Tohru couldn't decide what was better; watching the clock, or not watching the clock. Watching the clock only proved how impossibly slow time passed, but not watching the clock gave her false hope that time was actually passing, only to be cruelly disappointed when she next looked up.

She was two weeks away from her due date, and it felt like time had slowed down to an agonizingly slow crawl. She was trying to stay positive and happy; she was healthy, the baby was healthy. Everything seemed to be going well. She was very close to being done. But it was so, so hard to stay cheerful when everything hurt. It had been so long since she'd been able to see her own feet; since she'd been able to bend to pick something up off the floor. Sleep on her back. Sleep on her stomach. Sleep more than three hours without needed to wake up to pee! Get out of bed easily, or quietly. Do literally anything easily or quietly. She felt enormous, ungainly, perpetually exhausted, and just ready to be done.

At least her hair looked nice.

Today she was feeling especially bad, for some reason. Probably the particularly rotten night's sleep from the night before; she had barely been able to sleep an hour at a time, even with her pillow nest. She'd been awake when Kyo had woken up, and instead of going for his morning run he'd given her the most wonderful foot and calf massage; that had bought her another two hours of sleep afterwards, but that was all.

Since she was on her maternity leave, Tohru had been consoled by the fact she had almost nothing else to do that day except try to sleep. She did have her weekly check in with Dr. Watanabe, but that wasn't until one. Unfortunately, sleep remained elusive, and Tohru simply dragged her way through the morning, trying to fight off the dogged feeling of irritability and exhaustion that wouldn't leave her alone.

It was hard, she reflected as she flopped back onto the bed for what felt like the millionth time that morning. In the early stages of pregnancy, she'd had excitement and novelty to help her get through the worst of the fatigue. Then she'd gotten her energy back, and she'd been able to enjoy so much for so long: planning, telling people about it, making arrangements. Seeing people. Getting the nursery set up. She'd even enjoyed her bump. But then she just kept getting bigger and bigger, and things kept getting harder and harder. It was hard to enjoy anything right now, except the prospect of it all being over. She knew they were close; so close that any day now, she could maybe find herself going into labor. But she also couldn't forget what Dr. Watanabe had told her about first time pregnancies often going long, and she sighed. She really hoped she didn't have to deal with four more weeks of this!

Trying to distract herself from how crappy she felt, Tohru tried to focus on just how prepared they were. The little room off of the bedroom, formerly Kyo's exercise room, was now home to a crib, changing table, and glider. They'd set up a bassinet at the foot of the bed in their own room. She'd packed her bag for the hospital. She had her postpartum recovery kit.

Perhaps the biggest thing they'd done to get ready for the baby had been to buy the car. Tohru didn't know what was more nerve-wracking; finding out they were going to have a baby, or deciding to buy their own vehicle. It had been a big decision, and they'd started discussing it shortly after they found out Tohru was pregnant. Since Hibe was so very walkable and the bus ran regularly into Nigeyashi, there had never been any need to even discuss having a car before the past year. But with a baby on the way, neither of them had been thrilled with the idea of being at the mercy of either the bus or other people if there was an emergency, and that had finally convinced them now was the time.

So, after a great deal of research, budgeting, and discussion, the two of them were the proud owners of a little blue sedan. It wasn't the fanciest car on the block, and definitely not the newest, but it was exactly what the two of them needed. Kyo could even drive it, though Tohru would have to wait until after the baby was born to actually take lessons. And they had a car seat, all ready to install.

Sighing again, Tohru looked down at her massive stomach and prodded it. "I guess it's all on you now, Hajime. Whenever you're ready, so are we!"

Her mood worsened as the morning dragged on, and by lunch time she wanted to do nothing quite so much as just cry into her noodles. Everything ached, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes, and to make matters even more 'fun' Hajime wouldn't stop flailing around. Tohru sighed as she looked down at her wiggling belly, poking sternly at one of the random bulges that hid a hand or foot.

"It's fine if you want to be a martial artist, but couldn't you just wait until you have more room?"

Her lecture did nothing to stop her son's acrobatics; she hadn't thought it would. But she'd definitely, definitely hoped.

When it finally became time for her to head to the bus, Tohru practically wanted to cry from sheer gratitude. All morning, she'd tried and failed to rest, to relax, to do something. And all she'd managed to do was...be pregnant. Was this really what she had to look forward to for the next few weeks, being miserable, useless, and pregnant?

