Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Emergency ❯ Hospital ( Chapter 1 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Digimon Dreamer 
Matt's in the hospital again, and no onehas a clue as to what could be wrong with him. Memories run amuck in this chapter.
Please R&R.
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 05.27.2002 | Updated On: 05.28.2002 | Pages: 3 | Words: 7.4K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Completed
Matt's in the hospital again, and no onehas a clue as to what could be wrong with him. Memories run amuck in this chapter.
Please R&R.
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 05.27.2002 | Updated On: 05.28.2002 | Pages: 3 | Words: 7.4K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Completed
Disclaimer; I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON! NOT IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM! UNDERSTAND PEOPLE? I'M MAKING NO MONEY OFF OF THIS! (unfortunety! sob sob). for those unable to guess the ages of the didgidestined in my story here you go:
TK: 10, grade 5
Kari: 10grade 5
Mimi 13, grade 8
Izzy 13, grade 8
Tai 14, grade 9
Sora 15 grade 9
Matt 14 grade 10
Joe 16 grade 10
If some of the ages seem weird to you, it's because of birthdays or whatever, k?
On with this story.
P.S. there are so far no couplings but there are a few hints of them here and there.
PPS Please REVIEW!
The digidestined looked down at the fourteen year old's thin form on the hospital bed. His blond hair contrasting sharply with the pillow below his head. His skin as fair as the sheets he rested on, and his breathing so shallow that it was barely detectable. There was a steady beeping in the backround monitoring the blond's heartbeat. Matt had been in the hospital 3 hours so far and the doctors still weren't positive as to exactly what was wrong with him.
TK was gripping his brother's right hand tightly; afraid to let go for some reason. Sora was sitting on Yamato's left side holding his other hand on her lap. Joe and Mimi stood awkwardly beside her unsure of how to behave. Kari had her arm around TK and was trying to comfort him. Izzy was babysitting his neighbours so he wasn't there yet, and Tai was in the hallway calling him for his quarterly update. Mr. Ishida and Ms. Takaishi were standing at the back of the room watching their elder son nervously, neither saying what was really on their minds.
They both knew how sickly Matt really was; he didn't show it too much though. All his friends ever saw were the unnaturally pale complexion, unhealthily thin frame, and the occasional cough. His brother rarely saw more(or so they thought). He never allowed his friends to see the weakness, fatigue, nausea or pain that plagued him everyday. Whenever his Dad asked why he never told anyone Matt would reply: It's my problem, it's private and no one else needs to know. The truth was that it had gotten so bad recently that Matt had to see a doctor every week and go to hospitals at least twice a month because of illness. He was on so much medication that he was almost always angry, depressed or irritable (At least that's what they thought the reason was). He had tried going without medication with his father's permission for a short while and he'd ended up in the hospital for two weeks because of it. There were so many things that were hard or dangerous for him because he had such a weak immune system. Doctors were still trying to figure out exactly what the problem was, but until that time Matt was destined to be pretty miserable.
Matt stirred slowly but didn't open his eyes. His right hand hurt immensely, and his chest and stomach hurt too. He could sense people standing around him, and knew that he definetly wasn't at home; no one ever went into his room for any reason without his permission-not even his father. He could hear a steady beeping in the background and he groaned inwardly; he was in the hospital again. He couldn't stand hospitals they meant pain, sickness, treatment, and side-effects.
Matt tried to figure out was wrong with himself this time. He could feel a burning sensation in his chest. His abdomen was as sore as if he'd just been punched there 5 times. His hand still hurt but he'd realized that it was only because someone was gripping it too tightly. He felt unbelievably cold but he could tell that he must have fever. His stomach was churning close to purging itself of it's contents. He also felt a bit light headed; like he wasn't really there.
He finally opened his eyes and the room spun for a moment before everything came into a blurred, distorted, fuzzy view. He recognized his friends standing around him and his first reaction was anger; they didn't need to be here. It was his problem when he became ill. It was a private matter and none of his friends needed to know about it. Now they would treat him like they did TK and Kari or they'd never want to see him again. That's what had happened at his old school when they'd found out. Teachers would always ask if he was feeling well, bullies would make fun of him everyday, his friends shied away; afraid that they'd catch something from him. It was then that Matt had learned just to stay out of peoples' way and remain unnoticed by everyone. He became a quiet loner with few friends; interacting with others only when neccesary; in classes, with his parents and TK, and with doctors. Then the rumors started. People knew nothing about him so they made up things to tell their friends. That's when Matt had learned to fight. People stopped making up rumors when they were afraid that he would hurt them.
Tai walked back into the room, as his parents left to talk to Dr. Kido "I called Izzy. He seems real upset that he can't be here too. Feels kind of guilty I think."
"You can tell him I'm fine." Matt said in a strong voice that didn't show how he was really feeling.
"Matt! Your awake!" TK screeched jumping on him "I was worried about you!"
Matt didn't-couldn't-respond. TK had landed with all of his ten-year-old bulk on Matt's chest, forcing all of the air from the older boy's lungs. Matt tried to push him off, but he had barely enough strength to move his arms. Thankfully Mr. Ishida pried his sons apart without too much difficulty.
"Are you okay Matt?" He asked nervously; TK could pack quite a punch when he jumped on someone like that, especially when you weren't expecting it.
Matt nodded slightly; embarrased to have shown so much weakness to his friends.
"We were so worried about you!" Sora exclaimed squeezing on Matt's hand slightly.
Matt squirmed uncomfortably and pulled his hand back. Sora looked hurt, but there was nothing he could do about that right now.
"It was kind of freaky." Joe commented "I asked you to pass the sulpheric acid and you collapsed on me."
"Sorry." Matt replied shocked; he couldn't believe he'd passed out during science class, he was about to ask what happened afterwards, but Dr. Kido walked in.
"If you wouldn't all mind retreating to the waiting room I need to speak to Yamato and his parents alone. You can come back in a few minutes...Thankyou." He said as TK and the others left the room sullenly.
He gave the family a few minutes to talk.
"Matt, how are you feeling?" Nancy asked concerned.
Matt considered lying to get himself out of the hospital faster, but that would only end up making things worse for him in the long run "I feel like crap. I always do, remember?"
Normally his mother would have gotten angry at that comment, but she decided to let it slide "Of course I remember Matt. I just wanted to know."
"I'm sorry," Matt mumbled.
"Do you know what's wrong this time? According to Joe you just fainted dead away in science class." His dad, Malcom, added.
Matt shook his head. Every time he was in the hospital so many thoughts and questions went swimming through his head, but one always rose to the surface, and he asked before he could stop himself.
"Am I going to die?" He asked simply; no fear, only curiosity.
"I don't know." His father answered truthfully.
"I hope not." His mother said shakily; apparently the thought had never entered her head before.
Dr. Kido decided to break up the conversation before it became even more depressing. He couldn't believe how calm Matt and his father were. They had obviously talked about that scenario openly. He knew that if Joe was in Matt's condition they'd both be terrified.
"Well, I think we should get the mandatory tests over with. I know that none of you want to be here longer than you need to be. I need to give Matt a general checkup, a blood test, and I need to decide whether or not to increase his medication dosages. So if you'd be so kind as to follow me Matt, we'll get this over with now." Dr. Kido said pleasantly.
Matt tried to get up from the bed, but he didn't have the strength or the energy required for the effort. He shook his head.
"What's wrong?" Dr. Kido asked concerned.
"I don't have the strength to at the moment, I'm sorry." Matt said ashamed of showing even more weakness than he had already.
"That's fine," Dr. Kido replied a bit surprised "I'll bring my equipment in here...I'll be right back."
Matt let himself be completely supported by the bed, letting his tense musles finally relax. He closed his eyes slowly. His mother, fearing the worst, shook him gently. Matt's eyes snapped open.
"What now?" He asked not hiding the annoyance he felt.
"I'm sorry son, I was afraid that you had...died." Nancy replied uncomfortably.
Matt smiled weakly "Not yet."
The digidestined in the waiting room were sitting around feeling completely useless, they couldn't help Matt and they knew it. They really wanted to be doing something other than sitting on their hands pointlessly though.
TK was pacing and he felt horrible, his parents hadn't realized but he'd known that something was wrong with Matt since he was three years old. He wasn't sure exactly how he'd known, but the knowledge had always been there. In the digital world TK had always been afraid that something horrible would happen to Matt. He'd been terrified after Gabumon told him about what had happened to Matt after they'd been separated by Devimon. TK also knew that Matt had been getting worse and becoming ill more often. The last time that he'd spent the night at his father's Matt had been too tired to do anything with him and he'd gone to bed at Nine O'clock! TK felt so guilty. Matt had always protected him and sheltered him from anything that could possibly hurt him, and now TK was helpless to return the gesture.
