Author's note: Hi! Thank you so much for your reviews ! I can't even answer it all now, there's too much and I'm kinda busy... So I'll just say a BIG thanks to all of you, and maybe I'll try to answer some of the reviewsin the next chapter, OK ? Right now, here's chapter eight... Enjoy it !

Chapter eight : Welcome back

Inu-Yasha's POV

For all he could remember, he had never slept so deeply in his whole life. There was no dreams, just a black empty world where evrything was calm and silent. He hadn't realized it at first, but now his consciousness was kicking in, and he became aware of his strange surroundings. It was a very weird feeling indeed... He could say he was sleeping, but for some reason he couldn't wake up. He was troubled... When you sleep, you're not suppose to be able to tell yourself : «I'm sleeping». Wasn't that right ? But Inu-Yasha could do just that. And it was just... weird.

Well, now he wanted to wake up. So he tried... Wait, you're not suppose to try to wake up. It's automatic. So why was he forced to struggle like that just to open his eyes ? Something was definitely not right... He heard a moan. It seemed very close. Wait just a minute... it was his voice ! He had just moaned. And he could hear it... So, he was awake ! Or was he ? Then why was everything still black ?

Then he saw it : a light, probably coming from outside and whatever place he was in. It was glowing through his eyelids in a reddish shade, and it was giving him one Hell of a headache ! And then he noticed... that his senses were back, all of them : he could hear every noises, smell every scents, he could even feel that he was lying on some kind of mattress. A bed, maybe ? He could also say that there was other people around him, but he pushed that information aside for the moment. His first priority was to wake up... All he had to do was open his eyes.

Who would've thought that moving your eyelids could be so damn diffucult ? He turned his head once, than twice. Bad idea. He felt the pulsing in his head grow worst, like if someone was playing drum on his temples. He slowly raised his left arm and held his forehead in the palm of his hand. It didn't help, and his arm immediately fell back. Why was he feeling so weak ? No kidding, JELL-O was probably more solid than him right now ! He didn't like that. It made him nervous... He was too vulnerable...

He tried to calm down. No need to panick. If someone had wanted to hurt him, they would've done it by now... He relaxed and took a deep but shaky breath. He needed to concentrate. He gathered all of his strengths (which wasn't much) and focused it on one thing : opening his eyes.

It worked. Slowly, his eyelids finally separated. For a second, he saw nothing... Fear seized him : had he gone blind ? But suddenly, light attacked his pupils. Surprised, he blinked a few times, trying to get use to it... and to forget the throbbing in his head. His vision was blurry, and it took some time before he was able to ajust it.

The first thing he saw was the ceiling. White. Then the walls. Also white. But it was dark in the room. Actually, there was only a dim light coming from his left. How could a faint light like that have hurt his eyes so much ?

- Inu-Yasha ? a soft voice suddenly said.

That... was Kagome's voice ! He quickly lowered his gaze. And he saw them ; Kagome, Sango, Miroku and even Sesshomaru were all gathered around his bed... yeah, that was indeed a bed he was in... and they were staring at him with a strange expression on their faces. Inu-Yasha didn't like to be stared at. It was making him blush... And this time was no exception. He felt a bit stupid. Normally, he would've told them to stop, but something was telling him that they had a good reasons for staring. So he shut his mouth. But then Kagome asked again :

- Inu-Yasha ?

Yeah, that was his name, what about it ? He wasn't deaf. He had heard her the first time. "But you didn't answer" said a clever voice in his mind. "Oh yeah, I forgot" he thought back. Jeez he was slow-minded today ! Was it because of his headache or because his body (and so as his mouth) was feeling like JELL-O ? Anyway, now he had to answer Kagome. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse and low due to its lack of use :

- Ka... gome...

His mouth was as dry as the Sahara. Maybe even more. What he would give for a glass of water right now ! He started to wonder why he was feeling so sore and weak. It sure wasn't normal. But he was interrupted in his reflexions when he suddenly heard a sob. He looked back at Kagome... She was crying. Oh great, what had he done this time ? He hated to see her cry...

But then he heard another sob... and it wasn't Kagome. He looked at Sango ; she was crying too. Miroku's lower lip was trembling and his eyes were glittering with unshed tears. Damn, even Sesshomaru looked just about to go for it ! What the Hell was going on ?

