Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any other characters belonging to
Rumiko Takahashi. I also do not own the idea of this story from Stephen
King's "Kingdom Hospital"....but this is where I got the idea.
Midnight, the one hour of the long day that is feared, yet anticipated bringing upon a new day. The dark, desolate hallway on the second floor is empty, all except for the tiny spider, making a web in a shadowed corner. Kagome rests peacefully in her bed as the tiny pink alarm clock at her bedside ticks the minutes past. A slight breeze enters in through the crack in her window, forcing it slightly open. Inuyasha sits Indian style on the floor with his back against the one side of her bed. His ear twitches in sync with the clock ticks as he breathes softly in his sleep.
Little is known about anyone else such as Kagome's Grandfather, Mother, and Little Brother at this hour of the night. A sudden panic, a loud scream, and the sound of shattered glass ring loudly from downstairs. Kagome and Inuyasha quickly awaken, thinking of how profound the situation could be. At that moment they ran downstairs together to see what had occurred. Once they reached the bottom step they froze in utter shock. There on the ground, lying on the kitchen floor was Jii-chan with what looked like several pieces of broken dishes scattered about. He seemed unconscious but still breathing.
Inuyasha hurried to Jii-chan's side and made sure that he was physically alright. Soon after he checked Jii-chan, Mrs. Higurashi fumbled her way down the stairs. Once she reached the bottom the first thing she noticed was the blood dripping off the side of the counter and splattered all over the floor. Afraid, and not knowing what to do she grabbed the phone and dialed the hospital, which of course seemed to be the most reasonable thing to do. As an emergency employee answered the phone Mrs. Higurashi began panicking even more, shouting and crying hysterically.
Kagome grabbed a few towels out of the nearby linen closet and placed them, for support, underneath her grandfather's head. She noticed that the blood was seeping from his right arm so she grabbed another rogue towel and put pressure where it was needed. Inuyasha alerted his ears to Jii-chan's heartbeat, making sure it wasn't irregularly beating at either a fast rate or a slow rate.
"The ambulance is on the way, thank heavens." Kagome's mother panted, "Would you go and fetch Souta, Kagome?" She managed to add in her heaving.
Kagome nodded, not really wanting to leave her grandpa's side. She got up and made her way upstairs as fast as she could, pacing herself so that she wouldn't lose her breath or balance. At Souta's door she peeped in, he had not awakened from the loud noise, yet she knew he could sleep through a typhoon. She walked in and gently yet eagerly shook her brother.
"Souta, Grandpa's been hurt we have to go to the hospital." She yelled in his ear, beginning to shake him violently.
He rolled over and looked up at his big sister yawning. "What's this I hear?" He asked cluelessly.
Kagome explained once again what had happened. Souta jumped out of bed and quickly got dressed, worried if his grandfather was going to be alright.
By the time Kagome and Souta made it back downstairs the ambulance had been there. Regardless of the situation, Mrs. Higurashi made sure that she had placed the same old ball cap on Inuyasha's head to keep the curiosity down. However, wearing a ball cap at twelve thirty at night did seem quite awkward anyways.
"Is Grandpa going to be alright?" Souta asked nervously.
One of the ambulance riders in the hospital's original white suits gave Souta a small reassuring smile, "He'll be just fine son." As he left with Jii-chan firmly attached to the gurney he patted Souta on the head and loaded the gurney into the ambulance.
Mrs. Higurashi shoved Kagome, Inuyasha, and Souta into her car, regardless of what they were each wearing. She followed the ambulance as soon as it left the driveway.
A little ways down the highway Kagome's confused face made more tension in the car than there already had been. Inuyasha noticed this and placed a hand on her shoulder, "What's wrong?"
"Why aren't we going to the Tokyo Hospital?" She asked her mother, refraining from giving the question to Inuyasha, who was likely not to know the answer.
"Mitaka Hospital is closer. Besides in this prefecture of Tokyo we're likely to get better service than a universal hospital." Mrs. Higurashi answered tensely, still showing her worried face.
