Ch. 11

Mori's POV

It must have been three days since I'd last slept in a bed. My nights were spent at the hospital, sitting with Scappa in the Intensive Care Unit. Natanya wasn't allowed inside because of the tumor in her throat, and Scappa didn't have any family living in Japan. Her only relatives were a few cousins she barely knew in America who didn't have the money to fly to Japan. I learned all this by sitting in Scappa's room, eavesdropping on the nurses as they walked past her room. It must have been three days since I'd last slept in a bed, and in all three of those days, Scappa had woken up just once. That one time, she hadn't known where she was. She hadn't spoke in Japanese; she'd spoken in English. And almost as soon as she'd woken up, she'd passed out again.

I only left to eat, drink, and go to the bathroom, and every time I left, I made sure another member of the Host Club was there with her. She was never left alone. Mitsukuni stayed most of the time, too. Thanks to him, she was holding a furry blue stuffed monkey against her chest as she…slept. I studied her face. She looked paler than she normally did, with black circles under her eyes. Her breath came in shuddering bursts, and she fidgeted in her sleep. On the first day, I would have thought she was waking up, but by the second I knew better.

And then, on the fourth day, she woke up again. It happened so gradually that at first I thought it was just her sleep-fidgets, but then her green eyes, clouded with sickness, squinted in my general direction. "Hey, Smiley," she mumbled. I was up and at her bedside in three seconds flat. I took her hand anxiously in both of mine anxiously.

"How do you feel?" I asked. My voice sounded cracked and hoarse.

"Trippy as hell," Scappa replied, putting the palm of her free hand on her forehead and staring confusedly at the ceiling. Then she turned back to me, brow furrowed. "Your voice sounds weird," she commented, reaching her hand up until it found my face. I leaned down so she could reach me better and closed my eyes. Her fingers moved all around my face, stopping at my forehead. She smoothed out the worried lines there, holding my brow smooth. I gave her a cracked smile, and she frowned. "You aren't saying anything," she complained. I caught her wrist and pulled her fingers down to the corners of my mouth. She felt the smile there and relaxed, blinking slowly. "Where am I?" she asked.

"ICU," I replied, not moving her fingers from my lips. Her blunt fingernails tickled. "You slept for three days."

She nodded slowly. "Kinda figures, don't it?" she murmured to herself. In a louder voice, she added, "I had the weirdest dream while I was out. It—" she looked at the blue monkey in confusion and pulled her hand away from my face. I let it go reluctantly, watching as she ran her fingers through its fur. "The hell is this?" she demanded.

"Mitsukuni got it for you from the gift shop," I answered. "It's a blue monkey with green eyes."

A wide grin spread over her face. "Hunny's awesome," she remarked. Then she glanced at my face and smiled. "And so are you. How long has it been since you slept?" She tucked the monkey against her side and raised her hand to my face again. She caressed the skin under my eyes, feeling the bags there.

I smiled and traced the bags under her eyes, too. "We match," I said, at least a little amusement coloring my voice. She smiled, too. That was when I realized that I was still holding Scappa's hand. I uncurled my hand from around hers, giving her the option to let go.

She curled her fingers more tightly around my hand and rolled onto her side, closing her eyes. "You have to stay until I fall asleep," she murmured, clutching my hand. "I'll throw a fit if you don't," she added in warning.

"Okay," I said, and nodded.

"Swear it," she persisted stubbornly.

I nodded solemnly. "I swear on my life that I'll stay until you fall asleep and be here when you wake up," I vowed.

Scappa smiled. She was half-asleep by now. "Thanks, Smiley," she murmured. "I don't doubt you."

Yay! Finally! I'm so sorry to keep you waiting! Please Read and Review!