Fight for Survival

by Ishval

Last in my Mai and Naru Series. Mai is in a horrific accident and everyone bands together to see that she will get better. Mai's journey toward recovery is hampered by the paranormal. Rewritten. And this is the end of Mai and Naru's story.

Mai walked into the office with Duncan and Eugene in tow. The twins were still young enough to use their English names. "Naru, are you here?" she called out as Gene and Duncan toddled off to the reception area where her old desk sat.

Osamu Yasuhara glanced up from the computer as both the boys rushed over to him. Each toddler clamored for his attention by yanking at his pant legs trying to climb up into his lap. "Hey Mai, I wasn't expecting you another hour at least."

"I was able to get the boys in sooner than expected for their shots." She glanced around, "Where's Naru?"

Yasu picked Duncan up into his arms. Duncan squealed in delight as Yasu situated him on one leg. Grabbing Gene's outstretched hand with his free hand, he helped the other twin scale his leg. As he bounced both twins on his legs, they giggled at the simulated horsey ride. "He and Lin left to go check out another possible case. There's a file on your desk to look over. The client is a shut-in who suffers from a form of Agoraphobia and refuses to leave the house."

She smiled at her boys, "Don't be too rough with Uncle Yasu now."

Yasu chuckled, "They're fine, and they could never be too rough. I know how ticklish they are." To prove a point he ran a finger along Duncan's ribs. Duncan erupted in loud peals of toddler squeals.

"Okay, I'll check it out, but watch out Duncan has developed a fascination for shiny things." She strode across the room and opened a door with a gold nameplate mounted on the wooden door. She paused and ran her hand over the writing, 'Mai Davis, Co-CEO.' She smiled as she entered the joint office she shared with her husband.

She picked up the manila file folder and opened it reading the list of complaints from the perspective client. The usual noises at night like something chewing and rattling that would keep her up at night. "Sounds like mice and faulty plumbing," she muttered to herself as she noted the address and a huge smile lit her face.

Carrying the file, she stepped out of her office, pulled the door close behind her as a sparkle lit her cinnamon eyes. "Okay boys," she mentally calculated the distance between Shibuya to Takasaki. "How do you feel about a road trip? We'll go see Aunt Jessica while we're in the area."

Both boys stopped climbing on Yasu, and Duncan released his hold on Yasu's glasses as he giggled and clapped, "Jessie."

Gene gurgled and smiled up at Mai, "Jessie."

Tucking the file up under her arm, she picked Gene up off Yasu, and he was able to stand while holding Duncan in his arms. Duncan was in the process of trying to rip Yasu's glasses from his face.

She reached out with her free arm and grabbed Duncan's hand, "No, we don't play with Uncle Yasu's glasses."

Duncan sniffed as though he was going to break out in tears when Gene said something definitely in baby babble and Duncan seemed to cheer up. "I swear I think they have their own language," Mai giggled.

The two adults carrying the two twins stepped out into the early morning sunlight to Mai's car. Pulling open the rear door, she leaned in and placed Gene in his car seat and then lowered the shield and then snapped the padded bar into place with a click. Gene slapped the bar and gurgled, "Jessie."

Mai tickled him under the chin gaining a giggle from the toddler. "Yes, we'll go visit Jessie."

Yasu opened the other door and planted Duncan in his car seat as Duncan happily pulled the glasses from Yasu's face. "Oh no you don't," Yasu exclaimed as he tugged his eyeglasses back from the twin and placed them back on his face. "Now I'm going to have to clean them again, you got your fingerprints all over my spectacles."

Mai reached over Gene, pulled the shield down over Duncan, and snapped it into place. The expression on the boy's face was a perfect Naru scowl. She couldn't let this opportunity go and took a picture of his little face. Luella would get a kick out of it, Mai thought as she pressed send on her cell phone.

"I'll have to show this to Naru too," she snickered. Straightening up as she closed the rear door she gazed at her friend. "I'm so sorry about your glasses."

He waved her off, "No harm done. Besides, they are definitely unpredictable." He chuckled, "Have a safe trip, Mai," he called as Mai climbed into the driver's seat and tossed the file into the passenger seat.

"We will," she called out as she waved and closed the door. Sliding the ignition key into its slot turned the key, and the engine roared to life. She looked up into the rearview mirror and smiled at her sons as they carried on their conversation.

She pulled the car out into traffic and headed towards the highway.

Mai turned her sedan into the driveway of the client's house. She shut off the engine and climbed out as a click of metal on metal reached her ear, and a light breeze blew her hair back.

She moved back to the rear door opened it and unbuckled Duncan's car seat, and the boy eagerly climbed out. He waited for her to do the same to Gene's, both boys automatically took a hand each, and she walked up to the door and knocked.

The woman who answered was several inches shorter than Mai. The woman was hunched over probably due to osteoporosis. She had to crane her head up to look up at the brunette. Her once dark hair now gray streaked with silver that she wore in a bun. The woman heard a hiccup and glanced down to see the twins in tow. "Whatever you're selling I don't want any," she grumped as she went to close the door.

"I'm not here to sell anything," Mai said quickly as she the older woman's attention. "I'm from SPR, and I'm here to listen to you about your case."

"Well, then come in, but keep those two on a leash." She pointed at the twins. "I don't want them messing with my things." The woman turned to allow Mai and the twin's entry.

Mai's nose scrunched as the stench from the house hit her. The place smelled worse than a soiled diaper left in a hot space for a few hours. She tried to keep a pleasant smile on her face.

The woman led the way into the living room, which was covered, from floor to ceiling with tons of clutter. She's a hoarder. This is worse than I thought.

"Ma'am I don't want to seem rude, but I can already see part of the problem is mice and probably a plumbing problem. So as Co-CEO I can only make a few suggestions on how to improve this issue."

The woman squinted at the younger woman. "You're going to tell me like my own children do that I'm the problem. Well, listen to me little missy I don't have a problem."

"Ma'am I'm really sorry to upset you, but you need to hire an exterminator and a plumber and maybe get some people to help—"

"I knew it," the woman raged. "Get out of my house and don't come back."

Mai maneuvered her car down the street and passed an enormous modern house that had a brick wall surrounding the property with a gold plate on the wall that read Takahashi. She pressed her foot down on the brake and made a turn into the drive of another house practically next door.

Climbing out of the car, she heard a voice calling to her, "Mai?" She turned as footsteps came up to find herself pulled into a hug by a tall man with spiky bleach-blond hair. "What brings you out this way?"

"Hi Keisuke," she smiled, "I was out this way to check on a possible case and decided to bring the boys and see Jessica and Ryosuke. I didn't expect to find you here."

"Well I came by because of sponsor problems and thought maybe Ryosuke could pull a few strings, but I don't want anyone giving me favors just because I'm The White Comet of Akagi's brother." He saw two little boys in the back squirming trying to get out of their car seats. "I see you and Naru got busy?"

"Didn't you know?"

"No, I've been busy with my professional career," he moved away as Mai opened the door and Keisuke popped his in to see the twins. "Wow, they look just like Naru."

She laughed, "Well there are little differences but this is Eugene," she pointed at her younger son, "and the other is Duncan."

"Here let me help you," he reached in and unfastened the clips allowing the boys some freedom.

Both climbed out, and Mai caught the scent as Duncan squirmed a little. She sighed as she pulled out the diaper bag, "Duncan needs a change. It was a long trip."

Keisuke led the brunette and twins into the house and led her to a bathroom where she could change the twins.

"Jess," he called out as he walked into the dining room to find his brother and now sister-in-law sitting at the table. "Mai's here, and she brought the twins."

Ryosuke reached out and grabbed his wife's wrist to get her attention. "Don't over exert yourself. It's not good for the baby."

She pushed her chair back and stood revealing her extended stomach. "Don't worry Papa, next month you'll see your little girl." She leaned down and kissed his cheek. "Don't be a stranger and come and visit too. I mean she did come all this way."

After Duncan and Eugene both were changed Mai exited the bathroom with the twins, Mai pulled them back. "You need to be nice to Aunt Jessica, okay?"

Both twins nodded as they each took a seat on either side of Jessica and in their secret language each commented on the size of Jessica's stomach. They erupted into laughter.

Jessica put her hands on both of them, "You two are so cute. I'm glad Madoka kept us up to date on them."

Mai giggled as she sat down in a chair. Ryosuke joined them. "Care to stay for lunch, Mai?"

"That would be great, and I know the twins are probably starving."

"Any diet restrictions?"

"Oh no, as long as it isn't alive and doesn't bite back they'll eat it," she sighed. "I've never seen kids who eat everything that you put in front of them. I mean when I was a kid I hated broccoli. They love it."

Jessica smiled and gazed down on the twins who were still in a conversation about her stomach.

Monk and Ayako entered the office and found it unusually quiet. "Hey Yasu, is Mai in?"

Yasu straightened his glasses. "No, they're not here. Naru left her a case to check out, and she figured while she was in the neighborhood she'd stop in and see Jessica."

Monk's smile fell as he sighed. "We were hoping they'd be here. We wanted to take her and the twins out to lunch."

Yasu shrugged as the door opened and Naru with Lin on his heels walked in. "Hey, big boss did everything go okay?"

Naru just glared and walked past as he threw a file down on Yasu's desk. He opened his office door and expected to see Mai and the twins there. He turned to face the others, "Where's Mai?"

"She went to check on the case you left her and visit Jessica afterward. Although she did call and said she was having lunch with the Takahashi's, however, she said the woman who called about a ghost problem threw her out."

Naru's eyebrow cocked as he gave Yasu the sign to continue. "The woman's been calling wanting to talk to you."

He sighed. It must have been fate as the phone rang and Yasu answered as he pulled the receiver away from his ear. "Yes Ma'am, he's here now. I'll transfer you."

Naru braced himself and wished Mai were here to make his tea. A cup would steady his nerves. He picked up the receiver, "Miss Murata how can I help you?"

"Why did you send that little tramp with those two little hellions here? I want you to know she was rude and let them run around the house."

The temperature in the room began to drop as his knuckles turned white as his grip tightened on the receiver. "I would prefer that you wouldn't tell lies about my wife and my children. My sons know better than to run around, and Mai is a gifted medium who can tell if you have a spiritual problem. I take it that she said that you didn't have one and you're just angry because you didn't get the answer you wanted. If you want someone to take your case, I suggest you call another group. I refuse to take your case." He slammed the receiver into its cradle.

Rising from his chair, he opened his door. "Yasuhara, if Miss Murata calls again you can give her a referral to that fraud Minami." He opened his office door and gripped the bridge of his nose as he fought to fight back a headache that was forming.

"It was so nice seeing all of you again. Please don't make yourselves strangers and come and visit us when you get the time," Mai smiled at the Takahashi's as she hugged Jessica, Ryosuke, and Keisuke.

"After our daughter's born we'll come and visit," Jessica replied as Ryosuke nodded.

"Let me help you," Keisuke offered as he walked Mai back to her car and helped her with the twins.

"Thanks so much Keisuke," she smiled as she waved and backed her car out into traffic and sped away heading for Shibuya.

Mai drove her four-door sedan along with the highway traffic noting that a large semi was now keeping pace with her car. Her stomach began to squirm with that feeling that something bad was going to happen when she caught the sight of the face of the driver. His eyes held a glazed look to them.

The truck swerved into her lane. She tried to maneuver her car next to the guardrail. She saw the ravine below out of her peripheral vision. She gripped the steering wheel as panic grew inside and her guts twisted.

She pressed her foot on the gas. The twins screamed as a huge tire caught the car. The car bounced as it shot from under the tire like a ping pong ball. Another tire caught the car.

Mai's head slammed into the steering wheel. Her vision grayed as she heard her boys screaming in terror. Her head hit the steering wheel a second time. She slumped against the wheel as glass shattered and metal crunched.

Mai's eyes slowly opened as she groaned. She raised her head, and her blurry vision slowly began to clear. Her brain was foggy as she tried to remember what happened. A spider-webbed windshield greeted her as her surroundings slowly came into focus. She slowly remembered the truck that had literally run over her car several times, as it bounced back and forth underneath the truck.

Glancing up she saw how the roof had caved in, but thankfully, she was short enough that it never touched her. She groaned as her right arm radiated pain that matched the pain shooting through her pelvis and abdomen. She felt the heat on her feet. The breeze through the mountains tickled her bare feet.

She looked up into the rear-view mirror to see two little dark heads leaned over the car seats. "Eugene, Duncan, babies talk to Momma," she said to her sons. Her own voice sounded weak. Neither boy stirred. She bit her lower lip, as she fought back the panic that grew when she saw a little trickle of blood running from the top of Duncan's head.

"Help," she screamed as a head popped over the guardrail to look at the wreckage of her car that hung there from the guardrail suspended over the ravine. She noticed a thick trail of dark smoke off to her right.

A man was peering down at her. "Stay calm," he yelled, "I'm calling for help."

"Okay," she yelled back as she stared into the rearview looking for some sign that her sons were alive. "Gene, Duncan, please wake up and talk to momma." She closed her eyes and opened them again. Please let them be okay, please, she silently prayed.

Jessica felt a prickle of cold on her skin and rubbed her arms as she walked around the living room. 'I know there aren't spirits here. I checked it myself,' she thought.

She blinked as a figure formed in one of the darker corners of the room. The figure began to solidify as she saw Naru's features. "Not Naru," she whispered. Realization struck her as she remembered Naru's dead twin was Mai's spirit guide. Her eyes widened as he became almost solid and wore Naru's signature black suit.

He smiled sadly as he held his hands open and outstretched in a placating gesture. He opened his mouth, and Jessica caught several words as it moved. "Mai… danger… help," he seemed to frown as he faded from sight.

Jessica gasped as it struck her. Mai was in danger and needed help. She rushed through the house as fast as her pregnant body would allow as she called, "Ryosuke, help…"

"Jess," he said as he reached her side and she leaned on him for support gasping for air. "Is it the baby?"

"No," she gulped at the air trying to calm herself. "It's Mai and the twins. Don't ask me how I know, but they're in trouble. Please, Ryosuke you've got to help them."

He helped her sit down in a chair. He kneeled down as he cupped her face with his hands and knew by now that when his wife said something was wrong well something definitely was wrong. "Okay, I'll go but get someone to stay with you."

She nodded as he stood up and ran out of the house. Picking up the phone that sat on the end table, she dialed some numbers.

Ryosuke ran out of the house in a run and rushed to his white Mazda RX-7. He checked inside to make sure he had his medical bag was still there before he climbed into the car.

He pulled out his cell as he fired up his car. He hit speed dial as he heard the familiar voice of his brother. "Hey bro, what's up?"

"Mai and the twins are in trouble."

"Where," was Keisuke's immediate response?

"They haven't had enough time to make it back to Tokyo so it must be somewhere on the highway."

"Okay, on my way."

Ryosuke threw the cell into the passenger seat as he steered his car out onto the road and pressing his foot on the gas pedal he left the smell of burnt rubber in his wake.

Naru glanced up at the clock and tapped his fingers on the desk. "What is taking her so long to get here?" he asked himself as his eyes fell onto the playpen again.

He held his head in his hands and flinched as Yasu cheered at something he was watching on TV. Yasu hissed, and Naru still wondered why he let Mai convince him to hire Yasu especially after he found the man was addicted to anime.

"Stupid breaking news reports interrupting my anime and it was getting to the good part too," Yasu raged.

"To repeat an accident has happened on the highway to Tokyo from Gunma prefecture. The reports we're getting are of a truck that ran over a car. The truck crashed through the guardrail and landed in a ravine below. The car is dangling over the ravine. Rescue workers are on scene and working on a way to get the occupants out of the car."

Yasu's breath caught as the scene switched over to the live feed from the scene. The car no longer resembled a car it just looked like a twisted almost squashed hunk of metal. The camera focused onto the driver's compartment, and he caught sight of a woman with cinnamon brown hair.

"Big boss you need to come see this right now," Yasu yelled.

Lin exited his office to see what was going on and Yasu craned his head around to look at the tall Chinese man, "it's Mai."

He confirmed Yasu's suspicion with his own eyes and didn't bother to knock on Naru's door as he turned the knob and pushed the door open. "You need to come out here," Lin spoke steadily his stoic expression not giving anything away as he inhaled a breath to try to keep his own nerves steady.

"What has that fool done now?"

Moisture appeared in Lin's eyes as he opened his mouth to speak and at first, no sound came out. He took in another breath, released it slowly, and regained his voice. "It's Mai. She's been in an accident."

Naru felt his throat begin to close as he choked out, "Mai." He slowly stood and stared at the empty playpen. His legs were lead filled as he took a step towards the door.

Lin grabbed Naru and steadied his friend as the younger man sagged. Lin helped Naru to the couch. Naru saw Mai as she talked to emergency workers. 'She's alive,' he thought. But the boys, he couldn't see the boys.

A tow truck driver pulled his tow cable out from the vehicle and pulled it over to the remains of the car. He worked to wrap the line around the guardrail and wrapped it around an axle behind the tireless rim. He hoped this would hold the vehicle in place until the firefighters and police officers could get on with a rescue. He couldn't imagine how the woman in the car survived.

Mai heard Gene whimper, and she tried to turn, but the agonizing pain in her body stopped her. She heard him cry, "Ma. Ma."

She sighed in relief 'Gene's okay,' she thought. Her eyes moved over to Duncan's reflection. Tears gathered at the back of her throat. "Duncan, baby can you hear me?" Her bottom lip quivered as she felt she was going to lose it if something happened to him.

Gene caught her attention as he laughed and pointed at the rearview mirror. "Gee Gee."

She looked up and nearly screamed at the person staring back at her, "Gene," she whispered.

"Mai, you have to stay calm for the Twins sake, you don't want to upset them."

Her ears heard a moan, and she craned her head to see Duncan move slightly. She ignored the pain she felt and fought to stay awake for her boys. "Duncan… can you hear me? Can you wake up for momma?"

Gene turned his little head over toward his brother, "Dunk… Dunk…" he babbled something to his brother.

Duncan raised his head. "Mamma… hurt."

A gust of wind blew shaking the car and caused the wreckage to shift, and the metal creaked and groaned. Both of the boys.

Heads of the firefighters rose as they realized they had to do something now. They just had to figure out a way to get someone into the car before the worst happened.

Mai felt her eyelids begin to droop as Gene's face appeared in the rearview mirror again. "Mai you have to stay awake."

"I'll try, but I'm tired."

Gene's eyes softened, "I know but stay awake." His image turned as though he were checking something. "You're in good hands now. Ryosuke is here."

Ryosuke parked his car behind parked traffic. He grabbed medical bag. He hoped he had everything he might need.

Hefting the bag, He ran across the pavement and wound his way through parked cars. He saw black smoke rising in the distance. He hoped it wasn't Mai and the twins.

As he ran, he saw a couple of men from his street racing days. "Takashi, Kyoichi," he called out as he paused to wipe sweat from his brow.

Both of the men turned at the sound of his voice. Takashi Nakazato, the dark haired driver of the Miyogi Nightkids, was the first to speak. "Hey Ryosuke, long time no see."

"I don't have a chance to chew the fat, but I might be in need of your unique skills, especially yours Koichi." He pointed towards the smoke, "A friend of my wife's is up that way, and she has two children with her. I think they might be involved in that."

"Well damn, why didn't you say so? I can't stand seeing kids hurt," Kyoichi's deep voice rumbled. The man could be intimidating with the way he dressed in black leather jacket and bandana wrapped around his head. His angular features and piercing gaze were known to intimidate other drivers while Takashi's gave him the look of a millionaire playboy.

"Let's go," Ryosuke shouted as Keisuke and a couple of former Redsuns drivers and their former chief mechanic Matsumoto who carried a toolbox soon joined the three men.

The entire group broke into a run heading for the epicenter of the large traffic jam.

