Chapter 15

A Daughter's Disappointment

AN: Sorry about the delay, just got really busy between birthdays, holidays, and work of course! I usually don't try to make it a long pause between chapters and I know it's been months. Sorry Sorry Sorry! Anyhow, enjoy, this one is short, but I promise I'll keep up now and try to wrap it up quickly as well.

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Kaoru and Kenshin walked silently through the cold, sterile hospital corridors. The front receptionist had given both of them passes to proceed and her father's room number.

Her mind raced with a million different thoughts as she tried to figure out the predicament she was in. The air in the hospital was cool and had a distinct smell to it. This only helped to further upset Kaoru's stomach and suddenly she felt like she would loose her lunch.

"Argh, what do I say to him? Should I…hug him? Okay, one thing I definitely can't do is cry! Be strong Kaoru! Oh damn, what about Kenshin? What do I say about Kenshin? I can't ask Kenshin to stand outside the room, he's the whole reason I'm here! But what to tell Dad? Should I tell him that he's just a friend? Maybe just quickly say how he was nice enough to give me a ride here? Yeah right, he'd still go nuts about it! Argh, damnit!"

The thoughts ran in a blur and Kaoru didn't even notice her and Kenshin entering the elevator. The sterile, stainless-steel doors quietly slid shut and Kenshin pressed the 5th floor button.

Kaoru was still a nervous wreck and looked over at Kenshin. She saw him looking at her with sympathy and encouragement in his eyes. He was the whole reason she was even able to be here and she still wasn't sure if that angered her or warmed her heart.

"It's okay Kaoru, I'm right here okay?" Kenshin smiled at her and gave her one last hug of encouragement as the elevator stopped at their floor.

They walked hand in hand down the white walled and cold tiled hallways. Kaoru looked around through the open room doors at the occupants. Room after room contained one or two sickly and frail looking men and women. Some were having their lunches, others were staring at the television set mounted high on the walls, and others were simply laying there staring back at the passer bys.

The smell that radiated from the rooms was overpowering and Kaoru fought a light-headed, dizzying feeling. The two kept walking and she read the room numbers, searching for 516. They turned a few corners, and Kaoru began to be overwhelmed by the time it was taking to finally find him. Her stomach was still knotted and she couldn't help but keep staring into every room they passed.

"They all look so sad. I guess no one visited them…" she thought. The feeling of guilt and sorrow surged through her and she felt a lump forming in her throat. She thought about the past few days and how her father had spent them unable to leave a place like this. Her anger towards him was still present, but the thought that her own father had to spend his time alone and isolated like this shattered her.

"How could I have run around having fun like that, while he was…was here?" she hated herself for the split feelings about the man. One minute he enraged her and the other minute she felt sorry for him.

While still fighting a silent battle within herself, Kaoru was suddenly brought to a stop. She looked back and noticed that Kenshin had stopped in his tracks and was still holding her hand.

He looked over at her and indicated towards the room just ahead of them to the left. Kaoru read the room numbers on the plaque and looked back at the pass the nurse had given her. They both read Room 516.

Kaoru looked back towards Kenshin as he stood right next to her. He held her face in the palm of one hand and kept his other hand still closed on hers. "Go in Kaoru" he whispered, "I'll be right here."

Her heart pounding in her chest, Kaoru stifled all the uncertain thoughts coursing through her. She crept up to the open door of the room and silently walked in.

There he stood in his hospital robes, half the man he once used to be. She saw him unable to stand upright as he used to before, and he looked as a soft breeze would blow him over. He was looking out the hospital window and Kaoru felt the warm sunlight flood the room. The lights were off, but everything was visible clear as day.

He turned after noticing someone enter the room, and golden brown eyes met his daughter's sapphire ones. The look on his face was placid now instead of the angry glare that she was so accustomed to seeing. His features were weary and the brilliance and luster in his eyes was glazed over. She saw an IV protruding from his left forearm and it traveled back to a plastic pouch filled with clear liquid. The room itself lacked much décor except for the small bouquet of flowers by his bedside.

"Hi Dad", she could barely mutter. Seeing him out of bed and actually able to stand after the episode at the house caught her completely off guard. She felt her eyes swell with tears but fought to keep them back.

"I…I…" she didn't know what to say. "Do I apologize for not coming sooner? Should I ask how he's doing? What…"

"Kaoru…" he slowly inched towards her. "Finally you came to see your dad" he spoke softly.

She wanted so desperately to fight the flood of tears that begged to flow, and quickly armed her arms around her father. "When was the last time I gave my dad a hug?" she thought. A single tear slipped from her mental hold and slid down her check. She felt her father hug her back and remembered the times when she was younger. How he would hug her and give her a reassuring pat on the back before every competition. How he would smile and be so proud of her whether she won or lost.

After such a long time she finally felt the same happiness and warmth towards her father. So many weeks and months had passed before she could even look at him without disgust and anger swelling inside her. This was, after all, still her father. Even through the torturous fights and screaming matches, the constant nagging for money and booze, and the constant heartless attitude, Kaoru was still her father's little girl. She still wanted to be his princess and still wanted to see her father as the once strong and proud man he was.

"Don't cry…don't cry…" she held it all back. She wanted to tell her father how he'd left his family in shambles, how much he hurt them through these past few months. He should know that his family still loves him, but he should also know the impact of his addition on those closest to him. But, she held it all back. Knowing full well if she even made an attempt to try and get anything out, it would all just result in a gush of tears on her part.

Her father walked slowly back to his hospital bed and lay down. He was taking deep breaths of air and seemed exhausted from just walking across the small room.

"Kaoru, how did you get here? Where's your mother and Yahiko?" he asked as he lay down.

