Nothing Will Ever Change That
Chapter 63: Teddy
NERV Hospital – Asuka's Room – One Day Later
"So, I heard that you stole my song!" I was in Asuka's room after Akagi got done doing her inspection.
"Um… yeah…" Sam must have spoke to her, "It got Dietlinde to sleep when you did it, so I tried to sing. Hey, it worked!" I didn't tell her about the story, but apparently someone did.
"I'm kidding! Loosen up! I also heard that you're already telling stories to her… nice choice…" was Sam listening in! She never left; she just stood out in the hallway!
"I take it you spoke to Sam?" she smiled and nodded, "Thought so." I gotta watch out for her from now on. Now that she was back to normal, I had to ask something, "Asuka… on the drive to NERV after the Eva attacked, you said that I didn't care about any of the things I have done. Do you really feel that way?" silence shadowed the room for a few seconds, and then with a flat voice, she spoke up.
"No… I was just upset… sorry about that, I didn't mean any of it. It was just that seeing Hikari die like that was just horrible. I have never seen her so scared and I felt like I could have helped in some way…" no she couldn't have.
"You know that you wouldn't have ever made it to her, and neither could I," in reality, both of us would have died if I hadn't run away with her.
"I know… it's just that…" I saw a small quiver on her bottom lip, "she was the only one that actually tried to help us, and seeing her die… it was just too much. What will her daughter think?" that hadn't occurred to me before, she'll just think that her mother up and left her.
"I'd… really rather not talk about it right now…" I've had enough tears shed in the last two days, I didn't need more. Just as I hoped, Asuka dropped it, "Hey, by the way, did you ever open the gift from Gendo?" she reached into the desk beside the bed and pulled it out.
"No, not yet. I was sure that you'd want to be here for it, so I waited. Why don't you open it?" sure, let ME get hit with a dart!
"Er… okay…" I take it from her and – with my eyes closed – I open it up.
"That little bitch!" I open my eyes to see the same gift as Kensuke's. on top was a small note that said 'Don't let it happen again.'
"Forget about him," I was going to get back at him eventually, "He's not worth the trouble. Hey listen, I was talking to Akagi earlier today, and she said that it would be okay for you to get out for awhile. Do you want to?" she damn near jumped out of the bed.
"Hell yes! God, I've been dieing to get out! Let me just get dressed," she started to get out of bed, but I held her back.
"Whoa! Hold on, you didn't let me finish; she also said that you need a wheelchair. Something about your pelvis being out of line, meaning that you can't walk yet." She melted back onto the bed, but was still sitting up.
"Ugh… fine! I guess I am a little sore; it hurts like hell to lift my arms! I just need to get changed… wait… how will I get changed if I can't stand?" good question.
"Uh… hold on, I'll go get a nurse," I start to walk away and she grabs my arm.
"I am NOT going to be dressed by a complete stranger!" then who… ah crap… "You'll have to do it," should have seen that coming.
"M-Me! But Asuka, I can't…" she cut me off.
"Oh shut up! It's not like you haven't seen me before! Fine, if you're going to be a baby about it, I'll just turn around while you do it. Just go grab some clothes out of my room and try to hurry!" I left without a word. God, I can't believe I have to do this! I mean sure, I HAVE seen her before, but this was just weird. I get to her closet and grab one of her shirts that she wore before she got pregnant, a pair of shorts, and painfully, I grab a bra and panties. Not wanting to be seen with these clothes, I put them in a plastic bag and leave. When I get back to her hospital room, I see that she was still wearing her hospital clothes. "Throw those over here," she points to the under-garments and I do as I'm told. "Okay, since you're being such a baby about it, just turn around for a second," I do and after a few minutes, I spoke up.
"What's taking so long?" she sighs.
"I… can't get them on…" crap! "God, this is so embarrassing! I can't even dress myself!" that was why she was embarrassed! My face was ablaze as I turn to help her. Her bra was on her shoulders, but unfastened. Thank god the fasten was on the back! "Okay, now help me with these," she holds up the panties. She hasn't even started with those yet!
"Oh come on! Asuka, are you sure I can't call a nurse?" once again, she shakes her head.
"Stop being a baby! Just make it quick and you'll be done before you know it! Damn, you'd think you would WANT to do this!" well yeah… but… ah forget it! I go down to her feet and quickly pull them up, "There, that wasn't so hard, was it? Now get my shirt," well, this wasn't as bad. I just go behind her and pull the shirt over her head, "Do you seriously need a step-by-step? Next is the shorts and we're done!" keeping my eyes to myself, I pull the shorts up to her hips. "Okay, now we can go,"
"Finally!" I knew that my cheeks were still on fire. I grab the wheelchair that was in the room, pick her up and set her down in it, "Okay, any idea where you want to go?" I roll her out into the hallway and make my way to her van.
