Disclaimer- I own him...just kidding, don't sue me!
Chapter 18-Past and Present Collide
"I hate waiting rooms." Sesshoumaru said as he paced around the room. He looked at his friends, who had now been there over four hours for a result on their friend. Though all were tired, none made any complaints. In fact, no one said anything.
"Don't we all?" Rin asked as she flipped through an old magazine. "And I hate how the magazines are either six months old or are about grandma recipes!" She sighed as she dropped the magazine onto the table next to her.
"You would think that a waiting room would give the people in it something to keep them occupied." Sango looked up at the clock, which now read midnight. Though her parents had been worried about her when she had called an hour before, they were not half as worried as Izayoi, to which Sesshoumaru called after everyone had told their parents what happened and where they were. She seemed calm, though they could tell that she was worried. What parent would be fine with their son in the hospital?
After a couple minutes of convincing from both Sesshoumaru and Miroku, they got Izayoi to stay home for the night, saying that they would bring Inuyasha back as soon as the doctors released him. Though she didn't like the idea of not seeing her son till later on, she agreed. Once that was done, the boys went back into the waiting room with the girls.
"But they do give us something to do!" Miroku replied cheerfully, the first one to get a hold of his feelings.
"And that would be?" Rin asked.
"Wait." Was his reply. Rin almost fell from her chair as she glared over at the boy. "What did I do now!"
"Miroku, I doubt you could get and dumber even if you tried." Sesshoumaru said, shaking his head at his friend. Sango nodded, as did Rin, in agreement.
"Hey! I could be dumber, right Kagome?" Miroku asked, looking over at Kagome. Kagome didn't acknowledge the boy, and didn't show any recognition of even hearing Miroku's question. Her focus was on the white doors that the doctors had carted Inuyasha threw, keeping her hanging from a suspenseful thread. She felt played with, as if the gods above were waiting for her to crack. It seemed like every time something went right for her, something terrible would happen and that would cause her to start back where she was at the beginning, though now, she had a tear in her spirit.
The nurses had told the kids that nobody was allowed to go see Inuyasha until a doctor came out and told them they had permission. Since then, Kagome had been in the same spot, staring at the doors, wishing that they would open, though they never did. She prayed for time to pass her, though it just seemed to slow down every time she asked. Her eyes were stuck to the door, refusing to be taken away in case they came out.
"Kagome, he's going to be fine." Miroku said, walking over to Kagome. She nodded after a short pause.
"I know." She whispered weakly. Sango looked over at Kagome, then Miroku, and back to Kagome. The look that she gave Kagome, full of her own worry was not all for the patient that they now awaited for. Some was for her close friend, who seemed almost lifeless if not for the blinking of her eyes. Sango now sat next to Kagome, rubbing her back soothingly.
"Stop worrying." Sango said sternly.
"I can't stop." Kagome said and looked at her friend for a moment before concentrating on the pasty doors again.
"Come on, it's not like he's going to die! Snap out of it!" Sango snapped her fingers in front of Kagome's face, though she lost her balance and toppled off the chair, landing on the ground. Sango cursed under her breath and looked up to see everyone except Kagome staring at her, trying not to laugh. "What, I was just trying to get her to relax."
"Why am I going out with you again?" Miroku asked, and Sesshoumaru answered him for her with a shrug. Everyone, including the nurses in the waiting room laughed. The only two that couldn't seem the humor in the joke was Kagome, who hadn't heard it, and Sango.
"I'll talk to you later." She warned, glaring over at him. He tensed slightly, knowing what the secret meaning for that was.
"You're screwed." Sesshoumaru said. Miroku glared at him before sitting on the other side of the room, keeping distance between the now fuming girl and him.
"Kagome, the doctor will come out soon and tell us if anything is wrong with him, don't worry." Rin said calmly, trying to settle her friend's nerves. As if the doctor had heard her, the sallow doors opened to reveal a old woman. She had one dark blue eye, for the other one was covered in a patch. Her hair that was pulled back in a ponytail was a grey color. All eyes turned to the woman, who looked at the teens with a smile gracing her lips.
"You must be here for Inuyasha, am I right?" They all nodded. "Hi, I'm Dr. Kaede." The doctor said.
