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Tohru bit her lip nervously. Glancing around the white lobby of the doctor's office just made her more anxious. Looking to her side at the sleepy silver haired teen beside her, Tohru started to regret letting him come to her first doctor's appointment with her. A seven in the morning doctor's appointment was clearly too early for him. They both had to get up at six to get here, or at least that's when he woke up. She had awakened at five to prepare a breakfast for him and Shigure before the appointment. After packing Shigure's breakfast up in a container and sticking it in the fridge so that he was free to eat it at any time Tohru went to go wake up Yuki, a task that just seemed to get harder every time.
Eventually she had managed to get him out of bed and to the kitchen table without letting him run into anything. They ate a quick breakfast together before running back upstairs to get ready. At around 6:45 Hatori, being the only Sohma capable of driving properly, arrived to drive them to the obstetrician's office. He dropped them off at the door of the brick building after a short drive telling them to call him when the appointment was done with so he could take them home. Tohru nodded and agreed to do so since Yuki was still barely awake and incapable of responding. The Sohma doctor gave a stiff wave before driving off to care for Akito before the Sohma head noticed his disappearance. She turned her attention to Yuki and took hold of his arm to keep him from hitting anything in his sleepy state. Yuki staggered in after her, and she had helped him into a chair before going to the reception's desk to check in.
The nurse had given her one look before shaking her head with a disapproving sigh. No adult wanted a teenager to be coming in to see an obstetrician. Tohru just smiled weakly not feeling up to explaining her story to a nurse she'd probably never see again. She gave the nurse her full name and watched her locate her name on the list on the computer screen. The nurse clicked a couple of times with her mouse before taking out a clipboard with several papers attached to it along with a pen. She handed these to Tohru telling her, "The doctor will be with you later. Fill these out please."
"Yes ma'am…" Tohru whispered before making her way back to Yuki.
She sat down in a chair beside Yuki and watched him blink several times before his eyes started to droop. Tohru bit her lip with worry hoping she hadn't disturbed him too much. Her eyes scanned the other people in the room. There was an older looking lady with a large belly in the corner reading a novel. At the opposite end of the place there was a woman in her mid-twenties with a medium sized bump skimming a fashion magazine. Both of these women were wearing wedding rings, but neither of them was here with anyone else she noticed. Tohru was clearly different from them; she was seventeen, and unmarried, but at least Yuki was with her. She had the feeling that without him she wouldn't have been able to come in here so bravely. So, would that make her lucky to have the father of her child here or was it better to be married? Either way something would be missing.
Tohru lowered her face back to the clipboard on her lap. Her hand flew across the page with the pen, recording her name, address, telephone number, and other information this place wanted. She stopped when she reached the section that read Father's information. Looking at Yuki she wasn't sure whether he wanted them to know he was the father or not. His gaze met hers before glancing down at the clipboard. By this time he was more awake. He stared at the papers on the clipboard, looked around the place before his eyes settled on the sign above the reception's desk, Obstetrician. Yuki was silent for a moment figuring out how he had gotten from his bed to here. His memory was a bit hazy; he didn't remember getting here properly, but he shrugged and took the clipboard from her.
"They want my information, right?" he asked her.
In response she could only nod. Her eyes remained glued to him as he scribbled down everything they asked of him. He paused for a second when he reached hair color, guessing that they wouldn't believe him if he put silver down. With a half shrug he wrote it down anyways. They could call Hatori for confirmation if they wanted to. It was the truth; his hair was naturally this unique color. If they didn't trust him, they would trust Hatori; he was a doctor and a scary one if he chose to be. Yuki smiled slightly before finishing up writing down what they wanted to know about him. He handed it back to Tohru with a gentle smile. Tohru thanked him with a grin as she got up and went back to the receptionist.
The nurse skimmed what the two of them had written down. Her eyes shot open when she got to the hair color part of Yuki's section. She looked at him for a minute before opening her mouth to comment. The door to the doctor opened before she could say anything. Another nurse stepped out and called Tohru's name. Tohru looked at the lady before starting over to her. Yuki stood up and grabbed the bag she had forgotten on her seat. He began to follow Tohru, but was stopped by a doctor coming out from what looked like a bathroom. The doctor stopped Yuki with a stern look.
"You can't get a free appointment by stepping past the receptionist's desk. You have to pay to see me even if you have a pretty face miss," he said sticking out his finger at Yuki. Not many men came to this office, Yuki carrying Tohru's pink purse, and the fact that it was seven a.m., the doctor labeled Yuki as another knocked up woman.
"Do I look like a girl? I'm a man… Besides I'm with her," Yuki responded through gritted teeth, veins popping out of his head.
