Last Visit to the Hospital
Who: Zaku and Karin (plus Hiroshi)
When: Tuesday, June 3rd. After School
What: After school, Hiroshi drives Karin to visit Zaku in the hospital. They visit together, with a little angst-laced artwork and fluff. Afterwards, Karin gets a new furry friend to take home
Where: Hayama Hospital, Hiroshi's car, Humane Society.
Warnings: Somewhat Graphic Images, Image Heavy.
AIM or LJ? AIM
Tuesday afternoon. As soon as the bells rang the kids out of school, Karin raced out to the cars that waited outside the gates for the parents who were picking their kids up. Usually, Karin would walk home, but today was special. Today, Hiroshi promised to take her to Hayama to visit Zaku in the hospital, who she had to leave Saturday evening so she could return to school. She managed through Monday, but Tuesday afternoon couldn't come fast enough.
Looking through the cars, Karin spotted Hiroshi leaning against the hood of his car. Her fingers gripped her bag firmly as she jogged over, "You are serious, right? We're going to Hayama?"
"Yes, Karin. Yes," he smiled to her, walking around and getting in the car, "Your mother is quite upset with me, but I told her that it was a good chance for us to bond and she stopped arguing as much."
"I'm surprised you got a word in at all. Good for you," Karin climbed in with a smirk. Today was too great of a day to let conversation of her mom ruin things.
Once she was buckled, Hiroshi started the car and headed out, speeding away from Tokyo as fast as he could get away with. He amused himself by watching his future step-daughter acting so giddy at the thought of getting to see her boyfriend. This has to be some kid, Hiroshi thought to himself idly.
Karin listened to the music on the radio, every song seemed to be one of her favourites, and she sang along softly to them. The time passed by, with some idle chitchat between the two during commercial breaks, and soon they pulled into the parking lot of the hospital.
Hiroshi pulled up to the front doors and unlocked the car, "You go ahead. I'll go park and catch up inside."
Karin's eyes sparkled as a brief thought of leaning over and kissing Hiroshi's cheek flew past. "Thank you! See you inside then!" She unbuckled her seat belt and practically flew out of the car and into the hospital, making her way to Zaku's hospital room in a speedy walk, a few skips along the way.
Zaku's hospital room was all too quiet, and in his mind, very boring. Karin was away and his parents were at work in the Tokyo Hospital, so he was all alone, lying in his bed. He had spent most of his days at the hospital sleeping but he was bored of that, too, where his dreams were filled with dark images and things he couldn't describe very well. Despite the painkillers, he still could feel soreness in his side where his broken ribs were, though his hip seemed just fine. He wanted to walk so badly... but the nurses kept telling him "not yet" when it came to that subject.
Zaku rolled his eyes at the thought of not walking for yet another few days, figuring the only way out for him now was to pathetically use a wheelchair. Nobody better see me that way...
Sighing and reaching over to the table by his bedside, Zaku's hand managed to make contact with a sketchbook his mom had brought him the day before as a way to keep him busy during his waking hours. Zaku flipped the book open to a blank page and held the black pen that sat by it ready to draw something. Sad how this is the only decent way to pass the time, he thought to himself, but on some level, was grateful he had anything to do at all.
Before pen hit the paper, he thought about Karin and how much he missed her. Zaku wondered when the next time he would see her again would be. She's probably really busy with school, he sighed, considering the possibility that he wouldn't get to see her until he went back to Tokyo. I'm such an idiot for being in this situation in the first place...
Zaku started to sketch with the pen, though he preferred sketching with a pencil, it was all the nurses gave him. I can't believe my mom forgot to bring me my pencil, but remembered the paper. Jeez...
Karin snaked her way through the hallways until she got to the patient recovery floors. It was a nice change of scenery compared to the first room that Zaku had been put in. Now he had a room to himself, no other beds needed. She had to stop at the information desk at the entrance to get his room number, but made that her only stop. Now she was on his hallway, counting the room numbers off in her head one by one until she found his. With a half-skip in her step, she had to stop both feet at once to not go barreling through the door. Standing outside, she smiled and took a deep breath, and after confirming the name outside the door, Abumi Zaku, she knocked lightly before slowly opening the door and sticking her head inside the room, "Zaku?"
Zaku jumped at first from the sudden movement of the door and the saying of his name after being so used to the complete silence of his room and letting his mind drift off from the real world. Immediately, he closed his sketchbook and stuck it clumsily under his pillow to try and hide it, though part of it still stuck out since he couldn't get it completely underneath from his laying down position.
"...Karin?" he said after realizing who it was. Zaku was surprised she had come, but was glad. Forgetting about the sketchbook, all his thoughts went to Karin's visit, so he perked up rather fast.
Listening to him acknowledge her presence reassured her that she had permission to come in further, giving him the pause in case the nurses had been in the room doing embarrassing tests or something. With a smile, she walked the rest of the way in and over to the front of his bed, looking to him and brightening considerably, "Hey there, Handsome. Are you doing ok?"
Zaku was looking considerably better than the last time Karin was there, with more color to his skin and more awareness and life in his eyes. However, he still refused to use the remote to sit up. "Hey Karin!!" Zaku was very happy to see her, despite his poor physical condition. "I didn't expect you to come. My mom said your mom was here and seemed pretty angry." Zaku struggled to sit up to greet her, and eventually did, though not without wincing a little from the pains in his ribs. He slouched forward a little once he was up, but it wasn't a big deal... for him. "Karin, you gotta get me out of here! The food sucks and they won't let me go anywhere."
Trying her hardest to not smile her lips off her body, Karin walked over to his left side, bending over and wrapping an arm around him in a hug, but without any pressure to preserve his ribs. She stood up and looked down to him, "The Lawy... Hiroshi said he'd bring me today to come see you. You're looking much better, too." She listened to his complaints as she pulled up the chair and sat down next to his bed. "Well, you have to heal before you can go anywhere, Zaku... When did they tell you that you'd be good to come home?"
If Zaku was a dog, he would have been wagging his tail so hard against the ground the Earth would have shook, glad to have her attention again. "I can't go home until Thursday." he whined. "Then they don't want me moving around much when I get home... they said I won't even get to go to school for three weeks!"
"Well, Thursday is almost here and then you'll be back home at least to finish recovering. You could be here for another three weeks instead, you know?" Karin reached over, putting both of her hands on his. Her right hand was free of its brace as well. "It'll be good to have you back, too. I can come over and see you whenever I get the chance then, too." And then her academia spoke up, "But you'll be out of school for three weeks? I wonder what you can do for classes then... ah, but I'd definitely come over and help you out there, too." She removed one of her hands to visually wave the idea away as she giggled and looked back to Zaku.
Zaku blushed a little at the thought of her coming over to study... it was hard to not think of the last time they 'studied' together. "Yeah... you'll have to bring my homework to me! Unless you want to do it for me..." he joked a little, comfortable with his hand in hers though his body was screaming at him to lie down again, still physically weak from not being used much.
"I'll be as much help as I can be," she tilted her head to the side and gave him a look, "But I won't be doing it for you. You can't learn that way." She smirked afterwards, glad to see that he was in good spirits, too. She took a glance around the room and what it had to offer - a few flowers and a TV that wasn't turned on... or broke. Looking back to Zaku, she couldn't help but wonder, "I can see how boring this must be. Do they even take you for therapy, or not yet? What do you do all day?"
"I don't have therapy yet... that starts tomorrow." he said grumpily, not looking forward to it at all, just wanting to run around like normal. "I'm not supposed to be doing much," he muttered, "it's boring. I mostly just sleep..." then he decided his body had enough of sitting up and he gently and slowly lay himself back down, making a bit of a face when he made contact with the bed, but soon was fine again. He looked over to Karin. "The tiles on the ceiling... they have 785 dots each."
Karin looked up to the ceiling tiles for a brief moment, noticing all the little dots on them before looking down to him curiously, "Every single one has exactly that many, or is that an average?" She shook her head with a smile. "Wow, you must have been really bored. Nothing on TV, I'm guessing?" She couldn't stop lingering on the visual image of him counting all the little dots, one after the other, probably messing up several times with a little cursing before he tried again - but it made her smile. "That's good that therapy will start tomorrow then. So you're recovering. Always good to hear."
Zaku looked up to the ceiling. "The ones on the edges have only 740. I think they cut off the edges to make them fit better." he replied. Afterwards, he glared at the TV. "I can't get up to turn it on... and I want to do it myself." Zaku wasn't sure how to respond to her mentioning him recovering, since he was still confused about what happened to him while he was out there by himself. The main thing he remembered was feeling completely lost... unaware of anything around him...
