Disclaimer: I claim no ownership to Inuyasha and 'Melt Into The Walls' - Pilate
Fusillade
-
The night is cold, you lie with ghosts you have let down
An empty bed betrays you, you lie awake and wonder what went wrong
The lights have died, the love they gave on borrowed time
-
Chapter 7: Lie
She couldn't let him see her like this, could she? Who knew what he would do.
She tried to mentally block out the noise in the background while she evaluated her options.
"Shit Sango, if you don't open this door right now I'll-"
'Okay, okay,' she thought to herself frantically, ignoring his loud cursing. 'If I let him in, he could say hi, turn around, and leave. Wishful thinking. Or he could grope me while I'm incapacitated. Maybe he could be completely and totally understanding and lend me a few million to get me some treatment.'
"That just wasted five minutes of time where I could have been thinking of something more relevant," she sighed out loud, before turning her head slightly and yelling to the closed door.
"Is that you, Houshi-san? I wasn't expecting you to come around today. You should've called first."
The doorknob continued to rattle.
"I did call. No one answered. I asked Kagome. She didn't know where you were either. I even showed up at your workplace, but obviously, you aren't there."
"What do you need to talk about that's so important?" she asked, hoping to find an opening in which to send him away.
"I just came to see if you wanted to go get something to eat, since you've been busy," he explained. Then his voice got slightly louder. "But all that changed since the doorknob I'm holding has blood on it!"
Sango squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before looking up and reaching for her crutches, leaning against the bed. Wincing, she tucked them under her arms and hobbled towards the door, biting her lip to prevent from swearing aloud from the pain.
"Please, could you keep it down?" she pleaded to the boy on the other side of the door. "The other tenants might complain."
If anything, the doorknob only rattled harder, before abruptly stopping. There was a soft thud, as if he had slumped against the barrier.
"Then let me in!" came his muffled response.
She reached up to connect the chain lock before opening the main lock beneath it. Her fingers shook as she clicked the latch into place in frustration. She usually only used it at night partially because it was faulty and mounted on short screws which were currently popping out of the drywall.
Sighing, she opened the door as far as the chain would allow, which was a crack about the width between Sango's eyes.
"I appreciate you coming by to see me and looking for me, but now is not a good time," she said quickly. She was already swaying on the spot.
"Are you okay?" he demanded instead.
Crap, this wasn't good. She was already seeing six eyes on him. He had to leave now.
"I'm fine," she tried to snap rudely, but it came out tired and exhausted.
"The blood - "
"I had a nosebleed," she interrupted in a tired voice.
To her horror, he wedged his hand into the crack between the door.
"I'm sorry Sango, but I won't believe it until I see it."
"Can't you see right now? I look fine," she said weakly, forcing a smile. Every word she spoke irritated her injury. She looked to where his hand was wedged into the crack allowed by the lock, and then to where the chain was on the verge of snapping off the wall.
"Your lip is bleeding," he stated in a flat voice.
"That won't kill me," she argued back, closing her eyes briefly. "You should go. Please move your hand."
"Will you open the door?"
"Maybe."
The other side - his side - suddenly grew absolutely silent and she was a bit unnerved, underneath all the dizzy, tired, and painful feelings she was currently dealing with.
She shut the door soundly, intending to lock the main lock again, but before she could register what had happened, the knob had twisted and he came crashing through, snapping the chain off the wall in the process. The door swung into the opposite wall with a dull thud.
Surpressing a gasp, she clutched onto her crutches for support and wanted to just disappear as he turned around and took in her appearance.
"Houshi-san...you shouldn't have done that," was her lame offering. "The neighbors...you just broke down my door. You could have hit me..."
"I don't give a damn about the neighbors," he said bluntly. "In this building they're probably all up on the roof for a quick smoke. What happened to you?"
This was all too much. He couldn't find out this way. He shouldn't find out at all. But somehow she felt so heavy, and everything was on the verge of spinning. She must have lost more blood than she thought.