"What's wrong with Inuyasha!" Kagome blurted out, not realizing the rudeness that had been thrown at the doctor, though it didn't seem to bother Anne.
"Well, you're the impatient one. I'm guessing you're the girlfriend, huh?" Kagome just nodded her head, not really caring what the doctor was saying.
"Yes, sure, just tell me what's wrong with Inuyasha!" Kagome didn't realize that she had just dubbed herself Inuyasha's companion. Of course, the others did.
"Kagome, since when were you and Inuyasha going out?" Miroku asked a smirk on his mouth. Kagome looked over at him, slightly annoyed at the wait that she had to be put through.
"We aren't going out; I told you guys that we were just friends. It was a joke a while ago!" Kagome replied.
"Well I just asked you if you and the patient were going out, and you answered yes." The doctor said slowly, confusion easily seen on her face. Kagome's face changed color drastically before she changed the subject.
"So what is wrong with Inuyasha?"
"Well he's doing pretty well right now, but he keeps changing every hour or so. He had a horrible fever and he's still bleeding from some of his cuts. His arm is pretty bruised. Luckily he's a half demon, so he will recover fast. He'll be in less than three days, though it's only to make sure that nothing else is wrong with him." The doctor's words stopped and danced around the room. When she glanced at Kagome, she could tell that water now brimmed her eyelids, though she hid it well. Anne stayed silent for a moment. "Can you two girls please come with me?" She pointed at Rin and Sango, who nodded.
"I want to go!" Miroku whined.
"Fine, but only you." The doctor walked into the office next to the waiting room. The three teens followed.
"I didn't want to tell the other girl in the waiting room this but I thought that maybe one of you will want to explain this to her. We have figured out that the cause of the damage done to Inuyasha's body was from a speeding vehicle, and it must have crashed into him. Inuyasha must have gotten slashed by the grate on the front of the car across the stomach. I would have explained this to you all, but the young lady didn't seem like she could handle much more. I figured it might come easier to hear it from a friend."
"How bad is it?" Rin asked.
"It will be one of the harder parts for Inuyasha to overcome. The good news is that Inuyasha's stomach wound is going to stop bleeding overnight, as long as he doesn't injure it more severely. We'll be able to check it out more thoroughly in the morning." Kaede hesitated before she continued. "I know that I said it'd be easier for you to tell the girl, but I think it'd be better if you kept this a secret."
"We won't tell her." Miroku said, looking over at Sango when she hesitated to answer.
"Um…"Sango trailed off.
"Oh come on Sango!" Rin said "I know we are supposed to tell each other everything, but this is for Kagome's own good!"
"Alright alright, I promise." Sango said.
"Let's just hope Kagome doesn't hate you and never talk to you again because you didn't tell her." Miroku said casually, causing both Rin and Sango to glare at him.
"Miroku, its times like these that make me wonder why I even talk to you." Sango said, causing Rin to laugh.
"I know why." Rin said, looking at her two confused friends. "It's because you two love each other."
"What?" Sango asked, her cheeks filling with color.
"You heard me."
"Why don't we worry about Inuyasha before we try to embarrass each other?" Miroku suggested. Both girls nodded.
"Now if you and the rest of your friends want, you all can go see Inuyasha in room B34." The doctor said before leaving the room. The three others followed her into the waiting room. Both Sesshoumaru and Kagome looked over at the three companions.
"So what did the doctor want from you guys?" Sesshoumaru asked, making Sango's body stiffen slightly.
"Nothing important!" Rin said, nudging Sango lightly. Sango nodded quickly as Rin continued. "The doctor said we can go see Inuyasha now."
"Great!" Kagome said, hopping to her feet. She wasted no time as she raced through the white doors that had tormented her and down the hall where she knew Inuyasha would be. She didn't want to wait one more second; all she wanted was to make sure that Inuyasha was Oka.
"Kagome its room B34!" Rin called down the hall Kagome was in.
"Thanks!" Kagome said before turning the corner. She couldn't help the adrenaline that coursed through her veins as she searched each number, trying to spot the one room that she needed to find. She finally slowed down when B32 passed by, figuring out what room was next. When she saw the three symbols that she had been waiting for, she eagerly grabbed the doorknob. That was as far as she went until a ton of emotions smashed into her body, angry at being left behind in the waiting room.
