Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bleach
Chapter 52
Slipped Away
3rd person POV
Raina warped to the hospital and then went up the room she already knew her grandpa was in. Her Nana stood up when she walked in.
"You got here awful fast." Grandpa commented from the hospital bed.
She smiled. "Yeah."
She noticed her nana's eyes were a little red and puffy as she walked towards the door, like she had been crying, but it seemed she was a peace with what caused it. "I need to eat so I can take my medicine. I'm going to the cafeteria and I'll call Howard and Emily after." She looked at Raina. "Can you call your mom and sister?"
Raina nodded and Anna left the room.
"Sit by me." Harry called to his granddaughter, pointing at the chair pulled up beside the bed. "I have a feeling you already know what I'm about to tell you, but I'll say it anyways." He waited until Raina sat down. "This is my last hurrah. I had a vision. I haven't had one since I saw your mother acquiring Unmei. But I had another and I'm going to die here." He had congestive heart failure and had been having problems with it for a while. He never left Kristen heal him, because he thought this was the way it was supposed to be. Raina never offered, because she knew the same thing. His heart was going to give out on him. "I don't want to worry your mother by telling her I know and I definitely don't want to worry Paizley. She already has so much to worry about with that baby. Mitsuko is so sensitive; she doesn't need to start crying this soon. I will tell them what the doctors told me. When the time comes and I move on, don't let your mom bring me back. It's my time and I will see all of you again one day."
"You told Nana. That's why she looked like she had been crying, but she's at peace with it now. She knows this isn't the end."
"Yes."
She took her grandpa's hand. "Have peace in your final days and know that I will do as you wish." She felt her eyes watering, not because she was exactly sad, but because she knew how bad her mother would take this. "Excuse me. I'll be back. I'm going to call Mom and Pai." She hugged her grandpa and hurried out in the hall. She didn't cry often. It was a sign of weakness and that was something she never liked to show. Her mom was the only one to have seen her cry and that was when she was younger. She rode the elevator to the ground floor and exited the building. When she made it to her car in the parking lot, she stopped, propping up against it. She stared at the ground and waited for the feeling to pass, which it did without a tear ever falling.
"There is much inside you that you fight it seems." She heard Alaricus's voice from behind. She turned to him. "You like to fight the human part of you. I suppose it's only normal for one in your position."
She crossed her arms, not liking him analyzing her. "Stay out of my head."
"I don't mean to make you mad. You have a lot on your shoulders. You know so much, but can't say a thing. You have to live every day like you know nothing. You shouldn't have to shoulder that burden all by yourself."
"And who should I share it with? You?"
"That was my idea. I know most of the secrets anyways."
"If you would stay out of my head and mind your own business, you wouldn't."
"Does it bother you that I know?"
"No. I'm not scared of you. It's true, you're strong, but I'm stronger. People like me don't get scared."
Alaricus knew that to be untrue, but decided not to say anything. "I don't want you to be scared of me, so it's good that you're not. I want you to take me as a friend, maybe more later. You can rely on me."
"I have a boyfriend."
"I know, but can you rely on him in situations like this? The ones where you know what will happen before it does."
She was silent, knowing the answer was that she couldn't. "I don't need to talk about these situations."
"Not even the one with Paizley? They're three people that know about that one now."
"I don't need to talk about anything. They are what they are. Talking will change nothing."
"Then you can take comfort in knowing that you don't bear this burden alone. I bear it with you."
"How touching." She rolled her eyes.
"Let me be your friend."
"Why? How can I trust you? I can't even see what you're here for. That's a little suspicious."
He walked closer to her. "It should be obvious. You're the reason I'm here." He reached out to touch her face, but she grabbed his wrist.
"Don't think you're going to come in here and try to sweep me off my feet with your sweet words, because those lines don't work on me. I told you I'm already spoken for anyways." She let his wrist go and pushed it back to him.
"I have things to offer that he can't, but if that's what you want, then we can just be friends. I won't be like my brother. I won't beg you to take me. I just want to be there for you, in your life some way."
"Will you leave if I say you can be my friend?"
He half smiled. "Yes."
"First, tell me why I can't see your intention."
"I don't really know. We're both guardians, so maybe you're not meant too. You already know I can be resistant to your abilities to an extent. Maybe I'm naturally resisting it. Maybe my Nexus is protecting me from you. Who knows? I'm your friend, though, so it's nothing to worry about."
"Well, you can run along and be my friend some other time. I have people to call about an issue that I don't need to talk about."
Paizley's POV
When we got home, I sat Jin down on the bed and went to the bathroom to get the things I needed to treat his face. I had him hold a warm washcloth on his busted lip. Along with that injury, he had a bruise on the right side of his face, a small cut below his right eyebrow and a few scratches from rolling around on the ground. I treated the cut and scratches with antibiotic ointment.
