I awoke to what felt like an ice pick going through my head. Raising one of my hands to the side of my skull, I found my hair, skin, and bones still intact, so that meant that—oh god—the hangover was here and rocking my word. And that ice pick? Galaxy's worried cries from the inside of his cage. Moaning for him to shut up, I pressed my face harder into the mattress, wishing for the massive headache to stop. At least I had blackout curtains; the light would probably destroy my eyesight and then some from the way I was feeling.
My stomach began to roll uncomfortably. Pushing myself up on my arms into a sitting position, I sat there for a second, staring at my comforter, before the gags started. I barely made it to the toilet—once I got there and had flipped open the cover, my stomach emptied itself right then and there. The headache lessened just slightly as I did so, but feeling the burn of stomach acid and leftover alcohol was killer on my esophagus and made my entire body ache.
A few minutes later I lay on the floor, halfway sobbing from the effort it took to empty my stomach, forehead on the seat and lips burning like hell. I heard Galaxy still chirping wildly, wanting to see if I was alright; I would have gone over to him and helped him out if it weren't for my stomach debating over whether or not to make me worse and the memories slowly making their way back into my head from last night. Or this morning. Whatever.
The dry heaves started up, and for probably the next thirty or so minutes I just clung to the porcelain throne (Really now? Making jokes?) and hoped that I didn't vomit out a kidney or my uterus or something. It really fucking hurt and I'm beyond caring about my costume right now. I felt like a prostitute already from last night, the self-loathing coming back like a gigantic wave, and the costume was worsening just about everything.
When I thought it was safe to finally move, I got up off the floor and immediately got out of my dress. Breathing slowly, I turned to look at myself in the mirror, and god did I look horrible. Mascara running down my face along with tears, my hair practically a bird's nest on my head, and a couple love bites (read: hickies) on the sides of my neck. On top of that, my skin was deathly pale, even more so than I already was. Turning the sink on, I washed off my face and brushed my teeth, finding that alcohol still lingered on my breath and tongue. The nausea was still there, but the headache was tearing up the inside of my head and making up for the rest of my suffering.
After Galaxy chirped again seeing me exit the bathroom without running mascara and only in my underwear, I growled at him to shut up. That got him to quiet down and he went on to eat his breakfast of sesame seeds and sunflower seeds. Before I got more pissed at him I went downstairs, looking over my phone, which had ended up in front of the kitchen entryway. I leaned down and picked it up along with the battery. I slid the battery back into it and flipped it open, seeing that the screen had been cracked badly enough that it made reading difficult.
Twenty text messages, all from Droite. And one missed call from the hospital. And according to the time, it was one in the afternoon—not surprising considering that I'd been drunk off my rocker last night and had nearly lost my virginity to my best friend.
I shuddered at the thought, slapping the phone shut and going into the kitchen. Yawning, I took a ramen cup out of the cabinet containing about forty more (I'd stocked up for sure) and prepared it for the microwave. My head pounded more as I watched the cup go around in the microwave, the light making my eyes burn. And the ding—dear god—made my ears ring for a few minutes, even after I had taken the ramen out and gotten chopsticks.
Right as I was scooping some noodles into my mouth, my phone began to ring. The number was from the hospital, and feeling as horrible as I did, I answered it.
"Yes?" I asked the woman on the other line.
"We would ask that you please come see your father," the nurse stated. "He's… He doesn't have much time left. Maybe a few days at the most."
I stopped eating immediately. "Wait—What do you mean, 'only a few days'? Is it that bad?"
"Yes." She sighed. "Please, Miss Tenjo. I'm worried about the both of you, and he is your father—"
"Just give me an hour, I'll be there." After ending the call, I knew exactly which hospital he would be at. The city over—Shore Wave—had only one hospital, due to being so small. And that was where he would be, for sure.
Finishing off my ramen quickly, I hunted down ibuprofen and took some before going upstairs to shower and change into something comfortable.
…
Walking all the way to Small Wave was difficult, but I managed. In my tank top and sweats, I hobbled on in the bright sunlight (wearing sunglasses in order to lessen the massive migraine I was undergoing from the hangover). I prayed to whatever god above that none of my school friends saw me, especially Droite. Last night's… thing was already killing me on the inside, but I was burying it underneath the worry that was building inside my chest.
Yes, I hated my father, but the fact that he might actually die in a few days was dawning on me and all I could feel was intense regret. He would be disappointed by the fact that I had been drinking and nearly had sex—with a girl, no less. More tears came to my eyes but I held them back; this was no time to be showing weakness.
