AN: Sorry it?s been so long?My laptop broke then school near drowned me?then?lots of other junk happened?but you don?t need to hear about these petty complaints?go do what your hear for?read the story! (*.*)
Wasn?t the happiest I?ve ever been over this chapter?but after going over it and my notes, I can?t figure out a way to make it better?eh?please forgive me if it?s not up to par.
Chapter 6: Alive Enough To Die
- We stood by a pond that winter day,
And the sun was white, as though chidden of God,
And a few leaves lay on the starving sod;
---They had fallen from an ash, and were grey.
Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove
Over tedious riddles of years ago;
And some words played between us to and fro
On which lost the more by our love.
The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing
Alive enough to have the strength to die;
And a grin of bitterness swept thereby
Like an ominous bird-a-wing?
Since then, keen lessons that love deceives,
And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me
Your face, and the God-curst sun, and a tree,
And a pond edged with grayish leaves.
---Neutral Tones, Thomas Hardy
She could smell green. It did not occur to her, as she floated in that place between sleeping and awaking, that it was impossible to smell a color, she just knew that she smelled green.
Was surrounded by it.
Was drowning in it.
It wasn?t the good kind of green smell one could associate with plants, all damp earth and new life. It wasn?t a bad green smell either, like stale air and mildew green. No, this green smell was?sterile?unfeeling?pale?and it made her stomach clench and her mind pull up images of a man laying broken in a hospital room while women in green swarmed around his bed like angry bees. His silver hair lying so limp by the pillow and spilling out toward the floor was still stained with blood that had long been washed out by the time her plane touched down. She still remembered vividly that pale pink tinge?
The air had smelt like this then too. Like someone was trying to hide the sent of their misdeeds under gallows of bleach. Yet the underlying stench of sickness still lingered.
The smell was medicine green. Hospital green. Green death?.
She stirred a bit, her eyelashes quivering in an attempt to flutter open, her fingers twitching as if reaching for something that might help her in the fight to come awake. But she found nothing to help combat the numbing darkness and slipped away again.
~*~*~*~*~
The waiting room at Kyoto General was crowded, and even with the press of bodies it was freezing. Kaede was sure, as she wrapped the blanket tighter around the little boy sleeping in her lap, that if she looked close enough she?d see her own breath rising toward the horrid florescent lights. Her eyes roved over the other people in the waiting room and she wondered absently what tragedies had befallen them this night. There was a man dressed in one of those expensive foreign suits sitting in the far corner, as far away from the other occupants of the room as he could get, constantly checking his watch impatiently. In the middle of the room there was a little boy huddle against a girl Kaede could only guess to be his older sister. She held the boy awkwardly, too shocked her-self to be of much comfort, and stared off into space.
?It rains on the just and the unjust I suppose, but Kami-sama, some things just don?t make since to this old miko.?
?Would you like some coffee, Takamori-san? Or maybe some tea?? Kaede looked up, startled a little to have an unfamiliar voice interrupting her thoughts, but she relaxed at the sight of the young woman who?d helped her calm Shippou down after Kagome had collapsed.
?No, I don?t want to disturb the child.? Kaede glanced down at the young kit again and hoped he?d be okay. Shippou had gone frantic when the ambulance had pulled into the shrine gates, screaming that the EMT?s would kill his new mother just like they?d killed his old one.
?I?m sorry about Kagome ?if I had known she was in such a state I?d never have let her leave the park alone.? The young woman rested her hand against her swollen abdomen and glanced worriedly over at her husband who was frowning at the cell phone he held in his hand. With curse words that sent most of the parents in the room scrambling to cover the ears of their impressionable children, Kouga snapped his phone shut before ripping it back open and pounding out another number on the pad.
?If he keeps this up, I?m going to have to buy him another one of those things.? She sighed and eased her way down into an empty seat beside Kaede, ?That?ll be the fifth one this month.? They sat in silence for a moment, each thinking their own thoughts and half listening to the sounds of the busy ER around them.
