~*~Chapter 12~*~
Once again I found myself being rudely awoken by hospital staff. "She's coming back around." Someone announced loudly. Now there were tubes in my nose and wires connected to various parts of my body. The room was full of large, intimidating looking pieces of medical equipment and at least twenty people. One doctor held a mask to my face, delivering oxygen, while another shone a light in my eyes, switching back and forth before calling for another doctor. This one too examined my eyes before the two started whispering. I couldn't hear everything they were saying, although I tried, but I did catch words like 'malignant' 'growing' 'removed' and 'risky'. I'd had enough. "What's going on? Can someone please tell me what's wrong?" I nearly shouted making several people jump. Everyone seemed to be acting like I was just a little child who either couldn't comprehend or didn't deserve to know what was wrong with me, and it was becoming quickly clear that there was something medically wrong with me and they were concerned.
The majority of people in the room were gathered in a group in the corner and they seemed to be observing more than contributing to what was happening in the room. They all started whispering excitedly when I shouted and making notes in folders or clipboards or whatever various notetaking devices they all held. Beside me, an older woman stepped forward and silenced the room. Clearly, this woman was well respected and in charge. When she spoke, everyone listened. "Dear, you are not yet eighteen, So I am unable to discuss your condition with you until your mother returns. All I can say is that we believe we have identified the problem and as you may have guessed, it is quite serious. You won't be able to leave the hospital for quite a while if we are correct. Rest assured that we will do everything in our power to get you better and back to a regular life as soon as possible."
That sounded ominous. She continued to explain that they were preparing to do some kind of study of my brain waves to better understand the situation and that my mother had given approval for it before she left to pick up Sota from school. Timidly, and trying not to let my voice break I asked, "Does this have anything to do with the dreams?"
"Dreams dear?" she asked sounding confused. She didn't know about them then.
"Yes, the weird dreams I keep having. At least I'm told they are just dreams, they seem so real."
"We were unaware of any dreams, but the sleep study included in this round of test should show brain activity, including dreaming." She began attaching several wires to my head, bringing my attention to the fact that all of my hair was gone. They had shaved it all off so they could do these test they felt were so important. I couldn't stop myself. I started crying like a baby. Why was everything so unfair?
I submitted to everything they asked, knowing I had no real say in the matter. The entire time my mind was with Inuyasha. How could I know if any of it was real or not? I thought about the Jewel, wondering once again if all this was somehow because of Naraku. I was mostly able to ignore what was going on around me, instead, I allowed myself to daydream. I pictured what I thought should have happened after he was defeated. I imagined that I had chosen to stay in the Feudal era and spend my life with my family there. Yes, I would miss my family here, but I wouldn't live with my mother forever anyways, so why not live with the man, or rather demon, that I loved. I allowed myself to get lost in the fantasy until someone rudely jammed a large needle into the crook of my arm. I jumped, surprised and glared at the nurse, who was now cursing under her breath and digging in my arm with the needle, trying to find the vein. "Please hold still, I need to take blood for some labs." She said, trying to be patient but sounding exasperated as she jammed the cursed thing deeper. I was definitely going to have a large bruise there, I realized as she pulled the instrument from my skin and sloppily stuck a band-aid over the spot before moving to try the other arm.
"I don't like being treated like a pincushion," I complained grumpily as I allowed my head to flop back onto the pillow.
"Almost done." She assured me, filling several vials with my blood before grabbing a syringe a nearby assistant was handing her. It was huge and filled with a clear liquid. "There, now this will help you sleep. You have nothing to worry about." She said absently as she attached it to the newly placed IV. She depressed the plunger in what I felt was a very uncaring way, smiling slightly when I winced as the uncomfortably cold fluid traced its way through my veins. I instantly felt drowsy, almost loopy as I tried to object to something. What was it I was objecting to now? It didn't matter anymore, I was too far gone now to care anymore. My last thought before I shut my eyes was the hope that I would be able to wake up and see Inuyasha again.