Her legs started to buckle beneath her and immediately he was there, holding her up gingerly as the crutches slipped from her hands and clattered to the floor.
She bit her lip, hard, as his hand pressed onto her abdomen, applying a slight pressure to her stomach.
"Sango, you have to tell me what happened to you," he said, his voice more urgent than ever before.
She looked up at him, and he flinched at the sight of a fresh bruise above her eye. It had been shielded by her bangs.
Her mouth opened slightly, but to his dismay, she hesitated.
"Nothing."
"Sango...I have to get you some help." He tried to hoist her into a more secure grip, but she cried out as he attempted to do so and he faltered.
"You're really hurt Sango. Don't deny it."
"No," she mumbled. "I don't need it. Houshi-san...I'm really alright."
"No, you're not," Miroku argued back.
"No...I'm okay...Why won't you believe me?"
Her eyes were half lidded, and her head swayed in a distorted circle, towards him. Using every ounce of his willpower, he leaned his head back, but it didn't help since he was supporting almost all of her weight.
"Let's stay here for awhile...my head kind of hurts," she said, her lips moving so dangerously close to his that he could feel the heat radiating off her skin.
"No, let's get you to a damn hospital. You can't even stand up by yourself!"
"Only because...I feel so tired-"
She made to steady her head and show him that she was indeed okay, and as she did so he hoisted her up more securely in his hands. Her lips brushed against his, feather light. He wasn't even sure they really made contact.
He found himself leaning forward, his mind mentally berating him. He needed to pull away, he had to pull away now. This was beyond taking advantage. He drew the line at taking advantage of injured, semi-delirious girls.
But he couldn't help noticing she tasted different than he'd imagined. She tasted oddly like...
Blood?
He broke off the light kiss and her head fell to rest on the front of his shoulder. Her body fell slack in his arms and her arms loosened around him.
"Sango?" he asked in surprise. "Sango!"
An incoherent mumbling sounded from her mouth. "Stay awake, okay? Keep on talking to me," he urged, hoisting her up in his arms and heading towards her room. He desperately ignored the moaning and occasional convulsing of her body as he held it firmly.
He paused momentarily as he felt something crunch beneath his feet. Looking down, he saw a few glass shards littering the floor. His eyes saw the open bathroom door, blood, glass, and empty mirror frame included.
Shaking all the dreadful assumptions from his mind, he laid Sango on the bed, quickly wiping the blood dripping from her mouth with the back of his hand.
She stirred and reached towards him as he drew away from her.
"Where's your phone Sango?"
She spoke, but her eyes were still closed. "In the kitchen. Why? Who're you calling?"
"I'm getting you help," he answered bluntly, shoving the papers on top of the phone away in a hurry.
"I don't need any help," she retorted, though it came out gurgled. "Go away."
"Sango, I don't know what's going on with you, but I know for sure that we need to get help."
--
He had just gotten back from the washroom, not looking down at sink for he was sure the water swirling down the drain was tinted red. Feeling a bit shaken, he leaned against the wall of the waiting room, which was currently populated with an endless stream of patrons.
Looking over at the triage desk, he picked up bits of the conversation between a nurse and the receptionist.
"Girl...minor concussion...no guardian...Who was she with?"
Seeing as most other concerned people confined to the waiting room let go of their dignity when speaking to hospital staff he couldn't see why he shouldn't be a demanding prick as well.
"Hey, I was with the girl I think you're talking about." He tapped on the nurse's shoulder, who turned around sharply.
"Well...we've been looking for her companion. Can I ask you a few quick questions?"
"Whatever you need," Miroku assured.
"Great...Do you know a way we can get in contact with her next of kin?"
"No...She lives alone. No immediate family."
"No one else in the apartment?"
"She lives alone. I just told you that." Miroku answered, visibly annoyed.
"And you don't know any reasons as to how she could have sustained these injuries?"
He thought back to the glass in her apartment.
"There was broken glass in her apartment. That's all I know of."
"Was she robbed?"
"I don't know. Wait, probably not."
The nurse, a stocky male, jotted something down on his clipboard before turning around to leave.
