InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Inside ❯ The Pocket Watch ( Chapter 3 )

A/N: The question of what Inuyasha's whole problem is (about going into to town, not being in contact by anyone in three years, tuning into a giant animal, etc) will be answered, eventually, but rest assured! It will all be explained thoroughly in future chapters, but for now, I'm sticking with the little annoying hints. ^_^

 

 

Now, I obey you to read!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 3 - The Pocket-Watch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A brick red truck crawled into the General Hospital parking lot, coming to a silent stop. A young man with a tightly zipped-up jacket stepped out, shoving his hands into his deep pockets to shelter them from the cold. His curtain of soft, white hair rested flat on his back as he turned and tugged his cap harder against his head.

 

The automatic doors slid open for Inuyasha and he stepped into the porch. His heart felt like it was beating at least ten times faster than it beat normally. He tapped his feet lightly on the long black mat beneath him as he walked, shaking the thick slush from his boots off.

 

He made a left turn then, finding himself in the waiting room. His body shook slightly with relief when he saw only a woman and her baby sitting in one of the chairs near the back of the room.

 

"Can I help you, Sir?" the woman at the desk straight ahead asked, standing on the tips of her toes to see over the piles of papers and files and binders splayed out around her. The hanyou casually walked over to her, smiling handsomely. His eyes fruitfully found her nametag placed just below the right side of her collarbone.

 

"Yes...Nadoko," he purred. He hoped she would pay more attention to the charm rather than his strange appearance. The last thing he needed was for her to recognize him from one of the 'Missing' flyers...

 

"I have an appointment with Doctor Suiyo? ..."

 

"Oh, yes!" she said after a moment. Her hands began digging through the papers until she found a clipboard. Her index finger ran down the side of it until she found whatever she was looking for. "Tsusi, Hodoku?" she asked, looking up.

 

Inuyasha nodded. "Yeah, that'd be me," he grinned widely, revealing a pair of pearly white fangs. Nadoko appeared slightly in awe for a moment before bringing her eyes back to his golden ones. "Yes, he'll be with you in about ten minutes, Mr. Tsusi. Just take a seat there"

 

"Thank you."

 

He did as he was instructed and picked a seat against the wall next to the wide window. He eyed the mother and baby sitting quietly in the room with him. Would she know what he was planning on doing?

 

The pastel-pink door to the Doctor's offices and storage rooms was straight ahead. From where she was sitting, there was no way she would be able to see him once he was in there unless she stood and purposefully took a peek.

 

As he thought through his plan, he realized that whoever saw him didn't matter anyway. He would be out of there in a flash. After all, he was about to steal from a public Hospital. It wasn't exactly something he was proud of, but the bullet-wound in his shoulder could wait no longer. What was he supposed to do? This was his only chance for survival. If theft was something he had to bring himself low enough to do, then so be it. He would thank himself for doing this later...

 

The hospital assistant suddenly piled a few papers into her arms and vanished through a near-by door. Now was his chance.

 

Without a second glance towards the woman and baby, Inuyasha sprang to his feet and strolled purposefully towards the pink door. He could feel her eyes on his back but remained focused on the task at hand. 'Get in get out, get in get out, get in get out...'

 

He looked cautiously through the window of the door when he reached it, peering in at the long, slightly darkened hallway with multiple doors on each side. His eyes concentrated on each of their labels until he found the one marked 'Medical Supplies'.

 

In two seconds he'd opened the door with ease and shut it firmly behind him, striding over to the green door he prayed wasn't locked. The hanyou reached it and nearly fell over with relief when the handle turned smoothly beneath his fingers, revealing a broad room stuffed with endless rows of shelves. It didn't take him long to locate the things he desperately needed; Alcohol, bandages, a stitching kit, cotton-ball swabs, and of course those pain pills.

 

He shoved all the items roughly into his pockets, when he noticed with horror that his blood had finally stained through. A quickly growing spot of dark red was seeping through his creamy colored cotton jacket.

 

He cursed loudly. It was time to go.

 

Inuyasha raced out of the room at a speed no human could match. As he shut the door, he turned in the direction of the hallway entrance only to be met by a man in a long white coat nibbling on a donut.

 

The hanyou froze in place from the sudden shock of being caught, and he directed his eyes slowly to the man's face, but nothing could prepare him for the utter disbelief that came next.

 

Recognition flooded through his features, and the donut man mirrored it back to him, ceasing his nibbling. Inuyasha couldn't believe what he was seeing.

