Disclaimer: you know the whole song and dance already, I hope. I'm not delusional so: Digimon does not, in any way, belong to me.
I knew I was scaring people. I knew that I must've looked like a mess. I knew that I was being rude and brash. But I didn't care. My mother and my baby sister were lying somewhere, fighting for their lives. They had to pull through. They had to. I sank down into an overstuffed couch and curled into a little ball, pulling my knees to my chest and tucking my head in them. I felt someone sit down next to me. I knew it was Yama. He didn't touch me, didn't say anything, and just let me be. I was grateful for that. I needed to be alone with my thoughts.
"Taichi Yagami?" A male voice called. My head jerked up. It was a man wearing hospital scrubs, thin rubber gloves and white tennis shoes. He approached me tentatively. "Taichi? I heard that you'd arrived and I just wanted to let you know that we are doing everything in our power to make sure that your mother and Kari make it." He spun around on his heel and jogged off. I stared at his retreating figure. He had better. They had better not mess this up. That was my family in there.
After five hours of waiting, five hours of straining towards the doors to see if a surgeon would walk through them with news of my family, after five hours of torture my eyes were itching and bloodshot.
"Tai, sweetie?" Soft hands touched my arm. "Tai, it's 1 in the morning. You should get some sleep." The hands moved along my back, wrapping around me, pulling me closer. "Sleep. You'll make yourself sick." I sank against the warm body next to me, my eyes still on the door. "Come on, Tai. Please. Sleep." They rubbed my back and I could hear him humming softly, a lullaby, like I was a stubborn child but I appreciated the effort. I closed my tired eyes and tried. I really tried to sleep but my brain kept running towards the day that I'd first met Kari. I had been so scared; my little brain just could not comprehend why my mother was in so much pain. She had been reading to me when all of a sudden, she gave a little gasp, dropped the book, and curled into a tight ball, moaning. I screamed, thinking that she was going to die and my aunt had come running. Mom was taken to the hospital, the very hospital in fact where I was, and we were separated. My aunt tried to explain it to me as best as she could but I was hysterical. Finally, a man had approached her and whispered something in her ear. A wide smile spread on her face and she leaned in to me.
Flashback
"Mommy?" I was led, wide-eyed, into a room. My mother was sitting on a bed wearing a hospital gown. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail and loose hairs stuck to her sweaty face. She was leaning against the headboard, pillows supporting her back and in her arms lay a little bundle of blankets. I walked toward her. She looked up, a joyful smile brightening up her already pretty face.
"Hey baby," she said softly. I climbed up into the bed despite protestations of the doctors. "You have a new baby sister. Look." She showed the bundle to me and I could see a little face. Her eyes were closed and she was making little murmurs in her sleep.
"Oohh." I breathed and reached toward her. I wanted to touch her pudgy little face.
"Now, Tai, honey, you have to be gentle." My mother's voice got anxious suddenly but I knew what I was doing. My hand stroked the soft cheek of this new little person and I fell in love.
"Hi. My name's Tai." I whispered and kissed her on the forehead. "I'm your big brother and I promise I'll take care of you forever and ever and ever." My mother's smile and her face, tired but happy nonetheless beamed at me. I beamed right back and she wrapped her arm around me. I placed a gentle hand on the warm, moving baby and I knew the happiness I felt at that moment couldn't be matched.
End Flashback.
"Yama, I need them. They have to be okay. They have to be alright." I could hardly speak. It was too hard to envision life without my mother, without my sister. I had promised to take care of her. Sure we fought quite often but underneath the bickering, we had formed a special bond that ran deeper than just being family. Kari was my friend and although I did take her for granted sometimes, calling her an annoying little brat, I still loved her. She knew that. Mom was always so proud that we could talk to each other like civilized human beings, despite our age differences. She always told us she was glad she didn't always have to play referee for us, that we could solve our problems with each other by ourselves. I couldn't live without that, the mundane, day-to-day things that we did, seeing my mom smile however wearily at us when she came home, fighting over the remote. It was too hard to think about so I stopped.
"I know. I know." He tightened his grip on me and resumed his rubbing. "I know. I hope they're okay. Someone should be along to let us know, any minute now." I lay my head in his lap, curled in the fetal position, but never lost sight of the doors. He threw his jacket over me and together, we kept up our vigil. Takeru had fallen asleep long ago. Stretched across a couch by himself, his head rested against the arm and he'd wrapped himself in his jacket.
Just then, the man who'd come to see us five and a half hours ago burst through the doors. I jerked up and grabbed Yama's hand in mine. He squeezed it reassuringly. He glanced around the room and spotting us, walked over.
