Imprisonment

By:TycoonGirl

Chapter Two: In Neglect

Disclaimer: I no own.

Sesshomaru and I worked diligently, going over my alibi and any other possible leads to the real killer. "Kagome, do you know of any one your ex-husband was seeing after your divorce?" he asked, rubbing his temples tiredly.

I bit my lip. Koga HAD mentioned some woman he was seeing…What was her name? I know it began with a 'k'. Or was it an 'a'? "He was…and we went to high school with her…but…" I sighed.

"But?" my lawyer asked, raising an eyebrow.

"But I have no idea what her name is. It either begins with a 'k' or an 'a'. He mentioned her to me briefly after court one day. I think he was trying to get me jealous." I explained.

Sesshomaru let a small frown play on his lips and flipped open his cell phone. "What high school did you go to?" he demanded, his face impassive once more.

"Pembroke High School in Atlanta Georgia." I replied.

A moment later he was talking on his cell phone and when the call ended. "Two days. The yearbooks from the four years you attended school at Pembroke will be here in two days." he said.

I didn't ask how he managed that. I was exhausted and felt worse than I had the previous day. "Kagome? You look sick." Sesshomaru remarked.

"I am. After I had to give Rin up, I got really sick, and I think it's coming back." I said softly.

Sesshomaru looked alarmed. "What were you sick with?" he asked.

"Cancer." I said faintly, before I collapsed.

When I woke I was in the infirmary. Sesshomaru was pacing back and forth, his face drawn, his brows furrowed. I knew that he understood the magnitude of my problem. "How bad is it this time?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

Sesshomaru turned to me. "Horrible. If you don't start treatment within the week, you will most likely die before Rin turns twelve." he stated, sitting on the chair beside me.

Tears welled at my eyes and a rushing despair hit me. "Well, make sure you tell her happy birthday for me." I sobbed.

There was a long, shocked silence. "So that's it! You're giving up!" he demanded indignantly.

I tearfully nodded. "Rin is taken care of, and I am a condemned woman. True, Rin will be heartbroken, but I'm not a good mother, so she won't miss me for very long. Just, please, take care of her." I requested.

"No. I will not allow my daughter's mother to give up. Rin talks about how nice, caring, charming and pretty you are all the time. She looks up to you and she won't just be heartbroken, she'll be devastated, and I've already lost an entire family that way. This sickness may be hard on you, Kagome, but giving up without a fight is not even an option. You are probably well aware of this, but Rin is a genius, and you can't treat someone like they are a child when they are already high school educated. You can explain everything to Rin now, but you can't just leave her. She needs you, and I need you to help me. Taking care of an eleven year old girl by myself is no easy task." he said.

I sobbed harder. "I'd never be a good mother! Look where I am! I'm in a jail infirmary for allegedly killing Rin's father! I can't-" I sobbed.

"Kagome. I will get you out of prison, and you will begin treatment for your cancer. If not for yourself, then think of Rin. She's already lost you once, she doesn't need to loose you permanently again." he reprimanded.

I calmed down and wiped my tears away. "I don't have any money. I'm poor! All the money I had went to defending myself at my trial, but look where that got me…" I whimpered.

"It doesn't matter. It's all been taken care of, Kagome. All you need to do, is to agree to the treatment." he said.

I stared up at him, and I noticed the concerned look in his eyes. He was concerned for me? A woman whom he had heard of only bad things, was taking care of my child because I was in prison and because I couldn't protect her from my drunken husband. Why was he being so kind? I didn't deserve his kindness, but vowed to take it for Rin so I'd be there for both of them, and vowed to somehow pay him back for all he'd done for me.

Not trusting my voice, I nodded. A small smile graced his lips and he turned to call the nurse and other medically trained employees that would help transport me to a hospital ward that would be both suited for keeping me imprisoned and suited for the numerous treatments I'd need.

I drifted off, not realizing how exhausted I was.

When I woke, I was very disoriented and soft sounds of a television echoed through an otherwise silent ward. I was in a warm and comfortable hospital bed, the soft light of the sun pouring through the window without bars. I blinked and sat up.

The room was a private one, as I was sure Sesshomaru had made sure of, and had a private bathroom inside the door. Beside the bed on either side were wooden tables with a lamp, tissues and a phone on the left one. Next to the left table, there was a bi-fold door that was open, revealing a mostly empty closet.

The dresser across from my bed had a mirror over it, and the few things that had been in my cell with me were in two large boxes on the oak surface. The black television sat in an entertainment center, and drawers were below the shelf the television sat on. A couch was under the window and two chairs were also in the room. A table that could be moved over the table was sitting un-used beside the right beside table with a cold pitcher of water on it.

I yawned and pushed the blankets back. How long had I been sleeping? I went over to kneel on the couch and peer out the window. Outside was a lovely looking courtyard. This did not seem like a typical hospital for convicted murders with a terminal illness. Sesshomaru had something to do with this, and I didn't like it.