"Wait! Can you at least tell me if she's okay?"
The nurse turned around again, sighing in exasperation. "Listen sir, emergency is very busy, but we're tending to your friend as best as we can right now. All I can tell you is that she lost a lot of blood, which we are trying to provide her."
He walked off before Miroku could demand any more out of him. Frustrated, he crossed his arms and sat down heavily in a waiting room chair.
The minute hand on the clock had moved excruciatingly slow for the past half hour when the male nurse returned.
"Checked out the records. No family. We called in her social worker. And what relation are you?"
Miroku didn't hesitate. "Boyfriend."
"Boyfriend, eh?" The nurse raised an eyebrow. "Come with me."
And that's how Miroku's innocent trip to take Sango out had turned into him dodging stretchers, disgruntled hospital staff and frantic patients down a pale and sterile corridor.
The door loomed before him like the one to Sango's apartment had, except this one was the same sterile off white color as the rest of the hospital, with a small window and a plaque with a number underneath.
He had almost pushed the nurse out of the way when his movements stopped short of the bed.
There she was, asleep. Her skin was pasty, her hair splayed limply about her shoulders, and the bruise above her eye had grown more prominent. It hurt him to see her like that.
Her chest rose and fell lightly in a rhythm to the heart monitors. Needles were impressed into her veins, allowing fluid from an IV stand to be administered into her blood.
"Sango," he said under his breath. "How could you keep this a secret?"
"What happened to her?" he demanded in a sharp tone. He didn't care how he got them, he just wanted answers. Answers that Sango couldn't give him at the moment.
"Technically we should be waiting for the social worker, she is the legal - "
"What does it matter if I you tell me before she gets here? I'm here now, and I'll be here when she gets here and I'll hear what you say," Miroku interrupted in a calm, yet forcibly cheery voice.
"At least give me something. You can't expect me to stand around here and wait while my girlfriend just lies here lifeless? She's an adult already, right?"
"Third degree abdominal muscle strain. Completely ruptured and torn. Hernia in the muscle tissues, bruising, caused by bleeding within the muscle tissues. Internal bleeding."
So physical health class had actually paid off some. The terms he was hearing, he knew they were far from good.
"Now if you'll excuse me sir, I have a few more patients to see to and someone will be back shortly."
He left and Miroku didn't acknowledge he had even spoken.
He pulled one of the generic hospital room chairs from its snug spot against the wall and dragged it beside the bed, resting his elbow on his knee and watching the slight movement of her body as she breathed.
"Aren't you sick of this Sango? I know I am; Of sitting next to you on a bed hoping that you'd open your eyes."
He wondered if she could hear him. If she did, then he hoped she would wake up and tell him the truth.
A minute passed. Then two. Then ten. Still, she did not wake, though she came close to it a couple of times.
Sighing, he gently covered her hand lying lifelessly at her side with his own. It was cold.
"You know, you're too shy for your own good Sango," he said dully. "Did you think this would make you any different to me?"
The second hand of the clock clicked by steadily as it moved about the face. He thought vaguely about calling Kagome at this time but decided against it because it might wear her out, and he knew she had a test coming up. He remembered when he spoke to her earlier that she had important commitments, and wouldn't be home.
He continued his silent brooding for a few more minutes before a slight pressure on his hand jerked him back to reality.
"Sango?" he asked hopefully, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb. He was inwardly ecstatic when her hand squeezed his again. Suddenly restless, he turned her hand over in his palm, and his eyes narrowed at slivers of darkened skin - scars - around her wrist.
Heavily, her eyelids lifted and focused on her surroundings. Staring straight up, her movements stilled for a moment.
"Damn it. Don't tell me I'm in the hospital."
Her fingers shook from where they were contained in his loose grip.
"Don't let it be Houshi that's sitting beside me."
She craned her neck, wincing a little, and sighed in defeat as her suspicions were confirmed, letting her head drop back onto the pillows unceremoniously.
"Not happy to see me?" Miroku tried in a cheerful demeanour; he was more worried than anything.
