Emily was sitting in the waiting room of the hospital after talking with her ex-husband on what he was told by his current wife who witnessed the whole thing. However, when he explained it to her, the story didn't add up to what happened to Keiji, her son. He has a broken arm, a black eye and a bunch of bruises, new and old all over his torso. From what she was told, Keiji and Akihiko, the son from her ex-husband's previous marriage, were bouncing on the beds while the wife was there talking on the phone with a family member. After she warned the kid multiple times to quiet down, she left the room to finish the call. When she came back, Keiji was falling off the bed and landed very hard on the floor, thus breaking his arm. However, Emily is confused on how he got all those bruises on his torso and his black eye. She was never told if he had that beforehand or not.
"Miss. Ochoa, your son has woken up and is requesting to see you," Emily heard from the entrance of the room, which made her look up at the doctor who is in charge of Keiji. She could only nod before standing and being escorted by the doctor himself to see her son. He opened the door for her and she quickly went inside to see her son with a bandage around his head, his arm in a neon green cast and the IV stuck in his hand. She approached her son and he started bawling his eyes out and was screaming that he wanted to be held. Emily felt so conflicted because she really wanted to hold him but she knew she couldn't because of hospital rules so she could only run her fingers through his somewhat long black hair.
"I know it's painful honey but you have to calm down. The doctors are making sure all your ouchies aren't serious. Now take a deep breath and tell me what happened," Emily said, in a comforting, motherly tone to soothe her son. After a few big, deep breaths, he calmed down to small whimpers and a few tears before he looked at her scaredly.
"New mommy hits and pushes me and Aki. We wanted to go downstairs to go swimming because it was hot in our room and we haven't been swimming that day. She called us a bunch of ungrateful brats and hit Aki and I really hard," Keiji said through panting breaths and sniffles. Emily processed what she heard but she couldn't believe it. She wanted to march up to that woman and hurt her the same way she hurt her precious son. Her hands were trembling with rage but she kept it down to keep getting information from her son.
"Is the broken arm also from her, my little silly-bear?" Emily asked, using his special nickname that she mostly used when he was sick or hurt. She say a look in her son's eyes that told her that her hunch was right and that the story was made up. Keiji looked like he wanted to say something but was somehow having a hard time saying anything at all so Emily just raised her hand in a way of silencing him before leaning forward to kiss his forehead.
"Don't worry silly-bear. That is more than enough proof. Does your father know about this?" She asked, wanting to make sure it's just her and not her ex-husband doing it as well. Keiji shook his head before breaking down in tears again.
"Shh...it's going to be alright my silly-bear. I'll let your father know and from there him and I can take action against that evil woman. You won't have to see her anymore once him and I are done with her," she said while rubbing his arm, rubbing soothing circles on it to calm him down. Just like every mother who loves her kids, she wanted nothing more than to steal him away and hold him close so he doesn't feel sad or alone but sadly, she has no legal rights to do so. As she sat there shushing and calming her son, there was knock on the door before it opened to bring more light into the dim lit room.
"Emily, it's good to see that you got here safely. I assume there were no complications with the hospital staff?" She heard behind her and she knew that voice from anywhere. She turned to see three people standing in the doorway. Her ex-husband's current wife, Yelena, was standing in the door with Akihiko's hand in hers with what looks like a painful grip.
"No, it was fairly easy to see my son. How is Akihiko? I heard he got hurt a little as well," Emily lied, trying to see if she will lie about the bruise that was just barely showing on his arm underneath his shirt sleeve.
"No, he is perfectly fine. Can't you tell?" Yelena said in a spiteful way. Emily would have taken that personally if she wasn't the one that took her husband away from her.
"I can tell that your grip on him is a little too tight. Maybe you should let go of his hand before he loses blood circulation in his hand," Emily said, no venom in her voice but more in a suspicious way.
"Are you saying that I am abusing these brats?" Yelena asked raising Akihiko's hand more in rag, which caused the 9 year old to say a quiet ouch as he attempted to free his hand from her death grip.
