I really hope you guys like this story so far. I know, a lot of talking. Heheh

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Ch. 2

Hospital Fun?

~Back in the Real World~

Arriving back in Izzy's room, the kids hurry to the other room. "Mom!" Izzy shouts as his mother shows up ahead of them.

"What is it, Izzy? Did something happen?" she asks.

"We need to get Tai to a doctor ASAP," Izzy tells her in a rushed voice.

Now that's strange Joe thought looking at the gash on Tai's arm now bleeding through the bandage. It bleeds here yet didn't in the Digital World?

"Oh my!" Mrs. Izumi gasps, grabbing her car keys. "In the car, boys!"

"There's only room in mom's car for four. Five including the driver," Izzy informs his friends.

"Alright. Matt, you and me in the back seat with Tai," Joe says out of nowhere, wrapping a towel around Tai's bleeding arm.

"I'm coming too," Kari tells them, going to the car with the others.

"I believe he needs a hospital. I'll take him to the nearest one," Mrs. Izumi tells them, starting the engine.

"Right. Please hurry and be careful," Izzy says as she drives off once the four kids are buckled in. "Hm. You guys better inform your parents about this."

"Oh. That's right. I promised my mom I'd call her if I didn't return home through the gate at our place. I don't want her to worry like she did back then," Ken recalls.

"The phone's inside in the kitchen. Go ahead Ken," Izzy nods.

"Thanks," Ken smiles, heading inside. Calling his mother while the others wait. After everyone informs their parents about what's going on, they run to the hospital.

~At the hospital~

Matt tries to comfort Kari the best he could. Letting her cry in his chest as he lightly rubs her back.

"Yes. That's right, Mrs. Kamiya," Mrs. Izumi nods, talking on the phone. "Something's going on in the Digital World again. The kids went in to check it out. I'm sure Matt can explain more… of course. See you soon." She hangs up before heading over to the kids. "Kari, your parents are on their way here." Kari only nods, trying to calm down.

After a half hour or so, Joe comes down to the lobby. "I have good news guys," he says with a smile. Matt and Kari instantly turn their gaze at him as he continues. "Tai doesn't need any kind of surgery. They did have to reset his leg though. That gash is stitched up and he's resting now."

"That's a relief," Matt sighs.

"That's my stubborn brother for you," Kari smiles happily as a couple comes in. "Mom! Dad!" She goes to them as her mother hugs her.

"Thank you, Mrs. Izumi. For taking care of my kids," Mrs. Kamiya smiles softly.

"Not a problem," Mrs. Izumi smiles back. Matt explains what he could about their encounter in the Digital World before Kari takes over.

"That quake happened so suddenly and there wasn't even a Digimon nearby," Kari explains. "Once the ground gave out, Tai protected me and T.K. from getting injured on the way down. A bruised right arm is all he got from that. He noticed something before we did. Tai's leg only got worse when he swiftly got behind us. Taking a hit in his left arm."

"He's resting now with everything patched up. I can take you to his room," Joe informs them.

"He can have visitors already?" asks Izzy in a huff. Entering the lobby space with the others out of breath.

"Yup," Joe nods, leading the way to Tai's hospital room. Heading inside the room to see Tai flipping through channels on the TV.

"Hey, Tai," Matt calls softly.

"There's nothing on," Tai complains before smiling towards the others. "Until you guys figure out that creepy forest, even when I get fully healed, I'll stay out of the Digital World until you guys give the okay."

"That's a wise choice, Mr. Reckless," Sora lightly giggles.

"Honestly," Tai begins, gazing down slightly. "If I let Kari get really hurt when I could do something… I wouldn't forgive myself. Also, if I let T.K. get really hurt… I don't think I could face Matt after that. Even though we are good friends and all."

"Still haven't forgiven yourself from last time. Have you, son?" Tai's dad asks softly.

"Not fully," Tai replies. "Oh! That reminds me." He grabs his Digivice from the small basket on the nightstand. "Could one of you hang onto this for me? Just in case."

"Good idea, Tai. We wouldn't want you getting temped right now," T.K. nods as his brother takes his friend's Digivice. A doctor soon comes in the room. "Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya?"

"Yes?"

