[RP Log] Anko & Haku
Characters: Anko & Haku
Date: Monday, September 24th
Location: Diner (Firefly), Haku's Apartment
Rating: PG
Warnings/Notes: 'Ralphing' al la Haku. NPC (Stacey, and an unnamed male nurse). A drainage street canal with no lid. Yay for clinics.
Summary: Anko decided to go looking for the brat since he hadn't shown up for days, and found the brat's very sick roommate instead.
Anko could remember a time when she had no one to worry about but herself. Sadly, it would seem that those times were long past as she glared up at her clock wondering where in the hell Naruto was. Granted, he hadn't been sure as to when he was going to make it over but it was starting to get dark out and with all the shit going down all over Curia, she couldn't help but be worried. Not to mention the slight fact that the brat seemed to be as adept as she when it came to attracting all sorts of trouble...so yeah, she was worried about the kid. And, as her stomach reminded her most loudly, she hadn't eaten at all that day so food was definitely on her list of things to do. Sheer laziness and the the fact that she had been sitting around all day doing nothing assisted her in the decision to run out for something to eat, which worked out quite well since she knew that Naruto worked at a nearby diner so she could easily kill two birds with one stone - she can eat and she can also see if anyone had seen the brat.
It only took her a few moments to slip into something she didn't mind getting dirty, with all the muck in the streets it would have been pointless to wear anything else, scribble a quick note for Naruto in case he came while she was out and she was off. Not surprisingly the streets were all but empty, nobody wanting to have to wade to wherever it was they were heading, she didn't even see any patrols out and about. Anko had contemplated taking her bike out for a split second but that thought was quickly shot down as she was afraid of what kind of damage the muck would cause to her baby. It didn't take her long at all to cover the few blocks between her place and the diner, the lights from the windows seemed warm and inviting in the cool darkness of the evening. Perhaps if she were lucky they would even have something to assuage her aching sweet tooth. Opening the door, there was a warm wash of air that contrasted against the coolness of the night chill, urging Anko to come fully into the cozy establishment. There was only a handful of people inside, most lost in their own little worlds or cups of coffee. Sidling up to the counter she plopped herself on one of the aged stools, offering a grin to the waitress back in the kitchen.
The phone rang as one of the waitresses gave Anko a bit of a nod and mouthed, "Be right with you." as she picked the phone. "Firefly - Take Out Service. What can I get for you?" She had paused for a moment, "Oh hey Haku! Feeling any better?" The pause had become somewhat longer than the last, as the garbling voice on the other end sounded rather sloth-like. "Well...I hope you get better in any event." The discernible garble on the other end became establish-able, "Yeah, me too."
"So what do you want?" Stacey mentioned while she drew on the order pad. "Mmhm. Okay. Do you want me to bring it over? All right." She disappeared for a moment, as another girl followed her. "Wait - I thought Naruto was living with his foster family." "No, no - about a week ago Naruto moved in with Haku."
"Well how the hell do you know?" Eiri asked her. "Because I WORK with Haku at another diner." That broke the ice. Eiri looked at Stacey like she had broken some sort of pact code. "Look, I can't afford to work JUST HERE, Eiri. So SHOVE IT." Stacey turned around and smiled at Anko, "Hi - sorry about that, what can I get for you?"
Anko had been perusing the menu, only listening with half an ear to the idle chatter around her when the name 'Haku' hit some chord in her memory. Surely she had heard that name before somewhere...but it wasn't nearly as pressing as her growling stomach was so she dismissed her curiosity in lieu of her menu, tuning out the idle chatter and bickering of the waitresses. She easily bypassed the pasta options, having had more than her fill with all the food shortages she had definitely made a dent in the stash left behind by her old roommate and had firmly decided that once the food was more plentiful she would never touch another plate of spaghetti in her life.
By the time the waitress had come back to her she was ready to start gnawing on the menu itself in an attempt to ease her pangs of hunger, something she sincerely hope did not show as she ticked off a massive order. Nearly diving into the small basket of rolls handed to her, Anko chewed away happily while listening to the two bickering waitresses when belated, something clicked in her mind. Hurriedly swallowing the mouthful of bread, she interrupted the two with no qualms. "Hey, did you say something about Naruto? Blond, kinda loud Naruto?" she asked, sitting on the edge of her stool looking to the two of them eagerly.
"Yeah, loud - blond," Stacey tried to think of another word. "Obnoxious. Reeeeally boisterous." "Wow Stacey - I never knew boisterous was on your vocabulary list." Eiri remarked cynically. "Shut up - you bitch." Stacey yelled.
As amused as Anko was by their antics, she wasn't getting the information she had come here in search of so she waved a hand to catch 'Stacey's' attention before the two could continue on. "You wouldn't have seen him today by chance have you? The brat was supposed to be dropping by my place for a visit but I haven't seen him yet, was getting a little worried," she offered, posing her questions to the Stacey-girl, seeing as though she appeared to be the one 'in-the-know'.
Stacey looked over to Anko in a bit of surprise of the question, as she thought about it. "No - not today." She thought, "But Haku might know where he is. He and Naruto don't live too far away though. If you want, you could come with me when I take Haku's soup to him. After your lunch of course."
That would explain why the name Haku rang a bell as she did vaguely recall Naruto mentioning he had moved out of his foster family's house. She nodded in agreement, not being able to argue with the girl's logic in the slightest. Momentarily she felt a sharp stab of guilt seeing her various plates being brought to her, perhaps she should have stopped to see if either Sai or Kakashi had been home and brought them along, but she had been more worried about finding Naruto and the thought hadn't even crossed her mind until now. Oh well, she'd make it up to them later on she supposed, digging in with gusto. Twenty minutes later had her pushing the last plate away with a content sigh, patting her stomach and eyeing the dessert menu with longing. Perhaps she should have passed on that extra side of veggies so she would have had room for something sweet, but it was too late now. Perhaps if the place was still open after she visited with this Haku she could swing by on her way back home and make up for this slight. Tossing down the cost of her meal plus a hefty tip she looked over for the patiently waiting Stacey. "Ready to go?"
"Just a sec! Can't forget the order!" Stacey put on her rubber boots and picked up the take out for Haku, and headed out the door. "This way," Stacey motioned. "Sometimes Haku and I have the same shifts so he'll walk me home - I live just a bit further up the road but not too far." Stacey pointed out some of the more cobble-stoned sunken areas where the streets 'quilted' themselves with drainage ditches. "Careful of that one there. Someone took the drainage gate off it and you'll end up somewhere like 'Alice'."
"Rea~lly now," she mused, being a little more careful with where she was stepping, "I'll be sure to avoid that one then, thank you. Don't take this the wrong way or anything but is this Haku kid ok? I mean, I'm just looking out for Naruto and I don't want him getting into anything, you should know the poor kid's enough trouble on his own, he doesn't need any more bad influences," Anko wondered, being careful and sidestepped another mysterious looking puddle.
"True," Stacey replied. "I can't blame you on that one, but Haku's practically abstract compared to Naruto's antics. I haven't been working with him for all that long but he knew exactly what to say to Mike - which is a first. I probably only got hired because I have breasts - if you catch my drift." Stacey looked over and cut across the street. "Here we are." Stacey rang the outside doorbell that had an arrow in chalk pointing in the upward direction. A faint, and directional sound of a rather hollow cough had emerged, as did a shuffle of feet.
A door closed, and the banister began to creak as the wooden staircase held the weight a rather weak person, from the shuffling for balance. The door opened, revealing this dark-haired, fragile looking kid with hair messier than it being stuck in a light bulb socket.