"I didn't apply nor say that but now I know that my suspicion is true," Emily said with a confident smirk. Yelena was getting angrier with each second passing before she threw Akihiko onto the floor and hitting the way.
"Go ahead! You don't have the money or the evidence to prove me abusing these brats! I didn't sign up to take care of them anyways," She yelled before leaving the room with a stomp in her step. Emily opened her arms to the hurt 9 year old who ran into her arm and began to cry. She rubbed his back lovingly but didn't shush him because she knew after years being with him, that it doesn't work like it does on her son.
"Mommy, are you going to help Aki and I? We don't like our new mommy," She heard Keiji, who has been quiet during the scene, ask her in a scared voice.
"Of course. I'll make sure your father knows about this and if he has his hands tied with her, then I will use my secret weapon in the political world," she said, remembering the promise she made a certain man with black hair and glasses.
"How is Hishi going to help?" Aki questioned as he wiped his nose onto the inside of his shirt. Emily ran her fingers through his hair before picking him up with all her strength to put him on her son's hospital bed.
"Hishikura owes me a favor and this is a good reason to use the power but, I'm not going to sugar coat this one, since I was not born in Japan, it might take longer to get custody of you two so please wait patiently until I do. Kei will be the easiest but Aki will be a bit harder as he is not biologically mine," Emily said, leaning down to be at eye level with them both. She knew she will have a hard time doing what she needs done but she was determined to get it done so she knows the two are safe from that evil woman.
"Now, Aki and I are going to your father so I can relieve him of his watch duties and give Aki back. Then, I'm going to see if I can take you home with me, alright Kei?" She said while tucking in the sides of her son's blanket.
"Alright mommy," Keiji said, yawning a bit, indicating that his medicine is kicking in. Emily kissed his forehead and ran her fingers one last time into his hair before sitting up and escorting Akihiko to the waiting room where the others were. After talking to her ex-husband, she got the permission to keep Kei with her until the end of the month. She saw them off before walking back in and to her son's room, thinking about what she wants to do to make her son comfortable.
'Hmm... Maybe I'll take him for ice cream. Every kid loves sugar. I'll definitely give him the bed at the hotel while I sleep on the couch. Is there even a couch? I hope so if it costs a few hundred a night to stay in a VIP room,' Emily thought as she looked at the ground so she can keep her face hidden. It's not easy being known as the politicians ex-wife and having to maintain the class you showed when you were together. She opened the door to her son's room when she finally looked up. Keiji was asleep, the pain killers kicking in for the day and she decided to take a seat on a chair while she waited for the doctor or a nurse to show up.
She hasn't even touched her cell phone since she was in Japan and since that her only source of entertainment, she took it out of her back pocket to turn it on. Luckily, she made sure it was on silent as it turned on with just the symbol and no really terrible, 45 cent load up music that most phones had. She was about to unlock it when text messages kept pouring in, most from friends, Ayo, and surprisingly her parents. She looked through the messages, her elbow on the wooden arm of the chair, her head resting on her hand. Most were telling her that they were praying for him to get better but she hesitated on her parents text messages. She hasn't spoken to them since she rebelled against their wishes in her early twenties and became a performer with Ayo back in America.
She first opened her fathers since his was a few sentences. It mostly stated that her ex-husband contacted him and told him the news and how he didn't even know that she had a kid. Emily figured her ex had something to do about it but it didn't bother her that he was hurt that she didn't say anything. She opened her mother's and what she read made her start tearing up. It first started about how she wished for Keiji to get better, then it went to ask about how she was doing in a different country and it ended with how she regretted kicking her out of the family after following her actual dream. It almost made Emily call her mom but she stopped herself. If they wanted to talk, they would call her, not the other way around. She wasn't going to put in the effort to call when they were the ones at fault. So, Emily decided to put her phone down and looked over at her sleeping son.
