Akito was not doing well. The strong smells of antiseptic and bleach, the sound of gurneys being wheeled around, and the sterile whiteness of the hospital had practically shut him down. He huddled in one of the hard plastic waiting room chairs, unable to focus his mind. It had been a couple of years since he was last treated here, but his memory had not been good. He was seeing it all over again in his minds' eye.

Hatori had rushed him through those sliding doors over there. He'd wrapped Akito up in a blanket and was carrying him cradle-style in his arms. Akito was trembling all over, the pain in his middle making him scream. His shrill childish unchanged voice had been echoing all around him, but he hadn't been able to stop as hard as he tried. He'd known that something was wrong all day because his body had been growing weaker and weaker. Unable to find anyone to play with for the time being, he'd simply gone to the garden himself. That was when the pain started. Knowing he'd have to stay in bed and aching for sunshine, he'd refused to go into the house despite it. He didn't give in until he was really hurting—and by then, he desperately needed a bathroom break. His mother did not like accidents and he knew he'd be in serious trouble if he had another one. Hurrying past everyone else and clenching one hand between his legs, he made it just in time only to receive the biggest shock of his life: his urine had turned a dark red. Akito had backed away from the toilet with a cold sweat.

I'm going to die…was the only coherent thought he could manage. When he'd emerged from the bathroom, trembling and crying, he clutched his painful middle. Their living space was just down the hallway. Hatori's area was down the other side. Akito desperately wanted to go see Hatori because Hatori always found a way to make him feel better. If he was dying, however, he should probably go see his mother.

Ren had been lying on her bed reading some trashy romance novel that Akito wasn't allowed to even touch when Akito had staggered in. Any ordinary mother should have known that something was wrong just by looking at him. He was struggling not to vomit, as that would make a mess and upset her.

"Mama…" he gasped, not quite knowing what to say.

She glanced up.

"What do you want, Akito?" She asked frostily.

"Mama….it hurts…I think I'm dying…"

"Don't be such a baby."

"No…really…I…"

He'd dropped to the floor then, as he no longer had the strength to stand. He didn't go unconscious, though he dearly wished he'd had. His eyes were closed. Now Ren was slightly worried. She rose from the bed.

"Akito Sohma, you stop that right now!"

But he couldn't. He was starting to cry now because he was scared and because he hurt. Much to his horror, she backed away from him slowly before running out of the room. When he felt gentle hands turning him over, they were not hers, but Hatori's. Even after he had confirmed that this was beyond his scope to fix and that Akito would have to go to the hospital, Ren would not touch him. He was placed in the backseat of the car and left to howl in pain. Hatori might have held him if he hadn't been the one driving. After they'd given him some medicine for the pain and run a bunch of tests to see what was going on, Ren still did not come to comfort him. When he was allowed, at last, to see visitors, it was Hatori who stepped in as the makeshift father, for Akito's real father was dead.

"Where's Mom?" Akito asked as Hatori settled onto the edge of his bed.

"She had to go home," Hatori said. Akito wondered why he was looking like that, why his voice sounded stony.

"Wasn't she scared? I know I was," Akito admitted.

Hatori didn't have an answer. It was then that Akito had an awful, crushing realization for a child.

"She doesn't want me," Akito said tearfully, "she doesn't like me because there's something wrong with me. And that's why you're here and she isn't."

Hatori opened his mouth to protest, but the words wouldn't come. The look on his face told Akito everything.

It was the first of many hellish nights he'd spent in here. This place was meant to heal you, but to Akito, it was nothing but a white-tiled prison. Everywhere you looked, there was white. There was so much white that he wanted to scream and ask them all to paint it some other color, for God's sake! But he didn't.

Someone touched his shoulder and nearly made him jump out of his skin.

"Akito?"

It was Tohru. His first impulse was to slap her hand away and scold her for touching him. She felt him twitch, but he merely gritted his teeth together in annoyance.

"Are you all right?" she asked gently.

He didn't answer. Much to his chagrin, she sat down beside him.

"I'm sure they'll both be fine," she said, trying to force a smile. Kyo and Yuki were on the other side of the room. They were watching both of them like hawks, which got on Akito's nerves even more.

"Leave me alone," Akito snapped, "and tell them to stop staring. It's rude."

Anyone but Tohru would have probably laughed and said he could have written the book on rudeness, but Tohru didn't.