Joe still couldn't believe that Matt had passed out in the middle of science class. He'd almost hit his head on the counter, but Joe had broken his fall. He'd yelled at him to watch where he was going before he'd realized that Matt was unconscious. Mr. Matsunoko came running the moment he'd noticed and called the office. He covered up what had happened by demanding to know what had happened to the fire drill that had been scheduled. This was obviously some sort of code because the fire bell rang instantly. The teacher had stopped Joe from leaving and an ambulance arrived a few minutes later. Joe was fairly sure that none of his classmates had noticed Matt's collapse. Joe headed for the hospital immediately, and called his friends after he knew their school would be finished. Everyone had rushed over immediately, except for Izzy who had to babysit for his neighbours Sara, Cara, and Lara until six. Joe looked at his watch; Izzy'd be here any moment. Joe hoped that his father would be able to figure out what was wrong with Matt; Joe didn't want to lose his oldest friend. He remembered how when Matt had skipped into his fifth grade class after transferring from Westside he'd had no friends whatsoever. Joe didn't have any either and eventually they became friends. Joe remembered one incident in seventh grade with particular detail. Matt had drifted away a lot that year so his actions were a bit of a shock.
Some bullies from his split 6/7 class had been playing keep away with his lunch...
"Come on guys give it back, you don't really want a PB and J sandwich that badly do you?" Joe asked hopelessly; knowing the answer.
"Of course we do, if it means you can't have it!" Tai had exclaimed (yes Tai the leader of the digidestined. What can I say? 6th grade guys are jerks).
"Please? I'm starving!" Joe whined (It had to start somewhere).
"What are you going to give me for it?" Tai asked curiously.
Joe thought "I'll...I'll do your Math homework for a week."
Matt, who had been watching just a short distance away, he walked up to the scene that was being made and snatched the lunch bag away from Tai before he could stop him.
"Why on earth would you want to do this slug's homework? He just stole your lunch if you hadn't noticed. I don't think he should be getting rewards do you? I mean really Joe, you have the strangest ideas sometimes." Matt said calmly, swinging the bag on his finger.
"Thanks Matt." Joe said taking back his bag from Matt.
Matt turned to the wild haired sixth grader "If you or any of your friends try that again, I'll beat the living crap out of you, understand?"
Tai nodded meekly, and Joe turned to watch him and his buddies run off. When he turned to thank Matt again he was already half way back to the building.
Matt really did deserve the crest of friendship.
Mimi really wanted Matt to be okay. They weren't the closest of friends (they weren't the closest of anything), but that didn't mean she wanted him to get hurt. She remembered the time he'd defended her in the digiworld when she was honouring their dead friends. Tai had been impatient and wanted to move on. Everyone had been with Mimi when it came to honouring Chuumon, Pixiemon, Whamon and Wizardmon, but Matt was the only one willing to say anything. For that she respected him. She wanted him to recover from whatever was ailing him, even if it meant he would only continue to ignore her.
Sora was worried. Matt had looked really ill. Pale, weak, and everything. She remembered seeing Ms. Takaishi's face when she walked into the room. She'd looked terrified; almost as though she thought that Matt was going to die. That was silly though, wasn't it? Matt only had the flu or something right? Sora was starting to get nervous; just thinking that someone who had onced saved her life could be dying was unnerving.
Sora flashbacked to her brush with darkness in the digital world. She remembered her feelings of fear and shock as she fell down that hole. Her thoughts of loneliness, coldness, depression, and betrayal. She remembered Biomon trying to help, but a digimon like her would never understand exactly what was happening to Sora. Then she remembered the way that Joe and Matt had run to her. She remembered feeling-almost seeing-the warmth, friendship and loyalty that seemed to be radiating from Matt. She remembered how he'd offered to help her, but hadn't forced her to do anything against her will. She knew that anyone else would've seen her as an insecure wimp at that moment, but he hadn't. For that she loved him. Not as a potential boyfriend or anything like that. She loved him like TK did; in an indescribable way. She loved him like a brother, in a way that no one could ever change. If he died she knew that her heart would break and she'd never be able to mend it.
Kari had finally succeeded in forcing TK to cease his incessant pacing. They were now sitting side by side as she held him. He looked terrified and she couldn't blame him. If Tai had been in that room she'd have been sobbing by now. As it was she was still terribly upset, and close to bursting into tears. Matt had been a sort of stand-in brother whenever Tai wasn't around; which wasn't often. She thought it was kind of funny how different they were and how much they both cared for the other digidestined; herself and TK especially.
She began to relive an incident that she kept trying to forget but just couldn't. It had been only a few weeks ago. She'd been walking home from her piano class much later than usual. It had been a few hours since dusk and she was already scared. She'd suddenly heard footsteps behind her. She quickened her pace and so did whover was following her. She broke into a run and so did her stalker. He was faster than she was and he reached out and grasped her shoulder roughly.
"Hello there you pretty little thing," He said in an oily voice.
He was about six feet tall, a bit pudgy and he smelled of alcohol and smoke. His hair was unkempt and his clothing was worn, ragged, and teared. He was grinning evily.
Kari voiced an ear splitting cry "HHEEEELLLLLLLLPPP!"
The man clasped his hand over her mouth almost immediately. Kari's mind was reeling. She couldn't believe this was happening. She was going to be raped or killed or both! She had never been so terrified before. Not facing Myotismon. Not against Piedmon or the other dark masters. Not even against Apocalymon. She would've given anything to have had Gatomon or Angewoman appear out of nowhere. Unfortunetly that wasn't going to happen. The man was dragging her towards an alleyway.
Matt had been about 100 metres down the street, walking home from his band rehersal. He heard the scream and ran to see what had happened. As he drew nearer he saw two figures heading towards an alley in a strange shuffling motion. He automatically recognized one of the figures as Kari and she was pale with fear.
When he was close enough to be heard he yelled "Let her go you creep!"
The man turned and regarded Matt with a sneer "How're you going to make me?"
"Let her go." He repeated coldly, dropping his guitar with a loud thud.
"Get lost punk, she's mine...find your own b***h." The jerk said angrily.
"Don't refer to her like that, she's my friend. Let her go gently or-" Matt was cut off before he could finish his threat.
"Or what? You'll call the police? I'll be long gone by the time those fools get here."
Matt pulled a switchblade from his pocket, flicked it open, and had it against the man's neck before the scum could blink "Not exactly what I had planned, as you can plainly see. Now let my friend go, or I will sink this into your neck so deep you'll be dead in a heartbeat you bastard."
Kari's attacker hesitated and Matt moved the blade just enough so that a single drop of blood ran down it's length from the creep's neck.
The scum, now knowing that Matt meant business, immediately released Kari and ran for his life with his hand clasped to his neck. Matt wiped the blade on the grass to get the blood off, closed it and returned it to his pocket as calmly as if nothing had happened.
Kari stood a few feet away. She was pale and trembling with shock.
"Kari?" Matt questioned softly.
She burst into tears and sank to her knees. Matt walked over to her, and helped her up. She buried herself in his chest and held on for dear life. He held her for a moment, until she was slightly less hysteric.
"I'm going to take you home right up to your door, right up to your room if you want." Matt told her gently.
"No! Please No!" She said hysterically, still crying her eyes out.
"Why not?" Matt asked concerned.
"They won't understand! They'll be angry that I was out this late walking alone in this neighborhood! I can't face them right now! I just can't! Don't make me! Please don't make me?!" She asked and then buried her face again.
Matt knew that she was being irrational, but he didn't want to make her any more upset or scared than she already was "Tell you what Kari, it's Friday and my dad's apartment is just a block away. You can stay over tonight and I'll bring you home tomorrow. I'll let our parents know what's going on, so they won't be worried. My dad won't mind, this happened to another friend of mine a year ago. When your ready we'll go to the police. Does all that sound okay to you?"
Kari nodded fervently, her crying had lessened somewhat "Thankyou so much Matt! I don't want to think what would've happened if you hadn't been here."
"Don't think about it." Matt instructed firmly, picking up his guitar "Let's go."
Kari and Matt headed towards the apartment, Kari still clinging to Matt for dear life as though he were a life preserver. When they arrived Matt had stationed Kari on the couch and set about making things hospitable. He made her some tea, and fixed up the guest room for her. He'd called his father who didn't mind in the slightest; he was glad that Matt actually cared about something/someone. Matt then called Kari's parents told them he'd found her, she'd had a shock, and he'd brought her back to his house so that she wouldn't have to travel so far. Her parents weren't exactly thrilled with the plan but they went along with it anyway.