Zaku's side started to ache suddenly, but he toughed it out to try and not make any expressions that might worry Karin. "Yeah, I can't wait to get the hell out of here!" He looked over to Karin. "I've missed you..." he said quietly.
He missed me? Karin felt her heart skip a beat as her eyes softened. She nodded with a soft smile, "I've missed you, too... A lot." She took in a deep breath and followed with a sigh of content as she stood back to her feet and leaned over him to give him a short kiss, feeling as if she needed to have that physical connection to reassure both of their existences.
Once it was broke, her eyes migrated over to notice the sketchbook under his pillow. Not wanting to make any sudden movements that would make him turn and twist his body in panic, she slowly went to sit down.. her hand migrating to his pillow and tugging while she lowered herself to the chair, "Have you been drawing to pass the time?"
Zaku, who was lost in bliss ever since Karin had arrived, snapped out of it when she mentioned drawing. "Uh..." Zaku muttered, "a little..." he looked over to her, who happened to have found his sketchbook. It's just Karin... she's seen my stuff before... nothing to worry about... He resisted telling her to put it back. "It's the only thing I can really do..." he looked away, knowing she was bound to open it and say embarrassing things about it, but he was sure he was prepared. She liked the watercolors... so she will like these, too, I think...? "There's nothing good in there. All I have to work with here are two colors of pen... and I like using pencils better..."
Karin finished pulling the book out from under its hiding place, sitting back in the chair and opening it up to the first of the more recent pages. She could easily determine the newer pictures from the pen that, like he mentioned, wasn't quite as smoothed out as his previous penciled arts. The first one was of a four-legged creature with a long, furry tail, wide circular eyes, a circular-looking mouth, and what looked to be antlers. She raised her eyebrow curiously, for she had never seen anything like this creature before. Was it real? "Ah, I found your pen sketches. This is nice, but... um.. what is it?"
Zaku looked back over to her, not as happy as he was before. "Uh..." he glanced over to see which one it was. "That's..." he hesitated, not sure what it really was himself, though he knew he had seen the beast a few times already. "It's just something I had in a dream, so I tried to draw it..."
"Nothing wrong with that," she looked over and smiled, watching him get a little nervous. "It's interesting, really, and it's... somewhat... beautiful. Majestic, perhaps?" The black sketch lacked proper details, but Karin was impressed nonetheless. Satisfied, she flipped through to the next page. There, the same creature was on the paper, a closer view into its face with its eyes outlined in red ink and a bloody disembodied arm being held in its mouth. Karin looked up to Zaku, wondering if he was following along while she flipped through, curious to whether or not he had any commentary to go with it.
Zaku's eyes had travelled back up to the ceiling as he let her flip through the pages. He didn't want to say too much about the images unless she asked about them... since he wasn't sure what they were of entirely, either. They were images that had come to his mind while he was sleeping... He patiently waited for her to talk again.
Seeing as how he wasn't paying much attention to her flipping through, she decided to ignore commenting on this picture. Her mind flashed back to his mother telling her about losing his arm, and looking down at the beast with this arm in his mouth seemed a little... uncomfortable to talk about. Forcing a little smile, she flipped to the next one, "Oh, what happened to the dog?" Karin's eyes widened as she saw some sort of dog form lying down in a room of sorts. What looked to be the wall behind him was covered in red ink, blood, and there were spots of red here and there on the ground, some under the dog. Although the dog didn't seem to be covered in the red color itself, which led to her asking, "Or did something else happen?"
Zaku glanced over to see what picture it was she was talking about. "It's umm..." he paused as he was trying to come up with some explanation. "That's Soon... he's a fighting dog..." he paused again. "The blood is old. Nobody cleans up around there." he had no idea what he was talking about, but it sounded good to him.
That description confused Karin a little, "Do you know this dog? Or is it one from your dreams?" She looked it over again, wanting to compliment the picture, "My first impression assumed there was something wrong, but I see he's not covered himself... must be a good fighter, at least."
Zaku's eyes drifted away temporarily, before coming back to answer. "He's made up... I think... and yeah, he's a pretty good fighter, but he doesn't get anything for it." Zaku thought more about it, wondering about the dog... he had appeared numerous times in his dreams since arriving in the hospital and was on his mind a lot. "Yeah, he's from... a dream. Probably just sick dreams... you know how they're always crazy." Zaku tried to make light of the moment.
Karin nodded, having heard stories time and again of the visions that someone got when they were heavily sedated with pain medications. "This is good," she commented before flipping to the next page. She noticed the first two creatures from before were in this picture, the antlered creature at the top center and Soon, the dog in the bottom center, covering an eye. She easily respected the form of the dog, it being recognizable, but she noticed some bits of red on the right side of the picture, "What's happening here?" She pointed the page over to him, "Ah, I'm not bothering you with these, am I?"
Zaku studied the next picture a little, "That...?" he puzzled over it, remembering a dream more and more clearly by the moment and starting to feel pains within himself about it as memories flooded his head. "He's hiding because... because he's afraid to get killed..." I don't know how to explain these? "It's a massacre..."
"Oh," was all she could reply, looking back to the picture. The fear was identifiable. Was the antlered creature the one that was doing the killing? And why does Zaku have this character in these pictures? How do they relate? She looked back up to Zaku, "Is this making you uncomfortable? I can stop asking you and just enjoy the pictures.."
Zaku looked at Karin expressing nothing, then tried to smile. "No, I'm fine. Keep talking. I like talking to you... it makes me feel better." He could have told her to stop... and he wanted to... but on some level, he wanted her to see them. He trusted her with them, and he felt like it was best to just keep talking. "I'm glad you're enjoying them..." he said quietly.
Karin nodded, "If you're sure... but stop me at any time, really." The solemn tone of Zaku's was easily detectable and some part of her wished that she would just put the sketchbook back where it was and continue their visit peacefully, but another part wanted to try and discover this ideas he put on paper, get him to talk more about his inner fears and desires. With a deep inhale, getting her mentally prepared, she flipped the page again and looked down upon its contents. There were spikes coming out of the left side of the picture, a few bloody masses impaled upon the spikes. The main focus was the canine in the very front, spike through his head and what looked to be its tongue hanging from its mouth, "So, Soon got killed anyways?" It was a little chilling, and she felt bad for the picture, but she looked back up to Zaku, a little more concerned for why he took to draw these.
Zaku didn't even have to look this time to tell what picture she was talking about. He had the images he had drawn earlier that day memorized in the order he had drawn them in. "He didn't end up dying... he just thought he did." What was that supposed to mean?? "It's a canyon and the walls of the canyon are like that." he added randomly, remembering the locale clearly in his mind.
Karin flipped onto the next page, curious now to what else could have happened as the story she was looking at began to unravel. He was under medication, Karin. What makes you think this is a story? "Well, that's good, I guess?" the last part coming out more questionable than anything. "So, explain this next page to me, please?"
Zaku looked at it again to refresh his memory. "I don't really know..." he trailed off as he studied it. "But it looks like it's sunset in that one." Looking at the two figures, he knew they were more characters, but wasn't sure what their names were. He made a face struggling to remember their value... "The guy on the left hangs from the sky by... hooks, on the ends of ropes." Then he looked to the pitiful form on the right. "...and that cat is his slave..." Zaku wasn't sure, "They're friends, though."
Her head nodded as Karin looked over the things he mentioned, like the sunset and the canine that was hanging by hooks. "It's interesting, to say the least." That sounded generic, she thought, but there wasn't really much else she knew to say on the picture, no comments she thought were necessary. And so, she continued on to the next page. "Oh, so this is the cat? ... He looks pretty beat up, too.."
"Yeah... that's the cat..." Zaku was finding it difficult to read Karin as she went on, though something inside of him was starting to break. These images... I don't know why I saw them... Zaku slid down into the bed a little further to get under the blankets, feeling slightly colder than before. "Someone did that to him... but nobody can see them." Damn, can't anything I say make sense today?? "He's always tired..."
It was easy for Karin to tell that this was getting more and more uncomfortable for Zaku, and a lot of the parts only had bits and pieces he understood. "I see," she replied simply, flipping on through the pages. The next one had a good detail of Soon, but he was impaled through the upper chest in between the shoulder bones. She frowned a little, wondering about why Zaku had dreamed such gory details about this dog that he had seen so clearly.
