Sorry this part is a little boring...
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Black sat down on the bench in the hospital’s hallway, her now bloody rosary still in her hands. Dance was dozing next to her.
Shibuya came storming towards them, through the hallway. Torigoya was following close behind her.
“You found her? How is she?” Shibuya asked them loudly, jolting Dance out of her sleep, causing her to fall almost comically to the floor.
Black tightened her grip on her rosary and said nothing. Dance decided to answer in her stead.
“She doesn’t seem to be doing too well. She had a high fever, and her arm looked nearly torn to pieces when we found her,” she ventured timidly.
Torigoya gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. “Is she okay?”
“We don’t know yet,” Black whispered.
Shibuya became even more irritated than before. Grabbing Black by the collar, she slammed her into the wall. “Damn you! You were supposed to be taking care of her! What would Yuko say if something happens to her?” she shouted angrily. “What the hell did you do anyway?! She wouldn’t have gotten in a fight if she wasn’t upset!”
Black was silent for a moment. “… I slapped her.”
Shibuya’s eyes widened. “You
what?! You’re the person she trusts more than anyone else, and you fucking
hit her?!” She raised her fist.
“Shibuya!” Torigoya put a restraining hand on her shoulder. “This is a hospital. Please. Yelling at her and hitting her isn’t going to change anything at this point.” She was wiser than she seems. Shibuya released Black reluctantly.
A middle-aged doctor came out of the ER, holding a clipboard and pen.
“Are you Miss Matsui’s friends?” he inquired. They nodded. Black could swear the sound of her palpitating heart was audible. She tried to steel herself.
“The wounds in her arm are seriously infected. The cuts are very deep and severed some of her muscles. The damage is too great, and before we can make further treatments, we have decided that her arm must be amputated in order to prevent blood poisoning and further spread of the infection. She is unconscious, so we will need the permission of a family member or guardian in order to proceed. Does she have any contacts?” he asked.
Black felt her breath hitch in her throat. The blood in her head pounded incessantly. She felt like her chest was caving in, and she found it hard to speak, until Shibuya, who looked equally in conflict, nudged her with her elbow.
“I-I’m her guardian,” she managed to say, though she heard her voice crack near the end.
The doctor looked at her dubiously, but knowing the urgency of the situation, handed the document over to her anyway. “Please just sign at the bottom of the form and we can begin surgery immediately.”
Black took the clipboard and pen from the doctor, hands shaking. “Is there no other way?” she asked quietly, voice thick.
The doctor shook his head. “I’m sorry, but we have to remove her arm, or she will die.”
Her vision grew blurry as she scrawled her name on the blank line. The doctor nodded and took the paper from her before disappearing down the long, white corridor.
She sunk back down on the bench, hunched over with her hands on her face, moisture seeping through her fingers.
Shibuya rammed her fist into the wall. “Shit!”
Dance was trying to support Torigoya, who looked like she was about to faint.
A nurse came running through the corridor. It was Sado. “I just heard from the other nurses that Gekikara was admitted to the ICU. What happened?” she asked, worried.
“G-gekikara-san is g-going to have her arm c-cut off!” Dance stammered, tears in the corners of her eyes. Even though she was never really close to her, she understood the gravity of the situation.
The confusion was evident on Sado’s face. “What? Why?”
“Because Black fucked up, that’s why,” Shibuya said through gritted teeth, a fire in her eyes. “She hit Gekikara, so she ran off and got in a fight.”
Sado picked up on the circumstance and Shibuya’s anger quickly. Her expression hardened. “Shibuya, calm down. You know Black wouldn’t have raised her hand without a reason.” She knelt down in front of Black. “Could you tell us what happened?”
Black wiped desperately at her face, shaking her head. “It was my fault, I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have lost control,” she said, voice still thick with tears.
Sado put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Black, I won’t push you to tell us, but right now, you need to go back home and take care of your son. He’s the one that needs you right now. There’s nothing more you can do here. We will look over Gekikara, so please, go home and rest,” she urged.
“But…” she tried to protest.
“Go. It’s no help to anybody if you worried yourself to exhaustion here.” She turned to Dance and Torigoya. “Torigoya, you should go home, too. Shibuya and I will call you when the operation is over. It won’t take very long, so take this time to get something to eat, and tend to your son. Dance, could you accompany them home?”
Dance nodded vigorously, grabbing Black’s sleeve and tugging on it to indicate that she should follow her. Black staggered after her as they left the hospital with Torigoya in tow.
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Black could barely stomach her own food after feeding her son. Anxiety was eating away at her. Leaving the half-eaten bowl of rice on the kitchen counter, she watched as her son played on the floor, cellphone in her hand.
An hour after she had left the hospital, she felt the soft vibration she had been waiting for. After answering, she bundled up her child in her arms and slipped hastily out the door.