Matt made Kari watch a goofy disney movie which calmed her down quite a bit. When Matt was about to leave after tucking her in safely a question struck her.
"Matt?" She asked timidly.
"Yeah?" He said perching on the edge of her bed.
"I...I wanted to know if..." She trailed off unsure of how to ask her question.
"Kari you don't have to worry, that 'man' won't ever hurt you or come near you ever again. We'll go to the police as soon as your ready and tell them everything, Okay?" Matt reassured her.
"It's not that," Matt gave her a questioning gaze "I just wanted to know if you really would've killed that creep...or if.."
"Kari, do you know what he might've done to you if I hadn't been there?" Matt asked seriously.
Kari shuddered and nodded.
Matt cast his gaze downward "Then you know the answer. Good night."
Kari found it unnerving to know that Matt was willing to kill for her, but it was also nice to know that he cared that much about her. She felt TK shift beneath her arm.
"Your squeezing a bit hard." He explained.
"Sorry." She apologized.
Matt is going to be fine if I have any pull or say in this she told herself firmly.
Tai stared at Matt's door unblinkingly. Tai was still in denial about what was happening to his best friend. It seemed so strange. Matt had always seemed to be the strong one. Always in control. He could recall countless times that Matt had stopped him from doing something foolish or helped him through rough times. He'd always help, even if he hurt himself in the process. One event stood out with particular clarity.
He began to recall the events of the previous year. Kari had gone into a coma for a few weeks. She'd been in this very same hospital. It had been just a week after the net battle with Diaboromon. Kari had been in a car accident and had ended up with a hair line fracture of her fourth vertebrate; an almost broken neck. Tai had gone into shock. He'd secluded himself in his own little world to try and protect himself from pain and sorrow. TK had reacted similarly. The other digidestined had felt the fear that they might lose one of their own as well. Matt had tried to comfort and reassure Tai, while Izzy tried to help the others who weren't quite as disturbed.
Matt had managed to take his depressed "life ain't worth livin' state for almost two hours before he snapped. He'd grabbed Tai and pinned him to the wall.
"If you don't snap out of this right now, I swear I'll beat you." He'd said deathly serious.
Tai burst into tears. Matt released him and waited for him to stop crying. Matt had been determined to make Tai see reason.
"Do you think I've never felt depression?" The blond had asked softly.
"I don't know." Tai had responded exasperatedly.
Matt had been shocked, but he recovered and replied "Well I have and it isn't the most pleasant experiance. Especially when it lasts for a long time."
"Long?" Tai snorted "What's that? A few hours?"
"Years." Matt had replied starting to lose his temper.
"Years?" Tai asked suddenly curious "I never noticed."
"None of my friends did 'cept maybe Izzy. I cut myself off from so much. I missed so much. I spent most of my time being pessimistic and thinking negatively. I felt worthless because I was over critical of myself. I wouldn't become attached to anyone because I was afraid to let them down." Matt responded softly, trying to remain stoical.
"How long did it last?" Tai asked nervously.
"All my life (Tai nearly keeled over), but it was the worst the year before we went to the digital world and while we were in it." Matt had replied softly, trying to will Tai not to probe further. He'd answer if he did, but it would be hard to help him if he burst into tears.
"Now?" Tai asked curiously.
Matt took a moment before he responded "Most of the time, but not nearly as bad since the digital world. Being around Gabumon really helped. Cutting yourself off from things you care about is not the way to deal with pain, sadness, or sorrow, okay?"
Tai didn't say anything for a while, and Matt concentrated on not crying. Suddenly Tai turned to face Matt. He didn't seem nearly as down, he almost seemed like himself.
"Why?" He questioned "Why were you so depressed for so long?"
"Don't ask." Matt had replied icily.
"Why not?" Tai persisted curiously; seeming even more like his old self.
"Cause it's none of your damn business!" Matt had shouted jumping up.
"Woah, I'm sorry Matt." Tai had apologized immediately.
"So am I." He had returned in his softest voice, which was barely audible "Let's go see Kari so she can see how much better you're feeling."
"Okay, good idea. Maybe she'll even wake up." Tai had agreed enthusiatically.
Tai was still trying to figure out why that coversation had made him feel so much better. Maybe it was realizing that the world wouldn't end if he was depressed. Maybe it was because he'd been too caught up in the story to notice he was sad. Maybe it was because he'd been so thoroughly confused as to why Matt was opening up to him he'd forgotten. Maybe it was because Matt was the only one not trying to tell him to perk up because Kari would be fine considering the fact she could've died. Either way, Matt had helped him to deal with his emotions and move on with life. Kari had woken up 3 days later.
Another upside to that conversation was that it made Tai a better friend. He'd started to pay closer attention to his friends and their emotions. He'd realized that Matt usually was depressed but he tried to work around it.
Izzy was racing to the hospital as fast as he could. He still couldn't believe that Matt had collapsed during science class and was still unconscious. He knew that Matt got sick really often, but now he must be really ill. He really hoped Matt would pull through whatever had caused him to end up in the hospital; he was Izzy's closest friend in the real world after all.
He began to recall the events of eight months ago. He had finally turned 13 and...no one had a clue. None of his friends had rembered his big day. He was finally a teenager and no one cared or gave a damn about it. He remembered thinking that at Tai's birthday they had thrown him a huge surprise party, and hoping maybe that his friends were throwing him a party as well and that's why he was being ignored.
When he got home he was thoroughly depressed. He hid his mood from his parents however, he didn't want to ruin their fun. He'd ended up with a huge chocolate cake and a brand new laptop. It wan't a bad birthday, he just wished that at least one of his friends had remembered.
About an hour later the phone had rung.
Izzy had answered annoyed, sure that it was for his parents and angry that it had dragged him away from his new computer "Hello?"
"Izzy?" The voice on the other end asked.
"Yeah?" Izzy was confused he couldn't quite recognize the voice.
"Happy birthday!"
"Thanks, is that you Matt?" Izzy asked; it sounded a bit like his friend, but the voice was so distant.
"Yeah, Oh I'm sorry but I can't bring over your present tonight, can I give it to you tomorrow?"
"You didn't have to get me a present, but yeah tomorrow's fine...Hey why weren't you at school today?"
Matt mumbled something that Izzy couldn't quite make out.
"What's that?"
There was a moment of silence.
"Matt are you still there? Where were you today? It's not like you to skip." Izzy stated.
Matt sighed "I wasn't skipping...I'm in the hospital."
"Really? Why? Are you okay?" Izzy asked surprised and concerned.
"Yeah, I should be fine, I had a really high fever this morning and I was coughin' up blood, but I should be back at school tomorrow." Matt explained.
"Do you want me to come down? You must be pretty bored."
"Nah, that's fine. Oh, I gotta go, Dr. Kido is threatening to remove my brain if I don't get off the phone. See you at school tomorrow."
"Bye." Izzy replied and hung up.
He was shocked the next day when Matt came back to school. He'd been questioned where he'd been but he refused to answer. That wasn't what had shocked Izzy though. The thing that surprised Izzy was that Matt had gone up to the other digidestined and lectured them about not remembering his birthday.
Izzy ran up to the elevator and waited impatiently for it to take him to the tenth floor. He rushed towards Matt's room but stopped when he found the other digidestined sitting quietly in the waiting room. He had a sudden awful feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"What happened? why is everyone so gloomy? Matt's not that sick is he?" Izzy asked curiously.
"Oh, hi Izzy." Joe said looking up "glad you made it. Don't worry we're just gloomy because we got kicked out of Matt's room so my dad could give him a checkup; bloodtests, that sorta thing, y'know."
"Oh." Izzy responded unsure of how to reply.
Dr. Kido walked back into the hospital room with his supplies. Ms. Takaishi went pale when she saw a large hypodermic needle sticking out of one of the side pockets. Mr. Ishida looked a bit tense as well.
"You can go into the waiting room" Matt suggested calmly "I know that neither of you like needles."
"Are you sure?" Nancy asked hesitantly; she didn't really want to leave Matt when he was this ill.
"Yeah, go get some some coffee or something...on second thought get me some too."
Matt parents left the room glad to be away from the needle.
"So Matt how are you feeling right now?" Dr. Kido asked pleasantly.
"Do you really want to know?" Matt asked seriously.
"Unfortunetly that's part of my job description, so spill it."
"I may do that. Let's see I'm freezing; I think I have a fever; my chest hurts; I think I might vomit, ther's a pain in my abdomen; and I'm feeling really light-headed and dizzy. That about somes it up I think." Matt replied calmly.
"Interesting, but that won't get you out of giving me a blood sample."
