Disclaimer: I do not own Sora, Kairi, or any other Kingdom Hearts characters involved in this story. Other persons/places mentioned in this story are fictional and are not intended to name any realistic person/place.
Warning: This chapter and/or future chapters may include: Suicide, Self-Inflicted Harm, Alcohol Abuse, Minor Child Abuse, and Minor Profanity
Chapter Warning: This chapter includes strong language.
Chapter 3: Homeward Bound
"Mr. Tesloh, you'll be glad to know that your daughter is in magnificent shape and may go home with you today. Though, I do suggest therapy sessions with our local child psychologist so that she can get any feelings or thoughts out concerning the accident.", states Dr. Lou to Kairi's father.
"Okay thanks Doc, but my daughter's not crazy, I'll be taking her home now.", says Mr. Tesloh in a demanding voice.
Mr. Tesloh nods a good-bye to the doctor and then walks towards Room 127.
Mr. Tesloh was a tall serious man with dirty blonde hair. You never saw a smile on that man's face, even on his good days. Once in awhile, you might see the left corner of his lip curl just a tad, but that is only when he's had a few drinks with his buddies. At home, or anywhere else for that matter, he always appears to be angry or irritated. His family have gotten used to it by now, they just stay out of the way when they see him coming.
He walks in and sees Kairi at the foot of her room-mate's bed. He glances at the boy and a speck of sorrow phases through his eyes.
"Kairi, get out of that hospital gown and lets go.", he states to his daughter.
"Okay dad, can I say good-bye to my new friend first?", asks Kairi.
"Whatever, just make it fast." Mr. Tesloh says, "I'll be right outside waiting."
Mr. Tesloh walks out the room and sits down on a chair nearby. He finds himself a hunting magazine and starts to impatiently flip through it. He looks at this and that but doesn't really concentrating on anything in specific. "Damn, Kairi, lets go already.", he thinks to himself then looks at his watch.
Back in Room 127, Kairi prepares to leave and says her good-byes.
She looks over at her friend and says, "Well I guess this is it... maybe I can come see you sometime."
"That would be nice. I'm gonna miss having my hospital buddy next to me.", the boy says.
"Yeah, I'll come by sometime, I promise."
The boy nods in agreement.
"Well, I have to go now, see ya later.", she says optimisticlly.
Kairi gets up from the bed and picks up her clothes from the small table then goes into the bathroom to change. She puts on her clothes then opens the bathroom door and begins to leave the room. As she's about to exit, she hears the voice once more. "By the way," the boy says, "My name is Akio."
Kairi walks out the room and looks to her left to find her father. He sees her, drops the magazine he was glancing at, and begins to walk out of the hospital. Kairi follows. They reach her father's car which was parked not so far from the hospital's entrance. The car is a small beat-up vehicle with a red tint to it. They have had it for years now, but couldn't manage to purchase another due to financial problems. They get in.
"I can't believe your dumb-assness, what were you thinking jumping off a bridge like that, Her father questions, "You truly are stupid!"
Kairi sits there in the passenger's seat trying to fight back the tears she has kept inside the whole day.
"First your mother goes and fucks up her life leaving me to deal with the shit we've both been going through... You know the police haven't left me alone since. They keep questioning me about our fucked-up family and they even tried to take you away to some damn orphanage. Can you believe it, those son-of-a-bitches think they know all about people like us. Like we're some kind of filth. They don't fucking care, Kairi."
Kairi begins to sob ever more than she was before. Salty wet tears stream down her face. Her father continues to drive without a significant sign of caring that his twelve year old daughter is just as hurt as he is.
They reach the house, both walking in silence. Then she picks up the phone from the changer and runs to her room slamming the door shut. Kairi pushes "Talk" and dials the number she has called so many times before.