Chapter 24: Waiting

There was so much blood everywhere. It was splattered on the walls, floor and tables. Nanao gaped wordlessly at the room where just moments ago she sensed Shunsui go Bankai. The rumours were right, Shunsui's Bankai was too dangerous to be used or seen if the blood covered walls and floor was any proof. The blood, Nanao assumed was all that was left of Kurosawa after Shunsui released his Bankai. At least he had fulfilled his promise to Kurosawa be killing him in a brutal, grotesque way. Nanao walked further into the room, careful not to trip over broken bit of metal table and debris. After a short while she found Shunsui, covered in blood and lying face down on the ground. Nanao gasped and ran towards her fallen Taicho.

"Taicho! Taicho!" she shouted while kneeling down next to him and gently shaking him. Shunsui groaned and slowly started to get to his feet.

"Taicho, please don't move, you are too injured." Said Nanao, shooting to her feet to steady Shunsui who was wobbling as he tried to move.

"Nanao…what are you doing here?" Said Shunsui rather hoarsely. He sounded so tired.

"I sensed your reiatsu explode and I panicked so I ran here in case you needed my assistance…Don't worry I never saw your Bankai." Answered Nanao. She saw the relief on Shunsui face. He never wanted anybody to see his Bankai because it was too dangerous. Only Ukitake and the Soutaicho had ever seen his Bankai and they had reported that it was 'terrifying'. Shunsui's Bankai was the one thing he would hide from everyone, including those who he trusted the most and Nanao understood that.

Shunsui continued to move at a slow pace towards what was left of the metal door.

"Taicho where are you going?" Asked Nanao.

"To find Rose of course." Answered Shunsui. He used the door frame as a support while he caught his breath. The deep cuts on his back and chest were really painful but he had to ignore them if he was going to find Rose.

"There is no need for that Taicho, Ukitake, Byakuya and Isane found Rose and have taken her back to the Fourth-." Before Nanao could finish talking Shunsui had already shunpooed off. Nanao grit her teeth in annoyance and followed after him shouting. "Taicho you are too weak to be using shunpo. Please stop and let me heal you!" Shunsui did not stop his shunpo and continued to more towards the exit of the cave with Nanao following closely behind. However, is speed was limited due to his injuries and Nanao easily caught up.

"Taicho please stop and let me heal you."

But Shunsui ignored her and continued to move towards the exit. His wounds protested loudly but he grit his teeth against the pain. He just had to see Rose, he just had to. After seeing what Kurosawa had done to her all he wanted to do was hold her close to his body and never let anybody touch her again…apart from him.

Nanao gasped when she saw her Taicho collapse on the ground. "Sir you are too weak to move. Please let me help you." She said as she knelt down next to him.

"Nanao I have to see Rose. I just have to." Gasped Shunsui in such a vulnerable tone that Nanao felt her heart clench. Slowly Shunsui climbed back to his feet and started to move again only to feel his knees weaken under him again. However, this time he did not go crashing to the ground like the last time.

Nanao grunted as he held her Taicho upright. "Sir if you will not accept kido at least let me assist you back to the fourth." Her voice had a cold edge in it that dare Shunsui to contradict her.

Shunsui looked down at the petit form holding him steady on his feet. "Yare Nanao." But he still accepted her help and the two of them were off.

The doors to the fourth division were thrown open as Shunsui launched himself through the door and skidded to a halt in the reception area of the Fourth division. The moment he had seen the main entrance to the fourth division he had leapt away from Nanao and charged for the door. Started Shinigami stared in shock as a blood soaked Shunsui marched towards the poor nurse behind the reception desk with determination. He looked insane with his wide eyes, tense look and blood spattered face.

"Where is she?" asked Shunsui in a quiet voice.

"S-sir Rose Bentley is c-currently in surgery." Stuttered the Shinigami while consulting a piece of paper in front of her.

