Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Spirited Away. However the plot is mine.

Chapter 10: No paper

Chihiro's POV

The next weeks passed really slow. By the first Friday I realized I wouldn't see much of my mother and father. At first I cried my eyes out for being alone, but then I remembered Haku being beaten and I started to panic because I couldn't find my hair tie anywhere. I asked the nurses and the other patients if they saw it, but their response was: "Your hair was loose when you came in."

I knew I had to convince dr. Fujimoto to speak to my parents to bring me my hair tie and paper and crayons.

By the fourth day I couldn't wait any longer so I asked a nurse to call dr. Fujimoto. I knew the situation can get worse, but I didn't care. Without the connection to Haku I was really losing my mind.

"How are you feeling today Chihiro?" Asked dr. Fujimoto after closing the door to the ward.

"Better... Can I ask you a favor dr. Fujimoto?" I asked quickly, before I lost the courage.

"Ok..." he said with a puzzled look on his face.

"Have you talked to my parents?" I asked trying to build up the courage to ask him what I wanted.

"Yes. I talked to them last night to tell them that we could release you from the hospital in a couple of days. Seeing that there is nothing wrong with you physically, you could go home and rest until you recuperate." He said in a clipped voice.

"And what did they say?" I asked hopeful, although in my heart I already knew the answer.

"Well... They... aren't quite ready to welcome you back home just yet." He said with commiseration.

"i figured that... But could you ask them to bring me my purple hair tie and some paper and crayons? If I'm stuck here, at least I want to have something to do." I said feeling sad.

"Of course. I'll go telephone them right now. If I can't come back with the answer, I'll send a nurse to deliver it. Ok?" He said in his usual kind voice.

"Yes. Thank you so much!" I said with a big smile feeling happy for the first time since I woke up in the hospital.

Dr. Fujimoto left the ward and I fell asleep waiting for the answer and dreamt of my Haku.

Half an hour or so later, a nurse came in and woke me up to tell me: "Your parents said that they will send the hair tie, but no paper or crayons."

"But why?" I asked really confused.

"They said that you were drawing when it happened and they don't want to trigger another episode." She said giving me a sympathetic look.

That crushed me like a ton of bricks. I waited for the nurse to leave and then I started to cry for what felt like the hundredth time in the last few days.

Later in the evening the same nurse came in with the hair tie from my parents. 'They didn't even bother to come to bring it themselves.' At least now I had something to do. I could try to see Haku or at least try to figure out how this thing was working.

The next morning I had the first surprise in a long time. The other patients in the ward must have heard the nurse that I wouldn't be getting paper and crayons and heard my heart wrenching cries and they donated some money so that, when the nurse came, she brought me at least 200 sheets of paper and 50 crayons in different hues.

"I hope you are ready to draw." She said with a kind smile on her face.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I was like the kid in the candy store, only with lots of beautiful crayons.

"Thank you so much! This is the best surprise ever!" I said, tears of joy tickling my eyes.

Leaving me to my own devices, I knew I had to somehow thank the other patients, the nurse and dr. Fujimoto. So I started to draw...

But it wasn't that easy. Trying to draw something other than dragons with teal mane wasted the first 10 or so sheets of paper. But it was a real waste or paper and time. I've spent the first few days doing this. Nothing good came out. By Thursday I decided to give up on drawing for a while and focus on the hair tie.

But that wasn't of any use either. It just stood there like any other hair tie. And then...

A/N: Sorry about the cliffhanger. I'll update soon, so you don't have to wait too long.

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