Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Vision ❯ Occluded ( Chapter 2 )

"Sora, why didn't you tell us? Why are you afraid?" Voices surrounded her. Hands wrapped themselves about her limbs and torso, pulling her in multiple directions.

"Stop, please! I didn't want you to worry!"

She looked from face to face in a wild panic. The voices were her friends, but the faces were non-existent, blank slates replacing the features she knew so well. Pulling herself away was an impossibility. The hands held her too tightly for proper movement.

"What's wrong? Don't you trust us?" The voices taunted her in unison.

"Of course I do! You shouldn't have to worry about me!" Her own voice didn't carry far, sounding small and flat in her own ears.

"We always worry. You should wake up......."

She couldn't scream, nor could she open her eyes with the start her instinct instructed her to.

Taichi. Yamato. I'm sorry, but I couldn't.

"......the occluded artery may rupture, we're not sure. Anti-inflamatories may be a temporary fix, but if she doesn't want to lose her vision, your daughter needs eye surgery and....." The doctor's voice sounded from the hall, interrupted by the imperative questioning of Ms. Takenouchi. "No, ma'am, I was saying, I can't guarantee her vision even with the surgery, but she'd at least have a better chance of avoiding blindness."

A shaky hand rose to her tightly bandaged ocular region. I could go blind!

"Had this been caught earlier, the surgery might not be necessary. It's amazing she didn't tell anyone, and very foolish." The doctor continued, voice diminishing as he and Sora's mother turned to walk down the hall.

In an instant, Piyomon was at her side, feathered head resting at her partner's shoulder.

"Sora-chan, that's terrible." The fowl wrapped her wings around Sora's arm in an attempt to comfort her shocked friend. "I know why you didn't tell anyone, but Sora....."

"Piyomon." Why is talking so difficult? Oh, silly me. They drugged me, of course. "There are more important things to worry about. Taichi has school and soccer. Yamato has his band as well as school, and what can Mimi-chan do from America? Jyou has already started studying for his college entrance exams. They're doing so many important things, and I need to support them, Piyomon."

"How can you support them from the hospital? Sora! You love too much, sometimes. Sometimes you have to accept love and concern, rather than give it. You won't have anything left for yourself, otherwise."

Do I deserve it? I don't do anything. Her fingers moved from their temporary residence over the bandages to lightly stroke her partner's wing feathers.

"Maybe you're right. I can't do anything for them like this." Warm breath escaped Sora's lips in a sigh.

I want to see Taichi, and Jyou, and Mimi, and..... The bandages effectively hid the fresh tears that stung her eyes. I want to see Yamato.

"Taichi and Yamato are still on the school trip, right?" Piyomon inquired. "When they get back, I'm sure they'll come to see you, and tell you themselves!"

"I'm sure." Sora sank heavily into the pillows supporting her. "I just don't want them to see....."

The statement was interrupted by urgent knocking on the door, followed by the entrance of the elder Takenouchi. "Oh good, Sora. You're awake." She sat on the cot next to the bed. "Your friend Yamato mailed you a tape from his trip, but we need to talk for a moment first."

God. Please no. I just want this over. "Okaasan, I heard you and the doctor talking outside. I already know what he wants to do, and what the risks are."

Another presence made itself known by the soft footfalls of uniform tennis shoes on the tile. "Ah, Takenouchi-san, I'm here to give Sora her medicine." The nurse offered a futile smile to the invalid.

"Of course. Sora, we can continue this later." The older woman stood, allowing the nurse room to navigate the tubes attached to various connections with the young woman's tender flesh.

"There we go, all medicated! You should be able to sleep for a little while longer. The doctor wants to talk to you about going into surgery tomorrow, so he'll be in after you wake up." The nurse explained, injecting a final shot into Sora's IV.

"Yes, I understand." Sora made no further comment, rather grateful that the nurse did not press her for one. The shoes on tile made a slight squeak as the woman vacated the area.

It took a bit of effort, feeling for the tape left at her bedside. Sora opened it, feeling for the sticker to let her know which side had been recorded, and slipped the item into the nearby tape deck, biting back temporary apprehension to press play.

A slow smile rose to her face during the duration of the letter, her decision suddenly clear as the sedative and the depth of Yamato's voice pulled her into a dreamless sleep.

"An unidentifiable uneasiness suddenly comes
It's always targeting the two of us
Second-hand knowledge and useless common sense
Surround us both

If you feel down everyday like that
Why not go to Kyoto?
Rather than keeping up this facade of not-knowing
Let's watch on to see our truth
But this one thing I won't surrender:
My pride hidden away inside my heart...

Run on for no one else's sake
Because it's better than stopping
Breathe in that clean air, and face that brilliant ocean
Oh keep on running keep on running
Find out your reality

There is no time to hesitate before this new door
So run and fly towards it
And throw that door open

I'm sure that you can do it

An invisible uneasiness enveloped you
Your eyes straying away
Shaky confidence, both of us so different from usual
As we trembled

So you hate yourself like that so much...
Is that why you're sitting there hugging your knees?
It's much too early to close your eyes
Let's watch on to see our truth
It isn't that we're powerless
But our facade of courage is fading away

Look on for no one else's sake
Because it's better than giving up
Let go of your timidity
Search for the true answer
Oh keep on running keep on running
Find out your reality

The door to the new world has no key
So have confidence and go forward
And throw that door open

I'm sure you'll be able to find it

Run on for no one else's sake
Because it's better than stopping
Breathe in that clean air, and face that brilliant ocean
Oh keep on running keep on running
Find out your reality

There is no time to hesitate before this new door
So run and fly towards it
And throw that door open

I'm sure that you can do it
I'm sure that you will make it through..."

"Dear Ishida Yamato-sama.
I listened to your song. I was really surprised to get a tape
back from you so soon.
Um...yesterday, I finally had the surgery done on my eyes.
I was really scared.
But after I heard your song...somehow it made me think, "I've
gotta do my best".
So I decided to go through with it.
As for the results of the surgery....
It seems it went well. They haven't taken the bandages off
yet, but the doctor said I'd be fine.
So now, I have a lot of things I'm looking forward to doing!
I know when they take off the bandages, I may not be able to
see right away, but...
Maybe......no, that's not the right word...um...
Surely...no, not that either...definitely? Yeah.
Definitely, when I can see, I want to go to the ocean that you
went to, Yamato-kun.
I know I might not be able to go right away, but....um....
I'll surely go and see the ocean you saw.

Thank you so much."

End Chapter Two