InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Through the Rose Colored Lenses ❯ Death Is Not Tactful ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: Inu Yasha is NOT MINE!!!!!!!! He belongs to Rumiko Takahashi

P.S. I HAVE NO DINERO SO DON'T SUE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Through the Rose Colored Lenses

Ch.6

By Sailor Scribe

The doors to the ER blasted open as a group of doctors and nurses approached the stretcher. "What happened?" Hojo asked as he reached the scene.

"Kid got ran over by a truck! Not pretty! Her vitals are failing!"

"What are the stats?" Hojo never heard the response. He looked down at the woman's face and gasped in horror.

"Dr. Takahashi?"

"I'm sorry Dr. Morn…I-I can't…I know her, personally."

"I understand. Dr. Woo, will you please assist me here."

"Yes doctor." Hojo moved aside as he let the veterans take over. He had wanted to become a doctor to heal people, and working in the ER was the hardest thing he had to do considering so many of his patients did not make it, but this girl…He would never forgive himself if he failed her.

"We are losing her!" A nearby nurse screamed.

"Clear!" Dr. Woo ordered. The body raised in response, and for a second he thought her blue eyes fluttered open.

"Nothing!" the nurse replied.

"Again!" Dr. Woo ordered. She was shocked again, but continued to flat line. Hojo felt his whole body go cold. She couldn't die. She was too important; she had too much still left undone! They shocked her one more time.

"Time of death…11:33 a.m."Declared Dr. Morn. She walked up to Hojo with her long red hair tied in a low bun and her glasses falling from her nose, and asked, "Are you alright, son?"

"She…she can't be…"

"I'm sorry. We can't save them all. Were you two close?"

"She…she was my girlfriend once…"

"I'm sorry. Death isn't a tactful being." She patted Hojo on the back as he slowly began to lose consciousness.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"Inu Yasha, what do you want for lunch?" Miroku asked as he approached the furious hanyou.

"That stupid bitch! Left me to do all the work! HOW DARE SHE QUIT? SHE CAN'T QUIT! I WANT THE SADISFACTION OF FIRING HER!" Inu Yasha mumbled to himself without noticing Miroku's presense.

"So you want Kagome for lunch? I don't think that is ethical…or legal. I'm pretty sure that eating humans was outlawed by the Demon council a century or two ago!" Miroku joked. Inu Yasha just growled in response.

"I want to break every bone in her body…Tare her limb from limb, and before she dies…deep fry her in extra hot oil!" Miroku just gulped in response. He had never seen Inu Yasha this angry at anyone, specially not a woman.

"Now, how in hell am I suppose to get them to kiss and make up?" Miroku wondered as the Sailor Moon theme song filled the room. Inu Yasha took out his cell phone.

"What? Rin thought it was cute!" Inu Yasha growled.

"You just can't say no to your niece, can't you?" Miroku laughed. The big bad hanyou would crumble in front of a six year old girl.

"What the hell you want?" Inu Yasha roared into his phone.

"The damn bastard is pissed! Why aren't I surprised?" LB spit from the other end of the line.

"What the hell do YOU want now?"

"Nothing much, just informed you that thanks to you Kagome is in the hospital!"

"What?" This time his scream was tinted with fear.

"I just heard from by boyfriend, who works there. You got her angry! You let her drive off! Thanks to you she is in critical condition, if NOT DEAD! WHICH IS PRETTY LIKELY FROM WHAT RA TELLS ME! She was pretty bad when they brought her in…The truck never got a chance to stop." She sobbed.

"What hospital?" Inu Yasha ventured after a long silence.

"Children's Hospital." Inu Yasha closed his cell phone to be greeted by Miroku's and Sango's curious stares.

"Kagome's been in an accident." The words felt unreal as they left his mouth. Suddenly the reality of the situation hitting him.

"Is she ok?" Sango gasp.

"I don't know…LB said it didn't look good." Inu Yasha felt dizzy with a swarm of thoughts swimming in his head. What was he suppose to feel? Remorse? Guilt? Worry? Pain? He felt all of the above. "I'm going to the hospital and checking it out myself!" He declared. He couldn't stay there doing nothing. He was in the car before the other two could react.

For the second time that day, the road saw a crazy driver; only this time, the driver would not let something like an eighteen wheeler keep him from his destination.

"Don't you dare die Kagome! Damn it! I didn't mean it! I was just mad!" His car phone rang. "What?"

