Chapter 8 - Injuries
A week after she visited her mother and brother's graves, she couldn't say anything whenever she was in her classroom. Especially when it was at his Class, she couldn't bear to look at him in the eye. It has been like that after that time at the grave when he figured out who she really was.
She wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment or guilt, or neither, or something else that she couldn't put a word to. They didn't talk to each other, not a word, but she knew that there has to be a time that they should talk again about what happened.
Relief was what she felt when class ended, but it immediately vanished when her phone rang just before she could stop out the gate. The caller was her father who told her that Yuzu and Karin are in the hospital, severely wounded and unconscious.
They got involved in a severe bus accident on the way home when it crashed against a speeding truck as the driver had an unexpected burst artery.
In twenty minutes' time, though the hospital was very far, she reached the entrance door and panted. Nothing but fear was in her eyes, and that was rare for almost all the time they showed nothing but indifference.
But she regained some of her cool, not wanting to look so weak and fragile. For the past few years, strangers or people who know her would see her as strong and she wanted it to stay that way.
Walking at a fast pace towards a pale desk where a young nurse was sitting, she asked where her sisters are, stating their full names. She saw many other kids of her sisters' age or younger lying on wheel beds, with IV's or the like connected to them. She also noticed their parents' crying or merely looking very distressed.
Soon one of the many doctors that she saw walking around the large place led her to the room where they were lying on a bed as well, both their wrists strapped to an IV or whatever fluid it was. She went inside and saw the several bandages wrapping them.
A cast could be seen on Karin's left leg, and on Yuzu's left arm. The several red scratches on their faces sent them halfway to the point of being unrecognizable. The sight reminded her of herself back then after that fight with her brother.
"Is it fatal?"
"No. But they won't be able to leave the hospital for almost a month. They cannot move freely in that condition." He explained, not a sense of hesitance in his voice. Ichigo thanked him quietly out of relief and her father entered the room as she sat beside them on the floor, as all the chairs were used by the other children's relatives.
He gave her a can of carbonated fruit juice, and she took small sips once in a while, closing her eyes as she hated the sight of a hospital especially the rooms. It was already giving her a headache right now, that it was going to be unbearable the longer she'd stay there. But she had to endure it, for their sakes.
Looking at them, unconscious yet looking like they're merely in a deep sleep, she was more afraid than she'd ever been.
Though the doctor said that it wasn't fatal, who knows if something bad might happen out of the blue and take their lives away. She couldn't bear losing her family again, she could no longer stand a third time. The fear caused her to grip the metal can so tight that it was crushed to a very small size with her unfeminine strength.
She effortlessly threw it into the trash bin, and she hugged her legs close to her face, her heart getting ready to be torn in half should ever they die. She couldn't say if this heartache is more painful the ones that she gets when it comes to Byakuya.
She was more afraid of death than anyone else, for she witnessed it herself twice at a young and innocent age.
To relax herself for a while, she walked out the room and was about to step out the large hospital but she stopped immediately when she saw two certain someones lying on a bed, being strolled by the nurses as fast as can to an empty room as oxygen masks are on their faces, their eyes were struggling to open.
She felt even more unhappy that it was her only two friends, and she held her forehead in such a stressed manner that she could crush her skull if she applied more strength.
"Why now?" She thought, continuing to walk out the door. She couldn't cry, and she couldn't yell, she could only hold her head. She felt pathetic, even if none of this was any of her fault.
Suddenly, a voice caused her to calm a little, despite how painful she felt inside her heart and head. "Why are you here?" She didn't look at the person who said that, and just looked away, unable to say anything. But she gave in anyway to answering his question.
"My sisters got in a bus accident, along with the other passengers of the same bus." She said, her head still looking at the opposite direction to where Byakuya was standing. "Why is Rukia hospitalized?" She added.
"She got a flu." Was all he said, and she understood it immediately but said nothing to it, and continued to focus her eyes on any area where she could not see him.
Hearing the steps getting louder she almost walked back in but a gentle hold of her hand stopped her, and she felt her heart giving thousand kinds of pain. She couldn't face him, especially when her family is facing a possible tragedy.
She turned around only to look at him for one second, and saw him as serene and mysterious as ever that his unpredictable eyes pierced her to the point that she looked away, trying to get him to let go of her hand. She flinched when a hand held her chin, and turned her head around, followed by her body.
He let go of her hand, but his other hand remained on her chin, tilting her head a little upwards. "I don't know... what is this anymore." Ichigo said, but his expression remained devoid of emotion.
"Why did we have to dance..." Her armor was breaking again, and this time unwillingly. "...and let things end up like this?" He said no answer, and reached close but he didn't kiss her, which slightly disappointed her.
"Impulsive decisions." He answered, and there was a small silence before he pulled away and continued. "You can blame me for asking you to dance. I don't mind if you're mad at me."
She could feel honesty, and before she could walk back inside she was pulled close to him for a kiss that lasted for five seconds before he let go of her and walked ahead of her, both going different paths.
Ichigo went to visit Toshiro first, who looked completely strained as he was frowning from the uncomfortable pain of the headache, fever, and the mellow feeling that the liquid connected to his wrist was giving him.
"Kurosaki, you're here..." He asked, sounding very tired that she gave a sad expression as she walked closer. "What happened?" She asked. "Flu, so you better not go too near." He answered, and she did so, ten feet being the distance between them.
She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the white room for it was sickening to her. "You're still uncomfortable inside hospitals?" He asked and she nodded, her eyes not opening, not even for a second.
"It must have been really hard on you, losing him so unexpectedly..." She could remember, the day when she realized her brother was dead. Him, Rukia, and her family were witness to the aftermath. She could remember it all, playing like a movie.
She could remember deep and open wounds, loud cries of despair and anger, unearthly eyes of her own, injured doctors and nurses, wrists and ankles strapped tightly, sedatives and the like injected into her system, a deranged face, eyes of horror from others. She was disgusted with herself at that day, and the days when she was in that situation.
When she knew that her brother died, she completely lost her sanity that she threw an extremely violent fit that many got hurt in the process, hurt badly despite her young age of eight.
After days of medication and consultation, the first ones not turning up very well, they realized she has schizophrenia, her other self formed from the rage, sadness and guilt that she kept in her all the time.
"I can't help it..." She muttered sadly, finally opening her eyes.
"Get well soon." She bid before leaving, and he sighed in understanding for her, knowing that neither him or Rukia suffered what she suffered. He may have lost his parents back when he was a newborn but he never felt the pain from losing them, since he never got to meet them.
Rukia may have lost her mother (or rather, her adoptive mother), but it could never compare to their friend's pain.
The past always has a way of catching up, especially death, which was the main factor for why her past wasn't something to look forward too.
A/N: This time it's a chappy shorter than usual because if I tried to make it as long as the others, who knows when I'll update the story again. Reviews and constructive criticism are accepted, but please no flames. Next chapter will be in Byakuya's view, well not exactly POV. More like, he is the main character of the next chapter.