Naru rubbed a hand over his face as he stared at the screen taking in the scene. First responders shuffled around. He let his frustration out as he growled at the TV. "What's taking these idiots so long?"

The phone rang, and Yasu rose from his seat.

Naru's snapped at the other man, "Leave it. That crazy woman is probably calling again to harass me for rejecting her case."

The answering machine kicked in followed by a very cheerful, "Noll, Mai someone answer the phone. Grandma wants to talk to her little angels."

Naru's heart sank. How could he tell his mother that they were trapped in a car and their survival depended on some idiots who couldn't come to a decide how to rescue his family?

Lin placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'll call her and tell her what's going on," he rose from his seat on the couch, walked off, and entered his office softly closing the door behind him.

Feet pounded on the pavement as a police officer threw his hand up to stop the group of mechanics and street racers. "I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to pass."

"I'm a doctor, and I can help." Ryosuke told the man as he indicated the others, "These men are my associates."

The officer scanned the faces of the men. He frowned as his gaze fell on Kyoichi Sudo. He continued to study the faces when his face brightened. "Keisuke Takahashi, sir," he bowed formally to the younger man who stood in front of him. "Would it be possible to get your autograph? My son is a big fan, and it would make him so happy."

"Sure," Keisuke replied as he smirked to the others as he signed the officer's little notebook. He turned on the charm as he companionably threw an arm over the officer's shoulder. "Do you think you could give us a little leeway here? We personally know the people in the accident."

The officer with a goofy grin plastered across his face waved the men past. "It would be my pleasure." He turned away and practically squealed to himself as he muttered, "Keisuke Takahashi actually touched me."

As they neared the scene, Ryosuke took in a deep breath. He was amazed that the car was still there. Each gust of wind brought screams from the car. Twisted metal and raised jagged edges jutted from the once sleek vehicle. Windows were shattered or completely popped out. The outer skin of the passenger side of the car was completely torn away.

As Ryosuke approached the dangling car, Keisuke approached the fire captain who kept shaking his head in the negative at any suggestion given by the police officer in charge.

Kenta glared at the men and snorted, "By the time they decide to do anything Mai and her kids will be down in the ravine."

"I know Kenta we need to come up with a way to quickly stabilize the car so these idiots can do their job."

Kyoichi scanned the vehicles of other drivers and elbowed Matsumoto in the ribs gaining his attention. "Isn't that what I think it is?"

Matsumoto turned to where Kyoichi pointed, "Yeah, that's one of those telescopic forklifts."

Kyoichi smirked as he made a flourishing motion with his hand, "What are waiting for let's go get it."

Ryosuke stood next to the guardrail and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Mai can you hear me?" he shouted.

The brunette raised her head and blinked her eyes, as they grew wide. "Ryosuke," she managed to get out as she gasped from the pain that wracked her body.

Gene chose that moment to look at his mother, "I hungry."

Duncan joined his brother in the chorus both chanting they were hungry.

Mai glanced up at the sun, which was beginning to duck behind some mountaintops. "Ryosuke, the boys, are hungry, and it will be getting dark soon." She knew that once the night came on the temperature would drop and then she'd have to face another worry, exposure.

"Mai, hang on the cavalry is coming," he yelled back. "Shame a bunch of former street racers have to do the job of the professionals," he muttered to himself.

Ryosuke moved away from the crash site, pulled out his cellphone, and began to make several calls.

Naru saw a person on TV that he knew. He sat up straighter as the man was speaking to Mai. "Hey, big boss isn't that—"

"Ryosuke Takahashi, yes it is." He noticed movement from the back seat of the car and saw the hands of his children and at that point, he knew they were alive. His cell phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket. "Hello?"

"Oliver," Ryosuke's voice clearly came through the receiver. "I'm sending a chopper to pick you up. Where are you?"

"I'm in the office here in Shibuya. I'm watching the whole thing on the TV news."

"Is there a place the chopper can land?" Ryosuke asked.

"The roof is flat enough."

"Okay, I'll call the pilot."

"Thank you Ryosuke," Naru said as he signed in relief. He pressed the end button and replaced his phone to his pocket. He turned to Yasu, "We've got a ride coming in and need to be on the roof."

Yasu's eyes bulged as he did a double take, "The roof… why do we need to be on the roof?"

"Ryosuke is sending a chopper to pick us up," Naru deadpanned trying to keep his anxiety under control.

Lin joined the pair. "Luella is beside herself with worry."

Naru nodded and led the pair out of the office, and they climbed the flights of stairs that would take them to the roof.

Kyoichi and Matsumoto approached the truck carrying the forklift on its flatbed trailer. Kyoichi leader of the Emperor team stepped up on the footboard below the driver's door and grabbed ahold of the side view mirror. His deep voice sounded threatening as he spoke. "Hey man, we need to borrow your forklift."

"For what," the driver snapped back.

"See that car over there. In it is a woman and two kids and well you see she's a friend of a friend and I'm sure you wouldn't want anything to happen to her now do you. I mean think about it. If that was your wife and kids wouldn't you want someone to help them?"

The driver swallowed hard and thought about his own wife and kids. It only took him a minute to make his decision. "I'll do it."

Kyoichi jumped down from the truck as the driver climbed out of the cab and lowered a ramp at the rear of the trailer. Striding up the ramp, he unhooked the tie down straps from the come alongs that held the piece of machinery in place. Matsumoto followed the guy up the ramp. "Do you mind if we borrow these?" he indicated the straps and come alongs. "We can use them to help stabilize the car."

"Grab 'em," the driver called back.

Matsumoto quickly grabbed the straps and come alongs, and joined Kyoichi as the driver backed the forklift from off the flatbed and drove towards the crash site. He passed two of the come alongs and tie down straps to the Emperor leader.

"What are these for?"

"We can attach the straps to the forks of the forklift and use the come alongs to stabilize the vehicle."

Kyoichi smirked at the other man. "No wonder you were Ryosuke's chief mechanic when the Redsuns were racing. You have a knack for thinking out of the box."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Naru, Yasu, and Lin stood on the roof of the SPR office. They heard in the distance the sounds of the chopper.

As the helicopter approached Naru could make out that it resembled very closely the same ones used by the US Army during the Vietnam War. Although it was painted, white on top of the aircraft and blue on the bottom. Behind the door towards the rear of the aircraft was painted the star of life with the rod of Asclepius in the center.

As the chopper descended towards the roof, the three men were washed by the waves of air. Their hair and clothes were plastered to their bodies except for Naru's suit jacket, which flapped around giving the pilots the impression of a giant black bird's wings.

As the skids touched down on the roof, the door swung open with a medic in a blue uniform waving to the men to come and board the aircraft. Naru, Lin, and Yasu bent over and ran towards the chopper. Each climbed on board and took a seat on the bench across from another medic. The one by the door slammed the door closed, and he tapped Naru on the shoulder and pointed to the headset that sat on a hook next to his head.

Naru pulled the headset onto his head as Yasu and Lin did the same. "Hello," the man called out to the others. "I understand you're related to the victims?"

"Yes, they are my wife and children."

"Don't worry we'll be there soon. This baby has an average cruising speed of 205 kilometers an hour. So it'll be like a hop, skip, and a jump." He smiled reassuringly at the other men.

The forklift now in place with its forks fitting snugly against both sides of the car. Matsumoto and Kyoichi drafted Kenta and Takashi and explained what they had in mind. The four men climbed over the guardrail as the mountain winds whipped around rocking the car and threatened to knock them off their feet. Each one wrapped the tie down straps around the forks and then connected a hook to each tie down strap, and found a place on the frame of the car to attach the other end of the come alongs. Using the hand bars they winched the come alongs down until all slack was taken out of the straps and the car stabilized.

Kenta peaked into the shattered back driver's side window at the twins. Both of the boys giggled and at the man. Kenta couldn't help but smile at the pair of identical twins. He stopped and looked in on Mai and offered her a smile. "Don't worry. Now that we've done their work," he pointed at the firefighters, "you'll be out here in no time."

The fire captain approached, "Hey what are you all doing?" he demanded.

Keisuke turned and shot the man a withering stare. "We're doing your job, asshole. We've secured the car now get your asses in gear and get them out."

Ryosuke placed a calming hand on his brother's shoulder. "I apologize for my brother's rudeness, but I have a medivac chopper coming that will transport the victims to my family's hospital in Takasaki." He turned to the others as the fire captain issued orders, "Go help the police to get some of these cars out of the way so the chopper can land."

Ryosuke grabbed an extra fire coat from off the engine and placed it over Mai covering her head. He smiled as the smaller woman began to sputter in surprise. "They're coming in through the windshield."

A firefighter used a claw-like tool and punched it through the windshield as some glass fragments shattered and rained down on Mai's body covered with the coat. He turned the tool and hooked the windshield pulling it out.

Another firefighter climbed into the car and unhooked both Gene and Duncan from their car seats. He turned and passed Gene out to someone who passed the child off to Keisuke. "Hey there big man, glad to be out of that car."

Gene nodded and then pointed up into the air spotting the chopper that was approaching. "That'll be your daddy on board that big helicopter. You'll be getting to ride on that."

Gene giggled and hugged Keisuke as his little stomach rumbled. The little boy's startled look reminded him of Mai even though his features looked more like his fathers, Keisuke laughed. Gene stuck a finger in his face and very clearly popped off with, "Jerk."

Keisuke couldn't help it and laugh even harder. "Oh boy, I hope Mai and Naru know what kind of firecracker they have here," he muttered as he caught his breath.

The firefighter in the car pulled Duncan out of his seat and passed him to some of the rescuers and Kenta approached and took Duncan off their hands. Duncan cocked an eyebrow at Kenta and gave him a very Naru like stare. Kenta just smiled as he took the boy over where Keisuke was standing with his brother.

The two boys began their conversation, Duncan's features got hard like his father's would, and he glared at Keisuke, "Jerk."

As the chopper's skids touched the ground and before the rotor blades could stop turning the door slammed open as Naru, with Lin and Yasu ran toward the scene. Seeing that both his sons were friendly hands, Naru breathed a sigh of relief.

They stopped by Keisuke who passed Gene to Yasu and Duncan to Lin. Duncan grabbed for Yasu's glasses. Lin sighed, "Duncan behave." The boy crossed his arms over his chest.

Now the wait began for Mai to be extricated from the car. Naru heard a firefighter arguing with Ryosuke. He balled his hands into fists.

"No, you don't have to rip out the dashboard. There's a release lever on the side of the seat. Just push it forward till it clicks and slide the seat back."

Mai hurt and so close to being out of the car snapped. "Dammit will you listen to the man, he knows more about cars than you do, you idiotic jerk."

Naru raised an eyebrow as he heard his wife rage from inside the car. Lin chuckled, and Yasu tickled Gene. "Your momma still has a temper." Gene giggled pointed at the car, "idiotic jerk," he repeated.

The firefighter flipped the switch, slid the seat back, and removed the coat from Mai who gave the man a Naru worthy glare. "You know even though my car is a total loss you don't have to kill it."

"Sorry Ma'am," the man apologized. He went to lift her out of her seat when she screamed in pain.

"Put her back down," Ryosuke commanded. "Where does it hurt?"

"My hips," she replied as tears leaked from her eyes.

He reached inside the car from the fork he was standing on and felt around the pelvis area. "She has a fractured pelvis." He looked up seeing the medics. "We need a backboard and a pelvic splint." He glanced back down at Mai, "Any other pains?"

"My right arm and wrist hurt too."

Ryosuke gingerly pressed around the arm finding a broken bone, and he felt that the wrist might also be broken. "Keisuke, get me an arm splint out of my bag along with some gauze and tape."

Keisuke nodded and opened his brother's medical bag finding the needed items he passed them over.

Ryosuke got her arm splinted and secured as the medics returned with a backboard and pelvic splint. He quickly got her pelvis splinted, and they secured her to the backboard as she moaned. He placed a cervical collar around her neck to keep her spine straight in case of a spine injury. They slid the backboard out the front of the car and slid it onto a waiting gurney.

They ran to the chopper, and her gurney was secured into place. The medic's immediately set to work as Ryosuke kept watchful eyes on their work as they inserted a v port IV cannula into her left arm, and started two one-liter bags of lactated ringers. "Mai, did you lose consciousness?" Ryosuke asked.

"Yes."

He nodded which meant she could have a head injury too. He wanted to give her a shot for pain, but the pain medicine could mask a serious problem.

The chopper lifted off whisking them towards Takasaki. Naru sat next to Mai's stretcher and brushed her hair out of her face. He reached over and kissed her on the cheek as a tear leaked out of the corner of her eye.

Ryosuke pulled out a penlight. "I'm going to check your pupil response for signs of a concussion."

"Okay," she whispered.

Ryosuke flashed the light in both of her eyes. "Both pupils equal and responsive," he smiled. "That's a good sign." He nodded to the medic, "Give her 2mg morphine slow IV push."

The medic nodded.

Ryosuke glanced over at the twins. Gene looked okay, but Duncan seemed to be a little sleepy, and he saw the dried blood in his hair. "Mai, did the Twins lose consciousness too?"

She nodded as her breathing began to slow as the morphine kicked in.

He moved over to the boys and flashed the light in Gene's eyes. Gene began to babble and saw the frown on his father's face. Gene pouted knowing he was in trouble, again.

Ryosuke shined the light into Duncan's eyes, and the boy tried to smack the light out of his face. "Gene and Duncan both appear to be fine, although Duncan has a small laceration in his scalp," as he used the penlight to find the source of the dried blood.

He passed a gauze pad to Lin and showed him where a small trickle of blood still escaped. Lin nodded as he pressed the gauze to Duncan's scalp and applied some pressure. The boy reached up and grabbed Lin's hand trying to push it away. "Ow, that hurts."

"Maybe you should learn to duck," Lin commented straight-faced, but his eyes held a hint of humor.

Ryosuke leaned forward and tapped the co-pilot on the shoulder. "Radio the hospital and inform them we're bringing in a female 22 years of age involved in a car accident." The co-pilot nodded.

Ryosuke turned to Naru, "I want to err on the side of caution and keep the boys overnight for observation."

Naru nodded as he noticed Mai's eyes were closed and she rested but she wasn't asleep. He reached out and took her left hand into his careful not to disrupt the IV cannula in her arm. He squeezed it and felt her squeeze it in return. "That's my girl," he whispered as he leaned his face down to her ear. He saw a small smile tug at her mouth.

She whispered back to him, "I love you."

They felt the helicopter begin its descent and touch the ground the rotors began to slow with a whoosh noise.

The door slid open, and a whole team of doctors and nurses waited at the base of the helicopter. One of the medics released the clamps holding Mai's gurney in place, and it was passed out to the helping hands below. Ryosuke jumped out and rushed after followed by Naru, then Lin and Yasu both carrying one of the twins.

A couple of the nurses couldn't contain themselves as they saw the boys. Gene gave them a smile that could melt the polar ice cap while Duncan glared.

The gurney moved at a breakneck speed as Ryosuke issued orders at high speed. They pushed it into an exam room, and Ryosuke went to work as another doctor, and several nurses join him. The man held out a hand to stop Naru from entering behind them. "I'm sorry. I can't allow you in the room with her."

Naru knew he couldn't go in. He turned and rejoined the others as a nurse directed them to a waiting room. "Lin," he turned to his friend. "I'm going to get the boys something to eat from the cafeteria."

Yasu leaned over to his boss, "Don't be too hard on them big boss."

"When you and Masako have children you'll understand."

Yasu held a hand over his heart, "You wound me, big boss."

Naru shot him a glare as he took both the boys hands and followed the signs written in Kanji, Hiragana, and English. Entering the large room with blue painted walls and black and white tiled floor. He took them through the food line and picked out some dishes he knew they would like and selected juice for them to drink. At the cashier, he paid for their food and led them over to a table, and they climbed up into their chairs as he sat their plates down in front of them and the glasses of apple juice.

He sat down in a chair across from them and placed his elbows on the table. He folded his hands and placed his chin upon the backs of his hands. He closed his eyes and took a breath to steady his nerves. He opened his eyes. "Boys, I can't tell you how disappointed I am with you right now. You two need to stop with the babble that your mother allows you to get away with. From this moment on no more babble, do I make myself understood?"

Gene looked up at Naru and pushed his bottom lip out in a pout so much like Mai's as Duncan scowled down at his plate. "Yes daddy," they both said at once.

"Good," he pulled out his cellphone and made the call he really didn't want to make. He hit speed dial and the phone on the other end answered immediately.

"Noll, what's happened," Luella's voice came through the speaker. Her questions came out at a rapid pace. "How are Mai and the twins? Please tell me they're alright," Luella's voice came through the speaker.

"Duncan and Gene are fine, though they will be staying overnight for observation." At first, nothing betrayed how he really felt until his breath caught and it cracked as he spoke, "Mai has a broken right arm and it's suspected she might have a broken wrist and a broken pelvis."

"Noll…" he heard her sob into the phone. "Is there anything I can do?"

"How fast can you be on a plane to Tokyo? From there Madoka can rent a car and drive here to Takasaki. I need someone to take the boys back home to Tokyo until I can get her transferred to the Matsuzaki's hospital."

"I can be on the first plane out there. Mine and Madoka's bags are already packed."

He sighed as he rubbed a hand at his temple as he caught both boys grinning mischievously at each other. He knew that look. They used the same one when they wanted to get away with murder with Mai.

"Thank you, Mother," he pushed a button to end the phone call. He pointed his index finger at them. "You two will not play any games with your grandmother, and Madoka like you have with your mother. Am I understood?"

Both boys looked down as Gene sniffed threatening to cry as they both replied in unison again, "Yes daddy."

Naru stood up and stepped around the table and turned their chairs around, he knelt down in between them and placed a hand on each. "I'm not doing this to be mean to you, but you two are on a scale of typical six-year-olds as it is. Although, I know your mother would like to see you two act more childish, I need you to be yourselves and not acting like two-year-olds.

Gene gazed into his father's face and saw the face of a softer version of his father. He sniffed as he rubbed a hand over his eyes. "Is momma going to be okay?" Duncan sniffed as moisture gathered in his eyes.

Naru's eyes watered, and he pulled his boys into a hug. "I certainly hope she will, but you two understand that she's hurt pretty bad."

"Yes dad," Duncan nodded as he sniffed again and a tear rolled down his chubby cheek. His voice shuddered. He knew his daddy didn't cry. "Can… can we see her?"

"Let's go back and find out," he replied softly as he rose and they each took one of his hands.

Ryosuke came out of the exam room to find Yasu and Lin sitting in the waiting room. "Where's Oliver? Mai would like to see him before we take her up to surgery."

"He took the boys to get them something to eat."

Ryosuke sighed. He saw Naru and the twins returning. "Oliver, Mai would like to see you before we take her up to surgery." He motioned for the younger man to follow him as they stood before the door. "I wanted to tell you. She has a broken humerus, and he pointed to Naru's arm that it was the larger bone of the arm above the elbow. We're going to have put a pin in it because the bone splintered. We need to put a pin in her wrist. It's shattered in several places. Thankfully, her pelvis wasn't as bad as I had first suspected but we will still need to put several metal plates along with pins and screws to stabilize the fracture.

"Her arm and wrist will take about six to eight weeks to heal, but her hip will take longer, and will require a lot of physical therapy. So will the wrist."

Naru nodded and followed Ryosuke into the room. Naru stepped over to the gurney and pushed her bangs away from her eyes. "Mai, I'm here."

Her eyes opened as moisture filled them, "Naru, I'm so sorry. I tried to get out of the truck's way I really did."

"Shhh… Mai it was an accident. I don't blame you." He smiled as he leaned down and kissed her. She was so predictable. "You need to focus on getting better."

As a nurse put a shot of something into her IV, she sighed as her eyes closed.

