Chapter three : A friendly visit

Miroku's POV

He entered the room with Sango at his side, hand in hand. It was dark, but they were use to it now. They took two chairs and sat beside the bed. Sango noticed the new bouquet of flowers and said :

- Ah, I see Kagome bought you some more flowers, Inu-Yasha. She must've come yesterday. Sorry we didn't accompany her, but Miroku and I were on a date, you see ?

She giggled a little. Miroku smiled. They'd had a real great time on their date. Sango had been happy because for once he hadn't tried to grope her. She had given him a long kiss when he had brought her back home. Maybe he wouldn't grope her anymore...

He glanced at Inu-Yasha. Still no changes, the doctors had said. His joyful behaviour weakened a bit. One moment, he wondered how he could allow himself to have fun when his best friend was in a coma... But he dismissed that thought almost immediately. Inu-Yasha would want him to have fun, not grieve for him like if he was dead. Miroku knew it.

He and Inu-Yasha were friends since nursery school. It was a very long time. He remembered the first time he had seen Inu-Yasha. One day, during lunch break, a bunch of little guys had cornered him in the back of the schoolyard. They were little pests that were always making troubles, and today he was their victim. Back then, Miroku wasn't very good at defending himself. He was preparing for a good beating-up, when suddenly this white-haired child had jumped in front of him, almost scaring his attackers to death. Growling, he had told them to «get lost before I start sharpening my claws on you !». The little boys had run to their moms without demanding their rest.

His mysterious saviour had then turned to look at him. He had golden eyes, fangs, claws and puppy ears. A hanyou, Miroku had guessed. That wasn't usual... «What ? Are you afraid of me ?» the boy had asked. Miroku had just stood up and answered with a smile : «No, and thank you for saving me !» The other had just said : «Feh !» and crossed his arms.

They had eaten at the same table that day, and it wasn't long before they became good friends. Miroku smiled. Inu-Yasha was always being rude, but as soon as someone was in danger he would go and help. He was a very complex person...

He looked down at the hanyou's immobile form. Sango was holding his hand, looking sad. "I bet I have the same look on my face" he thought. Even after ten months, it was still hard for them to see Inu-Yasha like that. Kagome had told them that she was still making nightmares about the accident. He hadn't said it, but he too was dreaming of it sometimes. He hated those nights, when he would wake up sweaty and shaky after re-seeing the horrors of that day...

Unnoticed by him, his mind started to replay the accident in his head like a bad movie...

o0 Flashback 0o

Miroku saw the car coming at incredible speed. He heard Kagome and Sango yell at the same time as him :

- Inu-Yasha !

The hanyou raised his head immediately, but it was too late... The car tried to brake... but at the crazy speed it was going, it couldn't stop in time...

The vehicle hit Inu-Yasha full speed, its tires screeching on the pave as it was still trying to stop. Inu-Yasha was ejected in the air before landing harshly a few meters away like a dismantled doll. All the circulation stopped as everyone was getting out of their cars to see what had happened. The pedestrian traffic stopped as well, and people begun to gather around the accident zone. The red car had finally succeeded to brake, its tires steaming, leaving long black lines behind its path.

Miroku and the others snapped out of their shocked state and ran as fast as they could toward Inu-Yasha. A crowd had gathered around the place where the hanyou had landed, and they had to push people aside to get to their friend. When they finally did... they froze in horror.

Inu-Yasha was lying on the ground, on his back, his eyes closed. His left arm was in an unnatural position and a pool of blood was beginning to form under his head, staining his long white hair. He didn't seem to be breathing...

- Someone call an ambulance ! a man yelled in the crowd.

- I did ! somebody else answered. They'll be here in a minute !

Miroku was totally dumbfounded. He couldn't get his eyes away from all that blood under Inu-Yasha's head. Sesshomaru was the first to react ; he went to his brother and fell to his knees beside him. His gaze was unfocused and his hands were trembling. He made a move to pick his brother up, but then Kagome found her voice and said :

- No, don't move him ! We can't move him until the ambulance is here !

She went to kneel beside Inu-Yasha too. Sesshomaru obeyed her and just took his brother's hand, a haunted expression on his face. Kagome was crying madly, her whole body shivering. Miroku felt Sango lean against him. He looked at her : she was so pale it was surprising she hadn't passed out by now. He supported her and tried to stay calm himself. He was feeling sick and had this huge desire to throw up. When he looked at his hands, he saw that they were shaking violently...

The sirens of the the ambulance alerted them that help was here. The big white vehicle stopped beside the crowd, its sirens still on. Two police cars were following it, and went directly to the red sportscar that had hit Inu-Yasha.

Two guys exited the back of the ambulance with a stretcher, telling everyone to make them way. They halted beside Inu-Yasha and told Kagome and Sesshomaru to move back so that they could grab him. They did as told, and the two men cautiously took the hanyou and put him on the stretcher, checking his vital signs. When they brought him to the ambulance, Miroku and the others insisted to come with them.

- OK as long as you let us do our job ! one of the guy said hurriedly.

They nodded and quickly followed. The doors of the ambulance closed on them and the vehicle rushed to the hospital, its sirens shrieking...

o0 End flashback 0o

Miroku shook himself up. He hadn't wanted to remember that. Believe it or not, it was still painful. Those images were haunting him. He was still wondering if he could have done something to save Inu-Yasha, to get him out of the way in time... But he was always coming back to the same answer : no. There was nothing he could've done. And it was so unfair...

He looked at his friend and tried to cheer up while saying :

- You'll never guess where I took Sango for our date ! To the restaurant ! It was great, we ate lobster, sushi and something else I don't know about... Anyway, Sango said that it was romantic. The girl is soooo in love with me !

Sango hit him on the head and he smiled sheepishly. He was just teasing her and she knew it. They were doing that all the time, and it was kind of cute. Miroku took her hand in his and she clenched it tightly.

After that, they stayed silent, just watching Inu-Yasha breathe. It was relaxing in a way, and they were often doing that when they would come to see him. Just be there, holding his hand, without talking. Just be there. Waiting.