"From what I observe, I think you can be discharged the day after tomorrow, Kudo-san." The doctor commented after he examined the detective once again while the medical residents went over to his records. "Get a lot of rest and don't do something forceful like a heavy workout yet."
Shinichi nodded with a bright expression. It was about half an hour since he had woken up from the anesthetic, and he was too happy to hear he didn't need to stay in the hospital for so long. He just hated how plain the room was without his books and case folders.
"Alright, I will come again tomorrow during my ward round." The doctor said with a smile before he left the room together with his team.
The young couple gave their gratitude in return and sent them off with their eyes. It wasn't until they heard the door clicked that they lowered their guard and let out sighs of relief.
Truth be told, all the moods surrounded them before all this had created the perfect moment for them to have each other in their hands. Like the second he pulled her closer against him and the minute she closed her eyes in response to his soft signal; it felt like they were the only one left in the world as their consciences were blurred by the sound of the rain outside.
They almost got caught in the middle of their romantic act by the doctor and his team who suddenly entered the ward– well, they knocked beforehand, but the two secretive couples were too entranced with each other to hear it. It was a good thing the click on the door hastily woke them up.
They forgot that they weren't at their own house and that they had to be more careful.
Leering at the ripe apples that Ai had brought sitting on the side table made Shinichi felt a bit peckish. The drool look on Shinichi's face gave off a tacit hint of his hunger and wanting. She got it really well, just as loud as how his stomach grumbled in protest. He shied away with a small pout when she silently scoffed at him through her gesture.
Such a baby was he acting right now.
She sat on a chair near the bed while her hands reached for a knife and some apples, and she began cutting the red fruits into biteable size for him. Watching her doing so, Shinichi let go of his sulk.
"Hey Ai, can you make some bunnies with the apples?" He gleefully asked a second later. His face was beaming with so much more cheerfulness than before, in which it startled her. Then he went on and on with many more small whims like asking her to peel the skin off or telling her to remove the seeds so they won't grow inside his tummy.
No one could say if it was the doctor who missed to see the damages brought to his brain during the examination or what. Because he was acting childishly cute, really. But annoying at the same time.
She only smiled suppressing her impatience while keeping her focus on the things on her hands. She kept reminding herself that this husband of hers was a patient who needed to be treated with care. Shinichi knew this well enough, although he kept it that way to tease her, making use of the chance to get spoiled by her.
"I would rather be hospitalized more often if I could indulge myself in your pampering." He said casually, jesting upon the unusual situation.
"Oh, you better not be." She restrained herself from getting worked up by making the conversation short. Replying him too much won't do any good to her psychological well-being like always.
Nonetheless, with quiet a wide grin, Shinichi's last question seemed to test the last straw of her patience.
"Are you that scared of me dying?"
And so, she snapped.
"Not really. But I'm going to kill you myself if you ever did." She said with a dark smile, a vein was popping up from her skull. Holding out a fruit knife in front of her while saying this had made it more realistic. He let out a sweat drop.
He understood as much as she did, however, how frightening it was to lose someone whom they regarded so dearly from their lives. And he knew that death wasn't something to be joked upon.
The tears that he witnessed escaping from her eyes upon his awakening were more than enough to tell him how petrified she was of losing him. Even after he had gained his complete consciousness, he could still see it from the corner of his eyes. The little fear that was left inside her concealed self, and that her hands were shaking a little bit due to her remaining psychosomatic anxiety.
Even so, he couldn't help not to feel contented whenever he saw her worrying over him like this every time he got himself into dangerous situations. She truly loved him that much.
"And you know that I love you too badly to leave you sorrowfully and tragically like that." He softened his voice in assurance, while he was smiling so smugly.
Ai was stunned for a second, then her face fell into a deep blush as she pursed her lips into a cute pout. He really was a sweet-talker but she seemed to never learn not to fall for him.
"Anyway, how could you kill someone who is already dead?" He sarcastically asked.
"I'll find a way." She retorted as she put a plate of apple bunnies in front of him on the overbed table.
Shinichi curled his lips in a wry smile as he slapped himself at the back of his mind. His wife was surely still having that side of the cold-blooded genius scientist in her despite reliving her childhood differently than her previous ones– never forgot that.
