A/N: So I know it's taken me a while to write this chapter. I'm sorry. Here you go enjoy. Please review. :D Tell me what you think?
Silence.
There was a still absence of sound in the patient's quarter save for the steady accent of breedles and ventilator songs. In only a few hours a marvel had presented itself to a young adolescent and his family. The boy lay on the gurney with his mother's fingers secured around his hand. The woman's bloodshot eyes had not rested upon another since his arrival in the recovery space. Akemi watched his soft steady breathing with gratitude wondering about the girl across the hall. The debt to that child was too great. Akemi could not begin to ponder the ways to repay her good deed. The girl was given only one reference, Rin, with no surname. She remembered a time when she had thrown hers away. This Rin, she had no one at her side. She was just another orphan who would live a government life. Of course that was only if she was ever able to wake from her deep slumber.
The door to the dim lit room fell open allowing the bright hallway light in. Still her gaze did not waver from her child and instead focused to an intensifying hope. It was not until a strong hand fell on her shoulder. It was as if this person was begging her to stand up and look into their eyes. The sound of a deep sigh filled the air and she looked at Inutaisho. There was a fury in her veins but she remained calm and collected on the outside. He could see the storm of petulance brewing in her amber irises. Akemi blamed him and Inutaisho could feel it in her gaze.
"You should go get some rest. I'll watch him." she looked at him in a bitter disbelief.
"You watching him turned out so well the last time." she scoffed. The chance of losing her son would never again be so great.
"I won't leave the room." he promised. Akemi came to the realization that she should still remain civil with the father of her child. While in a hospital not too much could go wrong, right? Akemi took a short drive to her loft which was well hidden away from many prying eyes. She undressed quickly and hopped in the shower. There was no relaxation only the incessant screaming in the back of her head to get back to the hospital and her son's side. A plain t shirt and sweatpants were the easiest to wear. She was still pulling her hair into a ponytail while it dripped. Her sneakers remained untied until she walked into the hospital. It was then that she ran into Izayoi. The beautiful raven haired new wife and her one time student.
"I'm sorry that this happened." the sweet young woman said.
"I don't give a damn. Keep an eye on your own son." she growled and pushed passed her. Izayoi was left in the aftermath throwing a smile at her son who sat with wide eyes. Inuyasha was ten years old so there were some things he could pick out when the adults had quarrels and problems. Akemi charged forward to look into Sesshoumaru's room and saw Inutaisho on his knees holding their son's hand lightly with tears falling freely. Akemi turned away. She breathed in deeply and crossed the hall to the young girls room. The child's face was pale, it must have been from the donation. Akemi grabbed on to her hand and smiled at her. This child had helped save her son. She gave him what both his parents could no longer do.
"Thank you. You have no idea what you have done for me." her breath shook while watching the child.
"That girl will probably never wake up." Akemi was startled by the doctor who grabbed a cigarette from his coat pocket.
"You can't smoke here." she mumbled.
"It's strange that you don't remember me. I had just started my residency when I first met you." he lit the cigarette and began smoking next to an open window.
"I'm sorry. There was a lot on my mind. I just didn't pay attention to anyone back then." the apology was sincere but she was again not paying attention to him.
"I'm Dr. Akimoto. I can say that I would not want to remember me either. I told you that you had cancer and you left my office without any of the numbers I tried to give you." he laughed fondly at the memory of his beginning years.
"I do remember that. If I'm right I remember you helping me out of my marriage too." her interest was now skyrocketing through her eyes.
"I was forced. You really gave me no choice." Akimoto did not think on the memory well.
"I'm sorry. There was a lot to it." Akemi had not forgiven herself and it was apparent in her eyes. Akimoto watched her still gaze trail from sleeping Rin's eyes to toes which were covered with her semi thick hospital blanket.
The atmosphere was drastically different from the time she was last in this dining room, in this house for that matter. All the decorations and furniture seemed to remain the same more or less from the past. The woman of the house, her mother, had tears brimming in her eyes. Akemi wondered if it was because of the mess she had made of her life, the deal they missed out on by her running away, or for the single fact that she could be dead in a short few months. There was no doubt in her mind that it was related to the first two options of her pondering.
