~*~ ARG! This chapter took forever! I apologize!... Which leads me to my next statement: I'm taking a short hiatus from this story after this chapter. Hopefully I'll be back before Kubo is in September, but I make no promises. I recently got hired and am training for a new job and haven't had as much time to work on this as I'd like. As soon as things settle down I should get back to work on it. Also, in the meantime, I'm going to work be working on a Reader Request over on my deviantART account ( .com) which will be a Doc!RenjixReader if anyone is interested. Renji will be a physical doctor, not a psychologist as in this story. Thanks so much for reading! Hope to get back soon! Enjoy!~*~
Sins of the Father
"The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children…"
The Merchant of Venice (3.5.1)
Chapter Nine
Cats
Monday
Grimmjow could not keep himself from struggling slightly against the strong security guards who held his arms as they guided him down the halls.
"Are you sure about this, Ichigo?"
He listened intently to the conversation behind him.
"Renji, if I did not think it best I would not have requested it," came the curt reply.
Grimmjow's lips curled into a smile. He was starting to like the young doctor in spite of himself.
"And I would not have sanctioned it, Dr. Abarai, if Ichigo had not provided sufficient –"
Dr. Kuchiki's voice was interrupted by a quiet female voice.
"Doctors… I don't think this is the time…"
That Nurse Inoue… She was beginning to grow on him, too. Very perceptive, that one, even if her shyness made her come off as a bit of a dunce at times. Not to mention her looks, which rivaled those of a girl he had once held near and dear, and who still held a place in his heart.
As the group stopped at a door, Room 6, Grimmjow finally spoke.
"Remember, Dr. Kurosaki… I told you that you would regret your kindness to me."
"And I believed I challenged you not to give me heartache," Ichigo replied, unphased.
Grimmjow smirked. "Doctor, you are excusing my faults and giving me a room because you pity me… 'And often times excusing of a fault doth make the fault the worse by the excuse'."
Ichigo stepped in front of his patient and motioned for the guards to let him go. They did, but hovered close, ready to grab Grimmjow should he bolt.
Grimmjow rubbed the circulation back into his thin arms, his cool gaze meeting Ichigo's.
"Grimmjow, I excuse you of nothing."
He smirked at the doctor.
"Then you must be really stupid. Did Dr. Kuchiki here tell you what I did the last time I had my own room?"
"I was informed, yes."
The finger tapping was starting. Grimmjow could barely suppress a snicker.
"You must be a glutton –"
"Do you want a room or not?" barked Ichigo, making everyone jump. "If you prefer, you can go back to where you were."
Grimmjow sobered, and then quickly adopted the attitude of a chastised child.
"I'm sorry, Dr. Kurosaki," he said softly, ducking his head and swaying back and forth. Behind him, he heard Dr. Abarai scoff and walk off, Nurse Inoue calling after him in a loud whisper.
"Thank you," Ichigo said and smiled. He reached for the doorknob of Room 6. "Welcome to your new lodgings, Grimmjow."
Dr. Kuchiki and Nurse Inoue came up to stand with Ichigo as Grimmjow took his first hesitant steps into the room.
Grimmjow blinked in the bright light coming in through the big window. After being in fluorescent lighting so long, the daylight was harsh and glaringly bright.
When his eyes adjusted to the light, they were immediately assailed by the colors in the room. Two walls were the same cyan blue as his eyes while the other two were sea foam green. The simple green valance over the window was a beautiful contrast to the blue wall behind it.
The bed frame and nightstand was a darker blue, but still lovely. The sheets were striped white and green; the comforter cyan. Even the plush frieze carpet under his feet was a bright shade of blue.
Behind him he could hear the others talking again.
"Oh, Ichigo… You're too sweet," laughed the nurse before excusing herself to care for her other patients.
"Well, Ichigo…"
"I won't let you down, sir… I hope," the doctor added almost inaudibly.
Dr. Kuchiki excused himself and Grimmjow heard the door click shut. He stood another moment, trying to wipe the broad grin from his face before turning to find Ichigo still with him.
"It's not white."
It took Grimmjow a moment to recognize his own voice. There was none of the malice that had tainted it for well over a year, and he had not intended to voice his thoughts.
"No." The doctor smiled. "No, it's not white. I believe you made it very clear to me that you hated white."
Grimmjow's features hardened, throwing up his defenses again, and he narrowed his eyes.
"I do hate white."
"You mentioned that you like these colors, though, so I thought it would be mice for your new room to have some color."
The hard shell fractured as Grimmjow smiled again.
"It is nice," he agreed, moving to sit on the bed. He bounced a little to test the mattress, and then seeming satisfied, stretched out and threw an arm over his eyes. "Set me a wake-up call for half-past sane, okay?"
Ichigo could not stifle a small snicker. Grimmjow thought for a moment of calling him on it, but he was in too good of a mood. He had a room like a human again, not some glorified cage, and he was surrounded by colors that brought back fond memories. For the moment, life was good.
"There's one more thing, Grimmjow."
The bluenette uncovered one eye as he felt something land on the bed at his feet.
"From Dr. Kuchiki," Ichigo answered the confused look on Grommjow's face.
Grommjow unfolded the button-down shirt and pants that served as "uniform" on this floor of the hospital. Instead of white, though, these were blue reverse-ombré, starting a powder blue at the top and deepening to a rich, almost black navy at the bottom. He couldn't help but smile.
