Thank you to all that reviewed. *has a huge grin*
CinderellaxVan: You know what's going on in this chappie before I even posted it. LOL, yes Van is sort of scary at some times.
Dariel: Yes, Van is a jerk. But he's a lovable jerk.
Fushizen na: I'll try ^^;;
Azure: Hee hee, I just like saying spatula and imagine Van being hit with one...
Angel: He didn't mean to physically touch her, his hand just slipped. Or at least that's what he claims... ;p
neithan02: Sure, anything for a postive review! ^-^
van lover: I'm going, I'm going! LOL
Oh, by the way, I just wanted to clarify that this story take place in America, so please don't say they won't have that in Japan, blah blah. I know that. ;p
An Apple A Day
"Hitomi? Can I come in, or do you never want to see me again? If it helps, I brought lunch."
Hitomi's heart leapt in her chest at the sound of familiar voice. After that one "incident", Van had never came to visit her, and a big burly female nurse who had nearly scrubbed off all of Hitomi's skin during her sponge baths came instead. But today she was being discharged, so it didn't make sense for him to visit now. "It depends. Is it hospital food?"
"And what is wrong with hospital food?" Van joked, setting a tray down on the side table. "Seriously, this is from the hospital café which serves better tasting food than you've had all week. It has to be, or a lot of us would've quit. How does a chicken salad sandwich sound? I also have tuna fish."
"Chicken would be perfect," Hitomi affirmed, eagerly accepting the sandwich. As she bit down, she moaned in pleasure, and smiled at Van, who was now staring at her intensely. "What, did you want this? Or do I have something on my face?"
Van blinked in confusion as he backed away from her slightly. "What? Oh, no, you're fine. I was just thinking on how wrong I was last time I was here. I'm sorry if I had...violated you in any way."
Although she was shocked at Van's humble apology, Hitomi shook her head. "It's okay. I was making too big of a deal out of it anyways. Besides, there was that car accident. How is everybody?"
"Most had minor injuries, except for one guy who didn't walk away from his car," Van explained in a somber tone, but allowed a small grin to creep onto his face. "But hopefully he'll walk away from the hospital soon."
"That's good..," Hitomi murmured as she watched Van pick up a cup of jello with fruit pieces in the middle of it. "Is that all you're having?"
Nodding, Van slurped the red gel through his lips. "Yeah, why not? It has fruit in it, especially apples. You know the old saying, 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away'."
"I see," Hitomi responded coyly. "What about certain male nurses?"
"Oranges."
"Oranges?"
"I'm allergic," Van admitted as he continued to eat. Suddenly he stopped and tilted his head towards the ceiling. Hitomi was about to wonder what he was about to do when he spit red liquid up into the air and caught it in his mouth. "Ta da!"
"Eww! That was so gross!" Hitomi managed to make out between giggles. Van smirked as he inched closer to poke her nose. "Yeah, but you laughed."
The heat between them caused both to blush and look away. Finally Van offered, "Uh, Hitomi. I have a favor to ask of you."
"Y-yes Van?" Hitomi stuttered, trying not to shake. Van glanced down on the floor as he mumbled, "I usually spend most of my time in the pediatric burn unit, and there's one girl in there, Lia Asok, who idolizes you. She has pictures and articles all around her bed of you, and was planning to train to become a track runner too when she was involved in a firecracker accident. I was wondering if would, I mean if you had the time to..."
Hitomi clasped his hand in hers. "Of course Van I'll come. But I have just one question: if you knew who I was, why didn't you mention anything to me?"
"If figured if you were as stuck up as most celebrities were, you would have told me yourself," Van rationalized, gazing into Hitomi's eyes. "Besides, at that moment, you were my patient, and my patient only."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
After having to stop a few times for directions, and to sign autographs for fans who recognized her with her gold medal around her neck, Hitomi finally reached the pediatric burn unit. There was a woman with pink hair standing in front of it, looking in through the window. Hitomi cautiously tapped her on the shoulder, asking, "Excuse me, is Van Fanel in there right now?"
The woman whirled around and grinned, offering her hand. "You must be Hitomi. I'm Merle. Van's told me a lot about you, and asked me to tell you about the procedures."
