Chapter 22
Kai winced slightly, feeling a burning pain all over him. Daring, he tried to open his eyes, wincing a bit more from the bright light that shone from the light on the ceiling. He turned his head to the side to avoid the light, seeing Tori lying there, smiling kindly back at him. "Hey." She sounded so careful, like there's something that made her act so cautiously towards him. Kai sat up quickly, though his head began to pound painfully in his skull which made him reconsider his actions. "Hey, hey, calm down." Tori gently pushed him back down, dabbing a wet cloth against his forehead. Kai turned to look at her, confused out of his mind. Tori nodded in understanding, she had to explain. "You slept pretty well last night but you developed a fever early this morning." She whispered.
Kai groaned a bit, hands reaching up to rub his temples lightly. "Are you alright?" He asked. His voice came out quiet and raspy, he couldn't help it, nor control it.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Though mom and dad decided it'd be safe if they took me to the hospital for a check up." Tori continued dabbing the cool cloth against his forehead and burning cheeks.
"And?" Kai sat up again, another pointless action which he couldn't really help, one that came natural to him now.
"And I still have a month like we all thought so don't worry." Tori answered with a smile.
Kai drew in a deep breath, closing his eyes and lying back down properly. "So what time is it?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.
"Almost midday. Mom made you something to eat today and she's right, I think you should get something to eat and keep it up."
Kai nodded slightly, suddenly relaxing completely. Tori smiled a bit in the meantime, pushing his hair away from his dripping forehead as she watched over him. After a few minutes of silence, "Tori…"
"Yeah, Kai?" Tori looked up at him properly, smiling back as always.
Kai looked more serious though, seeming like he was far off in thought and looking like what he was thinking about was really important to him. "Have I really changed?" he asked.
"Sure, Kai, for the better." Tori smiled, "You were a great person to begin with and now you're even better but you're still your own person."
Kai tried hard to take in what she was saying, nodding again once it finally sunk in properly. He placed his hands behind his back, pushing himself to sit up again. He got out of bed and walked over to the door, pausing for a second, turning his head to the side to speak to her, "I'm going to go have a shower. I'll have something to eat after." He sounded like he almost always did, monotonous. His voice never seemed to change, even with her, because really and truly, deep down, he was still the same person, he just opened his eyes to a new time where something's didn't need to go the way he was taught. All he did was need to adjust to that time properly. He left without another word and Tori heard the bathroom door close.
Tori was alright with what he wanted and didn't mind the way he acted. He was always kind to her when he needed to so when he acted all cold-hearted around her she didn't mind it because she knew it was just his character, the way he acted and the way he dealt with things and she never intended on changing who he was, she just wanted to change that part of him that hated himself and make him realize that he wasn't all alone in that little world like he thought.
She smiled happily, she was proud of how things worked out at the end of the day. She felt happy that he got so far by himself and she felt even better that he was slowly learning how to trust some people, that now some people actually had a chance of getting through to him. She lay back down properly, nuzzling her cheek into the pillow, wrapping her arms around her own waist for some warmth. A light knock was heard against the wooden door frame and Tori opened her eyes and looked up, seeing her dad smiling in the doorway. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked her from where he stood.
Tori nodded happily, "I'm doing fine, I'm not even feeling any pain which is really good."
Peter smiled at her too, "That's good news then. So your friend's awake?"
"Yeah, he went to have a shower. Mom made him breakfast but since he slept in he'll have a big lunch instead."
"That sounds fair at least."
"Yeah, I'm just going to rest until he's back here."
The loving father nodded towards his daughter, "Alright but tomorrow your mom and I have to leave again, we're off to India next and our flight leaves early that afternoon so we want to have dinner with you tonight."
Tori beamed happily, sitting up hurriedly, "Great!"
"I'm going out to buy the paper. I'll see you a bit later." Peter turned away from her and left with that.
Tori lay back down, smiling happily that things would be just like old times, just for one more night before things changed for the worst. She closed her eyes again, yawning exhaustedly again but felt that there was no need to try to sleep. She heard quiet footsteps that entered the bedroom and her eyes shot open again. Kai had just walked into the room, dumping his clothes on a chair in the corner of the room. "Hey, are you alright?" she asked.
"Fine." Kai replied. In saying that, he was very convincing so Tori didn't worry about him too much when he said that.