Matt tried to smile at Dr. Kido's small attempt at humour, but he was too tired to. Dr. Kido went through the symptoms Matt had listed in his mindm but nothing was jumping out at him. Matt held out his arm; it was shaking with the strain. He hadn't been joking he really didn't have any energy at the moment.
"You can just rest it on the bed if you like, you don't have to hold your arm up." Dr. Kido told him.
Matt dropped his arm and Dr. Kido drew the blood. He still couldn't believe how weak Matt was right now. When he was healthy Matt was one of the strongest kids he knew; from what Joe told him he could get into any fight and win, but right now he could just barely lift his twig of an arm.
"Matt have you ever felt this weak before?" Dr. Kido asked seriously.
Matt thought hard, and finally responded "Yes, Once."
"When?" Dr. Kido asked concerned.
"A few years ago."
"Why?" Dr. Kido said a bit worried, Matt had only been his patient for two years, and he had his medical history, but he couldn't remember reading about anything like this.
"I was trapped outside in a blizzard and I almost died of hypothermia."
"Was it the same kind of weakness?" Dr. Kido asked nervously there was nothing about a case of hypothermia in his file.
"No, I felt really weak then, but it was different, that was from the cold and it came on suddenly. I've been feeling sick and weak all day." Matt replied quietly; even after all his experiences in the digital world it was still hard for him to admit that he had a problem, or needed help.
"Was anyone with you?" Dr. Kido asked curiously.
Matt decided that he'd better omit Gabumon as Dr. Kido would think he was suffering hallucinations "Tai was the one who found me."
"Did he get hypothermia too?"
"No, he was fine."
"You were the only one who became ill?"
"Naturally."
"Interesting." He wondered how in the same situation how one kid could end up with hypothermia and the other could escape without so much as a cold in the same scenario.
Dr. Kido proceeded with taking Matt's temperature, checking his heartrate, his blood pressure, his pupils for dialation, all the general medical procedures.
"Matt," Dr. Kido began "When was the last time you ate?"
"I had a banana at lunch."
"You said that there was a pain in your stomach?"
"Yeah..." Matt replied unsure of where Dr. Kido was going.
"In about 2 hours-when you've completely digested that banana-I'm going to recommend that you have a sonogram or an ultrasound done to determine what's wrong with you."
"Kay."
"But now, I'm going to go and send your blood for testing, so your friends can come back in if they want to."
Dr. Kido left swiftly before Matt could protest.
Matt still couldn't believe that his friends had actually seen how weak he really was. It wasn't supposed to happen like that; it wasn't supposed to happen at all. He hated people knowing if he was sick or weak. He hated being taken care of. Even when he was just a little kid he'd hated being babied. When he was sick and had to stay home from school(even when he was only in Kindergarten) he'd always insist that his parents go to work. If he had to get a needle or a checkup he'd always ask his parents to wait outside. When he was seven and found out he had to have surgery on his heart to remove what could've been the start of a tumor he didn't even flinch, whereas most kids would've cried their eyes out.
His dad was the only person who knew how horrible he really felt. He was the only one Matt had allowed to know. He knew how he sometimes came home from school and fell asleep doing his homework because he honestly could not keep his eyes open. Knew how sometimes his nausea would be so bad he wouldn't be able to eat for a week. Knew how the pains in his chest or stomach would hurt so much he could barely breathe at times. Knew how he woke up most nights to go and puke in the toilet. That's when his father would automatically wake up and hold Matt's long hair out of his face. He understood how sometimes Matt just couldn't handle something as simple as pouring milk on his cereal. Those were the times Matt would become angry with himself, and mentally berate himself, which brought on the deeper episodes of depression. Recently his father had quit doing overtime at the TV station because Matt's health had definetly taken a turn for the worse, and he wanted to be there for his eldest son.
Matt stared at the door to his room intensely as though willing it to stay closed. His will power was apparently not strong enough because the door burst open a few moments later and all of his friends came in. Most of them were looking at him with so much pity that he felt as though he was going to overflow with anger. You only got pity from people who though that you weren't strong enough to handle or deal with your own problems. Matt couldn't stand giving or recieving pity. It was an insult to whomever the pity was directed at. Matt had only pitied one thing in his life; a chicken about to be slaughtered. It was at that time that Matt had decided to become a vegeterian. In other words Matt didn't want pity unless he was heading for the slaughter house, literally speaking.
He checked their expressions again. Tai's face was full of pity, and Matt seriously wanted to punch him as hard as he could in the face. Sora's and Mimi's faces showed pity as well. Joe's face was mostly concern but it showed a trace of pity too. Izzy's was totally concern and relief, he was smart enough to understand that most people hated to get pity. TK's face was all hope, and Kari was just happy he was awake. Matt had learned to read people's faces a long time ago.
"Does my dad know what's wrong yet?" Joe asked curiously; his expression had changed to that of concern.
"No." Matt replied nearing hostility.
"Okay," Joe replied "There's no reason to bite my head off, I was just wondering."
Matt realised that he was being a jerk; maybe it wasn't pity he'd seen. He did have a rather fuzzy view at the moment after all.
"I'm sorry. I just...no excuse. I'm sorry." Matt apologized.
"It's okay, the last time I was in the hospital with the flu I got so angry I threw lime jello at my dad." Joe explained laughing.
"After I woke up from my coma I was so pissed off that I'd missed half the summer that I...oh this is so funny...I threw a bedpan at the nurse...and it was full." Kari said almost entering hysterics.
"You never told me that!" Tai exclaimed "Oh well, when I had the chicken pox I got so pissed of at this stupid old, blind nurse who thought I was an old man and wanted to give a sponge bath that I dumped the rinse bucket on her head!"
"I can beat that," Sora piped up "When I was here with food poisoning-Tai I still owe you-I got so pissed at this candy striper who was trying to make me eat mush that I started to scream at the top of my lungs. I called him a boiled, baked, and fried doughnut brain with nothing in the center stuffed with burning barf topped with maggots! "
Kari and TK stared at Sora incredulously. She was usually so polite.
"I don't know if I can beat that," Mimi started "But when I had my tonsils out, I uh...well I threw ice cream at the doctor and nurse and orderly and all around the room because I asked for chocolate, and they brought me pistachio instead."
The room was full of laughter except for the Ishida-Takaishi brothers; TK had never been in a hospital as a patient and Matt was trying to think of any funny memories he might've had even though he was fairly sure there weren't any.
Suddenly Matt felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He tensed up and his eyes went wide. He waited for the pain to subside like it usually did, but he was having no such luck this time. The pain was sharp, hard, and long-lasting.
Kari was the first to notice "Matt! Are you alright? Joe get your dad or something he looks like he's in pain!...Don't just sit there you doughnut brain! Move!"
Everyone stared at Kari for a second; she'd never taken charge before. Joe paged his dad immediately. Tai, Izzy, Mimi, Sora and TK, stood against the wall to avoid blocking the pathway for Dr. Kido. Kari sat in the arm chair that had been moved in from the waiting room for Mr. Ishida; she was freaked out. Joe was pacing annoyed at how long his father was taking to get there.
Matt continued to remain tense trying to ride out the pain. It hurt more than any of his friends could imagine; tears were beginning to well up in his eyes.
Tai gulped; it had to hurt very badly for Matt to be near tears. He remembered a fight that Matt had gotten into a couple of months ago with a big Gr. 11 football player. It was weird looking fight to watch. It had started for basically no reason.
Matt had been walking to he cafeteria talking with Sora and Heero (the football QB) had shoved out of the way. That had been strike one, and Matt muttered "Jerk," under his breath. Heero had turned back and pinned Matt against the lockers. Strike two.
"Let me go, you don't really want to fight a lil' ol' sophomore do you?" Matt had taunted.
Heero pulled him back and slammed him into the locker "Sure I do, you got a problem with that?"
"Yep, Strike Three." Matt replied calmly.
Tai and Sora had both wisely backed away; knowing the damage Matt could cause from their experiences in the digital world. Matt punched Heero in the face and kneed him in the gut at the same time. Heero came back with a punch that dented the locker behind it after Matt dodged it. Matt came back with a strong left cross to Heero's jaw. Heero returned with an even harder puch than the one that had dented the locker; this one made contact with Matt's chest. Matt had finally had enough. He threw a hard punch into his stomach and thrusted upwards to force the air out of the older boy's lungs.
Matt turned and started walking towards the main office. Sora and Tai caught up with him.
"Have fun?" Tai asked amused.
"I guess, but he didn't really know how to fight he was just strong." Matt replied honestly.
"Where are you going now? I thought we were gonna meet up with the others for lunch." Sora pointed.
"I was just going to go see the nurse to find out how many ribs that guy broke." Matt replied calmly.
Tai and Sora had gawped at him. Broken ribs and he hadn't even winced?