Souta sat staring out the window, painting a dull expression on his face that showed no signs of changing. At that point everyone was feeling the same emotions of worry and fatigue. Nothing was known of Jii-chan at this point and anyone's guess was as good as any others.
At the hospital their seemed to be barely anyone in the parking lot, which gave Mrs. Higurashi an advantage of being sloppy at parking with her car.
It hadn't really occurred to anyone at this point the plain reason why Jii- chan had been up so late in the first place. It all didn't seem to matter and all that did seem important was Jii-chan. However, Inuyasha's mind raced with the question and the look he saw on Kagome's face gave him the impression she was thinking the same thing. It wasn't like Jii-chan to be up so late handling dishes of any sort. It had all seemed out of place, even absurd.
As the glass sliding doors opened an eerie wind pushed them back. At the moment Kagome stopped, wide-eyed. She had never been to this hospital and it being her first time she didn't expect such an uneasy welcome. Inuyasha grabbed her hand and tried to pull her forward, but she wouldn't move. Mrs. Higurashi and Souta had already made their way to the elevator and waved at Inuyasha to show they were going to head up to the room the secretary at the front desk had issued them.
Kagome felt as though something wasn't right. She looked at Inuyasha who looked back at her concerned. "I don't like it here." She said to him, it being the only thing she could think to say.
Inuyasha had been thrown back by her words; "Why?" Just as the words left his mouth he felt a chill up his back. He too realized something wasn't right with the hospital.
"This place doesn't have a good aura. However, it's not like sensing a demon." Kagome said, trying to put together the pieces of her surroundings.
"I don't feel any jyaki of any sort." He replied, "However, I do feel as though something isn't right. You should know the powers of a Miko. The power to sense spirits, I think that's what we're dealing with."
Kagome's eyes widened even more with uncertainty, "You mean ghosts?!?!" She asked, bringing her hands up to her face in horror.
"Unsettled beings are what they are. It doesn't seem abnormal to have a hospital filled with these apparitions, however, this place..." Inuyasha trailed off.
"Is too wide of a connection with the spirit world, am I correct?" Kagome said, filling in the ending of Inuyasha's sentence.
Inuyasha nodded, sniffing the air with his all-powerful sensitive nose. He smelled something he didn't find very normal. "I smell heaps of dry blood." He said, cringing his nose at the stench.
"Well this is a hospital" Kagome stated, in a matter-a-fact sort of way.
Inuyasha, who didn't seem very amused by Kagome's smart tone, bowed his head towards the ground, "It's coming from underneath the hospital. I doubt your medical healers throw blood underneath the floor."
"Well the pipes go underneath ground; blood is washed through them I'm sure." Kagome said, trying to find a logical explanation.
"There is way too much to consider anything like that, Kagome. You should know by now I only am concerned with strong, noticeable smells." He replied looking up at her with a serious face.
They both knew it wasn't safe in the hospital walls. Inuyasha knew especially that the spirits would seek to bring Kagome to them to feed off her power, although he refrained from telling her, to keep her calm.
Even though the thought of evil remained quite clear in their heads both Inuyasha and Kagome knew that it was most important to check on Jii-chan, to make sure everything was going to be alright.
When they made it to Jii-chan's room he was hooked up to every known machine in the hospital it had seemed like. The atmosphere was gloomy and the worried looks on Souta and Mrs. Higurashi's face were all too well known at this point.
A nurse had come by at that moment and directed them to the waiting room while a doctor analyzed Jii-chan's current state.
It was all too quiet in the waiting room for Inuyasha and Kagome, whom still felt insecure about being the hospital.
Inuyasha knew all too well that its walls were feeding off of their powers as though it were a living, breathing creature. Since the powers of miko's and demons were long diminished since the Warring Era it was a bigger threat to both of their lives. The spirits were hungry, Inuyasha knew this. He felt all too apprehensive about Kagome and how much power she had against his own.
The hours went by quicker than anyone anticipated and the hospital seemed to get more and more drearier.
Inuyasha had heard a few glasses break in the hallways in the first hours and than started to hear more disturbing noises as the time passed, although, he refrained from telling Kagome to save her from becoming upset.
