The room was spinning as Inuyasha did his best to blink, eyelids heavy, his gaze foggy. His body was protesting conciseness and he didn't know why; In his haze, he could see people dressed in scrubs- they must be doctors- rushing about in a blurred motion, deep lines of worry etched in their faces; just watching them was making him sick, that had to be the reason his stomach felt like it was filled with lead. He tried to sit up, to lift his head enough to get a scan of the room- were they even in a room? A series of doors and hallways kept passing, making the hard task see impossible. His instincts were screaming danger, his nose twitching at all the scents, the overpowering stench of Clorox mixing with everything. In an instant, a frail nurse had come to the rail of his bed, leaning over him without warning, wrinkled hand pressing on his shoulder in an effort to keep him down; even odder it fucking worked. How had that happened?

It was a man now, and Inuyasha wasn't sure how a human could move that quickly. Was life lagging? The overhead light was nearly blinding as he stared up, shaking off the half a dozen hands that were now gripping his shoulders; the doctors terse orders to lie back, the call for restraints on his tongue as he scrunched his thick blonde brows in concern or exasperation, all of it was giving him a headache, making his blood boil. He somehow found the strength to shrug them off, trying to find the only thing that mattered. He just wished the room world would stop moving, it'd make it a hell of a lot easier.

"Wh're-?" He slurred, trying to find her in the sea of color. Fuck his head felt like it was splitting apart. She had been there just before. They had been in her bed, he was sure of that. She had kissed him, fucking devouredhim whole, she couldn't be far, she had to be-

"I'm here!" She gasped, panic laced in her voice. He hadn't been scared before- not until he heard the way her voice crack, the desperate way she tried to get his attention through panting breaths. She was gripping his hand, giving it a firm squeeze to get his attention. She had to push through an orderly he didn't even know was there, attempting to make him lie down. "Stop!"

He heard hear her cry, immediately bringing his attention to her figure. He had long suspected Kagome was magic, some witchery coursing through her blood; how else could she have enchanted him so completely? He had no idea her powers extended to the rest of the world. One simple command from her, and the world stopped blurring. His eyes looked lost and wild, pupils large, glossy.

"I'm right here, Inuyasha." Her hair was falling all around he and for the first time since he woke up, the walls seemed solid.

"Magic." He commented so low she hardly heard him. Kagome bit her lip and took a deep breath. The voices were telling her they needed to move, that time was limited. And just like that, his surroundings were too nauseating to look at. It was so noisy and smelly here. It was hard to knit two thoughts together. He wanted to go home, to their home.

"We're in the hospital, Inuyasha." She said, rushing to keep pace with the rest of the room. "They're rushing you into surgery, but they're afraid. You have to stay calm Inuyasha."

His response was more of a hiss than an answer.

"Promise me." She begged, her hand gripping his so tight it almost hurt. "Promise."

His brain was trying to catch up. He must be on a stretcher, the double doors up ahead must be for him.

"You'll be here?" He asked, shakier than he wished.

"Of course." Her words sounded wet, sad. "I'll be here when you wake up."

He swallowed. "I promise. Don't worry."

The stretcher rushed through the double doors, a nurse turning back to Kagome, explaining that this was as far as she was permitted. They'd let her know about the surgery when there was an update. In the mean-time, administration needed details and would be on their way shortly.

~.~

It was a tumor, located in the frontal lobe. At least, that's what the young doctor with the clear clipboard told her. She asked if Inuyasha had experienced confusion, loss of time or disorientation. If she had noticed mood swings or personality changes, loss of restraint, anger and aggression. The seizure was just another symptom of the growing tumor that was known to effect long term memory. She asked again if she had seen any of these markers, pushing her silver rimmed glasses up as she studied Kagome, waiting for an answer.

She had, of course, she had. She had written his mood swings off as him being temperamental, of just having bad days that became more frequent and worse. Equated his loss of interest in her and their relationship to his growing infatuation for Kikyo, never considering that it was a personality change; it seemed out of the norm for her fiancé to treat her the way he did, to say the cruel words that came out of his mouth, to leave her in tears as he walked out the door. She had never imagined that he was hurting just as badly as she was.

The doctor explained the frontal lobe, its link to behavior and how a tumor of its size must have been hard to live with. It may not explain all of his behavior, he was, after all, a normal person and no one is perfect, but if there was an instance that seemed really out of character for him, it probably was the tumor.

