Hey, glad to see you all back for chapter 3 of Landslide. So far, I've
received one guess as to what Kouchan has, and Electric Star, you're right.
Pretty harsh, huh? Like I said, it will be sad.
Oh, and about scuba diving- I went while I was in Jamaica and I really didn't find it all that difficult (tho I was hella in shape at the time so that may have had a bit to do with it.) I can see how it could be hard. I've been a really strong swimmer for about 20 years now, so I guess that really didn't hurt either. Anyway, enough on that. On with the story.
After a lengthy plane ride and the interminable wait for luggage, it was almost 7 by the time the Izumi's reached home. Koushirou disappeared into the bedroom almost immediately and was asleep before Tai had even finished changing out of his travel clothes. He pulled the covers up to just under Koushirou's chin to knock out the bit of chill still lingering in the apartment. Eight days with the heat off left it at a rather uncomfortable 60 degrees. Mara had set the thermostat at 80 the second they walked in, but it was still taking a while to warm up.
Tai was tired as well, but he wasn't quite ready to turn in yet, so he headed to the kitchen to grab a quick snack before he did go to bed.
"Tai, would you toss me the phone?" Mara asked him from across the living room as he walked into the kitchen.
"Sure. Who are you calling?" Tai slid the phone across the carpet to her, trusting his throwing abilities about as much as he trusted her catching abilities.
"I'm calling Dr. Kyoshi's office." Tai nodded and continued into the kitchen. That's our doctor Tai thought as he rooted in the refrigerator for the ingredients for a sandwich.
"Yes, this is Mara Izumi. I'm sorry for calling so late, but I need to bring my son in as early as I can tomorrow.Yes, we just got back and he's been so tired and lethargic for most of the time..Well, I thought about that, but he's not vomited once. I just really would like to get him in there tomorrow..Alright. We'll be there. Thank you."
"So you're taking Koushirou to the doctor in the morning?" Tai asked her as he came out of the kitchen.
"I have to," Mara said, nodding, "something is wrong with him and I want to know what it is."
"I don't blame you," Tai said, sitting next to her on the couch. "I can't remember the last time I have seen him sick." Tai thought back over the last few years and aside from maybe one cold and a bit of spring allergies, Koushirou hadn't been sick at all.
"I know. He wasn't really sick growing up either. That's kind of what has me so worried about him."
"What time are you taking him in?"
"Right after I drop you off at school." Tai groaned. He had pushed the fact he had to go back to school to the farthest recesses of his mind.
"How about I go with you instead? I could use one more day of vacation, you know."
"How about not?" Mara grinned at him and messed his hair up. "I do think that you should go on and run off to bed shortly. You have a few circles under your eyes, you know."
"Exactly why I should go to the doctor with you tomorrow. I might have something too."
"Well, I do think that you're about due for a round of shots. Maybe I can bring you along after all."
"Um, wait. I think I'd better go to school after all. I wouldn't want to miss any knowledge or anything." Mara grinned more and hugged him with one arm.
"I think that is a great idea. Besides, you can tell everyone how much fun you had and show off your tan." Tai smiled back. Sora will be sooo jealous. "Now, go on and get some rest." Tai nodded and got to his feet, scarfing the remainder of his sandwich and after brushing his teeth, went to bed.
The alarm clock screamed what seemed like a few minutes later. Tai groggily rolled over and slammed his hand on the shrilling beast and put it into snooze mode. Eight minutes later it came back to life and seemingly dodged any further attempts to quiet it. Tai gave up trying to hit the snooze button again and settled for knocking it into the trash can next to the table.
"Wake up, Tai, time for school," Koushirou said as he sat up next to Tai, rubbing his eyes.
"No school for you today, boy-o. Your mum is taking you to the doctor this morning."
"What? I'm fine!" Koushirou said indignantly. Tai looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Really. I'm fine."
"Then why have you been sleeping so much? That isn't like you at all."
"I don't know, really. I guess I just needed the rest or something."
"Well, just to make sure, she wants to have you checked out. You know, change the oil, put in new plugs, things like that."
"Grrrr. I guess I really don't have a choice, huh?"
"Nope, not really. Dibs on the bathroom!" Tai pulled Koushirou's covers back over him and jumped out of bed, racing for the bathroom before Koushirou could react.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ About An Hour or so Later ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Mara pulled her car into the doctor's office as a bit of snow began to fall. I sure haven't missed that while I was on vacation she thought as Koushirou closed his door and walked up beside her. He still wasn't overly happy about being here, but he resigned himself to going, simply to prove to Tai and his mum that he really was fine.
