Mara spent the three days after the doctor visit doing every single nervous
thing except pace. She cleaned, she cooked, she cleaned more, she cooked
more. The Izumi household had never been as immaculately clean nor filled
with more delectable foods in all of Koushirou's years. Tai noticed Mara's
behavior, of course, and could pretty much guess what the cause of it was.
It seemed that Koushirou had just written it off to another one of his
mum's manic moods. Just in case Koushirou might pick up on the worry vibes
that were radiating from Mara, Tai kept Koushirou as busy as he possibly
could.
Koushirou had returned to school the following day and was greeted with the same questions that Tai received and then a few more. He told everyone that he was fine, just a little bug or something and the Digi Destined let it drop. Tai had already told them not to make a big deal out of it because it wasn't worth getting Koushirou worked up over it and they'd agreed.
Tai, as much as he tried to not be, was making a big deal out of it to himself. He was hardly sleeping at night since he stayed awake listening to Koushirou breathe. Tai couldn't get the irrational fear out of his mind that each one might be the last. He knew better, but he couldn't get his brain to acknowledge that simple fact. He would doze off at around 3:00 or so at night and wake up a few hours later, exhausted.
Wednesday, the day before the lab results came back, was the worst for Tai. He'd sat up until almost 5, thinking about all the horrible things that the doctors might tell them and cuddling Koushirou as close as possible without waking him. He'd gone through every single disease he could think of and then a few that he thought probably existed. He drug himself out of bed and crawled to the shower, hoping the water would wake him enough to slog through 8 hours of school.
The two of them arrived at school and began the morning ritual of adolescence, hanging out with their friends. The day passed rather uneventfully, seeming to drag on forever to Tai. As they were leaving school, Koushirou was engaged in conversation with the rest of the group while Tai following behind, listening and worrying. Daisuke had followed them out, somehow not having detention for a change. He walked with them and saw Tai's expression while the others talked. He didn't like the look he saw at all. Tai's eyes had dark circles under them and he just looked completely disheveled.
"Tai, can I talk to you a minute?" Daisuke asked. When Tai nodded affirmatively he and Tai slowed down a bit to let the others get out of ear shot.
"What's on your mind, Dai?" Taichi asked the younger boy.
"I'd like to know what's on yours, Tai. You look terrible."
"I'm worried about Kou-chan, that's all."
"And worrying makes you look that bad?" Tai didn't answer. "Tai, you know you can talk to me, right? About anything?"
"I know, Daisuke, it's just that this isn't really anything I can talk about I guess."
"If I remember correctly, that's the same thing you said way-back- when, before you got the courage to tell Kou-kun how you felt about him."
"This is different," Tai said, attempting to put Dai off. Dai would have no part of that action though.
"Really? Why don't you try me?"
"It just is, I really don't know if I can explain it, Daisuke."
"We do have a little bit of a walk home, you know, so you might as well try."
"You're not going to stop until I tell you, are you?"
"Nope," Daisuke said grinning at him. "We've been friends for a long time now, Taichi Kamiya, and I don't want to see you this way."
"Alright. Here it is in a nutshell." Tai slowed down a bit further and Daisuke followed suit. The others were almost fifty feet ahead now. "I honestly don't know what I would do if I lost him, Daisuke. I don't know if you can understand where I'm coming from but if he weren't here with me, I think I'd lose it."
"Wait a sec. He's not going anywhere yet, Taichi, not for a long time."
"I want to believe you're right, but I just have this feeling deep inside my stomach. I can't help it. Every time I look at him, I have the feeling in the back of my head that it might be the last time I see him, ever."
"You know that's not true, right?"
"No," Tai said and began studying the ground.
"He'll be fine, Tai, just wait and see."
"I hope you're right, Dai, I really do."
They continued their walk home, rejoining the others almost unnoticed. They slowly dropped numbers as the kids passed their homes, eventually leaving only Tai and Koushirou to walk the last few blocks.
"So, what were you and Daisuke back there whispering about, Tai- chan?"
"Nothing really, just...nothing."
"Taichi, you still can't lie to me very well, can you?" Koushirou asked with a grin.
"I guess not," Tai lied to him again, only this time Koushirou bought it hook, line and sinker. Of all the times for me to fail a bluff He thought to himself. "We were just talking Koushirou, nothing special. I'd not really talked to him in the past few days and we had a little catching up to do." That's better, now the poker face is working again Tai told himself after Koushirou nodded and let it go. They walked into their building and took the elevator up.
