InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Playground Love ❯ The Day Kagome's Father Died ( Chapter 2 )

Playground Love

 

 

 

Chapter 2: The Day Kagome's Father Died

 

 

InuYasha held a sleepy Kagome in his arms. She had stopped crying a long time ago, but her dry sobs stilled continued, making her whole form shiver within his embrace. He had refused to leave her like that. Even after she had asked him to go home, and not worry about her, he had refused.

 

The soothing rumble that emanated from his chest had calmed her down considerably, and for that he was thankful.

 

He hated to see her cry, hated to smell the saltiness of her tears. When she was like that, he always had the overwhelming need to protect her.

 

Once Kagome and her family got to the hospital he had called home to explain to his parents why he wasn't there. His father had told him that he could stay there for as long as he was needed, and to call if there was any change or if the Higurashi family needed anything at all.

 

No one had been allowed to see Mr. Higurashi after he got out of the Operating Room. He had been moved to Intensive Care, and was being closely monitored.

 

When the Doctor had come down to talk to Mrs. Higurashi about her husband, his keen hearing picked up all that he had said to her.

 

“Mrs. Higurashi?”

 

Mrs. Higurashi quickly got up from her chair and looked at the man who had addressed her. “I- I'm Mrs. Higurashi. How is my husband? Is he okay? Is everything okay?”

 

The doctor sighed just a bit before continuing, trying to find the right words, “I'm Dr. Tofiga. I operated on your husband. He is out of the O.R. We were able to stop the bleeding. Right now, we have moved him to Intensive Care where he will be monitored closely around the clock.”

 

Mrs. Higurashi sighed in relief, but held her breath once more when she noticed the look in Dr. Tofiga's eyes. “Can I see him?”

 

“No, not yet. No one is being allowed in I.C.U at the moment. Not for at least 24 hours.” He replied, clearing his throat before continuing.

 

“Mrs. Higurashi, there's no easy way to say this but, during the operation, your husband went into cardiac arrest. We were able to stabilize him, however, he has- slipped into a coma.”

 

Mrs. Higurashi gave a small gasp before slipping back into her chair. She brought her hands to her chest as if to stop her heart from breaking.

 

Even after all his years of working in the Emergency Room, this part was never easy.

 

“I'm so sorry Mrs. Higurashi. But the longer it takes for the brain to come back from a coma, the greater the likelihood of him waking up with serious brain damage or not waking up at all. And more so in his case. I'm afraid that if your husband does not come out of his coma within the next 48 hours, there is very little hope that he will regain consciousness at all.”

 

“I- I- want to see my husband... please.” She pleaded softly, her eyes filling up with tears once more.

 

“Mrs. Higurashi, I'm sorry, but at the moment, no one is allowed inside the I.C.U. He is still in an extremely delicate condition, and we need to monitor him closely just incase we need to go back in and operate once more. We just want to take every necessary precaution we can. If his condition improves, I'll see if I can get you to see him as early as tomorrow afternoon. But right now, that is all that I can do. I promise we will keep you informed if there is any change.”

 

With that, the doctor gave her one more apologetic smile and walked out of the waiting room. Mrs. Higurashi was crushed, for the first time in her life she didn't know what to do. She felt helpless.

 

From a distance, InuYasha swallowed hard, trying desperately to control the knot in his throat. He didn't really know how Kagome would react to the news. He knew that at any moment, she would go ask her mother what was going on, and he knew that no matter how much Mrs. Higurashi would try to protect her daughter, she would know. She would completely understand the severity of the situation.

 

Kagome was smart, too smart for her own good, even though she was the young age of 10. InuYasha knew. He didn't want to let her go; he wanted to protect her from the violent storm that was coming.

 

But he wasn't able to hold on. He wasn't able to prevent the inevitable.

 

She pulled away from his embrace and slowly made her way towards her mother. She looked so sad, so broken and it tore InuYasha apart. He bit the inside of his cheek hard, drawing blood in the process to keep himself from calling out to her, to keep himself from crying, to keep himself under control.

 

From a distance he watched. He watched, and listened, as Mrs. Higurashi tried to explain things to Kagome. How she had tried to soften the blow by telling Kagome only half truths, but in the end Kagome had pressed and pressed until Mrs. Higurashi broke and told her young daughter everything the doctor had said.

 

Now the two women held each other, and as they cried, he could see their hearts breaking a million times over every time their tears dropped.

