Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ To Save Your Heart ❯ Chapter 2

A/N: We are finally updating. Keep away the sporks, snuggle Puff whore!

JC: We're vegetarians! We hate KFC!

Kathrine: No, you hate KFC. I love their apple turnovers and mashed potatoes.

JC: Traitor… Anyway, Jen and I took a while to get this going. The reason why is because we're typing up a lot of stuff for other stories. Have a school project we're working on having to deal with Pirates of the Caribbean. REAL Pirates.

Kathrine: And we have our PotC/LotR story. AND we twisted our ankle.

JC: Not to mention the research we did for this chapter. Don't believe all of this is fake. We wanted it as real as possible.

Kathrine: So enjoy this chapter for it is long and rather boring, though informative.

Disclaimer: Yes we DO own YST. And we also have a GREAT mansion on Mars to sell you. Dirt cheap! (chokes on sarcasm)

Warnings: Angst, lack of Seiji, Shounen Ai, hidden dreams, Lots of doctor-talk and use of Japanese word not normally used. Word is at the end of sentence.

To Save Your Heart

By Jennifer and JC

Chapter 2

His chest hurt so much; his body was shaking so badly. But he could hear the voices; he didn't recognize all of them.

/ " Check his pulse again!" /

/ " …Heart rate…" /

/ " It's too fast…!" /

/ " Seiji…baby…please…up…don't…to me…" /

Shu? He immediately recognized the voice of his lover. Shu…I'm here… He wanted to see him, to tell him everything was going to be all right, but he couldn't open his eyes. His lungs weren't breathing properly. His chest was constricting. It felt as if someone was shaking him constantly. He felt so cold. Yet he could also feel sweat dripping down his face. Why couldn't he speak? Maybe it had to do with the mask over his face.

He wanted to open his eyes, to see Shu. He knew that the bearer of Kongo was worried to death about him with how he'd collapsed. How did I collapse? He wondered. His mind wasn't exactly agreeing with him at the moment. He couldn't quite piece everything together. Someone was touching him, running gentle fingers shakily through his hair in a soothing manner.

Shu…

His eyes opened into slits, his energy taxed just by doing such a simple act. There was a ceiling above him, he didn't know why. The ground beneath him was bumpy, continually jumping slightly. I'm moving… He let his vision shift, look at everything around him. There was one person on his left, a woman wearing a white uniform. Behind her were secured shelves with different objects in them. She was busy checking his vitals and wasn't paying attention to the fact that he was now conscious.

His sight blackened then he was sure, for how long he didn't know, and he was certain that he had passed out, but then his eyes were open again. But this time he was staring at the opposite way of wherever he was, his eyes landing on the man sitting there. Dark hair disheveled, eyes red and swollen, face set in a disturbed expression, Shu sat right by his side. He felt so much love at that moment he wanted to sit up and just hold his lover close to him, wash the horror in his eyes away with care and passion.

" Sh…Shhh…Shhhuuu…Shu…" When had he started speaking? Why did his voice sound so tired and weak? Why was he still shaking? Why did all of this seem so familiar?

Stormy blue eyes jumped at the sound of the small voice. Shu had been sitting next to his lover's bed for almost an hour. The blonde still hadn't stopped the slight tremor going through his body, but it was indeed better than the complete convulsions that he'd been racked with when the ambulance had finally showed up. They had said that he had gone into cardiac arrest. Seiji'd practically had a heart attack.

Yet now they said that something else was wrong and had called the blonde's family doctor that had treated him since he was a child. The others were outside in the waiting room. Satsuki couldn't stand to be in the room and only one person was allowed in. The hospital had almost refused Shu entry but Satsuki had gone off about the entire issue about what 'family' really was. Bless the girl's heart, he owed her for that.

" Seiji?" he took the blonde's hand into his own and used his other to stroke his cheek. " How do you feel?"

The swordsman took in a few deep breaths, hoping to steady himself, but it didn't work. " H-Huurrttssss…" he mumbled, too fatigued to lie even if it was to ease some of his lover's worry.

" Don't worry Blondie," Shu assured him. " Doctor Imato is coming and he'll find out what's wrong. You're mom's on her way here, Satsuki's just waiting outside."

