~CHAPTER 9~
TOHRU
I imagine if you truly break as many bones as Tohru, you'd probably be in the hospital for much longer. Though, for this story, I think a few days will do! Please enjoy, if there is anyone actually reading… c: and PLEASE PLEASE PLEAAASE review.
Her arms were tired. There was only a month left of summer, and Tohru knew she wouldn't make it out of this wheelchair by the start of school – how embarrassing. She sighed, wheeling herself up the ramp that Shigure, Yuki and Kyo had built for her leading to the front door. Everyone would probably be asking her questions, and in truth, she did not know the answer. She had only remembered running and being incredibly upset. Surely, she must have just been flustered and fallen – that was the story she had told her grandpa, Hana and Uo atleast.
They all three would be awake soon, and Tohru decided she would try to start breakfast – nearly the only thing she could do for herself anymore and she could hardly do that. She had been becoming frustrated with how dependent she had to be on everyone due to her injuries. It was the most humiliating circumstance she had ever had to deal with – she couldn't bathe, get in bed, or do laundry completely on her own. Thankfully Shigure had installed a metal rod next to the toilet to help her motivate from the wheelchair to the toilet seat by herself, but that entire process was even nearly unbearable. Her broken ribs made it hard for her to move around in her wheelchair, and her broken legs made it impossible to motivate entirely. Tohru would never be able to truly repay the three of them, she knew, for everything they had done for her these last few weeks.
She cracked the first few eggs, and the pan hissed as they came into contact. Almost immediately after this, she began hearing the familiar shuffling from upstairs. Since Tohru was able to return home, Yuki had almost completely changed around his sleeping schedule to fit Tohru's daily life. Not usually a morning person before, he would be awake and ready by the time Tohru would wake up and help her get up and around for the day. Then, he would go to sleep for an hour or so before she would start breakfast – everyday – which he would usually always wake up for so that he could help her with breakfast. She wondered if he didn't trust her with the cooking anymore, afraid she'd burn the house down. The thought made her feel sad, though she knew she wasn't as graceful as she had been before. As she lifted her arms up to reach the eggs on the stove with a spatula, she could feel her healing ribs disagreeing with her movements and instantly dropped the scalding hot egg and spatula down onto her lap causing her to yelp in pain. "A-Ah!" Her hands didn't know whether to grip her ribs or her burning legs, but before she could decide, Yuki was there in an instant after making a mad dash down the steps.
"Tohru, you should have waited for me!" He scolded lightly, grabbing the hot food in her lap with his bare hands and carelessly dropping it onto the floor, while also whipping the spatula out of sight. He swept off what he could from her lap before darting to the sink to retrieve a cold, wet rag. "Here," Yuki kneeled down beside her, and without thinking too much about it, began to lift her dress slightly over her thighs to investigate the damage. Tohru was unable to react, watching Yuki carefully apply the cold rag to the pink skin.
"O-oh," when her realizations had finally caught up to her, she began trying to pull down her dress in a panic, "N-no! Um, I'll do it, th-thank you!" Her face burned, and Yuki immediately stepped back, equally embarrassed.
"I'm sorry." He stood immediately, looking away and muttering, "I was just worried – got caught up in the moment."
"No, no, don't apologize. I'm sorry I'm such a klutz . . ." She had turned slightly away from him in her wheelchair. Yuki quietly handed her the wet rag. "Thank you, Yuki-kun."
"Don't mention it," he murmured. She had quickly applied the rag to her legs, but after a moment, she sighed tiredly at her god awful situation.
"I'll – um – have to ch-change now," she said in a hushed tone, feeling horribly ashamed. "I'm so sorry…"
"No, no! That's okay, Tohru! It's really not a big deal. Want to go ahead and do that right now? We'll take care of breakfast later," but he had already begun to happily shut off the simmering pan, not giving her much of a decision in the matter. She knew he didn't like it when she would continuously try to cook. He'd always say she needed to stop overdoing it so she could heal and that Kyo and Shigure would take care of the meals. In the beginning, Yuki had tried, but nearly everything he tried to cook would be served black.
"Okay," she returned gloomily.
"Hey," he walked over to her, bending down to her level and taking her goopy, yolky hands into his. "It's okay. Everything is going to be fine, okay? It was just a little goof up, but please, allow one of us to cook for you. If you strain to reach the stove, you could really mess up your healing process." She nodded compliantly. "Good. Now let's get you out of these egg-y clothes." Tohru couldn't help but blush – no matter how many times she had to go through this process with Yuki, it never made it any easier.