Shunsui nodded in thanks before running down the hallway, ignoring Nanao's angry shouts as she appeared through the fourth division door. He just had to be by Rose's side, he just had to. Screw his injuries Rose needed him. Shinigami jumped out of the way as Shunsui sped down the corridor towards the surgery ward. The surgery ward was located in a building at the centre of the fourth division and housed several surgery rooms, the morgue and a large waiting area. Shunsui flew into the surgery ward and was greeted by the sight of Ukitake sitting tensely in a chair.

"Shunsui?" asked a started Ukitake.

"Where is she?" said Shunsui.

"Still in surgery…don't worry Unohana is tending to her." Ukitake shifted uncomfortably which made Shunsui suspicious.

"Juu…what are you not telling me?" Ukitake turned and looked away from Shunsui and shifted even more uncomfortably.

Shunsui grew impatient. "Tell me!" He shouted.

Ukitake looked shocked at Shunsui outburst. "Calm yourself Shunsui and please sit down before you collapse."

Shunsui stared at Ukitake for a moment. "She is in really bad shape right…is that what you don't want to tell me? That-that she might die?"

Ukitake did not look Shunsui in the eye. "Unohana is working on her." Was all he could say.

Shunsui blinked, his mind going blank. His darling Rose could die was all he could think about. Ukitake stood up and walked towards Shunsui and with a surprisingly strong hand managed to guide Shunsui to a chair.

"You used your Bankai." It was not a question Ukitake was asking but more a statement of fact.

"Yes."

"And Kurosawa?"

"Dead." Shunsui leaned forwards and put his head in his hands and sighed. His wounds ached and probably did need medical attention but right now none of that mattered.

"You're covered in blood."

"Not mine."

"Kurosawa's"

"But you are still injured."

"Don't care." Ukitake looked at him friend before exhaling. He really did not have the energy to deal with with his stubborn friend.

The clock on the wall ticked by rhythmically signalling the passing of time. A few Shinigami walked passed Ukitake and Shunsui, some asking if them needed anything and others stopping to wash the blood of Shunsui's body. Shunsui ignored them. His eyes started to droop but he forced them to stay open. He was not going to pass out, he had to first see and make sure that Rose was alright before he could go get some rest. He knew that this was irrational and stupid, which Ukitake reminded him on frequent occasion, but he just had to make sure that Rose was alright.

After what felt like hours later Unohana finally walked out of the operating room. Shunsui and Ukitake both shot to their feet.

"Rose?" Shunsui all but shouted.

Unohana lifted up her hand. "Rose is stable but the next few hours are crucial."

"Right." Shunsui moved to walk passed Unohana but she put her hand up and stopped him.

"Shunsui you are in no condition to see Rose. You must rest, you look dead on your feet." Said Unohana in a calm voice.

Shunsui tried to move forwards but the pressure on his shoulder increased as Unohana increased the strength in her hold on him. "I must see her." stated Shunsui in the hopes of convincing Unohana to let him see her.

"I highly recommend you go get some rest Shunsui." Stated Unohana while giving Shunsui the look.

Shunsui looked between Unohana and the door that led to the surgery rooms. "I have to see her." He said rather desperately.

Unohana looked at Shunsui with understanding eyes. "She is fine and stable, but is still unconscious. However, she is still undergoing several treatments so she cannot have any visitors. That being the case you now have the time to rest so let me accompany you to your room. And Ukitake you look like you could also use some rest."

Ukitake nodded but Shunsui still looked conflicted but was too weak to resist Unohana dragging him away. He allowed himself to be dragged out of the surgery ward and towards the wing where all the Taicho hospital rooms were located. Each Taicho had a permanent room in the fourth division where they were given first class treatment. The Taicho ward was located on the same floor as the long term patient ward and thus was located in a quieter and more secluded part of the Fourth division. Shunsui allowed himself to be dragged into his room by Unohana. He was handed a clean hospital gown and was given a few moments of privacy in which to change. After that he slowly crawled into the bed and collapsed face down on the pillow, too mentally and physically exhausted to do anything else. He could feel Unohana pushing her healing kido through his body trying to heal the gash on his back and then gently rolling him over and healing his chest wounds.