He glanced up at Ryosuke. "It was another light shot of morphine. We're going to take her up now. She'll be in good hands both me and my father will personally do the surgery."

Naru nodded and followed the gurney that carried his wife up to the surgical floor. He watched as his wife was whisked away. He glanced over at his boys, but without Mai there to give him the balance he needed he felt lost.

He felt pressure on his arm and turned to the nurse. "Sir, we have a room prepared for your sons." He gathered his boys up and he, Lin and Yasu followed her to the room. "Doctor Takahashi will look in on them in a while after he's out of surgery for the meantime have they eaten anything?"

"Yes, I took them to the cafeteria."

She made a notation on the chart. She glanced at the boys. "Identical twins," she commented as she made another notation. "Which one is Duncan and which is Eugene," she did her best not to stumble over the English pronunciation.

He indicated each twin, "This is Eugene, and this is Duncan."

She nodded as she set the paperwork on the tray table. "I'll return I need to check that laceration on Duncan's head and put some stitches in if they're needed."

Naru nodded as he settled his boys down on the bed. "Are you going to stay with us?" Gene gazed up hopeful as he handed both of the boys a hospital gown each.

He smiled and ruffled Gene's hair. "Of course I am." He couldn't help but think of how much his younger son reminded him of Mai.

Gene smiled as he quickly took off his clothes and lay down on the bed. Within moments, he was asleep.

The nurse returned, and an orderly pulled into the room a big spotlight and plugged the electrical cord into a wall socket. She turned it on and cooed thinking Duncan was an average three-year-old. "Can you come over here, sweetie?"

He glanced up at his father, shrugged, and then climbed into the chair she indicated as she pulled the light down towards the boy's head. She moved his hair around and found the cut. "This isn't so bad. I don't see a need for a stitch since it's sealed itself." Instead, she applied a little dab of a salve she squeezed out from a tube to the cut. She handed their father the tube, "Apply that to the cut twice a day and clean it gently with soap and water and it should heal quickly. If they show any signs of nausea or not wanting to wake up, please call for a nurse."

She picked up her tray, strode out as the orderly wheeled the lamp out of the room. Naru sank tiredly into a chair, as Duncan climbed into the bed. Lin walked over to the wall and turned off most of the overhead lights.

Lin moved over to Naru's side and placed a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "I can stay here if you want to go wait on news of Mai."

Naru shook his head, "No, I told them I would stay and that's what I'm going to do. Ryosuke will let me know if anything happens, besides with the surgery and anesthesia she'll be out most if not all night. You and Yasuhara should go and rent a car or take a taxi back to Tokyo, I'll pay for it."

"No way big boss, I'm going to stay here. Mai's going to need all the friends she has, and well those two may be advanced for their ages, but I know they can be a handful after all their still kids."

Naru shot Yasu a look, "How is it one minute you can act like a raving lunatic and the next wise beyond your years?"

Yasu shrugged as he smiled at his boss and pushed his glasses up his nose. "I don't know, other than we are aware you would never leave Mai or your children alone."

"Make sure to get some rest," Lin said as he walked out of the room intent on finding some information out about Mai.

Naru leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes as he drifted off into a light doze. Yasu took that as a signal to go find Lin.

Gene whimpered. He dreamed of being back in the car. He looked over at his brother and felt the car rock. He turned to see the large tire aiming for the side of the car, and it began to chew away at the metal. The car shook and shuddered as it creaked and groaned. His eyes flew open as he screamed.

Naru's eyes flew open at Gene's screams and rushed to the bed and pulled the boy into his arms. "Shhh… Gene, I'm here." He felt the boy calm, but his body still shook in terror.

He slipped his shoes off and slid into the bed still holding onto his son as he rubbed small circles on the terrified boys back. He felt Gene relax and drift off to sleep. Before he knew it, Duncan was spooned up into his back. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

A nurse stepped into the room to find the source of the screams. She smiled at the trio in the bed asleep. She left quietly.

Lin glanced at a clock on the wall, 8:00 pm. He followed the signs and found the cafeteria. He felt he was wasting time but knew that sometimes in cases like this surgery could take some time. How long would it take for this type of surgery? He had no idea as he sipped at his coffee. The tea was horrible. The coffee was better and replaced than the horrid drink.

Finishing his food and coffee, he rose from the table and stopped a nurse in the hallway. "I'm trying to find the surgical floor. My daughter was in a car accident today, and she was taken there."

The woman smiled kindly as she pointed to the elevators, "You want the fourth floor. There's a waiting room up there, and you can ask one of the nurses to keep you informed."

"Thank you," he said and strode for the elevators.

Yasu wondered down another hall. "How did I lose someone as tall as Lin in this place?" he muttered to himself. As he passed rooms, he tried to see if Lin was in one of them as he passed another waiting room.

He heard his phone ring, and he pulled it out of his pocket, glanced at the caller ID, and gulped. He pushed his glasses up his nose as he answered. "Masako—"

"Don't you Masako me, Osamu. Where are you? Do you realize just how late it is?" Her voice radiated fury. At the same moment, an announcement came over the PA system paging a doctor. Her tone changed to one of worry. "Who's hurt? It's not the twins is it?"

"Calm down Masako," he said as he told her everything.

"I can send a car to get you," she suggested hope sounding in her voice.

"It's okay Masako. I may be of some help to Big Boss with the twins until his mother arrives from England. He's going to have Mai transferred to Tokyo as soon as she's stable enough. But don't say anything to the others. I'm sure he doesn't want them clamoring to see Mai. I think the twins are traumatized."

"I hope Mai will be alright and I can't help but agree with you about the twins. Do you think I should call Naru and offer him some help with them?"

"Not right now. But this will allow Naru to bond more with his sons," a mischievous smile broke out on his face. Then his expression fell, as he grew serious. "You know its times like these that remind me how much I love you, Masako."

"I love you too, Osamu."

He couldn't help but smile to himself as he hung up the phone and replaced it in his pocket and resumed his search for Lin.

As Lin stepped off the elevator to the surgical floor, he saw the nurses station. Some wore scrubs. He stepped up to the desk and cleared his throat gaining the attention of the male nurse behind the computer. "Yes sir, may I help you," the man asked as he entered information into the computer.

"I'm looking for information about my daughter who was in a car accident today. Her name is Mai Shibuya."

He glanced over the charts he and didn't see that name. He turned in his chair to the nurse who was in charge. "Masami, do you have any information about a Mai Shibuya who's in surgery."

The dark headed nurse shot the guy a glare. "Even you should know that Ken or are you again trying to shirk your duties." She sighed as she rolled her eyes, "Who wants to know?"

Ken motioned to Lin, "Her father," and glared back at the woman. The tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Masami stepped away from the nurse's station and approached Lin. "Follow me please I need to update the families in the waiting room." Her expression showed sadness as if one family was going to get bad news.

She led him down to a waiting room, "This is the waiting room for families. Mrs. Shibuya is still in surgery." She pointed to a wall where a white board sat on the Ecru colored wall. "I haven't updated the board yet, but when we take a patient from surgery to recovery I come in here and write it down, so don't worry I'll let you know."

She stepped away from Lin as she stepped to the whiteboard writing down Mai's name under the surgery column. She wrote two more names in the recovery room column and another she wiped off the board and wiped a tear from her eye. How could she tell a young mother that her child was dead because of an idiot drove drunk?

As Lin sat down, he suddenly heard the wails of the woman as the nurse helped her out of the waiting room. He saw an abandoned newspaper.

He picked it up and there was a picture of Mai's car hanging from the guardrail. His eyes were drawn to her face.

He ordered a shiki to go and stay with Naru and the boys. He needed to soothe his mind. He read the story of the crash from the tow truck drivers perspective.

He leaned back in the chair and placed his hands on his stomach as his elbows rested on the arms of the chair. He instructed another shiki to alert him if the nurse returned. He closed his eyes as he took a calming breath and entered a meditative state to conserve his energy.

What felt like minutes were actually hours as his shiki alerted to the presence of the nurse. He glanced down at his watch and noted that it was nearly midnight as his eyes spotted Mai's name now being written in the recovery column. He hoped she would give him some news instead; she smiled at him and strode out of the room.

As he waited for some kind of word on the brunette, a cleaning crew entered the room and wiped down empty chairs and mopped floors. The pine scented cleaner assaulted his nose.

Ryosuke appeared in the doorway but only found Lin. He tried to wipe away the exhaustion he felt as he took a seat beside the waiting Chinese man. "I was expecting Oliver to be here."

"I understand, but while we're in Japan, please refer to him as Kazuya Shibuya. He stayed with the boys for the night."

The younger man nodded, "I assume you're the one who told Masami that Mai was your daughter?"

"Yes, I think of her in that respect, and I can't allow her to spend a night alone. I know Naru would want to be here, but with the boys being so young I think you can understand why he wouldn't want them to spend the night alone."

"Yes, I can understand. Jessica and I are expecting our first child next month." A tired smile tugged at his mouth. "You're not here to listen to me ramble about my life. The surgery was going along well until we opened her pelvic region. Her blood pressure dropped slightly at first. We figured it was from typical blood loss until we found her spleen was nicked. We had to repair the spleen and check for no other damage before inserting the plates and screws into her pelvis.

"She woke up once in recovery and complained about the pain but went back to sleep. We're going to keep her up here on the surgical floor. She should be in her room by now, 415."

Both men stood as Lin stuck his hand out and Ryosuke took it, "Thank you," Lin said.

Ryosuke strode to the bank of elevators intent on checking the twins before collapsing on a cot in the doctor's lounge.

Lin slipped into Mai's room as the beeps and chirps came from several pieces of medical equipment in the room.

He lowered his body into a chair next to her bed as he gazed on her face. It looked pale against the rough yet soft white pillows. The crisp white sheets crinkled as he took her left hand into his. He wouldn't leave her by herself as his own exhaustion hit him from the day's events.

Yasuhara found the surgical floor and bluffed his way past the nurse's station by claiming to be Mai's brother. He found the room and peeked in to find Lin holding Mai's hand. He realized the brunette had wormed herself into Lin's heart, and it brought a smile to his face.

He gazed on Mai's face, and found that she had wormed her way into his heart knew she thought of him as her crazy older brother. The young woman always had a kind word for everyone including the big boss even though he irritated her sometimes.

The girl was special, and she was special to everyone who knew her. He found he couldn't bring himself to tease Lin at this moment, but once Mai was, better… all bets were off.

Duncan and Gene stirred in their sleep as they both whimpered. Naru shifted his position and pulled both boys to him. The boys clung to his shirt and cried as their tears dripped onto his black dress shirt. In unison their bodies trembled as they wailed, "Momma." Naru hugged his boys tighter as he whispered shushing noises to them.

Ryosuke appeared in the doorway and stepped into the room. Naru glanced up, "They had a bad dream."

The dark haired doctor strode across the room and pulled a penlight from the pants pocket on his scrubs. He pulled a chair over to the bed and sat down facing his two young patients and their father.

"Hey Duncan and Gene you remember me don't you?" he spoke evenly as he sought out their attention.

Both children craned their heads and looked over at him. "Your Aunt Jessie's husband," Duncan spoke as he wiped tears from his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Yes, that's right. Now I'm going to shine this light in your eyes so I can make sure both of you are okay. Sometimes when you get hurt this is the only way to tell if your okay or not." He clicked the button on the end of the pen causing it to turn on. He reached out holding the eyelids Duncan's eyes open, flashed it in the boy's eye making the motion quick and quickly checked the other eye, and then checked both of Gene's.

He leaned back in the chair, which creaked under his weight. "Your both fine," he smiled at the boys. He clicked the button turning off the penlight and slipped it back into his pocket. "I have some news that I think all of you would like to hear. Your momma is asleep in a room upstairs. I'm sure tomorrow she'll want to see both of you, so you two need to go to sleep so you can visit her in the morning."

Huge grins spread across the faces of both the boys who scrambled off their father's lap and lay down next to each other.

Ryosuke rose from the chair and motioned for Naru to follow him. He stopped in the doorway and lowered his voice. "I didn't want to worry them." He explained how the surgery went. "She's on the surgical floor in room 415 as a precaution. Pelvic fractures can be tricky, and there could be more damage than what we found. We're monitoring her for any drops of blood pressure. However, Lin is with her."

Naru nodded grateful that someone was with her. He opened his eyes and nodded. "When can I get her transferred to the Matsuzaki's family hospital in Tokyo?"

"If she remains stable I would say by the end of the week."

"I can only hope so," he turned to gaze upon his sons who were now slept peacefully. "The boys will need her closer to home and frankly so do I."

"I understand how you feel, but if you'll excuse me, there's a cot calling my name."

Mai found herself in the car as she drove down the highway with the twins babbling to each other. She giggled to herself as she found it so cute when they did that. The day had turned hot down in Tokyo but up here in the mountains, it was cooler, and she enjoyed the breeze that blew in the car windows.

"Momma," Duncan's voice called out to her as she shifted her gaze from the road to the rearview mirror. Duncan smiled as he held a blonde haired brilliant green-eyed doll. "Minnie is fun," he giggled as he played with the toy.

Mai's face turned to horror as she saw Leiko sitting in between the boys with an evil grin plastered on her face as she played with a knife. "Don't you want to play, Mai?"

She heard a wheeze of breath from beside her as she saw movement from out of her peripheral vision. A horrible odor reached her nose as she heard the words wheeze out of the hideous creature's mouth. "I don't want to die," it wheezed again. She felt the tires of the semi again crush the car as it rocked back and forth.

Her eyes flew open as a terrified scream ripped from her throat. Lin jerked instantly awake as the girl in the hospital bed screamed again. "Mai," he squeezed her hand to let her know she wasn't alone.

Her eyes slid over to the side to see him as she sucked her breath in. It had a ragged quality as if she'd ran a marathon and the heart monitor beeped in increasing speed to her heartbeat. Moisture flooded her eyes as memories flooded her brain of every bad case she'd ever worked on with SPR. Her queasy feeling stomach rolled as her skin flushed. She tried to calm herself down but the more she tried, the more the blackness at the edges of her eyes spread.

She saw his mouth move, but for a few seconds, she couldn't understand what he said. Her brain finally focused on what he was saying, "Mai, it's okay, your safe," Lin's words rushed out of his mouth as Yasu stood over her.

"What happened, Mai?" the bespectacled man asked as he tried to calm his own nerves from her screams.

"Nightmare," she was able to squeak out as she felt the reassuring pressure of Lin's hand on her own.

A nurse appeared in the doorway, pulled out a syringe, and inserted the needle into the injection port of the cannula in her left arm. "Just a small shot of morphine for the pain," the woman smiled down at Mai. She exited the room.

Mai's eyes began to close of their own accord no matter how much she tried to fight them. Her last waking thought was if her children were okay.

Lin released his hold on the young woman's hand and stood after noting the sky beginning to lighten up outside the window from a black to a grayish color signifying that the sun would soon be bathing the world in its light. "Stay with her, I need to make a couple of phone calls."

"Sure."

Lin stepped into the hallway and pulled out his cellphone. He mentally calculated when Naru had made the call to his mother and figured that the plane should have landed already. He pressed the call button, and held the phone to his ear as he heard the voice of Luella Davis on the other end. "Lin, thank goodness for calling me. We're at the car rental desk getting a car. Should we pick up anything along the way?"

"If you stop by the condo you might want to pick up a change of clothes for Oliver and the twins since we've all spent the night here." He paused a moment to peek into the room at Mai. "Mai woke from a nightmare. I'm certain she was having a panic attack."

Luella clicked her tongue to the roof of her mouth. "I would imagine so, after all, both she and the twins all suffered a traumatic event. It sounds as though it could be PTSD, although I will have to talk to her to see if it is. I will have to observe both Mai and the twins. Any idea when Oliver can get her transferred to Tokyo?"

Lin was amazed at how fast the woman could talk especially when it involved anyone with her family. "I have been with Mai, she's on the fourth-floor room 415. Oliver is with the twins on the first-floor room 156."

"I'm so glad he's with his sons. You know when they were born I really had misgivings that he wouldn't take his role as a father seriously, but I can say he has actually surprised me these last three years."

Lin chuckled, "I think he has surprised everyone."

"Okay, I've got to go. They're bringing the car around. We'll head to the condo and pick some things up for Oliver and the boys and of course a change of clothes for you too. Then we'll head to the hospital. I'd say we should be there in about 3 or 4 hours."

"Thank you, Luella, I'll tell Oliver." He leaned against the wall as he hung up. At least now, his wife was here too, and she felt the same about Mai as he did. A slight smiled tugged at the corner of his mouth.

A sound broke through Naru's sleep as tried to slap the alarm clock that wasn't there. As the fog cleared in his brain he realized it was his cell phone. Sitting up he swung his legs over the side of the bed. He rose and stepped away from the bed and answered quietly.

"Noll, I just talked to your mother. She's here with Madoka and they're going to pick up a change of clothes for you and the twins."

"Thank you, Lin. How's Mai?"

"She had a nightmare, followed by a panic attack. I suspect it may be a form of PTSD, but I'm not an expert while your mother is."

Naru sighed. Mai and the twins were showing signs. "What's mother's idea on how to help Mai?"

"She wants to observe her before she gives a diagnosis."

Naru closed his eyes. He opened his eyes again and frowned at a nurse who was trying to catch his attention by batting her eyelashes at him. "Mother is an expert in the field. I think the boys are starting to wake up. We'll be up there later to see Mai." He hung up the phone and stepped into the room.

Duncan was sitting up in the bed rubbing the sleep from his eyes with the backs of his hands. "Daddy, when can we go see Momma?"

"Later," he sat back down on the edge of the bed and pulled his child onto his lap. "Mommy is hurt pretty bad, and she has a cast on her right arm, and she had to have surgery," he poked Duncan around the hip area, "around here, so no climbing in bed with her, okay?"

Duncan screwed his eyes up as he tried to imagine what a cast was. "What's a cast?"

"It sort of like paper mache only a lot heavier and she won't be able to use her arm."

"Oh, like what Gene had on his arm when he was two."

Naru nodded not wanting to relive that memory. He felt movement from behind him as the sheets crinkled to the movement that slightly shook the bed. He turned his head to find Eugene sitting up in the bed. He moved Duncan to one leg as Gene climbed onto his other leg. "I have to go potty," Gene slid down his leg and ran for the bathroom.

That was another difference between Gene and Duncan. Duncan may be the older twin, and he might be a genius like his father, but he still had difficulty with potty training while Gene took to it like a fish out of the water.

Madoka pulled the rental car into the driveway of the condo where Lin, Naru, Mai, and the twins lived. As she and Luella climbed out of the car the pinkish haired woman pulled out her spare key. The pair of women stepped into the house.

Luella rushed off to grab clothes for her son and grandsons and Madoka strode off to Lin's room and grabbed him a change of clothes.

Would he be happy when she told him her news? She hoped he would. Her snoopy nature kicked in and she slipped into Naru's home office.

She found some papers with names and phone numbers listed along with pictures of dogs. Was he going to buy a puppy? Then she spotted a picture of a dog that was mainly black except for some white and reddish brown splotched on its face and red brown eyebrows. It was a pretty dog. She read the paper attached to the picture that said it was a Swiss Mountain dog and a direct descendent to the Mastiffs used by the Romans.

The paper was from one of the few breeder's in Japan for this type of dog, and her eyes grew as she read that the dam had a litter of puppies and Naru had circled his preference for a female. She saw he prepaid to hold one of the females whose markings were different from the others.

Madoka giggled as she saw the puppy that had a white spot that she swore looked like a small ghost on the chest. "Figures," she muttered to herself.

"Madoka, are you ready to go?"

She looked up at the sound of Luella's voice from the hall. "Yes, I am," she called after she slipped out of Naru's office. She smiled to herself, was Oliver Davis actually getting soft, or was there another reason he was getting a dog. She'd get it out of him eventually.

