Dedicated to Goddess-Isis-112 and Sakura-jr17
Chapter 11: Thankyou* * * * * * * * * * * * *
My tea's gone coldI'm wondering why
I got out of bed at all
The morning rain clouds up my window
And I can't see at all
And even if I could it'd all be grey
But your picture on my wall
It reminds me that it's not so bad
Its no so bad
And I want to thankyou
For giving me the best days of my life
Oh, just to be with you
I'm having the best days of my life
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
When the four of them arrived at the hospital, they found Fujitaka, Yelan and Touya outside Sakura's room, talking excitedly. Syaoran rushed forward.
"What's happened?"
"We found out from the specialists that Sakura's chances of waking up are very good. And she won't even be affected in the long run. Her brain is all OK, and she's physically well. The pneumonia's pretty serious but she's taking lots of antibiotics, and she's strong. They're expecting a full recovery!" Fujitaka said, a great smile covering his face.
Tomoyo gasped and threw her arms around Eriol in delight. Meilin was smiling broadly. Syaoran was just staring at Fujitaka, unable to believe his ears.
"So… she's going to be alright?"
"Yes. You can see her now, if you want." Syaoran pushed open the door and looked at Sakura. She didn't look any different from when he had left this morning. A few more needles in her arm, but that was all. He took a seat and stared at her face. She didn't move. He felt his heart sink. He'd been expecting something different.
"I know she looks bad, but she's going to fine." Said Touya from the door. He sat down and grinned. Syaoran said,
"I don't know… I just thought that something would have changed."
"It has. This morning she could have been on the brink of death for all we know. Now we know she's going to make it. I don't know about you, but that feels like a hell of a difference to me."
"Yeah, I know. Isn't there anyway to speed it up?"
"No. Just gotta be patient. Not one of my virtues, but I'll do my best. Do you want to stay here tonight?"
"Yes. In case she wakes up."
"OK. Dad's going home tonight. He needs some proper sleep, so I'll take him back, get him to bed, then come back."
"OK."
Touya stood and walked to the door. Before he left he turned around.
"Oh, and Syaoran?"
"Yes?"
"Thanks." Syaoran turned to look at him.
"What for?" Touya smiled and said,
"For making my sister the happiest she's ever been in her entire life."
Then he left.
"Great job, I'm doing." Syaoran muttered. He looked back at Sakura. Before he could say anything Eriol, Tomoyo and Meilin came in. Tomoyo took Sakura's hand.
"Hey, Sakura-Chan. You've just got to get better. We need someone to be bitchy to Noriko. Oh, you should have seen Syaoran and Leon!"
"Beat Leon to a pulp!" Eriol confirmed. Syaoran blushed.
"That's a bit of an exaggeration."
"Hi Sakura. Yu don't know me, but I'm Meilin Li. I'm here to annoy Syaoran while you're out of it. I can't wait to meet you properly." Meilin said, sitting on the end to the bed. Sakura didn't move, but they kept on talking.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
By 9 that night, Tomoyo and Eriol had gone. Meilin was waiting for Yelan to pick her up and Syaoran was sitting at Sakura's bedside. Meilin looked at Syaoran.
"What are you going to do? Once she wakes up?"
"How do you mean?"
"Are you going to go back to China? Or stay here, with Sakura?"
"I don't know. As long as Sakura's sick, I'm staying here." Meilin smiled to herself.
"You haven't changed a bit."
"What do you mean?"
"When we were kids. You always wanted to be the hero."
"I don't-"
"It's nothing to be ashamed of. It's just who you are, Syaoran. You'll do anything to help the ones you love." She stood up as Yelan came in.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Syaoran. Try to get some sleep." Meilin said, kissing his cheek.
Touya arrived a few minutes later, carrying two cups of tea, one of which he handed to Syaoran.
"Any change?"
"No."
"Didn't really expect one." They sat in silence for a few moments. Then Touya asked,
"Have you got something to tell me?"
"Huh?"
"Beating up a certain student teacher?"
"Oh, that." Syaoran said. Was he going to get told off? Touya smiled.
"Wish I could have been there."
"Yeah."
"The one time Tomoyo didn't have her camera with her, something interesting actually happens!" Touya chortled. Syaoran grinned.
"Yeah… it is pretty funny."
"What was he saying to get you so worked up?" Touya asked. Syaoran's grin faded.
"Um… he was kinda… insulting Sakura."
