Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Invisible ❯ A Night in the Hospital ( Chapter 6 )

Here's Chapter six!! Please R&R!!

 

I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho... just Kasumi.

 

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Kasumi said nothing the entire way to the hospital, although she did wince in pain more than once as the doctors prodded her in an attempt to determine which injuries were in the most need of treatment. Suichi kept a hold of her hand at all times, his sensitive hearing able to hear the pounding of her heart. He knew that she was terrified right now, and she needed all the support he and her other friends could offer. He wondered, briefly, if Hiei would bother coming to the hospital himself. The he stopped and wondered if his hot tempered friend would be paying Kasumi's father a visit of his own and hoped that Hiei had more sense than that and would simply leave him to the human authorities.

He heard Youko in his mind now. You do realize that we could have had her injuries treated much more quickly if you simply healed them yourself. Doing it this way will take several days, or perhaps even weeks before she is fully healed.

You know better than that, Youko. Kasumi cannot find out about my abilities. I'm not saying that I will do nothing to aid in her physical recovery... I will make salves and home remedies, of course, but I cannot risk using my healing abilities upon her. Besides, she has been through enough without trying to assimilate the existence of demons.

When they got to the hospital, the doctors brought her inside and she was placed on a gurny. One of the nurses stopped Suichi.

“I'm afraid you can't go in, sir...”

“Wait! Please let Suichi come!!” Kasumi called out.

The nurse blinked, looking at the doctor questioningly. There were two police officers present as well, there to take the girls statement when the doctors said it was okay to do so. The doctor hesitated, and then nodded.

The nurse stepped aside and Suichi followed them into the room.

Suichi respectfully adverted his eyes when the doctors and nurses did a thorough examination on the woman. At one point, the police officers questioned Suichi themselves, asking about the particulars of what he knew. He told them that he had suspected something was wrong with Kasumi's home life, but had not had sufficient cause to worry until tonight. Since he as yet had no information regarding the incident that had lead up to her beating tonight, he could not give them any further information on that particular matter, and knew he would have to wait with the police to learn that from Kasumi herself.

Dr. Yamoguchi looked at him. “I am afraid I have no choice but to ask you to leave for a short while, son. There is some internal bleeding that has to be repaired through surgury. It should only last for an hour or so. You will be informed once we are finished.”

Suichi nodded. “Alright, Doctor. I will be in the waiting room. The rest of Kasumi's friends have probably arrived by now and are waiting for word on her condition.” He cast Kasumi a warm smile as he left the room.

He soon found that he was right. Yusuke and Kuwabara were both restlessly pacing the floor in the waiting room, while Hiei was seated on a chair, his legs and arms crossed as he watched them, a bored expression on his face.

Yusuke noticed him first. “Kurama!” He was beside him in an instant. “How is she?! What happened?!”

Other than them and a rather drunk looking man in the far corner of the room, they had the waiting room to themselves. Kurama sighed. “Although her condition is not life threatening, she IS badly injured. I have no idea how she managed to walk from her place to mine. I was just asked to leave because the doctors have to repair some internal bleeding. They said the surgery will not last long.”

Kuwabara looked ready to blow his stack. “I've HAD it!!!!” He grabbed Hiei by the collar of his jacket. “Tell me where her home is, Hiei!! Just lead the way and I'll teach her old man the meaning of the word respect!!!”

Kurama put a restraining hand on his arm. “Calm down, Kuwabara! The police will handle it themselves. Do you think Kasumi wants you to be thrown in prison for murdering her father?! They are waiting to take her statement, and will do so the moment the doctors say she is able to. It shouldn't be long. Only an hour or so.”

Yusuke frowned at him. “The second you find out exactly what happened, you better bring us up to date, Kurama!”

He nodded. “I can assure you, I will. But for now, we have nothing to do but wait until someone comes to tell us of her condition.” He took a seat beside Hiei, found a magazine about gardening, and proceeded to read.

About an hour and a half later, the doctor came into the room. He blinked, seeing the group. “Are you all with Kasumi?”

Suichi nodded immediately, setting aside the magazine. He stood up, the others right along with him. “Yes, we are. How is she?”

The doctor sighed. “Well, she'll definitely be in pain for the next few days, and she's a little doped up because of the pain killers, but she'll be just fine. Kasumi wants to have someone that she knows with her when she gives her statement to the police, though. I think she's more than a little afraid right now and needs as much support as she can get. Any volunteers?”

