Miracles – VIII
Rukia sighed as she played self consciously with the band-aid on her arm. If she ever had to make a list about the top ten ways to notspend a Saturday afternoon, "in the hospital" would definitely be on the top of the list.
She wasn't in for anything bad, of course. She just had an appointment. And Kaname Seiichi, her doctor, had a way of making even the simplest, most easiest test last for hours on end, and then of course came the whole "talking" bit. It was really quite annoying. Right now he was talking to her parents about how things were at home, was she taking her medicine, not doing anything too "strenuous", etc. No one in their right mind would ever believe Rukia was almost eighteen. Not the way her parents and her doctor treated her.
Her height – as Ichigo had pointed out on several occasions, and gotten hit for – probably didn't help the age argument either.
Ichigo. Rukia's icy thoughts melted just thinking about him. While Rukia would never deny that he was an ignorant, idiotic, downright clueless person at times, while it seemed like his trademark scowl never went away, while at times it was as if he was just a downright unpleasant person (Rukia would never sing his praises), there was a certain tenderness to Kurosaki Ichigo that just tickled Rukia. He had respected Rukia's wishes and treated her exactly how she wanted to be treated; like a normal, nothing-special friend. Rukia liked that. Most of the other kids in their class treated her like some kind of freak – even her so called best friend, Miyako. Rukia supposed it was kind of her fault; she still wouldn't tell them where she had gone last year. But exactly howwas it anyone else's business anyway? And as for Miyako...she should have trusted Rukia anyway. They'd been friends since they were three, after all.
Rukia shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. How had she gone from thinking about Ichigo to thinking about the jerks in her class?
"Kuchiki-san?" Rukia jumped and looked around at the door. Her face split into a wide grin.
"Hinamori!" Hinamori Momo grinned.
"Hey!" she bounced into the room and flopped down into the chair next to the bed Rukia was sitting on, "What are you doing back here already?"
"Appointment"
Hinamori had been in the hospital for about six months. She had cystic fibrosis, and her home had become too dangerous for her to stay in. Her parents couldn't afford to get it fixed, because they were paying for all of Hinamori's hospital bills, so Hinamori had ended up in the hospital. She was a short girl, about two years younger than Rukia, with short brown hair, almost always in a bun, and deep black eyes. She was good-natured and hopeful, almost the exact opposite of Rukia.
"Oh. You're not here to stay for awhile?"
"God I hope not," Hinamori laughed. She and Rukia had become good friends during the time they spent together, but no one liked spending long amounts of time in the hospital.
"Oh! Shirou-chan came to visit earlier today," that was Hitsugaya Toshirou. He was about Hinamori's age, he'd come in at the beginning of the summer with a badly broken leg – he ended up getting surgery on it, and he was in the hospital for a month. Hinamori had a crush on him, and Rukia wasn't sure, but she had a feeling he liked Hinamori as well. "Well, he kind of came to visit, he had an appointment anyway, so he dropped in to see me – he's getting of his crutches soon!"
"Must be nice to know you're in the hospital for something that'll actually get better," even Rukia was surprised at how bitter her voice sounded. She didn't usually complain all that much about her leukemia.
"Aw, don't be like that Kuchiki-san," Hinamori said with a frown, "You never know what'll happen in the future. Someday they might find a cure for leukemia," then as an afterthought she added, "And cystic fibrosis"
Rukia smiled a little at that. Hinamori Momo, always hopeful. "Anyways, Shirou-chan says hi," Hinamori was talking again, "It's been awhile since he was able to get here, he didn't know you'd been discharged, I think he was surprised-"
"Why? I don't livehere," the second the words were out of Rukia's mouth, she regretted them. But Hinamori didn't seem to mind.
"No, but you were here the entire time he was, I think he just got used to you being around..."
The girls fell silent. Hinamori swung her legs back and forth, then said, "So how are things going, anyway? With school, I mean"
The second she said school, Rukia lost it. "Terrible! Ever since I got back, everyone's treated me like I have some sort of deadly contagious disease, it's the worst! They're talking about me behind my back, even my so-called best friend, I actually think she started all of it, which just makes it worst, it's absolutely horrible, you're so lucky you don't have to deal with it!" Hinamori worked with the tutors in the hospital. She listened patiently through Rukia's rant, and afterwards the raven-haired girl felt a little better. She hadn't spoken to anyone else about it before; her parents insisted that everything would get better, and Ichigo knew about it, so there was no point in telling him.
