Chapter 8
It was late in the afternoon before another doctor came and talked to Hatori. In his calm doctor voice, Hatori relayed the message to those waiting that it was simply an update on the progress of the surgery and that everything was going well. Tohru had been in surgery for what seemed like forever to her surrogate family. Normally antsy and argumentative, the teenage cousins were having a horrible time keeping their conflicts under control. Numerous altercations had been avoided by Hatori or Shigure speaking a calming word while separating the feuding, worried boys. Yuki and Kyo finally resolved to sit on opposite sides of the room and at different ends, so they couldn't even really see each other. It seemed silly to Hatsuharu, but it did keep the cat and rat from fighting like idiots.
A few hours ago, Kazuma arrived with Kagura and Rin in tow. It seemed that the two girls had been practicing martial arts at the dojo when the call came in about Tohru's unfortunate incident, as it was being called. Ayame had also appeared after closing time at his shop, in a flurry of gestures and flowering words of devotion, determined to find out what had happened to their princess. Without knowing exactly what happened, none of the Zodiac members were willing to accuse the head of the family. It would be suicide to jump to conclusions and anger Akito.
So, Kazuma and Kagura sat in Kyo's corner of the waiting room, trying to take his mind off the surgery and the risks involved. Needless to say that Tohru's grandfather, Ayame, Shigure and Hatori sat somewhere in the neutral middle of the room, with Ayame sitting rather close to his brother, Yuki. Hatsuharu and Momiji sat with Yuki, trying to calm his fears. None of the other family members could come, and none of those present really wanted to see Akito until they knew what transpired.
Since there was a non-family member present, no one was free to discuss family politics or the curse. As such, the conversation was stilted, and lagged often. At least once an hour, Shigure and Ayame staged some type of touchy-feely angsty erotic performance that only seemed to anger and embarrass the family members present. Which was not the reaction the two extroverts had hoped to achieve. They only acted that way to lighten a mood, but this was not working presently, so they finally stopped the senseless act.
Finally, when it seemed that the younger generation just could not sit still another moment, a weary doctor in surgeon scrubs approached the door of the waiting area. Hatori literally jumped up and sprinted to this man. Everyone in the room stilled and waited. After some extensive mumbling, the surgeon turned to leave, and Hatori turned to face the room. The smile brightening Hatori's face told everyone more than any words could that the outcome had been positive.
Hatori announced, "Tohru is out of surgery and doing fine. There were no complications during the procedure and they managed to repair the rupture without having to remove her spleen. She's in recovery right now, and will be wheeled to a room in about an hour. Then we will be allowed to visit her once the anesthesia wears off." Relieved laughter echoed in the room, and a giggling Momiji found himself tossed up into the air by a happy Hatsuharu.
Kyo let out the breath he had been holding and slumped back into his seat. He could feel tears forming on the corners of his eyes, and he closed them to stave off any embarrassing emotions. He was so relieved that he didn't even complain when Kagura hugged him, or when Kazuma put a supportive arm around his shoulders. It seemed like these people knew how much Tohru meant to the cursed cat, even if he tried his hardest to hide it from everyone. In truth, she was the only woman that had every honestly accepted him for who he was, true form included. Not even his mother had loved him like Tohru did.
On the opposite corner, Yuki was smiling also, and watching his rival out of the corner of his eye. He felt the same relief that Kyo did for much the same reason. At that moment, it didn't matter to Yuki if the love he felt for Tohru was that of a girlfriend or mother, or sister. She loved him for who he was, curse included, and he loved her for her support and kindness. She gave him the courage to face his future and make it whatever he wanted it to be. She helped him see past the darkness that Akito had instilled in him and to find what was good in the world. If something had happened to her, his world would have been cast back into bitter darkness.
The older Sohmas exchanged quiet glances that expressed their thankfulness for the safety of the one who could possibly finally set them free from this awful cursed life. In a way, she had already freed them from so much. She had spared them from a hopeless life of merely existing. They might be unfairly pinning their hopes on her thin shoulders, but at least they had hope because of her. Kazuma was especially thankful because the petite woman had already done more for Kyo than anyone in his short, miserable life. She had accepted his true form, and helped him lead a normal, teenage life with school, friends, and pleasant memories. Even if Kyo still had to enter confinement, he had truly lived while he had been out.