Koushirou opened the door and allowed Mara to go in first. He considered a brave dash back to the car, but upon the realization that he had no key to the door, he followed behind her. Into the reception room they walked. Since it was still early, only one other mother and child were here. The little girl was sniffling horribly. Koushirou sat as far from her as he could while Mara signed him in.
Koushirou looked around the room. It was just as sterile looking as he remembered it. Pointless paintings on the beige walls. Horribly ugly artificial flowers in vases on tables along side ancient magazines. Oh yeah, this is why I stopped getting sick he told himself. Oh, and the carpet. The carpet defies any explanation. The little girl and her mum disappeared into the back rooms a few minutes later.
"Koushirou Izumi? The doctor will see you now," a nurse said through the window.
"Thank you."
"Room 4. He'll be right in." the Izumis went back to the fourth room and shut the door behind them. They hung their coats on the hooks by the door and Koushirou settled on the table, jumping a bit as the cold of the vinyl seeped through his pants.
"Holy cow, that's cold! You'd think that they'd have the rooms a little warmer, wouldn't you?"
"Nah, they want to make this as uncomfortable for you and I as they can. Doctors and nurses are immune to cold." Koushirou agreed and they traded small talk until the doctor arrived a few minutes later.
"Good morning Mrs. Izumi, Koushirou. How are you feeling today?"
"Not too bad, really," Koushirou half lied. He didn't feel bad, but again, he didn't feel good either.
"Well then, what exactly has he been doing, Mrs. Izumi? Or not doing, as the case may be." Mara went on to explain everything that happened while they were on vacation, leaving nothing out, the doctor taking many notes.
"Alright. Here's what we're going to do today, Koushirou. We're going to stick you like a pin cushion, take your temperature about eight hundred times, and any other fun things that the nurses and I can think of. Sounds good, right?"
"Oh, I can hardly wait," Koushirou said, silently cursing his mum for bringing him to the comedic doctor instead of a real one.
"Great. The nurse and I will be right back," he said as he stepped out the door.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Meanwhile, back at School ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Tai was welcomed back by the other DigiDestined who had missed him and Koushirou profusely.
"Hey Tai! How was New Zealand?" Daisuke asked as he met Tai in the hallway before classes started.
"Well, I wouldn't know. We went to Australia, remember?"
"Uh, actually, no. Anyway, where's Koushirou?"
"He's at the doctor's office right now. He wasn't feeling well for most of the trip. Mara wanted to get him checked out so she could have a bit of piece of mind." Tai stuffed his heavy coat in his locker and started pulling out his books.
"I bet you worried about him more than she did, right Tai?" a female voice asked from directly behind him. Tai turned to see Sora standing there, holding her books.
"Pretty much. He felt so tired almost the whole time. He didn't make an issue out of it, so I didn't either."
"That is so like Kou-chan," she said as she leaned against the lockers beside him. "He wanted to make sure you had a good time, right?"
"That's my conclusion, Sora," Tai said as he finally got his locker to close with the enormous parka inside.
"Come on guys, we don't want to be late, do you?" Daisuke asked as he tugged at Tai's sleeve. Tai grinned at him and the three of them walked off to their separate but nearby classrooms.
Once lunch rolled around they all got together and Tai told them all of the wonderful sights and memories of their trip. Sora was looking all dreamy eyed for most of it, busy imagining herself there.
"Oh Tai, you all must have had such a grand time. I hope I can go there someday. You got to dive on the Great Barrier Reef. Wow. That right there would have made the trip worth it."
"It was awesome diving on the reef, Sora. We were going to go to another group of islands and dive there. Koushirou was wanting to see all the sunken warships that littered the waters around the islands. [[That would be the Solomon Is., in case you care. Around 40 ships litter the bottom of the sea between the islands, causing it to be renamed 'Iron- Bottom Sound' Why do I know all this? Well, my major is history. Go figure. Anyway, back to the show]] We didn't go, though. The weather around the dive sites was too rough." Tai told the group. He really wasn't that sad they'd missed it, since Koushirou had enough trouble diving in the calm waters of the reef.
The rest of the lunch period was spent talking about what all he and Koushirou had missed while they were gone. All in all, they'd not missed too much. It was far too boring a week in the life of the Digi Destined. They all went back to class, happy to have seen Tai again but all a little worried about Koushirou.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Back in the Freezing Doctor's Office ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
About the time Tai and the others left the lunch room, the doctor and his nurse had nearly finished all their torturous schemes. He had been poked more times than he could remember. All the blood they took from him could have likely given a fish tank full of piranhas something to swim in [[Again, I butt in with useless knowledge. Piranhas can seriously live happily in a tank full of blood. I'm worried about how they figured that out..]]
