Disclaimer: Ok, I just now realized I didn't have a disclaimer up on any of these chaps. Opps! Ok, well here's the disclaimer before people start suing me. (clears throat) I, Kitty, do not own any of the Ronin characters what so ever. They belong to Sunrise and their creators. I do, however, own the girls, the sons, Leinto, Tadin, Sirous and any other unfamiliar character that ends up here. There, now no one sue me!
Chapter 5
Rowen's pager started beeping, so he took it off the clip on his pants to look at it. He frowned suddenly and got up from his seat on the couch. Kiylee, Kyle and Rona looked up at him; confused as to what had been on the pager.
"Hospital again, Dad?" Kyle asked from where he lounged on the couch.
"Yeah," Rowen replied while throwing his shoes on and grabbing his car keys from the hook by the door, "We have a comatose victim coming in."
Rona glanced up at her father from the books that surrounded her. She didn't know why, but for some reason she'd had a bad feeling ever since she had said good-bye to her cousin almost five hours ago and now that feeling had just took a dive for the worse. "Dad, can I come with you?" she asked him with great urgency.
"Huh," Rowen replied, taken back by her request, "Rona, why do you need to come?"
"Because," she said while searching for the right way to say it, "I just have this bad feeling and I need to."
"Rona-"
"Please, Dad?" Rona pleaded with him and got up from her spot by the pile of work she still had yet to do to walk over to him, "Please, Dad, I need to come along."
Rowen looked over to Kiylee now who shrugged in the same thought. "Just take her with you, Ro," she told her husband.
Rowen sighed but compiled to her request, "Ok, come on, Rona, but you have to stay out from under foot, wakatta?"
Rona nodded firmly in understanding and threw her shoes on as quickly as she could, "Hai," she replied and then followed him out the door.
-
While running into the hospital the last thing Rowen Hashiba had ever expected to see was his niece being wheeled into the hospital on a stretcher while nurses and emt's talked over her about what was wrong. Springing into action, Rowen ran over to the gurdy to start asking questions and then began to shout out orders that were immediately followed out by the nurses.
He took a pocket light from one of the nurses standing beside him and opened one of her eyes, shining the light in her eye to see if the pupil reacted. When there was no visible reaction, he knew that she was indeed comatose. Next, he looked her over to see if he could find any kind of trauma to the head that could have caused her current state. Not finding any, he frowned and then glanced her over again.
Rylea's skin had a pale complexion to it, oddly unusal for the girl whose skin was usally a dark tan color. Her pale complexion suggested that she was pallor, which also meant that she was suffering from anemia. Coming to the conclusion that she was indeed, anemic, Rowen shouted for them to put her on an oxygen mask and immediately begin a blood transfusion.
The nurses, following the orders given to them by the doctor, then turned from Rowen and began to wheel Rylea away to a room that had already been set up for her. Rowen watched them leave before then turning to the emt's that were still standing there.
"Anything you can tell me about her?" he asked them.
"Father said they weren't home when it happend. We tried to rouse her, but the girl was unresponsive for us. We figured, though, by her pallor complexion that she was suffering from anemia, but couldn't find any cuts on her to back that up," the emt standing to the right of Rowen spoke up as he adjusted the navy jacket with the patches on the front and upper arm showing which hospital he worked for.
The second man now spoke up, "You know just about as much as we do. The father and brother had no clue as to what had happened to her and we couldn't get her to wake up and tell us."
Rowen nodded his head to the men, "Arigatou."
Rona now came up behind him, her eyes wide with fear and she looked near to tears. "Was that... Was that..." she couldn't even finish her sentence.
Rowen took his daughter firmly by the shoulders, "Rona, I need you to do me a big favor and find your Uncle Ryo and Ryu if he's here with him. Can you do that, sweetie?" he asked her sternly, but yet as softly as he could without traumatizing her more.
