InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ 28 Days ❯ A Turn for the Worse ( Chapter 12 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: RozeFire 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Suspense / Romance / Drama / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 02.11.2004 | Pages: 6 | Words: 3.9K | Visits: 3.0K | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Suspense / Romance / Drama / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 02.11.2004 | Pages: 6 | Words: 3.9K | Visits: 3.0K | Status: Completed
AN: awww... poor Kagome. Well, better continue and fix this problem for you all ^_^ - And you all thought that KOUGA was the delivery guy!... the thought hadn't even occurred to me...
28 Days
A Turn for the Worse
Miroku rounded the corner into the lab and stopped short when he saw Inuyasha was inside. Not that Inuyasha was actually doing any work... in fact he was tearing pages out of his jotter and crunching them up into balls to juggle with. Miroku looked at his watch with a frown. "Aren't you supposed to be curled up in your bed now? You should have clocked out hours ago."
"I'm here every night Miroku. You know that." Inuyasha said evenly, tossing two balls into the bin opposite his table and tearing three new ones out of his book.
"Yeah... but usually you're working on..." On a cure for Kagome.
"Got no work now. Can't be bothered going home. What's the point? Just have to come back again in six hours."
"Oh damn... are you getting depressed?" Miroku sighed. "Because if you are - I think you need to take a vacation."
"Bite me."
Miroku shifted uneasily. "I heard about what happened... you transferred Kagome to Kouga." Everyone knew Inuyasha would never willingly give up a patient to Kouga... maybe someone else... but never Kouga. "I guess the medical board found out about-"
He stopped short as the jotter Inuyasha was using slapped him bang on the face. Miroku sniffed and wriggled his nose, checking if it was broken. "Ok... I can see you don't want to talk about it. So I'll just be on my merry way."
Inuyasha carried on juggling until he ran out of paper and the bin was overflowing with balls. He sighed and rapped his fingers against the desk, wondering what the hell he was supposed to do now. He was tired... but he didn't want to go home... if anything he was feeling guilty about dropping his search for a cure.
Maybe he should play the coma game to pass the time...?
^_^
"Her e's the rest of Inuyasha's research into the illness." Aki yawned as she handed Kouga a few folders.
"Any recorded incident of her losing motor control in her legs?" he asked.
Aki shook her head, rubbing her tired eyes while standing by his desk.
"So this is a new development." Kouga remarked. "Ok... send the girls over to check up on her through the night, ok?"
Aki nodded slightly until frowning. "Some of the others have noticed that she's regressing."
"Regressing?" Kouga frowned up at her.
"Yeah... well... like, yesterday she seemed all happy... today she's regressed back to Stage Four... Depression. She won't eat, she won't talk, she won't go out..."
Kouga shook his head. "That will probably be the expected affect. You think she would be happy with losing her ability to walk?"
"The girls think it could be because of Doctor Inu..."
Kouga shook his head. "That wouldn't cause depression. Who could get emotional over that blockhead anyway?"
'Kikyo...?' Was Aki's silent guess.
"You can get back to your duties." Kouga informed her abruptly.
Aki stifled another yawn and left his examination room to go back to her rounds. Her first stop was of course Kagome's room. She opened the door quietly and smiled as she approached the bed. "You ok, Kagome?"
Kagome's expressionless face remained staring straight ahead at the opposite wall. She'd been bed bound for the last day now that she couldn't use her legs. She hadn't spoken a word since then.
"Do you need anything?" Aki asked.
Kagome didn't respond... almost as though she couldn't hear anything. Aki didn't let her concern show and just smiled placidly as she started towards the door again. "Use the call button if you want something, there's always someone down the hall if you need them."
Kagome still didn't respond.
Aki shut the door behind her quietly and went to check on one of Miroku's most recent patients. Sango.
Someone really should have warned Aki that Sango was a fast talker and could drag almost anything she wanted out of a person...
^_^
"He re's someone who rolled out of bed on the wrong side." Sango greeted Inuyasha the next morning. She'd heard him coming... the various angry shouts had given him away. Then she noticed that he was still in the same clothes as yesterday. "Or should I say rolled off the work bench... what happened to you?"
"Do NOT get me started, Sango." He growled with barely restrained anger. "I am SO not in the mood for quick fire questions today."
"It's about Kagome isn't it?"
"No."
"Kouga?
"No!"
"It's about both of them together?" Sango winced. "Ooh... that sounds like it bites."
"It does - wait - shut up Sango!" Inuyasha snapped and stomped to her bedside.