"And you hit him?"
"Yeah. I was feeling stressed, and I just snapped when he said that stuff." Touya stared at him. After two minutes he was still staring, disbelievingly at Syaoran who said,
"It would be SO good if you said something now."
"You really do love my sister, don't you?"
"What?" Syaoran said. This was not what he'd been expecting. Touya watched him.
"You love her. You're pretty much willing to do anything for her."
"So? Doesn't make a difference. In just over a month I'm going to be leaving anyway." Syaoran said, slumping back in his chair. He picked up the lukewarm tea and sipped it. Touya raised his eyebrows.
"You could always stay."
"No. Sakura doesn't want me to. So I'm not going to."
"Ha! You see? You're doing what she wants!"
Syaoran ignored him. After about fifteen minutes Touya said,
"Your tea's going cold."
Syaoran looked at the cup in his hand. He put it down and looked out of the window. It was raining, and he could hear thunder.
"Sakura hates storms." Touya said, looking at the rain-lashed window too. Syaoran looked down at the still figure.
"No way!"
"Yeah. That and ghosts. She's terrified of them both."
"I didn't think she'd be scared of anything. She's too… her to be scared."
"Oh, she gets scared." Touya went to stand by the window. "When our mother died, she was scared. Scared that Mother didn't love her anymore. Scared that was the reason Mother went away. But she understood eventually."
They lapsed into thoughtful silence once again. After a while Touya said,
"We should get some sleep. Do you want the spare bed?"
The nurses had brought in a folding bed earlier on. Syaoran shook his head.
"I hate those things. They always close on me."
"OK. Your loss." Touya settled himself onto the bed and was snoring gently within minutes.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
It was past 9 when Syaoran woke up. He looked around groggily, and then saw the clock. Touya came in, carrying coffee.
"Don't worry, I rang the school. You've got the day off."
"Thanks." Syaoran slurped the coffee. Touya gulped his own, then said,
"I'm really sorry about this, but I've got to go to work. They're letting me off early, but they need me to check some figures. And Dad has an important meeting today. He tried to get out of it, but it's urgent. He'll come by later."
"No problem. I'll stay with her."
"Thanks, Syaoran." Touya left. Syaoran looked back down at Sakura.
"Just you and me. I'm not very good company, but I'm the best you've got."
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Tomoyo and Eriol both felt a slight moment of panic when Meilin walked through the door alone. She sat down and said,
"Don't worry. They're fine. Touya and Fujitaka were both needed at work today so he stayed with her."
Tomoyo let out a sigh of relief. Meilin smiled.
"I looked in on them this morning before school. It was adorable. Syaoran was holding her hand, and he was asleep, and it was just the most kawaii thing I ever saw!"
"Shh." Eriol hushed her, spying Noriko and her gang of girls coming over.
"Hey, where's Syaoran today? He and Sakura skipping school together?" Noriko smirked. Meilin looked up at her.
"For God's sake, please pull your skirt down! Or is it just a belt, and you forgot to put your skirt on?" Noriko frowned, and looked down at her skirt. Meilin rolled her eyes as she turned back Tomoyo and Eriol. Noriko smiled.
"So where are they?"
"Well, I'd love to tell you. But it being none of your business, I might just not bother." Eriol told her. Noriko was clearly getting pissed off. She tossed her hair, put her hand on her hip and demanded,
"Where are they?"
They were interrupted by the ringing of a mobile phone. Meilin said,
"It's mine." And pulled it out of her school bag. She flipped it open and said,
"Hello? Really? That's fantastic! Oh, that's wonderful! I'll tell them! Can we come over later? See you then. Bye."
She closed the phone and turned to Eriol and Tomoyo excitedly.
"She's moving! She's moving her hands and legs, and she even rolled over!" Tomoyo gasped in joy and hugged Meilin and Eriol. Noriko stared at them all, then said,
"What are you talking about?"
But they all ignored her, standing up as the teacher came in. Noriko returned to her seat, confused.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
When they got to maths today, they were pleased to see that Leon had a sticking plaster over his nose and a black eye. He glared at them, and then opened the register, calling out names. When he reached Sakura he looked towards Tomoyo. She stared back, eyes blank. He said,
"Where are Sakura Kinomoto and Syaoran Li?" Everyone stared at them. Tomoyo smiled sweetly.
"They're not here."
"I can see that. But where are they? Answer me!" Tomoyo looked at Eriol and Meilin. Meilin spoke up.