Haku winced a little from the overcast skies, and saw Stacey and another woman alongside of her. "Hey Stacey." Haku checked a back pocket for some money. "You mind coming up? I forgot the money upstairs." He held his forehead as if to sever the pain by adding pressure to the spot.
Looking at the pathetic looking kid, Anko felt bad suddenly for tagging along to pester him about his new roommate's whereabouts. Tugging gently on Stacey's sleeve she stopped her before following him upstairs. "Don't worry about it, I've got it," she said, tugging her wallet out of her back pocket and pulling out the required bills to cover the cost of the soup and the trouble for the girl bringing her out this far. She ignored the odd look the kid was giving her, instead focused on getting him his soup and back upstairs in a bed where he belonged. She had heard of some bug that was catching through the Districts, but with all the inoculations they forced on you once enlisted usually kept her pretty healthy even after all these years, she wasn't too worried about catching it herself, but if this was the effects, she could fully understand the worry. Taking the soup from Stacey and thanking her for her assistance, she turned her attention back to Haku, handing the bag off to him. "You don't know me anymore then I know you, but I'm Anko, a friend of Naruto's."
Haku grasped the bag, which was hard since his side was stiff. "I'm Haku. I'll offer you some soup if you'd like some. Any friend of Naruto's is pretty much on good terms with me. And - thank you for the food. I'm most grateful." There was a dull sincerity in his voice, but it was the truthful tone that gave it much more of a fly. "Would you like to come in Miss Anko?" Haku motioned towards the upstairs.
Her stomach protested at the thought of any more food, but she waved off the rest of his words more-so focused on getting the kid in a bed before he collapsed on her. "I'm not going to bother you for very long, I promise. Let's get you upstairs and get something on your stomach hmm? You don't look like you should be up and about anyway hun," the dreaded maternal urges seemed to overtake her, her previous concern for Naruto set to the side momentarily with the new focus of someone else who needed looking after. "And please, just Anko. The 'Miss' makes me feel old."
"Understood." Haku turned and headed up the stairs. His feet were alot more agile than before, merely since he had just woke up. His hair was quite the mess. Still, the fact of having company over delighted him and reminded him of when he still resided with his parents. "Would you like anything to drink Anko?".
"Don't worry about me hun, if you want, sit down and point me in the right direction and I'll get whatever you need," she gently ordered, ignoring the fact that it was hardly her place to be doing this in a stranger's home. Had she not gotten used to the feminine qualities of Sai's roommate Neji, perhaps she would have been a bit awestruck after getting a good look at the sick kid with his similar long long hair and effeminate features. "Have you been over to the clinic or seen a doctor or anything yet, 'cause quite frankly you're not looking too well sweetie."
"Not yet," Haku opened the bag and set it on the table propped with books, and folded his legs underneath the table. "I haven't been here long enough to really know my way around." Haku motioned to the soup, "Please, take a seat. You sure you wouldn't like any?" Haku was somewhat reminded by Anko's kindness to the time when Naruto had given him a towel to dry him off from the rain. It had put a meager smile upon Haku's face, and he was glad to have some company. He wondered to himself if all of Naruto's friends were this kind to each other.
"You should probably go when you think you can travel far enough on your own, or you can call over there and they'll probably send someone, it's only a couple of blocks from here and not hard at all to find. I'll give a heads up to the head doc over there or my one neighbor who lends a hand when he has the time. I'm surprised Naruto hasn't mentioned that he's assisting over there as well," she prattled on, easily plopping herself down across from the young man. "And no, I assure you, I'm more then fine. I had met your friend Stacey at the diner she works at while I was busy stuffing myself so no, trust me, I don't need anything else for a while." She didn't bother to disguise the fact that she was glancing around, trying to see as much of the small apartment as she could from her vantage point being the nosey person that she was. "Naruto's not been giving you a hard time yet has he?"
"Okay." Haku took the bowl of soup and began to drink it straight from the bowl. He wiped his mouth, "Yeah, Stacey can be quite amusing at times. I'm glad you tagged along with her though." He took another gulp of the soup. "Actually - Naruto hasn't bothered me at all. At first he thought I was female - that's always awkward." The raised eyebrows came up as he drank the soup again. "But no - he had mentioned that he does alot of stuff, I'm not sure what - but .....well." Haku paused. "To tell you the truth, I ... I haven't seen him since he moved in." The warmth of the soup that he had cupped between his hands comforted him. "Mind you," Haku looked to Anko, "It's none of my business what he does, really. He was looking for a place to stay and I know my landlady was needing someone else up here." He sipped the soup again, "I'd rather have Naruto in here than a complete stranger."
"By the way, feel more than welcome to look around. Naruto's room is the one behind me, and my room just has a bedroll in it is all." He smiled a little, "I'm really glad you came by. I haven't met very many people in Celo as of yet." Haku finished off the soup, and set the styrofoam bowl on the table.
She was glad to see Haku's color improving as he made quick work of his soup, making her wrinkle her nose at the thought that perhaps they should have brought more so he wouldn't have to worry about calling out or even making the trip to get it if his friend wasn't available to do so for him.
"I'm glad the kid hasn't been running you ragged but you say you haven't seen him since he moved in??" Anko chewed on her lip, not being able to help but to worry about what Naruto could have gotten himself into in that large window of time.
"Yeah. I don't know where he's gone." The look on his face was a bit spaced, calm, yet poised. Looking down at the edge of the table, as a spasm of coughing suddenly emerged. "Pardon me." He croaked weakly, as he got up to the bathroom and began to cough over the toilet. The sounds echoed and created a bit of reverb off the walls. He kneeled close to the toilet, and tried to control the shivering and weakness he was feeling. He coughed again a few times - rather loudly, and it developed into more or less of puking. Exhausted, he sat against the wall. Breathing rather heavily. "Of course." He heaved, "It's better he's not here right now anyway. He might get sick too." He took the handle and flushed the toilet, while he rested his elbow on his knee, and his knee to his head. Sighing that that moment was over, he over - he cleaned his hands and face and rested against the wall across from Anko.
Anko winced at the retching noises coming the general vicinity of Haku's exit. Just as she had thought him to gone a little too long he returned, sliding down the wall back down to a seated position, looking even paler and weary then before. Crawling over to where he sat she brushed a cool hand against his hot forehead, combing back the long tangle of hair. "Sweetheart, you shouldn't even be out of bed in this state," she worried. He hadn't even been able to keep that little bit of soup down for a solid ten minutes, never a good sign of any illness. "The brat's got an amazing resilience to a lot of things I'm learning, but you should worry more-so about yourself. If I had known you were this bad off I wouldn't even have bothered you. Naruto was supposed to be swinging by my place but he hadn't shown up yet so I was just going to stop at the diner to poke around a bit and ended up here instead." She pulled herself to her feet, squatting down next to him and reached out a hand. "Come on hun, lets get you back to bed ok?"
"Honestly?" He looked over as she swept his hair to the side. "I think its better you came by." Haku closed his eyes and rested the back of his head against the wall. "Please. Anko - take me to the clinic. I...I think you're right. Don't think I've got the strength to get there otherwise, and I've tried everything." He pushed himself toward the wall, and staggered himself to stand. "I need to get back to work, eventually."
She watched with a hand in place in case Haku lost his balance. “If you’re really feeling up to it that’s not a problem with me, I just don’t want you to overexert yourself to the point of feeling worse,” she fretted, though from the determined look in his tired eyes, she knew she would have been better off talking to the wall. “Point me in the direction of something warm for you to put on over your clothes and some shoes you don’t mind getting dirty. With all the gunk in the street whatever you wear is probably going to get ruined. A brush would probably be good too,” she tacked on, wrinkling at the thought of having to deal with so much hair. Her's only reached her shoulders when down, but even that seemed to be far too long most days.