"There Shunsui, the wound on your back was deep but thankfully there was no infection so it will heal but it might scar." Said Unohana. Shunsui only grunted in understanding before closing his eyes and succumbing to sleep. He only later discovered that Unohana laced a sleeping kido with the healing kido in order to knock him out.

It was all so bright and confusing. There were lights, sounds, voices and movements that confused and scared Rose. Where was she? Rose tried to speak and move but found herself unable to do that. Frantically she tried to move or speak, around her the voices and sounds were getting louder. Blurs started to appear around her and the voices seemed to be coming from the blurs. Suddenly a blurred figure with long black hair and a white haori appeared right in front of her. She could see her lips moving but none of the sounds made any sense to her. Slowly, ever so slowly the blurs began to focus and the voices became clearer.

"Rose can you hear me?...Rose?"

Rose blinked and realised that she was looking into the calming eyes of Unohana. She was lying in the fourth division and from the looks of it was surrounded by numerous machines. Rose tried to sit up but was prevented from doing so by Unohana.

"Please try not to move or your stitches might re-open. I know that you must be very confused but there is no need to worry, you are in the fourth division having been rescued from Kurosawa. However you did sustain several serious injuries that required my immediate attention, but for the time being you are stable." Explained Unohana.

Rose nodded in understanding ever so slowly and then tried to ask Unohana how exactly she had reached the fourth division but found her ability to speak restrained. With an arm that felt as heavy as steal, Rose reached up towards her mouth and discovered that she was wearing an oxygen mask.

"Please don't remove your oxygen mask as it is helping you breath." Said Unohana as she reached forward to try to stop Rose.

Rose ignored her and removed the mask anyway. "How…did…I…get…here?" crocked Rose. Her throat felt raw.

"Ukitake Taicho, Kuchiki Taicho and Isane found you while infiltrating Kurosawa's lair and brought you back to the fourth division. Do you not remember?" asked Unohana with a slight hint of worry in her voice.

Rose remembered blurred outlines of a man with long white hair, a woman kneeling down next to her, the pain, but then after that she remembered nothing. "It…is…blurred" she explained after a pause.

"That is understandable as you have a concussion…along with all you other injuries."

Rose nodded again slowly. There was something else of great importance that she was forgetting. Was it something…or someone? And then realisation struck her. "Sh-shunsui…where…is…he?"

Unohana was slightly shocked to hear the desperation in Rose's tone but she kept her face as even as possible. "Shunsui will see you later when you are healthy enough to have visitors." She explained in a soothing voice. "Now please try to get some rest…are you in any pain?" she continued.

Rose blinked several times before shaking her head. "Well that is good news, now please try to sleep." Said Unohana while gently replacing the oxygen mask back over Rose's mouth before helping her get more comfortable. Rose closed her eyes and soon found herself falling to sleep with the many machines beeping rhythmically around her.

Approximately a day had passed since Shunsui collapsed on his bed in the fourth division and finally, after waking up and pestering Unohana mercilessly, she had allowed him to visit Rose. Shunsui was currently pacing the length of his hospital room impatiently waiting for Nanao to turn up with a clean uniform for him. He had been told that his old one was too blood stained to be saved. From the few brief conversations he had had Unohana, Shunsui was able to discover that Rose had woken up a few hours ago and had asked about his whereabouts. The news was very comforting but Shunsui felt a little uneasy because he was unsure of what he was going to say to Rose when he saw her. He felt guilty and responsible for what had happened to her and felt the need to apologise but 'sorry' just did not seem a big enough apology. He should never have left Rose alone and he should have found her note faster. It was all his fault.

The door to Shunsui's hospital room opened and in walked Nanao carrying a spare Shihakushō, and haori for him. "

Sorry sir it took longer than expected to find you a clean spare uniform. Also the repairs to your quarters have started" Said Nanao as she handed Shunsui his uniform. "I filled out the appropriate paperwork for you as I assumed that you had other things on your mind." She continued in response to Shunsui's inquiring look.

