A Time for Changes

Chapter 7 -  And I Am The One Who Can’t Be Saved

He was shocked at how light she felt, falling into his arms. When did she lose this much weight? Had the grief affected her in this way? But that thought was replaced quickly with the horrid realization; not only was Kagome covered in blood, she was still bleeding.

“Hey, what the hell?”

His nose twitched. Beneath the layers of blood the wolf’s scent was on the jacket she wore. Had something happened between her and that bastard, Koga?

“Don’t do this! Don’t die, damnit!”

In a fluid motion he scooped her into his arms while kicking open the front door of the café. Nana, at the counter, with white hair dropped her jaw, but with surprising quickness, realized what was going on.

“Taishou, take her into the back,” she ordered, already picking up the phone with her other hand, calling for an ambulance. “I will be right there.”

She surveyed the room quickly, “Yuri-chan, cover this front counter.” She looked around at the few customers that were inside this late at night. “Do not cause a scene right now. You all stay in your chairs or leave. Yuri-chan will attend to you.” The customers nodded slowly, some paling at the small puddles of blood trailing across the room.

Nana threw open the back door to see Taishou-san desperately tending to the girl. He’d ripped away the top of her shirt, finding aprons in the back to try and create tourniquets.  All the time he was cursing, panic in his eyes. He was so concerned he hadn’t realized that the baseball cap fell off his head. Nana had realized his secret a long time ago when she did his background check. The government kept taps on anyone with demon blood who had been born in a hospital, but, Nana had politely, never let him know this. People can do what they want.

“Don’t die. Don’t die.”

“Taishou-san!”  Taishou-san whipped his head up to see Nana standing over the unconscious body. She dropped to her knees and quickly examined her body.  “Someone tried to heal her, but didn’t have time.” He looked at her with confusion. “Look,  see the wounds, they were trying to bring connective skin over the deepest gashes. It’s demon saliva.”

“Do you want me to lick her or something?” Taishou-san looked at her with complete confusion.

Nana shook her head, “No. Too much time has passed.” She pressed her fingers delicately to the girl’s throat and listened to her breathing. “Listen to me. She’s not going to make it for the parametics to get her back to the hospital.”

Taishou-san roared, “What? NO way she can die!” He looked down at Kagome’s face, bloodied, sprinkled with tears, and entirely unmoving. “Help me, Nana! She can’t die.”

Nana pulled out a pocketknife and took Taishou-san’s hand, pricking the top of his thumb. He yelped and immediately went to suck on it. “Don’t do that! Give her your blood,” she told him, pulling his hand to hover over her lips.

“This is not a time to be vampires, Nana!”

She glared, “Taishou-san. Your blood is potent, full of demon healing, give her the blood if you want any hope of her waking up alive.”

Taishou-san frowned, somehow it felt like there was information missing, but with his free hand he parted her lips slowly and let a few drops drop into her mouth. She swallowed instinctively, no expression crossing her face.  The room was still.

Nothing happened. Taishou looked to Nana, and Nana’s face paled, fearing they had missed their chance to save this girl. The tourniquets that Taishou-san had created were deep red still.  Nana pulled the girls hands into a prayer-like form and draped them over the girl’s body, laying them upon the stomach. She draped a coat over the girl’s frame too, then leaned over to listen to her.

“She’s still breathing, Taishou-san. I’m going out front to wait for the ambulance.”

“You just want me to leave her this way? There’s  nothing else I can do? She’s bleeding.”

Nana frowned and shook her head, “If her body takes to the blood, you’ll know.”

No sooner had Nana left the room, Kagome’s body was engulfed in a pink light. Taishou-san jumped back, hissing, covering his eyes from the harsh light, “What the hell?” But, Taishou-san recognized this feeling. This was Kagome’s aura, the pink aura, from when she was happy. He peaked between his fingers and saw a blue light wrap itself around the wild waves of her pink aura, as if the blue wanted to tame the wild pink. Her hair and clothes dances with the harsh winds the energy was causing. The cups and other storage items in the back were starting to shake, kami, it felt like the whole store was shaking.

“Shit.”

The two colors combined and were sucked back into Kagome’s body, like a vacuum, just to be forced back in a new black light, sending Taishou-san flying against the wall. His back hit with a loud crack, and down he slumped. He tried to force his eyes open to see what happened, but all he caught was the black swirls of light. Cups fell from the shelves, entire storage units fell over, it felt like the end of the world, all from this girl and a few drops of his blood.

“Kagome!”

Her body slumped. The last of the shaking items fell and shattered.  Taishou-san sighed and hung his head. This might have been…what Nana said. He’d “know” when the body took the blood, which was an understatement.

Slowly, he crawled on all fours to her body. “Kagome-chan?” There was a line of white light lining her body; it glowed faintly, pulsing, much like a lighthouse’s beam.  He watched her chest rise and fall, calmly, as if she were sleeping. He sniffed the air. While blood lingered, it was no longer fresh. Her wounds had…stopped?

The paramedics came rushing in, kindly shoving Taishou-san aside as they pulled her onto a gurney and just as quickly ushered her away. Nana and Taishou stood by the front door watching the ambulance scream away into the distance.

“What happened to her?” Nana asked slowly, pulling off her apron, covered in Kagome’s blood.

