Chapter Two: Et Mortuus Est

I groaned as I reached over to punch my alarm; it was understandable, since the awful noise was keeping me from sleeping. Of course, I was supposed to be waking up, but…

I'd spent the last week at the bakery, before and after school, learning from Pops how to make many different kinds of bread. I'd probably learned more from him in the last week than I had in my two-plus years of high school. Anyway, I was beat. "Ugh…" I groaned as I forced myself out of bed and onto unsteady legs. "Well, time to make the bread…" I washed my face and was relieved to feel myself wake up a little more. I went back to my room and, since it was a Sunday, changed into my casual clothes. As I slipped on my shoes to head out, the phone rang. "Dad's with friends, so who's calling now?" I grumbled as I moved to answer the phone. "Hello? This is Okazaki Tomoya."

"Okazaki-san? This is Furukawa Nagisa."

"Furukawa?" When did I give her my number? Well, whatever. "What's up? I'm just leaving to head to your place."

"We…aren't home right now," she replied, and it was hard to miss the pause in her words. "Could… Could you come to Hikaritani Hospital?"

That was the hospital in the next town. "Why? What's going on?"

A longish pause, and her next words come out in a teary stammer. "D-Dad's *hic* in Intensive Care…"

Two minutes later, I was literally running out the door.

The relative cool of the hospital air nearly chilled me to the bone as I hurried through the auto-doors and double-timed it to the receptionist desk. "G-Good morning; I'm here to visit Pops-er, Akio. Furukawa Akio."

A brown-haired girl with green eyes regarded me as she pulled her computer keyboard closer. "Your name, please?

"Okazaki Tomoya."

"Are you family, Okazaki-san?"

"N-No, ma'am," I replied with a shake of my head, probably more vigorously than necessary. "His daughter Nagisa called me and asked me to come."

"I see." As she clicked her mouse with one hand she reached over for her phone with the other, tucking the receiver under her ear to free her hand to tap a couple of buttons. "Hi, this is Sakura at the reception desk? I have an Okazaki Tomoya here. He says he received a request to visit?" Her eyes lost focus, presumably as she listened to the reply. "All right; I'll send him in." She hung up the phone and sent me a bright smile that I was sure was fake. "He's in room 209." Apparently they'd moved him from Intensive Care while I was on my way. "Do you need help getting there?"

"It's the second floor, right?"

"Yes, sir!" She chirped before pointing to a nearby set of elevators. "Up one floor, and it'll be the fifth room on your left."

"Thanks," I muttered as I studied her face; maybe her smile wasn't as fake as I'd thought. "Take care." I got in the elevator, made my way up to the second floor, and headed down the hall to room 209. I was about to burst through the door but thought better of it and politely knocked.

"Come in," Sanae's voice replied from the other side; her voice sounded just as melodious as usual, though understandably less chipper. I entered the room to find her and Nagisa seated next to Pops' bed. "Ah, Okazaki-san!" she chirped. "Thank you for coming."

"Thanks for calling me," I said, surprised in that I meant it.

"We're just glad to have you here," Sanae replied warmly, if somewhat teary.

"They must've moved you," I told Pops as I moved to stand by the side of his bed opposite the women. "When Nag-er, your daughter called, she told me you were in Intensive Care."

"I was, until about a half an hour ago," he wheezed, followed by a bout of coughing, and Nagisa and her mom both winced. I think I did, too. "They moved me here, though, when…" he trailed off with a sigh followed by a light cough, then looked to his wife. "Could I talk with Tomoya alone for a minute?"

Both of the women glanced at me before Sanae spoke. "All right." As they passed me on their way out I was compelled to give them each a comforting pat on the shoulder. Or at least I hoped it was comforting.

"Get over here, brat…"

Pops' voice drew me from my thoughts, and as I approached his bed I realized that he had referred to me as 'Tomoya' when he was talking to his family. I settled into the seat that Nagisa had been using.

"Closer," he grunted with a look of disapproval. "I don't wanna have to exert myself, and it's not like I'm going to mistake you for my wife."

"Sorry," I chuckled self-consciously as I moved to the other seat. "What's up?"

"Not me, that's for sure!" he…joked, I assumed…or hoped. Then he coughed lightly. "Listen, I'm gonna need you to help Sanae a little longer than I thought."

"A little longer?" I didn't necessarily have a problem with the idea, but… "How much longer?"

He swallowed hard, and a tear escaped his eye. "Until she can manage on her own."