He coughed again. Just enough to clear the congestion in his throat. "I'd rather go now, than it be too late to catch." Haku groaned a little, stabilizing himself to his feet. "I know I barely know you. But I feel I can trust you." He pulled out a hair tie and pulled ever strand of hair back. On the inside - his mind had slowly calculated all of the thoughts Anko had of the maternal instincts she had given out. She put herself out to look for Naruto out of worry, and found him instead. Purchased his food for him out of regret. It was the nobility, the cause, and the overall nature of her that he utmost respected above all other people in this world. Nurturing, and caring individuals, for the sake of others.
"Everything I own is by the door." Which was all but a ruggedly holed coat, and a pair of shoes that looked as if they never did give much protection. "Thank you," Haku thought to himself, "For saving me."
Even though she was definitely having second thoughts about exposing him to the evening air, perhaps it was the lesser of two evils rather then letting him sit home alone to progressively get worse. His words however caused her to freeze in mid-step to get the required pieces of clothing. First Kankurou and now this boy she had known for a little less then an hour, so quick and eager to place something as fragile as trust in her of all people. Didn't people still warn children not to trust strangers anymore? If one were to totally discount the fact that she was the one who originally took the initiative to barge into his living space, most people wouldn't have allowed a complete stranger into their home, regardless of the fact she was trying to help, she was still a stranger. Shaking herself from her mental thoughts she wandered over to where his shoes and coat were resting. Bringing them back to him she forced a smile and offered a bit of advice. "I appreciate that you think so highly of me, but I would strongly advise against misplacing your trust in another's hands,hun. Not when you know so little about the other person," she said, tugging the end of his hair to lighten the severity of her words.
It took a little time and effort, but between the fumbling of the both of them eventually Haku was bundled up as best as could be expected and they were slowly picking their way through the murky puddles and side streets. There were several pauses to let Haku catch his breath or try to control a hacking fit, but eventually the lights of the clinic came into view.
Not even a block away - He wheezed. His chest felt heavy. It brought him to his kness in the middle of the street. "Get......."
"........Help."
He never thought he'd ever be asking such a thing to her. Anko. Genessa. The contraction of his lungs were faint, as he fell into unconsciousness. He was still alive, but it wasn't enough to keep him coherent. "I'm putting my life in your hands, and I have no choice. . . . I'm so sorry I put you through this."
Motionless, yet alive - that string of fate. Destiny. Life. Soul. Spirit. Luckily he landed in a more barren part of the road.
His eyes, were releasing the moisture - better known as tears. As a silhouette outside of the clinic threw their cigarette aside and came running.
It would have been too much to hope for she supposed, even as she fell to her knees along side of him to keep the sick kid from cracking his head on the disgusting pavement. They had been close enough so that the person outside had seen them and was thankfully running over to their side, even as Anko fell back trying to rouse some reaction from him.
“Haku! Come on kid, we’re almost there, you just need to wake up,” she urged, patting his pale cheek. The fever burning through his body was easily felt to her even through the layers of clothes. She didn’t bother turning to the guy who skidded to a stop next to them, instead kept her focus on Haku and trying to illicit some sort of response from him.
“He’s been burning up for the past hour or so, can’t keep anything down. Sounded like he has quite a bit of congestion in his chest,” she brusquely informed the newcomer. “Are you going to be able to carry him or should one of us be running to get some help or what?” Chancing a glance over to her side, she saw young man, probably a few years younger then herself, but not someone she recognized. Rather than answering her, he picked up the unconscious Haku and quickly started towards the clinic, informing her that apparently there had been a significant increase in the number of cases such as this. It would perhaps explain as to why she had been so little of Sai if there really was some viral thing floating about from all the rain and filth littering the streets all of them at the clinic had probably been pulling some massive overtime.
She trailed closely behind, worried that she would be relegated out in the small waiting area, but the assistant didn’t even suggest it. In all actuality he tilted his head in gesture to a chair hovering in the corner of the even smaller exam room, setting to work immediately. Silently she watched as he took vitals, turning her head and focused on a crack in the wall when she saw him pull out a syringe but otherwise not taking her eyes off the two.
After the check on Haku, the nurse began to write down his condition onto a chart - walked out of the room, and back in. Conversing with someone in the hall that asked about the patient, the mention of bronchitis, elevated stage 2 of hypothermia were exchanged, as were orders for wool blankets.
The nurse returned and asked Anko if she wanted anything, also asking if she could watch over him until she saw any discernible movement. He also gave her a bucket in case Haku awoke, and needed it for anything. The boy remained blue-skinned and pale for about 45 minutes - when his chest gave a sign of life. A groaning wheeze of a breath entered through his nostrils, and out. The chest movements repeated normally, as the sweat of a fever hit his brow. Within a fifteen minute time frame, Haku opened his eyes. The groaning wheezes of breath were still there - yet not as casual.
Haku turned his head to her general direction. "Anko?" There was a pause.
The frail voice barely reached her ears, just loud enough to rouse her from her light nap. Yawning hugely, she stretched out muscles stiff from sitting for so long before standing and strolling over to the hospital bed, reaching out to brush back a piece of hair that had stuck to his sweat dampened cheek. "Welcome back kiddo, you scared the hell out of me back there." The soft smile she offered to soften her words was a genuine one, one that was rarely seen without the sarcastic twist of her lips.
"Thank you, Anko." Haku gave her a soft smile back, yet the regret he felt on the inside of getting her tied up into his own problem, bogged the smile down. Had he but realized earlier at how severe the condition he was in, he would have gone much sooner. It still hurt to breathe at moments, and the pain pierced. It was hard to swallow, hard to say anything. Even saying 'thank you' to Anko probably sounded alot more like a dicer with bones in it.
Yet the conscious state didn't take long for the fever to return, the frustration was apparent on his brow. Within a few moments, he was sitting up. He had to. It was thatstifling notion that whatever was injected into his body....which he could feel crawling within him, was completely eradicating at least the bronchitis.
He held his mouth, as a strain of blood was running past his chin. He tried breathing through his nose, and another convulsion started.
“Hey hey! Dammit brat, you just woke back up!” Anko fussed, snatching out a few tissues from the box sitting alongside the bed, dabbing at the trail of red running swiftly down his chin. With a smooth motion she reached over and hit the alarm button at the head of Haku’s bed before sitting down on the edge of the mattress, wrapping her free arm around his shoulders to help stabilize him. “You shouldn’t be moving so quickly after all that, your ass just needs to lie still for a bit and let the medicine do what it needs to do,” she scolded, rubbing soothing circles on his back, doing what little she could until either the attack passed or until someone else more qualified got there.
Thankfully, the nurse guy from earlier came rushing around the corner and eyeballed the situation. It only took a moment for him to locate what he needed before injecting it into Haku’s IV line, the medicine working it’s way through the small plastic tubing and into his system. Feeling his slight frame convulse under her hands, she reached for the small basin sitting near the tissue box just in case. She didn't mind helping the kid out in the slightest, but if he were to get sick and on her no less...well, that may be just bit further that she would have preferred.
"I-..I can't, hol-," Haku's words turned into garble. He couldn't hold it back any longer and his body convulsed. He didn't even have the time to grab any type of container as it dispensed through his mouth and past his fingers. It wasn't anything he ate, no. There wasn't anything in his stomach. He heaved, as his body shuddered, literally shaking in Anko hands. Moisture again from his eyes that shot to the raw blood coming from within, hitting the small basin in front.
