30. Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Andy
Chi seemed well enough to bring to the hospital. She had stabilized. We thought the doctors at the party had found the worst of the bleeding and stemmed it. But we were wrong.
They’ve missed some of the bleeding, from what I can tell. Her brother isn’t here to translate for me in the ambulance, and the EMTs yell Japanese medical jargon back and forth at each other. There is probably no other time I can think of when I’ve been more desperate for information that I can’t get in some other way. Although if I could torture the doctors just to hear them tell me what’s wrong with Chi in English, I probably would.
I think I catch the words “Hemorrhagic shock,” and I know it’s not good at all. They don’t seem to have the same machines available here as they did in the mansion we just left, and I don’t know if they’re losing her or if she’s still here and in what capacity. So I take her hand and squeeze.
I’m not used to begging, but I do it now. “Stay with me, Chee-chee. Just a few more minutes until we get there.”
She sleeps for a long time after they stabilize her again. We are relatively sure it’s just sleeping, since her brain function seems okay.
“Sometimes after a trauma, it just takes the body extra time to heal and catch up to the brain,” the doctor says. But I really think this is just Chi. This is just Chi needing some time to regroup and catch her breath before opening her eyes and facing… life. Facing everything that has changed.
And so much has. I hear the whispers. I talk to the police about what we’ve endured, and they look at us in this way that tells me… everyone fucking knows about us. It’s no wonder they do. It’s all over the news: Chichi Yano’s secret lover.
I tell the police the fucking truth. I don’t need to lie. I simply keep what I know about
the Kantoku-sha to myself. I make sure they know that when Chichi Yano wakes up, if they are still here asking stupid questions, she will be very unhappy indeed. They know what that means. The citizens of Japan may not know who she is but the important people do: law enforcement, billionaires, government officials. They know what they’ll be dealing with if they don’t listen to my warning.
Even Akihito looks at me differently. With some strange light or hope that wasn’t there in his eyes before. “Do you think… I wonder if there is a way that you two can…” I know what he’s trying to say. Can we be together?
I’ve thought about it too. Of course I’ve wondered. I’ve pushed for her — I’ve pushed for more and more of her. But in the end, I know I truly have all of her, whether we label this or not. And of course I want the label. I’m certain even she wants it. But I’ve already known I’ll take whatever I can have of her — whatever she’ll give me. Whatever she’ll allow herself to give me.
Finally, after a full day, Chi’s eyes open, and she looks at me like she was never asleep. “My knight in shining armor,” are her first sarcastic words, croaked out past dry lips. “How long has it been?” she asks, eyes half open.
“A little over twenty-four hours,” I say, squeezing her hand.
She looks down at herself. While the blood has been cleaned off, she hasn’t had a shower. “Two days. Gross.” She smiles lazily and breathes deep, wincing at the tightness of her chest and clutching the bandages on her side. “I was pretty tired, I guess.”
“That shot to the liver probably had something to do with it, too.” I smile and smooth the hair out of her face. “We almost lost you for a minute.”
Her gaze wanders. “Yeah. I know.”
I study her, almost laughing at how high she looks. “Did you have any dreams?”
“Yeah.” She sighs again. “It was weird, but I wish… I wish I could have it again. I don’t think I will, though.”
I don’t get the feeling she wants to talk about it, and it doesn’t feel like something that needs to be discussed. So I let it go and squeeze her hand tighter. “I’m really glad you’re here,” I say, needing to at least impart that bit of thought running through my head.
She looks at me and smiles again: a genuine, appraising smile. It’s like she’s checking me out and reassessing the man she chose to be by her side at a time like this.
She nods in approval. “I am too.”