Chapter Two: Guilty

Laying on the ground before him, the blue hem of her jacket absorbing the liquid as it continued to leak from her wounds, with blonde locks that were now dirtied with dust and bits of gravel, and soft skin that now was scratched and scraped red; lying on the ground, a crowd of people gathered around her, while her prince sat immobilized only meters away, was Iku Kasahara.

He had been sitting in the I.C.U. for the past three hours, his thrid cup of coffee splashing dangerously close to the edge as his hands gradually began to shake more and more with each passing hour. The ambulance had arrived shortly after she had been hit and he had snapped to his senses and convinced them to allow him to ride along to the hospital with them. Although he'd never tell her, he had been scared, terrified, and more than anything, he felt guilty for everything that had happened.

She was his subordinate, and it was his job to protect her at all costs. And here she was, lying in the Intensive Care Unit for three straight hours, an I.V. and a heart moniter beeping slowly beside her, as nurses went in and out every fifteen minutes, and a doctor every so often. The tight grip on the paper coffee cup reached its boiling point and hot coffee shot out of the cup, blasting the plastic lid straight off and soaking his hand in the bitter and searing hot liquid. However, he didn't feel the pain, even as one of the passing nurses pulled him from his waiting seat and dragged him over to one of the rooms and began to treat the blistering skin, scolding him for being so careless.

When she had finished, the woman simply told him to return to the waiting room and not to get anymore coffee. There was a bitter-sweet humor to the situation, and Dojo's thoughts returned to the time where they had been treating his hand at the base after blocking the coffee that was thrown at Iku after the Forum where they had allowed the two middle school students to speak. Iku had started to cry, trying to apologize for showing the only uncensored opinion in the room and standing up for the two boys standing on the stage when one of the board members began to accuse them of not being able to form a cohert thought on their own.

Dojo smirked, thinking of how proud he had been when both of his subordinates had spoken up and defended the two boys that had come to the Library for help. But the memory was short lived when Dojo found one of the doctors he had seen go in and out of Iku's room approaching him. He stood and the doctor sighed, holding out a hand to hopefully calm the distressed Sergaent.

"She's going to be fine, but we'll need to contact family members and relatives-" he began, but Dojo shook his head stiffly. "But sir, what about her par-"

"No." Dojo snapped, glaring at the man harshly before continuing. "Her mother disowned her when she learned that she is in the Task Force, and as for relatives, I don't know how to contact any of her brothers. Her co-workers are all she really has." he said firmly, and the doctor nodded hesitantly.

"Alright. Well, she's asleep, but if you would like, I can allow you to stay with her tonight." he offered, and Dojo looked up, and with a small sigh, he nodded, before following the man into the small room full of equipment and tubes connected to her body, much to his horror. "She needs her rest, so, if she wakes, either call us in immediately, or try to have her rest more."

"Of course." Dojo nodded obediently, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight of the young girl laying in the bed, silently begging her to at least open her eyes, even just a little. His heart tightened at the painful image before him, and Dojo wanted nothing more than to run to her side and stay until she awoke; a desire the man beside him had seemed to pick up on and simply turned on his heels and closed the door on his way out.

As soon as he heard the door close with a soft 'click', Dojo moved to take the seat set by the left side of Iku's hospital bed. He felt sick as the guilt for her current condition weigh him down inside. Tenatively, Dojo reached out and took her unbandaged left hand in his, holding it as if it was made of glass and would break upon the slightest amount of pressure. His mouth formed a grim line, as his thumb gently stroked the back of her delicate hand, and his gaze travelled up from her hand to the small bandages on her face. A small, bitter-sweet smile found its way onto his lips as his thoughts wandered off to little musings of how cute she'd always looked whenever she had a small bandage on her nose, or her cheek - as much as he hated to admit it.

He knew that she thought of herself as nothing to him, but she was wrong. To him, she was almost everything now, since the day he'd met her, she stuck in his mind, but she didn't know that. Nor, did ever feel comfortable telling her; he knew the consequences could possibly land her in someone else's team, so he decided to settle for having her near him.

Dojo gave a sad smile, his eyes falling back down to look at the pale, flawless skin on her hand as his thumb gently brushed over it. He longed to do more; lean over and kiss her unscarred cheek, run his fingers through her hair, anything to let her know that he was going to stay by her side throughout her recovery.

Two cracked ribs, one broken, a broken wrist, and a cracked right hip. That was what he had brought upon her, on her very own birthday. Yes, he had remembered, and he was planning on inviting her to lunch later on, but this... this changed everything. No longer did he think he'd be able to see her in the same light, it would hurt so badly to see her innocent eyes open and her lips curve in a smile when she found him by her side, oblivious to the fact that he was the reason she was sitting in the hospital. It would tear him apart to have to tell her, see her stumble and fall, see her writhe and wince in pain from the injuries he had cause her.

His dark eyes took on an empty sort of light as he urged himself to his feet after glancing at the clock and realizing that it was getting late. It was about noon and he yet to return from his outing for breakfast, and it was only logical that Komaki was freaking out, while bugging Genda to do something (Komaki has a motherly aire about him at times). Chuckling softly at the thought, Dojo paused when he gazed at Iku's hand in his.

He didn't want to leave her side in case she would wake up, but he also knew that he wasn't permitted to be using his phone in the hospital room. Feeling conflicted, Dojo let out a small sigh and took a step closer to Iku's side and leaned over the edge of the bed. Lifting his free hand, Dojo gently brushed a few strands of loose blonde hair out of her face and leaned up. He closed his eyes and gently pressed a soft kiss to the young soldier's forehead, before carefully pulling away and replacing his lips with his forehead.

"I'm so sorry Iku... I'm so sorry..." he whispered as he felt the slightest pressure in his right hand, but dismissed it as being hopeful. Leaning up to kiss hir forehead once more before leaving to call Komaki, Dojo felt something in his hand twitch. Confused at first, he pulled away to see Iku's eyes only partcially open, her dark brown orbs gazing at him sleepily. His eyes grew wide with surprise, and she gave a small, weak smile, turning his astonishment in happiness as his lips molded into a relieved smile. "Iku..." he breathed, before feeling her hand squeeze his weakly and her smile begin to strain. "...I'm so sorry..." he whispered once again, his joy dissolving as his expression fell with guilt, and he hung his head. "I-I... I'm s-so... sorry..." The words continued to spill from his mouth as he felt his shoulder shake gently, and his voice caught in his throat. "I-" before he was able to speak again, Iku spoke with a dazed tone.

"I know, but..." She tone became confused and innocent - truely Iku. "...who are you?"

Dojo froze, his eyes wide and his mouth agape, his heart nearly stopping.

She had amnesia.

ALRIGHT! I haven't been able to update, due to school, tennis, and whatnot, but HERE be the second chapter! It's short, but anyways... ENJOY!