Kagome had been in the hospital many times, but only one other time had it been like this. She felt her hand shaking slightly as she took a deep breath, steadying her thoughts. She finally closed her eyes before forcing her hand to push the doorknob to the right, turning it slightly. She wasn't going to wait outside of the room for no reason, and she didn't feel like playing with her heart strings anymore.
She stopped, though only for a moment before she shrugged off any other feeling besides determination and pushed the rest of the door open, stepping into the room that enveloped her without warning. As soon as she stepped in, she closed the door quietly so she wouldn't disturb the boy. She fought with her eyelids and finally succeeded in opening her eyes, looking at Inuyasha. She couldn't tell if he was sleeping, or just had his eyes closed and resting. When he made no sign that he knew of her presence, Kagome slowly walked over and sat at the stood that was next to the bed.
"They must have known that somebody was going to come see him. It's better than sitting on the floor at least." Kagome said to herself, knowing that Inuyasha was asleep. She sighed as she felt slightly relived to know he was still alive, but what she didn't know was what she would say when he woke up from his slumber. The usual silence of a hospital room was shattered when the door came rushing open, Miroku jumping into the room.
"I call the spinney chair!" He said, running over to the doctor's chair and spinning around on it. Sango walked into the room, followed by the other two companions.
"He's like a kid at a toy store for the fist time in their life!" Sango said through a smile.
"Miroku, stop acting immature." Sesshoumaru replied. Miroku only spun in the chair again. Rin looked over at Kagome and walked till she stopped next to her. She sat down on the floor next to the stool, looking up at her friend.
"Rin, what are you doing?" Kagome finally asked when Rin said nothing to her.
"Sitting on the floor. I was planning on talking to you but you asked me that question first." Rin replied simply.
"And tell me, why are you sitting on the floor?"
"Because my legs feel like they are going to fall off and there are no more seats in the room. But enough about me and my sitting on the floor, what's up with you? How are you doing?"
"What do you mean how am I doing? I'm fine."
"You are so not!" Sango said, walking over and joining the conversation. She too sat down next to the stool, making Kagome roll her eyes.
"You both must be crazy."
"We all must be crazy then, because I and Miroku noticed it too." Sesshoumaru now walked over to the group to question Kagome's well being. He now sat across from Sango. Miroku was lucky enough to have the chair, and rolled it over so that he was the only one level with Kagome. He now nodded his head in agreement to what Sesshoumaru had stated earlier. Kagome looked at all of her friends, frustration and confusion in her eyes.
"Well what have you all noticed then?"
"That you've changed." Sango said, making Kagome throw her hands up in the air.
"Oh and please explain how I have changed."
"You've been all sulky ever since the whole Kikyo and Inuyasha thing." Rin said.
"And I can't just be under the weather or anything, I mean I was sick." Kagome asked, trying to keep down her slight frustration. She felt like she was on trial and was being cross examined from four different attorneys at once.
"For a whole week! Kagome, I've known you for almost all of my life, and whenever you get angry or sad, you get just like you are now. You seem to get all messed up or something." Rin said, Sango nodding.
"So maybe I'm mad about something, bid deal, I can get mad once in a while. I didn't know there was a law that said I couldn't." Kagome crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from the others. Kagome was now in her defense mode, which consisted of sarcasm and blocking of her own feelings. Finally, Miroku had enough.
"There you go again; acting like this isn't about Inuyasha, when we all know it is. Nobody else is going to tell you, so I will. We all know you like him; anybody could see it in the way you act towards him. Why do you even bother trying to hide it? I mean, why don't you just tell him, it's not like he'll laugh at you!"
"What if I don't want to tell him, did you ever think of that in your stupid explanation!" A short pause filled the air before Kagome continued. "My life was finally getting better. My life was going back to normal until he came barging into it. He…he changed my life, and I just don't know how to deal with it. So now, I'm dealing with it the only way I've taught myself how, and that's to get away form it."
"Kagome, you have to let change take its place in your life. You're not a little girl anymore; you can't just expect change to be for the worst. Sometimes change is a good thing, you just need to give it a chance." Sesshoumaru said slowly, looking over at Inuyasha. "He's been through a lot too, and he never talks about it either. He says it's not a big deal, but we all know it is. He even knows, but he doesn't act like it is. He never shows how much he thinks about it, how much it rips at his heart.