"Akemi, my sweet rebellious daughter." her mother wrapped her arms around her like a corset. Akemi was unsure of whether she was going to be able to breathe. Perhaps her mother would give her death by suffocation before the cancer had it's chance.
"Mother..." she could feel the scent of her mother creep up her nostrils and she knew the feeling now to embrace a child that she had given life. The tears swelled immediately at the thought of her son of how she would feel had he run away from her.
"I missed you so much, Akemi. My beautiful dawn." now the release of her mother's tight arms had enabled her to breathe.
"Tell us...what have you been doing with your life?" her father's voice rang out in a cold and uniform manner as was usual to his character.
"I've been working at a community college as an art history professor's assistant. However, he's going to be leaving within the next two years and is training me to take over-"
"How quaint." her father's words were sarcastic and had the direct intention of hurting her.
"I met someone and-"
"I will have to approve of him before any-" this time it was Akemi who stopped his words.
"Father. I have already married him and we have a beautiful three year old son." her body was trembling with fear as she'd spoken the words. It was well rewarded with as he is the middle of launching a brilliant business." There was a long silence after the words had been discharged.
"You are a disgrace." with a swift movement she found that her father was standing above her with flaming eyes.
"I know that. I'm sorry. Father...please." Akemi fell to her knees and grabbed his hand with tears in her eyes. His eyes were still cold, but there was an effect in seeing his daughter this way.
"I will pay for your medical expenses. Conditions are also in place. The first, you will have this marriage taken care of. By that I'm sure you know I mean divorce. Second, the boy will live with us and will be properly educated. Finally, you will re-debut in to society and fine a suitable husband of my approval." Even his wife gasped to these requirements.
"Father, I love him. Please...don't make me do this." Akemi was very close to sobbing now.
"Then die by his side with mediocre doctors. Doctors, whom are more interested in running his bank accounts into the negative. Destroy his budding dream and let him struggle to raise your son alone." her father began to walk away from her with a remaining cool demeanor. Akemi sobbed on the floor with pure and utter hopelessness.
"I will do as you say! I'll file them today." her that turned around with a nod before leaving once again.
It was a day that Akemi did not take pleasure in recalling with such great ease. Dr. Akimoto looked to the woman for a minute before taking another drag of his cigarette. He was met with a frown when he turned to steal another peak. The woman was only two years older than him. That much he could remember. She had been thirty when they first met. A beautiful woman then and now. Of course she did not look her age despite the stress of her cancer and divorce.
"Back then, it wasn't something that I wanted to do." she whispered lightly.
"It must have been hard on you." he stared deep into the butt of his cigarette with a small grimace.
"You shouldn't be smoking in here." Akemi did not know what else to say at this point. She remembered the time that she had no hair.
It was on Sesshoumaru's fifth birthday just one year after the finalization of her divorce to Inutaisho. Akemi had tried to stay friends with him, but he would not have it. It was on an unmistakably summer afternoon. She was still undergoing vigorous chemotherapy and she had been throwing up and by now had no hair. Her head was just about as bald as a babies bottom. Of course she had never let Sesshoumaru see her without a wig. She did not want him to look at his mother as a sick woman, despite the fact that she was. Today she looked horrible and hoped that despite the invitation, Inutaisho would not show with his new family.
"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" Sesshoumaru jumped on her bed luckily she had a scarf on her head. An energetic child who could articulate very well.
"Hello! My birthday boy!" She threw on a large smile and pulled the boy into her breathing in his hair. He was still for a minute before looking into her eyes.
"Dad is downstairs." she was faced with a large grin.
"I'll come down then. Just give me a little while." she yawned sitting up. Akemi could not face her ex husband looking the way she did now. Not when he had the beautiful obsidian haired woman next to him, not while she was glowing with her new son. Rather, their new son. The amount of concealor she used was obscene, the foundation, and exciting lip color were also daring. However, she knew that she could pull it off now. She grabbed one of her favorite wigs. She looked natural despite all the makeup she had piled on. She was still the most beautiful woman in the room.
"Inutaisho and Izayoi. You look great. This must be Inuyasha. He's beautiful." Akemi laughed musically. Of course these emotions were forced and she only wanted to run back upstairs and hide underneath her covers, even at twenty nine.
