I make my way down the hall of the second floor. Inside one of the rooms is Chiyoko, setting up a medical machine.
"Please, let me help you," I move in to help her carry something.
"No, please, don't stress yourself!" Chiyo kindly refuses. "You mustn't do heavy work in your condition."
"Ah yeah…"
I stand there dumbfounded, feeling so useless. Chiyo glances at me as I'm thinking.
"Something tells me you're not used to doing nothing," Chiyo continues working on the machine.
"Hm? Oh…" I lightly chuckle. "You're right…"
I glance around the room and see its new setup, medical machines and supplies all neatly organized.
"You've really turned this into a nurse's office," I say.
"Everything must be done in this home," Chiyo responds. "From your checkups, to your ultrasounds, to your child's birth… Everything will be done here, so as to keep your anonymity."
"You really don't know anything about me being here."
"No. I only know that my job here is a live-in nurse midwife. Because you're in protective custody, I must not reveal anything to anyone, which is why I'll be living here."
"I feel bad you're trapped here for my sake...I must be keeping you away from your family."
"I have no family here…"
I glance up at Chiyo, seeing sorrow in her eyes for a moment.
"I suppose I should tell you straight out…" she says. "About what happened with my family."
"You don't have to…" I say.
"It's alright. Considering we'll be together until you give birth, we might as well get to know each other," she gives me a soft laugh.
"I suppose…"
"Come. Let's talk over some tea," she leads me out of the room.
We make our way down to the kitchen. Chiyoko fills the tea kettle with water and warms it up on the stove. I take a seat at the table. Chiyoko then places a pill in foil wrapping in front of me.
"Here is your prenatal vitamin," she says. "You'll be taking this everyday until the end of your pregnancy," she then hands me a cup of water. "Possibly until four weeks after."
"Thank you," I nod.
"I'm sure you've got cravings," she then hands me a muffin. "This will help you digest the vitamin."
While water warms up on the stove, Chiyoko takes a seat adjacent to me at the table. I take a bite out of the muffin as I patiently wait for Chiyoko to speak.
"I don't mind living here with you," she begins. "In fact, this is a lovely home."
"It really is," I nod.
"The reason I say I don't mind being a live-in nurse midwife...is because I lost my family."
I listen intently in silence.
"About 25 years ago…" Chiyoko continues. "I lived back in Japan. I had a quaint home like this...with my husband and our son… My son was six years old… My husband and I thought a trip to the park would be a nice activity on a weekend for our family. But that morning, I was too exhausted from long nights at the hospital. My husband reassured me that I should stay home and rest and he'd take our son to the park and get some ice cream. I decided to stay and rest...but was awoken to a knock at the door of our home later that evening."
Chiyoko stands and gets the tea kettle from the stove and prepares the cups of tea. She sets mine in front of me as I remain silent for her to continue.
"It was an officer at the door," she says. "They informed me that my husband and son had died in a car accident."
My brows rise upon hearing this.
"It was a drunk driver," Chiyoko says. "Ran the red light and hit my husband's car… They tried to revive them but they passed away at the hospital."
"I'm so sorry…" I say.
"I've had a lot of time to heal...but the scars still remain in my heart."
Chiyoko takes a sip of her tea and smiles warmly to herself.
"But I know my husband and son live on in my heart," she says.
I nod and give her a small smile.
"Forgive me if this is rude to ask…" I say. "But you didn't remarry?"
"I couldn't find myself to remarry...my husband was the only one for me."
Chiyoko rubs her wedding band on her left ring finger. I suddenly think of Touya and my eyes lower.
"What were your husband's and son's names?" I ask.
"My husband Hiroshi...and our son Kaito," Chiyo responds. "I didn't have anyone else to go to. And so I moved away here in order to give myself time and space to heal… After living here for some years, I just fell in love with Hawaii and decided to reside here permanently."
"I haven't gotten the chance to explore it yet...I'm not sure if I'll be able to."
"Are they really limiting you to this home?"
"The restrictions may lighten, but they need to be strict while all the chaos is happening back in Japan…"
"Ah yes. I did hear about all that...Were you a part of something serious that you had to escape into hiding?"
"Well, I'm a pro hero…"
"Oh! What a surprise."
"I worked under the Hero Public Safety Commission since I was born. I'm practically a soldier," I lightly laugh.
"Since you were born?" Chiyoko raises a brow.
"I was an orphan."
"Oh, I see… It must be difficult not having any family."
"I do have family back at home...though they're not family by blood."
"I'm glad to hear that," she gives me a soft smile. "So I assume there's more to your story?"
"A lot more," I chuckle. "And there's only more to come with my baby on the way," I put my hand on my stomach.
"I'm sure you have a lot of questions."
"A lot!" I smile with a sweat drop.
"Especially as a first time mother."
"Even though I don't know what it's like to be a mother...I know the kind of mother I want to be," I softly smile to myself.
"And the father?"
I look up at her in surprise, then suddenly lowering my gaze in sorrow.
"Oh, I'm sorry if that's prying too much…" Chiyoko worries.
"No, it's alright," I shake my head. "I have a lot of healing to do...and opening up will help me."
"Believe me, it does."
"But I will say that it's a lot to explain…" I rub my head.
"We have all the time in the world, my dear," Chiyoko sips from her tea. "Your eyes...even though they're golden...you can see a lot of pain through them."
I stare at her kind face and feel encouraged to open up to Chiyoko. I take a deep breath and decide to tell her everything that's occured up until now.