A couple weeks had passed since the memorial of Yomi. Every morning since then, Yusuke woke up to the sound of Keiko throwing up in the bathroom. Leaning against their bathroom door, in his bathrobe, he glanced at her. Seeing her face planted in the toilet, he sighed worriedly.
"Do you want me to call the doctor for you? See if we can't get you to feeling better."
"I think you better," she said, in between convulsions, "I am getting tired of this every morning. I don't get it. You and Megumi both had the stomach flu. I thought I did too."
"Yeah but we were done with it after two days. You have been sick for two weeks and that isn't normal. That's why I asked if you wanted a doctor's check up. Have him give you a physical. Maybe we can get to the bottom of this."
"It's a little early though, the sun isn't even up yet," Keiko sighed, her stomach feeling a bit settled, "I don't think any offices will be open right now. I would hate to bother Kurama at this hour, knowing that he is probably tired because of the new baby in the house. I know how much sleep you get for the first six weeks, very little."
"Maybe he is up, maybe if he were to deal with our situation, it will get him away from the house." So Yusuke walked to his nightstand and dialed his friend's number. "Hey, man, are you up? You sound tired."
"I am tired. Sakura got Shiz up at 3 AM and it took us um... let me see. Wow it's 5:30 already. Sakura went back to sleep maybe 15 minutes ago."
"Aw, I am sorry about that. I know how that is. At least you got some sleep. We pulled an all-nighter with Megumi. Well the reason I called is Keiko isn't feeling well."
"What's wrong with her?"
"I have no idea. She woke up at 5 AM and got sick to her stomach. She has been like this for two weeks. I am getting worried."
"I'll come over and check her out. See what is wrong."
"Drive safely. Normally I would pay you, but I am out of cash right now. And the bank won't be open for several hours."
"Naw I will check her for free. I couldn't charge my best friend anything."
"Well in exchange for money, the sofa in the living room is very comfortable. Some place to crash," Yusuke offered.
"That would be payment enough. I can earn money at the office."
It took 15 minutes for the tired doctor to arrive in his black truck, at his friend's house. As he was approaching, the sky at that point has already lightened. The sun climbed out of the east and was draping itself across the land. He arrived at the house, where Yusuke greeted him at the door, in his navy sweatpants and shirtless upper body. The brisk morning air chilled him slightly.
As the two men were walking down the hallway to the master bedroom, they passed by the main bathroom. "May I use your bathroom? I left my place quickly and drank a thermos of coffee to keep from falling asleep while driving over here."
"Of course. There is a safety lid on there for Megumi, so she doesn't fall in. Also when you flush, you have to keep your hand on the lever for a few minutes to let all the water drain."
"Sure thing. I will be in to check on your wife in a few minutes, this won't take long," the young doctor confirmed, latching the door behind him.
Yusuke walked back towards the bedroom. He glanced at the bathroom to see his wife once again hunched over the toilet bowl, spilling the contents from her stomach. "I don't know how much more of this I can take, I hate getting sick."
"He will be here in a few minutes. He is just down the hall."
"I hope he can take me as I am, puking and nude. I didn't have time to put a rope on. I was in the shower when I was going to get sick again."
"That will be no problem," Kurama spoke from behind his friend.
"That was quick, it has been only two minutes."
"I took a quick pee. I knew I needed to be in here as soon as possible, so I sped things up." He turned to Keiko. "Can you stand up?"
"I can try, but I don't want to move. What if I got sick again?"
"Then I will help you. Are you allergic to medicine, are you able to drink anything?"
She shook her head. "I can't keep anything down."
"Then will you at least hold out your arm, extend it towards me."
She complied with Dr. Minamino's request, and extended her left arm. He wrapped a tourniquet tightly around her elbow. He took out a bottle of pink solution and a needle from a duffle bag he was carrying. He filled the needle with the solution and slid the needle into the bend of her elbow. "This is a sedative I am giving you. It will calm your stomach muscles and the nerves surrounding it; giving your stomach a change to settle down, so you are not constantly vomiting. Not that you will stop all together, but at least you will be able to stand and sit on the bed."
"I hope you don't mind I am naked. I feel sort of ashamed that you would see me this way."
"That's okay, no need to feel embarrassed. This is my job. I am a doctor. By the way I prefer to see you naked, it makes examining you that much easier. Since I know you can't leave the bathroom, much less leave the house, I will conduct your physical here at your home."
"I think the drugs are starting to work. I am feeling better," she replied, standing up slowly.
"I want you to get into the bed, on your side. Yusuke, where do you keep a garbage can and a liner? I need one right beside her head incase during my exam, she has to vomit."
