Kagome was ina stupor for pretty much all of the short walk to the hospital.

Kouga tried to talk to her- in part because he could turn away from the smelly mutt on his shoulder, but MOSTLY becuase he could tell that KAgome was distressed.

Well...it was a small majority.

"Kagome? You okay?"

"Uh huh. Sure."

"Completely sure?"

"Uh huh. Sure."

'You aren't going crazy on me, are you?"

"Uh huh. Sure."

"Wanna have sex?"

"No."

As Kouga wondered why she had chosen that exact moment to start listening, Kagome returned to her thoughts-however they may be driving her to insanity.

'This is all my fault. Completely, 100, MY fault...how could I let him go...I knew it had to be a trap, everyone knew...'

Mostly becuase you wanted to prove to him that she was dead.

'No! I could never do something like that on purpose.'

Couldn't you? You finally thought you were going somewhere. It was just the two of you and you were happy. He was over her most recent death and he was glad to be with you until he heard a tiny little rumor that she could be alive, and it all fell apart.

',,,you're always right, dammit...how could I do that...'

You didn't mean for this to happen. You expected danger but you also thought he was better than that. Both of you were caught completely off guard.

'Yeah...oh, what's he going to do when I tell him I'm with Kouga?'

He'll be pissed. But we know the right choice now, don't we?

'Yeah..'

Good. Oh. And you've passed the hospital.

"WHAT?"

Kouga woke from his sex-deprived thoughts with a start. "Huh?"

"Why didn;t you TELL ME we passed the hospital?!?"

Kouga fliched. "I don't know what a hospital looks like!"

"Oh. Right." Kagome composed herself. "Sorry. I'm just a little tense."

Kouga put his unburdened arm around her and hugged her. She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed, still mad at herself but relieved to know she was finally, FINALLY certain about her love life.

"Is it the big glowy one?"

Kagome sighed. He had to go and ruin the moment. "Yes. It's the big glowy one."

Kagome pushed Kouga, who was still carry-dragging Inuyasha, through the doors of the brightly lit hospital until she finally got him to admissions. Taking the first chance, Kouga dropped Inuyasha into a chair and situated himself on the opposite side of the empty room, head in hands, worn out and disgusted.

"The one in red...he's unconscious and he won't wake up. Could you tell us what the problem is?"

"Probably. But legally that person has to be a doctor." The admissions nurse, a hispanic woman in frighteningly bright pink scrubs, smiled slightly. "If you don't mind my asking, what's up with your tag-along's outfits...?"

"It's a long story."

"Oh. No time for that, then, right?" She leaned over and grabed the first lab coat that tried to walk by. "Hey, doctor, I have a patient for you."

"Oh, come on...this is my first weekend off in almost a month, and I want to enjoy every minute of it."

"By leaving ten minutes early? Nuh-uh." She gestured at Inuyasha. "He's unconscious and the girl says he's stable, will it really be so hard to set him up and leave?"

He sighed. "I suppose. But don't page me about it unless you can't get someone else to cover him." He turned to Kouga, Kagome and Inuyasha. "Which one, the one in the skirt or the one in the parachute pants?"

Kouga stood from the chair, crossed the room in four steps, and had the not easily intimidated doctor by the throat. "The what?"

"Not you then," He choked out. Kagome pulled Kouga away, hitting him on the arm.

"So, so sorry doctor. He's just a little edgy because of...well, it's a long story."

No response, short of a glare. The doctor rubbed his throat and looked over at the orderliues placing Inuyasha on a stretcher.

The nurse pinched him on the arm. "Be nice to people and they'll be nice to you. Did you learn NOTHING in kindergarten?" she turned to Kouga. "Don't feel bad, Ponytail. He deserved it."

Offended, Bill turned to glare at her.

"Don't glare at me while we're moving someone." She said without looking away.

"I'll glare at you whenever the hell I want," He said as he ran headlong into an IV stand.

"Told you."

"Male, good shape, bad taste in clothing and hairstyle, no previous signs of heart failure, correct?."

Kagome nodded weakly.

"Any recent stress or trauma? Heartache?"

"Definitely heartache."

"First guess would be broken heart syndrome. Nothing for it but rest and counseling."

