1 Chapter 6
" I want an explanation now Sano! What the hell is going on!" Megumi demanded hoarsely as Sano came into the room she had been deposited in, carrying a cup and a towel.
It was only a few minutes after she had been discovered by Sanosuke, who by the look on his face, was also very surprised at seeing her. Almost immediately, he had carried her into this room, left her sitting on the bed and was gone at once.
Now that he was back, he handed her the cup and towel.
" Drink it up, it'll make your throat feel better." He ordered. Megumi complied and drank what was in the cup. She tasted honey and lemon. Almost immediately, her throat felt better, and she opened her mouth to speak. However, Sano silenced her by placing two fingers on her lips.
" Don't." he said " I'm not up to your screams now, and your throat needs to rest. It's been a hectic day, but I'm sure that you want YOUR explanation, so I'll give it to you now." He rolled his eyes at her as he said that and Megumi glared at him. However, she kept her mouth shut and used the towel that he had given her to wipe her hands and face. While she did that, Sano sat down by the side of the bed and began to talk.
" Last night, we kidnapped the magistrate. We were hoping to be able to hold him for ransom…in the process, you got mistaken as one of his concubines and evidently, they thought that you could be used as ransom too. So here you are now…unfortunately, you may have to stay here for a while, we can't very well put you back on the streets and say that you escaped from us. It would rouse suspicions. So, for now, you will have to pretend to be one of our hostages."
" You mean that I have to pretend to be his concubine! No way!" Megumi shouted.
Sano shot her a look of irritation
" Can't you just keep your mouth shut for once!" he shouted back.
" What did you say!" Megumi replied, and automatically reached up to pull his ears.
"OUCH!" Sano yelled and wrestled his ear away; " Do you always have to do that!"
" Habit. Anyhow, I refuse to stay here for another minute. I'm not going to be ransomed as his freaking concubine." Megumi replied and folded her arms and stared at Sano squarely in the eye.
" Oh really, then what were you doing at his house then? Having a nice dinner, and reciting poetry to each other I suppose?"
Megumi shot him a sarcastic look
" I'm disappointed in you Sano, I thought that maybe all these years, you would have been a bit more perceptive and intelligent, and here, you have proved me wrong again!"
" Well, you always did like the rich and famous type." Sano answered and promptly got a slap from Megumi.
" I think that you should know me better than that. That was quite uncalled for."
Sano gave a shrug and got off the bed
" You should rest a bit now. I'll try and find something for you to do."
" No, I should be going now." Megumi answered and she attempted to stand up but Sano stopped her.
" Haven't you heard a word that I said? You can't leave!"
" And why is that? Because I'm ransom? Forget about it Sano, I'm not going to follow your childish scheme."
" BECAUSE YOU WOULD GET CAUGHT BY THE SOLDIERS IF YOU WERE TO RETURN DAMMIT!" Sano shouted angrily as he pushed her back down on the bed.
Stunned, Megumi watched as Sano prop one leg on the chair and seat himself on the table.
" Can't you understand that now is not the time for you to go back? I…"
Suddenly, the door to the room opened and a woman came in, her eyes scanning the room till they came to rest on Sano.
" Sano, there is an emergency! Jin and the others just came back badly wounded. Evidently, they had been greatly outnumbered by the government soldiers. Jin has a chest wound, and he seems to have difficulty breathing!"
" Shit!" Sano cursed and strode towards the door. Megumi hurried after him and pulled his hand. Sano turned to look at her with an exasperated look
" Look Megumi…"
" Let me take a look at them, I'm a doctor remember? If you have the necessary supplies, I might be able to do something for them." Megumi urged
Sano stared at her for the longest time, as if contemplating if he should let her or not, however, her plea to save them won out and he nodded. He led her through a series of corridors till they came to a room with black doors and paper windows. Slowly, Sano opened the door and went inside, followed by Megumi.
A horrible sight greeted her. There were six men, all lying on the floor and bleeding profusely from their wounds. Sano went straight to the man lying at the right hand side, who was practically gasping for air and clutching his right chest.
" Jin, what happened! Were you ambushed?" he asked urgently, as he lifted the man in his arms
Weakly the guy nodded, as he gingerly held out 3 fingers to Sano.
" 300 men?" Sano asked and received another nod.
Then suddenly, the man coughed violently and he vomited out blood. This immediately spurred Megumi into action. Kneeling down by the man's side, she prodded the side of his chest, taking care not to exert too much pressure on it. Sano watched anxiously by her side, as she examined him.