?I wasn?t surprised when Kagome showed up at my door a little over a month ago.? Kaede began when the silence and her own thoughts became too much for her to bear alone. ?The girl has always run away when she feels cornered. I remember when she was a small child, and her family lived next door to my shrine for a while, whenever Kagome?s mother scolded her Kagome would come running to the shrine with a little bundle of her favorite toys under her arm.? Kaede wasn?t sure why she was rambling on to the young woman beside her, but she couldn?t help herself. As a miko she rarely found a situation that was too great for her to handle and the knowledge that she couldn?t help her beloved niece made her old heart ache. She shifted a bit in her seat and sighed. Rambling was an affliction of the very old, the very stupid, and the very young. She knew she fit at least two of those descriptions. Kaede would have just let her story end there, but Ayame nudged her in the arm and motioned for her to continue.
?She?d tell me that she was going to live with me forever and become a miko so she?d never have to listen to her mother again. Of course that never lasted more than a few days at the most. Sometimes I wonder if in those early years her parents should have come and gotten her instead of just humoring her. Maybe then she would have learned that running away only makes things worse?but that?s neither here nor there. She?s sick because she ran away from the youkai that claimed her, isn?t she?? Kaede had been a miko for many years, so she?d seen all the signs before. The restlessness, the inability to eat or sleep properly, the unease around the opposite sex?all signs that for some reason a mated pair had been broken up.
?Yes,? Ayame spoke quietly, ?I don?t know the whole story, but from what I can gather from Kouga, Kagome-chan has always loved a inu-hanyou named Inuyasha, but he chose a girl named Kikyou instead. After he made his choice Kagome left for America. She didn?t even stick around to graduate with her class. Kouga says he heard that Inuyasha and Kikyou were in a terrible accident a few years ago, and right after that he heard Kagome was back in Japan. Kikyou?s been in a coma all these years?I wonder?? Her stomach jerked a little and the expectant mother let out a little grasp of pain and glared at her bulging belly. ?I swear one of those little monsters in there really hates me??
?But that doesn?t explain why she left him. I haven?t kept in touch with the girl as much as I should have over the years, before moving over-seas her family traveled a lot?And I suppose I was a little miffed that her parents never consented for me to fully train her while she was still young?? Kaede sighed. So many regrets?
?Kouga thinks that maybe Kikyou woke up and Inuyasha did something stupid. Apparently he isn?t very bright?Kouga tried to get in contact with some of Kagome?s old friends back in Tokyo, but the number he was given just rings and rings. Now he?s trying to place a call in to Inuyasha?s brother, who?s some kind of CEO type person, but?it?s not working very well.? As if to demonstrate her words Kouga again swore at being placed on hold.
?Takamori Kaede? Is there a Takamori Kaede in this waiting room?? A hurried looking doctor spoke loudly from the door, and it took the older woman a moment to realize that he was calling her. Quickly as she could, she shifted Shippou into her seat and stood up. Ayame smiled at her to let her know that she would watch the boy, and Kaede felt her heart twist. Finally someone would tell her if her great-niece was going to survive this or not.
?I am Takamori, what?s the problem with Kagome?? Kaede saw to reason to beat around the bush. She wanted answers quickly. The Doctor didn?t seem to mind.
?The girl managed to totally exhaust her-self, she?s dehydrated and a bit malnourished, but those are things that can be taken care of easily. What I?m worried about is what?s caused her to abuse her body in such a way. I don?t know why she?d left her mate, but I strongly suggest that they be reunited. She will not survive more than a few more months of this separation before she waists away.? He frowned at her as if she should have known all of this and somehow prevented it. Kaede felt guilt bubble up inside her again.
?Yes, yes you?re right; I should have stopped this for happening.?
?How long will she need to stay here?? Her voice was reserved, and she could not quite meet his gaze. The doctor sighed and glanced down at the chart in his hands.
?I?d like to keep her overnight. If she shows enough improvement then I may send her home tomorrow.?