Rona nodded weakly, forcing herself to tear her eyes away from the hallway they had taken her cousin down to walk in the opposite direction. Rowen looked after his daughter until she was halfway down the hall before he then turned and went in the direction the nurses had rolled Rylea.
Rona walked into the lobby of the hospital, her eyes already searching for the familiar faces of her uncle and cousin. She spotted her cousin leaning against the wall where her uncle sat in one of the chairs. His head was in his hands and his shoulders were slumped in a defeated, lost way. Rona walked over to them, every step to her seemed to be slowed and weighed down. Somehow the distance between them and her seemed to be getting longer instead of shorter like it should have been. It was almost as if she were in some nightmare where no matter how much you tried to get to your destination, you never could.
Ryu noticed her walking towards them and straightened, uncrossing his legs from in front of him in the process. "Rona?" he said, making Ryo's head come up from his hands.
Suddenly the distance didn't seem so long anymore to her; now Rona was right in front of them. Rona caught a glimpse of the expression on her uncle's face and her heart sunk; he looked so lost and confused. "I ah... I saw ah..." she stuttered out while hot tears came to her eyes again. This time she couldn't blink them back though, instead they came tumbling down her cheeks. "I saw Lea," she choked out before her throat tightened on her and she couldn't bring herself to say anything else.
Ryo gently pulled his niece into his lap, trying to comfort the upset girl while she cried into his chest. Ryu looked down at his cousin and felt bad for her remembering when he had been in her very same situation at one point in time. Haunting memories of a night he had tried so hard to forget came crashing back to him as Ryu stood in that waiting room. His own crying voice echoed in his ears now, drowning out the sounds of the hospital and other worried families sitting around them. Ryu squeezed his eyes shut now in hopes of somehow freeing himself from the torment he was enduring. The stale, almost heavy air in the waiting room seemed to bear down on him, sealing him in his nightmare.
Rona continued to cry though as her Uncle Ryo tried to console her and try to keep himself from breaking down into tears. He'd been battling both physically and mentally to keep his tears and own horrible memories at bay, not wanting to break down or give in to them. Finally, he looked up at Ryu with a somber face to say, "Call your aunt Kiylee and have her come down here. I might need her."
Being given an exit out of the mental anguish he was being put through, Ryu nodded solemnly to his father and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder before then escaping to make the phone call to his aunt. Ryo watched him walk off before looking down at Rona who had reduced her crying to sniffling now. He smiled lightly and looked off in no general direction to keep his mind busy.
"Uncle Ryo?" he heard Rona say quietly.
"Hm?" was his mumbled reply as he looked back down at his niece who was still hugging him tightly.
"Lea's going to be ok ... Right?"
Ryo didn't reply right away; he simply continued to soothingly rub Rona's back while unconsciously thinking about how he'd do the same thing to Rylea at times when she was down. Closing his eyes against the thoughts he knew were just going to bring him down more, he took in a deep relaxing breath and gave the girl the most reassuring smile he could conjure up. "Yeah," he replied finally, "Yes, Rona she's going to be just fine." I hope anyway. The thought hit him before he knew it had.
Rona sat up then, rubbing the remainder of her tears away and Ryo found himself yet again thinking about Rylea doing the same. He now tried to shut his wondering mind down and become numb to everything like he had that fatal night as Rona looked over at his shirt and smiled softly.
"Sorry, Uncle Ryo, I got your shirt wet," she said sheepishly to him, almost in a way of trying to cheer her own self up.
Ryo glanced down at his shirt and smiled, "Don't worry about it, Rons. It's just a shirt, I'm not really worried about it," he replied to her and then added with concern, "You sure you're ok though, sweetie?"
Rona nodded and took a deep relaxing breath in and let it out, "Yeah, it just upset me to see her like that, ya know?" she responded.
Ryo nodded his head absently in acknowledgement to her. "Hai, I know what you mean," he replied simply to her.
Rona got up from his lap and looked back down the hall she'd come from while chewing on her bottom lip. Just sitting there not knowing what was going on with her cousin was eating her up and she decided she had to do something. "I'm going to see if I can find anything out on her, ok?" she told her uncle.