Shaking, and looking rather jaundiced, another spasm attacked the basin. His hand, full of blood - his nostrils showed of the same sign. Strangely enough - Haku analyzed the contents of the bowl while he waited for his body to discontinue shaking. His eyes were clouded and darkened - almost as if he were in a daze. Bits of blood covered mucus that encased a darkphlegm -colored substance, much like what lay out in the streets. Earlier the nurse had left and grabbed two extra basins, he had returned and exchanged for the silver colored shine of a sterile basin into Haku's hands. The only thing he did was stare into the bottom of that pan, waiting for the shaking to stop while his fever dropped.
Silently thanking her strong stomach, Anko slid off the bed and wandered off into the bathroom in search of a washcloth. It only took a few moments of digging around before she pulled one out in triumph, running it under the cool tap before heading back to where Haku still sat, body racked with silent shudders. She took the basin out of his hands and set it off to the side before wiping the cool fabric across his forehead, dabbed at the tears studding the corner of his eyes and the remnants of his illness that still stained his lips as he struggled to draw breath.
"Think you can handle a bit of water sweetie? If anything else you probably need to rinse your mouth out I'm sure." Gently she tugged back the mass of hair that had tangled around his face during that little episode, wishing she could pull it back but it would probably be uncomfortable for him to lay on once she got him situated.
"Sure." He said roughly, half choking on his own words. He wearily grasped the glass, took a sip - swished it through his mouth, and repeated it once more after spitting it into the basin. Haku took slow sips of water at first, to ensure that it would reach the proper destination. Once he found it hitting his stomach, he drank the rest. Haku finally figured that the worst of the night was somewhat over, as the queasiness in his stomach churned. Nervous twitches happened every few moments, and the nurse handed him some clean wool blankets. He was shivering, but this time it was the hypothermia symptom. No matter how warm the wool was - he shivered. "Not much of company - am I?" Haku scoffed.
It was a relief that Haku's iffy stomach accepted the bland water. Definitely a good step in the right direction.
"You worry about the little things too damned much kiddo," she teased, patting his knee through the layers of blankets. "If I wanted entertainment I've got plenty of people I can pester. Right now I'm more worried about getting you taken care of. Especially since the brat has disappeared and couldn't be there to help, at least I know that I can in his place." Gently she pushed him back against the flat hospital-issued 'pillows' and tugged the blankets up to his chin, tucking them tightly around him so that he could barely move.
"Is there anything I can get for you sweetie?
"Ugh." Haku groaned as he held his palm to his forehead, swallowing back the uneasiness. "I think....I'm okay for now. Thank you, Anko." Another heave of a sigh was released as he relaxed against the bed. "I can't think of anything else you could possibly do. You got me here safe, which is about the only thing I really needed. I couldn't possibly ask for anything more than that." The slight wheeze sounded out at every word he gave, as he weakly closed his eyes. Drained physically, and exhausted - Haku dosed.
The nurse had mouthed to Anko in a half whisper, "I think he'll be okay."
Even though she knew she probably should be heading back to her apartment in case Naruto had finally decided to make an appearance, Anko instead decided to curl back up in the side chair, mind set to stay until Haku had stabilized completely and his status downgraded to a safer level before she would leave.
The hours passed slowly, allowing her to doze briefly and waking only when she heard the soft rustles of the bed linens when Haku would wake up or the soft footfall of the nurse on duty stopping in every so often to check on the younger man's vital signs, the soft scratching of her pen against paper loud against the silence of the room. A few hours before dawn she was nudged awake by the nurse who quietly informed her that Haku's fever had broken and the hypothermia had just about completely been run out of his system. Standing and stretching from many hours in the cramped chair, Anko was quite relieved to see that Haku was sleeping normally rather then the restless sleep of the sick, the wheeze almost non-existent as his chest rose evenly with his breathing at a normal level.
"I don't really like leaving him alone, but I need to be going. Can you let him know that I'll check up on him later on please?" she asked the nurse, keeping her voice low so as not to wake him.
At the notice of her voice, Haku's eyes had shot open and he tried to clear his throat and ended up with a cough instead. He sat up slowly, passing a glance Anko's direction. "Heading out?" He asked fraily, and eyebrows raised. The color had shot back into his features, and the shivering sensation was reduced to a mere twitch.
Haku turned his torso, covers aside - with feet dangling off the edge of the bed. He braced his arm on the IV stand, wedged himself off the mattress, dragged the stand with him like a crutch and walked to Anko. "I just wanted to formally say thank you. You know - before you left."
Anko suddenly had an insightful glimpse into what she'd put Sai and Gaara through back when they had both been watching over her after that particular Cena incident as she saw Haku rise from the hospital bed. Turning her attention away from the nurse, she scowled at the younger man as he came abreast of her.
"Thank me all you want kiddo but hows about you sit your ass down to do it ok? Your insides just about became your outsides not that long ago and you can talk just as well from your bed as you can standing here," she scolded even as she put her hands on his shoulders and guided him back to the bed. "The best thank you can offer me is to not be a stubborn ass like I'm seeing that you're capable of being and just lay back and let these people take care of you ok hun?" Not giving much room for debate she all but pushed Haku back in bed, tucking the blankets securely around his legs in a vain attempt to keep him in one place.
Plopping next to him on the bed, Anko reached out and pressed the back of her hand against Haku's forehead, ensuring herself that the fever was in fact gone. "I need to get going in case your wayward roommate is already frothing at the mouth waiting for me, but I'll let him know you're here and I'll try to make it back later to check on you ok?
Haku couldn't help but be amused at this point, "Half of my reasoning to get up was to say goodbye to you in a chivalrous manner, and the other half was to head for the john. I may be sick but I still need to function normally." He said it all with a smile, "I don't exactly feel like going in a pan. It's too weird."
Hand freezing as she had pulled away, Anko couldn't help the slightly embarrassed flush that stained her cheeks at his admission. She hadn't even thought of that.
"Oops, sorry about that," she laughed, her hand coming up to scratch at the back of her head in her slightly flustered state. Quickly she undid her careful 'tuck job' and offered Haku a hand to help him out of the bed, watching him as he made his way to the restroom in case he were to have lost his balance or whatnot.
"Thanks, Anko." Haku looked to her with his hazel-bound green eyes. "I'd give you a hug, but I'm not sure if you'd punch me for it or what." He joked. Obviously the boy was feeling better, and doing better physically than the night before. About the only way he figured he could possibly say thank you, was by something one of his orphanage friends had taught him long ago before they died. It was sentimental to him, but none the less - he explained it to Anko - as he took her hand lightly, and formed it to a fist. "One of my friends taught me this, along time ago."
All it consisted of was Haku's right hand, and Anko's right hand hitting knuckles. It was a way of communicating, and at the same time it was acknowledgement. "My friend was a deaf-mute. All he knew was how to say hello, or at least get peoples attention was by doing this. So - Thanks. For everything."
Her eyes softened a bit at the explanation as to what exactly it was that Haku was doing with her hand. After letting him finish, she pulled him into a tight hug anyway. “Idiot, I don’t bother sluggin’ people who don’t give me a good enough reason to. Plus why would I hurt ya after dragging your ass here? Kinda defeats the purpose wouldn’t you think?”
Pulling back a bit she ruffled his already bed-matted hair. “I left all my contact info with the nurses so if anything happens they can get up with me and they’ve got instructions to pass it along to you when they give you the ok to leave.” She paused long enough to glare at the kid. “And if you think you’re just going to stroll outta here before they say you can you’ve got another thing coming, so count that as your warning brat.”
Haku nodded at the mention of contact info, yet couldn't help but be amused from being called him a brat, as a short enlightened laugh came from him that ended with a cough. "Don't worry, I think the worst of it all is over. I'm just glad you came around. Really - thanks Anko. I'll contact you, eventually." Haku smiled almost sweetly (as sweet as a boy could, really) waved a hand goodbye to Anko, turned - and walked toward the private restroom, closing the door behind him.
