Three weeks went by quickly, Kia being fed nothing but liquids as she sat in her bed, wishing for the day when she could stand up on her own and be well again. Rowen eventually returned to the photo studio where he worked as normal, Ayame sometimes being dropped off at daycare if Sage had other errands to run. Finally, exactly three weeks later on Friday, Kia was able to manage on her own.

***

Sage jolted awake from his nap late Friday afternoon when the phone rang. He ran to the kitchen to answer it. "Hello?" he asked, as he picked up the receiver.

"Hello, is Rowen there?" a light, vaguely familiar woman's voice responded.

"May I ask who's calling?"

"Oh, um, this is Diane. Diane from the photo gallery?"

Sage's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he put the receiver down on the table, "Rowen! Tele-"

Rowen rushed into the kitchen and picked up the phone before Sage had completed his sentence.

That's funny, Sage thought as he slowly walked back into the family room. I didn't think Rowen had any female coworkers. Before he could sit in his chair again, Ayame came rushing down the stairs.

"Sage! Sage, mommy needs help!" she cried, her voice high-pitched like nails being drawn across a black board.

Thinking the worst, Sage was up the stairs faster than a lightning bolt. He ran into Kia's room, almost dropping dead when he saw what Kia was doing.

There were long strips of white bandages dyed red lying on the floor, Kia pulling them off her upper abdomen as she watched herself in the mirror she was standing in.

"Kia! What are you doing?" Sage was somewhat relieved, grateful that he didn't have to cope with a situation involving life or death.

"I think I'm better, Sage," she replied, almost unconsciously. With one painful moan, Kia stripped the last sticky bandage from her pale skin. A purplish-black indent on her side was now visible, the wound surrounded by infected yellow and red skin. It had healed somewhat, not being as deep as it was three weeks ago. But every time she breathed, the hole in her side in flexed, making Sage gag sickly.

"Kia! Please cover that up! You're only going to get an infection!" Sage tried his best not to sound mean, equally trying to avoid looking at Kia's disgustingly exposed side.

She examined herself in the mirror, a confused look written on her face. "No. I think it's getting better," After that, her face was left utterly expressionless.

Sage grabbed a nearby towel and wrapped it around her, "Kia, stop it. Go back to bed and get some rest, okay? I don't think you're ready to face the world just yet."

Kia weakly pushed against his arms which were forcing her over to her bed, "Sage, you stop! When I say I 'm better, then I am! And I am better!" She twisted her body around in his arms and stared at his eyes.

Sage stared back, not believing that the vacant eyes he was staring at were Kia's. Was it so long ago that those same eyes had nothing but spunk in them? Had it really been that long since those eyes looked at him with nothing but lust? Now they were empty and meaningless, having no purpose but to stare him down.

"Aren't you listening?"

Sage blinked, coming out of his stupor. "Kia... please, sit back down. I'm gonna help you wrap up your side again, okay?" As gently as he could, he pushed her back on the bed. "Stay here, I'm going to go and look for some new bandages," he had to pull himself away from the room - leaving Kia there, as weak as she was, almost killed him.

Running back downstairs and into the kitchen, he bumped into Rowen.

"Hey, uh, Sage. I need to tell you something. That was the studio that just called and they want me to go down there and check out a new shipment of film. Considering how much film they are talking about, it's gonna be awhile before I get home. Do you think you can handle Kia and Ayame while I'm out?"Rowen asked, running a hand through his hair.

Sage didn't even bother to tell Rowen that Kia was actually getting closer to the recovery point, "Yeah, I'll be fine. If I have a problem, I won't hesitate to call you."

Rowen nodded with a small smile, "Great. Now, where's Ayame?" Rowen left their conversation at that, leaving the kitchen and looking for his daughter.

Sage sighed in something close to relief. Then, remembering Kia's new condition, he ran towards the medicine cabinet that was located above the refrigerator.

"Ayame?" Rowen walked into the family room, finding his daughter playing with one of her dolls. It was wrapped in toilet paper. "Ayame, what are you doing?" Rowen asked, chuckling.

She proudly held her doll up in the air, "I'm a doctor and I'm gonna fix mommy." She paused there to wrap another strip of toilet paper around the doll's head.

Rowen laughed, "Okay, but I've got to go to work for a couple of hours, all right? Sage will be here, so bother him if you want anything."

Ayame nodded her head, showing that she understood the situation. Rowen bent down and kissed his daughter on the cheek, said a sweet goodbye and then went off towards the front door, grabbing his coat and studio bag as he went out the front door.

Sage stepped into the room as soon as the door closed, holding a tube of Neosporin, a bottle of pain-killers, and a roll of bandages in his arms. "Ayame, I'll be upstairs in your mommy's room if you need anything." He left the family room, heading up the stairway as fast as he could without dropping anything in his hands.