Tai was scared now because Matt looked as though he could start crying from the pain he was enduring at the moment. Tai didn't even want to know how much it must hurt.
Dr. Kido ran back to the hospital room as fast as he could. Something must be seriously wrong if he was actually being paged. Joe would know only to use that page button if it really were an emergency, and as Joe was with Matt than there must be some sort of emergency.
Dr. Kido kept running.
TK: 10, grade 5
Kari: 10grade 5
Mimi 13, grade 8
Izzy 13, grade 8
Tai 14, grade 9
Sora 15 grade 9
Matt 14 grade 10
Joe 16 grade 10
If some of the ages seem weird to you, it's because of birthdays or whatever, k?
On with this story.
P.S. there are so far no couplings but there are a few hints of them here and there.
PPS Please REVIEW!
Hospital
Part One
Part One
The digidestined looked down at the fourteen year old's thin form on the hospital bed. His blond hair contrasting sharply with the pillow below his head. His skin as fair as the sheets he rested on, and his breathing so shallow that it was barely detectable. There was a steady beeping in the backround monitoring the blond's heartbeat. Matt had been in the hospital 3 hours so far and the doctors still weren't positive as to exactly what was wrong with him.
TK was gripping his brother's right hand tightly; afraid to let go for some reason. Sora was sitting on Yamato's left side holding his other hand on her lap. Joe and Mimi stood awkwardly beside her unsure of how to behave. Kari had her arm around TK and was trying to comfort him. Izzy was babysitting his neighbours so he wasn't there yet, and Tai was in the hallway calling him for his quarterly update. Mr. Ishida and Ms. Takaishi were standing at the back of the room watching their elder son nervously, neither saying what was really on their minds.
They both knew how sickly Matt really was; he didn't show it too much though. All his friends ever saw were the unnaturally pale complexion, unhealthily thin frame, and the occasional cough. His brother rarely saw more(or so they thought). He never allowed his friends to see the weakness, fatigue, nausea or pain that plagued him everyday. Whenever his Dad asked why he never told anyone Matt would reply: It's my problem, it's private and no one else needs to know. The truth was that it had gotten so bad recently that Matt had to see a doctor every week and go to hospitals at least twice a month because of illness. He was on so much medication that he was almost always angry, depressed or irritable (At least that's what they thought the reason was). He had tried going without medication with his father's permission for a short while and he'd ended up in the hospital for two weeks because of it. There were so many things that were hard or dangerous for him because he had such a weak immune system. Doctors were still trying to figure out exactly what the problem was, but until that time Matt was destined to be pretty miserable.
Matt stirred slowly but didn't open his eyes. His right hand hurt immensely, and his chest and stomach hurt too. He could sense people standing around him, and knew that he definetly wasn't at home; no one ever went into his room for any reason without his permission-not even his father. He could hear a steady beeping in the background and he groaned inwardly; he was in the hospital again. He couldn't stand hospitals they meant pain, sickness, treatment, and side-effects.
Matt tried to figure out was wrong with himself this time. He could feel a burning sensation in his chest. His abdomen was as sore as if he'd just been punched there 5 times. His hand still hurt but he'd realized that it was only because someone was gripping it too tightly. He felt unbelievably cold but he could tell that he must have fever. His stomach was churning close to purging itself of it's contents. He also felt a bit light headed; like he wasn't really there.
He finally opened his eyes and the room spun for a moment before everything came into a blurred, distorted, fuzzy view. He recognized his friends standing around him and his first reaction was anger; they didn't need to be here. It was his problem when he became ill. It was a private matter and none of his friends needed to know about it. Now they would treat him like they did TK and Kari or they'd never want to see him again. That's what had happened at his old school when they'd found out. Teachers would always ask if he was feeling well, bullies would make fun of him everyday, his friends shied away; afraid that they'd catch something from him. It was then that Matt had learned just to stay out of peoples' way and remain unnoticed by everyone. He became a quiet loner with few friends; interacting with others only when neccesary; in classes, with his parents and TK, and with doctors. Then the rumors started. People knew nothing about him so they made up things to tell their friends. That's when Matt had learned to fight. People stopped making up rumors when they were afraid that he would hurt them.
Tai walked back into the room, as his parents left to talk to Dr. Kido "I called Izzy. He seems real upset that he can't be here too. Feels kind of guilty I think."
"You can tell him I'm fine." Matt said in a strong voice that didn't show how he was really feeling.
"Matt! Your awake!" TK screeched jumping on him "I was worried about you!"
Matt didn't-couldn't-respond. TK had landed with all of his ten-year-old bulk on Matt's chest, forcing all of the air from the older boy's lungs. Matt tried to push him off, but he had barely enough strength to move his arms. Thankfully Mr. Ishida pried his sons apart without too much difficulty.
"Are you okay Matt?" He asked nervously; TK could pack quite a punch when he jumped on someone like that, especially when you weren't expecting it.
Matt nodded slightly; embarrased to have shown so much weakness to his friends.
"We were so worried about you!" Sora exclaimed squeezing on Matt's hand slightly.
Matt squirmed uncomfortably and pulled his hand back. Sora looked hurt, but there was nothing he could do about that right now.
"It was kind of freaky." Joe commented "I asked you to pass the sulpheric acid and you collapsed on me."
"Sorry." Matt replied shocked; he couldn't believe he'd passed out during science class, he was about to ask what happened afterwards, but Dr. Kido walked in.
"If you wouldn't all mind retreating to the waiting room I need to speak to Yamato and his parents alone. You can come back in a few minutes...Thankyou." He said as TK and the others left the room sullenly.
He gave the family a few minutes to talk.
"Matt, how are you feeling?" Nancy asked concerned.
Matt considered lying to get himself out of the hospital faster, but that would only end up making things worse for him in the long run "I feel like crap. I always do, remember?"
Normally his mother would have gotten angry at that comment, but she decided to let it slide "Of course I remember Matt. I just wanted to know."
"I'm sorry," Matt mumbled.
"Do you know what's wrong this time? According to Joe you just fainted dead away in science class." His dad, Malcom, added.
Matt shook his head. Every time he was in the hospital so many thoughts and questions went swimming through his head, but one always rose to the surface, and he asked before he could stop himself.
"Am I going to die?" He asked simply; no fear, only curiosity.
"I don't know." His father answered truthfully.
"I hope not." His mother said shakily; apparently the thought had never entered her head before.
Dr. Kido decided to break up the conversation before it became even more depressing. He couldn't believe how calm Matt and his father were. They had obviously talked about that scenario openly. He knew that if Joe was in Matt's condition they'd both be terrified.
"Well, I think we should get the mandatory tests over with. I know that none of you want to be here longer than you need to be. I need to give Matt a general checkup, a blood test, and I need to decide whether or not to increase his medication dosages. So if you'd be so kind as to follow me Matt, we'll get this over with now." Dr. Kido said pleasantly.
Matt tried to get up from the bed, but he didn't have the strength or the energy required for the effort. He shook his head.
"What's wrong?" Dr. Kido asked concerned.
"I don't have the strength to at the moment, I'm sorry." Matt said ashamed of showing even more weakness than he had already.
"That's fine," Dr. Kido replied a bit surprised "I'll bring my equipment in here...I'll be right back."
Matt let himself be completely supported by the bed, letting his tense musles finally relax. He closed his eyes slowly. His mother, fearing the worst, shook him gently. Matt's eyes snapped open.
"What now?" He asked not hiding the annoyance he felt.
"I'm sorry son, I was afraid that you had...died." Nancy replied uncomfortably.
Matt smiled weakly "Not yet."
The digidestined in the waiting room were sitting around feeling completely useless, they couldn't help Matt and they knew it. They really wanted to be doing something other than sitting on their hands pointlessly though.
TK was pacing and he felt horrible, his parents hadn't realized but he'd known that something was wrong with Matt since he was three years old. He wasn't sure exactly how he'd known, but the knowledge had always been there. In the digital world TK had always been afraid that something horrible would happen to Matt. He'd been terrified after Gabumon told him about what had happened to Matt after they'd been separated by Devimon. TK also knew that Matt had been getting worse and becoming ill more often. The last time that he'd spent the night at his father's Matt had been too tired to do anything with him and he'd gone to bed at Nine O'clock! TK felt so guilty. Matt had always protected him and sheltered him from anything that could possibly hurt him, and now TK was helpless to return the gesture.
