Battle Front: Chapter Thirteen
The panic from the previous night and the next day seemed hardly different from any other at the base. Kaoru had just finished a half-day morning shift at the clinic where she only had to deal with minor things like sinus infections, stitches from adventurous children, and maybe a cast or two for a couple of teenagers on the base—victims in a skateboarding collision. It was the kind of medical drama she preferred.
There was a knock on the door leading to the physician lounge where Kaoru had just hung up her white coat. "Yo, Kaoru, you ready?" Yahiko asked stepping inside and setting a small blue bag on the floor.
"Yahiko?" Kaoru asked surprised by his presence. "What are you doing here? Don't you have drills or duties?"
"Believe it or not, but this is my latest assignment. Lieutenant Seta ordered me to pick you up from the clinic and show you to Captain Yukishiro's room." Yahiko crossed his arms impatiently. "You coming or you going to make me drag you?"
"I'm coming," Kaoru said grabbing her tote bag and slinging it over her shoulder. "But, I already know where his room is. This is unnecessary."
"Give me the bag," Yahiko said blocking the doorway.
Kaoru tried to move past him, but it only succeeded in Yahiko glowering at her and still not moving. "Fine," she said thrusting it in his direction.
He put it over his shoulder, picked up the bag on the floor, and then stepped out of the way. "Maybe I wanted to see how you were doing?" he grumbled under his breath. "No need for you to go all P.M.S. on me. Yesh."
"I'm sorry," Kaoru said softly. "I didn't get much sleep last night and this morning seemed to drag on."
Yahiko shrugged. "No problem. It wasn't like I called you ugly or anything."
"And I'm fine, just worried."
"Understandable."
They walked together in silence passing by the mess hall and coming up to the hospital on the other side of the complex.
"Any news on Sano?" they asked simultaneously.
Yahiko scratched the back of his neck and Kaoru blew out a frustrated breath.
"Guess not," she muttered.
They walked up the stairs to the second floor and stood outside Enishi's door. Yahiko held out the tote and the blue bag to her.
"Is that for me?"
"It's from the Lieutenant."
Kaoru accepted the bag as well as her tote. "Tell him thanks. And thank you, Yahiko. If I find out anything about Sano I'll let you know."
"Right, well I've got those duties to do now. You should have a talk with the Lieutenant about making me his delivery boy."
"Unfortunately, Yahiko, when you're a Private that means you're going to be the officer's delivery boy. It's supposed to drive you become an officer so you can harass those lower than you on the totem pole."
Yahiko grunted. "If I wanted to be hazed I'd have gone to college and joined a Frat. See you around, Kaoru."
OOOOOoooooOOOOO
He was exhausted. The vascular and neurosurgeon had worked together to stabilize Sagara and his injuries. And the combined surgery lasted for fifteen hours. He'd stayed for the duration. The neurosurgeon did a craniotomy—nothing different than what the ancient Egyptians used—to relieve the pressure in his skull. They'd done imaging in the room to discover the source of the bleed in both the brain and the chest. Apparently, Sagara had more than just a graze from the bullet that hit his head. Fortunately, it hadn't been a hollow point bullet or he'd have had no head left.
The surgery had been a success, but the patient still hadn't woken up yet. Dr. Takani had remained with Sagara and asked him to find Kaoru and see if she could cover her patient load at the clinic. He nodded absently at her, intent on finding Kaoru anyway.
Life or death situations generally made you seek out the ones you loved. And there was the matter of clearing up the misunderstanding that Yukishiro had. Kaoru simply couldn't have been that arrogant Captain's girlfriend. He was completely the wrong type of man for her and would be nothing but trouble.
He headed toward the showers to scrub off the sweat that had poured off him under the stress and heavy lighting of Sagara's surgery. He went to his locker for his toiletries and towel, tossed his dirty scrubs in the laundry bin, and wrapped the towel around his waist before turning on the shower as hot as he could stand.
Aoshi stood under the steaming water until his back and shoulder muscles relaxed under its assault. He rinsed his hair with the travel-sized shampoo he'd carried and scrubbed with the green-tea body wash. The scents helped relax him further and by the time the water started to run cold he'd felt almost human.
Unfortunately, the only clothes he had to wear were another pair of scrubs. It seemed that was the life of a doctor—you never weren't a doctor. As luck would have it he ran into Soujiro almost immediately in the hall.
