One week later
For every day of that week, Rangiku had gone in at least once a day to see Rukia. She would spend hours talking to the sleeping girl about anything and everything.
Rangiku was not the only one to visit Rukia that week. Rangiku remembered running into Byakuya twice. She was just as surprised each time. She wondered how often he would go visit Rukia. Did he go see his younger sister as many times as Rangiku did? Did he also have trouble falling asleep at night because he was so worried about Rukia?
Captain Ukitake, as well as Sentaro and Kiyone, stopped by every now and then. Renji would go see her during his lunch breaks.
But despite how much each of these people hoped Rukia would finally wake up, nothing changed. She still wouldn't wake up.
Toshiro and Rangiku were in the office. They were spending yet another day hard at work. Today, they were reviewing the files of the new graduates who hoped to join the Tenth Division.
Rangiku put down the file she had been reading over and huffed.
Why hasn't Rukia-chan woken up yet? she wondered.
The older woman shook her head at herself before picking the file back up. A few days ago, Isane had told Rangiku that there was no reason to worry just yet. Rukia's condition was not getting worse, which was always a good sign. Her organs were healthy and functioning. All her tests were coming back normal. She just needed time to rest and recover.
Yeah, that's it. She just needs time.
Rangiku was about to flip the page of the file she was reading when a Hell Butterfly entered the office through an opened window. The butterfly flew to her and delivered its message. At the end of the message, Rangiku sat at her desk with her mouth and eyes wide open. For a moment, she couldn't move. Before Toshiro could ask what was wrong, Rangiku shot up and ran out the door.
"Ok, Rukia-chan, take a nice deep breath...again…again. Good. Can you look at my light? Ok, now follow it with your eyes, and try not to move your head. Good. Can you touch each finger to your thumb, one at a time? Yeah, like that. One more time, please. Good job, Rukia-chan. Now, can you dangle your feet over the side of the bed? Nice and slow. Take your time. Do you feel dizzy, light headed, nauseous?"
Rukia shook her head.
"Any pain?"
She shook her head again.
"None at all? Not even at your incision site?"
Rukia's eyes wandered over to Byakuya. His face was as passive as always.
"Rukia," he said, "answer Lieutenant Kotetsu honestly."
She gulped. "It feels weird. It's not painful, but it just feels weird."
Isane nodded as she wrote in her notes. "Since it's not burning or causing you any pain, I'd say it's nothing to worry about just yet. But if it does become painful or if this weird sensation doesn't go away after a few days, you must let me know." Isane turned to Byakuya. "Rukia-chan's vitals are normal. And from what I've seen, her motor functions haven't been impaired. Her incision is healing nicely. This is more than what we could have hoped for. However, since we still don't know what could have caused this sudden illness, we aren't going to try to get her onto her feet just yet. We'll proceed with caution and continue monitoring her closely. But she's doing great, Captain Kuchiki. We are going to run a few more tests, but I believe she'll be out of here in a few days."
Byakuya didn't say anything.
The silence made Isane anxious.
"Uh, yeah...So, that's everything. Do you need some time to talk with Rukia?"
Before Byakuya could answer, the door slammed open. The three looked to see who it was. There stood a breathless and sweaty Rangiku Matsumoto. Her eyes, now full of tears, were fixated on Rukia.
Byakuya cleared his throat. "Rukia, is there anything you need from the Manor?"
She looked at Rangiku a second longer before shaking her head. "No, Nii-sama. Thank you."
"Then I will be on my way. Thank you for your hard work, Lieutenant Kotetsu," he said as he made his way out. Byakuya paused at the door. "Lieutenant Matsumoto," he greeted.
Byakuya had never once spoken a word to her before. And Rangiku would have been surprised, had she cared enough to do so. There was something more important than Captain Kuchiki at the moment.
"Rukia-chan!" she sobbed. Rangiku ran to Rukia with arms wide open. She squeezed Rukia tight and swayed her back and forth.
Isane panicked. "Ah! Rangiku, let's take it easy on Rukia-chan for now!"
Rangiku let her go and rubbed her puffy eyes.
"Thank you for calling me, Isane," Rangiku sniffed.
"Huh? What are you talking about? I didn't call you."
Rangiku was confused. "You didn't send the Hell Butterfly?"
"No…"
"Well, if you didn't, then who did?"
Rangiku was bothered by this. She wondered who could have possibly sent the message to her. Then finally...
"No!" she exclaimed. "No way!"
Rangiku leaned over Rukia so she could look out the window. There, she could see Byakuya walking away from the hospital.
"What is it?" Rukia asked.
Rangiku looked for another second. "It's nothing, Rukia-chan." She sat down at the foot of her bed. "I'm so happy to see you're all right! You had us so worried."
Rukia nodded. "Isane explained to me what happened, but I'm still confused. I have to idea how all of this could have happened."
Isane smiled. "Rukia-chan, don't worry about that too much. You let Captain Unohana and I worry about that. For now, all you have to do is focus on getting better."
"Thank you, Isane. And thank you, Rangiku. I don't know what I did to deserve friends like you two."