Tori got off the bed as Kai was on his way out of the room again but Tori caught up to him, stopping in front of him. She smiled up at him supportively, wrapping her arms around his waist, giving him a quick kiss. Kai didn't seem to be up for anything at the time but placed his hands on her shoulders, looking down at her, his eyes holding a sincere explanation of how he was feeling. Tori understood and let him pass by her.
Tori followed close behind, leaning against the kitchen doorway. Looking on, a sad look on her face she watched as Kai settled down at table and tried his best to eat something, hopefully trying to get his body used to food again. With every bite of food he took Tori felt even worse, thinking about how much frustration was going on inside of him. Frustration for letting himself come to the point where he had to force himself to eat and frustration for not being able to.
Tori walked over to him quietly, standing behind him, putting her arms around Kai from there. She kissed him on the cheek and whispered quietly in his ear, "I'm going to go change again. Keep this up, you'll feel better." She kissed him on the cheek and turned and left the room. After she'd got back from the hospital Tori had changed back into her nightgown, feeling she was much more comfortable than she would be in her clothes walking around the house.
The teenage girl walked to her room, walking up to her wardrobe and picking out some, preferably, more comfortable clothes. She picked them up and walked to her bathroom, dumping her clothes onto the counter. She sat on the side of the bath, starting to run the hot water as she undressed. She stepped into the warm water, relaxing into the water, closing her eyes. She opened her eyes again, sitting up and reaching forward to switch off the still running water.
She washed herself off properly, wiping all the soupy bubbles off of her pale skin. She groaned slightly, once again seeing how pale and skinny her arms where, a burden she carried from years of hospitals and medication. She got her soaking form out of the bath, wet feet landing on the carpet by the bath while she grabbed a towel from the nearest hanger. She changed rather quickly and without much of a problem, apart from a few dizzy spells while pulling on her short black skirt. She dressed up, checked the mirror, picked up her clothes and stepped out of the bathroom.
She dumped her dirty clothes in the laundry bin and left the towel in her room. She walked to the kitchen, smiling when seeing Kai still there. He was resting his head in his hand, now moving his food from one side of the plate to the other, feeling too stuffed to eat anymore. Maria was currently leaning her back against the counter, standing behind Kai, her arms crossed while she looked over him with worry. "Mom, can I talk to you for a minute?" Tori asked, gaining the attention of the other two people in the kitchen.
Maria nodded and pushed herself away from the counter. She stepped outside in the hallway in front of her daughter, "Yeah?"
"You're hovering."
"I am not hovering." Maria protested.
"Yeah you are. Just leave the poor guy alone for a while, if something's wrong then I'll sort it out." Tori told her confidently.
Maria sighed, resting back against the wall. "He speaks to no one, so I see why you worry about him."
"I try not to worry, I'm failing at that but I'm going to help him and if he knows what's good for him, he'll tell me if he needs help."
"He'd better." The worrying mother muttered. "I'll leave him alone but do something about this, get him to come to dinner with us tonight at least."
Tori sighed, thinking for only a moment, "I'll try but I'm not going to bother him with it."
"That's something at least." Maria smiled a bit and turned in the direction of the spare room, the room she'd stayed in with her husband the night before.
Tori looked on after her, "Hey mom…" she called to get her mother's attention which she got quickly. "Thanks." She whispered, smiling, glistening tears in her eyes.
Maria smiled back, tears almost welling up in her own eyes. She walked quickly again to her young dieing daughter, pulling her arms tightly yet gently around her.
Kai watched the sweet family sight from the kitchen door, smiling inwardly at the bonding of a mother and daughter, of a daughter with her family. Unfortunately, he could never have any sort of relationship with his own family. They were either dead or deranged, either way, having a relationship with them was impossible. He stepped into the kitchen again, settling down at table, another horrible feeling nagging at his heart for no reason. The sight of food again made him ill so he pushed the plate aside and rested his head on his arms on the table. "Hey, Kai." A strong hand gripped Kai's shoulder for a second before it slid off.
Kai lifted his head up and looked to his side, seeing Mr Komatsu pouring out a drink. "Hey." He was quiet as always and he couldn't really help it these days, it just came out that way.
"Slept well?"
"Yeah."
Mr Komtasu leaned back against the counter as he sipped his drink while thinking. "My daughter was really worried about you this morning, things are alright?"
"They're perfectly fine. She just gets worried too easily."
"Hey, she gets that from her mother." Peter smiled.
Kai smirked at his comment and replied, "That she does."
