D/C: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin.

Wow! 21 reviews on my last chapter! Thank you so much! I'm glad you all liked it, seriously! I'm sorry I haven't been replying to the reviews, though, but I barely have time to even write nowadays! Well, anyway, I won't keep you any longer. Enjoy the fifth chapter!

Chapter 5:

'Dr. Takani, are you okay? You've seemed out of it ever since the morning.'

Megumi flashed the nurse a reassuring smile. 'Of course I'm okay; I just didn't sleep well last night,' she told her. 'A good cup of coffee and I'll be as good as new…there's nothing to worry about.'

The nurse nodded, although she still seemed a bit doubtful. 'Well, then, would you care to examine Mr. Andrews? He's been brought in a few minutes ago by his parents…he says he's suffering from a severe stomach pain,' she told her. 'He's in room 6.'
'I'll be right there,' Megumi assured her.

The nurse nodded again and left the room. The door had barely closed when someone came walking in, all smiles and charm and flowers. Sano. Megumi gulped; she knew she was going to see Sano sooner or later, but still, she wasn't ready for it. Things were different now; especially after what had happened last night between them. She stood up from her desk.

'Good morning, Meg!' he said, hurrying forward towards her.

He slid an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. Megumi's heart thudded loudly against her chest as he lowered his face down towards her. No, please, don't…don't…if you do, I won't be able to do it…I won't be able to bre…

Sano kissed her, and Megumi felt herself melting into his arms. And with the kiss, she felt all her resolution fading into air. How did she even think of doing what she wanted to do? It was unthinkable. She needed Sano. She wanted him desperately. She raised her hands to his face, and that's when a voice echoed loudly in her head.

"Miss Takani! That man looks as old as my brother…don't you think it's wrong to be kissing him?"

Megumi felt like she was choking. She placed her hands firmly on Sano's chest and pushed him away from her. Sano stared down at her, but she just looked away from him. He let her slip out of his arms and she sat down on a chair. Sano knelt down in front of her.

'Megumi?' he said uncertainly. 'Is everything okay?'

'Yeah…everything's fine,' she murmured, her hands clasped in her lap.

'Okay…so why are you pushing me away then?' he asked, a frown on his face.

Megumi stared down at her hands. How was she to tell him? Telling him was much harder than she had expected. Oh, God…give me strength. She finally looked up at him. 'Sano…I'm really sorry, but I don't think we should be seeing each other anymore,' she said softly.

Sano stared at her for a few moments. He mouthed wordlessly for a moment, before he finally found his voice. 'What?' he demanded.

'We rushed into things…we're…not right for each other…' she said, averting her eyes from his face. 'I'm seven years older than you…it's wrong for us to be going out together…'

'Megumi, please! It doesn't matter! I won't care if you're twenty years older than me!' he cried, taking her hands between his. 'But please don't say it's over!'

'Sano…it's not right…' she murmured.

'Who gives a damn about what's right or wrong when they're in love?' he said angrily.

Megumi pulled her hands out of his grasp. 'I do, Sano! I do care!' she said.

'But what about everything that was between us?' Sano asked, feeling helpless. 'What about the kiss we shared last night? Don't tell me that that didn't mean anything to you!'

Yes, it did mean something; it meant a lot to me, Sano. 'It was just a moment…' she lied. 'And stuff does happen when you're caught in a moment.'

'Megumi, no!' Sano said. There was a definite note of anger in his voice now. He felt extremely hurt and betrayed; why was Megumi breaking up with him? What had happened to her last night? 'Look me in the eye and say it was only just a moment!' But Megumi was looking anywhere but his eyes. Sano put his hands to her face and forced her to look at him. 'Look me in the eye, Meg, and say it.'

Megumi pushed him away from her. 'No!' she cried.

Sano looked at her for a moment and then he got up to his feet. 'I thought so,' he said quietly. He picked up the bouquet of flowers he had brought in with him. 'Well, it's been nice while it lasted, Megumi. Don't stay in touch, okay?'

He turned and headed to the door. He tossed the bouquet in the bin next to the door and left the room without a second look back at her…and that was it; it was over. Megumi sat and stared at the door through which Sano had left. She couldn't believe she had gone and ended the one relationship that had meant something to her…but wasn't that what she wanted? Wasn't she the one who wanted to end it because of the age difference between them? She had managed to accomplish that…and yet she felt so empty.

Megumi started to cry. Sano…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…

-

Dad, why isn't Miss Takani coming to baby-sit me again?

I don't know, son…I keep trying to reach her, but she always seems to be out when I call her place.

Could it…could it be that she's avoiding me?

Nonsense! Why would she want to avoid you? Unless, of course, you did something bad to her the last time she was here…

No, I didn't!

Okay, so why do you think she might be avoiding you?

…

Sanosuke?

Maybe…maybe she doesn't love me anymore…

-

'I'm sorry, Dr. Morgan…I don't know how I managed to screw up in that operation…I'm really sorry,'

Megumi sat down on a chair and put her face between her hands. She was feeling extremely flustered. She had just come out of surgery room. She knew she had performed really badly in there; she would've almost lost her patient if it weren't for Dr. Morgan. She hadn't been focusing during the operation; all her thoughts had been on Sano. She felt bad for letting her own personal life affect her work.

'Megumi, you okay? Is something wrong? You haven't been yourself since the morning,' Dr. Morgan said, resting his hand on her shoulder. Megumi shook her head. 'Megumi, I know you enough to know that there's something wrong. You don't have to tell me what it is, but here's what I'm going to say…go home, get some rest…I know you'll be better by tomorrow.'

Megumi nodded. 'Thank you, Dr. Morgan,' she said gratefully.

