• CHAPTER 35 - VISITING HOURS

    Some miracles come unexpectedly...just as some visitors do as well...

    I sat down, hunched over the hospital toilet in my room, puking my guts out once more in a while. Kai sat behind me patiently, holding my hair back. I was in a little state of shock and disbelief at the fact that Takeuchi spoke to Kai through his head. He didn't necessarily speak to Kai, Kai just happened to be listening. Kai had been in tune with Takeuchi's thoughts and it was the first time he had said anything in his head. Kai and I ended up sitting in his room for a couple more hours, watching him, until my sickness caught up with me and I darted to my room rather than the bathroom in Takeuchi's room.

    Kai rubbed my back gently, "You feeling better?"

    I hacked one more time, "No. I feel like s**t." I moaned.

    He chuckled, "I thought it was kind of strange that you hadn't gotten sick the whole time you were here. I guess I jinxed you."

    "Oh, you think it's so funny," I hissed and vomited again.

    Kai waited for another few minutes until I was done with my business and I brushed my teeth a million times right away, just in the off chance that Kai would even think about wanting to kiss me. I put my toothbrush down and instantly collapsed, only to have Kai break my fall.

    "Sorry, I got dizzy," I sighed, looking around in a daze.

    "You're tired too. I'll carry you to bed." and he picked me up swiftly.

    He sprawled me onto the bed and tucked me into the blankets except for my arms. He circled to the other side of my bed where the IVs were and grabbed one of the needles.

    He stared at me apologetically, "I'm sorry, Arisa. I need to put the needles back in."

    My heart skipped a beat and I glared at him, "No way, Kai. Not you."

    Kai found a tourniquet and tied it around my bicep, cutting circulation in my arm and he felt around the crease of my elbow for a vein. Without much more hesitation, he slid the needle in easily and untied the tourniquet before I could bite his head off. He quickly slid the other needle into the big vein in my hand and smiled at me.

    "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

    "It still hurt," I frowned, "But how did you know what to do?"

    "I've been around for a hundred and seventy-six years. I've gone to medical school before."

    That hit me hard across the face and I was on the verge of laughing. Kai at medical school??

    "I quit as soon as we started working with blood," he frowned, "But Matsuda ended up teaching me everything else," he snickered, "using Takeuchi as the patient."

    I had to laugh at that. I could see Takeuchi either freaking out or actually enjoying that, playing "doctor". I'm sure he's not enjoying this kind of "doctor", though. Kai stood next to me on my left and stroked my hair.

    "Is there anything you or Matsuda could do to help Takeuchi out of this?" I whispered, getting more tired since it was four in the morning.

    "Medicine won't cure this," he whispered back, "Only willpower."

    "But he'll find the willpower, right?" I asked hopefully, "He wants too see his baby, right?"

    "Of course he does," he brushed my bangs around, "He's strong."

    "Kai, I've already lost a sister. I don't want to lose a brother." my voice cracked.

    He leaned down and kissed me a few times, "Me neither,"

    Takeuchi was more of a little brother to Kai than he was to me. They've been together longer through thick and thin. Kai would be absolutely devastated if Takeuchi were to pass away, to no longer be around.

    Kai unconsciously played around with my fingers as I was on the verge of passing out. Kai stiffened once more and his face was full of shock and curiosity rather than confusion. He whipped around and I looked over at the direction he was. An unexpected guest had walked into my room; Kira.

    "Kira?" I breathed.

    I fell confused and was wondering if my eyes were tricking me, if I were too sick. Kai wasn't even growling like he had been for the past weeks since Kira last attacked me. Kira stood in the shadows by the door and kept his hands in his pockets nonchalantly. He stepped forward a little and his eyes were a deep green, tame. They weren't red like they had been so long ago.

    The memory of Kira attacking that innocent teenage girl echoed throughout my head suddenly and I cringed at the thought. He looked pretty harmless now, but he was just a murderer several days ago. Kai stood in front of me protectively, but he never let a growl slip past his teeth.

    "How did you find us here?" Kai's voice was a little hard, but more curious.

