Paper fan
I apologize (bow). I have only recently learned Iinchou's full name and will now be able to utilize it. Sorry for any confusion. (btw iinchou means class president for those who didn't know)
Um...I don't know anything about Minazuki Yamato's parents, so I'm gonna say they are in another country and that Iinchou hasn't seen them since he was like two years old, okay? If I'm wrong, please let me know.
Chapter 11
"Minazuki Yamato san." Kagura-san, Dr. Nagoya's cheif secretary, greeted me.
I had never met him face to face before. He was tall and wore dark clothes and his dark red hair was tied back. This man was so youthful he could easliy pass off as an older brother of any of my classmates. Then again all of the staff here were youthful and almost unusually attractive.
"Please come this way." the man smiled kindly to me as he gestured. I nodded still not understanding what could be wrong. My grandpa, why didn't some body just spit it out? I was nervous and I didn't know what to do so I followed.
"Yamato-kun!" Dr. Nagoya was walking with some other doctors, when he noticed me. He made excuses to his colleagues and came right up to me with a smiling face. This was a face I wasn't sure I could trust. He showed this kind of face to Chiaki when he was going to introduce my friend to his new mother. "It's been a while hasn't it?"
"I guess I don't have a lot of reason to visit the hospital." My voice was surprisingly cold. I didn't like the way I sounded. "I'm sorry." I looked away. Even though he didn't seem offended, I wanted to apologize. "That was rude."
"Not at all." He rubbed his blue hair and half laughed.
"I'm sure he's worried about his grandfather." Kagura was soft spoken and sincere. He seemed to sympathize with me.
"Yes. Of course." Nagoya-san seemed more focused thanks to his assistant. "Please, come to my office."
"I'd like to see my grandpa." Was that too pushy? "Please." I added.
"Minazuki-san is resting now." Kagura tried to assure me. Strange how his hair was so dark red it could be mistaken for dark brown or even black.
"It's alright." The blue haired man waved a dismissive hand. "This way." he started to walk. Naturally I followed, but I noticed Kagura did not.
Even from behind, Dr. Nagoya was the spitting image of Chiaki, older though. Looking at him made me wonder about my own father. I'd seen pictures of him of course. I'd always thought I looked more like my mother than my father though.
Walking down these starile halls I was feeling...out of place. Like a plant, uprooted. I glanced around a few times wondering if anyone was staring at me. I was worried and anxious. I laced my hands infront of me and twisted my fingers, trying to be patient. It will be alright, I tried to fool myself, but I had no way of knowing.
"Room 311." Dr. Nagoya stopped. "This is it." I blinked looking at the plain door.
"Grandpa?" I called as Chiaki's father opened the door for me. It was dark except for the hall light that fell over that familiar old face. "Grandpa!" He was in a large room for one person. Even the shadows couldn't hide that. It was acctually bigger than the one Maron had stayed in when she was here for care. I ran past the flowers and gift baskets to my grandpa's bed side.
"Are you alright?" I took his hand. "Grandpa?" He didn't respond. I looked at Dr. Nagoya for an explination.
"He's been given a seditive." The brown eyed blue haired man had to told me. "He has to rest through the night and this is the best way. Please understand, he can't be disturbed."
"A seditive?" He looked so old, I touched his wrinkled face. "I guess I understand but..." I looked back at Nagoya-san.
"You're grandfather doesn't know you're here." the doctor confessed, closing the door. Dark! "He acctually asked me not to disclose any of this." I heard footsteps and vaguely saw his shape coming closer.
"Under oath of confidentiality," There was a clicking sound next to me a dim table lamp was turned on. Now we could see each other well enough. "I could be sued. But..." he noticed my helpless expression and assured me, "Relax, he just didn't want to worry you."
"What are you talking about?" I was so confused, nothing was making sense and...why did he close the door? Oh yeah, confidentiality or something, but that doesn't explain why my grandpa is here.
"Yamato-kun?" Dr. Nagoya spoke seriously. "Did you know you're grandfather has been coming to see me quite regularly in these past months?" He pulled two chairs together and invited me to sit.
"Months? No." I sat. "Why would he need to..."
"He thought it was stress." The doctor sat and crossed his legs. "He was having stomach pains and thought it may be an ulser. When the pain stopped the sickness started. He regularly threw up and was having other problems like that. Soon he couldn't eat without using a prescription digestant to assist him."
