Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and never will.

Chapter 3

Guilt-ridden

"Doctor, how is he now?" Kagome asked urgently when she spotted the doctor making his way out of the operation theatre.

Slowly taking off his surgical mask, the doctor replied reassuringly, "Your friend seems to be quite a fighter. He had incurred quite some serious injuries but now he is faring rather well. The operation has been successful and his condition is stable now."

Kagome heaved a sigh of relief at his words.

"C-can I see him?"

"Once he is transferred to his cabin."

Turning her head to her side, Kagome stared guiltily at the OT door through which his bloodied body was rushed in on a stretcher last night.

"You have nothing to worry about, miss. He will be on his feet before you know it." The doctor added with a genuine smile before he went off to attend to other patients.

Silently thanking everything that is holy, Kagome took her cell phone out to make a quick call.

'I have to inform Sango about this before she starts to throw a fit for my prolonged absence.'

She listened to the caller tune ring twice before she was met with the voice of a very upset manager.

"Where the hell are you!?" Sango boomed from the other end of the call.

Had it been some other time, Kagome would have retorted with a witty comeback but now the situation was different and she needed her best friend. The whole accident ordeal was too much for her to bear. That pained look, the blood oozing out from his body, those accusing dark orbs….guilt was eating her inside out. She needed someone to console her. To tell her that everything will be alright…that he will be alright and will forgive her.

"Sango…"

The tone of her voice was enough for the dark haired brunette to understand that her friend was troubled.

"Kagome, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

Clutching the phone tightly in her hand, Kagome remained silent while her mind pondered on how to explain the whole situation to her. But nothing worked out and fresh tears welled up in her eyes.

"Kagome, please tell me what is wrong!" Sango pleaded from the other side. "Your silence is scaring me."

"S-Sango, i-it wasn't my f-fault. I-I w-was driving…h-he…blood."

Although the broken words meant no sense to her, Sango could elicit that her friend was in a serious predicament.

"Where are you?"

Kagome replied between hiccups and listened to the dial tone after the other female promised to be there in a jiffy.

Replacing the cell phone back in her jeans pocket, she plopped on a nearby chair and supported her head on the wall. Closing her eyes, she recalled last night's events as every scene replayed in slow motion before fatigue finally took over and she quickly slipped off in a deep slumber.

Kagome awoke with a start when she felt someone gently shaking her shoulder.

"Kagome, it's me!" Sango voiced out urgently and embraced her troubled friend.

"Oh Sango…" Kagome sighed in relief and returned the hug tightly.

Taking the vacant seat next to her, Sango placed her hand on Kagome's. Giving it a gentle squeeze, she pleaded with a soft voice, "Tell me what happened, Kagome."

"Tsu."

The said male winced at the glacial acknowledgment and bowed before his superior.

"Boss, you had summoned me?"

"Update me about Red's progress."

"His last report came yesterday morning. It stated as I quote his words 'The target has been locked'."

Naraku let a small devilish smile creep across his face as he reclined on his luxurious armchair.

"As expected from Red. Not everyone is as worthless as your nugatory brother whose name escapes me. Good riddance though."

"Hakudoshi…boss," was Tsu's stoical reply.

"It wasn't your fault!" Sango exclaimed after she learning about the entire incident.

"Sango, he could have died."

"Let's not dwell on could-s, Kagome. At least you didn't abandon him on the street and left him to die. You rushed to his aid and that is what counts. Very few people would have." Sango reassured her distressed companion.

The raven haired blanched at the mere thought of leaving him behind in such a state.

'That's inhumane!'

She was jerked out of her thoughts when a nurse informed her that she could now meet the patient. Kagome wasted no time in bolting toward his cabin leaving behind a surprised female who then slowly shook her head at her good natured friend's action.

'She can't stop blaming herself…'

The sight that greeted Kagome when she darted through the door made her cringe visibly. Biomedical machines of various types inhabited the room, and in the midst of them lay him on a bed covered in a plain white sheet with an oxygen mask fixed on his face. A bottle of blood hung on a stand that was located right beside the bed and Kagome guiltily as a single tube carried the red liquid from the plastic container to his vein.

