Confusion

By: Cece Williams

((Disclaimer: Okay, me no own YYH.))

Cece: Here's the next chapter. I actually hope it's better than the last one.

Yusuke: What do you mean, you hope?

Kurama: She's slightly busy this week, so she's going as fast as she can.

Cece: Read on.

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Three long weeks had gone by, and with every visit from Kurama, Andrea still hadn't awoken from her coma. The doctors weren't holding out much hope for the young girl. It had already been three weeks, and she hadn't moved at all, except to breathe.

Kurama stayed in her hospital room that night, in-between work and college. Sure it was only a few hours each night, but if it would help Andrea regain consciousness, it was well worth his free time. Besides, Koenma had already given him a "vacation." To Kurama, the "vacation" meant to get his kitsune rear in gear.

"So, the DNA results came back," he said to her immobile form. "Jason was in your apartment that night." He reached up to brush the bangs from her eyes. Her hair had grown slightly over the weeks, but even with him moving her bangs, she still didn't move.

"Mr. Minamino?" A pretty nurse with her dark brown hair in a bun looked at the redhead. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I have to check her vitals."

"Of course," he answered, getting out of the nurse's way so she could check on his friend. He watched as the nurse checked her blood pressure and her temperature. Kurama read the machine and sighed in relief as they were both normal, although her blood pressure was a little lower than normal.

"She'll be just fine," the nurse said, giving Kurama a platinum smile at his direction. "She's doing quite nicely, although she isn't awake yet."

Kurama looked at the slumbering girl on the bed, wishing she would open those blue eyes and look at him again. "I know Andrea," he answered. "She's a lot tougher than she looks."

"So I've heard," the nurse replied. "She must be one incredible woman."

You have no idea, he thought as Kurama nodded his head. "She is," he answered outwardly. "She's a strong one, too. Probably stronger than me."

"Well, your friend here has a fighting chance," the nurse said, smiling as she saw the machines beeping in a steady rhythm. The smile faded, though, when she noticed that the girl's face revealed the bruises. "She must have fought back."

Kurama closed his eyes and tried to picture what Andrea had gone through just a short three weeks ago. She probably saw him as an intruder and tried what she could to stop him, only to now lay cold and still in the bed in front of him. He opened his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Well, I better get back to my rounds," the nurse said, smiling once again at Kurama. "Listen, the cafeteria's down near the main lobby. Why don't you get something to eat?"

Kurama blinked. "Hmm?"

"You must have been here all day," the nurse explained. "I'm sure your friend wouldn't mind you leaving her side for just a few minutes."

Kurama would have answered if it weren't for his stomach to suddenly growl, which made him turn slightly red from embarrassment. "All right," he conceded after a moment of silence.

The nurse nodded as she left the room and Kurama alone with Andrea.

Kurama walked around to the side of Andrea's hospital bed and stood next to her. "I'll be out for about five minutes," he said to her. "I'll be back up here, I promise." With that, he smoothed the hair against her forehead and left the room.

The walk to the cafeteria was quieter than Kurama had first thought. He looked at other family members whose relatives were also in the hospital walking by him. He had felt the same way as he did when his mother was admitted. First his mother, and now a very close friend, one that some had said was his other half, his love. But he didn't know what to feel… or how to act towards her.

A tug on his pant leg interrupted his train of thought. Looking down, he saw the face of a child, merely of eleven years old. "You look down, mister," she said, her grape eyes looking up at him.

Kurama smiled gently. "I'm all right," he answered, knowing he was lying. He wasn't fine; he wouldn't be fine until he could sort everything out. He grabbed a small plate of teriyaki chicken and some potato salad. After he had paid for everything, he felt the same tug on his pant leg and looked down again, to see the same girl again.

"Here," she said, thrusting a stuffed animal into his hand.

Kurama blinked. It was a gray stuffed seal, dingy but gray. He felt a small smile rise on his face as he remembered of how Andrea loved the aquariums. "No, no, this is yours," he said, starting to give the plush back.

But the girl pushed it back into Kurama's hand. "Your friend needs someone," she said, her purple eyes insisting that he take the stuffed animal.

"Thank you," he said, bowing as the girl bowed and skipped off. He went to the elevator, holding the tray in one hand while his other hand held the seal.

Meanwhile, a dark haired figure had walked inside the hospital and walked to the front desk.

"May I help you?" the nurse asked him.

"I'm here to see Andrea Stone," he answered.

The nurse started looking through the records, unaware that he had already seen her room number. "Oh, she's here, but I'm afraid her very close friends and family are the only ones to see her," she replied.