"They're worried, too," Tohru told him, "and they know something's bothering you."

Akito's face was buried in his hands.

"Someone tried to kill my doctor," he growled, "of course it's bothering me! And worse, it was either someone in our family or someone's found out about our secret! I guess you could say I'm a little tense for a reason."

Tohru understood then. Despite Hatori's eyesight being wrecked by this man, and despite having the love of his life being chased off, Hatori never would actually blame Akito for it. He never seemed to blame anybody. Akito had probably run Kana off because he had felt threatened. She didn't say anything else, just sat there for a while.

"What actually did happen, anyway?"

Akito finally told her. He'd heard that Hatori was going to go pick Melody up from Shigure's house and was on his way out. Akito had happened to be watching from one of the windows when a heavily clothed figure had emerged from behind the car and hugged him. It must have been a woman because Hatori had transformed. Then, much to his horror, she had brought her booted foot down on the now helpless seahorse that was wriggling around in the coat. She'd managed to step on him at least twice before Akito made his presence known. He'd moved as fast as he could, but it still took him a few seconds to reach Hatori. He'd taken him to the hospital wing and happened across Hatsuharu on the way there. Akito told Hatsuharu to guard him with his life, then had gone after Melody because he truly believed she was the only one who could save him. Hatsuharu had then started doing CPR and chest compressions to try and get Hatori breathing again and it had worked after several attempts.

"You must have been so scared," Tohru said, wide-eyed.

"I was," Akito confessed, "there was so much blood…I panicked."

As he told his story, he was unaware of the rest of the family circling him.

"You probably saved his life," Shigure told him, "and for someone who panicked, you accomplished a lot in a very short amount of time."

Akito's dark sapphire eyes met Shigure's dark brown almost black ones. For the first time in history, there was a tiny trace-smile of approval there. Even Yuki had that ghost of a smile. The moment lasted but a few seconds, however, because one of the doctors emerged from the back room.

"I have good news and bad news about your friends," he said, "the good news is about Hatori. He's got several soft-tissue injuries and some internal bleeding, but it appears to have been stopped. Though he's also got a few fractures, most of them are small and will heal without any complications. I've never seen anything like it—he looks as if he's been crushed under something heavy, but the injuries already seem to be healing. As for the girl, Melody…"

Akito's stomach was filled with acid.

"I don't know what's happened to her. She has the body weight of an anorexic. She's also severely dehydrated and malnourished. All of this has put a strain on her heart. If she makes it through the night, there's a good chance she'll recover. We'll have to keep her here until she gains a few pounds."

"May we see them?" Shigure asked.

"Of course. I must warn you that the girl isn't very responsive right now, however. You will have to go in one at a time since there are so many of you."

"Why don't you go first, Akito? You did save their lives, after all."

"If anything, Hatsuharu saved their lives," Akito mumbled, "he called the hospital."

"Go on," they urged him. Drawing in a deep breath, Akito followed one of the nurses to the back room. He felt an uncomfortable cramping in his stomach, more from nerves than anything else, but he was determined to tough it out. There was no one here to guide him and move him gently towards the things that frightened him—today, he must do it himself. He found Hatori first and placed his hand over his father figure's. Hatori's eyes opened slowly, having the glazed look of someone who'd been heavily medicated.

"Akito," he rasped.

"You'll be all right now," Akito told him, "I brought Melody for you."

"Where is she?"

"In the next bed."

The look on Akito's face told him everything.

"She shouldn't have…"

"I'm glad she did," Akito interrupted, "you're the only person who's ever cared about me. I couldn't let you die."

Hatori's hand gave Akito's a weak squeeze.

"Thank you."

It was rare, almost unheard of for the young man standing over him to show any affection whatsoever. Hatori couldn't really remember the last time Akito had been like this. The mask of indifference he'd always wore, even anger, had gone, even if it was just for a short time. He could see the naked fear in Akito's eyes and realized that there was a shred of love under all that selfishness.

"Go see her," Hatori told him, "and thank her…"

His eyes slid shut again, a result of the pain medicine. Akito gave his hand a last squeeze and went to look at Melody.