"Let me take a wild guess here..." Sango said vaguely as he took her arms and began to unravel the bandages. "You got too tired or scared of looking after Kagome and so handed her over to Doctor Kouga?"
Inuyasha froze and stared at her.
"Just a wild stab in the dark." Her tone was light but she didn't crack a hint of a smile. For once she looked angry at him. "Your nurses talk too much about your other patients."
Inuyasha's fists clenched. "They shouldn't. It's against regulation. You shouldn't even know Kagome's name."
"What am I going to do with it?" Sango rolled her eyes. "My profession commits me to confidentiality. I'm not allowed to talk about my customers of patients to anyone... I won't do it for you either."
Inuyasha's expression remained schooled as her turned her hands this way and that to check her wrists.
"So are you a cowards, are were you really just so cold as to brush a patient off?" Sango asked suddenly. "I suppose you really don't like your patients after all. I guess all you see when you look at us is a product. The ones that are going off are heading straight for the body bag - the ones that live get shipped out as soon as possible."
"Goes to show what you know." Inuyasha replied tightly.
"God... I don't even know why I'm trying here..." Sango snorted and shook her head. "You're such an asshole I kinda want to transfer to Kouga as well. Maybe he would care more... and I KNOW he has more manners."
Inuyasha 'accidentally' pressed too hard on her healing incisions.
"Ow!" Sango snapped her arm back. "Watch it!"
"Oops." He said unconvincingly and pulled her hands back. "How do they feel anyway?"
"Ready to punch holes in certain block heads." Sango hissed through her teeth. "Wanna see?"
"Drop it Sango. My patients are none of your concern - so shut it and concentrate on healing for once instead of sticking your nose into other peoples business." Inuyasha snapped.
"I should give you a piece of my mind..." she glowered at him.
"Before you do that you better make sure you have enough to spare." He smirked.
"Oh how witty..." Sango gave him a withering look. "I'd love to continue the battle of wits but you don't seem to have much ammunition."
"Whatever..."
"I suppose your proud of yourself..." Sango taunted. "Making a poor girl sick."
"Who? You?" Inuyasha snorted. "You bet I am."
"I'm talking about Kagome." Sango snapped.
Inuyasha shot her an unreadable look before narrowing his eyes. "What are you on about? Kagome's fine."
Sango laughed without humour. "Oh sure... she's not sick at all! The fact that she's lost the use of her legs due to muscle deterioration - thanks to that virus that will kill her soon! Oh - and Kouga also has updated her life expectancy! She doesn't have two weeks... she has three days at the most to live."
Inuyasha stared at her.
"Congratulations, Doctor. You've managed to avoid another patient dying on you." Sango's glare was almost livid, even though she hadn't met Kagome. "But I suppose she was heading for that body bag right from the start..."
"Who told you all this?"
"One of the nurses. Last night."
"Which one?"
"Like hell I'm going to tell you that." Sango flexed her fingers angrily, something she'd only recently been able to do. "All you need to know is that it's your fault."
Inuyasha shook his head. "You don't know anything. How can it be my fault - I did all I could for her!"
"And a little bit more as well, I know that!" Sango snapped. "But then you act all cold and callous to her and give her to another doctor without explaining why! The poor girl probably thinks you hate her - she probably thinks she's going to die alone, unloved and a cripple!"
Inuyasha opened his mouth to retaliate but Sango was too quick.
"This is your fault! Go see her right now and apologise!"
"Hang on - I'm your doctor! You can't tell me what to do!"
"GO!" Sango yelled and pointed to the door.
"No!" Inuyasha stood his ground. "Make me!"
"Or else I swear you'll regret it!" Sango hissed so dangerously that Inuyasha rethought his decision.
After a few moments silence Sango spoke. "Are you reconsidering?"
"I'm reconsidering, reconsidering." He clenched his fists. "Ok... I'll go AFTER I see my other patients."
Sango flopped back smugly and watched him leave. When he was gone she broke into a wide grin. "Sucker..."
Kagome was way smarter than anyone gave her credit for...
^_^
Mr Takeo was the next patient on his rounds, but unfortunately... he had to share the blind guy with Miroku. Someone Inuyasha did not wish to see or speak to right then.
"You seen Kagome recently?" Miroku asked idly when Inuyasha arrived in the examination room.
"Should I have seen her?" Inuyasha responded with barely contained malice. "I thought you told me I wasn't allowed to?"
"Uh..." Miroku looked stumped. "No... you can see her... why shouldn't you be allowed to."
Nervy words coming from the guy that had told on Inuyasha and Kagome.