The door opened after a while of me staring out the window. "Miss. Kagome Higurashi? How are you today?" the calm voice of a doctor questioned.

I turned to face a tall brown-haired doctor whom looked rather friendly. "Tired, mostly. And I ache all over. How long was I asleep?" I asked quietly, sinking to sit on the couch instead of hurting my knees even more.

"Not more than a day. I am Dr. Hojou Mitsomori, and I will be your doctor for your treatments. Your nurse, Kaede Obichan is out today, but she will be back tomorrow. Mr. Taisho has seen to everything, and I believe you have some clothes being sent here…" he said, sitting down in a chair.

I remained silent for a moment. "How is my daughter?" I asked.

Dr. Mitsomori slid on wire-rimmed reading glasses and drummed his fingers on the clipboard he held. "Rin is fine. I do believe Mr. Taisho told me he was going to stop by this afternoon with her. Now, Kagome, I would like to discuss treatments for you and you need to fill out paperwork about yourself. Here are the forms. Fill them out to the best of your knowledge." he instructed me as he handed me the papers.

I filled them out, pausing occasionally to think. Then I handed them back. Dr. Mitsomori nodded his acceptance and turned his full attention to me. "Kagome, you have had breast cancer before, correct?" he questioned.

"Yes, I have." I replied.

Dr. Mitsomori nodded again. "And was your cancer ever brought into remission? And if so, for how long? Or was your cancer untreated and if so, for how long?" he questioned, making little notes on the pad of paper he had with him.

I paused to consider how long it had actually been. "Yes, my cancer has been in remission and maybe for one and a half years or two full years. I'm not quite certain." I replied.

Dr. Mitsomori nodded again and I struggled not to giggle. He looked like one of those bobble heads people stuck to their dashboards. Unfortunately, I could not suppress my laughter and in my attempt, I snorted and started coughing from it.

The doctor looked up suddenly, alarmed by my harmless coughing fit. I burst into laughter and immediately clapped my hand over my mouth so my laughter was reduced to silent shaking laughs. "Kagome! Are you alright? Do you need water!" he asked, standing.

I shook my head. "No. I'm sorry. I was trying not to laugh, and well, it obviously didn't work. I'm sorry." I chuckled.

Dr. Mitsomori gave me a curious glance, and was about to sit back down when the door flew open and Rin flew in. She leapt at me and I caught her, hugging her tightly. "Mom!" she cried.

I smiled at my daughter as she sat next to me and intently stared at the doctor. Dr. Mitsomori decided that it was appropriate to ask me questions in front of Rin. "Let's see…where did you last get treated for your illness?" the good doctor asked.

Rin raised an eyebrow, but remained silent. I could tell that she had very much become Sesshomaru's daughter, but in some ways she was still Koga and I's daughter. "A hospital in Vegas." I replied.

"A specific name would help." he replied, his pen poised over the pad of paper.

"I'm sorry Dr. Mitsomori, but I don't remember. All I remember is that is was directly in the city. Perhaps the police would have it on file as they arrested me there for the murder of my former husband." I replied.

Dr. Hojou Mitsomori visibly winced when I mentioned my arrest and charges of murder brought against me. He nodded in his bobble-headed like way and scrawled something down. "What treatment plan did your doctors use to treat your illness?" he asked.

Rin scowled, and before I could stop her, she was telling the doctor off. "Excuse me, but Dr. Mitsomori, what my mother has is not an 'illness'. It is a malignant disease of breast tissue, a cancerous growth, an abnormality in the development. Her cancer risk increases with age, and the risks include a possibility of myself contracting this from heredity, and a chance of any other future children or any future children of my own having an increased risk, late menopause, obesity, diabetes and hypertension. You may not fully grasp the idea of what breast cancer actually means to a woman, Dr. Hojou Mitsomori, as you are a man, and there are more women whom get this disease than men do, because it is the most common cancer amongst women. Instead of asking these stupid questions, doctor, don't you think you should be consulting other physicians whom have treated breast cancer patients and their patients have survived? Also, Dr. Mitsomori, you nod funny. You look like one of those plastic toys caravanning families amuse themselves with by sticking to the dashboards of their minivans." Rin said, her face completely devoid of all emotion.

Sesshomaru came in when Rin began to tell the doctor what risks and effects breast cancer had. He, too, remained impassive as his daughter scolded the man that was almost four times her own age.

I was shocked. "Dr. Mitsomori, I believe my daughter had some point to her lecture, and I would advise to do as she suggested." Sesshomaru stated, towering over the quaking doctor.

Dr. Hojou Mitsomori looked mortified to have been told off by an eleven year old child, but have a powerful lawyer re-affirm what the child had said to him. The doctor scurried from the room, mumbling apologies.

"Wow. Where did you learn all of that Rin?" I asked, not bothering to scold her for something she was obviously right about. Maybe I'd have a chat with her about beside manner.