Midnight, the one hour of the long day that is feared, yet anticipated bringing upon a new day. The dark, desolate hallway on the second floor is empty, all except for the tiny spider, making a web in a shadowed corner. Kagome rests peacefully in her bed as the tiny pink alarm clock at her bedside ticks the minutes past. A slight breeze enters in through the crack in her window, forcing it slightly open. Inuyasha sits Indian style on the floor with his back against the one side of her bed. His ear twitches in sync with the clock ticks as he breathes softly in his sleep.
Little is known about anyone else such as Kagome's Grandfather, Mother, and Little Brother at this hour of the night. A sudden panic, a loud scream, and the sound of shattered glass ring loudly from downstairs. Kagome and Inuyasha quickly awaken, thinking of how profound the situation could be. At that moment they ran downstairs together to see what had occurred. Once they reached the bottom step they froze in utter shock. There on the ground, lying on the kitchen floor was Jii-chan with what looked like several pieces of broken dishes scattered about. He seemed unconscious but still breathing.
Inuyasha hurried to Jii-chan's side and made sure that he was physically alright. Soon after he checked Jii-chan, Mrs. Higurashi fumbled her way down the stairs. Once she reached the bottom the first thing she noticed was the blood dripping off the side of the counter and splattered all over the floor. Afraid, and not knowing what to do she grabbed the phone and dialed the hospital, which of course seemed to be the most reasonable thing to do. As an emergency employee answered the phone Mrs. Higurashi began panicking even more, shouting and crying hysterically.
Kagome grabbed a few towels out of the nearby linen closet and placed them, for support, underneath her grandfather's head. She noticed that the blood was seeping from his right arm so she grabbed another rogue towel and put pressure where it was needed. Inuyasha alerted his ears to Jii-chan's heartbeat, making sure it wasn't irregularly beating at either a fast rate or a slow rate.
"The ambulance is on the way, thank heavens." Kagome's mother panted, "Would you go and fetch Souta, Kagome?" She managed to add in her heaving.
Kagome nodded, not really wanting to leave her grandpa's side. She got up and made her way upstairs as fast as she could, pacing herself so that she wouldn't lose her breath or balance. At Souta's door she peeped in, he had not awakened from the loud noise, yet she knew he could sleep through a typhoon. She walked in and gently yet eagerly shook her brother.
"Souta, Grandpa's been hurt we have to go to the hospital." She yelled in his ear, beginning to shake him violently.
He rolled over and looked up at his big sister yawning. "What's this I hear?" He asked cluelessly.
Kagome explained once again what had happened. Souta jumped out of bed and quickly got dressed, worried if his grandfather was going to be alright.
By the time Kagome and Souta made it back downstairs the ambulance had been there. Regardless of the situation, Mrs. Higurashi made sure that she had placed the same old ball cap on Inuyasha's head to keep the curiosity down. However, wearing a ball cap at twelve thirty at night did seem quite awkward anyways.
"Is Grandpa going to be alright?" Souta asked nervously.
One of the ambulance riders in the hospital's original white suits gave Souta a small reassuring smile, "He'll be just fine son." As he left with Jii-chan firmly attached to the gurney he patted Souta on the head and loaded the gurney into the ambulance.
Mrs. Higurashi shoved Kagome, Inuyasha, and Souta into her car, regardless of what they were each wearing. She followed the ambulance as soon as it left the driveway.
A little ways down the highway Kagome's confused face made more tension in the car than there already had been. Inuyasha noticed this and placed a hand on her shoulder, "What's wrong?"
"Why aren't we going to the Tokyo Hospital?" She asked her mother, refraining from giving the question to Inuyasha, who was likely not to know the answer.
"Mitaka Hospital is closer. Besides in this prefecture of Tokyo we're likely to get better service than a universal hospital." Mrs. Higurashi answered tensely, still showing her worried face.
Souta sat staring out the window, painting a dull expression on his face that showed no signs of changing. At that point everyone was feeling the same emotions of worry and fatigue. Nothing was known of Jii-chan at this point and anyone's guess was as good as any others.