"Hello? Can I get treatment some time today?" Old Mr Takeo asked from where he was sipping his coffee.
Inuyasha shot him a glare. "You know what I'm doing? I'm giving you the finger."
Miroku rolled his eyes as Inuyasha was obviously doing no such thing, and made a gesture of money to the other doctor that earned him another glare.
"Don't trick an old man." Mr Takeo scolded Inuyasha with a finger as he put down his coffee on the examination table. "You ain't giving me no finger."
"Are you sure you're blind?" Inuyasha raised an eyebrow at him.
"That's right... I'm just pretending."
Inuyasha muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'crazy man'.
"Hey - I ain't crazy! I'm just a sane man living in the body of a nut." Mr Takeo nodded convincingly.
"Right then..." Miroku glanced up at Inuyasha. "You gonna take his blood pressure or am I?"
"I don't know, Miroku." Inuyasha said with his back turned. "You usually like taking the pressure off me, so why don't you do it?"
Miroku stared at him. "I'm just guessing here... but are you mad at me for some reason?"
"What makes you say that?" Inuyasha turned with unnerving calm.
"He's just guessing." Mr Takeo answered for Miroku.
Inuyasha shot Takeo a stony look while Miroku cottoned on. "Oh... you think that it was ME who told the medical heads about the Kagome thing!"
"I certainly see why you passed YOUR surgeon exam."
"Inuyasha - I swear I didn't say anything!" Miroku said quickly. "I told you I wouldn't say anything and I didn't!"
"Nice try Miroku - but you were the only one who knew about it! Who else would have blabbed to the medical board?!" Inuyasha growled.
"I don't know - but it certainly wasn't me." Miroku huffed and folded his arms. "As if I was the only person who saw you getting friendly with Kagome."
"This is better than the soap operas..." Takeo muttered.
"So if it wasn't you then who was it?"
"I don't know... Aki... Kouga... Kikyo..." Miroku shrugged. "They're about it who would really know about it."
Inuyasha clenched his fists angrily.
"So spill the beans." Mr Takeo rubbed his hands together. "This sounds like one saucy affair if you ask me-"
"No one's asking you anything." Inuyasha ground out.
"Is Kagome a nurse? Your girlfriend? Or better yet... a patient?"
Inuyasha glared a moment before silently reaching out and knocked over an empty tray beside his cup of coffee, making the cup clink. "Look out, Mr Takeo! Hot coffee is spilling everywhere!"
Mr Takeo didn't react. "Don't trick an old man, boy."
Miroku sighed. "Mr Takeo, you have some mustard on your cheek."
"Oh..." the old man turned to rub it off. Pity it wasn't there to begin with.
Inuyasha folded his arms and glared at Miroku meanwhile. "But I suppose you've heard from Sango about Kagome... regressing... right?"
Miroku nodded. "Aki told me this morning."
Aki seemed to be telling people a lot of things apparently.
"I think you should go see her..." Miroku said gently. "She hasn't really got long now..."
Inuyasha frowned lightly, looking down at his hand that rested on the table.
Mr Takeo turned back around. "Is it gone?"
Miroku shook his head. "It's still there."
"So what am I supposed to say to her?" Inuyasha asked suddenly. "It's not like I can comfort her... she's gonna die soon..."
Miroku shrugged. "Tell her you care... that you don't hate her... even if you don't care about her you don't have to tell her. She should at least die happy..."
Inuyasha was silent, mulling over this.
"You can go see her now... I'll look after Mr Takeo." Miroku offered.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Inuyasha turned and walked out. Miroku turned back to Mr Takeo who pointed to his cheek. "Is it still there?" Miroku smiled and shook his head. "You have some on the other cheek too."
^_^
Surpris e, surprise... Kagome wasn't in her room when Inuyasha arrived there. For a moment he puzzled over that since she couldn't really have walked off... before realising a wheelchair must have been hanging around. He noticed something lying on the bed and walked over to pick the note up.
"I have gone to find myself..." he read, before turning it over and looking at the back. "If I should return before I get back, please tell me to wait...?"
Perhaps Kagome had finally lost it.
Best go check the roof first.
As headed down the corridor he vaguely wondered what he was supposed to say to her. He was used to her acting pleasant and happy now... what was he supposed to say to bring her out of depression. He rounded a corner and came to a screeching halt.
"You won't be laughing when I stick a pole through your wheels!"
Two blurs shot past him and his hair blew softly to the side. It took a moment for him to realise what was going on.
Kagome and Sango were having a wheelchair race down the main corridor with cheering spectators at each end. He glanced down at the pair who were fast reaching the finish line (a roll of white bandage).