"Mr. Yagami, I'm happy to say that your sister is stable. She is being moved into a residential room at this very moment and should be awake by tomorrow evening." He paused there and I leaned in, waiting to hear about my mother.
"My mother. How is my mother doing?" I pressed when he didn't say anything. A sorrowful look crossed his face and he dropped his eyes, focusing his gaze on my chin instead. He fidgeted with his hands and then took a deep breath.
"However, we did all we could for your mother but she was beyond our help. I'm sorry but your mother is dead." My heart dropped into my stomach. I felt like a thousand knives were piercing it. "I'm sorry." He said sounding sincerely sympathetic. "You may see your sister now, if you would like. She's in room B234, on the third floor and to your left. I am truly sorry about your mother." He walked away, the tap tap squeak of his sneakers echoing through my stunned brain.
I was too shocked to make a sound; my throat had stopped working. The woman who had brought me into this world, the woman who had worked so hard to keep a roof over my head, clothes on my back, and food on the table was dead. My mother wad dead. She was gone. She couldn't be gone. She couldn't. I NEEDED her. I needed my mommy. She was always supposed to be there, always supposed to soothe away the pain, or hold me when I had a nightmare.
"Tai?" I turned to Yama. He was watching me with mournful eyes that betrayed his pain. A tiny pang went through my heart and a small, unaffected part of my mind told me once again how lucky I was to have him with me, have him love me.
He opened his arms and a wail, a loud, piercing wail, tore from the pit of my stomach and I stumbled into them and held him. I cried out my need for my mother, cried out my sorrow that she was gone, screamed revenge on the bastard who'd done this to her, to me, to Kari. I sobbed as the full weight of what had happened fell on me. Howled in grief as the realization hit me: mom was dead. I was beyond caring that I was eighteen and bawling like a five-year old. I didn't care that I was sniveling all over Yama's shirt. He held me, one hand on my back, the other on my head, pressing my face into his chest as he rocked me. I clutched the fabric of his shirt, overstretching it but he didn't care. He only held me tighter as I searched for comfort in the warmth his arms presented to me.
"I'm so sorry, Tai. I'm so sorry." He kissed the top of my head. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I wish I could've done something." I barely heard him but his words brought comfort to me. Then a drop of liquid fell on my face and I looked up. He was crying too. The thought that he was sharing in my pain only caused me to cry harder. But as he held me, rocked me, cried with me, our tears mingling together, I could feel him, bit by bit, taking my grief upon his shoulders, helping me bear the burden I thought I would crumble under.
"Come on. I have to see Kari." I pushed away from him but he held tight. I had stayed in the same position for five and a half hours and I was stumbling around like a drunken man. Not to mention I had no idea where I was going and I had only vague thoughts as to what I was actually doing.
"Here, I'll help you." He supported me when we started walking and I welcomed the help. He leaned down and whispered into Takeru's ear, "Hey, little bro. I'll be right back. Stay here, okay?" Takeru rolled in his sleep and mumbled something incomprehensible.
We entered the elevator and Yama pressed the third floor button. When the doors slid open he led me to room B234 and pushed open the door. Kari was lying on her back, hooked up to machines that monitored her breathing and heartbeats and did all sorts of other things. She was bandaged pretty heavily and her eyes were closed. She looked to be sleeping peacefully but she was too pale; her rosy cheeks the color of sour milk, the usual cheery expression that adorned her face had given way to a somber one. He dropped me gently into the chair next to her bed and took one for himself. He took my hand and I placed my other hand on top of hers.
"Kar? I'm not sure if you can hear me but I'm going to tell you anyways. Mom's- mom's dead. She died. I'm so sorry, Kar. I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything to help you or her. I love you. I know that I could never replace mom but I'll do my best to do what she did. I'll try hard. We'll be a family. Me, you, and Yama. A family. We'll be a family and Yama and I'll take care of you. We'll help you with your homework and make sure that you can buy the latest fashions but most importantly, we'll be there for you if you need us. We'll all be there for each other. I promise. I love you and Yama loves you and Mom loves you. She's still watching over us. I know she is. We love you, Kar. Get better soon. I'm sor-" My voice broke and I could say no more.
A/N: sniffles poor Tai. I feel horrible for him. Unfortunately, it had to be done… like when J.K. Rowling killed off Sirius. howls he was my favorite character and he died! SO UNFAIR! But seriously, she has her reasons, eh? Just like me... Ummm, next chapter SHOULD be up really, really soon barring complete and utter disaster which has a slim to none chance of happening since my life is so tragically uneventful.