A/N: I thought very hard about the diagnosis of Kotoko but I couldn't make her ill with any disease we know about. I have a very poor idea on medical science and that is why I was confused for a long time about if i should write this one. But the emotional part of my brain beat the logical part and I ended up writing it. So I will be writing about Kotoko's disease, diagnosis, causes, symptoms, treatment- everything out of my imagination which doesn't have any logical explanation. I hope everyone will excuse that and please doctors don't hate me. :)
How it all started (part two)
I knocked into her cabin door. "Come in." I entered her cabin after I got her permission.
"Ah Irie-san. I was waiting for you."
"Hello Dr. Furukawa." I smiled at her.
"Take a seat." She smiled back. "Irie-san, I have gone through your reports several times. Honestly this does not look good. I am sorry to say that but does anyone in your family suffered from Neuroshia?" She straight went to the point.
I felt like my heart dropped into the stomach. I didn't know how to respond to that. So far I knew my mother died suffering this and this was after I was born. This disease wasn't supposed to occur genetically. Sensing me unable to respond, Dr. Furukawa continued. "Some of your reports indicate this disease. But it could be wrong because this disease is very rare and hard to identify. I will suggest you to go and consult into the Neuro-Hope Hospital. They are currently researching on that disease and I am sure they will provide you the best result."
It took another few minutes before I could reply to her. "Thank you doctor. I will do as you suggested." I took all my reports from her and was about to leave when I remembered something."Doctor Furukawa, can you do me a favor?"
She nodded. Then I said slowly, "Can you keep this matter only to you? I mean everyone will get really worried. No one actually new I went through so many tests and I want to be 100% sure before I tell anyone."
"I understand Irie-san." She gave me an assuring smile.
"Err... I didn't share this with Irie-kun either. So umm..."
"But Irie-san! You should tell him soon. " Her smile was gone and she looked worried.
"I will. Just give me some time. Let me be sure about this. I don't want to worry him unnecessarily. I hope you can understand." I explained looking down.
"I will suggest you to tell him soon. Also don't worry about me telling him. He and I are not in touch and even if I see him, this should be your decision to tell him. You are my patient and I will respect your privacy."
"Thank you so much doctor... for everything." I smiled at her again before I left.
I went straight out of the hospital after that. I couldn't think properly. I didn't know much about Neuroshia. All I knew was that it's some kind of disease that slowly kills a person. I started to walk towards home thinking hard. 'Irie-kun... He will get so much worried.' I felt terrible. By the time I reached home I'd decided 2 things. A, I won't tell about this to anyone until I was sure. B, I needed to find out more about this disease and mom's condition before I go to Neuro-Hope for check-up.
"I'm home." I said shutting the front door behind me.
"Welcome home Kotoko-chan." oka-san said who was preparing dinner. "How was your day?"
"It was fine." I forced a smile at her.
After changing I came downstairs to help oka-san preparing the dinner. After dinner I went to my room earlier than I usually do as I plan on researching on Neuroshia. I turned on the computer but I felt scared for some unknown reason. I decided to call Irie-kun. I wondered if he would answer as he usually doesn't and sometimes calls back but mostly ignores. But that is justified because I called him way too much after he first moved. Finally when he got mad for that I reduced calling into 2 or 3 times a day and his answering reduced to once or none. To my great joy he answered.
"Hello."
"Irie-kun!" Listening just to his voice removed all the fears out of my head.
"What?" Naoki asked who sounded a bit tired.
"I love you, Irie-kun." Tears formed in my eyes. I missed him so much.
"What happened, Kotoko?" Naoki asked sounding a bit surprised.
"Nothing. I just wanted to tell you that I love you... a loooot." I gulped.
Naoki was silent for a while. "Is everything okay at the university?" He sounded concerned. He must have caught on that I was upset. I immediately assured him that everything was okay.
"Yes yes, everything is fine. I was just planning to study. I have exams next week. But I really missed you so called you." I chuckled.
"Well get back to study then. Talking to me won't get you pass in your the exams." His voice relaxed.
"Okay. How's your study going? " I asked him.
