LIVING A LIFE FORETOLD
Chapter 4: "Conspiracy"
A Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.
"Dr. Mizuno!"
Ami looked up in surprise at the nurse assisting her in the Emergency Room. She'd urgently grasped Ami's wrist before Ami could inject a drug into the intra-venous drip before her. The patient was a thirty-seven year old middle manager brought in for chest pains and Ami was about to give him something for his pain. But the nurse was staring at her like she held a butcher knife and Ami couldn't understand why.
"Doctor, there's thirty cc's in that syringe!" the nurse said, aghast at Ami's overt intent to inject this into the IV.
Ami looked at the syringe. She'd only meant to draw twenty cc's. Thirty cc's would have sent the patient into shock. But her eyes didn't lie. The syringe had thirty cc's.
"Oh my goodness," Ami gasped softly. The hand holding the syringe began to shake. Then the nurse tightened her grip. Ami looked up and saw the kindness in the nurse's eyes.
"It happens to all of us," the nurse said charitably, knowing that Ami was still an intern. "Be glad we caught it."
Ami swallowed her mortification. "Thank you," she whispered. Squirting out the excess solution, Ami gave the patient the proper injection.
Of course, it only happened in the first place because Ami was distracted by the condition of Ryo Urawa. When she'd left him at the end of her break, his vital signs were coming around to more acceptable levels. This was due in no small part to Sailor Moon, who had used the silver energy from the Moon Tier to boost Urawa's flagging life energy. Though it left her a little dizzy, no permanent damage seemed to have been suffered by her friend and princess. That left Urawa as her main concern. Would it be enough to get him over the initial hurdle? Or had Sailor Moon merely bought him a few extra hours or days?
"Here are the x-rays, Doctor," the nurse said, dragging Ami back to her current situation. Leaving the nurse to attend to the immediate needs of the patient, Ami put the x-ray onto the viewer and examined it. Her brain mentally calculated possibilities of where blockage or rupture might be, based on the patient's reactions to the pains he was experiencing. Her eyes quickly followed the narrowed-down search and in moments found what she was looking for.
"Get him started on blood-thinners please," Ami commanded.
"You found a blockage already?" marveled the nurse.
"Yes. Notify the cardiac unit. Tell them to be ready for an emergency angioplasty. We'll send him up as soon as he's stabilized." Ami glanced up at the clock on the wall. "And notify his regular physician please."
"Yes, Doctor," the nurse said, impressed by the command of the situation this novice doctor demonstrated.
Ami sighed as she pulled her vinyl gloves off. Two more hours until she was off and she could check on Urawa.
Shinjiro Hino paused at the bottom of the steps. This wasn't going to be pleasant. Reunions with his daughter never were. If the matter he carried within him wasn't so important, he'd avoid it all together. Tolerating her venomous put-downs and accusations were bad enough;
but every time he saw her, she seemed to look more and more like his beloved Kei.
He mounted the steps. Looking at Rei was like looking at Kei's ghost haunting him and Rei's snarling bile was as if Kei was speaking to him through their daughter, blaming him for her premature death. Though he took no responsibility for such feelings if his dead wife indeed had them, he still felt regret. What they had couldn't be - - couldn't she understand that? Kei was as ill-suited to becoming a Dietman's partner as he was at maintaining a shrine. He'd had to make a choice and choosing his career and ambitions didn't mean he didn't love her and yearn for her. Why hadn't she been able to accept that? And seeing her disappointment and anger mirrored in their daughter's face - - well, was it any wonder why he left her in her grandfather's care?
At the top step, he found Rei sweeping. He always seemed to find her sweeping. It was almost like a nervous habit with the girl. Whenever she was angry or frustrated, frightened or insecure, she would have that broom in her hand. And if she was in one of those moods, this really wasn't going to be pleasant. But, like so many things in government and in life, it had to be done.
"Rei," Hino said. Rei looked up from her sweeping and immediately her eyes flared with anger.
"What are you doing here?" she snarled.
"Pleasant as always," he sighed.
"Well the only time I've ever seen you is when you want something from me! Family obligations aren't your style!"
"If . . ."
"Have you been to see Kaji-ojiisan?" Rei demanded.
"I'm paying for his extended care," Hino countered.
"That's not what I asked! Have you been to see him?"
"What point would there be in that?" Hino scowled. "He has Alzheimer's. I doubt he'd recognize me if I did go."
"He recognizes me," Rei rumbled.
"And does he remember your last visit?"
"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"
Hino expelled a fatigued sigh. "I would prefer to keep my memories of my father uncontaminated by what's happened to him. Now if you're through, I have something to tell you."
"You're selling Lotus Blossom Shrine?" Rei asked sarcastically.
Hino remained silent out of frustration. But Rei's eyes suddenly widened.
"YOU ARE SELLING IT?" she howled.
"Would you rather I left it to rot?" Hino asked.
"That shrine has been in the family for nearly five hundred years!"