He slouched out of the door. Before anyone could comment, he reappeared in the doorframe, somehow already in street clothes, saying, "Don't page me until it comes in or until his heart rate drops below, oh, I don't know...two."

He stormed out of the room towards the door after practically throwing the chart at the nurse. "Well, nothing interesting is happening here, and visiting hours end in about...now."

"Can't I stay?"

"Well, I suppose. But nothing's going to happen."

"It's to cure my own guilt, really. Do I just sleep in this chair, or...?"

"Well, there's nowhere else. So, is Ponytail here staying or what?" She asked, patting him on the shoulder.

He shook himself from his reverie. "I'm staying with Kagome."

"Well, she'll have to sleep in your lap."

A near trademark smirk crossed Kouga's face.

The nurse laughed. "Well, goodnight."

Kouga sat in the chair and waited for Kagome, who responded,

"Thanks. Goodnight! Oh, nurse?"

She paused at the door. "Yes?"

"What was your name again?"

She chuckled. "Well, I never told you my name. It's Carla."

"Okay, great. Good night."

Carla smiled, and as she left she revealed a surly janitor behind her, who growled, "How do you figure?"

"Oh, sorry, I wasn't talking to you," Kagome asked, slightly ruffled by how inexplicably pissy he was.

"Oh, I see how it is. You can't even take a few seconds out of your precious life to talk to me."

"Oh, it's not that, it's just-"

"Oh, you can take out a few minutes for a nurse, or a doctor, or that guy in the parachute pants-"

Kouga smirked.

"Or the other guy in the skirt-"

And now it was gone.

"But you can't spare five seconds to greet a lowly janitor."

"No, it's not like that-"

"Oh, I know exactly how it is," He wrung out his filthy mop on his face. "There. Saves you the trouble,"

Kagome realized that Kouga was still growling from the "Skirt" commment, and shut the door to keep him from doing anything rash. The janitor glared at them through the glass one last time before heading down the hallway, glaring at every other person he saw.

"This is an interesting hospital, isn't it?" Kagome smiled weakly.

"Interesting? Try scary." As she nodded, he held her closer until she fell asleep.

He looked over at Inuyasha. "I hope you pull through, mutt. Not for me, but for Kagome. She'll never be the same if you die."

------

LATER, STILL IN THE CRAZY HOUSE OF A HOSPITAL

------

Inuyasha was awake and mostly alert the next morning.

And just how pleased was he to see Kagome sleeping with Kouga?

"KAGOME!!!" (yes! that excited!)

She woke with a start, but Kouga, ever the heavy sleeper, stayed down.

"Inuyasha, you're awake!" She jumped up, awakening Kouga, and gave him a bed hug.

Kouga raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"What are you doing with the scrawny wolf?"

Kagome finally broke the hug. "You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"Inuyasha, me and Kouga, we're...dating...courting."

"So...you mean, you're going to mate him."

"Yes."

Kouga raised his other eyebrow. No hesitation. Not even a pause.

He had won.

Inuyasha, registering this same fact, nodded to Kouga and slumped.

Kagome, reading their minds, promptly whacked both of them for considering property. Well, techincally, she whacked Kouga twice; she couldn't really hit a sick person. "ANYWAY. " She cleared her throat. "Inuyasha, what happened?"

"It was a trap. Kagura was there, the village was on fire and...She wasn't there." He looked up at her apologetically. "I'm sorry. It was so obvious. You must've all known."

"Yeah..I did... that's why I let you go."

Visibly upset, he lowered his head. "Yeah...I deserved it. You deserve better than me." He glanced towards Kouga. For once, neither face possessed any mocking or swagger. There wasn;t really a need for it.

Kagome cleared her throat again to make sure they weren;t thinking hat she thought they were, and when she was sure, she returned to her speech. "You didn't deserve to almost die. I;m just glad you're okay. And so is Kouga, RIGHT?" She added the last part dangerously.

Kouga nodded; honestly, much to Kagome's surprise.

"Uh, good morning- um, afternoon," A blonde doctor said shakily. "It's almost two o' clock, you know..."

"Two? What time did we go to sleep?"

"Carla says you came in at around four, so probably an hour after that. Were you two comfortable?" She smiled a little.

They both blushed slightly as Inuyasha looked slightly hurt.

