The Blind Leading the Blonde

By Ruki Minamoto

Disclaimer: ME? OWN DIGIMON? DREAM ON…

Chapter 5: Kari's Silent Desperation

Kari lay in her bed, crying in her world of darkness. It all felt empty, it all felt dark. She wished she had never gone to the library that day. She felt that she could cope with TK and his drug addiction if she could see, but she couldn't see. She could cope with one, or the other, not both at the same time.

She sat up and tried to tell herself that TK wasn't so stupid. He would get help, he would get off the drugs, and it would all be okay again, but what if he wasn't? What if he was just going to keep on going, until fate turned on him and he would be placed in danger?

He was lucky to have lasted this long.

Kari fumbled for her cane and unfolded it. She headed into the kitchen and leant against a bench. She weighed up her options.

Why was she still putting up with this?

Kari headed to the medical cupboard easily and fumbled around for Tai's anti-depressants.

He had used them shortly after the fire, when he believed that it was his fault.

But in her blindness, Kari grabbed the wrong bottle.

Kari headed back to her room and opened the bottle with ease. She had used the anti-depressants herself a few times, usually when she couldn't sleep. They helped to put her mind at ease and made her feel a bit better.

She tipped several tablets into her hand and swallowed them dry. Immediately, she knew they were the wrong pills. They gave her a funny taste in her mouth. She felt on the bottle for the label her mother had made in Braille so she could find a bottle if they had been moved.

"Oh no," Kari whispered as she remembered when Tai had used painkillers a month ago after injuring himself at soccer. She hadn't taken anti-depressants at all. She had just overdosed herself with the most powerful painkillers in the house!

Kari's mind spun. Should she try to induce vomiting to get the pills out of her system? She doubted she could even find her own cane she was so dizzy. She tried to stand, but fell back onto her bed. Only one word made any sense to her right now.

"Tai!" Kari called, before blacking out.

Tai came running, and saw his sister lying face down on the ground.

"Mum! Dad! Come quickly! Something's happened to Kari!"

Tai sat in the hospital waiting room. He remembered finding the bottle of painkillers by the bed. She had tried to commit suicide, he presumed, and he couldn't blame her. He knew about TK's drug addiction, and how it had hurt Kari. And she was blind…if that had been him; he would have committed suicide long ago.

A doctor came out and looked at them sadly. Mrs. Kamiya jumped to her feet.

"No! Don't tell me she's dead!"

"I won't, then," the doctor said, "her heart stopped just a couple of minutes ago, but we managed to revive her…only just…she had a pretty big overdose. Somehow, we caught it before the drugs got to her liver, so I don't think there's much risk of that. Why do you think she took them?"

"Her boyfriend's been doing drugs, and she only just found out," Tai began, "I know she was upset, and I would've killed myself long ago if I were her, but I doubt she would

have done it to herself. She's come so far…"

At the Kamiya apartment, TK stood at the door. He smiled to himself and ran his fingers through his neat hair. He was pleased with himself. In only two weeks, he had turned it all around. He smelt the single perfect red rose he held in his hands and knocked on the door.

It swung open. It hadn't been closed properly.

"What the?" TK asked. "Hello? Anyone home? Tai? Kari?"

He went through the house, looking inside, hoping that they were in the next room, but when he reached the kitchen, all he found was a note.

We're at the hospital. Kari is very sick. Sorry for any inconvenience.'

TK froze and felt his whole body shake. He dropped the note and ran out the door

without closing it.

He raced to the hospital and ran into the waiting room. He approached Tai.

"Where's Kari?" he asked. Tai slapped TK across the face and the blonde fell. "Tai? Are you okay?"

Tai looked down at TK and felt his eyes well with tears.

"Kari's tried to kill herself, thanks to you."

"She's what?" TK demanded. "But Kari wouldn't do that. Even if I've been taking drugs…she just wouldn't."

"Yeah? Well, get lost, TK, she doesn't need you here…"

Tai trailed off as the doctor returned. TK approached him slowly.

"Please, tell me Kari's going to be okay."

The doctor forced a smile. He looked tired and worn out, but all in all he looked rather pleased.

"She's going to be okay. We'll need to keep her here for a while, but she'll be fine. She's semi-conscious and asking for a guy named TK…"

Tai frowned and gave TK a small push.

"Go!" he hissed and TK smiled at Tai. He followed the doctor into emergency

department and opened the curtains. There were still several machines hooked up to Kari,

but she was smiling.

"Hi, TK," she said quietly. TK was surprised.

"How'd you know it was me?" he asked curiously.

"It had to be." Kari said with a shy smile. "Only you would dare wear…aftershave?"

Kari's smile vanished. "What have you been up to these last couple of weeks?"

"I'm turning my life around, Kari." TK told her. "I promise you, never again will I hurt you so bad that you have to kill yourself…"

"I wasn't trying to kill myself." Kari said quietly. "I was looking for anti-depressants to make me relax. I grabbed the wrong bottle by mistake. As soon as I realized, I called for Tai. I never tried to commit suicide."

The doctor frowned and left to tell the Kamiya's the news that their daughter wasn't suicidal.

TK smiled and handed Kari the rose.

"This is for you…it's…"

"A rose." Kari finished. "I can't see it, but it's beautiful. TK…I shouldn't have dumped you after finding out that you were on drugs. It wasn't right. I left you at a time when you needed me more than ever."

TK shook his head and took Kari's hand.

"No, Kari. You gave me the wake-up call I needed. Otherwise, I would have injected myself again and you were right, I could have gotten a bad batch. I could have ended up with even more problems. And you would have had to help me with those problems. It wasn't fair on you to stay. It wasn't right of me to expect you to stay."

Then, they kissed.

Three weeks later, Kari was home again. She lay in bed while TK sat on the end of it, telling her about what she had missed at school.

"Everyone misses you, Kari. Sora, Matt and Joe all called me that night and asked how you were. You've got so many people who care about you, Kari. You're popular, you know." TK told her.

Kari smiled and leant back into her pillow. Sometimes, she cursed the darkness she was forced to live in. Sometimes, she wished she were dead. But then, whenever those thoughts would appear to win, she would remind herself of her friends and family, who all were behind her and all wanted to see her become the best person that she could be.

And then there was TK, who would always stay behind her, to catch her whenever and wherever she fell.