Kaoru walked over to him and sat in the chair by the bed's side. She'd completely forgotten about the fact that it was Kenshin who brought her here in the first place. "Where is he?" she thought. Immediately, she felt guilty for leaving him outside the room and not even giving him a second thought until now.

She nervously turned her head to look out the open doorway and search for any sign of him. There was none. "What should I tell dad? Kenshin brought me? I came by myself? Damn, should I tell him about Kenshin now? Yea NOW that he's in the hospital Kaoru!" She knew that this wasn't the right time. Her father was still too weak for news like this.

"Ah…a friend dad. Mom is busy at home with something and so I thought I'd come visit you" she lied.

Her father looked up at the ceiling. Kaoru could tell that he was very tired and she asked him a few more questions about how he was and what the doctors said about releasing him.

"Oh you know these quacks. They come in here practically every hour and want blood to do more tests. I think that's the reason why I can't even walk around the place. They take so much damn blood is ridiculous. Every other hour another one of those nurses trots in here and wants more blood. They don't know what they're doing!"

Kaoru was surprised to find him getting angry at the thought of being disturbed so often for more blood tests. She tried to calm him down and his anger subsided just as quickly as it had peaked.

"He still wants everything done his way" she thought, "some things will never change!"

After another few minutes of awkward silence and then more questions, Kaoru felt it was time for her to leave the man to rest.

"Okay Dad, I better get going. You should rest." She rose from her seat and looked down at the frail man in the bed.

"Oh, you're leaving already? Well, why would you want to stay here any longer I suppose?" he replied not even looking at her.

"What the…he just…argh…I can't believe he would say something so…" Kaoru didn't know whether she should be angry at herself for wanting to leave so soon or at him for making her feel guilty. After all, what more could she say to him? He clearly didn't feel sorry about everything he'd done, and was complaining about everything from the moment she'd arrived.

"Dad…it's not that. It's just that…well my friend is still waiting. And I don't want to keep her waiting you know?" She had just lied again to her father. "Argh, HER?" she hated herself.

"Alright, well tell your mother to come tomorrow and find out when these people plan on releasing me." It wasn't a request; it was an order as usual.

"Okay. Bye dad, take care." Kaoru looked at him a few more moments and saw that he didn't even bother to look back towards her or even answer. He simply shut his eyes and lay there.

She let out a soft sigh and walked back out of the room. "He's so…stubborn. But it was still good seeing him I guess."

Shutting the room door behind her as she exited, Kaoru searched the cold white hallway for Kenshin. She saw him sitting in a chair down the hall just a few feet from her father's room door outside someone else's room.

He looked up and saw her walking towards him. His expression gave away all his emotions and she could tell how worried he was for her. Quickly he rose from the seat and walked a few steps to meet her half way.

"How was he?" he asked.

"I'll tell you in a bit. Let's get out of here before he sees us".

Kaoru wanted to rush as far away as possible from his room. "Do I care if he sees Kenshin and me? Probably, probably not. Should I be angry at him for acting the way he did? He is in the hospital. But, who put him there? Damn!"

The two walked in silence back to the elevator and Kenshin didn't say a word as they rode the car to the first floor. After the returned the visitor's passes to the receptionist, the two walked in silence towards Kenshin's car.

Kaoru's mind was still a whirlwind of hundreds of different thoughts. Her heart swelled with anger, guilt, fear, and also relief. She felt a weight lifted from her shoulders but at the same time she still had the same questions as before.

As they approached the car, Kaoru stopped and looked towards the beautiful Saturday afternoon sky. She felt the breeze blow through her hair and longed to just float far away from her life. Still fighting her tears and emotions, she looked up and saw Kenshin standing in front of her.

His hair danced in the wind but his gaze remained unmoving from her. "What happened? What did he say?" he asked softly.

Kaoru could no longer meet the intense gaze of his eyes and looked down. She felt her face grow hot and felt a familiar lump forming in her throat. She wanted to say something, to at least answer his question, but feared that she would choke at her own words and nothing more than a cry would come out.

Kenshin moved closer towards her and gently braced his index finger under her chin. He lifted her head slowly up and made her look at him.

"Look at me Kaoru" he waited till her eyes met, "tell me what happened".

She stood in silence as her eyes filled. She tried desperately to look away, but his grasp on her chin was firm.

"Argh, don't cry in front of him again…God…why is he doing this?" she thought.

"Kaoru," Kenshin spoke "I'm not going to let you go anywhere until you tell me what happened". His tone wasn't threatening or demanding, but strong. He was true to his convictions and continued to hold her chin and then gently swept some of her stray hair away from her face.

That was it. That was the last straw. After holding herself back for what seemed like forever, Kaoru wasn't strong enough any longer. She felt blazing searing-hot tears wash down her face and she broke down in his arms.

END CHAPTER 15

Hehe…how did you guys like it? I know, I know, I know…you probably want to kick my butt for taking so long to put up another chapter. There were just a million different things going on including: moving offices, PC at home totally crashed and burned, holidays, one very special b-day that passed in January, and the usual daily chores! LOL

This chapter was started a while back, but I lost a portion after my computer died. So I had to rewrite most of it. A lot of this was based on Kaoru and her pops. Don't you just hate it when parents do things that are so damn insensitive! Anyhow, I know it seems like she's crying to Kenshin for everything, but remember that she's never really opened up to anyone about her problems at home. Also he's right there by her side supporting her and insisting she tell him what's troubling her. Even if he is being a bit stubborn in his ways of persuading…lol.

Next chappy will be up soon---I PROMISE!

Please review and let me know what you think so far. Thanks for sticking in there…Arrrigato – Love Always!