Ryo bobbed his head back and forth in response to her while running a hand through his wild black hair, "Alright."
Rona smiled at him before turning and walking back down the hallway. Coming to the end of it, she didn't see her Dad anywhere, but instead found the nurses station to her right. What the heck, Rona decided, walking over to see if she could get any information out of them. "Excuse me, I'm looking for some information on someone who was brought in here not long ago," she said politely to the lady behind the desk.
The lady put aside what she had been doing and smiled warmly at her, "Sure thing, hun. Who are you looking for?"
"Her name is Sanada Rylea. Sa-na-da Ra-i-le-a, she was brought in here about a half hour ago. Can you tell me her stats?" Rona asked her while leaning her arms against the counter to the desk. Nervously she thrummed her nails against the top of the counter and kept looking down the hall as if searching for her father.
The lady behind the desk flipped through a few clipboards before then turning to the computer that sat in front of her. She typed something in and than scanned over the contents that came up. "What was her last name again?" she asked Rona politely with a glance up in her direction.
"Sanada," Rona replied, "Sa-na-da Rylea."
The lady scanned through some more things before speaking to Rona again. "Ms. Sanada was comatose when they brought her in;unresponsve to light, sound and touch. Her pulse was weak and blood pressure low," she read off to her while not looking up from the computer screen. The lady frowned as she read more, "Her blood count was lower then it was supposed to be and a transfusion was started immediately. Suspected that she may be suffering from anemia.Currently Dr. Hashiba is with her."
"I know, that's my Dad," Rona replied and the lady behind the desk looked up at her, "Is there anything else you can tell me?"
The lady looked at the screen to do a double check and shook her head, "No, I'm sorry that's all we have on her so far."
Rona sighed and thanked the lady for her help before walking away. She found a chair and sat down in it putting her head in her hands and closed her eyes. How could all this have happened? Rylea was fine when Rona had last seen her and now she was in the hospital? Something just wasn't adding up or making sense to Rona at all. What could have happened to you, Lea? Please, please let her be ok. Just let her be ok. Rona jerked her head up from her thoughts when a gentle hand came down on her shoulder; startling her.
"Whoa, it's just me," Rowen said calmly. His eyes studied his daughters and he could tell she had been crying. Her eyes were still a little red from it and Rona's face looked tear-streaked. "You okay, sweetheart?"
Rona nodded and rubbed at her face, trying to rid herself of the headache that was starting. She looked up at her father with questioning eyes. "How's Lea?"
Rowen rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, "Where's Ryo?"
"In the lobby," Rona replied and pointed back down the hall.
Rowen stood from where he had been crouched in front of Rona and looked down the hall in the direction of the lobby. A slight frown was starting to crease his forehead as he stared down the hall as if he were remembering something he didn't want to. "Come on, I've got something I need to tell Ryo."
Rona stood to follow after her father as he started down the hall in the direction her uncle and cousin were. Coming into the lobby, they found Ryo still sitting in the same chair only now Ryu had come back to take the seat next to him. Rowen walked over to Ryo with Rona in tow and smiled as warmly as he could at the dark haired man. "Hey, how you holding up?" he asked him cheerfully.
Ryo glanced up at him and his face said everything, "Fine, I guess," he replied but didn't sound like someone who was fine, "How's Lea, Rowen?"
Rowen sighed and wracked a stressed hand through his electric blue hair, his actions only alarming Ryo more. "Ryo," he spoke to him quietly, "She's lucky to be alive."
Ryo let out the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding and said a silent 'thank you' to whatever Gods were watching over him.
"Any longer and I don't think we could have saved her," Rowen continued on, "She was comatose, meaning that she was unresponsive to anything we did to her, blood pressure was low and this puzzles me the most; her blood count levels were extremely low -meaning the red blood cell count in the blood was lower than what it should have been- which also told me that she was suffering from anemia, but she had no cuts on her anywhere."