Rin looked uncomfortable. "She insisted that I take her to a book store yesterday after she insisted I tell her what was the matter with you, and she read all about breast cancer." Sesshomaru explained.

A pink tinge erupted across Rin's otherwise porcelain pale skin. I ran my finger tip across her soft little cheeks. "I used to blush just like that, back when I still had something to blush about." I said, my voice becoming wistful without me even realizing it.

"Really? How come you don't blush anymore?" Rin asked, cocking her head.

I bit my lip. "That is a very good question, and I would probably attribute the no blushing thing to the fact that I've been in prison and such." I replied.

Rin sent an admonishing look to me, and I started giggling. "What!" she cried in a playful indigence.

I chortled for a few minutes more. "My mother used to do the same thing. In her Southern twang if I would come home five minutes late, she used to scold me something awful. 'Kagome Ann Higurashi, where in tarnation d ya'll think ya'll been?'." I mimicked my mother's southern belle voice.

A sparkle came into Rin's dark blue eyes, a trait from her biological father, and she grinned. "I remember that. How can you do that so well, mom?" Rin asked curiously.

I grinned at her. "I used to live in the south kiddo. I used to talk that way all the time until I came here to Nevada."

"How come you changed your voice?" Rin asked.

I shrugged. "It just came naturally after a few months of living here. Enough about me, I want to know more about YOU."

"Rin, why don't you go get your backpack from the car? You should get started on that paper." Sesshomaru chose this moment to suggest.

Rin nodded and hurried off, leaving me alone with Sesshomaru. I turned my attention to him accusingly. I was glad Rin had left us momentarily so I could complain about the lengths Sesshomaru was going to, just to help me.

"Sesshomaru. This isn't an ordinary hospital with a prison ward, is it?" I asked, crossing my arms. I would have stood to glare at him, but I was feeling suddenly weak again.

He merely shrugged. "This Sesshomaru has no idea of what you speak." he replied in his obviously natural monotone voice.

The afternoon progressed as we sat around my hospital room, watching television, talking and helping with her paper on the Japanese-American work camp conditions versus the Nazi Party (led by Hitler) death camp conditions. I was surprised that she was learning such mature and advanced things, but as Sesshomaru had told me, she was a genius.

Rin was reading a poem by Robert Frost aloud, one that she had said was her favorite, when I noticed Sesshomaru had fallen asleep.

"In Neglect

They leave us so to the way we took,
As two in whom them were proved mistaken,
That we sit sometimes in the wayside nook,
With michievous, vagrant, seraphic look,
And try if we cannot feel forsaken.

Robert Frost."

Rin's words were pronounced well and she paused dramatically when appropriate. I listened to the dead air in the room long after she'd stopped reading.

I knew the poem was about how she felt her father and I treated her and I felt horrid. The awful silence was broken by Sesshomaru whom had apparently been awake the entire time. "Rin. Go wait in the hall for me. Take you things with you." he said softly.

Rin picked up her things and left a collection of Robert Frost sitting on the floor. She slammed the door behind her and I unsteadily got to my feet and bent down and picked the book up, silent and unnoticed tears dripping down my cheeks.

Sesshomaru held onto my arms lightly, holding me up best he could. With a sigh, he pulled me to him and wrapped and arm around me. With his free hand, he wiped away my tears. "Rin is just confused. She didn't mean it."

"Yes she did! She's smarter than I am, of course she meant it! I'm a horrible mother!" I sobbed into his chest, clutching the book.

Sesshomaru slipped a finger under my chin and made me look up into his honey hued orbs. I stopped crying and I stared, shocked, up at him. "And I am a horrible father, but we are here for Rin, so it doesn't matter. You did what you judged to be best for your child, and I cannot thank you enough, because without you having to sacrifice her, I never would have met her. She IS my daughter and I love her." he said softly.

I nodded slowly. Sesshomaru said goodbye and he left me clutching a book in the middle of a hospital room. I turned off all the lights and the television and crawled into bed. For hours I tried to sleep and ignored the knocks on my door telling me dinner was ready.

I couldn't sleep. I was in so much pain and it was too warm, then too cold. Just as I thought night would last forever, morning's first light came. I sat up, my joints stiff. I managed to make it to the bathroom. I turned on the shower and found a pair of gray sweatpants and a lilac tank top.

The hot water made me feel much better and calmed my unsettled feelings. I took a few deep breaths and the steam cleared my mind. I washed my long raven tresses and got out. I dried and completed my business in the bathroom.

When I was dressed, I opened the door and found the television on, as well as a light. Sesshomaru was sitting in a chair, watching the morning news. "You're an early riser." I remarked, noticing that it was 4:58 am.

"So are you." he countered.

I held both of my hands up, as if to surrender, and sighed. "I couldn't exactly sleep, if you know what I mean. So, what are you here for?" I asked, going over to the blinds and opening them.

"The yearbooks have arrived." he replied tersely.