"Yasha, it's Miroku! Listen, Sango and I are going over to Kagome's. We are going to break it to Souta, give us a call the minute you know how she is."

"Keh!" Inu Yasha went to turn on the intersection, but the police had blocked it off. The truck was still there, and so was Kagome's motorcycle lying completely flattened by the wheels of the truck. Inu Yasha's breath was caught in his chest leaving a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. "How did the bike get flatten? Isn't it supposed to get propelled away from the truck, throwing her clear of the crash?" A sudden numbness filled his body. "I can't think of a hanyou that could survive a crash like that…how could a mere human girl…?" Inu Yasha didn't finish his question. He turned violently off road and, with a few cop cars behind him, made a wild race towards the hospital.

"That damn bitch is too stubborn to just die! She'll be just fine! Then I can strangle her for scaring me half to death!" Somehow, Inu Yasha failed to notice the sirens behind him, and was quickly able to lose the cops once he hit the city traffic. After threatening to kill half of Tokyo's population, he managed to race into the hospital.

"Kagome Higurashi, WHERE IS SHE?"

"Please calm down, sir." The nurse at the receptionist table replied. She was a short chubby woman with a blank stare and thick bifocal glasses and with one major defect: She typed one word per hour. "May I see some ID?"

"Why?"

"Only family may be informed sir."

"Informed? Damn it woman, I'm her husband!" Inu Yasha yelled the first thing that ran into his head.

"Husband? I don't see a wedding band sir!" The nurse complained as she inspected his fingers.

"Look, we have necklaces instead of rings! They're bigger!" He screamed as he pulled at his rosary. "She has one just like it, but with a jewel on it!"

"I'm not sure…how can I really know you are not just some idiot off the street."

"Because I know her, you damn bitch!" He growled. "When she is angry she always gets flushed, cuz even tan she has such a pale complexion…and when she is taking pictures, and she finds the perfect shot, she always smiles a little wider…and if the shot isn't any good, she crinkles her nose in distaste! And when she is sleeping…she would look like an angel, except that her mouth hangs a bit open…making her look just beautiful!" He finished half defeated.

"Who is he asking for, Anna?" Another nurse came to the receptionist table.

"That Higurashi girl…the one from the truck and bike crash."

"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss, sir. If it's any consolation, she didn't feel much pain." Inu Yasha's knees went limp.

"What?"

"No Sakura! You are thinking of Dr. Takahashi's ex-girlfriend."

"That is who he is talking about, Anna."

"No, I was just by up there, and he was talking to her."

"He is talking to her cadaver? Boy I would never think Hojo would take things that hard!" Inu Yasha began to hyperventilate. Hojo…damn even in this he had to be the cause of his grief.

"OH, sir, please calm down!" Nurse Anna begged as she noticed Inu Yasha's state. "My friend here lives in the stars. Your wife is alive. She is in Room 343, we moved her there about 15 minutes ago. Here let me escort you."

He followed her like a sleep walking chicken, not sure what to make of it. "Kagome…"

"This way, sir." Nurse Anna led him towards the third floor and then took a right. Hojo's calm voice filtered through one of the approaching doors.

"All I am saying, Higurashi, is that he has the classic traits of an abuser, and it wouldn't hurt for you to go to one of those classes. You might just realize you don't have to take it! Keep being your nice sweet self, and watch him entrap you into a relationship that is basically in his mind!"

The nurse opened the door, and he prepared to see anything from Kagome's dead body to her hooked up to every machine this hospital owned. It was all in vain, since nothing could prepare him for what he was in store for.

"Nurse Datchic?" Hojo asked as she entered the room.

"I'm sorry to interrupt Dr. Takahashi, but I brought Mrs. Higurashi, here her husband."

"Kagome?" Inu Yasha question as he approached her laying body. He fell to his knees by her side without noticing her incredulous stare. He quickly encircled her in a suffocating hug to ensure it was her…still alive…still there. He quickly started touching her arms, torso and legs.

"Inu Yasha, what on Earth are you doing?" Kagome asked smacking his hand.

"They told me you were dead…I saw the crash Kagome…you must have at least ten broken bones!" Inu Yasha stared in disbelief at the apparently healthy Kagome. If it weren't for the IV, you would have never guessed she was in a hospital.