"I don't have either the time or the inclination to run it. Did you want it? After all, you're doing such a wonderful job running this place."
"Get - - out," Rei hissed.
"I should have known this was a mistake," Hino sighed. He turned to leave. "Could you please have Sailor Moon contact me. I'll alert my office to put her through immediately."
"What do you want with her?" Rei demanded.
"I have come across some information in the execution of my duties," he began carefully, "that might need the involvement of Sailor Moon and the senshi. I doubt you'd be interested since this information doesn't directly implicate me."
Rei shook with fury. As much as she despised this man for everything he'd done to her since she could remember, she hated it even more when something he said actually made sense. He turned away from her and took two steps toward the stairs.
"What information?" Rei asked through clenched teeth.
Hino turned back to her and for a moment seemed to be reading her - - not with the sight, for he had none, but with the trained instincts of a veteran politician. Then he looked around reflexively, as if fearing he was being spied upon.
"The assassination attempt on the Prime Minister yesterday was not the work of a crazed loner, as the media is reporting," Hino told her. "It was a conspiracy - - and they may try again."
As he spoke, Rei concentrated on him and her sight told her that he wasn't lying. A chill ran down her spine.
"By who?" she asked.
"I'm not certain - - yet, so I'd rather not say." And he turned to leave, his mission accomplished.
"I'll pass it along," Rei said just as he was reaching the top step. "If you get anymore information - - contact me."
Hino nodded, then began to descend the stairs. Inside he was privately amazed. That was the most civil exchange they'd had in fifteen years.
Ami sat by Urawa's bed in the ICU. The ventilator had been removed. That was a good sign. His blood pressure and pulse were better than they had been. But he still had four holes in his body that were healing and it still wasn't certain that he could hang on long enough to heal. Ami held onto the bed rail and just stared at him. She wondered again just what had happened to him before the Security Forces gunned him down? He looked like he hadn't eaten in a month.
His head moved slightly. Ami perked up. For an agonizing few moments there was no movement at all from him and the doctor's hopes began to flag. Then Urawa's eyes opened slowly. He seemed to take a few moments to take stock of his surroundings while Ami held her breath. Then he turned very slowly, as if the very act itself took every ounce of strength he could muster, to her.
"Mizuno-kun?" he whispered softly, his voice dry and hoarse from the ventilator.
"Yes," Ami smiled, feeling the urge to weep and suppressing it. "I imagine you're a little confused at the moment. That's natural."
"I was shot," he said softly, "by the National Security Force."
"You remember it?"
Urawa thought for the longest time, searching his memory though it seemed to be uncomfortable for him.
"No," he said finally. Ami seemed confused now.
"Then how did you know you'd been shot?" she asked. "Did you hear Dr. Yamamura talking about it?"
"I knew I was going to be shot," Ryo whispered. "Knew it before I approached the Prime Minister."
Ami grew pale.
"You can still see the future," she said in muted alarm.
"Yes," Ryo admitted. "Didn't go away when Rainbow Crystal was taken." He looked at Ami, seemed to focus on her with some effort, and smiled wanly. "You're just as beautiful as I remember."
Ami felt herself flushing. "So your precognitive abilities weren't connected with your heritage as a Dark Kingdom warrior? They were innate in you?"
"Must have been. Grew stronger as I got older. I could see things. I'd touch someone and know part of their future. Perfect strangers were open books to me. I saw their successes and their failures, their happiest moments and their saddest."
And Ryo's lower lip began to quiver as tears formed in his eyes.
"Urawa-kun," Ami began.
"Please," Ryo struggled, "call my Ryo. I'd like that." He smiled. "I saw you graduate - - years before you actually did. Summa cum Laude from Oxford University. That gave me - - at least one good memory."
"Ryo," Ami began. She wanted to ask so many things, but one thing superceded personal curiosity. "They say you - - tried to kill Prime Minister Arashi."
Ryo's brow furrowed. "No," he exhaled. He was drifting off. Speaking had taxed him too much. "Tried to stop it. They tried to kill him - - not me."
"Who?" Ami gasped, her hand gently on his shoulder to try to keep him conscious. "Who tried to kill him?"
But Ryo had drifted into darkness again. And Ami knew it was too risky to do anything but let him rest.
Artemis wandered into the kitchen of the apartment he and Minako shared with her - -"significant other" was the best term for it at the moment - - Toshihiro Manabe. What attracted him to the room was the sound of Minako singing happily. He also found her cooking.
"You're cooking lunch?" Artemis inquired.
"Well, technically it's breakfast, since we both just got up," Minako grinned. Then she whirled on the cat. "And I still don't care that it's after ten!"
"YOU'RE cooking breakfast?" Artemis repeated.
"I thought Toshi-chan deserved a home-cooked breakfast for a change, instead of that frozen pre-packaged junk," Minako beamed. The cat looked around. As usual, the kitchen was one spilled cup of flour short of qualifying for disaster relief and he knew it had been in good shape yesterday.
