Forgotten and Alone
Chapter Six
When Aya woke the next morning, he was disoriented and a little sore. He was aware he was naked and in a bed that wasn't his own but couldn't remember much of anything else.
Had Yohji finally coaxed him into going to a club and he went home drunk with someone? Did he sleep with a stranger that readily? Looking around he found a pair of pajama pants on the edge of the bed and grabbed them, noticing when he slipped them on they were very loose though the tag said they were smalls. When had he gotten so thin?
Shaking his head at the strange images that popped into his head, he set his feet on the floor and stood. And promptly fell on his face.
The door to the bedroom opened and a man with blond hair and glasses walked in still whipping his hands on a dishtowel. Aya's brain supplied him with the name Berkeley and the reason he's so familiar- he lived here, with this man.
"Good morning sleepy head," Berkeley said picking Aya up off the floor and set him on the bed. "Sleep well? Or would you have preferred on top of the bookcase?"
Aya stared at him as if he was crazy.
Berkeley paused then sat on the bed next to him. "Are you alright Aya? Did I hurt you last night?" he asked with real concern.
Aya shook his head trying to find his voice to ask what happened and why his memory kept coming in flashes and strange images of living on the streets and everyone ignoring him. And why, exactly, he had the urge to meow and purr and walk like a cat.
Berkeley ran his hand over Aya's hair then kisses his forehead affectionately. "Maybe you should go back to sleep. I know you probably don't want to go back to the living room after last night, but I've got it cleaned up and you can't smell the gunpowder and blood anymore. At least I can't."
Aya frowned, what had happen last night? He had sex that much was apparent; he could smell it lingering in the room and on the bed. But he lived with the man, so maybe this isn't the first time they've had sex. That didn't explain, though, why he shouldn't want to go into the living room. The uncertainty must have shown on his face for Berkeley gently laid him on the bed with a soft kiss.
"Don't worry love; we'll be gone before that man can come back. Your former co-workers are here helping me move. I found an apartment near them so if you want later, you can visit them." Berkeley said gently running his fingers along Aya's scalp in a soothing manner. "Why don't you sleep for a while, we're almost done with the living room, then you can go in there; the curtains will be up until tonight."
Aya looked at him confused, why would he care about the curtains and why wasn't he being asked or told to help them pack, it seemed only fitting he lived here after all. But he was already falling asleep again under the assault of those gentle caresses; Berkeley seemed to have a lot of experience with putting him to sleep.
When he woke again, he could hear people working in the other room. The bedroom was dimly lit, though Aya had no problem seeing everything thing as if under the bright sunlight in afternoon. Tired of being in bed Aya crawled onto the floor. His legs are still too shaky to hold his weight upright, but crawling on hands and feet seem to work better then walking ever did.
Carefully he made his way to the window and gripped the curtains in his hand. He had a moment of hesitation as a nagging feeling that this was a bad idea entered his mind, but chose to ignore it. He flung open the curtains.
Aya then screamed as the light pierces into his eyes to his brain. He fell back, wrapped his arms around his head protectively, and continued to scream, as that wasn't enough to hide his eyes from the light. The bedroom door slammed open followed by loud cursing. The curtains were closed and strong arms picked him off the floor and dumped him back on the bed. Eyes tightly closed, Aya can't see Berkeley go to the bathroom and take out a bottle of eye drops and wet down a hand towel with cold water.
"What were you thinking?" Berkeley scolded forcing one of Aya's eyes open and let two drops fall into the slightly burnt eye, and then did the other before laying the towel over his eyes. "You know its still day, why do you think you can't go into the living room, the curtains are open."
"Why?" Aya cried unknowing that this is the first time he's spoken in over a year.
He heard an intake of breath then another curse, "Just don't move, the pain will pass, but you're photosensitive so don't try to open the curtains again." Aya nodded a little half afraid of the retaliation if he doesn't agree to what Berkeley had said. Instinctively he knows the man won't hurt him, but also remembers other people he knew wouldn't hurt him that did anyway.
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"What happened?" Yohji demanded when Berkeley came back into the living room, shutting the bedroom door behind him.
"He remembers." Berkeley said simply. "He opened the curtains and got a nasty surprise, so that tells me what he remembers is before all this happened. But since he also recognizes me he's retained some memory of what happened to him."
"Damn," Yohji muttered glad Omi and Ken were down stairs loading the moving van. "What does that mean? Is he going to be like he was or is he more damaged then before?"
