A/N: Thank you everyone.

One Last Call

(General POV)

Life was back to normal… well almost. Another month and half passed. Kotoko was getting back on her feet slowly. Although she was being treated like she was made of glass by the whole Irie family. At least one of them was always around in need. She was still being served by food at her room. She was strictly told to avoid the stairs.

Mrs. Irie helped her to take showers and changing her clothes. Naoki was yet again busy with the research. But he was always available on phone. He called her every two to three hours. Also he kept her updated about the research. She was a part of the team until recently after all, so she should know all about it.

Together with Dr. Ayano he worked hard. Kotoko had another therapy session two weeks ago. They were all really anxious at the start of the therapy. But it went on without any hindrance. The new changes well suited her condition.

And then one day the inevitable happened…

Naoki received a call from Tonan hospital. It was sad news. Grandma Yoshida had passed away two days ago. It was sudden and her family didn't have the time to bring her to the hospital. But at least her son and daughter-in-law were beside her in her last moments.

Apparently grandma has left some of her possessions for Kotoko and surprisingly for Naoki too. Her son has left them under the care of the head nurse Hanoi of Tonan and apologised for not personally meeting him. He wasn't physically well himself.

Naoki went to Tonan wondering how to break this news to Kotoko. She was very close to Grandma Yoshida who treated Kotoko like her own grand-daughter. He returned to Hope after collecting the package and straight went to his office.

He wasn't sure if he should open the package without Kotoko but then knowing Grandma Yoshida, he couldn't be sure if she didn't pull any last prank or not. So he decided to open it.

The small box was divided into two parts. On top of each side's belongings had two envelops with Kotoko and Naoki's names respectively. He took out the envelop that had his name on it in his hand first. Under that envelop was a DSLR camera and its charger. He raised a brow in surprise. He took that out too and tried to turn it on. But it remained off.

It was confusing. Why would she give an unpacked camera without any charge in it? He put aside the camera and took out the other contents of the box one by one. Those were for Kotoko. Several photos were there, which were taken in the hospital while she was admitted and some other pictures that he didn't recognised. Probably those were taken while he was in Kobe. Kotoko had bandage on her wrist in some photos. Naoki remembered she said she fell down in the hospital. There were also some other souvenirs for Kotoko. Nothing was dangerous. Naoki smiled at the thought.

He put back all the contents inside the box again, except his letter and camera. He took out the charger and connected the camera for charging. Then he opened his letter to read it. It was grandma's last few words to him.

"Dear Naoki-san,

Hope you're doing well. This could be my second last letter to anyone so I will skip talking about me. You might be wondering why I gave you that camera without charging it first. Actually I wanted to make sure you read the letter first before you see the pictures in that camera. As you remember, Kotoko visited me in the summer house last year. They were the few best days of my life that I will remember till my last breath. I wanted to share those days with you too. But before I do that, you need to know a few things that I came to know during that time from Kotoko. Although, I'm not sure if she told me the entire truth, I always felt like she was holding back. If you already don't know what I'm talking about, then you should immediately ask Kotoko about that. I tried very hard to convince her to talk to you. Even after she returned home, over the year, I was in touch with her from time to time. But she was adamant that she doesn't want to be a hindrance in your life. She wanted to be able to work on her own. I remember her saying that she wanted be a home for you, where you will be at peace. That touched my heart. That girl is something. Or probably I should say woman. But anyway Naoki-san, I'm sure you know your wife loves you too much for her own good. But she doesn't really know how much you love her. I don't blame her. I know you too. I know you find it hard to express yourself. But you should express you know… once in a while. Your dummy wife needs to be taken care of all the time. She is so fragile… so precious… always treasure her Naoki-san. Always love her and if you don't, I swear I will hunt you after I die. It's just a friendly warning. Don't worry too much. I'm so tempted to write down every word that Kotoko told me that day, but I can't break my promise to Kotoko without at least telling her. Also about those pictures inside the camera, they are nothing special but I would request you to see them after talking to Kotoko about them. I need Kotoko to know that I'm breaking her promise. Hopefully she will forgive me. I will stop here for now; I still need to write to Kotoko. Hope you two will have a wonderful life ahead and will always stay happy together.

Lots of love,

Your most beautiful patient"

.

Naoki took a deep breath after finishing reading the letter. This letter was even more surprising. He never thought Kotoko will tell about her condition to Yoshida-san. Probably she needed to talk to somebody who was a friend. She assumed it was safe to talk to Yoshida-san.

Is this why she visited the summer house last year instead of visiting me? That was the time around when she started her treatment. No… Naoki thought harder, she started her treatment after her visit to the summer house.

Naoki badly wanted to check the content of the camera, but he stopped himself with difficulty. He couldn't just ignore grandma's last request. He had to talk to Kotoko about it at first.