" What's wrong with him? Can he be saved?" he asked, when Megumi had removed her hand.
" I suspect that his lung has been punctured. I will need to operate on him. Do you have a doctor's kit here?"
" No. Are there any alternatives?" Sano asked
Megumi thought for a while, then she spoke
" A long knife, sharpened and a few needles. They have to be sterilized. You will need to boil them in hot water first, to get rid of the germs."
Sano nodded and got up from his place. While he was finding for the alternatives, Megumi tended to the other five men, and treated those with less serious injuries as best as she could. The woman, who had gone to look for Sano, helped her with the bandaging by providing Megumi with several strips of cloth to be used as bandages. Once Megumi had made sure that the rest of the men were in stable condition, she checked again on the man, Jin. He had fallen into unconsciousness, and his breathing came in small gasps.
Just then, Sano came bursting into the room carrying the needed items.
" Here… he tossed the items down by Megumi's side and bent down beside Jin. " How serious is it? Tell me honestly, does he have a good chance of surviving?"
Megumi answered as honestly as she could
" It will depend on his will to live I guess. I cannot guarantee that what I do will save his life, but I guarantee that I will do my best. I do not have the best of equipment here and no anesthesia. There could be a slight possibly that he might wake up before the operation ends."
" I'll hold him down, like I did before. Is that ok?" Sano asked, turning to face her. Megumi looked up at him and they held eye contact for that brief moment. She saw the pain and urgently reflected in his eyes. She saw the anxiety that Sano was going through and trying his damnest to remain calm. She realized then, that this 'crusade' was something that Sano felt really serious about, up till now, she had never witnessed such intensity, such seriousness in his eyes.
She broke away the eye contact and turned to face Jin. Holding the knife just above the area where she was going to operate on, Megumi closed her eyes for a brief second and prayed that god would be with her and give the strength and skill to save this man's life.
However, as happened before, Sano laid his hand on hers, and as Megumi opened her eyes to look at him, this time he didn't say anything, but he didn't have to anyway, she read it all in his eyes.
You'll be all right. I'm here with you. You don't need to fear anything. I believe in you and I know you too. Don't worry too much about saving him. Just do your best as you have always done and everything will turn out all right. I will always be here with you. I will always be here with you…
" I want an explanation now Sano! What the hell is going on!" Megumi demanded hoarsely as Sano came into the room she had been deposited in, carrying a cup and a towel.
It was only a few minutes after she had been discovered by Sanosuke, who by the look on his face, was also very surprised at seeing her. Almost immediately, he had carried her into this room, left her sitting on the bed and was gone at once.
Now that he was back, he handed her the cup and towel.
" Drink it up, it'll make your throat feel better." He ordered. Megumi complied and drank what was in the cup. She tasted honey and lemon. Almost immediately, her throat felt better, and she opened her mouth to speak. However, Sano silenced her by placing two fingers on her lips.
" Don't." he said " I'm not up to your screams now, and your throat needs to rest. It's been a hectic day, but I'm sure that you want YOUR explanation, so I'll give it to you now." He rolled his eyes at her as he said that and Megumi glared at him. However, she kept her mouth shut and used the towel that he had given her to wipe her hands and face. While she did that, Sano sat down by the side of the bed and began to talk.
" Last night, we kidnapped the magistrate. We were hoping to be able to hold him for ransom…in the process, you got mistaken as one of his concubines and evidently, they thought that you could be used as ransom too. So here you are now…unfortunately, you may have to stay here for a while, we can't very well put you back on the streets and say that you escaped from us. It would rouse suspicions. So, for now, you will have to pretend to be one of our hostages."
" You mean that I have to pretend to be his concubine! No way!" Megumi shouted.
Sano shot her a look of irritation
" Can't you just keep your mouth shut for once!" he shouted back.
" What did you say!" Megumi replied, and automatically reached up to pull his ears.
"OUCH!" Sano yelled and wrestled his ear away; " Do you always have to do that!"
" Habit. Anyhow, I refuse to stay here for another minute. I'm not going to be ransomed as his freaking concubine." Megumi replied and folded her arms and stared at Sano squarely in the eye.
" Oh really, then what were you doing at his house then? Having a nice dinner, and reciting poetry to each other I suppose?"
Megumi shot him a sarcastic look
" I'm disappointed in you Sano, I thought that maybe all these years, you would have been a bit more perceptive and intelligent, and here, you have proved me wrong again!"
