Music Playing: Be Patient by Aga Alamsyah
At some point, the doctors started to wonder if there was something else wrong with Ryuuko and told us that, if she doesn't eat, they might just put a tube in her stomach. They checked her over and everything but they didn't find anything wrong with her stomach, throat, or her guts and the appetite meds aren't working. Mom, Nui, Satsuki's classmates, and Satsuki wondered why she wasn't eating. I mean, she has her sister back and she's getting better, so is she still sad?
What didn't help anything is Ryuuko didn't tell us anything wrong. No, besides being sick, she just wanted to sleep. I tried to get her to eat something, like a piece of cake, and she just looked at it, before she pushed her plate away. "Won't you taste it, at least?" I asked her, and she told me she wasn't hungry. She did that with a lot of the goodies I put in front of her face. Nui tried offering her a cookie but she wouldn't eat that either. To be fair, it had raisins in it and Ryuuko's always hated those but she wouldn't eat it even when she gave her chocolate chip one. No, she just stared at it, before going, "I'm not hungry." One by one, the rest of us tried to offer her something and she would say she wasn't hungry. At least, she'd drink water but that still had the doctors concerned.
After that, the doctors told us we had to get Ryuuko eating by a deadline, otherwise, she'd go into surgery. I think, with that, Satsuki actually came a little out of her shell because, as the rest of talked about what to do about Ryuuko, Satsuki was in Ryuuko's room with a plate. "You're sick, I know." she told her, almost whispering. By that point, Ryuuko was awake and, from what I can tell, was looking at both the food and then at Satsuki.
"I'm sorry that I left you all alone on that doorstep."
"Sis..."
"I remember our days in the streets and in that house..."
"Huh?"
"You don't remember those so well because you were so little but I certainly remember them."
"Oh."
"I remember how I stole food for you. It's ironic thinking about it, now."
"Huh?"
"Back then, when you were little, you'd eat like you've never eaten before but, now, you're getting fed through a tube."
"Oh."
"I know that you aren't feeling well, no, you're sick enough to be hospitalized. I don't know if your illness is affecting your apatite but it is ironic that they're contemplating surgery to make sure you don't starve, since you don't eat anything."
"Surgery—?"
"Something is causing you to starve yourself, I just know it."
"I'm not hungry, Sis."
"Are you afraid that I'll leave you again?"
There came tears. "I'm sorry I left you alone, without answers, and I'm sorry that I didn't have the courage to visit you." Satsuki said, almost whispering through her tears, "If you're terrified that I'll leave you, please, don't be, I'm here, now, and I have no intentions of leaving your life again." She then started to talk about how she'd steal food for Ryuuko, going, "I used to steal food for you and, now, I am begging you to eat. I don't want to see you go through surgery and I definitely don't want to see you in pain, please eat something."
"Sis..."
"If you're afraid I'll leave and be absent again, please don't be. If you're afraid I'll take you from the Mankanshokus, don't be, because I won't."
"..."
"Please, just eat something, I'm begging you."
To prove her point, she stayed in the room and refused to leave, telling everyone, "I'm not going anywhere." She would repeat that Ryuuko hadn't anything to be afraid and that getting a feeding tube removed would hurt more than it would for the surgery the surgery to put in it. She would also tell her, "You're already in the hospital, do you want to practically live here?"
I don't know how many hours it was but it was nighttime before Ryuuko actually decided to nibble on anything and that was only after she saw Satsuki eating something. It wasn't a lot, but it was something, at least.
Authoress Notes:
I had other commitments going and so got sidetracked but, still, other than that it took me a bit of time to write this chapter as I wasn't sure of how it should go. Still got to use a track I've been dying to use.
That aside, I'm not sure how these types of situations would go but I do know that, with Ryuuko's appetite being shot, the doctors might be more apt to give her a feeding tube in her stomach (or her nose) since she won't really eat anything on her own accord. With her being so severely ill, it's more so a desperate measure to get some nutrients in her system besides intravenous tubes. Take note, it's not that Ryuuko can't eat, it's that she won't.