"Like it always go. I am not you remember." I chuckled again hearing that.
"I also have exams coming in 2 weeks. So don't disturb me unnecessarily. Understand?"
"Yes of course. All the best for your exams Irie-kun." I said happily.
"That I will do even if you don't say it. Do your best for your exams." He said. Every time he wishes me good luck I feel like I might fly with happiness. This time was not any different.
"I will." I said as more tears dropped from my eyes, but this time from happiness. "I love you." I told him again.
"I know." That reply was same as him telling I love you too back to me. "Bye now." He added.
"Ba Bye." I replied and he cut the connection. I was too happy to feel sad or scared about the disease anymore. I browsed through different websites and read as many articles as I could about Neuroshia. Although I did not understand most of it, I got the general idea about it. One more thing I got sure about is, this is not a genetic disease. But a baby will get infected if the mother suffers from it while being pregnant with the baby. Also the treatment for this disease was still under the experimental phase. I felt depressed and tired. I went to bed turning off the computer as it was late in the night. I had been reading the articles for hours. 'I will have to talk to dad about mum tomorrow. But I can't talk in this house. If oka-san hears, she will worry. It's better go to dad's restaurants after class tomorrow.' I drifted slowly into sleep deciding that.
...
"Hi Kotoko!" Chris ran towards me the moment she saw me and hugged me tightly.
"Hi Chris." I greeted her back. I was also happy to see her after 2 weeks. We both went towards kin-chan who was on the counter.
"You're having dinner with us tonight." Kin-Chan declared as soon as we reached him. I smiled broadly at him.
"Where is otou-san?" I inquired. "I needed to talk to him about some matters."
"He is in the kitchen. I will go inform him." Kin-Chan went inside. Chris also moved away to attend the customers. I took a sit in front of the counter. I was thinking how to start the conversation about my mother with otou-san without making him worry.
"Kotoko." My father called and came to stand in front of me in the counter.
At first I flashed a broad smile at him which seemed to assure him succeeding my attempt. "Otou-san, are you busy?"
"No, not that much. Kinnosuke is handling the work inside." He replied.
"Otou-san, there is a patient I came across into the hospital who has the same disease that oka-san suffered from. That made me realize that I didn't know much about oka-san's condition. I never asked you earlier because I wouldn't have understood even if you have told me anyway. But now as I am going to be a nurse, I thought I should know more." Hoping that I wasn't to direct I added, "I hope you don't mind me asking."
Otou-san looked concerned for a second. But then he shrugged and said, "A nurse not being interested about the disease her mother suffered from would be weird actually."
I relaxed internally and gave him a small smile.
"Well, your mother always had strong immunity. She hardly used to fell ill. She had some complications in the first few months while she was pregnant with you. But then everything was fine. After you were born we were so happy. After a year she started to fall ill. But it wasn't frequent so we both didn't take it seriously. But by the next year when you were about to be two, she started to fall ill every now and then. That's when something seemed off to me and I urged her for check-up. But I was too busy to give her proper attention that time and she kept on insisting that she was okay. Time went by like this. Then suddenly I found out that she had fainted even on the streets several times." His voice broke but he continued. "I forced her for check up and took her to the hospital. The doctors did what it felt like a several hundred types of tests and retests on her. But they couldn't identify the disease. Later when she was about to give up on going to the hospitals anymore, they diagnosed her with a very rare disease which didn't had any cure at that time. All they could do was slowing down the disease that was killing her but ultimately she left us after a few years. She just left... just like that... and I couldn't do anything for her." Some tears dropped from my father's eyes and I felt so guilty about bringing this topic up.
"Otou-san, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." I said in a broken voice.
He composed himself and replied "Don't be silly. I feel much better now after telling you all this. I feel lighter." He smiled at me pleasantly and I smiled back.
After that I changed the topic into something lighter. I called oka-san to inform her that I will be having dinner at the restaurant, and then went to help Chris with the work.
That night I didn't call Irie-kun. I was feeling so upset that I was scared I might tell him everything. I went to sleep early but that didn't go as I planned. I turned and tossed in the bed whole night and it was nearly morning when I finally drifted into sleep.