Family Matters – Chapter 3
Morning came. And despite the fact that Satsuki was still in a comatose state, the doctor had decided to take her out of the ventilator. It was the moment of truth. If she were to keep breathing on her own, they would finally be able to take a breath of relief, even if just for a bit.
The anxiety in the room was almost touchable. Enishi and Madam Manager stood at the feet of the hospital bed, while the doctor and a nurse were making the necessary preparations to turn off the ventilator. With the push of a button the machine stopped. For a few seconds everyone in the room didn't dare to move. Everyone was looking at Satsuki's chest, trying to see if it was rising and falling by itself. To their joy and relief, it did. She was breathing on her own. Enishi couldn't help but to give an awkward hug to his mother. She allowed it for a few moments (herself basking in the comfort that the hug provided) but quickly she cleared her throat, the obvious warning for him to stop with the embarrassing scene. The doctor proceeded with removing the tube that was down Satsuki's throat. She wouldn't be needing it anymore.
" - Ok, now we just have to wait for her to wake up. Miss Satsuki appears to be healing well and there is no signs of post-op complications so far. He will keep the oxygen on, just to make sure she getting enough oxygen to her brain. But we will remove that too, when she wakes up."
- "And when could that be, doctor?"
"It's impossible to say, ma'am. It can be today, tomorrow, next week, next month... we can never know with coma patients."
"But doctor, why is she in a coma, exactly? I don't understand." Enishi voiced the doubt that was bothering for a while now.
"Well sir, we did some tests and brain scans, and we didn't see any kind of brain damage. But it's not unusual for trauma patients to enter in a coma-like state when there's a big blood loss, like in her case. The massive blood loss caused a insufficiency of oxygen being taken to the brain. There was no permanent damage to the brain, but it will take a while for brain function to be restore to normal levels. But I expect a fast recovery. Miss Satsuki is a healthy woman, her medical history and all the tests we did on her say so, so we have to believe that she will wake up soon."
"I see. Thanks for being so patient and explain all that to us, doctor."
"There's no need to thank me. It's part of my job. Well now, if you don't have any more questions, I'll take my leave. I need to continue my rounds."
"Yes, of course doctor. Again, thank you for everything you have done for my sister, doctor." Enishi said sincerely while bowing in gratitude and respect.
"Ok then. Ma'am, sir, good day." With those words the doctor left the room.
"What about you, mother? You should go too. Rest for tonight. I'll stay."
"I think I'll do that. Now that she is off the ventilator I think I can sleep better tonight. But don't hesitate to call if she wakes up."
"I will mother, don't worry."
"I'll be going then."
"Mother ?"
"What is it?"
"Don't worry about sis. Knowing her she's will wake up soon, and she will be mocking us for worrying so much before we know it."
For a moment Sui was surprised because her son seemed truly convinced of what he had just said. He wasn't just trying to reassure her or himself, he really was optimistic about it. He believed in Satsuki's strength and will power.
"Yes, you're right. She will definitely do that when she wakes up" She glanced at her daughter's still sleeping form and smiled. She still had a lot of tubes and monitors hooked up to her, but her face had regained some of its natural color. She looked healthier. The thought that her beloved daughter was going to live was finally settling in. Now it would be just a matter of time until she awakes.