Tohru pulled out her phone and texted Kyo from the bus stop. 'Waiting for the bus, going to my appointment. Feeling pretty down, hopefully everything looks good.'

Because of Tohru's advanced stage of pregnancy, Kyo was currently allowed to keep his cell on him during work. Even though she knew he couldn't normally respond, it made her feel better knowing that she could communicate with him in real time. And hopefully she'd have a less grumpy update to send him, too.

It was hard to say, though. By the time Tohru made it to the clinic doors, she was feeling even worse than she had that morning. Walking the couple blocks from the bus station usually wasn't a problem, but today she felt as though she'd run a marathon. Hopefully this would convince her body that sleep was the better option, she thought sourly as she waddled into the waiting area.

Ami was all smiles when she saw Tohru, but the smile was quickly replaced by a look of sympathy when she saw just how rough Tohru looked. "Oof, you aren't looking too good today, Sohma. Can I get you some water or something?"

Tohru collapsed into a chair with a grateful nod at Ami. "Thank you, Sakoto, that would be great. I had a terrible night last night and I think it's catching up to me. I feel like I'm back in high school and just had to run the marathon all over again." She took the water with a sigh, but managed to give her friend a small smile. "A positive from this experience, though, is that I'll always be able to have copious amounts of sympathy for all our late term patients going forward. This is hard!"

"Yeah, it definitely looks like it. Women sure got the short end of the stick, didn't they?"

"Well, it's not all bad," Tohru admitted, patting her bump where Hajime had started in again with his kicks and flails. "It's nice to be able to feel him, and to be able to talk to him. And to know that even now, I'm taking care of him. But there's quite a lot of things I'd rather do without, too," she said with another sigh.

"I'm sure." Chuckling, Ami went back to the reception desk. "Dr. Watanabe just finished with her previous patient, so she should be with you soon."

"That sounds great, thank you."

After walking from the bus stop, even the stiff waiting room chair was a welcome relief. But it wasn't long before the door opened and one of the nurses stuck her head out, smiling. "We're ready for you now, Sohma!" And Tohru had to hoist herself up and waddle back to the exam room.

She only barely registered the now-familiar routine; weight, temperature, pulse. Then blood pressure. She was too busy thinking about how long today was taking, how blah she felt. How long the walk had been, how badly everything ached...then she suddenly realized she'd been spacing out. The nurse was looking at her, concerned, and Tohru blushed.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Nurse Onawa was still frowning, but not because Tohru wasn't paying attention. "I asked how you're feeling, Sohma. Do you feel light-headed, or dizzy? Does your head hurt?"

Now Tohru was feeling confused. "Yes? But I had a bad night's sleep, and I did just walk here from the bus stop."

"Hmm. Let me just check this again." Nurse Onawa reapplied the blood pressure cuff to Tohru's arm, and this time Tohru was hyper aware of the intense squeezing sensation on her arm. She watched the numbers on the monitor tick upwards, and saw the frown deepen on Nurse Onawa's face. She didn't know what the numbers meant, but she could tell from that expression it couldn't be good.

"Sohma, I'm going to step out and talk to Dr. Watanabe really quickly, ok? You sit here and try to relax."

One thing about being told to relax: it literally never worked.

By the time Dr. Watanabe walked into the room with Nurse Onawa, Tohru could feel her heart racing a mile a minute, and knew her skin was flushed. Dr. Watanabe had her face set in professional neutrality, but Tohru could see her eyes were worried as they checked Tohru's pulse and blood pressure for the third time. This time, the numbers were even higher.

"Sohma, I'd like you to please try and take a deep breath and calm down." Tohru tried, but there was a lump in her throat that was making it incredibly difficult to either breathe or swallow. "Now, can you tell me how long you've had your headache?"

How long had it been?

"Since sometime last night, maybe? I had trouble sleeping, and I felt dull and achy the whole time. And then all day today."

Dr. Watanabe exchanged a look with Nurse Onawa, then pursed her lips. "Sohma, I don't want to alarm you, but I'm going to send you to the hospital. Can you have your husband meet you there?"

Being told not to be alarmed was even harder than being told to relax.

"He's at work, but I'll call him. Why? What's wrong?" Tohru was doing her best to stay calm, but it was very difficult when she didn't understand why. Clearly something was off on her vitals, but what? And what did it mean?