Date: Monday, September 24th
Location: Diner (Firefly), Haku's Apartment
Rating: PG
Warnings/Notes: 'Ralphing' al la Haku. NPC (Stacey, and an unnamed male nurse). A drainage street canal with no lid. Yay for clinics.
Summary: Anko decided to go looking for the brat since he hadn't shown up for days, and found the brat's very sick roommate instead.
Anko could remember a time when she had no one to worry about but herself. Sadly, it would seem that those times were long past as she glared up at her clock wondering where in the hell Naruto was. Granted, he hadn't been sure as to when he was going to make it over but it was starting to get dark out and with all the shit going down all over Curia, she couldn't help but be worried. Not to mention the slight fact that the brat seemed to be as adept as she when it came to attracting all sorts of trouble...so yeah, she was worried about the kid. And, as her stomach reminded her most loudly, she hadn't eaten at all that day so food was definitely on her list of things to do. Sheer laziness and the the fact that she had been sitting around all day doing nothing assisted her in the decision to run out for something to eat, which worked out quite well since she knew that Naruto worked at a nearby diner so she could easily kill two birds with one stone - she can eat and she can also see if anyone had seen the brat.
It only took her a few moments to slip into something she didn't mind getting dirty, with all the muck in the streets it would have been pointless to wear anything else, scribble a quick note for Naruto in case he came while she was out and she was off. Not surprisingly the streets were all but empty, nobody wanting to have to wade to wherever it was they were heading, she didn't even see any patrols out and about. Anko had contemplated taking her bike out for a split second but that thought was quickly shot down as she was afraid of what kind of damage the muck would cause to her baby. It didn't take her long at all to cover the few blocks between her place and the diner, the lights from the windows seemed warm and inviting in the cool darkness of the evening. Perhaps if she were lucky they would even have something to assuage her aching sweet tooth. Opening the door, there was a warm wash of air that contrasted against the coolness of the night chill, urging Anko to come fully into the cozy establishment. There was only a handful of people inside, most lost in their own little worlds or cups of coffee. Sidling up to the counter she plopped herself on one of the aged stools, offering a grin to the waitress back in the kitchen.
The phone rang as one of the waitresses gave Anko a bit of a nod and mouthed, "Be right with you." as she picked the phone. "Firefly - Take Out Service. What can I get for you?" She had paused for a moment, "Oh hey Haku! Feeling any better?" The pause had become somewhat longer than the last, as the garbling voice on the other end sounded rather sloth-like. "Well...I hope you get better in any event." The discernible garble on the other end became establish-able, "Yeah, me too."
"So what do you want?" Stacey mentioned while she drew on the order pad. "Mmhm. Okay. Do you want me to bring it over? All right." She disappeared for a moment, as another girl followed her. "Wait - I thought Naruto was living with his foster family." "No, no - about a week ago Naruto moved in with Haku."
"Well how the hell do you know?" Eiri asked her. "Because I WORK with Haku at another diner." That broke the ice. Eiri looked at Stacey like she had broken some sort of pact code. "Look, I can't afford to work JUST HERE, Eiri. So SHOVE IT." Stacey turned around and smiled at Anko, "Hi - sorry about that, what can I get for you?"
Anko had been perusing the menu, only listening with half an ear to the idle chatter around her when the name 'Haku' hit some chord in her memory. Surely she had heard that name before somewhere...but it wasn't nearly as pressing as her growling stomach was so she dismissed her curiosity in lieu of her menu, tuning out the idle chatter and bickering of the waitresses. She easily bypassed the pasta options, having had more than her fill with all the food shortages she had definitely made a dent in the stash left behind by her old roommate and had firmly decided that once the food was more plentiful she would never touch another plate of spaghetti in her life.
By the time the waitress had come back to her she was ready to start gnawing on the menu itself in an attempt to ease her pangs of hunger, something she sincerely hope did not show as she ticked off a massive order. Nearly diving into the small basket of rolls handed to her, Anko chewed away happily while listening to the two bickering waitresses when belated, something clicked in her mind. Hurriedly swallowing the mouthful of bread, she interrupted the two with no qualms. "Hey, did you say something about Naruto? Blond, kinda loud Naruto?" she asked, sitting on the edge of her stool looking to the two of them eagerly.
"Yeah, loud - blond," Stacey tried to think of another word. "Obnoxious. Reeeeally boisterous." "Wow Stacey - I never knew boisterous was on your vocabulary list." Eiri remarked cynically. "Shut up - you bitch." Stacey yelled.
As amused as Anko was by their antics, she wasn't getting the information she had come here in search of so she waved a hand to catch 'Stacey's' attention before the two could continue on. "You wouldn't have seen him today by chance have you? The brat was supposed to be dropping by my place for a visit but I haven't seen him yet, was getting a little worried," she offered, posing her questions to the Stacey-girl, seeing as though she appeared to be the one 'in-the-know'.
Stacey looked over to Anko in a bit of surprise of the question, as she thought about it. "No - not today." She thought, "But Haku might know where he is. He and Naruto don't live too far away though. If you want, you could come with me when I take Haku's soup to him. After your lunch of course."
That would explain why the name Haku rang a bell as she did vaguely recall Naruto mentioning he had moved out of his foster family's house. She nodded in agreement, not being able to argue with the girl's logic in the slightest. Momentarily she felt a sharp stab of guilt seeing her various plates being brought to her, perhaps she should have stopped to see if either Sai or Kakashi had been home and brought them along, but she had been more worried about finding Naruto and the thought hadn't even crossed her mind until now. Oh well, she'd make it up to them later on she supposed, digging in with gusto. Twenty minutes later had her pushing the last plate away with a content sigh, patting her stomach and eyeing the dessert menu with longing. Perhaps she should have passed on that extra side of veggies so she would have had room for something sweet, but it was too late now. Perhaps if the place was still open after she visited with this Haku she could swing by on her way back home and make up for this slight. Tossing down the cost of her meal plus a hefty tip she looked over for the patiently waiting Stacey. "Ready to go?"
"Just a sec! Can't forget the order!" Stacey put on her rubber boots and picked up the take out for Haku, and headed out the door. "This way," Stacey motioned. "Sometimes Haku and I have the same shifts so he'll walk me home - I live just a bit further up the road but not too far." Stacey pointed out some of the more cobble-stoned sunken areas where the streets 'quilted' themselves with drainage ditches. "Careful of that one there. Someone took the drainage gate off it and you'll end up somewhere like 'Alice'."
"Rea~lly now," she mused, being a little more careful with where she was stepping, "I'll be sure to avoid that one then, thank you. Don't take this the wrong way or anything but is this Haku kid ok? I mean, I'm just looking out for Naruto and I don't want him getting into anything, you should know the poor kid's enough trouble on his own, he doesn't need any more bad influences," Anko wondered, being careful and sidestepped another mysterious looking puddle.
"True," Stacey replied. "I can't blame you on that one, but Haku's practically abstract compared to Naruto's antics. I haven't been working with him for all that long but he knew exactly what to say to Mike - which is a first. I probably only got hired because I have breasts - if you catch my drift." Stacey looked over and cut across the street. "Here we are." Stacey rang the outside doorbell that had an arrow in chalk pointing in the upward direction. A faint, and directional sound of a rather hollow cough had emerged, as did a shuffle of feet.
A door closed, and the banister began to creak as the wooden staircase held the weight a rather weak person, from the shuffling for balance. The door opened, revealing this dark-haired, fragile looking kid with hair messier than it being stuck in a light bulb socket.
Haku winced a little from the overcast skies, and saw Stacey and another woman alongside of her. "Hey Stacey." Haku checked a back pocket for some money. "You mind coming up? I forgot the money upstairs." He held his forehead as if to sever the pain by adding pressure to the spot.