He entered Kia's room, finding Kia lying on the bed, a painful look etched across her face, "Hey, Kia. I've got some stuff here that will help." He walked over to her bedside and set everything down on the nightstand.

Kia just continued to stare up at the ceiling, clenching her teeth and rubbing the skin that laid around her injury, seeming not conscious of Sage's appearance. With a sigh, she brought her gaze away from the ceiling and found Sage's eyes, "Do you think I'll ever get better?"

Sage smiled without noticing it, "Of course you will. I'm going to help you get that far, okay?" He made eye contact, glad that more life had entered her clear hazel eyes. Then he grabbed the tube of Neosporin and opened it. "I'm going to put on some of this so that you won't get infected."

Kia's eyes grew wide in fear, "No! Sage, that stuff stings! You are not putting it on me!" She tried to inch away on the bed, but Sage took a strong hold of her upper arm and pulled her back to him.

"Kia, if you don't get cleaned properly, then this will be a hell of a lot worse then it is now. I hope that you don't want it to be worse than it already is."

With a sigh, Kia lifted up the side of her t-shirt, a very pouty look on her features.

Sage took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in his throat. All the good it did him was allow butterflies to fill his stomach and his insides to twist into knots. He closed his eyes, unable to look at Kia's wound for more than five seconds.

"If you want me to do it, then I will," Kia replied weakly, noticing how pale his face had gone in a matter of moments. She also swallowed a lump in her throat.

"No, I'm going to do it. You don't want this stuff actually in your gash." Sage's voice trembled slightly as he spoke.

Kia violently shook her head, "No, Sage. Just please don't do it. I'll be fine with just a bandage, okay? Please?" She begged desperately, her eyes getting watery at just the thought of more pain in her side. "I've been in torture for who knows how long. The doctor has done enough on me already."

Giving a big uneasy sigh, Sage reluctantly twisted the cap back on the bottle. "Fine." He set the tube back on the table and picked up the roll of bandages. "How do we get this on?"

Kia sat up, Indian-style, and pulled her hair into a loose bun, then turned on the bed so that her back was facing Sage. Almost teasingly, she pulled off her shirt, revealing her smooth pale back and weakened shoulders. She had lost so much weight that it was sickening to look at her back, the way all of her spine bones stuck out and showed through her skin. When she moved her arms, you could see each muscle being used, the bones themselves looking ready to burst through that one thin layer of skin.

From that moment on, it was almost too difficult for Sage to go on. He sat by, stunned to the point of stupor. Visions were racing through his mind, recalling the nights that he and Kia had shared so long ago. He had an overwhelming temptation to embrace her, to feel her body close to his again. It was such a painful aching that Sage had to bite his bottom lip to keep it tamed.

As soon as he touched her she winced and stiffened, dreading the moment when the bandage would meet her injury. She gasped and squeezed her eyes shut as Sage cautiously pressed the gauze against her skin. He held it out in front of her and Kia took it, wrapping it around the front of her body. Then she handed it back to Sage, who wrapped it around her back. It went back and forth like that in silence, until there were a good six layers around her upper torso.

Kia handed the roll back to Sage for the seventh time, and he took it and ripped it, then took a piece of tape and pressed it against the end, sticking it to the top layer of bandage.

Sounding much weaker than he cared to, Sage asked , "Is that all right now?"

Smiling frailly, Kia nodded, "Yeah," she grabbed her shirt, "thanks, Sage."

Sage sighed, "Have we really drifted that far apart?"

"What?" Kia turned around as she slipped on her shirt, staring at Sage with uncertainty.

"I'm really sorry."

Kia darted her eyes back and forth across his face, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry about Natsuki," Sage met her eyes and stared into them.

Kia sighed and let a very small smile slip onto her lips, "Sage, don't be sorry. It wasn't your fault." She looked away to cough and then noticed Ayame standing in the doorway. She smiled as brightly as she could, "Hey, Aya. How are you doing?"

"Mommy!" Ayame ran from her spot in the doorway and jumped up on her mother's bed. "Are you all better now?" she asked, hope burning in her eyes.

Kia nodded slightly, "I'm getting there. Don't you worry, Ayame."

Sage smiled softly, "Yeah. Ayame, why don't we let your mom get some rest and we can go downstairs and have some dinner and watch a movie. What do you say?"

Ayame smiled mischievously, "Okay, let's go!" She jumped back down from the bed and tugged at Sage's pant leg, trying to pull him to the doorway.

"Okay, okay, Aya!" Sage laughed, standing up. Making Ayame scream in delight, Sage scooped her up in his arms and swung her around in the air. Kia sat by, laughing softly and thinking to herself how Sage would handle his own child.

"See ya later, Kia," Sage said as he carried Ayame out of the room, closing the door behind him.

***

Authors Note: Uh-huh. Sorry if I grossed anyone out... heh. Anyways only 2 more chapters... can you handle it?