Ryo blinked several times as all the information he had just been given set in and registered in his over loaded brain. "If she had no cuts," he started as he thought over what Rowen had said, "Then how was her blood count levels low?"
"You see, the thing with anemia is, there are two different ways for a person to have it. One, being with the loss of blood through cuts or internal due to trauma. Two, would be where it is caused by the rapid destruction of the red cells in the blood, thus also lowering the amount or quality of hemoglobin in the blood, leaving it abnormally low. This causes the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood to be reduced," he told Ryo who only looked back at him with a mystified expression asking if they were still speaking the same language.
"Um," Ryo drawled out. "Did you just answer my question about the blood loss without cuts?"
Rowen sighed, allowing himself a slight chuckle as he went on, "Hai, what I'm saying is that since she doesn't have any cuts on her, then she would have to have the number two thing said going on. Only thing is, the second one is by hereditary only."
A frown settled over his face now as he asked, "Ryo, do you know if Luna or yourself, may have some form of a hereditary disease such as Thalassaemia, Sickle cell disease, Hereditary spherocytosis, or Hereditary elliptocytosis?"
Confusion clearly slid over Ryo's face at the names that the blue-haired man listed off to him, "Ah, Rowen, I don't even know what any of those are, so no. As far as I know, I have none of those and I have no clue if Luna did."
"Well, I ordered electrophoress to be done. Basically it's just a blood test that specifically targets those that I just mentioned,"a frown now passed over Rowen's features as he continued on with, "There's one thing that bothers me, though."
"And what's that?" Ryo asked, already preparing himself to once again be lost in Rowen's intellectual doctor lingo.
Rowen now rubbed his chin in thought with a frown pinching at his forehead as he talked, "She was comatose when they brought her in, but that's not a symptom that is associated with anemia. Another thing is, I couldn't find any wounds or physical trauma to her head that may have caused that either."
"And so?"
"And so..." he said, now rubbing nervously at the back of his head, finding what he had to say next difficult. Rowen sighed and finally just said, "Without trauma to the head or something that I can visibly see, the only thing that I can think of that would cause her to become comatose would be a drug overdose."
Ryo's eyes immediately narrowed angrily at the man standing before him as he shifted his weight on his feet and stood up straighter. "Are you trying to say that my daughter is a druggie and that the reason why she's in a coma right now is because she had an overdose while I was gone, Rowen?" he tried to keep his voice calm and light, but anger seemed to penetrate his every word anyway.
"Ryo, you know that I wouldn't just accuse someone of something without good reason. I know it's hard for you to fathom, but I have no other thing to go on but this," Rowen defended himself. "Plus, it would also explain her sudden mood swings and strange behavior as of lately. I'm sorry, but I have reason to believe with what I have seen that she is indeed into drugs."
The anger that had once been on the dark haired man's face melted away and in its leave left a confused and guilty looking father. Ryo knew that Rowen just wouldn't accuse someone of something if he didn't whole heartedly believe that it was true. He just didn't understand how his daughter could be doing something like that. He had thought he'd brought her up with more morals than that.
"How could this have been going on, right under my nose, and I not know about it Rowen?" he now asked the man quietly.
"Hey," Rowen replied sympathetically and laid a hand on his shoulder. "It's not like this doesn't happen to hundreds of other families and they all ask the same question. If she is on drugs then we can help her, it's not like she's totally lost or anything."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," he said with a small glimmer of a smile on his face before looking up at Rowen and asking, "Can I see her now?"
Rowen smiled and gave him a firm nod, "Hai, but she won't be able to respond to you. She's still unconscious," he told him, "For right now I'm going to leave it at only you and Ryu can see her. I really don't want too many people in at once."
Ryo gave the blue-haired man a nod in understanding. "Ok, what room is she in?" he asked as he stood from his seat.
