Jushiro woke up coughing. He quickly got out of bed and went to the bathroom. Blood stained his hands and the sink as the fit raged on. He coughed so hard he saw stars. It hadn't been this bad in a long time.
Ame got up to fix tea for him. She was halfway to the kitchen when she heard a thud.
"Jushiro?" she called as she opened the bathroom door. He lay sprawled on the floor with his eyes closed. There was so much blood around him. Ame knelt down beside him. "Jushiro, don't leave me. Please don't leave." Tears streamed down her face. She watched his chest but couldn't tell if it was rising. She felt no breath coming out of him.
Panic threatened to take over her but she wouldn't let it. "Jushiro, you can't leave me alone with our child. You have to come back for it. For me." She placed her mouth over his and gave him breath. Nothing happened. Ame tried again. And again. And again. She saw his chest start to rise slowly.
Ame flash stepped them to the fourth division. "Somebody help me."
Captain Unohana came running out of a nearby room. "Ame, what happened?"
Ame told Unohana what had happened and watched as members of the fourth division lifted her husband onto a bed and wheeled it into a room. She knew people thought of him as frail but it was never a word she would have used to describe him. As she watched them take him away, she saw how frail he looked on the bed and she cried.
Isane came up to her and handed her a glass of water. "How are you doing?" she asked. Ame shook her head, unable to answer the question. "You have to stay healthy for the baby."
"I'm not having this baby without him," she said with calmly.
"There's no way to tell how long before Captain Ukitake wakes up."
"I'll wait." Ame shook her head. "We'll wait," she corrected.
…
Ame spent the next week by her husband's side. She talked to him about nothing and everything. Most of the time she tried to keep things light but as the days wore on it became more of a struggle.
Today Ame laid her head on his shoulder and spoke to him. "Jushiro don't leave me. I don't want to have this baby without you." There were tears in her eyes but she didn't wipe them. "I'm scared to have the baby without you. I don't want you to miss the birth of your child." She paused. Her throat was tight and she wasn't sure she could say much else to him without breaking down.
"I don't want to miss it," he said quietly. Ame gasped and looked up at him.
"Jushiro," she whispered. He sat up and pulled her to him. Ame put her arms around him and held onto him.
"Ame, I'm sorry," he said as he kissed her temple. "How long was I out?"
"Just over a week. It's the end of January and most of the snow has melted. And …" Ame gasped in pain. "And I think it's time."
"Time?" Jushiro asked confused.
"For the baby," she said as she collapsed against him.
Unohana rushed into the room. "We felt her reiatsu drop off." Jushiro got out of the bed and helped Unohana pull Ame onto it.
"Jushiro don't leave me," she said weakly. He took her hand.
"Jushiro, she's too weak to deliver the baby."
"Do what you need to do to keep them both alive." Unohana nodded. They would have to operate. She turned to Isane and gave her instructions. Jushiro didn't pay attention to them. "Ame, if I can't leave you, you can't leave me."
"I'm tired," she said.
"You have to stay awake till the baby is born." Jushiro stroked her hair. He felt guilty knowing he had done this to her. She had worried so much over him that she hadn't been taking care of herself.
"Jushiro," Unohana said as she wrapped the baby. "Would you like to hold your son?" She smiled sweetly as Jushiro took the baby from her.
"A son." He looked at the blue-haired baby. "Ame, we need to name our son."
"Ichiro," she said as she reached for him. "Ichiro Ukitake." Ame took the baby into her arms. She no longer felt tired. The baby opened his brown eyes at looked at her. Ichiro gripped his mother's finger and Ame smiled at him.
…
Jushiro cradled his son while Ame slept. Unohana knocked on the door and walked in.
"How are you feeling?" she asked him.
"Great," he replied. "I can't believe I almost missed this."
"Do you remember what happened that night?"
Jushiro thought for a moment. "No, just that it was bad. It hadn't been that bad in a long time."
"Yes, it was bad. Ame said you passed out and stopped breathing. She gave you life." Jushiro looked back at his wife. It seemed he was in her debt. "She was scared and she refused to have your son without you." Unohana looked over at her and saw a brave woman. "Jushiro, when she wakes up, I need to see you. You have not been officially released from my care." Jushiro nodded and Unohana left the room.
He laid his son in the bassinette and sat on the bed next to his wife and waited. Ame had barely opened her eyes when he leaned over and kissed her.
"I owe you my life."
"I wasn't ready for you to leave me."
"I didn't want to."
"Has this happened before?"
"Yes," he said quietly. "I had managed to get here before it got too bad." He sighed. "From what Captain Unohana told me, this time was the worst it has ever been. It's never made me stop breathing before."
"Don't ever scare me like that again," Ame said quietly as she took his hand in hers.
"I don't want to. I'm sorry I put you through that." He hugged her to him and held her.
…
"Isane, look at these," Unohana said as she handed her vice captain some test results.
"These are Captain Ukitake's results." Isane looked over them. "How can these be right?"
"I ran them three times." Captain Unohana sighed. She took the results and walked down the hall to her patients' room. She knocked on the door quietly and opened it. "Jushiro," she began as she walked into the room. She noticed Ame was awake and she smiled at them. "Good you're both awake." She walked over to them. "I have your test results back." She sighed.
"What's wrong?" Jushiro asked.
"Nothing is wrong, Jushiro. Your illness is near dormant."
"How did that happen?" he asked.
"You stopped breathing," Ame said.
"That's my thought," Unohana agreed. "You stopped breathing and Ame resuscitated you."
"So it's gone?" Jushiro asked.
"No but it's not as severe as it was. I still want you to come in for treatments and you will still have medication you'll need to take. I'll keep an eye on it and it's possible you won't be here as often for your treatments."