 

It took InuYasha everything he had to keep still. In the end he let them be. He simply let them be.

 

To his left, Souta stirred. InuYasha adjusted the blanked that covered the small boy and placed a hand on the boy's chest and he let out a small soothing rumble, quickly, the boy settled back down and slipped back into a deeper slumber.

 

For now, that would have to do.

 

 

**************************************************

 

 

Sometime during the night, the hospital alarms began to sound. A team of doctors and nurses rushed towards the I.C.U and began their frantic attempt to resuscitate the patient.

 

“We gotta work faster guys! We're loosing him,” one of the resident doctors called out.

 

The whole staff worked flawlessly for several minutes, never giving up on the man until they got a pulse.

 

“I got a pulse!” A nurse called. “But it's faint.”

 

Another looked at the monitors frowning. “I see it. His heart rate is still way too low. Doctor?”

 

The doctor looked at the monitors and back at the patient. “It's still too early to tell. We just have to keep monitoring him. Get radiology in here. We need to find out if he's bleeding internally again.”

 

The radiology team made it in record time, and after taking a few snapshots it was quite obvious that Mr. Higurashi was in fact bleeding internally once more.

 

Dr. Tofiga was called back in and it was decided that in order to give Mr. Higurashi a fighting chance, they would have to operate once more. It was either that, or give up here and now and let the man die without even trying at all.

 

It was risky, but at least, if they did operate now there was a slight chance that they would be able to control the bleeding and save Mr. Higurashi's life.

 

Before going into the operating room, Dr. Tofiga instructed one of the nurses to go out into the waiting room to explain the situation to Mrs. Higurashi.

 

Two hours later, Dr. Tofiga stepped out of the operating room with a look of utter disappointment and sighed. There was nothing else they could do for Mr. Higurashi. Nothing.

 

He came down to the waiting room where an expectant family awaited news of their loved one.

 

Dr. Tofiga explained what had transpired, how Mr. Higurashi had another stroke while in I.C.U, and why they had to operate again, but it had been to no avail. The bleeding simply wouldn't stop. And now there was nothing else that they could do.

 

Mrs. Higurashi had asked to see her husband; she had asked to be with him until- until the inevitable happened. The doctor agreed and arranged everything for her and her family.

 

Four hours after that, Mr. Higurashi passed away, his wife, son and daughter at his side.

 

InuYasha had been in the room, leaning against the wall next to the door. He had hated every minute of it, and not just because it was his best friend's father dying, but because he could smell the stench of death as it lingered in the room and settled heavily on Kagome's dad.

 

Soon after Mr. Higurashi had been taken away, he left Kagome's side to tell his parents of the sad news.

 

Mrs. Higurashi had asked him if it wouldn't be too much trouble if Kagome and Souta stayed at his place, until she took care of things. His family had agreed and had sent a driver to pick up Mrs. Higurashi and the kids from the hospital.

 

They made a quick stop at Kagome's home to drop Mrs. Higurashi off and to get some clothes and school books for Kagome, and for some of Souta's things.

 

Kagome had reluctantly agreed to go to InuYasha's. She had wanted to stay home with her mother, but Mrs. Higurashi had promised her that she'd be okay, that she needed this time alone for now and that her Grandfather would be coming to stay with her and help her sort things out.

 

It was only going to be for a week. And so Kagome finally agreed.

 

Once they got to InuYasha's home, they were greeted by his parents. Izayoi cried as she held a sleepy Souta in her arms, while Taishou gave Kagome a warm hug. Sesshomaru, much to InuYasha's surprise, gave him a supportive squeeze on the shoulder before hugging Kagome as well.

 

Soon after, Kagome and Souta had settled in one of the guestrooms directly across from InuYasha.

 

At around 2:30 in the morning, Kagome walked across towards InuYasha's room with Souta in her arms. He was completely asleep. It was at times like these that she thanked the gods that her little brother could sleep through almost anything. She was still sobbing, unable to sleep. InuYasha was lying on his back upon his bed, awake. He was tired, but he could hear Kagome's sobs through the door and it had kept him from getting any rest at all. Without a word, he scooted over, making room for Kagome and her little brother in his bed.

 

Neither one said anything. With Souta lying between them softly breathing, they simply stared at each other, until Kagome fell asleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A/N: This was a hard chapter to write. But I was finally able to get it out. Hope y'all enjoy!