This story is dedicated to my grandfather's memory. I always loved hanging out at his house throughout my life thus far. He was such a healthy active man; his life was spent well. He lived for 89 years and I admired him greatly. On January 3rd, 2005 at 2:45 AM, he passed away. He is now in heaven with my grandmother who died back on August 10th, 1995. She too was a great woman; I loved her dearly.
Shizuru gazed into her grandfather's hospital room. Moments ago, her father had called her on her cell phone, his voice becoming broken with tears clenching his throat. "It's almost time, your grandpa is dying. Your mother, Kazuma, and I are already over here at the hospital." As she stepped off the elevator on his floor, her husband, Shuuichii, was ready to greet her. She could barely look into his green eyes without tears pooling in hers. "Kurama, I can't believe this is it," she said in a creaky voice, as she tried to fight back the tears, "I have known Grandpa Saito for my whole life; we shared such a life together. He was my best friend, my hero, and the very person I was so close to. This is going to be so har…har…" she tried to speak with her broken heart choking her throat.
Shuu enclosed his arms around her grieving body. "Shh…shh…shh, it's going to be okay," he reassured her, combing his fingers of his right hand through her hair. "I know it is hard to lose someone special to you. I have lost my mother and my closest friend, Yomi. I know exactly what you are going through," he whispered to her in a soft, pillowing voice. He massaged the back of her neck with his right hand, while holding her body tight to his with his left arm. "How long has he been like this?"
"Grandpa? He's been like this for five months at least. Two months before Sakura was born, dad said he had a major heart malfunction; the valve on his pacemaker was slow working. Then after we brought Sakura back from Makai to be christened, that Sunday his nurse said he had trouble urinating. Either he couldn't pee or when he did he had blood come out with it, something wrong with his kidneys. One time in November he had to go real bad, he was too weak from the blood loss to stand up by himself. A couple of male nurses had to stand him up in the bathroom, over the bowl so he could do his thing. One of the men said he passed out from that ordeal. Still he passed more blood than urine. On our Saito's birthday, Christmas Day, he wasn't eating well. He couldn't take solid foods. A nurse offered him eggs and cinnamon buns for breakfast, which had him throwing up later on in the day. Now it is New Year's Eve, and here we are waiting for him to go. I just hate to have to say goodbye to him."
"Yeah I know, but after all that pain and struggle to keep him alive, you think he would want to do that forever? Not too long from now he will be away from this damaged body of his. He won't be in pain, he won't have to suffer, and he will be in God's kingdom and be free. I know you would want it that way."
"Shizuru, is that you, my dear?" uttered a weak, whispery voice.
"Yes, Grandpa, I'm here. So good to see you this last time. I was hoping you would come with me to the get together tomorrow and watch American Football, but I see you started celebrating early," she said to him, trying to keep her spirits up.
"I see you brought your man with you. It is so good to see the man that gave me two beautiful greatgrands to cherish. I understand you named your boy after me, quite the honor. You know your brother was about to be Saito Kuwabara the Third. But what a day that was."
"You were going to name me Saito? But why did you give me the name Kazuma?" Shizuru's brother inquired.
"Baby brother, it had to do with mom's dad. His name was Kazuma, Kazuma Mukamura. I know I was only five years old at the time. Grandpa Kazuma was very sick at the time; nobody thought he was going to survive for long. He had terminal cancer in his brain, and was soon to pass. That night of your birth, during our evening dinner, mom's water broke. Dad told Grandpa Saito to call the doctor's right away. Fifteen minutes later, the doctor arrived at the house. Mom was laying on the couch in the living room in labor pain. In the guestroom adjacent to the living room, Grandpa Kazuma was in the bed lingering between life and death. Grandma Mukamura was racing back and forth, to check on her dying husband and the birth of her new grandson. About ten o'clock that night, I watched as you, Brother, were being born. Mom gave one huge push and you dropped from her body into the doctor's arms. It was such a joy to hear you utter your first cry. Just as we were about to celebrate your birth and name you Saito Kuwabara the Third, Grandma strolled into the room with tears in her eyes. She told us that we had lost Grandpa Kazuma. He died about the same time the baby was born. It almost seemed as though he gave his soul to his grandson, the final sacrifice of his life. So to honor his memory, Mom decided instead to call you Kazuma."
Upon hearing his sister's words, tears welled in his eyes and poured down his cheeks. "Then you named your son Grandpa Kuwabara's name. When you told me his name at his birth, I thought that what you did, to honor him with that name. Saito is the perfect name for him, because he looks just like Dad and Grandpa."
"Shizuru, my dear granddaughter, and you too Kazuma, I have felt so blessed to have you in my life. I was so pleased when I watched you grow up in front of my eyes. From as far back as when you were little babies. I still remember the days the two of you were little and played at the house with your grandmother and me. How that one summer when Shizuru was 10 and Kazuma was 5, you watched over our dog, Yuri, during one of her pregnancies. You watched her day and night for eight weeks, until she had her puppies. I think that summer she had four girls and four boys, but two of the boys died at birth. I know you cried over the death of those two babies, Shiz." The dying man reached his hand out to her hands; his skin feeling has dry as sandpaper against her subtle hands of youth.
Shizuru looked into his eyes, as her face contorted, as she tried to fight off the tears dribbling down her face.
The old man turned his eyes to Kurama's bright green eyes. "Young man, I was so glad you came into our lives. I can never forget the days she would come to me as a young college woman and share such stories about the fellow she fell in love with. I was so happy she had found the right guy to settle down with. That Christmas Eve, the both of you came to me, and surprised me with the news the two of you would soon be wed."
"It was such a privilege to meet you, sir, and have you and your son offer your consent for me to take her as my wife. I felt so blessed to be apart of your family. Your granddaughter is the best thing in my life, and I cherish every moment spent with her," Kurama commented, running his fingers through his wife's hair.