"Well it's a good thing you're alright." Mr Komatsu said, a minute before leaving the room without another word.
"Yeah, it's great." Kai muttered to himself, closing his crimson eyes again.
"Hey, Kai." Tori smiled, kissing Kai on the cheek. "How are you feeling, honey?" she asked, kneeling on the ground beside him. She felt Kai shrug slightly, clearly he knew he wasn't well and couldn't really deny it, just passed it off with a shrug. "You don't need to eat more for now," she whispered, while her gentle hand went to feel his forehead. "Go lie down." She ordered, sitting up, picking up his plate and placing it on the counter for her mom to clean up later.
Kai didn't even bother to argue with that, feeling the heat in his face growing too much for him to keep sitting there feeling bad. He got up, as fast as he could and walked into the living room, setting his aching body down on the sofa. He winced, resting his head on the arm rest of the sofa, turning on his side and closing his eyes again. It's a Saturday and he couldn't believe he was spending another one inside and sick. If only he could do something to fix everything in his life, in hopes things will begin to get better. But a change like that would take a lot of time and effort and now he was slowly working on getting better, though he hated it that it made him feel so ill.
He heard Tori walk into the room and settle down on the sofa opposite him, keeping a worried eye on him, that much he knew. He turned onto his back again, sitting up just slightly and propping his head up with a pillow. "You aren't planning to stop worrying are you?"
"I'm not worrying, just get back to resting, you seem to need it."
Kai sighed disapprovingly, the exhale making feel dizzy and even more heated. Tori got off the sofa she was on and sat down beside Kai, running her hands along his chest before giving him a gentle kiss on the lips. "I'll get my dad to come check on you." She whispered quietly in his ear before slowly getting off the sofa again.
Kai's eyes shot open again and his hand viciously grabbed Tori's wrist to stop her from moving away. "Don't. Leave your parents out of this." He told her coldly.
"They're worried and they're here so they're already in this so just let someone check on you."
"Leave them out of this." Kai ordered angrily.
Tori pulled her hand out of his, sighed and slowly left the living room, leaving Kai alone in pain. Tori ran down the hall, knocking lightly on her the spare room's door, "Come in." was all she heard from her dad.
Tori hurriedly opened the door and stepped inside. Her dad was sitting on the bed with the newspaper open in front of him and he'd been in the process of turning a page which he'd paused from doing when she'd entered. "Dad can I ask you a favour?" she asked quietly, closing the door quietly behind her.
"Sure honey, what is it?" Her father neglected the paper and turned completely to look at his daughter and hear her request.
"Kai isn't well, he's still got a strong fever and I need to you to check on him. He doesn't want you there so give him some time so he doesn't know I ratted him out but I just need you to check on him." Tori said hurriedly, words running over each other, giving her father little chance to keep up with her.
"Woah! Alright, calm down, I'll check on him." Peter said, placing his hands on her shoulders supportively.
Tori took a deep breath, exhaling quickly, "Thanks." She breathed, leaning forward in her fathers arms.
"Don't worry." Peter wrapped his strong arms around his daughter, pulling her into a comforting embrace.
---That Afternoon---
Kai lay sleeping soundly on the sofa while Tori and her father stepped into the living room where Kai still was. Peter sighed and sat on the sofa beside Kai, brushing the lank strand of hair from the young boy's forehead. "Dad…" Tori called from behind him.
"Be careful…I know." Peter smiled, looking back at his worrying daughter. "Go lie down before I have another sick teenager to deal with, and a worrying significant other of said teenager not leaving me alone."
Tori smiled at that comment and quickly nodded, taking a last glance at Kai before leaving the room.
Peter picked up Kai's hand, stretching Kai's arm out, eyes widening at the sight of the scars on the arm. "Kai…" A finger traced along a deep scar that was on Kai's shoulder once seeing it, "What are you doing?" he asked the lifeless form.
---With Tori---
Tori lay down on her bed, worry still nagging at her but she thought hard about how now there was nothing she could do for Kai but let her dead check him over and see what's going to happen and what could be done to make Kai feel better or even just more comfortable. A knock was heard on her door and she looked quickly towards the doorway, seeing her mother, "Hey, where's your father?" she asked.
"He's checking on Kai right now."
"Finally decided that Kai isn't going to come to you if something's wrong?" Maria asked, a hinted sound of victory in her voice.