What he saw horrified him. There were so many tubes and machines on her that she looked like a science experiment. Though he knew those tubes were actually keeping her alive, they appeared to be draining her. The hospital gown that they'd put her in was too big—it almost seemed to be swallowing her. The white was too harsh against her skin and he found himself wishing they'd have given her a blue or green gown. The heart monitor registered regular waves, though the beeps were painfully far apart. Several IV bags were being fed into her veins, some of which he was sure was glucose to refuel her now-starved body. Her eyes seemed too sunken in, the sockets too deep and shadowed. If it weren't for the waves on the monitors, Akito would have thought she was dead. He stood over her for several minutes, not knowing what to think. Part of him was horrified that he'd even put her in that position. He actually wondered why he had blamed her. If anything, the person who'd hurt Hatori was the one who needed to be held responsible.

She would have healed him anyway, Akito told himself, that's what she does. She gives part of herself so that they can be well. She likes Hatori. She wouldn't want him to suffer.

He wanted her to wake, and yet he was afraid for her to. If she opened her eyes, she'd see his fear. He was afraid that neither of them would make it, that he would be on his own without someone to take the hurt away. It scared him and made him feel so cold on the inside that it felt as if his very soul was icing over.

Melody twitched then.

"Come on," he said in her ear, "come on, you stubborn, silly girl!"

No response.

"Well, fine! Just lie there then! Don't even give me a look in exchange for all I've done for you!" he snapped. If he'd have known any songs, he might have sang for her. If he'd have known any prayers, he'd have prayed. If he'd have known even some sweet, encouraging words, he'd have whispered in her ear. But all he knew was shouting and swearing and violence.

"Damn you! Damn you for putting me through this! Damn you for showing up at my gate in the first place! I hate you, you know that?!" he shouted furiously, quivering.

The curtains parted and a doctor not much more than Hatori's age appeared.

"Akito," he said quietly, "you need to calm down. You're frightening the other patients."

Akito cut off mid-rant and looked at him.

"How did you know my name?" he asked irritably.

The doctor just smiled.

"There aren't many around here who don't know who you are," he said quietly.

The doctor came to Melody's other side. Standing there, he and Akito were directly across from each other. Melody's pale waxy skin contrasted sharply with his warm creamed-coffee complexion. Were the doctor's eyes green or hazel? He couldn't really tell. Then there was the hair—it didn't seem to be a specific color, either. The light caught it one way and illuminated it reddish-gold. Sometimes it seemed more of a brown. Then in the shadows, it was such an inky black that he almost saw blue in there as well. The doctor didn't seem to be a specific race, but a blending of them.

"Will she be all right?" Akito finally asked.

"She will recover with time," the doctor told him, "until then, you must be very careful with her. She's not an ordinary person, after all."

"Hatori said she had wings," Akito only half-joked, "and the children call her their guardian angel because she tells all these wild stories about Heaven."

The doctor was smiling.

"Oh, yes…she's had quite a few adventures."

"You know her?"

"We go pretty far back," the doctor said, "I've known her since birth. I was there for it."

"You don't look that old."

"Looks can be deceiving, can't they? Especially in a country where hardly anyone seems to age. Yes, I was there the night she was born. I delivered her with my own hands. I know her quite literally inside and out."

Akito tried to get a look at the doctor's ID badge, but he couldn't see it; the light was glaring off of it.

"When she is well enough, take her home and be kind to her," the doctor told Akito, "she's one of my greatest treasures. She came to you for a reason and you must trust her. This is only the beginning of your journey together. If you mistreat her, I will find out, make no mistake."

"Are you threatening me?" Akito asked, half-stunned, half-angry.

"No. That's a promise, Son. I have ways of finding out."

His words were calm, but stern. Akito felt like a child being scolded. As much as he wanted to snap at this man who didn't know what he was talking about, something stopped him.

"While she's here, I'm counting on you to watch over her just as she does for you," he continued, "she's going to need your protection and your help someday. Don't let us down."

And with that, he walked away. Akito went after him, getting the odd feeling that something wasn't right. When he opened the curtain to chase after the doctor, he was gone.

Akito felt his heart rate increase.

"What the-?"

He was just right there—right FREAKING THERE?! Where the Hell did he go?! Who was he?

"Father?"

Akito nearly jumped out of his skin. Melody was the one who had breathed that word. Her eyes were open for a second or two, though they were as glassy as Hatori's. They closed again before Akito could cross into her line of vision.