Some time passed since Madam Manager had left, Enishi had kept himself occupied reading the news on the newspaper, siting at his sister bedside. It was the newspaper where his sister worked for as freelancer writer, on occasion [AN: I'm assuming that inn and hotel critic is not her only job here]. And they had wrote a one page article about her incident. Its title read "Woman shot twice after being robbed". The rest of the article mentioned all the details. The suspect was still at large, but he had already been identified thanks to surveillance cameras situated all around the crime scene. It was a commercial area, several stores had surveillance, including the ATM machine where she had made an withdraw immediately before she was robbed and shot, left to die on the pavement. Enshin couldn't help but still being surprised with what humans could do for money. Was it really worth to kill another human being for 5000 Y?[ +/- 65 USD] Apparently it was, in the twisted mind of that bastard that had shot his sister. The article also mentioned that the surveillance cameras showed the victim resisting, which lead to the shooting. That surprised him, his sister was smarter than that. Why would she resist? She was tenacious yes, but she knew it was not worth risking her life for money, it wasn't even that much of a big amount either. But the articled quickly cleared that out too. "Footage of the surveillance cameras show that the victim was not trying to hold onto her money. Apparently what she was trying to keep a hold off appeared to be photos or documents of some kind. And to her credit, she manage to save at least one." He remembered his mother mentioning that the hospital had managed to contact the Inn thanks to a postcard she had with her at the time she was brought to the ER. "What was so important about that postcard, sis?" he said to himself. He should ask at the reception desk about it. He would do that later though. He was not about to risk her waking up exactly when he wasn't there. His mother would kill him, That's for sure.
Next morning Sui came back around 9 am. She had overslept but it couldn't be helped. She had slept so well now that the shadow of death was no longer hovering over her daughter's head. She was still in a coma, though. But the doctor had said, after the morning routine check up, that her vitals were stronger. She could be waking up any moment.
Now Sui was alone in the bedroom with her daughter. Enishi had left to grab something to eat at the hospital cafeteria. But then two nurses came in, with towels and a basin full of water and a sponge. It was time for Satsuki's sponge bath.
- "Ma'am, do you want to be the one to bath her?" One of the nurses asked. It was not unusual to be the family members to bath the patients.
"Yes, please". She didn't need to be asked twice.
"Alright ma'am. We will leave to give you some privacy but if you need any help, just press the call button and we will come immediately.
"Yes. Thank you."
The nurses left and Sui started to gently caress her daughter's face with the damp sponge in smooth circular motions. She noticed that her skin was no longer cold to the touch as it had been when she first saw her in that hospital bed. Now it felt warm in a natural way, not feverish. It was the warmth that proved Satsuki was alive. Then she proceeded to wash the neck, shoulders and chest area, all the while being carefully not to wet the bandages. After that was done she moved to the arms and legs. It had been a long time since she had seen her daughter's exposed body. But she was still as beautiful as she remembered. Why had she not remarried yet was still a mystery to her. Well, Satsuki's had always been a free spirit, not easily bound to one place or person. That was one of the traits of her personality that seem to attract men to her, like flies to honey.
She was about to finish the sponge bath but decided to wash the palms of Satsuki's hands and between the fingers again. She did so slowly, gently. Putting all the love and care she felt for her daughter on that simple action. Suddenly she felt more than saw a twitch of the fingers. She remembered the doctor saying that things like fingers twitching were normal in coma patients. Those were instinctive moments. They didn't mean necessarily that the patient was about to regain consciousness. So she tried to ignore it. It was not good to her heart to create false hopes like that. She moved to the other hand, and there it was again, but this time it felt more like a slight tug. But yet again, she refused to raise her hopes. It was an unconscious movement. Nothing more, nothing less, she told herself. She then picked up the basin of water to take it to the small linen cart that the nurses had left outside the room.
"Mother?"
Sui dropped the basin of water, creating a big splashing sound and a significantly large puddle of water all over the flow. That voice... It was horse for lack of use but she would recognize it anywhere. In a slow-motion like manner she turned to face the bed. Right there, staring right back at her was her daughter. Eyes semi-opened, still trying to adjust to the light of the morning sun entering the room from the hospital window, but they were open. Open and with that tiny spark she was used to see in them. For a moment she couldn't move or say anything, still too stunned to react.
"Mother, I brought you some green t-"
Enishi had chose that moment to arrive, at first confused as to why was his mother standing in the middle of the room like a statue. Then he saw the wet flow and the basin turned upside down somewhere close to the door. Something must have happened to startle his mother that much.
"Mother, are you alright? What's wrong?"
"…" Sui was unable to utter a word.
"Enishi..."
