An Unfortunate Event

(General's POV)

Kotoko went out quietly before the sun rose without breakfast. She went into the places where she had memorable moments with Naoki. She walked into the streets where she walked with him. Finally she went to the place where they had their first date. She stood near the railing. She was feeling so much guilt that it was ripping her from inside. She couldn't think straight and was feeling despaired. She didn't want Naoki to know about her situation. But without telling him she didn't know how to start her treatment. She told Naoki she wouldn't ask for his help or bother him during his stay at Kobe. Kotoko didn't want to get in his way. But here she was, as usual, standing in his way. She always thought she was not a good match for Naoki. Although she was sure nobody else would love him as much as she does. Her love for Naoki was the only thing in which she would beat anyone and everyone. 'But my love wouldn't stop me from ruining his future now' she thought bitterly. He wouldn't care if he has to take care of her for the rest of his life. He wouldn't care if they never have a child. But Kotoko did care. She couldn't bear to think that she would be a permanent hindrance in his life. No one knows what will happen once she starts her treatment. It could fail and she could die or even worse, she could go into the vegetative state. All these thoughts made her panicked. She felt like she wanted to disappear. She wanted to go somewhere where no one will find her. But there isn't a place on this earth where she can survive on her own without Naoki. The air she breathes always seemed poisonous without Naoki. She started to feel dizzy. She started walking towards the stairs to go down. (ref: The stairs were shown in INK-Love in Tokyo ep 16 when Kin-Chan took Kotoko to her 1st dating spot where they meet Naoki & Sahoko) She couldn't even go down 3 steps before she lost conscious and fell all the way down the stairs. A couple who previously witnessed her crying saw her fall and rushed towards her. But before they could reach her she had already reached the bottom stairs. There were several other people who witnessed her fall and they all rushed towards her. One of them called an ambulance. She was unconscious and was taken to the emergency of the nearest hospital.

...

(Kotoko POV)

I... I should leave... I should leave Irie-kun. I'm always an obstacle to him... always... Since the first day he met me. But where should I go? I don't have a place to go. I don't want to go to a place where I can't see him. I thought hard. The feeling of despair was killing me. Suddenly I started to feel dizzy. I need to go home. I feel so weak. I walked towards the stairs but before I could go down 3 steps I lost my conscious.

I woke up slowly once again in an unfamiliar place. I kept still for a while. I was in an emergency. Why am I lying here? I wondered. Then I remembered what happened earlier. I bit my lip. This is not good. Why do I keep fainting all the time? I tried to move and a pain in my chest erupted. A nurse rushed to me.

"Are you awake? Are you alright? I will call the doctor right away." She rushed out. She came back with three doctors. One of them, to my horror was Dr. Shinju.

"How are you feeling? Do you remember what happened?" One of the doctor asked.

I didn't reply him but kept staring at Dr. Shinju. Why was he here? Seeing me staring at him, he moved closer.

"Are you alright? Can you tell me who you are?" He asked me.

"Yes I think I am alright. I'm Irie Kotoko and I remember everything including that I have Neuroshia. I also remember falling down the stairs and fainting." I sighed.

"Well Irie-san, You are lucky you survived. Your fall was dangerous." Dr. Shinju said.

"Thank you so much doctor." I thanked him genuinely.

"Instead of that I would like you to promise me that you will start your treatment soon." He said.

"I promise I will."

"Irie-san," The other doctor who was checking my vitals said "You hit the stairs pretty hard. You fractured two of your ribs and hurt your wrist. Luckily you didn't break your bones and there aren't any other injuries. But Dr. Ayano is insisting you should have a full body check up again." He indicated to the next person who was standing beside him.

"This is Dr. Ayano Rei. The neurologist, who was supposed to be monitoring you from USA," Dr. Shinju introduced him to me.

I gaped at them. Why would they have to see me like this? I felt pathetic.

"Hello doctor." I acknowledged him in a dry voice.

"This was not how I thought I would be seeing you Irie-san." Dr. Ayano said.

"Neither did I." I said looking at my palms.

"That's alright. You should heal fast in order to start your treatment. I didn't move back to Japan for nothing you know?" He smiled warmly.

I raised a brow at him feeling confused.

