Chapter 2
(Kaoru)
My parents faces drained of color, just like mine had, and tears filled my mother's eyes. "An accident?" she murmured.
"They didn't give me all the details. They just said that I should probably come to support him," I said, standing and pulling on my light jacket.
Mom nodded. "Alright, let's go."
My father took his credit card from the waiter as we went out, murmuring his thanks. When we were in the car I felt my tears beginning to flow. I directed my parents numbly to go onto the freeway; it would get us there faster. As we drove I looked out of the windows, allowing my tears to continue.
Just before the exit to Kenshin's job I saw something that caught my eye. There were skid marks along the road, going towards our car. I looked to the other side of the 4Runner, and past it to where the embankment on the side of the road met pavement. I gasped, catching my parents' attention.
A crushed car was being towed out of it, the driver's side completely crunched in. It was covered in mud and weeds, its color non-distinguishable. There were various dents in it, and the top was crushed in. It must have rolled. The only thing I could see clearly among the twisted metal was the license plate hanging from the rear bumper. "Oh no…"
My mom glanced at me. "Kaoru?"
"The license plate. It says 'Rurouni'. That's Kenshin's car." I whispered.
Yahiko shuddered, turning away from the wreckage. Mom choked on tears and hid her face. I saw my Dad's jaw tighten, but he kept driving steadily. He followed signs that directed him off the freeway and towards the hospital, following them easily.
I saw the big hospital looming in front of us, almost threateningly. Dad parked the 4Runner and we all left the car, sadness surrounding our tiny group. I walked straight up to the front desk, causing the woman behind it to look up as I sniffled.
She smiled a little reassuringly at me. "What can I do for you, dear?"
"Um…We're here for Kenshin Himura." I murmured.
She glanced down at her papers. "Oh, he's just left the ER, you'll find him in room 273, second floor."
I nodded. "Arigatou."
My parents followed me as I walked into the elevator. The ride up was quiet, and all that could be heard were soft sniffled from both my mother and I, and occasionally Yahiko, who to my surprise, had tears filling his brown eyes.
When we entered the room my tears, previously shoved back, sprang forth again. A soft whimper escaped me, attracting the eyes of the man sitting near the bed. He looked at me in shock, and then stood, striding to me and enclosing me in a hug. "Oh Kaoru…"
I clutched at the clothes of my good friend, letting my tears soak his jacket. "Why him Sano? Why our sweet, gentle Kenshin?"
Kenshin lay as still as death on the bed, his face nearly whiter than the sheets he lay on. There was an IV in one arm, a blood bag attached to the other. His right wrist was enclosed in a cast, as well as his right ankle. A breathing mask covered his nose and mouth, and there was a steady rhythm of whoosh and hiss as the machines helped him to breathe. There was a spot above Kenshin's left ear where his gorgeous crimson hair had been shaved away, revealing a heavy bandage on his skull. There was also a bandage across his left cheek, blood soaking through it in the shape of a cross. His slender left hand was in a big cast, which hid the entire delicate appendage, which meant that the entire hand, fingers and all, was broken. His entire chest was wrapped tightly, as was his torso.
The heart moniter revealed his pulse to be slow and shallow, not comforting at all. I sat beside my friend, gently holding the hand that was completely covered in a cast. Sano sat on his other side, a sorrowful look on his face. He too went ot Yokohama National University, and lived in our apartment complex. He was a good friend of both Kenshin and I.
"Sano, why are you here?" I asked softly. "Did they call you too?"
He shook his head, pointing to a bandage on his forehead I hadn't noticed before. "I was in the accident too."
I gasped. "You were? What happened?"
He sighed. "It was awful Kaoru. I don't think I'll ever forget it."
(Sano)
I drove through the rain silently, for once no sound coming from my radio. I liked the rain, so I listened to it instead. I was heading to work, about 4 more exits down.
After a moment I heard the screeching of tires. A car came barreling out of the misty fog caused by the rain, slamming headlong into the driver's side of the car beside and just behind me.
The car's side instantly crumpled, its windows shattering with the force of the impact. It jerked towards me, its front bumper catching the rear end of my car, spinning me around. I felt my head slam into the driver's window, but I yanked myself back under control and struggled to right the fighting car. I succeeded in stopping the car in the side embankment, facing the wrong way, but out of danger.
The car that had been originally hit skidded into another, and I watched as a limp body was thrown through the shattered windshield, hitting the pavement hard and rolling through my headlights. It was the flash of red from the figure that caught my eye. "Oh Kami-sama, Kenshin!"
I unbuckled my seatbelt, pulling out my cell and dialing 911 as I wiped away the smear of blood across my forehead that had come from hitting the window. Just as I heard the answer I looked up to see Kenshin's car, which had rolled right over the car that had ejected Kenshin in the first place, roll over top of my friend's body.
My cell phone fell forgotten onto the grass as I ran to Kenshin, screaming his name. There was no answer to my calls.
I quickly rolled Kenshin over, noting the strange angle of his wrist and ankle, and the bloody mangled mess that was his left hand. There were pieces of glass embedded in his forearms, chest, and shoulders, and a larger one lodged in his skull just above his left ear. His eyes were wide open, glazed as they stared at me. His face was still frozen in its last look of surprise.