"I need a word with you," the doctor says, going in the hallway. Once the Kamiya's were in the hallway with him, he starts talking again. "Just to be sure of a few things, we'll keep him here for three days at least. That gash on his arm isn't normal."

"Actually," Tai lightly grabs his arm just below the bandage. "That blast or whatever it was felt oddly familiar."

"What do you mean, Tai?" Mimi asks curiously.

"It's… a bit hard to explain. I don't recall when or if something happened. It just felt familiar for some reason," Tai explains.

"We'll keep you updated on what we find out," Davis tells him with determination in his eyes. Wanting to get this forest figured out as soon as possible.

"I would hope so, Davis," Tai tells him with his eyes shut. Opening them the moment he recalled something. "Oh. That reminds me. A few of my teammates in soccer are Digidestineds, too. Don't believe he gave his name but Hiroki was the one who helped Matt get me off the field last week. They could help out after they know the situation."

"Right. Hm?" Izzy nods before hearing a D-terminal beep three times.

"That's mine," Tai says, taking his D-terminal out of the basket. Opening it to see three unread e-mails. "Well. Speak of the Devimon. It's them."

"What did they say?" Matt asks curiously.

"Yuki Tsumina says 'Hey, I just got contacted by Gennai and my partner Digimon Dorumon. Tell me you're okay, Tai. You didn't really overdo it, did you?' Heh, he can be a real worrywart when it comes to friends," Tai chuckles lightly. "Hiroki Kanabara says 'What's the deal with those vines I heard about from Gennai? Seriously! This Dark Forest place has to go! I won't do anything without a battle plan. Herissmon taught me that. I'll wait to hear from you, Tai'."
"Herissmon?" Izzy wonders.

"I met their Digimon partners a few times. Still got that Digimon Analyzer, Izzy?" Tai asks, opening the last e-mail.

"Hm? Oh, yeah," Izzy snaps his fingers. "But I left my laptop at home."

"There's no rush, Izzy," Tai says, reading the last e-mail. "Hm. Sho Ishimori has a point."

"What'd he say?" Kari asks.

"'I'm sure Yuki and Hiroki heard from Gennai too about that Dark Forest suddenly appearing in the Digital World. Also, about what happened to you in there as well. Yeah I'm ticked, but I'm more curious as to why those vines or whatever went for you and no one else. Now, this is only a theory… something might've happened in your past to have you be targeted like that. Tapirmon might be able to help you recall if needed Tai. Just say the word.' So, Gennai told them about this and maybe others," Tai sighs softly. "Do you guys mind if I give them your e-mails?"

"Go ahead," his friends nod as the doctor comes back in with Tai's parents.

"Okay, so three days just to be sure he doesn't have any kind of complication?" Mrs. Kamiya asks, just to be sure she heard the doctor right.

"That's correct, Mrs. Kamiya," the doctor nods. "We will allow you to bring your son some food from home. Just be sure to check in with the front desk if you do."

"Alright. Thank you so much, doctor," Mrs. Kamiya nods, going over to her son in the hospital bed. "I'll come by tomorrow before work, Tai. Don't stay up late or overdo it again."

"Alright, mom," Tai nods.

"I better get home before it gets any later," Ken says, looking at the clock in the room. "I'll see you later, everyone."

"Feel free to call anytime, Ken. If anything comes to mind that may help us out," Izzy informs him.

"Alright," Ken nods, leaving the hospital to go home.

"We should head home too. We all still have school. Except Tai until he gets discharged," Joe informs the others.

"Right. See you later, Tai," Sora says with a smile.

"I can take three of you home," Mrs. Izumi says.

"We can take the rest," Mr. Kamiya also says.

"Thank you very much," the kids smile, bowing to them as they heading out of the room and the hospital. A while later, once all the kids were home – none of them could sleep. Not right away anyway.

Ken paces around his room, thinking with a hand on the back of his neck. "Hm… that's just a theory, but it maybe worth a try," he says, grabbing his phone. Calling Izzy's place to tell him his theory.

"Yes?" Izzy asks picking up.

"Sorry to call this late, Izzy. I might've figured something out. Though, it's only a theory," Ken tells him.

"No worries, Ken. My parents can't sleep and I can't either. What's your theory?"