"Hey, Aoshi. You fall in a lake?" Soujiro asked with a grin.
"Where's Kaoru?" Aoshi deadpanned ignoring Seta's attempt at a joke.
Soujiro shrugged. "Not sure. Probably sitting with Enishi upstairs. At least she was about to do that when I had Myojin bring her up and give her some knitting supplies to pass the time. He finished his surgery hours before Sano's wrapped up."
"Kaoru doesn't knit."
"And that's why I also bought her a 'how-to' book." Soujiro rolled his eyes before starting down the hall with Aoshi walking beside him. "Yesh, I think I know my future sister-in-law well enough to know she doesn't knit!"
"I see." Aoshi refrained from asking the obvious as to why Soujiro thought she'd like to learn how to knit. He vividly remembered the time when she convinced him that they should both learn how to do Origami. Her reasoning was to be able impress the big shots at profession dinners by creating masterpieces out of the fancy napkins. He'd mastered how to do the whooping crane, and she'd mastered how to the square. Kaoru tended to become violent when frustrated and knitting involved needles. That couldn't possibly have been wise.
"And in case you're wondering, since you've not bothered to ask, Yukishiro is in room 215." Soujiro cast him a sly look. "So, I guess you want to let her know you're here after all."
"I'm just passing on a message from Dr. Takani. I won't be interfering. We promised we wouldn't interfere with each other's lives for a certain time period and that time is not yet expired." That didn't mean he wouldn't casual inquire about her relationship with Yukishiro and try to dissuade such an association.
"That's such B.S. and you know it, Aoshi!" Soujiro gripped Aoshi's upper arm tightly, enough to leave marks. Aoshi could practically feel the capillaries bursting under the pressure. "You don't just stop being friends with someone. You don't 'take a break' from someone you love. Either you're in her life or you aren't. For once why don't you be a man and stop running away from the girl?" Soujiro released his arm with a sigh of disgust. "If you don't step up then someone else will."
Aoshi's jaw tightened at the accusation but he said nothing. It wasn't Soujiro's business. He was doing what was best for both himself and Kaoru—seeing what other options there were in life. They could easily fall into a routine with one another, but he didn't want to live a life with regrets and he wasn't about to let Kaoru have any regrets either. Which is why he needed to make sure she wasn't seeing Yukishiro after he delivered his message about Takani.
Without a word for Soujiro, Aoshi went for the stairs intent in the direction of room 215.
OOOOOoooooOOOOO
Kaoru looked down at the blue atrocity in her lap. Maybe Soujiro had meant it for a joke. He'd had Yahiko give her a little gift bag with a 'how to' book about knitting complete with the needles and yarn.
She wasn't even sure if what she was making was a scarf or a snake or maybe just a blue blob. It seemed most likely the latter.
"What are you doing?" Enishi's raspy voice disturbed her thoughts, causing her to jump and drop the knitting supplies. The needles fell to the tiled floor in a clatter. "That's certainly—uh—blue."
"I was trying to learn to knit," Kaoru said huffily stuffing the supplies back in the basket. She'd be sure to give Soujiro a firm hit over the head next time she saw him—out of uniform of course. "How are you feeling?" she asked using her 'sweet' voice and smiling gently at him.
"I've been having dreams of flying without a helicopter with my own little sprite on my shoulder. I guess I'm feeling pretty darn good. You take away the pain meds I imagine I'll be in a fouler mood."
"Good thing you have them then."
Enishi sat up gingerly and shifted in obvious discomfort. "Um, could you help me to the restroom?"
"Why? You have a catheter."
Enishi's eyes narrowed and she was sure he growled at her. "I'm not an invalid. My legs work fine and I'm not about to use this bedpan. If I had dementia and could forget about the embarrassment fine, but as my memory is quite sharp it's not going to happen."
"Well, haven't you been using it?"
"Actually no, if you must know, this will be my first bowel movement. You know how morphine slows the digestive system. Are you going to help me or do I need to do it myself?"
Feeling slightly guilty for chiding him Kaoru moved the stand holding his IV drip and let the rail of the bed down to help him get to his feet. He didn't move.
"Uh, this is embarrassing, but…."
"More embarrassing then me escorting you to the bathroom?"
"I need you to remove the catheter, please."
"What?"
