InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dr. Miko ❯ Chapter 10 ( Chapter 10 )

AN: Ok, here's the next installment. Prepare yourself, it gets a little dark, a little disturbing, a little graphic, but it gets better. I have to write a disclaimer here too; the medical emergency is extreme and I have never experienced something this terrible in all my years in the field, but I know it has happened. If it's too much, lemme know and I'll take care of it. Look out, here come a plug: Please spay and neuter your pets- it is a safe procedure and it saves millions of lives a year. Ok, ill lay off the depressing stuff- and as an added bonus; I'm posting 2 chapters tonight. However, the second chapter comes to the end of what I've written; which means the next chapters may take a little longer than usual. But, if you love me, you'll cut me some slack.

~~0.o~~byrd

Chapter 10:

Monday morning hit Kagome like a 2x4. The sun was up, birds were singing, and all she could think was `Shit, do I really have to, Mom?' It was the smell of fresh coffee that finally lifted her from under the thick covers. "Ah, good ol' automatic coffee maker," she said as she swung herself out of bed. She put on her oversized, fluffy robe and turned on the shower to let it warm up while she went into the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee. It tasted dark, and savage, yet calming and soothing at the same time. Walking back into her room, she found Inuyasha still asleep, under the comforter and his head on the pillow she had been sleeping on. She watched him as he snuggled in deeper, breathing in her scent and smiling slightly in his sleep. The sing songy voice of Sango rang in her ears. "Somebody's jealous." It was an intriguing idea, that Inuyasha would be jealous. `He was a man, after all, or was over 200 years ago, why shouldn't he be jealous hearing about her date with another man.' She stopped suddenly; her mind had just stumbled into some very dangerous territory. `What if he is jealous? That would mean, he has feelings for me, right? Feelings beyond the pet/ owner ones most dogs have.' She wasn't sure what to do with this new information, or even if it was true. She ran into the bathroom and shut the door, panting slightly and holding her cup of coffee with two shaking hands.

"What am I going to do? How do I even talk about something like that? Ok, ok, just calm down Kagome. Think. Ok, he is a dog, I know, but he's also a friend. I could just tell him that I love him like a friend… a friend that's a dog and lives with me and has seen me naked…" Why did it always have to be so complicated? `Oh, the curse, he said that there was a way to break it, with that stone. Since I'm related to the girl who cast it, and it disappeared when she died, maybe Grandpa will know about it. Maybe I could break the curse…' Kagome shook her head at her own childish thought. "What is this, `Beauty and the Beast'? Don't even get your hopes up." Still, somewhere deep in her conscious, Kagome's mind recorded and stored away the information, preparing for a time when it would resurface and try again.

~~0.o~~

Inuyasha lay on the bed, drifting in and out of sleep. Once Kagome had gotten up, he had crawled over to her side, sliding beneath the covers and burying his head into her pillow. The goose feathers cushioned his head, filling his sensitive nose with the soft scent of her. Behind his eyelids, he held her, in his human form, his face pressed into her thick hair and he breathed deeply. The sound of her starting the shower roused him slightly, but he allowed himself a few more minutes relishing in the smell all around him. His hands slid over her warm skin and lingered on her waist. "Oh, Inuyasha," he heard within his thoughts, "you had me at `Beat it kid'." He smiled to himself, memories of the first time they had met floating through the lovely picture. The sudden slam of the bathroom door brought him back to reality, unfortunately. He sat up groggily, his eyes not yet used to the brightness of the room. Stretching in a very dog-like manner, he yawned and headed for the bathroom. `Nothin like a clod drink to wake you up,' he thought, `plus the chance glimpse of Kagome naked in the shower never hurts.' He made his way to the door and stopped just short of opening it. His heart stopped in his chest and his lungs froze, rendering him motion and help less.

"What is this, `Beauty and the Beast'? Don't even get your hopes up." It rang over and over in his ears. He listened to her footsteps as she shed her clothes and stepped into the shower. He knew Kagome had quite a sense of humor, and on any other day, it might have been funny, but there had been something in her voice; a sadness he was not accustomed to hearing from her, there was a level of pain and regret, but there was firmness. She had said her peace and that was that. Inuyasha's heart broke in half; the small pieces that had begun to heal recently fell back apart, replacing itself with bitterness. `Fine,' he thought, `it's not like I need her. She said I was free to leave, maybe its time I got back out on the streets, I was happier there anyways.' And that was that.

Kagome dried herself slowly after her hot shower, enjoying the feel of the fresh fluffy towel on her newly shaven skin. Her slacks had been hanging on the shower door, soaking in the moisture and she gently shook them to loosen any deep wrinkles that hadn't already fallen out. The silk lining was cool against her scalded legs as she slid them on, and once her bra was fastened, she wrapped her hair in the towel and went in search on a shirt. A tight light blue shirt worked perfectly; showing just enough color above the buttons of her lab coat, but still fun with a picture of Oscar the Grouch on the chest. She knew she'd be catching flack for the girls for her behavior on Friday and she figured she'd apologize by letting everyone call her Oscar for the day. She turned to ask Inuyasha what he thought of her plan only to find him vanished from his spot on the bed. She was slightly disappointed, but shrugged it off casually. Finding her keys and purse, she headed to the door, coffee in one hand and two leashes in the other.