"Well. It has to do with the Dark Spore in me and Tai's wound. Maybe. No one was in between me or Tai so the spore had a clear view of him."

"Hm. I see. It's worth testing, but I would recommend someone going with you just in case."

"As much as it scares me to find out if this theory is right or not… it may help. May I ask you to run this theory by Tai, please? There's something I'd like to look into tomorrow."

"Sure thing, Ken."

"Thanks Izzy."

"Anytime. Talk to you later."

"Yeah. Bye."

At the hospital, Tai couldn't sleep at all. He tried but for some reason he couldn't. This is bugging me way too much he thought, grabbing his D-terminal. Typing an e-mail to Sho.

~Sorry for e-mailing this late, Sho. Think you could get Gennai to send Tapirmon to our world? This whole thing is keeping me awake. No matter how hard I try to sleep, I just can't. Tai~ He sends that and didn't have to wait until morning for a reply.

~I can't sleep either, Tai. So, it's all good. I can contact Gennai within the next few minutes and come by for a visit after school tomorrow. Yuki and Hiroki may come along too. Sho~

~Perfect. Thanks Sho. See you tomorrow~

~Anytime, Captain. See you tomorrow~

With that, Tai finally falls asleep.

~Next day~

Tai's mom comes in the hospital. Checking in with the food she brought at the front desk before heading to her son's hospital room. Once there, she finds him still sleeping. "I guess he just couldn't sleep last night. Like Kari," she sighs softly, placing the food on the nightstand before lightly moving her son's hair.

"Mm," Tai groans lightly, opening his eyes. "Mom?"

"Kari couldn't sleep last night either," his mom smiles softly. "I'll be back after I get done with work. Breakfast is on the nightstand for you."

"Thanks mom," Tai smiles before falling back asleep. Mrs. Kamiya heads out to work.

~At the Middle School~

Matt yawns on his way to class. "Man, I couldn't sleep at all."

"Neither could I," Sora yawns, stretching slightly.

"I guess that's been going around," says a guy carrying a soccer bag. "Matt and Sora, right?"

"Hm?" they wonder, looking back to see one of Tai's soccer teammates. His short blue hair sticking out among the students in the hallway. "I'm sorry. What's your name again?" Sora says, rubbing her eyes.

"No worries. Sho Ishimori, nice to meet you," he smiles. "I'm planning on visiting Tai after school. Hiroki and Yuki are coming as well." He explains about the e-mail chat he had with Tai last night. "I also have a small surprise for him too." He opens his soccer bag to let the other two have a look inside.

"Greetings. I'm Tapirmon," greets the tapir-like Digimon.

"Is school out yet, Sho?" asks the little pink head next to Tapirmon.

"Three more hours, Koromon," Sho tells him.

"Koromon," Matt says tiredly.

"There's no telling what might happen. Better safe than sorry, right? I'd rather not take a chance with Tai's safety," Koromon tells them.

"Good idea," Matt nods as the bell rings. "See you later, Sho."

"See you later, Matt. Sora," Sho waves, zipping his bag back up but leaves it slightly open.

Once school is out, the Digidestined kids run off towards the hospital. It takes a while for them to get there on foot. Once there, they head up to Tai's room in time to hear him say, "Yeah that is an interesting theory, Izzy. It is worth a test."

"He's looking into something today, so it probably won't be until tomorrow or the next day," Izzy tells him.

"Are we interrupting?" Yuki asks coming in, swatting his head to the left to get his long black bangs out of his eyes.

"Not at all," Tai and Izzy tells them with a smile.

"Hm? How'd your cheek get red?" Sho asks, noticing Tai's left cheek a bit red.

"Oh. Heheh," Izzy chuckles nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, let's just say before Izzy got here, the phone rang," Tai explains, pointing to the phone in the room. "Answering it turned out to be a mistake. I didn't say anything but whoever called started talking right away. A really creepy and dark voice."

"I came in just to see Tai completely frozen with the phone inches from his ear," Izzy takes over. "I heard a creepy cackle once I got closer. Snatched the receiver from Tai and hung it up, but he was still frozen. Shaking him wasn't working as I thought 'what would Matt do?' Well, he'd punch him. I didn't want to hit him, but nothing else was working. I only slapped him."