"Rukia, do the kids at school know you have leukemia?"
"One does," Rukia admitted sheepishly.
"Don't you think maybe you should tell them? I told my friends when I was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, they were kind of surprised, of course, and weary, but they were okay with it," Hinamori lived one town over, and went to a different school. If she was in Karakura she never would have said something like that.
"Hinamori, it's different here, you're from a smaller community-" and you didn't wait ten years. If I told anyone now...
"Just tell your friends," Hinamori pushed, "They'll understand"
"One of my friends knows. He's-"
"He?!" Hinamori repeated in a high-pitched tone, "This isn't Abarai-kun we're talking about, is it?"
"No, someone in my class-"
Now Hinamori looked intrigued. Knowing where this was going, Rukia said in a stern voice, "Don't get any ideas, he's just my friend-"
"Of course," Hinamori said quickly, "But tell me about him anyway"
"His name's Kurosaki Ichigo..." it was hard, describing Ichigo to Hinamori. She seemed to get stuck on the fact that he had orange hair ("Orange?! Isn't that kind of a weird color?"), and Rukia just wasn't sure her description did Ichigo justice. But Hinamori accepted it.
"He sounds like a really great guy"
Rukia was surprised to hear herself say, "Yeah. He is," realizing how this sounded, she switched tracks, "Speaking of great guys, when are you and Hitsugaya-kun going to swallow your embarrassment?"
Hinamori turned bright red and giggled, "Kuchiki-san! There aren't many dating possibilities in a hospital, you know!"
"So?" Rukia enjoyed teasing the obviously embarrassed girl, "You can't stay here forever, you know, eventually you'll get out. Think he'll ask you out then?"
"Hinamori-san!" both girls looked up. Kotetsu Isane, one of the nurses, was standing in the door with her hands on her hip, looking stern.
"Oops," Hinamori blushed, "Hi Isane-san. Sorry, but I heard Kuchiki-san was here, I wanted to visit her-"
"It's all right," Isane sighed, "But next time tell me if you're going to leave, you know the doctor doesn't want you moving around that much-"
Hinamori and Rukia exchanged tolerant smiles. There were a lot rules in the hospital. "All right, all right," Hinamori stood up, "See you later Kuchiki-san. Try not to do anything that'll land you in here, okay?"
"Bye," Rukia swung her legs back and forth, bored, "Oh, Isane-san!" she called after the nurse, "Do you know if Ishida-san is working?"
"I think her shift starts soon!" Isane called over her shoulder. Rukia looked down at her watch; it was almost four. How much longer were her parents going to talk to the doctor already? She was really starting to get bored...
Ten minutes passed, and right when Rukia was getting ready to fall asleep (still sitting up, mind you) a new voice said excitedly, "Kuchiki-san!"
Rukia's violet eyes snapped open. Ishida Orihime was standing in the door of the room, grinning from ear-to-ear. "Hi Ishida-san," Rukia said, happy for a little more company.
"You look good," Orihime said happily as she walked into the room, "Oh, I just saw your parents, by the way, they're still talking with Doctor Kaname, but they should be done soon"
"Thank God," Rukia sighed wearily as she fell back on the bed, "This was a complete waste of a day, you know? The only good thing is that I got to see Hinamori again"
"Oh you saw her?" Orihime asked, "Did she tell you she might be going home soon?"
Rukia bolted straight up. "What?! She never said anything!"
Orihime giggled. "She found out the other day. Her parents finally saved enough money to start fixing up the house and make it safer for her to be in. She was really excited when she found out, can't imagine why she wouldn't mention it-"
That annoyed Rukia a little. She would have liked to know that Hinamori would be able to go home soon. "It's actually not really that soon," Orihime was saying, "Probably four or five more months – I guess the house is in really bad condition...but it's something to look forward to!"
"Yeah, it is," Rukia agreed, "I'll have to find her before I leave, give her a little grief for not letting me in on the secret"
"So how've things been for you, Kuchiki-san?" Orihime sat down in Hinamori's vacated seat. Hisana hadn't been kidding before; the nurse had taken a liking to Rukia.
