I'm really loving this story. Thanks for the awesome and positive reviews I got. We ended with Ichigo racing to the hospital with Rukia. Let's see what happens next!


Down the dark roads, Ichigo sped like a madman to get to the hospital. His heart beating against his chest and his mind was running a thousand miles a minute. Tears leaked from his eyes as his knuckles turned white against the steering wheel. His teeth grit hard hearing Rukia moan in pain in the back seat. It was like a nightmare. A nightmare he was living. Again.

"Hold on. Just, please hold on." Ichigo muttered as he heard Rukia wheeze again. What went wrong? He understood Rukia was sick, but she was fighting to breathe now.

Ichigo remembers waking up to the sound of Rukia desperately trying to breathe. She was frothing at the mouth as her body suddenly stiffened and her eyes rolled up to the back of her head. She gurgled, struggling to get air into her body. Ichigo panicked, shaking her way more violently than he intended to and slapped her, trying to make her wake up. When she grasped his shirt with all the might she had in an unconscious plea for help did Ichigo run out the door with her in his arms.

The car made a sharp turn into the city, cutting off a lone car that was driving. Ichigo ignored the horn he got and sped to the hospital.

"Don't die on me, please." Ichigo cried as he turned again, blowing through red lights and stop signs. While normally an hour drive, Ichigo made it to the hospital in under twenty minutes. He wasted no time pulling Rukia's limp body out of the car and dashing through the giant glass double doors.

Rukia was taken by a group of medical staff waiting for Ichigo thanks to Isshin's command. Ichigo waited in the waiting room, shaking in fear. He couldn't comprehend what just happened.


He put his head down between his legs, his fingers gripping his hair and pulling the strands from his scalp. He shivered in his seat, saying silent prayers to himself.

Rukia… Rukia was everything to him. He didn't know how he'd cope if she died. She didn't deserve to die. She was too young, too innocent, too precious. He couldn't bear the thought of losing her, too. If she dies… he'll go with her.

"Please, help her." tears fell from his eyes and onto the floor. When the door opened, Ichigo lifted his head to see his father. "Dad?" Ichigo looked to his depressed expression. He's seen that look on his father's face too many times already.

Isshin said nothing and walked over to Ichigo, crouching down to his level.

"Ichigo…" he began. "She's really sick." he said. Ichigo already knew that.

"What's wrong with her, Dad?" Ichigo sobbed. "Just tell me." he pleaded. Isshin sighed heavily.

"It's a bacteria," he began. "It attacks all the major organs. The lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas, and the heart." His words made Ichigo's face pale to white. "It can reach the brain if we don't act fast. But in most cases, it shuts down the heart and the respiratory system, and suffocates the victims."

"What's this from? And can't we do anything about it?" Ichigo asked. Isshin looked very grim, which made Ichigo's heart thud against his chest. "Dad?"

"It's unknown what causes it." Isshin said. "What I do know is that we can treat her with the strongest antibiotic we have and see if it works." Isshin looked away. "But it's pretty far along. I… I don't really know if…" Isshin stopped talking when he looked back at his son. His eyes were like faucets, tears streaming down his face, his breathing shallow and his cheeks flushed red.

"It's my fault…" Ichigo sobbed. "I should've forced her to go to a doctor. I didn't… I didn't make her go and it's my fault she's like this. I let her get this bad. I… I'm such a bad husband!" he wailed into his hands. Isshin couldn't stand seeing his son like this. Broken and shattered, falling apart right in front of him. Bawling as if he was an infant. He couldn't take it.

Standing up, Isshin raised his hand and brought it down right across his son's face. Ichigo's head whipped the other way, tears flying off his face. Ichigo looked up at his father, eyes wide and fearful. His father hit him… he hit him…

"Dad…"

"Listen to me, Ichigo." Isshin said sternly, his eyes narrowed down at him. "This is not your fault, understand?" his growl made Ichigo go silent. "This was beyond your control. No one is to blame. Not you, not Rukia, no one. Do you hear me?" Isshin growled at him. Ichigo was frozen in place. But Isshin knew he understood.

"Dad, can… can I see her?" Ichigo asked. Isshin didn't answer right away. "Dad, please…" Ichigo pleaded. "I need to see her."

Isshin shook his head. "Ichigo, I don't think it's a good idea just yet." Ichigo stood up and grabbed his father's shoulder tightly.

"Let me see my wife, please." He pleaded. Isshin went stiff before relaxing again. He knew this wasn't going to end well.

