Douglas lay on the bed, thankful to be alive but still in a great deal of pain. He was anxiously watching the door. Hours ago, he had woken up and in a stupor thought he had seen Mitsukake. At the time he had been certain it was the healer, but now, hours later, in pain, the fog in his brain that had been present at the time was gone now, he wasn't sure.
Closing his eyes, he sighed, the pain in his chest, reminding him of his broken ribs, caused his breath to catch and as he attempted to regain control of his breathing, he missed the doctor enterring his room.
As the pain ebbed, Doug opened his eyes and they immediately flew to the person standing by the door. Shock and delight flowed onto his face as Michael shut the door. "Mitsukake?"
The doctor nodded, smiling at his youngest seishi brother. "Chiriko."
Doug smiled at the old name as Michael came closer. "How are you feeling?"
Doug scowled at the question. "Like hell. Did you not heal me?"
Michael smiled at the question. "You are alive, right?"
Doug nodded. "Hai, I'm alive."
Michael nodded and reached out, touching Doug's toes. "Can you feel that?" Doug nodded. "Can you move your toes?"
Doug complied, and Michael grinned. "Then I healed you."
He grinned at Chiriko, who was catching on quickly, "I had a severed spinal cord?"
Mitsukake nodded. "That you did, Chiriko. This is a different time, I can't heal you completely without raising too many questions, but I healed you enough that with time you will make a complete recovery. However, once you get out of the hospital, I will heal you the rest of the way, if you desire. Until then, I have to let you heal on your own to not draw suspision to myself."
Chiriko gave a nod and then slipped back into Doug's persona. "So, Mitsukake, what is your name in this life?"
"Michael. Michael Andrews. And you are now Douglas Van Ekred, right?"
Doug gave a nod. "Call me Doug in this life, or Chiriko." Both smiled at each other.
"I don't mind if you call me Mitsukake in private, but I'm Michael or Mike in this life."
They were both quiet for a moment, the silence comfortable. Finally Chiriko asked. "Have you found any of the others?"
They both sighed in disappointment as Michael shook his head. Chiriko spoke again. "I haven't either."
"Well, we found each other, we will find the others, Chiriko, just have faith." The younger man smiled brightly and nodded, causing a wince of pain as he upset his ribs again.
Mitsukake let Chiriko squeeze his hand and then spoke affectionately towards his younger seishi brother. "You need to be careful, I can't heal you completely until you get out. You keep doing that, you are just delaying your healing."
Chiriko smiled at Mitsukake. "I'm fine, Mits. Don't worry. Save your heals for those who really need it. I'm just glad that you were there when I needed you."
Tears filled Mitsukake's eyes. "I am too, Chiriko. I am so thankful to Suzaku that I was able to save you this time."
Chiriko and Mitsukake let the silence overtake them again, relief that Doug would be fine and hope that the others were out there.
Chiriko spent a few more days in the hospital, having a series of tests run on him to find out if there was any lasting damage from his spinal injury. When he was given a bill of clean health, he was released to his parents and returned to his life. The only difference was the hope that finding Mitsukake had given him.
Mitsukake also returned to his life, although he and Chiriko continued to renew their friendship and met at least once a week for a meal, talking on the phone or sending e-mails several times a week.
They both started to look into finding the others, but with the change in names, they didn't have any luck.