Picking Up The Pieces by Melinda_chan

In case you don't know, this is the sequel to "Tai's Downfall." If you haven't read it, you can read it in my profile. This fic will make more sense if you do but hopefully I'll be able to explain about what previously happened here.

I like to thank all who have reviewed "Tai's Downfall." A few of you have complained about the ending (what did you expect from an angst fic anyway?). I'll try to cover all of the loose ends in this fic. If you have any more questions, please let me know. Right now, I'm focusing on Matt and Ken with Tai following later.

Now that's over with, let this story begin!

Ken Ichijouji opened his eyes.

'Where am I?' he thought. He tried to think but he couldn't do it straight. He opened his eyes a little more.

'I'm in a hospital bed,' Ken thought. 'What happened to me?' He tried to turn his head but it was slow in doing so. There must be a button nearby for help.

Ken then slowly raised his right hand. There was a hospital band around it. He then looked at the blanket. It had a button attached to a string on it.

'That must be the call button,' Ken thought. He reached for it but his hand was shaking badly. 'I can't do it! What's wrong with me?'

All of a sudden a nurse came into the room.

"I see that you're awake!" the nurse said. She then took his wrist. "Your pulse seems a little slow. Are you feeling any better?"

"What happened?" Ken managed to ask.

"You were poisoned," the nurse said. "We believe it was meant to slow your heart and lungs. If you had any more, you would likely end up dead instead of here."

"Tai..." Ken started to say when the nurse smiled.

"You mean your friend Taichi Kamiya?" the nurse said. "He's also hospitalized. He was knocked out by your Digimon."

"Wormmon?" Ken asked.

"Yes," the nurse said. "I heard that there was some kind of fight but everyone except you and Matt are alright."

"What happened to Matt? Where's Tai?" Ken asked. He couldn't even sit up but his eyes went wide as memories begin to surface regarding the incident.

"Matt is still in the hospital," the nurse said. "He's still in critical condition, but he's not getting worse. As for Tai, he has been committed since a few days ago."

"Committed?" Ken asked.

"He was committed in a psychiatric hospital," the nurse said.

"How long will that be?" Ken asked.

"I'm not exactly sure," the nurse said. "But since he was judged not criminally responsible due to his mental illness, he should be out under ten years if things go well."

"I see" Ken said. He then thought for a moment. "What was he diagnosed with?"

"Psychosis I believe," the nurse said. "He apparently had some delusions as well but he was deemed not schizophrenic. I don't know the full diagnosis. I'm not a psychiatric nurse."

'So Tai isn't going to be tried for what happened?' Ken thought. 'I hope he does get help then.' He then bowed slightly to the nurse.

"Thanks for answering my questions," Ken said. "I still feel very weak."

"We're keeping you here for monitoring purposes," the nurse said. "As I said the dosage wasn't very much so you're lucky in that sense. If you experience any other

symptoms or get worse, please don't hesitate to try to get help."

"Thank you, Miss Nurse," Ken said. She then smiled and left.

'What's going on, Tai?' Ken thought as he laid back on his bed. He wished Wormmon was with him but it seems that someone is taking care of him- maybe his parents. He then thought of Matt and anger rose in him. He thought that Matt and Tai were friends but it seems that something got to Tai. He did hope it was a medical problem as that can be fixed. He then closed his eyes and prepared to sleep as he had nothing to do.

End of Chapter One

Hope you like this chapter! As I said, this is the sequel to "Tai's Downfall" so it'd make more sense if we read that first. Hopefully I'll be able to explain more about the