LIVING A LIFE FORETOLD
Chapter 3: "Mercy"
A Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.
Mamoru unlocked the door to the cramped - - "intimate," the voice of his wife corrected in his head - - little apartment he shared with the one true love of his life. Though his day had started out quietly enough, things avalanched after he'd left Ami and he was done in. There hadn't even been time to eat dinner between the Shinguji kidney failure and the Hatohara reaction to his medication. And he hadn't managed to call Dr. Yamamura like he'd promised Ami.
"After dinner," he swore an oath to himself, fumbling with the door knob. "I hope Usako fixed something." Mamoru crossed the threshold into the apartment.
"MAMO-CHAN, YOU'RE HOME!" Usagi squealed, coming up fast on his left. Mamoru had just enough time to brace before Usagi flung herself at him. Her arms wrapped around his neck as her body impacted with his - - and Mamoru felt his knees buckle. As his wife shrieked in terror, Mamoru fell backwards onto the floor, Usagi sprawled on top of him. "Mamo-chan, are you all right?" she cried.
"Am I that tired," Mamoru wheezed, short of breath, "or are you getting heavier?"
"Are you saying I'm fat?" Usagi demanded, her mouth screwing up into a thin little line.
"Not even if you held a gun to my head," the doctor grinned weakly. Usagi's mouth softened into a warm smile.
"Oh, Mamo-chan, you do love me," she sighed and the pair kissed still sprawled on the floor.
"Disgusting," sneered Luna from her perch in the window.
Without breaking her embrace, Usagi made a rude gesture at the cat.
"Honestly, rutting on the floor like a pair of animals in heat," Luna persisted. "Do either of you know the meaning of the word 'decorum'?"
"I think the apartment's decorum looks just fine!" snapped Usagi. Luna only rolled her eyes and went back to sleep.
Mamoru sniffed the air. "You didn't make dinner?" he asked, a trace of his massive disappointment seeping into his voice.
"Oh, Mamo-chan, I'm sorry!" whined Usagi as the pair worked their way off the floor. "But there was this show on television and I got interested in it and - - well, I forgot."
"Are they rerunning 'Cutey Honey Flash' again?" Mamoru asked, half-jokingly.
"Well," Usagi pouted, "I like that show. Though not as much as the show it replaced."
Mamoru sighed patiently. "Well, we've still got some leftovers from yesterday, don't we?" Usagi suddenly grew a very guilty expression.
"She had them for lunch," Luna reported.
"SO DID YOU!" Usagi bellowed. "But I notice you didn't get around to mentioning THAT!"
"I'm assuming you didn't get to the store, either?" Mamoru asked. Usagi shook her head timidly. "Do we have anything?"
"Some instant noodles," Usagi squeaked.
"Sold," the young doctor sighed. "But on one condition."
"What?"
He snaked his arms around Usagi's waist. "That you sit on my lap and feed them to me."
Usagi smirked conspiratorially. "I think I'd enjoy that."
Giving Usagi's bottom a playful swat, Mamoru turned and began dialing the phone. As Usagi heated water for the noodles, she could hear most of Mamoru's end of the conversation. Bringing the foam cup into the living room, she found her husband deflating into one side of the sofa.
"Who did you call?" she asked, snuggling her bottom into his lap and cuddling up next to him.
"A colleague of mine, Dr. Yamamura," Mamoru replied, then took a bite of noodles offered by Usagi.
"Is she pretty?" Usagi asked, eyes narrow and lips puckered in a pout.
"He," Mamoru corrected. "I asked him to give Ami clearance to visit a patient of his." Mamoru took another bite.
"Is she consulting already?" Usagi marveled. "I know Ami's a genius, but come on!"
"Remember Ryo Urawa?" Mamoru asked. Usagi nodded, then grew a look of distress. "He came in this morning with four bullet wounds."
"Oh my goodness, what happened?"
Mamoru scowled. "Well, word around the hospital is that Urawa - - tried to assassinate the Prime Minister this morning."
"No!" gasped Usagi urgently. "Mamo-chan, that's not possible! Not Urawa!"
"Security forces are the ones who shot him, Usako," Mamoru related. "I was talking with Yamamura. Urawa's not the same boy we remember. Just from his physical condition alone, it's obvious that he's been through some very rough times. Stress, frustration, hopelessness - -they can change people."
"No, Mamo-chan, it's not possible," Usagi insisted.
"Well, then maybe Ami can get him to open up - - shed a little light on what happened," Mamoru mused, "if he regains consciousness."
"You mean he might . . .?" Usagi asked, not brave enough to mouth the word.
"From what Yamamura and Ami both described to me, it's a distinct possibility."
Clutching the cup to her chest, Usagi leaned in against her husband for comfort. This was not good news.
On her break from the ER, Ami hurried up to the Intensive Care Unit. She wanted to check in on how Urawa was doing. No one had called her with either good news or bad. In fact,the only people who called her were her friends. Makoto was the first, followed quickly by Rei and Minako. Even her mother had called and Ami had no idea her mother had even known about her feelings for Ryo. Such things had made for a period of sleep in fits and spots. The most welcome call had been from Mamoru, telling her Dr. Yamamura had cleared her to visit.