Not wanting to continue with unnecessary questions, she flipped the page again. Now it was Soon, with the hooks attached in his ears, cheeks, muzzle, and through the nose. "I wonder why all this happens to him..." she said softly to herself, eyes looking over the rough detail.
Zaku just lay there, not looking anywhere in particular, thinking about the bizarre characters in a world he had met in his sleep... spending more time there than he was in the waking world. "I don't know why all that happens to him... it's called life... does there have to be a reason?" He closed his eyes, reflecting on his most recent memory of the canid character, Soon, and realized a few things, but stayed quiet as he tried to figure them out.
Her eyes looked up to him, lips frowing over his comment about life. She wanted to argue with him, tell him that no one deserved that, but she held her tongue to question her own thoughts. With a sigh, not really wanting to start anything, she let his words get dusted off as she continued on. The next picture showed Soon, falling? And there was the weird face of the antlered creature in the corner. The face itself was almost comical with its odd eyes and mouth, but the picture looked less than comical. She was mildly fascinated with the detail that he had given the dog, impressed, but she was running out of things to say.
Her next flip caused her to gasp suddenly, to which she covered her mouth and hoped that, by chance, he hadn't heard her at all as she looked down to Soon, his right paw and arm taken completely off as it headed away from his body, other limbs tied up as he hung upside down.
Zaku looked over to her when he heard her gasp, since there wasn't any other noises in the room to hide it, and saw her cover her mouth with her hand. "...Is something wrong, Karin?" he asked, thinking that she was enjoying the pictures and her response to any of them seemed off.
Karin looked up to Zaku when she was addressed, because she knew she couldn't play it off very well. Instead of asking the questions or anything, she looked down to the picture and decided not to make any comments. She turned the sketchbook around and showed him which picture she was on, allowing him to say what he wanted without pressuring him for too much.
Zaku just looked at it blankly as all sorts of emotions spawned from it all at once. He shuddered, and his body began to pain him. His left arm moved to where his right would have been and he just held it there, still not sure why Karin had reacted the way she did to that image. He glanced up to her, masking his inner pains as best he could, and responded, "I think... in my dreams..." he paused for a moment, "I am Soon."
Karin didn't dare blink, didn't dare to look away as she watched him reach out for the arm he didn't have anymore. She had played with the comparison of Soon to Zaku while she looked through these pictures, but the last one really made her think the same thing that Zaku had thought. Karin only nodded her head a little at his observation, unsure of what else she could really say, wondering instead what else he would say on this subject.
Zaku's eyes wandered down to nowhere once more, reading that Karin probably wanted an explanation to his comment. Dammit, she probably thinks I lost my mind. He tightened his grip on where his arm once was, not sure what to say about anything. "Karin..." he closed his eyes from his pains within, "I... I lost my arm a few years ago..." he started, "and I always relive it..."
Here it goes, Karin's heart and mind told her at once. Ever since Tomoko had told Karin about the incident, Karin felt as if she cheated Zaku out of something. She wanted to wait on the day he'd come to her and tell her. ... Am I ready for it to be today? She decided she'd chose her words carefully, "Before you were adopted, right?" Karin leaned in close, eyes soft and sympathetic. That didn't seem too far to go. She figured it was obvious, at least, that he was adopted not too long ago.
Zaku opened his eyes again and looked up to her curiously. "Huh...? Adopted...? How did you...?" What does she know about it already? "Yeah... before I was... adopted..." he played along.
So he hadn't figured it out. Karin sighed a little, interrupting him briefly, "I called your mother 'Mrs. Abumi' when I met her and she told me you were adopted... I'm sorry." But there was no real reason to linger there, was there? "Is that ok? I'm sorry, you were saying?"
Zaku wasn't sure what to respond to her with... but he wasn't upset about it at all. In fact, he felt relief more than anything else. "Yeah... it's fine." Zaku exhaled slowly, glad he had a heavy weight lifted from his chest. He almost wanted to laugh. "It's more than okay. I don't know why I never told you myself... I'm sorry I keep things from you..."
Karin smiled a little, "Zaku, we've only known each other, what, almost two months? A little less than that if you ignore the first night we started something. It's ok that I don't know everything about you, I'm learning. You don't know everything about me. We're working on it, right? But I want you to know you can tell me whatever you do want, and whenever you feel like it. Like your arm. Tell me when you want to, ok? Don't feel pressured to do anything you don't want to.." She set down the sketchbook on his bed, scooting her chair closer to his bed to lean her chest against the mattress, arms crossed along his side.
Zaku wasn't sure how to respond to that... but he nodded to show he understood. He was glad Karin was so nice to him all the time, thinking he didn't deserve any of it, but didn't turn any of it away. Glancing at his sketchbook, he thought about the possible purpose behind all his drawings and why he felt compelled to share them with her. I think I could trust her with anything... "Same back to you..." he finally said, letting his arm relax, followed by the rest of his body, tipping his head back and closing his eyes, feeling a lot better. "For now, I'll just say I wasn't born this way... that should be okay." he smirked a little, feeling oddly lucky despite everything. If I never lost my arm, I never would have met her... Zaku reached his hand over to her, seeking her hand.
Karin smiled, somehow satisfied even though he still did not feel the need at this point in time to tell her what happened. I don't know if I would want to bring it up again, either, she thought as she reached out her hand to hold his, bringing her face down to nuzzle it softly against his hand before sitting back up and smiling, "That'll do."
After a few minutes there was a brief knock on the door when Hiroshi poked his head in, "Ah.. um.. Karin?" The small-framed lawyer looked heavily relieved to see Karin sitting in the room when he walked in. "I'm sorry I'm late... I got a good parking spot, but I forgot Zaku's last name and.." He walked in, noticing that Zaku was awake and in the bed. "Oh!"
He bowed gracefully, "Excuse me, I'm Hiroshi, uh.. Karin's mother's fiance." He wasn't sure how to explain himself without annoying Karin. That would have to do. There had been a hand behind his back when he walked in, and he pulled it out front, presenting it before Zaku almost as comically as if he were a schoolgirl presenting a love letter to her crush. In his hands sat a white stuffed dog plush and a small balloon that read "Get Well Soon!" Hiroshi stood back up, "Um.. I've always thought it proper to get a hospital patient I was visiting a little 'Get Well' present. Please accept this. Karin mentioned you having a white dog, so.." Zaku was no longer the most pitiful person in the room.
Zaku was a little stunned at first, then looked to Karin quickly then back to Hiroshi. He struggled to get up a little but managed to sit upright to accept the gift. "Uhh... thank... you... Hiroshi." he said as he held the plush dog and looked at it playfully. It looks just like Fathom! "It looks just like my dog!" Zaku smiled to Hiroshi, letting the 'little kid' within take over a little, then he looked at Karin, finding it a little funny that she had talked to this guy about him.
Hiroshi looked embarrassed standing there, watching Zaku look over the dog, "Oh? Wow.. They only had a small selection in the gift shop downstairs. I'm glad I got it right then."
Karin looked at Zaku with a playful smirk, watching him with the plushie, "It does look a lot like Fathom." She looked back to Hiroshi, "And you haven't missed anything, so it's ok." She reached over and rubbed her hand over the 'fur' of the toy dog. "It's so soft..."
Hiroshi, feeling a little more comfortable, walked to stand next to Karin and looked down to this boy that had caught Karin's eye. He remembered Tsubame mentioning that he only had one arm, which he noticed easily, but he decided that he'd ask Karin about it later since it was apparently not a result of his recent injuries, "Are you healing well, A-Abumi-san?"
Zaku looked up from playing with his new toy when Hiroshi asked him how he was doing, and sighed. "You don't have to be so formal... just call me Zaku. And I'm doing fine..." he trailed off a little and looked at Karin for a moment for some form of reassurance, then went back to Hiroshi. "Except the food here is crap and they don't let me get out of bed!!"
Karin smiled further, remembering this complaint earlier that she didn't get to address. Hiroshi nodded, "Yes, I wouldn't imagine they'd let you out of bed so soon. Karin told me that you had messed up your hip and some of your ribs. I'm glad to see you sitting up and all though, I was a little worried that you might still be very injured." This kid doesn't seem as bad as Tsubame makes him out to be... "And the food always seems to be like that in hospitals. I think it's a international rule to make it terrible." Oh, was that a joke? "Um.. when will you be getting out, A- ... Zaku-san?"
