Chapter Nine: Never Forgotten
The next few days were a chaotic blur for Mai. They had taken Naru to the hospital where he remained unconscious. They were carefully monitoring him in his own room. It had been nearly a week and the doctors were worried that although he was breathing on his own, he wasn't responding.
Mai hadn't left Naru's side since she'd found him in the cave. No matter what the others said she refused to leave him. She had to be there when he woke; she couldn't bear to even go to the hospital cafeteria. The doctors had mentioned the possibility of memory loss and even a coma. Mai's grip on Naru's hand tightened at the thought. "Nee, Naru? Bou-san and Ayako came by again today. Masako couldn't bear to come so John's staying with her. She was bombarded by spirits the moment she walked in. As for Madoka and Lin, they're downstairs eating. Ah! Lin-san mentioned that your parents would be here today so you'd better wake up soon, or you'll end up worrying them," Mai rambled.
There was a sudden knock at the door and she turned, never loosening her grip on Naru. "Come in!" she called.
The door opened to reveal Lin and a couple that she immediately recognized to be Luella and Martin Davis. Mai stood and bowed before saying in English, "It's nice to see you again, Mr. and Mrs. Davis."
Lin raised a brow. "When did you learn to speak English, Mai?"
Mai blushed and ran her fingers through her hair nervously. "It's not important. Anyway, the doctors have said that Noll's vitals are just fine. Everything's up to him now."
Luella studied the young woman in front of Oliver's bed. She vaguely remembered meeting her when they flew from England to retrieve Gene's body, but she hadn't really paid attention.
Mai gasped. She turned to Luella and Martin and bowed apologetically. "I'm sorry! I haven't introduced myself properly! My name is Mai Taniyama and I'm Oliver's assistant." Mai hadn't told the others what had happened between her and Naru exactly and wasn't planning to without Naru's consent.
Luella stepped forward and gave the woman- Mai- a gentle smile. "It's alright, dear. How long have you been here?"
Mai blushed and glanced at Lin, surprised he hadn't said anything. "Ah, um, since he was admitted."
A few hours and an interrogation from Luella later, Mai was still sitting at Naru's bedside reading some of his published research. She couldn't deny that it was fascinating and was still blown away by his genius. Actually, she was captivated by everything about Naru. Luella had shared some stories of Oliver and Gene, and Mai could only smile thinking about Naru as a child.
Mai was brought out of her thoughts by Luella standing from her seat on the other side of Naru. The woman stretched and explained, "I'm going downstairs for something to eat. Would you like to come, Mai?"
Mai shook her head. "I'm fine. I ate a big breakfast earlier."
"Are you sure? I could bring something back for you if you'd prefer that."
Mai smiled and insisted that she was fine.
Luella watched Mai for a moment before shrugging at her husband and leading him out of the door.
Mai sighed as soon as she knew the two were gone. She was so tired. She laid her head on the bed beside Naru's arm and grasped his hand. A few minutes of sleep couldn't hurt, could it?
About 20 minutes into her light nap, she felt stirring beside her. Her eyes shot open and she sat up, watching Naru intently. His eyes opened. Mai was frozen in place. What if he didn't remember her?
"Mai?" he asked.
Mai worked at being calm. "Naru, you're awake. How do you feel?"
Naru grimaced. "I have a headache, but otherwise I feel alright."
Mai pressed the call button for the nurses. "That's good. You're parents are here," she stated.
"What happened?"
Mai turned to Naru. He didn't remember? What else didn't he remember?
"What's the last thing you can recall?" Mai held her breath anticipating the worse.
Naru stared out of the window for a moment before answering, "I went after you. You yelled at me and then Kana showed up."
Mai threw herself at Naru, wrapping her arms around him. Tears were falling down her cheeks and she worked at muffling a sob.
"Mai?" Naru asked, alarmed. What was making her react this way?
"You idiot scientist," she mumbled. "Do you know how worried I was? The doctors said you might not wake up or that you'd wake with memory loss. I was so scared…"
Naru was shocked for a moment. And then he wrapped his arms around Mai and chuckled. He couldn't stop laughing.
Mai pulled away to look at him. "What could you possibly be laughing about, Oliver Davis?" she demanded, a little taken aback.
Naru regained composure with only a smirk to prove his amusement. "Idiot."
Before Mai could explode on him, he pulled her into a hug and explained, "I could never forget you."
Unknown to Naru and Mai, Luella, Martin, and the nurses were watching the scene some shocked, others touched. Luella smiled. "Would you look at that, Martin; we may get grandkids after all!"
Martin snorted, amused that his wife was getting so much ahead of herself.
Lin and Madoka walked up. Lin cleared his throat. Luella motioned the two closer and moved so they could see what was going on. Lin looked inside to see Mai and Noll looking at the door, a blush covering Mai's face and a glare covering Noll's.
"Are you all finished spying, yet?" Noll demanded.
A/N: Sorry it took me so long to finally finish. -_-() But! Now that I am done with finals and am taking a semester off from school, I shall be posting more stories. :D I actually have quite a few ideas for more fanfics that have been nagging at me. XD As a matter of fact, here's a little peek at one of the summaries.
Six years after SPR disbands, Mai is in America working with a new ghost hunting group. But when a case from Birmingham, AL brings both SPR and Mai's new crew together, will Oliver and the gang even recognize her anymore? And as Mai's power starts growing again, will things spiral out of control or can Oliver save her from herself?