She was curious as to why Usagi hadn't called. But that curiosity evaporated when she heard a commotion up ahead in the ward.
"But I just want to visit him!" Usagi squealed, trying to pull away from one of the guards at Urawa's room. "I'm a friend of his! I've known him forever!"
"Nobody is admitted! That means you!" the guard maintained. Ami saw his partner was ready to assist if necessary.
"What's going on here?" Ami raced up. "Usagi, why are you here?"
"Ami? Oh, Ami, it's terrible! Urawa-kun looks so pale and weak! And-and they won't let me in! I can help him!"
"Usagi!" Ami hissed and pulled her off out of earshot of the guards and the nurse's station. "You didn't intend to use the Moon Tier, did you?" she asked in a low voice.
Usagi's blank stare was all the confirmation Ami needed.
"Usagi, you know how much trying to heal someone takes out of you! It's too big of a risk! Urawa-kun is gravely ill!"
"But Ami," Usagi argued, her eyes beginning to tear up, "he could die. It's Urawa-kun!"
The tone of Usagi's plea gave Ami a pang for several reasons. She grimaced.
"Usagi, we're doing everything medically possible for him," Ami told her friend. Then she offered a confident smile. "Don't give up on medical science yet. We're not beaten by a longshot."
Usagi bowed her head. "I don't mean to insult you, Ami. It's just - - I can help him. I know I can. Maybe I can't make him well - - but I can give him some more strength to fight with."
"It's too dangerous," Ami persisted. When Usagi started to argue, Ami cut her off. "I won't here another word, Usagi. I'm the doctor here. I know best." And Usagi surrendered - - reluctantly. Ami turned and walked back to the guards.
"Ma'am, you can't go in either," the guard told her. "This is a restricted area."
"I'm Dr. Mizuno," Ami identified herself. "Dr. Yamamura cleared me to see the patient."
"That may be," the guard replied tersely, "but you haven't been cleared with us."
"I am a doctor affiliated with this hospital . . ."
"And he's a government prisoner, which makes this cubicle under the jurisdiction of the National Security Forces," the guard countered. "Nobody goes in without permission."
"Is there a problem here?" Ami heard the voice, turned and found Dr. Yamamura behind her. He was about Mamoru's age with slicked back black hair and a fairly handsome face with a cocky confidence to it. Ami instantly recognized the posture. Some doctors adopted the cocky attitude in order to instill patient confidence in them and in their control over the medical situation. It was something Ami rejected in favor of caring honesty. "Because this is an ICU, and that means there are very sick people here who DO NOT need to be disturbed."
"We're sorry, Doctor," the guard nodded. "We're just doing our assigned jobs."
"They won't let me in," Ami told him.
"Gentlemen, I asked Dr. Mizuno to consult on this case," Yamamura said with a bravado Ami could only envy. "Please let her pass."
"Very well," scowled the guard. "But she's going to have to wait until a female officer can be summoned."
"Why?" gasped Ami.
"You need to be searched," was the reply. And Ami suddenly saw red.
"Why do I need to be searched?" she snapped. "Do you think I'm going to pass a weapon to him? That man in there can't even get out of bed on his own! He wouldn't be a threat to anyone if I passed a thermo-nuclear device to him! Use your eyes!"
"Ami, calm down," Usagi gasped, holding onto her friend.
"Gentlemen," Yamamura interjected, positioning himself between them and Ami, "your force is here at OUR indulgence. But if you abuse that indulgence, I WILL have you escorted off the premises. Now I have a sick man in there. If Dr. Mizuno can help his recovery, then she is going in there."
The guard scowled in frustration. He examined his options and didn't like the conclusion he got.
"Very well. Dr. Mizuno can go in," he said. Then he pointed sharply at Usagi. "But SHE stays out!"
"OHHHHHHHH!" fumed Usagi. She turned on her heel and stormed out. Ami and Dr. Yamamura walked past the guards and into Urawa's room. Ryo lay there, still unconscious and still hooked to the ventilator.
"So you're the intern Dr. Nakahara raves to everyone about," Yamamura smiled. "You should be flattered. He doesn't impress easily, especially from interns. There are some residents that Nakahara looks down on."
"He's being kind," Ami replied modestly, her eyes inexorably drawn to Urawa's vital sign display. "Thank you for helping with the guards."
"Just helping out a friend of Chiba's. Besides, 'doctor' is a fraternity. We're supposed to stick together." He paused awkwardly. "So, how long have you known this guy?"
"Since I was fourteen," Ami admitted, "though we lost touch years ago."
"Hmm," Yamamura nodded. "So, um, so what makes a guy do that?"
"I don't know," Ami grimaced. "It isn't the Urawa-kun I knew. He was hardly prone to violence." Then Ami paused as her great brain made a realization. "Unless he felt he had no choice."
