*AN* As usual, OC's dialogue- BOLD. Kendall's- ITALICS. Third Party- PLAIN and/or UNDERLINED
Also, since the honey moon will be taking place in Japan, I will be adding Japanese terms. I will not use Japanese dialogue, instead I will just explain that persons actions or thoughts. Anytime that I use a single word or common phrase/term in Japanese I will explain what it is however feel free to look it up on google for further explanation!*
Early the next morning Katie woke up on the couch as she expected but it took her a second to piece together the events of last night. After a few minutes, she got up to make some breakfast for her husband but made a quick trip to the bathroom first. On her way it wasn't long before she soon felt ill again but it wasn't bad; she'd just have some water and toast to start her day instead. She passed the bedroom and saw Kendall was gone, his messy sheets were scattered among the room as usual but where did he go? She didn't remember him saying anything about another interview. She continued to the bathroom and saw the door pushed around. Kendall was standing in front of the mirror looking worse for wear.
"Kendall, are you alright?"
"I'm not sure…Are you sure, you're not sick with the flu or something because I feel like crap."
"I'm pretty sure I'm not contagious…maybe it was dinner last night…"
"I doubt it, you're a good cook."
"Yeah but I wasnt feeling well so I could have easily missed something!"
"Don't worry about it, let's just spend the day home and see how we feel in a few days. We still have 3 weeks left here so a couple days inside wont hurt us. We'll watch some movies and play some games, it'll be fun."
"Sounds good to me." she replied.
The two snuggled on the couch for most of the day, only moving when either needed an emergency trip to the bathroom. Kendall seemed to be worse off and Katie was concerned. She was fairly certain that she wasn't sick with the flu or anything in fact she was feeling better through most of the day, but Kendall was only getting worse. It wasn't long before he gained a mild fever and was achy all over. Katie gave him some Tylenol PM and he soon fell asleep.
It was late afternoon and Katie was up and about making herself a quick dinner. She was mildly hungry, having gained some of her appetite back. She was just about to sit down to eat when the door buzzer went off. She quickly ran to the door to silence the buzzer and opened it to find one of the neighbor's children, Satoshi at her door step. She greeted him with a smile, as did he before giving her a packet his mother gave to him to give to Katie. It was all the party information the committee had thus far and Satoshi's mother, Nakara wanted to be sure all was well. Katie said she'd bring it over later after looking it over and he agreed.
"Where is Kendall?"
"He's not feeling well so he's sleeping."
"That is too bad. Please send my regards."
"Thank you Satoshi, I will." she smiled.
Satoshi left to return home and Katie shut the door as quietly as she could. Katie looked over the pages as she ate some chicken soup; she made some small changes and then put it aside and watched some TV. She wasn't sure what Kendall had but she did know that she didn't want to catch it. She knew that she should be with Kendall to comfort him but she just left him alone, thinking it was what she would want. Instead she spent another night on the couch. She was up very early the next morning, although not quite hungry yet, she checked on Kendall real quick before leaving the apartment and taking a stroll down the countryside towards town.
She spent much of the morning in town browsing little boutiques and buying cool little trinkets as well as food for later. With her arms full of bags, she decided to head back; there weren't any taxis available or any that she could even see so she started to walk back home instead. Students from a nearby school were on their lunch break and had made a quick stop at the local takeout place. The local school was rather ritzy so she was surprised to see so many students opting for take-out rather than the home cooked and balanced meals the school most likely served. One of the students offered to help Katie but she declined since the apartment was a ways away. She didn't want to take up all of his time for lunch.
She was tired by the time she arrived at the apartment complex so she took a breather on the stone wall just inside the gate. She spent a few minutes scrolling through her phone real quick before a shadow crossed her path. Mr. Makimoto the next door neighbor had spotted her sitting down and was concerned. After she explained she was just taking a breather, he offered his assistance and without hesitation, he grabbed her bags and urged her to follow. He was quiet going up the stairs but friendly nonetheless smiling back at her with words of encouragement every now and then. Once at the door to the apartment he put the bags down and smiled to Katie. His English wasn't good at all so Katie tried her best with her Japanese to express her deepest thanks. She bowed to him and he left.
Kendall was still asleep and Katie's early morning start and left her feeling a bit lagged so she took to the couch and fell asleep almost instantly. When she work up, it was dark and her stomach was growling. She scoured the kitchen for food and found evidence that Kendall had been up and about. She checked on him to see how he was doing but he had gone back to sleep. She shut the door and cooked some dinner for herself and planned on spending the rest of the evening in front of the computer. The door buzzer went off and this time it was Yumiko, a girl who lived in the apartment below. Yumiko was only a year younger than Katie and was a big fan although she was very humble and noble. Katie got along surprisingly well with Yumiko and enjoyed her company.