This guy worries more than Karin does... he worried about me even though we never met? Zaku couldn't help but laugh to himself about this weird guy, but at least it was obvious he was pretty friendly, so Zaku let himself loosen up around him, especially since Karin was there. "Heh, yeah. I've never had hospital food in another country, but in Hokkaido, their hospital food sucks just as bad!" The little plushie was soft in his hand, making him not want to put it down for even a moment. "They said I could go home on Thursday, but I won't get to do much for three whole weeks."
"Thursday is a good day! Some of my clients have gotten off worse. Older people with fractured hips usually aren't so lucky. I'm glad you're ok though. Karin's been a bit of a wreck back home," Hiroshi chuckled, watching Karin shoot him a glare that he had received too many times before. But she looked back to Zaku and smiled, not really caring if Zaku knew... it was just Hiroshi running his big mouth.
Zaku couldn't help but to smile in Karin's general direction when Hiroshi said that, figuring that was the case anyways. "A wreck, Karin?" he smirked at her, then started to snicker a little. This Hiroshi guy... he's not all that bad at all. He looked back to Hiroshi, "I can't believe you're a lawyer..."
Hiroshi turned a bright red at that, "Ah, I'm sorry.. I mean..."
Payback, Karin grinned, "He's the defending attorney most of the times, and usually not for major cases. Mostly work-related accidents and insurance frauds." She laughed a little before smiling, "We keep telling him to go into everything, because he thinks everyone is innocent."
Hiroshi looked down to his feet, "Y-yes... That is true."
Zaku couldn't help but laugh at that. It just fit Hiroshi's personality so well... Everyone is innocent to him! Well, that explains a lot... "Well, that's cool, I think." Zaku wasn't sure about anything else to say to that, though he was entertained after a boring day of an empty room. This guy makes good company. "So do you anything else? Like... stuff for fun?"
Hiroshi looked back up and over to Zaku, "Well, I played 'Go' and Chess in my free time, but I haven't had much free time to do anything lately between work and being needed at home..." not thinking anything else needed to be added, but it made him think to look down at his watch, "Ah, Karin! We had best not stay much longer though.. Your mother wants us home before dinner."
Karin rolled her eyes while turning her view towards Hiroshi, "I'm sure she'll survive. Can't we stay longer?"
"I'm sorry, Karin. Be thankful he is getting out this week instead, ok?" Hiroshi looked back to Zaku, "Oh, but if you need anything, feel free to let us know. We can drive back up here..." he stopped his train of thought, looking back to Karin, "Five minutes, all right? I'm going to head back down and get the car." A bow to Zaku, "It was nice meeting you, Zaku. You seem like a fine young man. I wish you a speedy recovery."
Zaku's spirits fell a little when Hiroshi said they would have to leave soon, though he was grateful Karin had come at all... since it was unexpected. When Hiroshi bowed and complimented him, Zaku felt a little embarrassed from all the good wishes from the odd man. "Thanks..." was all he could really respond with. "And thanks again for the dog," he still wouldn't put it down on the bed.
Hiroshi bowed once more before walking out, and then Karin turned her full attention back to Zaku, "I'm sorry I have to head out... Mom is and will always be Mom, I suppose." Karin got to her feet, looking down to Zaku with a smile, "I'm glad I got to see you though. I went to school today... and left my bag and keys in the house this morning.. It was crazy." And she chuckled a bit with that.
"Yeah... you were a pleasant surprise, Karin. Thanks for coming over..." he was glad, but didn't want to act all clingy around her to try and get her to stay longer. That'd just be embarrassing. "When will the next time I can see you be? Or... err... I guess it'd have to be you seeing me, huh..."
"I doubt I'll see you again before you go home, unfortunately. But if you give me a call or send me a text message when you get home Thursday, I'll stop by after school. Promise," she leaned down a little, smiling softly, and then finishing the distance between them for a kiss.
Zaku took the kiss happily and then once it was over, he responded "I'll be sure to make a fuss once I get home so you won't be able to ignore me." Zaku had a clever glint in his eye, proving that he was on the right track of recovery.
Karin smirked, "Oh, I know you will." She stood back up, satisfied that she could survive a couple more days before she got to see him again. "You take care of yourself, and I'll see you Thursday, all right? I love you."
Five minutes can just fly right on by... "I'll try... and yeah, I'll see you on Thursday. Love ya..." Zaku's excitement was dwindling at the thought of going two more days without her.
She reached out, touched his hand once more with hers, and smiled, "Mini-Fathom will keep you company, at least." Hesitant, she released his hand and walked to the door, "Bye for now." And she gave him a big reassuring smile as she opened the door and headed out.
"Bye..." Zaku sat alone in the room for a few long moments, watching the door, secretly hopeful that she would change her mind and come back, but when he figured out that wasn't going to happen, he looked down at the little white dog he held and softly stroked the fur. He missed Fathom... and Turbo... so he just held the little dog close, knowing nobody would be able to see him anyways, and slowly let himself lie down in the bed once more. He lay there, not bothering to move the sketchbook back to the table. It's not like he was going to move around much anyways. Zaku sighed deeply, feeling a little sleepy, like he always was in the hospital. Closing his eyes, he decided there wasn't anything better to do than to get some more shut-eye in.
---
Once Karin walked out of the hospital room, she turned once more to look at the heavy door, wishing with everything that she could go back in there and stay until he was sent home. It was so painful to leave him lately. Dropping her head, she sighed and forced her legs to walk her out of the hospital. Outside, Hiroshi had pulled the car up to the front and picked her up at the entrance.
"He seems like a good guy, Karin. What happened to his arm though? I thought I'd ask, but figured it might not be appropriate," Hiroshi asked her, eyes focused on the road ahead of him.
"It's good you didn't. He lost it a few years ago in an accident... and that's all he'll tell me right now so you shouldn't ask." Karin leaned back into the cushion of the leather seat.
Hiroshi made a "Mm" noise, accompanied by a nod, driving along. He wasn't fond of the silence in the car though and he smirked, "Think your mother will be mad at us?"
"Probably," Karin smiled. "She'll get over herself though." And Karin wondered why Hiroshi stayed with her mother like he did. Not wanting to think about it, she shook her head. "I'm going to take a nap, Hiroshi."
Hiroshi nodded, taking a quick look at Karin as she drifted off. She hasn't been sleeping well, he noted and allowed her to take a nap. The ride was peaceful and Hiroshi kept himself occupied with thoughts of this Zaku guy Karin had become so fond of, how close they seemed to be, what might have happened to the poor guy... cluttered thoughts. He pondered to himself, not saying anything aloud, and drove on.
The car eventually came to a stop and Karin heard Hiroshi put the car in park. Was the trip that short? She blinked open her eyes and looked around to orient herself, but they weren't in her driveway. "Hiroshi...? Where are we?"
"Get out and see for yourself," Hiroshi smiled as he looked over, unbuckling himself and climbing out of the car.
Karin frowned, not really wanting to do anything spontaneous with Hiroshi, expecting instead to go home. Yet she felt drawn to this mystery of what he might be thinking. After stretching out her arm muscles, she followed suit and climbed out of the car and shut the door. All she could see was large brick buildings, but she heard the loud barking of several dogs. Karin looked around curiously, "Hiroshi?"
"I was thinking to myself on the road, and when I saw the sign for the Humane Society, I figured we needed a dog. Are you interested in taking a friend home with you?" Hiroshi walked over to the building, excited as her confused frown lit up like a child at Christmas. "Come on, we'll go find a good dog and take home with us."
She walked over to his side, walking in the building as he held the door open, quiet for a moment before grinning, "... Mom's going to kill you, you know?"
"Ah, she could do worse, I suppose," Hiroshi laughed, following her in. "Well, go find yourself a friend."
Karin smiled brightly, thinking about how happy and comforting Fathom was, and she went back to look through the available dogs in the back. Hiroshi joined her and told her the little things to look for, and the characteristics to avoid. There were so many to choose from, and she took time to play and pet a few of them before walking over to Hiroshi, "I found him!" as if she had rediscovered an old friend of hers.
"Beautiful coat, nice personality.." Hiroshi commented. "Looks like a good friend. Are you sure this is the one you want?"
Karin nodded in excitement and Hiroshi gladly went to the front desk to grant Karin this one thing, excited to see his "daughter" so happy. After everything had been taken care of, Karin had a new friend in the backseat on the way home. She couldn't wait to get him in the yard and play with him, and plus the look on her mother's face was going to be priceless. But most importantly, Karin was excited on the possibility of having her own comfort generator at the house.
Hiroshi asked, "So, what are we going to name him?"