"All right," he agreed. "But I have to warn you, Ichigo. She… you'll see. Follow me." Isshin led Ichigo out of the waiting room and down several winding corridors. Ichigo's heart beat faster with every pace he took, every step closer to her room. What was he expecting? Flash backs of the first time he was in here for the death of his mother. And then… her…

Isshin stopped in front of a door at the end of a clear hallway. Ichigo looked up at the sign hanging above the door.

"Intensive Care Unit"

"Room: 15"

Ichigo couldn't believe it. His wife of only two years was in here. Why was this happening? It wasn't fair. It was like torture.

With his hand on the handle, Isshin looked at Ichigo and asked, "Are you ready?" Ichigo stood still. Fear was flooding through him.

"Yes." he answered, and Isshin opened the door. Ichigo glanced in. In the bitter dark of the room was a single bed. Several machines were placed around the bed, wires and tubes protruding from the base and snaking up the railing and under the covers. Rukia lie there, two tubes sticking out of her mouth. Ichigo felt his heart sink and his stomach rise.

"Rukia…" he gasped as he made his way towards the bed. His wife… lying there unconscious, tubes down her throat, wires attached to her hands and in her arm and things glued to her chest. The machine closest to her head pumped up and down. It was breathing for her. "Oh, God… Rukia." Ichigo fell to his knees, tears falling from his eyes as he held Rukia's ice-cold hand. She had no color to her face. No shine to her messy hair. No life in her body. The heart monitor beeped slowly and unsteadily. It scared him. Her heart was being attacked by this… this… thing. It was taking her life away. It was killing her. "Rukia, I'm here." Ichigo whispered, clinging to her hand. "I'm right here for you. I'll be here. I won't leave your side, I swear." he put her hand to his cheek. She was so cold. "Rukia… I'm so sorry…" he sobbed.

Isshin watched from the doorway, his own heart aching. He thought he would never have to see his son like this again. Ever. Yet, it was happening again. Isshin approached Ichigo quietly and placed a hand on his back. Ichigo flinched from the contact and looked up at him, red and wet eyes desperate for a miracle.

"Son, I…" Isshin trailed off.

"Do something, Dad… help her." Ichigo cried. Isshin could only stare at him.

"Ichigo… There's-"

"Nothing that we can do for her." Both men turned around, staring at a tall male in a white doctor's coat, thin glasses, and snow-white hair.

Isshin glared at him. "Ryuken." Isshin said with venom in his voice. Ichigo looked to his father, then back at Ryuken. The slim male slowly strode into the room and in front of the men.

"Isshin." Ryuken nodded to him, then looked to Ichigo, whom didn't look too pleased to see him. "Ichigo Kurosaki," Ryuken said. "What Rukia has isn't easy to cure. In fact, the survival rate is one to eight hundred thousand." Ichigo gritted his teeth. Rukia was stronger than that. He knew that.

"So what are you saying? That she's gonna die?" Ichigo growled. Ryuken blinked at him.

"I didn't think you'd have to ask that question." Ryuken retorted. Ichigo shot up from his position on the floor only to be held back by Isshin. His face was just inches from Ryuken's.

"That's enough, Ichigo!" Isshin said to him. Ichigo was hard to hold back. He never thought his son was this strong. "Ichigo, stop!" Ichigo growled and struggled against his father.

"You fucker… how could you be so cold-hearted!" Ichigo yelled. "My wife is dying and all you can tell me is she has no chance of survival? Where's your sympathy? Compassion?" Ichigo threw his father's arms off him and turned around. He kneeled back into place and gripped Rukia's hand.

"I only speak the truth." Ryuken said.

"But that doesn't mean you have to be heartless, Ishida." Isshin said to him. Ryuken only shook his head.

"Giving false hope makes people think only the best will happen. I assure you, if I were to tell you that there was a small chance of survival for her, you'd be delving in the false fact that she'd survive." Ryuken said.

Isshin gritted his teeth. This man was despicable.

"If you wish to keep her alive for the next few days on this pointless antibiotic then that's up to you." Ryuken said. Ichigo turned to him.

"There has to be another way. There just has to be. There can't be nothing at all we can't do for her!" Ichigo yelled. Ryuken narrowed his eyes at him.

"I told you there is no way on this earth she's going to make it." Ryuken shot back. "Have you no idea what terminal illness is?" Ichigo looked back to Rukia. He couldn't let her die. He couldn't.