"Melody, wake up!" he shook her shoulder, but she didn't wake. Akito stared at the crack in the curtain where the doctor had gone.

It can't be…

But his heart told him different.

Akito didn't say anything to anyone as he returned to the waiting room. Momiji offered him a steaming cup of tea and he took it numbly. He tried to sip it, but his throat felt constricted. He pushed the little black stirring straw around and around in the cup. One by one, the others went in. It seemed to take forever and he felt very drained by the time they were all done. A snooty nurse informed them that visiting hours were over and had been for quite a long time. Shigure leaned casually against the wall beside her. Akito couldn't hear what he was saying, but he knew that Shigure was trying to put the charm on her. Judging by the sharp slap she gave him (at least it was on the shoulder instead of the face), things hadn't worked out.

"What's the matter, Mutt? Not your type?" Akito couldn't help but ask with a smirk. His brain had been begging for a distraction, any distraction at all.

"You could say that," Shigure said with a sigh, "she only dates other women."

"PHHHHHHHHHH!" Tohru's tea came shooting out of her mouth. Momiji banged on her back to try and help her stop choking. Akito was so surprised that he could only blink.

I'm so…disturbed…that I don't know what to say to that.

"Shall we?" Shigure asked, gesturing to the door, "We can't really do anything else until morning."

They all turned to look at Akito. Ordinarily, this gave him a great deal of satisfaction, but now he just felt unsettled. He gave a nod.

"Let's go," he agreed reluctantly.

The waiting room was almost completely emptied when they made their mass exodus from the hospital. Slowly, they piled into all their various cars. As one of the eldest ones, Shigure had driven Akito since Hatori wasn't able to do it. He held the passenger-side door open for Akito. Before the ink-haired young man got in, he turned to look at the hospital one last time.

It feels like I'm abandoning them, he lamented. The door closed behind him and he fumbled around with his seat belt for a moment before Shigure's hands closed over his and clicked the seat belt into place.

"It's going to be all right," his gentle voice said. Akito didn't answer. It was starting to rain and the drops looked far too much like tears streaming down the glass. He'd been terrified quite a few times in his life, but this was the worst one since that first porphyria attack in his childhood. He felt so many things at once right now that it was making him physically ill.

"Would you like for us to stay?" Shigure asked when they were almost to the gate. Akito nodded. Despite usually wanting to be alone when something was bothering him, he didn't think he could handle it. He knew, in that terrible moment, that he was not God or any variation of Him. He was only a man, if that.

They all headed inside. The rest of the people there (for they'd only brought a portion of the household to the hospital) asked all sorts of questions. Thankfully, the others took over the explanations.

"Will you be all right, Akito?" Tohru asked quietly. He didn't really answer. His glance up at her for that split second carried more meaning than words ever could. Someone else started talking to her and he took the opportunity to slip away. After all that, he was so tired. Dragging himself down the hallway, he passed his mother's old room. It was just a guest room now; he'd banished her from Sohma House over a year ago. He would never be able to banish the ghosts from his mind as easily as he would have liked to. In a moment of irritation, he slammed his fist into the door, leaving a very nice Akito's-hand—sized-dent. Waving it around in the air for a few seconds to get it to stop hurting, he resigned himself to what was probably going to be a sleepless night. He was wrong, though. Once he closed his eyes, he didn't feel as if it had been more than a minute. When he opened them again, the gray morning light was casting a silvery tint over anything.

"Ugh…" he muttered, rubbing his eyes on the back of his hand. There was a light tap on the door.

"Akito? You awake?" a voice asked. It was Shigure's.

"Yes," he mumbled, "this had better be good."

The door slid back.

"It is," Shigure answered cheerfully, "I thought you would like to know that Melody and Hatori are both awake."

Akito stopped rubbing his face and let his hand fall.

"They also both told me to tell everyone not to worry. Melody sounds pretty good for a person that almost died."

Akito gave him a dark look.

"Visiting hours begin at one," he said, "so you can go back to sleep if you want."

He tried, but it just didn't happen. After a little while, he reluctantly drew himself out of the warm cocoon of his blankets. One of the maids brought breakfast.

"Is there anything else you would like?" she asked him, being careful to stay out of arm's reach.

"Coffee," he replied, "and a lot of cream and a lot of sugar."

If she thought this was strange, she hid it very well. After all, she'd been seeing a lot of strange things lately.