Chapter Fifty One

I smile a little as I see the girls following Kyoko. Tomorrow is my birthday but Kyoko has finished decorating the cake today. I don't know how big this cake has become but it looks a little bigger than the one for Valentine's Day. Well, at least Dad can help us finish it.

"Let me see," Rose says as Kyoko gets a ladder and puts it up high on a metal shelving unit. I grin as I watch Kyoko with my girls. "It looks really big and pretty. I want to see it."

"You can see it tomorrow when we surprise Daddy," Kyoko says before winking at me. I smile to her. She takes one pink box and puts it up high whilst finishing with the other pink cake box. Well, I suppose all she needs to do is assemble it, should be pretty easy.

"But I want to see it now, you always let us taste it Mommy," Rose says and I turn to Dad who has come over to talk about maybe meeting with a Japanese director who has booked a vacation here. Dad laughs and shakes his head.

"If your mother allows it, how about Grandpa takes you out for ice cream if you're good," he calls to them and Ana seems pleased about this. She runs over to us and Dad pulls her into his lap. He smiles to me before wrapping his arms around his younger granddaughter.

"No, thank you," Rose says and I blink. I know that Kyoko's desserts are always incredible, even in my opinion and I'm definitely not a fan of sweet foods. "Just a little look?" Rose almost begs but Ana giggles and looks up at Dad.

"I like ice cweam," she announces and I nod.

"I like….it t-too," I tell her with minimal difficulty and Kyoko rolls her eyes, she knows that I only like a certain amount and certain, more rich than sweet, flavors but she always likes when I bond with the girls. Kyoko walks over to me and kisses my lips before drawing back.

"Let me know when you'd like lunch today," she whispers to me and I nod. I look to Rose who appears to be pouting. Kyoko sighs as she turns back to her and shakes her head not wanting to argue with her anymore.

"Rose," I call out to her before I see her still looking at the boxes. "Cco-mme…sit..wi-th u-us." I pause as she still looks up at the box and I share a look with Dad. He chuckles and shakes his head. I stand and walk over to her. She usually enjoys time with her grandfather. I know that the cake is exciting but tomorrow isn't that far away. As I walk over to her, I see her studying the shelves of the unit and looking at the different boxes and items that we have there. I know that when I was a kid, I would have tried to climb up there if I held enough interest.

"Ppr-inc-ess" I call out to her. "Ddd-on'ttt. Ju-Jusstt…co-mme for…ice ccre-am." I can hear the change in my speaking pattern with my nerves. My eyes widen as I see her attempting to climb the shelving unit and I pause as I feel something in the ground. A tremor. Los Angeles is famous for earthquakes. "Rose! Nn-o!" I call out sharply.

I reach out to grab her and pull her away and as I do so, I feel her struggle. Is seeing this cake that important to her that she would endanger herself by falling. I pull her to me but she tries to reach back for the shelves. I feel the ground shake again and see that Rose is still trying to climb the shaking structure. I grab her and pull her back again but hear Dad standing up and rushing over. I hear a few items start to fall off the shelves and see a box above the two of us starting to fall down. Without a second thought, I throw Rose to the side. Now I just need to get out my—

Black. Nauseous. Pain. Black.

KyKuKyKu

Earthquakes are as common here as they were in Japan. I've become used to them during my life but that one felt pretty big. I hear a thud that sounds like it might have come from one of the neighbors before my hearts runs cold as I hear a massive crash. That definitely sounded like it came from the storage room. Father and Kuon would have made sure that the girls stayed away from the shelving. Rose knows better then to climb on them.

I look out the window as I wash up the bowls from cooking. Rose isn't that stupid. I take a deep breath before hearing the sound of footsteps and I look to see a shaking Rose. I open my mouth to ask her what is going on but she just stands there trembling, her body pale.

"Mommy, call the doctors!" she yells at me and I freeze. It takes a few moments to register with me what she's said. I look her over. She looks fine, a little bruised as if she tripped and fell and she's dirty and dusty but I don't think it is grave enough to need the paramedics. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Honey, you don't need the doctor," I try to explain to her but she bows her head.

"It was an accident! Call the doctor! The ambulance!" she yells at me and I look at the scrape on my arm before my heart starts beating and I look at her. Maybe Father got injured. I take her hand and go back but as soon as I reach the area, my blood runs cold. No. No. No.