"I don't know," Berkeley said honestly, "We'll have to tell him what happened, and then start the process of rehabilitation in speech and walking." He frowned, thinking of someone that might be able to help. "I have to make a phone call."
Two hours later Dr. Nao Kasa walked into the nearly empty apartment. Aya was on the couch with the towel still over his eyes allowing Ken, Yohji, and Omi to finish packing and moving out the bedroom. The young man greeted Berkeley politely then went to the couch and knelt beside it. He introduced himself to the redhead then took the towel off his eyes. Carefully he checked the violet eyes over watching as the pupils barely dilated in the light and Aya flinched away from its source. He checked over the rest of the redhead's health, announcing that he was underweight but other wise seemed to be healthy, he is indeed photosensitive, there is a therapy to correct this, but it also damages the sight and isn't recommended for such an extreme case. He gave Aya dark sunglasses, but says even these wont help much in direct sunlight, but should in buildings with a lot of florescent lighting.
Then he sat down with Berkeley and asked what happened in the last twenty-four hours to make such a dramatic change it's a little hard to explain but Berkeley manages a story about a burglar trying to molest Aya while he was in Heat, hurting and scaring him. Dr. Kasa looked at the redhead clearly not experiencing the plight of Heat a raised an eyebrow.
"We had sex." Berkeley confessed.
The young man nodded with a manner only a professional could manage. "So either the burglar or the sex triggered a turn around." He said impassively.
"I would say so, but he was acting more human the entire time." Berkeley said.
Dr. Kasa nodded, "That sounds reasonable. Sometimes things we can't control triggers a need for familiarity, be it an action or a memory. With the Animal Ka sometimes the action is a memory that brings the person back to themselves. He will have the Cat Ka for the rest of his life and will be more like a feline, but with remembering who he was he can be more human as well. Of course this means he will need extra attention as he physically and mentally adjusts to his new self."
Berkeley nodded, "I intend to give him more attention then he can stand."
The young doctor smiled. "Well just remember he's still a feline and they like their space. And only do something when they want to." He went back over to Aya who has been glaring at them through the pain of his head the whole time. "Does your head still hurt?" he asked reaching out to touch him.
Aya growled in warning.
Dr. Kasa chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes. I'm going to give you a shot for the pain; it will hurt, but it will make you feel better."
Aya growled at him again as he motioned Berkeley over and instructed him to turn the redhead over and suggested to hold him still. The blond held on to Aya tight as the doctor filled a syringe with a clear fluid then lowered Aya's pajama bottoms. The injection sight was cleaned then the needle carefully inserted into delicate tissue. Aya yowled clutching to Berkeley as he tried to move away from the needle. The cat really didn't like needles.
Once finished Dr. Kasa bandaged the sight, out the pants back in there proper place and patted Aya on the head. The redhead curled up on Berkeley's lap whimpering pathetically. Berkeley shook his head but held Aya close as the doctor told him to call if there were any more problems. Dr. Kasa saw himself out the door.
After sunset, they were ready to move Aya to the new apartment. Yohji drove so Berkeley could hold the frightened redhead and opened the doors so Aya didn't have to try to walk.
Bordering between cat and human the redhead wandered around the apartment for a bit smelling everything around him. Mostly everything had been unpacked leaving only personal items to be placed. The furniture had been moved more or less in the same spots as the other apartment and even the blankets and cushions on top of the bookcase were where they had been. Tired from earlier but not wanted to be disturbed Aya jumped on top of his favorite spot and curled up for a nap.
He was aware of Berkeley bidding the others good night, but couldn't bring himself to care. He was remembering what happened to him slowly and was mad at them for not noticing him and being affected by what happened. Irrationally he was also mad that they were hurt by his behavior; it wasn't as if they were dumped on the streets like trash for god knows how long.
Berkeley left food on the counter for him then went to bed leaving the door ajar just incase Aya decided to join him after his pout. However Aya stayed on the bookcase for the rest of the night.
When Aya woke the next morning, Berkeley was waiting. He sat in a chair he had moved from the kitchen so he could watch Aya sleep, being patient for the redhead to wake on his own for this confrontation. Aya knew it was coming, he had known ever since he woke yesterday to find he was missing a big part of his life.
Jumping off the bookcase, still surprised he could do that and not get hurt, Aya climbed into Berkeley's lap and waited. It wasn't long before he was crying as the blond told him everything.
And it would still be a long while before he could come to grips with what had destroyed and remade his life one fateful day.
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I know I know I should have updated sooner, but now that part one is betaed thanks to my new friends Anendee and Cassie. So expect regular postings over the next few weeks.