An hour later, after hurrying to the hospital cafeteria for dinner, the family was allowed to enter her room. Momiji carried the duffle bag with the necessities for the stay in the hospital, so he was allowed to enter first, with her grandfather along side of him. The rest filed in behind them and crowded around the bed in the private room. Shigure made sure she had the best room he could arrange.
Everyone was a bit shocked to see how very pale she looked in the hospital gown, tucked under the sterile, crisp white sheets. Several medical monitors surrounded her, emitting a variety of noises, and she had multiple tubes attached to her arms and one up to her nose. Hatori carefully explained the function of everything so the room's occupants would be more at ease. Ayame almost passed out at seeing a bag of blood hanging on the IV stand being administered to her through a tube in her arm.
All of this was common place for Rin and Hatsuharu, so they removed the duffle bag from Momiji's nerveless fingers, and set about personalizing the barren little room with Tohru's possessions. The prized picture of her mother was placed prominently on the rolling table that her meals would be served on. Kagura joined in and helped to place her clothing in the drawers of the little bureau that served as a night stand.
Once everything was put away, everyone loosened up a bit and a conversation started with the grandfather and the older Sohmas. He was interested in hearing about the living conditions that his grand-daughter had chosen for herself that made her so happy. The men discussed her education and how Yuki helped her maintain her good grades, and how Kyo helped her learn to protect herself. Shigure discussed his participation in the parent-teacher conference and how he tried to maintain a stable environment at home among the rambunctious teenagers.
A squeak from the bed in the center of the room drew everyone's attention. Her grandfather quickly moved to grasp her exposed hand and called her name. Tohru's eyes fluttered open and looked everywhere without landing on any one thing. It was obvious from the dazed expression that she really wasn't awake yet. She opened her mouth and said, "Frying pan." Then closed her eyes again. Everyone in the room held their breath for a moment, then the snickering began. Shigure covered his mouth then asked, "I wonder if we could get her to divulge some secrets while she's so out of it?" While this earned a snicker from her grandfather and Ayame, most of the visitors glared at the tricky dog.
A few minutes later, her eyes opened again in response to the laughter and she tried to focus her eyes on her grandfather. The old man leaned over and kissed her on the forehead and explained, "Your Aunt came by to drop me off and see how you were doing. But, unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your point of view, she had to leave for an appointment." Tohru's eyes crossed as she tried to focus on his face and more laughter went up in the room. She only murmured a confused, "Hmmm?" before her eyes rolled back up into her head and she was out again.
Ayame commented in his sing-song, "This is more fun than watching Yuki's and Kyo's play! Too bad I didn't bring a video camera." Momiji frowned at the older cousin and responded in an upset voice, "It's not nice to make fun of Tohru! She's always so nice to everyone!" Kyo had moved to the opposite side of the bed from her grandfather and had to agree with the bunny for once. It was just wrong to make fun of her when she did so much for everyone else. If Momiji had not said anything, he might have launched himself over the bed and pummeled that flippant snake.
Kyo ignored all the other occupants in the room and carefully reached out to touch her tiny hand that was peaking out from under the sheet. Her skin was terribly cold, and he noticed goose bumps breaking out over her arm. He realized that she must be cold in that skimpy paper gown and only covered by a sheet. A quick survey of the room revealed a thick, heavy white blanket folded neatly at the foot of the bed, so he turned to grasp it and pull it up to her chin. Without realizing he had an audience, he tucked it around her to maximize her warmth.
Behind him, Shigure leaned over his shoulder and teased, "Awww. Isn't Kyo being so sweet and caring! Come to think of it, you have been ultra-nice to Tohru since she's been sick. Is there something we should know?"
