"It's been a long time since that bald man and the lady police chief left the hospital" thought the doctor. Miki could be seen sitting on the stool beside Kaori's bed, and Kaori was seeing lying on the bed as she was. It seemed that the faint attempt of Miki to be Kaori's blood donor, had failed miserably. The doctor and the nurses were running to get a proper donor for her, because they knew how critical her condition was. Miki was blankly staring at Kaori, with a crowd of thoughts rushing inside her mind, the center of all of which being Kaori. "Saeba-San, come back quick. Kaori needs you here" was all she could murmur below her breath. To be true, it's almost more than a couple of hours since Saeba san left the hospital. If her calculations were correct, Miki knew that he'd be back anytime now. Just then, she felt a movement in Kaori's hands upon hers. Her gaze shifted up to Kaori's face. Kaori was awake with droopy eyes. "He………..isn't here still………..is he?" she said after a bit of tired grunts. Miki was about to say something, but just then a very known voice came from behind her, near to the door "Hi there Sugar boy!" The voice was cold and calm as ever, but Miki could sense a tinge of happiness and excitement in the voice of the person she knew so well. It was definitely Saeba Ryo. She had no doubt about it. She instantly turned back to see if she was right. She indeed was! Ryo stood at the door. Just then Kaori spoke again, "Idiot!" Miki's gaze turned from the figure from the door to the prostrate figure on the bed. Kaori's eyes were beaming with happiness and her gaze was fixed on the door-frame, she couldn't say much, but her face said even more about her. Ryo came closer to the bed to take a closer look at her. Miki observed that he couldn't even walk straight, he practically dragged himself closer to the bed. Kaori's eyes were filled with tears. Ryo didn't have his eyes dry either. Miki thought it better to leave the two of them alone for the moment. Just as she stood up to go out of the room, Ryo brought a small white cardboard box from below his torn blue overcoat, and held it before her. Miki couldn't grasp the situation at first, but just then the fog in her mind cleared and she rushed out of the room to find the doctor, taking the box from his hands.
"How're you feeling now Kaori?" Ryo said in a soft voice. Kaori had a soft smile on her lips as she raised her hand. Ryo got the clue and grasped her palm in his. "Now I'm alright" Kaori said with the soft smile. Then her emotions changed to serious "Don't you dare……..hit……..on girls…….." she said in between deep breaths. Ryo had a knowing smile on his lips, as if he knew that she would say something of the kind. Kaori now clutched his palm hard as she drifted off into slumber again and at that very moment the doctor rushed in with Miki carrying the small cardboard box in her hands that Ryo had handed over. She came close and stood behind Ryo, "Mister Saeba, she needs blood. Her blood group is a rare one, so we're unable to find a good match up for her. If I'm not wrong, you share the same group as her. Can you help?" Ryo turned her head to face her as he nodded in a yes. "Then please lie down on the bed there while we check out the compatibility of both of your blood groups" she said pointing to the bed on the other side of the room. Ryo shook his head in a NO as he pointed to Kaori's hand clutching his own with a soft smile. The doctor seemed astonished at first, but then she whispered "Try freeing yourself Mister Saeba. And be quick. She needs it real quick" Ryo said "its OK doctor. You can arrange it right here while I'm sitting here on the stool here itself. I'll be fine. And besides, she needs me right here. I know she does." Ryo spoke the last words with his eyes on Kaori. The Doctor had nothing more to say, she just motioned to the nurses to take the blood sample from him. One of the nurses came closer to take the sample. Miki turned his eyes away as the nurse picked his vein, while on the other hand Ryo didn't seem to have a problem at all. He was so busy looking at Kaori that he didn't seem to feel the pain at all.
Miki San looked at the couple in awe. All she could remember about them was that whenever she would see Kaori and Ryo together, she could only visualize Kaori hitting Ryo with her large mazes. Never ever did she sense anything unusual, or anything romantic between them. Saeba-san would be busy passing drooling glances over the girls around himself while Kaori would always be busy curbing the emotions off him. Now that she thinks about it, Miki san thought "Ryo can easily dodge bullets. I've seen him do so a number of times. So how come he couldn't dodge Kaori's mazes right from the time I've seen them together? Could it be……?" Miki san's deep thoughts were cut short by the doctor. She was telling Ryo "My my…….Mister Saeba! You're a near perfect match for her! I don't know how, but a 96% match in the compatibility is by far the rarest thing for me to have noticed in my 10 years career so far! If you don't have any objections, we'll proceed with the blood donation now itself." Saeba took a momentary glance at his life in front of him on the bed, as he nodded in a yes. To bear a channel, this time the nurse tugged on his right hand which Kaori held tightly in her palm. Ryo refused to let go, as he put his left hand forward saying "Bear the channel here. Not on the right one" The nurse looked at the doctor, who nodded back at her. The nurse instantly got down in action. She really had a nice experience in picking veins. With swift hands, she picked his vein again as the doctor went on the other side of the bed, picking Kaori's vein. The blood pouch was hung just beside Ryo. Miki San was a bit bewildered seeing Ryo like this. Never before had she seen him to be so possessive of Kaori. Seeing him here like this, she understood deep inside herself, how deeply they were connected through their souls.
