She opened her eyes slowly, almost lethargically. For several long minutes, she stared uncomprehendingly at the walls and ceiling. Finally, something registered in her mind. I'm in Fourth, she thought. For several more minutes, she wondered if perhaps this was another of Aizen's illusions. But no—his illusions were never quite this detailed. They were convincing when you were in them, like a dream, but compared to the real thing…no, she was back.
That realization suddenly brought a sick wave of panic.
Kyouraku-taichou wasn't there. Had he been hurt in the rescue attempt? Had he been killed?
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up carefully. She was surprised—they seemed able to hold her weight, more or less. She must have been asleep for some time, if the healers had already helped her so much. She grabbed a robe from a hook and threw it around herself, limping into the hallway as quickly as she could.
Sensing around, she felt Ukitake's reiatsu in a nearby room. He would know. He would tell her. Leaning on the walls slightly, she hobbled to his room and knocked on the door.
"Come in," he said, in a raspy voice.
Please don't let him be hurt because of me, she pleaded silently, as she opened the door to Ukitake's room.
He looked up from his bed at her and his eyes widened in shock. "Ise-san?" he said hoarsely.
"Yes, sir," she answered, leaning slightly on the doorjamb. "Please, where's Kyouraku-taichou? Is he alright? Did he…"
"He's fine, Ise-san, or he will be when he hears that you're awake," Ukitake said. "Please, sit down before you collapse. I'd help, but I'm afraid I'm not in a condition to do so at the moment."
She slid into a chair across from him, her thoughts whirling as Ukitake sent a hell butterfly. She wanted—needed—to see her captain, but she was frightened. Frightened of his reaction—frightened that Aizen was right and he was angry with her for forcing him to come and rescue her, frightened that he'd been hurt, frightened that he didn't really need her as his fukutaicho at all.
She realized that Ukitake was looking at her strangely. Meeting his eyes, she asked quietly, "Are you alright, sir? Did this…did you get injured rescuing me?"
"I'm fine, just a slight relapse. Sempai says I can leave in a few days." He waved his hand negligently. "Enough about me…are you alright, Ise-san?"
"I'm fine, sir," she said flatly. She wasn't going to think about what happened. She'd be fine as long as she didn't think about it. "How long was I asleep?" she asked. There would be lots of paperwork to catch up on, of course…that'd keep her busy.
He looked at her gently, before he softly said, "Nearly three months."
Her mouth fell open. "I don't understand. I wasn't injured badly enough to be in a coma for so long," she said. At least, she didn't think she had been. Her memory of the last week or so before her rescue was vague at best.
"You weren't in a coma. You've been…you were nearly catatonic," he said gently. "You were awake, but you wouldn't respond to anything beyond basic orders." He shook his head. "You didn't seem to hear or sense us at all."
She looked at him, stunned. Three months? Oh, gods…with Kyouraku as captain… "Who's the fukutaicho now?" she asked, trying to pretend that it was merely a conversational question.
"There isn't one. Sensei wanted to reassign one, but Kyouraku insisted. He said he'd do the paperwork himself if he had to, but he wasn't going to replace you as long as you were alive," he said.
Nanao was spared the embarrassing prospect of trying to come up with something further to say when her captain burst into the room and swept her into his arms. "Nanao-chan…my Nanao-chan," he said softly. "I'm sorry…I'm so, so sorry," he said over and over.