Seiji gave a small weak smile. He unsteadily removed his hand from the other man's grasp and ran his shaky fingertips over dried streaks on Shu's cheeks. " D-don't…cry…" he whispered. " I-I'llllll…be….f-f-finnnnne."

" Oh Seiji," Shu's tears began to fall again, contrary to his lover's words. " Seiji…I love you so much. You scared me so much. I'm so sorry if this is because of me! If I stressed you out too much! I'm sorry for your birthday being ruined and-" Pale fingers touched his lips, silencing him. Seiji didn't want Shu to feel guilty or to blame himself. This wasn't his fault.

But he couldn't do anything. He felt so tired. He needed to rest, but he didn't want to. He wanted to stay with Shu, to weather this storm with him even though they didn't understand any of it. Why was this happening? He was perfectly healthy. How could he be affected this badly? He barely ever even became ill. And why did it feel so familiar? These aches and pains, these tremors that flooded his body and stole his breath. But he'd never felt such pain before, not like this…had he?

It was all so tiring, he couldn't even stop himself from falling away from himself, from finally succumbing once more to the peaceful oblivion. Shu watched as his eyes slowly fluttered dazedly before sliding shut completely and the distressed breathing pattern of his lover was calmed somewhat. Not in a soothing manner either, but merely by sound as the wheezing intakes became more quiet.

" Rei Faun-san," he heard someone call to him. He turned his eyes and saw a nurse standing in the doorway. " The doctor would like to have a word with you in a few minutes, the rest of Date-san's family is here in the waiting room."

Shu stood reluctantly, not wanting to leave his beloved side. He couldn't bear the thought of something happening to the blonde while he wasn't there, something worse than what had already occurred in his own presence. But he knew that the doctor might know something now that the Dates were there, which undoubtedly meant that Doctor Imato would be there as well. And he also knew that it wouldn't please the Elder Date-san that he was in the room with his son when he was meant to be 'family only'.

Oh please let our silence remain, he prayed. I don't think I can deal with it right now if he says something. Not when the one person who means the most to me, his own grandson, is lying in a hospital bed fighting for each breath.

*****

He entered the waiting area and found everyone staring at him instantly. Nervousness came first, the knowledge that everyone expected answers to their silent questions causing him discomfort. He noticed absently that Grandfather Date wasn't there and was confused, so he turned his attention instead onto the two people he knew needed him the most at that moment. Satsuki was sitting with his head tiredly against her mother's shoulder. Her face was a collage of emotions and her eyes swollen and puffy from crying nonstop since her breakdown at the sight of her only brother, her Nii-chan, lying unconscious on the ground.

Mrs. Date seemed more composed, but he knew it was mostly a front, a façade to help give her daughter and family strength. He'd seen how protective and loving she was when it came to her children. But Yayoi no longer accepted her mother's care, never truly did even as a child for she sought to stand on her own and bonded more with her father. Satsuki was young and in her last year of college, not home any longer and not given enough time to be there, she too trying to find her standing in the world. Seiji was the only one who was still within 'Momma's' reach. And it always seemed like she was a little more overprotective when it came to the blonde anyway, even though he wasn't sure why.

He walked over to her and sat down beside her, his eyes not hiding his sorrow. " I'm sorry," he told. " I'm so sorry…I didn't know…"

The raven-haired woman eyed the young man for a moment, taking in his unkempt appearance and knew how deeply he was affected. She knew this man loved her son. Twelve years they had been together, almost two before even telling them about their relationship and two more of wading through the dislike and disapproval that her father so eagerly and obvious showed for him. But he hadn't runaway; he had stayed with Seiji through all of it. He had been the comfort that the blonde received during the months that he refused everyone else.

For four months the blonde had secluded himself from them, hiding himself even at the threat of his grandfather's punishment. She had believed that it had been the way he missed the friends he'd finally gotten, the four boys who seemed more like brothers to him than anything, especially with the bond their shared through their yoroi. So she had sent him willingly to the Yagyu Manor where three of them had been staying. At the news of Seiji's move, Shu too had left his family and gone to the house just to be near the blonde. Three grueling months had passed, no call, no word, nothing, until one day she had gotten a call from her son telling her that he was finally ready to come home.