Karin smiled, thinking to herself on what she wanted to call him, "I have a few ideas..."
When: Tuesday, June 3rd. After School
What: After school, Hiroshi drives Karin to visit Zaku in the hospital. They visit together, with a little angst-laced artwork and fluff. Afterwards, Karin gets a new furry friend to take home
Where: Hayama Hospital, Hiroshi's car, Humane Society.
Warnings: Somewhat Graphic Images, Image Heavy.
AIM or LJ? AIM
Tuesday afternoon. As soon as the bells rang the kids out of school, Karin raced out to the cars that waited outside the gates for the parents who were picking their kids up. Usually, Karin would walk home, but today was special. Today, Hiroshi promised to take her to Hayama to visit Zaku in the hospital, who she had to leave Saturday evening so she could return to school. She managed through Monday, but Tuesday afternoon couldn't come fast enough.
Looking through the cars, Karin spotted Hiroshi leaning against the hood of his car. Her fingers gripped her bag firmly as she jogged over, "You are serious, right? We're going to Hayama?"
"Yes, Karin. Yes," he smiled to her, walking around and getting in the car, "Your mother is quite upset with me, but I told her that it was a good chance for us to bond and she stopped arguing as much."
"I'm surprised you got a word in at all. Good for you," Karin climbed in with a smirk. Today was too great of a day to let conversation of her mom ruin things.
Once she was buckled, Hiroshi started the car and headed out, speeding away from Tokyo as fast as he could get away with. He amused himself by watching his future step-daughter acting so giddy at the thought of getting to see her boyfriend. This has to be some kid, Hiroshi thought to himself idly.
Karin listened to the music on the radio, every song seemed to be one of her favourites, and she sang along softly to them. The time passed by, with some idle chitchat between the two during commercial breaks, and soon they pulled into the parking lot of the hospital.
Hiroshi pulled up to the front doors and unlocked the car, "You go ahead. I'll go park and catch up inside."
Karin's eyes sparkled as a brief thought of leaning over and kissing Hiroshi's cheek flew past. "Thank you! See you inside then!" She unbuckled her seat belt and practically flew out of the car and into the hospital, making her way to Zaku's hospital room in a speedy walk, a few skips along the way.
Zaku's hospital room was all too quiet, and in his mind, very boring. Karin was away and his parents were at work in the Tokyo Hospital, so he was all alone, lying in his bed. He had spent most of his days at the hospital sleeping but he was bored of that, too, where his dreams were filled with dark images and things he couldn't describe very well. Despite the painkillers, he still could feel soreness in his side where his broken ribs were, though his hip seemed just fine. He wanted to walk so badly... but the nurses kept telling him "not yet" when it came to that subject.
Zaku rolled his eyes at the thought of not walking for yet another few days, figuring the only way out for him now was to pathetically use a wheelchair. Nobody better see me that way...
Sighing and reaching over to the table by his bedside, Zaku's hand managed to make contact with a sketchbook his mom had brought him the day before as a way to keep him busy during his waking hours. Zaku flipped the book open to a blank page and held the black pen that sat by it ready to draw something. Sad how this is the only decent way to pass the time, he thought to himself, but on some level, was grateful he had anything to do at all.
Before pen hit the paper, he thought about Karin and how much he missed her. Zaku wondered when the next time he would see her again would be. She's probably really busy with school, he sighed, considering the possibility that he wouldn't get to see her until he went back to Tokyo. I'm such an idiot for being in this situation in the first place...
Zaku started to sketch with the pen, though he preferred sketching with a pencil, it was all the nurses gave him. I can't believe my mom forgot to bring me my pencil, but remembered the paper. Jeez...
Karin snaked her way through the hallways until she got to the patient recovery floors. It was a nice change of scenery compared to the first room that Zaku had been put in. Now he had a room to himself, no other beds needed. She had to stop at the information desk at the entrance to get his room number, but made that her only stop. Now she was on his hallway, counting the room numbers off in her head one by one until she found his. With a half-skip in her step, she had to stop both feet at once to not go barreling through the door. Standing outside, she smiled and took a deep breath, and after confirming the name outside the door, Abumi Zaku, she knocked lightly before slowly opening the door and sticking her head inside the room, "Zaku?"
Zaku jumped at first from the sudden movement of the door and the saying of his name after being so used to the complete silence of his room and letting his mind drift off from the real world. Immediately, he closed his sketchbook and stuck it clumsily under his pillow to try and hide it, though part of it still stuck out since he couldn't get it completely underneath from his laying down position.
"...Karin?" he said after realizing who it was. Zaku was surprised she had come, but was glad. Forgetting about the sketchbook, all his thoughts went to Karin's visit, so he perked up rather fast.
Listening to him acknowledge her presence reassured her that she had permission to come in further, giving him the pause in case the nurses had been in the room doing embarrassing tests or something. With a smile, she walked the rest of the way in and over to the front of his bed, looking to him and brightening considerably, "Hey there, Handsome. Are you doing ok?"
Zaku was looking considerably better than the last time Karin was there, with more color to his skin and more awareness and life in his eyes. However, he still refused to use the remote to sit up. "Hey Karin!!" Zaku was very happy to see her, despite his poor physical condition. "I didn't expect you to come. My mom said your mom was here and seemed pretty angry." Zaku struggled to sit up to greet her, and eventually did, though not without wincing a little from the pains in his ribs. He slouched forward a little once he was up, but it wasn't a big deal... for him. "Karin, you gotta get me out of here! The food sucks and they won't let me go anywhere."
Trying her hardest to not smile her lips off her body, Karin walked over to his left side, bending over and wrapping an arm around him in a hug, but without any pressure to preserve his ribs. She stood up and looked down to him, "The Lawy... Hiroshi said he'd bring me today to come see you. You're looking much better, too." She listened to his complaints as she pulled up the chair and sat down next to his bed. "Well, you have to heal before you can go anywhere, Zaku... When did they tell you that you'd be good to come home?"
If Zaku was a dog, he would have been wagging his tail so hard against the ground the Earth would have shook, glad to have her attention again. "I can't go home until Thursday." he whined. "Then they don't want me moving around much when I get home... they said I won't even get to go to school for three weeks!"
"Well, Thursday is almost here and then you'll be back home at least to finish recovering. You could be here for another three weeks instead, you know?" Karin reached over, putting both of her hands on his. Her right hand was free of its brace as well. "It'll be good to have you back, too. I can come over and see you whenever I get the chance then, too." And then her academia spoke up, "But you'll be out of school for three weeks? I wonder what you can do for classes then... ah, but I'd definitely come over and help you out there, too." She removed one of her hands to visually wave the idea away as she giggled and looked back to Zaku.
Zaku blushed a little at the thought of her coming over to study... it was hard to not think of the last time they 'studied' together. "Yeah... you'll have to bring my homework to me! Unless you want to do it for me..." he joked a little, comfortable with his hand in hers though his body was screaming at him to lie down again, still physically weak from not being used much.
"I'll be as much help as I can be," she tilted her head to the side and gave him a look, "But I won't be doing it for you. You can't learn that way." She smirked afterwards, glad to see that he was in good spirits, too. She took a glance around the room and what it had to offer - a few flowers and a TV that wasn't turned on... or broke. Looking back to Zaku, she couldn't help but wonder, "I can see how boring this must be. Do they even take you for therapy, or not yet? What do you do all day?"
"I don't have therapy yet... that starts tomorrow." he said grumpily, not looking forward to it at all, just wanting to run around like normal. "I'm not supposed to be doing much," he muttered, "it's boring. I mostly just sleep..." then he decided his body had enough of sitting up and he gently and slowly lay himself back down, making a bit of a face when he made contact with the bed, but soon was fine again. He looked over to Karin. "The tiles on the ceiling... they have 785 dots each."
Karin looked up to the ceiling tiles for a brief moment, noticing all the little dots on them before looking down to him curiously, "Every single one has exactly that many, or is that an average?" She shook her head with a smile. "Wow, you must have been really bored. Nothing on TV, I'm guessing?" She couldn't stop lingering on the visual image of him counting all the little dots, one after the other, probably messing up several times with a little cursing before he tried again - but it made her smile. "That's good that therapy will start tomorrow then. So you're recovering. Always good to hear."
Zaku looked up to the ceiling. "The ones on the edges have only 740. I think they cut off the edges to make them fit better." he replied. Afterwards, he glared at the TV. "I can't get up to turn it on... and I want to do it myself." Zaku wasn't sure how to respond to her mentioning him recovering, since he was still confused about what happened to him while he was out there by himself. The main thing he remembered was feeling completely lost... unaware of anything around him...