?FINALLY!! DO YOU HAVE ANY FUCKING CLUE HOW HARD IT IS TRACK YOU DOWN?!?? Kaede tore her attention away from the doctor as Kouga stood in the corner she?d last saw him in and yelled into his battered cell phone. She felt a trill of fear, that probably wasn?t the best way to speak to someone you needed help from. When she turned back around the doctor was gone, but that was okay, because Kouga?s screaming continued.
?I don?t care what you were doing! I don?t care that it?s fucking mid-night!----? He must have been interrupted because his mouth stopped moving mid-sentence. Everyone in the waiting room begin to move as far away from the angry wolf as they could and Kaede didn?t blame them. Even Ayame looked a little uncomfortable, but that could have just been the ?little monsters?.
?NO! DON?T YOU DARE HANG UP ON ME!! ERG! Damn it all to hell! Has that fucking asshole brother of yours been looking for his lost mate?....Oh, now you want to listen to me? Okay, okay?My name is Gyoukou Kouga, and I went to school with Kagome and Inuyasha?yes?yes?I just met her again today?no?She collapsed?yeah.? He looked over at Kaede questioningly and she nodded her head. ?She?s going to be fine but she needs him to get his wimpy ass down here.? Kaede tooned the rest of the conversation out. Some part of her felt relieved that Inuyasha was coming for Kagome, but mostly she felt like she?d just betrayed her niece. And guilt is a stronger emotion than relief any day.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was raining. The clouds were a tumultuous grey-black that served as an ill omen for any thinking of venturing out. The winds tore at everything not nailed down, sending several of the banners that lined the street so far below his office, careening into the air, slamming into the sides of buildings or cars. Being thirty-nine stories up made the sound of thunder and the flash of lightening almost to much to bare with his sensitive hearing and sight, but he really didn?t give a damn. Inuyasha stood by the window and watched the people below as they scattered into buildings trying to find cover from the sudden storm. He watched them, but he really didn?t see them.
Finally. Finally, he?d found his mate.
Sango had finally whispered her location to him after a heart-wrenching hour of tears on both their parts. By then he?d been so numb that all he?d been able to do was feed Rei his super while Miroku took his wife off to bed. He left their house just as twilight was turning to darker night and wandered the street the rest of the night.
?Finally. Finally. I?m found her. Finally.?
But the sound of her weeping over the long distance line still haunted him. He?d made her cry those great soul-tearing sobs. Again. Maybe it would be better if he just left her alone. She could live a much happier life without him; after all, he only ever managed to bring her sadness in all the long years they?d known each other.
?You know, I?m getting sick of your work suffering just because you refuse to get your affairs in order.? Inuyasha didn?t even turn around to protest the insult his bastard brother had just thrown at him. He was too heart sick.
?You really disgust me, getting so emotional over a human woman.? Sesshomaru was baiting his younger brother, trying to get him angry because this?new?side of his brother was scaring even him. Even his brother?s dispassionate secretary looked worried when he?d ask to be let inside the office.
?She is...was my mate.? Inuyasha finally turned from the window and sat down behind his messy desk. Absently he picked up a legal form and began to read over its complex terms.
?Inuyasha, I?m only going to say this once, then I?m going to leave and act like I never came to your office today, do you understand? You need to pull yourself together and go to your mate! She?s ---?
?I know where she?s at. And I?m not going. She?s better off---?
?--- in the hospital. One of your past associates called my home at 12 am last night yelling about how you needed to ?get your wimpy ass? down there---
?WHAT?!??
?If you would stop interrupting me, I might be able to tell you.? He paused to make sure Inuyasha wasn?t going to interrupt again before continuing. ?This Sesshomaru was told that being away from you has seriously affected the young woman?s health. This separation is killing her as much as it?s killing you. Go Inuyasha, and don?t come back until you?ve made things right.? Inuyasha stared at up at his brother for a long moment with intense eyes. Sesshomaru was reminded of the time long passed when he had been a hero in a young Inuyasha?s eyes. Only his big brother had had the power and knowledge to chase the monsters out from under the scared pup?s bed?Ah, but that was then, and this was now. He?d lost that closeness to his brother a long time ago, but maybe?maybe he could get rid of this one last monster?for old time?s sake.