Tori shook her head slightly and went back to staring at the ceiling in thought, "That's not the case." She started. "He's sick and I want to make sure it's nothing too serious, something not even Kai himself would know for sure."
"That's alright I suppose." Maria thought aloud, sitting by her daughter on the bed.
"Yeah, Kai may kill me later though." Tori smiled lightly.
Maria lay down too and smiled, "That's always one of his best options."
"Cruel." Tori muttered, her usual smile never leaving her face. That's when the tightening and sharp pain seared through her skull again and she felt weaker, this time it passed quickly though but it ended with her showing her mother how tired she actually was by yawning.
"You better get some sleep before Kai actually kills you for not looking after yourself. Or better yet, he'll kill your father and I for not looking after you." Maria stood up and walked over to the door, "Get some rest." She repeated before leaving.
"Mom!" Tori called quickly.
"Yeah?" Maria asked, popping her head in again.
"Leave Kai alone alright?"
"Sure."
Tori turned on her side, pouting slightly as she looked at her calendar where the days drew closer. She closed her eyes and she was just about to drift off to sleep when, "Tori!" was yelled down the hall and running was heard towards her room and a weight jumping onto her bed. Tori opened her eyes, being on the alert she sat up quickly, smiling and softening up when she saw it was only Max and Tyson, Ray standing by her bed.
"Careful guys, you could wake the dead." Tori laughed.
"Sounds good to me!" Tyson said hurriedly.
Tori laughed at that, Tyson would never change and that seemed to be a good thing. "What are you guys doing here? It's Saturday, you have the day off don't you?"
"Yeah but we thought we'd come see you." Ray answered.
"You don't want to see us?" Tyson said, faking to be hurt by Tori's words.
Tori broke into laughter with that and swung her arms around Tyson and Max, the two that were closer to her on the bed. "Of course I want to see you. What are you? Stupid?"
"You really want an answer to that?" Ray asked, grinning.
Tori thought for a moment before quickly shaking her head, "Come to think of it, no not really."
"Hey guys, that's not fair." Tyson complained.
Tori hit him lightly on the head, "Wake up, Tyson. Life isn't always fair." She reminded him.
Another knock on the door was heard and everyone looked up at Peter in the doorway. Tori got off the bed hurriedly and ran out the door, grabbing her dad on the way out so that she could speak to him alone. "So?" Tori asked urgently.
Peter smiled comfortingly, placing his hands on his daughters shoulders as he almost always did. "He's fine, a fever which should pass soon enough, nothing serious."
"That's all it was?" Tori asked, breathing deeply.
"Yes, that's all it was so stop worrying. When he wakes up we'll just see if his fever went down, it should have by then."
"Alright." Tori tried to nod but the rush got her dizzy. She slipped forward in her father's arms again, this time unconditionally as her heart stopped beating for a second and the aching pain in her head grew. Luckily it quickly passed as the other time and she stood up straight again.
"For now, just go have fun with your friends." Her father told her lovingly, kissing her softly at the top of her head. "Have fun." He whispered, letting go and leaving the girl to walk back to her room by herself.
Tori walked slowly back to her room, leaning against the door frame. "Hey guys, Kai's still asleep in the living room, let's stay in there with him, just in case something happens." She told the team.
"Sure." The team followed her to the living room, watching as Tori sat on the ground and glanced over at Kai.
The other three bladers sat on the ground with her, all worriedly looking at Kai. "Is he alright?" Max asked, looking at Tori with questioning eyes.
Tori nodded, "Dad checked on him and said he's only got a fever." She replied.
"He should be fine then." Tyson started, "I'm sure he can handle a fever."
Tori smiled really happily at the sound of that once realizing that Tyson was right. "Yeah, I'm sure he can handle it." All smiled and nodded in a final agreement to that but before they knew it tears were streaming from Tori's clear brown eyes.
Ray looked on sadly at the crying girl, "Tori…" he whispered.
"Are you alright?" Max asked her quietly. He moved closer to her and pulled an arm around her so she could lean against him if she needed to.
Tori smiled slightly, nodding as best she could as she wiped at her eyes. "You guys are really great. You've been amazing to me for so long…"
Tyson and Max were already crying at the few words she said, while Ray, being the oldest tried to hold things together. Tyson and Max hugged the shaking and crying girl, both of them saying other things to her that made her feel really great about herself, things that made her cry more for having to hurt them with her departure.
Tears stung Ray's own eyes and he reached forward and wiped the ones away from Tori's eyes, watching her smile up at him and all he could really do is smile back.