"Should I be?" Sango said flatly, her head turned away from him.
"I would think so," he responded. "I'm happy to see you awake."
"So you've seen how I live?" Sango said sarcastically. "Just like out of the movies, huh? In fact, this hospital room is actually quite the luxury palace."
"Well, at least you get this nifty bed-adjuster," he pointed out, flipping the switch and causing the bed to bend. He fiddled with the controls, trying to elicit something that resembled a smile from her.
Sango kept a straight face as her back moved up and down, but her stony mask fell apart and she smiled, which turned into a light laugh before she felt a slight bloat in her lower stomach, holding both palms to it.
"Anesthetics....and painkillers." Miroku answered before she could ask.
Her expression was unreadable.
"It's okay," she said softly. "It hurts...but I'd almost forgotten what laughing felt like. Shame...I can't even seem to do that without hurting," she whispered bitterly.
Flopping herself back onto her pillows, she dropped her arms limply to her sides and fiddled with her hands.
"You really brought me here, huh?"
"I always make good on my threats." He tried to keep the mood light, but she saw right through him.
"It's that bad, isn't it?" She turned her head slightly to look at him.
He didn't know what to say. She didn't wait for his answer.
"I must be a horrible kisser," she said with a rueful smile on her face, blushing.
Miroku was quick to retort to that.
"Quite the contrary!"
"I beg to differ." She shot him a skeptical look.
"Well, I don't deny that it wasn't you at your best," he said with a half-grin. "We could always try again?"
He caught her by surprise, and she immediately looked down at her lap, hiding her furiously blushing cheeks.
"You don't have to be here," she said quietly, her hair hanging past her shoulders like a curtain.
He slid his hand into her lap and squeezed her hand lightly.
"I want to."
--
The door swung open loudly and bounced off the filing cabinet behind it, to reveal an average sized figure with a haphazardly styled ponytail.
"Sango! I'm so sorry I'm late, I was working out the details with one of the foster parents when they called me! I went to bring you some - "
The woman's gaze shifted from Sango sitting on the bed to the boy beside her...holding her hand.
"Hello."
"Karin?" Sango wasn't sure whether to be shocked, worried, or happy. She quickly pulled her hands away from Miroku's and plastered a small smile on her lips.
"This is Houshi Miroku-san, a -"
She hesitated.
"He's a friend. This is Karin, my social worker, she's great."
Pausing for a minute, she added to her last statement.
"He came by today and called emergency."
Miroku stood and bowed to the older woman. She smiled. "Well, thank you."
After thanking him, she scurried around to the other side of the bed and hauled her collection of bags onto a chair.
"I brought you some of my old clothes, mind you, they don't fit me anymore, but they might be your size. I picked up some bottled water, a few magazines, a sweater - " She paused, flustered, as she arranged the items.
Turning to face Sango, her whole expression seemed to droop.
"San, what happened?" she asked worriedly, taking in Sango's appearance, including the cut lip, bruised eye, and swollen, pasty white skin.
"I..."
What could she say?
"It's..."
They want to know.
"Did someone do this to you?" Karin flared, bristling at her own suggestion. "Did you get into a fight?"
Miroku didn't respond to this. His face blankly read, don't let that be true.
She panicked. And nodded.
The social worker's maternal instinct instantly took over and she reached down and hugged Sango, patting her on the back.
"It's okay, San, it's okay. We'll get them."
Biting her lip, Sango slowly turned her head to observe Miroku's reaction. Or lack thereof.
He wasn't looking at her. In fact, he looked almost...guilty. But also confused. And angry. She wished he would say something. Anything.
There was a sharp tap on the door. "Komori Karin-san?"
A tired-looking doctor picked up the chart at the foot of Sango's bed and gestured towards the door. "May I speak with you out here for a moment?"
Smoothing the hair on the top of Sango's head one last time, the social worker quickly followed the doctor into the hallway, shutting the door and filling the room with silence once again.
"Is that true, Sango?" he asked slowly. She didn't answer.