"Procedures?" Hitomi repeated, slightly confused. Merle nodded as she leaned against the wall. "Yep. First off, we have to get you into scrubs and sanitized. I don't mean to be insulting or anything, but some of these kids still have wounds that can be infected by open air diseases."
Hitomi grinned and pulled off her medal. "That's understandable. I probably have to sanitize this too."
"Most likely. They all probably would want to touch it, especially Lia," Merle agreed, brushing her hair back to expose a deformed pointed ear. "Second, though most of them are used to it, it's best not stare. I'm not going to lie to you; some of them are going to look horrible, but try to look past that, because other people don't. It seems that the truly lucky ones are the ones that can hide the scars, like Van and myself."
It felt like Merle had slapped Hitomi in the face. "Van? Van was in a fire?"
Merle looked equally shocked as she straightened up. "Yeah you didn't know? He and his brother Folken were the only ones to survive a house fire that killed their parents. Folken lifted a burning beam off of Van's back, severely damaging his right arm so much it had to be amputated. They both recovered, but Folken couldn't take the stress, and jumped off the hospital roof, right as Van was being taken to the orphanage."
Covering her mouth to stop the bile rising up in her throat, Hitomi gazed imploringly at Merle as she went on, "As for me, my mom abused alcohol a lot and me even more. She would curse at me and my father she didn't even know for ruining her life. She would just knock me around usually, until one night when I asked for a kitten to fend off the loneliness. She grabbed me by my hair in a drunken rage and dragged me to the stove. She turned on the burner and screamed, 'You want a cat so much? How about you just become one!' and pressed my ears down. That was the last straw; I ran away to a phone booth and called the police. She was arrested, and I was the child of the state. Van and I met each other at a foster home and been with each other ever since."
"Merle, I'm..," Hitomi started before the woman stopped her. "It's okay, I'm over it. It wasn't your fault. Let's just change the subject shall we? If you go through this room, there's a locker with fresh scrubs in it, as well as a sink. Make sure you wash your hands thoroughly, all the way up to your elbows. While you're doing that, I'll go inform Van that you're here."
As she changed into the uniform, Hitomi's head swarmed with thoughts of what Merle had told her. As she cleaned her medal and her hands, she could feel the tears falling down her face. Van, I'm so sorry. I didn't know...
"Hitomi? Are you ready?" Van called, standing in front of the door. Hitomi quickly wiped her eyes before Van could see, and faked a big grin. "Yes, I'm coming!"
Van took her by the hand and they walked in to hear Merle announcing, "...I know you wanted Van to finish reading Charlotte's Web, but we have a special guest today..."
One little girl, who Hitomi determined to be Lia, sat up in her bed and chatted animatedly. It's Hitomi Kanzaki! I can't believe it! I could die right happy right now."
Gently pushing Lia back down on the bed, Merle cooed, "If you did that, none of us would appreciate it too much. You need to lay back down, or I'll have Hitomi leave."
"No! Please tell me you're joking Merle!" Lia complained, lying back down on her pillows, her outburst making her breathe heavily. Hitomi smiled broadly at the strength of the little girl, who, despite having bandages covering the upper half of her body, could be any other child. "You must be Lia. It's very nice to meet you."
Suddenly Lia went quiet, somewhat shy now that Hitomi talked to her. "Do...do you really mean that? You're not...not trying to be nice? You're not...upset by how I look?"
Hitomi's heart broke at Lia's words, and she imagined Van going through the same thing when he was younger. "No, of course not. I hope you get better soon though. In fact, how about I leave my medal here, and once you recover, you can give it back to me. How's that?"
Lia would have jumped for joy if Merle didn't stop her. "Really?! Thank you so much! I promise I'll give it back soon!"
Hitomi spent a few more minutes, talking with all other children until Van declared, "Okay everybody, Hitomi has to go now, so say goodbye."
There was a communal groan and chorus of farewells as Hitomi walked out with Van. She turned to him as soon as they were out of the room, watching Merle try to get them all calmed down. "I could've stayed longer, you know."
"Are you kidding? Then Merle and I would never be able to get them to sleep," Van chuckled, shaking his head. He then grabbed Hitomi's hand and gave it a soft squeeze. "Thanks for letting Lia borrow your medal, but aren't you afraid of it being stolen?"