Zaku's side started to ache suddenly, but he toughed it out to try and not make any expressions that might worry Karin. "Yeah, I can't wait to get the hell out of here!" He looked over to Karin. "I've missed you..." he said quietly.
He missed me? Karin felt her heart skip a beat as her eyes softened. She nodded with a soft smile, "I've missed you, too... A lot." She took in a deep breath and followed with a sigh of content as she stood back to her feet and leaned over him to give him a short kiss, feeling as if she needed to have that physical connection to reassure both of their existences.
Once it was broke, her eyes migrated over to notice the sketchbook under his pillow. Not wanting to make any sudden movements that would make him turn and twist his body in panic, she slowly went to sit down.. her hand migrating to his pillow and tugging while she lowered herself to the chair, "Have you been drawing to pass the time?"
Zaku, who was lost in bliss ever since Karin had arrived, snapped out of it when she mentioned drawing. "Uh..." Zaku muttered, "a little..." he looked over to her, who happened to have found his sketchbook. It's just Karin... she's seen my stuff before... nothing to worry about... He resisted telling her to put it back. "It's the only thing I can really do..." he looked away, knowing she was bound to open it and say embarrassing things about it, but he was sure he was prepared. She liked the watercolors... so she will like these, too, I think...? "There's nothing good in there. All I have to work with here are two colors of pen... and I like using pencils better..."
Karin finished pulling the book out from under its hiding place, sitting back in the chair and opening it up to the first of the more recent pages. She could easily determine the newer pictures from the pen that, like he mentioned, wasn't quite as smoothed out as his previous penciled arts. The first one was of a four-legged creature with a long, furry tail, wide circular eyes, a circular-looking mouth, and what looked to be antlers. She raised her eyebrow curiously, for she had never seen anything like this creature before. Was it real? "Ah, I found your pen sketches. This is nice, but... um.. what is it?"
Zaku looked back over to her, not as happy as he was before. "Uh..." he glanced over to see which one it was. "That's..." he hesitated, not sure what it really was himself, though he knew he had seen the beast a few times already. "It's just something I had in a dream, so I tried to draw it..."
"Nothing wrong with that," she looked over and smiled, watching him get a little nervous. "It's interesting, really, and it's... somewhat... beautiful. Majestic, perhaps?" The black sketch lacked proper details, but Karin was impressed nonetheless. Satisfied, she flipped through to the next page. There, the same creature was on the paper, a closer view into its face with its eyes outlined in red ink and a bloody disembodied arm being held in its mouth. Karin looked up to Zaku, wondering if he was following along while she flipped through, curious to whether or not he had any commentary to go with it.
Zaku's eyes had travelled back up to the ceiling as he let her flip through the pages. He didn't want to say too much about the images unless she asked about them... since he wasn't sure what they were of entirely, either. They were images that had come to his mind while he was sleeping... He patiently waited for her to talk again.
Seeing as how he wasn't paying much attention to her flipping through, she decided to ignore commenting on this picture. Her mind flashed back to his mother telling her about losing his arm, and looking down at the beast with this arm in his mouth seemed a little... uncomfortable to talk about. Forcing a little smile, she flipped to the next one, "Oh, what happened to the dog?" Karin's eyes widened as she saw some sort of dog form lying down in a room of sorts. What looked to be the wall behind him was covered in red ink, blood, and there were spots of red here and there on the ground, some under the dog. Although the dog didn't seem to be covered in the red color itself, which led to her asking, "Or did something else happen?"
Zaku glanced over to see what picture it was she was talking about. "It's umm..." he paused as he was trying to come up with some explanation. "That's Soon... he's a fighting dog..." he paused again. "The blood is old. Nobody cleans up around there." he had no idea what he was talking about, but it sounded good to him.
That description confused Karin a little, "Do you know this dog? Or is it one from your dreams?" She looked it over again, wanting to compliment the picture, "My first impression assumed there was something wrong, but I see he's not covered himself... must be a good fighter, at least."
Zaku's eyes drifted away temporarily, before coming back to answer. "He's made up... I think... and yeah, he's a pretty good fighter, but he doesn't get anything for it." Zaku thought more about it, wondering about the dog... he had appeared numerous times in his dreams since arriving in the hospital and was on his mind a lot. "Yeah, he's from... a dream. Probably just sick dreams... you know how they're always crazy." Zaku tried to make light of the moment.
Karin nodded, having heard stories time and again of the visions that someone got when they were heavily sedated with pain medications. "This is good," she commented before flipping to the next page. She noticed the first two creatures from before were in this picture, the antlered creature at the top center and Soon, the dog in the bottom center, covering an eye. She easily respected the form of the dog, it being recognizable, but she noticed some bits of red on the right side of the picture, "What's happening here?" She pointed the page over to him, "Ah, I'm not bothering you with these, am I?"
Zaku studied the next picture a little, "That...?" he puzzled over it, remembering a dream more and more clearly by the moment and starting to feel pains within himself about it as memories flooded his head. "He's hiding because... because he's afraid to get killed..." I don't know how to explain these? "It's a massacre..."
"Oh," was all she could reply, looking back to the picture. The fear was identifiable. Was the antlered creature the one that was doing the killing? And why does Zaku have this character in these pictures? How do they relate? She looked back up to Zaku, "Is this making you uncomfortable? I can stop asking you and just enjoy the pictures.."
Zaku looked at Karin expressing nothing, then tried to smile. "No, I'm fine. Keep talking. I like talking to you... it makes me feel better." He could have told her to stop... and he wanted to... but on some level, he wanted her to see them. He trusted her with them, and he felt like it was best to just keep talking. "I'm glad you're enjoying them..." he said quietly.
Karin nodded, "If you're sure... but stop me at any time, really." The solemn tone of Zaku's was easily detectable and some part of her wished that she would just put the sketchbook back where it was and continue their visit peacefully, but another part wanted to try and discover this ideas he put on paper, get him to talk more about his inner fears and desires. With a deep inhale, getting her mentally prepared, she flipped the page again and looked down upon its contents. There were spikes coming out of the left side of the picture, a few bloody masses impaled upon the spikes. The main focus was the canine in the very front, spike through his head and what looked to be its tongue hanging from its mouth, "So, Soon got killed anyways?" It was a little chilling, and she felt bad for the picture, but she looked back up to Zaku, a little more concerned for why he took to draw these.
Zaku didn't even have to look this time to tell what picture she was talking about. He had the images he had drawn earlier that day memorized in the order he had drawn them in. "He didn't end up dying... he just thought he did." What was that supposed to mean?? "It's a canyon and the walls of the canyon are like that." he added randomly, remembering the locale clearly in his mind.
Karin flipped onto the next page, curious now to what else could have happened as the story she was looking at began to unravel. He was under medication, Karin. What makes you think this is a story? "Well, that's good, I guess?" the last part coming out more questionable than anything. "So, explain this next page to me, please?"
Zaku looked at it again to refresh his memory. "I don't really know..." he trailed off as he studied it. "But it looks like it's sunset in that one." Looking at the two figures, he knew they were more characters, but wasn't sure what their names were. He made a face struggling to remember their value... "The guy on the left hangs from the sky by... hooks, on the ends of ropes." Then he looked to the pitiful form on the right. "...and that cat is his slave..." Zaku wasn't sure, "They're friends, though."
Her head nodded as Karin looked over the things he mentioned, like the sunset and the canine that was hanging by hooks. "It's interesting, to say the least." That sounded generic, she thought, but there wasn't really much else she knew to say on the picture, no comments she thought were necessary. And so, she continued on to the next page. "Oh, so this is the cat? ... He looks pretty beat up, too.."
"Yeah... that's the cat..." Zaku was finding it difficult to read Karin as she went on, though something inside of him was starting to break. These images... I don't know why I saw them... Zaku slid down into the bed a little further to get under the blankets, feeling slightly colder than before. "Someone did that to him... but nobody can see them." Damn, can't anything I say make sense today?? "He's always tired..."
It was easy for Karin to tell that this was getting more and more uncomfortable for Zaku, and a lot of the parts only had bits and pieces he understood. "I see," she replied simply, flipping on through the pages. The next one had a good detail of Soon, but he was impaled through the upper chest in between the shoulder bones. She frowned a little, wondering about why Zaku had dreamed such gory details about this dog that he had seen so clearly.