"Com'on guys, its time to go or we'll be late. Shippou, Inuyasha, chop chop." An excited little Pomeranian puppy came dancing into the living room, standing against her leg and waiting to be picked up. "Inuyasha, com'on, we really are going to be late."

"Momma, he left. He said he needed some time to think but he'd see us later," Shippou added as he was lifted off the ground. Kagome frowned internally. `I'm getting too emotional now, he just went out for a while, he'll be back. He always comes back.' She and Shippou headed to work as usual, trying not to think about how much it felt like the times before Inuyasha had come into the family. The small puppy seemed to sense that something was wrong with his surrogate mother, and he had a pretty good idea what it was.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Shippou?" She had caught that `poor you' look in the small dog's eyes.

"I miss him already too." That was all that needed to be said, the rest of the car ride was silent. They arrived early, considering the speed at which Kagome was flying, and headed straight back to the office. Shippou made himself comfortable on the large bed under the desk and Kagome grabbed her coat and left for the surgery room.

"Good morning Dr. Higurashi." "Feeling better Dr. Higurashi?" "Hope you had a nice, calming weekend, Dr. Higurashi." That was all she needed right now, the counterfeit cheerful greetings of the staff. She had to bite her tongue as she hurried down the crowded hall.

"Kag, you're early. How you feeling?" Rin was ready with two dogs prepped for spays and both Sango and Kagura were busy removing bladder stones from an old cat. Kagome smiled instead of answering her technician, knowing that if she attempted to speak, a flood of insults and grievances would most likely fall out. "I'll take these two into the other surgery room, you draw up the drugs- the charts are right there on the counter. See you in a few," Rin tossed over her shoulder as she left. She walked over to the counter and flipped through the paper charts for each of the two dogs- everything looked fine. One was only 6 months old, the other was 5 years, having had complications with her last litter of puppies, and the owners decided that it was best to retire her from breeding. She drew up a combination ketamine and diazepam for each and started for the door.

"Hey, Kagome, I didn't see Inuyasha in the office, is he at the groomers again?" The question froze her in her tracks. She wasn't sure whether to tell the girls that he had taken off for a while or just lie and not talk about it.

"He, uh, had some things to do, but he'll be in later. I'm not worried…" It was a blatant lie, even though she had decided to tell the truth. Her head told her that Inuyasha would be back; that he would never really leave her, but her heart ached in a way she was unfamiliar with. She hustled down the starkly lit corridor, throwing open the surgery door with a strength she hadn't realized she possessed. It flew open with a bang, startling Rin and causing the two dogs to bark ferociously.

"Geeze, Kagome. You nearly made me jump out of my skin!" Rin was clutching her chest and leaning over the counter, taking deep breaths. Kagome knelt and quietly addressed each dog, silencing the barking and releasing the tension that had suddenly built in the small room. Her face was emotionless, reminding Rin of the first time she had seen Sesshoumaru in the hospital. "Hey, Kag, you alright?" There was no answer. "You wanna tell me what's going on?"

"I don't want to talk about it." That was all she said. Rin quietly prepped the first surgery, making sure to stay out of the volatile doctor's way. Kagome put on her gown, cap, and gloves; turning and clearing her throat to tell Rin she needed to tie the back for her. Once the dog was breathing regularly on the anesthia machine, she began her surgery. The air was thick with agitation, making Kagome even more frustrated with herself. She took a deep breath, trying to let go all of her emotions and concentrate on the task at hand. Her scalpel blade cut cleanly through the skin and the central meniscus of the dog's abdominal muscles. She blotted the blood away and exchanged her blade for the spay hook. `Ok, Kag, lets pull this together. Uterus is behind bladder which leads up the uterine horns and ovaries behind each kidney.' She had done the procedure so many times; she could almost do it in her sleep. A cut, a clamp, and a stitch later, the uterus was free of the body and she dropped it unceremoniously into the hazard bag. She noticed the frown on Rin's face as it plopped and sloshed into the bottom and regretted her jaded actions, just a little. She was still raging inside, however, and the silence in the room was beginning to scrape on her last nerve. She closed the tiny incision and stepped aside so her technician could recover the patient.

`How dare he assume that after all this time, he could just leave and not tell me where he was going! Didn't even say when he would be back, like I wouldn't worry about him. I know I said that he could leave anytime he wanted to, but he wouldn't just up and leave, would he? And here I was thinking about my feelings for him, as if her were a man. As if I were the princess who kissed the frog and he would just turn into a handsome prince. Grrrr, that dog really knows how to get my goat!'

"Dr. Higurashi, your next patient is ready." Kagome didn't even notice the formality her friend used with her, she was now bordering on enraged inside her head. The older dog was tied down on the surgery table, her chest caving rapidly as the isoflurine gas slowly calmed and evened out her heart rate. The EKG was beeping loudly in time with the erratic beats, making Kagome cringe.