?I took the liberty to have one of the private jets made ready for your flight to Kyoto and had someone pack some clothes for you. Here?s enough money to cover your expenses for a few days after you arrive. I?ve also arranged to have all your work passed out to some of the more trust-worthy junior associates. Everything is taken care of; all you have to do is go.? Sesshomaru picked up the rumpled discarded coat that belonged to Inuyasha from the floor where it lay and held it out to his brother. Inuyasha blinked, then slowly reached for the coat and slipped it on. For a moment he looked as if he was going to hug his older brother, and Sesshomaru tensed, unsure how to react to such an uncharacteristic action, but the moment passed and a bit of the old Inuyasha resurfaced.
?Keh, and give that bitch of a secretary out there a vacation. She?s too horrible to be assigned to anyone else.? Then he was gone off down the hall, yelling curses at the elevator that echoed through-out the thirty-ninth story. Sesshomaru sat down behind his brother?s desk and adjusted the chair. With a disgusted sigh he began to go through the messy piles of coffee stained business proposals and legal documents. After a moment he buzzed Inuyasha?s secretary.
?Kanna? Would you please send in that young junior associate---What was her name again--- that handled Inuyasha?s work the last time he went tearing off after his mate??
?Rin, sir. And I can have her come up during her lunch hour if that is a good time for you.? Sesshomaru spun the chair around so that it faced the huge window and leaned back. The storm was calming down outside.
?Inuyasha should have no trouble flying if the weather keeps clearing up like this.?
?Yes, that will be fine. Send her in then.?
?You?d better not make a mess of this little brother.?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The steady beep, beep, beep of some unknown insterment heralded their arrival into Kagome?s hospital room. The lights were turned low and the shade was pulled down to ward off the sunlight, but the youkai couple could still make out her frail form laying amongst the stiff white sheets. Behind them, the old miko, still holding the small kit who?d become stuck to her side like a barnacle, shuffled in. The four of them collectively held their breath waiting for some sign that the girl was indeed alive.
Kagome rolled her head slightly toward the light invading her room and blinked at the sight of the people gathered in her doorway.
?You can all come in, it?s not like I?m dying or anything.? Her voice was raspy, and the quiet chuckle she added at the end of her greeting fell flat when the three adults winced and exchanged glances. Shippou tired of all the hesitation hopped out of Kaede?s arms and scrambled up into the bed. Kagome smiled gently at his worried expression and opened her arms for a hug. Shippou very carefully snuggled up against her and breathed in her sent. His new mother still smelled sick, but she didn?t reek of death like his first mother had when she?d been taken to this horrible place.
?I thought you were gonna to die.? He whispered tearfully as she stroked his hair away from his face. Kagome looked into her new son?s watery eyes and was struck with a sudden thought: If Shippou was this torn up over the thought of losing her after only being in her care for a short time, how must Inuyasha feel?
?No! I will not start feeling sorry for him.?
?I?m not going to die anytime soon, I promise. In fact they said I could leave this stinky old hospital sometime today if I?m good.? She wiped his tears away with the pad of her thumb then taped him on his nose. Kagome felt a tiny surge of relief when a ghost of a smile crossed the kit?s face.
?But you?re always good.? Shippou cocked his head to the side and scooted away from her to sit on the end of the bed. He didn?t catch the reappearance of Kagome?s sad expression, but the other adults caught it and exchanged another glance.
?No, Shippou I?m not always good.? Her voice was colored with despondence and Kaede decided that it was time for her and Shippou to leave so that Kouga and Ayame could tell Kagome?.about her situation?
?Come child, it is time you and I went back to the shrine,? She waved a finger in the air when Shippou opened his mouth to protest, ?You?ve seen for yourself that Kagome is alright, and we?re only going long enough to bring her back some clothes for the trip home.? Shippou looked resigned for a moment before hopping off the bed and catching up Kaede?s offer hand.
?I?ll only go if you let me put the money in to get the bus pass.?
?It?s a deal then.? The two shook hands, and then Kaede came over to give her great-niece a hug.