Not wanting to continue with unnecessary questions, she flipped the page again. Now it was Soon, with the hooks attached in his ears, cheeks, muzzle, and through the nose. "I wonder why all this happens to him..." she said softly to herself, eyes looking over the rough detail.
Zaku just lay there, not looking anywhere in particular, thinking about the bizarre characters in a world he had met in his sleep... spending more time there than he was in the waking world. "I don't know why all that happens to him... it's called life... does there have to be a reason?" He closed his eyes, reflecting on his most recent memory of the canid character, Soon, and realized a few things, but stayed quiet as he tried to figure them out.
Her eyes looked up to him, lips frowing over his comment about life. She wanted to argue with him, tell him that no one deserved that, but she held her tongue to question her own thoughts. With a sigh, not really wanting to start anything, she let his words get dusted off as she continued on. The next picture showed Soon, falling? And there was the weird face of the antlered creature in the corner. The face itself was almost comical with its odd eyes and mouth, but the picture looked less than comical. She was mildly fascinated with the detail that he had given the dog, impressed, but she was running out of things to say.
Her next flip caused her to gasp suddenly, to which she covered her mouth and hoped that, by chance, he hadn't heard her at all as she looked down to Soon, his right paw and arm taken completely off as it headed away from his body, other limbs tied up as he hung upside down.
Zaku looked over to her when he heard her gasp, since there wasn't any other noises in the room to hide it, and saw her cover her mouth with her hand. "...Is something wrong, Karin?" he asked, thinking that she was enjoying the pictures and her response to any of them seemed off.
Karin looked up to Zaku when she was addressed, because she knew she couldn't play it off very well. Instead of asking the questions or anything, she looked down to the picture and decided not to make any comments. She turned the sketchbook around and showed him which picture she was on, allowing him to say what he wanted without pressuring him for too much.
Zaku just looked at it blankly as all sorts of emotions spawned from it all at once. He shuddered, and his body began to pain him. His left arm moved to where his right would have been and he just held it there, still not sure why Karin had reacted the way she did to that image. He glanced up to her, masking his inner pains as best he could, and responded, "I think... in my dreams..." he paused for a moment, "I am Soon."
Karin didn't dare blink, didn't dare to look away as she watched him reach out for the arm he didn't have anymore. She had played with the comparison of Soon to Zaku while she looked through these pictures, but the last one really made her think the same thing that Zaku had thought. Karin only nodded her head a little at his observation, unsure of what else she could really say, wondering instead what else he would say on this subject.
Zaku's eyes wandered down to nowhere once more, reading that Karin probably wanted an explanation to his comment. Dammit, she probably thinks I lost my mind. He tightened his grip on where his arm once was, not sure what to say about anything. "Karin..." he closed his eyes from his pains within, "I... I lost my arm a few years ago..." he started, "and I always relive it..."
Here it goes, Karin's heart and mind told her at once. Ever since Tomoko had told Karin about the incident, Karin felt as if she cheated Zaku out of something. She wanted to wait on the day he'd come to her and tell her. ... Am I ready for it to be today? She decided she'd chose her words carefully, "Before you were adopted, right?" Karin leaned in close, eyes soft and sympathetic. That didn't seem too far to go. She figured it was obvious, at least, that he was adopted not too long ago.
Zaku opened his eyes again and looked up to her curiously. "Huh...? Adopted...? How did you...?" What does she know about it already? "Yeah... before I was... adopted..." he played along.
So he hadn't figured it out. Karin sighed a little, interrupting him briefly, "I called your mother 'Mrs. Abumi' when I met her and she told me you were adopted... I'm sorry." But there was no real reason to linger there, was there? "Is that ok? I'm sorry, you were saying?"
Zaku wasn't sure what to respond to her with... but he wasn't upset about it at all. In fact, he felt relief more than anything else. "Yeah... it's fine." Zaku exhaled slowly, glad he had a heavy weight lifted from his chest. He almost wanted to laugh. "It's more than okay. I don't know why I never told you myself... I'm sorry I keep things from you..."
Karin smiled a little, "Zaku, we've only known each other, what, almost two months? A little less than that if you ignore the first night we started something. It's ok that I don't know everything about you, I'm learning. You don't know everything about me. We're working on it, right? But I want you to know you can tell me whatever you do want, and whenever you feel like it. Like your arm. Tell me when you want to, ok? Don't feel pressured to do anything you don't want to.." She set down the sketchbook on his bed, scooting her chair closer to his bed to lean her chest against the mattress, arms crossed along his side.
Zaku wasn't sure how to respond to that... but he nodded to show he understood. He was glad Karin was so nice to him all the time, thinking he didn't deserve any of it, but didn't turn any of it away. Glancing at his sketchbook, he thought about the possible purpose behind all his drawings and why he felt compelled to share them with her. I think I could trust her with anything... "Same back to you..." he finally said, letting his arm relax, followed by the rest of his body, tipping his head back and closing his eyes, feeling a lot better. "For now, I'll just say I wasn't born this way... that should be okay." he smirked a little, feeling oddly lucky despite everything. If I never lost my arm, I never would have met her... Zaku reached his hand over to her, seeking her hand.
Karin smiled, somehow satisfied even though he still did not feel the need at this point in time to tell her what happened. I don't know if I would want to bring it up again, either, she thought as she reached out her hand to hold his, bringing her face down to nuzzle it softly against his hand before sitting back up and smiling, "That'll do."
After a few minutes there was a brief knock on the door when Hiroshi poked his head in, "Ah.. um.. Karin?" The small-framed lawyer looked heavily relieved to see Karin sitting in the room when he walked in. "I'm sorry I'm late... I got a good parking spot, but I forgot Zaku's last name and.." He walked in, noticing that Zaku was awake and in the bed. "Oh!"
He bowed gracefully, "Excuse me, I'm Hiroshi, uh.. Karin's mother's fiance." He wasn't sure how to explain himself without annoying Karin. That would have to do. There had been a hand behind his back when he walked in, and he pulled it out front, presenting it before Zaku almost as comically as if he were a schoolgirl presenting a love letter to her crush. In his hands sat a white stuffed dog plush and a small balloon that read "Get Well Soon!" Hiroshi stood back up, "Um.. I've always thought it proper to get a hospital patient I was visiting a little 'Get Well' present. Please accept this. Karin mentioned you having a white dog, so.." Zaku was no longer the most pitiful person in the room.
Zaku was a little stunned at first, then looked to Karin quickly then back to Hiroshi. He struggled to get up a little but managed to sit upright to accept the gift. "Uhh... thank... you... Hiroshi." he said as he held the plush dog and looked at it playfully. It looks just like Fathom! "It looks just like my dog!" Zaku smiled to Hiroshi, letting the 'little kid' within take over a little, then he looked at Karin, finding it a little funny that she had talked to this guy about him.
Hiroshi looked embarrassed standing there, watching Zaku look over the dog, "Oh? Wow.. They only had a small selection in the gift shop downstairs. I'm glad I got it right then."
Karin looked at Zaku with a playful smirk, watching him with the plushie, "It does look a lot like Fathom." She looked back to Hiroshi, "And you haven't missed anything, so it's ok." She reached over and rubbed her hand over the 'fur' of the toy dog. "It's so soft..."
Hiroshi, feeling a little more comfortable, walked to stand next to Karin and looked down to this boy that had caught Karin's eye. He remembered Tsubame mentioning that he only had one arm, which he noticed easily, but he decided that he'd ask Karin about it later since it was apparently not a result of his recent injuries, "Are you healing well, A-Abumi-san?"
Zaku looked up from playing with his new toy when Hiroshi asked him how he was doing, and sighed. "You don't have to be so formal... just call me Zaku. And I'm doing fine..." he trailed off a little and looked at Karin for a moment for some form of reassurance, then went back to Hiroshi. "Except the food here is crap and they don't let me get out of bed!!"
Karin smiled further, remembering this complaint earlier that she didn't get to address. Hiroshi nodded, "Yes, I wouldn't imagine they'd let you out of bed so soon. Karin told me that you had messed up your hip and some of your ribs. I'm glad to see you sitting up and all though, I was a little worried that you might still be very injured." This kid doesn't seem as bad as Tsubame makes him out to be... "And the food always seems to be like that in hospitals. I think it's a international rule to make it terrible." Oh, was that a joke? "Um.. when will you be getting out, A- ... Zaku-san?"