"Yeah, can you take me to the mall? I have been wanting to get something," when we get to the van, I set her in the passenger side and get in myself.
"Sure, what are you getting?" she shakes her finger in the air.
"You'll just have to wait to find out!" man I hated when she did that! Asuka has always been a tease, even when we hated each other. The first night she slept at Misato's apartment – and in my room – she wore nothing but a long shirt and panties! She knew exactly what to drive the guys crazy, and it always worked. When we finally got to the mall, needless to say we got a few stares. Everyone in Japan knew us as the invincible pilots, and here I am pushing the Second Child in a wheelchair. "God I'm sick of people staring at us… hold on, stop," I knew she was about to do something, "What the hell do you think you're looking at!" told you.
"Asuka, calm down, we're here to relax remember?" she relaxes back into the chair and I start to walk again, "Hey, I need to know where to go," she laughs a little.
"You're ruining the surprise! Fine, turn left here, and go strait until you hit a wall," she must have been here before; she knew exactly where it was. When I finally get to the store, I see that it was a huge toy store.
"I'm sure this is a stupid question, but why are we here?" I really had no idea/
"Oh come on! Think about it!" a few seconds pass… still nothing, "Ugh! Look, I wanted to get a teddy bear for Dietlinde! We can't be with her all day, so I thought that if we got her something to hold, she'd be fine…" it was amazing to see Asuka like this. She has never acted so generous, even with me.
"Huh… good idea… you really do make a good mother Asuka, seriously," her cheeks went red, but she showed no sign that she knew.
"Well of course it's a good idea!" she's back. I roll her into the store and head for the plush isle.
"Ho… ly… crap…" why would anyone ever feel the need to make so many of them! There were at least four-hundred different stuffed animals.
"Hey! This is a kids store, watch your mouth!" this was coming from the girl that cussed out more people then anyone I know!
"Sorry… see any you like?" I look down at her to see that she was already holding one, "I'll take that as a yes," she held a bear about twice the size of Dietlinde. It was the old fashioned style, no fancy accessories, no distractions, just a simple brown bear.
"How's this one? I don't really want anything she can hurt herself on," I couldn't help but just stare at her and smile. She was examining it like it was a bomb, looking for any off-marks, any 'unsafe' features, and it was actually pretty cute, "what do you think? Hello? Earth to Shinji! Snap out of it!"
"Oh… yeah, it's great, sorry. So is this the one you want?" she looks it over one last time.
"Yeah, this one seems pretty good. Let's go so we can give it to her," I loved to see Asuka this way. It was, of course, a rare sight, so I want to get as much out of it as I could. We go up to the cashier and pay for the bear. The walk back to the van was a long one, mainly because of the killing silence. Neither of us knew what to say, that is until we got to the van.
"So… uh… are you feeling any better then this morning?" I basically set myself up for what came up next.
"Yeah, a little. Actually, way better; we just bought Dietlinde her first toy, and I feel as if things just might be fine. On top of that, I was dressed by a very handsome man…" somehow, that really didn't sound right. Even so, I knew that I was blushing; not much, but enough.
"You're too easy! Really, anything could make you blush!" if she calls me dressing her 'anything', then I've been missing out! I didn't say that of course…
"Yeah well, you know how I am," might as well agree with her… and get her back! "When I'm around such a beautiful woman, I get nervous." There it is! Unfortunately, she didn't even come close to blushing; in fact, I just threw gas on the fire.
"You should! Few eyes lay on this body, and guess what you got to do!" I give up!
"Yep, guess I'm just lucky," I lean over and kiss her on the cheek and drove off. When we get back to the hospital, I didn't even stop by her room; I just rolled Asuka straight to Dietlinde's room. Ritsuko was in there doing some inspection; all the better, we needed her to give this to Dietlinde.
"Oh, hey kids, I was just finishing up my… you two are just too cute! You already bought her a toy? Give it here; I'll put it in with her." Asuka handed Akagi the bear, which then opened a small lid on top of the box and put it in. Dietlinde watched as all of this unfolded, and actually seemed overjoyed to get the bear. I think that she really did see us as her parents, despite her young age. Her eyes would always light up when we entered the room, and she would begin to raise her arms to us. That would always make my heart feel as if it were in my throat. Asuka held the toy tight against her body the whole way here, so I was sure that it had her scent all over it. Dietlinde grabbed on of the stubby arms of it and pulled it to her. Her size made no difference in how she handled it. Within seconds, she was cuddled up tight against her new toy and was inhaling her mother's smell, as if she was familiarizing herself with it. "Well if that isn't the sweetest thing I've seen!" Akagi seemed to be back to normal.