Mrs. Date had rejoiced. The blonde had sounded different on the telephone, peaceful somehow. He had been home five days later and the change in him was apparent. He didn't hide in his room, he returned to his lessons from his grandfather, his grades skyrocketed back to their usual excellence, and he even smiled and laughed when he and Satsuki joked together. She could only take four days of this before she broke down and demanded an explanation for what had changed him, the reason for his chaotic depression and its turnabout.

He'd told her everything. She had known of the Yoroi, the legend ancient in her family, and she knew that Seiji had come to be its bearer after the 'war' he'd finally told them of a year before. But she hadn't expected to hear the tales of his capture and torture in the United States, the four weeks spent in nightmares and hallucinations. She herself had been worried sick of his disappearance, but her husband and her father had assured her that he was fine, the he had probably only visited his family in New Jersey. Now she knew the truth and it horrified her.

He begged her not to tell his father or grandfather, the blonde not wanting to seem weaker in their eyes than he already had due to his withdrawal and frantic actions after his return home. She had been furious as well, angered that his friends, especially Miss Nasutei Yagyu, now soon-to-be Mrs. Nasutei Mouri, seeing as she was the adult, had not thought to tell her of such things about her only son. Seiji had explained that he'd sworn them to silence, but Shu had been the one who convinced him to tell her.

It had been then that she'd seen the way her son spoke of the Kongo bearer. His tone spoke so sweetly and there was such a look in his eyes that she knew too well. It was the same look she saw in the mirror when she'd first met her husband, Seiji's father. At first she was shocked, then she was upset, not because of the secret she'd just found out about her son, but because she hadn't realized it sooner. Yayoi was already planning for children and Satsuki was too young. Seiji didn't have to be the 'heir' producer her father thought he needed to be at times when his sister's husband had already taken the Date name.

She was also shocked by the fact that it was SHU who her son had chosen. They seemed so incompatible, so completely opposite each other. And yet the more she thought to if the more she realized why they were so perfect for each other. She'd met all of the boys on frequent occasions and could tell each defining area of their personality.

Touma was calm, collected, and intelligent, much like Seiji, although not reclusive and a loner most of the time. Touma needed people because he didn't get enough contact with them when he was younger. Shin was the peacemaker, the cook, the sweetheart and quite mature. When the others, including Seiji, got carried away, he was the one to calm them down. Ryo was without a doubt their leader; passionately righteous, devoted and showed good judgment if he wasn't feeling guilty. Although at times he was wild, wanting to go on adventures and do risk-taking, like bungy-jumping or skydiving. Each were different, but they weren't the right type of person that Seiji needed in his life, not different enough to outweigh the solitude and stoicism he had learned to bind around himself. Especially with the fact that they all had someone else.

Shu on the other hand was the perfect fit for a puzzle long needing completion. They were so different and had such varied interests that one would expect a volcano to erupt whenever they were in contact, and yet they were friends so close that they would risk their lives for one another time and time again no matter the consequences. They helped each other to see things from a different perspective every time. Seiji gave Shu patience and clearance, tamed his emotional being so could still give his all and not lose his common sense. Shu pulled Seiji from his shell through time and care, allowing him to see things he had shut himself off from back when he was just a child, love and companionship. The blonde had closed himself away due to the treatment he received from others when he was young (all due to his definitely NOT Japanese appearance) and didn't want to get hurt again later on. The two boys balanced each other, completing the extremes to create a cool gray from black and white.

And here was the boy turned man who loved her son so much, looking as if he was going to faint or go into shock himself. Or maybe the tears falling down from his eyes would continue as he tried to hold himself together. It was obvious Shu wanted to be strong. He had been the one in the room with Seiji, had come with him on the ambulance. She'd been told somewhat about what had transpired before Seiji's attack and she could gather that today was meant to be a day of happiness, not tragedy. But it had been the same so long ago…

No, she begged silently to whatever god could be listening. Don't let it be that. Please, I can't go through that again.

" I'm sorry," Shu was repeating. " This shouldn't have happened. Nothing bad was supposed to happen today."