"I..." Grandpa didn't let on anything. I noticed he went to the restroom a lot when he came to visit me, but I never thought..."I didn't know." I felt ashamed that I hadn't noticed. A failure for not recognizing that something was wrong. Here I was stressing over my love life and my grandpa was...was he dying?
"Your grandfather didn't want you to know, didn't want you to worry." Dr. Nagoya made this clear. I think he was trying to make me feel better about the situation. "After running an extensive battery of tests we discovered it."
"It?" I think I was going to be sick. I didn't even know what it was, but it had to be bad.
"A cancerous growth about the size of an apricot." he explained. "It doesn't sound so large, but it's growing. Minazuki-san consented to have it removed several weeks ago. It's short notice for you but...I'm going to operate tomorrow afternoon."
"Operate." Cutting people open? I swallowed hard. My eyes were wide and my palms began to sweat.
"There's an excellent chance of success because we caught it in it's early stages." He continued. "Unfortunately...there's always a slim chance that something can go wrong."
"Like what?" I let my bangs hide my expression, just incase I started crying. I felt so helpless, so, so stupid.
"Like..." The word hung in the air as the doctor considered his next words. "When I operate, I might find something else that prevents an easy extraction." the blue haired man explained. "According to the preliminary findings it's rooted on the left side of the stomach lining."
"If it has grown into the stomach wall..." Dr. Nagoya continued. "I'll have to take part of the stomach out with it. That in itself doesn't present so much of a problem." He shook his blue head. "Unfortunately, this kind of cancer is notorious for having smaller nodes around it."
"However, our external instruments showed no such nodes," he sighed and folded his arms, "which means I'll have to find them. It will be a long procedure and it will be very difficult on you're grandfather. His age is also a concern. A young man has much better chances, naturally."
"Why are you telling me all this? If he didn't want me to know." I just, I just wanted to know.
"I'm a father." Dr. Nagoya said simply. "If there's even the smallest chance..." he didn't say it, but he didn't have to. "I just wanted you to know." he got up and left the room.
"Thank you." I sat there like a robot. I couldn't move. I didn't want to. I wasn't even sure how to begin absorbing this information.
The doctor left and I looked at my grandfather. I watched him breath for, I don't know how long. As time passed, a feeling posessed me and I suddenly felt very alone. Chiaki. A tear hit my hand and I realized my fists had been clenched all this time.
I apologize (bow). I have only recently learned Iinchou's full name and will now be able to utilize it. Sorry for any confusion. (btw iinchou means class president for those who didn't know)
Um...I don't know anything about Minazuki Yamato's parents, so I'm gonna say they are in another country and that Iinchou hasn't seen them since he was like two years old, okay? If I'm wrong, please let me know.
Chapter 11
"Minazuki Yamato san." Kagura-san, Dr. Nagoya's cheif secretary, greeted me.
I had never met him face to face before. He was tall and wore dark clothes and his dark red hair was tied back. This man was so youthful he could easliy pass off as an older brother of any of my classmates. Then again all of the staff here were youthful and almost unusually attractive.
"Please come this way." the man smiled kindly to me as he gestured. I nodded still not understanding what could be wrong. My grandpa, why didn't some body just spit it out? I was nervous and I didn't know what to do so I followed.
"Yamato-kun!" Dr. Nagoya was walking with some other doctors, when he noticed me. He made excuses to his colleagues and came right up to me with a smiling face. This was a face I wasn't sure I could trust. He showed this kind of face to Chiaki when he was going to introduce my friend to his new mother. "It's been a while hasn't it?"
"I guess I don't have a lot of reason to visit the hospital." My voice was surprisingly cold. I didn't like the way I sounded. "I'm sorry." I looked away. Even though he didn't seem offended, I wanted to apologize. "That was rude."
"Not at all." He rubbed his blue hair and half laughed.
"I'm sure he's worried about his grandfather." Kagura was soft spoken and sincere. He seemed to sympathize with me.
"Yes. Of course." Nagoya-san seemed more focused thanks to his assistant. "Please, come to my office."
"I'd like to see my grandpa." Was that too pushy? "Please." I added.
"Minazuki-san is resting now." Kagura tried to assure me. Strange how his hair was so dark red it could be mistaken for dark brown or even black.
"It's alright." The blue haired man waved a dismissive hand. "This way." he started to walk. Naturally I followed, but I noticed Kagura did not.
Even from behind, Dr. Nagoya was the spitting image of Chiaki, older though. Looking at him made me wonder about my own father. I'd seen pictures of him of course. I'd always thought I looked more like my mother than my father though.