As Koushirou turned the knob, he heard his mother on the phone. "Sure, we'll be down there as soon as possible. Thank you, Doctor Kyoshi." Mara replaced the handset on the mount and turned to face her two children as they stepped in the door. "Doctor Kyoshi wants us to come down to the office as soon as we can. He said the lab results came in already."
"Wouldn't he say what it was over the phone?" Koushirou asked as he stopped taking his coat off, having a feeling that he'd be walking back out the door in a moment or two.
"No, I think he was really busy at the time," Mara said, thankful that her son had yet to pick up on when she was selling him a lie. "So, why don't we go on and get down there?" She asked and walked toward the boys.
As Tai heard Mara say those few words, he instinctively knew that something was wrong. He knew it as well as he knew his own name. His heart sunk into his shoes and he tried his best to not meet Koushirou's eyes at that moment. He did meet Mara's and she almost imperceptibly nodded at him. Tai swallowed hard and zipped his coat back up and followed the Izumi's out.
The trip to the doctor's office had to be the longest in human memory for Tai and Mara. Usually Mara was singing along with the radio, doing her best to embarrass her sons, but today she was barely humming along, seeming to space out. Tai was looking out the window at the slush on the side of the road, trying to push all the horrible thoughts out of his mind. He would feel Koushirou looking at him and turn and smile then turn back and study the slush more. Koushirou was listening to the music and trying to figure out what was wrong with the other two people in the car with him.
When they arrived at the office, Mara and Tai took the walk as slowly as they could, almost as if they were walking to their own execution. Koushirou was at the door waiting for them, a bit puzzled but not thinking too much about it. He was ready for Doctor Kyoshi to tell him he was perfectly fine. [[A/N: I'm trying to make Koushirou not worry about this at all. I'm also writing him as rather non-perceptive for a change. I'm sorta tired of Koushirou always knowing everything about everyone in fan fiction]]
Koushirou led them into the office and allowed his mum to go to the window to sign in. "The doctor will see you all in just a minute or two, Mrs. Izumi," the receptionist nurse told her and Mara nodded. They took three of the more comfortable seats and waited in near silence. Finally another nurse poked her head out of the door and ushered the three of them into a smaller reception room. They'd removed their coats and had only begun to settle in when Doctor Kyoshi stepped into the room.
"Hello everyone. Like I told you on the phone, Mrs. Izumi, the results came in early." Mara nodded her head. "Can I get anyone something to drink before we start?"
Oh, this is not good. Not good at all Tai was thinking to himself as he somehow found the breath to say that he'd like a glass of water. The doctor returned with a handful of drinks and sat down, crossing one leg on the other at the knee.
"So, Doctor Kyoshi, what did the results say?" Mara and Tai asked at almost the exact same time.
"Well, what I'm about to tell you is about the last thing I expected and the last thing I would want to tell you," the doctor began, a pained look growing on his face. Mara and Tai were sitting on the end of their seats and even Koushirou was looking a bit concerned.
"Koushirou, the lab results came back and they found that you have," the doctor stopped for a second and took a deep breath, "Leukemia." Mara and Tai gasped. Koushirou's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head.
"I have what?"
"Leukemia. Basically it's cancer of the bone marrow."
"So, how bad off am I?" Koushirou asked, the realization of what he had just been diagnosed with hitting him like a ton of bricks.
"We're really lucky you came in when you did, Koushirou," the doctor told him. "Right now we can treat it. Had you not come in for another few weeks the outlook might not have been so bright."
"What are we going to do, Doctor Kyoshi?" Mara asked him.
"What I think we should do is start Koushirou on a round of chemotherapy as soon as possible, maybe tomorrow if possible. I know a good oncologist you should see, Dr. Makoto. [[A/N: an oncologist is a doctor that specializes in dealing with cancer, in case you didn't know]] Let me go get his information for you. I'll be right back." Doctor Kyoshi left the room and the Izumi's in silence. Tai looked over at Koushirou and saw that his koi's eyes were as wide as pie plates and his skin was whiter than a bed sheet. He reached a hand over and took Koushirou's in it and gave it a squeeze.
"Don't worry about it for a second, Kou-chan, we'll kick this. You'll see."
There is chapter four. Finally. This story refused to be written for about a week, then it pretty much fell onto the keyboard tonight. It's a little shorter than I expected, but I wanted to get the moment over with. You can look forward to a bunch of angst, most of it from Tai. Also featured will be Koushirou's thoughts about his new affliction. Daisuke will also take a staring role in this, becoming Tai's shoulder to cry on since he won't do it in front of Kou-chan. Don't expect any Taisuke though, at least not in this story.
