes and drove smoothly past a blue bug. "I've volenteered there once or twice." He told her. "Helped sort pills; I couldn't hand them out, though, because I wasn't an authorized nurse. Fortunately they had some bathrooms available to clean."
Kagome rolled her eyes. Hojo was such a Do-Gooder. He'd do the most aweful things if it meant helping someone in need. She could distinctly remember on more than one occasion where he'd given CPR to an old man who they'd volenteered for until he died a few months back. She'd watched in absolute horror as he'd stuck his finger down the mans throat to clear the passage way for air. Sure, the man had been on his dieing bed and in dire need of CPR, but Hojo could have shown a bit of remorse for doing it, right? To Kagome, he'd looked all to eager, litteraly shouting, "I'll do it!" When someone asked if there was a doctor near by.
It was a good thing that Kagome was studdying to be a nurse. Had she been any other woman, she would have been completely revolted at the site of her boyfriend open mouthed with an older man.
CPR, she reminded herself, Jii-san was in trouble and Hojo acted accordingly. Kind of what you should have done too. Besides, she reasoned, it wasn't as if Hojo actually enjoyed it. Hojo was a man of heterosexuality. And she doubted completely that he'd go for the older generation.
"Kagome?" Hojo's hand tightened around hers, reminding her that she wasn't alone in the car.
"Hmm? Did you say something?" She looked up at him through her eyelashes.
"Uh," Hojo glanced at her, and returned to looking out the front window. "Yeah. I asked if you'd rather go to the psychiactric ward."
"Oh, sure." Kagome shot him a smile. So completely and utterly helpful was her boyfriend, that she felt guilty at questioning his sexuality. "That sounds great, Hojo!"
Unfortunately, even though she was studdying to be a nurse, she'd fully expected her nursing to be in the hospital catagory. As in; sick people. Not mentally premature people. So the thought of spending a few hours trapped in a room with people who will most likely be staring at her with blank confusion and pill-numbed humor slightly chilled her to the bone.
Oh well, she thought, at least it'll be inturesting.
Roots and Grips Psychiactric Ward was a lonesom place, and Kagome couldn't help but notice the near half hour distance between it and any other human hang out. Hojo made a few calls, pulled a few strings, and got them out of the childrens ward just as they pulled into the deserted parking lot.
"Where are all the families?" Kagome muttered, scanning the total of three cars that held no company.
"Huh?" Hojo looked at her, "What do you mean?"
"Well, shouldn't there be more people here? Visitors and such?" She checked the clock on the radio. Two twenty nine. Not nearly late enough for visiting hour to be over.
"This place is only for the lightly severe mentally instable, Kagome." Hojo told her, as if it explaned everything.
"Lightly severe?" was that as scary as it sounded?
With a sigh, Hojo unbuckled and stepped out of the car, waiting as Kagome hurried to do the same. "People not near severe enough to need state psychotherapy, but to severe for most sevillian contact. Extreem Paranoia, Psychophobias, Depressive Anxiety. People who have tried to kill themselves or an animal due to mental instability, exetera, exetera."
"So, wait," Processing, processing. Somehow Kagome found she didn't like where this was leading. She gripped her boyfriends hand in her own. "We're going to help the suicidaly paranoid?"
"Something like that." Hojo told her, pushing open the glass door and ushering her inside. "You should relax, though, Kagome, places like these, they smell fear." He looked into her eyes and smiled in a way that told her he loved her squemishness.
my gosh she can be such a baby
She blushed at the thought. She really needed to get her head strait. "Your right. I'm sorry. All better." Kagome leaned up and kissed his cheek
does she always have to be so touchy feely
and broke they're eye contact. Man, she was being a real self-downer today. Shaking her head, she brushed the thoughts away and nodded for Hojo to lead the way, which he did happily.
They reached the front desk, and Hojo winked at the woman behind it. "Akitoki Hojo, but you already know that, right, Kagura?"
"Right." The woman, Kagura, rolled her eyes. She was a tall, petite woman with brown hair and eyes that looked nearly red. Red lipstick, and blue liner brought out the pale skin and long lashes. She was beautiful. And she couldn't possibly be much older than twenty. "You know the way, Hojo, but first," Her eyes locked on Kagome's
fresh meat
and Kagome shuttered at the blood lust that nearly coated the room in an instant. Hojo snapped her out of her reverie.
"This is Kagome, she's training to be a nurse. I thought a trip around the facility might do some good."
Kagura made a sound somewhere between a hnn and a harumph and gestured toward the door.
"You knew her?" Kagome accused, laughing.
"Only slightly." Hojo muttered, a blush coating his cheeks.
"You two seemed well enough aquainted."
"I guess." He shrugged it off, guiding her down the hallway and around the corner, "This is the Medicinal wing." He told her. "Where they count and distriibute the proper pills to over a hundred different patients every hour."
Kagome looked around, her eyes widening as she found old men and women in robes, each with a white plastic cup, some with two. One or two patients were in wheel chairs facing the windows, and a few were shaking with some kind of spasm. The room alltogether was fairly big, white walls, tan carpets, plastic chairs, and a rainbow of colorful butterflies strone across the wall farthist away from where they walked. That wall held two large, arched plastic windows, housing two stoic nurses who seemed to be handing out the plastic cups.
She turned, had to jog to catch up to Hojo, who was just turning another corner. A little farther down this hall, Hojo took the third left, and down another hall before he spoke agian. "This is the Psychotheroputic Wing, but the nurses call it a counseling center." Hojo glanced at Kagome out the corner of his eye. "This is where all the patients go to get check ups."
"You mean, like, cat scans and stuff, right?" She didn't look at him, and instead read the titles hanging above the doors. Group Theropy, Mono Theropy, Psycho Theropy, Religous Theropy, Group Counseling, One-on-One, Staff Only. Was there a difference between Group Theropy and Group Counseling?
"No," Hojo laughed, "I mean as in talking to profecional theropists about their problems."
"Oh."
Hojo turned another corner, led her down the hall, took a right, stumbled left, and then into a corider lined with what looked like appartment doors. "This is the rooming for the more stable patients." He looked at her
doubt shed have been able to guess
and then back down the hall. "The more tramatic patients are back the other way. They've got rooms decorated in everything padded, from the souls of their shoes, the the walls of their rooms."
"That rhymed." Kagome mumbled, forcing a laugh. There was something about that last thought that put her on edge. Like she was insulting herself. Though it didn't sound even remotely close to what she'd actually say. She shook her head. "Which wing are we going to be volenteering for anyway?"
"We, Kagome, are going to the visiting rooms." Hojo grinned at her
chose the only thing shed have a chance at doing successfully
and Kagome looked away, toward an old lady standing beside a wall on the opposite side of their next turn. They locked eyes
this isnt right im twenty six not eighty this isnt right
and Kagome shuttered at the panicy feeling that all of a sudden engulfed her. No, no, where had her youth gone? Where was her fiance? Why was she here? This isn't right, not right.
"Kagome?"
Her eyes snapped back to Hojo's and the feeling disapeared, replaced by anxious disreguard
should i be worried that she looks more spaced than usual
"Hojo?" Kagome squeaked. " I look spaced?"
Hojo looked stricken as he looked at her
did i say that out loud
before he shook his head. "Lets go. Visiting is just down this hall."
This Artanimelover production is brought to you by Rumiko Takahashi's Inuyasha and Milenda Metz Fingerprints series. Thank y'all for reading.