A/N: Man I was so psyched when I read your reviews; I started to freak out myself! I was like, "Oh my god, will she be all right?!" Then I realized you know... I was the author, lol. And that I knew the entire plot line, and I knew how it would all end so I felt a bit like an idiot lol.
Lil-saturn-goddess- I hurried to get this out, thanks for the compliment.
Redrose Moon- don't die on me! Sorry to keep you waiting!
Yipster54- I know, as soon as everything starts getting good, WHOOSH, fall right back down all those steps lol. You'll get your answer in this chapter, I felt bad for showing him how I did earlier seeing as how I'd only read about him once.
Clarence Hikari- Glad I'm keeping you hooked, and I thought it was time too, this is supposed to be a bit on the romantic side so he should get his butt in gear!
SPECIAL THANKS: To my four reviewers who keep reviewing, otherwise I'd have none! You guys rule!
"Hope is a leap of faith when you just can't make it, but still believe in it enough to take it." –The great, the best, Shinigami!
Hiwatari was frustrated beyond belief, his memory of the whole night was hazy, it had been so long...
And with that file gone, he'd have no hope of solving it without Aeris's help.
Which was why he was on her doorstep at 12 o'clock at night.
He frowned; he'd been banging on the door for ten minutes. She couldn't be asleep yet could she?
Hesitantly he reached for the doorknob and blinked in surprise when he found it unlocked. (Damn, that girl really needs to learn to lock her door, anyone can just walk right in!)
Quietly he entered, taking off his shoes before shouting her name. He walked down the dark hallway and paled as he saw her dead still form on the carpet.
He rushed to her side, rolling her onto her back and felt for her wrist to check her pulse.
It was slow, too slow.
"Aeris, Aeris, can you hear me?"
She gave no sign that she heard him so he dialed 911 on his phone as he felt her pulse slow even more.
"She won't make it..."
The three males sat in a tense silence in the emergency room's waiting room. They'd been waiting for over an hour while the doctors tried to pump Aeris's stomach.
Finally a man came out of the emergency room with a clipboard. "Jin?"
Jin leapt to his feet. "Kale, how is she?"
"Must be made of the same stuff you are, friend. She's alive. Weak, but alive." Kale pushed his glasses further up his nose before Jin pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.
"What happened to her?" Hiwatari demanded.
"She was poisoned. With exactly what, we don't know."
Satoshi glared at him. "How the hell do you not know?"
Kale paled, "It dissolved in her blood stream, it's untraceable."
Jin cursed. "So how do we know if there will be any aftereffects?"
Kale looked like he was going to flee the room once he spoke. "You don't."
"That's not good enough." Satoshi snapped. "I thought you people were doctors not morons."
Jin put a restraining hand on Satoshi's shoulder. "Ease up," He eyed his friend, "Besides, all doctors are morons. He's no doctor, he's a nurse. They get low pay."
Satoshi shrugged off Jin's hand. "Let me see her."
Kale held up his hands in surrender. "Jeez, you ever heard of asking, 'stead of demanding?"
Satoshi glared at him.
"Room 208, and your welcome." Kale shouted after Satoshi's retreating figure. "What is up with kids these days?"
For a hospital room, the lights were strangely dim and there was only one bed, one chair. Which was probably an indication about the food. (Good god, I smuggle in food when I have to go)
Aeris lay in the bed with the sheets pulled up to her waist, her head on a large pillow. Her hair was loose and pulled to one side. All kinds of tubes were hooked to her arms and she was very pale.
Satoshi walked slowly to her side and took one of right hand into his own. "Aeris?"
"Satoshi? What happened to me?" She whispered.
"How are you feeling?" He gently squeezed her hand and she sighed and looked away.
"Satoshi, what happened? The last thing I remember were roses." She lifted her other hand and gently touched her head.
"You were poisoned." He said heavily and her body jerked. "Calm down, relax, you'll pull the tubes out!"
She rested against the pillows again stiffly. "Poisoned? How?"
"We don't know." Satoshi didn't want to say the truth; that they knew damn near nothing. "How do you feel?"
Her hand tightened on his. "Like I was poisoned."
He smirked.
"When can I leave?" She asked quietly.
"I don't know, what's wrong?"
"Have you had the food?"
"SHE'S WHAT?" Riku yelled, grabbing Takeshi by the shirt collar. "What do you mean?"
"I mean just what I said! She's in the hospital, somebody tried to do her in!" Takeshi shouted back, struggling out of her grasp, "Why do you people always have to be hostile towards the media?!"
Masahiro glared at him, "It's more like shooting the messenger."
Daisuke ran a hand through his hair, "Is she okay?"
"I don't know, that's all the information I could get, besides the fact that Satoshi himself nearly lost it on a male nurse." Takeshi said quickly, "I'm as clueless as the rest of you,"
"I'm going to see her," Riku announced loudly.
"No dice, security is tight, Satoshi's got guards outside her door and in, besides himself. The president couldn't get in." Takeshi argued.
"I'm her best friend, the president doesn't have anything on me!"
"Dammit!" The man slammed his fist on his desk. "How can she still be alive? That was enough poison to do in Rambo!"