However, the more pressing matter at hand for now was to inform Kotoko about grandma's death. She is already in weak state. Naoki was in turmoil thinking what to do. Should he delay about the death news for a few days? But it could hurt her more. No one better than him knows, how much it hurts to find out that your other half was keeping secrets from you. Doesn't matter even if they thought it was for their own good. At least that's what Kotoko thought so.

In the end Naoki decided against keeping secrets. He won't repeat what she did. He will tell her and if she cries, he will be there for her.

Naoki put the letter inside the box and then resumed his work which he was doing before he received the call from Tonan.

At half past five, he decided to return home after calling it a day. Kotoko and Mrs. Irie were gossiping about something happily when he entered his room.

"Naoki, you're back already!" Mrs. Irie stated happily.

"Yes oka-san. I was feeling tired." He responded.

"You should take a day off and take some rest Irie-kun." Kotoko said.

"Yeah, I think I should." Naoki agreed and kept the box on the table.

"What's in that box?" Kotoko asked curiously.

"Um… This is from Yoshida-san." He replied.

"Grandma Yoshida? I haven't heard from her in a while. She didn't know about me being in coma. She is definitely upset that I stopped contacting." Kotoko talked very fast and looked for her phone in the bed to make a call to grandma. Mrs. Irie also helped her in her search.

"Kotoko? Wait, Kotoko." Naoki stopped her from calling when she found her phone.

"Yes Irie-kun?"

"Nurse Hanoi called me from Tonan today. She said… she said that… um… Yoshida-san died two days ago due to sudden heart attack."

Blood drained away from Kotoko's face. Smile replaced with horror.

"What did you say?" She asked in a small shaky voice.

Tears filled her eyes. Naoki immediately went near her and pulled her in a hug. Kotoko buried her head on his stomach and wrap her arms around his waist while Naoki stood beside her bed and put his arms around her head pulling her closer.

"I'm so sorry." He said softly. Kotoko sobbed in his embrace.

Mrs. Irie also wasn't prepared for the bad news. She looked at Naoki with pained expression. He assured her silently that he would take care of Kotoko. She nodded and silently left them alone.

Kotoko cried for a long time holding Naoki. He kept rubbing on her back. Finally when she controlled her tears a little bit, she asked about the box.

"What's in the box?"

"We can check them later. You should sleep for a little while. You cried so much." Naoki said, removing the traces of tears from her cheeks and then he placed a kiss on her forehead.

Kotoko didn't argue on that. She actually felt really tired. She lied down and Naoki pulled the covers up to her shoulders. Then he went to get freshen up. He quickly informed oka-san that Kotoko was okay for now and returned upstairs.

When he entered the room, Kotoko opened her eyes and watched him moving closer to the bed.

"You're still not asleep?"

"It's not coming." She complained.

Naoki smiled and went around on his side to join her in the bed. He pulled Kotoko in his arms and she wraps her hands around his chest.

"Now sleep. I'm here for you." Naoki said.

"Hm… Mmm…" Kotoko sighed in contentment. Then before she knew, she was already asleep. Naoki also fell asleep after a while.

...

By the time they both woke up, it was already dinner time. Naoki helped her to get fresh. Then he went down-stairs and brought both of their dinners to his room.

"Irie-kun… please feed me." Kotoko requested in a very childish innocent tone.

Naoki looked at her in surprise and couldn't stop laughing.

"What?" Kotoko dropped her innocent act but then pouted which was even cuter.

Naoki just shook his head and didn't say anything. Kotoko folded her arms in her chest and looked away. Naoki smiled and sat beside Kotoko in the bed.

He picked the food and held it near her mouth. Kotoko was so surprised that she gaped at him. Naoki did feed her a few numbers of times in the hospital and in home earlier but only when Hana or oka-san was not available and Kotoko was absolutely weak to eat by herself. However, right now none of the mentioned condition applied. She was perfectly capable of eating by herself.

Naoki raised a brow when Kotoko smiled and then laughed.

"What?" He asked, faking irritation.

This time Kotoko simply shook her head without answering. Then she took a bite from the food Naoki was holding out for her.

He fed her the entire meal and they talked about grandma Yoshida and her antics. Kotoko was feeling much better now.

After finishing the dinner, Naoki took the dishes downstairs. Mrs. Irie took those from him and said she will wash them and he should return to his room, which he obliged. With his help Kotoko took her medicines. Then they both changed into their night wears and returned to bed.

Naoki took the box he left on the table to their bed and showed Kotoko everything that was left for her by grandma. Kotoko took her time and saw every picture and talked about every story attached to the pictures that she remembered. She also loved her other gifts and was so happy to receive them. Lastly Naoki gave her the letter. She held it lightly in her hand as if it will break if she put too much force in it and stared at it. Naoki encouraged her to read it. She gulped and opened it. She inhaled deeply and started reading it.