Sango got there first and threw her hands up to cheer. "Oh yes! Whose the best?!"
"That's not fair! You have an electric wheelchair!" Kagome protested, but she was laughing and wheeling herself in circles.
Inuyasha had seen enough. "Kagome! Sango!"
Both girls looked up and Sango smiled sheepishly. "Oh crap... well... um... I gotta go... see ya Kagome!" she hopped out of her chair and hurried off... obviously her arms were feeling a lot better.
Kagome grinned as she wheeled her way over to where Inuyasha stood... the wheels squeaking ominously.
"Going for the sympathy vote?" Inuyasha asked quietly.
"Do you think I'd really let myself get worked up over a small detail like this?" Kagome laughed and wheeled past him. "This is actually pretty cool! I don't have to walk anywhere - everyone holds doors open and people act really nice when they hear my squeaky wheels coming."
"Kagome..."
"That's why I won't let anyone give me any oil for them." Kagome cocked her head. "Haven't seen you in a while. Been extra busy?"
"Fairly..." Inuyasha frowned. This was not what he'd expected at all. "Are you ok? I mean... everyone was telling me that you were all sad and depressed..."
"Oh that!" Kagome gasped and smiled. "Well I heard from one of your nurses that you and Doctor Kouga had a rivalry thing going on. So I thought it might show him up if I suddenly got really ill and depressed around him. Whose the better doctor now?"
"Still him... everyone blames me for it." Inuyasha scowled.
"Why? You only gave me to him because you were worried." Kagome said simply.
Inuyasha stared at her. "What?"
Kagome rolled her eyes. "You're so obvious. At first I thought you didn't like me... or you wanted to end it because I was going to die and you were scared - until I realised that you weren't like that. You ended it because you liked me too much. You were worried about getting too attached, right?"
How the hell could she be so bloody perceptive. She'd hit the nail right on the head and put into words what Inuyasha couldn't even sort out in his head. He suddenly understood his own reasons because Kagome had figured them out before he had.
"That..." he shook a finger at her. "That's very smart... but way off."
"Oh really...?" Kagome cocked an eyebrow. "So why DID you give me to Kouga?"
Because Kagome was going to die soon and Inuyasha didn't think he could handle it if he loved her any more than he did right then...
A strange expression had passed over Inuyasha's face, and Kagome looked around, noticing that people were still hanging around. She wanted it to be a private conversation, so she stood up carefully, pushed the wheelchair to the side and took Inuyasha's hand.
He seemed surprised. "How can you-"
"Only for a while - step into my office." She opened a storage room door and stepped inside, dragging him inside before shutting the door.
Only then did Inuyasha realise how small these rooms were... and being shut inside one was quite... unnerving.
"Ok, no one can hear us here unless our enemies have the place bugged." He really hoped she was just joking. "So now you can talk."
"Kagome... we really need to talk..." he breathed deeply and closed his eyes, trying to battle the sense that the walls were closing in on him.
She rolled her eyes. "That's what we're doing."
"I'm sorry I gave you away to Kouga... it's just... I had to... someone found out about that time I took you out... they told the board and they took it upon themselves."
"So it had nothing to do with you?" Kagome frowned as Inuyasha seemed to be very uncomfortable.
"Actually... I probably would have done it anyway..."
Kagome blinked in surprise. "Because you didn't want to get attached?"
He didn't want to lie... but he couldn't bring himself to let her get attached either. "No... I gave you to Kouga because... because... um..."
"Inuyasha... are you claustrophobic?"
"No!" he answered quickly before folding. "Ok - yes - but don't tell anyone!"
"Oh... so you're a CLOSET claustrophobic." Kagome grinned.
"Ho, ho, ho..." Inuyasha shook his head. "Anyway... what were we talking about?"
"Why you gave me away?"
"Oh yeah... because I... didn't want to lead you on..." Inuyasha said slowly. "It was wrong of me to kiss you... I shouldn't have done that, I fooled you... I'm sorry."
The smile slowly disappeared from Kagome's face. "You mean..."
"I didn't want to lie to you..."
Kagome leant back a bit... "Oh... I see..."
"Kagome, look, I'm really sorry, I never wanted to go that far and hurt you like this-"
"People told me you were a jerk." Kagome cut him off. "But I can see now that you're not... you're just a complete sadist ass."
"Now that's a little - wait!" he tried to steady her as she threw herself at the door with an unsteady stagger. Kagome just shook him off.
"I can do it by myself - I don't need you!" Kagome snapped, tumbling out of the store room and into her wheelchair.
