Homesick. (Sick of something anyway...) [Sakurai, Asuka]
[[Set back perhaps mid-November? Not long after the Chuunin Exams.]]
While ordered to not work, Sakurai told himself this was not working. Compared to his usual shifts here at the hospital which could consist of anything ranging from check-ups to major surgery, simply going around and checking the charts of patients was breezy. He was keeping his chakra rested as instructed, and also not doing any strenuous activities, but not doing anything was getting to him a little. Surely Shishou wasn't going to scold him for just reading charts.
This next room might be an interesting one however, considering it had been holding his roommate's instructor for the past two months. But perhaps that depended what mood she was in, if she was awake at all. Ah. Seemed she was.
"Afternoon, Asuka-sensei," he greeted kindly, picking up the chart at the end of her bed and looking it over while keeping up a friendly conversation. "How are you today?"
It had gotten to the point where she was so used to the white uniforms coming and going that Asuka didn't even register their presence anymore. Unless they deliberately spoke to her or made to disturb her in any way, she just... tuned them out. It was easier to pretend no one was there when she never really had true privacy, anyway. Much as she wished she could have some.
This time, though, she was doing something more productive than just staring at the wall or the ceiling, like she did most of the time. (She was sick of reading anything that required more than half of her attention, and the nurses had stopped giving her pencils for cross-word puzzles on account of how frequently she threw them across the room out of frustration.) Having already figured out how to unravel the mess of a scarf she'd been trying to make before being visited by Hoshino earlier in the week, Asuka was now intently attempting to knit it again from the beginning - and actually succeeding somewhat, if looking like a scarf made by an enthusiastic if not crafty two-year-old meant succeeding. At least the blue and white yarn made a nice-looking pattern.
"Alive," came her automatic and obviously distracted response. Upon hearing herself speak, though, she realized she'd just been spoken to, and shook herself out of the single-minded focus she'd forced herself into in order to keep from going insane from frustration. Pausing, she looked up to see a familiar, pink-haired young man at the foot of her bed. "Oh. 'Sup."
"Just doing some rounds, keeping myself busy. And it's good to know you're alive, otherwise I'd be visiting you down in the basement." Sakurai looked away from the charts and finally took a better look at the items splayed across Asuka's lap.
He blinked, then stared, then blinked a couple more times just to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. While he didn't know a whole lot of intimate details about Inosuke's teacher, from what he'd heard Sakurai certainly didn't expect ever to see her...
"Are you crocheting?"
"Huh?" Was the first response. Primarily because of that look of astonished surprise on his face. And then she realized just what it was he was getting all surprised about, after which she could better understand his what-the-fuck-face.
"Oh." Asuka held up the needles while looking down at her faithful (if not masterful) project. "No. I'm knitting." That was what Aki said it was, anyway; she wouldn't know the different between crocheting and knitting if it bit her in the ass. She dropped everything back into her lap again. "I'm bored."
Oh, knitting. Well that was...no less weird in his mind. But hey, to each their own and all that, right? He just prescribed the drugs and pointed out the warnings, it was up to people what they were going to do while on them.
"We do have a rec room for each wing, you know," he pointed out, trying to distract himself from that topic before he said something out of turn about it. "You can play shougi or other games with other patients here to keep you busy. There are other materials to read and we even have a movie selection to chose from. You can ask any of the nurses here for suggestions on entertainment if you're that bored."
"Tired of reading and watching stuff." And had absolutely no desire to try hitting up any other long-term patients for a game of shougi, poker, or pretty much anything. She could hardly stand putting on a happy face for regular visitors - not that she'd really had many to begin with - so why would she want to deal with anyone she didn't even know if she didn't have to?
She just wanted to go home.
Leaning back against her cushions, she had to ask - "Are you trying to convince me not to knit?" Because it kinda sounded like he was, for a minute there, which almost made her want to go at this even more. Just to freak people out. What little enjoyment she still got from doing things like that. (He obviously hadn't noticed the decorations on the needles yet.)
"No, no," he said with a wave of his hands. "I just meant...er, well.... So. You like knitting?" 'That's it, Sakurai. Smooth the subject over...'
