The room was bright and airy.
White curtains, typical smell of bleach. When she moved her heavily bandaged head, it throbbed, and her throat hurt when she attempted to gasp.
It was as if she had been punched and strangled repeatedly.
The woman sat up, and she clutched her chest.
She paused.
Kaoru did recall earlier, when she first woke up in the recovery room, the nurses told her she coded during emergency surgery. They did a round of CPR, which might have traumatized her ribs. They also intubated her at one point, probably bruising her throat.
Yes, she also remembered crying her heart out when she opened her eyes in the recovery room... Who wouldn't? Waking up with a completely blank slate, her memories wiped out.
She sat up, careful not to move too much. The woman lifted her arm and looked at her armband.
-Kaoru Yukishiro-
Was that her name?
"This is… terrifying," she whispered.
Slowly, Kaoru tucked her knees under her chin and embraced herself, fear settling in.Tears were already streaking down her cheeks.
"You're awake," someone suddenly said, and her gaze snapped to the door. It was the doctor. "I have to give you some comforting news, at least. Your husband is here to pick you up,"
"Finally," Kaoru sighed in relief… and paused. "Wait, I'm married ?"
The doctor stepped aside, revealing people by the doorway. Three men and two women, and the two women were on the verge of tears. One just dashed towards her and engulfed her in the tightest embrace.
"You're awake, thank God,"
"Who—"
"It's okay, Kaoru…" the woman pulled away. "The doctor told us the prognosis. It's only temporary, alright? You'll get your memories back soon,"
The blue-eyed woman stared at her dumbly. "Doctor, I don't think I—"
"That woman's name is Megumi," another woman approached. "She's your cousin-in-law. And I'm Tomoe," she reached out and wiped Kaoru's tears gently, "I'm your sister-in-law."
"S-sister-in-law?" Kaoru croaked.
Kaoru knew her memories were all jacked up… but surely she would have some smidge of recall. She brought her gaze up, her eyes falling on the men standing stiffly by the doorway.
A red-haired man, exhausted-looking but gentle-eyed and just the same height as she,
A spiky brown-haired guy who looked the type to throw first punches at a bar fight,
And the tallest, dare she say, probably the most attractive of the three; a dark-eyed, white-haired man that looked like the businessman type, complete with ruffled hair and messed-up tie.
"I… Uhm…" oddly enough, the men held a bewildered looks on their faces. So… which one was… " hers "?
A blush exploded on her cheeks, and she looked away. These total strangers were staring at her.She clutched her sheet tight.
Megumi suddenly cleared her throat loudly. The brown-haired man stepped forward first.
"Glad to see you awake," he approached her and slapped her back fondly. "Although it's so weird for me to do this, I must introduce myself to you again. It's me, Sanosuke, Enishi's cousin…"
Enishi's cousin.
Then the man named Enishi was supposedly… her husband…?
She looked blankly at the two remaining men in horror.
"Kenshin here is my fiancé," Tomoe said, as the redhead settled beside her. The red-haired man held the kindest smile. Kenshin nodded, "And here…" she motioned to the only man who was left by the doorway, "Your dear husband, my brother."
Blue eyes met dark turquoise.
They stared at each other for the longest moments.
"Doctor," The blue-eyed woman reeled, throwing a wide-eyed look of panic, "I think these people made a huge mistake—"
"Miss Kaoru, I know this is all too overwhelming,"
"Listen, doctor. There are many things I've forgotten. But from the depths of my soul, I know I'm not married to this man, and I'm certain I don't recognize these… STRANGERS—"
Megumi suddenly approached and handed a blue folder over to Kaoru. "Here, I have your birth certificate, your passport…"
The blue-eyed patient opened the folder and looked over the documents, stunned speechless. Then her hands skimmed across her marriage certificate,
"Oh, and look at this," Megumi leaned over and pulled a photo out, "It's a picture of you and Enishi on your honeymoon in Japan —"
Kaoru shoved the documents away, utterly petrified.
"…ried," Enishi suddenly mumbled.
Kaoru brought her gaze back to the white-haired man, and oddly enough, the rigid expression from before was wiped away: a most heartbroken, distraught expression was now on his face.
"Uh," Kaoru bleated.
"You had me so worried," Enishi said, and the room was silent. "It doesn't matter," he looked away, a dust of pink settling on his cheeks. Then, a single tear streaked down his face, "You're here now, that's all that matters…"
The man looked utterly embarrassed to be caught crying in front of so many people, but he did not care. Still looking away, he covered his mouth with the back of his hand. A miserable whimper escaped his lips:
He was suppressing his sob.
"H-hey—" Kaoru croaked. Who would be a heartless monster not to be touched by such a scene? Without knowing, Kaoru stood up.
"I thought I lost you," he sobbed, his jaw clenched tightly in restraint. He looked utterly deplorable, "God, I swear, Kaoru… if I lost you…"
She did not know when she walked to him. She had no inkling when she reached out and tugged at his sleeve. The stranger looked down, and she looked up at him with the widest eyes.
"I'm sorry," she said, very softly, "Everything is all too confusing for me, too—"
The man flung his arms around her and wrapped her tight.
"We'll get through this together, Kaoru," he whispered in her ear, still crying. "You and me. Till death do us part, remember?"
Kaoru nodded her head softly. Tears streaked down her face as well. He was a total stranger, but his words of reassurance… the warmth of his tight embrace…
She could at least give this stranger a chance.
She didn't see the joyous thumbs up of the people behind her back congratulating the man.
The doctor sighed in relief, oblivious to the reason behind their joy:
Enishi's acting was truly exceptional.
She stared at the wooden shutters, brightly painted exteriors, and the closely-knit neighboring houses, and she just stood there for a while, frozen to oblivion.
"We live in a houseboat?" The blue-eyed woman gaped.
"Yes." Enishi walked up to her, trying to gather his bearings. She would not know it, but it was the first time ever in his life to take public transport. Enishi slightly grimaced at the fact that Sanosuke and the group enjoyed every second of it.
In the deepest fibers of his soul, he wanted to burn his clothes and take a loooong shower to scrub all the plebian dirt off his pristine, Gucci-clad body.
But that incident with the pee-soaked rag suddenly flashed in his mind. Never in his life had he been so humiliated… taking that dirty bus would be a small change for the joy he would get from his revenge.
"I can give you recommendations for a maid, Sir, and I suggest you contract them 24/7, seeing that you or your friends can't even do simple household chores!"
"Not my maid, huh." He mumbled to himself. He couldn't stop grinning just thinking about it… "We'll see about that."
She suddenly turned to him with the widest blue eyes. Enishi immediately wiped the malicious leer off his face. "You always wanted to live by the sea, darling… I worked so hard to get you the house of your dreams."
The woman stepped back and averted her eyes. She was blushing. Blushing! Before he could mentally pat himself on the back for his acting skills,
"W-well," she huffed, "I'm tired. I want to sit down." She gave out a little huff of indignation and made her way into the houseboat.
Enishi chuckled as he watched her receding figure.
"Even without her memories, she's still an annoying toad."