"What's up with you today?" I asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You tried to pick a fight three times today and succeeded the last time."
"I didn't pick any of those, they did. That paparazzi guy shouldn't have touched you. Reio should have respected your wishes and Spencer was begging for it."
"I don't think I've ever seen you as aggressive as you were today. Nothing is wrong, is it?"
"I'm fine. You haven't seen me like this before because nothing has happened to cause it while you were around me in the past."
"I guess I'm still learning things about you."
"Is it bad that I do that?"
"I kind of like it, that you want to protect me. It's sweet."
He smiled and intertwined his fingers with mine. My phone beeped before either of us could say anything else. I checked the text, it was from Raina.
"We have to go." I said, letting go of his hand and standing up.
"What's wrong?"
"Grandpa is in the hospital."
3rd person POV
Alaricus walked into his residence and headed straight for his office. Celestine followed him from the living room.
"Their Nexus is strong indeed."
"Hmm?" She fell back in one of the chairs.
"Of all the ones we've encountered, theirs is the strongest."
"Stronger than ours?"
"Yes. Just look at what it has created. Raina is the best example. Look at how powerful she is and she's only a guardian."
"Sure she isn't more?"
"Truthfully, no. If she is, it's in a part of her brain that I can't access. That means she wouldn't want anyone knowing."
"If she knows at all."
He pondered a minute on the fact that she possibly might not be aware of who she really is. "I guess it's possible."
"If she doesn't know, there is only one person who could know."
"Unmei, but her mind I can't enter. The Nexus protects her. She's a child of it, which it truly amazing in and of itself. None of the others actually created a person."
"That we know of. We haven't visited them all, right?"
"Correct." He sat down behind his desk. "I found out some interesting things from Raina's mind today. It's incredible how much she knows."
"Like what?"
"I found out why I can't enter her sister's mind. It's the child she's carrying. He'll be one of the most powerful telepaths the omniverse will ever know, with a power rivaling my own."
"Will he become a threat?"
"Not while he's young. When he grows up, it will be too late."
"Why didn't Reio foresee this?"
"Sometimes I think Reio only sees what he wants to see. If he were only more like us, he would be unstoppable."
"He's always been different, hasn't he?"
"Yes."
"Have you gotten Raina's trust?"
"She's a lot tougher than her sister."
"She can't see what we're planning, can she?"
"No, I'm able to keep her from seeing it. Having the power of more than one Nexus is coming in handy with her. This one is going to be a little tougher though. All its users are exceptionally strong. Kristen is incredibly strong. She may not look like it, but don't underestimate her. She's grown much stronger than when she first began channeling her powers. She's had time to get use to them. Paizley isn't very far behind her. Unlike Kristen, who's mind tap limits her when using Raina's abilities, Paizley isn't as limited. Although she does have a range, she would be very dangerous. She doesn't use Raina's powers freely like Kristen does though. In fact, I think I could probably count of one hand the times Paizley has used Raina's powers. She likes to rely on her own powers, which you've experienced. I think it's safe to say she's not to be taken lightly."
"Since she's pregnant with that telepath, Reio is the only one who would have a good chance against her. He would never fight her though."
"It's truly incredible that this Nexus can give a regular user the strength of another Nexus' guardian."
"What is the boy's powers?"
"He has powers similar to that of a phoenix. He can't ever truly be killed, for he will always reincarnate himself from the ashes. He's immortal. He can create and manipulate fire also, which makes him resistant to it. That means your kiss of death will be no good on him."
"It's not like I could kill him anyways. Leave him to me though. I'm sure I can think of many ways to lure him to our side." She smirked. "Immortal or not, he's still a man. One who very much likes women. He'll be a piece of cake."
Paizley's POV
We got to the hospital before everyone else. We were only like six minutes away. Nana had brought him the hospital here in LA that his doctors are at, instead of one closer to Palm Springs. When Mom and everyone else got there, Grandpa said the doctors told him it was just his congestive heart failure and the fluid building up. He said he would be able to go home in a few days and not to worry. Things like this were pretty routine nowadays. He had been in and out of the hospital with this problem quite a bit the past few years. Everyone in the room seemed to buy that this was going to be like any other time, but me. Grandpa felt guilty about telling us that, which meant either it wasn't the truth or at least the whole truth. Raina was shutting me out emotionally, so I had no idea what was going on with her.
Whenever Grandpa went into the hospital, everyone came to see him. It was like a family reunion. All of us immediate family people stayed as long as we could. Several people had been in and out, visiting him. The ones who were left were my parents, siblings and grandparents.