Rowen pointed back down the hall he had just come from. "Down that hallway, through the double doors and it's the third room on the left, number 213," he replied to Ryo who went in the direction he had said. When he was gone, Rowen turned back to Ryu with a raised eyebrow, "Aren't you going to go too?"
Ryu shook his head and sat back against his seat, "No, I think my Dad needs some alone time with her. I can see her later."
Rowen seemed to understand what Ryu was saying. Accepting his answer he turned to his daughter, who stood next to him. "Rona, call your mom and tell her to come and get you. I won't be able to take you home because I'll be working late here."
Rona nodded her head mutely as her father's answer. Rowen smiled and laid his hand on her shoulder in condolence. "You sure you're okay, angel?"
Rona nodded firmly and forced a strained smile, "Hai, yeah, I'm just tired."
Rowen smiled; he didn't believe her for a minute, but didn't push the issue. He knew she was worried and upset about her cousin. "She'll be ok, trust me," he said and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, then winked before walking off down the same hallway they'd come from to take care of a few things.
"You don't have to call your mom; I already did. She's on her way up here now," Ryu told her while stretching his arms and then placed them behind his head. Rona nodded solemnly and said nothing. Instead, she took up the seat her uncle had left and waited for her mom to show up.
-
Ryo walked down the hallway Rowen had directed him to, reading the signs next to the doors, looking for the one his daughter was occupying. Finding the room went relatively easy; he stopped outside the door to room 213 where he knew Rylea was. For some reason, though,walking through the doorway to her room was harder than he had first thought it would be. It seemed like an eternity, thatRyo just stood outside the room, staring at the door. Gaining his courage finally, he took a deep breath and stepped through the doorway, slowly entering into the small hospital room.
Almost immediately, Ryo's heart sunk and the courage he had felt only a minute ago melted away at the sight before him. Lying in the hospital bed was Rylea's seemingly lifeless form. Machines buzzed and beeped all around her and an IV that held a red liquid was in her right arm while a white, plastic band was around her left wrist. It was the sight that parents hope and wish to never have to see and yet here he was, living out his nightmare in full color and sound.
Ryo forced his legs to work again as he moved to sit next to her, grabbing the chair in the corner and scooting it closer to the bed. Rylea's face looked pale and pasty while her eyelids held a purplish tint to them. An oxygen hose was in her nose to help her breathe and her chest rose and fell slowly in response to it. He now gently took her left hand in his, almost afraid that if he held it too firmly it might break.Slowlyheread the white band around her wrist briefly that displayed her name, date of birth, and sex on it. Ryo smiled sadly and looked up at her, gently brushing some of her hair away from her face, almost in way of occupying himself from what was going around him.
Finding his voice he spoke to her, "Hey, Jouchan, it's me. Dad's here, baby, and I'm not going anywhere," Ryo got out before he felt the sting of hot tears well up in his eyes. He looked up at the ceiling to keep the tears from rolling down his face, grateful for gravity at that moment.
Ryo needed to be strong now, not only for himself but for his daughter as well and crying was not being strong. He took a deep breath and let it out shakily, getting control of himself again and looked back down at Rylea. Gently he started to stroke her hair once again as he talked to her. "Rowen said any longer and you wouldn't have made it," he said and once again felt his throat become tight. Ryo swallowed against it and continued in a strained voice, "I kept thinking about how you must have felt coming home and no one being there. How scared you must have been when you started to pass out and knowing that-"
Ryo's throat constricted and he could feel tears threatening to come again, but continued against them, "Knowing that I wasn't there to help you," he finished what he had started to say. "Lea, I'm so sorry. I almost lost you for the second time and it's all my fault," he whispered to her and laid his head next to hers. Silent tears that he had been holding back trickled down his face and softly hit her pillow. All ofthe fear, guilt, pain, and anxiety he had been holding inside just came out and there was no wayof stopping it.