?I?m going to really scold you as soon as I get you home. Really, young people can be so fool hardy these days.? Her old voice was gruff, but she was smiling and Kagome took comfort in that fact.
?I?ll see you in a few hours Kagome!? Shippou called from the doorway were he bounced impatiently.
?Okay, Shippou. Be good and don?t let Kaede climb up all those steps to the shrine. Make her take the back way in!?
After the two had finally left Kagome?s hospital room was filled with a tense, borderline awkward silence. Kagome didn?t want to be rude and kick Kouga and Ayame out of her room, but she really wasn?t up to company right now. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity Kagome cleared her throat.
?Umm guys, I don?t want to be rude, but I?m kinda tired. Maybe you can come and visit me at the shrine when I get out of here?? She gave them her best smile, but she didn?t put too much effort into it. Kagome really didn?t care about appearing happy anymore.
?Actually, we have something we need to talk to you about?but we don?t know how to start.? Ayame said, coming to sit in the chair beside Kagome?s bed. A sense of dread filled Kagome and she griped the white bed sheets tightly.
?The beginning is always a nice place.? She pointed out, forcing her voice into something other than a whisper. Ayame looked uncertain for a moment before her face crumbled a little.
?But we don?t know the beginning! All we know is the little pieces we?ve managed to put together and what our noses tell us! How can we help you when we don?t know how this happened?? Kagome watched in surprise as a tear trickled down Ayame?s face and Kouga came up and pulled his wife into a hug. He looked down at Kagome?s concerned, slightly guilty face and shook his head.
?Mood swings.? He mouthed and continued to comfort his wife. Watching them together didn?t help Kagome?s mood at all, and by the time Ayame leaned up and signaled that she was okay by blowing her nose, Kagome felt close to tears herself.
?I don?t know how to say this other than bluntly,? Kouga took over the discussion as his wife continued to wipe her eyes, ?so here goes. Why did you leave your mate?? His question was met with a confused then stuned silence as all the color drained from Kagome?s face. She suddenly got a flash-back to her visit to that club all those weeks ago and the strange things that had happen that night.
No?no it couldn?t be?
?What do you mean? I-I-I don?t understand!? Kagome looked over at Ayame with pleading eyes, hopping that this was just some cruel joke Kouga was playing, but knowing it wasn?t when the young wolf wouldn?t meet her eyes.
?Inuyasha, Kagome, why did you leave Inuyasha?? Kouga asked gently, stepping away from the wall in favor for kneeling beside his wife?s chair so that he would be closer to the distraught girl?s level.
?I left Inuyasha because I got tired of being second best. But we weren?t mated! We?d just had a fight because he refused to marry me. He was afraid to tie himself to me because she might wake up! I?m not mated to him!!? She refused to remember even as unbidden their last night together swam before her minds eye?
- ?Do you love me?? She couldn?t understand why he was asking such a stupid question instead of finishing what he?d started. Inuyasha hated to talk during sex and right now she wished he?d remember that.
?Oh, Kami-sama, yes.? Of course she loved him, but she would have agreed to anything at that moment if it would have gotten him to continue.
She was too dazed and caught up in the feelings his renewed fervor were creating in her to notice the tingling of youkai magic across her skin?.
?That fucking idoit didn?t tell you did he? He didn?t even ask before he cast the binding spell did he?? Kouga jerked himself off the floor and started pacing the room. Kagome just sat there in her hospital room, numb, her mind trying to grasp onto something, anything that made sense.
?I?m so sorry Kagome; we wouldn?t have interfered if we?d suspected that you didn?t know about?this?But Kagome you have to listen to me, no matter what has happened in the past, you have to go back to Inuyasha! You?re wasting away because you left him so soon after the bond was made!? Ayame grasped Kagome?s still trembling hand in hers and was a bit surprised by how cold it was.
?I can?t go back.? Kagome answered dully. She pulled her hand away from the gentle girl she?d only known for less than a day and glanced toward the closed window shade. Now she wished she?d told the nurse to keep it open so there would be something to stare at now instead of the pleading pregnant woman beside her and her pacing, cursing husband.