It was hard to sit with that knowledge; hard to sit and wait, hard to swallow and process everything that was happening. He had forgotten the past months, forgotten their break up, forgotten the way he treated her.

He loved her, loved her then and maybe, loves her now.

Kagome didn't want to justify his actions with a medical illness, but in her gut she couldn't help but wonder- did they breakup because of his tumor? Did she turn her back on him when he needed help, too hurt and focused on her own feelings to even stop and think 'does this make sense?'.

He was so young and healthy; he loved to boast about his immune system and superior health anytime someone so much as sneezed; no one would ever suspect a tumor.

It was easy to let her thoughts run away, to blame herself, to go down the road of worry.

There's little else to do when you have to wait.

~.~

When they cut into his skull, removing the mass, the doctors were shocked to find how large it was. It baffled the specialists, how they could have done so many cat scans and MRI's from his head trauma, and still never picked up any trace of the tumor. Their best guess was that his hanyou blood, his half demon health had been constantly battling, chipping away at it when his powers were strong, but never enough that it would simply go away; By the time of the new moon, the doctors suspected that there was little to no mending happening. But just as he had the ability to heal quickly, his demon side made illness' more dangerous and potent. The tumor probably grew so rapidly because he was a hanyou. As long as the tumor remained, it was able to regrow.

It was a catch 22.

One doctor also suspected that given his extensive brain trauma from the accident, it may have slowed or progressed his tumor and its effects. There really was no way to know; they suggested the people in Inuyashas life make a diary of things that could possibly be related to the symptoms and work from there. Therapy would be crucial; the support worker was keen on that. Apparently many families never recover from the emotional damage of the disease.

~.~

She looked uncomfortable, face buried in the crook of her arm, cradled in what he could only assume was in an attempt at comfort. Her other hand held his, fingers draped over this long ones, the heart rate monitor glowing blue.

She was here, and that was what mattered.

He wasn't sure what happened, wasn't sure about much else other than the splitting headache he had, but if Kagome was by his side, he was sure it couldn't be that bad.

~.~

The first thing he thought was that his hair had finally grown back; if Inuyasha had thought that the haircut from the previous surgeon was rough, this guy was a butcher. Kagome kept reassuring him that he could pull off any hair style, and that he looked quiet handsome bald; but the whole thing left him feeling more self-conscious than he cared to admit, especially knowing how much his girlfriend loved to play with his hair. Hopefully, this would be the last time he would need a cut so close to the scalp; He promised her that he would grow his hair out for her, vowed to never cut it again. Kagome laughed and it sounded like music, lightly saying she would grow out hers too, for solidarity reasons, of course. She couldn't let her boyfriend be a martyr.

It was nice to be her boyfriend again.

They had tip toed around the term for a few days, unsure of where their relationship stood or if they even had one. But when a nurse had off handedly called Kagome his girlfriend she rolled with it, and they took it from there. He asked if it bothered her, and she blushed, shaking her head no. When he smirked, she slyly reminded him that he had not asked her out, so it technically wasn't accurate.

He was quick to remedy that, bringing her delicate hand to his lips, amber eyes burning as he gave it a kiss and asked if she would join him tonight for hospital jello.

How could a girl say no to that?

They had revisited it, the matter of marriage, but decided to take it slow. In truth, Inuyasha would have asked the priest that preformed last rites to come and marry them then and there, but he understood Kagome needed time. She trusted him, so she said, but he knew it would take time and actions to heal, to make up for the damage he had caused.

Kikyo had come by, worry in her eyes, even if she held her chin up proudly. She said she was glad he was okay, happy he found the cause of his unhappiness; he could remove it as easily as he removed himself from her life. Inuyasha cringed when she said that; she had a way of twisting his emotions and making him feel bad for her, bad for himself. Even if he couldn't remember their time together, it was clear she was in pain.

Maybe that was how she wrapped him up, pulled him in and lured him away. Maybe she really was the temptress he imagined her to be in his mind pre-diagnosis, maybe she was a hurt woman looking for comfort in any creature she could find, or maybe it was the tumor that made her appealing and lowered his inhibitions. He couldn't be sure.

