Pulling Teeth

Rin bit the inside of her cheeks and looked to Hatsuharu. She knew that he was being more than generous, as always, and he was paying for her wisdom tooth removal. She wasn't open with her Aunt, but she did let Haru know everything. So here the couple was, in Dr. Amborski's office of oral surgery. It was the day of her wisdom teeth removal, and she was anxious. She didn't want Haru to see that, though.

In Rin's mind, she was attempting to fantasize what it would be like to cling to Haru and ask him for comfort right now. His gentle honey colored eyes would meet hers as he cupped her chin and made her meet his eyes gently. He would give her a determined look and say 'Rin, you'll be just fine. I'll make sure of that.'

Meantime, Haru decided to think about what it would be like if Rin admitted her anxiety for once. She would blush with a combination of shame and anxiety as her chocolate orbs met his. He loved her dearly, and he loved it when she blushed. Unfortunately, nothing could be seen for now; Rin had covered her face with her long hair.

Haru knew that Rin was on the verge of panicking, and he knew that she never spoke to him about her emotions until it was too late. He decided to let her run her emotional course. As he observed how Rin covered her expression with her hair. She leaned forward into her book, pretending to ignore Haru. He decided to break the ice with a question.

"Rin, how are you doing?"

"I-I'm fine, Haru. Unless you can't tell…I thought that you could…how did you put it…'see right through me.'"

Haru's mouth curled up in a knowing crescent as he nodded.

"OK, Rin, I was just checking. Oh, and another thing…"

Rin cringed at what she knew was coming next. She hated the emotional conversations that Haru started all the time.

"I love you, and I want you to know that if you need my support, I will be here for you."

Rin concealed the blush crossing her face. A combination of anxiety and guilt over lying, her expression was sure to give away her true emotions towards the procedure that was bout to take place.

"Isuzu Sohma?"

A nurse poked her head out from behind the burgundy door of Dr. Amborski's office, and Rin jumped a little. Haru tried to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she refused his affection, as usual. He sighed and simply went back to reading his magazine as Rin followed the nurse into the office silently. Haru watched as his angel swayed her hips and slowly followed the nurse to her surgery. He made a promise to himself that after the surgery, he wouldn't leave her side.

Rin followed the nurse into the dimmed surgery room, trying to think about what it would feel like to be put under for this surgery. She knew that if she was awake, she couldn't hold still for the Novocain shots. She always had a problem with doctors and hospitals. She didn't want to recall that painful day in her mind just now, because she had to prepare herself to be sedated.

Dr. Amborski came in and gave Rin a smile.

"OK, Rin, are you ready now?"

Rin nodded, trying to block out the fluttering of her heart.

"Then please lie down and let me put in this IV. Relax your arm…"

Rin cringed as the familiar feeling of an IV being slipped into her vein spread throughout her arm. She attempted to count down from 100 just as Dr. Amborski instructed, but she knew that she was about to slip into a world of blackness.

Haru watched as a nurse wheeled Rin out of the surgery in a wheelchair. He couldn't help but be slightly amused as Rin muttered to herself in an almost comical fashion. She kept jabbering on about an apple pie recipe that her aunt baked every fall.

"OK, Mr. Sohma-"Hatsuharu."

"Hatsuharu, Isuzu is still slightly sedated, so you must take care of her for at least 24 hours post-op. Now, here is a packet of instructions, and make sure that she takes all of her antibiotic doses. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call our offices for further instructions."

Haru took Rin's hand and squeezed gently, looking into her face for any signs of pain.

"OK, Nurse Yuki, thank you for your time. I'll lead you to the car."

Haru had driven Rin home to their house and looked upon her before he took her out of the car and to the bedroom. He saw that when Rin was asleep and not sulking or yelling, she looked like an angel at rest. He couldn't help but place a kiss on her forehead before scooping her up in his arms and carrying her into the house.

Rin woke up to the sound of pills being sorted. She listened to the shifting and dropping of pills into a plastic container. Turning her head to the light that silhouetted Haru's form, Rin saw her lover of 5 years sorting out painkillers and looking at her every few minutes. Upon seeing that Rin had woken up, Haru stopped his sorting and took Rin's hand.

"Hello, princess. How are you doing?"

Rin tried to pull her mouth into a scowl but flinched at the immediately unpleasant shock of pain that radiated throughout her chin, cheeks, and jaw. Haru noticed this and sighed.

"Yeah, the painkillers should be taken now. Along with the antibiotics."

Rin couldn't refuse the painkillers and let Haru hand her the pill and a glass of water. Rin had a hard time admitting that she needed Haru's help to put something in her mouth. She felt as though she couldn't open her mouth for fear of pain.

Hatsuharu would never say this to anybody else but Rin, and for fear of getting slapped, he decided to keep it to himself for the time being, but Rin looked like an adorable child when she was in this state.

"OK, Rin, can you take this pill?"

Rin reluctantly shook her head. Haru smiled gently and offered to help her. She blushed and let him hold her chin gently as he put the pill in. He put the cup of water to her lips. She swallowed slowly as Haru tipped the cup just so. She blushed deeply as Haru praised her.

"Good Rin."

Had she been in any other state, she would have smacked his hand away and narrowed her eyes at him. She could just imagine what she would have said to him now.

Haru I don't need you to baby me!

But as Rin focused on her lover's face, she also imagined his response, calm and cool despite her poison tongue.

