The world had very fuzzy edges. The sky was white, and seemed to be glowing very strangely. There were a few dull aches, and there was a deep ache in her head. She started to prop herself up and found she really didn't want to move.
"Glad to see you're okay." His voice sounded worn. Kumiko looked around, trying to identify the source. Shapes were still very fuzzy, but the more she tried to focus the better it became. She was lying in a bed, and the room was white. It was becoming very clear where she was. There was an IV sticking in her arm, and she could see a huge bruise right next to it.
With a little more effort, and ignoring the pain, she shifted up in the bed, looking around with a better angle. She finally glanced at the figure seated next to her bed. "Sawada… what are you doing here? What happened to me?"
He leaned forward from the chair, and set his mini soda on a side table. "Well, you were hit by a car K..Yankumi. You seem fine, but you have a pretty bad concussion, and they needed to make sure there was no permanent damage. You were unconscious for about 7 hours. I'm here because your grandfather called me. He stepped out a half hour ago to talk to the doctor." He laced his fingers and rested his arms on his knees, looking at Kumiko with a bit of concern. Kumiko took a second to process what Sawada had said. She then looked at her arms, and began touching her face, making sure everything seemed in place. Sawada laughed at her. "I'm gonna go get your grandfather." She nodded, and started shifting around a little more, making sure there really was nothing seriously wrong.
The concussion explained why her head was swimming. Sawada opened the door quietly and slipped out, leaving her alone. She gently rubbed her head, considering what she knew about concussions. A few minutes passed, and she could feel her eyes blur a little bit, but otherwise she felt all right. In an attempt to figure out whether or not she was confused, she went through a mental inventory of information. It all seemed clear, but then Kumiko thought that she wouldn't be able to tell if it wasn't. As she was descending into contemplation about fact and meaning, the door opened, and a doctor came in, followed by her grandfather who quickly closed the door behind them. She could hear a commotion behind the door. "I'm glad you're awake." Her grandfather smiled at her sitting down in the chair Sawada had vacated and patted her shoulder.
The doctor smiled at Kumiko. "Good to see you awake. My name is Mori Kaneda. You have a level 3 concussion, but otherwise you got out of being hit by a car fairly well. Can you tell me your name?"
Kumiko looked at him, slightly puzzled. "Yamaguchi Kumiko."
The doctor smiled. "Yes, and do you remember what kind of concussion you had?" Kumiko looked at him flatly and held up the number 3. "And who is the man next to you."
"My grandfather. Why are you asking me so many easy questions?" Kumiko thought it was pretty clear she wasn't confused.
Again, the doctor smiled. "Well, largely because we have to make sure you are lucid. That'll be the end of the easy questions. Just tell me how you are feeling, and what you remember." He pulled over one of the other chairs, and sat on the opposite side of the bed.
"Well… my eyes have been blurring a little bit, but other than that I feel okay. My head obviously hurts." Kumiko took a second to think about the past ten minutes, and then tried to remember before she woke up. The unconsciousness felt like a drain on her sense of time. "I remember waking up, and seeing Sawada. I'm trying to find something before that." The darkness slipped away, but everything was still blurred. Deciding to take another path, she recounted the day. Breakfast, riding the bus… Shinohara. Hey eyes went wide and she nearly leaped out of the bed. "Oh my god what time is it?!"
Both the Mori and Kuroda looked extremely alarmed. Her grandfather rushed forward to stop her from moving too quickly. He pushed her shoulders back towards the bed. The doctor was surprised how strong her forward momentum was; she had nearly knocked her grandfather over. "Please Yamaguchi, do not make any sudden movements, it could cause you to loose consciousness again!" He blurted out. Kumiko did indeed feel her head whirling, and fell backward again, eyes fluttering. The doctor was partially relieved, but immediately started tapping her cheek, making sure she stayed awake. Kuroda held her hand, giving it the occasional squeeze.
She focused her eyes again, and realized it would be a very bad idea to do the same thing again. After regaining her composure, the question burst out. "What time is it?"