"I'll go get it for you," he complied, racing towards the kitchen.
"I have to go to the bathroom, I was so preoccupied with my stomach that I haven't gone yet."
"I almost forgot, I need a sample," Kurama replied, giving her a beaker, "This so if I need to run any tests on your fluids, among other things." He closed the door, giving her privacy.
She returned from the bathroom, with the beaker filled with urine. "Wow, that is more than plenty. You must have really had to go." He took the beaker out of her hands and set it gently aside on the nightstand beside her bed.
"I have the trash can right here," announced her husband, walking back to the bedroom.
"Then put it right beside her head. Be careful not to bump her nightstand, there is a beaker on it that she just peed in not too long ago." "Okay, honey, I want you to lie on your back for me." She laid her back against the mattress. "Now I will start my exam. Like I said to Yusuke, if at any point during the exam you feel sick, you can just roll over and throw up into the trashcan."
Dr. Minamino scanned her body. "Do you feel any pain, in your joints or head?"
"No, sir. Other than in my throat and in my stomach, I don't feel any pain."
"That's good," he replied, as he applied pressure to her chest and upper neck. "Right now I am feeling your lymph nodes to see if they are flaring. Sometimes they will do that when you are sick. They check normal. I checked your breasts while I was at it, seeing if there are informalities. You are doing fine so far. Normally I would apply pressure on your stomach, but since you are experiencing vomiting at this time, that would do you no good." He checked her ears, her nose, and her mouth. "How are you feeling right now?"
"My throat is dry, can I have water?"
"I have something better," replied Yusuke, "I believe they are still in the freezer. Those cherry-flavored juice pops you bought Megumi and I when we had the flu. I'll go get you one."
"Oh I've seen those. They are electrolyte pops for calming the stomach. Back in early September, Saito was suffering diarrhea. We bought these pops to help him. He liked the way they tasted."
"Keiko, are there any other symptoms, besides vomiting, you are feeling?"
"I feel cramping, like menstrual cramps in my pelvis. Why you ask?"
"Well because I can't see anything wrong. Do you have a headache, or pain in your joints? I felt your lymph nodes; they aren't swollen. Usually they are swollen if you are fighting a virus. And when I check your temperature, you are normal."
"I don't have a headache. I feel fine all over, except in my stomach. Speaking of which, I am feeling sick again."
She rolled over and positioned her face over the mouth of the trashcan. The doctor rubbed her back, as she fed her stomach to the trashcan.
"Thank you," she said, after she finished puking, "I want so badly to find out what's going on. I hate being sick."
"When did all of this start? You said you have menstrual cramps. Are you having your period?"
"No, and I should have had it by now. This time last month, I was having a heavy flow."
"So, in other words, you are missing your period. When did your stomach start feeling queasy?"
"Two weeks ago."
"Did you eat something prior to that, that is making you sick?"
"No, but there is one thing. That Saturday evening, Yusuke's boss and his girlfriend did ask us out to dinner. It was 2-3 days after we returned from Makai. The day we left, he had caught Megumi's flu. Both he and the girl were sick for two days. But that Saturday the both of them were doing fine. My mother took Megumi for us, so we could go out with Mr. Takunaka. I was feeling rather filthy after dropping Megumi off. So as soon as I got home, I ran in here and hit the shower. I heard Yusuke come in from down the hallway. He was going to use the shower in the hallway bathroom. But that shower isn't working; we are having work done on that bathroom. I mainly use that room to wash our daughter. So he came in here griping. So instead of fighting over it, I offered that he showered with me."
"So you bathed with him. I can only guess what happened."
"I couldn't resist, I made love with him. In the shower, we had sex."
"Keiko, I think there is something going on with you. When was the last time you felt this sick?"
"The following day, after we found out we were going to have Megumi, I was chained to the hotel bathroom. I couldn't move from the floor around the toilet. All I ate was crackers. He brought me some Pepsid, which kept my stomach calm. Wait what are you suggesting?"
Dr. Minamino reached into his duffle bag and pulled out a squirt bottle of clear solution. From his pocket, he drew out a test tube. He walked back over to the nightstand and dipped the test tube into the urine-filled beaker. "If I am wrong, nothing will happen. But if I am right, watch this." He turned the bottle upside down and squeezed its contents into the test tube. He swirled the tube, mixing the two liquids until he saw the urine turn inky blue. "What do you make of that?"
Her eyes widened, "Is that what I think...Yusuke, come in here quick," she hollered.
"What is it? I have a juice pop for you. What happened, did you get sick on the bed?"
"No come see this," she pointed to the test tube as he was racing in.
"It's blue. Your pee is blue. That means..."
"We are having another baby," she squealed.