The doctor seemed to take a step back in fear but not before patting Yuki's chest several times. Tohru scurried back over before Yuki beat the poor doctor up. She took her purse from Yuki, wanting to prevent any further confusion, with a bright red face. She bowed her head to both of them and apologized for no apparent reason. Yuki just shook his head containing his anger for her. He had clearly just stated that he was here with her; if he caused trouble then there would be no doubt she wouldn't be welcome here anymore. He couldn't do that to her. There wasn't another obstetrician office for miles and miles. Without another word to the doctor Yuki took Tohru's hand and dragged her inside the small office. He wanted to get away from the doctor but to his dismay the man followed them and shut the door behind him.
"Hello… I'm going to be your doctor for the next nine months or so… My name is Dr. Kioshi…" He introduced himself with the clipboard they had filled out minutes ago in his hands.
"You're kidding, right?" Yuki muttered now hanging his head low.
"No… I am completely serious Mr. Sohma…" he replied before walking over to Tohru, "Why don't you sit down and we'll get started?"
Tohru nodded and climbed onto the place where he directed her. He took the bottom of her shirt, pulled it up a sliver, and placed his stethoscope on top of her stomach listening to the heartbeat. She shivered from the cold metal after he removed it from her abdomen. Yuki watched with a flat expression from a chair in the corner of the room. He didn't want a stranger going that close to Tohru and lifting her shirt especially one that thought he was a girl. He watched the doctor carefully as if he suspected that he would rape Tohru if he looked away. Tohru looked as if she trusted him, but she was too credulous for her own safety.
"Okay… Well now that I heard its heartbeat we'll now do an ultrasound and I'll do an amniocentesis so I can get a karyotype done for you. Don't worry about the karyotype though. It's just a precaution since you're such a young mother. I'm sure your baby will be perfectly healthy. We'll call you when it's done, okay?" he explained to her quickly.
She just smiled only understanding half of the things he told her. Tohru had no idea what karyotype or amniocentesis were, but they sounded important to her. Regardless of how they sounded, she'd go through with both procedures because he said so, and he was obviously the experienced one here. The doctor left the room to go get the supplies he would need to do these two procedures. As soon as the door shut Yuki was at Tohru's side. Yuki, having Hatori as a cousin, was more familiar with the medical terms and wasn't so sure he wanted this doctor to be the one injecting a needle into Tohru's stomach. The doctor could easily kill the baby if he hit it with the needle tip, or he could hurt Tohru! Tohru jumped slightly not hearing or seeing him come over.
"Do you like this doctor? If you don't like him or you want a different doctor, we can go to a different place… I mean it's not permanent…" Yuki said to her.
"No, that's alright Yuki-kun! I don't want to cause you trouble! If we go elsewhere you might have to wake up earlier! I wouldn't want to make you lose sleep!" Tohru exclaimed with a soft smile.
"This isn't about me, this is about you…"
Tohru blinked staring at Yuki not sure how to reply to this. What were the right words to say to the man who had helped her with this whole pregnancy? Yuki was the person she was most grateful to so of course she'd go somewhere else if he wanted her to, but at the same time she didn't want to trouble him anymore. He had already tossed away his virginity to help her, comforted her when she couldn't sleep, stayed by her when she vomited, and much more. Without him, she'd probably be childless for the rest of her life. It would be downright terrifying to have a man she didn't know be the father of her child whether the man slept with her or donated sperm. Adoption was an option of course, but every person would like to hold a child of their own at least once. Neither Tohru who was too immersed in her thoughts of what her pregnancy would be like without Yuki, nor Yuki who was awaiting an answer heard the doctor renter the room.
"Mr. Sohma I can assure you that I am one of the best obstetrician's in Japan so if you would kindly move aside we can finish this," the doctor said as he entered the room again.
Yuki sighed, not really wanting to move away. Instead of moving back to the corner like the doctor wanted Yuki to he shifted over to the other side of Tohru so there was enough room for both of them. He smiled politely and lifted his hand in a gesture that told the doctor to go on. The doctor forced a smile and stepped in front of Tohru asking her to lie down and raise her shirt again. Tohru did so and almost immediately felt a cool gel being spread across her belly. Feeling the chills run across her abdomen she almost sat up and wrapped her arms around her stomach to try and rid her body of the cold. Yuki placed his hand on her shoulder to keep her from doing so though. She took one look at him before laying herself back down to let the process move along.