Koushirou and Mara were waiting in the examination room for the doctor to come back with news. Good or bad, Mara didn't care. She just wanted to know what was bothering her child. Finally, the doctor and his evil assistant, Nurse Kitara, entered the room.
"Well, young master Izumi, I can tell you with complete certainty that you don't have the flu or nearly a dozen other common winter ailments." Koushirou looked over at his mum and grinned at her, his eyes telling her 'I told you so'. The doctor seemingly read Mara's mind and continued once she'd looked at him. "I don't know exactly what is bothering you, though, Koushirou. We are sending your blood out for further testing. Something isn't quite right, that much I'm sure." the doctor was holding Koushirou's chart while he spoke and was flipping through the few pages in there.
"Koushirou, normally for a boy your age, a chart like this is about fifty pages thick. Yours is a total of..four pages, the last not even being half full." Koushirou didn't know what to say so he just shrugged his shoulders. "Of course, I'm not saying it is a bad thing for you to have such a little chart, though I could have bought that new Saab sooner had you gotten a bit sicker, it is just a little odd that all of a sudden.you know."
"I understand, Doctor Kyoshi." Koushirou told him.
"When will the results be back for all the blood tests?" Mara asked him point-blank.
"We should have them back by sometime Thursday morning, three days from now."
"Alright. I guess we should come back then, right?"
"That will be fine. I'll have the nurse schedule you." Mara nodded and the doctor stepped out. The Izumi's coated up and headed out. They stopped for lunch, Mara's treat for Koushirou being 'such a big boy'. Koushirou hated when she did that but readily accepted the lovely fast food lunch. It was a hundred times better than school lunch anyway. He wiped some secret sauce off the He-Man band-aid that covered the site where he'd been lanced repeatedly for blood.
Well, I guess that means that the next chapter is the watershed. We shall discover what is causing Koushirou all the problems. Boo hoo. Well, hope you liked it. Drop a review off and I'll get the next chapter up sometime during the week. Sorry for the useless info in the chapter. I just wanted to add it in. oh, and thanks to all the reviewers I have so far.
energy
Oh, and about scuba diving- I went while I was in Jamaica and I really didn't find it all that difficult (tho I was hella in shape at the time so that may have had a bit to do with it.) I can see how it could be hard. I've been a really strong swimmer for about 20 years now, so I guess that really didn't hurt either. Anyway, enough on that. On with the story.
After a lengthy plane ride and the interminable wait for luggage, it was almost 7 by the time the Izumi's reached home. Koushirou disappeared into the bedroom almost immediately and was asleep before Tai had even finished changing out of his travel clothes. He pulled the covers up to just under Koushirou's chin to knock out the bit of chill still lingering in the apartment. Eight days with the heat off left it at a rather uncomfortable 60 degrees. Mara had set the thermostat at 80 the second they walked in, but it was still taking a while to warm up.
Tai was tired as well, but he wasn't quite ready to turn in yet, so he headed to the kitchen to grab a quick snack before he did go to bed.
"Tai, would you toss me the phone?" Mara asked him from across the living room as he walked into the kitchen.
"Sure. Who are you calling?" Tai slid the phone across the carpet to her, trusting his throwing abilities about as much as he trusted her catching abilities.
"I'm calling Dr. Kyoshi's office." Tai nodded and continued into the kitchen. That's our doctor Tai thought as he rooted in the refrigerator for the ingredients for a sandwich.
"Yes, this is Mara Izumi. I'm sorry for calling so late, but I need to bring my son in as early as I can tomorrow.Yes, we just got back and he's been so tired and lethargic for most of the time..Well, I thought about that, but he's not vomited once. I just really would like to get him in there tomorrow..Alright. We'll be there. Thank you."
"So you're taking Koushirou to the doctor in the morning?" Tai asked her as he came out of the kitchen.
"I have to," Mara said, nodding, "something is wrong with him and I want to know what it is."
"I don't blame you," Tai said, sitting next to her on the couch. "I can't remember the last time I have seen him sick." Tai thought back over the last few years and aside from maybe one cold and a bit of spring allergies, Koushirou hadn't been sick at all.
"I know. He wasn't really sick growing up either. That's kind of what has me so worried about him."
"What time are you taking him in?"