"Turn the volume down on the EKG, I can't even hear myself think," she snapped at her usually chipper friend. Rin did as she was told, no questions asked. Kagome picked up her new blade and made her incision, not noticing that when the meniscus separated, part of the abdominal muscle split with it. She blotted the blood away from her incision site once, twice, three times. At any other time, her mind would have been throwing up red flags; incision slightly diagonal, steady trickle of blood around the opening, but Kagome's mind was in another place entirely. She hooked the uterus, bringing it up and out of the body cavity, noticing the heavily pulsating veins just below the tissue. She clamped the tops of each horn, adding a double suture to each to cut off the blood supply before cutting it free. She again blotted the tissue and began to close the incision, again not noticing the rich blood pooling within the cavity. Another five minutes and she had the wound closed. A single drop of blood appeared over the newly stitched area, rolling down the side of the dog's belly a drawing a thin crimson ribbon across her sterile field. Once the path had been formed, more drops appeared and joined the first, dripping loudly on to the table beneath her patient. This caught Kagome's attention. Her whole body went cold, she suddenly was very aware of all the signs she had missed in the half hour she had just spent operating. Her body went into emergency mode, acting before her brain could catch up.

"Rin, turn up the EKG, drop the iso down to 1 and hand me a lab sponge quickly." She tried to keep her voice even but by the look on her assistant's face, she knew her fear had been evident. She grabbed her scalpel blade and sliced quickly through her stitches, snatching up the sponge and sopping up all the fluid that was now spilling from the abdominal cavity. The beeping of the heart monitor was steadily declining and she had to bite hard into her bottom lip to keep from yelling out a protest. "Turn the iso off completely, get me 3cc of Epinephrine and 0.5cc of adrenalin, I'm starting, I need fluids and a 22 catheter. Page Sango and get her in here. Now!" Tears fell freely from her eyes now as she compressed the old dog's chest in hopes of restarting the heartbeats that had tapered off as she was speaking. "No! You are not going to die here, on my table! Live God Damnit! 1…2…3…4…" There was a twitch on the screen and slowly, the light and the beeping began again. Rin handed her the Epinephrine and she carefully injected it through the ribcage directly into the heart. The beeping increased steadily for a moment and then began to plateau. She breathed a slight sigh of relief that was short lived. There was an additional sound along with the uneven beeps of the EKG; Kagome placed her head on the cold chest and listened. Her heart almost stopped when she realized it was a sloshing sound coming from the lungs. The blood had been flowing all the while and had backed up into the lungs. If she didn't drain them, and quickly, the dog would drown in her own blood. She scrambled to the other side of the table, grabbing an empty syringe and a needle.

"Rin, I need you to begin artificial breathing while I drain the lungs, ready?" She didn't wait for an answer as she cut the small abdominal incision up to the sternum, this time carefully and exactly in the center. "Breathe…2…3…4…5…Breathe…" In time with Rin's blowing, she pulled the plunger on the syringe, draining the blood from the left lung. They continued for 2 rounds, 3 rounds, neither noticing Sango nor Kagura entering the room, watching from the doorway as the team tried with all their might to necessitate the small dog. Their actions were textbook, to the dot, but the lungs kept producing more and more blood with each pull of the needle. The beeping slowed, holding a low steady pitch for a moment before stopping all together, leaving only the sound of heavy panting and quiet sobbing in its place. "No, I need more Epinephrine now, I need an empty ringer bag and a butterfly catheter to drain with, I need…" Sango, who was now beside her, shaking her head, cut her off.

"It is done Kagome. Let her go. You did all you could for her and more…"

"No! No one dies on my table! I am a doctor, I save lives. I talk to animals and… and…" She broke down into tears, her head hung low and her whole body convulsing with the force of her sobs.

"Kagura, Rin, tidy the area, leave the dog and I will close in a minute. Get me the chart and the owner's phone numbers. Tell Yuri up front to cancel the rest of Kagome's appointments, the ones that have to be seen, tell her to fit into my schedule." Both girls nodded and left the room momentarily to give the two old friends time to work out what ever they needed to. Sango turned her attention to the woman on the floor, her best friend, her sister, the one person she cared for most in the world, who was huddled in a ball on the floor, crying her heart out. She sat down beside her and wrapped her arms around her as tightly as she could.

"It shouldn't have happened, it was all my fault. I was so preoccupied about Inuyasha leaving… I didn't even see the signs…" Kagome was rocking back and forth in Sango's arms, her face buried now in her broad shoulders. Her friend knew better than to tell her it wasn't true, knew better than to tell her it was over and to let it go. She knew better than to say anything at all. It was the first time. No one had ever died on her table, no one ever should have. It was the first rule they tell all aspiring doctors, human and animal alike: there is no place for emotion in an OR, check it at the door and put full concentration on the patient at hand. For the twenty minutes or twenty hours you are in that surgery room, nothing exists outside of the single life in and under your hands. Yes, her friend knew better than to say anything at all.

~~0.o~~