Joe still couldn't believe that Matt had passed out in the middle of science class. He'd almost hit his head on the counter, but Joe had broken his fall. He'd yelled at him to watch where he was going before he'd realized that Matt was unconscious. Mr. Matsunoko came running the moment he'd noticed and called the office. He covered up what had happened by demanding to know what had happened to the fire drill that had been scheduled. This was obviously some sort of code because the fire bell rang instantly. The teacher had stopped Joe from leaving and an ambulance arrived a few minutes later. Joe was fairly sure that none of his classmates had noticed Matt's collapse. Joe headed for the hospital immediately, and called his friends after he knew their school would be finished. Everyone had rushed over immediately, except for Izzy who had to babysit for his neighbours Sara, Cara, and Lara until six. Joe looked at his watch; Izzy'd be here any moment. Joe hoped that his father would be able to figure out what was wrong with Matt; Joe didn't want to lose his oldest friend. He remembered how when Matt had skipped into his fifth grade class after transferring from Westside he'd had no friends whatsoever. Joe didn't have any either and eventually they became friends. Joe remembered one incident in seventh grade with particular detail. Matt had drifted away a lot that year so his actions were a bit of a shock.
Some bullies from his split 6/7 class had been playing keep away with his lunch...
"Come on guys give it back, you don't really want a PB and J sandwich that badly do you?" Joe asked hopelessly; knowing the answer.
"Of course we do, if it means you can't have it!" Tai had exclaimed (yes Tai the leader of the digidestined. What can I say? 6th grade guys are jerks).
"Please? I'm starving!" Joe whined (It had to start somewhere).
"What are you going to give me for it?" Tai asked curiously.
Joe thought "I'll...I'll do your Math homework for a week."
Matt, who had been watching just a short distance away, he walked up to the scene that was being made and snatched the lunch bag away from Tai before he could stop him.
"Why on earth would you want to do this slug's homework? He just stole your lunch if you hadn't noticed. I don't think he should be getting rewards do you? I mean really Joe, you have the strangest ideas sometimes." Matt said calmly, swinging the bag on his finger.
"Thanks Matt." Joe said taking back his bag from Matt.
Matt turned to the wild haired sixth grader "If you or any of your friends try that again, I'll beat the living crap out of you, understand?"
Tai nodded meekly, and Joe turned to watch him and his buddies run off. When he turned to thank Matt again he was already half way back to the building.
Matt really did deserve the crest of friendship.
Mimi really wanted Matt to be okay. They weren't the closest of friends (they weren't the closest of anything), but that didn't mean she wanted him to get hurt. She remembered the time he'd defended her in the digiworld when she was honouring their dead friends. Tai had been impatient and wanted to move on. Everyone had been with Mimi when it came to honouring Chuumon, Pixiemon, Whamon and Wizardmon, but Matt was the only one willing to say anything. For that she respected him. She wanted him to recover from whatever was ailing him, even if it meant he would only continue to ignore her.
Sora was worried. Matt had looked really ill. Pale, weak, and everything. She remembered seeing Ms. Takaishi's face when she walked into the room. She'd looked terrified; almost as though she thought that Matt was going to die. That was silly though, wasn't it? Matt only had the flu or something right? Sora was starting to get nervous; just thinking that someone who had onced saved her life could be dying was unnerving.
Sora flashbacked to her brush with darkness in the digital world. She remembered her feelings of fear and shock as she fell down that hole. Her thoughts of loneliness, coldness, depression, and betrayal. She remembered Biomon trying to help, but a digimon like her would never understand exactly what was happening to Sora. Then she remembered the way that Joe and Matt had run to her. She remembered feeling-almost seeing-the warmth, friendship and loyalty that seemed to be radiating from Matt. She remembered how he'd offered to help her, but hadn't forced her to do anything against her will. She knew that anyone else would've seen her as an insecure wimp at that moment, but he hadn't. For that she loved him. Not as a potential boyfriend or anything like that. She loved him like TK did; in an indescribable way. She loved him like a brother, in a way that no one could ever change. If he died she knew that her heart would break and she'd never be able to mend it.
Kari had finally succeeded in forcing TK to cease his incessant pacing. They were now sitting side by side as she held him. He looked terrified and she couldn't blame him. If Tai had been in that room she'd have been sobbing by now. As it was she was still terribly upset, and close to bursting into tears. Matt had been a sort of stand-in brother whenever Tai wasn't around; which wasn't often. She thought it was kind of funny how different they were and how much they both cared for the other digidestined; herself and TK especially.
She began to relive an incident that she kept trying to forget but just couldn't. It had been only a few weeks ago. She'd been walking home from her piano class much later than usual. It had been a few hours since dusk and she was already scared. She'd suddenly heard footsteps behind her. She quickened her pace and so did whover was following her. She broke into a run and so did her stalker. He was faster than she was and he reached out and grasped her shoulder roughly.
"Hello there you pretty little thing," He said in an oily voice.
He was about six feet tall, a bit pudgy and he smelled of alcohol and smoke. His hair was unkempt and his clothing was worn, ragged, and teared. He was grinning evily.
Kari voiced an ear splitting cry "HHEEEELLLLLLLLPPP!"
The man clasped his hand over her mouth almost immediately. Kari's mind was reeling. She couldn't believe this was happening. She was going to be raped or killed or both! She had never been so terrified before. Not facing Myotismon. Not against Piedmon or the other dark masters. Not even against Apocalymon. She would've given anything to have had Gatomon or Angewoman appear out of nowhere. Unfortunetly that wasn't going to happen. The man was dragging her towards an alleyway.
Matt had been about 100 metres down the street, walking home from his band rehersal. He heard the scream and ran to see what had happened. As he drew nearer he saw two figures heading towards an alley in a strange shuffling motion. He automatically recognized one of the figures as Kari and she was pale with fear.
When he was close enough to be heard he yelled "Let her go you creep!"
The man turned and regarded Matt with a sneer "How're you going to make me?"
"Let her go." He repeated coldly, dropping his guitar with a loud thud.
"Get lost punk, she's mine...find your own b***h." The jerk said angrily.
"Don't refer to her like that, she's my friend. Let her go gently or-" Matt was cut off before he could finish his threat.
"Or what? You'll call the police? I'll be long gone by the time those fools get here."
Matt pulled a switchblade from his pocket, flicked it open, and had it against the man's neck before the scum could blink "Not exactly what I had planned, as you can plainly see. Now let my friend go, or I will sink this into your neck so deep you'll be dead in a heartbeat you bastard."
Kari's attacker hesitated and Matt moved the blade just enough so that a single drop of blood ran down it's length from the creep's neck.
The scum, now knowing that Matt meant business, immediately released Kari and ran for his life with his hand clasped to his neck. Matt wiped the blade on the grass to get the blood off, closed it and returned it to his pocket as calmly as if nothing had happened.
Kari stood a few feet away. She was pale and trembling with shock.
"Kari?" Matt questioned softly.
She burst into tears and sank to her knees. Matt walked over to her, and helped her up. She buried herself in his chest and held on for dear life. He held her for a moment, until she was slightly less hysteric.
"I'm going to take you home right up to your door, right up to your room if you want." Matt told her gently.
"No! Please No!" She said hysterically, still crying her eyes out.
"Why not?" Matt asked concerned.
"They won't understand! They'll be angry that I was out this late walking alone in this neighborhood! I can't face them right now! I just can't! Don't make me! Please don't make me?!" She asked and then buried her face again.
Matt knew that she was being irrational, but he didn't want to make her any more upset or scared than she already was "Tell you what Kari, it's Friday and my dad's apartment is just a block away. You can stay over tonight and I'll bring you home tomorrow. I'll let our parents know what's going on, so they won't be worried. My dad won't mind, this happened to another friend of mine a year ago. When your ready we'll go to the police. Does all that sound okay to you?"
Kari nodded fervently, her crying had lessened somewhat "Thankyou so much Matt! I don't want to think what would've happened if you hadn't been here."
"Don't think about it." Matt instructed firmly, picking up his guitar "Let's go."
Kari and Matt headed towards the apartment, Kari still clinging to Matt for dear life as though he were a life preserver. When they arrived Matt had stationed Kari on the couch and set about making things hospitable. He made her some tea, and fixed up the guest room for her. He'd called his father who didn't mind in the slightest; he was glad that Matt actually cared about something/someone. Matt then called Kari's parents told them he'd found her, she'd had a shock, and he'd brought her back to his house so that she wouldn't have to travel so far. Her parents weren't exactly thrilled with the plan but they went along with it anyway.
Matt made Kari watch a goofy disney movie which calmed her down quite a bit. When Matt was about to leave after tucking her in safely a question struck her.
"Matt?" She asked timidly.
"Yeah?" He said perching on the edge of her bed.
"I...I wanted to know if..." She trailed off unsure of how to ask her question.
"Kari you don't have to worry, that 'man' won't ever hurt you or come near you ever again. We'll go to the police as soon as your ready and tell them everything, Okay?" Matt reassured her.