"I'm bored," she repeated. Otherwise the likelihood that she'd ever be doing this was slim to none (penis needles or not). "When can I go home?"
Ah, the million yen question that every patient wanted to know. He was a little surprised though. If Asuka hadn't asked sooner, that meant there wasn't an estimated release date yet. He checked the charts for any specific information as to why.
"Well it seems you could still use more physical therapy before being released. Your body will need to adapt to working with less oxygen until your lungs finish healing. How have you been doing moving around your room so far?"
Um. Well, that really depended on how soon she started moving around after her medicine had kicked in. That really made a difference. But she sort of had to tell the truth in order to get what she wanted, so...
"So-so," she admitted, half-heartedly but truthfully. "I can get to the bathroom and back okay, but sometimes I'm winded if my painkillers haven't kicked in. And I have to use that little seat thing in the shower. I haven't tried picking up anything moderately heavy yet."
Sakurai's mouth thinned in a way that was more concerned than disapproving, like he was sorry for what he had to say next. "Well it may be some time before you can go back home then. Certainly not without an assist anyway. People take it for granted, but a lot of every day living depends on their mobility. As you currently are, you couldn't live at home and still care for yourself as your body needs. Sorry, Asuka-sensei, but I can't approve your release. Have your physical therapist estimate release for you based on your next session."
Asuka's mouth thinned too, a stubborn response in the face of being told she couldn't go home after two freaking months in the hospital. Even Kureno had gotten to go home faster than that, and he'd about had his intestines rearranged. Hers had just been... perforated... in comparison.
"I don't live alone," she pointed out. "Konohako lives with me and can run any errands I can't do. And I can get someone to help me home."
Konohako? Sakurai hadn't heard from the young girl in a while. (Then again, he'd hadn't even known his sensei was dating, so was it really so surprising?) She was a genin already, wasn't she? That may not be so bad, but...still...
"I don't know," he said, although not with as much certainty in his doubt as before. "Your health still needs some consideration and monitoring. It hardly seems alright to let you out if you can hardly even make it to the bathroom without your medication."
"I said I sometimes get winded, not that I can hardly make it at all," Asuka pointed out. Which was true - a little shortness of breath didn't mean she was totally incapable of getting around. It just meant she had to do it more slowly. "And I only have to sit in the shower because this - " she carefully rotated her left arm at the shoulder, which was still stiff and pulled painfully at her chest if she tried to lift her arm too high " - makes each shower take too long to stand the whole time. I'm still recovering, but I'm not an invalid anymore."
The young man crossed his arms, holding the clipboard against his chest in the crook of one elbow, still not entirely convinced. He knew the discomfort and anxiousness that could happen when cooped up in the hospital for so long, and two months was already quite a long time. Getting out was even sometimes a good thing for the recovery of patients. ...That didn't mean it should be decided hastily though.
"Alright. But I still can't let you go without reaching a certain level of self-sustaining fitness. And unless you want to leave here in a wheelchair, you'll have to reach that kind of level anyhow. So if you want to leave soon, you'll have to work hard for it."
....darnit.
What he was asking for was only logical. Why put her so far away from hospital help if she wasn't capable of managing things just fine on her own? And she needed to do these things for herself. Like, down in her gut needed to. She couldn't let someone else take care of her all of the time. She had to be independant of all of this.
So the sigh she gave in response was less one of resignation or frustration, but more of acceptance. "Of course, sensei. Tell me what to do and I'll do it."
Sakurai blinked at being called "sensei". Not that he was never called it, but it suddenly felt a little odd to hear it from someone he knew, let alone someone he once only could see as his superior. It was a little odd getting used to being a Special Jounin. But Asuka's conditions. Right. What would be a simple way to prove it...? (Well perhaps not simple but simple to understand.)
"When you're in good enough condition to walk to the front door of the ground-floor lobby, without any assistance... Then I suppose that would be good enough progress for me to approve you being able enough to live back in your home. And no cheating with the elevators."