Kurama nodded immediately. “I will go.”

Yusuke spoke up. “Is she going to be released from the hospital tonight?”

The doctor nodded. “Yes, but she should definitely take it easy... and we also have to consult the police on where she is going to stay, depending upon whether or not her father is going to be arrested. I think, from the extent of her injuries, that he will be behind bars tonight, but I'm no expert.”

Suichi nodded. “If that occurs, then I will allow her to remain at my place until more suitable arrangements can be made. I'm sure my mother will not mind.”

The doctor shrugged. “We'll find out. But we should get going. The police and Kasumi are waiting on us.”

He nodded again and, after giving a last glance back at the other Rekai Tentai, followed the doctor through the doors and into the patient wing of the hospital.

When he entered the room, he saw Kasumi lying on the hospital bed. Her normal clothes had been replaced with the hospital gown, and she was covered in bandages. There was a plain light blue blanket pulled up to her chest, concealing the injuries beneath.

Her eyes were a little hazy when she saw him, a sign that she was, indeed, still feeling the effects of the drugs used to sedate her for the surgery, but she managed to give Suichi a small smile as he entered the room. Standing at her bedside were the two police officers, ready to take her statement.

“Hey, Suichi...” she said.

He returned her smile and gently took hold of her hand as he stood at her bedside.

Officer Otaka looked at her, giving her a gentle smile. “Okay, Miss Ikari. We'll try to make this brief. We know how hard this must be for you. To start off, if you could give us some information on the kind of abuse you have endured in your home in the past? Just for reference, and tell us approximately how long this has been taking place?”

Kasumi took in a shaky breath, Suichi gently giving her hand a squeeze as he nodded encouragingly. Then she slowly related to the police officers the information she had given Suichi and his friends the day they had confronted her. The police stepped in once or twice, asking for clarification on this or that point, taking notes. While they tried to maintain an air of professionalism, Suichi could see their calm expressions slowly taking on a steely countenance.

“And what happened tonight? We need details this time, I'm afraid.”

Kasumi felt her stomach twisting with nervous tension and glanced at Suichi, whose gentle green eyes had never wavered from her since entering the room. She felt his hand give hers a gentle squeeze and he nodded to her again. She was very grateful to him for being here, not knowing what she would do if she had to face all these questions alone. She cleared her throat, and slowly started to speak.

“I got home at the same time I always do... quarter to four, and immediately started my usual routine of cleaning the house. When eight o'clock came around, I put a roast in the oven, and then went off to finish the laundry and tidy up the living room. I went to check on the roast at about ten, and then I realized that the stove was broken and the food wasn't cooking.” She shook her head. “In the past seven years, my father has ALWAYS had food waiting for him. I've never failed to have it prepared and ready for him to eat when he got home until tonight. I knew I was in for it. I tested the burners on top, hoping I could fix up something else for him... something fast like canned stew, but they weren't working either. If I had had money on me, I would have phoned for take out, but I couldn't...” She shivered. “When he walked in the door at twelve thirty and saw that I didn't have any food prepared for him...” she shook her head and started to tremble. “He just... lost it. I tried explaining that it wasn't my fault, that the stove was broken, but he either wasn't listening, or he just didn't care. He...” Her voice cracked and tears brimmed in her eyes, the memory returning to her.

Suichi quickly hushed her gently. “It's all right, Kasumi. Just keep going. He can't hurt you anymore. If the police are, for whatever reason, unable to see to that, then I will myself.”

She took in another shaky breath and nodded. She continued to speak. “First he punched me across the face... and I swear, he's never hit me that hard before. I hit the kitchen table and the whole deal just fell over with my weight. I knew that I was in trouble, and I tried to get away from him, but then he kicked me in the stomach with his steel toed boots... which is where I'm guessing I got the internal bleeding. It hurt so badly I couldn't even move...” Tears were streaming down her face now, as she struggled to continue. Suichi's grip on her hand tightened. “Then he grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled me to my feet. He backhanded me and then threw me into the wall so hard that a picture hanging there fell to the floor. I ran into the living room then, trying to get away from him, but he got a hold of my arm and threw me into the book shelf. That thing just came apart when I hit it, and I'm jus thankful that it was made of imitation wood and not the real thing. It was light enough that it didn't crush me. Before I could get to my feet again, he had me by the throat and was slamming me against the wall over and over again. I managed to kick him in the...” she cleared her throat meaningfully. “in THAT area, and tried scrambling for the door. I was on my hands and knees, though, and I couldn't move very fast because I was already hurting. It only took him a few seconds to recover, probably because he was drunk, and he was REALLY mad. I had just managed to reach the door and open it before he kicked me in my left side. I fell out on the front steps. He tried to kick me in the face, but I managed to roll enough that he just got me in the shoulder. Then he looked at me and told me I was a lazy good for nothing, totally useless bitch and that if I ever came back again, he would kill me. Suichi had given me his phone number and address about a week before. I didn't have any money to use a pay phone, so I just headed over to his place. It took me nearly an hour to get there, even though he only lives about nine blocks away from me.”