Walking down these starile halls I was feeling...out of place. Like a plant, uprooted. I glanced around a few times wondering if anyone was staring at me. I was worried and anxious. I laced my hands infront of me and twisted my fingers, trying to be patient. It will be alright, I tried to fool myself, but I had no way of knowing.
"Room 311." Dr. Nagoya stopped. "This is it." I blinked looking at the plain door.
"Grandpa?" I called as Chiaki's father opened the door for me. It was dark except for the hall light that fell over that familiar old face. "Grandpa!" He was in a large room for one person. Even the shadows couldn't hide that. It was acctually bigger than the one Maron had stayed in when she was here for care. I ran past the flowers and gift baskets to my grandpa's bed side.
"Are you alright?" I took his hand. "Grandpa?" He didn't respond. I looked at Dr. Nagoya for an explination.
"He's been given a seditive." The brown eyed blue haired man had to told me. "He has to rest through the night and this is the best way. Please understand, he can't be disturbed."
"A seditive?" He looked so old, I touched his wrinkled face. "I guess I understand but..." I looked back at Nagoya-san.
"You're grandfather doesn't know you're here." the doctor confessed, closing the door. Dark! "He acctually asked me not to disclose any of this." I heard footsteps and vaguely saw his shape coming closer.
"Under oath of confidentiality," There was a clicking sound next to me a dim table lamp was turned on. Now we could see each other well enough. "I could be sued. But..." he noticed my helpless expression and assured me, "Relax, he just didn't want to worry you."
"What are you talking about?" I was so confused, nothing was making sense and...why did he close the door? Oh yeah, confidentiality or something, but that doesn't explain why my grandpa is here.
"Yamato-kun?" Dr. Nagoya spoke seriously. "Did you know you're grandfather has been coming to see me quite regularly in these past months?" He pulled two chairs together and invited me to sit.
"Months? No." I sat. "Why would he need to..."
"He thought it was stress." The doctor sat and crossed his legs. "He was having stomach pains and thought it may be an ulser. When the pain stopped the sickness started. He regularly threw up and was having other problems like that. Soon he couldn't eat without using a prescription digestant to assist him."
"I..." Grandpa didn't let on anything. I noticed he went to the restroom a lot when he came to visit me, but I never thought..."I didn't know." I felt ashamed that I hadn't noticed. A failure for not recognizing that something was wrong. Here I was stressing over my love life and my grandpa was...was he dying?
"Your grandfather didn't want you to know, didn't want you to worry." Dr. Nagoya made this clear. I think he was trying to make me feel better about the situation. "After running an extensive battery of tests we discovered it."
"It?" I think I was going to be sick. I didn't even know what it was, but it had to be bad.
"A cancerous growth about the size of an apricot." he explained. "It doesn't sound so large, but it's growing. Minazuki-san consented to have it removed several weeks ago. It's short notice for you but...I'm going to operate tomorrow afternoon."
"Operate." Cutting people open? I swallowed hard. My eyes were wide and my palms began to sweat.
"There's an excellent chance of success because we caught it in it's early stages." He continued. "Unfortunately...there's always a slim chance that something can go wrong."
"Like what?" I let my bangs hide my expression, just incase I started crying. I felt so helpless, so, so stupid.
"Like..." The word hung in the air as the doctor considered his next words. "When I operate, I might find something else that prevents an easy extraction." the blue haired man explained. "According to the preliminary findings it's rooted on the left side of the stomach lining."
"If it has grown into the stomach wall..." Dr. Nagoya continued. "I'll have to take part of the stomach out with it. That in itself doesn't present so much of a problem." He shook his blue head. "Unfortunately, this kind of cancer is notorious for having smaller nodes around it."
"However, our external instruments showed no such nodes," he sighed and folded his arms, "which means I'll have to find them. It will be a long procedure and it will be very difficult on you're grandfather. His age is also a concern. A young man has much better chances, naturally."
"Why are you telling me all this? If he didn't want me to know." I just, I just wanted to know.
"I'm a father." Dr. Nagoya said simply. "If there's even the smallest chance..." he didn't say it, but he didn't have to. "I just wanted you to know." he got up and left the room.
"Thank you." I sat there like a robot. I couldn't move. I didn't want to. I wasn't even sure how to begin absorbing this information.
The doctor left and I looked at my grandfather. I watched him breath for, I don't know how long. As time passed, a feeling posessed me and I suddenly felt very alone. Chiaki. A tear hit my hand and I realized my fists had been clenched all this time.