"Which was all I needed to wake up, apparently," Tai smiles before playfully glaring at Izzy. "And you slap harder than you let on, Izzy." Izzy chuckles as Sho starts talking.

"Then it's another good thing I brought a surprise," Sho says, unzipping his bag as Koromon jumps out and into Tai's arms.

"Tai!" he shouts in worry.

"Koromon!" Tai smiles happily. "Hm? Actually. That voice on the phone was familiar too. Sora, you recall a couple months ago? That little accident we had?"

"Yeah. I remember," Sora nods. "We were talking like we normally do sometimes. Then you suddenly froze up with a terrified expression. You tripped over something and landed right on me. Freaking out and backing away when you realized where your hand landed."

"It took a punch from me to get him to stop freaking out so bad," Matt adds. "What was it that you were saying, Tai?"

"Aside from apologizing like crazy… 'Matt's going to kill me if Sora doesn't'," Tai sighs softly. "The reason why I froze up that time… I heard that voice. Don't know where it was coming from. Honestly, I don't even know why I froze up. I've heard creepy voices before."

"Maybe it was something it said," Hiroki says with a finger on his chin. "Do you remember what it said, Tai?"

"Hm… 'Finally found the original owner of the Crest of Courage. I have no use for the Original crest of Love. Once everything's in place, I'll be coming for you' then it cackled before I fell on Sora," Tai tells them with his eyes closed and arms crossed.

"Now that's troubling," Matt says in a warning tone. "Besides the cackling, was anything said before that, Tai? From the phone call."

"'I know it's you Courage. That little encounter in my forest was supposed to go differently. At least I got to mark you again. Catch you soon'," Tai shivers. "You know, now that I think about it. That creepy voice reminded me of Myotismon, Apocolamon, and Diaboromon."

"Now that's a bad combination," Izzy says in an uneasy tone. "Wait. 'Mark you again'? What's that mean?"

"Not sure exactly," Tai says, lightly grabbing his bandaged arm.

"This is where I come in. Right?" Tapirmon asks, poking his head out of Sho's soccer bag.

"Right. If anyone can help me recall the first time, it's your deep sleep trance," Tai nods. "But before that, I need to use the restroom." He pulls the blanket to the side before shifting his legs off the side of bed. His left leg in a cast, "Only thing is… I'm still not allowed to use crutches."

"Yeah, might pop your stitches if you did," Joe informs him. "One of us can help you or I could get the wheelchair."

"I think I'd rather have Matt's help," Tai sighs, standing up on his good leg.

"Not a problem," Matt says, helping his friend to the bathroom. While they wait for Tai to come back, Izzy opens his laptop. Typing away as an e-mail shows up on the screen.

"Hm?" he wonders, opening the e-mail to see a map of some kind with only a little bit of it lit up. "Well I'll be. Those GPS things Gennai uploaded into the D-3s also records the area of that forest the D-3 owner has been. Ken is amazing to have that figured out. Davis, T.K., Yolei and Cody are with him exploring a bit. Haven't found anything yet, but having a map will help."

"Awesome," Hiroki smiles with determination in his eyes.

"Kari," Tai calls, coming out of the bathroom with Matt's help.

"Yeah, Tai?" Kari asks, turning towards her brother.

"Mind calling mom and ask her if she remembers if I got hurt when I was younger? I was going to ask her this morning but I ended up falling back asleep before she left," Tai asks back.

"Yeah. I can do that," Kari nods with a smile, going to the phone.

"So, how does this 'deep sleep trance' work?" Matt asks, placing Tai on the edge of the bed.

"To put it simply," Sho explains. "Tapirmon puts you in a deep sleep. He'll bring memories from maybe when you were two or three years old to the surface. The trance part basically allows you to walk through those memories. Tapirmon will also be with you inside your memories. It's an easier way for him to wake you up."

"Alright then," Matt nods as Tai lays down in the bed.

"Okay, Tapirmon. Let's see if we can find any clues," Tai says, his eyes giving off determination.

"I'll be right here beside you, Tai," Koromon tells him.

"Thanks Koromon," Tai smiles as Tapirmon's sleeping smoke lightly falls on the bed. Putting Tai to sleep while the others sit down in chairs or the edge of the bed. Kari talking with her mother on the phone.