"Not bad," she wasn't about to talk about the school disaster again, "Kind of crazy, there are all these rumors going around about where I was last year – but I kind of expected that..."
Orihime nodded wisely. "Any boys you like hanging around?" that was the thing about Orihime. She was very straight forward. It was something that often bugged her about Rukia, who hated direct confrontations.
"Not exactly, no. I mean, there's one, but not the way I know you're thinking-"
Orihime smiled mischievously. "You don't know what I'm thinking Kuchiki-san. So come on, who is he? Name, age, description, anything?"
"His name's Kurosaki Ichigo," Rukia gave in, "He's eighteen, he has orange hair, he's way too tall for his age – he says I'm too short though – and...why am I telling you this anyway?"
"How'd you meet him?"
"One day before school he decided to be really nosy and get involved where he didn't belong," Rukia explained what had happened with Ikkaku and Kenpachi. Orihime looked somewhere between horrified and amused.
"Does he know you have leukemia?"
"Unfortunately," Rukia told Orihime that bitter story, though she noticed that the nurse looked particularly smug about something, "What?"
"Kuchiki-san, how many kids at school know you have Leukemia?"
"Counting him? One," Rukia saw where Orihime was going, "Don't even think it. I told you, he only knows 'cause he's a nosy idiot who can't mind his own business. I certainly didn't tell him, if I had my way he'd have never found out, I swear"
"Maybe not," Orihime said, "But really Kuchiki-san, if you're okay with him knowing...doesn't that mean anything?"
"It means he's okay with it"
"Would it matter if he wasn't?"
"Only if he went shooting his mouth off to someone else"
Orihime still looked smug. "Well you know what I think?"
"No, but I have a feeling you're going to tell me"
"I think you like him"
"Of course I do, he's my friend"
"Not like that!"
"Well I don't like him like that!" Rukia said exasperatedly, "Honestly...why would I? He's obnoxious, he's nosy-"
"Oh Kuchiki-san," Orihime sighed, looking almost pitying, "Don't you know? Young love always stems from hate"
Rukia thought this over for a second. She wouldn't go as far as to say she loved Ichigo, but...
"Ishida-san? What would you do if I said I do like him?"
"You know, if you keep looking at me like that, your face might get stuck," Ichigo practically jumped out of his skin as Isshin's face appeared out of nowhere in front of him. Annoyed, the orange-haired teen punched his father in the face.
"Do you have to do that?" Ichigo grumbled, "I can think of better things to see pop up in front of me than your ugly mug"
"You're so mean to your papa!" Isshin whimpered, "You should so me a little more respect!"
"You should act more like an adult," Ichigo muttered as he went back to his thoughts. He was sitting on the living room couch, mulling over a certain black-haired girl. She had told him quite a bit, but no matter what, she was still a bit of a mystery to him.
"You have an 'I'm having problems with girls' look," Isshin said knowingly, flopping down on the couch, "You want to talk about it?"
"Not with you"
Isshin frowned and folded his arms. "Hmn...let's see...you don't actually know that many girls, so I should be able to figure it out who it is...I know! It's Rukia-chan!"
"Why are you so annoying?"
"What's the problem?"
"I already said I'm not talking to you about it"
"Can't decide the best way to ask her out, huh?"
"Just go the hell away already!" Ichigo grabbed a throw pillow and flung it at his father's face. Isshin whined as he pushed the pillow away. "Why do you always have to-"
"Kuchiki-san isn't all that bad, is she?"
"She's jail-bait to you"
"I meant for you," Isshin's voice took on a serious voice, "A bit too serious for her own good though, I think. She needs you, Ichigo"
Ichigo had half a second to think this over before Isshin yelled, "And besides, I want grandchildren!"
Ichigo grabbed the nearest heavy object – a phone-book – and flung it at his father's face. Isshin whined loudly as his nose bled, and Ichigo stood up in a huff and stormed out of the room, hoping to find a quiet place in this asylum he lived in. Quiet. Right. Like that would ever happen.
Author's Note - I know, I know! It sucked, you don't have to tell me that. I just...wanted to get Rukia and Ichigo away from each other for a chapter so they could think about their feelings - as you can see. Oh whatever...just review - Sam