I instantly tilted his head back, breathing into him. That one breath was surprisingly all it took. Kenshin's body jerked weakly and he breathed in, glazed eyes sliding shut.
"Kenshin!" I called, worry, fear, and hope filling my mind. I received no answer from my comatose friend; he was still on the grass.
(Kaoru)
"At about that time the ambulance showed up, the police had tracked my phone through satellites and located us. I followed them in my car. They almost lost him again three times in the ambulance." Sano stopped as a doctor came in. "Perhaps he can better explain what's happened here."
The doctor smiled reassuringly at me, nodding his agreement as he sat on one of the extra chairs. "This young man is quite a fighter, to have survived that glass attack that lodged that piece in his skull. It took us quite a while to get that out without harming him further."
"Further?" I murmured, tears still flowing down my cheeks.
"Hai. Besides the broken wrist and ankle that you can see, Kenshin's entire left hand was shattered, and glass was embedded in most of his arms, chest, and shoulders. Thankfully everything missed his neck, or else he would have died on the spot and stayed that way. The car rolling over him that Mr. Sagara described broke four of his ribs, fracturing at least seven more. One of them punctured Kenshin's right lung, which should have killed him within a few minutes, but miraculously we managed to keep him alive. The glass in his skull though, that has caused the most harm."
I blinked, settling further into my chair in fear. Sano's face was grim, it seemed that this was the second time he had heard this.
"That glass should have killed him instantly, and apparently it did, at least by what Mr. Sagara said. It's a miracle of Kami-sama that he came back when CPR was attempted. It's also a miracle that Mr. Sagara wasn't required to do chest compressions. Had he done so, one of the broken ribs could have punctured the other lung, perhaps the same one again, or even Kenshin's heart. He would have been lost. The glass however, has caused its lasting harm." The doctor sighed, closing his eyes. "We managed to remove it safely, without causing further damage to him. But it's left its mark. It was buried deep enough that it was touching his brain, and we don't know what kind of problem it's caused yet. Kenshin could very well have forgotten many things, such as how to walk, how to eat, how to talk and understand basic speech. More seriously, he could have lost muscle control or coordination skills. Worse, he could just sink into a coma and we would lose him."
My body was shaking, I was terrified. Kenshin could have died multiple times; he had been dead at one point. And further more, he was no longer the Kenshin I knew. Something was different; something might never be the same again. I looked down at my friend. 'Oh Kenshin, I'm so sorry…'
I sat with Kenshin every day, waiting for a change in his condition. His body slowly began to heal before my eyes, his wrist quickly let out of the cast. His ankle took longer; it was out by the sixth week. After seven weeks the bandage was removed from his cheek, revealing a large cross-shaped scar. His hair began to grow back, but they had to keep shaving it so they could cleanly bandage the scar left from the glass. He never once moved, not during any thing that they did. It was worrying, but they said that he hadn't entered a coma yet. His brain waves weren't close enough yet, there was still hope that he would wake up.
I sat by his bedside each day, talking to him, reading to him, telling how things were going. Sano had healed fairly quickly, and when he wasn't working he joined me at Kenshin's hospital room. The two of us became a welcome sight there; we were both greeted by name whenever anyone saw us.
My parents had had to leave after 3 days, Yahiko's break was coming to an end and he had to go back to school. They had all been reluctant to leave, but I had promised to call and give updates on how Kenshin was doing every night when I got home.
The news that Kenshin had been in a car accident traveled like wildfire around the school, and soon people were asking me to tell him that they hoped he would get better, I had people I had never known in my life asking me how he was doing, if they thought he was going to be able to leave the hospital soon. Cards began showing up at the hospital for him, and soon Kenshin had an entire drawer full.
Eight weeks to the day I was sitting quietly in a chair, staring out into the light drizzle that fell from the sky when I heard a sound. I turned, surprised and relieved to see Kenshin's fingers twitch on his right hand. It was the first movement I'd seen from him in the time I'd been here, and this might mean he was waking up!
I moved my chair closer to the bed. "Kenshin?" His eyelids fluttered, but remained closed. "Kenshin, come on!" Again they flickered, this time revealing a bit of bright violet. I put my hand on his healed one, squeezing it softly. "Come on Kenshin… please…"
His eyes fluttered open, and he focused on me slowly. He blinked slowly, trying to keep his focus on me. His eyes suddenly widened. "K-Kaoru?"
I squeezed his hand, clutching it to my cheek. "Oh Kenshin, I'm so glad you're awake! I was so worried about you…"
I looked back up to his face, shocked to see his eyes still wide and confused. He looked down at himself, running violet eyes along his still slightly injured body, his wrapped chest and heavily encased left hand.
"Oh Kami…" I murmured, my own eyes growing wide. "You can't understand me can you?"
He just kept staring at me wide-eyed, and I knew that was the case. He had no idea what I was saying; it seemed the only thing he could understand was his own name, and mine. He had said that after all.
I sighed. Life was going to get a lot harder now. But I would be there for Kenshin, just like I always had been.
