Chapter 7 – Life is Short
Many of the patients woke to the shout of calling the ambulance. The doors of patients' rooms opened and either whispering or screaming people streamed out from the rooms to the corridor.
The last sleepyhead was awaken when the ambulance stopped in front of the ward, sirens sounding. Even though the white-coats shooed the patients, they gathered to the windows to see what was happening.
Four ambulance nurses ran in with stretchers, heading straight to Inuyasha's and Miroku's room. Inuyasha pressed himself against the corner and followed the situation - how the ambulance nurses lift Miroku on the stretchers and strapped him with black belts. Then they ran out of the room. Inuyasha could hear them shouting to the patients in the corridor to move it, make way.
Everyone stood at the windows. Everyone except Inuyasha – he had seen enough!
"Miroku..." Jakotsu sniffed with his hand against the window as the ambulace drove away as fast as possible, sirens sounding.
The next morning was quiet. Nobody had been spared of the news of Miroku being taken to the central hospital middle of the night. There were different kinds of gossips going around the ward; but they all said Miroku was dead. The atmosphere was depressing.
There was one patient after Jakotsu to be especially depressed. That was Sango. She had cried in the morning and talked with the doctor. She was even more silent than usually. Kagome didn't know why. But many others did.
Now some the ward's girls had gathered around in Kagura's and Kanna's room. Kanna was a small and silent (even more silent than Sango) girl, the youngest patient in the ward. She lived in her own inside world.
Sango and Kagome sat on Kagura's bed, Kanna sat on the windowsill, and Kagura on her nightstand. Ayame, the thin girl, was there, too. They had gathered up to have a talk – without boys' stupid opinions.
"I couldn't have believed... Of Miroku..." Sango whimpered more apathetically than ever. "Why? He was such of a happy person... I thought he liked life..."
"Did you ever listen to what he always said?" Kagura snorted. "The man just told us yesterday evening that he was gonna go 'home'. And with home he of course meant his own world. I had my doubts. Why the hell didn't I tell the white-coats?" she hissed, frustrated in herself.
"Yes... Why didn't we...?" Sango covered her face in her hands and burst out crying. Everyone flinched. Kagome laid her bony arm on Sango's shoulders, but couldn't make up anything comforting.
After crying for a while, Sango stood up and walked out of the room, sobbing.
"Sango, where are you going?" Kagome asked, but didn't get an answer – she was already gone.
"Poor Sango..." Kagura sighed. "You see, Kagome, she and Miroku had something in common..." she explained with a serious voice. "Sango didn't care of Miroku's strange raving, and Miroku didn't care of Sango's past nor suicide attempts. They ofter sat together on the couches and talked..."
Kagome could almost feel her heart braking. Would Sango get over this?
Later in the afternoon Ayame walked the corridor called the 'center corridor'. She looked out of the windows and thought. She was wondering what was going on. She had felt a bit weak for about an hour. But now she felt her heart pounding faster and faster. She felt heavy and couldn't stand anyore. Quickly she ran against the wall, crashed on her knees, panting. Calm down, it will be okay. Just a little while...
"Yo, Ayame!" a shout was souded from the western side of the corridor. Ayame turned towards the voice and saw Him. Her crush. Those deep blue eyes, strong, long, black hair. The silky, brown tail... He ran to Ayame.
"Ko... ga..." Ayame whispered. Koga knelt beside the girl and took her fragile hands in his fists.
"Ayame! Are you alright?!" Koga asked. "I asked you a question! Answer me!"
Ayame nodded, but didn't convince Koga.
"Shall I get the white-coats? Will you be alright?"
Ayame felt her heart pound faster and faster by the second... Until it stopped.
"Ayame! Ayame! Help, somebody help! Nurse!"
"Hm?" Kagura heard Koga's shout from the corridor. What was going on in there? She and Kanna got on their way towards Koga's voice. And there they saw the tragedy; Ayame lying on floor, Koga by her on his knees, three white-coats around them, one of them trying to bring her back to life by pressing her chest and giving her artificial respiration. But it was useless.
Ayame was dead.
And once again an ambulance was called to the hospital of Kuroshima. And again the ambulance came it's sirens sounding. The other patients were ordered to get in their rooms, out of the corridor. For a while they still tried to be restored to life – but still, no good. Soon she was put down on the stretcher and coated in a white cloth. The ambulance drove away. The sirens didn't sound.
The atmosphere had maybe never been this serious. Never before had two patients died in two days. Miroku – death of drug overdose. Ayame – death of heart attack caused by severe malnutrition. It was almost impossible to believe.
Especially Koga. He kept repeating the scene in his mind. He sat at the end of a corridor, on it's sofa, with a blank face.
There wasn't an actual love affair between them... but still something. A warm friendship, infatuation, but not love. At least that's how Koga felt. Ayame's feelings had been stronger. And now she was gone.
"Koga…" said Jakotsu, who just stepped in front of the wolf boy. He lift his eyes from the floor, straight to Jakotsus's eyes.
"Think of it this way; she got outta here!"
"She gets to her Lord!" Naraku announced in the corridor.
Miroku had a very clear view of where he would get to. Of his own world. He knew the places and the people in there. He had closed his eyes for the last time in this stupid, useless world, hopeful of the place where he would open them. Home.
But the reality wasn't as sugar frosted as he had thought. His consciousness started slowly recovering after the fatal dose of a medicine. He had thought he'd hear music and birds singing. He had thought he'd find himself lying on a summery meadow of flowers.
But he didn't hear birds singing. He did hear steps and machine's beeping. He slowly opened his eyes. He didn't see the sky, but he did see flowers – in a vase on the nightstand. He wasn't lying on a meadow, but in a hospitalbed.
"...What the hell?"