"I'm sorry doctor. Nurse Star confused Mrs. Higurashi with that other girl that died earlier today. The one from the bicycle accident." Hojo suddenly lowered his gaze as a single tear escaped his eye. He could understand Inu Yasha's distress. That very day he had seen his college sweetheart die right in front of him. Five minutes later, Kagome was rushed in from a worst accident without a scratch on her. It felt more like the irony of a sick twist from a demented fan fiction writer than reality. He stood up and led the nurse out. Inu Yasha needed time to address reality.

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure…one minute my life is flashing before my eyes, then there is this bright light…tunnel vision or something, but next thing I know, I look up and I the truck is in front of me…I guess I was just thrown free…somehow."

"Anything broken?" Inu Yasha asked, not believing his hands as the examined her legs. She kicked him away and continued.

"Nope. They can't find anything wrong with me, but they want to keep me in for observation!" Kagome finished with a humph.

She was alive! She was alive and well! The thought finally sunk into his thick skull. He straightened himself out and discretely whipped away a tear of relief that had formed in his eye.

"Hey, what was all that about you being my husband?" Leave it to Kagome to find a way to get him angry.

"I had to say something for them to let me in! Something about annoying colleagues not being on the visiting list." He retorted. She lowered her head, and began,

"About that…Inu Yasha, I'm sorry. You are right. It was rude of me to introduce you that way…you have been a friend…more like the annoying big brother that has been keeping me on my toes. Today, I thought I was going to die…I don't want the last moments of my life to be filled with arguments, so how about we call a truce." She held up her hand to him, and he took it.

"Keh! No point in arguing with a sick person!" Kagome gave him a classic glare, but smiled. "And I shouldn't have snapped at you the way I did."

"So are you going to apologize to Hojo?"

"Hells no! He deserved everything he got! My only mistake was yelling at you instead of him! If he had backed away when he did, none of this would have happened!" He declared. Kagome just bowed her head in defeat.

"I should sit you, but I don't have the energy." Inu Yasha suddenly found the floor very interesting. "May be I did." He peeled himself off the floor with an angry glare but a smiled grazed his lips.

"To think, I might have never had to feel that pain again." He sighed to himself.

"Hey girl! How are you feeling?" LB and Ra walked into the room. "Brought you a get well package." She declared giving Kagome a beautiful teddy bear holding a 'Get Well Soon Sign.'

"I hope I didn't worry you."

"There was nothing to worry about. I told LB that you were fine the minute you came in. It's lucky I recognized you from the other day…If you saw the wreck, there was no way you would have guess you survived!" Ra declared as he ran his hand through his spiked bleached blond hair. He looked like an older version of Peter Pan in his green nurse's outfit, but it was the black 'let's-raise-hell' tank tops he kept in his locker that kept LB glued to him.

"You knew…when you called me you knew!" Inu Yasha's left eye began to twitch.

"Eh, well sorta." LB took a step back. "Well, you were so mean to her this morning, I thought you deserved a bit of your own medicine. Besides, may be that will teach you to answer your phone in a nicer manner. What's the big deal?"

"I THOUGHT SHE WAS DEAD!" Inu Yasha growled, and it suddenly became clear to LB, she had crossed that invisible line that kept her alive day after day.

"Sorry, but how was I suppose to know that you would get dumb and dumber at the receptionist table?" Inu Yasha just growled in response.

"Any how," LB started to make a dash for the door before she was sharing the room with Kagome. "I called your brother and told him you were fine. Sango and Kohaku are keeping him busy." Before anyone could reply, she had thrown Ra out the room and slammed the door behind her.

"You were really worried." Kagome looked up in amazement.

"Keh, just cuz I can't stand you doesn't mean I want you dead."

"True, who would you insult then?" Kagome replied with a smirk of her own, and Inu Yasha relaxed.

"Kagome,"

"Wow, this must have really affected you…you're calling me Kagome, not wench or bitch…and I didn't have to s-" Inu Yasha covered her mouth before she could accidentally let the fated word out. "Sorry."

"Earlier today…you said your days at the company were numbered why?"

"My contract expires next month. I have been hired part time three times this year alone for different things. If your brother wants to keep me on, then according to your company regulations, he has to make me a full time offer."

"Why wouldn't he?"

"It's so much cheaper to just get another part timer." Kagome suddenly seemed tired. "Which means that I have to find another job…and heaven knows what this will cost, even with insurance…do you now understand why I must work at Kaede's. There is no way I could afford to come to this hospital otherwise."