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She stared through the glass at Gekikara’s motionless form on the bed. The numerous machines beeping and buzzing around her made the atmosphere even more cold and lifeless than what she felt inside of herself. Her right arm was missing from about the middle of her upper arm. A doctor and a nurse were busy taking notes and blood samples.
Sado, Shibuya, and Torigoya, who had also come back, stood silently behind her.
The middle-aged doctor from before came into the room. “May I speak with Miss Kashiwagi, please?”
Black nodded, expressionless, and handed her son to Sado.
“This way.” The doctor led her out of the room.
Sado held the struggling child in her arms as Torigoya cooed over him, rubbing his head. Sado tensed up as she saw the purple bruises on his face.
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“The surgery was a success, but due to blood loss and infection, she entered what we believe to be septic shock during the procedure. The diagnosis has yet to be made, but if she does not regain consciousness in 48 hours, it is likely she has become comatose. Most comas last for several weeks, but it is very difficult to predict whether she will recover. It is quite a miracle that she is alive at all, looking at the complications.” The doctor sighed. “Once her condition has stabilized, you and your friends may use regular visiting hours to see her. We will also notify you immediately if there is any change.” He looked sympathetically at her.
Black bowed her head, stiffly. “I understand.”
The doctor nodded and left the waiting room. Black headed slowly back to where the others were, her mind and heart heavy. When she opened the door, Sado and Torigoya were inspecting the marks on her son’s face. Her lips pressed into a thin line.
Sado stared at her grimly. “Did Gekikara do this?” Her words cut the air like cold steel. Shibuya looked up from her place by the wall, the perpetual frown she seemed to be born with on her face.
Black shifted her gaze away for a moment before answering with a whispered, “Yes.”
“Why?” Torigoya questioned softly, setting him on the ground.
He toddled unsteadily over to Black, clutching the leg of her pants, crying, “Mama!” She lifted him up, and he began playing with her rosary.
“She said that he would grow up to be like his father and hurt me. She saw that he had been arrested on the news that morning. It must have angered her,” she explained with a subdued voice.
Sado stood by the glass, looking into the room that Gekikara was in. She scoffed. “Talk about karma.”
Black frowned. “Please. Please don’t say that,” she pleaded, moisture building in her eyes again.
Sado sighed unhappily. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that she deserved this. I guess she still doesn’t understand, does she?” She glanced sadly through the glass. “What did the doctor say?”
Black held her son closer to her. “… He said that Gekikara has likely fallen into a coma, and that they don’t know when she will wake up.”
There was sorrow in Sado’s eyes, but it seems she expected that answer. “Gekikara is stronger than she looks. She’ll be back up, asking for melon bread and curry in no time,” she said, smiling lightly, offering consolatory words. “I have to get back to work, but I’ll come and check on you guys later. Make sure to get some more rest.” She nodded at them before leaving the room.
“More like stupidly strong,” jibed Torigoya, peering through the glass. She dipped her head affirmatively, seemingly convinced. “Yup, she’ll be right as rain. Poor kid must have been terrified though,” she sympathized. “But he’s young and has your genes, so he’ll be a-okay, too! Anyway, I have work also, so catch you guys later!” She pranced out the door, messing up the child’s hair with a quick rub on the way.
Shibuya kicked off the wall, scratching the back of her head, abashed. “Man, I feel stupid. I’m sorry, Black. I guess I was a little hasty in judging,” she apologized. She looked seriously at her. “She should have known better, but she’s going to need you by her side when she wakes up. Even though she’s a tough nut, she relies on you.” She sighed. “I’m going to go check on Dance and make sure that idiot didn’t get lost somewhere.” She patted the child’s head affectionately. “Sorry our mad dog got to you, too, eh?” He stared at her, confused, Black’s rosary hanging partially out of his mouth. She chuckled before waving goodbye.
Black placed a hand on the glass. “Gekikara…” The life support machines beeped steadily.
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She went to the hospital every day that she could, occasionally taking Torigoya and/or Shibuya with her. Every week, she brought fresh flowers, even though she was never awake to see them. She felt as if a hole had opened up in her heart, and the void was threatening to consume the rest of her.
The others noticed the lack of life in her, but could do nothing but give her encouraging words. Nearly two months had passed without any sign of awakening.
“At this rate, she will proceed into a persistent vegetative state. The chances that she will recover will become much lower,” the doctor explained. There was a pause, and a sharp intake of breath. “You should prepare to make the choice whether you want to pull life support or not.”
“No.” Black raised her gaze to meet the doctor’s, fists clenched. “I don’t care how long it takes. I will wait,” she said flatly.
I still have to tell her that I’m sorry. That I love her. The doctor nodded slowly. “I see.” He seemed troubled for a moment before adding, “If you like, we may extend your visiting hours to better fit your schedule.”
“… Thank you.” She bowed to the doctor. He left the room, and she turned back to Gekikara’s prone form, listening to the sounds of steady breathing misting the oxygen mask. Other than the buzzing machines, it was the only indication that she was still alive.
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