Now it was Enishi's turn to be stunned. His head snapped in the direction of that familiar voice. He did it so quickly that he could have pulled something.
"Sis... you... you are awake!"
"I guess so... What happened? Where am I? And why are you two here?
Enishi quickly moved to his sister side. His mother however was still not believing this was truly happening. Her hands had moved to her mouth to muffle a gasp, her eyes were filing with tears of joy, but her legs still refused to move.
"Take it easy sis. I'll answer to all your questions. But tell me, how are you feeling?
"Like a took a beating... my body aches all over."
"Well, it was worse than that. Don't you remember? You were robbed near an ATM, downtown Tokyo. You resisted, the guy took a shot at you, twice."
"Ahh- It's all starting to come back now. I remember struggling with that prick, then I heard the shots and immediately everything went black."
"Yeah, you were unconscious when they brought you into the ER. You underwent surgery to extract the bullets, but stayed unconscious for almost three days. You had us really worried sis"
"Oh, you were worried about your beloved sister, little brother? You shouldn't have. I'm tough as nails, you should know that better than anyone."
A soft laughing sound was heard. Both siblings looked in the direction where it had come from and to their surprise, it was coming from their mother. Neither of them could remember the last time they had heard their mother laugh like that.
"What's so funny, mother?"Asked Enishi in bewilderment at his mother's uncharacteristic behavior.
"You were right, Enishi. Teasing you for worry about her was really the first thing she did after waking up", she said almost between what could be described as giggles.
Enishi smiled. Not only because he had been right, but more because it felt so good to hear his mother laughing like that. But that was to be expected. Satsuki had come out of the coma so she was feeling relieved and incredibly happy, just what he was feeling as well. Satsuki proceed to laugh as well, but quickly stopped, grimacing in pain.
"You need to be careful sis, you were shot, remember? If you move to much the stitches will open up."
"Yeah, yeah, and the pain feels great too..." There she was with her sarcastic joking again. Only she could do that in state she was.
"I'm going to find the doctor and tell him that you are awake. I think he will want to check you up and talk to you. You two behave" And with that Enishi left the room, leaving the two woman of the Shijima family alone.
"So mother, did I gave you a few more gray hairs?"
"They have all turned gray because of you a long time ago."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. By the way, how's Ohana doing? Does she know what happened?"
"No. We didn't want to tell her before we knew you were out of danger."
"I see... But she will be pissed when she finds out. She doesn't like to be kept in the dark."
"True, just like someone I know".
"You aren't one to talk mother".
Mother and daughter were back to the playful bickering. That was how they acted around each other when not seriously fighting.
"Thank you." Satsuki's tone of voice signalized that she was being serious now.
"For what?" replied Sui equally serious.
"For being here, for caring... I know I'm not the daughter you wished I was, but I do love you, mother."
"Mm, I know..." She came closer to the bed and took her daughter's good hand (the other was hooked to the IV) in hers and smiled at her.
"I love you too. I love you because you are my daughter, nothing will ever change that, no matter what happens. Never forget that."
Satsuki could only nod. The power of the emotions generated by those words that was flooding her was almost too much for her to handle. She didn't know if this meant their true reconciliation, probably they would go back to being at each others throats pretty soon. That was just how they were. But for now she would enjoy this extremely out of character and rare moment.
The moment was interrupted by the doctor's arrival. We quickly introduced himself, welcomed her back to the "world of the living" as he had jokingly put it, and proceeded to explain to her how had the surgery went, what the real extent of damage to her body was, what was the next steps of the treatment and all the other little details that would be import to assure a fast recovery. By lunch time, Madam Manager and Enichi could do nothing more than just stare with their mouths hanging open as they witnessed Satsuji eating. She ate like she hadn't done so in days, which was true, but it was still rather impressive sight. Seeing her with such big appetite only brought bigger smiles to their faces. She would recover really fast, there was no doubt about that now.
After lunch two police detectives dropped by. They questioned her for anything that could be used in the investigation - which wasn't much - wished her a quickly recovery and left.