He did assure her that his happiness and choices were his own business, and that regardless of what caused him to make those decisions, they were his to live with. The consequences were tough, but he wanted to make them right. He sent her off with a last warning, to find someone to love that was available. She deserved to be happy, but it wouldn't be with him.

Koga was another matter; Kagome worked with the bastard and he wasn't too thrilled to be dumped. He seemed like the kind of guy who had never been on the receiving end of a break up and for a while he didn't handle it too gracefully, giving her the cold shoulder at work, even causing some of the cattier teachers to take sides. After a while, Koga settled down. He had been hurt, but understood. According to the wolf demon it was hard to compete with an ex fiancé with brain damage. The sympathy factor would always draw her back in. Kagome had wanted to rebuttal, to correct him that her boyfriend was just fine now, but she kept her mouth shut and sipped her coffee, happy to call a truce and let work be work again.

~.~

It took a while to get back home.

The hospital was reluctant to release him, waiting a minimum of 2 months to monitor and observe his medical condition. It was pretty rare, it turned out, for a demon to get a brain tumor; rarer still, for a half demon. Once he was out of the woods, so to speak, the doctors were excited to study and learn as much as they could about him. Hanyou medicine was an up and coming field, and the research they conducted with Inuyasha would benefit generations of hanyous for years to come.

Or at least that's what the doctors spouted.

All he cared about was that they were giving him MRI's often and covering his medical bills in exchange for letting them publish their studies. It was a win-win really.

It was lonely, of course, and hard as hell to be away from Kagome. But she visited every day, brought dinner and binged the Great British Bake Off with him in his hospital bed. He was running out of Netflix shows by the time he was discharged, and he didn't even know that was possible.

It was a different experience leaving than it had been the first time.

Kagome had walked through the door smiling, a hot coffee waiting in her hand for him, large balloons in the other. She had made a fuss, as promised, and quickly flitted around the room to get any left over belongs for him. She was as anxious for him to leave as he was.

The nursing staff was happy too- they had grown to like Inuyasha in his second stay. They had been warned and on guard when he was admitted, waiting for the violent demon who could rip through any restraint to emerge, but he never did. The woman he had been calling for then was there now, and it made all the difference in the world.

When he left the first time, Miroku had taken him to his place, given up his couch without complaint.

The second time was different; Inuyasha wanted to drive, but Kagome insisted. The ride to their apartment was quiet, filled with fresh air and smiles. He liked it infinitely better.

In true Kagome style, she had decorated the apartment, a welcome home banner strung up over the doorway.

The house smelled like her, fragrant and sweet. The walls were covered in photos of friends and family, framed pictures of them through the years hung and displayed proudly. They had a decade of memories to show off, and Kagome had never been shy about that. She had even included new ones, the hospital backdrop less romantic than when they went to Niagra falls, but he was happy to see it.

Inuyasha closed the door behind them, watching as Kagome ran around nervously, anxious to make him comfortable. He had to keep reminding her that he was okay. He had brain surgery, not complete limb amputation. At this point he didn't need to be waited on, he had done all his recovering at the hospital. Right now, he just needed her to sit still.

He just needed her.

Inuyasha followed her to the kitchen, standing behind her as she leaned over the sink, stretching for a mug that was a little out of reach. He reached around, looping his arms over her stomach and pulling her small frame against his body. She stilled then sighed, leaning back into him.

He was glad to be home.

~.~

Thank you everyone for reading! I started this story as a one shot- one I didn't think was even well written- I was very surprised (and shocked, flattered) to find people had an interest in it. I cant thank you enough for taking your time to read my story!

I didn't expect to finish this in one chapter, but It just happened. Hopefully it doesn't feel rushed- my plan was to reveal the diagnosis and wrap it up from there.

This story has a personal element for me; my mother had a frontal lobe tumor, and has had it since I was in middle school. It is too small to be operated on, but large enough that it causes serious intense mood swings, headaches, nausea, memory loss, aggression and personality changes (ones so bad that people have distanced themselves for the unacceptable things she says and does). At this point, its hard to remember what she was like before the tumor. The doctors refuse to operate until it reaches a certain size, despite the severe side effects. If someone you know or love seems to be doing things that are really out of character, don't be so quick to dismiss them or accept it; obviously, people change, say and do things that are upsetting, but if it seems very out of the norm it could be a serious medical condition.

I hoped everyone enjoyed the story, and thanks again for reading!