Woo hoo, after a month the next chapter is finally out! Hope you enjoy this one.
Chapter 8:A Night Before The Storm
"Chii is going to work!"
"Take care and be safe," Hideki replied as he watched her waving her hand and trotting away. He had grown to respect Chii's incredible patience over the last couple of weeks. It was amazing how she was able to wait for him to come back after school and work until late at night without turning insane from sheer boredom.
Hideki rotated his wheelchair around and rolled over to his desk. He opened the top drawer and pulled out a small plastic box. The cover came off easily, revealing several spools of thread, a few needles and a miniature pair of scissors. With his other hand, he pulled the larger drawer underneath and extracted a large object. Despite many weeks of work, he was still not finished and today was the deadline. Hideki prayed that if there was any god out there in the universe, he would finally complete it before Chii returns.
"You want to learn how to sow?"
Hideki scratched his head in embarrassment. "Well, I don't have many things to do in a wheelchair and I thought I could try a new hobby," he said with a nervous smile.
Ms. Hibiya sat on a small sofa next to him. Cups of tea were laid on a small wooden table in front of them. She picked up the pot filled with tea and refilled Hideki's cup.
"May I ask if it is for any particular reason?" She enquired.
"Um, it's not a really big reason and I'm a bit embarrassed of it," he laughed it off.
The landlady couldn't help but smile at his futile but in her opinion, cute attempts to hide his true motives. Hideki wasn't very good at keeping secrets and just watching his attempts amused her to no end.
"Is it for Chii?" She asked again knowingly.
"Ah yes, wait no! Errr, well maybe," he muttered. In his mind, it just seemed strange for a guy to sow for a girl he liked, let alone a persocom. He was probably the first one to ever do such a task in this entire city or maybe the entire world.
Yet, he wanted to give her something special after all that has happened. He wanted to show his gratefulness to her patience, love, and understanding even if it as little as offering a pair of socks. And somewhere in the back of his mind, he came up with the idea that handmade gifts are special because it was something he made and no one else.
"Of course, no one could replicate anything you make. I doubt your craftsmanship can ever be copied by anyone," he thought bitterly to himself.
"You have certainly been planning this for a while," Ms. Hibiya commented, breaking Hideki out of his thoughts. She pulled out and observed large drawings with detailed markings and measurements from his bag that he proffered.
"Ah, I kind of did this before when my dad and I built our own furniture back at the farm so it became a habit of mine I guess," he fidgeted with his hands uneasily as she scrutinized every diagram.
"Well, I will most certainly do my best to help you," she replied warmly. "I have some time so do you wish to begin now?"
"Ah, yes please! Thank you very much!" He bowed over and over again.
"It's finally finished," he said with relief. He didn't want to be too vain but in his opinion it didn't look too shabby for a first attempt. Then again, Ms. Hibiya did help him a lot whenever he was confused about something which happened too frequently.
"What is all this cotton for?" he asked with interest, staring at the rather large pile of cotton situated on the center of the table.
"That is for later," she replied, "we won't need it at this moment."
"Oh okay then…, whoa! What is this thing?" He exclaimed with fascination. "This is a strange looking tomato….," Hideki noted as he brought it up to eye level.
"That is to hold the needles for later use," she picked it up and wrapped the strap around his wrist. She let out a light chuckle as he continued scrutinizing it as if it was the latest thing in fashion.
"Huh?" His head turned and saw the landlady with a hand covering her mouth and trembling in mirth.
"Uh, what's so funny?" He asked with a confused expression.
She finally recovered and regained her posture. Ms. Hibiya looked at Hideki kindly and replied, "The way you are acting reminds me so much of Chii."
"Eh?"
Hideki set his finished product on the desk and replaced the last needle back on the 'tomato' on his wrist. He leaned back in his wheelchair and glanced at the ceiling, lost in thought. "I remind her of Chii?" Technically, in seven hours they would officially live together for one whole year. Chii had learned a lot and mimicked many of Hideki's 'active' mannerisms so it could be possible that he adopted some of hers.
"It's already been a year, hm?" He mused to himself.
His eyes caught sight of an already opened white envelope on his desk. It was an annoying hassle to go down two flights of stairs to go down to the mailboxes and then ascend back up to his room. He could ask Chii to grab the mail for him and she would willingly comply, but he felt that doing any tasks for his sake was too much considering that now she became their only steady source of income. Thus, Hideki tried to do as many things as he could do by himself despite her protests.
His hand picked it up and absent-mindedly twirled it between his two fingers. It was a notification to visit the hospital as soon as possible so he did without Chii's notice.
"Ah, I'm glad you're here. We have just received your most recent x-rays and it will probably be in your best interest to know what your current situation is," the doctor said.
Hideki wheeled himself in front of him and watched as the doctor took out several photos and pinned them up on the wall. He began to feel a sense of foreboding and that what was going to happen next will not be favorable.