Kyo's face turned almost as red as his hair as he turned to scream a denial to his stupid cousin. Before he even got a word out, Hatori reminded him that they needed to keep the volume down. So, instead of yelling, he grasped Shigure's hand, and squeezed his fingers in such a grip that the dog visibly winced, and started sweating. Kyo hissed a threat that only Shigure could hear, "Don't. Make. Fun. Of. Me. Especially when it comes to Tohru. She's better than anyone in this family and we don't deserve her. If I can do anything to make her feel better I will. So shut up!"
Shigure stuttered, "I'm sorry. You go right ahead and do what you must. But could you please let go of my hand? I need that to make a living!" When Kyo released him, the dog sighed and backed away from his volatile cousin. Ayame gently grasped the injured hand and made a big fuss over soothingly caressing the paw. Hatori seemed to be the only one aware of the fact that the cat had just intimidated the dog of the Zodiac. Although, Kazuma was the only one to notice the self-control that Kyo exhibited for Tohru's sake by threatening Shigure quietly.
Tohru's eyes opened again and tried to focus on the room full of visitors. Momiji jumped up on the foot of the bed and piped up in his high pitched, cheerful voice, "Tohru! Tohru! It's time to wake up! You were going to teach me how to play chess! And it's no fun around here while you sleep!" This seemed to grasp her attention as her eyes cleared a bit more than they had the last time. Still, she couldn't seem to stay awake long enough to find where the happy voice came from.
Yuki turned to Hatori and asked what they were all thinking, "Hatori, is this normal for someone to have such trouble waking up from surgery?" His forehead was wrinkled in a worried frown under his silver bangs.
Hatori smiled gently at the sleepy Tohru and explained, "Yes, it's sometimes hard to awaken from anesthesia, especially someone as small as Tohru. Her body has to fight off the effects while it's still not at full health from the mono. It might take her a little while still."
Ayame piped up with excitement, "Well, since it might be a few minutes still, I'm going to run down to the gift shop and see if they have anything worthy to brighten our princess' room. I'm sure she would enjoy some lovely balloons and flowers, and maybe even a stuffed animal or two." With that announcement, Ayame lead a procession to the gift shop that included Rin, Hatsuharu, Kagura, Kazuma and Shigure, all of whom thought it was a splendid idea. The only ones remaining in Tohru's room were Yuki, Kyo, Momiji, Hatori and her grandfather.
With fewer people in the room, Yuki felt more comfortable to move up along side Kyo on Tohru's right side and watch the sweet girl sleep. Hatori moved up alongside Tohru's grandfather, and Momiji kept vigil at the foot of her bed like a faithful dog.
Hatori decided to try rousing her by calling, "Tohru? Do you think you can open your eyes for us?" To which she immediately responded by opening her eyes and announcing, "Hatori, you didn't have to come. I'm fine." Which made all the men smile, because that was her usual response when the Sohma doctor was called out when she was ill. Yuki jumped in on a typical conversation about the doctor and asked, "Tohru, do you know what you want to cook Hatori for his thank you supper?" The girl's unfocused eyes turned to the rat and she asked, "Are there any vegetables ready to be picked?" Yuki pretended to think about this, and tapped his chin with a long finger. He glanced conspiratorially out of the corner of his eyes at Kyo, to see if he could get him to play along.
Kyo was catching on to what they were doing, so he pretended to be his usual angry self, "Keh, just as long as you don't put any nasty leeks in whatever you are cooking. Leeks ruin any good meal!" Kyo felt elated when Tohru's eyes flashed over to him and she seemed to truly be seeing him. A small frown crossed her face for only a second before her smile broke free on her face. She exclaimed, "Of course I would never put leeks in your food Kyo. If Hatori wants leeks, I'll make you something special without them."
Momiji was so thrilled that she was finally responding in a more normal manner, that it was almost more than he could do to not jump up and down on the bed in excitement. He almost yelled, "Oh, Tohru! After dinner, you can teach me how to play chess! Right? You promised. Will you? Will you?" Tohru's eyes scanned down to meet the tear-filled happy eyes of her favorite bunny and she exclaimed, "Of course I will. You'll love chess. I'm sure you'll be better than me in no time."
