"Miss. Daidouji, the doctor wants to talk to you..." the young woman clad in a white dress said to the young Daidouji Heiress.
The raven haired beauty had her eyes fixed on the hospital floor all this while and when she lifted her head anyone would gasp at her bloodshot eyes along with her skin that had gotten even more paler if that was possible. Returning a tired smile she got up to enter the doctor's office.
She was there at the hospital all night and it was almost dawn now. As Tomoyo sat down in the chair waiting for the doctor to come back with the reports last night's events came back rushing to her.
Things were very much of a routine now for Tomoyo Daidouji. After finishing her double major in Fashion and Business Management she managed to take over the Toy Company letting her mother help in the background. She made sure that she had enough time to design and her mother had already started a small boutique for her which was being managed by Sakura. Tomoyo was able to balance both in a splendid way and Sonomi just watched her daughter do such a fabulous job.
Tomoyo would spend her time in the Toy Company till evening and will head to the boutique after that. Tomoyo did not expect her mother to collapse suddenly after dinner. She was just laughing at a joke that Tomoyo had said and the next thing the young mistress saw was her mother falling down in a heap with blood flowing out of her mouth. She did not hesitate before carrying her mother with the help of the servants and driving to the nearest hospital.
"Miss. Tomoyo..." the doctor broke her out of her trance. That was when she felt the new set of tears flowing down her cheek. Slowly wiping of them she sat up straight and looked at the elderly man wearing a white coat with hope that he would tell her that her mother is just fine.
"I am sorry Miss. Your mother is affected by liver cirrhosis. All the stress in her had lead to the inflammation of her liver and I am afraid she has lost a lot of blood. There is nothing we could do now but pray that it does not get any worse..." he said with an apologetic look on his face.
Tomoyo's world started spinning now. The only person she had was going to leave her soon. She had always prepared herself that her mother was not going to stay with her forever. But little did she expect it to come so soon. "H..How long does s..she have?" she asked with her voice trembling.
"At the rate if she makes it upto a month it will be a miracle. We will be needing more blood in case she loses more of it in the coming days. You both have the same blood group right, I shall ask a nurse to collect some blood from you..." he said which induced a fresh batch of tears from her already swollen eyes.
After thanking the doctor Tomoyo came out to call Sakura. In all this commotion she had forgotten to call her cousin to inform her about her sick mother. Sonomi was like second mother for Sakura.
She dialled her number and waited patiently. It was around 3 in the morning. she did not expect Sakura to pick the phone at all and was surprised to hear a masculine hello on the other side.
"Touya-kun? This is Tomoyo..." she said trying to suppress her cracking voice.
"What is it Tomoyo? Why are you calling at such an early hour?" his voice sounded very worried.
"It... its mother... She is sick... Can you please come here with Sakura-chan? I am at theMemorial Hospital." She said. She was still afraid about how the cherry blossom would break down after hearing the news.
"We will be there in ten minutes Tomoyo..." he said hanging up.
He stuck to his word and the entire Kinomoto family found her outside the ICU ward. With tears brimming in her eyes she narrated them the happenings of the previous night and her talk with the doctor.
Sakura broke into tears as soon as she heard the news and Touya was consoling her while Fujitaka just sat silently by Tomoyo's side. Neither of them spoke anything because their hearts were just too full of emotions to let any words out.
"It is ok cry Tomoyo-chan..." he said facing her and that was enough for her to lay her head on his shoulder and cry her heart out.
After an hour or so the nurse came out "Daidouji-san is awake. She wishes to see you ... Only Family allowed..." she informed eyeing the other three people.
"We are family to her..." an irritated Touya called out and they went in.
As Tomoyo opened the door, she felt her world spinning for the umpteenth time. the room with white walls had all kinds of beeping machines which made her feel sick and seeing her mother's limp body under those white covers made all the blood in her face drain out.
With a little push from Fujitaka she went to sit near Sonomi.
Lifting up the oxygen Sonomi said "Tomoyo dear... I realise that I do not have much time left... W..will you grant me a wish?" with a lot of struggle. She slowly raised her hand that had some IV connected to the back and caressed Tomoyo's pale cheek.
"Anything for you mother..." she said crying more.
"Please don't cry. I don't want to leave you alone... Please get married..." she said as her dull blue eyes pierced into violet ones.
Marriage was not something Tomoyo had thought about all these years. She did not even have a boyfriend for all she cared. The prospect of marriage sent her into another state of shock. But she has to do it for her dying mother.
Recovering from her temporary shock she nodded "Yes mother... I will find a nice guy and get married as soon as possible..." she said crying harder.
Sonomi's eyes showed happiness despite the pain in her stomach. Her eyes darted to the Kinomotos standing there and she called out to Fujitaka.
"I give you the responsibility of finding a young man suitable for Tomoyo... I want to see her marriage before going to Nadeshiko..." she said to him only to gain a weak smile from him.
"But Sonomi-kun Tomoyo is just 25... Don't you think you are hurrying it a bit? Marriage is supposed to come after love..." he defended for Tomoyo.
"Please old man... This is my final wish..." she struggled for oxygen. Tomoyo put the oxygen mask on her face again with trembling hands and said "It is fine uncle Fujitaka. I am sure I can find love after getting married... Mother please rest for now..." she said and they left the room.
Outside the ICU Touya was throwing a tantrum.
"She is just 25 dad... How can she be forced into a marriage like this? How can she marry a guy she probably doesn't even know?" he was practically shouting getting glares from the nurses in return.
"It is Sonomi's dying wish... We have to give respect to it. She has never asked something for herself and this is the only thing she is asking for... Besides Tomoyo-chan is ready to marry a person for her mother. So our responsibility comes in finding a good boy who would treat her nicely..." he said glancing at the raven haired girl sitting near the coffee machine.
As if remembering something suddenly Fujitaka pulled out his phone and dialled a number. He went towards the reception area as he heard a muffled hello from the other side.
"Hope I am not disturbing you Hirragizawa-kun..." he said.