"Thank you Nanao-Chan." Said Shunsui rather half-heartedly before walking into the adjoining bathroom to change. Nanao could sense the tension in her superior's body which did not help calm her frazzled nerves. The eighth division had been morbidly quiet ever since the news of Rose's rescue had reached them. There was also a rumour going round that although Rose had survived the operation, she was unlikely to recover and would most likely die. The tension inside the hospital room and division was so much that Nanao just had to do something.

"Is it true…sir?" She asked Shunsui the moment he got out of the bathroom. She had to know as the tension was going to drive her insane.

Shunsui looked at her and then down at his feet. "Unohana said that the next few days are critical…and that was all she said. Rose did wake up a few hours ago but she is still in critical condition"

Nanao nodded and tried very hard not to tear up at Shunsui melancholic tone. "…Isane told me to tell you Unohana said that I was ok for you to visit Rose. She is in the ICU". She whispered rather weakly after a long pause. She had wanted to say something to him, reassure him that Rose was going to be alright, but she knew that her words would have no strength behind them.

Shunsui nodded and walked out of the room without saying a word and walked off in the direction of the ICU. Nobody paid him much attention as he walked through the Fourth division and neither did he to them. His mind was numb but his body still moved like it was on autopilot. Finally he reached the ICU and was greeted by a young and pretty nurse.

"Good morning Kyoraku Taicho, how may I be of assistance?" she asked with practised efficiency.

Shunsui looked at her. "Rose…where is she?"

"Just a minute." The nurse fumbled through some papers. "Ahh yes, Rose Bentley. She is in room seven and is currently in stable condition. Unohana Taicho is waiting for you in her room." Shunsui nodded and started to head down the corridor in search for Rose's room. After a short walk he arrived outside of her room, which was located right at the end of the ward. Inside he could see Unohana Taicho leaning over the bed with a hand that glowed green with healing kido.

Shunsui slowly shuffled into the room and stood next to the bed, his eyes fixed on Rose. She looked so pale and thin under the sheets that it broke his heart to look at her. Carefully, so as not to disturb the many tubes that surrounded Rose body, Shunsui sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand into his, shocked by how cold them were.

"She is doing better Shunsui…she woke up last night and demanded to see you but at the time she was in no condition to have visitors." Said Unohana after a silent pause.

Shunsui looked up at Unohana and nodded. The thought of Rose demanding to see him sent a jolt of happiness coursing through his body but it was not enough to chase the worry from his eyes. "How is she?" he asked after a pause.

Unohana allowed the healing kido to fade from her hands before moving around the bed to stand next to Shunsui. "Her left arms is broken in two places and some of the ligaments are torn but thankfully the damage was not too severe for me to fix it, however, it will be sometime before she can regain full use of her arm. Her collar bone was also broken. Five of her ribs are broken and thus it is making it hard for her to breath. In cases like these we allow the bones to heal themselves, however, I did reset her bones and give her an oxygen mask in order to help her breath. What is worrying is her leg and internal injuries. I have had to put a metal shunt in her leg and I have started to reconstruct her bones but sadly her body is just too weak for lengthy healing sessions so it will be a long time before her leg is healed. Also we had to remove part of her liver and spleen as they were bleeding but her kidneys are still damaged. Her lungs were also badly damaged but I was able to fix those. We have her scheduled for a kido session this evening where we will try to heal the last of her organs and burns-."

"Burn?"

"Yes…on her back and stomach. Sadly most of the burns were infected so we have to wait until the antibiotic that we have been pumping through her system have cleaned up the infection. Hopefully by this evening we would have been able to fully heal her burns." Said Unohana all in a calm tone.

Shunsui absentmindedly pulled back the many blankets they were covering Rose's body and saw that a large portion of her chest was covered in bandages. He sighed and pulled the covers back over Rose's body. "What about…rape." He asked after a pause.

Unohana's face darkened ever so slightly for a second before returning to her usual calm demeanour. "We found some DNA that belonged to Kurosawa…inside of her. And we also found blood which suggests that the interaction was not voluntary." She said with some difficulty.