"We're the lucky ones, Rukia-chan," said Rangiku.
Isane nodded.
Rangiku suddenly gasped loudly. "Oh, Rukia-chan! Guess what!"
"What?" she asked.
"The Evaluations are starting soon!"
Rukia's eyes brightened. "No way! I totally forgot about the Evaluations. Wait! Shouldn't you two be preparing?" Rukia was mortified. "What are you two still doing in here with me? You should go back to work!"
"Don't worry, Rukia!" Isane said. "I asked Captain Unohana if our third seat could cover for me. I wanted to stay here to check on you."
"And I was helping Captain look over the trainees' files, but I left as soon as I got word you had woken up. Captain can manage without me! I wanted to be here with you!" Rangiku said.
Rukia wasn't convinced. "I really think you two should go. This is an incredibly important time for the Gotei 13. And you two are lieutenants! Your divisions need you more than I do." Right when she said that, she remembered something else. Rukia groaned.
"What's wrong?" Isane asked.
"I was supposed to help Captain Ukitake with the Evaluations for our division! I totally forgot!"
The two girls giggled.
"Rukia-chan, it's fine!" Rangiku insisted.
"I'm sure Captain Ukitake will understand," Isane laughed.
"Yeah, and we're just fine right here with you!" Rangiku added.
"No! You two should go! I'll be fine!" Rukia insisted.
Right then, the door opened. Ukitake walked in, a huge smile on his face. "Rukia!" he exclaimed as he rushed to her side to give her a warm, gentle hug.
Rukia sat still and enjoyed the warm feeling of her captain's arms around her. Her heart fluttered. There were few people who could put Rukia's soul at ease with something as simple as a hug. Captain Ukitake was someone who never failed to make her feel safe and comfortable.
Ukitake had been so relieved when he got the good news. As more days went by with no change, the worst case scenario became scarier and all the more possible to him. Ukitake, nor his two third seats, could imagine a world without Rukia, their most devoted and most hardworking subordinate, in it.
The older man thought back to a couple months ago, when he truly believed Rukia had lost all trust in him. He knew that what he had done was wrong. Yes, his intentions were good. But going behind Rukia's back, betraying her trust, and forcing her to accept help was wrong. He knew that now. But back then, he didn't know what else to do. And he almost paid dearly for that. It took a long time to gain Rukia's trust back. And he knew that their relationship was still not where it was before. But he knew that, one day, everything would be like before. Maybe even better.
But with Rukia's sudden mysterious illness, that possibility was almost taken away. The thought of never being able to fix their superior-subordinate relationship was something that had kept him up at night. It was a feeling he never wanted to feel again.
Ukitake breathed out in relief. He felt a weight being lifted from his chest. He was so relieved that he still had the chance to make fixing their relationship a reality.
"I came as soon as I heard. I'm so hap-"
Rukia pulled away from Ukitake and looked up at him. "Captain!" she gasped. "Aren't you supposed to be preparing for the Evaluations?"
"Yup."
"Shouldn't you be reviewing all of the recruit files?"
"Yup."
Rukia gawked at him. "Well, then what are you doing here?"
"I left," he stated simply.
"Captain!" She couldn't believe him.
"What? I wanted to come see you! Besides, I left Kiyone and Sentaro in charge." Right after those words left his mouth, Ukitake realized what a grave mistake he had made. He slowly shuffled towards the door, a nervous chuckle coming from his mouth. "Maybe I should get back there. It's so nice to see you, Rukia. I will come back later, ok?"
She smiled. "All right, Captain Ukitake. Could you bring Kiyone and Sentaro with you when you do?"
"Of course!" he said right before he ran out of the room.
The three girls laughed.
"Rukia-chan, you're so lucky to have a man like Ukitake as your captain. My captain is always so serious and angry," Rangiku laughed.
"Rangiku," Isane chuckled, "maybe if you did your work, Captain Hitsugaya wouldn't be so angry all the time."
"I have no idea what you're talking about! Why are you two laughing? Hey, come on! I do do my work...most of the time. Stop laughing! Rukia-chan, Isane!" she whined.
Rukia was laughing so hard that she was crying. She was holding her stomach.
"Maybe we should stop joking around," Isane tried to say through all of her laughter. "We don't want your incision to open up, Rukia-chan."
Once everyone had settled down, Rukia turned to Rangiku. "Speaking of Captain Hitsugaya...do you think you could take me to see him? Not right now, but some time soon. I understand that his quick thinking saved my life. I would really like to thank him."
Rangiku smiled at her friend. She pulled her into a hug and placed her chin on top of Rukia's head. "Of course I can, Rukia-chan." She squeezed her one more time before getting up. "I'm gonna go back to the office. Rukia-chan, you get some rest. I'll be back later today."
Isane got up too. "I will also go check to see how they're doing with the recruit files. If you need anything, press the call button, ok? You are on strict bed rest! Understand, Rukia-chan? Do NOT get up on your own for any reason at all."
Rukia nodded. "I understand. Thank you so much, the both of you. I'm so lucky to be able to call you two my friends."
"Aww!" they gushed.