"He keeps it inside so that nobody worries about him. He was considered the strong one at the funeral, he never cried because everyone else was. He does it mainly to make sure that his mother doesn't worry about him." His gaze now went back to Kagome's, who was slightly shocked at the new information she received.
"You act like Inuyasha is nothing to you because you're a scared little girl. You are so afraid he'll be taken away from you, whether it is Kikyo or just fate. But even if you push him away, even if you yell and scream at him to leave you alone, he is going to be there for you. Believe me, I know my brother better than anyone in this world. He'll be there to help you, to make you laugh, to give you someone to talk to or someone to cry one, maybe even just so you won't be lonely." With that powerful statement, Sesshoumaru slowly stood up and walked out of the room.
"I'm going to go check on him and make sure he's not just wandering the halls." Rin said, standing up and walking out the same door Sesshoumaru had disappeared through. Miroku jumped out of the spinning chair, helping Sango up.
"We'll go call your mom and let her know we are ready to leave." Miroku said as he walked out of the room. Sango walked to the door, but stopped before leaving. She looked over at Kagome, who was now just staring at the ground.
"Don't do something you don't want to do. Just do what you believe will be right in the end for you. I think there's some old quote that goes 'Choices can't be made by anyone but the person choosing'. Congratulations, you're that person this time. Not Miroku and me, not Sesshoumaru and Rin, just you. We can't tell you what is right or wrong, we can just tell you what we see ourselves. Just remember who makes the choices, and who had to live with what they do. It's you." Sango quietly stepped out of the room and walked away. Silence once again came shimmering into the room as Kagome through of what Sango had said.
"My choice. For once in my life, I don't want to choose. I want to be told what to do; I want somebody else to choose for me." Kagome looked over at Inuyasha to see that he was slowly gaining consciousness. She smiles faintly as his eyes flickered open. She knew he would be fully awake soon, so she stayed still till he woke up completely. He tried to sit up, but Kagome places a hand on his shoulder, pushing him slightly and making him stay down.
"Hey Inuyasha." Kagome said softly.
"Where am I?" He asked his voice weaker than usual.
"At a hospital. We found you in the road, remember? What exactly happened to you?"
"I…went to go find you because I wanted to talk. My mom said the boys were waiting for me, but they were gone so I figured that they went to some baseball game or something. I was walking till I saw a bight light coming straight at me really fast, and I don't remember what happened after that. All I remember was this horrible pain in my stomach, like something was slicing me. "Kagome looked over at him, slightly confused. Never had the doctor mentioned anything about Inuyasha being cut across his abdominal area, and yet he complained about a pain he felt when he got hit. Though Kagome did consider this a problem, something else that Inuyasha had said in his explanation sadly caught her attention.
"What did you say again? About why you were out there in the rain?" She asked quietly. He looked at her, his eyes questioning her motive to ask that before he answered.
"I was out looking for you…" She winced slightly and looked away from Inuyasha, who she now couldn't bear to look at.
"This was all my fault. You're in the hospital because of me." She whispered before taking a step away from the stool that she was once sitting on. "You wouldn't even be in this stupid hospital if it wasn't for me."
"It's not your fault!" Inuyasha said, slowly sitting up. The muscles in his stomach screamed in pain, though he ignored it as he stared at the disbelieving girl in front of him. "Don't blame this on yourself."
"I'm so sorry." Kagome couldn't manage to look over at him, her eyes glued to the floor as she backed up again, nearing the door. "I didn't know."
"I know this, I'm not blaming you! You're blaming yourself which isn't right. It's not like you were the one who hurt me."
"But I'm the reason you were outside! If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been out there, and you wouldn't have gotten hurt. We wouldn't even be having this conversation, because you wouldn't be here!"
"It's not that big of a deal. I'm still alive and I'm going to be fine, so stop worrying already." She tried to smile, tried to tell him she would stop, tried to make sure he believed her, but her words were in the pit of her stomach. She felt like she couldn't breath, guilt weighing down on her lungs.
