Disclaimer: Primarily not mine.
A/N: This was written for Sefina as her Secret Santa fic on the community ygodrabble on LiveJournal. This fic is pre-canon and major props will be awarded to anyone who can spot the Vicar of Dibley side-fling.
First Look
© Scribbler, December 2011.
Ryou balanced on the edge of his chair. He had to lean back when a trolley blew past. One wheel wiggled like it wanted to go any direction but the one it was being pushed. He watched until it and its posse of orderlies and nurses disappeared around the corner. In an instant the mad shouting and noise became dreadful silence again.
"Dad?"
Dad grunted. His arms were folded. That was never good. He only did that when he was angry. Ryou bit his lip and stared at his feet.
"What?"
He looked up. Dad hadn't stopped staring at the wall, but he was clearly waiting for an answer.
"Is Mum going to be all right?" Ryou asked hesitantly.
Dad scowled. Ryou shrank back. He had been told for months that Mum would come to hospital for the doctors to 'work their magic' and then she would come home with 'something amazing'. They hadn't mentioned it to happen in the middle of the night. They had missed out that part. They hadn't told him Dad would go in the ambulance with Mum but he would have to drive there with her sister, Auntie Geraldine. Auntie Geraldine had been all jolly, but her voice kept getting squeaky and her eyes darted all over the place, even when he was talking to her. She had gone to buy sweeties from the gift shop, leaving Ryou and his father on uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room.
"Your mother will be fine," Dad said eventually. "She will."
Ryou kicked his feet. He had come out in his duck slippers. They were soaking from walking across the car-park in the rain. "Why was Mum crying?"
"She was just upset."
Ryou bit his lip again, before blurting, "She said she was losing the baby. Did she leave it somewhere? Her tummy still looked really big. I thought it was still inside her. Was I wrong? Did she pop it out already?"
"It is still inside her." Dad's tone and stare were hard enough to melt metal and make ears shrivel.
They fell silent. Auntie Geraldine came back with some Refreshers and a packet of chocolate buttons. He didn't tell her he was only allowed one sweetie at a time. Mum would never know. As he gobbled, Dad and Auntie Geraldine talked in hushed voices and she put her hand on his shoulder. Ryou watched his father tense up until his neck disappeared into his collar. Then they all waited in uncomfortable silence.
Finally a doctor came. Ryou didn't understand everything he said, but they were ushered along the corridor to a room full of beeping and nasty smells. The sign read 'RECOVERY' in faded blue letters.
Mum was in one of the beds. Next to her, in a clear plastic tub, was something small and red. It had a nappy so small it looked like it belonged on an incontinent Barbie doll. Wires and tubes crisscrossed its skin. It moved and Ryou realised he was looking at a foot, then a leg, then a tiny body, and finally a head with a squashy face that looked nothing like the pictures Mum and Dad had shown him in preparation.
"Oxygen deprivation," Mum whispered. "The cord was wrapped around her neck. She was blue, Daichi. She didn't cry; not one little noise. I thought she was–"
"Shh, Emily." Dad held her hand and put his other arm around her. "The main thing is that you're both all right."
"They said she might have brain damage." Mum gulped like she had taken a drink of too-hot tea.
Ryou squeaked when Auntie Geraldine suddenly picked him up with a big, extra jolly smile. "That's your new sister," she boomed, like she was trying to drown out his parents. "Don't touch her. She's had a rough night."
"What's her name?"
"Amane," Auntie Geraldine said with a hint of disapproval. Her children were called Nick, Bill and Fred. "It was your grandmother's name, back in Japan. Your grandmother over here in England was called Millicent," she added, as if this was important.
"Amane." Ryou sounded it out.
"You'll have to take special care of her. She's a special baby. She nearly wasn't born at all."
Ryou stared, and then nodded. "Okay." He peered into the tub, where Amane slept with her arms above her head. He slept like that too; 'all flibbertigibbets' Mum said. "I'll look after you, Amane. Don't you worry. I'll never ever let anything bad happen to you." Clutching his chocolate like a knight swearing on his sword, he gave another serious nod. "Never ever. I promise."
Fin.