"You look amazing, Akemi." she looked at Izayoi and smiled at the comment.
"Where is Sesshoumaru?" these were the only words that Inutaisho had for her, but she smiled.
"He's probably on that horse, Riddle. He was a gift for Sesshoumaru from my parents." he walked passed her leaving Izayoi behind.
"I should probably follow him." the new mother said. Akemi nodded with a smile.
"She's breathing in thirty three percent oxygen. That's more than you and me right now. My smoking won't affect her as much as you think." he put the cigarette out on the floor and picked it up.
"How long until she wakes up?" Akemi wanted to know so that she could thank her properly.
"She's probably gonna be out for a long time. Everyone is saying she was bludgeoned after the assault. The injuries seem to fall in their favor. After three months it's less and less likely that she'll ever wake up. Poor kid, her life sucks so far." he mumbled looking at the battered Rin.
"If she wakes up. How could I go about getting custody of her?" Akemi rubbed Rin's hand where the skin was smooth.
"She's a ward of the state as of right now. You could foster her until she's eighteen. If she wakes up, we don't know what her mental state might be. If it's really bad, she'll end up in the psych ward instead of anyone's family." Akimoto was serious and he felt for the child.
"It's fine if I come and see her right?" her question took him off guard.
"All, she did was donate some blood. Why do anything you don't have to? Some I'm grateful flowers would suffice." the once eager to serve doctor had become a cynic.
"Rin...is responsible for my sons life. Without her, tell me where you think he would be. A whole bunch of doctors have assured me that my son would be dead if not for her." the growling took him off guard. He had not known her to be like an animal before.
"I'm sorry, it's just I've seen how the upper class work. They take in these kids they don't care about just to get good publicity. She might be mentally retarded when she wakes up. Are you prepared for that?" he was now sincere.
"I don't care. There is no way for me to repay her gift." Akemi stood from the chair beside Rin and smiled at the slumbering child.
"If she remembers everything that happened to her it would be a mess." Akimoto grabbed her sheet and gave it to the woman.
"I've seen it. I know what happened to her. I don't care if it's a challenge. I will take care of it when the time comes." she was so sure that she could do this child good that cared not about how complicated it could prove for her. Akemi turned and walked back into Sesshoumaru's room across the way. He was still asleep as well. They would both be in this hospital for a long time. She watched her ex-husband sleeping beside their son. It was a beautiful image, despite her son's injury. The beeps from the machine's had grown to comfort her. She now understood the small sounds to be an orchestra of her son's condition.
The business man had an intense right to be exhausted both mentally and physically. The trials of the past two days were chaotic. Akemi's amber gaze was glued to his sleeping form. She knew her son was more or less like her. A selfish boy who knew what he wanted and tried to get it without concern to the dangers around him. Inutaisho could not have stopped him from leaving any more than her parent's could have stopped her. With a deep breath she walked towards him. He still looked like the young man she'd fallen in love with, at least to her.
"I know that this is not all your fault. You couldn't have stopped him anymore than I could have." the whisper was heard by the man who now feigned his lack of consciousness.
"I guess he has all of my worst traits." Akemi gave another glance to her ex-husband before taking a seat on the opposite side of Inutaisho. Her head was rested on the bed beside Sesshoumaru.
It was very early in the morning but he forced his eyes open and felt himself being constricted by tubes and wires all around. He did not know if he could speak yet. Was the pain now mental? He saw a drip of one pain killer or the other. The sense of weightless that carried his mind also told him that he was under some kind of neurotic drug. To the left he saw his mother's tear stained face, while, on the right was his father's sleeping form. 'Will I get a lecture? I wonder.' Sesshoumaru thought. A yawn was climbing up his throat but it scared him. He knew the pain it was to breathe, so a yawn would be too much.
"Mr. Silver, it looks like you're awake now. Should I wake them?" the nurse came from the shadows and if Sesshoumaru could have jumped in surprise he would have done so.
"..." the words did not come out as he expected and he opted to instead shake his head gently. Would it be too much to ask? Was it too much to ask to see his parent's together just for a few moments? Surely, there was no harm in that.
