"Well, yes, but…what exactly does that mean, doctor?" The Father of two asked, though he didn't truly want to hear the answer. The man took a deep breath and replied,
"It means it will occur very soon now, I'm afraid. There is nothing more we can do. We've done everything any hospital in the world could suggest; anything else she'll have to endure, and I'm afraid it would kill her almost instantly!"
"We're so sorry, Mr. Kamiya. We've done everything known to man, but…" Dr. Kayo began, but trailed as said man interrupted.
"Don't worry, we…understand. Thanks, to both of you, for everything you've done for our daughter…and us. We will never be able to repay you…for your kindness and perseverance..." Even as he said those things, however, visible tears met with his eyes, and the two men took that as a hint to leave them alone with their friends and son. He walked back over to where his wife's hand was still getting the life sucked out of it by their daughter, and encased her thin shoulders in his calloused hands. Her back started to shake, and Tai peered over at his Mother to find that tears were stream-lining down both of his parents' faces, but they were trying to keep it quiet so as not to make it uncomfortable for the rest of their group. To no avail, though, as Tai touched his Mom's shoulder lightly in a way to let her know that he was there, and she immediately flung herself on him, crying into his shoulder like the world was ending…which it was, in their minds… Clairice and Joe watched them from their seats in the back, and tears abruptly ran down the seventeen-year-old's face as well as she shook her head slowly in a certain kind of terror that no one but she seemed to recognize.
"What's wrong, Clairice? Is everything all right?" Joe asked fearfully as he stared at her, afraid that there was something she wasn't telling him. "Is it something you can talk about? Something about your sister?"
"It's happening all over again…!" She said nonchalantly, almost silently, as she stared blankly ahead, her eyes and mind clearly somewhere else. "My…my Mother. She also jumped on me like that when I cam home from the town that day. She…she'd never let me see her cry before, but right then she was so frightened. She just needed someone to hold onto, so she picked me. I didn't understand why she'd been crying; I'd figured we'd lost a baby or something. Then, when my Father told me what had happened to Mika that night, I'd been the same way as my Mother, hysterically crying into my Father's arms until I fell asleep. That same ritual continued on every night for two months, and then my Father said I'd have to stick it out. So I did; I focused on the farm even more and delved deeper into pleasing my Father…it was the only way I could push the thoughts of my sister to the back of my mind each day, because every time I was alone or had the chance to think for even a second, I would always be thinking of her. I soon realized that nothing I did would stop those thoughts, however, and so I went into a rebellious stage with my parents in my grief, and my relationship with them has been really strange ever since. They never call, write, or do anything to let me know that they love me anymore, or that they're alive or being well taken care of…I don't think they even care anymore… Then again, it is hard to blame them, since I deserve everything they're throwing at me."
"That's not true," She looked at him and he gently wiped the tears from her face with his shirtsleeve, and he smiled tenderly. "You didn't realize what you were doing then. You didn't know that you would be severing your relationship with them; by the time you were a teenager, I'll bet you'd forgotten a time when you hadn't acted that way. But, now that you see what you've done, and regret, perhaps you should tell them you're sorry."
"But it's been three years since I left, and we haven't spoken or written or…anything. How do you think they'll react if I just call unannounced or show up at their house? Heck, I don't even know if they live in the same house in which I grew up anymore! How do I find them?"
"Easy," Came a new voice, and Joe chuckled before turning to the owner, already knowing whom it was. "You would simply find a database of all the people in Japan, enter your parents' names, security codes, birth dates, and all other necessities, press enter, and there you have it: their location marked right on the map!" The girl beamed brightly, and she finished wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Thank you, Izzy."
"No problem! You've helped us plenty, so I figured, why not return the favor?" She and Joe laughed, and the doctor-to-be nodded his head in deep thanks to the fourteen-year-old computer genius before him. Izzy happily returned it.
"Do you mind if we do it once Kari is out of here, though? It isn't exactly the most homely place in the world to be searching all of Japan for your parents over the internet."
"Sure! I completely agree with you." The boy smiled at them both, and then took his seat next to his own (adoptive) parents again. Clairice leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes, a small smile creeping to her lips.
"You have such nice friends, Joe. You're really lucky. I never had any friends growing up."