"Sorry to break up this little get together." A voice called. The all turned and saw Maria standing there, smiling at the sight of the friendship of all those that where in the room. "Tori…I'm going to go back to the hotel to pack my things for tomorrow. I'll be back in time for dinner, your dad is in the spare room and he'll stay just in case you need anything."
"Sure, thanks mom." Tori smiled, waving bye to her mother.
"Bye guys."
"Bye Mrs Komatsu."
"Maria." She corrected, shouting from down the hall as she got ready to leave the apartment.
The four teenagers laughed and the stubbornness and Tori pulled a pillow off one of the sofas, placing it on the ground and resting back with her head on it. "So what have you guys been doing on your days off?" she asked.
"Not much." Ray started to reply.
Max grinned and nudged Tyson, "But Tyson got a phone call from Hilary yesterday." He teased.
Tori smiled, "That's that old school friend right?"
"Friend is putting that a bit lightly now though, isn't it?" Ray went on with the teasing, everyone laughing as they watched Tyson turn bright red and start protesting, which he failed miserably at.
"Why am I always the butt of everyone's jokes?" Tyson asked, clearly annoyed at the obvious fun the others where having with him.
"Because you're just too easy to tease." Tori replied, matter-of-factly, an amused grin never leaving her pale face.
"Yeah, you make it too easy." Max agreed.
"I'll get you both for that one." Tyson crossed his arm, looking like a spoilt brat.
"I'll be waiting." Tori laughed, she really knew how to push Tyson to do crazy things, something she'd learnt from months of experience. Oh and of course, months of talking to Kai about Tyson's randomness.
"What about you though? You have been taking things easy right?"
"Of course. It's not me if I don't take things easy." Tori replied.
"That's true." Tyson said.
"Sometimes." Max added to his statement.
"Yeah, you're pretty tough on yourself when you want to be too." Ray told her.
"Yeah I know but the good thing is that I usually know when to relax." Tori said, before cocking her head to the side, "Unlike someone else in the room." She was referring to Kai and they all knew it, he was the only one that didn't know when to relax in most times. "But he'll be fine." Tori whispered, a bit more serious now, still with the confident and cheerful smile on her face.
"Yeah, we'll all be fine."
"After all you've been through together, you have to get through this and you will."
"Yeah, we're in this, we're going to help each other and we're helping Kai." Ray said.
Tori pushed herself into a seated position, smiling lightly, the friendship of the team getting to her. "Thanks. He needs friends as good as you guys. He's lucky to have you, I'm lucky to have you guys too."
"Enough with that Tori." Max whined. "Before you get us crying."
Tori would have actually have laughed at that if it weren't for a bad feeling in her heart and stomach that stopped her from doing it. Her hearing faded completely for a moment and her head whipped from side to side in search for what was wrong. Then her eyes fell on Kai's trembling form, trying to sit up on the sofa and her hearing quickly picked up again and she staggered up and knelt down again beside the sofa. Kai looked fear stricken, tears welling up in his eyes, some dizziness and nausea going on too.
Tori grabbed Kai's hand, gently pushing him back into a lying position but Kai shook too much and wouldn't even let her touch him apart from her hand on his. Tori turned hurriedly to Ray, where the others had ran up behind her in order to try help. "Get my dad." She ordered.
Ray nodded and ran out of the room and pulled Mr Komatsu into the living room only seconds later. "What happened?" He asked, sitting next to Kai.
Tyson and Ray slowly pulled Tori away from Kai so that Peter could check on him and her worry about him only increased with every breath she saw him try to take in. Peter picked up Kai's hand, finding the strong beating pulse on his wrist before timing the panicking boy's heart rate, eyes widening as he stared down at his watch and kept counting. Kai's hand pulled out of Peter's after about five minutes and it gripped the side of his head painfully, resting back into the pillow as the laboured breathing slowed down but the sweat that dripped off Kai's forehead remained the same. "Kai…" Peter called.
It took Kai some time to focus fully on the voice, only hearing a loud beating going through his head but soon enough he focused his eye sight on the person looking down at him and soon after his hearing closed in on the sounds around him. He groaned at the sound of two or more people asking if he was okay, the sound of their voices cutting through his skull painfully. "Lower your voices." He told them weakly.
Tori knelt down beside the sofa, grabbing his hand quickly. "Goodness, you scared me half to death." She breathed worriedly.
