Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bleach in any way! All copyrights of this series goes to Tite Kubo.

Author's Note: O.o OMFG, this story has past the epic five hundred review mark! *sniffles* I'm so proud of this story. It made me so happy and there are still seven chapters and the epilogue left to post. *wipes tears away with sleeve* Gah, thank you everyone for your support especially my awesome reviewers: maili-chan, michi. hishiro, MoonLightView, icyangel27, King of Heroes, DestinedDuelist893, HoneyFlower15, DERRBALAAM, k a y - t h i, KnowledgeandImagination, Mei-tan, HyourinmaruIce, RebelAngel91210, lil'sayuri-chan, monkeywinz, Samantha, tanithhh, Neko-cheung, becomeafan, cool! (x2), Kaye. Shirogane, chococat450, applestoapples, Rikku Deathberry, Ai Angel (x2), serenity095, Ryu Eiyuu, athfdrizzle, WhitePrincessOfHope, yumi-2121331, and j cloud xD. Anyway, enough with me yapping, it's time for you all to find out what happened to Momo and Toshiro. Happy reading!

LEGEND

"Talking." "Thinking."

The Healing Heart

Part II - Hardships and Love

Chapter Twenty-Three: I'm Sorry

When Hitsugaya finally came to himself, the first thing he saw was a white room. In that room are the familiar faces of his friends, Rangiku, Shuhei, Izuru, Renji, and Gin, standing around, talking to one another. "Ma-Matsu...moto?"

In response to her name, the strawberry orange haired woman turned her head to see her former neighbour has finally woken up. She exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, you're finally awake Hitsugaya!"

"Really, he's awake?" Renji suddenly asked.

"He really is," Izuru replied as the teenagers began gathering around the bed. A few of them let out sighs of relief. "Thank goodness..."

"Well, don't just stand there Shuhei!" Rangiku barked. "Go and get Unohana-sensei and Isane here!"

"Alright, alright I got it already!" Hisagi replied as he quickly left the room.

"Unohana-sensei and Kotetsu?" Toshiro thought. "I see...I'm in Seireitei Hospital right now."

"We were worried that you may never wake up Hitsugaya," Kira said.

"You're one lucky kid, you know that?" Matsumoto said.

"Karma sure knows when to bite or be nice to you," Ichimaru commented with a sly grin.

The strawberry orange haired woman gave him a look. "Gin, shut up..."

"Yes, Ran-chan."

He let out a faint smile, content that he's able to see them all especially after the experience he and Momo has went through. His eyes widened with sudden realization. He quickly sat up (not realizing that he dropped his patient breathing mask from his face) and exclaimed, "Where's Hinamo-Itte!"

Toshiro let out a wince in pain as he suddenly lay back down on the bed, clutching his left hand over the right shoulder cast he now has on. Upon feeling another strike of pain, he then placed his hand on his forehead to find out that he is also wearing a forehead brace. Now that he is thinking about it, he is also equipped with an IV line in the bending joint of his left arm. "Calm down," Matsumoto said. "She's resting in the bed right next you."

He turned his head to his left to see the unconscious raven haired girl resting in her bed wrapped in a right arm cast, a neck brace, a left leg cast, and forehead bandages. She is also equipped to a peripheral IV line injected in her left hand; a heart beat monitor, and a patient breathing mask. Seeing so many machines used to sustain her life, Hitsugaya's guilt level went way over the top despite feeling relieved that she's still alive. "How...is she?"

With one look at the sixteen year old, the older woman closed her eyes and let out a sigh. She replied to him, "She hasn't woken up yet."

Toshiro lowered his head. "...How long was I unconscious?"

"Three days."

"Oh..."

There was a moment of silence. "When we were informed that you and Hinamori-kun have gotten into a car accident, we all came here to see if you two were alright," Kira explained.

"At the time, you were in the emergency room with Unohana-sensei and Kotetsu-chan undergoing surgery to remove all the bullets from your body," Ichimaru said. "Hinamori-chan, on the other hand, was in another room with another doctor who did a blood transfusion and some minor surgery to remove the broken glass shards on her."