"Your blood pressure is dangerously high right now Sohma, and at this level it's not safe for either you or the baby. Mrs. Ito is actually going to drive you to the hospital, and we're going to get you hooked up for some additional monitoring. Maybe it's just stress or due to the sudden physical exertion, but it might not be and we need to make sure. If it doesn't go down quickly, then we'll need this baby to be born soon."

When Tohru had spent the morning mentally bemoaning how long she had left in her pregnancy, this was not what she'd imagined. A dark feeling of dread and fear started to twist in her gut, and it took everything in her not to start crying. More than anything, she wished Kyo were there. "So I need to go to the hospital right now?"

"That's right. Mrs. Ito is ready to drive you right this moment, so let's get you going. And you should call your husband now, too."

Tohru pulled out her phone with trembling hands and hit Kyo's contact. Pick up pick up pick up...

'Hey, you've reached Kyo Sohma; I can't answer the phone right now, so please leave a message.'

"Hi Kyo, it's Tohru. I was at my appointment, but I'm being sent over to the hospital. Dr. Watanabe says my blood pressure is really high and they need to monitor me. If it doesn't go down soon, then the baby will have be born soon instead. Please call me and come as quickly as you can."

Her voice was shaking the entire time, and continued to shake as she hung up. For good measure she called a second time; voicemail again. And a third, with the same result. Followed by a text, and another.

'Going to the hospital. My BP is too high, Dr. Watanabe says baby might need to come soon. Please come. Let me know ASAP when you get this.'

'Going to the hospital, need you to meet me there, please call.'

By the time Tohru was buckled into the office manager's car, she had tears cascading down her cheeks. Mrs. Ito was a no-nonsense manager, but she was fond of Tohru and glad to be able to help her right now. When Tohru set her phone down in her lap after another failed attempt to reach Kyo, Mrs. Ito looked over at Tohru with a worried frown.

"Still no answer? Can you call his work directly?"

Tohru shook her head, kicking herself she didn't have a direct contact number for the dojo. Kyo had said he would have his phone on him the whole time he was at work; why wasn't he answering?

"Is there someone else you could call to run over and check on him, maybe? I'm sure there's a good reason for why he hasn't answered, but if there's another way he can get the message that might be a good idea."

Of course, why hadn't Tohru thought of that? Her hand still shaking, she dialed the bakery.

"Tanaka's Bakery, how can I help you?"

"Riko? It's Tohru. I know it's a really big favor to ask during the work day and I'm really sorry, but would you be able to go to the dojo and find Kyo for me?" The words all came out in a rush; Tohru knew it was best for her to try and calm down, but she couldn't. She was scared; scared for the baby, scared for herself, scared not to know where Kyo was and why he wasn't answering. And it was hard to speak normally when you were scared.

Riko's voice was instantly sharp and alert. "Of course, Tohru. What's wrong, where are you?"

Mrs. Ito was just pulling up to the hospital entrance now. "I'm at the hospital, Riko. I'm being admitted for monitoring, Dr. Watanabe says my blood pressure is," Tohru gulped, trying to keep from bursting into tears, "Dangerously high. If it doesn't come down soon, she says they might need to deliver the baby. I've been trying to reach Kyo, but he hasn't answered!"

"We'll find him Tohru right away, don't worry about it at all. He'll be on his way before you know it. You just take some calm breaths and try to settle yourself, ok? Everything's going to be ok."

The determination in her friend's voice was enough to take at least a little bit of Tohru's edge off, and she let out a slow sigh of relief as the car stopped by the entrance. Riko would find Kyo, he'd be here soon, and everything would be fine.

Mrs. Ito looked at Tohru as she unbuckled her seatbelt, not liking the younger woman's color at all. "Sohma, you stay here for a moment, ok? I'm going to step inside and get a wheelchair."

A wheelchair sounded like a good idea, Tohru thought. Maybe she'd just close her eyes while she waited...

"Sohma?!"

Riko hung up the phone with Tohru and hurried back to the bakery kitchen where Yamato was hard at work. "Yamato, that was Tohru on the phone. She's being admitted to the hospital, and it sounds like the baby might be coming really soon. She said she can't get ahold of Kyo; I'm going to run down to the dojo and find him, ok?"

Yamato's brow furrowed and he wiped his hands on his apron. "No, you'd better let me go; I can take the car and drive him straight there. It'll be faster than him having to run back to get theirs. Did Tohru say why?" He was already rapidly removing his cap and apron, and heading for the door.

"High blood pressure. She specifically said 'dangerously high blood pressure," Riko said, giving her husband a concerned look. "I don't know how much time that gives, but I'm guessing not a whole lot."