 

The donut man managed to find his voice, his deep, stormy-purple eyes unblinking as he spoke. 'In... Inuyash-"

 

'Inuyash' zoomed past him to the entrance to the hallway, leaving the pink door open behind him. In a heartbeat he was back in his truck, not bothering to put on his seat belt as his keys stabbed the engine to life. The quickly setting sun enveloped him in golden light as he flew out of the parking lot before blaring back onto the road, water flying everywhere behind his back wheels.

 

Pretty soon he was back on the highway, too, shaking with a cold, piercing feeling he'd never felt before. He was genuinely shocked that his heart hadn't flown out through his mouth yet. He wanted to literally kick the shit out of himself.

 

One face loomed very clearly in the focus of his mind now.

 

"Miroku..." Inuyasha ground out.

 

He'd been seen. By none other than his best friend. His best friend whom he hadn't seen for three years. So, technically, it was his former best friend. But none the less, Inuyasha was in serious trouble now.

 

Would Miroku go to the police and tell them that he'd found the one who'd been missing for all these years now? Would he tell Inuyasha's parents? What had he been doing in that Hospital anyway? From the way he was dressed, Inuyasha wildly thought for a moment that he was a Doctor there.

 

'Impossible,' he thought now, full of doubt. 'Miroku Houshi, a Doctor at fucking nineteen years old? Whatever happened to us being free, back-packing through New Zealand and playing shows at The Monty Brazzy?!'

 

A heavy sadness that almost hurt him more than his flesh wound did dropped on top of him like a falling grand piano.

 

This had happened...

 

Inuyasha was at the point where he thought how much better his door window would look smashed into pieces in his lap when he remembered that he already had one open wound to tend to. He didn't need a bleeding hand to take care of, too.

 

"Damn it!" he bellowed, crashing his fist against the steering wheel, earning a loud beep of the horn in response.

 

'Calm down, calm down, calm down...' his mind urgently whispered. His claws dug into the steering wheel, each hand shaking violently. He needed to stop the truck.

 

The Bed & Breakfast came into view, and the hanyou couldn't control himself when he lurched into its small parking lot, finding a spot behind a tree that shielded him from the accommodation windows. His fists slammed against the dashboard, actually causing the still-running motor to stutter briefly.

 

"Damn it damn it DAMN IT!" his hands raised and crashed down again. He was breathing like he'd just run to town and back. He'd never felt this angry in a long time. It was like there was growing fire in the pit of his stomach, and he didn't care how big it got. It felt... refreshing... a bittersweet change from his usual complete lack of any emotion at all.

 

Adrenaline was rushing through his veins, and he could feel it. He could practically smell his anger... taste it. His teeth were grinding so hard together it was a wonder that they didn't shatter.

 

'How could this have happened?!'

 

His temper was making his heart pound a mile a minute, which made his blood move at an alarming speed. He suddenly felt a sharp stinging sensation in his left shoulder.

 

He bit back a yelp before he looked down at the large flow of blood gushing out through his jacket. He thought maybe he'd torn it open when he'd raised his arms to hit the dashboard. He clenched his jaw and shut his eyes, trying to calm himself. His heart needed to slow down or he would die right then and there of blood loss.

 

He now thought of the only thing that would cool his temper right about now. His father's pocket-watch.

 

His father had given it to him for his tenth birthday. Ever since then, it had stayed with Inuyasha. Wherever he went, it lay safely in his pant pocket. Even when he'd run away, he'd taken it with him. It was his most treasured possession, and no matter how angry he'd ever gotten it always managed to sooth him almost instantly when he held it in his hand.

 

Automatically, his hand slipped inside his pocket, the tips of his fingers reaching for the cold metal. They dug deep, and reached the bottom.

 

The hanyou's eyes shot open.

 

His fingers urgently searched the area of the pocket, finding nothing. He looked around his feet, searching the floor of the truck. Checked his seat. Checked his other pockets. It was nowhere.

 

He started to shake again. Only this time it was from the dense shock that tingled down his spine. Tiny dots scattered across his vision, and it was a long moment before he realized he wasn't breathing. He slowly inhaled, holding it for a second and then letting it out. He blinked rapidly, forcing the dots out from his eyes. Finally he was calm enough to form a thought. 'Where the fuck is my father's pocket-watch...'

 

He remembered he'd had in when he'd left the house, he'd also had it when he'd gotten into his truck...he was pretty sure he'd felt it pressed against his thigh the whole way to town...