"Maybe I'm still sleeping after all..." Inu-Yasha tought, more than a little confused.

No one's POV

Kagome didn't know it was possible to be so happy. So happy that it hurt... So happy that she wanted to cry all the tears in her body and then some more... So happy that she wanted to laugh and sing and dance all at the time ! Although she wasn't sure about dancing, because her legs would probably not be able to support her. Thanks God she was already in sitting position !

She kept staring at Inu-Yasha, not yet believing what her eyes were showing her. But it was true : Inu-Yasha was awake, he had spoken to her, he was really OK !... More tears rolled down her cheeks. She took his hand and crossed her fingers with his. She gave him a bright smile of pure happiness and, benting down, she kissed him lightly on the mouth. Then she whispered softly :

- Welcome back my love...

Inu-Yasha didn't know what he had done to deserve all these attentions, but he sure wasn't complaining about it ! He smiled back to her and squeezed her hand. He decided not to speak, it was hurting his throat. But Kagome understood. She always did.

Miroku and Sango approached the bed as close as they could, never letting their sight away from Inu-Yasha's face. Sango was so overwhelmed by her emotions that she couldn't find her voice. So she just smiled at her friend through her tears and gently took his free hand. As for Miroku, his heartbeats were going so fast that he couldn't even count them anymore.

- You took all your sweet time, you big meanie ! he said to Inu-Yasha.

But his warm tone and his joyful smile were denying the harshness of his words. The hanyou raised a brow, a bit lost. What did Miroku mean by that ? He had not the slightest idea...

All caught up they were in the moment, they didn't notice that Sesshomaru had got up, a strange expression dancing on his features. Kagome was the first to remark him, standing still beside the bed and staring at his younger brother like if he could make him move with pure force of will. Kagome then looked at his face and she understood. Turning to her friends, she beckoned them to back off a little. They gave her a questionning look. She glanced back at Sesshomaru. Miroku and Sango followed her gaze and quickly saw what she meant.

They took a few steps back and waited. Kagome gave her boyfriend a small kiss on the cheek, then she released his hand and moved away too. Like if he had waited only for that, Sesshomaru stepped forward and took her place beside the bed. He looked Inu-Yasha right in the eyes ; golden met golden. For a moment, no one said nothing, curious to see what would happen next.

- Sessh ?... Inu-Yasha finally said weakly after a few minutes of silence.

Then Sesshomaru did the last thing they expected him to do : he bent down, passed his arms around his brother's shoulders and pulled him to his chest. He hugged him tightly, not even paying attention to the tubes on Inu-Yasha's arms, he hugged him like if his life depended on it. The hanyou was so shocked that he couldn't think properly. Was Sesshomaru really... hugging him ? It was kind of great...

The older demon was trying hard to suppress the wave of emotions that was washing over him like a tsunami. He tightened his embrace and breathed Inu-Yasha's scent to convince his cloudy mind that his brother was truly OK.

- You little fool ! he whispered, never loosening his hold. Don't ever do something like that again !

He wanted to sound angry but his voice was trembling. He lowered his head so that his bangs were hiding his face. Tears were forming in his eyes and he didn't want anyone to see it.

Inu-Yasha frowned for a second. What was everybody talking about ? What had happened to him ? He wanted to know ! Like to answer his silent question, something clicked in his mind and a flow of images suddenly poured into his head...

He dropped his wallet... Must go get it... The red car... The collision... The pain... The fear... And then all went black...

Inu-Yasha started shivering. He didn't notice, but Sesshomaru sure did. He looked down at his little brother and saw that he was crying softly. The hanyou raised his hands and gripped his shirt, his quiet tears quickly turning into painful sobs. "He just remembered !" Sesshomaru thought. "I... I made him remember..." Great, now he was feeling guilty...

Sesshomaru stroke his brother's hair, trying to sooth him. When the others realized what was going on, they came closer and tried to calm Inu-Yasha too. But something was wrong : the hanyou wouldn't stop. He was becoming more and more panicked and didn't seem to hear them. Sesshomaru could smell it in his brother's scent and hear his furious heartbeats, much too fast for his health. He was getting worried, that whole thing couldn't be good. Still holding Inu-Yasha, he ordered :

- Someone press that button and call the doctor ! Now !