"There just has to be a way…" Ichigo put his head down onto her hand and sobbed quietly. He was going to lose her. He was going to lose her, too…

"I'm sorry, but there is no way. No medication is powerful enough to kill it. It's only a matter of time." Ryuken said. Ichigo began to shiver, his hand clutching Rukia's and turning it red. Anger, fear, resentment, hate all filled his body at the same time. He didn't know what to do. Was he really supposed to just sit here and hold her hand until she becomes lifeless?

"… there… is one way." Isshin whispered, looking down at the floor. Ryuken looked at him with a heavy look of surprise on his face, and Ichigo whipped his head around to look at his father.

"What?" Ichigo's eyes were wide and teary, but filling with hope. Isshin, however, refused to look at him.

"There is… one other solution." Isshin continued. "There's one medication that's strong enough to kill this thing."

"Then where is it?" Ichigo hopped to his feet and grabbed his father's shoulders, forcing him to look at him. "Where is it, Dad? Is it at home? I'll go back and get it, anything, I'll-"

"It's illegal in this country." Isshin blurted out. Ichigo went silent. It's banned? But, why…? "It was banned fifty years ago from production and distribution to this country. Since then, over twelve hundred people died from it, yet they still won't allow it back." Isshin said. Ichigo looked fallen.

"What caused it?" he asked.

"Diseased animals." Isshin answered. "When the medicine first came out, it was used properly. But when illegal drug trades started happening, fights broke out and people started misusing it. The idiots started dying from overdose more than the actual disease." Isshin looked away again. Ichigo dropped his head.

"Dad, if you knew it wasn't here, why did you fucking bring it up?" Ichigo growled. Isshin looked back at him.

"Because I know someone." Ichigo snapped his head up. "I know someone who has it. A whole case worth of it. If we can get just one bottle, Rukia may have a chance." Isshin said. Ichigo suddenly smiled. A sloppy, sad smile, but one also filled with hope.

"Where is this person? I'll go and get it. I'll bring it back. Tell me, Dad." Ichigo begged.

"It's…" Isshin hesitated. "It's far, where he is." Isshin said. Ichigo's grip on Isshin's shoulders tightened.

"Where is it?" he said through gritted teeth. "Don't tell me you're going to just stand here and let her die, Dad." Ichigo's eyes flared rage. Isshin had no other option.

"It's at Aisu Hill." Isshin answered. Ichigo's face paled.

"A-Aisu Hill?" He repeated. "That's… miles from here." Ichigo looked down. That's a five-day travel to and back. Possibly longer. That mountain already had feet upon feet of snow on it. The roads must be blocked and avalanches aren't a stranger at this time either.

"Ichigo, it's very dangerous there. It'll take a good week for you to return." Isshin said.

"And a week Rukia does not have." Ryuken spoke. Ichigo kept his gaze on the floor.

"How long does she have?" Ichigo asked. Ryuken cleared his throat.

"Three days at best." he answered.

"Is that with or without the antibiotics?" Isshin asked next.

"With. I told you it's pointless." Ryuken said. Ichigo gripped his father's shoulders tighter.

"All I need is three days." Ichigo said as he looked up. "Just give me three. And I'll be back here with not one bottle, but the whole damn case." Ichigo's eyes narrowed with determination. Isshin frowned.

"Ichigo, this journey isn't a walk in the park." Isshin said.

"Yes, listen to your father, Ichigo." Ryuken spoke. Ichigo shot him a glare. "It'll take you about six or seven days to return with that medicine. Considering you don't get hurt, or possibly die on the way there or back." Ryuken said.

"And all I need is three." Ichigo growled. He turned back to Isshin. "Dad, you just give me directions and I'll go there and be back within three days, you hear me?" Ichigo started at his father. Isshin was speechless. Ichigo… he was so persuaded that he was going to make it. Though Isshin doubted he could do it… a part of him said he could, and would do it, and prove that bastard Ishida wrong.

Smiling a bit, Isshin put his hands on Ichigo's shoulder. "I'll give you a map." He said. Ichigo smiled back.

"Thank-you, Dad." Ichigo looked to Ryuken, then glared. "As for you, bastard, I'm going to make you choke on your words." he let go of his father and turned around to Rukia. She looked so tiny and fragile; so delicate under the thin blanket that barely kept her warm. He let his fingertips stroke her cheek. It was cold as well. "Rukia…" he bent down and pressed his forehead to hers. "Wait for me, Rukia. I promise I'll come back." he kissed her flushed skin. "Don't die on me before I get back." he whispered to her. He fought back the last if his tears as he stood and walked out of the room.