"Keh! I still don't believe my brother would be such a baka!"

"Talking about me behind my back?" Sesshomaru asked as he entered the room.

"How did you get in here?"

"The nurse out front recognized me as Kagome's brother-in-law. Is there something you two need to tell me?"

"Yes, your brother has a fixation with telling people we are together."

"I see. Does this stem from a fear to commit, or are you just too much of a baka to know you are suppose to get her permission before you can say she is your girlfriend…besides the whole wedding liscence thing." Sesshomaru replied in his cool tone.

"Teme, you are the baka! How could you let Kagome work nights?" Kagome sighed, ready to pull her hair out of her head.

"I don't work nights! Last night was an emergency!"

"How about the time before that?" Inu Yasha turned towards her.

"Damn, two emergencies in almost a month. Excuse a girl for being a miko. Demons don't wait 'til morning! You should know this!"

"Demons?" Sesshomaru asked raising his left eyebrows.

"She has a part time…"

"Full time!"

"What-ever job with Kaede being a miko. Something about health insurance…" Inu Yasha explained.

"But our company had the best health insurance available."

"Ha, I knew it! YOU lied!" Inu Yasha pointed an accusing finger at her.

"I did not! I never said your heal insurance policy sucked, I simply don't get it because I AM PART TIME!"

Sesshomaru raised his eyebrow even more.

"Yeah, what is this thing about her contract terminating next month, and you are letting her go."

"You are still part time?" Sesshomaru looked at Kagome, ignoring his brother.

"Yes! Damn, have I been talking to the walls for the past month?" Kagome began to strangle her teddy bear, pretending it was the Morrimotto brothers.

"Have you been talking to Inu Yasha?"

"Yes."

"Then the wall would have been smarter." He turned before Inu Yasha could reply, his cell phone already at his ear. "Yes she is still among the living." He started to speak as he left the room.

They both stared dumbfounded at the door for a good five minutes before Sesshomaru made another grand entrance still talking into his cell phone. "Sell…sell…buy…let it be…" He put some papers in front of Kagome and ordered. "Sign."

Kagome read the first line, 'Contract for full time employment: Photographer Class IV.' "I can't sign this." Kagome declared. Sesshomaru continued to talk into the phone and handed her a pen. "You don't understand. I quit earlier this morning."

"Kagura, I'm going to have to call you back. You what?" Sesshomaru's piercing stare was worst than Inu Yasha's barks.

"Earlier today, I had an argument with your brother, and I quit." Sesshomaru eyed Inu Yasha.

"What? Everyone quits when they work with me! YOU quit once too Fluffy!"

"I told you never to call me fluffy!"

"The important thing is that it doesn't matter. She can still sign the contract."

"Just sign, Kagome." Sesshomaru ordered.

"But…"

"Don't you want this job?"

"Well, yes…"

"Then sign."

"FINE!" Kagome picked up the papers and began to read. To the untrained eye, you would have missed Sesshomaru's glare, but Inu Yasha recognized it immediately.

"What are you doing?"

"Why reading the contract, Sesshomaru-sama. Haven't you ever heard the expression, never sign what you don't read?" She was a bit annoyed by the interruption, but she like what she saw. Starting salary of $70,000 a year plus benefits, a company car and a yearly five percent raise.

"Fine!" Sesshomaru crossed out the salary and changed the number to $120,000 a year. Kagome almost chocked at the amount. "Just sign…I'm in a hurry."

"Why do I get the feeling that there is something here that you don't want me to read?"

"You would have to work with Inu Yasha...at least for the beginning."

"That isn't so bad."

"For the beginning four years."

"What?" Both Inu Yasha and Kagome screamed.

"Fine! Make it $150,000, but that is my final offer!"

"Are you insinuating that I am that difficult to work with?" Inu Yasha growled.

"What is this clause about me not working anywhere else?" Kagome interrupted.

"As a Class IV Photographer, I need you to be ready to get up and leave. I may send you to France, India, the United States…you can't be tied down by anything."

"I have a twelve-year-old."

"You aren't old enough…"

"My brother!"

"Arrangements can be made, and within a few years, he will be old enough to be left by himself. Another job, especially one with a contract, is more difficult to arrange."

"I can't abandon Kaede…"

"Kagome, there is no other way."