Looking at the pathetic looking kid, Anko felt bad suddenly for tagging along to pester him about his new roommate's whereabouts. Tugging gently on Stacey's sleeve she stopped her before following him upstairs. "Don't worry about it, I've got it," she said, tugging her wallet out of her back pocket and pulling out the required bills to cover the cost of the soup and the trouble for the girl bringing her out this far. She ignored the odd look the kid was giving her, instead focused on getting him his soup and back upstairs in a bed where he belonged. She had heard of some bug that was catching through the Districts, but with all the inoculations they forced on you once enlisted usually kept her pretty healthy even after all these years, she wasn't too worried about catching it herself, but if this was the effects, she could fully understand the worry. Taking the soup from Stacey and thanking her for her assistance, she turned her attention back to Haku, handing the bag off to him. "You don't know me anymore then I know you, but I'm Anko, a friend of Naruto's."
Haku grasped the bag, which was hard since his side was stiff. "I'm Haku. I'll offer you some soup if you'd like some. Any friend of Naruto's is pretty much on good terms with me. And - thank you for the food. I'm most grateful." There was a dull sincerity in his voice, but it was the truthful tone that gave it much more of a fly. "Would you like to come in Miss Anko?" Haku motioned towards the upstairs.
Her stomach protested at the thought of any more food, but she waved off the rest of his words more-so focused on getting the kid in a bed before he collapsed on her. "I'm not going to bother you for very long, I promise. Let's get you upstairs and get something on your stomach hmm? You don't look like you should be up and about anyway hun," the dreaded maternal urges seemed to overtake her, her previous concern for Naruto set to the side momentarily with the new focus of someone else who needed looking after. "And please, just Anko. The 'Miss' makes me feel old."
"Understood." Haku turned and headed up the stairs. His feet were alot more agile than before, merely since he had just woke up. His hair was quite the mess. Still, the fact of having company over delighted him and reminded him of when he still resided with his parents. "Would you like anything to drink Anko?".
"Don't worry about me hun, if you want, sit down and point me in the right direction and I'll get whatever you need," she gently ordered, ignoring the fact that it was hardly her place to be doing this in a stranger's home. Had she not gotten used to the feminine qualities of Sai's roommate Neji, perhaps she would have been a bit awestruck after getting a good look at the sick kid with his similar long long hair and effeminate features. "Have you been over to the clinic or seen a doctor or anything yet, 'cause quite frankly you're not looking too well sweetie."
"Not yet," Haku opened the bag and set it on the table propped with books, and folded his legs underneath the table. "I haven't been here long enough to really know my way around." Haku motioned to the soup, "Please, take a seat. You sure you wouldn't like any?" Haku was somewhat reminded by Anko's kindness to the time when Naruto had given him a towel to dry him off from the rain. It had put a meager smile upon Haku's face, and he was glad to have some company. He wondered to himself if all of Naruto's friends were this kind to each other.
"You should probably go when you think you can travel far enough on your own, or you can call over there and they'll probably send someone, it's only a couple of blocks from here and not hard at all to find. I'll give a heads up to the head doc over there or my one neighbor who lends a hand when he has the time. I'm surprised Naruto hasn't mentioned that he's assisting over there as well," she prattled on, easily plopping herself down across from the young man. "And no, I assure you, I'm more then fine. I had met your friend Stacey at the diner she works at while I was busy stuffing myself so no, trust me, I don't need anything else for a while." She didn't bother to disguise the fact that she was glancing around, trying to see as much of the small apartment as she could from her vantage point being the nosey person that she was. "Naruto's not been giving you a hard time yet has he?"
"Okay." Haku took the bowl of soup and began to drink it straight from the bowl. He wiped his mouth, "Yeah, Stacey can be quite amusing at times. I'm glad you tagged along with her though." He took another gulp of the soup. "Actually - Naruto hasn't bothered me at all. At first he thought I was female - that's always awkward." The raised eyebrows came up as he drank the soup again. "But no - he had mentioned that he does alot of stuff, I'm not sure what - but .....well." Haku paused. "To tell you the truth, I ... I haven't seen him since he moved in." The warmth of the soup that he had cupped between his hands comforted him. "Mind you," Haku looked to Anko, "It's none of my business what he does, really. He was looking for a place to stay and I know my landlady was needing someone else up here." He sipped the soup again, "I'd rather have Naruto in here than a complete stranger."
"By the way, feel more than welcome to look around. Naruto's room is the one behind me, and my room just has a bedroll in it is all." He smiled a little, "I'm really glad you came by. I haven't met very many people in Celo as of yet." Haku finished off the soup, and set the styrofoam bowl on the table.
She was glad to see Haku's color improving as he made quick work of his soup, making her wrinkle her nose at the thought that perhaps they should have brought more so he wouldn't have to worry about calling out or even making the trip to get it if his friend wasn't available to do so for him.
"I'm glad the kid hasn't been running you ragged but you say you haven't seen him since he moved in??" Anko chewed on her lip, not being able to help but to worry about what Naruto could have gotten himself into in that large window of time.
"Yeah. I don't know where he's gone." The look on his face was a bit spaced, calm, yet poised. Looking down at the edge of the table, as a spasm of coughing suddenly emerged. "Pardon me." He croaked weakly, as he got up to the bathroom and began to cough over the toilet. The sounds echoed and created a bit of reverb off the walls. He kneeled close to the toilet, and tried to control the shivering and weakness he was feeling. He coughed again a few times - rather loudly, and it developed into more or less of puking. Exhausted, he sat against the wall. Breathing rather heavily. "Of course." He heaved, "It's better he's not here right now anyway. He might get sick too." He took the handle and flushed the toilet, while he rested his elbow on his knee, and his knee to his head. Sighing that that moment was over, he over - he cleaned his hands and face and rested against the wall across from Anko.
Anko winced at the retching noises coming the general vicinity of Haku's exit. Just as she had thought him to gone a little too long he returned, sliding down the wall back down to a seated position, looking even paler and weary then before. Crawling over to where he sat she brushed a cool hand against his hot forehead, combing back the long tangle of hair. "Sweetheart, you shouldn't even be out of bed in this state," she worried. He hadn't even been able to keep that little bit of soup down for a solid ten minutes, never a good sign of any illness. "The brat's got an amazing resilience to a lot of things I'm learning, but you should worry more-so about yourself. If I had known you were this bad off I wouldn't even have bothered you. Naruto was supposed to be swinging by my place but he hadn't shown up yet so I was just going to stop at the diner to poke around a bit and ended up here instead." She pulled herself to her feet, squatting down next to him and reached out a hand. "Come on hun, lets get you back to bed ok?"
"Honestly?" He looked over as she swept his hair to the side. "I think its better you came by." Haku closed his eyes and rested the back of his head against the wall. "Please. Anko - take me to the clinic. I...I think you're right. Don't think I've got the strength to get there otherwise, and I've tried everything." He pushed himself toward the wall, and staggered himself to stand. "I need to get back to work, eventually."
She watched with a hand in place in case Haku lost his balance. “If you’re really feeling up to it that’s not a problem with me, I just don’t want you to overexert yourself to the point of feeling worse,” she fretted, though from the determined look in his tired eyes, she knew she would have been better off talking to the wall. “Point me in the direction of something warm for you to put on over your clothes and some shoes you don’t mind getting dirty. With all the gunk in the street whatever you wear is probably going to get ruined. A brush would probably be good too,” she tacked on, wrinkling at the thought of having to deal with so much hair. Her's only reached her shoulders when down, but even that seemed to be far too long most days.