    "Matsuda called me,"

    His voice sent a wave of amazement through me. It had been so long since I heard his voice and it sounded just as musical as Kai's did. He was just as beautiful too, but still looked a little disturbed. He inched his way towards Kai and I but Kai didn't flinch as I had expected. Maybe Kira was over his cravings?

    "Matsuda called me a couple of days ago when Takeuchi first came into the hospital," he looked down at me, "But I wanted to come as soon as I was over my craving."

    My neck started throbbing at the phantom pain from where Kira bit me. The memory was lingering and now it'd be stuck in my head for a while. Kira slipped past Kai and Kai moved out of the way, allowing him to inch his way towards me. I was about to scream at Kai, thinking he was out of his mind, until Kira extended his hand and his fingertips barely touched my cheek. He slid his hand down my neck and he rubbed my bandages. Kai had a hint of unease on his face at the fact that Kira was touching me so passionately.

    "You were almost...turned into a Werewolf," Kira cringed.

    I flinched and nodded my head, a new pain forming throughout my body. The feeling of the burning was still crystal clear to me, just as I was sure the burning from Vampire venom was clear for Kai and Kira. Kira cupped my neck and stared at me apologetically.

    "I'm sorry," he whispered, "for when I attacked you again."

    "Yeah," I was too tired to say anything else, but was almost too afraid to sleep now that Kira was here.

    Kira pulled his hand away and tucked it back into his pocket and turned to face Kai, "I assume you sucked the venom out of her?"

    Kai nodded and looked down with a glare, remembering the wolf and my pain. He was blaming himself, I knew it. He thought he was too weak to stop the Werewolf and it got away, but it wasn't his fault. I'm the one with the blood everybody wants, I'm the one with the weak human body, I'm the one who just had to stop to want to eat some snow.

    Kira shook his head, smiled, and sighed, "Wrost holiday season ever," he whispered.

    I smiled lightly at Kira but Kai kept his glare at the ground, distracted. Kira turned to me once again, "Why else are you in the hospital?" he asked me.

    "Flu and pneumonia," I answered, "I've been in here as long as Takeuchi has since I'm too weak. I'm sick all the time."

    Kai leaned over and stroked my head, "You need to sleep. You've been up for too long. You'll never get better at this rate." he sighed.

    "But Kira just got here," I looked over at Kira with pleading eyes, "I don't want him to leave again."

    "He won't," Kai reassured, "We'll just be talking in the hallway and we'll come back in. Get to sleep."

    I smiled weakly and sighed heavily, fatigue drowning out me being. I smiled a little wider as I stared at the two enamorous brothers, watching over me. Kai reached over and switched off the light of my lamp and him and Kira quietly made their way out of my room as I drifted off into a heavy slumber, too heavy for nightmares.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    "Arisa?" Kai whispered. He shook my shoulder lightly, "Arisa, are you awake?"

    No. I'm not. I groaned and cracked open my eyes and wasn't too surprised to see the blinds drawn to avoid the sunlight. I sighed in irritation and glared at Kai, though it probably didn't look to threatening since I was still so tired.

    "Arisa, Miku came back to the hospital. She slipped into early labor." Kai whispered again, "They're trying to stop it, but they most likely will be able to."

    My eyes opened completely and I shot upright. Miku slipped into early labor? I knew the stress would get to her, I knew it. Everybody warned her, but she didn't listen. Now she'll be putting a bigger burden on Takeuchi.

    "When did this happen?"

    "A couple of hours ago," Kai confirmed.

    I read the clock onthe wall and it said it was noon. I was angry at Miku, angry at her because she wasn't being strong enough, she was being too pessimistic. Of course, I'm pessimistic all the time, but I'm not the pregnant one. I only end up getting sick, but she'd be much worse.

    "Does Takeuchi know?" I choked out.

    Kai shook his head, "No, he doesn't. And he's not going to know either."

    "I told her to stay calm," I sighed, "She didn't listen."

    "Don't forget," Kai started, "that she's pregnant with a half human half Werewolf. It's surprising she's been able to get along this far."

    Kai gently pushed me back down by my left shoulder and pulled the blanket up to my neck. My blinks were slow since sleep was still wanting to consume me. I looked around the room and finally noticed Kira's absence. I tried to sit up again but Kai only held me back.