He narrowed his eyes at her. "You put it in, didn't you?"
"Well, yeah, but you were unconscious!"
"I'll close my eyes. Just do it, Kamiya."
"Fine, but turn your head."
"Limited motility, remember?" He growled again. "Whatever. I'll close my eyes. Hurry up." He gripped the edge of his bed tightly and closed his eyes. Apparently he was as anxious about the ordeal as she felt.
"Okay," Kaoru said looking up to make sure his eyes were still closed. She tried to be professional about it. She pulled out a pair of gloves from the box in the wall and snapped them on.
"Less sound effects, please."
"Right," Kaoru said determined not to run out of the room red-faced. She pulled back the thin blanket covering his lower body and then pushed up his gown to his abdomen. She'd seen several men's lower regions in a purely clinical fashion—she was a doctor after all! But, it was different when it was the guy she was falling for. He was—impressive.
"If you could stop assessing the goods and take out the catheter I would appreciate it. If you can't, I can do it myself."
Kaoru quickly did what needed to be done and deflated the balloon and then held his—er--thing with her left hand, she couldn't help but notice the shiver that seemed to travel up his body but worked to ignore it. She pulled out the tube and as it was finally removed Enishi gave a sigh of relief and opened his eyes. Kaoru smoothed down his gown nervously.
"Thanks, it would have been hard to do it myself since I'm not allowed to use one of my arms until tomorrow morning." He slid his legs over the edge of the bed and braced himself on the IV pole a little wobbly on his feet. "An escort, please."
Kaoru pulled off the gloves and tossed them in the room's wastebasket as she came to his side. She wrapped an arm around his waist and helped him to the bathroom. "Do you need any more help?"
Enishi glared at her. "No, I can do this part on my own, thanks." He then slammed the door in her face.
It took a full ten minutes and when he came out he looked a great deal better. His face seemed more energetic and his hair was wet.
"What did you do in there?"
"Impromptu wash up, brushed my teeth, that sort of stuff. It's nice to pee standing up again."
"I'll take your word on that. Let's get you back to bed."
"No."
"What do you mean no? Yes, you're supposed to be in bed!"
"I'm going to get a bedsore if I stay in that thing any longer. I need to go for a walk. And I need you to get me some pants, or else I'm just going to walk around with or without you with my backside exposed to the world." He narrowed his eyes as he continued to look down at her. "And if I pick up some nosocomial infection it will be all your fault."
"What? No! Fine, I'll find you some pants, just, don't go anywhere without me, promise?"
"Sure, Kamiya, I promise," he said with a small smile sitting at the edge of his bed.
She didn't quite trust the look he gave her, but she also didn't think Enishi was the type to purposely embarrass himself. Kaoru hurried to the doctors' lounge at the end of the hall where the scrub machine was located. It was pretty interesting actually; you could rent scrubs from the machine like you could buy a soda. She almost slipped in her money when she cringed. The idea of Enishi wearing used hospital scrubs made her stomach churn. Especially if he didn't have any underwear for underneath.
The medical supply store was on the first floor of the small hospital so she took the stairs, figuring it would be faster than using the elevator.
OOOOOoooooOOOOO
It was dark in the stairwell but the light was sufficient enough for placing one's foot before the other. It was not good for avoiding collisions though. The sound of the door on the second floor opening drew his attention and he stood on the inside of the stairs to leave room for whoever was climbing down them.
Two feet of space apparently wasn't enough for the young woman that crashed into his chest. Aoshi barely grabbed the rail with his left hand to steady himself and his right wrapped around the woman's waist. A familiar sight of dark hair followed by her blue eyes made his heart skip a beat.
"Aoshi?" Kaoru asked uncertainly. She reached up her fingers and touched his jaw lightly. "Am I hallucinating?"
"No, I'm here," he said releasing her waist reluctantly and stepping down a step to create more distance between them.
"How?"
"I was on the mission with Seta, Sagara, Yukishiro, and the others," he explained. Her face was flushed—either from her run or embarrassment at literally running into him—and unfortunately for him it was turning him on. "You should really watch the corners when you're running."
"I put in a suggestion that they place mirrors at the corners to make it safer," Kaoru murmured. "You look really good, Aoshi." Her hands clenched into fists at her side. Was she trying as hard as him to resist the urge to touch each other?