She moved her one arm from around Satsuki and wrapped it around Shu's shoulders as much as she could, pulling the man towards her. " It's not your fault," she told him. " Seiji wouldn't want you to think that."

" The heartburn…" he stated. "I should have known that something was wrong. I was just so caught up in making today perfect for him. I should have paid more attention…"

" That's not true!" Touma removed himself from Ryo's embrace and walked over to his childhood friend. " Seiji would beat you with one of his wooden swords if he heard you talkin' like that! When has that stubborn blond ever liked for someone to blame themselves on his account?"

" Never," Ryo agreed. " He would rather never let you know anything was wrong than let someone feel guilty over it."

" You say that now, but the fact of the matter is that I should have pushed for him to go to the doctor's instead of letting him have his way," Shu was adamant in his belief. " I knew it was more serious than it looked and yet I pushed it back because he didn't want to argue about it. I let it get to this point."

" He had already come to me," Mrs. Date pointed out. " The x-rays I took showed that he was fine, nothing was wrong. This wasn't something we could have known to prevent."

Shu turned and gave her a confused look. " He went to see you?" he repeated. " When? He never told me."

" A week and a half ago," she replied. " He never told you?"

" No, he didn't…" Shu was silent for a moment. " He didn't even tell me something was wrong until almost a week ago."

" Probably because you would do what you're doing right now, only to a lesser degree," Nasutei stated. " He hates it when people fuss over him."

" C'mon Shu…" Ryo urged him. " Ya need to stop beating yourself up over this. You're starting to sound like me." That earned him a smile from practically everyone in the room.

" Believe babe, no one wants another you around," Touma jested. " Well…unless there's two of you and…"

Shin instantly slapped a hand over the absent-minded archer's mouth. " There are women present!" he hissed with a frown on his lips. " Mind your manners."

" Always a gentlemen I see," Mrs. Date smiled at the auburn-haired man.

" Of course…" Touma had to butt in. " He's Gentle Man! Able to crochet booties for babies in five seconds flat, transform into a Human Tissue to comfort wailing women, and cook a twelve-course meal right before you eyes in a pink apron and still look 'dashing' doing it!"

This time it was Nasutei who smacked him in the back of the head, although she was smiling gently as she did so. It seemed that since Shu wasn't in his usual clowning mood that the blue-haired man had taken on the duty himself in order to cheer up his fellow Trooper-in-arms and everyone else as well. If Shu wasn't so worried about Seiji he might have hugged him. Even so, the jokes helped to lift everyone's spirits slightly, calming them in the flooding of concern and uncertainty.

" Don't worry I have plenty and can go all night if need be," Touma assured them. " I know some that will knock you right outta-" He could feel the solemn silence descend over everyone almost immediately. He also felt as if he was being stared at, eyes boring into his back. He turned around and all of his laughter was forgotten, all his jokes pushed away as the seriousness returned to eat at their already frayed minds and hearts.

" I see you decided to enjoy yourselves while I was gone with the doctors," Date-san spoke, his voice ever controlled and stoic. " I would believe that such things were highly inappropriate at this point and time."

" Father," Mrs. Date frowned. " I would believe that such things were indeed needed at such a time when no laughter is elsewhere found."

Date-san did not reply to her words. He merely stepped inside of them room and allowed the two figures behind him to also enter. " Good day," Dr. Imato greeted solemnly, though his voice seemed somewhat comforting. " I'm sorry that we would have to meet again under such circumstances Mrs. Date."

" Have you gone to see him?" she asked him, not bothering to beat around the bush with her questions as everyone desired their answers.

The doctor nodded, giving a short-glanced look to the man standing beside him. " Doctor Fern here is the one who has been in charge of Seiji's care since he was brought to the hospital," he explained. " Compared to how he was when he was brought it I would say that the beginning shock has worn off."

" Shock?" Shu repeated. " What happened to him? The EMT thought he'd had a heart attack."

" Actually what occurred was very much like a heart attack only more wide spread and more severe than what one would consider a mild attack."

" But why?" Satsuki asked. " Is he going to be okay?"

" That is the question that requires further inquiries," Doctor Fern replied.

