you don't bring me flowers anymore
a Kanako Miyamae fanfiction.
Prologue
White walls.
She's stuck in a white box, in a white bed, yet the world she sees is black.
The girl's younger sister was beside her, keeping watch over her sleeping form. A pile of books were beside the bed, snugged right against the IV. The heart monitor beeped in a uniform pace, and the girl breathed slowly, in and out, as she slept.
In all her life, Miki Miyamae had never thought that her elder sister, Kanako would end up in a hospital. It did come as a shock when the blue-haired high school student dropped to the floor unconscious in the house one night while grabbing some snacks for her and her sisters. Kanako fell to the living room floor like a ragdoll at approximately 8:34 pm on a Tuesday during the summer term break, as documented by Miki.
The rest flurried by like a blurred dream.
An ambulance blaring its sirens. A rolling gurney holding her sister's body on top, entering the ambulance. Miki, and her elder sister rushing inside the ambulance, along with the paramedics. The hospital at night. Shouts of emergencies. The ICU.
Was it the ICU or the ER? Miki herself forgot.
The doctor, or the cardiologist, more like, spoke of terms that left no hope for the family, nor Kanako herself. Takayasu's Arteritis. Aortic arch syndrome. The 'pulse-less' disease.' At that point, Kanako didn't bother to break into hives when her doctor (who happened to be male) examined her pulse, to which he shakes his head and says that there was no pulse to be felt. And even when he did a second try, there was a very weak response.
Kanako refused to wake up or even hear anything of the sort anymore, yet she also had the fear of dying in her sleep.
Miki looked at the clock, noting that it was already 5 pm.
The summer term break would end soon, and Kanako would be expected to go back to Ame no Kisaki to resume her studies as usual. Kanako was determined to return back to school, not wanting to accept the fact that she was facing a terminal illness that would possibly claim her life. No one wanted to accept it at this point, and the only rock that was supporting Kanako was Miki. Their elder sister was trying her best, but Kanako didn't like to be reminded of the fact that she has something that can't be cured by modern or traditional medicine.
She will die.
Nothing looked happy anymore. Everything looked bleak.
"Nee-chan?"
"Hm, Miki?"
"...D-Do you want to go to school today?" Miki asked timidly.
Kanako looked over at her sister, still lying on the bed with a blank expression on her face. Having a private ward definitely had its perks; it keeps people from seeing how broken Kanako was from the inside. She only let Miki and her doctor enter nowadays, refusing to see anyone else.
Her sister had beautiful blue eyes. Brown hair that was wavy and long, unlike Kanako's short blue hair. A charming young girl, overall. Kanako had always favored Miki, and she felt more at ease whenever she spoke to her, sister to sister. That day was the start of school, and the end of the holidays.
Even Miki brought Kanako's uniform to be hanged by the window, just in case she decides to go.
"...Do you think I want to go to school today, Miki?" Kanako asked with a gentle smile and a soft voice.
Miki mulled over it.
"Mm...I think you do. I know that you want to go out, nee-chan."
"...Do you think that I'll be okay, Miki?" the blue-haired patient asked again.
"The doctor said that you'll have to restrict your movements. No over-the-top actions, no running, no physical education activities."
"Then that'll be alright."
It didn't convince Miki enough. Ame no Kisaki is a boarding school, not an ordinary school. Her elder sister would need constant supervision, constant supplies of medicine and close monitoring. And Ame no Kisaki, being a school, was only equipped with an infirmary with cold medicines and first-aid kits.
"I...don't think you should go, nee-chan," Miki said nervously.
The room was silent, but Kanako's slender fingers gripped the sheets. Her knuckles were white. Her face was hardened, trying her best not to unleash a waterfall of suppressed frustrated tears. Miki was concerned for her, Kanako knew, but it was like telling her to stay and die in the hospital. She knew that she wasn't well, but people kept reminding her that she wasn't well, that she wasn't going to be cured, that she wasn't normal like other people and that she couldn't ever return to the life that she had led before. Her face was heating up, her bottom lip quivered, the space below her eyes felt so heavy and painful since she was holding back her tears-
...She needed to go.
She couldn't stay in this white box anymore.
"...Please, Miki," was all she said. "...I need to go to school."
Dear Mother in heaven, these are my last moments.
A/N: This is an ongoing fanfic that's going to continue for quite some time!
-Densetsu-no-Maguro.