 

His heart gave a sickening lurch. The hospital. He must've dropped it at some point when he'd been in the hospital. Panic started to seep out from somewhere in his throat, but he firmly pushed it back down. He had to go back and get it before some sick little runt picked it up or something.

 

His bullet-wound was just going to have to wait a little longer. He wondered momentarily how long he'd been sitting in this parking lot...

 

With the engine still running, he put his truck in reverse and backed out, but instead of turning in the direction of home, he slammed on the gas and blasted back towards town and out of sight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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"Is he going to be okay?"

 

"He has multiple fractured bones in his right leg and a concussion, but yes, he'll be perfectly fine, Ms. Higurashi."

 

Both Ms. Higurashi and her daughter breathed a sigh of relief after the doctor finished speaking. They'd been standing outside the emergency room where Souta was being kept for nearly an hour now. Kagome felt her nerves relax when she realized he really would be fine. But had she gotten one hell of a fright.

 

"You should both take a seat in the waiting room, you look exhausted. I can assure you-" he looked at Kagome's mother over his glasses intently. She was more reassured when the doctor said that her son would be fine, but she still wore a pained look on her worried face. "-that he'll be up and walking by tomorrow afternoon. Not without a cast and crutches, of course."

 

Her mother nodded and smiled slightly at the doctor. "Thank you, I think I do need to sit down. Please come and get us when he wakes?"

 

The Doctor nodded and turned to walk back into Souta's hospital room. Kagome caught a glimpse of her little brother splayed across the white bed, undoubtedly unconscious. She waved to him anyway, wishing he would open his eyes and wave enthusiastically back. But he just disappeared behind the door as it shut quietly behind the Doctor.

 

The girl dropped her hand sadly and turned to her mom. "Come on, mom. We'll wait in the waiting room like he said."

 

They were sitting down a few minutes later. A woman and her baby sat a few seats beside them. She was clinging to her baby tightly, and it gave Kagome the impression that she was protecting it. She was also staring in the direction of the exit, a look of fading alarm on her face.

 

Kagome took her mother's hand, knowing how unnecessarily worried she was. Ms. Higurashi looked down at her daughter appreciatively and squeezed her hand lightly.

 

Suddenly a door to their left opened, revealing another Doctor. Kagome frowned when she noticed that the look on his face resembled the one of that woman.

 

Shaken... alarmed.

 

The man chewed slowly on a donut as he walked, staring at the floor the whole time. The door from which he'd come shut with a click behind him before he vanished out of her line of view down another hallway.

 

'Weird...' she thought, curious. Her mother didn't seem to notice.

 

Kagome slumped in her seat, bringing her free hand up to cup her chin. Her eyes trailed along the pink marble floor, counting each tile. They stopped suddenly when she noticed something glimmering in her peripheral vision. She lowered her head to see underneath the chair directly in front of her, right next to the window.

 

She realized it was one of those old antique pocket-watches, slender chain and all.

 

It was very pretty, with small indented details all around the rim. Why would someone leave something as pretty as that here in a public waiting room where anyone could snatch it up? The good-natured teenager bent over and reached underneath the chair, grasping the chain and tugging the whole thing up and into her lap. Her mother turned her head and peered down at the watch. "Oh, what have you got there, dear?"

 

"A pocket-watch, it was under that seat," Kagome chirped as her fingers traced the golden rim gently. She stood after a moment of her and her mom just staring at it, tucking into the inside pocket of her jacket. "I'll go bring it up to the desk and see if they have a Lost & Found."

 

She made her way through the chairs and walked towards the main desk, but before she could reach it, the Doctor dealing with Souta came through the emergency room doors. "He's awake now," he stated happily, looking to Kagome and then to her mother.

 

"You can both go in and see him if you'd like."

 

Ms. Higurashi was already walking to Kagome's side as he said this, and she smiled gratefully to him.

 

"Come on," she breathed with relief to Kagome before speed walking back through the emergency entrance.

 

The girl eagerly followed, completely forgetting about the watch resting in her pocket, and thoroughly unaware that a rather peeved hanyou was on his way back to retrieve it.

 

 

 

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A/N: Well well well, looks like we have one pissed off Inuyasha and one forgetful Kagome on our hands. Sorry if this took too long to update, and I'm not going to make any stupid excuses, but I will say that I'm starting High School in… less than a month?! Well, you might be able to tell that I'm flat out panicking. Hopefully it won't be as bad as I think it'll be, but then again, with my luck it'll probably be worse. ^_^

 

Hope you liked this chapter, things are finally rolling into place, wouldn't you say?