Chapter Nine - Stopped
I feel a strange unease as I stand at the front desk at the hospital. It's not that I feel uneasy which is the problem, I've felt nervous before but this type of nervousness and anxiety just doesn't feel right. I take a deep breath in before looking at the receptionist again. "I don't care what the doctor thinks," I tell her and I feel I'm being unnecessarily mean to her. "I want to see my son today."
"I don't think that's wise," the receptionist tells me and I'm ready to yell and cause a scene. They don't want that, especially from someone like me who is unlikely to go ignored. This is my kid that they are keeping me from. Don't they understand how much I prioritize my family.
"Well, I don't think your attitude is especially wise," I tell her and the woman rolls her eyes.
"The doctor recommends…" the receptionist tells me and I look at her.
I hate saying these words but I feel backed into a corner, "Don't you know who I am?" I ask as I push my palms onto the counter. "Unless you want word spread about the useless job that you're doing then you'll let me see my son. Unless Kuon himself tells me that he doesn't want to see me, I'm going in."
"Are you trying to threaten me?" the receptionist asks and I look at her coldly.
"I am trying to see my kid," I tell her before walking off. I don't care if I need to knock a security guy unconscious, I am going to see my son. The way the hospital is acting about the subject of Kuon does give me pause but it's only for a moment. Please don't tell me that something happened to him.
As I make my way towards his bedroom, I notice that there is a doctor in there already but not one I know. I haven't been introduced to this man and that makes me cautious. I don't want anyone unknown touching him. "Hello," I try to say in a neutral tone before holding my hand out. He ignores me and taps a syringe. "What is that you have there?" I ask before looking up and my eyes widen at how Kuon seems frozen with fear.
"No…" Kuon whispers as he sits there as if his body has trouble moving, "No. They're coming. They're here. They came here."
I eye the doctor and then see that Kuon's pupils are dilated and I see the mark on his arm where he has been poked by a needle. Something funny is going on and as the doctor picks up the syringe to inject it into my little boy's skin, I smack his arm away and the syringe falls to the ground.
I glare at him sharply, "Who are you? What are you doing here?" I ask. The man ignores me and reaches for the syringe but I put my foot over it. I see a spark of madness in his eyes and then realize that the badge he's wearing has a photo on it and that photo is not of him. I crush the syringe under my shoe. I don't care if I ruin my foot ware, what the hell is this man doing and what is he doing to Kuon?
"You idiot!" the man glares at me, "Don't you know how expensive that was? Don't you know what they're going to do to me?" he asks and then tries to hit me. I grab his wrist and throw him against the wall so that he hits his back before my eyes narrow. Maybe Kuon is better at fighting and martial arts than I am but I'm not completely unskilled myself.
I walk over to him and kick him in the ribs before slamming on the call button. I hold him to the wall with my foot before looking back at Kuon. I want to hold him but I don't want this creep to get away. He needs to be questioned by the police. I look at him closely and see that he has a pin on his coat of a teddy bear. This man needs to be eliminated.
…..
…..
So, they are telling me once again that I shouldn't be able to see my husband. I don't know who they think I am but one of the first things that Ren Tsuruga said about me in a positive way was that I had guts. I had guts to do whatever I needed to do. I want to prove that I'm not going to let them keep me from him, especially given the state he's in.
My eyes narrow and I'm about to speak when I hear someone say his room number over their radio. To hell with trying to plead my case. I try to run off but the nurse grabs me and I look at him. I don't care if he's medical staff and that this is a hospital. I try to struggle away but his grip tightens. I guess I have no choice. I turn my body to face him before throwing a punch into his face.
I hear the way my knuckles hit his nose and he lets go of me, staggering back a little. At least I didn't knee him in the groin, he should feel thankful for that. I glare at him again, "Never stop me from seeing my husband," I threaten before running to his hospital room.
As I get in, I see him shaking with a doctor next to him and then I see Father, his eyes are wide and aren't leaving Kuon but his foot is on another doctor, pinning him to the ground. What happened here? I shake my head. Father and whatever he's doing isn't important right now. What is important is that Kuon gets help.
I see Kuon flop down in the bed and the shaking becomes worse. I run to him but a nurse holds me back.