Before he'd even gotten to the conditions of her trek, Asuka's brain provided a map of the hospital. She was on the third floor, probably three hundred yards from the nearest emergency stairwell, and that was probably five hundred or so yards from the actual entrance of the hospital. That was... not too bad. After all, the toilet was a good three yards away, so using that as a comparison, if she made sure to go slowly and immediately after she felt her painkillers kick in... she could probably make it to the stairwell without taking a break. There was a waiting area near those stairs, too, so she could rest there for a few minutes before continuing. Going down the stairs would be the most difficult, primarily because there was a danger of her not being able to catch her balance should she lose it for some reason. Just all the more reason to go slowly.
All this had gone through her mind in the space of time it took him to explain his conditions. "Deal," she said immediately. "When can we do it? After lunch tomorrow?"
"...Wait, what?" A part of him wasn't surprised at her accepting the conditions but he wasn't ready for how...quickly she agreed to them. He expected more thought on her part, or more griping, or at least more awareness at what these conditions were going to physically demand from her. Clearly not.
"Hold on, Asuka-sensei." He raised his hands in a 'slow down' motion. "I don't think you quite understand. This isn't going to be something you can just do in one afternoon..."
"Of course it will be."
Her response was matter-of-fact and faintly surprised, because really, shouldn't a kid like him with Kakami for a sensei know better about these things by now? You don't challange a ninja and then get all surprised that they might try and kill themselves in order to win. (Not that she was trying to kill herself. Unless she tripped down those stairs, but that wouldn't entirely be on purpose...)
Pushing her mess of a scarf to one side, the kunoichi drew an invisble map on the sheets covering her lap with one finger. "It's about three hundred yards to the nearest emergency stairwell," she said, explaining her thoughts out loud. "Two sets of stairs down, which will be the most difficult part, and another five hundred-odd yards to the main entrance. As long as I can navigate that without assistance, you can discharge me." Asuka shrugged. "And if I can't make it on the first try, try try again. Right?"
"...Er, well...yes, but..." She was serious? Didn't she realize that pushing herself that far that fast was...? "Hold on a second, this is insane! That's going too far way too fast! You could end up doing more damage to your body that you have now, in which case, you might just have to be hospitalized all over again! I was thinking more of you working up your endurance with therapy, then testing yourself slowly with how far you make it with that kind of distance! Doing it all in one shot...you could kill yourself!" Well, maybe that was a slight exaggeration... No. No, it wasn't an exaggeration! Jeez, he'd expect this kind of behavior from Leigh-san or Gaia-sensei but Asuka...?
Asuka tried really hard not to roll her eyes. No, seriously. Really hard. Unfortunately, she didn't quite succeed.
"Listen," she started, taking on the 'voice of reason' that she'd found worked so well on calming Inosuke down. (Really, wasn't Pinky here supposed to be the doctor? Or at least the nurse.) "I never said I was going to run. I intend to take it slowly. Besides which, you don't really expect to make me do it by myself, do you? You or Rin or another nurse or something can watch me, and decide if I'm going too far too fast. Trust me, I'm not going to give myself a heart attack doing this, and if someone's watching me the chance is even less. I'm just wasting space here, and I can build my health back up as easy at home."
When he still appeared to be holding on to his shreds of disbelief, Asuka sighed and turned on the heat. "Please."
"...........Fine," he relented at last, not forgetting to add the put-upon sigh in there with it. "I'll stop by tomorrow afternoon and we can give this a first go. Mind you, as you said, I will make you stop if you're putting yourself at too much risk." He began writing something on the chart. "Also, I'm changing your medication as of now. You won't have all the luxury of injections when you move back home, so I'm starting you on the prescription you'd be taking home. Your body shouldn't feel many of our morphine's benefit by tomorrow afternoon, but you'll have your painkillers to help."
Well that's what she got for making him a sucker. Besides, it was best she fully understand what her body was going to be feeling once she was out of their care. It was part of helping her make this choice, after all.
He clicked the pen and folded his arms, looking back at the woman in bed. "Think you'll be ready by one o'clock tomorrow?"
... okay, so she hadn't planned for the lack of her occasional morphine shot (they'd been lessining that by a greater and greater margin lately, anyhow). Whatever they gave her in pill form would - should - be enough, though. They wouldn't send her home with nothing but aspirin.
... would they?
Hiding that thought away behind a confidant smile, Asuka nodded in agreement. "Absolutely."