"What if I just help out at the store…without officially working for her?"

"This job would be your priority?"

"Yes."

"That would be fine." Kagome looked forward thoughtful, and then signed her soul away.

"Visiting hours are over." Nurse Datchic walked in. "Mr. Higurashi, you can spend the night if you would like." She said staring at Inu Yasha. Kagome started to giggle.

"That won't…" she began.

"Thanks, I will." Inu Yasha said making himself comfortable on the chair next to her bed. He turned the television towards himself and began. "Now, what's on!"

"Inu Yasha!" Kagome complained. She was about to turn to Sesshomaru or the nurse to help, but they had already made their exit.

"What?"

"I'm the sick one here! If you stay, you can't upset me! HOSPITAL POLICY!"

"Then it's a good thing I don't work for the hospital."

"Fine!" Kagome sat up and prepared to stand, but before she could complete the task, Inu Yasha was at her side.

"Where are you going?"

"To find someone that does work here, like Hojo! I'm sure he will be nice to me!" Inu Yasha growled.

"Keh, you need your rest." He pushed her back against the bed.

"Sir, I brought you a pill- Sir, that kind of behavior is not appropriate in a hospital! Your wife is ill! She needs her rest, and you should be considerate of the other patients!" Nurse Datchic put her fists at her hips. Through her foggy lenses, she stared at the young man trying to kiss his 'wife.' Inu Yasha looked up confused.

"Leave 'em alone, Anna can't you see they're in love?" Nurse Star peeked in from behind Anna hopping that she could catch a glimpse of the young couple.

"Sakura, you are too nosey for your own good."

"So this one is also Dr. Takahashi's ex? Wow, the doc gets around…and he even isn't a doc yet." Nurse Star giggled as both women left the room. The brief silence was shattered as they couple began to fight over the remote.

+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+

A dark figure walked around his desk with a cold smile painted on his lips. "So the Shikon no Tama has reemerged?" His black hair fell in waves from his low pony tail as he finally sat down and picked up a picture of a young shrine maiden. "You thought you could hide it for ever, Kikyo…it only took fifty years." He slowly caressed the picture. "I told you I get everything I want…even if it means destroying it!" He picked up the phone to dial a familiar number, when he stopped himself. "No…she betrayed me…left me for those dogs!" His eyes began to glow. "They took my woman, my honor, and most recently, my daughters! I swear those damn Inu Youkai will pay! Those DOGS WILL PAY!" Naraku banged his fist on the desk breaking Kikyo's frame. His blood ran along the photo, but his wound was healed too quickly to leave enough blood to stain more than the edges of the picture.

"With the Shikon no Tama, I will make them all pay!"

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Wow, new personal record!!!!! Less than 1 full day for an update, with a 15 page chapter! Am I good or what? Don't get use to this because I am about to hit finals, so unless I am really stress, don't expect another update soon. May be next year…2004 is right around the corner. No, I won't be that mean. Let's see, my original goal was one update per week…I started this fic about five weeks ago…this is chapter 6, so I bought myself a week for finals…maybe two if I pay back with interest. By the way, thank you so much for your reviews!!!!!! Nobody kill Sierra, she is one of my best reviewers, even if you didn't like the cliffhanger. Remember, I am the evil one here.

I'm really happy; we broke a new record, 10 reviews for 1 chapter! Until now the record was CH. 2 with 8 reviews (yes people I keep track of these things! When I don't want to write anymore, it's what makes me go on). My guess is you guys like to be kept in suspense…So should I try to kill off Inu next, or may be Miroku? What would you guys like? I know Meche has been begging for a good purification since the very beginning.

It is also getting harder to get your names in here. They are quite creative, but not necessarily the easiest of things to work with. Sorry if it takes me a while, but I promise to get everyone sooner or later, even if you are not a character, but a place or a description (sleepwalking chicken…you gotta love that).

P.S. I had no intention of killing Kagome. Like some of you noticed, she is alive 3 years in the future, so even if she did die, she would have had to have been revived. Don't worry, she is the protagonist. She isn't going to die until the very end when Naraku crashes her plane. By that time, Inu Yasha should have been purified.

P.P.S. Do you guys think me so cruel?

P.P.S.S. Why do I suddenly have the feeling you are all screaming yes at the top of your lungs?

As a side note, reviews keep me from killing characters of importance. Hojo's college girlfriend does not count.