The last thing he heard was the squeaking of her wheels as she went away. Inuyasha kicked himself mentally and banged his head against the wall. She was right of course... he was a complete ass...
AN: Sorry, have to leave it there for now - back soon ^_^
28 Days
A Turn for the Worse
Miroku rounded the corner into the lab and stopped short when he saw Inuyasha was inside. Not that Inuyasha was actually doing any work... in fact he was tearing pages out of his jotter and crunching them up into balls to juggle with. Miroku looked at his watch with a frown. "Aren't you supposed to be curled up in your bed now? You should have clocked out hours ago."
"I'm here every night Miroku. You know that." Inuyasha said evenly, tossing two balls into the bin opposite his table and tearing three new ones out of his book.
"Yeah... but usually you're working on..." On a cure for Kagome.
"Got no work now. Can't be bothered going home. What's the point? Just have to come back again in six hours."
"Oh damn... are you getting depressed?" Miroku sighed. "Because if you are - I think you need to take a vacation."
"Bite me."
Miroku shifted uneasily. "I heard about what happened... you transferred Kagome to Kouga." Everyone knew Inuyasha would never willingly give up a patient to Kouga... maybe someone else... but never Kouga. "I guess the medical board found out about-"
He stopped short as the jotter Inuyasha was using slapped him bang on the face. Miroku sniffed and wriggled his nose, checking if it was broken. "Ok... I can see you don't want to talk about it. So I'll just be on my merry way."
Inuyasha carried on juggling until he ran out of paper and the bin was overflowing with balls. He sighed and rapped his fingers against the desk, wondering what the hell he was supposed to do now. He was tired... but he didn't want to go home... if anything he was feeling guilty about dropping his search for a cure.
Maybe he should play the coma game to pass the time...?
^_^
"Her e's the rest of Inuyasha's research into the illness." Aki yawned as she handed Kouga a few folders.
"Any recorded incident of her losing motor control in her legs?" he asked.
Aki shook her head, rubbing her tired eyes while standing by his desk.
"So this is a new development." Kouga remarked. "Ok... send the girls over to check up on her through the night, ok?"
Aki nodded slightly until frowning. "Some of the others have noticed that she's regressing."
"Regressing?" Kouga frowned up at her.
"Yeah... well... like, yesterday she seemed all happy... today she's regressed back to Stage Four... Depression. She won't eat, she won't talk, she won't go out..."
Kouga shook his head. "That will probably be the expected affect. You think she would be happy with losing her ability to walk?"
"The girls think it could be because of Doctor Inu..."
Kouga shook his head. "That wouldn't cause depression. Who could get emotional over that blockhead anyway?"
'Kikyo...?' Was Aki's silent guess.
"You can get back to your duties." Kouga informed her abruptly.
Aki stifled another yawn and left his examination room to go back to her rounds. Her first stop was of course Kagome's room. She opened the door quietly and smiled as she approached the bed. "You ok, Kagome?"
Kagome's expressionless face remained staring straight ahead at the opposite wall. She'd been bed bound for the last day now that she couldn't use her legs. She hadn't spoken a word since then.
"Do you need anything?" Aki asked.
Kagome didn't respond... almost as though she couldn't hear anything. Aki didn't let her concern show and just smiled placidly as she started towards the door again. "Use the call button if you want something, there's always someone down the hall if you need them."
Kagome still didn't respond.
Aki shut the door behind her quietly and went to check on one of Miroku's most recent patients. Sango.
Someone really should have warned Aki that Sango was a fast talker and could drag almost anything she wanted out of a person...
^_^
"He re's someone who rolled out of bed on the wrong side." Sango greeted Inuyasha the next morning. She'd heard him coming... the various angry shouts had given him away. Then she noticed that he was still in the same clothes as yesterday. "Or should I say rolled off the work bench... what happened to you?"
"Do NOT get me started, Sango." He growled with barely restrained anger. "I am SO not in the mood for quick fire questions today."
"It's about Kagome isn't it?"
"No."
"Kouga?
"No!"
"It's about both of them together?" Sango winced. "Ooh... that sounds like it bites."
"It does - wait - shut up Sango!" Inuyasha snapped and stomped to her bedside.
"Let me take a wild guess here..." Sango said vaguely as he took her arms and began to unravel the bandages. "You got too tired or scared of looking after Kagome and so handed her over to Doctor Kouga?"
Inuyasha froze and stared at her.
"Just a wild stab in the dark." Her tone was light but she didn't crack a hint of a smile. For once she looked angry at him. "Your nurses talk too much about your other patients."