"Dr. Ayano will be in charge of your treatment directly from Japan. He moved back to Japan the day before yesterday. I was going to call you this morning but I was shocked to see you in the emergency."

I beamed at them and then I was shocked.

"What is the time now?" I asked them dreading the answer.

"7 o'clock in the evening."

"What?" I was horrified. "I have to call home. I didn't tell anyone before I came out this morning. They will be worried."

"Yes you should. I didn't have your home contact number or else I would have informed them." Dr. Shinju said.

"No no no. I don't want them to know I'm in the hospital." I shook my head.

"What do you want then?" Dr. Shinju raised his brow.

I didn't know what to do. I bit my lip. "When can I get discharged?"

"Well, definitely not tonight." The other doctor replied. "Probably you can by tomorrow afternoon."

I nodded.

"Izumi-san, please help her contact her family." The other doctor instructed the nurse who nodded in approval. The doctors left the room.

"Here, you can use my phone." She passed her phone to me.

"Thank you. I left mine at home in the morning. Good thing I did or it would have broken." I smiled lightly. She also smiled in answer. I dialled at home number. It was oka-san who received.

"Hello oka-san? This is Kotoko."

"Kotoko-chan where are you?" She sounded very worried.

"Oka-san, I'm fine, don't worry. I'm really sorry; I forgot my cell at home this morning so couldn't inform you earlier. I'm in the hospital. Grandma Yoshida was admitted. I wanted to watch over her for tonight."

"Oh. It's fine as long as you are alright." Oka-san relaxed.

"I'm really sorry. You must be worried."

"That's okay Kotoko-chan." Oka-san tried to assure me but I still felt guilty.

"I will return tomorrow afternoon."

"Okay. You try to get some rest too." Oka-san said.

"I will. Thank you."

After dropping the call I returned the phone to nurse Izumi who was staring at me. I smiled at her.

"I didn't want to worry her. They will freak out if they find out. They love me way too much."

The nurse nodded meaning she understands. Then she left me alone to get some rest.

...

The following morning the doctors ran me through several other tests. Then I had a small meeting with both Dr. Shinju and Dr. Ayano about my treatment.

"Irie-san, did you talk to your family about your condition?" Dr. Shinju asked.

"Err... Dr. Shinju, I don't want my family to know about my condition. I can start with the treatment without them knowing. Isn't that possible?"

"But Irie-san! That is not a good idea. Besides this is an experimental phased treatment. That means there is no way we can guarantee that you will be completely cured. We will need your family's consent. Also they will find out soon enough after you start your treatment because you will need to stay here."

"I will give my consent instead of my family. My husband lives out of town due to his work. If you will not treat me without his consent then you will have to wait for a year or two. I will start my treatment after he returns to Tokyo. I don't want him to kick away his dreams for my treatment."

"But Irie-san this should be his own decision. If he chooses you over his dreams then that would be his choice." Dr. Shinju pointed out.

"This would be his only choice in this case. I don't want that." I was adamant. "Besides a patient has the right to choose the treatment criteria doctor. Please try & understand. My father lost my mother due to this same illness. They will be devastated knowing about this. I will hold it in as a secret as long as I can. I cannot hide it forever. They will know about it at some point I know that." I pleaded.

"Well in that case Irie-san, you will have to sign a few documents proving we are not forcing this treatment on you." Dr. Ayano said.

"I will sign every kind of documents. I will find a part time job that will help me financially."

"You're currently studying nursing right?" Dr. Ayano asked.

"Yes. I have a few months left for the national exam."

"You can work under me then. Just join my team as my assistant. This way I will be able to study you more." Dr. Ayano offered.

"I would love to do that doctor." I beamed.

"Alright. We will start your treatment as soon as you heal. It will take 6 weeks for a full recovery. But you will partially recover in 2 weeks and we will start right then."

"Okay. But doctor please don't involve my family in any way until I tell them."

"That is your decision. We can't do anything about it. Although, I will suggest, you should inform them soon. We will get the papers ready and also you can start your work in 2 weeks." Dr. Ayano said.

A/N: Thank you everyone for your kind support. This accident was just a push to Kotoko to start her treatment without further delaying it like her mother did. She shouldn't do the same thing right? Let me know what you think. Thank you again! :)