She got up, waved good-bye to the doctor and headed to the doctors' locker room. She reached the room and made straight for her locker. She took off her coat and put it inside, and then she reached in for her purse. She didn't bother checking her image in the mirror before leaving the room.

She headed for the exit, and was almost there when the double doors flew open and a couple of paramedics rushed in, bearing a stretcher between them. Megumi managed to get a fleeting glance of the guy lying on the stretcher as the paramedics passed by her. She saw his face and froze.

It was Sano.

Megumi stared numbly at the bloodied shape of Sano being born away by the paramedics for a few moments before finally regaining control of her senses. Fear rose in her chest. She rushed after them, and grabbed the arm of one of the paramedics.

'What happened to him?' she demanded, feeling close to tears. 'How did he get like this?' The paramedic frowned at her for a moment; Megumi sensed his hesitancy. 'I'm a doctor…and I happen to know this man…what happened to him?'

'He was drunk and he was driving…went straight into a lamp post,' he told her in a rush. Surgeons were now hurrying towards them, stirring the stretcher towards an empty surgery room. The other medic was informing the surgeons of Sano's stats. 'Situation doesn't look good at all.'

Megumi felt her chest constrict. He had gone drinking right after she had ended their relationship…he had gone and done the thing which she hated the most; was he that angry with her? But Megumi couldn't help but admit to herself that all this was her fault. Sano had gotten into an accident because of her…and if things got bad and he…

Megumi didn't want to even consider the possibility that Sano might die. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if he did.

She started to follow the doctors into the surgery room. She wanted to help them. She wanted to help Sano. But someone grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Megumi was ready to fight tooth and nail with whoever had stopped her if they were planning to prevent her from helping Sano. It was Dr. Morgan.

'Megumi, what are you doing here? I thought I told you to go home?' he demanded.

Megumi looked frantically through the glass pane of the door leading to surgery room. The operation on Sano had already begun. 'Dr. Morgan! Sano…I have to help him!' she cried.

'Not in this state, you won't,' Dr. Morgan told her. 'I won't allow you into that surgery room. For all I know, you could cause your friend more bad than good. Leave this to the others. They'll know how to handle the situation.'

Tears stung Megumi's eyes. 'But I want to help him!' she insisted. 'I won't be in the way! I just want to help!'

'I know you want to help, Megumi, but I'm afraid you just can't,' the doctor told her. 'I'll go in there and take charge of the operation…your friend will be fine, I promise…but you're to just stay here, alright?'

Megumi, rather resentfully, nodded her head. The doctor gave her shoulder an affectionate squeeze before turning around and walking into the surgery room. Megumi stepped up to the door and looked at the scene behind it. Her heart thudded loudly against her chest as she watched the surgeons and nurses flocked around his body. She tried to look past them at Sano, but they were completely obscuring her view.

Oh, God…please let him be okay…

-

To Megumi, it seemed as if ages had passed since Sano was taken into surgery. She sat before the room, hands clasped tightly in front of her as she prayed for Sano to be okay. When the doors swung open and Dr. Morgan came out, taking off his robe as he did, Megumi jumped up to her feet and hurried towards him.

'Dr. Morgan, how is…?' she started.

Dr. Morgan managed a weary smile. 'Don't worry, he's fine,' he assured her, and Megumi breathed out in relief. 'Surgery was a bit tricky; he had a concussion and internal bleeding in…'

But Megumi wasn't listening to him anymore. She was looking over his shoulder at a couple of doctors who were wheeling Sano on a bed out of the room. He, indeed, looked terrible; all bandaged and bloodied. Dr. Morgan snapped his fingers in front of her face to bring her attention back to him. Megumi blushed and bent down her head.

He smiled at her. 'They're taking him to the ICU, he's to remain under supervision for a while…just in case something happens,' he told her. 'He should wake up in an hour or so…if you want to be there for him, that is.'

Megumi beamed. 'Yes! Thank you, Dr. Morgan!' she said happily.

She excused herself and followed the two doctors to the ICU. She waited for them to position Sano's on a bed inside a room, before going in herself. She stood over his bed, and felt tears well in her eyes as she looked upon his messed up form. She was over-whelmed by guilt. If only she hadn't broken up with him, then none of this would've happened.

'I'm so sorry, Sano,' she said softly, stroking the hair off his forehead.

She sat down on a chair next to his bed and took his hand into hers. She just sat there watching him as he slept. She wanted him to wake up so she could apologize to him…she wanted to hear his voice again…she wanted him to hold her again…to tell her it was okay…but it seemed to take Sano ages to wake up. But when he did, Megumi had to refrain herself from flinging her arms around his neck.

'Sano…' she whispered.

Sano squinted into the bright light above his head, and tried to sit up in his bed. But Megumi placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back onto the bed, saying, "You should lie down for a while…you only just got out of surgery, you know."

Sano frowned at her for a moment. Megumi felt apprehensive. 'Sano, are you still angry at me?' she choked. Sano didn't say anything. The tears which were welling in her eyes rolled down her cheeks. 'Sano, I'm really sorry…I wish I could take back what I said, but I can't…so all I want now is for you to forgive me…please.'

Sano closed his eyes for a moment, and then he opened them and fixed her in a sharp gaze. 'Who are you?' he asked.

-

A/N: (Drum beat) AH! Now, that adds to the complications, doesn't it? That was unexpected even for me…how? Well, I hadn't even planned to give Sano amnesia until I started writing the last part, and I thought, "Ah! That would make things a lot more exciting, wouldn't it?". Well, anyway, I'll stop talking now…but I want reviews on this chapter, okay?

- S. N. B.