"Just let the doctor work," she tells me and I don't know whether to punch her in the face as well. It seems that Father and I are both reacting violently to things today. I see the doctor slip something into Kuon's mouth, some cotton or something and then I hear words which make me feel helpless.
"Patient is experiencing a seizure."
After that, the words that he's saying aren't making sense. I just watch helplessly as Father stares at him in shock as he grows paler but his foot starts twisting against the guy that he's got pinned to the wall. I don't know what's going on but for a moment, I can't breathe as I hear them say the next words.
"We're losing him. Patient is coding."
Wait? What did they say? I hear the guy grunt as Kuu is about to really kill him but that doesn't matter right now. Coding? Did they say…
I hear the flat line of the heart monitor and my eyes widen. He was getting better. He was pulling through all of this. His health was improving. I sink down on my knees as I hear the doctors speak and it's as if I'm living in a nightmare.
"Call it," one of the nurses says and the doctor takes a deep breath.
"Time of death, eight thirty," they start to leave the room and I feel my sobs grow heavy. I put a hand to my chest as I struggle to breathe. What did they just say? Time of…what? I take shaky breaths and look at Kuon's still body before hearing a police officer enter the room but I know that Father is debating whether to kill the asshole that he's got pinned down or hand him over to the police.
Did that man kill my husband? I stare at him and then stand up, my legs are shaking and I walk forwards like a baby deer before taking Father's hand. "Kuon wouldn't want you to go to prison," I whisper quietly. I don't care what happens to this other man but I know that Kuon would feel pained to hear that Kuu has been locked away for murdering someone on his account.
Father turns to me and nods before allowing the police to take the man away. He looks over at Kuon and his mouth opens and closes a few times.
"I'm sorry," he whispers as he touches his chest, "I am so sorry," he tells him as tears slip down his cheeks. "I wasn't there for you again."
I try to see through the tears and try to push through the pain but there's too much pain. I see Father sink down next to Kuon and take the corpse in his arms. I know that this is the way that Father wants to hold his son, the man he will always see as his little boy, his child but my eyes catch onto something different. The heart monitor isn't attached to Kuon's body. Without saying anything, I direct Father away from Kuon and connect Kuon's body to the heart monitor before hearing beeping.
Why would they want us to think that he was dead? Father looks between us, the same confusion and shock in his eyes. Why would the hospital do this to us?
….
….
Time of death? What are they talking about? I try to move but I can't. I try to speak but I can't. The only thing I can do is listen to that steady beat and hear the doctors talk about me as if I'm dead. I'm even finding it hard to move my eyes. Am I dead? I don't feel dead and with what I've gone through, I think I'd know what dead feels like.
I hear the pained sobs of my wife who believes that she's lost me. I want to hold her, tell her that I'm okay. I'm messed up psychologically but I'm alive at least physically but I can't move. My body is completely paralyzed down to my eyelids. I can't even look in another direction, just up.
Have they trapped me here? Am I actually dead but unable to reach my body? Is this what it's like to be a ghost?
I hear her speaking to Dad but my mind is trying to come to terms with the situation. I don't know what's going on and then I hear Dad approaching me. He has his palm stretched over my chest but the only reason I can see him is that he's standing right over me.
"I'm sorry," Dad tells me as tears slip down his cheeks and I want to stop him. I want to tell him not to worry and that I can hear him and see him. "I am so sorry I wasn't there for you again," he tells me and I hate that he's blaming himself for this.
I want to argue with him, persuade him that things are okay but I can't move. I'm trapped and as I hear the heart monitor, I wonder if I'm actually dead. I try to pinch myself but I can't even twitch my wrist let alone raise my hand. Dad pulls me into his arms just as when I was a kid and I can feel him but my body won't move.
I suddenly feel something on my arm and hear the heart monitor beeping again. So, does this mean that I'm alive? Why can't I move? Why am I unable to react?
Am I a…
"Why isn't he moving?" Dad says as he turns his attention away from me and it's only because of the way that he's right above me that I can see him do so. "Do you think that he's a….that he's catatonic?" he asks and I hate to think that. I have to move but I can't.
Am I a human vegetable?
End of Chapter Nine
Thank you for reading, reviews are very much appreciated
Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Eight
H-Nala, Kaname671, PaulaGaTo
Author Response
More will be revealed but they wanted to keep Kuon silent at least for now 😉