At the hospital their seemed to be barely anyone in the parking lot, which gave Mrs. Higurashi an advantage of being sloppy at parking with her car.
It hadn't really occurred to anyone at this point the plain reason why Jii- chan had been up so late in the first place. It all didn't seem to matter and all that did seem important was Jii-chan. However, Inuyasha's mind raced with the question and the look he saw on Kagome's face gave him the impression she was thinking the same thing. It wasn't like Jii-chan to be up so late handling dishes of any sort. It had all seemed out of place, even absurd.
As the glass sliding doors opened an eerie wind pushed them back. At the moment Kagome stopped, wide-eyed. She had never been to this hospital and it being her first time she didn't expect such an uneasy welcome. Inuyasha grabbed her hand and tried to pull her forward, but she wouldn't move. Mrs. Higurashi and Souta had already made their way to the elevator and waved at Inuyasha to show they were going to head up to the room the secretary at the front desk had issued them.
Kagome felt as though something wasn't right. She looked at Inuyasha who looked back at her concerned. "I don't like it here." She said to him, it being the only thing she could think to say.
Inuyasha had been thrown back by her words; "Why?" Just as the words left his mouth he felt a chill up his back. He too realized something wasn't right with the hospital.
"This place doesn't have a good aura. However, it's not like sensing a demon." Kagome said, trying to put together the pieces of her surroundings.
"I don't feel any jyaki of any sort." He replied, "However, I do feel as though something isn't right. You should know the powers of a Miko. The power to sense spirits, I think that's what we're dealing with."
Kagome's eyes widened even more with uncertainty, "You mean ghosts?!?!" She asked, bringing her hands up to her face in horror.
"Unsettled beings are what they are. It doesn't seem abnormal to have a hospital filled with these apparitions, however, this place..." Inuyasha trailed off.
"Is too wide of a connection with the spirit world, am I correct?" Kagome said, filling in the ending of Inuyasha's sentence.
Inuyasha nodded, sniffing the air with his all-powerful sensitive nose. He smelled something he didn't find very normal. "I smell heaps of dry blood." He said, cringing his nose at the stench.
"Well this is a hospital" Kagome stated, in a matter-a-fact sort of way.
Inuyasha, who didn't seem very amused by Kagome's smart tone, bowed his head towards the ground, "It's coming from underneath the hospital. I doubt your medical healers throw blood underneath the floor."
"Well the pipes go underneath ground; blood is washed through them I'm sure." Kagome said, trying to find a logical explanation.
"There is way too much to consider anything like that, Kagome. You should know by now I only am concerned with strong, noticeable smells." He replied looking up at her with a serious face.
They both knew it wasn't safe in the hospital walls. Inuyasha knew especially that the spirits would seek to bring Kagome to them to feed off her power, although he refrained from telling her, to keep her calm.
Even though the thought of evil remained quite clear in their heads both Inuyasha and Kagome knew that it was most important to check on Jii-chan, to make sure everything was going to be alright.
When they made it to Jii-chan's room he was hooked up to every known machine in the hospital it had seemed like. The atmosphere was gloomy and the worried looks on Souta and Mrs. Higurashi's face were all too well known at this point.
A nurse had come by at that moment and directed them to the waiting room while a doctor analyzed Jii-chan's current state.
It was all too quiet in the waiting room for Inuyasha and Kagome, whom still felt insecure about being the hospital.
Inuyasha knew all too well that its walls were feeding off of their powers as though it were a living, breathing creature. Since the powers of miko's and demons were long diminished since the Warring Era it was a bigger threat to both of their lives. The spirits were hungry, Inuyasha knew this. He felt all too apprehensive about Kagome and how much power she had against his own.
The hours went by quicker than anyone anticipated and the hospital seemed to get more and more drearier.
Inuyasha had heard a few glasses break in the hallways in the first hours and than started to hear more disturbing noises as the time passed, although, he refrained from telling Kagome to save her from becoming upset.