Lei: Yo! T^T I am so sorry for not updating sooner! I was busy with a lot of activities and family these past few weeks, so I couldn't find the time to write a new chapter.
Inuyasha: *suspicious look* Are you sure you weren't just lazy?
Lei: O.o" No…
Kagome: Uh huh, right.
Lei: Anyways, as part of my apology, I've written an extra long chapter for you all to enjoy. Thank you very much to everyone who reviewed and alerted this story! They all served as encouragement for me.
Inuyasha: Ugh, enough with the mushy talk. Get on with it!
Kagome: Lei does not own Inuyasha or any of the other characters!
Inuyasha: Thank goodness…
~Seventeen Minutes~
White walls? A...flower vase? Snoring? Where am I? A raven-haired woman sat up in her bed as she scanned her surroundings with confusion plain on her face. White walls enclosed a curtained space filled with snoring old people about seventy or eighty years old. Beside her was a small desk with a blue flower vase on top and her wallet. A hospital, she realized.
What was she doing here? The last thing she remembered was talking to some odd man about...popsicles? The woman groaned as she realized what must've taken place. This was her third warning sign in two weeks; she couldn't deny the fact that her nightmare was coming back. Glancing around again, she came to the conclusion that someone nearby must've taken initiative and called an ambulance. She'd have to thank that person once she found out who it was.
A door slid open, the rough handling of the opener causing a squeak that brought pain to the woman's ears. She cringed as she turned to see who entered the room, and was surprised to see a familiar looking silver-haired, dog-eared man at the doorway. Why do I feel like I've seen him before? The woman just couldn't put her finger on where she could've seen him.
Gold met hazel as they scrutinized each other from the tops of their head to the soles of their feet. The doctor broke the gaze as he stepped forward and stretched out a hand, "Hello. My name is Dr. Takahashi, and I will be taking care of you during your stay here." His voice was rough and boyish, but controlled, as though he had been training how to keep in his thoughts from being expressed.
She surprised him by snorting, "Geez, what is this place, a hotel? You sound like a butler or something! Lighten up!" Punching him gently on the arm, she grinned, "Thanks, but no thanks. I don't need to be admitted to some hospital just because I fainted."
Inuyasha was shocked, but kept his face blank as he said firmly, "No, I was there when you passed out, and if you didn't look like you needed treatment, I wouldn't have bothered taking you to this hospital. Now please lie back down, so I can get started on your examination, Ms..."
"What do you mean, you were ther- Oh! I remember now!" She looked away as she snapped her fingers, ignoring his question, "You were the whiny guy who complained about losing a popsicle!"
Inuyasha gritted his teeth, "Yes, well, this whiny guy had to drag your ass up to the hospital to make sure that you were okay. If it wasn't for me, you might've been in the hands of someone less fit and might not have even survived." She might've been intriguing, but the only thing about her that kept him talking now was the fact that she was his patient. And that fact was starting to look like it might be changing soon.
She put her hands up to show the universal sign for Woah, don't get all mass-murder on me! "Okay, sorry about that!" She gave an embarrassed smile and locked her eyes onto his, "People tell me to be more careful of what I say, but it's like my brain and mouth are running on one freeway, and there are no toll stations to stop them." She suddenly grew stronger and her eyes burned with determination, "But then again, who needs a toll station? Ideas shouldn't be stopped at some checkpoint for sanity!" She paused and quickly nodded, having apparently decided something in her mind, "You know what, I'll let you run those scans on me. I'm tired of running away from something that is inevitable." Again, she hesitated before adding, "But don't be too surprised when you see why I am here."
Inuyasha found himself mesmerized by her little metaphoric confession and her hazel orbs just seemed to turn his insides into melted gold. Ugh, what am I doing? He berated himself before turning away, breaking the gaze. "I'll be back to check on you, Ms...?" He paused, not knowing how to address her.
"Oh, sorry!" He heard her jump off of the bed, the springs groaning in protest. "My name is Kagome Higurashi! Thanks, Inuyasha!"
He almost reached the door but stopped and placed his hand on the knob. "How do you know my first name?"