"Hello. I was wondering if you were not busy?"
"I'm not that busy. Kendall is sick but he's sleeping."
"Oh I see. I thought maybe we could go to mall?"
"Hmmm….I'm not sure, it sounds tempting but like I said, Kendall is sick, so I should be here to tend to him."
"I understand, maybe tomorrow? Depending on Kendall health."
"Sure."
"Nonsense, go to the mall, I'll be fine." Kendall said from the doorway of the kitchen.
"Kendall, what are you doing out of bed?"
"I smelled food."
"Are you hungry?"
"Not really…but I figure I should eat something. I can cook something myself, go to the mall with Yumiko."
"I cant do that, you're sick! Besides I already left you alone today."
"You did?"
"Yeah, I woke up early this morning and went out to the grocery store but I got sidetracked and went shopping at the strip."
"I didn't even notice, I've been asleep for most of the day. When I woke up I saw you asleep on the couch and I just assumed that you had been there the whole time. I must have just missed you then. In any case, I can take care of myself, since you're feeling better, obviously you didn't have what I do so no sense in you catching it and both of us being miserable."
"Are you sure though?"
"Positive! Go and have some fun for both of us." He smiled. Katie took step towards him but he backed up. "No, no, don't get to close." he warned. She smiled and blew him a kiss before turning to Yumiko.
"Let me just grab my coat and backpack."
"Okay!" Yumiko smiled. She stepped back to the balcony to wait.
Katie came out a few minutes later and the girls took off down the road. Although it was dark, it was a very safe neighborhood to walk through at night. In fact much of Japan was fairly safe; sure there were some criminal behavior but every place had their fair share. Once in town, Yumiko showed Katie all of the sights she had missed. Katie had all kinds of questions and Yumiko was happy to answer them all as Katie snapped pictures of statues, boutiques and more. Time went by fast and it was nearly 2am by the time the girls returned to the complex. Katie saw Yumiko to her door and said goodnight, before making a mad dash upstairs to her apartment. She entered as quietly as possible and just dropped her bags off in the corner of the living room before grabbing some water and jumping right onto the couch to go to sleep.
The next morning when Katie woke up she checked on Kendall who was sleeping soundly but by the looks of things, he had had a rough night. She gently checked his forehead and he was burning up. She was worried about him; what bug did he catch or was it something that he ate? Japan wasn't a third world country so parasites shouldn't have been a concern at all. It was only day three of his sickness and although he wasn't getting any better, it didn't seem as though he was getting any worse. He did a lot of sleeping and although Katie could have left him to have some fun, she mostly stayed home, only going out to get something to eat or restock for supplies.
The next 3 days dragged on with little sign of improvement. Kendall felt so sick and achy that he just begged for Tylenol PM every few hours. Katie scoured the internet for any leads about what might be ailing Kendall and if there was something she could do to help him or if he needed a doctor. She found a few things such as the flu but nothing major with the symptoms that she knew Kendall had. She had been so busy looking online that time just flew by she checked the clock to see that it was almost 7pm; it was past dinner time and it was well past Kendall's last dose of medicine. He had been quiet though so she went to check on him.
The room was dark but she could see a faint outline of him lying on the floor. She could hear him breathing heavily and she turned on the light to see him very sweaty and clearly uncomfortable. He groaned at the light before just struggling in general; he was clearly in pain and Katie's heart began to race at the sight. She rushed to his side.
"Kendall!"
"I'm in so much pain….!" he grunted.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention and I missed your dose of medicine…"
"No…Its not even working anymore. I'm in too much pain for it to work anymore…"
"Then we need to get you to a doctor!"
"I cant….move…it hurts so bad….."
"Don't worry, Kendall I'll get you to a doctor, one way or another. Sit tight and try to hang on a bit more ok?" she assured. Kendall moaned as a reply and Katie hurried to the living room to her computer and started scrolling through google trying to find out how to call emergency services. She then ran to the kitchen to grab the landline and began to dial only to be met with a Japanese automated system. She didn't understand a word but except for the numbers being read off for the menu. She held on and waited for a beep but it never came. She hung up and grabbed her coat. "Kendall, I'll be right back, I'm going to ask someone to call the doctor. The emergency services line is all in Japanese." she yelled.