"Right after I drop you off at school." Tai groaned. He had pushed the fact he had to go back to school to the farthest recesses of his mind.
"How about I go with you instead? I could use one more day of vacation, you know."
"How about not?" Mara grinned at him and messed his hair up. "I do think that you should go on and run off to bed shortly. You have a few circles under your eyes, you know."
"Exactly why I should go to the doctor with you tomorrow. I might have something too."
"Well, I do think that you're about due for a round of shots. Maybe I can bring you along after all."
"Um, wait. I think I'd better go to school after all. I wouldn't want to miss any knowledge or anything." Mara grinned more and hugged him with one arm.
"I think that is a great idea. Besides, you can tell everyone how much fun you had and show off your tan." Tai smiled back. Sora will be sooo jealous. "Now, go on and get some rest." Tai nodded and got to his feet, scarfing the remainder of his sandwich and after brushing his teeth, went to bed.
The alarm clock screamed what seemed like a few minutes later. Tai groggily rolled over and slammed his hand on the shrilling beast and put it into snooze mode. Eight minutes later it came back to life and seemingly dodged any further attempts to quiet it. Tai gave up trying to hit the snooze button again and settled for knocking it into the trash can next to the table.
"Wake up, Tai, time for school," Koushirou said as he sat up next to Tai, rubbing his eyes.
"No school for you today, boy-o. Your mum is taking you to the doctor this morning."
"What? I'm fine!" Koushirou said indignantly. Tai looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Really. I'm fine."
"Then why have you been sleeping so much? That isn't like you at all."
"I don't know, really. I guess I just needed the rest or something."
"Well, just to make sure, she wants to have you checked out. You know, change the oil, put in new plugs, things like that."
"Grrrr. I guess I really don't have a choice, huh?"
"Nope, not really. Dibs on the bathroom!" Tai pulled Koushirou's covers back over him and jumped out of bed, racing for the bathroom before Koushirou could react.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ About An Hour or so Later ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Mara pulled her car into the doctor's office as a bit of snow began to fall. I sure haven't missed that while I was on vacation she thought as Koushirou closed his door and walked up beside her. He still wasn't overly happy about being here, but he resigned himself to going, simply to prove to Tai and his mum that he really was fine.
Koushirou opened the door and allowed Mara to go in first. He considered a brave dash back to the car, but upon the realization that he had no key to the door, he followed behind her. Into the reception room they walked. Since it was still early, only one other mother and child were here. The little girl was sniffling horribly. Koushirou sat as far from her as he could while Mara signed him in.
Koushirou looked around the room. It was just as sterile looking as he remembered it. Pointless paintings on the beige walls. Horribly ugly artificial flowers in vases on tables along side ancient magazines. Oh yeah, this is why I stopped getting sick he told himself. Oh, and the carpet. The carpet defies any explanation. The little girl and her mum disappeared into the back rooms a few minutes later.
"Koushirou Izumi? The doctor will see you now," a nurse said through the window.
"Thank you."
"Room 4. He'll be right in." the Izumis went back to the fourth room and shut the door behind them. They hung their coats on the hooks by the door and Koushirou settled on the table, jumping a bit as the cold of the vinyl seeped through his pants.
"Holy cow, that's cold! You'd think that they'd have the rooms a little warmer, wouldn't you?"
"Nah, they want to make this as uncomfortable for you and I as they can. Doctors and nurses are immune to cold." Koushirou agreed and they traded small talk until the doctor arrived a few minutes later.
"Good morning Mrs. Izumi, Koushirou. How are you feeling today?"
"Not too bad, really," Koushirou half lied. He didn't feel bad, but again, he didn't feel good either.
"Well then, what exactly has he been doing, Mrs. Izumi? Or not doing, as the case may be." Mara went on to explain everything that happened while they were on vacation, leaving nothing out, the doctor taking many notes.
"Alright. Here's what we're going to do today, Koushirou. We're going to stick you like a pin cushion, take your temperature about eight hundred times, and any other fun things that the nurses and I can think of. Sounds good, right?"
"Oh, I can hardly wait," Koushirou said, silently cursing his mum for bringing him to the comedic doctor instead of a real one.
"Great. The nurse and I will be right back," he said as he stepped out the door.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Meanwhile, back at School ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Tai was welcomed back by the other DigiDestined who had missed him and Koushirou profusely.
"Hey Tai! How was New Zealand?" Daisuke asked as he met Tai in the hallway before classes started.
"Well, I wouldn't know. We went to Australia, remember?"