"I see," Hitsugaya said.

"Anyway, enough with all the happenings while you were unconscious," Renji finally said. He stepped up to the white haired teenager, and continued, "Now is a good idea for you to spill the beans. Tell us what happened between you and Hinamori that got you into this mess in the first place!"

"Abarai-kun!" Kira exclaimed, trying to pull the red head away from the injured patient before he threw a fist at him. "Settle down!"

"Hitsugaya..." Matsumoto said worryingly.

With one look at her, Toshiro turned his gaze away from his friends. For the longest time, he lied to them about all the things that have happened to him. Just as they say, there is no use trying to hide from it anymore especially when he got his precious friend involved. "I-I told Hinamori to not tell what has been really happening with me," he finally explained. "I came back to Seireitei because I wanted to get away from my...alcoholic, gambling, and abusive foster mother. Over the past three months, I've...been living alone in an apartment, working at my night job, and going to school with the rest of you."

The others stopped what they were doing.

"Your mother's an alcoholic and a gambler?" Kira asked. "On top of that, she beats you? I-I can't believe it."

He slowly nodded with agreement. "Hinamori has been...doing whatever she can to ease the burden on my shoulders because...she felt bad for me."

"Hitsugaya..."

"Four nights ago, Hinamori was at my place, picking up her notebook that I borrowed from her when that woman came to see me. While she was in the middle, witnessing the whole situation, we both got into an argument and I ended up kicking her out of the apartment. I thought it was the end of her until she decided to kidnap her the next night. She used Hinamori to threaten me to come back to her. I had no other choice, but to listen because I didn't want her to get hurt. After that, I got shot and got captured too. Just as she was about to get away with it all, the car crash happened."

"So that's what happened."

"I-I'm sorry...for lying to you all."

There was a short pause as Kira and Renji looked at one another. Izuru put his hands out and let out a shrug while Abarai placed his hands on his hips and shook his head. Ichimaru was standing in the back with his arms crossed over his chest while Matsumoto, who is standing closest to him, placed her hands on her elbows and turned her head to the side. Rangiku finally said, "Normally with cases like these, I would beat the crap out of you, but since you're already injured, I'll let it go. Just what were you thinking?"

"It was stupid of me to act that way...now; I realize it after almost losing another person close to me. I-I just...hope she wakes up soon so that I can say...sorry to her. She didn't deserve any of that," he said. "I don't deserve to be called her friend after involving her in such a mess..."

She let out a sigh of defeat and then a faint smile on her face. "Daijobou, Hinamori will wake up. She has to wake up so that she can see all of us again."

Despite the encouragement, it didn't help the white haired teenager. He merely watched the unconscious Momo resting on the bed next to him and breathing soundlessly. Just then, the door opened to allow Doctor Retsu Unohana, Nurse Isane Kotetsu, and Shuhei Hisagi to enter the room. Heads turned to watch the braided haired woman come to Hitsugaya's bedside. With one look at him, she then turned her body to face the others. "If you guys don't mind, can you step out for a bit?"

"Is there something wrong?" Matsumoto asked.

"I need to do a little check up on him."

"A check up?" Renji questioned.

"Is it seri-" Kira further asked before he was interrupted by a chilly feeling running up his spine.

"Please, everyone leave so that I can do my job here," Unohana warned.

Before long, the others (including Toshiro) have felt the strange vibe from the doctor. "Uh, y-yeah...let's go," Renji said.

"Right behind you," Hisagi agreed.

"Ou, how scary..." Gin said.

"No kidding," Kira replied.

"I hate it when she does that," Rangiku commented.

"I-I'll take you to the cafeteria," Isane said. "You all are probably hungry from waiting for Hitsugaya to wake up."

"Along the way, please fill me in on what happened to those two," Shuhei said.

"Alright alright already, keep your pants on!" Matsumoto said. "We'll explain the whole story once we get out of here!"