Mrs. Date didn't like how reluctant the two doctors were. It seemed as if Imato knew more than his colleague, although the only time she'd ever known him to act like this had been over twenty years before. She turned her eyes to her father's, searching his brown orbs for what the other two refused to give her. Many found that they couldn't reach into the emotionless ward that surrounded her father to discover what they sought, but she had long ago gained her late mother's ability see through his masks. What she saw there was a hidden fear, a fear she recognized from long ago and thought she'd never have to see again.

" No…" she whispered, shaking her head in disbelief. " No. It can't be… It was supposed to be gone… He was cured…"

" Nani?" Shu turned to stared at her. " What are you talking about? 'What' was gone?"

" 'Cured'?" Satsuki repeated. " 'Kaa-san?" (Mom)

Her mother looked between the two, not knowing what to say. She didn't know if she could tell them, not after living the nightmare firsthand for two years and the aftermath for the following three. It had caused so much pain, so much stress, and the tension between herself and her husband had been forced to the brink. If it truly was what she feared than she didn't know if she could live through it again.

" When Seiji was four he collapsed while witnessing one of my morning classes." Grandfather Date stepped in, relieving his daughter of the harsh duty that she was not prepared for. " He spoke of a pain in his chest and having trouble breathing, as if his lungs were closed as refused air. By the time the ambulance had arrived he'd already lost consciousness and had stopped breathing completely. My son-in-law was forced to give him CPR for the last three minutes."

" What?" Satsuki was shocked, her eyes wide. " But…I don't remember any of this."

" Recall that you were merely two, far from the age of being able to have long-term memory," her mother reminded her. " I don't believe that Seiji remembers much of it either, if anything at all."

Touma turned to Date-san and asked, " But what happened? What was wrong?"

It was Imato who answered this time. " When Seiji reached the hospital we put him on a respirator instantly, one much more equipped than in the ambulance. It allowed him to breathe until his lungs had seemingly reopened a short while later, but we still couldn't stop the tremors and shakes that his body was going through due to lack of oxygen for so long. My colleagues and I at the time feared that he would suffer severe brain damage due to it. But he awoke in the middle of the night and proved that his mental state was unchanged, as were his speech and motor skills, but his physical state was another matter.

" We did every form of x-ray available to us at the time and did blood tests as well. What we discovered was something that we still cannot explain. Seiji has a rare disease, one that we had thought nonexistent until him. It has yet to even have an official name seeing as he is the only person we've found with this disease up to now and do not know it's principal symptoms. We merely classify it as SHLD for now: Starving Heart and Lung Disease."

Nasutei stared at him in bewilderment. " But why would you call it something like that?" she inquired.

" Because that is the most generic way of describing his symptoms," Imato replied. " The blood slowly depletes its level of plasma, causing the red blood cells to be unable to distribute oxygen throughout the body. In this the heart strangely begins to compress itself, shrinking like a shriveled prune or flower without water because without the plasma, the lymph cell cannot leak the proper liquids into the body either, causing slight dehydration in its first stages. It is shrinking itself to combat the lack of oxygen and plasma by needing less of it. From what we discover it was the right half of the heart that suffers most from all of this, and this is the half which sends the blood into the lungs to collect the oxygen and then from there to the left half of the heart and into the body.

" The lungs seem to starve because while they have oxygen, they lack the proper amount of blood. And the heart is forced to speed up its beating process in hopes that it will generate the missing blood through the body, but all that does it put pressure on the arteries and even the nerves connected to the heart. That is where his body encompassing tremors come from. While it has nothing to do with his mental state, they still are immobilizing and at times quite painful due to the effect this all has on the nervous system. His lungs are weak and pressured because while he has gained oxygen, he can't relieve it, almost as if he wasn't breathing at all, and his arteries are inflamed from his heart's increased rate."

No one spoke after he finished. None knew what to say. Date-san and Mrs. Date had both heard most of this diagnosis twenty-two years before. But hearing it now with its new complications did not ease their minds, but actually caused deeper fear to be sewn into their worries. So much had happened when Seiji was hospitalized before and it had torn their family, only repairing it at the announcement of the blonde's positive recovery.