"What happened to you?" Papa asked Jin. Dad already commented on his injuries when they arrived. Papa was only the second person to ask.
"It happened when I was playing soccer earlier." He lied.
"Looks like you were beat up." Grandma commented.
Jin just laughed nervously.
"So you two are together now?" Grandma asked, taking notice of us holding hands.
"Yeah." Jin grinned ear to ear.
"Can't say I didn't see this coming."
"Emily." Papa spoke up. "Not now."
We were the first to leave, as I was getting hungry and tired. We stopped by Taco Bell drive thru on the way home. I was so hungry; I think I ordered everything on the menu. When we got home, we ate and then headed to bed. Both of us had to get up in the morning.
"Something wasn't right at the hospital." I said, getting into bed.
"What?"
"Grandpa felt guilty about telling us what the doctor said. He's keeping something, but I don't know what. What if he's going to die?"
"He's not going to die."
"He could. I mean, with the disease he has, his heart could quit at any time."
"Why does he even have it? Can't Raina heal him?"
"He won't let anyone. He says it's supposed to happen." She paused. "I don't want him to die. I want him to be able to see our baby. His first great great grandkid. They'll be five generations of Meadows then. Him, Papa, Mom, me and baby."
Jin pulled my head to his chest and wrapped his arms around me. "It's going to be ok. No worrying. Ok?"
"I'll try."
The next day was the first day of school since Thanksgiving break. I was dreading it for some reason. I guess I thought my coach, Alexis or Spencer would spread it around that I was pregnant, but no one mentioned it to me if they did. I tried my best to avoid Alexis and Spencer, though. I had to pick a new class to substitute for varsity athletics. I picked photography. I liked to take pictures, so I thought it would be fun. Midway through the week was my first appointment with Dr. Montgomery. We made the appointment for in the morning, that way both of us could sleep in. Also, Jin wasn't allowed to check me out of school, so it was better in the mornings. I could just check myself in and with the doctor's excuse, I would be all covered.
When we got to the doctor's office, both of us had to fill out forms about our family's medical history. After I was called to the back, she did a ton of tests and about 4 vials of blood were taken. She talked to us about different things and told us she wanted to do an ultrasound to make sure of the due date. The ultrasound really made this more real than it had been. It made me happy to see my baby, even though it was only the size of a pumpkin seed. It also made me happy to feel the joy it gave Jin to see our baby. Since my doctor's office was close to the hospital, we stopped by to see Grandpa after we were done. I showed him the pictures of the sonogram and he thought our little pumpkin was just beautiful.
"What's wrong?" I asked Grandpa after he handed the pictures back.
"Well, I'm in a hospital…."
I didn't let him finish. "You felt guilty telling us what the doctor said. Why?"
He smiled. "I should have known I couldn't get this by you. You're smart as a whip." He took my hand. "Pai, you know I love you and you know I love your little one. I wish I could be around to he or she born. I want to be part of its life, but I'm not going to be able to. It's my time to go."
I immediately started to cry. "How did I know you were going to say that?"
"Because you're smart. You can always figure things out. But don't cry. You know this isn't the end and I'm ready."
"I know, but it's still sad."
"Come here." He opened his arms and I hugged him. "It's today. It will happen today."
"Then I'm going to stay here, spend as much time with you as I can."
"Me too." Jin said. I left Grandpa's embraced and looked up at him standing beside me. It meant so much to me that he was going to stay. "Work can wait."
We stayed all day with him and just talked, about everything. It was nice to hear all his stories one last time. Around sunset, Mom came walking into the room with tears in her eyes. Dad and my siblings were following in behind her. Mitsuko was crying too. They knew.
"You knew." Mom said. "And you didn't tell me."
"With good reason. I didn't want you to be upset before it actually happened."
"It's not going to happen."
"Krissy, you can to let me go. It's my time."
Her feelings were so sorrowful. I'd never felt her that sad before. I looked around the room as I felt Grandpa's emotions weakening. Kin was trying to comfort Mitsuko. Nana was holding on strongly. Dad was trying to calm mom down. Then I got to Raina. Her emotions were still blocked out and she was just staring off into space. Suddenly I felt Grandpa's emotions completely disappear and heard the heart monitor flat line. Jin wrapped his arms around me, while mom tried to bring Grandpa back. It wasn't working though. Raina was blocking her out. She tried and tried, but it was to no avail.
"Work! Work!" She cried hysterically. "Raina, why are you blocking?"
Raina said nothing. She just kept staring at nothing in particular.
"RAINA!" Mom screamed.
She made no response. She had closed herself off to all of us.
"RAINA!"
