Withering – Chapter 4

Kurosaki arrived Monday at the clinic to the news that the Kagura Hospital's director had collapsed at a fund raiser party Saturday night.

Isshin left as soon as he heard and he was so naïve as to think that the director would be at home to rest, but regrettably when arrived at the Ishida estate he was met by the house keeper whom informed him that the director was at the hospital.

Driving to the hospital, Isshin wondered how he could be so stupid as to assume that Ryuuken would ever act logically in such matters. It seemed almost as if the man was scared of taking a day off and spend some time alone.

Ryuuken was in his office and much to Isshin's surprise, he wasn't alone. It clearly wasn't someone that Ryuuken was comfortable with. It was another doctor hiding behind a white coat and just as anonymous as the rest.

Isshin used a couple of seconds to size the other director up; he was looking even paler and his face even more sunken in, if it was possible.

"Kurosaki, what the hell are you doing here?" Ryuuken barked with a cough rough voice.

"I heard you took a tumble," Isshin began but his gaze again turned to the figure sitting in the couch to the right.

"I'm being baby sat," Ryuuken answered his voiceless inquiry, "- the board doesn't appreciate an ailling director and the negative publicity that courses." His tone was bitter and hard and he was clearly holding a grudge against the nameless doctor that watched over him.

"Well, it does come off as though you can't take of yourself," Isshin argued, "-and if you can't take care off yourself, how can you take care of others?"

Ryuuken gave him a long hard stare.

"Well, that would be the thinking behind the project," Isshin tried to reason.

Ryuuken said nothing. Instead he lapsed into a rasping coughing fit which clearly was very painful as his free right hand flew to his ribs.

Isshin furrowed his brow with concern and went around the desk while listening intently to his friend's coughing. Making the most of Ryuuken's lack of attention towards him, he grabbed the stethoscope. Ryuuken was still helplessly trying to get his breathing under control, but his lungs insisted on spasming.

Isshin pulled the office chair Ryuuken was sitting out and turned it so that he was facing him. He knelt down beside the director and put the stethoscope to his chest listened with great care as Ryuuken slowly managed to stop coughing. However, his breathing had a wet wheeze to it now and without meeting Isshin's eyes he let him continue his examination.

Isshin's face didn't chance at all while he continuously moved the stethoscope around on Ryuuken's chest. He ended his examination with running his thumb over the director's ribs, who jumped at the harsh touch.

"How much weight have you lost?" Isshin stood up and again and let himself lean against the massive desk. Ryuuken was hesitant and looking past Isshin on the nameless doctor on the couch.

"You may leave now," Ryuuken bid harshly.

"That would be against my orders, Director," he argued.

"You can see I'm in perfectly good hands. If you insist on sticking around, you may do so outside the door."

The nameless doctor had already run out of good arguments and quickly bowed and left.

There was a couple of seconds of silence between the two remaining doctors, punctuated only by the wet wheeze that made up Ryuuken's breath.

"I think I've lost about 30 pounds," Ryuuken finally admitted.

"Over the last year?"

"Over the last 3 months."

Isshin pursed his lips.

"You know as well as I do how alarming that sounds, Ryuuken. Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you think you've lost so much weight. You apparently don't think it relevant."

"I have been quite busy the last 3 months and I'm afraid that meal times are one of the first things that gets down prioritized... and the bout of pneumonia didn't help either."

"How's your appetite?" Isshin asked, determined to keep Ryuuken from leaving vital information out.

"It's alright," Ryuuken said dismissively, but Isshin immediately picked up in the fact that Ryuuken was avoiding his gaze and started fumbling for his cigarettes.

"When's the last time you ate?"

"Last night," Ryuuken answered, "-I'm not much of a breakfast person," he added while putting the cigarette to his lips.

"And you're not hungry now?"

"Not particularly," The director replied without looking Isshin in eye, lighting his cigarette and inhaling superficially.

"You should really quit smoking."

"Oh, that's new one. Enlighten me," Ryuuken chuckled with a slight smirk on his lips.

"It may be what's interfering with your appetite. If it's not, there might be something more nasty at work. And you know as well as I do, it's the cigarettes that are keeping you from getting over this pneumonia thing."

Ryuuken just nodded and coughed a couple of times behind a closed mouth.'

"I'm sure that you've considered the possibility of this being cancer," Isshin added, expecting a strong reaction from Ryuuken if he brought this up. Much to his surprise Ryuuken didn't flinch at all.

"I have," Ryuuken answered truthfully.

"And...?"

"And I've been x-rayed and I have done all the blood work and it's not cancer."

"When did you get the x-ray?"
"A month ago."

Isshin took in the information. Clearly Ryuuken had some idea of how bad his condition was if he had considered cancer.

"Would you mind we took one more today?" Isshin asked.

"X-ray? Why?" the Director asked in a hard tone.

"Your lungs sound really bad. How consistent have you been both with the first and second course of antibiotics?"

Isshin had never seen Ryuuken look like he did when he asked that question. He looked like a child caught with his hands in the cookie jar. He looked embarrassed.

"I know I should know better than to be sloppy with the antibiotics course, but I just sort of lost track of time and with my meal times being so irregular I've not kept to them," Ryuuken explained while fiddling with the cigarette and finally putting it out. Isshin would like to have laughed at him, but the thing was that this was a serious matter.

"You shouldn't be in a hospital at all," Isshin looked hard at Ryuuken, "-There are so many weakened sick people here that will succumb to a bout of pneumonia."

"I know, that' partly why they've confined me to my office."

"Can we go and take that x-ray now?" Isshin asked

"I suppose..." Ryuuken replied detached. "-you know, they have cleared out my schedule completely."

Isshin eyed Ryuuken suspiciously.

"Then why are you here? Why are you not at home resting? You're really sick and you should take it easy," Isshin's tone softened "-you're pushing yourself to an early grave."

For once Ryuuken didn't know what to answer; what to do. He didn't like this attention he had drawn to himself. He didn't know how to handle it.

He was tired beyond belief.

He looked at his watch. "I suppose I have time for an x-ray before my board meeting."

"You have a board meeting today?"

"Yes, they called in the whole board just for me today." Ryuuken's voice was thick bitterness.

Thanks to the digitalization of x-rays the image came in seconds after it had been taken. Ryuuken was still buttoning his shirt as he walk up next to the radiologist and Isshin that was plastered to the screen.

"No wonder you can't breathe," Isshin broke the silence. Ryuken said nothing. He just stared at the cobweb that seemed to fill his lungs on the x-ray. Bright white in complicated patterns.

They let the professional study the picture thoroughly. There was no signs of cancer, but there overshadowing signs of infection and signs of damage to the lungs from years and years of heavy smoking.

No surprises there.

Ryuuken left without saying anything. Isshin thought he saw a look of sadness on Ryuuken's face just before he turned around.