Shu was in shock. Everything he had heard went straight to his own heart, bearing down on him until the point that he thought HE was going to have a heart attack. What was he going to do? How could he help Seiji through this? Was there any way to cure him? Mrs. Date had already said that he was supposed to be cured. That meant that it came back and, from the sounds of it, much worse than the first time.

" There's no disease like this whatsoever?" Nasutei started quietly. " This couldn't just be a enhanced version of some other disease that we know of? Like something in the family."

Imato was quiet for a moment and Doctor Fern stepped in, " Those are things to be discussed with Immediate Family only." It was true, hospital policy limited the amount of information that could be given to others. Informing them of Seiji's disease and its complications was one thing; giving out personal information like that was the patient's family's ability if they sought fit to do so.

Mrs. Date took offense to his words. " As far as they are concerned, they might as well be family," she stated. " Anything that needs to be said can be said in front of them."

Imato nodded, " Very well, we will take that into consideration from now on. But as of the matter of an enhanced disease, there was only one anywhere in the family that would cause such symptoms, which was found on his father's side, called Stokes-Adams Syndrome."

" What is that?" Ryo asked. " I've never heard of it before."

" Most common people probably haven't," Doctor Fern replied. " Stokes-Adams Syndrome is when the ventricles, or two lower chambers of the heart, are blocked and don't beat for between four to ten seconds which can cause unconsciousness and convulsions, much like what young Date is suffering from now. A pacemaker would be able to help overcome this, but his is far more advanced and the problem doesn't lie with a blocked ventricle. If this disease was at any time SAS, then it has been changed immensely by something, possibly a reactant in his blood fighting against the disease."

" Is there anything you can do for him now?" Shu wanted to know. " How can this be fixed? Will he get better? It's been beat before, hasn't it?"

"Unfortunately," Imato sighed. " The way we combated this last time was with a series of blood transfusions and plasma additions. We even formulated a medication that kept his blood flowing steadily enough even without the plasma, though we're not sure whether or not that actually caused more harm than good in his later years as now."

" But he's been fine until now," Touma stated. " Why can't you just use that drug again or something…or can you use it?"

The dark-haired physician shook his head. " That is unwise to do as of now," he told them. " We don't know why the disease has resurfaced and we are reluctant to reintroduce the drug to his system. Seiji was four when we first gave him the drug and he took it for two years. At such a young age his body was still forming and was more susceptible to medications that hadn't even been tested on anything before him. After so many years with the drug not being in his system and his body finally coming to progressive halt, it might cause far more damage to retry it now. If we do, it will be much smaller doses than before and with extreme cautions taken."

These words of discouragement were enough cause tears to finally begin their trek down the still young appearing face of Mrs. Date. " So there's nothing we can do?" she asked in a small voice.

" There is always a way," Fern announced dedicatedly. " We just need to perform more tests and with the advanced medical equipment we have here, there is no doubt in my mind that we will find that way."

" But what if it doesn't work?" Date-san finally broke his silence. " What shall happen is you can find no way to help Seiji?" It was a question everyone had been wondering and no other was willing to ask. The prospect was just far too much for most of them to even think of let alone handle in real life.

" Well…" Fern wasn't sure obviously. It didn't seem like he wanted to tell them the truth, even though his professionalism spoke against it.

" If no cure is found then Seiji's heart will give out, finally succumb under the pressure it's endured," Imato stated honestly, " but only if his lungs don't collapse fully first." He wasn't going to lie to them about this. He knew it would hurt far worse if he did such a thing. The first time he had dealt with this had been when he was merely thirty years old, and had taken over from his father as the Date family doctor as well as others with the hopes of doing justice to their family legacy in medicine.

He'd been at a loss at what to do the first time and struck out almost blindly in hopes that he would save the child that seemed to mean so much to his family. It was by sure luck that he and his colleagues had been able to help the boy, but they were sure that it was something else that had suddenly brought about the boy's turnabout and progressing recovery after two years trapped so close to death's door. He had almost actually told his family to prepare for the worst and set plans for a funeral, especially seeing as the blonde's heart had stopped three times within the matter of a week.

