Chapter 11: We are fine
Konoha's hospital. It's 3 o'clock in the morning. Patients are all asleep. It's quite quiet. Sakura and Ino are sitting at a table in the hallway, drinking tea. They are both on-call this evening. Sakura is reading the evening newspapers, and Ino can't stop biting her nails.
"Will you stop that? It's annoying." – Sakura said throwing the newspapers on the table. She stood up and started walking arround.
"I'm sorry! I can't! I'm so nervous!" – Ino covered her face with her palms, supporting her elbows on the table. – "And I am scared."
"Oh honey… I'm scared too. I'm scared that one of them will have a nervous breakdown or heart attack." – Redhead hugged her friend to comfort her. But deep down she was just as insecure as Ino was. – "They are fine for now. We are good doctors. If something happens, we will fix it."
"If we had more doctors with us, maybe we could've saved Temari's baby." – The blonde started crying. Sakura ran her fingers through her pink hair.
"No, we couldn't. It was already late the minute the miscarriage started." – The pink-headed girl gave Ino a tissue to wipe her face.
"But…"
"Ino! No buts! We did what any doctor would do. We saved Shikamaru, because we could do that. But there was nothing we could've done for that baby. Plus, Temari demanded us to put all the effort in Shikamaru. We did good honey. And you did great in guiding Kiba what to do to keep Tema-san in stable condition." – Sakura kept comforting Ino. She is on the edge of loosing her best friend. And maybe even the love of his life. Those facts just made Ino worse. And more horrified. And when Ino was scared like that, Sakura was too.
Few moments later, Kiba, Sasuke and Naruto came in. Sasuke has just came from a mission and met Kiba and Naruto on his way home. They told him what happened so he decided to go with them. They wanted to see how their friends were doing.
"Hey. How are they?" – Naruto asked quietly which was very odd of him. He would usually yell. His voice was always cheerful. But not this time. Sakura stood up and started explaining the situation to them.
"Temari is in a better condition. She is stable. There are no signs of trauma. She is holding good. It wasn't that bad. I think it will hurt her more emotionally than it did when she lost it." – She stated and guys listened to her carefully. – "Shikamaru's condition is worse. We have barely saved him. It was a success, but there is still an option that he'll have a heart attack."
"Shit." – Naruto said as he clinched his fists. Which made Ino start crying like a little baby.
"Ino!" – Kiba sat next to her. – "Hey girl, it's fine. They will be fine! I know that Shikamaru is your best friend and you are worried, but he will survive, you know him! You and Sakura are excellent doctors. You saved him. And he and Temari will have lots of babies, and you will get to babysit and play with them in your free time." – Strangely, Kiba knew exactly what to say to make his girlfriend feel better. Everybody knew him as a loudmouth guy. But he also had this gentle side he'd show towards the person he cared about. Ino stopped crying and Kiba got up from the chair, leaving the place to Sakura.
"Where's Hinata, Naruto?" – Sakura asked as she sat on the chair trying to calm down.
"She is asleep. I didn't want to wake her. She will find out tomorrow anyway."
"Okay. You guys go, we can handle it." – Said the redhead and the blond sitting next to her nodded her head.
"If you need us for anything, you know where to find us." – Sasuke said and the guys left off.
Sakura and Ino stayed awake for the whole night. Anxiously waiting for their patients and friends to wake up. And in the 5:30 in the morning, the nurse ran to them with the good news. They have immediately ran to the patient.
"How do you feel?" – Sakura asked as she was checking the monitor and the latest updates in the chart.
"I'm good. How is …."
"Do you know what happened?" – Ino sat on the patient's bed, cutting into the word. She grabbed the patient's hand.
"Yes I am aware of everything. And I do not suffer emotionally. I had a miscarriage, I lost my baby. Now please tell me how is Shikamaru. Where is he?" – Temari highered her voice a little bit and Ino jumped on her hugging her.
"I am so glad you are okay! Shikamaru is in the next room. He is still unconscious." – Ino said as she let her out of the hug.
"Oh, thank God, he's alive!" – Temari exhaled, and a tear poured down her pale face. She sat up and tried to stand, but she fell. Ino and Sakura rushed to help her get up.
"Temari-san, you are still weak, you can't walk!" – Sakura said as she took her by her arm and help her stand up.
"I need to see Shikamaru! Please let me go!" – She said through the tears.
"Okay, okay, wait, I'll get the wheelchair" – Ino rushed out and within the 30 seconds she came back. They placed her in the wheelchair and she insisted to go alone to the Shikamaru's room. As she got into his room, she saw him unconscious on the bed, She placed the palm of her right arm on her mouth. His torso was wrapped with bandages. She started crying even harder. Temari felt a strong pain in her chest. Something just wouldn't let her breathe properly. She sat right next to the bed, placed her arms on him, and leaned her head down. She was sobbing and her hands were shaking. She just sat there. Crying. After an hour she finally speaked.