A few minutes passed before Ryo could get control of himself and wipe away the rest of the tears on his face, trying his best to cheer up and put a smile on his face. Taking his daughter's hand again, he tenderly caressed it. "Lea, baby, I know you can hear me," he started quietly, "Whereever you are, I need you to come back to me. I need you to wake up, Jouchan."
With unshed tears still in his eyes, Ryo held his daughter's hand tightly and looked at her. "Please, Jouchan, wake up," he whispered to her, his voice breaking slightly. The only response he got was the sound of her heart monitor slowly beeping and the hum of the other machines as they worked and kept track of her vitals. Ryo sighed and rested his elbows on the bed, taking her hand in both of his own and held it against his forehead. Closing his eyes he prepared himself for one long night.
-
Rona sighed heavily as she closed the door to her room and leaned her back against it. It was late now and a school night for her on top of it. The night had been very hectic and chaotic for her and all she really wanted to do was fall into her bed and forget it had ever happened but Rona couldn't and she knew that. She felt too jumpy and all wound up to even think about sleep even though she needed it. Taking a deep breath, Rona pushed herself away from the door to her room and moved towards her closet tofind something for her to change into. Taking something loose and comfortable from the closet, Rona then climbed into her bed. She might not have been able to fall asleep yet with her mind reeling with questions and no answers, but she'd give it a try anyway. What am I going to tell the others tomorrow? How am I going to tell them that Lea's in the hospital? Her mind kept asking questions that she had no answers to.
Rona sighed and rolled over onto her back to stare up at the ceiling of her bedroom. I wonder what Dad's doing right now? He's probably working wit, Lea and making sure she's ok. I hope she is. No, she is ok because Dad is taking care of her and he said she was going to be ok. Let this rest for a while, Rona, and get some sleep, or you'll be a zombie tomorrow in class. She told herself. Now reassured, Rona rolled over to her side and closed her eyes, falling into a much needed sleep.
-
Ryu came in later that night to check on his father and to see his little sister. When Ryu walked into the room, he found his father holding his little sister's hand while staring off into space. Lightly tapping the door to gain his father's attention, Ryu then stepped into the room."Hey, how you doing?" he asked his father while walking over next to him and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.
Ryo shrugged lightly, "I don't know, Rye. I just don't know," he replied quietly to his son.
"Hey," Ryu said and squeezed Ryo's shoulder, "She's going to be just fine, Dad. You heard what Uncle Rowen said."
"Yeah, yeah, I heard him, Rye," he replied and sighed as he looked over at his daughter, "If only I'd been home, maybe then she wouldn't be lying here hooked up to machines."
"Dad," Ryu said, he was used to his father's self-blaming but it hurt to see him do it, "You don't know that."
"True, but, Rye," he started and glanced up at his son, "I wasn't there. Lea was alone and scared and I wasn't there for her."
Ryu smiled sympathetically at him; now he saw where this was going. "Dad, Lea isn't going to and doesn't hate you. You can't always be there when something bad happens to her. It's just not possible."
Ryo smiled softly at his son's words and looked back over at his daughter again. He knew his son was right and a part of him wanted to just think in that manner, but Ryo couldn't bring himself to; all he could do was keep thinking that this was all his fault somehow. Ryu patted his father's shoulder and turned to exit the room, "I'm going to go get something to eat. Want anything?" he asked him while walking to the door.
Ryo shook his head and his eyes never left his daughter, "No, I'm fine, thanks."
Ryu nodded in understanding and walked out of the door leaving his father alone once again with Rylea. Ryo sighed and went to holding her hand again while he stared at nothing in general. He was trying to find that happy place to crawl into, anything to help him escape this nightmare he was in. He was so wrapped up in finding that happy place that he didn't notice his daughter's eyes start to twitch and open.
Rylea slowly opened her eyes, having much difficulty since they felt heavier than normal. She groaned when the light overhead hurt her eyes, making her squeeze them back shut again. Her head hurt and she had no idea where she was. Rylea faintly remembered blacking out at home while searching for her father. The pain; how it had hurt. Everything swirling; getting weaker. Calling for her Dad and he never came. Where was she? What was this place? Where was her Dad?