    "Where'd Kira go?" I asked angrily. Kira promised me he'd stay.

    "He's in Takeuchi's room right now with Matsuda,"

    "You're not still mad at him, are you?" I asked Kai, burrowing my eyebrows together in a straight line.

    Kai sighed and tapped his fingers a couple of times on my blanket. He looked down, "I'm still angry, but at least you're alive. If it was anybody else he would have attacked, I would have understood since it's an uncontrollable craving, but since it was you, I couldn't--can't--forgive him."

    Then I asked the question I had been wondering for weeks, "Is he immortal?"

    Kai's head shot up and he stared at me in shock, "He drank that much?"

    "Just about," I started regretting bringing that up, "I think he would have been if I wouldn't have stopped him halfway through."

    Kai clenched his fist but I grabbed it quickly, "Relax, Kai. It's okay."

    He unclenched his fist and sighed heavily, a tiring sigh. I stared at his complexion and violet rings circled the bottom of his eyes. I frowned at him and sat up straight.

    "Sleep, Kai," I demanded.

    He shook his head, "I'm fine. You're the one who's sick, and Takeuchi. You need to sleep more than I do. I need to keep watch over you and check on Takeuchi."

    "But you can sleep in between checkups," I advised, "You look horrible."

    "I'm fine," he hissed.

    "You've been up for days," I hissed back, "So if you won't sleep, then I won't sleep."

    Kai pulled up the corner of his mouth in a smirk and raised an eyebrow, "Try me,"

    "You really piss me off sometimes," I groaned.

    Kai only sighed again and stared off into space, concentrating. I waited patiently so I could ask him what he wat thinking about...or maybe he was sleeping with his eyes open.

    "Anything else from Takeuchi?" I broke the silence.

    Kai shook his head, "No. Not yet."

    It still wasn't making sense to me that Takeuchi was apologizing. He did the best he could. He's like Kai; he won't let anything go, he blames himself for most things. And he doesn't feel that infinite apologies would make up for it. Kai picked up my left hand again and examined my ring finger.

    "I'd say your ring size is about a five," he said.

    I blushed deep red again, "Um, sure,"

    Kai froze again and was concentrating hard and I only made the assumption it had something to do with Takeuchi. I held his hand and waited for the outcome. Kai's face fell and went sorrow and he looked down.

    "He's thinking about Miku," he whispered, probably to himself, "He misses her beyond shadow of a doubt."

    "What's going on in his mind?" I asked, "Is he picturing her or what?"

    "He's...," he concentrated hard, "He's thinking about the Christmas dinner at Miku's...And when he ran off after telling his friends about you...He barely said goodbye to her."

    My heart sank and I let out my breath. It was way too bad that he didn't know Miku was here. We didn't know if it would stress him out more, knowing she'd be stressed out, or if it would help him pull through, but we didn't want to risk it.

    Kai and I switched our attention as my door opened and shut and Kira walked into the room and stood at my bedside. His hands were tucked into his pockets, as usual.

    "Miku made it through okay. She'll just need to stay here for another day or two." Kira confirmed.

    "There's nothing wrong, though, is there?" Kai asked.

    Kira shook his head, "No. She's doing fine. But she's in a little more pain than a normal girl should be."

    For some reason, as Kira talked, I couldn't remove my eyes from his gleaming and cuspidate fangs. I was still scared of him inside, still afraid his craving hadn't been satisfied. After another moment of small talk between Kai and Kira, Matsuda came rushing into the room.

    "You guys, get Arisa and yourselves to Takeuchi's room quickly," he rushed and he was gone again.

    I searched Kai and Kria's faces, panicked. Kai and Kira stared at each other with confusion and little shock. Kai made his way to the other side of my bed and gently pulled the needles out of my hand and my arm and helped me out of the bed and Kira got me my slippers. We rushed to Takeuchi's room, just as Matsuda commanded, and inched our way to Takeuchi's bed after we entered.

    "He's...," Kai whispered.

    Very subtly, very slowly and carefully, Takeuchi's eyebrows burrowed together and moved his head to the side less than an inch. He squeezed his eyes carefully, regaining the full knowledge that he was alive and wanting to fight...for him and his family.