Shunsui's free hand clenched tightly until his knuckles turned white. For a moment he looked like he was about to lose control of his reiatsu but then he calmed down. Losing control next to somebody who was currently as weak as Rose was ill-advised. "How long until she wakes up?" Asked Shunsui.

"That is very hard to say what with her concussion but at least for the time being she is stable. But those are only her physical injuries. She will most likely have severe mental problems after waking up" Answered Unohana.

"And her chances of survival."

"It is hard to say…if the procedure goes well this evening then her chanced of survival are much better but…" Unohana looked uncomfortable for a moment.

"But…"

"There is a chance that she may never wake up." Said Unohana with a look of great sympathy. Shunsui blinked several times trying to assimilate the news before turning his gaze back to Rose.

"Thank you Unohana Sempai for being honest with me."

Unohana nodded and then turned to leave the room, closing the door quietly behind him. Shunsui continued to stare at Rose with her hand held firmly but gently in his. She could not die, she would not die repeated Shunsui like a mantra inside his head. His Rose was a fighter and would not give up so easily. The machines around them beeped rhythmically signalling to Shunsui that Rose was still alive. At intervals nurses would enter the room to check on Rose's stats and to make sure that her tubes had not disconnected. A few of them would ask Shunsui if he needed anything but he always politely refused, his primary concern was for Rose and not for himself.

Shunsui stayed unmoving next to Rose until Unohana returned and announced that he had to leave as they were about to start her evening healing session. At first he refused to leave as he was scared that the moment he looked away Rose would die. However, after a death glare from Unohana, Shunsui finally left. Slowly he walked out of the fourth division and started to head towards the nearest bar. He needed this. He needed to forget the image of Rose lying on the bed covered in bandages and the sounds of her screaming in his head.

Finally, after spending an entire afternoon on it, Ukitake had finished his written report on the Kurosawa incident. Having been one of the few people involved in it since the beginning his report was much longer than normal. It outlined everything, from first meeting Rose Bentley right to the moment after he brought here back to the fourth division. The report was confusing and lacked details but sadly that could not be helped as the whole incident was confusing and full of unanswered questions, such as why did Rose, a human, have reiatsu? Ukitake was positive that most of the questions would remain unanswered and that suited him.

It was a beautiful, cool evening so Ukitake decided to enjoy it by going on a walk. Maybe he would go and check on Shunsui and see if his friend needed emotional support. God only knew what his friend was going through. The walk to the fourth division was pleasant and quiet. If Rose was in the fourth division then Shunsui was most likely there as well.

Most Shinigami were already out in the bars or enjoying a pleasant evening with friends, however, when Ukitake passed the eighth division he heard nothing, it was ghostly quiet. Normally on a beautiful evening the eighth was out partying…hard and noise could be heard out in the streets but tonight it was silent. It seemed that nobody was in the mood to enjoy the evening and that only reflected how hung up the divisions members were on Rose's condition. Ukitake sighed and continued his walk towards the fourth division.

The fourth division was surprisingly empty when Ukitake finally arrived. He easily found Isane who was stitching up a nasty looking cut on a girl who was so thin that pale that she looked sickly. But what stood out most on the girl where her golden eyes and dark pink hair that hung limply by her side.

"Oh Ukitake Taicho what bring you here?" asked Isane once she had noticed him standing there.

"I came to check on Rose."

Isane stopped her actions and looked at Ukitake. "Rose is currently undergoing an intensive kido healing session in order to fix her burn marks…hopefully if this procedure goes well she will most likely make a full recovery."

"Well that is good news." Ukitake looked at Isane and noticed that she was avoiding his eyes. "But there is more…"

Isane sighed. "We are only talking about her physical injuries…she could be suffering from any number of mental problems such as PTSS or anxiety. She may never truly recover from this."

"I see…how about Shunsui?" asked Ukitake. He was starting to worry about his friend as he could not sense his reiatsu anywhere inside the fourth division.