Her heart always melted when she would see her son because of how sweet he was and just adorable all around but her heart was just hurting. She didn't like seeing her son in the hospital and she wished she was always there for her son. As she gazed at her son, there was a knock on the door, followed by the doctor coming in to explain to her what needs to be done. She was given consent to take her son to the hotel tomorrow and that he would need assistance when he took baths or showers. Emily nodded to every bit of advice before thanking him and watching him leave the room. She went back to the chair and that started a long restless night of her watching her sons monitor and calming him down when he would get a night terror, which he hasn't had in awhile with her, and it was new when he had 2 in one night. When the doctor gave one last check, she was allowed to leave the hospital with her son in her arms, cranky and exhausted.
"The hotel is just a few blocks away. You can sleep on the way there if you'd like," Emily said, adjusting her grip on her son as she wrapped him up in her jacket so he can stay warm from the London breeze. Keiji was in an awful mood, which usually meant that it was going to be a long day for them and since it's was already past noon, there was nothing to do that could improve his mood. Upon arriving to the hotel, the hotel manager was more than happy to help them find their room and get them settled in. Keiji managed to fall asleep on the long walk so Emily put him into the bed and kissed his forehead before leaving the room as quietly as possible.
"Well, it's 3:56 in London, so that means it's almost one in the morning in Tokyo. I guess I have to wait until it's morning there in Tokyo to call Baba. Well, I guess I can nap a little before dinner," Emily said to herself, looking over at the door that lead to the bedroom before sighing and sitting on the couch to hopefully get some shut eye. However, those hopes were in vain because Keiji woke up in pain and was crying. She got up from the couch and climbed into bed with her son to hold him and comfort him as he cried. For once in her life, Emily felt helpless and that was making her depressed and pissed off at the same time. After many failed attempts of getting him back asleep, she found herself in the living room with Keiji in her lap, both snuggled under the blanket from the bed and watching movies that she brought to entertain him on the flight back that was in a few days.
"Mommy, I'm hungry," Keiji said in a mumble under the blanket that was covering most of him besides from his nose up. Emily nodded and reached over to the phone that next to the couch they were sitting on and picking it up to order dinner for both of them. She got him some of his favorite foods and she get herself a sandwich before hanging up and returning her eyes to the movie.
"Alright Keiji. After dinner, I will give you a bath and then I'll give you your medicine before you go to bed. How does that sound?" Emily asked, hugging her son close who giggled because she tickled his sides a little. She smiled at his giggle and kissed the crown of his head. Keiji relaxed into her brace and kept watching the movie until it ended and they had dinner. After a huge bubble bath and wrestling the kid into his pajamas, Emily sat in the bed with him as she read him some stories to help him sleep. He took his medicine before climbing into bed so he would be out in 30 minutes tops. Once he was asleep, Emily left the room to clean up the living room space since they ate a lot and watched a lot of movies. Putting the movies away into her suitcase and putting the tray that contains empty cups and plates were outside the room to be picked up later before walking back into the room and sitting onto the couch. Seeing the time, it was 10 at night, meaning that it was 7 in the morning in Tokyo. Now was the time to start her plan and it all started with Baba. Since he was in Tokyo, he might be able to get Hishikura to agree to her deal. Emily pulled out his business card to double check that the number in her phone was correct before typing out a text asking him to call her when he wakes up. She even put that it was an emergency so he would call faster.
Around 11 at night, she received a call from Baba and she picked it up so she could start talking to him about her plan.
"Hey pretty lady, to what do I owe the pleasure of hearing your pretty voice early in the morning?" Baba said in a flirty tone and if it wasn't for the fact that she needed his help, she would have hung up.
"I don't have time for the cheesy lines, Baba," Emily said with an exasperated sigh. She could feel his playfulness turn into seriousness over the phone and that actually made her jump a little.
"What's wrong Emi? I read that it was an emergency," he asked in a serious tone, something that Emily haven't experienced with him before. She was so shocked by the immediate change of personality that it took her a bit to respond back.
"I need your help with something," she said, getting his attention before fully telling him the suspicions she had and how she would like him to help in this type of situation but she wasn't prepared on how he exactly got Hishikura to agree so quickly.