He heard her climb back onto the bed, "Oh, it says it on your name tag. Sorry, but "Dr. Takahashi" just sounds too formal, don't you think? I believe that doctors and patients should be close, and so calling you by your first name will help me do that...That IS your name, right? Inuyasha?"
Though she couldn't see it, he made a small smile at her instant panicky reaction to his question. "Yes." Inuyasha slid the door open and stepped outside, letting the doors close slowly on the room in which his new favorite patient was now resting.
As Inuyasha walked through the hallways to his next patient's room, he couldn't stop thinking about her, though why he didn't know. Kagome, he thought, Kagome. It suits her. Just as he rounded the corner, an unpleasant stench reached his sensitive nose. His face twitched as he recognized the foul odor just seconds before the source appeared in front of him.
"Yes, and though the tumor can be classifi- Oh, hello Inuyasha." Dr. Naraku Onigumo halted with a whole league of interns behind him and smirked as he took notice of Inuyasha's fading grin, "Well, aren't we over Kikyo's death fairly quickly! Found another replacement for your medicine testing, have we? Is she another beauty you coveted?"
For the second time that morning, Inuyasha found himself struggling to get a hold of his flaring temper, "Hello, Naraku. My patient is none of your concern, thank you very much. Now, please move out of my way. I need to attend to my other patients instead of deal with you and your prodigious ego."
Naraku's menacing smile never faltered as he stepped aside to make way for Inuyasha, "Go ahead. I don't want to keep you from doing your duties, Doctor." His malicious crimson eyes didn't leave Inuyasha's as he and his interns left in the other direction. "As I was saying..."
Inuyasha glared at the floor, fighting to keep control of his true hanyou nature that was not as prone to rational thinking and calm judgment as his doctor persona was. He took a deep breath before readjusting his clipboard with his patient's records and briskly walking towards the nurse station.
"Excuse me," he went up to the young lady at the counter, "Is Head Nurse Sango there?"
The young lady's face of boredom immediately transformed into one of seductiveness. She giggled and blushed before saying in a soft voice, "Yes, I will be right back with her." She disappeared into the file room, still giggling like a lovesick girl. Inuyasha looked at her back with a strange expression, What's her problem?
As Inuyasha waited, he took a sheet from the stack on the counter and began to fill out the check-in form for Kagome Higurashi. Hmm, let's see, Date of check-in: 2/19/12. Date of leave: …... For some reason, Inuyasha found it hard to put his pen in the box. He glared at the box, frustrated and confused why that was so. Keh, what the heck! I don't even know when she'll be able to check-out anyways! He gave an exasperated sigh before continuing to fill out the rest of the form.
"Dr. Takahashi?" Inuyasha looked up from the sheet and saw Sango's worried face, twisted into a frown. "Are you okay?"
Inuyasha masked his frustration with a playful smile, "No need to call me by my title; it's only us two here. Besides," Inuyasha stretched his back slightly to the side, "I'm getting tired of being so stiff." He chuckled grimly, "Before you know it, I'm gonna be a mirror of my damn bastard of a brother."
Sango tsked at him before relaxing her pose, "There's definitely something messed up about you if you think that you'll ever match to Sesshoumaru's perfect cold demeanor. It's like the guy was born in Antarctica or something." She rolled her eyes, "Anyways, I doubt you wanted to disturb me during my very busy schedule to talk about something as stupid as that " Was it just Inuyasha, or was there a gleaming scary glint in her deep brown eyes? " so why are you here?" She concluded with her hands on her hips.
He may be in a higher position than she was, but when she talked to him, he got the message loud and clear: I'm the boss. He scratched his head, "Actually, uh, I'm here because I would like you to get a scan and x-ray of one of my patients, Kagome Higurashi you know, the one that was rushed into the hospital yesterday and send it to me by the end of the day. Please."
Sango procured a small notebook from her waist pocket of her white scrubs and scribbled his instructions inside. "Would 3:30 be okay with you? I have to attend a meeting from four to six, so I don't have time to drop by your mailbox before then."
He mentally went over his schedule. He would have a meeting with two patients, fill out some paperwork, do some research...Yup, he could make some room for examining the scans and x-rays. He nodded, "Yeah, that'll be fine. Thank you, Sango."