Suichi's face was stony, and if anyone had been looking at him, they would have seen his eyes flickering from their gentle green to a hard golden color sporadically.

All that, Youko growled. All that... just because she didn't have food waiting on the table for him when he got home?! I'm with Kuwabara on this one!! Let's get Hiei to show us where that fucker lives and we can give him a little taste of his own medicine!! By the time I'm through with him, that man'll...

Youko!! Just leave it to the authorities. In case you haven't noticed, those two officers don't look very impressed with him either.

Officer Neji looked at his Superior. “Otaka, sir?” he asked, his voice sounding rather stiff, his features grim.

The other man nodded and looked at Kasumi. “I can assure you, that man will be nowhere near you anymore, Miss Ikari. We can nail him with the equivalent of child slavery, assault, neglect, and even attempted murder due to his attempt to choke you.” He looked at Neji. “Get the camera out of the cruiser. We'll take some photo's of her as evidence and then pick the bastard up.”

“Careful,” Kasumi said quietly. “He's 6'3'' and weighs over 250 lbs. He's probably passed out on the couch or floor right now, but if he's not and he's still drunk enough, he doesn't care for the police either.”

The Superior nodded, allowing a small smirk to come to his face. “Thanks for the warning. We'll be sure to call for backup.”

Moments later, the younger officer returned, holding a larger camera, specifically designed for taking photographic evidence. Calling in a nurse, and politely asking Suichi to step outside for a moment, they took the photo's they needed before redressing her in her own clothes and informing the red haired youth that he could come back inside.

Neji looked at Kasumi. “Do you have someplace where you can stay? Somewhere off the street where we can get ahold of you?”

She blinked, feeling a sinking sensation in her stomach when she realized that she didn't know of anyplace she could really go, when Suichi stepped forward.

“She can stay with me, officer. I will call my mother tomorrow and explain the situation to her. I'm certain she will not mind.”

Otaka blinked, and looked at Kasumi who was surprised at this invitation, but nodded.

“Okay then. That should work fine. If I could get your phone number, Mr. Minamino?”

After exchanging some personal information with the officer, the two of them left, leaving the doctor to come back into the room and, after giving Kasumi some pain killers, discharged her from the hospital.

With a little support from Suichi, Kasumi limped her way out to the waiting room where the rest of her friends were waiting. Yusuke and Kuwabara's eyes went huge, seeing the condition the girl was in, and both were set to kill in an instant, before Suichi quickly informed them that the police were already on their way to detain her father themselves.

Then, after telepathically informing them that he would bring them up to date on what he had learned later, Suichi blinked, realizing something.

“How are we getting home? My place is over thirty blocks from here, and I hardly think Kasumi is prepared to walk, especially that distance.”

Kuwabara grinned. “We call a cab. How else?” He grinned, holding up his wallet. “I woke sis and got some money off her before we left. Me and Urameshi took a cab to get here, and I still have enough to get us back to your place. I'm not sure if there's enough to get all of us back to our own homes, though...”

Suichi nodded. “Then you can all stay at my place for the night. I think Kasumi would feel more secure that way, anyway.” he said, looking at the girl who had remained very quiet since relaying the events of the night to the police. She simply nodded her approval and gave him a small thanking smile.

Kuwabara called them a cab, making sure to tell them there were five people, so they sent a van cab to pick them up. Hiei would have preferred simply using his own speed, but grudgingly admitted that him being at Suichi's place before they even arrived would only serve to raise awkward questions with the already overwhelmed and exhausted Kasumi.

 

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Chapter seven will be coming soon!! Please tell me what you think!! Read and Review!!