The doctor who had been checking his pulse and for any signs of complications replied when he watched her stare at the tube bitterly, "Your friend had lost a lot of blood. This was necessary."

Kagome nodded in understanding and slowly made her way next to the unconscious male. Looking the white bandage around his head, she voiced her thought, "Was this wound fatal?"

The doctor followed her line of sight and pushed his glasses up his nose before answering, "It was serious but it is hard to say what implications it might have until the patient gains consciousness. But I assure you there are no internal hemorrhages."

"Nothing that's life threatening," he added when he saw her confused.

A moment of silence stretched, occasionally broken by the beeping sound of the electrocardiograph, while the doctor carefully noted down his vital stats and Kagome stared at his heart beat that flashed across the monitor.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did your friend meet with such an incident?" the doctor inquired after placing the clipboard of records by the side of the bed.

"It was my f-"

"A car knocked him over when he was crossing the road and Kagome happened to be nearby when this happened." Sango quickly cut her off and all eyes turned on her when she came through the door with an impassive expression.

The persuasion that laced her words was enough to convince the doctor. Deciding that there was nothing more to ask about the subject, the doctor politely excused himself.

"Sango, why did you lie?"

"Quit being a dolt, Kagome!" Sango chastised. "Do you know what would have happened had you told him the truth?! This would have become a police case and the next second, you would hit the break-lines. Remember Kagome, you are a celebrity and this could have seriously defamed you, and if the producers heard a word about it, let me assure they would not have been pleased. Don't forget, you have a movie to shoot."

After letting her words sink in. Kagome nodded in understanding. Sango was right. She had a name to live up to. Higurashi. How that name had always weighed her down. She was soon going to be a public figure and Kagome could not afford to have been defaced.

"But still it feels so…wrong." Kagome groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "It's like I am running away from my sins. I feel like a criminal."

"Stop being so hard on yourself," Sango reprimanded.

"I can't stop blaming myself," Kagome retorted hotly. "Especially not after looking at his condition," she added solemnly after turning her eyes back to his crippled form. "I am sorry, Sango. I just need to hear it from him. Hear it that he has forgiven me. Until then…"

Placing a hand on her sagged shoulder, Sango replied, "I understand. Don't worry, he will."

As if on cue, the man softly moaned in pain and furrowed his eyebrows together. Sango hastily rushed to call the doctor while Kagome clutched his hand as her eyes filled with hope. As if her prayers were answered, he slowly opened his eyes and blinked them to adjust to the blinding light that hit his orbs.

"Can you hear me?" Kagome asked expectantly as she squeezed his hand gently with her own.

The doctor hustled in followed by a panting Sango and replaced his stethoscope to examine his heartbeat.

"He is regaining consciousness and his heart beat is regular."

When those dark chocolate orbs finally adjusted to the surrounding he found three pairs of eyes fixated on him, each one lit with a hopeful gleam.

"How are you feeling now?" he heard a man in a white suit ask him in a practiced manner.

"W-where am I?" he found himself saying and tried to sit up. That made a fresh now jolt of electricity hit his head and he involuntarily winced in pain.

"Lay down. You are hurt."

A lady with big cerulean eyes voiced out this time and he watched how she had held his hand all this while and had no intention of letting go any time soon.

"You are in the hospital. You had met with an accident." The man in white, whom he guessed to be the doctor, replied again.

"Accident?" he repeated with confused eyes.

"Yes. Don't you remember this lady who brought you here?" The doctor asked, now pointing toward Kagome.

Briefly taking a glance at the said female, he replied a soft "no".

A look of doubt spread across the doctor's countenance. Fearing for the worst, he voiced his next question.

"Young man, do you happen to remember your name?"

Kagome veered her head at the doctor, not quite understanding the meaning of such a ludicrous question but the answer she heard made her relinquish her hold of his hand. All hopes of being forgiven, of no longer being guilt-ridden were washed away with that one answer; that one answer whose sound rebounded not only in the room but also echoed in her ears. "…No."

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