The dark-haired man left the front desk and smiled. Now all he needed was a way to get to her. Smothering her face with a pillow? No, that was too messy. Then, an idea clicked on inside his head. He knew what to do. He ducked inside a closet and turned the light on. "Oh, yes, this is perfect," he said to himself as he donned a surgical cap, mask, and a green gown.

Smiling beneath the mask, he stepped out of the room and headed down the hall. Now… time to get the treatment, he thought as he neared the floor. The elevator dinged and he stepped off and into another room, this one a makeshift paradise. "Yes," he said, picking up a syringe and finding a bottle. There, he filled it to as much as he could. "Oh, don't worry, you won't feel a thing."

He walked out of the room, the syringe in one pocket, as he passed a waiting room where the TV was broadcasting.

"Please be on the lookout for an 18-year-old Caucasian male named Jason Lee Westbrook. He has escaped police custody and is considered armed and very dangerous…"

He shook his head. They'll never catch me, he thought as he neared Andrea's hospital room. "Poor little Andrea, your boyfriend's not here to save you this time," he said quietly as he felt the syringe with his fingers.

Meanwhile, Kurama had already returned to Andrea's room and laid the stuffed seal the little girl gave him at her side. "I just wish you could feel this little guy," he said, wrapping her limp arm around the seal. He froze as something struck his mind. When he looked up at the TV, he saw that Jason had escaped. He wouldn't dare try to kill her here… he thought, but had another thought. Maybe he would… he wants Andrea out of the way. He stepped quietly behind the door as he watched a green-clothed man enter the room.

Taking out the syringe that had been in his pocket, he smiled behind his disguise. "This is almost too easy," he said to himself as he came within a few feet from Andrea's bed.

Kurama felt a slow anger start to rise up in him. How dare he try to kill someone who can't even fight back! Knowing it was now or never, he jumped from behind the door and tackled the ex to the floor. The syringe clattered out of the other man's hand and hit the wall. As Kurama pulled off the mask and the cap, he looked at him. "So, trying again where you have failed?" he asked him.

Jason tried to swing his fist into Kurama's face, but the redhead easily dodged his blow and sent a karate-chop to his neck, making him hit the floor. He got back up and started to retrieve the dropped syringe, but Kurama tackled him again and pulled him away from the deadly needle.

A nurse had started to walk in the room but stopped as she saw one man struggling against another's hold. She raised a hand to her mouth in alarm as she hit a button for security.

"Security to Room 431! Security to Room 431!" the PA system announced.

Kurama looked at Jason, his emerald green eyes starting to give way to gold. "If you even come around her again, I'll kill you," he growled.

Jason took a chance and shoved himself away from Kurama and raced out the door… into the waiting arms of security guards.

The nurse peered in the room at them. "Oh, are you all right, sir?" she asked Kurama.

The redhead straightened his clothes slightly. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you," he answered, giving the nurse a comforting smile.

"Actually, we should be thanking you," one of the security guards said to Kurama as he entered the room. "You may have saved this woman's life."

Kurama blinked, looking at Andrea's comatose form. Sure it was an instinct to help, as much as he could for his friends, but was it instinct or something else entirely?

The guard had picked up the needle by the tips of his fingers and put it in a plastic bag. "You're her hero, and she'll want to thank you when she comes out of it."

"I just was here at the right place at the right time," Kurama answered.

"Come on, you!" the other guard said, helping his buddy with dragging the beaten-up Jason out of the hospital.

Kurama looked back at Andrea, who still didn't move. "What's happened to me?" he asked himself. "I've never said that before." He wasn't sure what to make of what had just happened. Youko couldn't have tried to reappear, he thought. But then again, who would believe Jason of what he had just seen?

"Mr. Minamino?"

Kurama turned his head to see the nurse who had pressed the button for security. "Yes, miss?" he asked her.

"I'm sorry to inform you, but visiting hours are over now," she said as she bowed and left.

Kurama looked at his watch. It was already past 11:30, and it was late. He went over to Andrea's bed and held her hand for a minute. "Don't worry, Andrea," he said. "He won't hurt you again." Patting her hand lightly, he stood up and walked out of the room. He looked at her doctor, Dr. Yamaguchi. "Please call me if there are any changes."

The doctor nodded his head. "Yes, of course, sir," he answered, going back to his chart.

Kurama took a deep breath and left for the elevator. This wild evening had come to an end… or so he thought.

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((What else is going to happen tonight? Can it be something good or something bad? Find out in the next chapter.))

Cece: Whoo! Okay, leave me a line of what you think.

Kurama: (eats a Whopper) And don't forget the mint-flavored water.

Cece: Kurama!

Kurama: What?