"On…her…?" My heart fell. "You mean that…"

He nodded sadly. "I'm a dead man, Tomoya. The docs said that all my smoking has basically trashed my lungs; I think they called it Stage Three cancer. Or Four or whatever. It basically means that they can't do anything for me." He waved a hand, indicating the room we were in. "They have me here to keep me comfortable…until…" He couldn't continue, and my jaw dropped as the big, tough, Furukawa Akio broke down, covering his face with a hand. "I'm so sorry, Sanae…Nagisa…" I reached out a hesitant hand to grip the one not covering his face, and he grabbed it in both of his like it was a lifeline as he sat up in bed and looked to me with desperate eyes. "Promise me, Tomoya!" he wheezed as he lightly shook my arm. "Promise me you'll take care of them! They mean the world to me, and I can't leave them like this!"

The look in his eyes had me relenting immediately. "I…I'll d-do my best," I promised, and I could hear my voice trembling; I had no idea how I could 'take care of them' by making bread, but… "I'll take care of your wife and your daughter to the best of my ability, I…I promise."

He studied me a moment longer, then released my hand to relax back into the bed. "Thank you. I know I'm asking a lot of you, but I know you can do it." He got a faraway look in his eyes. "Could you bring my family back in? I don't think it'll-" He cut himself off with a shuddering sigh, followed by another cough.

"I'll go get them," I told him, reluctantly releasing his hand. "I'll wait in the hall, unless you want me in here."

"Stick around in the hallway," he ordered; then, he gave me what appeared to be a sheepish grin. "I mean, if you don't mind."

My smile was tinged with heaviness as I headed toward the door. "I'll wait just outside, just in case."

"Thanks, brat."

I chuckled at my reassignment to 'brat' status as I headed back out into the hallway, where Sanae and Nagisa sat on a bench just outside the door. "He asked me to send you back in," I told them. "He told me what he needed to…I guess."

Sanae simply nodded, and I figured it was because she didn't trust her voice, though she did give me a brief hug as she passed by; Nagisa, understandably, just gave me an equally-brief bow before following her mother into the room.

With nothing to do for the time being, I headed to the nearest vending machine to buy myself a tea. I then headed back and sat in a chair across from the door to Pops' room while I nursed my drink. As I sat I looked around at the various paintings and small sculptures set here and there. "Hm," was the extent of my assessment of the artworks.

I must have fallen asleep in my chair, because I was awakened to the sound of hurried footsteps, and I squinted in the hallway lighting to see several hospital staff nearly running down the hall. I didn't think anything of it until I saw them rush into Pops' room, and I bolted from my chair in response to a tightening in my chest and followed the group.

I entered a room in chaos; the hospital staff was all gathered around the bed, doing…stuff. I couldn't tell what they were doing. Off to the side stood Nagisa and Sanae, holding each other; Sanae was clearly trying to comfort her daughter. I approached them but stopped, realizing that I had no idea how to comfort them; I'd only known the family for a little while, so I still felt like an outsider.

Fortunately I wasn't left self-conscious for long, as one of the staff came over to us, a young-looking woman in a white doctor's coat. "I'm sorry, but we'll need you to wait outside while we work."

"H-How is he?" Sanae asked in a trembling voice.

"We're doing everything we can for him," she said in a reassuring tone as she laid a hand on Sanae's shoulder. "We just need you to wait outside so one of us doesn't accidentally bump into you while we work."

For some reason, both Sanae and Nagisa looked at me.

"Come on," I sighed as I turned toward the door. "Let's let them do their job."

They both looked back at the mass of chattering humanity before nodding tearily and following me out the door. Once we were out in the hall, Nagisa grabbed onto one of my hands with both of hers. "I-Is Dad gonna be okay?" she asked me with an expression that nearly had me tearing up.

"I…I don't know," I said, choking on a bit of emotion. "But I'm sure they'll do their best." I hesitated to ask, but… "What happened?"

"We went back in the room after you told us to, and talked with Akio for a while," Sanae explained. "He seemed to be fine at first, but…" She briefly covered her mouth with a hand. "He suddenly passed out mid-sentence, and we realized he wasn't…" Her breathing started to speed up, a sign that she was about to lose it. "…he wasn't…"

"D-Dad had stopped breathing!" Nagisa wailed, and I felt her grip tighten on my hand. "I'm scared, Okazaki-san! What if he doesn't wake up?"

I had no idea what to do, panicked as I was, so I did the only thing I could think of; I grabbed her in a hug and held her tightly. "I'm sorry, Furukawa. I'm really sorry; I don't know how to help you."

She stiffened at first, but soon relaxed and let me hold her. "Th-Thank you…" she sniffed. "It helps…knowing you care."

"I do," I replied as I caressed her hair, knowing my words sounded so lame. "I'm sorry this is all I can do for you." I took the opportunity to look over to her mother, who watched us with a smile, though a sad one. "Sorry," I said, quickly releasing Nagisa and stepping away. "Didn't mean to butt in."