Awww, but I love to baby you, Rin. You're such a sad looking girl today. I thought you needed some love.

"Rin? What're you thinking about?"

Haru's question made Rin snap back to reality and she shrugged her shoulders in order to avoid an embarrassing dialogue with Haru. He shook his head as if Rin were being stubborn and simply took the situation as it was without complaint as usual. Rin would have to open up to him eventually; he was to be her caretaker for the next 24 hours.

Later that evening, Rin noted that Haru was in the kitchen preparing food for her. She was in pain, but she didn't want to burden Haru with something else on his list of chores to do. Taking care of somebody was no easy task, and Rin knew this well.

As Haru came into the room, carrying the plate of food for Rin to eat, she noticed that he looked dashing as ever in his gothic sweater with many straps on the sleeves and his tight black slacks. His boots were as tall as ever, and Rin wondered how he could manage to run around all day wearing them.

"OK, Rin, say aahh."

Rin couldn't help but turn her head away in a moment of defiance as Haru scooped up a small spoonful of baby food for Rin to eat. She didn't want Haru feeding her; she could do it on her own!

"Don't be a stubborn Rin. Come now, just say aahh."

Rin sighed and found that she could only open her mouth to the point where a small spoonful of food could fit. She didn't want to admit to Haru that if he wasn't there, she wouldn't be eating at all. She simply decided to take this as an act of generosity and let Haru feed her for a few bites before he offered her some milk.

She couldn't believe that Haru was being so paternal as he praised her for letting him feed her and give her milk when she was finished.

"Good girl. Now, do you want to sleep soon? I'll go do the dishes and then sleep next to you. You never know if you'll need me for the night."

Rin didn't say anything as Haru got up and did the dishes for a few minutes before coming back into the room, taking off his shirt as he usually did before he slept, and asking Rin a vital caretaker's question.

"OK, Rin, are you still in pain?"

She shook her head in an attempt to lessen the burden that her lover had to bear that day. She would regret her lying later.

Haru lay next to Rin in order to sleep for the night. The lights were out, and Haru was attempting to stroke Rin's hair soothingly. She kept shaking her head and burying her face into her hands to avoid causing herself further pain. Haru's hair-stroking wasn't unwelcome or even unappreciated, but at this point, it would make her cry out in pain.

"Rin, you're hiding. Are you upset? Please, tell Haru what's wrong."

Again with the third person! It's like I'm five!

Rin then heard her conscience speaking to her. She never told Haru this, but that voice in the back of her head, the angel on her shoulder, sounded exactly like his voice.

But if you lie about being in pain, then doesn't that make you five?

"Rin?"

Haru lovingly pulled Rin's delicate hands away from her swelling face and cupped her cheek gently. She couldn't help the moan of both relief and aching in her jaw as Haru looked her in the face.

"You're in pain. I knew it."

"H-Haruu…"

Rin still couldn't speak quite clearly, but Haru understood her simply by the slight whimper in her voice. He didn't want her to be afraid at all, but he didn't want her lying either. .He would simply have to teach her not to lie to him about such important matters.

"Rin, you lied."

Rin backed away from him as he sat up in bed and looked down at her with sad, clover honey eyes.

"Rin, it hurts me to think that you wouldn't be honest with me about how you're doing."

Rin bit her lip and avoided his eyes as he got up, filled a cup with water, and brought to her an antibiotic and a painkiller capsule.

"Rin, after you tell me why you lied, I will give you the pills you need for the night."

Rin squeezed the sheets around her and tried to be honest in her answer. But the moment she told him why she lied, she felt more like a five-year-old than ever before.

"Haruuu, I only…didn't want to bother you…"

Haru sighed and handfed her the pills. He climbed into bed next to her and turned on the lamp next to the bed. After he did this, he cupped Rin's swelling face once more and asked softly,

"Rin, why do you think that being honest with me about your pain is somehow 'a bother?'"

Rin bit her lip and tried to block out Papa's voice yelling at her.

"We never needed a problem like you!"

Rin couldn't help the tears that started flowing at that point. Haru, knowing that the tears were not from physical pain, simply held her as she tearfully slurred out the answer.

"I-I'm a bad Rin…bad problem…"

Haru felt his heart being pulled every which way as Rin began to sob. He sat up, pulled Rin onto his lap, and cradled her as she let out her sobs.

"I-I'm sorry…I lied, just don't be mad…"

Haru kissed Rin's forehead before he cleared his throat and requested something of Rin in a gentle yet firm tone.

"Rin, look up at me. Right here, in my eyes."

Rin always had trouble with this task, but she managed to find her lover's gentle clover honey orbs. She felt her heart speed up as Haru spoke directly to her.

"You are not, never was, and never will be…a bad Rin or a problem. Do you understand that?"

Rin nodded, tracing Haru's bare chest and trying to forget the twisting feeling in her stomach. Haru let her do this, knowing that she could never stare into his eyes for long. He simply waited until she had stopped sniffling and moaning in pain before letting her lay back down.

"H-Haruu?"

Rin asked, knowing that the drug was already taking effect.

"Yeah?"

"I…love you…"

Haru didn't have to have night vision to know that Rin's face was bright pink with a slight shame at her 'confession' of her love to him. It was a rare sentiment from the strong-willed and prideful woman, but Haru knew that every time she did say it, it was from the heart.

"And I still love you. I always have, honey."

Rin smiled at the pet name and fell into a peaceful night of sleep next to her warm Haru.