She didn't wait for a response and slammed the door as she hurried to Staoshi and Nakara's apartment. Nakara was at work but Satoshi was home. He was only 14 but old enough to help. After Katie explained the situation, calmly, Satoshi helped her out and called Emergency Services for her, directing the EMT's to the apartment down the hall. Katie gave Satoshi a big hug as thanks and asked him to come along as a translator in case she needed one. Yumiko was just strolling into the complex when she saw Katie and Satoshi running along their balcony. She called out to Katie and waved. Katie stopped and waved back, then asked for her help as well.
"Yumiko! Can you help Satoshi and me? Kendall needs a doctor but as you know, my Japanese is very poor. Tell the medics to come to my apartment!"
"Okay. I send them your way!"
"Thank you!" she waved.
Yumiko waved back and then looked out the front gates real quick before running to her apartment to put her stuff down. When she returned she could hear a siren in the distance. Yumiko turned around to see if Katie was around but only saw Satoshi. The EMT's arrived quickly and Yumiko directed them towards Satoshi who brought them to Katie's apartment. Yumiko followed them inside, as did Satoshi but stayed in the Genkan, the area where shoes are left just inside the home. Katie led the medics to Kendall who seemed as though he had only gotten worse. Every time someone touched him he yelled in pain.
Katie couldn't help but being to cry as she watched her husband cry out in pain and there was nothing she could do. She couldn't help but feel guilty thinking she had done something to make this escalate. Kendall assured her that it wasn't her fault, it was his because he waited so long to get help. She felt helpless; useless that she couldn't have helped him or even prevented him from getting sick.
Satoshi did a lot of the translating while Yumiko comforted Katie in her time of need. Slowly Kendall was wheeled out of the apartment and carried down the stairs. Katie wasn't allowed in the ambulance and would have to find her own way to the hospital which was several miles away. Even though they were in the country side, with town within sight of the complex, very few people owned a car or any mode of transport other than a bike. With it being her only option, she borrowed Satoshi's bike and her and Yumiko made their way to the hospital as fast as Katie could peddle.
She could only go 2 miles before she had to take a break. There were about 3 miles left to go to the hospital and night had since set in. Katie checked her watch, and it was past 9pm. Visiting hours were over even though she would be waiting for Kendall to get checked out. She wasn't sure on policies in foreign hospitals. She wouldn't know unless she found out and it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot. It took about an hour to reach the hospital and the girls tossed their bikes into the bike rack out front and ran into the lobby. The nurse at the station looked up to chastised their behavior but softened upon seeing Katie, who stuck out without a second glance. She immediately started speaking in broken English, as best she could to try to be sure that Katie was in fact related to the American that was just brought in.
"Yes, I'm his wife. How is? Is he going to be ok? What's wrong with him?" she started firing questions. The nurse didn't know much about Kendall's condition though.
"I no know much. He with doctor; he be fixed up good! You sit and fill out form" she smiled but still being slightly pushy. The form was mostly in Japanese Kanji, something Katie had no idea about so Yumiko helped out. She asked Katie the questions and wrote down her answers. It seemed like forever until Katie heard something. In fact it was about 2 hours of agonizing wait in the quiet lobby. A doctor came out suddenly, dressed in surgical attire and handed the nurse at the desk a clipboard. She looked at it and Katie looked to the desk and at the doctor in eagerness.
"Come!" the nurse called once she looked up. Katie got up as fast as she could, stumbling out of the chair, after her legs had fallen asleep, to get to the desk. She looked at the receptionist who pointed Katie's attention to the doctor who began speaking in near perfect English, much to Katie's relief.
"Mr. Knight was in a lot of pain, as I'm sure your aware. We did a few tests and come to find out, he had acute appendicitis so we scheduled him for emergency surgery. He's being sutured up as we speak and then he'll be in recovery for about an hour as he slowly comes out of the anesthesia. Appendectomies are pretty straight forward and quick but it appears Mr. Knight's was on the verge of bursting. When we got in there, it had already started to leak; the damage is unknown at this time but we might have caught it just in time. In any case, he'll be spending the next few days with us here as we monitor his recovery. If everything appears normal and functioning properly, he'll be home by the end of the week!" The doctor said with a smile.
Katie was both relieved and worried at the same time. She didn't even think of appendicitis, not that he showed many signs of it. It was definitely something that she couldn't control but it didn't lessen her guilt. To think that any longer and he could have been suffering with a burst appendix which could have killed him. Like the doctor said, Kendall wasn't out of the woods yet but at least the prognosis was good.