Author's Note:
10 more blissful days until school starts again. Oh joy. I'm hoping to get three more chapters posted before that dreaded day. Wish me luck.
Disclaimer: I'm not delusional, I don't own Inu Yasha
Quote of the Day:
The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.
--Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
The Sisterhood
. . ."The highway," he said softly. "It was the highway." The tone and cadence of his words took on an eerie, detached quality as he drifted back into the nightmare. "All I see for a while is the windshield . . .the wipers are thrashing back and forth . . .faster and faster, fighting to keep pace with the rain. The center line keeps trying to snake under the car. I keep forcing it back with the wheel. Meilia's face is there for a moment . . . and Sakura's, too . . . both asleep . . .both so peaceful . . ." Inu Yasha's eye's had closed. His words stopped, but the memory of the dream was unrelenting. Out of the darkness and the rain, the headlights began coming. Two at a time. Heading straight for him, then splitting apart and flashing past, one on either side. Wave after blurry wave. The above the lights, he saw the face. The crazy drunken face, twisted and red with fire, eyes glowing golden n the flames. His hands locked as he prayed the oncoming lights would split like the other. But he knew they wouldn't. They never did. Then he heard the brakes screeching. He saw Meilia's eyes open and widen in terror. Finally he heard the scream. Hers? His? He could never tell . . .
Chapter Three
"Inu Yasha?"
Nuriko's voice cut the screams short. He shuddered and turned to her. Droplets of sweat had appeared on his forehead, and his hands were shaking. He took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. The shaking stopped. "Guess I got lost there for a second, huh?" He smiled sheepishly.
"Inu Yasha, have you seen your doctor lately?"
"Ol' Brinker the Shrinker? He tapped me dry-head and pocketbook-about three months ago and told me I graduated. What are you worried about? It's only a nightmare. Brinker told me they're normal in situations like mine."
"I'm worried, that's all."
"Nuriko Yuki, you're frightened that I might come apart in the middle of the art Society banquet and get your lifetime membership cancelled."
Nuriko's laugh lacked conviction. After a few seconds, she stopped trying to homage to his sense of humor. "Inu Yasha, is there anything at all you take seriously? In just one sentence, you manage to poke fun at me for being concerned about your health and for caring enough about art to be active in the society. What is it with you?"
Inu Yasha glared, and for several interminably silent seconds their eyes locked.
Finally, he shrugged and said, "There I go again, huh? An ounce of flippancy is worth a pound of facing up to real feelings. I know I do it, but sometimes even knowing isn't enough. Look, Nuriko, what I said wasn't meant maliciously. It wasn't, seriously. The nightmares still scare me, it's hard for me to face that. Okay?"
Nuriko was not yet placated. "You haven't answered my question, Inu Yasha. Is anything significant enough to keep you from joking about it?"
"As a matter of fact," he said, " most things are significant to me. Shit, you should know that by now."
"But only you know which is which, right?"
"Dammit, Nuriko, I'm a doctor-a surgeon-and a damn good one. Of course things are important to me. Of course I care. I care about people and pain, about suffering, about life. My world is full of injury and disease and no- win situations. The day I lose my ability to laugh is the day I lose my ability to cope." He fought back the impulse to continue, sensing he was already of attacking their morning spat with a sledgehammer.
"I'm going to take a shower," Nuriko said after a few moments. "Go make breakfast, I'll get refreshed and we'll give this day a new start over a cup of coffee.
Inu Yasha stared out at the glittering new day until he heard the sound of water against tile. The day, possibly the most important one for him in years, was not starting out the way he planned. By now he was to have told Nuriko about the exciting turn of events at the hospital. Events that might mark the beginning of the end to so much of the frustration and disappointment that had colored his life.
"Just calm down and let things happen," he said to himself. "Everything is coming together. Nothing, no one mess things up again except you."
He selected a frayed green surgical scrub suit from the half-dozen stuffed in a bureau drawer, dressed, and walked to the window. Four stories below, a few early risers were crossing the still-shaded islands of Commonwealth Avenue. He wondered how many of them were feeling the same sense of anticipation he was-the excitement of facing a new beginning. Beginnings. The word brought a wistful smile. How many times had he, himself, felt that way? High school, college, medical school. Meilia, Sakura. So many beginnings. Beginnings as promising as this one. David sighed. Was the morning the start of a new page, of a chapter, or perhaps a whole new story? Whatever it happened to be, he felt he was ready. For all the bright beginnings in his life since the accident and the nightmare year that had followed the deaths of his wife and daughter, this was the first one he completely trusted.