"Moonlight Daycare? Never heard of that place, mom," Kari says in a questionable tone.

"After that incident, we decided to keep your brother home. At the time, you were still just a baby. True I could've kept your brother at home with us at that time… but he was getting a bit too rambunctious for me to handle while also taking care of you. I also didn't want him to be clingy towards me. However, I turned clingy to him after the incident. He wouldn't remember what happened unless he somehow goes through his sub-consciousness," Mrs. Kamiya explains. "Do you kids think it's related somehow?"

"Somehow yes, mom," Kari tells her. "Tai's going through his sub-consciousness right now. There are a lot of things we need to figure out, mom,"

"Right. I'll run home after work and find those pictures the doctors took. I'll be there around dinner time," Mrs. Kamiya tells her daughter.

"Right, see you soon, mom," Kari says hanging up. Turning to the others, "Does anyone know about the Moonlight Daycare?"

"I haven't the foggiest idea what that place is," Matt says with a shrug. The others saying the same thing as Tai suddenly jolts awake huffing heavily with a shout.

"Ah!" the others shout, all turning towards their sweating friend.

"What happened, Tai?" Yuki asks worriedly, coming over to the bed.

"I… completely forgot… about that… daycare," Tai huffs hard, placing a hand over his eye.

"Here, Tai," Izzy says, coming over with a cup of water.

"Thanks… Izzy," Tai huffs, taking the cup and takes a drink. Huffing more trying to catch his breath. Once he did, he began talking again. "Three-years-old, yeah I wouldn't have remembered much of anything at that age. Playing outside by the sandbox, creepy cackle 'You'll do nicely'. Something shot out of the ground." He places a finger a bit below his right knee and pulls it up to his thigh. "Only on the left leg not the right. Everything went dark at that moment. Thought I was out for only a day or two but it turned out to be three months. Almost as if I dreamed the whole thing. The wound was gone too. Man."

"'You'll do nicely'? I don't like the sound of that," Hiroki shivers slightly.

Dinner time comes around as Mrs. Kamiya comes in the room to see all the kids. "Good evening, kids," she smiles.

"Good evening, Mrs. Kamiya," the kids greet her, stepping aside so she could walk over to the bed.

"Did you eat, Tai?" she asks, sitting down in the chair closest to the bed.

"Yeah and dad brought me lunch. He took the empty rice bowl," Tai nods.

"Right. I found the pictures from that time," she places a bag of food on the floor before going through her other bag. Taking out a letter envelope as she hands it to her son. "No one knew what could've caused that wound. No one has ever seen it before. It took almost two full months to heal." Tai opens the envelope and takes out the pictures.

"Joe, come here. Take a look at these," Tai says, staring at the pictures of his first 'blast' wound. Joe comes over and looks at the pictures.

"Man. Only difference in the two wounds that I can see is the length," Joe verifies, gazing over at his friend. "Let's change that bandage, Tai." He goes over to the counter, cleaning his hands before slipping on a pair of plastic gloves. "For now, I'm only permitted to change bandages without supervision."

"Right," Tai smiles softly, gazing at his arm to see blood staining the bandages. "The stitches are small and close together, right?"

"Yeah," Joe says, carefully taking the bandages off his friend's arm. Revealing the stitches as Joe first cleans the blood before wrapping fresh bandages around them. "With the stitches this close together, it shouldn't be bleeding this much. Definitely not a normal wound."

"Mom. Is that daycare still around?" Tai asks, now facing his mother.

"Abandoned since that day, but yes," Mrs. Kamiya replies, giving her son the dinner she made him.

"Thanks mom," Tai smiles as he eats. Later that night, Tai e-mails Ken.

~So this theory about your spore and my wound, it's worth a test~

He didn't have to wait long. Ken replies back within two minutes.

~I think it'd be best to test it when you're discharged. Maybe at your place~

~Sounds like a plan, Ken. Did you and the others find anything in that forest? ~

~Unfortunately, no. Just more trees and the vine weren't moving at all. Some small cliffs as well. What we've explored so far should be on Izzy's laptop~

~Right. He got your e-mail about that. Anyway, I'll see you later, Ken. Get some rest~

~I will. You get some rest too~ With that, they fall asleep. Koromon asleep under Tai's arm.

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