[Log] Difficult Questions [Kiba & Rin]
Kiba had never endeared herself to the hospital staff. She asked a lot of questions, got in the way sometimes, and had a temper that made most of the medics not answer her questions in the first place. This of course made her temper worse usually and she'd ask more questions and thus the cycle would repeat itself. This time was no different.
The Inuzuka sat in a chair, not far from Kureno's room, sulking a bit with her arms crossed her chest, slumped. She knew he was getting the best of care, between the Hokage and Sakurai, but she still wanted to know what they were taking care of. Her normal way of getting answers had (as expected) not worked and by this point she was debating just breaking into the Jounin's room and asking what was up.
It had been a brutal few days in Konoha General Hospital - not just because of the sheer number of casualties but the nature of the injuries. Impact fractures, lascerations, head trauma, internal injuries, lost limbs, crushed bodies, fatal bleeds: just to name a few of the cases that had come in. And to cap it all, every single person admitted had been dosed with an unknown paralytic poison, a venom that was killing the worst injured ones in hours and would kill the less injured ones in days.
Needless to say Rin had ignored the medical advice foisted upon him about rushing back to work - and he was relieved to figure out that everybody else was ignoring it too. They just let him get on with his job - and right now that involved checking up on Kureno.
But he was almost to the door, when he spotted the Inuzuka girl who'd been stalking the corridors at all hours since Kureno was brought in.... and who looked an awful lot like the patient who'd just been brought home by Asuka.
Rin paused, standing in front of her for a moment, and looked at her concernedly.
"Hello there, are you alright?"
Slitted eyes had flicked up as the man stopped in front of her; the tattoos had confused her momentarily but they weren't Inuzuka tattoos, they were something else, it didn't matter. He reeked of blood and other things she didn't want to think about and Kiba had to resist the urge to pull back from him, to get away from the smell. It wasn't like she -could-, it was a hospital after all.
Warily, she regarded him as he asked her if she was alright, having expected another medic politely tell her that she should leave or where the waiting room was or a bunch of other things that meant nothing to her. A scathing comment was on her tongue about how 'oh yeahm she was fine, a bunch of the people she cared for were injured, just peachy' but she swallowed it down because she didn't want to be kicked out of the hospital.
She watched him for a bit longer and then, instead of answering his question, she asked bluntly, "Do you know what's wrong with Kureno-sensei?"
Rin was - as befitted his personality - usually the one who dealt with a patient's friends and family if he wasn't needed elsewhere. He knew what to do. But he wasn't entirely sure that what he'd tell this girl was what she'd listen to.
He rubbed a hand over his forehead and gave her a half-smile, "I'm assuming that means you're Kiba-chan, Kureno's student?"
He supposed Kureno would rather he help his student, then rush to check on him. After all, Rin knew perfectly well that when somebody was injured it didn't mean they were the only one hurt.
Knew that better than he wanted to, in fact.
"I'm Rin, I'm one of the doctors handling your sensei's care right now," he told her, his quiet voice carrying clearly in the silent corridor. "And I do know what's wrong with him, but I'm not entirely sure he'd appreciate me telling you."
Kiba could see him hesitating and it made her narrow her eyes and sit up. It was the first time after all that someone had seriously seemed to consider what she was asking instead of brushing her off and rushing off to do what medics did, saving lives, stitching wounds, so on and so forth. But he was still standing there in front of her.
"One of the doctors?" He had more then one doctor? That didn't sound good and she frowned more, fingers tightening over her knees. And though she couldn't doubt that sensei probably -didn't- want her to know, she leaned forward, gritting sharp teeth, all her attention focused on Rin. "Can't you tell me -something?- Is he near death, is it something more minor, he's got a chance that he's gonna live, right?"
Because it was sensei and he wasn't allowed to die yet. Because she said so.
"He's definitely got a chance he's going to live," Rin told her, deciding to sit down next to her and make sure she knew he was paying proper attention to her - not about to fly off at any moment. "He was very badly hurt, and... somebody with a nose like yours can probably tell he lost alot of blood, ne?"
"But right now we've done everything we can for him - all the best medics helped," he told her, leaning back a little against the chair (it was good to sit down, just for a moment, to rest) and looking her in the eyes.
"You understand, Kiba; I can't tell you he's going to be okay. We don't know yet, or I would."
He'd said those words a thousand times, and he still hated every syllable. The impatience, the uncertainty, the anger and worry, that all crowded into people's eyes - he saw it, and he'd felt it.
But still, it was his duty to say it. And sometimes it helped. Sometimes.
"... I can't tell who's blood is who's. There's so much of it everywhere and on everyone and its mixed in with antiseptic and everything else so. No. I didn't know he lost a lot of blood." The words came out flatter then she really meant and she wasn't sure why she said. It really didn't matter too much though, because Rin said that he's got a decent chance of living; it was reassuring.
He had sat down beside her, had made eye contact, the most anyone had done yet and it stopped her from being quite so hostile. She leaned back in her seat, watching him, still frowning. She had wanted to hear he would be okay but at the same time, she appreciated that he wasn't sugarcoating everything and was being honest with her.
A hand ran through her hair and she slumped back a bit, "....thank you."
Rin gave her a wan look, wishing he'd given her some news to be thankful for. But sometimes just having the facts explained was good for some people - being given a truth or measure of the situation to hold onto could be enough to sustain a person in a time like this.
