A/N: Sorry it has been a while. This past month I've been pretty sick, and most of the time I had was spent sleeping and getting my stuff together to get my master's. I'll do my best not to let it happen again.
Shippo found himself watching the female again and sniffed, trying to determine what that scent was without affecting his state of mind. It was like a spicy candy, as it had been the day she'd blasted him with her breath. It was less concentrated, but the same.
"Uh, Sumi?"
The woman with the ink on her face glanced in his direction as she continued to walk.
Shippo took that as the best acknowledgment he was going to get. "Why do you smell so strong now, Sumi?"
He was surprised when she stopped in her tacks and gaped at him. He was even more astonished when she blushed, her brown cheeks gaining a slight warm glow. Shippo heard a chuckle from behind them and knew Ueda was listening in. With a concerned expression, Shippo reached his hand out to touch her shoulder, which she pulled back from, avoiding the contact.
He pulled his hand back as if he'd been stung. "Sumi?"
She growled under her breath, a clear warning to stay back.
Perhaps she was sick? Inuyasha always acted like this when he felt like crap. Maybe she was more feral than he initially thought. Shippo simply fell into place beside her, quietly investigating the sweet scent without opening his mouth.
Miroku didn't know what he was more fascinated with. The multitude of charts depicting the inside workings of the human heart—which he had been studying for the past twenty minutes in depth—or the nurse's rolly chair.
A simple mechanism, he was sure, but as it glided across the shiny floor with the middle aged nurse sitting upon it, Miroku felt delighted. So much grace in simply sitting and moving! He cocked his head to the side and tried to keep attention on the woman who was charged with obtaining his medical history.
"Any medications you are taking at this time?"
Miroku felt that was an odd way to ask a question, but alright…
"Nothing."
The table he sat on was bulky and rather high up. Miroku felt a bit uncomfortable, but there had been insistence he sit there and Kagome was to sit in the only chair without wheels. The young woman had helped him with a few questions so far, but he was glad he'd been able to answer most on his own. They were saying he was Kagome's cousin, her mother's nephew, though he wasn't sure Mrs. Higurashi had any siblings. This office probably didn't know that.
"And any history of allergies?"
"Uh…I seem to be more sensitive to bees and wasps than most."
Beside and below him, Kagome grabbed her face and groaned.
"Anything else?"
He shook his head as he intertwined his fingers. "No, my lady. Not that I know of."
The nurse, despite her age, blushed at Miroku's natural charm and the formal title which meant something completely different in this time era. She sat back in her chair and noted something on her clipboard, then fanned herself. Miroku couldn't help but grin.
Considering how long they'd waited thus far, it wasn't very long before the doctor himself came in. When he entered the small room, Miroku was a bit surprised to see a very large man with glasses bow to Kagome and ask how her grandfather was feeling.
"Good good. He says he takes too many pills though."
The man, who was a full head above Miroku and as wide as two of him—though honestly it looked as if little of his width was made up of fat—suddenly opened his mouth and a nice rolling laugher filled the room directly from his belly.
He sat across from them on the small chair—Miroku again amazed by it, but this time for its strength. "Well, for his age, he takes very few. I have many patients who have eight pills four times a day after all."
She nodded. "I always tell him this. Three pills once a day is nothing to complain about."
The man thumbed through the clipboard in his hand, scanning it lightly. "Nope nope. That surely it isn't." He took a small breath and dropped the small stack of papers he'd held up by the corner so that it lay flat on the board. "So, Miroku, nice to meet you. I'm Dr. Caligari.* What can I do you for?"
Miroku was a bit dumbstruck. "Oh eh well, I had pains in my heart it would seem."
The man pushed his glasses back absently with a thick finger. "Is it constant? Or does it come and go?"
"Comes and goes."
"During physical exertion or emotional stress?"
"Both, but not always either."
The large man took down more notes. "Do you exercise regularly, Miroku?"
Miroku sighed and thought on that. "Well, I used to constantly walk and practice hand to hand combat, but recently I have had a softer life and I haven't kept up with my training."
Kagome interjected. "He's also been a bit concerned about this heart problem, so he's avoided doing a lot of physical exercise."
Miroku felt himself grow red. He didn't want everyone to know how much it concerned him. The man across from them crossed his ankles and smiled warmly. "Well then, we'll need to get you fixed up so you can go back to your training."
The wording actually eased the young monk's embarrassment. He thought he might indeed like this man. Said man began to take down a few more notes while simultaneously asking Miroku questions. How did these episodes feel, had he ever fainted from one—no he hadn't, but he'd come close. Did it spread into his arm at anytime? No.
"Is your pulse irregular at other times."
"Doesn't seem so."
"Good…now, have you ever have rheumatic fever?"
Kagome was alerted by this it seemed. She sat up in her chair and clutched her purse.
Miroku felt himself grow tense from her reaction. "Uh, I do not believe so."
The doctor ceased writing and folded his arms over the clipboard. "Do you have any reoccurring joint pain or stiffness?"
Miroku shook his head.
"Any sustained lumps or nodes under the skin?"
His eyes widened at that. "No Sir."
The man looked at him for a moment, then a wide grin erupted on his face. "Then it doesn't sound like you've ever had rheumatic fever. That is good." He began to jot something else down.
Miroku felt as if he were in a whirlwind. He sat back on his paper covered table and relaxed. The man in front of him placed the clipboard on a counter and rolled to him, adjusting an odd jewelry piece around his neck. Miroku was all the more surprised by this thing when the doctor pulled it up so that the ends sat in his ears.
"Alright now. Deep breaths…" and touched the medallion to Miroku's chest. Miroku obeyed on command though, and took in a large full breath.
"Again."
Miroku took breath after breath as the man rotated around his body to his back, never once getting off his little stool. Any other medical professional would have needed to get up to reach him at the table's height, but not Dr. Caligari.
Then the man came back to Miroku's front and pressed the medallion to his heart. "This time," he said, "breath normally."
Miroku followed his instructions and did just that.
After a moment, the doctor drifted back on his stool, grabbed up the clipboard and took a few more notes. Kagome seemed tense waiting for any news. Miroku wondered what she was waiting for.
"Well," the large man began. "I did hear a murmur."
Kagome nodded, her neck cording in strain. It was as if she was readying for a fight, but she knew she couldn't purify any disease inside her friend. Miroku nearly felt bad for relying on her so.
"I'd like to order an EKG due to the symptoms, his age, and the murmur I hear."
Kagome nodded. "When would you like that done?"
The doctor scribbled a bit while answering her. "Actually, today if you have the time."
Miroku was lost, but luckily Kagome seemed to follow. She nodded, "we have all day."
He began writing furiously. "Good, then right after the EKG I'll have radiology send you right back up here." He grinned as he put down his pen. He pulled off a page and handed it to Miroku. "Give this to Goru down in radiology. He'll be the one at the desk."
Miroku took the paper and tried to read over it. There was little he could follow.
"Alright, so I'll see you both again this afternoon. Miroku, pleasure to meet you."
The young man stood up and bowed. "Thank you."