"He visited Rose this morning and was forced to leave when her healing sessions started. He stayed by her bedside and did nothing until he was forced to leave."

"And did he by any change eat or drink anything?" asked Ukitake knowing the answer anyway but he just wanted to check.

"No…he refused to eat or drink…why do you ask?"

"The moment he left the fourth division he would have gone to the first bar and drunk himself into a stupor. Now I know how to deal with him when I go pick him up." Explained Ukitake matter of factly which make Isane realise how often this must have happened.

"He left about an hour ago so if you leave now you might be able to stop him from drinking too much." Said Isane.

"You are right…thanks for your help Kotetsu fukutaicho."

Isane bowed and returned to treating the girl.

Ukitake walked towards the bar closest to the fourth division and walked in. He easily found Shunsui at one of the back tables and from the looks of his flushed face and empty bottles around him he was severely drunk. A few scantily dressed women were crowding around him but he paid them no attention. Ukitake walked up to the table and kindly shooed the women away.

Shunsui looked up at him with foggy eyes. "Juu is that you." His speech was slightly slurred.

"Yes Shunsui and how much have you had to drink?"

"Not enough if I can still recognize people."

"Come on Shunsui is this really a rational way to behave?" asked Ukitake before signalling to the bartender for water to be brought to the table.

"She might die." Whispered Shunsui rather pathetically before gulping down a large portion of the Sake in front of him.

"Or she might not Shunsui, don't lose hope yet."

"And then what? She wakes up and has to face the memories of being tortured and raped by that-that bastard!" shouted Shunsui swaying violently as he tried to turn and face Ukitake.

Ukitake gently steadied his friend to prevent him from falling over. "I can still hear her screaming Ukitake. Whenever I close my eyes I can hear her, all the pain and it is driving me crazy. Is it so bad that I want to forget and sleep blissfully for one night?" There was a hint of desperation in Shunsui voice.

A waitress arrived with a bottle of water and gave Shunsui a sultry look before placing the water down on the table. Again Shunsui ignored her, too busy lost in his own melancholy. Ukitake used this as an opportunity to pour water into his friend's sake glass and hand it to him hoping that he would not notice that the sake he was drinking was in fact water. Shunsui saw that his glass was full and reached for it before downing it all in one go. Ukitake was right he had no idea what his friend must be going through. The sound of Rose's ear splitting scream did haunt him sometimes. It must be unbearable for Shunsui who deeply loved her.

"He raped her." whispered Shunsui after a while.

Ukitake looked at his friend sympathetically. He had heard from Unohana earlier that day the exact extent of Rose's injuries. He had been angry but his anger must only be a tenth of what Shunsui was currently feeling.

"He, he showed me everything. Him torturing MY Rose and then how he raped her. It is forever plastered in my mind and I can't make it go away." Cried out Shunsui before grabbing the bottle of sake and downing it.

Ukitake poured more water into a glass and then passed it to Shunsui. "But you still withheld your promise to Rose by defeating Kurosawa."

Shunsui picked up the glass and downed the water, mistaking it from water again. "Yes but I was too late. She was still tortured and rape. If I had been faster I might have been able to prevent this all from happening. It is all MY FAULT!" Shunsui bellowed the last two words causing people to stop and stare at him.

"Shunsui please stop thinking that this is your fault. This is not your fault."

Shunsui stared at Ukitake with glassy eyes before slumping forwards onto the table. "I killed him too quickly. I wanted his pain to last longer."

"At least you killed him." Said Ukitake. Shunsui grunted before closing his eyes and drifting off into a sake induced sleep. Ukitake looked at his friend sympathetically. At least now his friend was sleeping. He quickly paid for the drinks and then carried his unconscious friend back to the thirteenth division. Shunsui was going to regret drinking himself unconscious but for the time being Ukitake was going to let his friend sleep. Silently he prayed that Rose would pull through as he did not want to imagine how Shunsui would react if she did not. Although the two of them had only known each other for a few months, the bond and love they shared was real. They were perfect for each other, soul mates to the more romantically incline. Whatever happens Rose Bentley must not die.