Without anymore time to waste, the healthy students from Seireitei High and the nurse all left the room. Once the door has closed shut, Retsu turned her attention to Toshiro. "How are you feeling right now?"

"I thought it was obvious," Toshiro replied sarcastically. "I feel like shit in more ways than one..."

She let out a faint smile on her face, content to see that he did not dramatically changed (for the worse) over the years. There was a silent pause. "Just to you let you know, your foster mother, Megumi Hashibara has died from the accident."

"So ka? At least I don't have to worry about her beating me up anymore." Though he said that, deep inside he is a little sad over the loss. Just like how Touya was a good father to him, she was a nice mother before she met with despair and went insane. Eventually, everything in her life all fell apart. It was only a matter of time before she met her end. "How is...Hinamori's condition?"

"Thanks to the other doctor, he's able to keep her alive."

He closed his eyes and let out a small sigh of relief. "That's good to hear."

"However, she fell into a deep coma."

Upon hearing her say Momo's condition, Toshiro immediately turned his full attention to the black haired doctor. "She's in a coma?"

She slowly nodded with agreement. "It is likely that she came down with the condition from the impact of the crash. It is not certain when she's going to wake up or if she is ever going to wake up."

He felt his heart shatter from deep inside. Not only he has hurt her physically, but he has hurt her mentally to the point she may never wake up. He may never again hear her sweet voice, he may never again see her smiling face, and most of all, he may never get the chance to say the important things he wanted to say to her. He slowly turned his head to the side away from the unconscious Hinamori and the face of Doctor Unohana. "...Were the others informed of this?"

Retsu then shook her head. "No, you're the first to know."

"...I see."

The room fell silent once more as neither person spoke a word. Unohana let out a silent sigh and suddenly said, "If you need anything, you know who to call."

"Hai..."

When she turned around and was about to leave the room, she remembered something. Turning back to the white haired teenager, she added, "Before I forget..."

The doctor put both her hands into her coat pockets and took out two familiar devices that both him and his friend possess.

"...here are yours and Hinamori's cell phones. I managed to retrieve them back from the police."

When he took a look at them, he found that both phones have similar scratch marks: a reminder of what happened a few nights ago. "Arigato Unohana-sensei..."

She let out a faint smile after putting them down on the small table between him and his resting friend. "Try to get some rest, okay?"

With that said, the doctor left the room, leaving Hitsugaya to do some reflection. Minutes passed as Toshiro lay in bed, thinking about the different things he could have done to prevent any of this to happen, but regardless, it's too late. What has happened has already come to pass. The reality is Momo Hinamori has fallen into a coma while he has regained his conscious and is now on the verge of recovery. He hated it.

He clutched tightly onto his right fist and bit the bottom of his lip, cursing over the fact that once again, he got away from meeting death's door. "Why is it always the people around me who suffers like that? Why can't I suffer like that too? I deserve it more than they do."

Hitsugaya turned his head the other way and watched the sleeping raven haired girl rest on her bed. After a few moments of thinking, he slowly began to sit up. Taking hold of the pole of IV bags and lines, he turned his body to the side so that his legs could touch the cold floor below. Fortunately, his legs weren't seriously affected from the crash. So, he is able to walk. He got on his feet and slowly began walking up to her. By the time he is at her side, Toshiro took a moment to get a good look at her condition.

She looked helpless and fragile like a precious piece of glass. At the same time she also looked peaceful and innocent. Hitsugaya extended his left hand out and brushed a piece of her bang off to the side so that he can take a better look at her face. "Hinamori..."

He placed his hand over hers and gently gripped onto it. With his head slightly tilted forward, he whispered his apology.

"I-I'm sorry...for putting you through all this."

Japanese Word Translations

Sensei - Teacher/Doctor, Itte - Ouch, Daijobou - It's Alright, So ka - Really/Is that so, Hai - Yes, Arigato - Thank You

Author's Note: Poor lil'Shiro, poor Momo. Will she ever wake up from a coma? Find out what happens in the next chapter! In the meantime, please review! Thanks.