"It's a little after 8." He answered quickly in the hopes of stopping her from lurching forward again.
Rather she collapsed back onto the bed, feeling very much defeated. "Is it really?" He nodded.
Cautiously, Mori sat back down still ready to lunge forward if necessary. "Is everything all right?" His eyebrows were raised. She nodded after a minute, still looking defeated. "Do you remember what happened?"
"Not yet. Give me a minute." After Shinohara… asked her on a date… that she had missed. Kumiko severely wanted to pout, but her grandfather would not approve. After Shinohara, there was school, then dealing with Osugi. That seemed pretty close to the last of her memories. "I remember I was walking out of the police station. I was running and listening to messages on my phone. I remember feeling like I got hit very hard, and it goes dark there." Kumiko squinted a little trying to see through her eyes again, but it was gone.
"That seems like a pretty complete recollection." He scribbled a bit on his clipboard. "And you say your eyes blur occasionally?" She nodded again. He continued writing, and eventually looked back up. "Okay Yamaguchi, I think we are safe to release you. I'm prescribing you a medicine to help any headaches, but we can't do much for the vision. It should clear up in a few hours. If it doesn't please come back." Mori stood up, and patted her shoulder. "You are quite strong Yamaguchi."
She nodded and thanked him, partially denying her strength. Kuroda smiled and squeezed her hand. "Please don't do anything like that again Kumiko. There are about a hundred people in the hallway right now." The doctor was letting himself out, and she could see a bunch of people moving right beside the door. Her grandfather reached out and smoothed her hair. "You gave me a heart attack Kumiko." Her focus on missing the date completely drained away. There was a hidden sorrow in his eyes.
She held his hand, and dropped her head slightly. He never really talked about her mother, but she knew he missed her even though they had hardly seen each other for many years before she died. "I'm sorry granddad." He smiled at her, and shook his head.
Outside, the buzz was getting louder, and finally, Kuroda got up to let the men in. Tetsu and Minoru were the first through, followed by many other henchmen; her grandfather's first and second in command, and two of her old students. They gathered around her, asking questions, trying to hug her, and pushing each other. Kuroda slapped the table with his hand, and everyone came into line. Kumiko was relieved to not have everyone crowding around her. "I know Kumiko is happy everyone cares about her, but don't act like animals." His voice has subtle and firm. A nurse poked her head into the room. She was carrying another clipboard and a bottle of medicine. "Okay everyone, you've gotten the chance to see her, but now my granddaughter needs to be discharged, so why don't you all head home." The henchmen bowed and filed out as swiftly as they had arrived.
Kumiko looked up at those remaining in the room. Odagiri had sat down in the chair the doctor had vacated. "How are you feeling?"
"Considering I was hit by a car, pretty well." He nodded. "Thank you for coming by to see me Odagiri."
To that he smiled. "Of course Yankumi, gotta make sure you're okay." He leaned forward and patted her arm. "If you need any help later Yankumi, let me know, but I've gotta go. Date tonight. Besides it looks like you're getting ready to go." His head moved in the direction of the nurse who was finished with her grandfather. Kumiko felt a particular twang of jealousy towards Odagiri, lucky guy with a date. Kumiko had a date. Then a car hit her. "See you Kumiko." He waved to her, and headed toward the door, passing by Sawada. "Good to see you again Sawada." It was a quick hello as he passed by. Shin nodded as Odagiri stepped through the door.
The nurse approached Kumiko, handing her the bottle of medicine and going over the papers she needed to be discharged. Kuroda had left the room, taking along copies of a few papers, including a list of symptoms. Leaning against the wall beside the door, Sawada remained silent, looking at the bruises on Kumiko's arm and considering hunting down whoever hit her. It seemed unlikely he would find them though. In his silence, the two women had almost forgotten he was there. As the nurse finished the last sheet, she turned around and was startled by the figure on the wall.
"Can I help you?" She approached, trying to remember if she had noticed him earlier.