"It's just a ceremonial one; the real one is in a safe box in a bank downtown, but you don't need to tell her that. The way she's clutching that one, I doubt anyone would try to steal it," Hitomi explained, watching Van out of the corner of her vision. Van, do you realize the sadness in your eyes when you look at them? Most people would think it's pity, but now I know it's because you you've been what they're going through.
"Hitomi?" Van started abruptly, disturbing Hitomi from her throats. "I want to thank you for today. I was wondering, I know this great little restaurant, and I'm off duty Friday night, so can I meet you there for dinner, say seven?"
"It's a date," Hitomi consented before what words had just come out of her mouth. Not noticing Hitomi's embarrassment, Van grinned widely until his beeper went off. He looked down on it and groaned. "Hey, I gotta go, but I'll talk to you later."
As Van jogged down the hallway, Hitomi crouched down against the wall. And despite herself, slowly began to smile.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The smell of spices and other delicious aromas infiltrated Hitomi's nose as soon as she walked into the Italian restaurant. The matron greeted her with a recited message, "Hello, welcome to Antonio's. Do you have a reservation?"
"Uh, it should be under Fanel," Hitomi replied as she nervously watched the woman check the list. "Fanel, party of two, right? This way please."
Hitomi was led to a small booth near the front window. The matron placed the menus on the table and declared, "Your waitress will be with you shortly."
"Thank you," Hitomi muttered, sliding into her seat. She sighed audibly as she checked her watch. 6:50, so she was a little early. She was resisting the urge the extra time to go to the bathroom and touch up her makeup when the waitress came to the table. "Do you want anything to drink while you look at the menu?"
"Just water please," Hitomi answered quietly, nibbling on a breadstick as she looked over the menu. She didn't want to order anything without Van being there. Anxiously, she glanced down at her watch again. 7:05 Calm down Hitomi, he's just a little bit late.
7:10
7:20
7:30
7:40
7:50
8:00
9:00
10:00
"I'm sorry Miss, but my manager says if you don't order something else besides water soon, we're going to have to ask you to leave," the waitress apologized, touching Hitomi lightly on the shoulder. Hitomi bit her lip to keep herself from crying out loud. Why isn't he here? This is the right place, isn't it? I don't understand...
"Miss? Are you all right?"
"I think I'm going to need a stronger drink."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tiptoeing past the other tenant's doors as quietly as she could in high heels, Hitomi finally reached the apartment listed at the address she had taken out of the phone book. She knocked lightly, waited a few minutes, and was about to knock again when the door swung open to a very haggard looking Van. "What the...Hitomi? What are you doing..."
Van's darkly circled eyes widened as he smacked his forehead. "Our date! Oh god, Hitomi, I'm so sorry. Were you waiting at the restaurant long?"
"No, not really," Hitomi lied, thinking back on her napkin and the poor sap who was probably working out her knots in it at the moment. Van, still unsure of her answer, ruffled his hair absentmindedly as he stepped back. "Still, I don't know how to make it up to you...Oh! I'm such an idiot! Would you like to come in? Sorry for the mess..."
Hitomi chortled at the sight of his spartan apartment; aside from a few strewn medical books, a worn table with worn chairs, and a couch that had seen better days. "What mess?"
Grinning sheepishly, Van shuffled towards the kitchen. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm hardly ever here, and when I am, I mostly just sleep. I don't even have a TV. Merle always rags on me about that, especially when she comes over and wants me to watch her new 'favorite show', which of course changes every week. Right now it's something called American Idol...Anyways, do you want anything to drink?"
Noticing Van was dead on his feet, Hitomi shook her head knowingly and pushed Van towards the living room. "How about I make us some coffee, and you can explain what happened to you tonight."
"Sounds good to me..," Van agreed before yawning loudly and plopping down on the couch. Hitomi searched the cupboards until she found some small packs of coffee and poured them into the coffee maker. As she waited, she saw the different kitchen appliances scattered on the counter. "Van, do you cook?"