Her mind wasn't working fast enough, and her emotions were being pushed in different directions, and she couldn't grasp even one. Her breathing was forced, her head light as she tried to hold onto one thought, anything to calm herself down. But the sands of life pushed her forward, not giving her anytime to figure out her next move. Slowly, she moved her head up, catching his gaze with hers.
"I didn't want to be hurt. I didn't want to fall for you, and when I did, I wanted you to just give up and pretend you didn't know me. But I realize now that no matter how much I want something, I can never get it. I knew you wouldn't give up, so I started to let you in. I finally wanted to have something I could hold on to, and that was you."
"But then Kikyo came, and I prayed for her to not notice you. I wanted her to pass by you, I begged for her not to like you. But she did. You ended up kissing me, and I wanted to stop, but I didn't. I just wanted to make some sense of what I was doing. Now I'm just confused. I wanted Kikyo to just leave me alone, and she ended up kissing you." The look that now seeped into Kagome's eyes was enough for Inuyasha to wince, but he didn't look away.
"Kagome you're not making sense. There was nothing you could have done to-"
"Yes there was! I could have stopped Kikyo, I could have pulled away from you, and I could have told you to go away…"
"But you didn't."
"Inuyasha I'm the reason you're in here, this is my fault."
"No, this is whatever hit me fault." Kagome froze when she finally placed together what had happened to Inuyasha. He was hit by a car; Inuyasha was hit by a car! Just…Just like him…this is my entire fault, I have to get away from him, I only cause him pain.
"I shouldn't be here." Before Inuyasha could protest, Kagome had the door open and was running down the hall. She passed by Rin and Sango, who looked back at her curiously. Before she could move past the other two, each boy managed to grab and arm.
"Let me go!" She cried out, struggling with the two boys who now only held her arms tighter. Her head finally fell in defeat though the rest of her body still struggled to be free. Her hair now covered her face, her shoulder slightly slacked.
"Kagome, what's going on? Did Inuyasha wake up?" When Kagome nodded slightly, Sango walked over and kneeled in front of her. "What happened to him?"
"I hurt him." Kagome whispered her eyes unable to be read.
"What do you mean?" Rin asked before placing her hand on Kagome's shoulder. Kagome shrugged it off quickly as if it were acid. She didn't want to be touched or talked to; she just wanted to get away from everyone.
"I was the reason he was out there. He came looking for me and he…got hit by a car." She replied her voice coated with the tears she refused to cry.
"Oh Kagome, it's not like you father's acc-" Sango was interrupted by Kagome, who now looked angrily up at her, tears filling her eyes.
"It's just like his accident, don't tell me it wasn't! He was just like Inuyasha, always worried about me. He was in the road to come find me. A car hit him, and look at where he is now! I killed him San, not you or Rin, me. If I could have just been where I was supposed to be, none of this would have happened. But I had to go to some stupid tree instead. And it cost me."
"Now look what I've done. Inuyasha came looking for me and I wasn't even talking to him. Then he got hit. I don't want to be here right now. Go get Kikyo, I bet he'd rather see her than the one who hurt him." Before the group could deny what she had said, Kagome ripped both arms away from the two holding her and bolted down the hallway. The others watched sadly before they looked at each other.
"She's blaming this on herself; she did this with her father too." Rin said to the boys, who had looks of confusions on their faces. She turned towards Inuyasha's door as she continued. "We better go get the whole story." The others nodded as Rin opened the door to Inuyasha's room and walked in.
And there is another installment of this story! Sorry I didn't get it out yesterday, I had a couple...lets just say, problems...with my family. But oh well, I got it out today at least! So what did you think about it? Did you like how the cliffhanger was not there? Well, here's the preview!
"So how serious is that cut?" Sesshoumaru asked, ignoring the still mumbling boy next to him.
"I guess it's pretty bad." Inuyasha replied. "The doctors said I can't get out of this stupid hospital until it heals up. They said if I didn't have it I'd be able to leave now."
"And how long will you have to stay now?" Sesshoumaru asked, leaning on the post of the bed.
"About three days." Inuyasha replied. But soon after he gave the estimated time, a grin appeared on his face. "But who said I'm going to stay here waiting for some stupid cut to heal?"
Chapter 19- Inuyasha's Escape