"If it is," he continued in an even softer voice. "Why didn't you tell someone?"
She couldn't look him in the eyes. "I thought it would be okay," she whispered.
"I said it before, and I'll say it again. You're not okay. Sango, you should have told me. Anyone. I thought you trusted me."
She would have preferred it if he had shouted at her, grabbed his head in frustration and paced around the room. It would have felt better than this...overwhelming sense of shame. This feeling that he was disappointed in her, as well as himself.
But the way he stood there, gazing down at her with that sullen look in his eyes, it hurt to lie to him. Even though she'd done it before...now it just stung her inside. Why?
"I - I didn't want you to be involved!" This wasn't a lie. "By staying with me...I'll only..I'll only be a burden. I'll only hurt you!"
"I wanted to be here. I didn't have to. But I'm here. And I will stay here until you get better. Don't you think that it hurts me to see that you're putting yourself through this?"
Damn it. Why was he so damn persistent?
"Why?" she asked in defeat, a hint of sadness creeping into her own voice. Why me?
Putting myself through ... hurting myself...
"I told you I would always see you for who you are. I always have. That is the girl that - You are the girl that - I want to be with."
Do you really...mean that?
The words were on the tip of her tongue, but they slowly cascaded towards the back of her throat. She simply stared up at him with what she was sure was a strange expression on her face.
Was he...waiting for her to say something?
The silence had begun to grow awkward when sharp pains in her lower stomach became more pronounced.
"Is it hurting again?" he asked worriedly, all previous conversation swept aside. She leaned back on her pillows, nodding.
At that point the doctor and Karin entered into the room again, the latter immediately rushing over to the side of the bed and the former pillaging through a cart of various bottles.
"Sango, is it starting to hurt again?" The doctor spoke as if she was a small child. She nodded again.
"Swallow these for me, can you do that?" he said, holding out a glass of water and a small disposable container with four small variously sized capsules sitting at the bottom.
Without a word, she popped the medication in her mouth and downed half the glass, holding her stomach.
"Alright dear," he continued to speak in his adult-to-child voice, "I'm going to explain to you why your stomach hurts, and hopefully you can explain how it got that way."
"What happened here is called third degree abdominal muscle strain. Third degree is the most serious. The tissues in your stomach are ruptured, and torn, causing internal bleeding. The bumps, discoloration, and raised skin you feel, is an accompanying hernia and bruising."
Sango's gaze dropped to her stomach, hidden beneath the hospital gown and a thick wad of bandages. Basically, it sounded as though she was dying from the inside out.
"While those are your main injuries, and our focus, you also suffered a mild concussion and various bruising, such as on your left shoulder. There is a sprain on your right ankle that is healing awkwardly," he rattled off, tapping the clipboard with his pen.
Now she began to feel a tad uneasy, which was an understatement.
"And I suspect, that you sustained these injuries at an earlier date than the abdominal strain," he concluded, now letting the clipboard rest against the side of the bed. "But you didn't seek medical help."
Glancing towards Karin, his sagging face took on a serious countenance. "It has been brought to my attention that these injuries were the result of some sort of physical, violent encounter. Now, if this is true, there will be mandatory police involvement. Do you understand?"
Sango repeated the robotic action of nodding her head.
"Lastly, for your injuries to properly heal, surgery is required."
"Surgery?" Sango squeaked.
"The internal bleeding must be stopped, and the tissues quickly repaired. Without it, you risk blood clotting and going into shock."
"But it depends on... How much... How much will it cost?"
"San! Don't worry about that, we'll find a way," Karin interrupted. "Don't even question it!"
"I discussed it the matter with your social care worker. But even though you are of adult age, I advise that you make a wise decision."
He gave her a meaningful look from behind his spectacles and walked out of the door. As it clicked back into the frame Sango took a deep breath.
"Don't even think about refusing San."
"I wasn't going to say that," Sango lied in reply. "I just wanted to thank you for coming down for me," she said with a forced smile.
"You know I do it all for you. But Sango, tell me exactly what happened? Do you think you can identify the people?"
