Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me.
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Sleeping Beauty
Blip.
Blip.
"Wake up Sleeping Beauty."
Blip.
Blip.
The voice was quiet and sounded far away. But it was very insistent and refused to be ignored.
"Ah, and Beauty shall awake with love's first kiss…" Ever so softly, a pair of lips brushed a fevered brow.
Blip.
Blip.
Muscles ached, and the pull of sleep was almost overwhelming. It was the too clean smells and annoying blips that forced wakefulness. Something was out of whack. Where was the smell of blood and gore?
"So help me, if you just kissed me, I will kill you Miroku."
There was a good deal of cheering when the words came out, regardless of how hoarse they sounded. Miroku was grinning at the edge of his bed, totally unrepentant.
"Inuyasha is awake!"
"Yeah, yeah, keep it down, brat."
Blip.
Blip.
Inuyasha frowned. "Are you guys playing… Pong?"
"They wouldn't let us hook up our computers to the Net or even plug in a game machine to the TV," explained Sango apologetically. "And since this was the only game Shippo had downloaded to his hard drive…"
"Pong?"
Shippo shrugged, "So I like old school games, sue me."
Finally pulling himself to an upright position, Inuyasha looked more closely around the room. The television was on some station with a steamy soap opera. Likely it was Miroku's choice and not Sango's consider she and Shippo were sitting in the only two chairs in the hospital room huddled in front of the computer. Inuyasha guessed that daytime soaps were as close to porn as the guy could get. Junk food wrappers littered for floor and soda cans were piled everywhere. A pillow and a blanket were piled in the corner where someone had obviously napped. Miroku was reaching over him and snagging a bowl of some unidentifiable semi-solid food product off of the tray beside him. More blasted tubes were stuck in his body! Didn't I just get rid of all this?
"Where's Kagome?"
Those two words silenced the room. What was worse… no one would look him in the eye. His heart began to pound erratically. Sango closed the computer and tucked the laptop back in the case with a fox demon painted on it. Miroku swallowed his spoonful of… possibly pudding… and moved to the other side of the room.
"She's in a coma."
"WHAT?" The machines Inuyasha was hooked up to all started bleeping like mad at the drastic rise in his blood pressure.
"Nice way to ease into it, Miroku," Sango grumbled.
Miroku cleared his throat and spoke in his most soothing voice. "If you remember, Kagome was hurt very badly. The doctors were not even sure if she was going to make it through the night. They induced a coma so that her body could heal properly. They can bring her out of it when they feel she is ready."
"She'll be okay."
"We hope so, Inuyasha."
The dark haired boy glared. "It wasn't a question." Then he noticed he had dark hair again insteas of silver. "What happened? I thought I was staying a demon!" He looked down at his hands. The claws were gone. He ran his tongue over his teeth, already knowing that his fangs would be gone too.
"When they put Kagome into the coma, you went back to normal." Miroku leaned against the wall and grinned. "We're lucky Kagome was in such bad shape."
Sango grabbed Shippo and ran from the room, smacking Miroku upside the head as they went, saying they needed some hot chocolate desperately. Before the door closed, Inuyasha heard Shippo whining that he wanted to stay for the show.
"We're lucky what?" His hand curled into fists, barely able to suppress his rage.
Miroku laughed nervously. "Perhaps that came out badly." He scratched his head and took a step towards the door. "After you collapsed, we managed to bring you and Kagome into the main lobby. Midoriko helped with her magic. Somehow when you broke Kagome's chains, hers broke as well. She believes that Kagome is responsible for you being a demon in this world somehow."
"We're lucky what?"
He moved one step closer to the door, a little disconcerted that Inuyasha hadn't seemed to blink once and his eyes seemed to be glowing unnaturally. "When the ambulance picked you up, you had silver hair, claws, ears, the whole demon shebang. Naturally people were interested. VERY interested. You were collapsed because of exhaustion. Heck, we were all admitted for exhaustion and malnutrition. But Kagome was in such bad shape that they had to immediately focus on her. By the time they had time they finally had time to think about you, she was already in the coma and you were back to normal." He held up his hands in a placating manner. "That's all I meant. I didn't intend to sound disrespectful to our friend."