Most of her belongings had been moved downstairs into the living room to avoid unnecessary trips up and down stairs. Yuki wheeled her in, sweat rolling down his forehead. Tohru kept her head down in humiliation, making Yuki feel indescribably guilty. When they were in the living room, he rummaged through some of her clothes, deciding on another dress as usual, to avoid getting her into pants. He held it up for her to inspect it and she gave it a quick nod. Yuki gazed at her sympathetically. "Hanajima-san and Uotani-san should be back from their trip in a few days. They both seemed eager to come to the house to help out. I-I'm so sorry, Tohru . . . Would you like me to call Rin or Kagura yet? I'm positive they wouldn't mind at all." Tohru held up her hands.
"I don't want to trouble anyone," she stuttered, "I'm truly sorry that you have to do this for me. If you want you can just send me back to g-grandpa's or . . ."
"Tohru, I want to take care of you. I've told you countless times, it makes me happy to be able to do this for you." But Tohru only put her hands over her face, disregarding his words. Yuki sighed, walking over to her, dress in hand. "Look." She uncovered her eyes momentarily, finding him kneeling in front of her, pulling out a familiar piece of cloth from his back pocket. She watched him fold the cloth long ways and wrap it around his head, blindfolding himself. "Ready?" Tohru couldn't help but smile at how hard he was trying. She knew this was hard for him too.
"Yes."
Yuki reached around behind her, untying the knot at the top of her dress in the back. It fell loose enough for Tohru to be able to slide her arms out of the dress and for Yuki to then lift it over her head. Tohru would have been able to dress for herself if she didn't have to worry about lifting her arms up – her broken ribs limited 90% of her upper body movement.
"Tell me when you're ready," Yuki dropped the dress onto the floor beside him. Tohru quickly took the rag, wiping up her legs and hands once more before Yuki brought the new dress onto her head somewhat clumsily, due to his lack of sight. "Sorry," he muttered. Still blindfolded, he tucked one arm under hers and around her back to lift her slightly, bringing the rest of her dress under her from behind. She pulled the dress down over her legs by herself as Yuki pulled away.
"You can look now," Tohru mumbled shyly. Yuki drew the cloth from his face, his eyes falling onto Tohru – her cheeks still tinted and her eyes unable to meet his.
"Beautiful." He smiled down at her lovingly. "As always, of course," he repeated, just as he had a million times before to her.
She returned the smile, the tears welling up in her eyes. "I could never possibly thank you enough for everything you do for me, Yuki-kun."
"You don't have to in the first place. This is my choice – I would choose to be the one to do this a million trillion times over again. So please," He took her hands in his, "Accept it for what it is." He put his thumb to her cheek, wiping at some of her tears before turning her chin up to look at him. "Let me take care of you, Tohru." The words took her off guard, as did the tone in his voice. He gazed at her with pleading eyes, making her breathless.
Dizzily, she replied, "O-okay." She recalled the last few days of her stay at the hospital. After Shigure had come to visit her, she didn't see him again until she was discharged.
ALL POV
"Tohru," Yuki nearly stumbled into the hospital room. He was panting, holding himself against the doorframe, seeming like he would nearly fall over. It was still such a new experience to be able to hear her first name on his lips – she treasured it, worried each time that it would be the last she'd hear it.
"Yuki-kun? Are you alright?" Her usual worry evident in her voice, she wondered what possibly could have happened between him and Shigure. He was still breathing raggedly, staring at her with a deep sense of urgency.
"You're perfect." He breathed, his eyes melting into hers with a seeming desperation. "I needed to tell you – that you – that you are perfect, Tohru."
"E-eh? Thank y - Yuki-kun, are you sure you're okay – um . . ." He began making his way slowly across the room to her, meanwhile her heart monitor was accelerating wildly. It all happened as suddenly as his hands gently caressed the sides of her face, travelling down through her hair. Ever so slowly, so not to cause her any discomfort, he sat on the bed and began pulling himself to her delicate body. "Yuki . . . kun."
He held her to him, stroking her long brunette locks in a comforting manner. He could not stop the smile that spread across his face as he wrapped her into his arms. Happy tears found his cheeks, but he could feel Tohru stiffen under him. "You're confused, I know. I'm sorry," he breathed, "All you need to know is that everything is going to be alright. This," he began, holding her more closely and tenderly, locking his fingers in her hair as he pressed his lips to her head in a kiss, "I have you to thank for this." He held her frigid form, finally allowing himself to enjoy her warmth when ever so slowly, he felt her hands travel up his back in a manner of returning the embrace. Gentle quivering beneath him caused him to pull back slightly and look at her. She blinked away tears as she gazed at him, and he could only smile at her beauty.