"Stress must look good on me," he said with a small smile.
She seemed to ignore the wall of indifference he'd worked to place between them. The next thing he knew Kaoru had wrapped both arms around him and hugged him like her life depended on it. "Idiot! Why didn't you find me before you left for that mission? You could have been killed and I wouldn't have had a clue that your life was even in danger!"
Aoshi's hand seemed to have a mind of its own because it suddenly was cradling the back of her head with his fingers weaved within her silky strands of hair. "We're in the middle of a war, Kaoru. We're at the frontlines and every day that we're in this hot zone both of our lives are at risk."
"I've missed you."
He sighed kissing the top of her head before purposely disentangling himself. "We can't do this, Kaoru. We both agreed. I can't be your crutch and you can't be mine."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm being independent and so are you. That doesn't mean I don't still lo—er, care about you." She hit his chest lightly. "Idiot."
Aoshi's stomach twisted at her words. She still loved him. He wouldn't let her know he reciprocated the feeling. It was for the best. "It was good you ran into me." Kaoru grimaced at his words. "Dr. Takani wanted me to ask if you'd cover her patient load in the clinic tomorrow while she's sitting with Sagara."
Kaoru's eyes grew wide and she grabbed hold of both his arms—unfortunately clamping down on the same bruised area Soujiro had created moments ago. "Is Sano going to be okay? Where is he?"
Aoshi's eye twitched slightly as something akin to jealousy began to make itself known at her obvious concern for the brash young man. It momentarily eclipsed the jealousy he felt at knowing she'd most likely just come from Yukishiro's room. "His surgery was a success, but he's not awoken yet."
"It's going to be busy. I have a full load myself tomorrow and I already said I'd wanted to give Enishi support to help him recover. And I'd like to see Sano myself and…"
"I'll help you. I'm not officially supposed to start clinic work until three days from now, but I've been transferred to this base." Aoshi wanted to kick himself for volunteering. Working alongside Kaoru would completely ruin the whole point of them distancing themselves from one another.
A big grin spread across Kaoru's lips before it vanished completely leaving him to wonder if it really was there or not. "I have to run. I need to get a pair of scrubs for Enishi. Otherwise, he's threatened to run around the hospital naked."
Aoshi's eye twitched again and he stepped out of her way. "By all means, we wouldn't want that."
OOOOOoooooOOOOO
The store was almost empty as it would be closing in about ten minutes. She rushed over to the clothes rack and found a pair of maroon scrubs that looked big enough to fit Enishi.
"Dr. Kamiya! I didn't think I'd see you here. How are you? Don't you ever go home?" the cashier said with a friendly smile. Kaoru recognized her as the mother of one of the accident-prone children she dealt with that morning.
"No rest for the weary," Kaoru said setting the scrubs on the counter.
"These are a bit big for you, don't you think?"
"Not for me and if I don't bring them to him he's threatened to walk around naked. That would be too traumatizing for the other patients, so I can't allow that."
"Ah," she said ringing them up. "Must be Captain Yukishiro. I heard about him. Is he going to be okay? I know he can be a jerk, but he's been a real inspiration to my son. When my husband was on a mission for three weeks he would take the boy out to the base arcades. Apparently Captain Yukishiro is one talented laser-tagger."
"I wouldn't put it past him," Kaoru said handing the woman her credit card and shoving the scrubs into a bag herself. "Oh, hold on!" She hurried back to the wall and grabbed a pair of plain grey flip-flops. She wasn't about to let Enishi pick up something gross walking barefoot on the hospital floor. She scribbled her signature, pocketed the card, and ran out of the shop.
By the time she reached the room Enishi was looking out the small window with the back of his gown gaping open. "It's a nice view. It's kind of surprising actually."
"Uh yeah, nice view," Kaoru agreed focused on the man's backside rather than whatever desert scene was outside the window.
Enishi turned toward her. "Are those for me?"
She handed them over and he sat on the edge of the bed putting on the scrub bottoms. He left his gown on top. He dropped the flip flops to the ground and slipped his feet into them. "Shall we?" he asked.
Kaoru opened the door and waited for him to step out. His free hand was wrapped around the IV pole and she moved to walk on his side with the arm in the sling. Enishi's footsteps were small and he shuffled more than he walked.
"How do you feel?" Kaoru asked.
