Chapter Fifteen

Storms occurred on the island quite frequently where they lived. Many mornings, Pinoko would wake up and see the turbulent waves crashing against the shoreline and quickly receding. Yukia was afraid of thunder, so there were a few nights when he did come up to Pinoko and ask politely if he could stay in her bedroom.

She nodded, and let him in her bed, and he would fall asleep instantly, curled up on his side. She envied her son slightly. He would have her to comfort him in case he had a nightmare. The person that was supposed to be comforting her was either dead or on the run.

She did wake up one of those nights, shaking a little bit, and retreated to the bathroom to cry in private. She pressed wads of toilet paper to her eyes and tried to dry her wet face. After fifteen minutes she finally came out, and saw Kiriko standing there, looking concerned.

"What is the trouble?" Kiriko asked, his eyebrows heightened on his forehead.

"N-nothing." She shut the bathroom door behind her. "I'm not feeling too good."

He followed her back to her room and she smiled hastily before shutting the door in his face.

The following day, Pinoko and Yukia woke up late as they usually did, and were served breakfast by Selma. They ate with Kiriko in the breakfast nook. The storm had been quite violent the previous night, but looking outside now, it seemed as if a storm had never occurred. It was hot and it was humid, and the plants were sprinkled with dew and had water dripping off of them. The sun shone brightly overhead, and there were no clouds in sight.

"We should go swimming," Yukia suggested. "Can we go swimming, Mama?"

"I suppose so." She smiled slightly at this, dabbing at her mouth with a napkin.

"I'll go with you," Kiriko said. "I know the pathway down to the beach. Besides, I do enjoy the ocean."

So after that, all of them went out—including Selma, who had fixed up a picnic basket—and headed down to the shoreline. It was kind of rocky down there, with jagged teeth sticking up out of the water. Yukia playfully hopped around on them, and Pinoko worried as to whether or not she would have to be stitching him up at the end of the day.

She was sitting underneath the parasol with Kiriko and Selma was reading a book off on the corner of the blanket. She pulled her knees to her chest and watched as her son played.

"Kiriko," she said. "Didn't you use to live on an island with… your sister, Yuri?"

"Yuri?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Yuri was killed in the fire."

"Oh… oh my God," Pinoko whispered, putting her hands over her mouth. "Oh… Kiriko, I'm…"

Kiriko's eyes looked a little red rimmed and he suddenly seemed tired. "Don't be sorry. It's not your fault."

He stared out at the ocean waves. "She lived for a few days. But her body was covered in third degree burns. She had acquired infections to which I could not properly prevent. She said it was her time. So I let her go."

His hurt voice was cut off then. He had nothing more to say. Pinoko stared at him, blinked, and then hung her head.

"Kiriko." She squeezed his hand. "You know, you're not alone."

He raised his hand, incredulous that she was holding his hand.

"You can come and live with us," she told him. "Me and Yukia and… and my husband, if possible."

"He wouldn't ever let that happen," Kiriko said with a scoff. "Our view points, Pinoko, are far off."

"Then you can at least live in the area," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "You were in our wedding—I don't think my husband resents you that much, otherwise you wouldn't have been in it."

I thought it was just because you were so insistent, he thought, but ignored it.

He just nodded and pulled away his hand. "Well, I'll keep it in mind."

Time passed, and they sat there together. Yukia continued to play and climb all over the rocks, perfectly content to be off by himself.

"What are you going to do if he doesn't come back?"

"I don't know." She exhaled. "We've got some money saved up… but I suppose I will have to work."

"Couldn't you work as a doctor?"

"A doctor?" she laughed. "No. A nurse, yes. A doctor? Probably not."

"If you studied up then maybe. Don't keep all your options closed off."

The clouds then started to roll in, and Yukia quickly grew cold. He walked up to his mother, shivering slightly, an excited look still in his eyes. She got up and threw a towel over his head and then vigorously started to dry his hair. He laughed and he hung the towel around his shoulders. They started to pick up their little rest site, and then headed up the path back to the house.

"Pinoko."

Her eyes widened as he stood there, right in front of her. She smiled broadly and then came forward.

But her depth perception must have been off. He was suddenly the same distance from her. She took another step and another step and he kept on getting farther away. She looked down at her feet, confused, and then he heard her say her name again.

"Pinoko!"

She jerked her head up and then saw that his form was slowly decomposing in front of her, piece by piece. His eyes were horrified, and he spread his hands helplessly. Screaming she tried to come towards him again, and instead she found herself falling. He was above her, slowly disappearing from view, as she sunk into a thick pool of nothingness.

Then she felt a sudden pain in her side. A sharp, fierce pain. She cried out, but couldn't even hear herself scream.

"Mama?" Yukia pushed open her door a little.

He jumped when he heard the cymbal-like crash of the thunder outside, and trembling, he took a few steps forward.

"I heard some funny noises. It wasn't the thunder this time, I promise."

He heard her let out a low moan, and his eyes widened.

"Mama?"

He felt around the wall and flicked on the light switch. His heart started ramming in his chest when he saw that his mother was lying, barely conscious, in a pool of blood.

"Mama!" he rushed over to the bed, seeing that the sheets were soaked, and that she didn't even seem to notice—she was asleep.

She jerked around in her sleep like she was having some sort of seizure and he didn't know what to do. He raced out of the room and started screaming and hollering, and slammed himself into Dr. Kiriko's door.

His little fists pounded frantically on the walls. "Kiriko! KIR-IKO! My Mama! My Mama! There's something wrong with Mama!"

Kiriko pulled the door open, tying his robe tighter around his body as he looked down at a fearful Yukia.

"Mama's bleeding all over the place," Yukia cried out. "And she won't wake up."

Kiriko headed down the hallway, letting Yukia lead the way. He stood in the doorway of Pinoko's bedroom, and his eyes widened. He approached her hurriedly, and tried to shake her awake. Pinoko's eyelids did flutter open, but she looked like she was barely able to function.

"Poor child," he murmured in a concerned voice. "Poor, poor child."

Dawn was rising by the time that Kiriko had pulled Pinoko out of surgery. With a heavy sigh, he carried her body up the stairs and into her bedroom, where Selma had stripped the sheets and redressed it. He laid her in the bed, and pushed back her hair. He pulled up a sheet over her body.

He turned around and started to head back towards the door, and then he heard Pinoko's voice speaking faintly, hoarsely.

"Kiriko…?" she croaked. "Kiriko…"

"Yes?" he glanced over his shoulder, feeling uncomfortable.

"Did… did he lie to me?"

He shook his head. "No Pinoko. He didn't lie to you."

And with that, he left the room.

A/N: I'm not going to tell you what went wrong with Pinoko. You can feel free to guess, but I'm not going to tell. ;) More surprises happen in the next chapter though! I think you're going to like it. R&R and thank you as always.