"It's quite all right," Sanae sniffled. "I'm not offended, but…could you spare one for me?"

I blinked in surprise at her request; she wanted a hug from me? "I…sure," I managed, glancing over at Nagisa. "You okay with this?"

Nagisa nodded quickly and managed a choked giggle. "I-It's okay."

I awkwardly turned to Sanae and spread my arms, giving her a chance to change her mind. She didn't, though, stepping forward to press into me with her hands on my chest, and my arms wrapped around her almost on their own. She felt really warm – which made sense, considering the circumstances – and she trembled and hiccupped, but she didn't cry.

The door to Pops' room opened and the hospital staff came out; one man in particular, with glasses and slightly graying hair, approached us. "Furukawa Sanae-san?"

Sanae gave me a gentle push, and I released her so she could talk with the doctor. "Yes?"

"I'm Fumio Daiki, your husband's physician," he said, and even I could see the fatigue on his face.

Sanae quickly dried her eyes with her fingers as she turned to give him her full attention. "How is he, doctor?"

I thought I saw an expression of pain flicker across his face before he stepped back and bowed deeply. "I'm very sorry; we did everything we could, but…"

My chest tightened as Sanae looked to the door to her husband's room. "A…Akio…?"

"On behalf of the hospital staff as well as myself personally, I offer you our deepest sympathies," he declared, bowing once again.

Shuddering gasps drew my attention to Nagisa, who stood trembling, her hands clasped tightly and pressed to her chest so hard that I was sure it had to hurt. "D…Daddy…?"

"If you would like, you can come in and see him," the doctor offered, gesturing to the door.

"You two go ahead," I told the women while trying to swallow a lump that had suddenly formed in my throat. "I-I'll wait out h-here for you."

"No, p-please come," Nagisa hiccupped, grabbing my hand.

The intensity of her gaze had me giving in before I could stop myself. "S-Sure."

"How long do we have, doctor?" Sanae asked, and I could tell that she was barely holding back the tears. "I'm sure you'll need the room for others, right?"

"Now, don't worry about that right now," he replied softly as he laid a hand on her shoulder. "Take all the time you need."

She nodded silently, then half-turned to hold her hand out to Nagisa, who quickly took it. "Okazaki-san; would you please come with us?" she asked, not waiting for a reply as the two of them entered the room. I looked to the doctor, who simply smiled affably, before I followed them in.

All of the staff had cleared out of the room, and I immediately noticed that all of the medical stuff had been removed from Pops – er, Pops' body. As I moved closer to the bed, it looked to me like he was asleep, but his mouth was slightly open, and I couldn't see the rise and fall of his chest that one would normally see with a sleeping person. "P-Pops?"

"H-He's gone, Okazaki-san," Nagisa whimpered as she looked into her father's peaceful face and laid her hand on top of his.

I swallowed another lump and looked over to Sanae, who sat on the edge of the bed, holding one of her husband's hands in her lap, and it occurred to me that she had just become a widow; the thought made me feel a little sick. I watched as she traced her fingers across his forehead and down the bridge of his nose, finally settling on his lips.

"M-Mom…?"

A shuddering gasp sounded throughout the room as Sanae began to cry, each agonized sob sounding as though it was being dragged out of her, slowly and painfully. She threw her head back and cried openly as she held her husband's hand to her chest, and I felt part of my soul die at the sight. I watched as Nagisa, crying herself, rounded the foot of the bed to hold her mother, and I felt helpless and paralyzed as I watched a family grieve the loss of one of their own.

I stumbled through the front door into my home, exhausted. Dealing with Nagisa and her mom had been tiring, especially considering that I'd had no experience with… a situation like that. I trudged into the kitchen and rummaged around in the fridge before realizing that I really had no appetite, even though I hadn't eaten since breakfast. Even though it was still early I decided to go to bed, so I headed up to my room and quietly closed the door.

I started to unbutton my shirt, when …

"Hey, you! What are you going to do about this?!"

I smiled at the memory of the first time I met Pops, threatening me to praise Sanae's god-awful bread…rice-cracker wasn't it?

"'Cause if you do, I'mma stomp a mudhole in ya, then walk it dry!"

I could help it: I laughed. I laughed at his lame attempts to threaten me if I didn't basically lie about Sanae's bread. In fact, I laughed so hard that tears leaked from my eyes…only they weren't leaking, they were flowing. "H-Huh?" I croaked, choking on a suddenly-constricted throat as the tears continued to overflow.

I knew what it was: I fell to my knees, my face rapidly becoming a runny mess as I finally gave myself permission to grieve.