The doctor did a double take when he saw the x-rays himself and looked positively bewildered at the results. He stepped closer to them and scrutinized one particular photo though his expression did not change. Hideki started to sweat from the long silence for what could cause this kind of reaction to a trained professional?
"U-um, what is it?" Hideki asked finally, unable to handle the tension anymore.
"Well, it seems….," he started but trailed off.
Another pause passed by. Hideki felt millions of mad butterflies in his stomach and it was becoming difficult to breathe calmly.
"I-I-it seems?" he asked again, the deafening silence was torturing him.
"Well….," he started again, "it seems you have a baby," the physician replied nonchalantly.
"Oh is that it…….WHAAAAAT?" The injured patient couldn't believe his ears and stared at the man now readjusting his glasses to take a closer look at the name located on the bottom right corner of the concerning x-ray.
"Oh wait, hold on just a minute," the doctor opened the door and screamed at the top of his lungs. "JOHNSON! GET OVER HERE NOW!" From the corner of Hideki's eye he spotted a younger man run with top speed and skidded to a halt in front of his superior.
"You were supposed to hand me Mr. Motosuwa's x-rays but instead you switched it with a Mrs. Tibbleton!" The elder doctor infuriated. "How did you possibly screw that up?"
"Uhhhh, well that is an interesting story. Uhhhh, you see it all started when my buddy and I wanted to know which one of us can drive a wheelchair faster down isle number twelve…." the one named Johnson made the most clueless face as he pondered.
"Shut up, you even have it in your hand! Were you going to give that to Mrs. Tibbleton?"
"Uhhhh," he answered again.
"Give me that!" He snatched Hideki's scans from the young medic and handed the other photos to him. "Give this envelope to Mrs. Tibbleton right now for god knows what will happen if she finds out that her baby was really an outbreak of polio or gonorrhea or something!" He shouted furiously.
He slammed the door behind him and walked back to the wall as if nothing happened and pinned the new photos on the wall. Hideki was half-torn from shock that his fate was determined by this hospital's residential staff and whether he actually had polio or gonorrhea. He stared at the now calm physician in front of him who had not long ago closely resembled a saber-toothed tiger with a toothache.
"Now, this is what your current condition stands," he began.
During the entire lecture and the next couple of hours, Hideki mostly did not understand a single word of jargon from the man in front of him. The only thing that awakened him from his half-dazed stupor was the mention of an 'artificial heart'.
"Wait, what did you say? I need a heart?" He finally spoke with a snort.
"Yes, from your condition it has been decided that you need an artificial heart," the doctor replied.
"Er, will this hurt much?" Hideki asked nervously.
"No it won't. You will be unconscious during the operation however I won't pretend that there is not a significant risk involved. The worst case is that you will die, but I believe it is minimal," he said in a matter-of-fact tone. His way of speech sounded like he was merely replacing a tire on an old, beaten-down car.
"This is why you are required to stay in your chair at all times. Do not attempt to do any strenuous exercises that could bring your heart rate up or the operation will be more dangerous," he stated very seriously.
Hideki thought to himself for a long time during his trip back to his apartment. When he reached to his destination, he was still unsure of whether to tell Chii about his current situation. It would do no good to make her even more worried than she was now. He just couldn't ruin her happiness now that they were finally living together.
"Besides," he said, trying to convince himself, "it's not like this time is a real life threatening situation. He said the risk was 'minimal' right? This sort of thing is probably a simple task for a trained professional right?"
His mind racked back to the memory of the two medical 'professionals' and their previous bickering.
"I'm going to die," he stated, his head hung over.
The beeping noise of a clock awoke him from his thoughts and he immediately wheeled himself to the window. He had set the alarm for when Chii would be returning home and sure enough, she was smiling joyfully with a waved hand. Hideki could not help but smile back as he waved to her as he watched her dart back to the apartments.
Then it occurred to him that he did not clean up yet.
"Oh no, I forgot!" He shouted and he immediately attempted to roll back to his desk through all the clutter on the floor. He heard her footsteps drawing closer as he shoved away all the sowing materials into a drawer.
"Ouch!" he said in surprise. His left index finger accidentally pierced itself on one needle and a bead of blood was appearing. He hid his hand from sight and shoved the drawer back as the door opened.
"Chii has returned home!" she exclaimed with glee and immediately pounced on Hideki, causing him to reel back from the collision.
"Waaaaaaahhh!" Hideki hooked his right arm around her as she landed on top of him and they both rammed into the wall with a thud.
"Welcome back Chii," he greeted warmly. This became a daily occurrence so he got used to her very enthusiastic receptions.
Chii popped her head up and gave a charming grin; Hideki placed his right hand on her head and rubbed it affectionately.