Inuyasha turned his head towards the window. "Get out of here."
"Seriously, it just came out wrong."
"Just… give me some time alone." He sighed. "Please."
"Alright." He opened the door. "We'll be back later."
Inuyasha grunted his dismissal. He waited until the door shut before he turned his head back so he could study the ceiling. He missed Kagome.
A nurse and a doctor came to check on him and tell him how very lucky he was. Lucky. Right. If I was lucky then Naraku would be dead and Kagome wouldn't have gotten so much as a scrapped knee. If I was lucky I would be at full demon strength and on my way to killing that monster who nearly killed… He winced, ignoring the doctor and the nurse as they poked and prodded. Is she okay? Is she alive? He had tried asking the doctor, but all the doctor would say was that Kagome was alive, but that he needed to focus on getting better and try not to worry. His demands to see Kagome were all ignored. When his demand became more… well… just more… they decided it would be in his best interest to have a little rest and was heavily sedated,
"Inuyasha" Her voice was weak and tired. "Inuyasha!"
His head was fuzzy and his body felt like lead. But he came alive when he heard her voice. "Kagome!"
"Inuyasha!"
"I'm here Kagome. Are you okay? Those doctors won't tell me a da…"
"Inuyasha, where are you?"
He looked around, trying to find her. His heart clenched painfully at the desperate sound in her voice. "I'm here. I'm close."
There was a tiny sob. "Please Inuyasha… Where are you?"
Slowly her voice began to fade. He knew that she was scared, and felt alone. He also knew that she couldn't hear a word that he was saying. She needed him. It tore at his heart to hear her sound so frightened. And she was looking for HIM! He tried to focus on fighting against the fog in his head and not the warm fuzzy feeling that she was searching for him.
But he couldn't wake his body. He roared in frustration. Then he felt it.
The demon.
Deep inside of him the golden eyed demon began to roar to life with the same frantic need to get to Kagome. With a burst of energy, Inuyasha was finally able to tear away the heavy drug induced sleep. A low rumble of a growl could have been heard had there been anyone in the room with him.
Angrily, Inuyasha ripped out the needle stuck in his arm. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and lurched upwards. Unfortunately his body was so weak that he fell to his knees. Unable to give up, he pulled himself to his feet. He tried to remember if Miroku had actually mentioned what room Kagome was in. Or even what floor she was on. A slight breeze from behind reminded him that he was in a hospital gown. Before he could decide if he was going to go as is to find Kagome (though that wasn't really how he wanted her to see those parts of him for the first time) or if he was going to be able to walk around with a sheet tied around his waist, the door creaked slowly open.
Inuyasha grabbed the intruder and slammed the body against the wall, determined to bully, beat, or beg the information out of them about Kagome.
"Inuyasha, are you completely insane?"
He grinned tiredly. "Maybe." He turned his back towards the wall. "Tell me where Kagome is, Sango."
She rolled her eyes. "Don't be stupid. You can barely stand up. Did you get permission to get out of bed?"
"Where is she?"
Sango took a bite out her chocolate bar. "You can't go walking around like you own the place, Inuyasha. The doctor has to say it is okay before you can go traipsing about."
"Where. Is. She?"
She sighed. "You should be in bed. How come you are awake anyhow? You were supposed to be out for the rest of the night. What did you do to them anyhow? When we came back they were mad as wet hornets."
"She needs me. Tell me where she is NOW!"
Wadding up the wrapper she threw it to the trashcan. It, along with approximately a dozen or so others, didn't quite make it in. But that was only because it was already overflowing with junk food wrappers.
"Fine."
She turned to open the door when she felt him grab her arm. Looking over her shoulder at him she noticed his faint blush.
"Er… is there a robe or something I could use?"
It took almost fifteen minutes to find Kagome, even though she was only one floor below them. Sango took her duties of keeping Inuyasha's escape seriously. At one point, when a doctor turned a corner, she shoved Inuyasha into the restroom and shut the door, humming softly and bouncing a little as if she was waiting for her turn. When the coast was clear she let a very disgruntled Inuyasha out of the ladies room. When she made him take the emergency stairs instead of the elevator, Inuyasha began to wonder if she was punishing for something.