Prodding himself back to earth, he stared plainly at the cute apples instead of directly digging it with the fork she placed on the side. Then he darted his eyes to the strawberry blonde who was helping herself with few bites since she hadn't gotten her lunch yet. His eyes were pleading, hoping for something more coming from her.
"What?" She looked up to him, feeling his boring gazes on her.
"Nothing." He rolled his eyes in discontentment before he returned his view to the apples.
"Don't say you want me to feed you, Shinichi." She plainly remarked, somewhat guessing things based on his expression.
With a slight blush of happiness on his cheeks and a big smile on his lips, he nodded his head countless times excitedly. He was just like a puppy that was wagging its tail for a treat.
"Heh, your right arm is indeed having a light bone fracture." She smirked. "That doesn't mean your left hand isn't functioning either, does it?"
And just like a puppy that dropped its ears, his smile turned into another pout instantly. It was getting apparent, yet it vanished once he saw her hand held the fork and brought a piece of the red fruits closer to his lips.
"Here. Only for this one." She said, hiding her shyness under her annoyed look.
His face was lightened up as he took the whole piece in, chomping it like it was the most delicious thing he had ever eaten.
"Tasty." His delightful grin and remark worsen the tints on her face. And just like she said it, he was forced to eat the rest of the cut apples by himself despite his whines for her to feed him one more time.
Their moment was cut short by a knocking on the door. Both of their attention were averted to the entrance of the ward; their minds were wondering who might visit the detective at this hour.
"Daddaa!" Chiharu barged into the room not long after that, followed by Eri. Her two big front baby teeth were seen so clearly as she ran toward her dad while calling him.
"Oh, it's you Chii!" Shinichi greeted her back with the same manner.
Ai and Eri could only smile, silently watching the father-daughter moment before they engaged in their own small conversation. The fake teenager was politely greeting the older woman and saying her thanks for visiting them, which she gladly replied. Until a grunt coming from Chiharu captured their ears.
Turned out the little girl tried to climb unto the bed, but it was just too tall for her. The structure of its frame was different than the beds in her home too. Everyone in the room laughed except for Shinichi who tried so hard to hold even a chuckle remembering his unfriendly rib. Nonetheless, she was just too cute to be missed– he grimaced once he felt a sharp pain on his right chest.
In the end, Chiharu gave up and wailed to her mom for help. Ai complied after her chuckle subsided, flopping her on the edge of Shinichi's legs. She was going to crawl closer to her dad for a snuggle, but obeyed her mom once she told her that Shinichi was still unwell.
"Dadda, ouchie?" A sad expression was on her little sweet face.
"Not anymore since you're here, Chii." He grinned while ruffling the top of her head. Hearing her dad's reply and feeling his hand, she giggled.
Surely, the little girl's visit had brought such a buoyant atmosphere to the plain hospital walls. Although she had to leave soon with her grandmother once everyone noticed she was yawning a lot– she was getting tired as it was nearing her bedtime.
The attorney persuaded the little girl to come home with her but she sulked a bit, not wanting to part with her dad yet. She complied in the end, after some time and through Ai's simple explanation that she needed to leave so she could come to visit again tomorrow.
Parting with her daughter wasn't easy for Ai, and so did for Chiharu. Lucky, it wasn't their first time being away from each other, so their goodbye this time wasn't as emotional as before. She surely was growing up and becoming independent by each passing day.
"Thank you for helping us once again, Kisaki-san." Ai said her gratitude before parting with the older woman. "We all understand your schedule is already as packed as it is."
"I am more than happy to do so, Ai-chan." Eri threw a very knowing smile to Ai. "Like I said to you once before, that I can always fit my schedules for the sake of you both, remember?"
The latter blushed as she recalled the context of the attorney's statement during the short talk they had in her office about two months ago. On the other hand, Shinichi was having such a questioning look on his face although he grasped one obvious thing behind their exchanged expressions: his wife was hiding something. Realizing that, the side of his lips twitched a little in a dry smile while he rolled his eyes.
He tried to keep his mouth intact, although it wasn't until just the two of them left in the room that Shinichi broke her attention with a fake cough. He faked another one as he gave himself a pat on the back for successfully holding his urge this long to question his wife on the things she was hiding from him. She saw through his intentional bad act, of course.