She granted him a small smile, "Well, I think I'll be getting back to work now." She bowed, as all nurses did before Inuyasha, "Excuse me, Dr. Takahashi."
Inuyasha waved a hand before realizing that he was still holding the clipboard, "Oh, wait just a second, sorry." He hastily tugged off the form and gave it to Sango. "This is an admittance and basic information form for the patient, Kagome Higurashi. There are some unfilled spots left, which I'll take care of later on in the future once everything is decided."
Grasping the paper, she nodded in understanding before bowing again, "If you will excuse me." She walked away towards the nurse station, her long black hair swishing behind her.
Inuyasha gave her back a half-smile before going back towards the direction of the patient wards to check up on his other patients.
Kagome lay on her mattress with her back pressed against the white metal bedpost, her eyes boring into a painting hanging above the window on her right, yet not seeing any of the dull colors. Instead, her head was filled bitter worries and thoughts, completely contrasting her bubbly and cheerful outer personality she had shown a few hours before.
The poor doctor, she gave an internal sigh, He's probably going to freak out when he finds out that the argument he put up was wasted; it's already too late for me. It's too late. She looked away from the painting and through the window, resting her eyes on the green grass bending in the light breeze. Well, at least I had a longer life than expected. She closed her eyes. I hope Mom and Gramps weren't too worried when I didn't come home last night. Or maybe they thought that I was with Hojo. Her heart gave a small squeeze at his name, like it always did when Hojo's name was mentioned or in this case, thought.
"Excuse me, Miss?" A hoarse voice croaked amidst the soft snores oscillating in the room. Kagome turned to see an elderly man in his seventies fixing his surprisingly sharp gaze on her. His wispy white hair was bundled into a small ponytail on the upper back of his head, leaving the just the sides of his head above his ear combed back and the rest bald. The bottom half of his face sported a moustache and a beard with curled ends. His eyes practically popped out of his face, his pupils drowned in his black irises.
Kagome found it hard to pull away from his hard, speculating stare, "...Yes? Do you, uh, need something?" She was starting to feel uncomfortable.
The old man held her gaze for a little longer before looking away, relieving Kagome of her self-consciousness. "Hm. I need that cane on the side of my bed. Would you get it for me?" The cane was actually closer to the man than to Kagome, but she immediately jumped up to grab the cane for him.
Kagome wrapped her small hand around the cane and returned it to the old man with a smile. "Here you go, sir."
She began to climb back into her bed when the hoarse voice reached her ears again. "Thank you." She turned back to face him just as he stretched out a trembling pale hand, "My name is Totosai, the Blacksmith. You are?"
Kagome hesitated before taking the hand, "Pleasure to meet you, Totosai. I'm Kagome Higurashi, the...scientist." Usually, she preferred to keep her work private, as many would beg for her assistance once they found out exactly what she did, but she had a feeling that if Totosai had asked for more information, she would've told him anyway.
Knock. Knock. The door slid open to reveal a beautiful woman dressed in white scrubs with a clipboard and pen standing in the doorway. Her eyes were a chocolate brown and her long black hair was tied up into a ponytail in the back. Her magenta eye shadow was nearly hidden by her long bangs. Hands on hips, she walked over to Kagome's bed and gave Totosai a frown, "Totosai-san, you know you're not supposed to be walking right now. Or even be out of your bed." The woman took a look at the cane in his hand and jumped to conclusions, "Inuyasha would be very upset if he saw that you weren't trying to make a full recovery, after all of the tiresome work he's had to do for you."
Inuyasha? My doctor? Kagome was about to make a remark, but was cut off by Totosai, "Hmph. Fine with me. I told him not to bother trying to help me, anyhow. Besides, I'm sure I made it clear to leave me alone!" With that, he turned on his side, his back facing the woman and Kagome, clearly showing that he was done talking.
The woman stared at him before shaking her head slowly. She turned towards Kagome and smiled gently, "Hello. My name is Sango, and I am the Head Nurse. I believe you are Kagome Higurashi, am I correct?"