At long last he was in front of her room in ICU. If he had claws, he would have been tearing down the room and at least one of the inhabitants. Sitting beside HIS Kagome was that stinking Kouga. Oh, and that other woman too. Mid-something-er-other.
"What are you doing here?" he hissed.
"Keeping watch over my woman."
Before he could leap across the room and pound the other male's face into mush, Midoriko had murmured a spell to bind him. He glared at her, ready to add her to his list of people to tear to shreds.
"Let us talk a walk," she said as she stood, taking Kouga's arm.
"I don't want to leave," he snarled.
The woman just smiled and murmured another spell. Instantly Kouga stood to his feet and obediently followed her out of the room. Once they were out of eyesight, the spell on Inuyasha fell away. In a heartbeat he was at Kagome's side. He was grateful when Sango ducked out of the room, saying that she would go keep an eye on the others.
"Kagome…"
He took her hand in his. The one that wasn't attached to the broken arm. It looked so small and fragile. Wincing, he looked at the needle suck in her hand. Finally he let himself look at all of the tubes and wires connected to her. There was a constant bleeping sound that reminded him of waking up to his friends playing Pong. He was horrified at the number of bruises on her skin and lost count of the stitches. He cursed himself for failing her, for not protecting her.
Gently he brushed a kiss on her forehead, sealing the promise that he would protect her with his life. He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and looked at her. Battered and bruised, she was still the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.
It was impossible, absolutely impossible, not to touch his lips to hers.
"Inu…yasha…"
He froze. When the noises the machine made changed, Inuyasha pulled back slightly. Her eyes were open slightly, and she was smiling at him. Giving a short laugh, he took a deep breath, ignoring the tears in his eyes.
"Sleeping Beauty awakes."
"You... came…"
He let his forehead rest against hers. "Of course I did. You called for me, didn't you?"
The door flew open before Inuyasha could kiss her again.
ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo
Blip.
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"Hey, Miroku?"
"Yes, Shippo?"
Blip.
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"What do you suppose all that commotion is about?"
Miroku didn't take his eyes off the of the computer screen. "I would be good money that it has something to do with Inuyasha."
Shippo nodded as he concentrated on anticipating where the ball would bounce.
Blip.
Blip.
"Hey, guys."
Miroku finally looked up. "My dear, Sango."
"What's all the yelling about?" Shippo asked.
Sango laughed loudly as she plopped into the seat next to Miroku. "Inuyasha woke Kagome up from her coma. The doctors are trying to extract our beloved dog demon out of the room."
Miroku frowned. "Tell me he isn't a demon again."
"He isn't a demon again."
He sighed. "Is that true?"
With a grin she propped her feet up and pulled out a book of short stories from her purse. Nonchalantly she opened it up randomly and began to read. It was wrong to torture him, she knew it, but she couldn't help it.
"Aw, c'mon, Sango!" Miroku's voice awfully close to a whine. "You can't leave us in suspense like this!"
"Ha! I won!" Shippo jumped up and punched a fist in the air triumphantly. "That makes twelve games in a row! Man, this just isn't your game is it, Miroku?"
"I think there are more important issues here than my skills at Pong."
Smugly Shippo turned off his computer and put it back in his bag. "Skill? You mean lack thereof." He dodged a blow to the head. Quickly he ran to go hide behind the safest place possible… Sango.
The young woman snapped her book shut. "Let's get out of here. We've got things to do, you know."
Frustrated, Miroku jumped to his feet and grabbed her arms, giving her a little shake. "IS HE A DEMON?"
With a sweep of her foot and a twist of her arm, Sango had Miroku lying on the cold floor whimpering in pain. She stepped over him, perhaps unnecessarily, to move across the lobby towards the exit. "Come along, Shippo. We've got a long day ahead of us. Might as well get started."
"What kinds of things do we have to do?" asked Shippo.
"Well," she said as she opened the door, "First thing we should do is go get Kirara. Maybe we'll invite a couple friends to do a little shopping."
"Shopping?" exclaimed Miroku as he hurried to catch up with them.
"Yeah. Maybe at the sports supply store. Then I think we should probably try and find where Inuyasha has taken Kagome."