"It's not that," Matt gave her a questioning gaze "I just wanted to know if you really would've killed that creep...or if.."
"Kari, do you know what he might've done to you if I hadn't been there?" Matt asked seriously.
Kari shuddered and nodded.
Matt cast his gaze downward "Then you know the answer. Good night."
Kari found it unnerving to know that Matt was willing to kill for her, but it was also nice to know that he cared that much about her. She felt TK shift beneath her arm.
"Your squeezing a bit hard." He explained.
"Sorry." She apologized.
Matt is going to be fine if I have any pull or say in this she told herself firmly.
Tai stared at Matt's door unblinkingly. Tai was still in denial about what was happening to his best friend. It seemed so strange. Matt had always seemed to be the strong one. Always in control. He could recall countless times that Matt had stopped him from doing something foolish or helped him through rough times. He'd always help, even if he hurt himself in the process. One event stood out with particular clarity.
He began to recall the events of the previous year. Kari had gone into a coma for a few weeks. She'd been in this very same hospital. It had been just a week after the net battle with Diaboromon. Kari had been in a car accident and had ended up with a hair line fracture of her fourth vertebrate; an almost broken neck. Tai had gone into shock. He'd secluded himself in his own little world to try and protect himself from pain and sorrow. TK had reacted similarly. The other digidestined had felt the fear that they might lose one of their own as well. Matt had tried to comfort and reassure Tai, while Izzy tried to help the others who weren't quite as disturbed.
Matt had managed to take his depressed "life ain't worth livin' state for almost two hours before he snapped. He'd grabbed Tai and pinned him to the wall.
"If you don't snap out of this right now, I swear I'll beat you." He'd said deathly serious.
Tai burst into tears. Matt released him and waited for him to stop crying. Matt had been determined to make Tai see reason.
"Do you think I've never felt depression?" The blond had asked softly.
"I don't know." Tai had responded exasperatedly.
Matt had been shocked, but he recovered and replied "Well I have and it isn't the most pleasant experiance. Especially when it lasts for a long time."
"Long?" Tai snorted "What's that? A few hours?"
"Years." Matt had replied starting to lose his temper.
"Years?" Tai asked suddenly curious "I never noticed."
"None of my friends did 'cept maybe Izzy. I cut myself off from so much. I missed so much. I spent most of my time being pessimistic and thinking negatively. I felt worthless because I was over critical of myself. I wouldn't become attached to anyone because I was afraid to let them down." Matt responded softly, trying to remain stoical.
"How long did it last?" Tai asked nervously.
"All my life (Tai nearly keeled over), but it was the worst the year before we went to the digital world and while we were in it." Matt had replied softly, trying to will Tai not to probe further. He'd answer if he did, but it would be hard to help him if he burst into tears.
"Now?" Tai asked curiously.
Matt took a moment before he responded "Most of the time, but not nearly as bad since the digital world. Being around Gabumon really helped. Cutting yourself off from things you care about is not the way to deal with pain, sadness, or sorrow, okay?"
Tai didn't say anything for a while, and Matt concentrated on not crying. Suddenly Tai turned to face Matt. He didn't seem nearly as down, he almost seemed like himself.
"Why?" He questioned "Why were you so depressed for so long?"
"Don't ask." Matt had replied icily.
"Why not?" Tai persisted curiously; seeming even more like his old self.
"Cause it's none of your damn business!" Matt had shouted jumping up.
"Woah, I'm sorry Matt." Tai had apologized immediately.
"So am I." He had returned in his softest voice, which was barely audible "Let's go see Kari so she can see how much better you're feeling."
"Okay, good idea. Maybe she'll even wake up." Tai had agreed enthusiatically.
Tai was still trying to figure out why that coversation had made him feel so much better. Maybe it was realizing that the world wouldn't end if he was depressed. Maybe it was because he'd been too caught up in the story to notice he was sad. Maybe it was because he'd been so thoroughly confused as to why Matt was opening up to him he'd forgotten. Maybe it was because Matt was the only one not trying to tell him to perk up because Kari would be fine considering the fact she could've died. Either way, Matt had helped him to deal with his emotions and move on with life. Kari had woken up 3 days later.
Another upside to that conversation was that it made Tai a better friend. He'd started to pay closer attention to his friends and their emotions. He'd realized that Matt usually was depressed but he tried to work around it.
Izzy was racing to the hospital as fast as he could. He still couldn't believe that Matt had collapsed during science class and was still unconscious. He knew that Matt got sick really often, but now he must be really ill. He really hoped Matt would pull through whatever had caused him to end up in the hospital; he was Izzy's closest friend in the real world after all.
He began to recall the events of eight months ago. He had finally turned 13 and...no one had a clue. None of his friends had rembered his big day. He was finally a teenager and no one cared or gave a damn about it. He remembered thinking that at Tai's birthday they had thrown him a huge surprise party, and hoping maybe that his friends were throwing him a party as well and that's why he was being ignored.
When he got home he was thoroughly depressed. He hid his mood from his parents however, he didn't want to ruin their fun. He'd ended up with a huge chocolate cake and a brand new laptop. It wan't a bad birthday, he just wished that at least one of his friends had remembered.
About an hour later the phone had rung.
Izzy had answered annoyed, sure that it was for his parents and angry that it had dragged him away from his new computer "Hello?"
"Izzy?" The voice on the other end asked.
"Yeah?" Izzy was confused he couldn't quite recognize the voice.
"Happy birthday!"
"Thanks, is that you Matt?" Izzy asked; it sounded a bit like his friend, but the voice was so distant.
"Yeah, Oh I'm sorry but I can't bring over your present tonight, can I give it to you tomorrow?"
"You didn't have to get me a present, but yeah tomorrow's fine...Hey why weren't you at school today?"
Matt mumbled something that Izzy couldn't quite make out.
"What's that?"
There was a moment of silence.
"Matt are you still there? Where were you today? It's not like you to skip." Izzy stated.
Matt sighed "I wasn't skipping...I'm in the hospital."
"Really? Why? Are you okay?" Izzy asked surprised and concerned.
"Yeah, I should be fine, I had a really high fever this morning and I was coughin' up blood, but I should be back at school tomorrow." Matt explained.
"Do you want me to come down? You must be pretty bored."
"Nah, that's fine. Oh, I gotta go, Dr. Kido is threatening to remove my brain if I don't get off the phone. See you at school tomorrow."
"Bye." Izzy replied and hung up.
He was shocked the next day when Matt came back to school. He'd been questioned where he'd been but he refused to answer. That wasn't what had shocked Izzy though. The thing that surprised Izzy was that Matt had gone up to the other digidestined and lectured them about not remembering his birthday.
Izzy ran up to the elevator and waited impatiently for it to take him to the tenth floor. He rushed towards Matt's room but stopped when he found the other digidestined sitting quietly in the waiting room. He had a sudden awful feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"What happened? why is everyone so gloomy? Matt's not that sick is he?" Izzy asked curiously.
"Oh, hi Izzy." Joe said looking up "glad you made it. Don't worry we're just gloomy because we got kicked out of Matt's room so my dad could give him a checkup; bloodtests, that sorta thing, y'know."
"Oh." Izzy responded unsure of how to reply.
Dr. Kido walked back into the hospital room with his supplies. Ms. Takaishi went pale when she saw a large hypodermic needle sticking out of one of the side pockets. Mr. Ishida looked a bit tense as well.
"You can go into the waiting room" Matt suggested calmly "I know that neither of you like needles."
"Are you sure?" Nancy asked hesitantly; she didn't really want to leave Matt when he was this ill.
"Yeah, go get some some coffee or something...on second thought get me some too."
Matt parents left the room glad to be away from the needle.
"So Matt how are you feeling right now?" Dr. Kido asked pleasantly.
"Do you really want to know?" Matt asked seriously.
"Unfortunetly that's part of my job description, so spill it."
"I may do that. Let's see I'm freezing; I think I have a fever; my chest hurts; I think I might vomit, ther's a pain in my abdomen; and I'm feeling really light-headed and dizzy. That about somes it up I think." Matt replied calmly.
"Interesting, but that won't get you out of giving me a blood sample."
Matt tried to smile at Dr. Kido's small attempt at humour, but he was too tired to. Dr. Kido went through the symptoms Matt had listed in his mindm but nothing was jumping out at him. Matt held out his arm; it was shaking with the strain. He hadn't been joking he really didn't have any energy at the moment.
"You can just rest it on the bed if you like, you don't have to hold your arm up." Dr. Kido told him.
Matt dropped his arm and Dr. Kido drew the blood. He still couldn't believe how weak Matt was right now. When he was healthy Matt was one of the strongest kids he knew; from what Joe told him he could get into any fight and win, but right now he could just barely lift his twig of an arm.