"My legs are a little stiff, but they seem to be getting better the more the circulation gets going. I hate being stuck in bed."
"Your poor mother."
Enishi looked over at her with a frown. "My mother died when I was young. I don't remember her."
Kaoru tried to get her foot out of her mouth figuratively. "I just meant, when you were a kid and sick in bed. You must have been a real handful."
A deep throaty laugh spilled from Enishi's lips. "I was. Thankfully, my sister has the patience of a saint. She's the one that raised me."
They walked in silence slowly down the corridor and past the stairwell. At the end of the floor there was a large window with a view down to the airfield. They stood in front of it and Kaoru found herself lost in thought. She was still having a hard time processing the fact that she'd literally just ran into Aoshi Shinomori—the possible love of her life— in the stairwell. And now she was standing with Enishi Yukishiro the new man in her life that had recently taken centerstage.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
Enishi's voice caused her to jump slightly. "No need to be so skittish," he said sounding annoyed.
Kaoru folded her arms over her chest stubbornly. "I'm not skittish. It's just that your voice disturbed the quiet."
"Okay."
"What do you mean, okay?"
"I don't know. I'm injured, remember?"
"Sorry," she huffed letting her arms fall back to her sides. "I ran into my old boyfriend in the stairwell. How weird is that?"
"Not so weird," Enishi said—voice soundly oddly strained. "He was on the same mission as the rest of us."
"You worked with Aoshi?"
Enishi shifted his weight. "Yeah, he did his job eventually but his hesitation is what in my opinion what resulted in Sagara's injuries being as severe as they were…"he trailed off. "Do you know how he is? Sano?"
"Aoshi said his surgery was a success, but he's still not woken up."
"Let's go check on him."
"What? We can't do that! You're a patient!"
"And you're a doctor. Find out where he is." He glared down at her and Kaoru found she couldn't argue with his determination. Frankly, she wanted to know how he was too.
"Fine."
"No need to be in a mood. You can say you were pressured into doing it by your superior officer."
"I'm getting tired of this superior officer speech. I'm only Army reserve, it's not like I'm here to do any fighting."
"Technical detail," Enishi said with a wave of his hand that was holding the IV pole. His balance wobbled slightly and he quickly snatched up the IV pole and righted himself. "Now, if you'd be so kind as to find him before I pass out I would appreciate it."
"Yes, sir," Kaoru muttered turning around to go to the nurses' station and find out where Sanosuke was, but before she could go a step in that direction she felt Enishi's hand close around her arm instead of the IV pole. "What is it now?" she asked irritably.
Enishi closed the distance and no sooner had the words left her mouth than his lips found hers. The kiss started hesitant and when Kaoru closed her eyes and started to melt into it Enishi deepened it with his tongue touching hers playfully before he pulled back with a smile. "Thanks for sitting with me, Kaoru."
A fierce blush claimed Kaoru's cheeks. "No problem. Let me just, um, go find out about Sanosuke, okay?" She took Enishi's hand and placed it back around his IV pole and hurried to the nurses' station.
OOOOOoooooOOOOO
The Styrofoam coffee cup was crushed and hot liquid spilled over his clenched fist. Aoshi tossed the cup aside and angrily wiped the coffee off his hand. It shouldn't bother him that Yukishiro had just kissed Kaoru. He was the one that broke up with her. It shouldn't bother him at all.
He'd been at the airfield with Himura discussing a detail of the mission when he happened to look up at the window to the second floor of the hospital. And he just happened to see Kaoru and Enishi standing there talking.
It was no big deal. It wasn't like he didn't know they were involved.
But when Enishi had looked down at him and their eyes met and then Enishi turned around and kissed Kaoru rage was all that went through Aoshi's mind. Pure thoughtless rage.
"Is something wrong?" Kenshin asked with a touch of concern in his voice.
"Everything is fine. Now what were you saying about the discs?"
"I wanted to know if you'd be a part of the analysis team."
"Why?"
"I can't say too many details as this is hardly a secure site. However, there is evidence of biological weapons on the discs and with your having earned a PhD in that field simultaneously as your medical degree I thought you'd be a valuable asset."
"Very well," Aoshi consented. He started toward the hospital intent on sending Enishi back to his hospital room in an unconscious state. His progress was halted by Himura's hand upon his shoulder.
"We need you now, Shinomori."
TBC