"I used to," Van called back, "but now I don't have the time or the company to. I probably should sell all my cooking things, but I have this theory: Once you throw away something, you find yourself wanting it more and more."
"I like that theory," Hitomi replied, handing him a steaming cup. "I usually don't drink coffee, so sorry if it tastes disgusting."
Letting out a chuckle, Van assured her, "I'm a tea drinker myself but I'm all out. I'm surprised you found this; I think it was at last year's Christmas party that the hospital gave us all a gift basket full of these. Besides, I'm sure it's not that bad."
He took a sip and immediately blanched. "Is this supposed to be Hazelnut?"
"Irish Cream," Hitomi answered, amused at the look on his face. Van placed the cup on the ground by his feet. "Oh."
There was an awkward silence for a couple of seconds until Hitomi began to stand up. "Well, I should probably go and let you get some rest..."
"No!" Van suddenly shouted, catching Hitomi off-guard. "What I mean is, I haven't told you how beautiful you look in that outfit, or how sorry I am for tonight, or even where I was tonight!"
Hitomi sighed as she reluctantly sat back down. "Okay, go ahead and tell me."
"That mini-skirt you're wearing is driving me crazy..."
"No, not that! Tell me where you were."
"Ohhhh..," Van teased, feigning innocence. But then his joking vanished as he quietly told her, "Lia had to be put on a respirator."
Jumping up, Hitomi asked frantically. "What happened? Is she okay?"
Van massaged his temples and closed his eyes. "There was scar tissue building around her trachea, closing her windpipe. She was fine one moment, then she was gasping for air the next. I've always hated seeing people on respirators, because it seems that the last possible action they could do by themselves was stolen away. I don't think Lia wants to be like that. But Millerna said she should be okay, but if the problem gets worse, she'll operate in the morning. I wanted to stay, but..."
"There was nothing you could do Van," Hitomi cooed, rubbing his hand. But he tensed up and exclaimed, "I know, and that's what's driving me crazy! I'm sorry, I shouldn't take it out on you. So, how was your day? Besides the part of me standing you up, I mean."
Looking up at the ceiling nonchalantly, Hitomi thought back to what her day had been like. "Well, I woke up around 5 this morning to jog around the park, met up with my coach for new practice schedules..."
The feeling of a weight upon her shoulder caused her to stop, and Hitomi looked down to find Van fast asleep, a little bit of drool already forming on his lip. She smiled as she went to get up, but Van wrapped his arms around her and muttered, "Stay with me..."
Is he dreaming? What should I do? I should go, but I don't want to. But then Yukari might wonder where I am in the morning when she comes to visit my apartment... Hitomi glanced again at Van, who had begun to snore. Groaning in resignation, Hitomi leaned against the couch. Ah, to hell with it.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The light peeking in from between the window blinds shone right into Hitomi's eyes, causing her to groan. She opened her eyes groggily and smacked her lips, until the scenery around her caused her sit up abruptly. She searched frantically for Van, until she checked her watch and saw how late it was. "Oh, he's probably already at the hospital."
Combing out her tangled hair with her fingers, Hitomi sleepily made it the door and read the note taped to the back of it.
Hey,
I didn't want to wake you up when I left, especially after last night. I made you breakfast; it's in the oven to keep warm. Help yourself to the coffee (I won't drink it any time soon) and anything else. I'll see ya later.
-Van
PS: You should probably wait until eleven or twelve before leaving, or people might see and get the wrong idea. Especially Mrs. Shubert in 3A. That woman gives me the creeps.
Giggling, Hitomi trudged towards the kitchen, and gasped in surprise when she opened the oven door. There sitting on simple white plate, was a stack of pancakes with eggs and sausage to the side. She pulled out the plate in excitement, and after rummaging for a fork, managed to take a bite. She smiled in delight, knowing Van must have made an early grocery stop this morning, because she remembered that the cupboards were bare when she was looking for sugar for the coffee last night. She poured the newly bought bottle of syrup all over her plate, and moved to sit down at the table. She was halfway there when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. "Milk. I need milk."
Sighing as she opened the refrigerator door, Hitomi couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably at the sight of fifty packs of Jello cups lining the shelves.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hee hee, Van sure loves that Jello. But who can blame him? Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...Jello... *huggles Van* Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm...Van...