"Look!" they both heard someone say outside the room. "It's Sailor Moon!"
Ami whirled and saw Sailor Moon approaching the two guards. Her first impulse was to run to Usagi and try to stop her, but her need to protect her own identity kept her from acting. The guards advanced a step to cut the senshi off.
"You can't come in here," the guard told her. "This is a restricted area."
"But I can help him," Sailor Moon told them. And Ami could see the will of the two men begin to waver.
"No, ma'am," the guard said finally. "Our orders are clear."
Sailor Moon sighed in frustration. Holding up her hand, she summoned the Moon Tier to her.
"Then I'll just have to do it from here," she replied. "Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss."
Radiant silver energy flowed from the Tier through the door and washed over Ryo. Neither the guards nor Dr. Yamamura moved, for they didn't quite know what to do in this situation. Ami knew. She prayed to any god that would listen that Sailor Moon wouldn't severely injure herself trying to boost Ryo's flagging life energy. Timidly she risked a glance at the vital signs monitor. Ryo's heartbeat and blood pressure were strengthening. The ashen color of his skin was taking on a more healthy, though far from perfect, hue.
And then Sailor Moon collapsed. Instantly the guards were around her, trying to prop her up as Ami and Dr. Yamamura rushed to her side.
"Are you hurt?" one of the guards asked her.
"No," Sailor Moon wheezed. "Just a little dizzy. Did I help?"
Ami and Yamamura both glanced back at the vital signs monitor.
"I don't believe it," Yamamura said. He went back in and began checking Ryo more thoroughly.
"Yes, Sailor Moon," Ami said cautiously. "It looks like you helped him. But at what cost to you?"
"That doesn't matter," Sailor Moon smiled. "All that matters is that I helped him."
For the eleventh time that day, Dietman Hino dialed the number on his cell phone. It was still on his memory log, so all he had to do was hit the proper code. All the previous calls had gone unanswered, causing Hino's fury to mount. He didn't like being ignored or avoided. It was a sign of disrespect and he'd done, said and swallowed too much over the years to be treated in this manner by anyone, even . . .
"Toguro here," the phone finally acknowledged.
"This is Hino," Hino said curtly. "We need to talk."
"Hino-San," Toguro said and Hino could mentally picture the smile on the old buzzard's face, "you seem upset."
"When we talked night before yesterday, you said Arashi was 'taken care of'. That choice of words has taken on an entirely different meaning in light of certain events."
"Yes, it is a remarkable coincidence," Toguro replied blandly.
"Who arranged it?"
"Who said it was arranged, Hino? It was the work of a deranged loner. Haven't you heard the news reports? That's what the Government Security Forces are theorizing."
"Toguro-San," Hino said stiffly, "if I'm going to help you and your client in the Diet, I need to know what's going on. I can't give my best efforts if I'm busy wondering whether I'm going to be blind-sided at any moment."
"That's your pride talking, Hino-San," Toguro countered. "Believe me, it's better that you know as little about this beyond what I've told you as possible."
"I will not be party to insurrection against the government!" Hino snapped.
"Who said anything about insurrection?" Toguro fumed. "Why in the name of the gods would we try to destroy the very governmental structure that promises the highest profit? Get a grip!" Toguro cleared his throat to calm himself down. "This is actually a favorable turn of events for you, my boy. With Arashi and his faction distracted and reeling from this - - unfortunate business - - it can give a smart politician the chance to build a coalition against him with at best haphazard opposition. Given sufficient political support, a glib orator such as yourself could ram through just about anything he wanted to before Arashi's forces had a chance to regroup."
Wordlessly, Hino rolled his eyes. Toguro was a manipulator and would never change.
"But that all depends on whether you have the courage and ambition to seize this opportunity, Hino-San," Toguro told him. "Do you?"
Hino considered his next words.
"I would appreciate a little warning if something like this is going to happen again," Hino replied, his displeasure unconcealed in his voice.
"If it's necessary, I'll try to accommodate you," Toguro told him. "But if you strike before Arashi has had time to change his underwear, something 'like this' won't be necessary."
"I'll contact you if some of my fellow Diet need some 'extra incentive' in exchange for their support," Hino said, then disconnected the call.
There was no doubt about it. Toguro and his clients were trying to use him as a blunt object in their plans while keeping him handy as a scapegoat should things blow up. That was a very vulnerable position to be in. Smart politicians didn't stay in that situation if they could help it and Hino prided himself on being a smart politician. Leaning over his desk, Hino pulled over his rolodex and searched for a phone number that he didn't keep on speed dial. He dialed the number. The phone rang twice and then a woman's voice answered.
"Rei," he said, willing himself to be calm. "This is your father."
The phone clicked in his ear. Hino half expected it, but was still annoyed. OK, this wouldn't be as easy as he'd hoped. But dealing with hostile parties was something that a politician had to do from time to time. This would be no different.
Toguro thought he had him. But what Toguro didn't know was Hino had a way to bring Sailor Moon and the senshi into the equation.
Continued in Chapter 4