Inuyasha's fists clenched. "They shouldn't. It's against regulation. You shouldn't even know Kagome's name."
"What am I going to do with it?" Sango rolled her eyes. "My profession commits me to confidentiality. I'm not allowed to talk about my customers of patients to anyone... I won't do it for you either."
Inuyasha's expression remained schooled as her turned her hands this way and that to check her wrists.
"So are you a cowards, are were you really just so cold as to brush a patient off?" Sango asked suddenly. "I suppose you really don't like your patients after all. I guess all you see when you look at us is a product. The ones that are going off are heading straight for the body bag - the ones that live get shipped out as soon as possible."
"Goes to show what you know." Inuyasha replied tightly.
"God... I don't even know why I'm trying here..." Sango snorted and shook her head. "You're such an asshole I kinda want to transfer to Kouga as well. Maybe he would care more... and I KNOW he has more manners."
Inuyasha 'accidentally' pressed too hard on her healing incisions.
"Ow!" Sango snapped her arm back. "Watch it!"
"Oops." He said unconvincingly and pulled her hands back. "How do they feel anyway?"
"Ready to punch holes in certain block heads." Sango hissed through her teeth. "Wanna see?"
"Drop it Sango. My patients are none of your concern - so shut it and concentrate on healing for once instead of sticking your nose into other peoples business." Inuyasha snapped.
"I should give you a piece of my mind..." she glowered at him.
"Before you do that you better make sure you have enough to spare." He smirked.
"Oh how witty..." Sango gave him a withering look. "I'd love to continue the battle of wits but you don't seem to have much ammunition."
"Whatever..."
"I suppose your proud of yourself..." Sango taunted. "Making a poor girl sick."
"Who? You?" Inuyasha snorted. "You bet I am."
"I'm talking about Kagome." Sango snapped.
Inuyasha shot her an unreadable look before narrowing his eyes. "What are you on about? Kagome's fine."
Sango laughed without humour. "Oh sure... she's not sick at all! The fact that she's lost the use of her legs due to muscle deterioration - thanks to that virus that will kill her soon! Oh - and Kouga also has updated her life expectancy! She doesn't have two weeks... she has three days at the most to live."
Inuyasha stared at her.
"Congratulations, Doctor. You've managed to avoid another patient dying on you." Sango's glare was almost livid, even though she hadn't met Kagome. "But I suppose she was heading for that body bag right from the start..."
"Who told you all this?"
"One of the nurses. Last night."
"Which one?"
"Like hell I'm going to tell you that." Sango flexed her fingers angrily, something she'd only recently been able to do. "All you need to know is that it's your fault."
Inuyasha shook his head. "You don't know anything. How can it be my fault - I did all I could for her!"
"And a little bit more as well, I know that!" Sango snapped. "But then you act all cold and callous to her and give her to another doctor without explaining why! The poor girl probably thinks you hate her - she probably thinks she's going to die alone, unloved and a cripple!"
Inuyasha opened his mouth to retaliate but Sango was too quick.
"This is your fault! Go see her right now and apologise!"
"Hang on - I'm your doctor! You can't tell me what to do!"
"GO!" Sango yelled and pointed to the door.
"No!" Inuyasha stood his ground. "Make me!"
"Or else I swear you'll regret it!" Sango hissed so dangerously that Inuyasha rethought his decision.
After a few moments silence Sango spoke. "Are you reconsidering?"
"I'm reconsidering, reconsidering." He clenched his fists. "Ok... I'll go AFTER I see my other patients."
Sango flopped back smugly and watched him leave. When he was gone she broke into a wide grin. "Sucker..."
Kagome was way smarter than anyone gave her credit for...
^_^
Mr Takeo was the next patient on his rounds, but unfortunately... he had to share the blind guy with Miroku. Someone Inuyasha did not wish to see or speak to right then.
"You seen Kagome recently?" Miroku asked idly when Inuyasha arrived in the examination room.
"Should I have seen her?" Inuyasha responded with barely contained malice. "I thought you told me I wasn't allowed to?"
"Uh..." Miroku looked stumped. "No... you can see her... why shouldn't you be allowed to."
Nervy words coming from the guy that had told on Inuyasha and Kagome.
"Hello? Can I get treatment some time today?" Old Mr Takeo asked from where he was sipping his coffee.
Inuyasha shot him a glare. "You know what I'm doing? I'm giving you the finger."
Miroku rolled his eyes as Inuyasha was obviously doing no such thing, and made a gesture of money to the other doctor that earned him another glare.