"C-curse . . ."
"I know, I know, shh . . ." He brought her back to his chest comfortingly. "I know. Thank you."
The next morning, it was finally time for Tohru to be released. Yuki had felt so ready to profess his love to her the night before after what happened with Shigure, but the subject seemed to get lost in time – well, that and he had completely chickened out. Even though he had known her feelings for him, his fears prevailed in the end. And so it was left unspoken…
They had her in the wheelchair a few hours before she was to leave, allowing her to get a feel for new mode of transportation, and she couldn't help but feel honestly irritated. Motivating was immensely difficult because of her ribs. The doctor had given her some pain medications and a small pillow. At first, she questioned him, and he reasoned that she could apply the pillow to her stomach area during especially tasking events.
"She will need some looking after," the doctor turned to Yuki, "Meals, housekeeping, bathing, dressing . . . those kinds of things." Yuki quickly glanced at Tohru, her eyes bulging in horror as her face turned a dark shade of red.
"Hanajima-san and Uotani-san will surely be willing to help with that," he offered as if to reassure her, giving her a small smile.
The doctor, clearly mistaking them as a couple, looked between the two of them slightly confused. "Ah, well yes, as long as she is taken care of. Much of daily life you will find is going to be difficult to perform, if at all. Full time care will be necessary." He flipped through some paperwork as if to go over it to himself, "Well then. With that, you are free to leave when convenient for you. Please come back if there are any issues. The front desk will give you a follow-up appointment." He gave both Yuki and Tohru a firm handshake and walked out of the room, leaving them alone once more.
"Shall I call Uotani-san?" Tohru nodded stoically, the realization of it all seeming to hit her at once. She would not be able to take care of herself anymore - she would have to burden the people she loved because of her own issues. How pathetic.
"Hello, Uotani-san, this is Yuki Sohma – yes Tohru is fine . . . she's being discharged today – yes . . . Actually, I was wondering if you or Hanajima-san would be able to stay with us until Tohru heals . . . Ah, I see . . ." Tohru bit at her lip nervously. "Well that cannot be helped, I understand. . . Yes, I will keep you up to date – Thank you Uotani-san. Have a safe trip, goodbye." With a click, he turned to Tohru regretfully.
"It seems Uotani-san and Hanajima-san are on a trip for the summer," he watched her brown eyes fall to her lap sadly.
"Shall I call Rin maybe?" He offered quickly, but was met with a shake of her head.
"I-I don't want to trouble them . . . I don't want them to worry over me." She kept her head down, and Yuki gazed at her sympathetically. "I'll stay here."
Yuki was baffled at first at her strange idea at first, but couldn't help chuckling softly. "I don't know about that." He didn't believe the hospital would really even do that, and he was fearful to think of where they would put her had she no place to go. Either way, he concluded, she will be staying at home no matter what. "Maybe we could hire a home care service for you, or . . ."
"N-no! Please! That would cost m-money and I . . ." If she had any money left from her last paycheck, it surely would be nonexistent now due to her hospital bills. She hung her head again in defeat.
He sighed. How had it come to this? He felt shameful to even think such thoughts, but it truly may have been the only way. Now for the right wording . . . "Tohru, at least until the summer is over, I w-"
"No, please no, Yuki-kun! I beg of you, I couldn't possibly ask – and-and, you . . ." She blushed deeply at the thought, shaking her head back and forth.
"I would be honored," he bowed in front of her, "To do everything I can to take care of you and make you feel as comfortable as possible." It was a vow.
"Yuki-kun . . ."
"I apologize deeply. I know it's not right that I should be the one –"
"Ah, um, n-no that's not it."
"But I promise you, Tohru, you will be safe and I will try my hardest to make it as, um, less awkward as possible. I'm sorry that there is not anyone else, really. . ." He trailed off, gazing down to her sadly, as if he was feeling every ounce of the embarrassment and pain she felt.
"You are so kind, Yuki-kun." Her heart was filled with gratitude. Yuki could only smile with all the warmth his heart held, kneeling down once more to her level as to take her into his embrace. "Thank you," she blubbered. He stroked her hair lovingly.
'Truly, Tohru, I am honored.'