"You're very welcome," he said, meaning it and hoping she knew that. "I know your sensei will be glad you're keeping an eye out for him but...."
He trailed off... hesitated and then gave her a sheepish wince. "I was going to tell you he'd want you to go home and get some rest, and so you should... but that would make me a hypocrite," he confessed, rubbing the back of his stiff neck. "Seeing as he'd probably say the same thing to me..."
A conspiratorial smile brushed over his face, "Kureno isn't just bossy to his students, you know. Still, he's usually right."
She tilted her head as he gave a slight wince and nodded just slightly to what he said. She could see now (now that she wasn't being so selfish) that he looked tired and stiff and had probably been working for a long time. How many had been injured she didn't know, but probably a lot with the damage she had seen to the building where Kabumi had been.
Faintly, she smiled a little bit to him as he called Kureno bossy but couldn't muster up much behind it. "Can't go home yet. Gotta check on my brother in a bit- I'm not allowed to see him yet or something."
Rin's smile faded, and he gave a small sigh. He'd been right, she and Hanato were related. No, she certainly wasn't going to go home and rest. But if she thought she would be allowed so see Hanato now...
"Hanato-san, that's your brother," he said, dropping his hands to clasp loosely between his knees.
"I'm afraid it'll be... a while, before he's stable enough for viewing, Kiba," he said softly, eyes drifting a little to the tiles on the sterile floor. The same ones were in the ward the Inuzuka heir was lying in now, comatose... and lucky to be that.
There were subtle shifts in his posture, the way he moved. His eyes moved away from her, his hands clasped together. None of them were good signs and it made her tense all over again. Slitted eyes narrowed as she said slowly, "Yes, that's my brother..."
"Why is it going to be awhile?" She asked very slowly, voice low. It wasn't that it be a long time before she could see him- it was that it would be a long time before he was stable enough to be viewed. There were implications in his words that she didn't like and her fingers curled into fists.
What had he done?
"It's... a similar situation to your sensei's," he explained, carefully choosing his words. What could he say? Hanato's foolhardy (if more than a little understandable) attempt to recapture Kabumi had very nearly cost him the lives of his ninken and himself. Broken bones, punctured organs, shredded arteries and muscle, poisoning... when Asuka had brought him Rin thought he'd been systematically taken to pieces.
After about ten minutes tending to his injuries, he knew he had. They'd induced a coma to help restrict the cumulative effects of his head trauma, and to assist in the success of the muliple treatments and healing jutsus needed to keep the young man alive.
Now he had to explain that to his little sister.
"You see, because of the kinds of injuries he had, we decided it was best if we placed him in a coma. A kind of deep sleep he can't wake out out of on his own. Now, that means it will be easier for us to perform the major surgeries and patch him up. But it also means that he is very... well, he's very vulnerable right now to alot of differernt things that could make him get worse. So no visitors."
Rin sighed a little bit and just decided to give Kiba the short version.
"He's lucky to be alive," he said gently, looking her in her gold eyes. "So let's hope his luck holds while he's asleep and he gets better soon, ne?"
In a surreal moment, she wanted to snap that she knew what a coma was, thank you very much. But she couldn't because it was Hanato. In a coma. And that just didn't make sense. Because it was her brother, and it was her that did stupid things, not him and he shouldn't have been in a coma of all things. They put him in one? How did they do that?
Rin was still talking, and she could only stare a bit at him, swallowing. Kureno-sensei was in critical condition and... she didn't know about her brother. Major surgeries. Vulnerable to a lot of things that could make him worse.
He's lucky to be alive.
Hope his luck holds? He was trying to reassure her but she could only shake her head slightly. Her jaw twitched and a hand clenched because this is all Kabumi's fault, its all her fault and they let her get away and dammit she hates that woman, it was all her fault and she couldn't do anything.
And then another thought struck her and she suddenly felt sick to her stomach, eyes finally focusing in on him agian.
"... aw hell... his girls. His ninken. Do you know if they're alive?"
"They're alive," Rin told her - suddenly struck by the observation that the Inuzuka next to him did not have her own ninken with her.
"Your brother's colleagues at Veternary Treatment are tending to them, but from what I understand they're all expected to make a good recovery."
How long ago had he heard that? Must have been... eight or nine hours ago. Rin was suddenly struck with a wave of tiredness - but it wasn't as though he didn't know how to deal with those. Scrubbing a hand over his eyes, he forced himself back up onto his feet. He had to keep moving or he'd stop altogether, and it was his shift right now to keep an eye on Kureno.
"I'm sorry you've been hit so hard by all of this," he said sombrely, empathy for Kiba and her family and friend clear in his eyes.
She stopped listening to him when he said they were alive. It was a small relief because, even if they should recover it may not be enough. And she had had Hanato's information wrong, what if she had mistaken their's too? For a moment Kiba was very still because her sensei and her brother were hurt- but she couldn't see them. And she might have be able to see the girls and Hanato would want that.
She moved suddenly, swiftly, out of the chair, intent on darting down the hallway and out to see the ninken. It took her a moment to remember which way she was supposed to go and she started to head that way before she skidded to a stop and turned back around.
She stopped back in front of the exhausted looking man and for a second Kiba fumbled because, really, she's not so good with words. But she managed to get out, past the lump in her throat, "Thank you Rin-san."
And though her words were hurried - and she dashed off within a second - the sincerity, honesty, and gratitude in them was hard to miss.
[Backdated to late in the day Hanato is returned to Konoha]