But we can't let him die, he swore to himself. I will not let this young man die if there is anything in this world that I can do to stop it.

*****

He was awake again, or at least he believed so. His body was still shaking slightly while his mind floated in and out of consciousness. His eyes were closed and his sweat-matted hair was sticking to his pale, wet brow. He wanted to open them, but he feared what he would find if he did so. More of his coherency came back with him with every chance he had to wake, even though he never did so fully. He now remembered his collapse and that he was in the hospital, yet how he got there was blank. He assumed that Shu would have gotten him or had someone call an ambulance.

Where is Shu? He wondered. He was here before. But now he was sure that Kongo was not with him because he couldn't feel the calming and reassuring presence of his lover. He then wondered how everyone else was faring; how they were dealing with his sudden illness and whether or not his family knew. He knew his father probably wouldn't even find out until later on that night because he was unreachable during most of his afternoon shift at the police station. His mother and grandfather would know and Shu had said that Satsuki was there… He hoped that he hadn't frightened them too badly.

Now he was tired again. His chest hurt and his lungs felt like they were being forced to breathe. An intense pain was attacking his body, spreading from his chest area and beyond. He could hear his heart beating madly in his ears, the sound erratic and off rhythm, no longer pulsing so perfectly that he could time it. Truthfully he doubted his could even count the number of beats for it was far off from his normal status and jumped from time to time, making his lungs scream in protest and he gasped out distressfully.

He no longer cared that he couldn't open his eyes. He wanted them closed anyway. Why would he need them open when he was so close to drifting back into the dreamless state he'd been subject to since his fall that afternoon. It was hard to think of anything else and his brain seemed to slow down, pace everything before coming to a complete stop. The pain was fading as well, becoming a faint thud in the background that no longer mattered as he let go of what little of his conscious he'd had left.

*****

He hurt so much. He couldn't breathe on his own and his body shook a lot. Maybe he was going to sleep? He wasn't sure anymore, but 'Kaa-chan had told him that he would be okay. (Mommy) But his 'Tou-san wasn't saying very much about anything and he'd been here so long that everyone knew his name. He hadn't even left the bed for what felt like MONTHS! He wanted to go home, but Yayoi said he wasn't allowed to until he was all better.

Yet he wasn't sure if he was going to get better. The doctors and nurses were all worried, he could tell and they tried to talk quietly while he was nearby, or when they thought he was sleeping but he'd heard some of what they were saying anyway. They talked about a 'funeral'. He remembered that one because it was what Ane-chan had said happened while he was in the hospital. Obaa-san had gone to sleep and Yayoi had said that they'd had a funeral for her so that they would remember her. (Grandmother) But she had been kinda upset when she said it. Were funerals sad? Would he make people sad if he had a funeral?

There it was again. He couldn't breathe. He tried gasping, but his throat wasn't even letting it in. Why couldn't he breathe? What was wrong? He was so scared. His eyes were wide and his hands were grabbing at him chest weakly. It hurt so much! He almost couldn't stand it. He wanted it to stop. Suddenly everything came to a halt. There was a loud beeping noise and his eyes were really fuzzy. He couldn't see much anymore.

And then there was a hand on his head. It was cold, very cold. He didn't know who it belonged to. He saw dark crazy hair and dark eyes staring down at him. The person was so fuzzy now. Then he couldn't see anymore. Everything was getting very dark. He wanted his 'kaa-chan. Then he heard a deep voice speaking to him.

" You shall not die. I won't let you."

And then everything faded away.

JC: Another one! See if you can come up with any ideas about this little dream sequence here.

Kathrine: After this, things will hopefully start to pick up, we're not sure.

JC: And as we've already said, we did do research, but if something seems wrong then it wasn't meant to be and it might be the fact that the books we used were somewhat past-dated.

Kathrine: And the use of 'Kaa-chan is something we've just made up ourselves. 'Chan' is used for women and 'Kaa-san is still somewhat respectful (Mom) and we see 'Kaa-chan as saying 'Mommy' or 'Momma' for a really little kid.

JC: Please review and tell us what you think. Don't hope for action and total romance in this story for a while, Seiji's gonna be out of it.