"I think I'm going to call home. Beanman must be worried. Takato too. And I guess now it's safe to tell Ohana, right?"
"No, don't tell her just yet."
"Uh? Why not?
"I want to surprise her"
"Eh? Surprise her? Sis, I don't think she will like that kind of surprise."
"It's ok, don't worry. If she gets mad it will be at me. I'm used to it so it's fine."
"What are you planning to do?"
"Mother convinced me – well more like forced me – to stay a few days at the Inn, after I'm discharged from the hospital. Besides, there is no better place like the countryside to recover back to full health. My lungs surely will be thankful for that. Besides, I don't want her to see me stuck in a hospital bed. It would be bad for my image as the bad-ass mom. That's the only thing she thinks is cool about me, I want to keep it that way."
"You're too much, sis. You know that don't you?
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Now sush. Don't say a word to her, ok?"
"Alright. I won't say a word. I don't want to suffer the consequences of your punishment anyway." They both smiled at his comment. Both knew it was true. There would be a punishment if he didn't kept his mouth shut.
"Ok then, I'll make the phone calls outside. Do you want me to bring you anything?"
"Yeah, a pack of cigarettes. I would kill for a smoke right now"
"Yeah, forget it. It's not gonna happen. Where did that talk about your lungs needing fresh air went to anyway? You really are too much".
"Oh, yeah... You're right. Eheheh, I forgot. Oops!"
"How can you forget that? Seriously?"
"Don't make such a big fuss, bro. And go make those phone calls already. Don't keep your sweet Takako in the dark."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm going, I'm going."
Enishi left the room and went to the ground floor, where the hospital reception was. He needed a phone. In the haste of the moment he had forgotten to pack his phone charger and it was out of battery now. He used the pay phones, first to call his beloved Takako. She was the one he wanted to share the good news with first. She was happy with the good news of course. She may not like Satsuki much (she was jealous of her) but she knew how important she was for him and his family. As he had once told her, Satsuki was bright as the sun, and if she were to die, he would fall in complete darkness, maybe to never return to the light. And Takako was no insensible monster either, as many thought she was. She cared, of course she did.
Enishi left her in charge of giving the good news to Beanman but to keep it secret from Ohana and the others still. She had been confused, but she agreed to it nonetheless.
The next person he was going to call, he knew, was going to be extremely relieved and happy about the good news as well.
"Hello, Takashi?"
"Yes?"
"It's me, Enishi"
"Oh, hey buddy! I'm assuming you are calling because you have news."
"Yeah, and it's great ones too!"
"Really? Don't tell me, Satsuky woke up?"
"Yes, and she's back to being the good old Satsuki that we know and love."
"That's great. I'm happy to hear that."
"Yeah, I can image. You were really worried, weren't you?"
"What if I was, is that a problem?
"No, no problem at all. It's good that you are being honest with yourself."
"Shut up, will you?"
"Easy, easy. I'm just teasing you. Anyway, there are more good news"
"More? What do you mean?"
"She will be coming home after being discharged from the hospital. There is no better place than our home to recover back to full health."
"Oh... I see. You must be really happy to be able to spend more time with your sister again."
"Yeah. Aren't you? You could visit her. I think she would like to see some old friends"
"Yeah, maybe."
"You don't sound very convinced."
"What did you expect, that I would jump for joy?"
"Er... yeah, something like that."
"Listen, I'm glad she's better now. But I don't think seeing each other would be such a good idea. It would be too weird and awkward, at least for me."
"But you could still visit, not as friend or as a ex-boyfriend, but as Ohana's homeroom teacher. It is normal for a homeroom teacher to get involved with his students problems and family matters, is it not?"
"I guess..."
Well then, you should definitely pay us a visit when she gets back."
"I'll think about it".
"Please do. Well, I have to go, I'm running out of coins here, ehehehe. Bye, take care."
"You too".