After a few minutes of such idle chatter, Tohru suddenly became very still and quiet. Kyo leaned over her with concern and asked, "Tohru, are you okay? Are you in any pain?" She just looked at him and frowned. Then she looked around the room and noticed who was there. "Um, Kyo?" her voice was feeble and tentative. He reached out and grabbed her hand and stroked the skin on the back, being careful of the IV needle that was taped to the skin by her wrist. She looked back to him in confusion. "What happened? What are you guys doing here?"
Kyo looked up at Hatori across the bed and the doctor stepped into his professional persona and cleared his throat to get the girl's attention. When she was totally focused on Hatori, he began, "Tohru, you injured your spleen while Shigure was out of the house this morning. Remember I told you that this might be a complication of your illness?" He paused and waited for her to nod her head. "Well, you suffered a small tear in your spleen, and we had to rush you to the hospital where they operated to stop the bleeding."
As the explanation sank in, Tohru looked around at the men surrounding her. Then her eyes landed on the picture of her mother. A thankful smile broke out on her face at how thoughtful her surrogate family was to bring her prized picture. Yuki piped in, "You had us quite worried Miss Honda. Please don't do something like that again."
She had the presence of mind to look sheepish about making him worry, so Kyo leapt to her defense. "Hey, don't make her feel guilty for something that she had no control over. You know she wouldn't purposely do anything to make us worry." His cheeks were turning red with his controlled anger at the accusation that the rat had offhandedly tossed at her.
Just before the true fist fight could break out, Ayame's laughter announced their spectacular return to the room and to most of the floor. Slowly, the troupe of gift getters marched into the room and covered every surface with presents. She watched in awe as they presented her with something that represented every member of the Zodiak. There were stuffed animals in the shape of a cat, dog, mouse, bunny and sheep. There were figurines of a tiger and horse. There was a mechanical monkey with cymbals. There was a candle in the shape of a purple dragon, because there were no seahorses to be found. There was a pack of sour gummy worms which supposedly was as close to a snake as they could find. And lastly there was a peppermint pig with a hammer, and a bank in the shape of a cow. There were also several balloons with get well messages and some flowers for color. Apparently, no one thought to get a rooster item because Kureno was hardly ever seen, and no one knew him enough to like or dislike him. So, he was mostly forgotten.
The noise level in the room escalated with the introduction of the others, and the renewed excitement of seeing Tohru awake. It sounded like a family reunion and Tohru was elated to participate in the happiness. Her grandfather smiled a knowing little smile as he looked over the room full of people that loved his little grand-daughter, especially the surly one with the red hair. He had watched the distress on that one's face the whole time they waited for any news, and seen the joy when she finally awoke to recognize him.
Gently, the old man leaned over to whisper in her ear that it was time for him to return home. "Your Aunt will be coming to retrieve me, and I need to be waiting or she might leave me here." He chuckled at his ill-mannered daughter. Tohru smiled lovingly at him and thanked him for coming. He brushed it off and reminded, "You are my favorite grand-daughter. I will always be here for you, for as long as I draw breath. I'll come again tomorrow when there is less of a crowd." And kissed her on the forehead and smiled so big his eyes squinted closed. He thought that she was a very lucky girl to have so many who cared so much about her.
After her grandfather left, Momiji carefully, so as not to cause her pain, crawled up the side of her bed to lie down beside her on the side where her grandfather had just been. He was careful not to hug her so he wouldn't transform, but he did wrap himself around her arm like a sleeve. Tears started to form in his lovely eyes as he looked upon his best friend. If he could, he would have hugged the stuffing out of her, he was so relieved that she was alright. He didn't say a word, simply curled up there staring at the side of her face. What would have happened if they hadn't gotten there in time? Life would be so bland and tasteless without Tohru there making everyone do things they would not normally do. Who would he have to share his hair-brained schemes with? Who would eagerly accompany him on his adventures? Who would he have to share dreams with?