" Well, you always did like the rich and famous type." Sano answered and promptly got a slap from Megumi.
" I think that you should know me better than that. That was quite uncalled for."
Sano gave a shrug and got off the bed
" You should rest a bit now. I'll try and find something for you to do."
" No, I should be going now." Megumi answered and she attempted to stand up but Sano stopped her.
" Haven't you heard a word that I said? You can't leave!"
" And why is that? Because I'm ransom? Forget about it Sano, I'm not going to follow your childish scheme."
" BECAUSE YOU WOULD GET CAUGHT BY THE SOLDIERS IF YOU WERE TO RETURN DAMMIT!" Sano shouted angrily as he pushed her back down on the bed.
Stunned, Megumi watched as Sano prop one leg on the chair and seat himself on the table.
" Can't you understand that now is not the time for you to go back? I…"
Suddenly, the door to the room opened and a woman came in, her eyes scanning the room till they came to rest on Sano.
" Sano, there is an emergency! Jin and the others just came back badly wounded. Evidently, they had been greatly outnumbered by the government soldiers. Jin has a chest wound, and he seems to have difficulty breathing!"
" Shit!" Sano cursed and strode towards the door. Megumi hurried after him and pulled his hand. Sano turned to look at her with an exasperated look
" Look Megumi…"
" Let me take a look at them, I'm a doctor remember? If you have the necessary supplies, I might be able to do something for them." Megumi urged
Sano stared at her for the longest time, as if contemplating if he should let her or not, however, her plea to save them won out and he nodded. He led her through a series of corridors till they came to a room with black doors and paper windows. Slowly, Sano opened the door and went inside, followed by Megumi.
A horrible sight greeted her. There were six men, all lying on the floor and bleeding profusely from their wounds. Sano went straight to the man lying at the right hand side, who was practically gasping for air and clutching his right chest.
" Jin, what happened! Were you ambushed?" he asked urgently, as he lifted the man in his arms
Weakly the guy nodded, as he gingerly held out 3 fingers to Sano.
" 300 men?" Sano asked and received another nod.
Then suddenly, the man coughed violently and he vomited out blood. This immediately spurred Megumi into action. Kneeling down by the man's side, she prodded the side of his chest, taking care not to exert too much pressure on it. Sano watched anxiously by her side, as she examined him.
" What's wrong with him? Can he be saved?" he asked, when Megumi had removed her hand.
" I suspect that his lung has been punctured. I will need to operate on him. Do you have a doctor's kit here?"
" No. Are there any alternatives?" Sano asked
Megumi thought for a while, then she spoke
" A long knife, sharpened and a few needles. They have to be sterilized. You will need to boil them in hot water first, to get rid of the germs."
Sano nodded and got up from his place. While he was finding for the alternatives, Megumi tended to the other five men, and treated those with less serious injuries as best as she could. The woman, who had gone to look for Sano, helped her with the bandaging by providing Megumi with several strips of cloth to be used as bandages. Once Megumi had made sure that the rest of the men were in stable condition, she checked again on the man, Jin. He had fallen into unconsciousness, and his breathing came in small gasps.
Just then, Sano came bursting into the room carrying the needed items.
" Here… he tossed the items down by Megumi's side and bent down beside Jin. " How serious is it? Tell me honestly, does he have a good chance of surviving?"
Megumi answered as honestly as she could
" It will depend on his will to live I guess. I cannot guarantee that what I do will save his life, but I guarantee that I will do my best. I do not have the best of equipment here and no anesthesia. There could be a slight possibly that he might wake up before the operation ends."
" I'll hold him down, like I did before. Is that ok?" Sano asked, turning to face her. Megumi looked up at him and they held eye contact for that brief moment. She saw the pain and urgently reflected in his eyes. She saw the anxiety that Sano was going through and trying his damnest to remain calm. She realized then, that this 'crusade' was something that Sano felt really serious about, up till now, she had never witnessed such intensity, such seriousness in his eyes.
She broke away the eye contact and turned to face Jin. Holding the knife just above the area where she was going to operate on, Megumi closed her eyes for a brief second and prayed that god would be with her and give the strength and skill to save this man's life.
However, as happened before, Sano laid his hand on hers, and as Megumi opened her eyes to look at him, this time he didn't say anything, but he didn't have to anyway, she read it all in his eyes.
You'll be all right. I'm here with you. You don't need to fear anything. I believe in you and I know you too. Don't worry too much about saving him. Just do your best as you have always done and everything will turn out all right. I will always be here with you. I will always be here with you…