After washing up and packing a bag, Ichigo came down the stairs of his home. It was so cold and quiet without Rukia here. It was lonely. So… empty without her.

Ichigo had lived alone by himself for a while before he met Rukia. He was just a shell. An empty man with no hope enough to keep living. A recluse not even speaking to his own family. When Rukia came along, he was very skeptical that she would change him. But change him she did. She married him.

Ichigo picked up the picture of he and Rukia. Just a simple photo of them smiling. The smile he knows he may not see if he fails. The smile that he'll only dream of and wish he'd see again.

"I promise… I'll save you, Rukia." he put the picture face down and threw his bag over his shoulder. Ichigo walked through the kitchen and out the door. When he stepped outside… it was snowing.

Ichigo froze. "Snow?" he looked up. The dreary early dawn was grey skies and snow falling calmly from the cloudless sky. It was sticking to the ground below his feet. This wasn't good. "Damn, I gotta hurry." Ichigo rushed to his car, and just as he was going to get in, a familiar car drove up the driveway. It was his father. "Dad?" Ichigo muttered as he pulled up beside him and got out.

"Ichigo, I need to talk to you." Isshin said sternly as he got out. He was dressed in his regular doctor's uniform. Ichigo saw how serious his face was.

"Dad, I need to go." Ichigo said.

"It's urgent." he said. Ichigo feared the worst.

"Is it Rukia? Has she gotten worse?" he asked worriedly. Isshin shook his head.

"No, just meet me inside." he said. Begrudgingly, Ichigo left his car and entered his home again. Inside, Isshin reached in his inner coat pocket and pulled out some papers folded up, and unraveled them and placed them on the table.

"What's this?" Ichigo asked. Isshin handed him a piece of paper with no lines on it in his father's handwriting.

"Some instructions for you." Isshin said. Ichigo scanned it quickly. "On the back is a map and the route I want you to take up that mountain."

"Urahara?" Ichigo read aloud.

"Kisuke Urahara." Isshin said. "He's in charge of the small shack that holds what we need. You tell him that Isshin Kurosaki sent you." Isshin said sternly. Ichigo looked at him.

"Dad, how do you know him?" Ichigo asked. Isshin kept a hard stare for a while.

"It's a very long story, son. One you don't have time for." Isshin said. Ichigo took his word and put the paper in his coat pocket. He then laid his attention to the papers on the table. It was typed professionally. Why did he feel like he's seen this before...?

"What is this, Dad?" he asked as he picked it up. Isshin said nothing as Ichigo read it and a horrified look crossed his face. "Dad, this is… euthanasia papers?" he looked up at him with disbelief. Isshin looked down.

"Yes." he answered honestly, then looked up at him. "Just in case-"

"Just in case what?" Ichigo interrupted. Isshin swallowed hard.

"Ichigo, there's no telling how Rukia is going to cope with this virus inside of her." Isshin began. "Just in case when you're gone, I want to have your consent to… put her out of her pain if she takes a turn for the worst." Isshin said. Ichigo's hands trembled as he held the papers in his hands. He couldn't do this… he couldn't sign a paper saying he was okay with them murdering his wife.

"I… I can't do it!" Ichigo slammed the papers down on the table. "I can't sign this, Dad. I can't!" he felt his eyes burning up with tears. How could his father do this to him?

Isshin suddenly put a hand to Ichigo's. "Listen, son. I wouldn't do this if I didn't think it was the best option." Isshin said. Ichigo dropped his head. "I… I had to do it with Masaki…" Isshin said regretfully. Ichigo looked up at him shocked.

"M-mom?" he breathed heavily. Isshin closed his eyes and turned away from Ichigo. His head down and his stature stiff. He was silent and still, like a boulder. It's the worst he's ever seen his father.

"Your mother… she was in so much pain…" Isshin muttered. Ichigo listened with heartache. "I couldn't stand seeing her suffer the way she was. There was no way I was going to have her going through more of what she'd already been going through. The treatment was making it worse and…" Isshin stopped talking. Ichigo looked away. He knew his mother was very ill, but he never knew that. "I never told you or your sisters what I did." he turned around, exposing his teary eyes. "Because I didn't want you to see your father as the person who killed their mother." he finally said. Ichigo was speechless. He was only five when she died. He saw his mother's death as… natural, not voluntary from a person. "Ichigo, it was one of the worst things I've had to do in my entire life. Something I never wanted to have to do, but…" he walked up to Ichigo. "As you know already, we have to do terrible things to help others." Ichigo looked at him. He's never trusted anyone else other than his father. All his life his father has never been wrong. Not once. Not now, either…

Hanging his head and staring at the papers below, Ichigo sighed. "Give me the pen…" Isshin reached into his pocket and handed Ichigo a pen. He felt his heart shatter seeing his son sign the paper. Ichigo placed the pen down and stood straight, running his hands through his hair.