Damn. She wasn't looking at him, but she could tell he was doing the staring thing again.
"I...I don't remember much. I had a concussion. When I woke up, Houshi-san had come over and then I ended up here," she explained awkwardly.
For a split second Karin raised her eyebrows, but then they quickly settled back down as she busied herself fussing over Sango again.
"Well, I didn't count on you staying this long. Would you like me to swing by your apartment and grab some pyjamas for you?"
"No," Sango said quickly. "It's a horrible mess. I was stumbling around."
"I'll go," Miroku volunteered.
"No," Sango repeated, a little louder than before. "It's okay...I'm fine like this. You can - you should - be getting home around now anyway." She gestured towards the window. "It's already getting dark outside."
"No," he mimicked her earlier response. "I'm staying tonight." His voice was firm.
"But -"
"Tomorrow's only Sunday. It's fine."
Karin's attention flicked to him for a second. "If you want I could bring you by your house if you need anything."
"I think I'll stick it out for tonight, but thanks."
She relaxed her shoulders. "That's great! I was worried about having to leave to get to the office about a few things... A few parents have come to me about adopting. It's really great. I wouldn't have...But if you'll be here... I'm sure it'll be alright if I leave for a few hours."
Sango looked from one to the other. She trusted him already. And he was a guy! Not to mention she was a little protective of Sango. Apparently she could see something in him, and so she watched helplessly as she waved quickly and ducked out the door.
She glanced toward the beside table where a covered styrofoam cup stood. "Water?"
"Yeah."
He stood up to draw the curtains over the window.
"Can I have a sip?"
"Sure."
Raising the rim of the cup to her lips, she watched him out of the corner of her eye as she nimbly split a capsule of her medication into the liquid, swirling the water around as to quicken the dissolving of the powder. She pressed the plastic cap back onto the top.
Putting the cup back on the table with a guilty slump of her shoulders, Miroku plopped back down in his armchair once again. "How are you?"
She mulled over her thoughts. "I'm getting a bit drowsy...To tell you the truth."
Yawning, she turned over on her side slightly. "You don't have to stay all night."
"You're not convincing me otherwise Sango. I can be stubborn if I want," he replied bluntly.
She tightened her lips. "Did you...tell Kagome-chan?" she asked in a soft tone.
"No. Not yet."
"Why?" she said in slight surprise.
"I was more worried about you."
"That's not all."
"I didn't think you'd feel up to it. And honestly, I want you to be able to tell her when you're ready."
She was taken aback, blinking a few times. Sleepily, she smiled at him. "Thank you."
It's a fine white line I'm stumbling across.
Her eyelids fluttered shut as she felt the blankets being pulled over her shoulders. Barely opening her right eye, she watched guiltily as he downed the water in the cup, immersed in his own thoughts.
I'm sorry I have to do this.
--
Fusillade: Lie - September 8th 2004
And three months later! There's been a lot of ups and downs with writing this. Number one, it was my very first story (which is noticeable) and two, certain...plot issues and deviations. I even lost all will to write it one day because I was accused of copying the ideas of another story. Anyone who knows me will say I am extremely sensitive, so I was kind of hurt that people could say that about me. With some "encouragement," I did a total tear-down and re-evaluation of my outline...Hopefully you can look past all the setbacks and I hope I will be enthusiastic to wrap this up once again.
Wow, I'd like to give a huge hug and thank you to all these wonderful people:
Katrina5, firebird5, Lavender Valentine, IceSugarHigh, Karen10, Demon Exterminator Barbie, Blade of Fire, update now, sakura-chan, Kitty Pryde2, pNay iN a b0x, kitana-nata, vilja, Aamalie, SangoLancer200, duck-monkey, animatedtears, suicidalslayer, Kalypso Ki, Turtlehat, animefreak808, chocolatechipp, Deaths Fallen Angel and readingfreak742
Nothing is encouraging as a bunch of people well....encouraging you! And well...I just appreciate every word that comes out of your....keyboards.