"Don't trick an old man." Mr Takeo scolded Inuyasha with a finger as he put down his coffee on the examination table. "You ain't giving me no finger."
"Are you sure you're blind?" Inuyasha raised an eyebrow at him.
"That's right... I'm just pretending."
Inuyasha muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'crazy man'.
"Hey - I ain't crazy! I'm just a sane man living in the body of a nut." Mr Takeo nodded convincingly.
"Right then..." Miroku glanced up at Inuyasha. "You gonna take his blood pressure or am I?"
"I don't know, Miroku." Inuyasha said with his back turned. "You usually like taking the pressure off me, so why don't you do it?"
Miroku stared at him. "I'm just guessing here... but are you mad at me for some reason?"
"What makes you say that?" Inuyasha turned with unnerving calm.
"He's just guessing." Mr Takeo answered for Miroku.
Inuyasha shot Takeo a stony look while Miroku cottoned on. "Oh... you think that it was ME who told the medical heads about the Kagome thing!"
"I certainly see why you passed YOUR surgeon exam."
"Inuyasha - I swear I didn't say anything!" Miroku said quickly. "I told you I wouldn't say anything and I didn't!"
"Nice try Miroku - but you were the only one who knew about it! Who else would have blabbed to the medical board?!" Inuyasha growled.
"I don't know - but it certainly wasn't me." Miroku huffed and folded his arms. "As if I was the only person who saw you getting friendly with Kagome."
"This is better than the soap operas..." Takeo muttered.
"So if it wasn't you then who was it?"
"I don't know... Aki... Kouga... Kikyo..." Miroku shrugged. "They're about it who would really know about it."
Inuyasha clenched his fists angrily.
"So spill the beans." Mr Takeo rubbed his hands together. "This sounds like one saucy affair if you ask me-"
"No one's asking you anything." Inuyasha ground out.
"Is Kagome a nurse? Your girlfriend? Or better yet... a patient?"
Inuyasha glared a moment before silently reaching out and knocked over an empty tray beside his cup of coffee, making the cup clink. "Look out, Mr Takeo! Hot coffee is spilling everywhere!"
Mr Takeo didn't react. "Don't trick an old man, boy."
Miroku sighed. "Mr Takeo, you have some mustard on your cheek."
"Oh..." the old man turned to rub it off. Pity it wasn't there to begin with.
Inuyasha folded his arms and glared at Miroku meanwhile. "But I suppose you've heard from Sango about Kagome... regressing... right?"
Miroku nodded. "Aki told me this morning."
Aki seemed to be telling people a lot of things apparently.
"I think you should go see her..." Miroku said gently. "She hasn't really got long now..."
Inuyasha frowned lightly, looking down at his hand that rested on the table.
Mr Takeo turned back around. "Is it gone?"
Miroku shook his head. "It's still there."
"So what am I supposed to say to her?" Inuyasha asked suddenly. "It's not like I can comfort her... she's gonna die soon..."
Miroku shrugged. "Tell her you care... that you don't hate her... even if you don't care about her you don't have to tell her. She should at least die happy..."
Inuyasha was silent, mulling over this.
"You can go see her now... I'll look after Mr Takeo." Miroku offered.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Inuyasha turned and walked out. Miroku turned back to Mr Takeo who pointed to his cheek. "Is it still there?" Miroku smiled and shook his head. "You have some on the other cheek too."
^_^
Surpris e, surprise... Kagome wasn't in her room when Inuyasha arrived there. For a moment he puzzled over that since she couldn't really have walked off... before realising a wheelchair must have been hanging around. He noticed something lying on the bed and walked over to pick the note up.
"I have gone to find myself..." he read, before turning it over and looking at the back. "If I should return before I get back, please tell me to wait...?"
Perhaps Kagome had finally lost it.
Best go check the roof first.
As headed down the corridor he vaguely wondered what he was supposed to say to her. He was used to her acting pleasant and happy now... what was he supposed to say to bring her out of depression. He rounded a corner and came to a screeching halt.
"You won't be laughing when I stick a pole through your wheels!"
Two blurs shot past him and his hair blew softly to the side. It took a moment for him to realise what was going on.
Kagome and Sango were having a wheelchair race down the main corridor with cheering spectators at each end. He glanced down at the pair who were fast reaching the finish line (a roll of white bandage).
Sango got there first and threw her hands up to cheer. "Oh yes! Whose the best?!"
"That's not fair! You have an electric wheelchair!" Kagome protested, but she was laughing and wheeling herself in circles.