"Wake up please. I need you to wake up. I need you because I'm so lost without you." – She sobbed. She was talking to him, although she knew he's out.– "If you can hear me, I want to tell you this. I love you so much. And I don't want to be anywhere where I didn't have you. I swear to God, if you die, I will hunt you down, bring you back to life, make it a hell and then I will kill you myself!"
"So I better not die then, huh?" – A voice so familiar, so calming whispered.
"Shikamaru!" – Temari hugged him strongly! She already recovered a bit of her strength. It was enough for her to climb on his bed and hold him tight. – "You are alive!" – She kissed his forehead.
"Of course I am." – Shikamaru smiled as he stroked her golden hair.
"Wait a minute. For how long have you been awake?" – She raised her left eyebrow and gave him her "what did you do" face.
"For 10 minutes or so." – Shikamaru smirked and Temari slapped him.
"I was scared you bitch!" – She yelled at him and started crying again.
"Whoa, whoa, baby girl. Calm down please. I'm sorry, okay?" – Shikamaru hugged her and pressed her head on his chest. – "I'm sorry. I love you. And I'm not leaving you. I'm not going die yet. Because I'm not done with you." – He kissed her forehead gently as she stroked his long hair.
"You better not. Because I mean what I said earlier." – Temari scolded and they both laughed.
In that moment Sakura and Ino came into the room.
"Oh you woke up!" – Sakura said and her and Ino both exhaled as they showed up at the door of Shika's room. They thought they heard voices, so they came to check. They were relieved that both of them were okay.
"Yeah. Are Kiba and Neji okay? They were with me on a mission!" – Shikamaru asked concerned about his friends.
"Yes they are. Only you were injured. But now we need Temari to rest." – Sakura said approaching to the bed.
"Temari? What happened to you? Were you injured?" – Shikamaru sat up straight immediately. He was concerned for her.
"No, no. It was just… a trauma." – She tried to make her way out. Sakura closed her eyes, knowing that she made a mistake by telling that. – "We will talk tomorrow. In a few hours actually. Okay?" – Temari asked as she slowly stood up. She still wasn't strong enough so she almost collapsed on the floor, but Shikamaru caught her, and Sakura pulled the wheelchair for her.
"I'm sorry, I was just dizzy." – Temari said as she grabbed her forehead.
"Don't worry. Go and take a nap." – Shika said as he sat on the bed. Ino drove Temari away and Sakura stayed in Shika's room to check how is he.
"What the hell happened to her? And why isn't she telling me anything?" – Shikamaru asked Sakura. He knew that she know something.
"Something happened. But that's something you two need to discuss in private." – Sakura said slowly as she was about to leave the room. –
"If somebody did something to her…" – Shikamaru started but Sakura cut him off.
"Nobody did anything to her. I promise. Please, let her rest for a while and you will talk in few hours." – She said and left the room.
Shikamaru threw himself on the bed. He couldn't stop thinking of what the hell could've happened to her. Why was she acting like that? He spent the rest of the early morning thinking of the solution to his problem, but he couldn't figure it out. Somewhere around 10am Ino informed him that Temari was awake. He went to her room. She was sitting in her bed, covered with soft blanket. He approached her, and sat on the bed next to her. He gazed her eyes. They were wet and sad. Shikamaru took her by her arm and squeezed it.
"Temari. Talk to me. Tell me what happened." – He started slowly without a pressure.
"I…can't…" – She sobbed.
"Why not? Are you scared of me?" – He stroked her hair as the tears were pouring down her face.
"You almost died…Right in front of me!" – She yelled – "You made me love you. You let me love you. And then you almost died. And it's hurts me every time I think of it. I'm scared of loosing you. Because I won't survive." – She cried and Shikamaru pulled her into a hug. He squeezed her, pressing his forehead on hers.
"I told you. You won't loose me. I'm not done with you. And I won't die as long as I know I have you." – Shikamaru whispered and kissed her on her cheek.
"Shikamaru…" – She started insecurely.
"Tell me baby."
"I had a miscarriage. That day." – Temari felt her heart speeding up as she was saying those words. She felt the strong pulls in her head. And unusual pain in her chest and stomach.
Shikamaru was surprised. He surely didn't see that coming. He felt like something slapped him and hit him in his chest. It wasn't sadness for the baby they've lost. It was an awful feeling that hit him when he found out that her life was in danger. That he could've lost her too that day. His life wouldn't even make sense anymore.
"Okay… Thank you." – Shikamaru smiled. And it was a real smile. Temari knew it.
"Thank you?"
"Yes. Thank you, for surviving. I love you. And I don't care. We can make babies at anytime. But there is no other you." – He hugged her. She felt so relieved. And she remembered how she said the same thing about him, when Ino offered to try and save the baby.
Both of them were so happy to still have each other. To have a second chance to hold and love each other. Later that day, they both left the hospital with the smiles on their faces. Leaving to the apartment they now shared.