"What is it?" She rolled her eyes once she met with his peering pair of dubious annoyed dark blue ones.
"Don't you have something to tell me?" He began his interrogative question.
"Hm?" She answered with wide eyes, confused as to what he had been talking about. He clicked his tongue.
"It was the cat ears before, and now the thing you conversed with Kisaki-san." He elaborated only to get her a flinch and a sheepish blush. "What more are you hiding from me, Ai?"
"What are you talking about?" She tried not to look away from his gaze to make it less obvious that he had hit the spot, but a glint in her blue orbs were telling him the opposite.
"I don't know. That's why I'm asking you." He kept digging for the answer.
"Then stop asking something you're not so sure yourself." She turned around to get her small sling purse, finally escaping herself from his probing look. Watching him recovering well enough from the postoperative state, she didn't find the need for her to stay the night in here. It wasn't like she was planning to in the first place.
"Are you leaving?" Noticing her intention, he quickly changed his enquiring tone to a more quavered one to show his disappointment. "Can't you stay over? You're taking tomorrow off from school anyway."
"I have something important to do back in the house. Besides, you're surrounded by doctors and nurses here." Ai said as she got closer to his side.
"You know it's not what I meant." He sheepishly rolled his eyes.
"Now, be a good boy and rest, will you?" She leaned forward and gave him a peck on the lips, shutting him up. He blushed slightly at her sudden initiative. "I'll come again tomorrow after I dropped some stuffs for Chiii at Kisaki-san's place."
"Fine." Shinichi pouted. "Ping me when you're home."
"I will."
Shinichi pulled her gently once again, wanting to feel her lips one last time before they parted for the night. Ai complied without protesting as she steadily closed the gap in between them as to be careful not to touch his broken rib.
"Good to see you are well, Kudo-kun." A greeting from Megure followed by Shiratori startled them. The young couple briskly separated themselves from each other with flusters on their faces. The two chief inspectors didn't seem to have the slightest clue about it though, except for the fact that Shinichi was groaning in pain when they came in to the room.
He moved too hard when pulling himself out just now, that he accidentally poked his splinted elbow to the rim of the hospital bed. It hurt like hell.
For that, the number list to his reasons for hating to stay at the hospital just added up and that was because he couldn't get a lone moment with his wife there.
.
.
.
It was pitch dark when Ai entered the genkan. Well, everything inside the house was. If it wasn't for the gleam of the street lamps coming through the uncovered windows, she would stumble when making her way to the switch.
It was frighteningly quiet with no one except her in the premise. Two years of living alone in the Professor's house and never even once did she feel this lonesome. But this time, she honestly wasn't comfortable hearing the phantom noises she had befriended with before.
She never thought that having him back and Chiharu in her life would drastically change it. It was surprisingly getting better, she felt.
Switching the lights on and closing the window curtains, she finally walked upstairs into her room. She observed every corners of it, writing a list in her head of all the things she had in her room. There were quiet a lot of personal stuffs in there, some books and magazines, school stuffs, clothes, and more. Only some months of moving in and she had collected piles of things in here.
She sighed, stuck in her thoughts. She truly had no idea of where she should start sorting her things first. All she knew was that she had to get this done by tomorrow.
Right. She had to finish moving her things to Shinichi's room before he was discharged from the hospital. After all, assisting him would be a lot easier if she was to stay with him closely, and so she was thinking on doing this now. At least, it was what she told to herself.
As a matter of fact, watching Shinichi on the brink of his death this afternoon had made her rethink of her decision about his offer on that. Even though she wasn't actually ready for it, but her fear had won the battle over this, poking her consciences to not miss her chance. She already had enough regret in her life, and she didn't want to add even more of it now.
So like how she sorted her heart out, perhaps she would do this a little at a time, moving her things to his room starting from her very basic necessities to the minor ones. And while he reminded her about it, she would make sure to leave those secretive embarrassing stuffs nicely hidden in her old closet.
Author's Note: Who says I will forget the cat ears? (smirk). Just wait for the right moment and it might make another appearance on the future chapter. Also, finally she was moving to his room!
I hope you like this chapter. As always, please give me your comments and reviews. Happy reading!
Disclaimer: All characters of Detective Conan are belong to Aoyama Gosho. I don't own any single of them.