Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or any of its characters.
Summary: Sometimes the choices we make lead us down a path we don't expect. She chose to leave his side, and he closed off his heart to the world. Now she is back, and he is the only one that can save her. Can he move past his pain to help her? Or will the consequences of their choices prove to be too much to bear?
Rating: T for language and alcoholism.
*Note, in response to a review: This story was previously posted on Dokuga under the same penname.
"Sesshomaru, look!" Kagome turned to him, a look of excitement on her pretty face. She pointed eagerly to a small animal just a few paces away. It had to be the ugliest thing he had ever seen.
"Hn." He made to turn away, but the insistent tug on his arm stopped him. She wasn't looking at him, but at the creature, was it a cat?
"Don't you think it's cute?" She asked. Cute? Sesshomaru looked back towards the decrepit creature. It was a matted fluff ball with a squished face that seemed frozen in a putrid scowl. Its ears were mangled, and its body surprisingly thick for what was clearly a feral street cat. It's long, fluffy tail ended abruptly halfway through, the rest remaining bald. If it was a cat, which he wasn't quite positive it was, it clearly was not a very healthy one.
"No." She scoffed at his answer, plopping down to sit on her calves.
"I think it is adorable."
"You can't be serious." He watched her extend her hand, and the perpetually grumpy looking thing waddled over to her.
"He may not be the traditional cute, but he is his own cute." She scooped it up and stood. She looked up at Sesshomaru, her face beaming with a radiant smile. Somehow, he just knew what was coming next.
"Can we keep it?"
The memories had plagued him all night since she left, and it was slowly driving him insane. Everywhere he looked, he saw her face. When he was awake, when he was sleeping, it didn't matter. She was everywhere. Was it just him, or had her scent permeated his condo in the single hour she had been there?
With a little more force than necessary, he tossed the covers aside and made his way to his living room. He stared at the sofa where she had sat, the memory of holding her so tightly still burned in his mind. And now he was dreaming of Hector, that horrid cat she had adopted early in their relationship. The thing was a hellion, but it adored Kagome. It disappeared a month after Kagome left. He hadn't really thought about him since.
His musings were interrupted with the shrill ring of his cell phone. He cast a quick glance to the clock, the red numbers of 05:55 glaring back at him. He strode to the table and picked up his phone.
"What?" There was only one person who would call him at this hour, Mina.
"This is one hell of a case. How are you holding up?"
"Are you sugg…"
"Cut the bullshit Taisho." Mina had been with him for ages. She guided him when he was in his early residence years, and launched him to the career he had now. Along the way, she had noticed his lingering obsession with following the career of a young figure skater. It didn't take her long to piece the puzzle together.
"I… will require your assistance." He said it so formally, but the mere comment spoke volumes to the older woman on the phone. It was the closest he would come to admitting the turmoil within. Thankfully, to his mentor it was good enough.
"Consider this a joint case then. I will have my team notified and copies of the results sent." He made a noise of agreement before a thick silence came between them. "Sesshomaru," she began hesitantly, "she is in the best hands." He didn't need to look to know that she had hung up. He placed his phone down, his eyes unseeing as he was lost in his thoughts. The best hands, huh? He had thought that once before.
Sesshomaru stood in the doorway of her room, watching her as she slept. She looked so fragile. Hooked up to machines, I.V.s coming from her arm, monitors attached to her chest, each part drove the truth that she was fighting for her life straight into his heart.
Her surgery was rigorous. The day he told her that she needed a hysterectomy still plagued him, the look of anguish on her face too much for him to bear. He closed his eyes, replaying the scenario in his head.
"When you said surgery, Sesshomaru, you did not say a hysterectomy!" Kagome paced back and forth in his office.
"It was a recent call. I have discussed it with my colleague, and she…"
"I thought you were my doctor? Why are you discussing it with someone else?" She was being aggressive, more so than he expected her to. In truth, when he had discussed it with Mina, he knew that it would hurt Kagome. It had always been in her plans to become a mother. They had almost achieved that once, but fate intervened and Kagome had lost the child early on.
"She is an excellent…"
"Do you think I need one? Is there no other way? What do you think? I don't know this other doctor, I don't know if I can trust her. What if she is wrong?" She was panicking now, and he tried desperately to keep control of his emotions. Couldn't she see he was trying? He was doing what was best for her.
"Kagome, you need to calm down." She turned to him, her eyes filled with tears and her face red.
"Calm down? How can I calm down? Why won't you answer me? Why is this other doctor involved?"
"Dammit Kagome! Won't you just listen!" His control snapped and his palm hit the top of his desk. "Do you think I am unfazed by all of this? Do you think I can work this case without some sort of difficulty? I can't think, I can't focus! I can't make unbiased decisions! Every decision I make will determine the success of this treatment, and if I make the wrong one… If I make one mistake… I need her input! I need to make sure that what I am doing is the right decision!" His body was shaking, his breathing labored. She stood, frozen to the spot, her eyes wide, tears streaming down her cheeks. Slowly, she lowered to the seat in his office. She did not speak.
The silence gave him much needed time to recover. He sat back in his own chair and put his head in his hands. He was still shaking, and he cursed his weakness. Why did she make him so weak?
"I can't make the necessary decisions alone. I need her input." He stated in a much calmer tone.
"Should I switch my care to her? Will that make it less painful for you?" He leaned back and closed his eyes. It would make it easier, so much easier. But at the same time, he couldn't allow it. He couldn't leave this in someone else's hands. No, he made the decision to be by her side. He wouldn't abandon her now.
"No. I will take care of you."
"She looks so unlike herself." Sesshomaru slanted his eyes towards the newcomer, cursing his thoughts for distracting him.
"Hn." Sesshomaru made to leave, not wanting to see Hojo with Kagome. A man could only take so much.
"Dr. Taisho," Hojo gripped his forearm, stopping him from leave. He dropped it quickly with a sheepish blush. "Look, can we talk?" Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes, unsure what he could want with him. "Can we talk somewhere, somewhere private?" He cast a furtive glance towards the unconscious Kagome. Sesshomaru nodded curtly and made towards his office. Hojo followed him silently.
Upon entering, Hojo paced nervously around the room before finally settling at the window. Sesshomaru watched him, still uncertain how he should feel in the other man's presence.
"Look," Hojo began softly, "I know you and Kagome have a history." He paused as though he were expecting Sesshomaru to confirm or deny his statement. When the taller man did not answer, Hojo continued. "She doesn't know I know. She never spoke of her past. Or maybe it's because I never asked."
"What is it that you wished to say?" Sesshomaru kept his voice even. Would he ask him to excuse himself from her case? No, Kagome would not allow that.
"I know that you love her." He dropped the bomb so casually, and it stole the air from Sesshomaru's lungs. Though he made no outward reaction, his heart began pound in his chest. Had he been that obvious? Hojo turned to face him, his face lined with tears. "And I know that she loves you."
Love, Caleesci