Staring At The Ceiling
Author's Note: The mind can never be fooled by the eyes. If the eyes see something, that alone proves its existence. What does fool the mind, however, is reason.
Chapter One "Consequences"
Yumi caught a cold. And what a nasty cold it was! She was forced to spend entire days just lying in her bed. Leaving the tour bus was out of the question. The last concerts in London were chilly and it rained at every single one. This was the result. So they were still in England, Yumi was sick and there was no sign of her getting better. But the one who was affected by this the most was her friend, Ami. She just couldn't stand seeing her like this. "Thank goodness the tour is over, otherwise we would have been forced to cancel it" she thought. "I better go check on her." Since Yumi got sick, Ami took care of her every single day. She was determined to get her friend on her feet again.
Back in her room, Yumi was staring at the ceiling of the tour bus, thinking. "Why did it have to rain? Why? This is what I get for refusing to postpone concerts." Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Yumi tried to raise her head, but she was too sick even for this small effort. "Come in!" The door opened, as Ami walked into the room. "How are you feeling today, Yumi? Is the cold still there?" "No, it's just so much fun to stay in bed all day" Yumi replied with a sarcastic tone, but then started to cough violently. Ami kissed her forehead and held her lips there a little longer. "Oh dear, you still have fever. I think it's worse than before." "Why did I have to get sick? It's summer, for crying out loud. Nobody catches a cold in summertime" she angrily said before starting to cough again. "I could be doing something fun right now, like going to the mall, or riding my scooter, or even writing songs. But no, I have to sit here all day long blowing my nose" she said between coughs. Ami noticed a small tear running down Yumi's cheek. She immediately gave her a big hug. "Don't worry, Yumi, I'm here. And I'll see to it that you get better. Don't be sad. I promise that you'll get better soon." Ami made this promise to her each and every day since she got sick. However, Yumi always found some comfort in that; not that she actually believed her, just that she really appreciated the special attention her friend was giving her. But she was too proud to admit that. "It's time for your medicine, Yumi." She handed her a spoon filled with strange-looking liquid. "Make it all gone." Ami's everlasting happy mood always managed to hide the horrible taste of the medicine. "Ugh, with a taste like this it has to work" Yumi said. "I also brought you some food." "I'm not really hungry right now, Ami." "But you have to eat something, Yumi; you didn't eat anything the whole day" Ami said with an almost begging voice. "Alright, alright, Ami, what's on the menu?" The pink-haired girl smiled, as she left the room and came back holding a tray with a bowl of hot soup. She sat the tray down on her own lap, picking up a spoon. "Thanks, Ami, but you know you didn't have to…" she was silenced by her friend moving a spoonful of soup to her mouth. "Open up for the airplane." Normally, Yumi would never accept this, but her sickness wouldn't even let her feed herself. She had to accept being fed by her best friend.
When she finally finished, Ami put the tray down and gazed in her Yumi's eyes for a moment. "What is it, Ami?" "Oh, nothing; I was just wondering…" "About what?" Yumi asked, but then immediately started to cough again. "Oh, dear, I almost forgot." Ami left the room again and came back with a thermometer. "You know how it works, right Yumi? Just keep it squeezed to your underarm." "I know already, I've been doing it for the last four days, remember?" "In the mean time would you like some music?" Ami asked. "Yeah, sure, check in my CDs on the top shelf." Ami did just that, she started looking through the titles. She knew most of them as she bought them for Yumi, but then she saw… "Led Zeppelin? I didn't know you were a fan." "Oh, that relict? It's been a long time since I bought it" Yumi replied. "I think it's the first CD I ever bought. Didn't really give it a chance, though. Usually I got tired after the first two songs." "Well, you can't reach the stop button now. Do you want to listen to it?" "Why not? I think I can check it out for once." Hearing this, Ami inserted the CD and then left the room. "I'll come back in half an hour, Yumi." "Yeah, yeah, I know." She closed her eyes and just listened to the music, remembering how she first met Ami in Tokyo, a shy and really helpless girl, but a girl who, for no reason, really stuck to her until they became inseparable. In time, she found out that this cherry-eyed girl can really be one true friend, even more than a friend. She found in Ami the sister she never had, someone she could protect. Ami; what would she do without her and her ever-joyful way of being?
"Yumi, I'm back! The thirty minutes are up. Let me see here…104 DEGREES! My word, Yumi! You have gotten worse!" "I knew it, I knew it. I should have canceled those damn concerts" Yumi said furiously, after which started to cough again. Ami hugged her again with love. "Won't you please get better for me, Yumi?" she almost whispered. "It's not like I don't want to…" she angrily said, but immediately stopped as she saw Ami at her shoulder and a soft tear coming down from her eyes followed by another and another. She was worrying for her best friend's health. "Don't worry, Ami, I will get better if that's what you want; I promise" she calmly said, while running her hand through Ami's hair. "Just don't cry…please, stop crying." Ami pulled away slowly, whipping her eyes and trying to relax. "Did you calm down now? Is it ok?" "I'm calm now, Yumi. You still got the fever though. You will have to spend more days in bed. Plus now, I think you need to take your medicine during the night too. I think it would be easier for me to sleep here." Saying this, she went back to her room and took the sheets of her bed. "What are you doing?" Yumi asked. "I will sleep here, on the floor." she answered as she carefully placed the sheets near Yumi's bed. "No, no, no, Ami, that's out of the question. I can't let you sleep on the floor. My bed is big enough, we can both sleep here." "But I don't want you to get uncomfortable because of me" the pink-haired girl softly answered. "Ami, you'll sleep here, with me, in this bed and that's all there is to it. Now put those sheets back." "Ok, Yumi, I'll sleep with you from now on until you get better" she gladly said taking the sheets away. "By the way, how did you like the music?" "I wasn't impressed much. Same old sound throughout the CD. But the fourth track; it's almost like all the other songs, but…it's somehow different; I kinda liked it. Could you play it again?" Ami read the CD play-list. "Stairway To Heaven? You didn't know the track? Yumi, this was a major hit…" "Like I said, I didn't really get into Led Zeppelin" Yumi interrupted her friend "but I like that song. Play it again, would you?" So she did, this time staying to hear the tune herself. Only after it was over, she realized that the tune seemed to bring back memories, blurry memories, some that the girl couldn't really focus on.