Kagome nodded her head slowly, not understanding why such a high-ranked person such as Sango would be coming over just to greet her and lecture Totosai. "Yes, that would be me. Is there something wrong?"
"Oh, no, no. I was just told by Dr. Takahashi, your doctor, to get some scans and an x-ray of your body to see what was the cause of your passing out. So, if you would please come with me to the x-ray room, we can quickly get that taken care of, and you can go back to relaxing here." Sango exclaimed.
"Well, I'm not sure if I'm eager to go back to relaxing without a book," Kagome joked, "But I'll follow you to the x-ray room."
Sango smiled, "Great. Please follow me then."
"Alright, please take care. I'll be back tomorrow morning to check to see how that medicine is working for you." Inuyasha slid the door closed to his final patient's ward and headed off towards his office to go and get some other work done.
By his office door, Inuyasha was surprised to see Miroku waiting for him with a stack of papers in his hands. "Hello, Miroku. Is everything alright?"
Miroku nodded, "Yeah, everything is fine. I just need you to look at some documents and sign them, so I can get the treatment for one of the patients in the ER."
"Ah, alright. Just a second, I'll just unlock this," Inuyasha punched in the code for the lock on the door. "And we can talk about the treatment, so I can sign the papers." After the office was unlocked, Inuyasha motioned for Miroku to go in first. "Go ahead."
Miroku sat on one of the chairs facing Inuyasha's desk and laid the stack of papers next to a scan and x-ray also on the desk. "Hey, Inuyasha. You've got a scan and an x-ray of a rather curvaceous lady there. Have you decided to join the club, man?"
Inuyasha rolled his eyes before sitting opposite of him behind the desk, "Please. Only you and Bankotsu are in that perverted 'club' of yours." He picked up the scan, remembering that he had asked Sango to take a scan and x-ray of Kagome. He shuddered for a second, not forgetting how scary she had sounded when she thought he had just pulled her out of work for a chat. "Hey, your wife is getting scarier every day. Can't you do something about that?"
"Sango?" Miroku scratched his head, "Ah, well, it's the, er, time of month right now, so just bear with me. It'll only last for a few more days." His tone turned pleading.
Inuyasha sighed before once again turning his gaze to the scan and x-ray, "And the treatment?" He asked, not bothering to make eye contact with Miroku, "What is it?"
As Miroku blabbed on about the treatment, Inuyasha found his attention slipping from him to the scan and x-ray. His golden eyes widened, frantically switching his gaze from the scan and x-ray, not wanting to believe what was obviously the source of Kagome's blackout. Ignoring Miroku's concerned face, Inuyasha quickly dumped some of his medical books on the desk and began flipping through the pages. He inhaled sharply, his hands balling up into a fist as he confirmed what he already knew was true. He just didn't want to believe it.
Inuyasha didn't think. He ran towards the door and yanked it open, running towards the room in which Kagome was now resting, not hearing the protests Miroku yelled out. As Inuyasha ran past the nurse station, Sango watched him with sad eyes, knowing the reason for his sudden escapade. He continued down the hallway until he reached to a stop in front of Kagome's room, panting. His fist opened as he hit the wall beside the door. No, he told himself feebly, No, this can't be happening. I thought the reason was insomnia or an asthma attack, or...something other than this! He slammed his hand on the wall again, NO!
Miroku stared as the end of Inuyasha's scrubs disappeared behind the corner. Curious to see what could've made his friend run away in such panic, he crossed behind the desk to take a look at the scan and x-ray as well as the medical book splayed out on Inuyasha's desk. Even though Miroku wasn't a high-ranked doctor, he knew what his eyes were seeing. His jaws dropped open in shock.
"Leukemia?"
Lei: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review!
Kagome: Yeah, seriously. *sigh* She loves reading them.
Inuyasha: ….Pathetic.
Lei: -_-+ Oh, and I just realized after publishing the last chapter that there was some kind of glitch that caused the bottom half of the chapter to be in Italics, but it really wasn't supposed to be that way! DX I was so upset when I saw it! In case you're wondering, from "Those words haunted him", most of all that should've been in regular font! -_-+