"Dad?" Rylea heard herself barely whisper out hoarsely. She tried to open her eyes again, but could only get them to slightly open. Everything looked blurred and out of focus, but she could barely make out the outline of someone sitting next to her. "Daddy?" she tried again, this time a little louder.
Ryo snapped back to reality from his happy place when he thought he'd heard someone say his name, but who could it have been? He looked over at Rylea and felt his heart leap to his throat. Was she awake?
Rylea groaned and moved her head, trying to get her eyes to open all the way. She squinted against the light and forced her eyes to stay open, "Otousan?"
Ryo felt an invisible weight that had been on his shoulders lift. Suddenly everything looked brighter and he had a better out look on the situation now. "Lea?" he said when he had found his voice again.
"Dad?" she said again, now fully awake and looking around at her surroundings, "Where am I? Where were you? I called and called for you, but you never came."
Ryo's heart constricted at how helpless and desperate her voice sounded. Where had he been that he couldn't have been there for her? "You're in the hospital, Jouchan," he answered her questions, purposely skipping over her other question.
"Why am I..." Rylea started while trying to sit up, but ended up having to lay back against her pillows again, "Here."
"Take it easy," Ryo told her and helped his daughter lay back against the pillows, "Do you remember anything that happened, Lea?"
Rylea was quiet for a moment; she was searching her mind for the answer to his question. "I remember coming home, feeling weak and almost fainting in front of the door. I called for you, but you never came, so I decided to try and make it to the front room and then..." she trailed off in thought, "I woke up here."
Ryo felt the sting of tears coming to his eyes again, but this time he didn't know if they were tears of joy or guilt. Gently, he took her face in his hands and looked directly into his daughter's eyes. "Lea, baby, I am so sorry that I wasn't there. I should've been and I wasn't. I'm sorry, Jouchan," he apologized to her.
Rylea tried to smile at her father, but sleep was starting to tug at her again, calling her back into its grasp. "It's ok, Dad, I don't blame you for anything," she replied, but her words were now starting to fade off in that sleepy slur.
Terror seized Ryo now as the memory of Luna doing the same thing came back to him. He didn't want her to go back to sleep; he was afraid she wouldn't wake back up again. "Lea, don't go back to sleep, baby," he said to her sternly, but Rylea wasn't listening to him anymore.
"Hey, I'm ba-" Ryu started as he came back into the room, munching on a bag of chips and stopped when he looked over the scene.
Ryo turned to him and shouted for him to get Rowen.
Ryu nodded and dashed out of the room in search of his Uncle.
Ryo glanced back to his daughter who was now drifting in and out of consciousness. He shook her gently to try and get her to stay awake. "Rylea, sweetie, stay awake. Stay with me, Jouchan, just stay awake," he kept saying to her, doing whatever he could to keep her awake.
Rowen came into the room and took action as soon as he was standing over her. He took a pocket light from his coat pocket and shined it in her eyes. Rylea in turn groaned and shut them tightly against the light. Rowen smiled and sighed, "Lea, how are you feeling?" he asked her.
Rylea squinted her eyes open at the person standing over her. She recognized the voice of the person as her Uncle Rowen. "My head hurts and I'm tired," she replied to him, "Can I please go back to sleep now?"
Rowen gave her a nod with a grin, "Hai, you can go back to sleep now," he said to her before checking over her vitals and stats. Ryo just watched him mutely from his seat next to the bed. When Rowen was done, he turned to Ryo and motioned for him to follow him out into the hall.
Ryo took one last glance at his daughter who was now sleeping peacefully again before following after his brother-in-law out into the hall. "How is she?" he asked him when they were outside of her room.
Rowen smiled at him; he couldn't help it, Ryo looked terrible. His eyes looked tired and he had dark circles starting to form under them; this whole thing was starting to take its toll on him and Rowen could see it. "Ryo she's fine. Her blood levels are back up to where they should be; she's responding well and her vitals are great."