CinderellaxVan: You know what's going on in this chappie before I even posted it. LOL, yes Van is sort of scary at some times.
Dariel: Yes, Van is a jerk. But he's a lovable jerk.
Fushizen na: I'll try ^^;;
Azure: Hee hee, I just like saying spatula and imagine Van being hit with one...
Angel: He didn't mean to physically touch her, his hand just slipped. Or at least that's what he claims... ;p
neithan02: Sure, anything for a postive review! ^-^
van lover: I'm going, I'm going! LOL
Oh, by the way, I just wanted to clarify that this story take place in America, so please don't say they won't have that in Japan, blah blah. I know that. ;p
"Hitomi? Can I come in, or do you never want to see me again? If it helps, I brought lunch."
Hitomi's heart leapt in her chest at the sound of familiar voice. After that one "incident", Van had never came to visit her, and a big burly female nurse who had nearly scrubbed off all of Hitomi's skin during her sponge baths came instead. But today she was being discharged, so it didn't make sense for him to visit now. "It depends. Is it hospital food?"
"And what is wrong with hospital food?" Van joked, setting a tray down on the side table. "Seriously, this is from the hospital café which serves better tasting food than you've had all week. It has to be, or a lot of us would've quit. How does a chicken salad sandwich sound? I also have tuna fish."
"Chicken would be perfect," Hitomi affirmed, eagerly accepting the sandwich. As she bit down, she moaned in pleasure, and smiled at Van, who was now staring at her intensely. "What, did you want this? Or do I have something on my face?"
Van blinked in confusion as he backed away from her slightly. "What? Oh, no, you're fine. I was just thinking on how wrong I was last time I was here. I'm sorry if I had...violated you in any way."
Although she was shocked at Van's humble apology, Hitomi shook her head. "It's okay. I was making too big of a deal out of it anyways. Besides, there was that car accident. How is everybody?"
"Most had minor injuries, except for one guy who didn't walk away from his car," Van explained in a somber tone, but allowed a small grin to creep onto his face. "But hopefully he'll walk away from the hospital soon."
"That's good..," Hitomi murmured as she watched Van pick up a cup of jello with fruit pieces in the middle of it. "Is that all you're having?"
Nodding, Van slurped the red gel through his lips. "Yeah, why not? It has fruit in it, especially apples. You know the old saying, 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away'."
"I see," Hitomi responded coyly. "What about certain male nurses?"
"Oranges."
"Oranges?"
"I'm allergic," Van admitted as he continued to eat. Suddenly he stopped and tilted his head towards the ceiling. Hitomi was about to wonder what he was about to do when he spit red liquid up into the air and caught it in his mouth. "Ta da!"
"Eww! That was so gross!" Hitomi managed to make out between giggles. Van smirked as he inched closer to poke her nose. "Yeah, but you laughed."
The heat between them caused both to blush and look away. Finally Van offered, "Uh, Hitomi. I have a favor to ask of you."
"Y-yes Van?" Hitomi stuttered, trying not to shake. Van glanced down on the floor as he mumbled, "I usually spend most of my time in the pediatric burn unit, and there's one girl in there, Lia Asok, who idolizes you. She has pictures and articles all around her bed of you, and was planning to train to become a track runner too when she was involved in a firecracker accident. I was wondering if would, I mean if you had the time to..."
Hitomi clasped his hand in hers. "Of course Van I'll come. But I have just one question: if you knew who I was, why didn't you mention anything to me?"
"If figured if you were as stuck up as most celebrities were, you would have told me yourself," Van rationalized, gazing into Hitomi's eyes. "Besides, at that moment, you were my patient, and my patient only."
After having to stop a few times for directions, and to sign autographs for fans who recognized her with her gold medal around her neck, Hitomi finally reached the pediatric burn unit. There was a woman with pink hair standing in front of it, looking in through the window. Hitomi cautiously tapped her on the shoulder, asking, "Excuse me, is Van Fanel in there right now?"
The woman whirled around and grinned, offering her hand. "You must be Hitomi. I'm Merle. Van's told me a lot about you, and asked me to tell you about the procedures."
