Chapter 8: Second Breakdown
The next morning, Haruka still seemed to sleep soundly when Michiru looked into her bedroom, with the intention to tell her that she would take Hotaru to school now. When she saw that the blonde still slept, the aqua haired girl wrote a quick note, explaining where she went with Hotaru, and left the house with the little girl in tow. As soon as she was gone, Haruka opened her eyes and climbed out of bed. She started to dress herself, all the while grinning to herself, then got the papers she had wanted to get right before her breakdown and walked into the garage. The blonde got into her car, tried to ignore her headache and drove off, towards her company.
Michiru returned into the mansion, whistling a happy song, and walked upstairs to check on Haruka. When she entered the bedroom and found the bed empty, her heart skipped a beat. "Where is she?" the aqua haired girl wondered out loud, worry starting to creep up inside her. "What if she stood up and broke down somewhere in the house?" Michiru talked to herself, her worry turning into fear. She quickly hurried out of the bedroom and searched through the whole mansion, all the time calling out Haruka's name. Finally, after almost half an hour, Michiru realized that Haruka wasn't in the house anymore. "I can't believe it…she went to work!"
Haruka finally reached the parking lot and got out of the car. She had to hold to it's door for a second, since all of a sudden her headache increased so fast that she saw multi coloured sparks dancing in front of her eyes, then it decreased again and she could let go of the door. Slowly, the blonde made her way into the building and over to the elevator, hoping and praying that her secretary had some pain killers. She leaned against the wall of the elevator while it made it's way up, holding her stomach which seemed to take a ride on a roller coaster. Finally, the elevator reached the floor where Haruka had her office, and the blonde got out. The first person she saw was her secretary Yukkio, and when Haruka remembered the woman's move on her earlier, she sighed inwardly. "Tenoh-san!" the secretary now cried out, her eyes wide, while she jumped up. "I thought you were ill!" Haruka waved her hand and walked straight into her office, not bothering to talk to her secretary anymore. She closed the door behind her, not hearing the phone call Yukkio made afterwards. "Tenoh is back here! …I know what I said, I thought she…don't yell at me! Yeah…don't worry. Okay. Bye."
Haruka stared at her computer monitor, finding herself unable to concentrate. All of a sudden, her mouth went dry, and she decided to get up and help herself to a glass of water. Slowly, the blonde started to walk towards the door when suddenly the world started to spin around her. Haruka tried to hold on to her desk, but missed it and fell to the floor with a loud thud. She vaguely heard how the door opened, and Yukkio's voice came from far, far away, "Tenoh-san! Tenoh-san, what…" Haruka didn't hear the rest of her secretary's words, since her world suddenly was engulfed in blackness.
Michiru ran into the building where Tenoh Sports TV Inc. had it's offices, over to the elevator. She was just about to push the button when the doors opened and two paramedics came running out, carrying a stretcher between them. Michiru nearly had a heart attack when she saw who laid on it. "Haruka!" she cried out, shocked. One of the paramedics shot a look at her and made a motion with his head for her to follow him, obviously thinking that she was Harukas wife. Michiru ran after them, worried to no end.
Two hours later, Haruka's doctor finally came walking out of the hospital room Haruka laid in, looking exhausted. Michiru jumped up immediately to greet him. "Doctor…what's with Haruka?" "She had another breakdown. Her fever increased to such a high state that she was practically boiling when she was brought here." The doctor replied. "She'll have to stay here for a week, to make sure that she's completely healed." Michiru sighed and nodded. "Why did you let her go to work?" the doctor now asked, anger in his voice. Michiru quickly defended herself: "I didn't know she went to work! I took Hotaru to school, and when I came back, she was gone. I figured that she drove to her office, and followed her." The doctor sighed and nodded. "Fine. You want to see her now?" Michiru nodded, and the man pointed towards the door. "Go in there then. But don't upset her!" "Okay." Michiru promised before she said goodbye to the doctor and walked into the room.
