AN: Hello, I'm posting early (gasp). It's mostly in my own personal celebration that I've finished this story. Those last two chapters were giving me such aggro, but now they are complete. Hooray (for me)! Thank you all for your reviews – I'm amazed that there are new people coming to read it as well as people coming back (people coming back always cheers me up no end, so thank you guys!). Anything I want to comment on? I'm glad people are curious as to the chronological order of the story, which I will put at the very end of the story, but I hold true that the chronological order is not the correct order. But I suppose because I know where things go, it doesn't matter so much to me. As long as people are happy, that's the important thing. I'm so happy that people are liking the Byakuya/Hisana couple from reading my story – their (short) story really hit something in me, which is why this story was written. Ehehe, I suppose he never did "say ah" did he? The 30kisses rules state you can interpret the themes as you like and I suppose I just interpreted the theme as 'recovering' or 'unwell'. That's it for now. The only thing I'll say is this chapter is a little sad. I would say it's possibly the saddest chapter of the entire lot. Anyway, time for the main event – chapter twenty-four, theme twenty-two!

22. Cradle

He cradled her frail body, unable to believe what was happening.

"… I'm so stupid…" he heard her murmur, her deathly pale hand clutching the front of his kimono.

"You pushed yourself too far. You just need to rest and I'll get the best doctor in Seireitei to look at you," he informed her, trying to stop himself from showing his feelings. He didn't want her to panic, like he was beginning to inside.

"I've been feeling kind of off-colour for a while, but I didn't want to jeopardise looking for Rukia. Now I'm probably going to be bedridden for twice as long than if I'd just taken a break for a little while. So stupid…"

Byakuya briefly put a finger on her lips before his hand moved up to stroke her hair. She felt abnormally warm in his arms. He had seen her injured, but never sick. It was disconcerting to see her so helpless. Even injured, she had a certain fighting spirit about her, but now she just seemed too tired to muster any fire.

Carefully, he lifted her up and carried her to a spare bedroom to rest until the doctor had examined her. He tucked her in and made sure she was comfortable. He wanted to stay with her and hold her close, but it was a foolish hope that rest would bring her back to full health. Byakuya brushed her hair back from her forehead and placed a warm kiss that rivalled even the temperature of her skin before leaving to summon the personal doctor to the four noble families.

Waiting proved nearly unbearable. He paced, glaring at nothing. When a maid came to ask if there was anything he wanted, his snapped reply sent her running. He could still feel her unnatural warmth on his arms.

Eventually the doctor arrived and was chauffeured to the room Byakuya was. The man bowed low, to the point Byakuya felt uncomfortable. His impatience was getting the better of him.

"Thank you for coming, Ishiguro-san," said Byakuya. Tension radiated off of him, but the doctor's expression was calm.

"What happened, Kuchiki-sama?"

"My wife collapsed returning from Rukongai. She claims she has felt unwell for while, but failed to inform anyone."

The doctor nodded. Byakuya showed him to the spare bedroom. Hisana was just awake, her eyes heavy with tiredness. She blinked languidly and reached out for Byakuya.

"I'm sorry, Hisana, but I'm not allowed to be present," he quietly told her, taking her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze before leaving to hand around outside the room.

If waiting for the doctor to arrive was painful, then waiting for him to come back and give Byakuya the diagnosis proved excruciating. After fifteen minutes, Byakuya's hands balled into fists. The uncharacteristic urge to fight grew. It was only method he could think of that would relieve the tension he was feeling. How had he not noticed her beginning to ail? Why hadn't she told him that she was feeling unwell? Twenty minutes dragged by and Byakuya went to knock on the door when the doctor exited looking grave.

When Byakuya heard the news, for the first time he experienced what true heartbreak was.