"It looks like he almost scared himself half to death too." Peter corrected, helping Kai to sit up.
"I need to go outside." Kai pushed himself up hurriedly and swung his legs over the side of the sofa and was ready to push himself up but was pushed back by five pairs of hands, "No!" being shouted out by everyone that surrounded him.
"You aren't in any shape to be going out just yet." Ray said wisely.
"Yeah, Kai." Max whispered carefully, a bit more cautious when talking to Kai as always.
"There's a medical kit in the spare room, so we can have you checked out." Peter started. A flash of fear reflected in Kai's eyes and Peter saw it and looked as comforting as he could as he continued. "Can you get up?"
Kai nodded slightly, sitting forward again, getting used to the throbbing in his skull before standing up without anyone else's help, help he couldn't accept from anyone there after what they'd just seen happen to him. Kai walked out of the room without another word, on his behalf or the others. Peter turned to his daughter who was looking after Kai, watching him walk into the bathroom, he put a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze, his brown eyes assuring her that Kai will be alright and that Peter wouldn't hurt him. Tori nodded hesitantly and turned round to sit on the sofa as Peter left to tend to Kai.
"What do you think happened?" Tyson asked, sitting down next to Tori, the others following.
Tori pouted, resting her head against Tyson's shoulder for some support, "I don't know."
"Your dad will find out though, then we'll see what we can do to help, then Kai can get better." Max said confidently, trying a smile as best he could to cheer up Tori.
Tori nodded, biting down on her lower lip as she thought. "Yeah and…maybe it was just a bad affect of the fever, maybe it got to him and it wont happen again."
"That could always be it." Tyson said. It was like the happiness in the room was contagious, it just started out with sadness and worry all around, then one person gave a positive remark and Tori would be happy and anyone who saw Tori beaming with happiness was bound to smile or laugh.
"He'll be fine." Ray tried to say, though it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself that.
A ringing sound filled the room and Tori leaned forward and picked up the phone. "Hello?" she answered quietly. Tori got off the sofa and walked to the other side of the room, looking out off the balcony as she proceeded with her phone call with her mom. The three teenagers just watched her nod after a while and put the phone back down on the table. "Mom wants me to get ready to go to dinner, you mind waiting just ten minutes till I get back?"
"Sure."
"No problem."
"Thanks." Tori smiled and walked out of the room quickly and down the hall to her bedroom. She looked through her wardrobe, thinking of what she could what she could wear for the night. She sighed, settling on wearing her short black skirt and a blank tank top and settling on the heels she'd been wearing that day. She closed her bedroom door and started the change, trying her best to ignore the intruding bit-beast who'd entered her room just when she'd closed the door.
"I don't think this is a wise thing to do…all of it." Denzelle said from her corner of the room.
"This doesn't concern you."
"It concerns my Mistress, so it does concern me too." Denzelle said angrily.
Tori picked up her beyblade from on her bedside table, listening in to what Denzelle said.
"You shouldn't be doing this and this is affecting many people! You shouldn't do this!"
Tori stood up, spun on her heel and threw her green and pink beyblade towards the offending bit-beast that yelled at her. Tori made eye contact with the bit-beast that had crouched down onto the ground before Denzelle disappeared and Tori walked out of the room and to the kitchen. There she met Max who looked her up and down before smiling, "I take it Kai is eating with you tonight."
Tori blushed heavily at his comment and nodded slightly, "I hope he can come with us at least, other wise I don't want to leave him here alone."
"I'm sure he'll be fine." Max told her, taking her hand and pulling her back into the living room after she'd picked up her drink that she'd poured out.
The teenagers spoke amongst them for a few more minutes, through their chatter they hadn't heard the bathroom door open again and didn't realize Kai was out until they heard the front door close tightly behind the oldest teenager. Tori shot off the ground and was about to run out of the living room door when she bumped into her father and he gripped her shoulders, guiding her back into the living room and onto the sofa.
"Where'd Kai go?" Tyson asked, he was fast, and almost angry that Peter let him leave.
"I suggested he get some fresh air so he went for a short walk, he said he'll be back within half an hour." Peter replied.
"So what happened?" Tori asked, ignoring the others for the moment.
"He had a severe panic attack."
"What?!"
"There was a sudden onset of fear with little provoking stimulus. That lead to a release of adrenaline which brought in the person's body prepares for strenuous physical activity. His heart rate rapidly inceased."