Both women walked out of the house, Madoka locked the door, and they climbed into the rental car. Madoka entered and programmed the built-in GPS to direct them to Takasaki. She backed the car out of the driveway, and they sped away on their way to their destination.

A squeaky noise in the hallway alerted Naru and the twins to the fact that someone was moving towards the room. The squeaking stopped, and several clinks and clangs were heard outside the door. A woman stepped into the room carrying a food tray and placed it on the bedside table. She turned and returned two more times with two more trays. "These were ordered by Doctor Takahashi."

Naru nodded as the woman left and pushed squeaky cart down the hallway. He lifted the lids from his children's tray noting that the food was an essential Japanese breakfast. The boys dived into their meals happily munching as Naru eyed his. It also held Japanese foods, some of which made his stomach churn slightly. He sighed as he thought about what he would give for Mai's banana pancakes right about now.

Lin sat in the chair next to Mai's bed as she slept. She moaned and jerked in her sleep several times but didn't wake. Every time he took, her left hand into his she would calm down and rested a little easier. He had no idea what it was she was dreaming of, but it was definitely disturbing her.

A man stepped into the room dressed in a white lab coat that looked like an older version of Ryosuke. He held his hand out to Lin, "I'm Akira Takahashi, Ryosuke's father."

"Koujo Lin," He took the hand of Jessica's father-in-law in his and shook. He opened his mouth to explain his presence, but the man chuckled.

"I was informed by Ryosuke so don't worry. I understand she's an orphan but married to your boss?"

Lin nodded, "Also a good friend. We've gone through a lot over the years especially upon meeting Mai." He chuckled as he remembered the shelving that fell on him when he saved the young girl at the old school house case.

"Ah, yes. Ryosuke did seem to mention that she has a bit of an unfortunate streak with accidents."

Yasu pushed his glasses up his nose as he decided to join the conversation. "You could say that. It seems if she had middle initial it would be D for danger."

The older man chuckled. "I'm going to check on her right now to make sure everything is okay with her stitches. So far, her vitals on her chart look good, so I'm hopeful she will transferred to Tokyo by the end of the week as per her husband's wishes. However, I understand she woke from a nightmare earlier this morning?"

"Yeah," Yasu shuddered. "I mean I've heard her scream before while on a case, but this was different. It was pretty scary."

"I'll have the staff keep me up to date. Could be something else going on too."

Lin bowed to the man, "Thank you, and sir her mother-in-law is a practicing psychotherapist who is also the assistant dean of the psychology department in England at Cambridge University. I'm sure if there's a problem she will want to do the treatment."

"Ah excellent, it will be a pleasure to meet her."

Lin bowed again as the doctor began to do his check of Mai's stitches on her lower abdomen and checked the vitals that the portable blood pressure machine was recording. The man hummed to himself, and nodded as he stepped out of the room.

Naru and the twins were finishing their breakfast as he heard footsteps in the hallway.

"There are my grandbabies, come and give your grandma a kiss," Luella kneeled down as both the boys hopped off the bed and ran into her arms.

"Grandma," they both called out together as their bodies slammed into the older woman. They hugged her kissed each side of her face.

Luella giggled as she passed a bag over to Madoka. "Your clothes are in here Noll along with some things to shave with." Madoka placed her hands on her hips and severely gazed at his face noting the growth of beard and mustache. "Good thing we came when we did, can't have you scaring Mai with how you look."

He rolled his eyes at the pinkish haired woman as he rubbed his day old growth. He took the bag, stepped into the bathroom, pulled out the clothes, and rolled his eyes again. Naru loved his mother but every chance she got she tried to force him into clothes of color.

"You know you love it," Gene's voice nagged him in the back of his head.

"Hardly, Mai likes me in black."

"You really think so? Try asking her some time, you might be surprised by the answer."

"Fine, I will," Naru growled his thought back to his brother. "Explain to me again why you think that?"

"That would be cheating, you have to find out from Mai," Gene chuckled as he severed the telepathic link to his brother.

Naru quickly showered, shaved, and finally pulled the clothes on his mother brought. A navy blue T-shirt and a pair of white dress slacks that Mai insisted that he buy when they first arrived back in Japan a month ago after the twins third birthday.

As he stepped out of the bathroom, Madoka gasped. "You're not wearing black?"

He smirked back at her. "If you remember I used to wear colors before Gene's death. However, black seems like a more professional color to wear especially in our line of work." He glanced at his mother as she stood with both the boys in her arms. "Would you two mind giving them a shower and getting their clothes on. I want to go upstairs and see Mai."

Luella smiled as she leaned over and kissed Naru on the cheek. "I wouldn't mind at all. You go on up and sit with Mai for a while, and we'll join you shortly."

Madoka took both Gene and Duncan from the older woman. "I need the practice since I've got my own little bundle of joy on its way, so I'll give them their shower."

Luella smiled, "Are you sure? They can be a real handful sometimes."

The pinkish haired woman smiled, "I'm sure."

"Well if you're sure you can handle them then I'll join Oliver in Mai's room."

"Uhm… Luella, here in Japan he goes by Kazuya Shibuya," Madoka reminded the other woman.

"Oh, I forgot," Luella held a hand up to her cheek as her eyes grew in almost panic, "I'll have to remember that."

Madoka chuckled at Luella's reaction, "It's not a big deal when we're in the office or at Noll's condo, but here in public it is a problem. We don't want the wrong people to know who he is. Let me get these two into the bathroom," she carried the twins into the bathroom. Placing them feet first down on the floor, and turned on the shower as she tested the water making sure it was warm and helped the boys out of their hospital gowns and underwear and let them step into the walk-in shower. "Now there's the soap over there, I think you two know how to do this by yourselves."

Duncan and Gene both nodded as they began to share the bar of soap that sat on the side of the cubicle.

Madoka took a seat in a chair next to Luella. "Well I guess this makes sense," Luella tugged at her bottom lip. "So since Mai is his wife that makes her Mai Shibuya and both of the twins also. I wonder if they use their English names or Japanese names. I don't want to refer to them by the wrong name."

Madoka smiled, "They go by their English names until they are of age to start school."

Luella sighed, "That's good. I'll leave you to get Duncan and Gene ready, and I'll go up and to Mai's room."

Madoka nodded as Luella rose from the chair and strode out the room. Madoka found two boys covered head to toe in suds and struggling over the bar of soap.

"Give it back, I'm not finished…" Duncan demanded as the bar slipped from the boy's hands and shot out of the shower.

"I beg to differ, both of you are very finished," Madoka sent glares the twins ways. The boysa glint in their eyes.

They both turned to Madoka in their birthday suits covered with soapsuds, "Sorry Aunt Madoka," they both replied in unison.

She sighed, "Okay now rinse off." However, the two boys seemed to have something else in mind as they giggled and both ran out of the shower slipping and sliding across the floor until they both lost their balance and fell backward into Madoka and the three fell into the shower.

She spluttered as the water ran over her and she practically yelled at the boys, "Oh you two are in so much trouble."

Huge grins spread across their faces, "No we're not," they responded in unison as they began to play king of the mountain on her.

Naru found his way blocked by a male nurse. "I'm sorry sir, but this area is only for the family of our patients."

Naru glared at the man, "Then if you don't mind I'm here to see my wife, Mai Shibuya."

"Oh, I'm so sorry I'll look up her room number for you."

Naru dismissed the man with a wave of his hand. "Don't bother, her doctor told me last night." He strode past the nurse's station like a man on a mission.

Finding her room, he stopped by the doorway and hoped that no one but Lin would be inside. He found Yasu sitting on the other side of the room.

The bespectacled man gaped at his boss not wearing his trademark black. He couldn't help it as he let out an amused chuckle.

Naru glared at the man, "Not one word I'm not in the mood."

Lin rose from his seat, "Luella?"

"Yes, my mother's idea and Gene thinks it's funny too," Naru, growled as he took the seat vacated by Lin. "How long has she been asleep?"

"Since early this morning," Lin said. "The nurse came in and gave her another dose morphine. Her sleep hasn't been restful, she's having more nightmares. But if you take her hand she settles back down."

Naru nodded as he took the hand of the women he loved. "Mother and Madoka are with the twins. You may want to go and see them. If I know my sons, they are up to something."

While Naru and Lin talked, Yasu snuck to the side of the room and snapped a picture of the big boss. He opened his mouth as Naru glared.

The tall Chinese man reached out and grabbed Yasu by the collar. "I'm saving your life."

Mai woke to find herself on the astral plane, she groaned as she stood weakly feeling the pain that radiated in her right arm, wrist, pelvis, and abdomen. "Gene, did you call me here," she gazed at the darkness trying to spot her friend.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and spun around to find Gene there. "Don't do that," she gasped as she reached out to him to steady herself.

"I'm sorry, Mai, I didn't mean to scare you. However, I understand your pain, and I'm not talking about the physical pain."

Her pulse quickened as her breathing increased and her body trembled. "What… what do you mean?" she whispered.

"Your mental pain Mai, I've seen it before. Unbelievably, Noll went through something similar like you did when he experienced my death second hand through psychometry. It was traumatic but not as much as the accident, you went through with the twins. You went through that first hand.

"The week after my initial death he was in shock but mother was able to bring him out of it and help him work through the feelings of trauma that he had but it didn't stop the nightmares." Gene smiled as he gazed at Mai's face, "You were the one that helped him with the nightmares. The closer he got to you the nightmares decreased."

She couldn't believe her ears. For some time, her husband had said that she was the one who saved him.

Gene smiled, "Yes, Mai you did, you literally saved my brother from himself for that I am grateful." He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Now you need to help yourself. This is going to be hard, but between mother and Noll, I believe you can heal and become complete again. You just have to be open to what they suggest, and you'll get better."

The cinnamon haired girl cocked her head as she glanced up at Gene, "You think so?"

Gene nodded, "I know so, but you should go back. You're still in pain and you'll be this way for a while, but remember if you need to talk about anything and don't think my mother or Noll will understand you can always speak to me."

She smiled up at him, "Thank you, Gene. I appreciate it."

"Time to go, Noll is waiting for you," his smile held a hint of amusement as Mai began to fade from view. "I wonder what you will think of him."

Lin tugged on Yasu's collar as he led the younger man down the hallway toward the elevator. "I suggest that if you value your life do not share that picture with anyone, especially the Monk or his wife."

The elevator dinged and as the door opened, they entered as the other car on the other side stopped, and the opened and Luella stepped out.

Their door closed, and then they rode the elevator down to the first level. The paif of men stepped into the twins room. They heard the twins giggling followed by an outraged female. "Duncan, Eugene, stop playing king of the mountain. You two are in so much trouble, I'm going to tell your father," she shrieked.

Lin strode toward the bathroom finding Madoka now sitting on the floor of the shower trying to capture both of the boys to rinse them off. "Duncan, Eugene," he somehow managed to keep a straight face as Madoka struggled to get off the shower floor. "Move over now," he stepped up to the shower and offered her a hand as his eyes sparkled with amusement and his close-lipped smile trembled as he fought to keep from laughing.

Her face froze as her eyes widened and her lips tightened as she winced in embarrassment. She flushed a brilliant shade of red that would put Mai's blushes to shame as her face turned to a mortified expression. She took his outstretched hand and pulled herself up.

He gave her a towel, and she began to dry herself off. "Do you still have your luggage?" Lin asked as she took in her drowned rat appearance.

"Yes, it's out in the rental car. The keys are in my purse on the table."

He left the bathroom and turned to Yasuhara, "Help Madoka with the twins."

Yasu couldn't help it but let out a chuckle at Madoka's appearance. He couldn't help himself as he snapped a picture.

"Okay you two rug rats," he addressed the twins, "get over here and get rinsed off so we can get you dressed and then you can go see your momma."

That seemed to be the magic word that Madoka failed to mention.

She sighed as she glared in irritation at Yasu and crossed her arms over her chest.

Lin returned with her suitcase and placed it on the bed as a soft smile graced her features. "Thank you, Lin," she said as she walked over to cup her husband's cheek with the palm of her hand. "I missed you."

Lin placed his hand on her's as he leaned into her touch. "As I you," he leaned over and took her mouth with his. As they broke apart he bent his head down to touch her forehead with his, "Get dressed, and I'll go get cleaned up, and we can all go up to see if Mai is awake."

Madoka nodded, knowing it wasn't the best time to tell him about his child she was carrying.

Mai stirred and moaned as she opened her eyes. Her blurred vision cleared as she blinked. She smiled weakly as glanced at Naru and fought to control her emotions. She felt he would blame her for the accident. He said he didn't blame her but was that to keep her calm. Where were the boys, why weren't they here?

Her heart began to race, "Naru, where are the boys?"

He leaned forward and brushed the hair out of her eyes, "They're fine. Madoka, Lin, and Yasu are with them getting them ready to come up and see you."

She nodded as he leaned over and kissed her on the lips. She closed her eyes taking a deep breath and then the dam burst that she had tried so hard to keep at bay, but the the tears came flooding forth. "I'm sorry I couldn't get out of the way of the truck. I'm sorry everything happened, and now I… I have to tell the boys I'm sorry for being a bad mother."

His brows rose as his eyes widened and a small, sincere smile adorned his face as he squeezed her hand. "Mai, you most definitely are not a bad mother, and I don't blame you for the accident." He squeezed her hand in reassurance. He wiped the tears from her eyes, "Now calm down because if the boys see you in this state, they will be worried."

Mai saw the clothes he was wearing. The Navy blue T-shirt actually did look good on him and brought out his eyes, but the white did nothing for him. "Uhm… later have your mother or Madoka or someone bring you your black jeans or slacks. You actually do look better in dark colors. I guess I let Luella influence me into thinking that colors would look good on you."

He smiled again as he leaned back in his chair and sent a mental thought back to Gene. "Take that, she actually likes me in black."

"Oh go soak your head before it swells you idiot scientist," his brother shot back in a huff.

The pair heard a ruckus from down the hall and the clicking of a pair of heels coming towards the room. "I guess mother is on her way," Naru smirked down at Mai.

She glanced up at him, and a slight giggle escaped her mouth along with a groan as her stitches pulled. "Remind me not to laugh, it hurts," she muttered.

Luella stepped off the elevator intent on finding room 415. The male nurse, Ken, took it upon himself to challenge the woman.

"Ma'am, only relatives are allowed past this point."

"I assure you young man that I am a relative. I'm going to see my daughter-in-law, Mai Shibuya."

He recognized the name and remembered the man who claimed to be her husband. However, this woman bore no physical resemblance to the man. "That's not possible ma'am you're not Japanese."

Luella usual friendly smile disappeared to be replaced by one of annoyance. "If I have to get my son here to explain how I adopted him as a child then there will be hell to pay. Now I'm going to Mai's room, and if you decide to try to stop me, you will most certainly lose your job. Do I make myself clear?"

"I'm sorry ma'am, but you must understand ever since Mrs. Shibuya was brought to the hospital the media has tried to get a reporter into her room to get her story."

"I totally understand your dilemma young man, but I assure you I'm not with the press." She left the man spluttering in her wake as she passed by him.

Yasu got the the twins ready to go see their mother as Lin entered the bathroom for a quick shower, and shave.

Madoka couldn't believe those two had such a mischievous streak. As she left the bathroom, she noticed someone in a flower print kimono enter the room. She smiled. It was Masako. Before she could take another step nausea hit, and she raced back to the bathroom.

Masako entered the twin's room and Yasu bouncing both Duncan and Gene on his legs. She hid the giggle behind her kimono sleeve as it escaped.

Duncan and Gene hearing her both turned their heads and jumped off Yasu's lap to surround the newcomer, "Aunt Masako," they both cried as they slammed into her legs.

She smiled down at the pair of the boys and knelt down to hug them "Are you two okay?"

They both nodded, "Yes, we're okay," they spoke in unison.

Duncan looked up at Masako and frowned, "Momma's hurt. Daddy said it was real bad."

She glanced around the room but didn't see Naru around anywhere. "Where is your father?"

Eugene sniffed as he tried to keep from crying, "He's up with momma, but I want momma." Tears filled his eyes as they dripped to wet his face and slide down his chubby cheeks.

Duncan grabbed Eugene and held onto his brother tightly as Masako hugged both of the boys. "Don't worry. I brought Uncle Yasu some clothes to wear. Once he's ready, we'll go up and see your momma, okay?" She smiled down on the twins.

Lin stepped out of the bathroom and found Yasu holding a bag and Masako hugging the twins. Yasu pushed his glasses up his nose, "My turn. I hope you left me some hot water."

The tall Chinese man just rolled his eyes at the younger man. He glanced around the room, "where's Madoka?'

"She went down to the bathroom at the end of the hall to change."

He nodded, "Masako would you mind looking after the twins while I get Madoka?"

"I'd love to. I never have enough spare time to spend with them. The studio keeps me so busy."

Lin knelt down before the twins, "No mischief or I will tell your father what you two did earlier, and you know he will not be happy."

Their eyes grew wide as their brows rose. Their lips trembled and all the blood drained from their faces. They both nodded.

Lin strode out into the hallway to catch a glimpse of Madoka running back into the restroom. He lengthened his stride and made it there in a few steps. Preparing to knock on the door to see if she was all right, he heard the sounds of her retching into the toilet bowl. She didn't seem sick when he laid eyes on her earlier, although she did appear a bit drained. Is it possible, could she be…?

He heard the toilet flush and then the sound of water running from inside. The door opened to find a pinkish flushed face Madoka staring into the chest of her waiting husband.

He leaned forward slightly as his eyes made direct contact with hers. He caressed her cheek tenderly. "Are you alright?"

"I guess I should have told you, but I didn't want you to worry." She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath and opened them again. "I'm pregnant."

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he leaned down and kissed her. "Thank you, this is a precious gift that we are gifted with."

"So you're happy?"

"Of course I'm happy. You know how much I've wanted to start my own family. Even if I allowed my parent's racial prejudices to cloud my own judgments, but since I met the Davis's, you, and Mai I finally see the truth that not all Japanese are bad." He smiled as he thought of how Yasu always teased the Monk on previous cases. "Some are even quite hysterical, in their own right."

Madoka giggled as the pair strolled down the hallway back to the twin's room.

"Are you in pain?" Naru squeezed Mai's hand.

Mai winced as her eyes watered. What she wanted most was to shift her position in the bed. For someone who was always in motion one way or another lying in one position actually hurt. Not to mention the tight muscles of her legs were on the verge of cramping. "Yes," she whispered. "If I could get some help to move my position I think it would help."

Naru pushed the call button, and as Luella entered the room, a nurse appeared in the doorway. "Yes?" the nurse asked.

"My wife is not accustomed to lying for so long in one position and really needs to move into another position."

"Well, I'll have to check her chart or try to get in touch with her doctor. If not all I can do is give her pain medication."

Mai's eyebrows drew together as her eyes narrowed. Her nostrils flared, and her face turned crimson as her eyes opened wide. She clenched her left hand into a fist.

Luella got Mai's attention and shook her head. She turned to the nurse. "I'm sure either of the Takahashi's will allow it."

"Who are you, ma'am?"

"I'm her mother-in-law. Has she been assigned a physical therapist yet?"

The nurse scratched her head for a moment. "No ma'am I don't believe she has yet."

"Please ask, because a physical therapist can relieve some of the pain she's in."

Naru rose to stand beside his mother as his temper was beginning to flare. "Please just do it, I would really like to keep my wife off heavy duty pain killers."

"I understand," the woman said as she walked out of the room.

Naru sighed as he took a seat beside Mai and interlaced his fingers through hers. He ran his other hand through his hair a clear sign he was just as frustrated as Mai.

Luella moved over to Mai's other side. "Other than being in pain how are feeling Mai?"