"Procedures?" Hitomi repeated, slightly confused. Merle nodded as she leaned against the wall. "Yep. First off, we have to get you into scrubs and sanitized. I don't mean to be insulting or anything, but some of these kids still have wounds that can be infected by open air diseases."
Hitomi grinned and pulled off her medal. "That's understandable. I probably have to sanitize this too."
"Most likely. They all probably would want to touch it, especially Lia," Merle agreed, brushing her hair back to expose a deformed pointed ear. "Second, though most of them are used to it, it's best not stare. I'm not going to lie to you; some of them are going to look horrible, but try to look past that, because other people don't. It seems that the truly lucky ones are the ones that can hide the scars, like Van and myself."
It felt like Merle had slapped Hitomi in the face. "Van? Van was in a fire?"
Merle looked equally shocked as she straightened up. "Yeah you didn't know? He and his brother Folken were the only ones to survive a house fire that killed their parents. Folken lifted a burning beam off of Van's back, severely damaging his right arm so much it had to be amputated. They both recovered, but Folken couldn't take the stress, and jumped off the hospital roof, right as Van was being taken to the orphanage."
Covering her mouth to stop the bile rising up in her throat, Hitomi gazed imploringly at Merle as she went on, "As for me, my mom abused alcohol a lot and me even more. She would curse at me and my father she didn't even know for ruining her life. She would just knock me around usually, until one night when I asked for a kitten to fend off the loneliness. She grabbed me by my hair in a drunken rage and dragged me to the stove. She turned on the burner and screamed, 'You want a cat so much? How about you just become one!' and pressed my ears down. That was the last straw; I ran away to a phone booth and called the police. She was arrested, and I was the child of the state. Van and I met each other at a foster home and been with each other ever since."
"Merle, I'm..," Hitomi started before the woman stopped her. "It's okay, I'm over it. It wasn't your fault. Let's just change the subject shall we? If you go through this room, there's a locker with fresh scrubs in it, as well as a sink. Make sure you wash your hands thoroughly, all the way up to your elbows. While you're doing that, I'll go inform Van that you're here."
As she changed into the uniform, Hitomi's head swarmed with thoughts of what Merle had told her. As she cleaned her medal and her hands, she could feel the tears falling down her face. Van, I'm so sorry. I didn't know...
"Hitomi? Are you ready?" Van called, standing in front of the door. Hitomi quickly wiped her eyes before Van could see, and faked a big grin. "Yes, I'm coming!"
Van took her by the hand and they walked in to hear Merle announcing, "...I know you wanted Van to finish reading Charlotte's Web, but we have a special guest today..."
One little girl, who Hitomi determined to be Lia, sat up in her bed and chatted animatedly. It's Hitomi Kanzaki! I can't believe it! I could die right happy right now."
Gently pushing Lia back down on the bed, Merle cooed, "If you did that, none of us would appreciate it too much. You need to lay back down, or I'll have Hitomi leave."
"No! Please tell me you're joking Merle!" Lia complained, lying back down on her pillows, her outburst making her breathe heavily. Hitomi smiled broadly at the strength of the little girl, who, despite having bandages covering the upper half of her body, could be any other child. "You must be Lia. It's very nice to meet you."
Suddenly Lia went quiet, somewhat shy now that Hitomi talked to her. "Do...do you really mean that? You're not...not trying to be nice? You're not...upset by how I look?"
Hitomi's heart broke at Lia's words, and she imagined Van going through the same thing when he was younger. "No, of course not. I hope you get better soon though. In fact, how about I leave my medal here, and once you recover, you can give it back to me. How's that?"
Lia would have jumped for joy if Merle didn't stop her. "Really?! Thank you so much! I promise I'll give it back soon!"
Hitomi spent a few more minutes, talking with all other children until Van declared, "Okay everybody, Hitomi has to go now, so say goodbye."
There was a communal groan and chorus of farewells as Hitomi walked out with Van. She turned to him as soon as they were out of the room, watching Merle try to get them all calmed down. "I could've stayed longer, you know."
"Are you kidding? Then Merle and I would never be able to get them to sleep," Van chuckled, shaking his head. He then grabbed Hitomi's hand and gave it a soft squeeze. "Thanks for letting Lia borrow your medal, but aren't you afraid of it being stolen?"