"Like hyperventalation?" Ray asked.
"Exactly, like that. Anyway, because strenuous activity actually rarely ensues, the hyperventilation leads to a drop in carbon dioxide levels in the lungs and then in the blood. Which shifted pH in the blood, which in turn lead to many other symptoms, such as numbness, dizziness, and lightheadedness, all of which he did in fact feel. It is also possible for the person experiencing such an attack to feel as though they are unable to catch their breath, and they begin to take deeper breaths, which also acts to decrease carbon dioxide levels in the blood, again, something that happened to him."
"That sounds bad." Max whispered, more to himself than the others as he stared at the ground disappointedly.
"So if things where this bad, why'd you let him leave?" Tyson lashed out.
"Tyson!" Tori yelled at him. "I'm sure my dad has a reason for that, if he doesn't, then if there's a god out there it better help him." She threatened, her glare shifting from Tyson to Peter.
"I do have a reason for it. He needed to get away from here for a while, work off the adrnaline rush and get away from the trigger."
"So what was the trigger?" Ray asked him.
"I leave that up to you guys. I don't know what scares him, I don't know about anything that goes on in his life so I wouldn't know but considering he was asleep when it happened, I'd say whatever it is could have been transferred into a frequent nightmare."
"He has been having those a lot lately." Tori whispered, pouting as she kept her gaze fixed to the ground. "How can we stop it from happening again?"
"There's antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication but I wouldn't try that. I'd just leave him to work on this, if this is the only time this has ever happened. If it persists than he should get some medication for it. Repeated and seemingly unprovoked panic attacks may be a sign of a panic disorder, but panic attacks are associated with other anxiety disorders as well. For example, people who suffer from phobias may experience panic attacks upon exposure to certain triggers. "
"Is it safe for him to go out tonight?"
"He'll be fine with some time alone, he'll be back soon and back to his usual self so yes, he will definitely be fine for tonight."
"Alright then that means things arent too bad right?"
"Right so you all can stop worrying." Peter informed them all. "Tori…your mom will be here in about fifteen minutes." He said before getting up again and leaving the room.
"I hope Kai will be back soon." Max said, sounding a bit scared and upset about Kai.
"Yeah me too." Tori sighed, feeling just as upset as Max was.
For a moment, Tyson looked like he was in deep thought, surprising but true and he soon looked up at the others. "You think we should question him about it?"
"Sounds alright…" Tori started, feeling slightly uncertain though.
"But what if that triggers something?" Ray asked.
Tori sighed a bit before a few sobs started racking her slender frame and she broke down into tears. "Tori…" Ray whispered. He scooted over closer to her and pulled his arms tightly around her into a warm and comforting embrace. "Don't worry." He told her.
Tori nodded against the embrace, pulling her hand from around Ray so she could wipe away the tears from streaming down her cheeks. "I'll be right back." She told him, pushing herself up before leaving the room again. She walked up to the spare room and knocked lightly on the door but being called in seconds later.She stood in front of her father for a second, shifting uncomfrotably, not quite sure what it was that she wanted to ask him and what it was that she wanted him to tell her. "I want to know the symptoms, all of them so that I'll know if it happens again tonight." She told him.
"I doubt it'll happen again, Tori. Don't get so stressed out about it." Peter reassured her quietly, in hopes she'd just stop worrying soon.
Tori glared at him, a look on her face that said something along the lines of 'You'd better tell me or I'll give you the silent treatment for the rest of your visit.'
Peter gave in once seeing that, refusing to have hs daughter angry at him the whole time, "Alright, alright. The symptoms in his case would be, trembling, laboured breathing, heart palpitations, chest pains, sweating, nausea, dizziness or vertigo, light-headedness, hyperventilation, paresthesias, and sensations of choking, smothering and dreamlike and disconnected feelings, like feeling away from the world, distant. That enough?"
"Yeah but, palpitations?" Tori asked confusedly.
"It's when you're awre of your heartbeat, if it becomes too fast, too slow or just irregular. Look it up, I'm not a teacher."
Tori groaned and turned to leave the room, "If I were living longer after dealing with Kai, I'd have enough knowledge to be a doctor or a psychologist." She said aggrivatedly.
A/N: Hey, how was that? It was extra long and I have a reason for that. I got my exam results and mom is mad bout them and stuff so I might be banned from the computer while with her so I will most likely be only updating on the weekends again. Anyways, please review and tell me what you think. Take care everyone!