"You're cooking breakfast for Toshihiro? I thought you loved him."
"You know," Minako responded, giving the little white cat one of her familiar evil glares, "my foot still fits up your butt, cat."
"And once again she proves just how delicate and refined she is," Artemis muttered sarcastically. He leaped up onto a chair just the same. "What's gotten into you lately? You're always singing, you've got enough energy for three people and you whirl around like your skirt's on fire. I haven't seen you like this since you were thirteen and in love with that boy - - what was his name, Higashi?"
"Higashi?" Minako marveled, pausing for a moment to savor the memory. "Lord, I haven't thought of him in years. What did I ever see in him - - aside from the fact that he was totally cute?" Self-consciously she went back to whipping pancake batter. "I was a child back then, Artemis. I didn't have the first notion of what love was. I was so young and dumb, I wouldn't have even looked twice at a guy like Toshi-chan. And look what I would have missed."
"Is that what all this is about?" the cat inquired. "I thought you were just jazzed about this pilot you're doing."
"Well, that's part of it," Minako blushed. "Rei gave me some pretty good news. I think this is the one, Artemis. After all these years, I think it's finally going to happen this time."
"Yeah, I've heard that before," Artemis muttered.
"But you know - - even if it's just one more pipe dream," Minako continued, with a dreamy expression, "I can take it now. Because I've got something to fall back on - - or more accurately someone."
Artemis looked at her curiously.
Minako laughed nervously. "Because," and she glanced shyly at her furry companion, "I think - - I think what Toshi-chan and I have - - well, it might finally be . . ." Then Artemis noticed her expression cloud. "No, I better not say it."
"Why not?"
Minako stared at the saucepan in front of her. "Don't want to court trouble."
"Ace?" Artemis asked. Minako didn't respond, but then she didn't have to. "Minako, you're not still haunted by that prediction of his, are you? He's not clairvoyant and he's not omnipotent."
"He's also not a quitter," Minako mumbled.
"He's already been proven wrong," Artemis told her. "Minako, there's all sorts of 'true love' in the world. What about your love for your parents? That's as true a love as I've ever seen. What about your love for Usagi and the senshi? There's no doubt about that and you've known them for years." The cat swallowed. "And I'd like to think that after all these years - - that we mean something to each other."
She turned to him and he held his ground and her gaze.
"I mean, it's not the kind of love that means we're going to run out and get married or anything," Artemis said, shifting his gaze as shyness overwhelmed him, "but it's true love."
"Yeah," Minako smiled, her eyes tearing. "Suppose you got me there. Hey, I always said you were the brains of this team. Thanks for being there for me - - again."
"It's OK," Artemis said, returning her smile. "I knew the job was dangerous when I took it."
Just then the bedroom door opened and closed. Artemis noted the growing excitement in Minako's face.
"In here, Toshi-chan!" Minako called. Toshihiro entered, a smile on his face. He beamed at the sight of Minako and of her cooking. The mess dimmed that smile some. "Sorry," Minako offered. "You knew I was a slob."
"I didn't know it took this much material to make breakfast," he grimaced. Then he softened. "But I'm sure it'll be delicious. It'll be just the thing to get me through this afternoon's blocking meeting." He snaked his arm around Minako's hip. She turned her head and they kissed, then Toshihiro adjusted his glasses. "You have anything pressing today?"
"Nope. I'm still waiting for the studio to resume production and call me back." She turned to Toshihiro and winked. "Which they will."
"You know, Minako," Toshihiro began.
"Don't you even go there," she warned. "I have it on good authority."
"Your friend Rei?"
"She knows what she's talking about."
"How a modern girl like you can be so superstitious," he chuckled. "So, if you're not doing anything today, I was wondering if you'd like to come down to the studio with me."
"One of your extras call off?" Minako asked, pouring whatever she was cooking into bowls.
"No. But I figure you could lend me your comedic expertise. You know, let me bounce ideas off of you as I block this script." He shrugged, trying to conceal his guilty look. "And maybe at dinner time, we could, um . . ."
A sly look crossed Minako's face. "Get one of the trailers rocking?"
Toshihiro glanced at Artemis when he thought he heard the cat cough.
"You know, they warned me about the 'casting couch'," Minako began, then halted when her cell phone rang. "Hello? We do? Today?" Minako glanced at Toshihiro and grimaced. "Is it important? OK, Rei, don't yell! You'll short out the circuits in this thing. I'll be there."
Minako closed the phone and looked at Toshihiro - - and immediately regretted what she was about to say, for he clearly knew what was coming.
"I'm sorry," she whimpered. "The gang needs me."
"It's all right," Toshihiro replied, attempting to put up a brave front and conceal his disappointment - - and failing miserably. "I know how important your friends are to you. Another time maybe."
Minako reached out and grabbed the man's hand. He looked up at her.
'It's not that I want to," she told him. "It's just - - they need me and I got to go."
He nodded that he understood - - but he didn't really. Minako knew that.
Continued in Chapter 5