As the group settled down a bit, chairs were pulled up and Hatori sat on the end of the bed that Momiji had abandoned. Kazuma announced that he had to leave because it was getting late, and he had classed the next day. Rin, Kagura and Hatsuharu accompanied him, all calling out wishes for her speedy recovery as they exited.
So, as the room emptied, Tohru looked around again, at the presents and flowers. Kyo and Yuki were seated to her left, with Kyo closest to her head, still holding her hand. Ayame and Shigure were seated to her right, with Hatori sitting on the end of her bed, and Momiji contentedly wrapped around her right arm. She glanced at the face of her happy friend and saw a small grin on his face as if he were secretly thrilled to just be able to touch her. His eyes were closed, but she knew he was still awake and listening to everything.
Hatori finally cleared his throat and asked the question that had been on everyone's minds. "Tohru, I don't want to upset you. But could you tell us what happened while we were gone? When you called Shigure's phone, you were incoherent and all we could get out of you was that Akito had been there."
The tension in the room escalated as she closed her eyes to collect her thoughts. She could even feel Momiji squeeze her arm just a bit tighter to convey his support and concern. Her mind still felt a bit fuzzy, so she was having a hard time putting the events in order.
Momiji's thoughts were a mess. He remembered the injury she sustained at the beach house when she was protecting him from Akito. Now she was hurt again. He didn't know what to do. He didn't think there was anything he could do. All he knew was that he really wanted Tohru to get better. In an almost dream-like state, his mind kept echoing, "I want Tohru to get better."
Everyone was focused on Tohru's face, waiting for her response, except for Ayame. He turned his eyes to his little cousin on the bed and noticed a strange occurrence. A faint glow of yellow seemed to be emitting from the boy, making Tohru's arm glow faintly in response. Ayame reached up and grasped Hatori's sleeve. When the dragon was looking over at him, the snake pointed to the glow and asked, "Am I the only one seeing this?"
Everyone followed the direction that Ayame indicated and several gasps were heard as they noticed what he was talking about. Kyo's grip on Tohru's hand increased as he suddenly felt a strange tingle run through her fingers. He turned his confused eyes to the doctor and whispered, "What's the runt doing? He's not hurting her is he?"
Tohru's eyes snapped open at hearing the comment and they all noticed that there was no confusion or tiredness clouding her eyes as there had been earlier. She gasped as she turned to look at the calm face that was glowing ever so lightly right next to hers. Her voice held a bit of awe in it as she exclaimed, "I don't know, but I feel so much better than I did a minute ago." She glanced up to Hatori and the older Sohmas and pondered, "Do you suppose this is some power that he has? Something like healing?"
Kyo and Yuki were terribly confused since this was the first they had heard of anyone having powers other than Hatori's power to erase memories. Kyo stuttered, "Wait. What? Who has powers?"
Shigure took charge and explained, "We'll talk about that later. Right now I want to know what Akito did." They all seemed in agreement to that thought, so Tohru explained. "I fell asleep after Shigure left, and when I woke up, Akito was sitting right there on the table next to me. He was angry that I was taking his Zodiac away from him. Then he told me I needed to learn my place or something bad might happen to one of you. He said you didn't need me, but you needed him and that he could have Hatori erase my memory and Shigure kick me out if he wanted to." She swallowed hard, trying not to cry as she remembered those evil, hateful words that snaked around her heart like a sickness. "Then when he was leaving, he flipped the kotatsu over on me. It landed across my middle, and I couldn't get it to move by just pushing on it. So, I had to use all my strength to get it to flip back over. I think that's what hurt. Then I called you guys after the pain got too great." She quieted as a single tear trickled down her cheek. "I don't really remember too much after that."
Hatori sighed. It was about what they had imagined Akito would do, except not quite as violent as he usually was. For some reason, the head of the family liked to attack a person's eyes and face. He seemed to have gone easy on Tohru. He leaned over slightly and wiped the tear off her face, and patted her on the shoulder. "Thank you for telling us. We probably need to leave now, and let you get some rest. Although, I'm not really sure what Momiji is doing, it seems to have helped you a bit."