The question now was whether or not she would make it....
While ordered to not work, Sakurai told himself this was not working. Compared to his usual shifts here at the hospital which could consist of anything ranging from check-ups to major surgery, simply going around and checking the charts of patients was breezy. He was keeping his chakra rested as instructed, and also not doing any strenuous activities, but not doing anything was getting to him a little. Surely Shishou wasn't going to scold him for just reading charts.
This next room might be an interesting one however, considering it had been holding his roommate's instructor for the past two months. But perhaps that depended what mood she was in, if she was awake at all. Ah. Seemed she was.
"Afternoon, Asuka-sensei," he greeted kindly, picking up the chart at the end of her bed and looking it over while keeping up a friendly conversation. "How are you today?"
It had gotten to the point where she was so used to the white uniforms coming and going that Asuka didn't even register their presence anymore. Unless they deliberately spoke to her or made to disturb her in any way, she just... tuned them out. It was easier to pretend no one was there when she never really had true privacy, anyway. Much as she wished she could have some.
This time, though, she was doing something more productive than just staring at the wall or the ceiling, like she did most of the time. (She was sick of reading anything that required more than half of her attention, and the nurses had stopped giving her pencils for cross-word puzzles on account of how frequently she threw them across the room out of frustration.) Having already figured out how to unravel the mess of a scarf she'd been trying to make before being visited by Hoshino earlier in the week, Asuka was now intently attempting to knit it again from the beginning - and actually succeeding somewhat, if looking like a scarf made by an enthusiastic if not crafty two-year-old meant succeeding. At least the blue and white yarn made a nice-looking pattern.
"Alive," came her automatic and obviously distracted response. Upon hearing herself speak, though, she realized she'd just been spoken to, and shook herself out of the single-minded focus she'd forced herself into in order to keep from going insane from frustration. Pausing, she looked up to see a familiar, pink-haired young man at the foot of her bed. "Oh. 'Sup."
"Just doing some rounds, keeping myself busy. And it's good to know you're alive, otherwise I'd be visiting you down in the basement." Sakurai looked away from the charts and finally took a better look at the items splayed across Asuka's lap.
He blinked, then stared, then blinked a couple more times just to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. While he didn't know a whole lot of intimate details about Inosuke's teacher, from what he'd heard Sakurai certainly didn't expect ever to see her...
"Are you crocheting?"
"Huh?" Was the first response. Primarily because of that look of astonished surprise on his face. And then she realized just what it was he was getting all surprised about, after which she could better understand his what-the-fuck-face.
"Oh." Asuka held up the needles while looking down at her faithful (if not masterful) project. "No. I'm knitting." That was what Aki said it was, anyway; she wouldn't know the different between crocheting and knitting if it bit her in the ass. She dropped everything back into her lap again. "I'm bored."
Oh, knitting. Well that was...no less weird in his mind. But hey, to each their own and all that, right? He just prescribed the drugs and pointed out the warnings, it was up to people what they were going to do while on them.
"We do have a rec room for each wing, you know," he pointed out, trying to distract himself from that topic before he said something out of turn about it. "You can play shougi or other games with other patients here to keep you busy. There are other materials to read and we even have a movie selection to chose from. You can ask any of the nurses here for suggestions on entertainment if you're that bored."
"Tired of reading and watching stuff." And had absolutely no desire to try hitting up any other long-term patients for a game of shougi, poker, or pretty much anything. She could hardly stand putting on a happy face for regular visitors - not that she'd really had many to begin with - so why would she want to deal with anyone she didn't even know if she didn't have to?
She just wanted to go home.
Leaning back against her cushions, she had to ask - "Are you trying to convince me not to knit?" Because it kinda sounded like he was, for a minute there, which almost made her want to go at this even more. Just to freak people out. What little enjoyment she still got from doing things like that. (He obviously hadn't noticed the decorations on the needles yet.)
"No, no," he said with a wave of his hands. "I just meant...er, well.... So. You like knitting?" 'That's it, Sakurai. Smooth the subject over...'
"I'm bored," she repeated. Otherwise the likelihood that she'd ever be doing this was slim to none (penis needles or not). "When can I go home?"