Mai smiled slightly at the older woman. "I could be doing better. I'm sure Naru filled you in on all the details."

"Only that you were in a car accident."

Mai swallowed hard as she closed her eyes trying to fight back the panic that was beginning to build at the mention of the words. The heart monitor began to race. She opened her eyes again and tried to speak, but the words just wouldn't come.

Luella reached over and smoothed the young woman's hair down. "It's okay Mai." She shot Naru a knowing look and imperceptibly nodded.

Naru knew what that look meant and he gave his his wife's hand a light squeeze. "I'll be right back I'm going to find that nurse and see if she's heard anything."

Mai smiled slightly, she didn't want him to leave her but understood why he'd go. "Okay," she whispered.

He smiled down at her as he rose and pressed a kiss to her lips, "I'll return before you know it." He turned on his heel and strode out of the room.

Her eyes followed her husband's retreating form as she fidgeted with the edge of the sheet with her left hand. Her bottom lip jutted out into a cute pout that Luella wished Naru could see and she quickly snapped off a picture. Mai tried to move again and groaned.

Naru stepped up to the nurse's station as the elevator dinged and two twins ran off the car, "Daddy!" the boys yelled as they raced up to him.

He picked both of the boys up and smiled at each one. "I missed you both, but guess who missed you more."

Duncan smiled, "Mommy?"

"Yes, she's missing you two right now and has been worried sick."

"Why would mommy be sick?" Eugene frowned as he pushed that bottom lip out just like Mai.

Lin plucked the twins out of Naru's arms passing Duncan to Madoka as he held Gene. "Because, your mother was afraid the both of you were hurt. She didn't know you were okay."

Naru waited for the nurse to turn her attention away from the phone. "Why don't you all go ahead and take the twins down to see Mai, however, please at the moment don't mention anything about the accident. Mother did, and I think it was a test to see Mai's reaction. She almost had a panic attack. If I hadn't distracted her she probably would have."

"Okay," Madoka smiled. "We'll try to keep the noise down to a dull roar."

Lin and Madoka left Naru standing there with Yasu and Masako standing near him. Masako handed Naru a small bag. "Don't ask me why but something told me to bring these for you. You and Yasu are about the same size, and now I see why."

Naru rolled his eyes, "Mother's idea," he replied quietly.

Masako smiled sympathetically at him as she and Yasu started walking down the hallway towards Mai's room.

Mai sighed then froze as she heard the clicking of heels and other sounds like people coming towards her room. She hoped it was Naru returning, but she couldn't help her beaming smile as she saw Lin and Madoka carrying her sons. Tears shined in her eyes but not from pain or sadness. Her heart filled with joy at seeing her boys.

Lin took the chair at her left side and sat down with Gene and Madoka passed Duncan back over to him. "Mommy," both boys cried out as they saw their mother.

The twins smiled brightly at her, but Eugene looked as though he were going to cry.

"Oh baby," she called out to him. "I'll be okay, don't cry."

Eugene wiped his tears away. "I know mommy, but I want you to come home."

"Me too," Duncan added.

"I'll be home. Daddy said if everything goes okay they'll be transferring me to one of Aunt Ayako's hospitals and then we'll be closer."

Naru returned after stopping in a bathroom and changing out of the white slacks into the pair of black jeans Masako had brought with her. Mai smiled up at him as he strode into the room. "You look much better."

Luella pouted as Naru leaned over the older woman and gave her a peck on the cheek. "I'm sorry mother, but light colors are not my style."

Duncan smiled at his father, "Daddy looked like a nerd."

Everyone looked at the boy, shock clearly showing on his or her faces. "Duncan, where'd you hear that?"

The boy grinned proudly. "Uncle Yasu was showing Aunt Masako a picture on his phone and said Daddy looked like a nerd."

Mai couldn't help it as she burst out in laughter that pulled at her stitches again. "Duncan, baby you weren't supposed to repeat that," and she groaned again as she tried to stop the laughter. "But your right, Daddy did look like a nerd."

"Mai," Naru growled in mock anger before he smirked at her. He turned and shot Yasu a look that clearly said dead meat.

Yasu gulped, and he glanced around the room. "It was only to Masako." He gulped again as Naru turned as though he was going to chase Yasu down. "I think I best beat a hasty retreat, come on Masako." He grabbed his fiancée by the hand, and the pair quickly left the hospital.

Madoka chuckled as she gazed at Naru, "You know that was mean."

Naru smirked back at her, "I can't help how he takes things."

Mai snorted as she gazed at her husband, "Jerk."

Luella whispered to Naru and he nodded as he followed his mother out the door. Luella turned to her son, "Mai is definitely showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. I can treat her but, this is going to take time and everyone involved needs to be on the same page. The first thing we need to do is make her realize that she doesn't have to go through this alone. We don't want her to retreat from her family and friends, and I don't just mean you and the twins I also mean everyone who she considers as family."

Naru bowed his head as he stroked his chin for a moment. "I'm getting her a puppy for her birthday. Do you think having a puppy around would be a good thing?"

Luella smiled as she nodded at her son. "Yes, it is a good idea. Dogs are good at relieving stress. What breed are you looking at?"

"A Greater Swiss Mountain Dog," he brought up the picture of the puppy on his phone.

Luella smiled at the image of the cute little pup with the big feet. "It's so cute."

"The breeder is giving me a discount because the white on the chest didn't connect with the neck and underbelly. I'm naming her Bella because it seems to fit her personality."

"Oh Noll that's a gorgeous name, and I'm sure that Mai and the twins will adore her."

"We should go back, I'm sure Mai is getting tired." He noticed the nurse return.

"I'm sorry Mr. Shibuya, but we don't have a physical therapist on staff, so the only thing I can do is her another dose of pain medication."

He nodded as she entered the room and he and Luella followed after. Luella tugged on his shoulder, "Let me know if she has any more nightmares."

"Of course," his reply was short and to the point.

The nurse smiled sympathetically at the young man and exited the room. Not long after Mai drifted off to sleep.

Duncan and Gene both looked at the face of their sleeping mother. Worry clearly written on their little faces the twins gazed around the room at the adults assembled there. Duncan gave voice to his worry, "Is mommy going to be okay?"

Naru moved over to his sons who still sat in Lin's lap. "Your mother will be okay once we get her to Tokyo."

Duncan nodded as Gene yawned and his eyelids began to droop. "I think it's time to leave," Luella announced to everyone. "Madoka and I will take the twins home so they can sleep in their own beds tonight."

Gene gazed up at his grandmother, "Do we hafta? I don't want to leave mommy alone."

Naru reached over and ruffled Gene's hair. "She won't be alone. Uncle Lin and I will stay with her overnight." That seemed to reassure the twins.

Madoka picked up Duncan and passed him over to Luella, and she picked up a sleepy Gene from Lin then leaned over to give her husband a peck on the cheek.

Naru gave each boy a hug, "Now be good, and don't get into any trouble."

Both boys nodded and then Madoka and Luella stepped out of the room and walked down the hallway.

Naru and Lin stayed with Mai for the rest of the week, and they received the green light to transfer her to Tokyo. Thankfully, Ryosuke had arranged for her to be flown to the hospital where Ayako worked and would be able to avoid the media. This suited Naru fine as he took a seat next to Lin in the helicopter as they secured the gurney that carried Mai.

Ayako stood atop the helipad on top of the hospital waiting for the arrival of the chopper that was flying in a patient from Takeshi. She had no idea who the patient was other than the person had survived a horrific crash.

She looked up at the sound of the helicopter's rotors. She moved back from the helipad making sure her medical team were also at a safe distance. As the aircraft began to descend, she thought she recognized a person sitting inside the chopper. Could that be Lin? No, it can't, but it does look like him.

As the chopper made contact with the helipad the door slid open and the medics inside began to release the clamps that held the gurney in place. They maneuvered the gurney over, and members of Ayako's team ran over to lower the stretcher and roll it into the hospital. As soon as Ayako spotted the face of the patient on the stretcher she knew. If Lin were here, then Naru would be here too.

Her face flushed red as the skin across her forehead tightened, and her nostrils flared. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she blinked back tears of rage and her lips tightened as she placed her hands on her hips and planted her feet for the upcoming confrontation with the men who were jumping out of the medivac chopper.

She glared at both Naru and Lin as they stepped towards her. She took a step forward and planted her index finger into the younger man's chest. "Why didn't you tell me it was Mai they were bringing in? Didn't you think that both Monk and I should have known, or are you still the same selfish jerk you've always been thinking that's it wasn't necessary to let me know that she was injured." She punctuated each word by continuing to poke the finger in the same spot.

He blinked as he pushed her hand away and rubbed at the spot on his chest. "I assure you at the time I really didn't feel it was necessary."

"Wasn't necessary?" She sneered as she ground her teeth together. "That girl is like a daughter to me, and you didn't think there was a need? I'm a doctor, and I'm sure I could have helped in some way had I known what had happened."

Naru frowned. "Mrs. Takigawa, do you really think you could have done any better?" He paused to allow his words to sink in. "I do apologize for not letting you know sooner. However I do have one request. Please consult with my mother over Mai's case. My wife needs the best people helping her."

Ayako's eyes widened as her brows lifted and her mouth dropped open. Did he just apologize and compliment me in the same breath? Her face relaxed as she allowed a slight smile.

Naru smirked in reply, as the trio entered the hospital. Ayako glared at Naru, "I'm still upset with you."

He nodded as he smirked, "I know, but I'm wondering what you are going to do about Mai's care."

"Well, I do know that Ryosuke is a top notch doctor, but he's not a specialist. Therefore, I'm going to have our orthopedic surgeon Dr. Nakamura look and see what he has to say. I will also be assigning a physical therapist to begin therapy after I hear what Nakamura has to say.

"Like in Takeshi I'm having her sent to a room on the surgical floor in case Dr. Nakamura finds something wrong and may have to do surgery again. So don't worry about anything. You know we'll take good care of her."

Naru gazed at Ayako, "I know you will." His phone buzzed as he pulled it out he found a text message from the breeder. He sent a text message back, and the breeder sent another one. "Oh bother," he muttered.

Lin leaned over to him, "Is anything wrong?"

Naru nodded, "The breeder wants the puppy picked up today, but I told him that my wife is in the hospital and he says either pick it up today or I forfeit the money I paid, and he resells her."

"I can go pick her up for you."

Naru sent another text. "Okay, the breeder will be waiting for you." He emailed the information to Lin's phone. "I've emailed you the details along with her picture. Take her to the condo, I'll call mother and tell her to expect your arrival."

Lin nodded and left Naru with Ayako. "You bought a puppy?"

Naru nodded in response.

"Why?"

Naru turned to face Ayako. "Mai's birthday is in two weeks, and I wanted to get her something special. She had mentioned that she always wanted a pet. However, I considered getting a horse, but her last experience with one didn't fare very well." He leaned in towards the older, red-headed woman. "I know Madoka told you about it."

Ayako crossed her arms across her chest, "No, Madoka never said anything about it." Thinking back to when Naru and Mai were still in England with the twins, she snapped her fingers. "Actually, it was Lin who told us about it. Madoka was helping Luella with the twins while you and Mai went horseback riding. So what happened?"

"Let's just say Mai and horses don't get along." He left it simply at that as the pair continued down the hall to the elevators.

"Push five," she indicated the row of buttons that was on the panel of the elevator car closest to him.

"I thought the surgical floor was four."

"Not here, this is the newest hospital my father built, so it has a few more floors than the others."

He pressed the button, the elevator doors closed, and the car descended down to the fifth floor.

As the car lurched to a stop, the red-headed doctor and shrine maiden along with the young ghost hunter stepped from the car and strode down the hallway. Ayako stopped at a door where Mai's name rested on the outside along with her room number of 525.

They found a doctor and a couple of technicians inside the room. The doctor glanced up at the newcomers as the light glinted off his brownish gray eyes. He indicated to the technicians to continue.

He approached Ayako, "Ah Dr. Matsuzaki, I had a mild sedative administered so we could get her X-rays taken without causing her too much pain."

His eyes moved from Matsuzaki's face to Naru's, "Who's this?"

Ayako smile was slightly forced as she motioned to Naru. "This is Kazuya Shibuya, the young woman's husband."

He bowed to Naru who bowed in return. "I'm Doctor Takuya Nakamura. I'll be working on your wife's case. I have several concerns about her treatment in Takasaki and need to look at the X-rays to decide on what the next step will be. For one I would never have put her wrist in that type of cast. It's too immobile and doesn't allow for any kind of physical therapy."

Ayako knew that Naru seemed to be a much nicer person, but seeing him up close and personal, well she was flabbergasted. The Naru of old was cold, insulting, and never said thank you or gave compliments. She wasn't sure she could take the new Naru who was more open and actually did show mild emotions.

The technicians log rolled Mai onto her side and slipped the film under her hips drawing a moan of pain from the injured woman. Naru clenched his jaws together as he drew his hands up into fists wanting to reach out and hurt the pair who caused his wife pain.

They took two more pictures as the temperature of the room seemed to be falling. Ayako grabbed Naru's upper arm, tugged on the man, and pulled him from the room. "Look, you have to control yourself. They are just doing their job and not intending to inflict more pain on her. Heck. I also would like to give them a fist to the face, but I know they're not doing it on purpose."

Lin pulled the SPR van into the driveway of the condominium. He climbed out of the van closing the driver's side door, and moved around to the passenger side and opened the door and pulled out a medium sized animal carrier.

He would return to retrieve the other things needed for the new member of Naru and Mai's family. He couldn't help the slight smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth.

He entered the house and set the carrier down in the living room as Luella and Madoka walked in with Gene and Duncan following.

Madoka frowned, "I thought you were still at the hospital with Oliver and Mai?"

"We just arrived at the Matsuzaki's hospital when Oliver received a text from the breeder demanding pick up today or Oliver would forfeit his money, and the breeder would resell her. So I offered to pick her up for him." He indicated the carrier that rest by his feet on the carpeted floor.

Luella smiled at the man, "So Mai is now in Tokyo?"

"Yes, thankfully the hospital is located near Shibuya, so it's wasn't that difficult to get the van and pick up the puppy."

Duncan and Gene looked around slightly confused. "Puppy?" they both asked at the same time.

"Yes, your father bought a puppy for your mother's birthday which is in two weeks."

At that moment, the animal in the carrier whined. The two boys brightened and ran over to the carrier and peeked in at the animal. Duncan looked up at Lin, "Why does the puppy have such big feet?"

"She will grow into her feet."

Duncan shook his head as Gene had tears in his eyes, "She sounds like she's unhappy being in there." He sniffled as he ran a hand across his eyes causing Lin to be reminded of his mother. "Can you let her out?"

He glanced up at the two women, Luella nodded, and Madoka had that expression that she just wanted to grab Gene and hug him tightly.

He unlocked the pet carrier and opened the door. At first, the puppy was hesitant to step out but eventually she did and began to investigate her new surroundings. Duncan and Gene chased after her.

He left the trio in the care of the women as he stepped out to the van to bring in Bella's food and other items the breeder had recommended to keep her happy.

Ayako stuck her head into Mai's room, "Doctor Nakamura, I'm going to take her husband down to the cafeteria please join us when you have the results."

Ayako and Naru entered the cafeteria and she went and poured two cups of tea and brought the steaming cups back to where the younger man sat. "I know it's not Mai's tea, but it's better than most," she spoke as she placed the cup in front of him.

He held the cup in between his hands feeling the warmth through the ceramic as he gazed into the liquid. "Any idea before we find out what they plan on doing?"

Ayako shook her head as she lifted the cup to her lips and took a sip. "None, but I assure you that Nakamura is top notch in his field, and he'll make sure that Mai's injuries heal without any deformities."

He sighed as he raised the cup and took a tentative sip of the tea. "It's drinkable," he commented as he lowered the cup and sat it back on the table.

Ayako leaned back in her seat, "Now, explain to me why you feel that Mai might be suffering from PTSD."

He sighed again, "I suppose you didn't see or hear the story about her accident."

She shook her head as she gazed on his face. "No, I haven't."

"If you had you would understand," he pulled his phone out of his pocket, brought up the web browser, and found the story. He passed the phone to her.

As she read she gasped. Tears gathered at the back of her eyes. He did Mai and the twins survive that? She thought.

She blinked several times, and gave voice to her thought. "How?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."

"When will your mother come so we can come up with a game plan on how to deal with Mai's problem?"

"I'm not sure," he replied. Picking up his phone he dialed home. He switched the phone over to speaker as his mother answered with giggles and Bella barking up a storm. "Mother, you're on speaker and Dr. Matsuzaki is here with me."

Ayako giggled at the sounds of playful twins and puppy coming from the background. "Luella, I'd like to get with you sometime this week so we can come up with a treatment plan for Mai."

"Ah yes I remember you Dr. Matsuzaki you were in the wedding party when Oliver and Mai were married."

Ayako nodded and smiled at the excited sounds of the twins in the background. "Yes, I was."

"I should be able to go there tomorrow. Lin will bring me, I think he's going to ask Father Brown to come and stay with the twins along with Madoka."

Naru took that moment to speak into the phone taking it off speakerphone. "Mother, make sure the twins go to sleep around their usual bedtime."

The woman on the other end of the phone said something he couldn't make out followed by a, "Take care of Mai," as the sound of a click and then dead air met his ear. He couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Sounds like the twins are having a good time," Ayako smiled at the younger man.

Naru propped his chin up with his hand, as he deadpanned, "You have no idea." He glanced down at his watch and sighed as he silently wished he'd get the results of Mai's tests soon.

Dr. Nakamura and two colleagues examined the x-rays very closely. An older, elderly man shook his head. "You're saying she was treated in Takeshi?"

Nakamura nodded, "Yes, although neither of the doctors who performed the surgeries are specialists they did the best they could. The arm itself looks fine, but wrist and pelvis are what concerns me. I defer to your experience as a hand specialist Dr. Akimoto."

The older man used his index finger to point at the wrist. "We're going to have to remove the plate they put in because it's too small and if the wrist healed like this I would give her a range of 30% movement even after physical therapy."

The other doctor examined the pelvic area x-rays. "I don't like this," he commented as he pointed out a shadow behind the pelvic bone. "Looks like a possible nick in the small intestine. If it is we're going to have remove a section before peritonitis sets in."

"I also don't like the way they secured the fractured pelvic bones," Dr. Nakamura commented. He pulled the x-rays down from the backlit board. "We should inform her husband." He called for a surgical team to begin prepping Mai for surgery.

Two cups of tea later, Ayako received a call on her cell phone. She stepped away from the table where Naru sat. "Dear, remember how I told you this morning I had a special case being flown in from Takeshi."

"Yes I do, you could talk of nothing else over breakfast," her husband Houshou Takigawa replied.

"I want you to stay calm, but I know the identity of the patient now, it's Mai."

She winced as she heard a chair topple over with a crash. "You told me you were going to stay calm. Should I come home just to slap you in the head to calm you down?"

"Sorry, Ayako but what was Naru thinking by keeping this from us?"

"Your reaction says it all," she replied. Then explained the story she read from Naru's cell. "Just be glad that somehow she and the twins survived. The twins had barely a scratch on them. Mai suffered the brunt of it all and then had to hang in a car for hours before a way was figured to rescue her and the twins from the car."

"How are Naru and the twins taking it?"

"That's the amazing part of it. Naru actually bought a puppy, supposed to be for Mai's birthday but the twins are having a ball with it. You'd never know they had a traumatic experience."

Takigawa chuckled, "I'll be up later to see Mai. I've got a gig so I'll be busy for the next couple of days."

"Don't work too hard. I've got to go Houshou, see you later?"

"Certainly, I'll pick you up after your shift and we can have dinner."

She ended the call as she saw Dr. Nakamura approaching. She didn't like his expression.

"I need to speak with her husband," he said with a frown on his face.