This guy worries more than Karin does... he worried about me even though we never met? Zaku couldn't help but laugh to himself about this weird guy, but at least it was obvious he was pretty friendly, so Zaku let himself loosen up around him, especially since Karin was there. "Heh, yeah. I've never had hospital food in another country, but in Hokkaido, their hospital food sucks just as bad!" The little plushie was soft in his hand, making him not want to put it down for even a moment. "They said I could go home on Thursday, but I won't get to do much for three whole weeks."
"Thursday is a good day! Some of my clients have gotten off worse. Older people with fractured hips usually aren't so lucky. I'm glad you're ok though. Karin's been a bit of a wreck back home," Hiroshi chuckled, watching Karin shoot him a glare that he had received too many times before. But she looked back to Zaku and smiled, not really caring if Zaku knew... it was just Hiroshi running his big mouth.
Zaku couldn't help but to smile in Karin's general direction when Hiroshi said that, figuring that was the case anyways. "A wreck, Karin?" he smirked at her, then started to snicker a little. This Hiroshi guy... he's not all that bad at all. He looked back to Hiroshi, "I can't believe you're a lawyer..."
Hiroshi turned a bright red at that, "Ah, I'm sorry.. I mean..."
Payback, Karin grinned, "He's the defending attorney most of the times, and usually not for major cases. Mostly work-related accidents and insurance frauds." She laughed a little before smiling, "We keep telling him to go into everything, because he thinks everyone is innocent."
Hiroshi looked down to his feet, "Y-yes... That is true."
Zaku couldn't help but laugh at that. It just fit Hiroshi's personality so well... Everyone is innocent to him! Well, that explains a lot... "Well, that's cool, I think." Zaku wasn't sure about anything else to say to that, though he was entertained after a boring day of an empty room. This guy makes good company. "So do you anything else? Like... stuff for fun?"
Hiroshi looked back up and over to Zaku, "Well, I played 'Go' and Chess in my free time, but I haven't had much free time to do anything lately between work and being needed at home..." not thinking anything else needed to be added, but it made him think to look down at his watch, "Ah, Karin! We had best not stay much longer though.. Your mother wants us home before dinner."
Karin rolled her eyes while turning her view towards Hiroshi, "I'm sure she'll survive. Can't we stay longer?"
"I'm sorry, Karin. Be thankful he is getting out this week instead, ok?" Hiroshi looked back to Zaku, "Oh, but if you need anything, feel free to let us know. We can drive back up here..." he stopped his train of thought, looking back to Karin, "Five minutes, all right? I'm going to head back down and get the car." A bow to Zaku, "It was nice meeting you, Zaku. You seem like a fine young man. I wish you a speedy recovery."
Zaku's spirits fell a little when Hiroshi said they would have to leave soon, though he was grateful Karin had come at all... since it was unexpected. When Hiroshi bowed and complimented him, Zaku felt a little embarrassed from all the good wishes from the odd man. "Thanks..." was all he could really respond with. "And thanks again for the dog," he still wouldn't put it down on the bed.
Hiroshi bowed once more before walking out, and then Karin turned her full attention back to Zaku, "I'm sorry I have to head out... Mom is and will always be Mom, I suppose." Karin got to her feet, looking down to Zaku with a smile, "I'm glad I got to see you though. I went to school today... and left my bag and keys in the house this morning.. It was crazy." And she chuckled a bit with that.
"Yeah... you were a pleasant surprise, Karin. Thanks for coming over..." he was glad, but didn't want to act all clingy around her to try and get her to stay longer. That'd just be embarrassing. "When will the next time I can see you be? Or... err... I guess it'd have to be you seeing me, huh..."
"I doubt I'll see you again before you go home, unfortunately. But if you give me a call or send me a text message when you get home Thursday, I'll stop by after school. Promise," she leaned down a little, smiling softly, and then finishing the distance between them for a kiss.
Zaku took the kiss happily and then once it was over, he responded "I'll be sure to make a fuss once I get home so you won't be able to ignore me." Zaku had a clever glint in his eye, proving that he was on the right track of recovery.
Karin smirked, "Oh, I know you will." She stood back up, satisfied that she could survive a couple more days before she got to see him again. "You take care of yourself, and I'll see you Thursday, all right? I love you."
Five minutes can just fly right on by... "I'll try... and yeah, I'll see you on Thursday. Love ya..." Zaku's excitement was dwindling at the thought of going two more days without her.
She reached out, touched his hand once more with hers, and smiled, "Mini-Fathom will keep you company, at least." Hesitant, she released his hand and walked to the door, "Bye for now." And she gave him a big reassuring smile as she opened the door and headed out.
"Bye..." Zaku sat alone in the room for a few long moments, watching the door, secretly hopeful that she would change her mind and come back, but when he figured out that wasn't going to happen, he looked down at the little white dog he held and softly stroked the fur. He missed Fathom... and Turbo... so he just held the little dog close, knowing nobody would be able to see him anyways, and slowly let himself lie down in the bed once more. He lay there, not bothering to move the sketchbook back to the table. It's not like he was going to move around much anyways. Zaku sighed deeply, feeling a little sleepy, like he always was in the hospital. Closing his eyes, he decided there wasn't anything better to do than to get some more shut-eye in.
---
Once Karin walked out of the hospital room, she turned once more to look at the heavy door, wishing with everything that she could go back in there and stay until he was sent home. It was so painful to leave him lately. Dropping her head, she sighed and forced her legs to walk her out of the hospital. Outside, Hiroshi had pulled the car up to the front and picked her up at the entrance.
"He seems like a good guy, Karin. What happened to his arm though? I thought I'd ask, but figured it might not be appropriate," Hiroshi asked her, eyes focused on the road ahead of him.
"It's good you didn't. He lost it a few years ago in an accident... and that's all he'll tell me right now so you shouldn't ask." Karin leaned back into the cushion of the leather seat.
Hiroshi made a "Mm" noise, accompanied by a nod, driving along. He wasn't fond of the silence in the car though and he smirked, "Think your mother will be mad at us?"
"Probably," Karin smiled. "She'll get over herself though." And Karin wondered why Hiroshi stayed with her mother like he did. Not wanting to think about it, she shook her head. "I'm going to take a nap, Hiroshi."
Hiroshi nodded, taking a quick look at Karin as she drifted off. She hasn't been sleeping well, he noted and allowed her to take a nap. The ride was peaceful and Hiroshi kept himself occupied with thoughts of this Zaku guy Karin had become so fond of, how close they seemed to be, what might have happened to the poor guy... cluttered thoughts. He pondered to himself, not saying anything aloud, and drove on.
The car eventually came to a stop and Karin heard Hiroshi put the car in park. Was the trip that short? She blinked open her eyes and looked around to orient herself, but they weren't in her driveway. "Hiroshi...? Where are we?"
"Get out and see for yourself," Hiroshi smiled as he looked over, unbuckling himself and climbing out of the car.
Karin frowned, not really wanting to do anything spontaneous with Hiroshi, expecting instead to go home. Yet she felt drawn to this mystery of what he might be thinking. After stretching out her arm muscles, she followed suit and climbed out of the car and shut the door. All she could see was large brick buildings, but she heard the loud barking of several dogs. Karin looked around curiously, "Hiroshi?"
"I was thinking to myself on the road, and when I saw the sign for the Humane Society, I figured we needed a dog. Are you interested in taking a friend home with you?" Hiroshi walked over to the building, excited as her confused frown lit up like a child at Christmas. "Come on, we'll go find a good dog and take home with us."
She walked over to his side, walking in the building as he held the door open, quiet for a moment before grinning, "... Mom's going to kill you, you know?"
"Ah, she could do worse, I suppose," Hiroshi laughed, following her in. "Well, go find yourself a friend."
Karin smiled brightly, thinking about how happy and comforting Fathom was, and she went back to look through the available dogs in the back. Hiroshi joined her and told her the little things to look for, and the characteristics to avoid. There were so many to choose from, and she took time to play and pet a few of them before walking over to Hiroshi, "I found him!" as if she had rediscovered an old friend of hers.
"Beautiful coat, nice personality.." Hiroshi commented. "Looks like a good friend. Are you sure this is the one you want?"
Karin nodded in excitement and Hiroshi gladly went to the front desk to grant Karin this one thing, excited to see his "daughter" so happy. After everything had been taken care of, Karin had a new friend in the backseat on the way home. She couldn't wait to get him in the yard and play with him, and plus the look on her mother's face was going to be priceless. But most importantly, Karin was excited on the possibility of having her own comfort generator at the house.
Hiroshi asked, "So, what are we going to name him?"
Karin smiled, thinking to herself on what she wanted to call him, "I have a few ideas..."