Ryo sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "In other words that would mean?"
"It means you can take her home in the morning if she doesn't take a turn for the worst between now and then," he replied, placing a concerned hand on Ryo's shoulder. "Go home and get some sleep. It's two in the morning Ryo; not much is going to change and she's going to be out for a while by the looks of it."
Ryo shook his dark head stubbornly. "No, I can't leave her, Rowen," he stated bluntly to him and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Rowen nodded and said nothing else about it. Ryo's mind was made up and he really couldn't blame him. If it was his daughter, he'd want to stay in the room too and nothing or anyone could get him to leave. "Well, I've got to go send this sample of her blood off to the lab," he told him, patting Ryo's shoulder before he walked off down the hall.
Ryo looked down the hallway after Rowen and smiled when he saw his son walking up the hallway towards him, still munching on a bag of chips. Ryo cracked his neck, rolling his shoulders to try and loosen them.
Ryu walked up to him casually, like nothing was going on and smiled. His brown eyes twinkled as if he were secretly laughing at him about something.
Ryo studied him, suddenly wondering what he was smiling about. "Something you find amusing about all this?" he asked him with a sense of annoyance.
Ryu shrugged, smiling brightly while he shoveled chips into his mouth. "Oh nothing," he replied casually, "Except there's this really kawaii girl down in the cafeteria. You might want to check her out, Dad."
Ryo couldn't help but let a small smile spread across his face. His sister is in the hospital, but, instead of being worried about her, he's out checking out the girls in the cafeteria. He thought with mirth. Where did I go wrong with him? Ryo chuckled and slapped his son on the back, "Ah, you're a piece of work, Rye. How proud you make me at times," he told him while grinning brightly.
"I'm serious!" Ryu retorted, now grinning as well. "Go check her out, Dad. Maybe you'll get lucky," he nudged Ryo with his elbow and then laughed at the slanted eyebrow he got from his father.
Ryo laughed lightly and wrapped his arm around Ryu's shoulders, "Oh how you make me laugh son."
"Hey now," Ryu replied crossly, "I'm just trying to get you hooked up. Dad, you're a bachelor and have been for almost ten years now. Its time you get out and start dating."
"Oh?" Ryo retorted, raising one dark eyebrow humorously at his son. "And since when did you become the expert on dating?"
"Its a common known fact, Dad," he replied and then smiled coyly at him, "Don't tell me you haven't seen the way some of these women have been checking you out."
"Sorry, I've been a little busy," Ryo said as he peeked in on Rylea smiling when he saw her sleeping soundly still.
"Well, maybe you should start paying attention," Ryu retorted to his father, "Plus, I think, Lea should have some kind of a motherly figure in her life, if youcatch my drift."
Ryo chuckled at him. Here it was a little after two in the morning and his son wanted to go into the aspects of his love life, "Rye, keep an eye on your sister for me. I think I'm going to go get something to drink."
Ryu smiled and shook his brown-haired head at his father. "Sure thing, Otousan, whatever you say," he replied and strode into the room where his sister was sleeping.
Ryo chuckled briefly and rolled his blue eyes to the sky, silently asking the Gods why they had cursed him before walking down the hallway in search of a vending machine.
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A/N: Ok, against the wishes of two certain people who reviewed this story I am continuing it for all of you out there who DO like this story. I would also like to say that I understand not all of you are going to like this and if you don't, keep it to your self. Also I guess some people don't understand or comprehend the fact that this is MY series and I can take out whatever character I choose and replace them with whoever I want. I'm not following the exact guidelines of the RW series here I'm making and shaping it the way I want to. If you don't like it, too bad for you. Now I've said all I need to say and I thank everyone who has sent a good review in. It means a lot to me and don't think that it goes unnoticed because it doesn't. Harry, Firestorm, Rogue, BlackBull289, Jallana and Sifirela and anyone else I forgot to mention, thank you very much.