Thanks go out to Yaegashi Yoshiki (who had better write my BWG X Iori fic sometime soon ^_^ ), Jay Man, Electric Star, Tasha, and tamagochi (I'll spell that right eventually, I promise) for reading this thing. You might want to get your boxes of tissue handy, since I'm sensing major sadness ahead. Thanks again
energy
Koushirou had returned to school the following day and was greeted with the same questions that Tai received and then a few more. He told everyone that he was fine, just a little bug or something and the Digi Destined let it drop. Tai had already told them not to make a big deal out of it because it wasn't worth getting Koushirou worked up over it and they'd agreed.
Tai, as much as he tried to not be, was making a big deal out of it to himself. He was hardly sleeping at night since he stayed awake listening to Koushirou breathe. Tai couldn't get the irrational fear out of his mind that each one might be the last. He knew better, but he couldn't get his brain to acknowledge that simple fact. He would doze off at around 3:00 or so at night and wake up a few hours later, exhausted.
Wednesday, the day before the lab results came back, was the worst for Tai. He'd sat up until almost 5, thinking about all the horrible things that the doctors might tell them and cuddling Koushirou as close as possible without waking him. He'd gone through every single disease he could think of and then a few that he thought probably existed. He drug himself out of bed and crawled to the shower, hoping the water would wake him enough to slog through 8 hours of school.
The two of them arrived at school and began the morning ritual of adolescence, hanging out with their friends. The day passed rather uneventfully, seeming to drag on forever to Tai. As they were leaving school, Koushirou was engaged in conversation with the rest of the group while Tai following behind, listening and worrying. Daisuke had followed them out, somehow not having detention for a change. He walked with them and saw Tai's expression while the others talked. He didn't like the look he saw at all. Tai's eyes had dark circles under them and he just looked completely disheveled.
"Tai, can I talk to you a minute?" Daisuke asked. When Tai nodded affirmatively he and Tai slowed down a bit to let the others get out of ear shot.
"What's on your mind, Dai?" Taichi asked the younger boy.
"I'd like to know what's on yours, Tai. You look terrible."
"I'm worried about Kou-chan, that's all."
"And worrying makes you look that bad?" Tai didn't answer. "Tai, you know you can talk to me, right? About anything?"
"I know, Daisuke, it's just that this isn't really anything I can talk about I guess."
"If I remember correctly, that's the same thing you said way-back- when, before you got the courage to tell Kou-kun how you felt about him."
"This is different," Tai said, attempting to put Dai off. Dai would have no part of that action though.
"Really? Why don't you try me?"
"It just is, I really don't know if I can explain it, Daisuke."
"We do have a little bit of a walk home, you know, so you might as well try."
"You're not going to stop until I tell you, are you?"
"Nope," Daisuke said grinning at him. "We've been friends for a long time now, Taichi Kamiya, and I don't want to see you this way."
"Alright. Here it is in a nutshell." Tai slowed down a bit further and Daisuke followed suit. The others were almost fifty feet ahead now. "I honestly don't know what I would do if I lost him, Daisuke. I don't know if you can understand where I'm coming from but if he weren't here with me, I think I'd lose it."
"Wait a sec. He's not going anywhere yet, Taichi, not for a long time."
"I want to believe you're right, but I just have this feeling deep inside my stomach. I can't help it. Every time I look at him, I have the feeling in the back of my head that it might be the last time I see him, ever."
"You know that's not true, right?"
"No," Tai said and began studying the ground.
"He'll be fine, Tai, just wait and see."
"I hope you're right, Dai, I really do."
They continued their walk home, rejoining the others almost unnoticed. They slowly dropped numbers as the kids passed their homes, eventually leaving only Tai and Koushirou to walk the last few blocks.
"So, what were you and Daisuke back there whispering about, Tai- chan?"
"Nothing really, just...nothing."
"Taichi, you still can't lie to me very well, can you?" Koushirou asked with a grin.
"I guess not," Tai lied to him again, only this time Koushirou bought it hook, line and sinker. Of all the times for me to fail a bluff He thought to himself. "We were just talking Koushirou, nothing special. I'd not really talked to him in the past few days and we had a little catching up to do." That's better, now the poker face is working again Tai told himself after Koushirou nodded and let it go. They walked into their building and took the elevator up.
As Koushirou turned the knob, he heard his mother on the phone. "Sure, we'll be down there as soon as possible. Thank you, Doctor Kyoshi." Mara replaced the handset on the mount and turned to face her two children as they stepped in the door. "Doctor Kyoshi wants us to come down to the office as soon as we can. He said the lab results came in already."
