Chapter Four: The Diagnosis
Only five minutes into her cat examination, the brunette decided that she liked feline treatment way better than human. Although they had claws, they only cracked the surface of her skin once, on purpose, to collect a blood sample for later analysis. A silvery gray female with spectacles patted her cheek comfortingly while opening a small bag on her belt, which was so full of medical devices that it reminded the girl of Batman's utility belt.
"All right, young lady; I need you to breathe in this powder so we can take a look at what's going on inside your body. Don't worry, it's completely safe."
Haru was a little worried that they would have to take off the hospital gown, but unsteadily breathed in the powder as the light cat softly flicked it into the air in front of her face. Her worries were immediately silenced as a series of lights started going through her body, even to her toes, easily seen through her gown and sheets. It kind of felt like someone was taking a feather duster to her insides. As the doctors started recording how the lights changed color and moved, she realized that their medical techniques didn't need as much nudity, since that would necessitate shaving all their patients and it took a while for fur to grow back. And most cats had to be too proud to endure that.
"Hmm, the trouble seems to be settling in the more important organs. The heart, lungs, liver, and brain are going through a crisis. We should feel lucky that Miss Haru can communicate with us at all. Somehow, whatever it is, it's being transferred to the rest of the body via the heart to every fiber of her body. Miss Haru, it may be smarter if you use signals to communicate to save your energy. Most patients are fond of the blinking method; once means yes, twice means no and thrice means sometimes or maybe. Will that work for you?"
Haru blinked once; glad that these doctors understood the way she had tried earlier to communicate with the human doctors. It really did hurt to use her voice.
She was wishing that she had gone to the cat doctors first. But that would have meant being a cat, or mentioning her condition to Lune and Yuki before she left to return to the human world, if her ego would have allowed it. Even if she had remained a cat, the main goal would have still been accomplished. She would not have been Lune's bride, since he had Yuki.
What would have been so bad about being a cat? It's completely possible that the Cat Kingdom had enough books to help her finish her education, if Baron didn't. Her mind took a U-turn away from feline benefits.
Baron. She could have spent more time with him before her disease took a turn for the worse, even if he didn't like her the way she liked him. Her heart started doing gymnastics, making the light to give off green sparks over it and causing the cat doctors to worry. Lune and Yuki were sitting on the chair beside her bed to give the doctors more room, holding each other as they watched the proceedings.
"Miss Haru, is that your emotions?"
She smiled tiredly and blinked once. They smiled back at her and started packing up their equipment.
"I think we have all the information we need now. We'll consult our records and see if anything comes up. Stay strong, child; you have a lot of cats rooting for you in the kingdom."
She smiled warmly, and then let sleep claim her as the blue lights made a second appearance, taking all the cats with it. But not before a soft paw and furry lips touched the brunette's cheek, tiny tears raining down the side of her face.
"Baron's right, Haru; your spirit's far too strong to let this whip you. Don't give up," Yuki whispered before joining her fiancé.
The fading light from the cat magic swirled into her heart and gave a joyful golden color in the darkened room before disappearing completely.
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Baron was pacing again, this time outside a hallway inside the royal Cat Palace. Toto and Muta were with him, sitting on a bench with Naoko. An obsidian medallion shaped like a fish was around her neck, ensuring that she would keep her human form inside the Cat Kingdom. She played with the medallion nervously, praying that the doctors inside the curtain were getting closer to the mysterious illness's identity.
The famous duo was far too distracted to try fighting right now. Toto was praying that Haru could stick around a little longer, being a sweet girl and talented at offending Muta without trying.
The white cat in question may have been easily offended by the brunette, but he would easily endure a lifetime of insults if it was her life. She could be a nice kid when she tried.
Lune and Yuki were also with them, holding each other in fear. The ex-Cat King had volunteered to see Haru when the two had visited, a slight gleam in his eye, but Lune had firmly put his hind paw down, certain that his father's face was the last one that Haru would care to see right now.
The red curtain slowly parted, and the three doctors that had seen Haru stepped out, one by one, and lined up with somber expressions. Almost like a jury about to pronounce a defendant guilty. The oldest of them, a silvery gray cat, coughed, obviously the elected spokesperson for the group.
"I'm afraid the only good news we can give you is that we know the name of what's killing Miss Haru. The bad news is that we may not be able to stop it."
Baron walked over and firmly grabbed the speaker's shoulders.
"Please don't leave us hanging like this; what's killing her?!"
The doctor sighed.
"It's called Hirumintia's disease. It's so rare that there is only one identified case per century. It's genetic, as far as we can tell, and does pretty much what's happening to Miss Haru right now. Her body's starting to reject itself."
Baron released her, a spark in his eyes.
"But you said 'may' not be able to stop it. That means there's a possibility you can?"
The doctor smiled sadly.
"A small possibility, but I'd have to say a bigger one than the human doctors. I doubt humans are even aware of the sickness's existence, since the victims usually die too fast for them to get a complete analysis."
Everyone present winced as Naoko stood up.
"I'm very certain that my daughter wouldn't mind if you three took over her case. She says the machines make it hard to sleep."
The doctors nodded, remembering how relaxed she looked while they were examining her, since they had temporarily shut off the machines to do so. The red head straightened a little more.
"If I can get back to the human world, I can tell her. She should hear it from me."
Baron's heart contracted painfully. As much as it would pain him to have Haru find out, he wanted to be there for her, no matter what.
"I'll come with you, Naoko."
She had been firm earlier about her name, saying that this was not the time for formality. She nodded as Lune took a jagged purple gem from his military jacket pocket and made a portal. Yuki tossed Naoko a matching amulet for her daughter. She nodded gratefully before she and Baron entered the portal.
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The doctors' voices were getting harder to understand through the sick girl's troubled head, melting into each other until she thought they were just making noises to occupy themselves. Actually, this may have been the case. The room was becoming lost to her, lost in a milky fog. Not her eyes too. She wanted to see. For crying out loud, she'd settle for being able to breathe.
Suddenly a familiar voice started melting into the doctors', an urgent pleading tone clear, even to her. Whatever the new voice said, it must have worked, since the other voices faded and died away. Now without distraction, the familiar voice cut through her foggy mind.
"Sweetheart, if you can understand me, blink once."
She did so, slowly recognizing her mother's voice.
"Listen, the cats know what's wrong with you, and they have a better chance at saving you than the humans do."
Another voice came into her world, a warm one with a hot accent that had been haunting her dreams for a while now.
"Would you object if we took you to the Cat Kingdom?"
She smiled weakly and blinked twice, trusting Baron's intelligence to figure out the message. She had tried to speak to the human doctors earlier, and was horrified at how her vocal chords now sounded, somewhere between a croak and a dying moan. The last thing she wanted was for him to hear that. Even through her sickness, she could feel the warmth of Baron's smile.
"If I had known that something like this would happen, I wouldn't have left the portal shard Lune gave me back at the Bureau."
They wanted to take her there right now? Well, it wasn't like they had a lot of time to work with. The swirling fog in front of her eyes became blue from a portal, obviously sent by the young Cat King, who must have been watching and waiting for her consent.
Her mother started carefully unhooking the machines from her as cats from the portal crawled underneath the mattress to give her as smooth a ride as possible. She could feel her mother's gentle touch on her shoulders as she kept the sheets around her and steadied her as the cats carefully carried the mattress onto to the floor and towards the bright blue light. If nothing else, the cat doctors were nicer to listen to.
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Author's note: I'm no medical expert, and the disease is one I made up. For all I know, there are real diseases matching this one.