"I'm...uh..." She glanced down at the pocket of her scrubs for her name tag, realizing it wasn't there. "I'm...a doctor. I'm covering for Dr. Lawrence until Sunday night. Nice to meet you." Kagome shook her extended hand. She seemed to be very ruffled and frumpy. Kagome could tell she was actually very pretty, but the stress of working at a hospital had obviously taken quite a bit out of her.

"How's he doing?"

"He's great. He's fine, physically, but we'll need to keep him around for psychiatric evaluation."

"You'll need to keep me here for what?"

"Well, we, uh...they...well, we need to make sure your brain works. Don't worry. You'll be okay. I go to a LOT of different shrinks. Three all at once the first year of my residency. You tell them things and they tell you what it means, like how I talk to myself, and I talk to my cats, and sometimes they talk back to me in my mother's voice, or how when I thought my boyfriend was cheating on me I kept picturing him and his would-be mistress havbing sex on a box of steaks becuase my dad had an affair witha female butcher.

Kouga,Kagome, and Inuyasha were very, very frightened.

The surly janitor from last night walked by again, looking actually knid of nice for once. "Hey, Blondie, there's something kind of urgent for you in 136,"

"Thanks!" She turned towards the group. "This is the sweetest Janitor ever! Oh, and call a nurse to replace the IV."

The janitor smiled brightly, but as soon as the blonde doctor was gone, He was instantly all surly again.

"Um, good morning." Kagome said weakly.

"You've always got to have something to say, don't you?"

"I'm just trying to be poilte."

"Hmph." He turned and left.

Kouga was still growling. "Want me to kill him? I'll do it..."

"NO, Kouga. Non-violent thoughts, remember."

"What did she mean, IV?" Inuyasha asked.

Kagome tuned his arm over and pinted at the needle in his wrist. "This makes sure you get water and things, just in case you can't-" She looked up at him when she realized he was shaking. His eyes were fixed, unmoving, on the needle.

"Get it out," He said quietly. "Now."

"Inuyasha, are you afraid of needles?"

"Get it out."

"But you carry around a gigantic sword. How can you be afraid of needles?"

"Get."

"Inuyasha."

"It."

"Seriously."

"OUT."

Kagome turned his arm over and pressd the nurse button. Carla's voice came over the tiny speaker. "Need something?"

"Yes. That blonde doctor says he needs a new IV bag. And someone's afraid of needles."

"GET IT OUT!!"

It didn't take long for Carla to come in.

"You guys caught me as soon as I came in. Great timing! Oh! Good news, Nancy."

"You told her my name?" Inuyasha growled.

"...Maybe."

"Who else did you tell?"

"No one! Well...I told Sango and Miroku...and Shippo...and Kouga..."

"You told HIM?!?"

"And Sesshomaru..."

"WHAT?!?!"

"And Naraku."

"WHAT?!?!?!"

"Sorry...but...it's just so funny..."

"Why Naraku? How? You're supposed to hate him!"

"...yeah...I know..."

Carla exchanged glances with a near hysterical Kouga. She cleared her throat and interrupted the arguers. "Anyway...I'm glad to tell you that Inuyasha here doesn;t need an IV. Since he's already awake, he can drink and eat himself."

Inuyasha sat up, happy again. "I get the needle out?"

"Yep." She took the IV and equipment slowly. "Anyway, Sarah said that there;s no physical ailment, but he'll have to spend the next few days here wit the in house shrink to get to the root of the problem. Until he's sure that Na-I mean, Inuyasha is over whatever caused this, we can't let him leave.

"Who's Sarah?"

"Oh. That was the blonde doctor. She may have introduced herself as Dr.Barbie. When she gets really stressed out she forgets her own name, and since everyone calls her that she adopts it."

Kouga finally piped up. "What was the deal with that one really angry guy? That Janitor that keeps blaming me for things I didn't do."

The nurse looked up from the machines. "Oh. No one knows, really."

"He's just a freak, then?"

"And an ass, " Kouga growled.

"Yes, and VERY yes.," Carla smiled again. "Hey, you guys haven't left all day, so try and get out. We have a half decent cafeteria here, and a nice little coffee place. So try and get up and about, alright? Nancy'll be fine."

Inuyahsa growled quietly.

"Thanks again." Kagome said warmly.

The nurse smiled and winked. "No problem."

YAY! I'm back. Apologies and Excuses all around.