"Me either. I'll be back after I get Kyo to Nigeyashi. There's rolls in the oven, listen for the timer." He gave her a quick kiss, then was out the door, in the car, and on the way to the dojo as fast as he could go.

Getting to the dojo was no problem; finding Kyo inside it was another, more complicated problem. It was a large, sprawling complex, and practice spaces were scattered all over. Having never even been inside it before, Yamato felt extremely lost as he jogged into the courtyard and looked around. Where did he even start?

Fortunately, the staff member currently crossing the courtyard made it easier for him. "Excuse me, is there something I can help you with, Sir?"

Yamato latched onto the man as if he were an anchor. "Yes, I need to find Kyo Sohma; it's very important. Can you take me to him?"

The man's face instantly reflected concern, and he nodded. "Of course, come with me."

Yamato followed him up the steps and into a large building, then down a hallway, around a corner, and into a large practice space. Yamato could see Kyo, calling out commands to a small group of students, and let out a quick sigh of relief. One task down...

"Sohma!" His escort bellowed across the room, and Kyo looked over in surprise. But when he saw Yamato standing next to Maeda, the surprise quickly shifted over to concern and with a quick word to his students, Kyo hurried over.

"What are you doing here, Yamato?" Kyo's voice was tight, and he was trying to keep it controlled. But he was already fumbling in his gi to find his phone, and the tremor in his voice belied his concern.

And Yamato wasn't about to waste any more time. "Kyo, we need to get to the hospital right away. Tohru called, she's been admitted for dangerously high blood pressure. Apparently, they might to deliver the baby very soon."

Kyo was half listening to Yamato, half looking at his phone in abject horror. Seven missed calls from Tohru, four voicemails from Tohru, eleven missed text messages from Tohru. And a very accusatory little icon saying that Kyo's phone was set to silent.

He promptly started swearing a blue streak, flipping frantically through the texts. It had been over half an hour, nearly forty minutes since she'd first started trying to reach him...

Glancing at Maeda, he spoke very tersely. "Maeda, I need to go. Can you take over for me?"

"Of course, Sohma. Good luck."

Kyo was already racing out of the room, pausing only duck into the locker room for his bag. If he hadn't needed his shoes, he wouldn't have even stopped there, and it was still all Yamato could do to keep up. He'd never seen Kyo like this, never; he knew his friend well enough to read the fear in Kyo's eyes.

"You said you can take me to the hospital, Yamato?"

"That's right. Just get in."

Kyo was already calling Tohru as he got into the car, and it was his turn to silently plead Pick up, pick up, pick up...

'Hello, you've reached the voicemail of Tohru Sohma!'

Kyo promptly started swearing again, a string even more colorful than the last one.

'I'm sorry I can't answer right now, but please leave a message and I'll get right back to you.'

Fighting to control his voice, Kyo left a quick message. "Tohru, I'm so, so sorry I missed your calls. I'm on my way to the hospital right now, I'll be there as soon as I can. I love you."

Rapidly followed by a text message: 'Just got your messages, on my way now. Love you.'

He tried not to imagine a million different terrible reasons she might not be answering and to instead focus on the fact he was on his way. He would have rather been on his way 40 minutes ago, but there wasn't a lot he could do about it right now...other than call himself literally every name he knew. He was such a goddamned idiot!

Fighting to keep his voice steady, he turned to Yamato. "Do you have a problem if I change in the car?"

Yamato shook his head, and Kyo practically ripped off his gi, sliding into his street clothes and lacing on his sneakers. He hadn't taken a shower, but he wasn't going to make Tohru have to deal with any more sweat smells than he had to.

But he wished he could have taken longer changing, because once he was dressed there was nothing else to do but sit tensely and wait for them to arrive. He tried calling Tohru again, and it went straight to her voicemail again. "Still me. Still on my way. Still loving you."

His hand was shaking as he set down the phone, and he dropped his face into his hands. Yamato tried to think of something encouraging to say; anything to lift Kyo's spirits, and help him feel better about the current situation. But he didn't know what to say; he and Riko hadn't had to deal with anything like this, and he didn't know how serious it was. It had certainly sounded serious when Riko had told him, but maybe it had gotten slightly garbled in translation.

Kyo acknowledged Yamato first, albeit without lifting his head. "Thanks, Yamato." How long would it have taken him to check his phone if Yamato hadn't come to find him?

"You're welcome, Kyo. She's going to be ok."

She has to be.