"I'll just let you wait it out then. The remote is in your hand if you need anything." as sure as she said it was there a remote lay in his good hand. Sesshoumaru had an urge to breathe in deeply, but of course not wanting to feel extra pain he decided against it. Despite his circumstance he had a smile on his face at the sight of both his parents on either side of him. It was refreshing to see them this way. A pair of amber eyes opened to see him. It was his mother.
"Sesshoumaru..." she wanted to throw herself over him with no care to the monitors connected to him. There was also the matter of his ribs.
"Mom...shit..." those were the only words he could muster through the struggle of breathing.
"That's great. You rotten kid." she laughed at him with tears in her eyes. Inutaisho was next to wake up after sensing the change in the room. On his father, Sesshoumaru saw one of the biggest smiles he had ever seen. What came after that surprised Sesshoumaru. Inutaisho dropped his forehead to Sesshoumaru's hand and began to cry while laughing.
"My son." he looked back up at his oldest son and sighed in relief.
.Silence.
.nine weeks later.
The appearance of the scars were not as defacing as Sesshoumaru had expect they would be at a first glance to the wounds. His memory of that ordeal was not as clear as it should have been. The professionals, had assured his parents that the events were too traumatic and his brain had simply locked them away. The parents of his mother, were outraged by his father's, what they called, lack of attention. In their eyes the man had moved on too quickly after the divorce, and Sesshoumaru shared their sentiment.
As of late, his mother seemed happier than usual. The death of her second husband had seemed to free her. Sesshoumaru agreed that the with the death of his step father, she seemed to come back to life. He was a rotten old man. He had always complained about noise. However, he had his moments. The man had only ever treated Sesshoumaru as his own. He had been sent to the best schools, trained in archery, and was taught five other languages fluently. Those being french, english, italian, arabic, and chinese. He was his grandparent's pride and joy. He had become everything that they had wished for in a son, had they ever be given one.
"Sesshoumaru?" his mother's sing song voice had been visiting quite often lately.
"Yes." he answered as he usually did.
"How is your brother?" she asked him.
"Half-brother." he had not one good taste for his younger brother as of late.
"No, he's your brother. You have to accept him as that." her tone was serious.
"Whatever." the response was one that suited his age.
"Now, what would you say if I decided to have a child?" the inquiry surprised him. He was sure that after her cancer she would not be able to have children.
"The chances are high. It's been a long time since my cancer treatment ended." testing the waters with her son was proving to be discouraging.
"Am I not enough?" Sesshoumaru played at her heartstrings.
"I was aiming this time for a daughter." she smiled.
"Are you not taking in that orphan from the hospital?" he did not care for having yet another half sibling.
"Actually, your father and I have decided that he will foster her. Rin will be his ward." Akemi wanted to run in the other direction now, but she still had yet to tell him her news.
"That is if she ever wakes up. All she did was donate blood." Sesshoumaru was being stubborn again. He did not mind giving back to a person who helped him, but he did not feel the need for such close contact.
"It doesn't matter. We are late for the appointment." Akemi was now second guessing her decision about having another baby. Perhaps, it would not be a good idea after all. The hospital was clean and fresh as usual with white walls and nurses dressed in green scrubs. Sesshoumaru was glad he didn't stay in this place for too long. His mother stalked off to go find the girl who was to their knowledge still sleeping soundly.
Though the girl had helped save his life, he did not have any interest to meet her. Whenever she wormed her way into his thoughts he imagined blood and pain. It was too the point that he could physically feel and smell it. The therapist his grandparent's hired said that he associated her with that place and what happened to him. Those were his grounds for wanting nothing to do with her. He awaited his doctor patiently sitting in a small white chair. They were going to be doing some x rays to see how his ribs were healing. A boring, but unnecessary part of his recovery.
Akemi was in the ICU watching the slumbering girl. Akemi had taken to reading to her for an hour every day. She had not missed a day since they had met. Akimoto told her it would not hurt to do so and that it may even help bring her back. Whether he told her that simply to comfort her was a presence in her mind and she thanked him for that. The girl had begun moving her hands lately. Akemi was sure that was a good sign as well., but she knew that the chances were slim.
"I would love for you to wake up." Akemi stopped her reading and rubbed her hand.
A/N:
So Akemi new baby or no?
I think I've already decided,
but I'm not positive yet.
Is she or isn't she?