Inuyasha had seen enough. "Kagome! Sango!"
Both girls looked up and Sango smiled sheepishly. "Oh crap... well... um... I gotta go... see ya Kagome!" she hopped out of her chair and hurried off... obviously her arms were feeling a lot better.
Kagome grinned as she wheeled her way over to where Inuyasha stood... the wheels squeaking ominously.
"Going for the sympathy vote?" Inuyasha asked quietly.
"Do you think I'd really let myself get worked up over a small detail like this?" Kagome laughed and wheeled past him. "This is actually pretty cool! I don't have to walk anywhere - everyone holds doors open and people act really nice when they hear my squeaky wheels coming."
"Kagome..."
"That's why I won't let anyone give me any oil for them." Kagome cocked her head. "Haven't seen you in a while. Been extra busy?"
"Fairly..." Inuyasha frowned. This was not what he'd expected at all. "Are you ok? I mean... everyone was telling me that you were all sad and depressed..."
"Oh that!" Kagome gasped and smiled. "Well I heard from one of your nurses that you and Doctor Kouga had a rivalry thing going on. So I thought it might show him up if I suddenly got really ill and depressed around him. Whose the better doctor now?"
"Still him... everyone blames me for it." Inuyasha scowled.
"Why? You only gave me to him because you were worried." Kagome said simply.
Inuyasha stared at her. "What?"
Kagome rolled her eyes. "You're so obvious. At first I thought you didn't like me... or you wanted to end it because I was going to die and you were scared - until I realised that you weren't like that. You ended it because you liked me too much. You were worried about getting too attached, right?"
How the hell could she be so bloody perceptive. She'd hit the nail right on the head and put into words what Inuyasha couldn't even sort out in his head. He suddenly understood his own reasons because Kagome had figured them out before he had.
"That..." he shook a finger at her. "That's very smart... but way off."
"Oh really...?" Kagome cocked an eyebrow. "So why DID you give me to Kouga?"
Because Kagome was going to die soon and Inuyasha didn't think he could handle it if he loved her any more than he did right then...
A strange expression had passed over Inuyasha's face, and Kagome looked around, noticing that people were still hanging around. She wanted it to be a private conversation, so she stood up carefully, pushed the wheelchair to the side and took Inuyasha's hand.
He seemed surprised. "How can you-"
"Only for a while - step into my office." She opened a storage room door and stepped inside, dragging him inside before shutting the door.
Only then did Inuyasha realise how small these rooms were... and being shut inside one was quite... unnerving.
"Ok, no one can hear us here unless our enemies have the place bugged." He really hoped she was just joking. "So now you can talk."
"Kagome... we really need to talk..." he breathed deeply and closed his eyes, trying to battle the sense that the walls were closing in on him.
She rolled her eyes. "That's what we're doing."
"I'm sorry I gave you away to Kouga... it's just... I had to... someone found out about that time I took you out... they told the board and they took it upon themselves."
"So it had nothing to do with you?" Kagome frowned as Inuyasha seemed to be very uncomfortable.
"Actually... I probably would have done it anyway..."
Kagome blinked in surprise. "Because you didn't want to get attached?"
He didn't want to lie... but he couldn't bring himself to let her get attached either. "No... I gave you to Kouga because... because... um..."
"Inuyasha... are you claustrophobic?"
"No!" he answered quickly before folding. "Ok - yes - but don't tell anyone!"
"Oh... so you're a CLOSET claustrophobic." Kagome grinned.
"Ho, ho, ho..." Inuyasha shook his head. "Anyway... what were we talking about?"
"Why you gave me away?"
"Oh yeah... because I... didn't want to lead you on..." Inuyasha said slowly. "It was wrong of me to kiss you... I shouldn't have done that, I fooled you... I'm sorry."
The smile slowly disappeared from Kagome's face. "You mean..."
"I didn't want to lie to you..."
Kagome leant back a bit... "Oh... I see..."
"Kagome, look, I'm really sorry, I never wanted to go that far and hurt you like this-"
"People told me you were a jerk." Kagome cut him off. "But I can see now that you're not... you're just a complete sadist ass."
"Now that's a little - wait!" he tried to steady her as she threw herself at the door with an unsteady stagger. Kagome just shook him off.
"I can do it by myself - I don't need you!" Kagome snapped, tumbling out of the store room and into her wheelchair.
The last thing he heard was the squeaking of her wheels as she went away. Inuyasha kicked himself mentally and banged his head against the wall. She was right of course... he was a complete ass...
AN: Sorry, have to leave it there for now - back soon ^_^