Chapter 10
When I woke up, I was lying in a hospital bed hooked up to machines and tubes; I was weak and could barely move my fingers, let alone sit up.
"So, all of the missing bladers have been found... don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that everyone has been found and they are safe, but at the moment, my main concern is Aki who still is... I will have to call you back, Julian. Aki just woke up. Yes, I will let her know. Bye." Tsubasa said, pacing around the hospital room, until he caught sight of me blinking my eyes.
"Hey there Aki…everyone's been worried about you, and Julian says to get better soon or all of Team Excalibur will come to Japan and help you get back on your feet. He also wanted me to let you know that Wales is doing fine and shows no signs of relapse though the physical therapist is complaining that he is pushing himself too hard…" Tsubasa said as he pushed a part of my red hair out of my face. I tried opening my mouth to say something, only to realize that my mouth was open and I couldn't move my tongue. I started to panic only for Tsubasa to grab my chin and force me to look him in the eye.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,
You make me happy when the skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.
The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping,
I dreamt I held you in my arms.
When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken.
So, I hung my head, and cried.
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,
You make me happy when the skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you,
Please don't take my sunshine away.
I'll always love you and make you happy,
If you will only say the same.
But if you leave me to love another,
You'll regret it all one day.
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,
You make me happy when the skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you,
Please don't take my sunshine away.
Please don't take my sunshine away," Tsubasa sang, pushing the wisps of hair out of my face. I calmed down before looking up at him.
"Shh, my lovely swan; they can't take you off of the ventilator because your lungs can't handle any more stress, where they were keeping you was damped and that dampness caused another lung infection again. If you need to say anything I have a notebook and some color pencils because I know how much you hate pens." Tsubasa said holding my hand before turning to pick up the notebook and the pencil case that Yu got me for my birthday. I blinked a few times trying to fight back the darkness.
"It's alright Aki, I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere." Tsubasa said leaning forward so that his elbows were laying on the edge of the hospital bed. I fought for a few minutes before finally giving into the ever-creeping darkness. When I woke up again it was to Dr. Sato and Tsubasa talking.
"…Aki might have woken up but she's too weak right now and when she gets better she might need to undergo physical therapy again, this time isn't going to be as hard as when my mother was in charge of it. Now Aki keep calm and don't push yourself too much…Tsubasa I will tell the nurses that you are going to stay tonight but seeing as she woke up I'm taking her off the endanger list." Dr. Sato said patting my leg before leaving the room.
"Hey love, everyone stopped by to visit you but you were sleeping. I told everyone that I would let you know when you woke up. Yu said that he would stop by later with Tithi and Kenta to see if you are awake." Tsubasa said taking my hand into his and rubbing it against his cheek smiling softly. I lay there trying to gather some strength so that I could at least move my fingers but the most I got was a weak twitch.
"Dr. Sato said not to push yourself too much, and I know you want to move your fingers and try to get better faster, but you need to take your time and get better little by little my lovely Swan," Tsubasa said giving my hand a squeeze before he leaned forward and placed a kiss on my forehead. I closed my eyes, as the darkness started to pull me under again. This time was shorter than the last one for some reason. I looked over at Tsubasa only to see him holding down the button that released pain medication whenever it was pressed.
"Sorry my lovely swan but Dr. Sato says the best way for you to get better is to have plenty of rest and regain your strength little by little." Tsubasa said laying my hand back on the bed before reaching out and pushing more hair out of my face. Oh, how I just want to take his hand and hold it tight. I sighed around the ventilation tube before letting the encroaching darkness pull me under again. I kept this cycle up for a few days until Dr. Sato said I was strong enough to not need to be on the ventilator but she changed that for an oxygen mask and strict rules of no talking, staying in a relax position, and no lifting Yu. It was a few days after getting Dr. Sato's rules that Yu, Kenta and the youngest legendary blader came to visit me. Yu was carrying his sketch pad, and a small stack of letters.
"Hi Mama, this is our friend Tithi; Tithi, this is my Mama Aki Hagane." Yu said as they came to stand next to the hospital bed. I waved at the boy with a smile on my face, as I held up my notebook for them to read.
"Hello Tithi, it's nice to meet you. And thank you for being friends with my son and Kenta." Yu read what I had written out, before face palming.
"Mama, you don't have to do that," Yu said as he pulled up a couple of stools and then hopped up onto the bed next to my feet.
"Tithi is happy to meet you too, and I am happy that I met both Yu and Kenta. But why does Yu call you 'mama'?" Tithi asked, looking up at me. I smiled before writing out a note as clearly as possible, even though Yu could read my horrible handwriting.
"I recently became Yu's adopted mother not that long ago," Yu read aloud as it became clear that neither Tithi nor Kenta could read my handwriting.
"Oh, that reminds me here you go mama, letters from some of the other kidnapped bladers. Including Aunt Ada and Aunt Anja. After you went missing Aunt Anja insisted that I call her and Aunt Ada Aunt because they are like your sisters. And Tsubasa said that Team Excalibur and Team Wang Hu Zhong are both coming to celebrate our victory and help you back on your feet." Yu said explaining everything as he handed me the stack of letters after seeing my facial expression. I nodded my head knowing that Anja and Ada were right to insist that Yu call them his aunt because they were like family after everything that we went through. And I couldn't say anything because I did allow Sakyo to call me auntie. I wrote out a quick note.
"Will Ada, Anja, and Sakyo be coming too?" Yu read aloud.
"I think the answer might be in one of their letters," Yu said, holding the stack out to me. I quickly started opening each letter one by one to read their contents. A lot were from friends I made during my time in the camps, and at the bottom was a letter from Ada, telling me that Anja was dead and that Sakyo had been placed with his mother's parents, even though Anja had named me as his guardian should anything happen. I scribbled a note to Yu asking for more details, but he wouldn't meet my eye. I pulled the oxygen mask off before pushing the thin hospital blanket off of me before walking out into the hallway towards the nurse's station, where Dr. Sato was working.
"Aki, what are you doing? You need to be in bed," Dr. Sato said before I cut her off.
"No, I need you to...to release me...right away...My friend's son...my nephew...he needs me..." I said, coughing harshly throughout the entire conversation. That was before I lost all strength in my legs and fell to the ground. If Dr. Sato hadn't been standing next to me, then I would have hit my head on the nurse's station and the floor.
"Oh no you don't. Aki I wasn't going to tell you this but the reason you haven't seen Tsubasa the last few days is because right now he is in Germany saving your nephew. I told Yu not to give you that letter but he clearly didn't listen…" Dr. Sato said glaring at Yu who had come out of the hospital room, with Kenta and Tithi right behind him. Nana had already grabbed an oxygen mask and tank to help me breathe. My vision was blurry and the darkness that I thought I had finally escaped was quickly trying to pull me under. I sighed, before giving in and fainting.