"Hey, Doc…"
"Yes?"
He looked up at Ichigo with a mischievous grin.
"Do me a favor… Get rid of that blasted white coat."
"No problem."
And the two began to laugh.
Friday
Grimmjow heard the door open, but did not turn his head. He watched intently as a fly lighted on his open windowsill and approached the baited piece of paper he had laid there.
"Could I get a bit more honey, Nurse Inoue?" he asked as the fly took the bait and got stuck in the sweet substance. He took a pair of tweezers and carefully transferred the fly to a matchbox.
"And I'll need another box fairly –"
Grimmjow broke off as he turned to find Dr. Kurosaki standing in his doorway.
"You're early, Doc," he commented as he tucked his box of flies away in the nightstand drawer.
"What are you doing with the flies, Grimmjow?"
The bluenette held back a devious grin as he sat on his bed.
"I'll use the flies to catch spiders."
"And what will you do with the spiders?"
"Catch birds?"
"And with the birds?"
Grimmjow could hear the growing concern in the doctor's voice.
"Why, you use the birds to catch a cat," he said matter-of-factly.
The doctor looked horrified for a moment before he scoffed and sat down in the small chair by the door.
"And then I suppose you eat the cat? Very clever, Mr. Renfield, but I have read Dracula."
Grimmjow laughed. "You saw right through me. Very good, Doctor. I think you're getting better."
"You seem to be in a very good mood today, Grimmjow."
The bluenette shrugged, but could not hold back a smile.
"Seriously, though… What are you doing with the flies?" Ichigo asked abruptly.
Grimmjow laughed again.
"Making you ask questions."
Ichigo shook his head. "This is not the type of behavior that will get you out of here."
Grimmjow scoffed. "'How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world'."
Ichigo shook his head again. "'One good deed is not enough to redeem a man of a lifetime of wickedness' – Captain Norrington."
"'But it seems enough to condemn him'," Grimmjow mimicked, "Captain Jack Sparrow. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl… Yeah, Doc… You're not so clever."
Ichigo scowled.
"All right, I get your point," Grimmjow conceded.
"I know you're not crazy, Grimm –"
"Crazy? I was crazy once," Grimmjow broke in with a sing-song tone, "they locked me in a rubber room. I died. They buried me. The ants drove me crazy. Crazy? I was –"
Ichigo had to almost yell to be heard. "Enough! Don't be facetious."
Grimmjow snorted and rolled his eyes, turning to gaze out the window. "I have not yet begun to act facetious."
"I was saying, Grimmjow, that although I know you're not…" Ichigo paused as Grimmjow glanced at him from the corner of his eye, daring him to say that word again. "You don't belong here… But I'm not the only one you need to prove that to in order to get out of here."
His features darkened as he turned his gaze back to the window and toyed with a button on his shirt.
"I don't want out of here."
Ichigo frowned, flustered. "Why wouldn't you? I thought –"
"Just – I'll – You wouldn't…" Grimmjow stammered before sighing in disgust and shaking his head. "Maybe I am crazy. I can't even speak anymore."
"Whenever you can find your words, Grimmjow, I'm ready to listen," Ichigo assured him.
Grimmjow looked up and smiled. Maybe one day he would be able to explain it. After all, Ichigo seemed to be the one doctor truly interested in "helping" him; and despite it all, Grimmjow had started to think of him as a friend.
"Yeah," he agreed. "Maybe… Someday."
"Anything else on your mind?"
"Tons… But none of it I want to talk about," the bluenette admitted.
"Anything you need?"
"Yeah… Well, not need, really… But something I'd like…" Grimmjow looked at him hopefully.
"What would that be?" Ichigo inquired, shifting in his chair and adjusting his ever-faltering glasses.
"It's kind of silly really…" He continued at the expectant look from the doctor. "I'd like to be able to keep a cat."
Ichigo frowned in confusion. "A cat?"
Grimmjow grinned deviously to cover his sheepishness. "Yeah, Doc, ain't it normal for a guy to like a little –"
"Grimmjow, please, enough of the high school jokes." Ichigo could not suppress a smile and a snicker. "Why a cat? Why not a dog or a fish or –" He paused and a look of utter horror settled on his features. "You're not really going to eat it, are you?"
"Hell no!" Grimmjow said, laughing at the doctor. "We used to have a cat."
"Ah…" Ichigo looked relieved. "Go on…"
"Gorgeous white cat…"
"I though you hated white?"
"On everything but cats…" The bluenette was quiet for a moment before he continued. "She was my mom's cat. Always old, ever since I can remember…" He paused again, seeming as if he were trying to decide to continue or not. "My mom died when I was very young… That old cat was all I had left of her, you know? Pretty stupid, huh?"
"Not at all." Ichigo smiled sympathetically. "Not stupid at all, Grimmjow… I'll see what I can do about getting you a cat."
"A white one, if you can… please."
"All right."
"Female."
"I said I'll try, Grimmjow," Ichigo laughed.
"Thanks, Doc."
Ichigo smiled and stood. "No problem, but also no promises…"
"I know, Doc."
"Just… Can you answer one thing for me?"
"What's that, Doc?"
"Can you at least give me a clue as to why you're here?"
Grimmjow contemplated for a moment before he replied:
"'The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children…'"
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**Hope to be back to working on this soon! Thanks for reading!**