"Wouldn't he say what it was over the phone?" Koushirou asked as he stopped taking his coat off, having a feeling that he'd be walking back out the door in a moment or two.
"No, I think he was really busy at the time," Mara said, thankful that her son had yet to pick up on when she was selling him a lie. "So, why don't we go on and get down there?" She asked and walked toward the boys.
As Tai heard Mara say those few words, he instinctively knew that something was wrong. He knew it as well as he knew his own name. His heart sunk into his shoes and he tried his best to not meet Koushirou's eyes at that moment. He did meet Mara's and she almost imperceptibly nodded at him. Tai swallowed hard and zipped his coat back up and followed the Izumi's out.
The trip to the doctor's office had to be the longest in human memory for Tai and Mara. Usually Mara was singing along with the radio, doing her best to embarrass her sons, but today she was barely humming along, seeming to space out. Tai was looking out the window at the slush on the side of the road, trying to push all the horrible thoughts out of his mind. He would feel Koushirou looking at him and turn and smile then turn back and study the slush more. Koushirou was listening to the music and trying to figure out what was wrong with the other two people in the car with him.
When they arrived at the office, Mara and Tai took the walk as slowly as they could, almost as if they were walking to their own execution. Koushirou was at the door waiting for them, a bit puzzled but not thinking too much about it. He was ready for Doctor Kyoshi to tell him he was perfectly fine. [[A/N: I'm trying to make Koushirou not worry about this at all. I'm also writing him as rather non-perceptive for a change. I'm sorta tired of Koushirou always knowing everything about everyone in fan fiction]]
Koushirou led them into the office and allowed his mum to go to the window to sign in. "The doctor will see you all in just a minute or two, Mrs. Izumi," the receptionist nurse told her and Mara nodded. They took three of the more comfortable seats and waited in near silence. Finally another nurse poked her head out of the door and ushered the three of them into a smaller reception room. They'd removed their coats and had only begun to settle in when Doctor Kyoshi stepped into the room.
"Hello everyone. Like I told you on the phone, Mrs. Izumi, the results came in early." Mara nodded her head. "Can I get anyone something to drink before we start?"
Oh, this is not good. Not good at all Tai was thinking to himself as he somehow found the breath to say that he'd like a glass of water. The doctor returned with a handful of drinks and sat down, crossing one leg on the other at the knee.
"So, Doctor Kyoshi, what did the results say?" Mara and Tai asked at almost the exact same time.
"Well, what I'm about to tell you is about the last thing I expected and the last thing I would want to tell you," the doctor began, a pained look growing on his face. Mara and Tai were sitting on the end of their seats and even Koushirou was looking a bit concerned.
"Koushirou, the lab results came back and they found that you have," the doctor stopped for a second and took a deep breath, "Leukemia." Mara and Tai gasped. Koushirou's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head.
"I have what?"
"Leukemia. Basically it's cancer of the bone marrow."
"So, how bad off am I?" Koushirou asked, the realization of what he had just been diagnosed with hitting him like a ton of bricks.
"We're really lucky you came in when you did, Koushirou," the doctor told him. "Right now we can treat it. Had you not come in for another few weeks the outlook might not have been so bright."
"What are we going to do, Doctor Kyoshi?" Mara asked him.
"What I think we should do is start Koushirou on a round of chemotherapy as soon as possible, maybe tomorrow if possible. I know a good oncologist you should see, Dr. Makoto. [[A/N: an oncologist is a doctor that specializes in dealing with cancer, in case you didn't know]] Let me go get his information for you. I'll be right back." Doctor Kyoshi left the room and the Izumi's in silence. Tai looked over at Koushirou and saw that his koi's eyes were as wide as pie plates and his skin was whiter than a bed sheet. He reached a hand over and took Koushirou's in it and gave it a squeeze.
"Don't worry about it for a second, Kou-chan, we'll kick this. You'll see."
There is chapter four. Finally. This story refused to be written for about a week, then it pretty much fell onto the keyboard tonight. It's a little shorter than I expected, but I wanted to get the moment over with. You can look forward to a bunch of angst, most of it from Tai. Also featured will be Koushirou's thoughts about his new affliction. Daisuke will also take a staring role in this, becoming Tai's shoulder to cry on since he won't do it in front of Kou-chan. Don't expect any Taisuke though, at least not in this story.
Thanks go out to Yaegashi Yoshiki (who had better write my BWG X Iori fic sometime soon ^_^ ), Jay Man, Electric Star, Tasha, and tamagochi (I'll spell that right eventually, I promise) for reading this thing. You might want to get your boxes of tissue handy, since I'm sensing major sadness ahead. Thanks again
energy