He coughed again. Just enough to clear the congestion in his throat. "I'd rather go now, than it be too late to catch." Haku groaned a little, stabilizing himself to his feet. "I know I barely know you. But I feel I can trust you." He pulled out a hair tie and pulled ever strand of hair back. On the inside - his mind had slowly calculated all of the thoughts Anko had of the maternal instincts she had given out. She put herself out to look for Naruto out of worry, and found him instead. Purchased his food for him out of regret. It was the nobility, the cause, and the overall nature of her that he utmost respected above all other people in this world. Nurturing, and caring individuals, for the sake of others.
"Everything I own is by the door." Which was all but a ruggedly holed coat, and a pair of shoes that looked as if they never did give much protection. "Thank you," Haku thought to himself, "For saving me."
Even though she was definitely having second thoughts about exposing him to the evening air, perhaps it was the lesser of two evils rather then letting him sit home alone to progressively get worse. His words however caused her to freeze in mid-step to get the required pieces of clothing. First Kankurou and now this boy she had known for a little less then an hour, so quick and eager to place something as fragile as trust in her of all people. Didn't people still warn children not to trust strangers anymore? If one were to totally discount the fact that she was the one who originally took the initiative to barge into his living space, most people wouldn't have allowed a complete stranger into their home, regardless of the fact she was trying to help, she was still a stranger. Shaking herself from her mental thoughts she wandered over to where his shoes and coat were resting. Bringing them back to him she forced a smile and offered a bit of advice. "I appreciate that you think so highly of me, but I would strongly advise against misplacing your trust in another's hands,hun. Not when you know so little about the other person," she said, tugging the end of his hair to lighten the severity of her words.
It took a little time and effort, but between the fumbling of the both of them eventually Haku was bundled up as best as could be expected and they were slowly picking their way through the murky puddles and side streets. There were several pauses to let Haku catch his breath or try to control a hacking fit, but eventually the lights of the clinic came into view.
Not even a block away - He wheezed. His chest felt heavy. It brought him to his kness in the middle of the street. "Get......."
"........Help."
He never thought he'd ever be asking such a thing to her. Anko. Genessa. The contraction of his lungs were faint, as he fell into unconsciousness. He was still alive, but it wasn't enough to keep him coherent. "I'm putting my life in your hands, and I have no choice. . . . I'm so sorry I put you through this."
Motionless, yet alive - that string of fate. Destiny. Life. Soul. Spirit. Luckily he landed in a more barren part of the road.
His eyes, were releasing the moisture - better known as tears. As a silhouette outside of the clinic threw their cigarette aside and came running.
It would have been too much to hope for she supposed, even as she fell to her knees along side of him to keep the sick kid from cracking his head on the disgusting pavement. They had been close enough so that the person outside had seen them and was thankfully running over to their side, even as Anko fell back trying to rouse some reaction from him.
“Haku! Come on kid, we’re almost there, you just need to wake up,” she urged, patting his pale cheek. The fever burning through his body was easily felt to her even through the layers of clothes. She didn’t bother turning to the guy who skidded to a stop next to them, instead kept her focus on Haku and trying to illicit some sort of response from him.
“He’s been burning up for the past hour or so, can’t keep anything down. Sounded like he has quite a bit of congestion in his chest,” she brusquely informed the newcomer. “Are you going to be able to carry him or should one of us be running to get some help or what?” Chancing a glance over to her side, she saw young man, probably a few years younger then herself, but not someone she recognized. Rather than answering her, he picked up the unconscious Haku and quickly started towards the clinic, informing her that apparently there had been a significant increase in the number of cases such as this. It would perhaps explain as to why she had been so little of Sai if there really was some viral thing floating about from all the rain and filth littering the streets all of them at the clinic had probably been pulling some massive overtime.
She trailed closely behind, worried that she would be relegated out in the small waiting area, but the assistant didn’t even suggest it. In all actuality he tilted his head in gesture to a chair hovering in the corner of the even smaller exam room, setting to work immediately. Silently she watched as he took vitals, turning her head and focused on a crack in the wall when she saw him pull out a syringe but otherwise not taking her eyes off the two.
After the check on Haku, the nurse began to write down his condition onto a chart - walked out of the room, and back in. Conversing with someone in the hall that asked about the patient, the mention of bronchitis, elevated stage 2 of hypothermia were exchanged, as were orders for wool blankets.
The nurse returned and asked Anko if she wanted anything, also asking if she could watch over him until she saw any discernible movement. He also gave her a bucket in case Haku awoke, and needed it for anything. The boy remained blue-skinned and pale for about 45 minutes - when his chest gave a sign of life. A groaning wheeze of a breath entered through his nostrils, and out. The chest movements repeated normally, as the sweat of a fever hit his brow. Within a fifteen minute time frame, Haku opened his eyes. The groaning wheezes of breath were still there - yet not as casual.
Haku turned his head to her general direction. "Anko?" There was a pause.
The frail voice barely reached her ears, just loud enough to rouse her from her light nap. Yawning hugely, she stretched out muscles stiff from sitting for so long before standing and strolling over to the hospital bed, reaching out to brush back a piece of hair that had stuck to his sweat dampened cheek. "Welcome back kiddo, you scared the hell out of me back there." The soft smile she offered to soften her words was a genuine one, one that was rarely seen without the sarcastic twist of her lips.
"Thank you, Anko." Haku gave her a soft smile back, yet the regret he felt on the inside of getting her tied up into his own problem, bogged the smile down. Had he but realized earlier at how severe the condition he was in, he would have gone much sooner. It still hurt to breathe at moments, and the pain pierced. It was hard to swallow, hard to say anything. Even saying 'thank you' to Anko probably sounded alot more like a dicer with bones in it.
Yet the conscious state didn't take long for the fever to return, the frustration was apparent on his brow. Within a few moments, he was sitting up. He had to. It was thatstifling notion that whatever was injected into his body....which he could feel crawling within him, was completely eradicating at least the bronchitis.
He held his mouth, as a strain of blood was running past his chin. He tried breathing through his nose, and another convulsion started.
“Hey hey! Dammit brat, you just woke back up!” Anko fussed, snatching out a few tissues from the box sitting alongside the bed, dabbing at the trail of red running swiftly down his chin. With a smooth motion she reached over and hit the alarm button at the head of Haku’s bed before sitting down on the edge of the mattress, wrapping her free arm around his shoulders to help stabilize him. “You shouldn’t be moving so quickly after all that, your ass just needs to lie still for a bit and let the medicine do what it needs to do,” she scolded, rubbing soothing circles on his back, doing what little she could until either the attack passed or until someone else more qualified got there.
Thankfully, the nurse guy from earlier came rushing around the corner and eyeballed the situation. It only took a moment for him to locate what he needed before injecting it into Haku’s IV line, the medicine working it’s way through the small plastic tubing and into his system. Feeling his slight frame convulse under her hands, she reached for the small basin sitting near the tissue box just in case. She didn't mind helping the kid out in the slightest, but if he were to get sick and on her no less...well, that may be just bit further that she would have preferred.
"I-..I can't, hol-," Haku's words turned into garble. He couldn't hold it back any longer and his body convulsed. He didn't even have the time to grab any type of container as it dispensed through his mouth and past his fingers. It wasn't anything he ate, no. There wasn't anything in his stomach. He heaved, as his body shuddered, literally shaking in Anko hands. Moisture again from his eyes that shot to the raw blood coming from within, hitting the small basin in front.