The hospital wasn't large by any means, but it looked big enough for the town's population. I stepped through the front doors, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden due to the fact that the marks on my neck were in plain view for everyone to see. Oh well. I was too worried for my father to really care about that right now. After explaining to the secretary nurse that I was there to see my father, she had one of her coworkers direct me to the ICU—which was on the third floor. I got weird stares from people in the lobby, probably because of the marks on my neck, but I ignored them.
The nurse let me go off on my own after we reached the third floor. I hurried off to my dad's room, and after seeing him hooked to several machines, I burst into tears and went inside his room. He was awake, barely, with a heavy oxygen mask strapped to his head, the machine it was attached to forcing oxygen-rich air into his lungs.
"Oh my god, dad," I spoke quietly in our native language, dropping to my knees beside the bed and gripping his hands in mine. His violet eyes met mine and he smiled, just a little bit, underneath that mask. "What happened to you, dad?"
A few tears slipped from his eyes and his heart monitor sped up slightly. I placed my hand on his face, or what little I could with his oxygen mask on. He coughed slightly before weakly answering, "I'm sorry, my daughter, for putting you through hell."
"No, no, dad, please don't apologize," I whispered back, a lump developing in my throat as I watched him struggle to stay awake. "I get that you were only trying to propel me in the right direction."
Nodding, he shut his eyes. "I love you so much, Kai…" And with that, he fell asleep, his heart monitor slowing to a dangerous level. I sniffled, pressing my lips to his hand in mine. Why? Why had I been such a horrible daughter to him? I only wanted the best for him, and he only wanted me to succeed. Neither of us had wanted to put the other in a bad position, but that's exactly what happened.
I swallowed hard, standing up from the ground. Now that there was a real possibility of me being left alone all by myself, I had to come up with a plan. The only way I'd be able to live here without being sent back to Japan was emancipation—thanks to Google—or…
Shaking my head, I grabbed my phone from my sweats' pocket and typed in the number for Rio's cell phone. I needed to speak to her about a plan for me. My seventeenth birthday was in a week and if my father really did die during this week, I had to think of something and fast. She picked up on the third ring, confused as to why I was calling her. I simply told her to come to the hospital, giving her extra information about how to get here, and after telling her that I needed to speak with her face-to-face, I hung up.
Hopefully this would work…
…
"You're going to what?!" Rio practically yelled. She and I were talking outside the hospital room, discussing my current plan. "But-But Kai! That's not exactly accepted, you know!"
"I don't exactly care right now." Leaning against the wall and rubbing my eyes of tears, I avoided her gaze. "We'll have to ask Droite about this, of course, and we'll have to come up with a way for her parents to accept me into their family. But I am not going to Japan right after I've just got here. Plus…" Gesturing to my neck (despite my deep regret over last night, I still held pride over giving my first kiss to Droite), I shrugged. "It seems like a good idea. I mean, it's a giant step from what happened at the party but I don't have much time. Especially with my dad in such a bad condition, it looks like he might not get any better."
"But what if he does?" Rio countered. "What if he beats all odds and recovers, but you're no longer under his care? What will happen then?"
"I don't know, Rio, I don't know." Rubbing my temples, the lingering effects of the hangover still giving me a headache, I glared at her. "I just don't know what to do anymore because my dad is dying!" With that last sentence I broke down completely, falling forward and hiding myself in Rio's embrace. She rubbed my back and just let me sob until I had no tears left and was close to vomiting again.
Amidst it all, I felt that I was doing the right thing here. Emancipation was by far the only way I was going to be able to keep myself from being sent back to Japan. I didn't want to go anymore—Droite was here and I wanted to be here with her. Even if I felt homesick I wanted Droite so badly that I wasn't about to leave to my home country. As I coughed and tried putting myself together, I began to wonder how we would do this.
"If you're really thinking of doing this, Kai…" Rio began, with a heavy sigh, "I'll be right behind you. I'll help pay for stuff while you find yourself a stable job, alright?"
"Yeah…" I replied. "Thank you, Rio."
"Nah, nah, it's fine." She raised her phone as I backed away from her. "Should we call my brother? He can help you since he's been taking law school online."
"That'd be helpful," I murmured, rubbing my eyes again. "Thanks again, Rio, for all of this."
"Anything for you, Kai." As she called up her twin, I looked off to the side, swallowing my fear and nervousness.
I couldn't believe I was about to do this.
What do you think's gonna happen, yo? Review!