"They're your friends too, you know," She lifted her head and raised an eyebrow at him, wearing a contorted expression. He laughed slightly, but went on. "They really like you, and enjoy your company. Sure, you have your faults, but that's like every other person in this group. My buddy Cody over there is really quiet and is too hard on himself sometimes; he's really bright, though, and can really take charge if the need arises. Yolei is really impulsive, and will sometimes jump into things without thinking; she's a really great mechanic, however. She can fix just about anything you give her. Matt is a bit too overprotective when it comes to T.K., at least, that's how he was when they were younger. Now, I think Matt knows that T.K. can handle himself, and he isn't as afraid to let him go down his own path. When Izzy was younger, he would spend his entire day working on his computer in his own world; there was a time when he ignored Mimi as he was trying to decipher some hieroglyphs, and she got lost in a maze after she stomped off. He was pretty harsh, though; he's gotten a lot better since that encounter, and he'll actually listen to someone when they talk to him while he's on that contraption of his! I'm just kidding. Now, Mimi was, and continues to be, a fashion queen that sometimes got too carried away in her clothes and herself, which at times got her into a tough situation; I remember when she was made queen of these really strange creatures, and when she started to boss them, and Tai and I, around like we were her servants, it made all of us almost stop being her friend. So, you see? We all have our faults, but we make a great team anyhow, and I believe in my heart that we always will, no matter what it takes. Would you like to be a part of this team, Clairice?" She hugged him and whispered,
"Yes!" She pulled away, and grinned at him. "It would be great to have friends for the first time."
"I'll talk to Tai later and see what he says, okay?" She nodded and smiled as if this was the last day on earth any type of grin, smile, or beam would be included on the chalkboard of existence. Suddenly, Kari began coughing again, but not nearly as hard as last time, when she was stable. Now it was more of a girl struggling simply to lift herself up enough to cough into her hand that was connected to an IV, which was then attached to a yellow bag up above her head that had 'TPN' inside, which meant 'Total Protein Nutrients'. That stuff was only for people in Kari's state, and it didn't seem to be helping much at all. Tears nearly streamed down T.K.'s face again as he handed Kari his handkerchief to make sure she didn't put too much stress on her body; he held her hand tightly in his, and prayed with all his heart that she could get through this, as he watched her eyes go all around the room, scanning everyone's face. When she got to him, she smiled just before falling into a deep sleep again, and her grip loosened a bit, the handkerchief held tightly in her other hand. He wiped his eyes and hung his head to ensure himself that no one would see the tears that fell next. He didn't know if he could keep his sanity in this place much longer; the life was being drained from Kari before his eyes, Tai had gotten into a fight with the entire team, he himself had almost brawled it out with Tai, and the doctors said there was nothing more they could do…everything around him was dying.
'It's like that area Kari was,' He thought, as he looked down at his hands blankly. 'So dark and lifeless…that's the essence of this place. I don't like it here; I don't like it at all. This hospital holds a bad memory for Tai too. This was the place Kari had been taken when she'd collapsed at the park, and while Tai had gone with the paramedics, their Mother and Father had come after. I remember Tai had told me about the time he and Izzy had gone to search for medicine when Kari had had a fever in the Digital World and he'd had flashbacks of that day every time they were in the Digimon Hospital. I recall that day scarcely well, too.' He sighed, and when he looked up at the Child of Light, he was utterly alarmed when he saw that she was barely breathing at all, and her grip on his hand had decreased to almost nothing; her face was on the borderline of death and severely close to death (not very good choices, huh?). He stood, his chair scraping sharply against the floor as he did so, and he turned hurriedly to Joe and Clairice.
"She nearly stopped breathing! Guys, get over here! I can barely feel her hand anymore!" The nurse and trainee rushed to his side, and he moved out of the way to let them through. After a few minutes of checking heartbeats, pulse, and reinstalling the oxygen tube into her throat, they turned to the Digidestined and families scattered round the room, tears trailing down their faces as never before, and everyone feared the worst.
"We're too late."
You know, you guys can give me suggestions for what happens next! Sometimes it's really hard for me to write because I get writer's block, so any suggestion would be a lot of help! Like today, for instance. This chapter was really hard to write, because, well, I did get writer's block, so...it was actually quite difficult. Thanks, peoples! See ya! Read and review please:D ;D :) ;)