The doctor continued and pulled out a small device which he moved around over her belly. He turned around and flipped on a screen showing only static and grayish lines. Tohru raised her arms behind her back to lift her head a bit until she could see what was happening on the screen. As he moved the device around some more the screen became more focused until a picture of her insides appeared. The doctor stepped away from Tohru examining the screen for a minute before pointing to a small dot in the middle saying, "This is your baby…"
She could only stare in wonder at the screen for a whole minute before her jaw dropped attempting to find the right words to say. Yuki's gaze, like hers, was fixated on the screen with much interest. He couldn't figure out how such a small dot would grow into a child in less than nine months. The only thing that made him believe that dot was actually alive was the pumping of the heart. Otherwise, it'd blend in with everything else in the screen. The doctor moved his finger away and walked back to a tray he had set out. He pulled out a long syringe from a plastic wrap and tossed the wrap away. He held the needle in his hands as he made his way back to Tohru. In his other hand he held a swab and a bottle of anesthetic.
"What's that for?" Tohru asked her eyes bulging at the sight of the needle. This was just a great time for her to remember her fear of needles.
Yuki looked at her before answering for the doctor, "It's for the karyotype… Do you not like needles?"
Tohru shut her eyes tightly and shook her head. The doctor seemed to ignore this and applied a small amount of the bromide onto a little section of her belly. He waited a few seconds for the numbness to take over before he pressed the needle through her skin. Through the whole process Yuki watched, to make sure he didn't hurt her or her only child, and held her hand to keep her calm. The doctor withdrew the liquid from inside of her and then he pulled the needle out. Tohru, who hadn't felt much of a prick, still thought that it hadn't started yet.
"It's over Tohru. You can look now," Yuki told her as he released her hand.
She opened her eyes one at a time half hesitantly. Half waiting for a sudden pain to strike, she glanced down at her stomach partially surprised to see no needle there. Looking back up at Yuki she remembered what he had said to even make her open her eyes and suddenly felt stupid for checking. Now he had to feel like she doubted him which was entirely not true. Tohru blinked staring at him hoping he wouldn't be mad at her and refuse to come with her to the doctor again. She didn't want to admit how scared she was of coming here and make him feel obligated to come each time. What she wanted was for him to come on his own will regardless of her fears. Swinging her legs off of her seat Tohru sat upright ready to hear more information.
"I'll call you with the results as soon as I get them from the lab. Expect a call in about two weeks. You are free to go unless you want a printout of the ultrasound. If you want that you'll have to wait a few minutes," the doctor said as he set the needle down on the tray.
"Can we wait a few minutes Yuki-kun?" Tohru asked softly.
Not minding an extra few minutes in here he nodded. The doctor left with the syringe to send it out to a nearby lab. They sat there for a minute in silence waiting for someone to come back with a printout. Before five minutes had even passed the door opened again, and a brown haired woman entered holding a small envelope. She walked over with a small bounce in her steps, a wide grin across her face that strangely reminded Yuki of Tohru. Yuki and Tohru's eye's widened at the sight of her. They exchanged a nervous glance. They knew this woman from Hatori's old photos; this was no other than Kana Sohma… It was only now did the two of them remember why Kana had went to Hatori in the first place; she wanted to be a doctor.
"Hi! This must be for you two!" she exclaimed while extending the envelope to Tohru.
Tohru reached up with a shaky hand and took the envelope with a small smile. There was no point in saying anything to this woman who knew neither Tohru nor Yuki and for that matter, she didn't even remember much about Hatori who still loved her dearly. Seeing Tohru tremble, Kana naturally assumed it was because of her pregnancy and told her not to worry about it too much. After giving Tohru a few pieces of advice Kana smiled and left the room to go help another patient. Tohru mentally scribbled down what Kana had told her about watching what she ate and did from now on, but her mind was focused on the person who said these things.
"I'm going to call Hatori so he can pick us up…" Yuki told Tohru partially attempting to get her mind off of Kana. There was nothing either of them could do to restore Hatori and Kana's relationship.
"Um… Are you going to tell him about Kana-san?" Tohru asked him as she hopped off her seat.
Yuki shook his head saying, "It'd do him no good for him to know she works here."
Her mouth formed a small oval shape as she looked down. He was right; there was no point in reminding Hatori about Kana. Besides, she had seen the wedding ring on Kana's left finger. The only thing they'd end up doing is hurt Hatori which neither of them wanted to do. Tohru waited patiently for Yuki to finish talking to Hatori. When he finished he looked directly at her. She looked up at him pushing a smile across her face. No matter how hard she tried, this Kana thing wouldn't be leaving her mind for a while.
"Do you want to wait in here or out there?" Yuki asked after he hung up his cell phone.
"Let's wait outside please… I need some fresh air…"
He nodded willingly and took her hand leading her out the doors of the place. Outside they stood in complete silence. Their thoughts matched each other's perfectly; no words were required to let the other know what they were thinking about. But the thing about silence is, after a while, it can render you deaf.