"It's just a ceremonial one; the real one is in a safe box in a bank downtown, but you don't need to tell her that. The way she's clutching that one, I doubt anyone would try to steal it," Hitomi explained, watching Van out of the corner of her vision. Van, do you realize the sadness in your eyes when you look at them? Most people would think it's pity, but now I know it's because you you've been what they're going through.
"Hitomi?" Van started abruptly, disturbing Hitomi from her throats. "I want to thank you for today. I was wondering, I know this great little restaurant, and I'm off duty Friday night, so can I meet you there for dinner, say seven?"
"It's a date," Hitomi consented before what words had just come out of her mouth. Not noticing Hitomi's embarrassment, Van grinned widely until his beeper went off. He looked down on it and groaned. "Hey, I gotta go, but I'll talk to you later."
As Van jogged down the hallway, Hitomi crouched down against the wall. And despite herself, slowly began to smile.
The smell of spices and other delicious aromas infiltrated Hitomi's nose as soon as she walked into the Italian restaurant. The matron greeted her with a recited message, "Hello, welcome to Antonio's. Do you have a reservation?"
"Uh, it should be under Fanel," Hitomi replied as she nervously watched the woman check the list. "Fanel, party of two, right? This way please."
Hitomi was led to a small booth near the front window. The matron placed the menus on the table and declared, "Your waitress will be with you shortly."
"Thank you," Hitomi muttered, sliding into her seat. She sighed audibly as she checked her watch. 6:50, so she was a little early. She was resisting the urge the extra time to go to the bathroom and touch up her makeup when the waitress came to the table. "Do you want anything to drink while you look at the menu?"
"Just water please," Hitomi answered quietly, nibbling on a breadstick as she looked over the menu. She didn't want to order anything without Van being there. Anxiously, she glanced down at her watch again. 7:05 Calm down Hitomi, he's just a little bit late.
7:10
7:20
7:30
7:40
7:50
8:00
9:00
10:00
"I'm sorry Miss, but my manager says if you don't order something else besides water soon, we're going to have to ask you to leave," the waitress apologized, touching Hitomi lightly on the shoulder. Hitomi bit her lip to keep herself from crying out loud. Why isn't he here? This is the right place, isn't it? I don't understand...
"Miss? Are you all right?"
"I think I'm going to need a stronger drink."
Tiptoeing past the other tenant's doors as quietly as she could in high heels, Hitomi finally reached the apartment listed at the address she had taken out of the phone book. She knocked lightly, waited a few minutes, and was about to knock again when the door swung open to a very haggard looking Van. "What the...Hitomi? What are you doing..."
Van's darkly circled eyes widened as he smacked his forehead. "Our date! Oh god, Hitomi, I'm so sorry. Were you waiting at the restaurant long?"
"No, not really," Hitomi lied, thinking back on her napkin and the poor sap who was probably working out her knots in it at the moment. Van, still unsure of her answer, ruffled his hair absentmindedly as he stepped back. "Still, I don't know how to make it up to you...Oh! I'm such an idiot! Would you like to come in? Sorry for the mess..."
Hitomi chortled at the sight of his spartan apartment; aside from a few strewn medical books, a worn table with worn chairs, and a couch that had seen better days. "What mess?"
Grinning sheepishly, Van shuffled towards the kitchen. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm hardly ever here, and when I am, I mostly just sleep. I don't even have a TV. Merle always rags on me about that, especially when she comes over and wants me to watch her new 'favorite show', which of course changes every week. Right now it's something called American Idol...Anyways, do you want anything to drink?"
Noticing Van was dead on his feet, Hitomi shook her head knowingly and pushed Van towards the living room. "How about I make us some coffee, and you can explain what happened to you tonight."
"Sounds good to me..," Van agreed before yawning loudly and plopping down on the couch. Hitomi searched the cupboards until she found some small packs of coffee and poured them into the coffee maker. As she waited, she saw the different kitchen appliances scattered on the counter. "Van, do you cook?"
"I used to," Van called back, "but now I don't have the time or the company to. I probably should sell all my cooking things, but I have this theory: Once you throw away something, you find yourself wanting it more and more."