Ayako led him over to the table where Naru still sat and he glanced at the pair of doctors as they both took a seat at the table. "Dr. Nakamura," Naru began, "What did the tests reveal?"

"Well we are prepping your wife for surgery. I asked two other doctors both specialists in their fields to consult on your wife's case. Tomi Akimoto is a hand specialist and Hoshi Kamura is an internal medicine specialist." He paused to run a hand through his hair as he tried to think of a way to explain what needed to be done. "The plate in the wrist is too short and even with therapy Dr. Akimoto said that her range of movement would only be 30% even after physical therapy. Therefore, we're going to correct that as well as correct the plate holding the pelvic bones in place, which is where Dr. Kamura comes in.

"He noticed a spot on the x-ray that looks like a possible nick to a section to her small intestines. It's a good idea that while I'm replacing the pelvic plates he's going to check the small intestines. If there is a nick like he suspects he will remove that section and then repair them to prevent the possibility of peritonitis."

"We had blood drawn and noticed her white blood cell count is elevated which does support Dr. Kamura's suspicion."

Naru nodded but the room's temperature began to grow cold. Ayako gripped his arm as she hissed in a whisper, "Don't do something that you'll regret and leave Mai a widow."

He sighed as he silently thanked her for stopping him from doing something that would have Mai upset with him.

Dr. Nakamura who missed the subtle exchange glanced at the red head, "I think the air conditioning needs to be checked out. This is the second time today that the temperature has dropped for a bit."

Ayako smiled a little too big, "I'll have maintenance look into that right away," as a nervous laugh escaped her lips. She turned to face Naru as she groaned. "You need to calm yourself down."

"Sorry, but she's been through so much and now to have to go through more surgeries—"

Ayako held up a hand stopping him midsentence. "Mai is a big girl, but I think you'll agree with me that you want her back to as close to 100 percent as possible."

"Do you think I can see her before they take her into surgery?"

Ayako nodded, "I'll call up to her room and see if they've taken her back or not."

He closed his eyes and waited as Ayako made the call. "Yes, if you go now you can see her before they take her back. Seems the sedative they gave her earlier is wearing off and she's demanding to see you."

He smirked as he rose from the table, followed by the red head.

As he walked into Mai's room he found her refusing to allow the anesthesiologist to do his job. "Not until after I see Naru," she said angrily at the man.

"Mai," Naru said.

Tears glinted in her eyes. "Naru, are they really going to take me back into surgery again?"

"Yes, they are," he replied as he brushed her bangs out of her face.

"Why? I want to go home. I want my boys." She wiped at her eyes.

"Dr. Matsuzaki explained it to me, and I have to agree with her. I want you back as close to 100 percent as possible." He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. "Now let the man do his job."

She sighed and Naru motioned to the man, who inserted the needle for the general anesthesia into the IV port. As he went to move away, Mai reached out with her good hand, caught his shirtsleeve, and tugged on it. "Stay with me."

"I have no intention of leaving you until they take you to surgery."

She nodded again with a smile on her face, and within a matter of minutes, her eyes closed and she was asleep.

The man motioned for the orderlies to push the bed out of the room and they headed down toward one of the surgical theaters.

Naru took his cellphone out of his pocket and dialed his home's number. He listened to the phone ring for several moments until Luella answered. "Oliver, how is Mai?"

"They took her back into surgery for a second time," he leaned back into the chair as he explained what was going on.

"Oh, Oliver, I'm so sorry to hear this. Do you need me to come?"

"I assure you mother I'm fine. I would appreciate if you didn't tell Duncan and Gene about this. Especially Gene since it would hurt him to know that she's in surgery again," Naru ran his hand through his hair.

"I understand, Noll."

"How are the twins doing?"

He heard Luella chuckle. "At the moment Duncan and Gene are taking a nap with Bella. She wore them out."

He couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his mouth, "That's good to hear. How much damage did they do?"

"Nothing major, but Lin and Madoka have news too."

He heard noises in the background and figured his mother was grabbing one or both of the other couple to put on the phone. Then he heard a whispered, "It's Oliver."

"Noll," Madoka's voice greeted him. "Luella just told me about Mai."

His interest was piqued. "Madoka, what is it that my mother wants you to tell me?"

"Uhm… Well, Lin and I are pregnant."

"Madoka you know as well as I do that Lin can't get pregnant. How far along are you?"

"Two months, I found out not long after you, Mai, Lin and the kids left for Japan."

"So that means we'll need more space," he sighed. He hated the thought of uprooting his family again.

"Don't worry, Noll," Luella's voice was heard in the background. "I have everything covered.

"What is mother talking about?"

"I have no idea, but if there's one thing I've learned about your family is to never underestimate your mother."

He chuckled again, "Yes I know, she's got so much energy. I'm surprised father can keep up with her."

"I can't stay on the phone. Lin needs my assistance with something. Please tell Mai to get better soon."

"I'll pass the message along," he said as the call was disconnected. He put his phone back into his pocket noting that it had just killed forty-five minutes of waiting.

Ayako stuck her head into the waiting area and strode across the room to an empty seat beside Naru. She lowered herself into the seat beside him. "I just called back to the OR, and Mai will be in recovery in about 15 minutes."

He nodded as he turned his head to gaze at the red head. "Will it be possible for me to sit with her in recovery?"

"Well, usually we like to wait for the patients to wake after having surgery. But I think I can make an exception this time," she smiled gently and pat his hand. "You know she's a very lucky woman to have you."

"Actually, I'm the lucky one," he leaned back fighting the urge to pace.

"I'll come back once she's in recovery," Ayako rose from her seat and walked from the room her heels clicking on the floor.

Naru wished time would pass faster, but the hands seemed to be stuck in molasses. He tapped his fingers on the chair arm as his annoyance grew. He wanted to see his wife. No, he had to see for himself to make sure she was okay.

He couldn't be mad at Ryosuke or the man's father for not knowing that what they did was wrong because they weren't specialists, but they had found and repaired the nick to her spleen.

He stiffened as he felt a hand on his shoulder and craned his neck around to find Ayako standing there. "She's in recovery now."

He rose and Ayako led the way to the recovery room. He gazed down on Mai's face. She seemed to be resting easier now. He glanced at her right wrist and found not a plaster cast but a pink cast that ran three quarters down her arm and halfway down her hand with the thumb poking out too. It wasn't as thick as the usual plaster cast. He secretly was glad it wasn't a blinding, neon hot pink.

The raven-haired man brushed her cinnamon brown bangs from her face and held onto her good hand being mindful not to disturb the IV's in her arm. Ayako walked over to a nurse and spoke quietly to her, then nodded to him as she strode out of the room. In the corner of his eye, he caught the nurse glancing at him with those eyes and he recognized that look of lust.

He returned her lusty gaze with one of ice-cold glares from his cerulean blue eyes. One that would freeze blood in a person's veins, but he turned his eyes back to Mai as they softened. He hoped she would wake soon. He glanced down at his wedding band on his finger and Mai's rings on her left hand that boldly told everyone they were married. Why can't these idiot women take a hint? He thought.

The nurse sashayed across the room swinging her hips trying to attract his attention. When his attention stayed with his wife, the woman clenched her hands into fists. What am I chopped liver?

As if Naru read her thoughts, he snorted as a slight chuckle escaped his lips, "Hurry Mai, and wake up. I think I need you to rescue me instead of me rescuing you all the time," he whispered into her ear and noticed a slight smile on her face.

A groan escaped her mouth and she fought to open her eyes. Her lids blinked as she opened them slowly, "Naru," she whispered in a croak. She glanced around.

Naru pressed the call button for a nurse, and the one who kept on hitting on him approached, "Yes?" she asked as her voice took on a seductive quality.

"My wife is awake now. Shouldn't you get a doctor to check on her?" He glared.

The woman's face took on a pained expression as if she'd been slapped. She stood frozen. "Do I need to contact Dr. Matsuzaki to get you to do your job?"

Mai tried to move but gasped as pain shot through her body and she gasped as tears gathered in her eyes. Naru's eyes turned to her pain filled face. "Stop trying to move, dummy. You're fresh from surgery."

She nodded, knowing him as she knew he didn't mean it as an insult.

The nurse finally moved. She wasn't afraid of Naru, no she was afraid of Dr. Matsuzaki who caught her several times hitting on husbands of female patients before. Why don't they look at me? Like that drop dead gorgeous, guy back there in recovery with his wife. Why is she so special? She thought.

Dr. Nakamura entered the room to find Naru sitting beside Mai. "Where's the nurse who's supposed to be here?"

"I sent her to find a doctor because Mai is awake and in pain."

He nodded, "That's to be expected," he pulled out Mai's chart and glanced at it. "Well Mrs. Shibuya you'll be pleased to know that we have corrected the surgery that took place in Takeshi, and we'll start your physical therapy for the pelvis as soon as possible. In two weeks, we'll place a hand brace over the soft cast to give your wrist more support. In six weeks, we'll remove that and then physical therapy will start.

"After we put the brace over the cast, we'll give you a small therapy ball to start working on your grip. Just use it until you get tired or start feeling some pain. I don't want you to overexert yourself. In addition, we'll need you to wear a sling to keep the wrist elevated to keep the swelling down. You need to wear it while sitting up.

"We did find a small tear in a section of your small intestine. A section had to be removed to keep inflammation from flaring up from a possible peritoneal infection."

Mai's look of confusion brought a smile to the doctor's face.

"I hope I can relieve your confusion, but there's a thin layer of tissue that coats the abdomen and all the internal organs that keeps foreign objects out. If there's a nick, or tear to that thin layer then it can get infected causing inflammation called Peritonitis. If not treated then Peritonitis besides being painful can also be fatal."

Tears glittered in her eyes as she gripped Naru's hand with her good hand. She realized how close she may have been to death. She didn't want to leave Naru or her twins. She saw how Gene's death affected her husband before they became boyfriend and girlfriend. She'd hate to see what could have happened to her husband and sons if she died. She felt a squeeze to her hand and her eyes slid over to Naru's face. His smile was both soft and reassuring.

He worried though about her mental state. So far she seemed herself, but there was a few times he had felt her slipping away from him back at Takeshi especially after some nightmares.

"We'll move her back to her room as a precaution and continue to monitor her vitals. If everything goes well we can move her to another room on another floor, possibly closer to Physical Therapy. Oh and your therapists name is Ren Saito. She's a very competent therapist, and I will continue to check up on you as well, Mrs. Shibuya. Do either of you have any questions?"

Naru glanced at the man, "None that I can think of."

Mai just shook her head to the negative as she continued to fight with the fact that she could have died.

"Very well," the doctor said as he walked out of the room. Two orderlies appeared and maneuvered Mai's bed out of the recovery room and back down the hallway to her room. A nurse came in behind them and began to hook up everything that would be needed to monitor her vitals. She glanced down at Mai, as the skin around her eyes crinkled into crow's feet or laugh lines. "How are you feeling sweetie?"

"I'm hurting," was all Mai could manage to get out.

The nurse took out a syringe, inserted the needle into the IV port, and pushed the plunger down. She smiled again at the couple and felt the love that emanated from them. "I'll just leave you two alone. Call again if you need anything."

Naru nodded as the woman walked out into the hallway, pulling the door close behind her so her patient could sleep in peace, and maybe her husband could sleep too.

Naru dozed off in the chair beside Mai as he held her hand.

Mai whimpered. She was in the car again. Glancing in the rearview mirror, she saw Gene and Duncan happily chittering away to each other.

She felt the car shake as the truck's tires caught the car. Her children screamed in terror. Metal groaned and windows shattered. She felt she wasn't alone. Her eyes slid over and there was the truck driver in the seat beside her.

The driver opened his mouth and spoke. "Why did I die and you survive?" His eyes glazed over. His face changed. Eyes bulged as he gripped her throat.

She felt his fingers squeeze.

"Join me in death." He tightened his grip on her throat.

She gasped and choked. Then she found herself on the astral plane. She felt pressure on her shoulder.

She swallowed hard as she clutched her heart. She turned and saw Eugene. "Thank goodness, I thought I was going to die," she whispered as tears leaked out the corners of her eyes.

A sad smile was etched across his face. "I'm sorry. But you need to know. The driver of the semi he died at the crash site."

Tears ran down her face as she sucked in a shaking breath. "Maybe he was right."

"No Mai, he made his choice when he got behind the wheel high on drugs. His death wasn't your fault."

"Can you say that for sure?" her body trembled.

Gene wrapped his arms around her. "Yes, I can. It wasn't your time. You and Noll have many years ahead of yourselves, and…" he paused not sure, if he should tell her what he'd seen of her future.

"What were you going to say?"

"It's nothing. Just know that you and Noll have a long road ahead together."

She nodded as she tugged at her bottom lip.

He smiled as he thought of how cute she looked at that moment. He knew his brother was very lucky to have her in his life. "You should go back, Noll is getting worried."

She smiled up at him, "Thank you again for being my spirit guide, Gene."

"No, I should thank you for saving my idiot scientist of a brother." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

Naru, heard a whimper. He gripped Mai's her hand and squeezed, hoping that she could fight the nightmare that she was in the grips of.

"Mai," he said. He hoped she could hear him. She released his hand and grabbed at her throat as if she were being choked. He grabbed her hand as he hit the call button for a nurse.

He didn't want to hurt her, but he couldn't have her hurting herself either. However, before the nurse could get there, she calmed down. Tears escaped from under her eyelids and he reached out to wipe them away. "Mai… Mai… wake up."

Her eyes blinked and she opened her eyelids. She saw Naru's face and broke into heart wrenching sobs.

"Shhh… Mai don't cry everything will be alright." He ran his hand through her hair.

Her eyes slid over to his, "I'm sorry…," she whispered just loud enough for him to hear. "I didn't mean to kill you."

He smiled gently down on her face, "Mai… look at me. You didn't kill me."

She shook her head almost violently as she tried to catch her breath. "Not… not you," she cried. "The driver of the semi, he died and now he wants me to die." She gripped his hand harder. "Please, Naru… please don't let them give me anything else. No matter how much pain I'm in. I can't go back to sleep if I do he'll be waiting for me again to kill me." She gazed into his eyes and hoped he knew how serious she was.

"Okay Mai, I won't allow them to give you pain medication, but you need to calm down. You're trying to go into a panic attack." He placed both of his hands on either side of her face holding her head still. He gazed deeply into her eyes.

She allowed a small smile to cross her face as her breathing began to return to normal as he bent down and took her lips with his.

The door opened and the kindly older nurse stepped into the room, and smiled as the pair separated. "Is everything alright in here?"

Naru turned and faced the older woman. "It is now, she had a nightmare."

Luella hummed as she prepared breakfast. She wished Naru and Mai were here. A smile tugged at the corner of the woman's mouth. "My little Noll has grown to be such a good man," she murmured to herself. She heard the footsteps of two little boys and the clicking of toenails on the tile floor from the hallway.

She turned as Duncan and Gene stepped into the kitchen with Bella. She smiled at the twins, "Good morning boys," she bent down to pet the puppy's head, "Good morning to you too Bella."

The boy's still wiping sleep from their eyes spoke in unison, "Good morning, grandma," and Bella gave a bark as if she understood.

"Sit down boys," she told the twins as she motioned for them to grab some pancakes from the pile sitting on the center of the table. She reached up into a cabinet, pulled out a box, poured some of the food out into the dog dish, and set it down.

Bella seemed to smile at the woman, then dropped her head into the bowl, and began crunching away at the dry puppy food.

Luella pulled out two small glasses from a cabinet and moved over to the refrigerator. Opening the door, she pulled out a carton of milk filling the glasses and placed them both by the twin's plates. "Growing boys need to drink their milk."

She replaced the container of milk and closed the door. She pulled out a chair and joined the twins for breakfast.

After breakfast, dishes were washed and put away, and the twins had their showers and were dressed for the day Luella got ready to go to the hospital. John Brown was due to arrive any minute.

Lin sat with Madoka on a couch in the living room watching the twins play. "What do you suppose Luella has planned about living arrangements?"

"I talked to Martin last night. Luella has cleared it to buy the condo next door. He says she's going to hire workmen to build a connecting hallway between both condos so we won't have to move."

"That's wonderful news," Madoka leaned into Lin's body.

"Yes, and our children and Noll's shall be able to grow with each other."

Bella barked at the door. Luella reached the door as they heard the knock. She pulled the door open to find John Brown with Masako Hara.

"Father Brown and Miss Hara, how nice to see you both," she moved back and waved them to enter the house.

Masako saw the puppy standing between the twins. "Aww isn't she cute, what's her name?" she asked as she kneeled down on the floor to pet the dog.

Duncan smiled, "Her name's Bella. Daddy bought her as a present to momma for her birthday."

Gene not to be left out popped up with, "Uncle Lin said we should break her in."

Masako nodded, "That is a good idea. When your momma comes home from the hospital a rambunctious puppy might be a little too much for her."

Duncan even though a genius was not familiar with the word, "Ram… Ramunktious?"

"It means out of control, so if you two can calm her down by the time your momma comes home it will be a good thing. At least I think it will be."

Gene gazed upon the woman he and Duncan called Aunt Masako. "I agree." His face took on a thoughtful face and then a bright smile. "Yeah, Bella needs to learn to be a good girl."

Neither of the twins had noticed that Luella and Lin had snuck out of the house.

"Do you think it was a good idea to sneak out like we did," Lin glanced at the older woman as he maneuvered the SPR van through the streets of Tokyo.

Luella nodded, "If we haven't the boys would have begged to come along with us and right now its imperative we get to the hospital."

"What happened?"

Luella frowned, "Noll called early this morning. Mai had another nightmare last night. She knows the driver of the semi died in the crash. Only we have no idea if it was a regular nightmare or one that she gets on a case. Now she's afraid to sleep. She's refusing her pain medication."

Lin frowned.

Luella placed a hand on his arm. "Don't worry Koujo, we'll help her threw this. I know how you feel about her and frankly so do I."

He nodded as he drove the van into the parking garage. He found a place to park.

Luella carried a slip of paper with Mai's room number on it and hoped she wouldn't run into well-meaning idiots like those that she faced in Takeshi.

As they stepped off the elevator, she saw a certain red head waiting for them. "Ah Dr. Matsuzaki it's so nice to see you again."

Ayako nodded as she escorted the pair down to Mai's room.

"Has Mai allowed them to give her pain medication yet?"

Ayako shook her head, "No she hasn't. I'm worried."

"Okay. Prescribe 10 mg of Prozasin. It will help her sleep and it will help with the nightmares. I've called Martin and he's bringing some equipment so we can test her and find out if it's a normal nightmare or paranormal. If it is paranormal, can you make some protective charms to place around her room?"

"Certainly Luella," she frowned. "I hadn't considered the paranormal."

"The truck driver's spirit could have attached itself to her when he died. It may have taken this long for him to build up the energy to make his presence known."

"I think we should bring Jessica into this," Ayako suggested.

Lin couldn't believe his ears. He knew Jessica was very pregnant and could give birth at any minute. "Miss Takigawa, have you forgotten that Jessica is almost due to deliver her child. Ryosuke would never allow her to participate in a case at this point for fear of something happening to their baby."

Ayako waved her hand dismissively at the tall Chinese man. "I think she should still be called in just to see if Mai does have an attachment. If so its possible Masako could communicate to him and get him to pass on."

Lin nodded, "I will only agree if it's in an advisory capacity. If you ask her to do a cleansing I will be forced to tell Naru and he will not be happy for putting a team member and a friend in danger."

They stopped at the nurse's station and Ayako pulled Mai's chart and wrote the scrip in her chart. As she replaced it, she tapped the chart. "Make sure the scrip is followed."

Martin Davis made it to the airport on time. He met Dan and Anson Birch in the terminal. Ever since the news got around the house about Mai's car accident the household was in an uproar. Rebecca threatened to kill the truck driver herself if he hadn't died in the crash.