"Yeah, she seems pretty fond of you Asuka… are you okay?" she was bowing her head on covering her eyes.
"Yeah… I'm fine…" I saw a tear fall into her lap, then I hear a sniffle.
"Kills you to see her so attached to you huh? You're her mother; she will love you unconditionally no matter what happens. She's just happy to know that she has somebody in this world that cares for her," yep, she's back. This short speech only made Asuka cry harder.
"It's not that… it's just that now I'm a mother, I… I want to be there for her like my mother wasn't there for me. I don't want Dietlinde to go through what I did. All I want to do is sit at her bedside and cradle her to sleep. I want to hug her and make sure she feels loved. I just want to be a mother…" she was still covering her face. I put a hand under her chin and raise her head to look at me.
"You ARE a mother… you do what you can in this situation, and you're doing a great job. When she gets out of there, you will be able to do all of the things you want, and you'll se just how good of a mother you are," she gave a faint smile, and then Akagi cut in.
"Well if you want to make contact with her so bad, then good news! Dietlinde has healed just fine, so she'll be able to go home with you in two days! I just need to keep her a little longer to make sure she's okay." Asuka shot up out of the chair.
"Are you serious! Ah crap!" she falls back into my arms, "Damn! You weren't kidding about my hips!" I put her back onto the chair.
"Well come on Asuka, now I need to do something," She pushed Asuka out into the hallway and into her room, "Shinji, do you mind lifting her up onto the bed? Try to be careful," what was going on?
"Hey, what are you doing?" I set her down on the bed.
"Just hold still…" Akagi gets on the left side of Asuka and puts a hand on each of her hip bones.
"I asked you a ques- Ah! What are you- Ah! Damn! Enough of that! Ah crap!" Akagi seemed to be moving her hips, then a loud pop echoed through the room.
"I told you not to stand, you dislocated your hips." That sounded like it hurt!
"Well damn! You could have told me to brace myself or something! You just don't go around moving bones without asking! Damn that hurt!" I was right! "Fine, I won't walk again, Shinji, can you put me back in my chair?" I nod and pick her up, "When will I be able to walk?" she turns and looks at Akagi.
"Well, actually right now. I was just going to let you heal on your own, but by you standing up, I had to do it that way. I thought that you wouldn't want to go through the pain of it, so I didn't say anything." Asuka got out of bed on her own and began to walk around.
"So… you're telling me that Shinji didn't have to…" she stopped.
"Have to what? Asuka, what did he… wait… Asuka, why didn't you ask me to do it? Well, I guess no harm done, Shinji even got a few peeks, huh?" we both blush.
"Ritsuko… do you not see the baby in the room? I got more then a few peeks…" I have been trying to lighten up on the subject, but apparently Asuka hasn't.
"That's sick! You'll be lucky to ever sleep with me again!" the whole room – aside from Asuka – laughs at her comment, "Oh shut up!" she storms out of the room.
"Well, looks like all the fun on your honeymoon is gone!" another burst of laughter echoes through the room. When the fun was over, I go into Dietlinde's room to see Asuka singing the song again. I'm not too sure where Akagi went, but I was fine with it. I just stood back and enjoyed her voice. When the song was over, she began to talk to Dietlinde.
"You're daddy's crazy, you know that? But you want to know a secret? I still love him," that was a secret? "Soon, we'll be able to spend some real time together. Just wait a couple more days, and we can spend all the time in the world bonding. Daddy says that you look just like me, and you know what? That means you're a real cutie!" I couldn't help but laugh at her, "You know what else? He can't listen in on a conversation to save his life…" she turns around and smiles at me.
"Hey, I wasn't disagreeing with you. If she grows up to look like you, we'll have too keep an eye on the boys!" I could say that honestly knowing what I thought of when I first met her.
"Where did this sudden burst of humor come from?" even I didn't know! I was just in a really good mood today.
"Well, today has been one of the best days in my life. We got Dietlinde her first toy, you can walk, and she can come out of that damn thing in a couple of days. I'd say that makes for a pretty good attitude. Plus, I got to dress you…" I smirk a little.
"Perv… enough of that around Dietlinde, she's too young," like she knew what we were saying!
"Sorry… mind if I join you in here?" she pats her hand on the chair next to her and I sit down. After a few seconds, we were both singing Dietlinde's favorite song in unison.
A/N- I've been making longer chapters lately, huh? I think it'll be like this from now on. Anyway… a pretty moving chapter. Did you like it? Will Asuka spend as much time with Dietlinde as she said? Find out in the next chapter; Just A Walk, until then, keep on keepin' on!