I see that there are boxes everywhere including a ruined cake but what is most painful is that Father is on the ground, the shelf has been shifted and he's shaking, his hands on top of Kuon's chest. As I near him, I see that there's blood and Father is attempting to give Kuon CPR. He's not breathing? I see Kuon's face is pale and slightly bluish. What the hell happened?

I grab my phone and call the paramedic before seeing the blood and I shakily give out our address and a brief summary of what I'm seeing. Father is still trying to use CPR techniques with Kuon. I run over and drop down beside them. Kuon needs something to soak up the blood. I check his head, no blood there but he's in an awkward position and there is so much damage to his body. Not again. Please not again.

"Come on, you can do it," Father is pleading with him. "Please, Kuon, please fight for us."

Kuon finally coughs and Father tries to feel his body to test his pulse rate. I grab my jacket and try to put it beneath Kuon's left side of his body which seems to have taken on most injury. I want to yell at Rose, tell her that she must have caused this but I know her, I know Kuon. She was being stupid and he was doing his best to protect her.

"What happened?" I ask Father as he lightly slaps Kuon's cheek trying to keep him breathing and somewhat conscious.

"The shelving unit fell," Father tells me quickly. "I don't know if I pulled it off of him in time," he says but his gaze never leaves Kuon. I blink. Pulled it off of him? I check his head again. I'm not seeing a lot of damage to the outside but that doesn't mean the inside doesn't have damage.

I hear Kuon coughing again before those coughs turn into gasps, he's having a lot of difficulty breathing. He's choking and Father is looking over him in a terrified manner. I nervously get into Father's position and start the CPR myself. His left side, something's wrong with his left side.

"Sweetheart, Corn, you're so strong. You are so strong," I try to tell him before hearing the sound of the paramedics and Father bolts up, running over to where they are and opening the door of the storage room that is right beside the garage of our house. I hear him give them instructions and the paramedics hurtle in.

I freeze as I hear words that will haunt our family forever, "It doesn't look like he'll make it to the hospital. Get the respirator."

I hear Father trying not to sob which is heartbreaking for me because Father is the calm and collected once but he's looking so devastated and heartbroken. "Can I stay with him?" he asks and as one paramedic gets Kuon hooked to a respirator and quickly patches his wound I look to Father, hearing the next words. "I can only take one of you," he says and I look to Father feeling as if I'm going to die and vanish completely from my place on the floor.

"Father, go. I want you to go with him. Keep me updated!" I call out and Kuu nods. He immediately goes with the paramedic and I feel frozen with fear. I don't know if I'll ever be able to get to my feet again. I hear Ana crying and look up at her as she's curled in a ball, her whole body is shaking and she looks horrified by what she just witnessed.

Rose looks hollow as she stands with her hands at her sides. She's just staring in my direction but she appears like a ghost. I know that they both need comforting but the blood is on the ground and Kuon wasn't exactly healthy before he was crushed by a metal shelving unit. He was getting better though. He was going to meet with that director. We were going to celebrate his birthday with him in less than twenty-four hours.

"I'm sorry!" she screams as she falls to the ground and whimpers, going into fetal position. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she says and as I struggle to get up, I walk over to her and wrap her up in my arms before taking her to where Ana is. I pull Ana onto my lap as well.

"It was an accident," I whisper not knowing what to think anymore. I want to trust that Kuon is okay but…with the injuries he received from last year, it seems difficult to believe in that. He's already had trouble breathing and needed CPR. Even if his head didn't show any signs of bleeding externally, a lot of head injuries only can be seen from scans of the inside. "It's not your fault," I try to comfort Rose.

"It is!" Ana argues and I brush both of the girls hair back in a comforting manner. Ana finally sits up but Rose is still shaking, her tears washing down her face. "She kill Daddy."

"She didn't kill Daddy," I argue. "Daddy's not even dead," I tell them before looking over at the destroyed cakes. I don't even know if that's true or not. I have no confidence that that is true. I just wish from the bottom of my head that the phrase third time's the charm isn't true and that Kuon will survive this as well. He has to survive this as well.

End of Chapter Fifty One

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Kaname671