Now Enishi had no more doubts about it. His friend was still not over Satsuki. Otherwise we would have no problems in visiting her. He was afraid. Of what exactly, he did not know. Perhaps he was afraid of being treated politely but coldly, as if he was only a face from the past, a long lost childhood friend that now was nothing more than a stranger? Or maybe he was afraid of not being able to hide his feelings... Any of these scenarios was possible. Now Enishi really couldn't wait for his sister to be released from the hospital. He was excited.
He was about to go back to the room, but he remembered wanting to ask about the postcard. He really wanted to see what was so important about it. Besides, if it was important, he wanted to be the one to return it to his sister. At least for once he would be the hero in her eyes, or so he hoped. So he asked the lady from the reception desk about it.
"Excuse me, ma'am?"
"Ye- Oh, it's you sir. Judging by your smile I take it that your sister is better now?"
" Yes, she woke up this morning. I'm still walking on air of so happy I am."
"I can imagine sir. So, did you need something?"
"Yes, yes I do. I was hoping you could give me that postcard that lead you to call our Inn? The one that my sister was holding when she got here"
"Yes, of course. Give me just a minute... You will have to sign this form here. It's nothing of real value but it's protocol when dealing with patient possessions, even if it's non-important stuff like this."
"Of course, I understand. Although I wouldn't say it was not important. For my sister to fight so ferociously to keep it, it must have a great sentimental value."
"Yeah, that makes sense. Anyway sir, here it is. It's under your responsibility now."
"I'll take good care of it, don't worry."
"I'm sure you will."
If he were a bit more good looking, he would swear that the receptionist was flirting with him. But he was not the kind of man to get flirted with... Heck, he had to chase after Takako for years to win her over. Besides, if she knew he had tried to flirt with other women, she would castrate him, he was sure of that. Well, on the bright side, that probably meant she really liked him, right?
"Anyway, I must stop daydreaming. Let's see what's so important about this post card."
It was an old postcard. It was worn out by time and use. She probably kept it in her purse at all times. They had sold many of these back in the old days, when the Inn was always bustling with costumers. It didn't had a postal print or stamp. So it meant it had never been sent. But it had plenty of writing. There was so much of it that he had trouble reading the tiny characters. But he recognized the handwriting. It was Satsuki's no doubt about that. It didn't had a receiver name or address (she had actually used that space to write some more). Now he was really curious. Why would his sister write a postcard to someone if she didn't intend on sending it? And it had to be really important, otherwise she wouldn't cherish it to the point of risking her life for it. He really had no other choice but to read the postcard if he wanted to solve this mystery. He didn't liked the idea of violating his sister's privacy like this, but he couldn't help it. His curiosity was too great. He searched for a place where he could read it without being disturbed and started reading it.
"Dear Takashi"
He was in for a good start. The postcard was meant for his teacher friend, Takashi. Her ex-boyfriend. Now there really was no way he could have stopped reading.