"I'll be back before you get the chance to even get that needled close enough to her." Ichigo said darkly. Isshin smiled. That's his boy.

"You're strong, Ichigo. Just like your mother." Isshin said. Ichigo glanced at him, and flashed a quick smile before heading towards the door.

"I have to go, Dad." Ichigo said emotionless.

"Wait a second." Isshin stopped him again. "Take these." he tossed him a pair of keys. Ichigo caught them and looked at them closely. Then back to Isshin.

"Dad, these are the keys to your jeep." Ichigo said. Isshin loved that car. Why was he giving it to him? Isshin only smiled.

"You think that piece of junk of yours can withstand this weather?" he said. "Take it and get that medicine." Isshin said. Ichigo once again was speechless. His father was really there for him. "Show that Ryuken who's boss, too." Ichigo chuckled.

"No problem, Dad." Ichigo opened the door, but before he left, he turned around. "Oh, Dad." He said and Isshin looked at him. "Can you take the blanket off my bed and take it to Rukia? I want her warm." he said. Isshin nodded.

"Will do, son." were the last words Ichigo heard from his father before he got in the jeep and embarked on the long, dire journey.


At the hospital, Isshin returned with the blanket Ichigo wanted him to put over Rukia. It was a simple quilt: an orange and purple design coloring on it. Isshin frowned looking at it. It was their blanket. And knowing that Ichigo was fighting for Rukia's life along with her made him depressed.

Isshin entered the room which had barely lit up with the cold weather. The first snow of the season. All that Ichigo was preparing for. Will it all be in vain?

"Ichigo. Don't you dare take longer than three days." Isshin said to himself as he covered Rukia with the quilt. She… she reminded him of the day Masaki was lying in the hospital bed… with the same illness… He prayed Rukia wouldn't be joining her, too.

"Your boy's stupid." Isshin heard Ryuken from the doorway. He was holding the paper Ichigo signed, a clipboard in the other hand. Isshin glared at him. "It'll take a miracle for him to make it back here in just three days." Ryuken continued. "He'll never make it in this weather." he walked over to a table that held all sorts of items. Isshin sat next to Rukia, silently fuming. "In three days, maybe two, maybe one, she may go down the path for the worst." he picked up a syringe. "Her vitals are horrid as of now. Her breathing has to be supported by a machine, and she has to be fed through a tube." he picked up a small bottle, sticking the needle into it. "It'll only be a matter of time, Isshin." He pulled the plunger of the syringe back, filling the barrel with a translucent, yellow-tinged liquid. "Before the time comes." he finished and placed the syringe back on the table. Isshin finally turned to the doctor.

"Ryuken, shut up." Isshin spat. Ryuken was unmoved. "My boy Ichigo may not be some school wizard like your Uryu, but goddamn is he strong." he stood up and walked towards him. "You may be forgetting that I'm a doctor too. And I say Rukia has a fighting chance so long as Ichigo has anything to say about it." Isshin growled.

"And what about your wife?" Ryuken mentioned and made Isshin cringe. "Where was your say when she came down with this virus?"

"It was too late for her." Isshin replied. "And you keep my wife out of this! Don't you dare mention her name. Ever." Isshin threatened. Ryuken only held his glare. "Now I want you to direct me to the pharmacy." Isshin demanded.

"Why?" Ryuken asked.

"Because I want Rukia on the strongest steroid we've got here." Isshin said. "As you said countless times before, antibiotics won't work. Steroids will keep her heart going and her organs functioning just until Ichigo gets back." Isshin said.

"You're so sure of him." Ryuken said.

"Of course I am," Isshin said. "Ichigo can do this. So long as I'm here backing him up."

Ryuken rolled his eyes. "You think this hope will save her?" he asked. "The mountains up there are treacherous. Once he gets stuck, he's stuck. Are you sure he won't die there?" he asked.

"No, he won't." Isshin said. He looked back to Rukia and frowned. "Not with Rukia to save."


Ichigo has embarked on his dangerous journey to save Rukia's life. Will he save her? Or will Ryuken be right and Ichigo will die along with Rukia? Wait for chapter 5 to find out! Please leave a review and let me know what you think!