?But you have to! You?ll die if you don?t go back!? Ayame?s words snapped Kagome out of whatever dazed she?d been in and suddenly three things were crystal clear to her.
- Inuyasha had marked her for his mate without bothering to ask her permission or even tell her when the deed was done.
Inuyasha had called out Kikyou?s name in his sleep that last night, proving that even though he?d apparently just claimed her he was still in love with the other woman.
She was going to die if she didn?t go back to Tokyo and Inuyasha.
?Maybe...maybe you should talk to Inuyasha about this?? Ayame ventured between sniffs as Kagome ran shaking hands through her tangled locks of raven black hair.
?NO! I can?t see him. I can?t?I just can?t!? Kagome felt some of her anger redirect toward the youkai couple. What right did they have to barge in here and tell her all this? What business was this of theirs? What did they care if she dyed because she refused to see that bastard?
?But Kagome??
?I?m sorry but I think you should leave now.? She reached out and hit the nurse call button on the arm of the bed.
?Kagome you have to listen to us! I spoke to---?The sound of the door opening behind him cut Kouga off. He cursed at being interrupted and the nurse frowned.
?You look very tired ma?am, why don?t you say good-bye to your guests and get some rest?? The nurse suggested pointedly and Kagome nodded.
?You can both come by the shrine in about a week if you want.? She said to the departing couple.
?I spoke to Sesshomaru last night; Inuyasha should be on his way to Kyoto!? Kouga yelled over his shoulder as the nurse ushered Ayame and him out of the room. Kagome froze, face draining of what little color it had regained since the first bombshell had been dropped on her this morning.
Inuyasha?was on his way?here?!?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Inuyasha clutched the slip of paper with the address to the hospital Kagome was in tightly in his palm as he stared up at the glass front of the building. She was in there, alive, he could feel her aura from here and he was nearly drowning in it. How overwhelming would it be to stand close to her? To hold her in his arms again? To kiss her until she was breathless and forgave him for being so stupid? He sighed and tried to walk into the hospital, but found that his legs wouldn?t obey him. As much as he longed to just see her again, he was afraid.
What if she didn?t, no couldn?t, forgive him this time? What is she left him again? And his biggest fear: what if she chose death over letting him back into her life?
Inuyasha was terrified that he?d lose her more than he already had. Kagome was everything to him and he couldn?t bear to think that she hated him now.
A disturbance out of the corner of his eye, and a familiar, annoying voice from his past jarred him from his desperate thoughts.
?If I ever see that piece of dog shit again I?m going to make him wish he?d never met Kagome!?
?Kouga calm down. We?ve done all we can, now it?s up to Kagome and her mate.?
Inuyasha looked over toward the entrance of the hospital and sniffed. Oh yes, he knew that disgusting odor. What was that stupid wolf doing here at Kagome?s hospital? Some of the words that Sesshomaru had used this morning came back to him. Sesshomaru never used phrases like ?wimpy ass?, he was much too dignified for that?
?Oh fucking hell no! Don?t tell me you?re the ?past associate? that called my brother last night?? Oh, karma was such a bitch. He really did not want to deal with this bastard wolf right now, not when he was this close to being reunited with his mate. Kouga heard his words and spun around; leaving the pregnant red-haired woman he?d been talking with to call her own taxi. Inuyasha smirked and sniffed again. At least he wouldn?t have to worry about Kouga trying to steal Kagome away from him again; it looked like the wolf had his hands quite full at the moment.
?You asshole! I should rip you limb from limb where you stand for what you?ve done to Kagome, but I won?t because she needs you fucking alive to survive!? Inuyasha felt his demon powers rise along with his anger as the tension he?d been feeling inside for weeks grew to the snapping point.
?Keh! You could try but you wouldn?t get very far! I should have killed you when I had the chance back in high school!? He cracked his knuckles and dropped down into a fighter?s stance. Kouga mimicked him and they circled each other. The people on the street, human and youkai alike, began to back away from the pair.
?STOP IT BOTH OF YOU!? Ayame put herself between the two growling males and the crowd gasped. It was incredibly foolish to step between two youkai who were so intent on ripping each other to pieces, but her hormones gave her courage. Her brash actions worked as both men took a step back and stopped circling each other.