"Uh, actually, no. Anyway, where's Koushirou?"
"He's at the doctor's office right now. He wasn't feeling well for most of the trip. Mara wanted to get him checked out so she could have a bit of piece of mind." Tai stuffed his heavy coat in his locker and started pulling out his books.
"I bet you worried about him more than she did, right Tai?" a female voice asked from directly behind him. Tai turned to see Sora standing there, holding her books.
"Pretty much. He felt so tired almost the whole time. He didn't make an issue out of it, so I didn't either."
"That is so like Kou-chan," she said as she leaned against the lockers beside him. "He wanted to make sure you had a good time, right?"
"That's my conclusion, Sora," Tai said as he finally got his locker to close with the enormous parka inside.
"Come on guys, we don't want to be late, do you?" Daisuke asked as he tugged at Tai's sleeve. Tai grinned at him and the three of them walked off to their separate but nearby classrooms.
Once lunch rolled around they all got together and Tai told them all of the wonderful sights and memories of their trip. Sora was looking all dreamy eyed for most of it, busy imagining herself there.
"Oh Tai, you all must have had such a grand time. I hope I can go there someday. You got to dive on the Great Barrier Reef. Wow. That right there would have made the trip worth it."
"It was awesome diving on the reef, Sora. We were going to go to another group of islands and dive there. Koushirou was wanting to see all the sunken warships that littered the waters around the islands. [[That would be the Solomon Is., in case you care. Around 40 ships litter the bottom of the sea between the islands, causing it to be renamed 'Iron- Bottom Sound' Why do I know all this? Well, my major is history. Go figure. Anyway, back to the show]] We didn't go, though. The weather around the dive sites was too rough." Tai told the group. He really wasn't that sad they'd missed it, since Koushirou had enough trouble diving in the calm waters of the reef.
The rest of the lunch period was spent talking about what all he and Koushirou had missed while they were gone. All in all, they'd not missed too much. It was far too boring a week in the life of the Digi Destined. They all went back to class, happy to have seen Tai again but all a little worried about Koushirou.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Back in the Freezing Doctor's Office ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
About the time Tai and the others left the lunch room, the doctor and his nurse had nearly finished all their torturous schemes. He had been poked more times than he could remember. All the blood they took from him could have likely given a fish tank full of piranhas something to swim in [[Again, I butt in with useless knowledge. Piranhas can seriously live happily in a tank full of blood. I'm worried about how they figured that out..]]
Koushirou and Mara were waiting in the examination room for the doctor to come back with news. Good or bad, Mara didn't care. She just wanted to know what was bothering her child. Finally, the doctor and his evil assistant, Nurse Kitara, entered the room.
"Well, young master Izumi, I can tell you with complete certainty that you don't have the flu or nearly a dozen other common winter ailments." Koushirou looked over at his mum and grinned at her, his eyes telling her 'I told you so'. The doctor seemingly read Mara's mind and continued once she'd looked at him. "I don't know exactly what is bothering you, though, Koushirou. We are sending your blood out for further testing. Something isn't quite right, that much I'm sure." the doctor was holding Koushirou's chart while he spoke and was flipping through the few pages in there.
"Koushirou, normally for a boy your age, a chart like this is about fifty pages thick. Yours is a total of..four pages, the last not even being half full." Koushirou didn't know what to say so he just shrugged his shoulders. "Of course, I'm not saying it is a bad thing for you to have such a little chart, though I could have bought that new Saab sooner had you gotten a bit sicker, it is just a little odd that all of a sudden.you know."
"I understand, Doctor Kyoshi." Koushirou told him.
"When will the results be back for all the blood tests?" Mara asked him point-blank.
"We should have them back by sometime Thursday morning, three days from now."
"Alright. I guess we should come back then, right?"
"That will be fine. I'll have the nurse schedule you." Mara nodded and the doctor stepped out. The Izumi's coated up and headed out. They stopped for lunch, Mara's treat for Koushirou being 'such a big boy'. Koushirou hated when she did that but readily accepted the lovely fast food lunch. It was a hundred times better than school lunch anyway. He wiped some secret sauce off the He-Man band-aid that covered the site where he'd been lanced repeatedly for blood.
Well, I guess that means that the next chapter is the watershed. We shall discover what is causing Koushirou all the problems. Boo hoo. Well, hope you liked it. Drop a review off and I'll get the next chapter up sometime during the week. Sorry for the useless info in the chapter. I just wanted to add it in. oh, and thanks to all the reviewers I have so far.
energy