"Matt have you ever felt this weak before?" Dr. Kido asked seriously.
Matt thought hard, and finally responded "Yes, Once."
"When?" Dr. Kido asked concerned.
"A few years ago."
"Why?" Dr. Kido said a bit worried, Matt had only been his patient for two years, and he had his medical history, but he couldn't remember reading about anything like this.
"I was trapped outside in a blizzard and I almost died of hypothermia."
"Was it the same kind of weakness?" Dr. Kido asked nervously there was nothing about a case of hypothermia in his file.
"No, I felt really weak then, but it was different, that was from the cold and it came on suddenly. I've been feeling sick and weak all day." Matt replied quietly; even after all his experiences in the digital world it was still hard for him to admit that he had a problem, or needed help.
"Was anyone with you?" Dr. Kido asked curiously.
Matt decided that he'd better omit Gabumon as Dr. Kido would think he was suffering hallucinations "Tai was the one who found me."
"Did he get hypothermia too?"
"No, he was fine."
"You were the only one who became ill?"
"Naturally."
"Interesting." He wondered how in the same situation how one kid could end up with hypothermia and the other could escape without so much as a cold in the same scenario.
Dr. Kido proceeded with taking Matt's temperature, checking his heartrate, his blood pressure, his pupils for dialation, all the general medical procedures.
"Matt," Dr. Kido began "When was the last time you ate?"
"I had a banana at lunch."
"You said that there was a pain in your stomach?"
"Yeah..." Matt replied unsure of where Dr. Kido was going.
"In about 2 hours-when you've completely digested that banana-I'm going to recommend that you have a sonogram or an ultrasound done to determine what's wrong with you."
"Kay."
"But now, I'm going to go and send your blood for testing, so your friends can come back in if they want to."
Dr. Kido left swiftly before Matt could protest.
Matt still couldn't believe that his friends had actually seen how weak he really was. It wasn't supposed to happen like that; it wasn't supposed to happen at all. He hated people knowing if he was sick or weak. He hated being taken care of. Even when he was just a little kid he'd hated being babied. When he was sick and had to stay home from school(even when he was only in Kindergarten) he'd always insist that his parents go to work. If he had to get a needle or a checkup he'd always ask his parents to wait outside. When he was seven and found out he had to have surgery on his heart to remove what could've been the start of a tumor he didn't even flinch, whereas most kids would've cried their eyes out.
His dad was the only person who knew how horrible he really felt. He was the only one Matt had allowed to know. He knew how he sometimes came home from school and fell asleep doing his homework because he honestly could not keep his eyes open. Knew how sometimes his nausea would be so bad he wouldn't be able to eat for a week. Knew how the pains in his chest or stomach would hurt so much he could barely breathe at times. Knew how he woke up most nights to go and puke in the toilet. That's when his father would automatically wake up and hold Matt's long hair out of his face. He understood how sometimes Matt just couldn't handle something as simple as pouring milk on his cereal. Those were the times Matt would become angry with himself, and mentally berate himself, which brought on the deeper episodes of depression. Recently his father had quit doing overtime at the TV station because Matt's health had definetly taken a turn for the worse, and he wanted to be there for his eldest son.
Matt stared at the door to his room intensely as though willing it to stay closed. His will power was apparently not strong enough because the door burst open a few moments later and all of his friends came in. Most of them were looking at him with so much pity that he felt as though he was going to overflow with anger. You only got pity from people who though that you weren't strong enough to handle or deal with your own problems. Matt couldn't stand giving or recieving pity. It was an insult to whomever the pity was directed at. Matt had only pitied one thing in his life; a chicken about to be slaughtered. It was at that time that Matt had decided to become a vegeterian. In other words Matt didn't want pity unless he was heading for the slaughter house, literally speaking.
He checked their expressions again. Tai's face was full of pity, and Matt seriously wanted to punch him as hard as he could in the face. Sora's and Mimi's faces showed pity as well. Joe's face was mostly concern but it showed a trace of pity too. Izzy's was totally concern and relief, he was smart enough to understand that most people hated to get pity. TK's face was all hope, and Kari was just happy he was awake. Matt had learned to read people's faces a long time ago.
"Does my dad know what's wrong yet?" Joe asked curiously; his expression had changed to that of concern.
"No." Matt replied nearing hostility.
"Okay," Joe replied "There's no reason to bite my head off, I was just wondering."
Matt realised that he was being a jerk; maybe it wasn't pity he'd seen. He did have a rather fuzzy view at the moment after all.
"I'm sorry. I just...no excuse. I'm sorry." Matt apologized.
"It's okay, the last time I was in the hospital with the flu I got so angry I threw lime jello at my dad." Joe explained laughing.
"After I woke up from my coma I was so pissed off that I'd missed half the summer that I...oh this is so funny...I threw a bedpan at the nurse...and it was full." Kari said almost entering hysterics.
"You never told me that!" Tai exclaimed "Oh well, when I had the chicken pox I got so pissed of at this stupid old, blind nurse who thought I was an old man and wanted to give a sponge bath that I dumped the rinse bucket on her head!"
"I can beat that," Sora piped up "When I was here with food poisoning-Tai I still owe you-I got so pissed at this candy striper who was trying to make me eat mush that I started to scream at the top of my lungs. I called him a boiled, baked, and fried doughnut brain with nothing in the center stuffed with burning barf topped with maggots! "
Kari and TK stared at Sora incredulously. She was usually so polite.
"I don't know if I can beat that," Mimi started "But when I had my tonsils out, I uh...well I threw ice cream at the doctor and nurse and orderly and all around the room because I asked for chocolate, and they brought me pistachio instead."
The room was full of laughter except for the Ishida-Takaishi brothers; TK had never been in a hospital as a patient and Matt was trying to think of any funny memories he might've had even though he was fairly sure there weren't any.
Suddenly Matt felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He tensed up and his eyes went wide. He waited for the pain to subside like it usually did, but he was having no such luck this time. The pain was sharp, hard, and long-lasting.
Kari was the first to notice "Matt! Are you alright? Joe get your dad or something he looks like he's in pain!...Don't just sit there you doughnut brain! Move!"
Everyone stared at Kari for a second; she'd never taken charge before. Joe paged his dad immediately. Tai, Izzy, Mimi, Sora and TK, stood against the wall to avoid blocking the pathway for Dr. Kido. Kari sat in the arm chair that had been moved in from the waiting room for Mr. Ishida; she was freaked out. Joe was pacing annoyed at how long his father was taking to get there.
Matt continued to remain tense trying to ride out the pain. It hurt more than any of his friends could imagine; tears were beginning to well up in his eyes.
Tai gulped; it had to hurt very badly for Matt to be near tears. He remembered a fight that Matt had gotten into a couple of months ago with a big Gr. 11 football player. It was weird looking fight to watch. It had started for basically no reason.
Matt had been walking to he cafeteria talking with Sora and Heero (the football QB) had shoved out of the way. That had been strike one, and Matt muttered "Jerk," under his breath. Heero had turned back and pinned Matt against the lockers. Strike two.
"Let me go, you don't really want to fight a lil' ol' sophomore do you?" Matt had taunted.
Heero pulled him back and slammed him into the locker "Sure I do, you got a problem with that?"
"Yep, Strike Three." Matt replied calmly.
Tai and Sora had both wisely backed away; knowing the damage Matt could cause from their experiences in the digital world. Matt punched Heero in the face and kneed him in the gut at the same time. Heero came back with a punch that dented the locker behind it after Matt dodged it. Matt came back with a strong left cross to Heero's jaw. Heero returned with an even harder puch than the one that had dented the locker; this one made contact with Matt's chest. Matt had finally had enough. He threw a hard punch into his stomach and thrusted upwards to force the air out of the older boy's lungs.
Matt turned and started walking towards the main office. Sora and Tai caught up with him.
"Have fun?" Tai asked amused.
"I guess, but he didn't really know how to fight he was just strong." Matt replied honestly.
"Where are you going now? I thought we were gonna meet up with the others for lunch." Sora pointed.
"I was just going to go see the nurse to find out how many ribs that guy broke." Matt replied calmly.
Tai and Sora had gawped at him. Broken ribs and he hadn't even winced?
Tai was scared now because Matt looked as though he could start crying from the pain he was enduring at the moment. Tai didn't even want to know how much it must hurt.
Dr. Kido ran back to the hospital room as fast as he could. Something must be seriously wrong if he was actually being paged. Joe would know only to use that page button if it really were an emergency, and as Joe was with Matt than there must be some sort of emergency.
Dr. Kido kept running.