?Now you,? The angry expectant mother pointed at Inuyasha, ?You need to get up there to your mate and kami-sama help me if you ever do anything this stupid again I?ll help him kill you!? Then she turned to her husband, ?And you are going to stop growling and take me out to lunch. I?ve been in that waiting room all night and your little monsters are hungry.? With that she grabbed her husbands arm and marched away with her head held high. The crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief and parted to make room for the couple.
Inuyasha was left alone, but this time it wasn?t as hard for him to take the first step toward the hospital enterance...and Kagome.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Time did not stop for her, but it slowed down to a trickle, elongating and stretching like a rubber band ready to snap. She sat on the edge of her hospital bed and just let her feet dangle down, caught between running away again and staying to face the inevitable.
Part of her longed to just sit right there and wait for Inuyasha to come in and make all the pain go away. He would promise to never hurt her again, guaranty her happily-ever-after if she?d just come back home. It would be so easy to trust him again, to let herself be comforted by the man she still loved. Maybe too easy.
The rest of her wanted to run as fast as she could away from this hospital. She should have known that Kyoto wasn?t far enough away from him. That no where in Japan was safe for her to hide. She needed to get out of here and grab Shippou before Inuyasha caught up with her. She was too weak now to see him. He would break down her crumbling walls with just the sound of his voice. She had to run. She had to get out. She had to get away from him. Now.
The rubber band snapped and time started to flow normally again. Kagome stumbled out of the high bed and struggled with the white hospital gown she was wearing. It caught on her IV and without stopping to think of the pain it would cause, she savagely ripped the offending cord out of her hand. She ignored the blood that began to stream down from her hand as she started to desperately rifle through the closet in the corner for the clothes she?d been wearing yesterday. She was so intent on getting out of that hospital room that she didn?t notice the sound of the door creaking open or the fact that she was leaving a bloody trail everywhere.
Kagome struggled to pull her shirt over her head, hissing in pain when the long sleeve caught on the abused flesh of her hand. She paused for a moment to grab a tissue from the bedside table to blot at the wound and it was then that she realized that she wasn?t alone in her room anymore. Her eyes slowly followed a path upward taking in the other person?s shoes, legs, chest, hair?and finally stopped at his eyes. Golden eyes that bore into her soul like hot knives and left her paralyzed. Those eyes held so many emotions that only she could read; hurt, betrayal, anger, fear, hope?love?
?Running away again, Kagome??
TBC.
Dun dun duuuuuuuuh
Okay I think I just promoted myself to a new position of evilness! Feel the power!!!
No really feel it?its like cuddling up to a nice fuzzy baby bunny?.
Okay all silliness aside, I?m sorry it?s been so long since I updated?but life isn?t going so well right now for me, and as Inuyasha put it ?Karma is a bitch.?
But things should start looking up now that the summer is here and I?m taking off a semester from college.
Some good things have happened to me too, but the way. Both my IY stories have been nominated for awards and this story was deemed worthy to be featured on Cataluna?s site. A lot of people are writing me and saying that my stories have touched their lives and that makes me happy. I don?t see how my stuff could be that good, but hey, I?m not going to argue with fans.
I am so thankful to all of you who have encouraged me with your kind words recently. Some day?s the only way I could go on was because of all of you. And to show you how thankful I am, I gave you a chapter twice as long as normal!
Hitomi?s Handy-Dandy guide to questions from last chapter:
What? That was the quickest adoption in the history of fanfiction!
The adoption isn?t exactly set in stone yet, with a youkai adoption it is important for the kit/cub/pup/child to bond with the new parent. So there?s always a trial period where the child is allowed to live in the potential parent?s home to see it they are right for each other. If after this time the bond is made and everyone is happy the adoption goes forward, if not the child is returned to the center he/she came from.
*grabs wrists* Euuugh...Meeeh...Ewww...IV...I HATE needles...but strangely I love pointy obejetcs...like swords... 
Hope you start feeling better!