Shaking, and looking rather jaundiced, another spasm attacked the basin. His hand, full of blood - his nostrils showed of the same sign. Strangely enough - Haku analyzed the contents of the bowl while he waited for his body to discontinue shaking. His eyes were clouded and darkened - almost as if he were in a daze. Bits of blood covered mucus that encased a darkphlegm -colored substance, much like what lay out in the streets. Earlier the nurse had left and grabbed two extra basins, he had returned and exchanged for the silver colored shine of a sterile basin into Haku's hands. The only thing he did was stare into the bottom of that pan, waiting for the shaking to stop while his fever dropped.
Silently thanking her strong stomach, Anko slid off the bed and wandered off into the bathroom in search of a washcloth. It only took a few moments of digging around before she pulled one out in triumph, running it under the cool tap before heading back to where Haku still sat, body racked with silent shudders. She took the basin out of his hands and set it off to the side before wiping the cool fabric across his forehead, dabbed at the tears studding the corner of his eyes and the remnants of his illness that still stained his lips as he struggled to draw breath.
"Think you can handle a bit of water sweetie? If anything else you probably need to rinse your mouth out I'm sure." Gently she tugged back the mass of hair that had tangled around his face during that little episode, wishing she could pull it back but it would probably be uncomfortable for him to lay on once she got him situated.
"Sure." He said roughly, half choking on his own words. He wearily grasped the glass, took a sip - swished it through his mouth, and repeated it once more after spitting it into the basin. Haku took slow sips of water at first, to ensure that it would reach the proper destination. Once he found it hitting his stomach, he drank the rest. Haku finally figured that the worst of the night was somewhat over, as the queasiness in his stomach churned. Nervous twitches happened every few moments, and the nurse handed him some clean wool blankets. He was shivering, but this time it was the hypothermia symptom. No matter how warm the wool was - he shivered. "Not much of company - am I?" Haku scoffed.
It was a relief that Haku's iffy stomach accepted the bland water. Definitely a good step in the right direction.
"You worry about the little things too damned much kiddo," she teased, patting his knee through the layers of blankets. "If I wanted entertainment I've got plenty of people I can pester. Right now I'm more worried about getting you taken care of. Especially since the brat has disappeared and couldn't be there to help, at least I know that I can in his place." Gently she pushed him back against the flat hospital-issued 'pillows' and tugged the blankets up to his chin, tucking them tightly around him so that he could barely move.
"Is there anything I can get for you sweetie?
"Ugh." Haku groaned as he held his palm to his forehead, swallowing back the uneasiness. "I think....I'm okay for now. Thank you, Anko." Another heave of a sigh was released as he relaxed against the bed. "I can't think of anything else you could possibly do. You got me here safe, which is about the only thing I really needed. I couldn't possibly ask for anything more than that." The slight wheeze sounded out at every word he gave, as he weakly closed his eyes. Drained physically, and exhausted - Haku dosed.
The nurse had mouthed to Anko in a half whisper, "I think he'll be okay."
Even though she knew she probably should be heading back to her apartment in case Naruto had finally decided to make an appearance, Anko instead decided to curl back up in the side chair, mind set to stay until Haku had stabilized completely and his status downgraded to a safer level before she would leave.
The hours passed slowly, allowing her to doze briefly and waking only when she heard the soft rustles of the bed linens when Haku would wake up or the soft footfall of the nurse on duty stopping in every so often to check on the younger man's vital signs, the soft scratching of her pen against paper loud against the silence of the room. A few hours before dawn she was nudged awake by the nurse who quietly informed her that Haku's fever had broken and the hypothermia had just about completely been run out of his system. Standing and stretching from many hours in the cramped chair, Anko was quite relieved to see that Haku was sleeping normally rather then the restless sleep of the sick, the wheeze almost non-existent as his chest rose evenly with his breathing at a normal level.
"I don't really like leaving him alone, but I need to be going. Can you let him know that I'll check up on him later on please?" she asked the nurse, keeping her voice low so as not to wake him.
At the notice of her voice, Haku's eyes had shot open and he tried to clear his throat and ended up with a cough instead. He sat up slowly, passing a glance Anko's direction. "Heading out?" He asked fraily, and eyebrows raised. The color had shot back into his features, and the shivering sensation was reduced to a mere twitch.
Haku turned his torso, covers aside - with feet dangling off the edge of the bed. He braced his arm on the IV stand, wedged himself off the mattress, dragged the stand with him like a crutch and walked to Anko. "I just wanted to formally say thank you. You know - before you left."
Anko suddenly had an insightful glimpse into what she'd put Sai and Gaara through back when they had both been watching over her after that particular Cena incident as she saw Haku rise from the hospital bed. Turning her attention away from the nurse, she scowled at the younger man as he came abreast of her.
"Thank me all you want kiddo but hows about you sit your ass down to do it ok? Your insides just about became your outsides not that long ago and you can talk just as well from your bed as you can standing here," she scolded even as she put her hands on his shoulders and guided him back to the bed. "The best thank you can offer me is to not be a stubborn ass like I'm seeing that you're capable of being and just lay back and let these people take care of you ok hun?" Not giving much room for debate she all but pushed Haku back in bed, tucking the blankets securely around his legs in a vain attempt to keep him in one place.
Plopping next to him on the bed, Anko reached out and pressed the back of her hand against Haku's forehead, ensuring herself that the fever was in fact gone. "I need to get going in case your wayward roommate is already frothing at the mouth waiting for me, but I'll let him know you're here and I'll try to make it back later to check on you ok?
Haku couldn't help but be amused at this point, "Half of my reasoning to get up was to say goodbye to you in a chivalrous manner, and the other half was to head for the john. I may be sick but I still need to function normally." He said it all with a smile, "I don't exactly feel like going in a pan. It's too weird."
Hand freezing as she had pulled away, Anko couldn't help the slightly embarrassed flush that stained her cheeks at his admission. She hadn't even thought of that.
"Oops, sorry about that," she laughed, her hand coming up to scratch at the back of her head in her slightly flustered state. Quickly she undid her careful 'tuck job' and offered Haku a hand to help him out of the bed, watching him as he made his way to the restroom in case he were to have lost his balance or whatnot.
"Thanks, Anko." Haku looked to her with his hazel-bound green eyes. "I'd give you a hug, but I'm not sure if you'd punch me for it or what." He joked. Obviously the boy was feeling better, and doing better physically than the night before. About the only way he figured he could possibly say thank you, was by something one of his orphanage friends had taught him long ago before they died. It was sentimental to him, but none the less - he explained it to Anko - as he took her hand lightly, and formed it to a fist. "One of my friends taught me this, along time ago."
All it consisted of was Haku's right hand, and Anko's right hand hitting knuckles. It was a way of communicating, and at the same time it was acknowledgement. "My friend was a deaf-mute. All he knew was how to say hello, or at least get peoples attention was by doing this. So - Thanks. For everything."
Her eyes softened a bit at the explanation as to what exactly it was that Haku was doing with her hand. After letting him finish, she pulled him into a tight hug anyway. “Idiot, I don’t bother sluggin’ people who don’t give me a good enough reason to. Plus why would I hurt ya after dragging your ass here? Kinda defeats the purpose wouldn’t you think?”
Pulling back a bit she ruffled his already bed-matted hair. “I left all my contact info with the nurses so if anything happens they can get up with me and they’ve got instructions to pass it along to you when they give you the ok to leave.” She paused long enough to glare at the kid. “And if you think you’re just going to stroll outta here before they say you can you’ve got another thing coming, so count that as your warning brat.”
Haku nodded at the mention of contact info, yet couldn't help but be amused from being called him a brat, as a short enlightened laugh came from him that ended with a cough. "Don't worry, I think the worst of it all is over. I'm just glad you came around. Really - thanks Anko. I'll contact you, eventually." Haku smiled almost sweetly (as sweet as a boy could, really) waved a hand goodbye to Anko, turned - and walked toward the private restroom, closing the door behind him.