Ah, the million yen question that every patient wanted to know. He was a little surprised though. If Asuka hadn't asked sooner, that meant there wasn't an estimated release date yet. He checked the charts for any specific information as to why.
"Well it seems you could still use more physical therapy before being released. Your body will need to adapt to working with less oxygen until your lungs finish healing. How have you been doing moving around your room so far?"
Um. Well, that really depended on how soon she started moving around after her medicine had kicked in. That really made a difference. But she sort of had to tell the truth in order to get what she wanted, so...
"So-so," she admitted, half-heartedly but truthfully. "I can get to the bathroom and back okay, but sometimes I'm winded if my painkillers haven't kicked in. And I have to use that little seat thing in the shower. I haven't tried picking up anything moderately heavy yet."
Sakurai's mouth thinned in a way that was more concerned than disapproving, like he was sorry for what he had to say next. "Well it may be some time before you can go back home then. Certainly not without an assist anyway. People take it for granted, but a lot of every day living depends on their mobility. As you currently are, you couldn't live at home and still care for yourself as your body needs. Sorry, Asuka-sensei, but I can't approve your release. Have your physical therapist estimate release for you based on your next session."
Asuka's mouth thinned too, a stubborn response in the face of being told she couldn't go home after two freaking months in the hospital. Even Kureno had gotten to go home faster than that, and he'd about had his intestines rearranged. Hers had just been... perforated... in comparison.
"I don't live alone," she pointed out. "Konohako lives with me and can run any errands I can't do. And I can get someone to help me home."
Konohako? Sakurai hadn't heard from the young girl in a while. (Then again, he'd hadn't even known his sensei was dating, so was it really so surprising?) She was a genin already, wasn't she? That may not be so bad, but...still...
"I don't know," he said, although not with as much certainty in his doubt as before. "Your health still needs some consideration and monitoring. It hardly seems alright to let you out if you can hardly even make it to the bathroom without your medication."
"I said I sometimes get winded, not that I can hardly make it at all," Asuka pointed out. Which was true - a little shortness of breath didn't mean she was totally incapable of getting around. It just meant she had to do it more slowly. "And I only have to sit in the shower because this - " she carefully rotated her left arm at the shoulder, which was still stiff and pulled painfully at her chest if she tried to lift her arm too high " - makes each shower take too long to stand the whole time. I'm still recovering, but I'm not an invalid anymore."
The young man crossed his arms, holding the clipboard against his chest in the crook of one elbow, still not entirely convinced. He knew the discomfort and anxiousness that could happen when cooped up in the hospital for so long, and two months was already quite a long time. Getting out was even sometimes a good thing for the recovery of patients. ...That didn't mean it should be decided hastily though.
"Alright. But I still can't let you go without reaching a certain level of self-sustaining fitness. And unless you want to leave here in a wheelchair, you'll have to reach that kind of level anyhow. So if you want to leave soon, you'll have to work hard for it."
....darnit.
What he was asking for was only logical. Why put her so far away from hospital help if she wasn't capable of managing things just fine on her own? And she needed to do these things for herself. Like, down in her gut needed to. She couldn't let someone else take care of her all of the time. She had to be independant of all of this.
So the sigh she gave in response was less one of resignation or frustration, but more of acceptance. "Of course, sensei. Tell me what to do and I'll do it."
Sakurai blinked at being called "sensei". Not that he was never called it, but it suddenly felt a little odd to hear it from someone he knew, let alone someone he once only could see as his superior. It was a little odd getting used to being a Special Jounin. But Asuka's conditions. Right. What would be a simple way to prove it...? (Well perhaps not simple but simple to understand.)
"When you're in good enough condition to walk to the front door of the ground-floor lobby, without any assistance... Then I suppose that would be good enough progress for me to approve you being able enough to live back in your home. And no cheating with the elevators."