10 more blissful days until school starts again. Oh joy. I'm hoping to get three more chapters posted before that dreaded day. Wish me luck.
Disclaimer: I'm not delusional, I don't own Inu Yasha
Quote of the Day:
The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.
--Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
The Sisterhood
. . ."The highway," he said softly. "It was the highway." The tone and cadence of his words took on an eerie, detached quality as he drifted back into the nightmare. "All I see for a while is the windshield . . .the wipers are thrashing back and forth . . .faster and faster, fighting to keep pace with the rain. The center line keeps trying to snake under the car. I keep forcing it back with the wheel. Meilia's face is there for a moment . . . and Sakura's, too . . . both asleep . . .both so peaceful . . ." Inu Yasha's eye's had closed. His words stopped, but the memory of the dream was unrelenting. Out of the darkness and the rain, the headlights began coming. Two at a time. Heading straight for him, then splitting apart and flashing past, one on either side. Wave after blurry wave. The above the lights, he saw the face. The crazy drunken face, twisted and red with fire, eyes glowing golden n the flames. His hands locked as he prayed the oncoming lights would split like the other. But he knew they wouldn't. They never did. Then he heard the brakes screeching. He saw Meilia's eyes open and widen in terror. Finally he heard the scream. Hers? His? He could never tell . . .
Chapter Three
"Inu Yasha?"
Nuriko's voice cut the screams short. He shuddered and turned to her. Droplets of sweat had appeared on his forehead, and his hands were shaking. He took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. The shaking stopped. "Guess I got lost there for a second, huh?" He smiled sheepishly.
"Inu Yasha, have you seen your doctor lately?"
"Ol' Brinker the Shrinker? He tapped me dry-head and pocketbook-about three months ago and told me I graduated. What are you worried about? It's only a nightmare. Brinker told me they're normal in situations like mine."
"I'm worried, that's all."
"Nuriko Yuki, you're frightened that I might come apart in the middle of the art Society banquet and get your lifetime membership cancelled."
Nuriko's laugh lacked conviction. After a few seconds, she stopped trying to homage to his sense of humor. "Inu Yasha, is there anything at all you take seriously? In just one sentence, you manage to poke fun at me for being concerned about your health and for caring enough about art to be active in the society. What is it with you?"
Inu Yasha glared, and for several interminably silent seconds their eyes locked.
Finally, he shrugged and said, "There I go again, huh? An ounce of flippancy is worth a pound of facing up to real feelings. I know I do it, but sometimes even knowing isn't enough. Look, Nuriko, what I said wasn't meant maliciously. It wasn't, seriously. The nightmares still scare me, it's hard for me to face that. Okay?"
Nuriko was not yet placated. "You haven't answered my question, Inu Yasha. Is anything significant enough to keep you from joking about it?"
"As a matter of fact," he said, " most things are significant to me. Shit, you should know that by now."
"But only you know which is which, right?"
"Dammit, Nuriko, I'm a doctor-a surgeon-and a damn good one. Of course things are important to me. Of course I care. I care about people and pain, about suffering, about life. My world is full of injury and disease and no- win situations. The day I lose my ability to laugh is the day I lose my ability to cope." He fought back the impulse to continue, sensing he was already of attacking their morning spat with a sledgehammer.
"I'm going to take a shower," Nuriko said after a few moments. "Go make breakfast, I'll get refreshed and we'll give this day a new start over a cup of coffee.
Inu Yasha stared out at the glittering new day until he heard the sound of water against tile. The day, possibly the most important one for him in years, was not starting out the way he planned. By now he was to have told Nuriko about the exciting turn of events at the hospital. Events that might mark the beginning of the end to so much of the frustration and disappointment that had colored his life.
"Just calm down and let things happen," he said to himself. "Everything is coming together. Nothing, no one mess things up again except you."
He selected a frayed green surgical scrub suit from the half-dozen stuffed in a bureau drawer, dressed, and walked to the window. Four stories below, a few early risers were crossing the still-shaded islands of Commonwealth Avenue. He wondered how many of them were feeling the same sense of anticipation he was-the excitement of facing a new beginning. Beginnings. The word brought a wistful smile. How many times had he, himself, felt that way? High school, college, medical school. Meilia, Sakura. So many beginnings. Beginnings as promising as this one. David sighed. Was the morning the start of a new page, of a chapter, or perhaps a whole new story? Whatever it happened to be, he felt he was ready. For all the bright beginnings in his life since the accident and the nightmare year that had followed the deaths of his wife and daughter, this was the first one he completely trusted.