He placed BSPR in the capable hands of another researcher, and explained his need to leave to Professor Pudgetuttle. However, all field investigations were canceled until his return. However, long that maybe.

The trio of men made certain the equipment was stowed away onboard the Davis's private plane, a black painted Leer Jet model 60 that besides the pilot and the copilot could easily seat eight.

Taking their seats they buckled in and Martin picked up the phone. "Okay, Jared we're ready to go."

Without another word, the plane began to taxi out onto the tarmac and into the flow of air traffic. Their destination… Tokyo.

Lin, Luella, and Ayako stepped into Mai's room. The younger woman as pain shot through her from the pelvic region and her abdomen. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.

"Calm down Mai, it's only Mother, Lin, and Ayako," Naru gripped her hand.

Ayako placed her hands on her hips, "Stop being unreasonable Mai. We all can see you're in pain. Just take the damn pain medication."

Mai shook her head. "You don't understand, Ayako. If I do the truck driver will return and this time he'll kill me." The tears rushed out like a burst dam. "If he kills me then Naru," she gasped as she tried to take in a breath, "and the twins will be alone. I can't do that to them. I… I can't, I won't do that to them."

Ayako sighed and she threw her hands up in the air. "Then I have no option, but to call in Jessica as a consultant to get her opinion. If there is an attachment involved Masako might be able to get the spirit to crossover."

Just at the mention of Jessica, Mai's eyes grew in panic. "No, you can't call in Jessica. She could have her baby at any moment."

The heart monitor beat faster as Mai sucked in air and her eyes darted around the room trying to find someone to stop this.

"We have another option," Luella spoke as she approached Mai's bed with a smile on her face. "As I speak Martin is on a plane in route to Tokyo. He's bringing some equipment to test your dream. He's also bringing Dan and Anson with him. Dan is a topnotch investigator, but what you didn't know Mai is that Anson is also a spiritual healer like Jessica."

Mai sighed. She smiled weakly up at Luella. "Thank you," she whispered.

Naru squeezed her hand as he saw the pain she was putting herself through. It hurt him to watch her suffer. He hoped his would get there soon.

Jessica lay on her side snuggled up next to Ryosuke. She opened her eyes as the baby kicked and she rubbed her stomach.

She smiled Ryosuke stirred and rolled over. However it wasn't Ryosuke's face she saw. She gasped. Gene faced her. She gasped and a surprised squeak erupted from her throat.

Gene nodded as he propped himself up on an elblow. "I'm sorry. Mai needs your help. Your stronger than the man my father is bringing. If you combine your prayers with his healing you can free Mai from a nightmare."

She gulped but Gene faded leaving her husband lying there asleep. A sense of urgency struck her. She needed to get to Tokyo. She shook Ryosuke. "We need to go to Tokyo."

"No we can't, you're too close to delivery as it is."

"Mai's in trouble." Her eyes narrowed. "Either you take me, or I get Keisuke."

He sighed, "What if something goes wrong? What about the baby?" He asked as he caressed her swollen belly.

She glared as she rose from the bed. "Look, I've told you about Mai's spirit guide. He's the one who told me about the accident. And what did you find.?" She turned to the closet rummaging for some clothes. "He just appeared to me again. I know I'm needed. So either you take me, or I call your brother." She stormed out of the bedroom. "Idiot," she mumbled to herself, "We'll be in a freaking hospital!" She yelled over her shoulder.

He sighed. "Guess I'll have to take her," he muttered. He shuddered. "She's scary when she's like this," he muttered. He pulled on his blue polo shirt and white twill pants, and stepped into a pair of house slippers. He strode out of the bedroom and flew down the stairs. "She's not going anywhere without breakfast first."

Jessica grabbed her overnight bag just in case. Ryosuke took it from her. She shot him an aggravated glare. "I'm pregnant but I'm not helpless."

"I know that hon, but I don't want you stressed more than you already are. It's not good for the baby and most definitely not good for you."

Her eyes softened and a slight smile tugged at her lips. She raised her hand to cup his cheek and stood on tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips. "I'm sorry for being such a bitch, but this is important to me."

He lowered his head down to hers. "I'm sorry too, but forgive me for worrying."

She reached up and flicked him on the forehead. "That's what happens to worry warts." She turned on her heal as her waist length midnight black hair swung behind her.

He rubbed his forehead. "She's going to be the death of me, but I can't help myself for loving her." He strode behind his wife toward the door.

A young Japanese woman with shoulder length dark hair stepped into Mai's room. She wore minimal makeup to highlight her facial structure and a pair of cat eyed reading glasses. She looked up from the chart. "Mrs. Shibuya, I'm Ren Saito your physical therapist. How are you feeling?"

Before Mai could answer, the woman standing there closed Mai's chart. "I see you've been refusing your pain medication. Is there a reason why?"

Luella leaned forward from the chair she sat on. "She's having nightmares from the accident she was in."

"There's several ways we can alleviate the pain. First I'm going to have them put you on a special formulation of medication, don't worry it's not a narcotic but it may make you drowsy but not enough to go to sleep like morphine would do. Secondly, we want to keep your legs moving to reduce the chances of blood clots forming. I'll teach someone here, preferably your husband so that he can do these at home once you're released. Because with your wrist and arm like they are there's no way you'll be able to start walking until after the cast is removed so we need to keep the muscles around your hips and legs working so that once you start walking again it won't be so hard on you, and these exercises will reduce the pain.

"So we'll start with the strain and counterstrain exercises. When the soft cast is taken off your wrist, we'll get you into the pool and start Aquatic Therapy, which will help with strengthening those muscles and keeping them flexible. Then we'll start you on Manual Therapy once your right arm and wrist are able to hold your weight. I think by that time you'll be able to use a walker for a few weeks and then a cane for a few more weeks. We'll bypass the crutches."

Mai stared at the woman who didn't let her get a word in edgewise to the conversation.

"Does that sound good to you Mrs. Shibuya?"

Mai bounced her head back on her pillow in frustration. "I guess it does since you've got all my therapy already planned out." She heard a slight chuckle from beside her, and turned her head to glare at Naru. "Oh shut it narcissistic jerk," she grumbled.

Naru pressed a kiss to her cheek. Then he looked up at the therapist. "When do we begin with the exercises?"

"I guess now would be perfect timing." She opened Mai's chart and wrote the prescription for the milder painkillers. She moved the blanket so that it rested between her legs to give the cinnamon haired woman some privacy.

She began with some basic leg movements showing Naru how to do them, and then had him feel Mai's legs when the muscles began to tighten some from use. Mai groaned and gripped the side of the bed with her good hand as sweat broke out on her brow from the muscles that screamed from not being used in over a week. Ren showed him how to massage her leg muscles to loosen them and avoid cramps.

"There's one you can do on your own Mrs. Shibuya, but we'll start that in a few weeks when you're more up to it." She turned to Naru, "those exercises need to be done three times a week. I'll check in again later this week to make sure you're doing them right."

Naru nodded as he stepped into the bathroom and wet a washcloth and wiped Mai's face and neck down. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips, "You okay?"

Mai smirked as she gazed into his eyes. "I will be now that the torture is over. Never knew I had so many muscles, and now they ache."

"That's a good thing," Ren commented from the side. "Before you know it you'll get used to those exercises."

Mai smiled slightly up at her. "I hope it's soon."

Ren nodded, turned, and exited the room without another word leaving the others kind of shocked at her brusqueness.

Ayako let out a sheepish laugh. "I admit her bedside manner isn't the best but she's really good at her job."

Mai smirked at Naru as it hit her. "I know who Ren reminds me of," she let out a giggle.

"I think I know where you're going with this. Don't say it," he growled.

Luella couldn't help but laugh, "I oh so know where she's going with this." Lin nodded in silent amusement at the pair.

"She reminds me of you, Naru. Well the Naru I first met when I gave you your nickname," she giggled and then pulled the sheet over her head to avoid the glare he was shooting at him.

Naru sighed as laughter erupted from the other occupants of the room. I can't win for losing.

Ren strode down the hallway to her office. Her eyes scanned the hallway. She needed to check in with her boss, but didn't need prying eyes, big ears, or even big noses in her business. This was important but she frowned as her stomach rumbled.

She pulled out her cellphone and dialed, and sat down in her chair as the leather creaked under her weight. As soon as she relaxed, she heard a voice on the other end of the line.

"It's me," she nodded, "Yes I know I'm late but I had a patient to attend to."

She sat back to examine the results of a computer search she started before going to Mrs. Shibuya's room.

"Look, I know, just calm down. It takes time finding the right people." she replied to the voice on the other end. "I know it's urgent, but if I'm right about this and you know I usually am we'll just have to wait a few months to get the ball rolling." She paused as she turned her chair to face the window and the sunlight streaming through.

"Okay, I'll check in again." She hung up her phone and rose to get her bento box for her lunch.

Naru glanced at Luella, "Mother when did father leave England?"

Luella pulled out her phone checking the time, "It's been several hours since he left. He took the private jet so he should be landing anytime now."

Naru glanced at Lin who quietly nodded and exited the room. Mai sighed as she watched the exchange. "You know that silent communication you and Lin do still creeps me out."

Naru nodded as he smirked at Mai, "We just know each other extremely well."

She shuddered, "It's still creepy."

Ryosuke turned the steering wheel and maneuvered his car into the parking garage at the hospital. He sighed again as he parked the car and turned to Jessica. "Are you sure you still want to do this?"

Jessica crossed her arms over her chest and shot him a look that spoke volumes.

He held his hands up. "Apparently you do."

Jessica sighed, "How can I explain this so you'll understand. I sympathize with Mai because she's an orphan. With the death of my father I'm one too. She's like the little sister I never had. Please understand." She placed a hand on her husband's forearm. "Please…"

Ryosuke tried to see it from her point of view and he guessed she had a valid point. "I'm trying, Jess, but honestly why does it mean you have to risk our child in this matter. I'm not up on all this spiritual stuff you do, but I realize it makes you happy, but if something goes wrong I don't want to lose you or our child." He placed his hand on her belly and rubbed as Jessica groaned.

"She's kicking me hard. I think she's going to be a great athlete." She grimaced as she rubbed her side.

He opened his door and climbed out, and pulled out his wife's overnight bag from behind his seat. Closing the door with a bang, he hurried to the passenger side, opened Jessica's door, and held out his hand and she took it and allowed him to help her out of the car.

They entered the hospital from the garage, and had to ride the car up to the main lobby. As the car jerked to a stop and the doors opened, they both stepped off and strode up the information desk.

A young man glanced at the pair as he typed in some information on another patient. "Can I help you," he continued to enter information without making eye contact.

"I'd like the room number for Mai Shibuya."

The man entered the name but he sat back and stared at the pair in question, "Relationship to the patient?"

"She's my little sister."

"Are you sure," the man challenged, "Says here she's an orphan without any siblings."

"Yes, I'm sure. Her husband probably gave the information and he doesn't really know me very well. My father remarried when I was four to her mother, then her mom died, and well I just buried our father a few years ago." She smiled sweetly as she lied through her teeth.

"Sounds plausible," the man replied as he then rattled off a room number and then pointed in the direction of the elevators as the pair strode off.

Ryosuke leaned over to Jessica, "I didn't know you could lie so well."

She smiled up nervously, "Actually, I learned how after mom died and dad was shipped out. I ran wild for a time until Keisuke found me and then I found you."

The Leer Jet taxied up to the terminal for private aircraft. There Martin, Anson, Dan with their equipment and luggage in hand deplaned. After a quick trip through customs and security, they made their way through the airport and Martin noticed Lin standing off to one side. There was no mistaking the Chinese giant.

Martin waved in his direction as he angled through the passing crowds over to the man. "Good to see you, Lin. How is Mai, really?" He knew Lin wouldn't leave out any details.

"Not good. She refuses to sleep, refuses to take her pain medication and it's wearing on both her and Noll. She's very afraid that if she sleeps the truck driver who caused her accident and died at the scene will kill her while she sleeps."

Martin nodded. "Well let's get there so we can find out what's going on." He and the two Birches' followed Lin as he led the way out to the van.

"Did you want to go to the hotel first?"

Martin shook his head, "No, I'd rather go to the hospital first and get this problem with Mai sorted."

Lin nodded as he unlocked the vehicle and everyone climbed inside.

Kirika Sasaki pushed open the door and walked over to the freezer where all bloodstocks were kept in a freezer. She pulled out a clipboard and opened the door as she shivered. This was one part of the job she hated especially at this time of the year with summer coming on meant an influx of more car accidents where patients would need whole blood or plasma depending on the severity of the injuries.

She pulled her gloves out of her pocket, slipped them on over her hands, and began to count the amount of blood packets that were in stock based on blood type. As she counted, she wrote the totals on the paper on the clipboard that she would input into the computer so the nurses in the emergency room would know what types were on hand.

When she got to the final row for the plasma, she counted and frowned as her skin pulled together and her eyes narrowed. She remembered the total from yesterday, there should be close to 200 packets. Instead, there were two missing. Now she'd have to question all nurses and doctors in the emergency room and the surgical teams to see if anyone had used any and didn't mark them. Again, she'd have to insist they follow protocols set up by the Matsuzaki's. Additionally she'd have to endure the whispers behind her back of people calling her a vampire as she arranged for another blood drive to replenish the stocks again.

She enjoyed the quiet of her job but she hated the looks she received as she put up announcements for another blood drive. Her frown deepened, "Something is going on, and I'm going to get to bottom of it."

Ayako pulled out her ringing cell phone and glanced at the caller ID, "Sorry I have to take this," she excused herself from Mai's room and stepped out into the hallway. "Kirika, why are you calling my cell?"

"I'm sorry but I felt you should know someone still isn't marking down how much plasma they remove from the freezer for the blood supplies. We're down two pints of plasma again."

Ayako frowned as she brought up a hand to rub her temple and frowned. "Okay send out the standard memo again. Only this time starting tomorrow we'll start a seminar to express the importance of keeping clear and concise records."

"Okay, I'm on it, but one more thing. We really should start another blood drive for all blood types since it's getting close to summer again."

"Good idea, Kirika. Keep this up and soon you'll be out of the blood bank."

"Thanks Dr. Matsuzaki," she smiled to herself as she hung up the phone.

Jessica and Ryosuke stepped off the elevator and the very pregnant woman groaned again and paused as she leaned into Ryosuke. "I'm sorry, but she's kicking again."

"You're not going into labor are you?" Concern flashed in his bluish eyes as he gazed into her dark eyes.

"How am I supposed to know that this is my first baby after all."

He placed a hand on her abdomen and then held his arm up so he could time if she was having contractions. "I don't believe its actual contractions since your water hasn't broke, but I think you might be having Braxton Hicks contractions which mimic the real thing and combined with her kicks…"

Jessica groaned, "Yeah they hurt."

"Okay let's get you down to Mai's room, so you can at least sit down."

She nodded, "Sounds like a winner of an idea."

Lin pulled into the parking garage, and pulled in next to a car he thought he recognized. It can't be, can it?

He, Martin, Anson, and Dan all climbed out of the van and Martin directed the others to leave their luggage in the van but take the equipment. They entered the hospital through the garage and rode the elevator to the fifth floor.

As the door slid open after the car gave them a jolt as it came to a stop, they stepped off, and Lin led the way down the hallway when he noticed a pair of people stopped in the hall. He noticed Jessica and Ryosuke were the pair and his eyes began to narrow as his lips curled down into a frown. I told Ayako not to call her.

He stepped up to the pair, "Jessica, Ryosuke," he nodded to each one. "What are you doing here, I told Ayako not to make a call?"

Jessica shook her head, "No, it wasn't Ayako. Actually it was Gene."

Lin's frown deepened. "Gene? Why would he contact you?"

Jessica told Lin and the others about how Gene appeared to her and what he said.

A thoughtful look crossed Martin's face. "Are you telling me that Gene and Mai are so closely tied together that he's been contacting you about her condition."

Jessica nodded. "He knows that I think of her as a sister and would do anything for her."

"Interesting," Martin caressed his chin as he glanced at the woman. However, he didn't say what he was thinking. I'd like to test this theory, but I doubt her husband would allow it.

They now larger group began walking down the hall again towards Mai's room. They passed the nurses station and one in particular gasped as she noticed whose room they were heading. "You know that Mrs. Shibuya is awful lucky I think. Have you noticed how many visitor's she's had not to mention having Dr. Matsuzaki there too?"

Another nurse scratched her head. "I have never seen one patient so popular before." She picked up the phone and dialed a number.

Ren's phone on her desk rang and she picked it up. "Ren Saito," she spoke confidently.

"You wanted to know if there was an unusual amount of people go to Mrs. Shibuya's room, well five more people just went in. One is extremely pregnant."

Ren nodded as she rose from her seat, "Thanks a lot for calling me." She placed the receiver back into the cradle. She was going to find out if some of the rumors she had heard going around the hospital were true.

The small group trouped into Mai's room and the girl's eyes grew as she saw all the people there. Her eyes skimmed over everyone as Martin began to direct Anson and Dan into setting up a couple of monitors, camera, and some other device that the girl had never seen before. Her eyes stopped on Jessica's smiling face. "Jessica, you shouldn't be here." She glared over at Ayako. "You said you weren't going to call her."

Ayako raised her hands in a defensive gesture. "I swear Mai, I didn't call her."

Jessica stepped forward, "No Ayako never called me. Actually it was Gene who told me to come."

Mai frowned and her eyes darted around the room to see if possibly her spirit guide were here. Not seeing him, she balled up her good hand, "Gene if you show your face and weren't already dead I'd kill you myself."

Martin shot a smile at his spitfire of a daughter-in-law as a slight chuckle left his lips. Though he still missed his oldest son, the pain of his death was lessening even though it was still there. He nodded to Ayako and motioned her to follow him outside in the corridor. "I know she's been refusing her pain medication, but we need her asleep for this to work."

Ayako nodded in understanding. "When I found out you were coming I went and got a syringe just for this." She pulled the syringe out of her pocket. "Now we need some kind of distraction."

He nodded as the pair reentered the room. "Mai, don't be too hard on my brother," Naru spoke to his cinnamon haired wife. He means well."

"I know he means well," Mai managed to stifle a yawn and a flash of pain shot through her eyes. "He didn't have a right to do this."

Jessica shooed Naru away from Mai's bedside as she took a seat next to the girl. "Mai," she picked Mai's hand and held it in her's. "You should know that I would do anything for you. I've told you before and I'll say it again, you're like my sister Mai."

Ayako slipped behind Mai's bed and she gestured for Jessica to keep her occupied and talking. As the pair of women continued to talk Jessica brought up some silly situations that happened with passed cases as Ayako injected the pain medication into Mai's IV line.

Before Mai could even guess as to what had happened her eyes began to slide shut as she slipped off into slumber.

Naru leaned up against the wall as he heard a door open and noted that the physical therapist Ren Saito entered the room. She nodded to him as she stepped close to him to stay out of the way of Martin Davis as the older man opened a case and set it on a table.

Naru's eyebrow rose as he glanced at it, "You're not considering using that on Mai are you father?"

Martin nodded his brown haired head that had several flecks of gray mixed in. "Yes, I am. Professor Pudgetuttle modified this EEG machine to measure when a person goes into REM sleep."

Naru growled under his breath, "No, father I've told you before that I wouldn't allow any testing to be performed on Mai." The temperature in the room began to drop several degrees.

Martin turned to his son, placed a hand on his shoulder, and gave a slight squeeze. "I assure you its perfectly harmless. We've tested it on several people back at Cambridge and no suffered any ill effects from it."

Martin released his grasp on Naru's shoulder, strode over to Mai's bed, and began to attach several electrodes to her forehead. Moving back over to the machine, he pulled out a couple of larger electrodes and attached them to the back of Mai's head.