Shigure and Ayame stood and moved to untangle the little bunny from her arm, although, come to think about it, he wasn't so little anymore. He was easily as tall as Tohru, though not as muscular as the other boys. Shigure calmly asked her, "Do you want someone to stay the night with you? To keep you company?"
As expected, she started denying the need to inconvenience anyone. So, before she got too far into her little speech, Kyo piped up to cut her off. "Well, I don't care what you say, I'm staying. I don't want you here alone if that Akito decided on a repeat performance. Besides, it's no inconvenience for me to sleep on the floor, or in a chair. I'm not used to comforts and am more at home on the roof. Besides, no one will care if I miss a day of school tomorrow. I don't have a position where the class relies on me to represent them like some people we know…" Kyo noticed Yuki getting ready to object until he got to the last part. Kyo had to get some benefit out of living with master manipulator Shigure. In his head he was grinning like a fool, or Cheshire cat, though he didn't really like cat analogies. 'Take that ya damn rat!'
Calling to Momiji didn't do a thing to wake the boy, so Shigure simply lifted him up off the bed while Ayame removed Tohru's arm from his grasp. Once contact was broken, the faint glow vanished, and the boy's tired eyes squinted open. He mumbled, "I want Tohru to get better." Then he snuggled into the shoulder of his older cousin and drifted back off to sleep.
Shigure called back over his shoulder as he was leaving, "We'll pull the car around and wait for you by the in-patient entrance Tori-san. Sleep tight Tohru, I'll see you in the morning." And Ayame bid them all farewell, after hugging and embarrassing Yuki, as usual, then was gone in a flourish. Hatori only shook his head and mumbled, "Those two will be the death of me."
Yuki and Kyo waited in the hallway while Hatori did his usual evening examination of his patient before bidding her a good nights rest. Yuki returned momentarily to reassure her that he would get her assignments tomorrow and come over as soon as he could to help her. Then he was gone too.
All that remained was Kyo, and he huffed, "Finally, the welcoming committee has left the building. I thought they'd never leave. How can you stand being around so many talking people?" He looked at her from the corner of his eyes and watched the blush stain her pretty face.
"Oh, I don't know. I guess I really like people. But you're right. Sometimes it's nice to just be quiet." A few moments passed until she almost whispered, "Thanks for staying with me. You didn't have to do that. I feel bad that you're going to be uncomfortable."
Kyo snickered, "Like I said. It's nothing unusual for me. I've slept in worse places. Besides, if you really feel that guilty, you could scoot over and share." Though he didn't really expect her to agree. He expected her to stutter and let the subject drop. Instead she started trying to slide her body to the side of her bed. He shouted, "No. Don't do that. You'll pull your stitches. I was just kidding. I couldn't share a bed with you." Her face fell as she interpreted that to mean he didn't want to be near her, so he added, "No, I might accidentally transform. How would we explain you having a cat in your hospital room?"
So, to break the tension, he huffed around the room, looking for extra blankets and pillows that were usually stored in the wardrobe. He settled himself in a deep chair with his legs propped up on a second chair and tossed the blanket over his legs. When he was totally settled, he looked back at Tohru and asked, "Um, are you warm enough? I noticed you were a little cold earlier. I could get you an extra blanket."
She smiled as her eyes closed in fatigue. "Nah, I'm fine. But thank you for offering. And thank you for staying with me tonight. It really means a lot to me." Her voice slurred with sleep she added, "Good night, Kyo."
He knew she was asleep, but he still responded, "Good night, Tohru. I'm really glad you're okay." Then he turned over onto his side and pulled the blanket up over his head. He knew it was going to be a long, uncomfortable night, with nurses barging in and out. But knowing she was safe, he felt it was worth any discomfort and annoyance, and snuggled down to get as much sleep as he could.
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AN: yes, I'm back. I hope none of you died from waiting so long for the update. I told you I wouldn't abandon my stories. They are just too much fun.
So, review if you want to...