Before he'd even gotten to the conditions of her trek, Asuka's brain provided a map of the hospital. She was on the third floor, probably three hundred yards from the nearest emergency stairwell, and that was probably five hundred or so yards from the actual entrance of the hospital. That was... not too bad. After all, the toilet was a good three yards away, so using that as a comparison, if she made sure to go slowly and immediately after she felt her painkillers kick in... she could probably make it to the stairwell without taking a break. There was a waiting area near those stairs, too, so she could rest there for a few minutes before continuing. Going down the stairs would be the most difficult, primarily because there was a danger of her not being able to catch her balance should she lose it for some reason. Just all the more reason to go slowly.
All this had gone through her mind in the space of time it took him to explain his conditions. "Deal," she said immediately. "When can we do it? After lunch tomorrow?"
"...Wait, what?" A part of him wasn't surprised at her accepting the conditions but he wasn't ready for how...quickly she agreed to them. He expected more thought on her part, or more griping, or at least more awareness at what these conditions were going to physically demand from her. Clearly not.
"Hold on, Asuka-sensei." He raised his hands in a 'slow down' motion. "I don't think you quite understand. This isn't going to be something you can just do in one afternoon..."
"Of course it will be."
Her response was matter-of-fact and faintly surprised, because really, shouldn't a kid like him with Kakami for a sensei know better about these things by now? You don't challange a ninja and then get all surprised that they might try and kill themselves in order to win. (Not that she was trying to kill herself. Unless she tripped down those stairs, but that wouldn't entirely be on purpose...)
Pushing her mess of a scarf to one side, the kunoichi drew an invisble map on the sheets covering her lap with one finger. "It's about three hundred yards to the nearest emergency stairwell," she said, explaining her thoughts out loud. "Two sets of stairs down, which will be the most difficult part, and another five hundred-odd yards to the main entrance. As long as I can navigate that without assistance, you can discharge me." Asuka shrugged. "And if I can't make it on the first try, try try again. Right?"
"...Er, well...yes, but..." She was serious? Didn't she realize that pushing herself that far that fast was...? "Hold on a second, this is insane! That's going too far way too fast! You could end up doing more damage to your body that you have now, in which case, you might just have to be hospitalized all over again! I was thinking more of you working up your endurance with therapy, then testing yourself slowly with how far you make it with that kind of distance! Doing it all in one shot...you could kill yourself!" Well, maybe that was a slight exaggeration... No. No, it wasn't an exaggeration! Jeez, he'd expect this kind of behavior from Leigh-san or Gaia-sensei but Asuka...?
Asuka tried really hard not to roll her eyes. No, seriously. Really hard. Unfortunately, she didn't quite succeed.
"Listen," she started, taking on the 'voice of reason' that she'd found worked so well on calming Inosuke down. (Really, wasn't Pinky here supposed to be the doctor? Or at least the nurse.) "I never said I was going to run. I intend to take it slowly. Besides which, you don't really expect to make me do it by myself, do you? You or Rin or another nurse or something can watch me, and decide if I'm going too far too fast. Trust me, I'm not going to give myself a heart attack doing this, and if someone's watching me the chance is even less. I'm just wasting space here, and I can build my health back up as easy at home."
When he still appeared to be holding on to his shreds of disbelief, Asuka sighed and turned on the heat. "Please."
"...........Fine," he relented at last, not forgetting to add the put-upon sigh in there with it. "I'll stop by tomorrow afternoon and we can give this a first go. Mind you, as you said, I will make you stop if you're putting yourself at too much risk." He began writing something on the chart. "Also, I'm changing your medication as of now. You won't have all the luxury of injections when you move back home, so I'm starting you on the prescription you'd be taking home. Your body shouldn't feel many of our morphine's benefit by tomorrow afternoon, but you'll have your painkillers to help."
Well that's what she got for making him a sucker. Besides, it was best she fully understand what her body was going to be feeling once she was out of their care. It was part of helping her make this choice, after all.
He clicked the pen and folded his arms, looking back at the woman in bed. "Think you'll be ready by one o'clock tomorrow?"
... okay, so she hadn't planned for the lack of her occasional morphine shot (they'd been lessining that by a greater and greater margin lately, anyhow). Whatever they gave her in pill form would - should - be enough, though. They wouldn't send her home with nothing but aspirin.
... would they?
Hiding that thought away behind a confidant smile, Asuka nodded in agreement. "Absolutely."
The question now was whether or not she would make it....