"What were those for?"

Martin turned to face his son again as he was watched by the others in the room. "Those will give us a live picture and we'll be able to see Mai's dream. According to Pudgetuttle's theory, if the dream is paranormal we'll be able to get a reading as we would at a haunting. That's where Anson comes in," he indicated the man standing next to Dan Birch. "He's a spiritual healer, though I've read your reports about Jessica but I know he's not as strong as she is, but I hope that if it is paranormal that the truck driver's spirit won't put up a fight."

Naru nodded that the theory was sound. He turned to Ayako, "Mrs. Takigawa, can you make up some charms to create a barrier so the spirit doesn't escape into the hospital."

Ayako nodded but frowned, "I don't have the paper to create the charms."

Dan opened his briefcase and pulled out some paper. "Will this work?" he handed her the stack, "It didn't come from a shrine, but it was blessed by a monk who works for BSPR."

"It should," she pulled out a calligraphy set, began creating the charms, and handed them off to Lin who placed them around the room.

Ryosuke moved over to Naru, as Jessica dug into her bag and pulled out a sage bundle and a lighter. She smiled weakly to everyone, "I've learned working with Naru and Mai to never leave home without it." She lit the bundle and blew out the flame and hefting herself up out of the chair she moved around the room and bathed the room and the occupants in the earthy yet slightly spicy scent of the herb.

As she finished she pulled out an abalone shell and placed the bundle up under Mai's bed where the smoke would bathe the young woman in its sacred smoke. She bent her head, began to pray, as she noticed a slight change in Mai's aura, and saw the presence that was trying to flee the smoke.

"Naru, it's here," she whispered as she pointed it out for hopefully the others to see.

No one else could see it other than Ren who gasped at the grotesque looking thing as it pulsed.

Martin glanced at the modified EEG machine as its needle floated across the graph paper. "She's in REM sleep."

Dan nodded and flipped a switch on the monitor and there they saw what Mai experienced from the inside of the car. Everyone in the room could hear the terror in the screams of the boys as the metal began to groan and the car rocked from the impacts of the truck tires on the car. They heard and saw the glass begin to shatter. Then the truck driver appeared again, and the monitor beeped.

"There he is and it's paranormal," Martin spoke.

Anson moved over to Mai's bed and ran his easily close to her body as he focused on the truck driver. They all heard the driver scream from the monitor as he glanced around. "No, you can't make me go. She should die with me!"

Naru grit his teeth as he clenched his fists tightly. He hated being unable to do anything to help his wife.

Lin readied his shiki in case the man wouldn't leave on his own.

Jessica's voice rose as she recited the Lord's Prayer and Anson's hands began to glow as she forced her spiritual energy into his hands.

After several tense moments in which everyone caught their breath, the truck driver gave one final scream and a human form morphed in a corner of Mai's room. A tear slid down his cheek.

Naru glared at him, "You know you caused this."

The driver just nodded in response. He must not have been a bad looking man in life, maybe in his mid-twenties with a strong chiseled jaw, sloping nose, and greenish gray eyes. His hair was hidden under a ball cap, but a haze seemed to drift off his body.

"You can leave on your own and head to the light or we will exorcise you painfully. You will no longer torment my wife."

The driver held up a hand, "I'll go peacefully."

Naru nodded to Lin who released a charm, and the driver glowed as he faded and moved on peacefully. They heard a whispered, "I'm sorry," as the light faded.

Jessica sighed as tried to move for the bed to remove the bundle of sage. A squeak escaped from her mouth. "Uh… Ryosuke, I think my water just broke."

Ayako jumped out of her chair and hit the call button. She heard a tinny voice come through the speaker, "Can I help you?"

"I need a gurney down here to Mrs. Shibuya's room immediately."

"Yes ma'am on its way," the voice replied.

Ren, smelling the tint of blood fought to control her hunger. She slipped out of the room and raced down the hall to the stairwell to get herself away from the source of blood before she lost control. She ran down the stairs, stepped out onto her floor, and made it to her office in time. Slipping over to the mini refrigerator, she pulled the door open, pulled the bag of plasma out, and bit into it. Cold blood wasn't the best but losing control in front of humans could mean her death.

Naru sat down in the seat next to his wife, reached down under the bed to retrieve the sage bundle, and stubbed out the smoldering brand in the abalone shell. He placed it on the bedside table, took Mai's good hand in his, and held it as he watched her sleep and hoped that she would sleep peacefully.

Martin and the Birch's continued to monitor Mai's dreams making sure they were peaceful.

Hours later Naru was awoken by Lin placing a hand on his shoulder, "Jessica gave birth to a baby girl. They named her Shika Tiffany Takahashi."

Naru couldn't help but chuckle, "Shika… let's just hope she'll be like a gentle deer when she grows up."

He checked around the room, and found his father and the two Birch's who'd accompanied him gone along with their equipment. "Where did father go?"

"He went over to the condo to see the twins and your mother. You do realize Luella bought the condo next door."

He rubbed a hand over his face, "The boys will be so spoiled now by the time we get back home." He sighed as he glanced down at Mai who still slept peacefully. "She's exhausted."

Lin nodded in agreement.

When Mai woke the following morning, she was not a happy camper by a long shot. She frowned and huffed as she glared at Naru. "I can't believe Ayako, sneaking morphine into my IV, an d you let your father do who knows what to me while I was asleep," she slashed the air with a finger punctuating her words as her voice rose in fury. "I can't believe you even let Jessica help knowing it could put her and her baby at risk."

"Mai, I was against all of it but Jessica was insistent no matter what I said. Hell even Ryosuke couldn't change her mind. As far as my father goes he assured me that it was tested in England successfully." Naru rose as he slammed a hand down on the bedside table. "Do you honestly believe I would let him do something that would endanger your life?"

She lowered her head as his words sank in. "No," she replied meekly.

Naru folded his arms across his chest, "the cause of your recent nightmares was because the spirit of the truck driver had attached himself to you. He in his last moments of life in his drug induced haze had believed you caused the accident that took his life so he wanted you to die with him." He turned and paced across the room to stare out the windows for a moment to gain some semblance of control. He took a deep breath and released it allowing his brief anger to escape with it. He turned back towards his wife, "With Jessica's help along with Anson they were able to drive his spirit out, and then we got him to crossover."

He chuckled and smirked as he glanced her way, "Then the real excitement started."

"What happened?" All of her anger ebbed away, "What excitement," she asked as her curiosity got the better of her.

He sat down next to Mai, "Jessica went into labor."

Her eyes grew as she turned into a flurry of questions. "She did? Is she okay? Is the baby okay? Ryosuke wasn't too mad was he?"

"Calm down, I can't answer all your questions at once." He chuckled at the look on her face. "Jessica and Shika are both fine and no Ryosuke wasn't too mad although a little upset according to Lin that Ayako wouldn't let him near her during the delivery. Lin said it was quick for a delivery."

Mai smiled, "So they had a baby girl. I have to wonder if one of our boys will take a liking to her when they're older."

Naru shook his head as he began to think that his wife was going to be another Madoka or Luella when the boys were older trying to play matchmaker. "Mai, this is not the time to even think about playing matchmaker."

"Do you think it would be possible for me to see Jessica and the baby?"

Before anything else could be said, a knock sounded on the door and Naru rose from the chair striding over he opened the door as Ryosuke wheeled in Jessica who sat holding their new little bundle in her arms.

"Jessica, oh I'm so happy for you and Ryosuke."

Naru moved the chair he had sat in so Ryosuke could move the wheelchair close to Mai's bed. Jessica placed the baby in Mai's lap and the cinnamon haired girl cradled her head with her bad arm while she moved the blanket away from the baby's face. "She's so beautiful," she ran her finger along the baby's mouth and noticed how her complexion was a little lighter than Jessica's but slightly darker than her fathers. A tuft of dark hair peeked out from under the blanket. She smiled down on the newest member of the Takahashi family.

The baby squirmed slightly and opened her eyes a pair of bluish gray eyes stared up at Mai. "Oh, her eyes are so pretty."

As the proud parents looked on as Mai cooed over the baby, her physical therapist Ren stuck her head in the door. "Mr. Shibuya, I'd like to speak to you in private if you don't mind."

Naru pecked Mai on the cheek, "This shouldn't take too long, I'll return shortly."

He nodded to Ren and strode out the room following the woman down the hall to the elevator. They rode the car down in silence as she led him to her office. She indicated for him to take a seat as she sat down in the chair across from him. "So far your wife's progress is good. I think we can release her to go home tomorrow, however I would like to see her back in two weeks to check the progress of her wrist."

"Couldn't this have been discussed in front of Mai?"

Ren sat her chin on one hand as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Actually there are reasons why I asked you down here."

Naru glared at her, "If this is some kind of attempt to flirt with me or try to get me to leave my wife, forget it. I'm very happily married with two children."

Ren held up her hands, "Please you mistook my reason for asking you down here. "First off I had to make sure you were legit, so I ran a background check. You and your wife run Shibuya Psychic Research, and from what I've seen of your website, your company has a very high success rate with paranormal investigations. I wondered if you would consider taking a case without your wife present."

"No, I wouldn't consider it."

She nodded at his answer. "I thought so, but can I ask why?"

"Mai is my partner in every sense of the word. I will not take a case without her present." He didn't bother to reveal that without her if he lost control of his PK it could mean his death and he wasn't about to make her a widow at 22 and leave his children fatherless.

"There is another reason I asked you here. With your permission, I would like to try an experimental drug on your wife. I've tried on several other patients would otherwise suffer from a long rehabilitation as in your wife's case. The other patients have gone from having their rehabilitation time halved with the use of this drug without any side effects. I know it sounds strange a drug without side effects, but I promise that its all-natural and will just speed the healing process. I assure you I'm not offering this as a bribe to get you to take my case. I took this job to help people and that's what I intend to do."

He nodded as he rose, "I'll have to discuss this with Mai. I won't do anything that she doesn't agree to," current events weighed heavily on his mind including their little spat earlier in the day.

"I hope to hear from you soon."

He gave her a slight nod as he exited the room.

He made his way to Ayako's office and knocked on her door. "Come in." he heard as he turned the doorknob and entered the doctor's office.

"Naru, has anything happened to Mai?" she asked as she began to rise from her seat behind her desk.

"No, I'm here on other business. I just had an interesting conversation with Ren Saito and I'd like to know if you know anything about this experimental drug she suggested using on Mai." He sat down in a chair interested in her answer.

"Oh yes, I do know about it." She smiled at him as she pulled out several files and placed them on her desk. "These are the cases that it's been tried on, it's a serum that was developed by a company known as OCC, and it really does work. I've seen the results myself and everyone who's tried it has great progress with it."

She pushed a file towards him. "Now this is between you and me, but just last week a patient of hers was finally cleared from rehabilitation for an extremely severe car accident. He had head trauma, with most of his bones broken and he died twice on the operating table."

Naru picked up the file to read the results of prognosis of the patient as she continued. "He was looking at two years of rehab until Ren suggested we use the drug. I had it tested myself and there's nothing odd or harmful in it and his rehab was cut to a year."

"Sounds like its promising. I'll suggest to Mai that she try it." He placed the file back down on her desk as he rose from his chair to exit Ayako's office.

She smiled his way, "Please do, I'm sure she'd like to get back to her old self soon."

He opened the door and strode out of the office.

He stepped off the elevator and strode down the hall to Mai's room. He found Monk and Lin talking to her.

"So this guy stepped up to Masako and asked her to dance, well Yasu stepped in and told the guy to get lost. Well, the guy was drunk and he asked Yasu just who the hell was he, and Yasu just glared and told him he was Masako's fiancé."

Mai's eyes widened, "So what did the guy do?"

Monk chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. "Well the guy grabbed Masako's right hand and shoved it Yasu's face and said there wasn't a ring on it. By this time, the band had stopped playing so I hopped down off the stage and got through the crowd in time to see Masako yank her hand away from the drunk. She politely told him that he was barking up the wrong tree and she wasn't interested."

Mai whined, "Monk will just tell me how it was that Yasu and Masako got kicked out of the club?"

"See, Yasu turned to the guy and popped off with," he started laughing as he tried to say it, "he said, 'did y-you call me a t-twinkie you n-nutter butter.' Well the guy just lost it, and threw a punch at Yasu, who avoided it. The guy drunker than a skunk fell to the floor and hit his head, but he tried to say that Yasu threw a punch so a bouncer made Masako and Yasu leave. I talked to the bouncer later and explained that Yasu never threw a punch and the guy who started the whole incident was drunker than a skunk. Eventually the drunk hit on some guy's wife and the bouncer who threw Masako and Yasu out finally made it right and kicked the guy out. It was really a funny sight to see. I just wish you could have been there to see it too."

As Mai joined in the laughter, "I'm glad she wasn't," came from the doorway.

Mai glanced up, "Naru," she sobered as a worried thought struck her. She realized he had been gone for over two hours. Had her physical therapist tried to convince him that Mai wasn't good enough?

Her laughter stopped as she fought to fight down the little green monster of jealousy, but then the tears began to prick at her eyes. "I thought you were going to only be gone for a half an hour at least."

"I thought so too, but I stopped on my way back to talk to Mrs. Takigawa for a bit."

Monk's head shot up at the comment of his wife. "You didn't do something stupid Naru, like piss her off?"

"Hardly, I had a few questions for her concerning Mai, that's all." He turned to his wife, "I would like to discuss something with you Mai concerning your therapy." He shot a meaningful glance towards Lin and Monk.

Lin nodded and clapped Monk on the shoulder. "Let's go check in on your wife."

Monk grasped Lin's meaning and rose following the Chinese man out the door.

Naru took his seat next to Mai, took her good hand in his, and kissed her fingers. "Mai, your therapist has brought up something I would like you to consider. That's why I had to stop by Mrs. Takigawa's office, I wanted a second opinion."

Mai nodded as she regained control over her emotions realizing that Naru was doing everything he could in his power to help her.

"First off she suggested that there's this drug, its experimental but it has good results that would reduce your time spent in physical therapy and get you back on your feet."

The girl in the bed scoffed, "Really, Naru please don't tease me like this and get my hopes up."

"I'm not teasing Mai. I really did investigate this to the best of my ability. Ayako even showed me a file of a young man who had been in a severe accident and was looking at possibly years of rehabilitation. However, they used this drug on him and he was just released perfectly healthy just two weeks ago. The date of the accident was just last year. He shouldn't have walked out of this hospital at all yet, but that's what he did."

"You're telling me the truth?" she asked as she looked into his eyes seeing the sincerity there. "I don't know if I should." She leaned back as she mulled everything through her mind. Her boys needed her healthy again and she needed them as much as she needed Naru. Finally, she came to a decision. "Okay, what do I have to lose?"

He pushed the button to call the nurse and heard a tinny voice come through the speaker. He spoke calmly, "Could you contact Ren Saito and tell her Mai will try it. She'll know what we mean."

Ren entered the room with a clipboard and a couple of syringes in hand. "I need you to sign the consent form," she passed it over to Naru. As he signed, she slid the bedside table over. "These have to be injected around the areas of the breaks. So this one I'll be injecting into your right arm and hand, and the other will go into the pelvis."

Mai sighed, "Did I ever tell you I hate needles."

Ren smiled and pat the woman on the hand, "It'll be over in a flash," and as the woman had promised, the injections were quick and over. "I'll inform Dr. Matsuzaki of your decision and get her paperwork ready to go and you can take her home tomorrow."

Naru nodded as Mai smiled up at her, "Thank you so much, I really hope this helps."

Naru pulled out his cellphone and called home. "Mother, please get the spare bedroom ready on the first floor. Mai and I will be using it when we come home in a few hours. We're going to have to stop by a medical supply store and pick her up a motorized wheelchair for use."

He listened to his mother's excited voice. "Yes, mother I know its Mai's birthday."

Before he could say anything else, the phone clicked in his ear. He rolled his eyes fearing that his mother would invite the whole neighborhood for his wife's birthday.

It was several hours later when Lin turned the van into the driveway of the condominium. Naru climbed out of the passenger seat and hefted Mai's new wheelchair out of the van. Carefully he lifted her out of her seat, sat her down in the seat, and hit the switch turning on the power. Mai pushed the lever forward and the chair rolled down the drive to the steps.

"Uh… Naru… I think we forgot something."

He chuckled as he strode up to her and bent over pressing a kiss to her forehead. "No we haven't." He motioned to Lin who brought forth a small ramp and Mai smiled at the pair.

"You two really do think of everything."

A smirk crossed Naru's face as he answered, "Of course, my mind works differently from others."

Mai rolled her eyes and pushed the wheelchair's control lever forward. As she neared the door, it opened and she found she was staring into the faces of all of SPR, Keiko, Michiru, and a puppy. As she pushed, the lever in further and the mechanized chair rolled forward and two little faces stood staring at her.

The twins giggled as they raced for her, "Momma, Momma," they both said at once. Both tried to climb up in her lap.

"Boys," Naru's voice snapped, "Don't do that. You'll hurt your mother."

Duncan and Gene's happy faces fell and Bella snorted his way as if to give her displeasure for the twins sorrow.

"Naru, they're not going to hurt me. Can someone please put Gene and Duncan in my lap?"

Everyone looked at each other not sure, if they wanted to incur Naru's wrath. Luella and Madoka glared at him and then nodded to each other. They picked up both boys who immediately wrapped their arms around Mai giving her big hugs.

Tears formed in her eyes, she so wanted to hug her boys back with real hugs not one-armed hugs, and she was soon sobbing. "Momma," both boys stared up at the tears falling from her face. "Don't cry momma," they cuddled themselves in closer to her and soon all three were in tears.

"I-I want to give you two real hugs, but I can't yet," she sobbed.

Naru stepped up and placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed hoping that little bit of affection would comfort her.

Luella ushered everyone into another room allowing her son and his family some privacy. She stopped beside him, "the room is ready if you want to take her in there."

Naru turned and kissed her cheek, "Thank you, mother."

A couple of days later Naru while sitting in his home office was attracted to the sounds of laughter, whirring, and barking which rang out through the house. "What is going on?" he asked himself as he opened the door.

Mai's wheelchair flew past with both the twins in her lap laughing. Bella gave chase trying to bite the wheels of the mechanized chair.

Mai turned the chair around, "Oh hi Naru," she smiled up at him. "Duncan and Gene wanted a ride so we were racing Bella as she seems to think the chair is a monster that's kidnapped the boys."

Naru shook his head and reentered his office closing the door behind him.

Two weeks later Naru and Mai returned to the hospital. Ren had tons of questions to ask her wanting to know how she was feeling.

"I feel great," Mai smiled up at the other woman.

"That's good to hear," she looked over the recent X-Rays. "Your wrist and your upper arm are ready to have those casts taken off. But you need to gain your strength back so I want to see you back here three times a week for therapy." She looked at the pelvic X-Ray and frowned a bit. "Looks like the pelvis is going to take a little longer to heal but we can begin you on hydro therapy so you can start regaining your strength so hopefully you can begin walking soon. I think you want to get out of that wheelchair."

Mai nodded, "I really do."

As the weeks flew by, Mai regained her strength and the first day she walked again she couldn't help it but smile brightly at Naru. The day she walked into the house with the use of a cane was a good one both of her boys hugged her legs and she was finally able to pick each one up and give him the hug and kiss she'd been wanting to.

Her first day back at SPR was special. She walked in still using the cane. Ren had assured her that soon she would be able to put the cane down. She watched her sons and Bella run about the office as she stood by her old desk where Yasu worked.

She loved Naru and her son's, and laughter bubbled out of her throat at each new antic her children did especially mimicking their father. This was how it was supposed to be. A smile tugged at her lips as Naru's barked order sounded from his desk, "Mai, tea."

Some things would never change.

The End