"Shuuichii, I cannot thank you enough for being there with my granddaughter through everything. When my wife and I learned you conceived your first child with her, and to learn the child was also a boy, we were so excited. My wife fainted in my arms when she realized she was going to be a great-grandmother. I too felt amazed at that. That was the best Christmas gift we had ever received, a great-grandson. When you and Shizuru came to me with the child, I wept upon seeing his face. He was such a pretty child. When you said you gave him the name Saito, I was torn to pieces. You had wished to bestow the child with my legacy." Tears trickled out the old man's face, just remembering that event.
He turned his focus on the face of his tearful granddaughter, "I am sorry I wasn't there for you when your girl was born. I wish I was, but this old body of mine wouldn't let me. I was so blessed to see her after you had her baptized at church. She looks like angel from heaven. You showed me a picture of her in her lily-white dress, crying while you held her in your arms and had the priest pour water over her head. I wish I had been in that church that morning to see that."
He sighed with a shallow breath and a deep watery cough. "Grandpa, are you okay? Is it time?" worried Kazuma, rolling his grandpa over to his side.
"It will be time in a while. You are such a thoughtful young man. Hey while I am on my side like this…it's been a long day and would hate to leave this world and have the embarrassment of…you know what… on the bed."
"Kurama, I can't do this, man, handle messing with another man's bodily needs. You're a doctor, you do this stuff all the time," Kazuma commented, as he hesitated with a urinal bottle in his hands.
"Give me that," the red-haired man instructed, snatching the bottle away, "You're such a wuss." "He's got to sit up to do this. Put your body under his for support." Kazuma did as his brother-in-law instructed and braced his grandpa. "If anyone in the room is squeamish about bodily fluids and wastes, especially someone else's, or wish to give him privacy, please look away now."
"I know I am not watching this, it's gross," commented Kazuma.
"I will avert my eyes out of courtesy of my grandpa," his sister replied, "but I deal with this everyday as a mother. I have a little girl who I have to change 2 or 3 times a day, and a little boy to potty train. If that wasn't enough, he is at the Urameshis. Both he and Megumi have the chickenpox and he was throwing up when I last checked in on him. I am keeping him away from the baby during this; she is way too young to be sick with that."
"Sis, can you please not talk about that? You are making me sick listening to that stuff."
"What is his problem, Shiz?" the fox boy asked, as he watched the silhouette of liquid pour quickly into the bottle.
"Don't mind Kazuma, that's the way most Kuwabara men are. They may have huge muscular bodies, but their stomachs are the weakest things on earth. Dad gets that way. In fact on the day of Kazuma's birth, Grandma Kuwabara could tell you both my dad and this old fart couldn't handle it when the doctor was working on Mom. Dad passed out at the sight of blood and poor old grandpa was puking in the bathroom, all because he saw the embryonic fluid gush out with the baby's body."
"But he can fight the ugliest demon ever, and he doesn't seem phased. Some spew all sorts of stuff from their stomachs for aids in fighting, and he doesn't seem sick by that. That is so weird," sighed Kurama, ushering a nurse for a new bottle. "Thank you, ma'am. This first one is full."
"Yeah I know, but that is the way the men in our family are. They can take ugly monsters but not bodily stuff. Actually after one of his fights, Kazuma told me a demon did spew its poison at him and he said that almost made him toss his cookies."
"Young man, I'm done," informed the Elder Kuwabara, "Can you get me back in bed, please?"
Both the old man's grandson and grandson-in-law complied with his request and laid his rickety body back under the sheets and rested his head back on the pillow. "Thank you, Shuu and Kazuma," he sighed in relief, " You have no idea how long I have been holding that in. Besides I thought I would enjoy that pee, since it is going to be my last."
"Grandpa, please don't talk like that. I know this is your last time, but I just hate to see you go," Shizuru sighed, biting her lip, trying to stifle her tears.
"Yeah Gramps, I love you," responded Kazuma, with tears in his eyes, "I wish I could help you. You mean so much to me that I don't know what I would do without you. You are the one I always looked up to in my hardest moments in life." Kazuma's face contorted as he started choking on the lump in his throat from a breaking heart. "I was hoping you would be there on Valentine's Day, when Yukina and I are to be married. I wanted you to be in the wedding party."
"Oh Kazuma, I feel honored that you would invite me to the wedding. I wouldn't miss it in the world. Yukina is such a lovely child. I have seen you two together, and you are perfect for each other. In a way, son, I will be there. I will be in spirit with you. I can remember you always hanging around that Urameshi boy. I know you were rivals, but I like how you are now best friends. I always loved hearing about the tournaments you were in with Mr. Urameshi, Dr. Minamino, and that other guy. I have enjoyed hearing your stories of those fights against evil monsters. I hope in the future you keep yourself safe and you and your sister protect those who can't defend themselves against evil."
The old man glanced at both of his grandchildren. "Well it was so good to meet the both of you. Shuu, thank you for making my granddaughter happy. Kazuma, I wish you luck on your marriage. See you l…" he whispered with his last breath. Mr. Kuwabara closed his eyes and his body finally fell limp; his arm flopped onto the mattress like a rag doll.
"Grandpa, I love you. See y…you la…t…t…er," Shizuru collapsed into her husband's chest, clenching his shirt in her fists. He wrapped his arms around her and held her head in his hands. As he started stroking her hair with his fingers, immediately he felt her heart beat within his embrace. Hearing his beloved sob and feeling his shirt becoming dampened by her continuous outpour of tears, Kurama felt her pain within his own heart. Kazuma placed his hands on his sister's shoulders, and the two men stood her up slowly and walked her out their grandpa's hospital room.