"I like that theory," Hitomi replied, handing him a steaming cup. "I usually don't drink coffee, so sorry if it tastes disgusting."
Letting out a chuckle, Van assured her, "I'm a tea drinker myself but I'm all out. I'm surprised you found this; I think it was at last year's Christmas party that the hospital gave us all a gift basket full of these. Besides, I'm sure it's not that bad."
He took a sip and immediately blanched. "Is this supposed to be Hazelnut?"
"Irish Cream," Hitomi answered, amused at the look on his face. Van placed the cup on the ground by his feet. "Oh."
There was an awkward silence for a couple of seconds until Hitomi began to stand up. "Well, I should probably go and let you get some rest..."
"No!" Van suddenly shouted, catching Hitomi off-guard. "What I mean is, I haven't told you how beautiful you look in that outfit, or how sorry I am for tonight, or even where I was tonight!"
Hitomi sighed as she reluctantly sat back down. "Okay, go ahead and tell me."
"That mini-skirt you're wearing is driving me crazy..."
"No, not that! Tell me where you were."
"Ohhhh..," Van teased, feigning innocence. But then his joking vanished as he quietly told her, "Lia had to be put on a respirator."
Jumping up, Hitomi asked frantically. "What happened? Is she okay?"
Van massaged his temples and closed his eyes. "There was scar tissue building around her trachea, closing her windpipe. She was fine one moment, then she was gasping for air the next. I've always hated seeing people on respirators, because it seems that the last possible action they could do by themselves was stolen away. I don't think Lia wants to be like that. But Millerna said she should be okay, but if the problem gets worse, she'll operate in the morning. I wanted to stay, but..."
"There was nothing you could do Van," Hitomi cooed, rubbing his hand. But he tensed up and exclaimed, "I know, and that's what's driving me crazy! I'm sorry, I shouldn't take it out on you. So, how was your day? Besides the part of me standing you up, I mean."
Looking up at the ceiling nonchalantly, Hitomi thought back to what her day had been like. "Well, I woke up around 5 this morning to jog around the park, met up with my coach for new practice schedules..."
The feeling of a weight upon her shoulder caused her to stop, and Hitomi looked down to find Van fast asleep, a little bit of drool already forming on his lip. She smiled as she went to get up, but Van wrapped his arms around her and muttered, "Stay with me..."
Is he dreaming? What should I do? I should go, but I don't want to. But then Yukari might wonder where I am in the morning when she comes to visit my apartment... Hitomi glanced again at Van, who had begun to snore. Groaning in resignation, Hitomi leaned against the couch. Ah, to hell with it.
The light peeking in from between the window blinds shone right into Hitomi's eyes, causing her to groan. She opened her eyes groggily and smacked her lips, until the scenery around her caused her sit up abruptly. She searched frantically for Van, until she checked her watch and saw how late it was. "Oh, he's probably already at the hospital."
Combing out her tangled hair with her fingers, Hitomi sleepily made it the door and read the note taped to the back of it.
Hey,
I didn't want to wake you up when I left, especially after last night. I made you breakfast; it's in the oven to keep warm. Help yourself to the coffee (I won't drink it any time soon) and anything else. I'll see ya later.
-Van
PS: You should probably wait until eleven or twelve before leaving, or people might see and get the wrong idea. Especially Mrs. Shubert in 3A. That woman gives me the creeps.
Giggling, Hitomi trudged towards the kitchen, and gasped in surprise when she opened the oven door. There sitting on simple white plate, was a stack of pancakes with eggs and sausage to the side. She pulled out the plate in excitement, and after rummaging for a fork, managed to take a bite. She smiled in delight, knowing Van must have made an early grocery stop this morning, because she remembered that the cupboards were bare when she was looking for sugar for the coffee last night. She poured the newly bought bottle of syrup all over her plate, and moved to sit down at the table. She was halfway there when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. "Milk. I need milk."
Sighing as she opened the refrigerator door, Hitomi couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably at the sight of fifty packs of Jello cups lining the shelves.
Hee hee, Van sure loves that Jello. But who can blame him? Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...Jello... *huggles Van* Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm...Van...