"You must be wondering why I'm writing you this postcard, in this day and age. One would assume it would be easier to just pick the phone and call you. But that's not true. I would never be able to do that and tell you what I'm about to tell. I'm writing this here because I don't plan to ever send it to you. It's doesn't make sense, does it? But I thought this was a good way of revealing this secret without actually doing it. I never told it to anyone else before. I couldn't do it. But I'm suffocating... I hope that with this, I'll ease my heavy conscience, even if just a bit. Plus, I plan to carry this with me at all times. It will be a reminder of my sins, of my mistakes. That reminder will be my punishment. But let me get to the point, otherwise I'll run out of space to write. I'll start from the beginning. Remember the time when I dumped you? I didn't do it because I didn't feel the same about you. Quite the opposite. I loved you, so much... That was why I had to let you go. The thing is, I knew you had been promised to marry that other girl. But I didn't doubt your feelings, if that's what your thinking. I simply knew that she could make you happy in ways that I couldn't. She had all the qualities you would want in a wife. And at the time I didn't even considered the possibility of ever getting married. I didn't want to be someone else's wife. I wanted to live my own life. And you, you wanted the opposite. You wanted to graduate, to find a comfortable job, to get married with a good woman, to make a kid or two and have a simple life, there in our small hometown. But I couldn't see that as the life for me. So it wasn't fair to keep you at my side, if I couldn't give you the future you wanted. That other girl could. You didn't know I knew about the arranged engagement which made things a lot easier for me. But letting you go was the most difficult and painful thing I did in my life up until this day... But this is only part of the secret. The worst part is still yet to come. You know that I got married because I got knocked up in the last year of college. And that's true. What you don't know is that my husband was not the father of the baby. You were. You are Ohana's biological father... When I found out I was pregnant, you already had your wedding date settled. There was no way I would come back into your life and ruin it. My husband, he was a colleague who had been trying to win me over ever since we met. But I had always turned him down. My heart belonged to you, even if we were officially over. But when he found out I was pregnant he offered himself to recognize the child as his own. To marry me and give my baby his name... I declined his offer at first, but I had to think of my child's future. Ohana would suffer if she were to grew up as a bastard child, a daughter of a single mother. So I did what was best for her and accepted to marry him. I hoped that one day, when she was older, I could tell her about you. And if she wished do so, I hoped that you two could meet, as father and daughter. I know now that your marriage never came to happen. But at the time, because I had cut all ties with my family and hometown I didn't found out about it in time. I was already married and Ohana was already a few months old when I found out. It was too late. My husband had became her father, I couldn't take that away from him. More time passed and Ohana was little more than 1 year old when my husband died suddenly. But by then I had lost all courage of telling you the truth. That's why I'm writing this. It's my way of telling the truth. It's not good enough, but that's ok. I've already come to terms with my decision. I know I'll burn in hell for what I did and for what I couldn't do. Now I think I'll never be able to tell Ohana the truth. She would hate me even more than she already does. I'm not a very good mother, you see. By the way, she may look like me, but she has a lot of you in her. Her smile, her gentle nature, even her sensible nose, she took all that from you... I love her so much, she's the only thing I could never regret having made. She's the fruit of our love, a piece of you that I can love, for as long as I live.
There is so much I want to tell you but I guess that too will forever remain unsaid.
This is goodbye my love, I wish you all the best, I wish you can have the life you always wanted. Take care."
The last lines were difficult to read but he managed somehow. The handwriting was shaky, and getting smaller and smaller by the line because she had been forced to save even more space so she could finish the message. There were some blurred letters as well, the sign that she had been crying when she was writing that. Not that he could blame her. He himself was in tears, just by reading that. He had never imaged that behind those playful smiles, and teasing attitude of his sister she was hiding such painful secret and strong feelings. He admired her now even more than he already did before reading that postcard, if it was even possible. She had made mistakes, serious ones too, but she did it all for love. Love for her daughter, love for the man who had stolen her heart. And she had only meant to give the best to both of them. Or at least what she thought it was the best. There was no doubt in his mind, his sister was a great woman.
For now, he would not reveal that he knew her secret. Maybe he would probe a little about Takashi, to see if she would let something show, some lingering feelings. Maybe he could bring his name up, and mention that he was Ohana's homeroom teach. Such irony of the destiny would definitely catch her by surprise. Maybe she would open up to him a little. But for now, he would keep this postcard in a safe place. Such preciosity could not be lost. It was indeed important, and he now understood why she would risk her life to keep it. It symbolized a big and significant part of her life after all. With that resolve in mind, he put the postcard inside his jacket's interior pocket. He would find a safer place for it later. If his sister asked about it, he would think of something as excuse. He had to buy some time, at least until he could arrange a meeting between Satsuki and Takashi. Still, right now, the most important thing was to focus on his beloved sister full recovery.
xxx~~~~xxxx~~~~xxxx
I hope you liked this chapter. At least it is longer than the previous one. More to come soon (or so I hope).
Reviews are constructive criticism is much appreciated ;)