"They're both absent today."
"I know. I want to know where they are!"
"What makes you think we know?"
"Because you do!" Leon shouted, clearly annoyed. He was interrupted as a teacher came in.
"Tomoyo Daidouji, Eriol Hiiragizawa and Meilin Li. You are to go to the principals office immediately."
The three of them stood up, all looking worried. Leon stood up too and asked the teacher,
"What is this about?"
"Something to do with Sakura Kinomoto and Syaoran Li. I don't know what exactly."
"They're both absent today."
"I really don't know." The teacher said, leading the three students away. Leon and Noriko exchanged a glance of annoyance.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Ah, come in." The Principal said, as they knocked on the door and looked in. They sat down as he finished his telephone conversation. Then he looked at them. He was a middle-aged man, with fading grey hair, and glasses that continually slipped down his nose.
"I received a telephone message this morning from Touya Kinomoto."
"That's Sakura's brother." Eriol said. The Principal waved an impatient hand.
"I know, he came here in his school days. He called a few days ago, telling us about Sakura's condition. I hear she is on the mend."
"She hasn't woken up yet, but she's been moving, and that's a good sign apparently." Meilin said. The Principal surveyed her over his glasses.
"Ah, you are Meilin Li?"
"Yes Sir."
"Very good, very good. Anyway, I have given permission for Syaoran to stay with Sakura as long as necessary. I would appreciate it if you could take him some of the work he is missing, so he will not be too far behind when he rejoins us."
"Yes sir."
"Also, I realise that there is a very tight bond between the four of you. Eh, five of you, now Miss Li is with us. So you have permission to visit Sakura during school hours, or take days off. Just as long as you keep up. Understood."
"Thank you sir!" Tomoyo said. The principal smiled kindly. Tomoyo's face fell.
"Um, sir?"
"Yes Miss Daidouji?"
"About Leon… Sakura and I have had some… unfortunate history with him. So-"
"I shall make sure he is not aware of what is happening and if he becomes aware, that he leaves you both alone."
"Thank you sir."
"I suppose you want the same to apply to Miss Amano?"
"What?" They stared at him. He smiled.
"I may be old, but I am not senile. I am perfectly aware of the situation. Now I suggest you go to the library for the rest of this class."
When they arrived in the library Eriol said,
"Why doesn't he just fire Leon?"
"Because he can't. He hasn't done anything wrong. That's the worst part. He can't be blamed for anything."
"But the rape…" Meilin said. Tomoyo shook her head.
"Happened several years ago, without proof."
"Without proof. There are witnesses!"
"Me and Sakura. Sakura's in a coma and not liable to give evidence for anything. And I don't want to stir things up. Look, we're finishing school this year. After that we can leave all of this behind us!" Tomoyo pointed out. The librarian whispered 'Shh!' at them angrily. They sat down and started to read chapter 9.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Syaoran looked at his watch. It was 2 in the afternoon. He was kind of hungry, but unwilling to leave Sakura. Both Fujitaka and Touya had been caught up. He settled back in his seat. As if reading his mind a nurse appeared with a tray of soup.
"Here you are. I don't want two sick people in here."
"Thank you." He said. The nurse smiled, and then started to take Sakura's statistics. Syaoran watched her as he ate the soup slowly, savouring the taste. The nurse wrote some notes on the clipboard at the end of the bed and smiled at him.
"She's doing very well."
"Do you think she'll wake up soon?"
"I think so. In the next week or so. Certainly within three weeks maximum." She beamed at him and left.
A few days later Syaoran was still sitting with Sakura. He had been home to wash and sleep over the last couple of days, but had not been to school. He had taken to doing his work next to Sakura, keeping an eye on her.
Syaoran was having a peculiar dream. He was standing at an altar and a veiled woman was walking down the aisle towards him. But it wasn't Sakura, he knew it wasn't, is couldn't be. He turned to the priest but couldn't speak. As the bride reached him she lifted her veil to reveal Noriko Amano underneath. He couldn't move, could hardly breathe. He could hear Sakura calling for him, her voice low and whispered.
"Sakura, where are you?" He shouted in his dream, and then woke with a start.
Because not all of it had been a dream. Sakura had been calling him. And her green eyes were staring up at him from the bed.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
YAY! SHE'S AWAKE!
OOPS, LEFT THE CAPS LOCK ON.
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Lotsa luv 'n' huggles
Katie