Kumiko looked up from the papers she was reading. It was taking a fair bit of squinting to make out half the words. "Oh don't worry, that's a… well he was a student of mine. He's fine to stay, as long as it's not illegal or anything." The nurse looked at her and laughed.
"I'm pretty sure even if it was, your grandfather would make it alright Yamaguchi." The woman nodded to Sawada and passed back through the door. Making her way through the last of the pages, Kumiko was finding it harder and harder to finish. Sawada had returned to the chair he was in when she woke up, finishing his soda, and casually observing the ceiling. "Why are you still here Sawada?" Kumiko decided taking a break might be a good idea. She closed her eyes and rested her head back on the pillow.
"Your grandfather asked me to stay if you needed something." Not to mention that he wanted to.
Kumiko furrowed her eyebrows. It seemed more likely to have asked Tetsu or Minoru to stay behind. After all they acted like her personal servants half the time. However Kumiko didn't pretend to understand all the things her grandfather decided. He had his reasons, of that she was sure. Opening her eyes up, the world was made of assorted color smears, and she realized there was no way she could finish the papers. "Sawada, would you do me a favor?" Sawada looked at her, waiting for the request. "Read me these last two pages?"
He nodded and took the pages from her bedside. Speaking in clear voice, he breezed from beginning to end of the two sheets, cutting through the medical terminology, and pausing occasionally to make sure Kumiko understood everything. After finishing, he returned the sheets to her bedside, and Kumiko looked over at him. He was a blob of dark hair and light skin. She used different levels of squinting, trying to make sense of his face. Shin raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, letting her do whatever she was doing.
"You know, it's the strangest thing having blurry vision. I kind of want to watch cartoons on a big screen TV right now." Kumiko laughed, and closed her eyes again. "You know what else… I had a date tonight, and I am missing it because I got hit by a car." She sighed heavily. Shinohara probably didn't even know what happened to her. Sawada remained silent, grimacing slightly at the prospect. "One more favor for me Sawada? Can you find my cell phone?"
"Nope." He really didn't feel like playing party to her need to talk to this… date. Whoever he was. "I should actually go Yankumi." He bowed slightly to her, picking up the empty soda can, and disappeared from the room.
"…Okay… Bye Sawada!" She called after him, slightly alarmed at how quickly he vanished. "Strange guy…" she whispered to herself. Outside, Sawada was marching down the hallway. Kuroda watched him pass, giving him a slight wave.
Sawada returned it, but did not stop, preferring to get out as quickly as possible.
The hospital was not exactly his favorite place in the world, and he actually had things to do. He had planned on moving from Kuma's to Uchi's today. After having spent six hours making sure Kumiko was all right, it seemed less appealing to uproot. He took the elevator down and after a short walk, was at the subway station headed back to Kuma's.
Kumiko waited for the nurse to appear with clothes, and hopefully her phone. Without anyone nearby she realized how lonely a hospital room could be. She found herself wishing that her grandfather was still nearby, or that Sawada hadn't left. Taking another deep breath, she started to push herself out of bed, coaxing her soreness away.
She draped her legs over the edge of the bed and suddenly noticed that the room was very cold. She tried to pull the blankets over her again, but was left with cold feet. The nurse returned to the room a few minutes later, carrying the bag of Kumiko's belongings. She rooted through it, looking for her cell phone. Upon finding it, she was distressed to see that the screen was broken, and the battery was missing. She audibly groaned and then forced herself up and into the bathroom. Getting dressed was like being 3 again, no coordination and balance. After falling down putting on her pants, she sat down and took the easier route for dressing.
Outside her grandfather was patiently waiting. Together they walked to the hospital's entrance, Kumiko noticing how the blobs of color were particularly nondescript in the hallways. Outside was a black sedan waited for the two. Her grandfather's driver nodded to Kumiko as she got in, and they drove off with no more exciting incidents. Looking over her phone, Kumiko frowned and declared that the day was the worst it could've been without her dying.