Then they both heard a growl from Hideki's stomach. Chii pressed her ear against it and stated, "Hideki's stomach is talking." She looked up to him and asked, "Did Hideki have anything to eat?"
"Eh?" He looked back to the clock and it shown 4:30. "Oh, I guess I was so busy that I forgot to eat something," he observed.
"That is not good!" Chii said suddenly and quickly pushed his chair to the kitchen. "Hideki needs to eat and get energy!"
"Chii, I'm okay you don't need to make me anything right now! You must be tired from working all day," he protested, but Chii shook her head vigorously and replied with conviction. "Hideki needs food and be healthy again!"
"I…oh all right," he relented. Chii can be forceful when she needed to be, especially when it came to Hideki's health. But it proved just how much she cared for him and he was grateful for that.
As the ivory-haired persocom pulled out the pots and pans, she noticed Hideki's limp arm hovering above the floor. He immediately tried to hide it away, but her eyes were too quick and saw a red trickle from his finger. Chii took his hand in hers and asked quietly, "What happened to Hideki's hand?"
Hideki attempted to brush it off as if it was nothing. "Oh that, uh, it's nothing you should be worried about Chii. I just um, pinched uh…myself…accidentally," he finished lamely.
"Does it hurt?" Chii's amber eyes gleamed with intense concern and Hideki could feel her stare burning into him.
"Um, just a little…, but its okay! I'm going to get a band-aid," he pointed to a cupboard above him.
"Chii will get it," she lifted up on her tip-toes and her arm reached for the cupboard, opening the doors and grabbing a metal canister with the word, 'B-Aid' on it.
"Yeah, that's the one. Now the way to do it is by pulling back this slit of paper and then pressing it right here," he instructed as he applied the band-aid on himself under Chii's watchful gaze. "See? All better," he said, now showing the bandaged finger.
Chii gave a tender hug around his midsection and affectionately placed her cheek on top of his head.
"Chii is glad," she replied with relief.
Hideki felt an oncoming blush and he quickly tried to act nonchalantly. "U-um, come on Chii. Let me help you cook something," he said, attempting to divert the focus from his small wound.
Chii nodded and continued setting up the cooking utensils while Hideki pulled out the vegetables and frozen meat. He let out a sigh and was even more uncertain to let her know about the surgery if this is how she reacted to a punctured finger.
In no time at all, they had completed their preparations and Hideki took the first bite of a piece of nicely fried steak.
"Mmm, this is good! Your cooking is incredible!"
"Chiiii," she purred with content as Hideki speared a fried shrimp mixed with egg and bits of green onion with his chopsticks and mixed it with a wad of rice. He drank a gulp of orange juice to clear his throat.
"Hey Chii, I have something to tell you," he said clearly in a serious tone.
"Chi?" She looked at him intently.
"It's really important so I need you to listen to me closely," he continued.
Chii watched him take a really deep breath. She had never seen him so serious before in all their time together and waited, anxious to know what he was about to say.
"What is it Hideki?" Chii asked curiously.
Hideki looked at her squarely in the eye and spoke slowly. "We have been together for a long time right?"
Chii was momentarily confused at the sudden question, but she nodded her head. There was this sense of uneasiness and it made her shift her weight uncomfortably.
"Well," Hideki scooted over to her and gently squeezed her hand, "it has been exactly one year since we've been together and I have a little something for you." He reached down under the crook of his desk and pulled out a large brown teddy bear with a red ribbon tied around its neck. "Happy anniversary Chii."
Chii looked completely shocked and it took a while for her to crack out of her frozen state and take the offered bear in front of her. It never struck her that today was their first year anniversary. She had known that it was a special occasion from watching the television, but she never knew that today was the day. Chii looked up to Hideki beaming at her and she broke into a beautiful smile.
"Thank you Hideki!" she cried with delight and squeezed the bear tightly. Then with the bear still in her arms, she hugged Hideki with just as much force.
"Your welcome Chii," her joy was so infectious that he smiled just as brightly.
Chii pulled herself back and looked saddened for some reason. "But….," Chii started, "Chii never got a present for Hideki…," she spoke earnestly.
"It's all right Chii," he replied honestly. "My present is right here," Hideki scooped her up in his embrace and planted a warm, tender kiss on her lips. Chii could feel her body softening up and melting in his arms.
"Chiiiii," she sighed happily and nuzzled into his warmth.
"For now, tomorrow does not matter," Hideki thought. "I want to spend tonight just like this and forget about what will come. For tonight, I want to only be with Chii."
First of all, I will apologize to anyone with a medical background for my lack of experience or the behavior of physicians because I don't know squat about anything.
So will Hideki tell Chii about his upcoming heart transplant? Will Chii ever find out? Will Hideki actually survive the surgery? These questions and more will be answered by the next chapter. Geez, I sound like a TV drama narrator.