The boy across from him shifted in his seat. "I don't know, all I saw her take was a sip, maybe that's all she drank."
"I knew we should have put it in a cookie," The man grumbled.
"We can't try again either, Satoshi isn't letting anyone near her, we'd never get close enough."
"But we'll be able to accomplish the other goal, so it has not been a total loss. We'll figure out another way to get her."
Satoshi poured himself another cup of coffee.
"How many cups do you have to drink before you start to twitch like that?" Riku asked walking towards him.
"Twenty eight, did you feed Chuu?" He sipped it and felt it burn his throat.
"I took her home, poor thing is miserable, she misses Aeris."
Satoshi did not look his best. His shirt was rumpled and half tucked in. His slacks had coffee stains on them and his hair looked like he'd turned on the blow dryer to max and stood about an inch from it.
"Have you gotten any sleep?" She asked kindly.
"I passed out twice," He swallowed more coffee.
"So with lack of sleep, you get more sarcastic, good to know."
He gave her a dirty look.
"Look, Satoshi, you need to go to sleep before you go nuts on another nurse." Aeris said slowly.
"No. Besides he had it coming."
"Let someone else take over, I'll take over." She pleaded.
"No,"
"Then I'll tell Aeris your going on no sleep." Aeris said smugly, watching as his eyes widened, "And let her deal with you."
"You'll upset her," He tried to reason with her but she simply hurried into the hospital room leaving him with his coffee.
"Dammit."
"Hiwatari, any news yet?" Jin plopped down in the chair in Hiwatari's office.
"Nothing, those roses you mentioned, no traces of poison at all. We're back at square one." He admitted grudgingly.
"God,"
"You're taking it better than my son at least." Hiwatari grumbled, all this crap was going to give him ulcers. He took a bite out of a piece of chocolate.
"Yeah, I heard he's taking all his frustration out on the male nurses." Jin said.
"Satoshi, go home, you're a wreck." Aeris ordered from the bed while he paced in front of it.
"And leave you here? I don't think so." He sat down heavily in the chair and took her hand in his own.
"Satoshi, you'll collapse." She said gently.
He sighed and got up. "I'll ask for a cot, and sleep here, happy?"
"As long as you sleep."
She didn't want to say her thoughts aloud, that she didn't want him to leave, that she felt safer when he was near.
Aeris watched as he talked to a guard and motioned for him to hurry before sitting back down next to her and taking her hand in his own.
He'd done that ever since she'd awoken, and every time she had to work to stop the blushes.
"Chuu is being taken care of, Riku is stuffing her with food." He said breaking her from her thoughts.
Aeris smiled, "Good,"
The cot was brought in and Satoshi set is as close to Aeris's bed as it could go before climbing on and lying on his side.
"Go to sleep," She said watching as his eyes stayed open.
"I don't like the idea of going to sleep and leaving you unguarded."
Aeris rolled her eyes, "And those men at the doors and in the halls, what are they, spectators?"
He grumbled before eyeing her strangely. "What?"
He smirked as he reached out and pulled her by the waist up against him and held her there. "Now I can sleep knowing that you're safe."
Aeris face flamed as she felt him press his face against her neck and tighten his grip around her before pulling a blanket over them.
"Sleep." He whispered into her ear sending shivers down her spine. She relaxed and closed her eyes, feeling more at peace than she'd ever been.
Hiwatari and Jin marched down the hospital floors. Jin wanted to see Aeris and Hiwatari was looking for his son, and the best bet as to where he was was with Aeris.
Quietly they entered and almost had heart attacks.
Lying on two beds that were pushed together were Satoshi and Aeris. Satoshi had his arms around her waist holding her close with her head resting on his chest. Both looked utterly happy.
"Wha-what!" Jin sputtered while Hiwatari's lips twitched trying to hide his amusement.
"You'll wake them up."
Jin glared at him, "Get your son's hands off of my niece."
"I don't think your niece would have that kind of smile on her face if he let go." Hiwatari rarely got to one up the man and seeing him so on edge made him almost feel giddy.
"Commissioner, sir? We've got a theory about Ms. Shimensoka poisoning." A young police officer stuck his head in the room, "Would you like to hear it?"
Jin and Hiwatari left the room and joined the young man outside. "Well, what is it?" Hiwatari demanded.
The officer looked like he couldn't believe he was the one doing this. "We asked some of the doctors here and they said the poison was most likely put in a drink. And well... we interviewed some kids who'd been with Ms. Shimensoka before she fell unconscious and they said she did indeed drink something."
Jin frowned, "Your saying someone poisoned her at the school dance?"
"Affirmative. And the only person who had held Ms. Shimensoka drink was... Commander Hiwatari."
Jin's eyes went wide. "What?"
"Your saying my son poisoned his own girlfriend?" Hiwatari demanded.
"All the evidence points that way sir... several witnesses saw him get the drink for her and hand it to her himself. It came in no contact with any other persons." The young officer looked like he was ready to shoot himself, the commissioner looked furious.
"Fantastic, the only suspect we have is Satoshi!"