“I can’t tell. I know she was last with her boyfriend, that wolf, Koga. He’s been in here before.”

“Ah, the asshole who insulted my best worker?” Nana looked up at him, winking. She patted his back a few times. “Go get out of those clothes, you’re scaring my customers.” Taishou-san looked down at himself. His jeans and t-shirt were ragged from Kagome’s aura-outburst, and her blood.

“Old lady?”

“Yes?” she tilted her head, unfamiliar with his low and almost cautious voice.

He turned to her, “She has no family. No one is going to be there when she wakes up.”

Nana frowned and twirled a piece of her white hair, “Distant relatives?”

Taishou-san shook his head, “All I know is her entire nuclear family has passed on.”

“Then call her closest friends. Wasn’t your pal, Miroku, dating her?”

Taishou-san nodded and turned to leave.

“Taishou-san. If her boyfriend did this to her, you need to make sure he stays away from the hospital. Demons are territorial, be careful, okay?”

He left quietly.

- - - -

The thudding on her door jolted Sango from her bowl of ice cream and American soap operas. It was a larger fist beating furiously against the door. Without Kagome or Miroku around, she felt, uneasy for once.  Kagome and Miroku could easily let themselves in, so who was the guest, banging furiously at her door?

Putting the ice cream down on the counter she straightened herself out, pulled her hair up on ponytail, and walked towards the door. She opened the door a crack, not unlocking the chain bolt.

“Hai hai, yes?

“Hey, Sango-chan.”

Surprised, Sango-chan yanked open the door for Taishou-san. He stood now, in a different set of jeans and t-shirt, bandana hiding his ears. Even so, his ears were flat against his skull.

“Hi, Inuyasha-san, how are you? What brings you across the hall?” She smiled and moved to prepare team for him. He still stood in the doorway. She looked back and frowned, “My place won’t bite you. I mean, please don’t break my plates, but you’re welcomed here.”

“Have you talked to Higurashi-chan lately?”

Sango smiled, “We were going to hang out this afternoon, I haven’t heard from her yet though. She’s still got some time though--”

“Sango-chan…”

“---we’re going to watch a bunch of cheesy American romance films and order a ton of takeout. I’m hoping to cheer her up a little bit. “ she pulls out two cups, “Green tea is okay, right?”

“She’s in the hospital.” Sango-chan put the cups down on the counter, her frame shaking. Inuyasha approached her slowly and took her shoulder, “I’ll explain on the way.”

- - - - -

Sango had led Inuyasha to the apartment where Koga-kun lived.  The two couldn’t help but be impressed at the large-scale corporate like building. Penthouses were always something out of the reach of normal commoners. The two progressed to the front doors, but were interrupted by three neko-demons carrying a large piano on their backs.

“Careful you two, it’s moving day for the top floor.”

The door clerk was a small old man with a white ponytail. He wore the doorman clothes an American would wear, with blue pants and jacket, lapelled with golden buttons and a matching hat.  He had a set of keys looped around his belt, a night staff, and a cell phone.

“Moving?”

The old man nodded, “That’s right.  The wolf family packed up and left last night. They are having things moved out today and tomorrow as well.”

Inuyasha felt his fists clench and grit his teeth. ‘So that wolf is responsible…’

Sango looked around and frowned, “Are they still here? We were hoping to talk to Koga-san.”

The doorman shook his head once more, “I’m sorry miss, they left earlier this morning. A red eye straight to America. Apparently that’s where the husband is, with urgent business to work on. The family relocated for his sake.”

Sango looked to Taishou, frowning, “What about Kagome-chan? Did she know about this?”

“Damnit, I don’t know. Lets go to the hospital and see if they will let us see her. We’re not her fucking kin, so they have every right to forbid it.”

- - - - - - -

Consciousness hit her with a heavy thud, as if her soul had slammed back into her body by force of gravity. Everything was very heavy, her eyelids down to her toe nails, hurt with an immense weight. There were murmurs out of her range of hearing. Movement too. Foggy sounds of chairs scarping along the floor.

There was a faint beep that echoed in her ears too, but everything felt like she was under water. She struggled to find energy to make her presence known to whomever mumbled in the room, but all she could muster was a twitch in her left index finger.

“I’m sorry that we don’t have more information for you two, but she has not regained consciousness since the accident,” the doctor explained, looking over her medical charts.

Sango, bravely holding back tears, looked at her friend in her hospital gown. She held the bagged clothes that Kagome had last worn and held them to her chest, trying to steady her breath. “What have you been doing then? Don’t doctors help wake people up!”

The doctor, probably around Sango’s parents’ age, sighed and ran his hand through his graying hair. “I may be a doctor, but not all of us are experts in the effects demon blood have on humans. This is a concept we have been researching around the world.”

Taishou-san looked at the floor, “Did you need to give her blood?”



“Oh yes, bags of it, but she’s type A, and its fairly easy to come by. She’s been on IV fluids around the clock to help keep her stable. For the first twelve hours we did keep her under and asleep, we wanted to study her wounds.”

Sango, growing more irritated, pulled the doctor aside, “Twelve hours? Why would you study her wounds? Why aren’t you stitching her back up? Is it cost, because you know insurance and the Japanese government aid will help this?

Taishou had pulled up a chair beside Kagome-chan’s bed.  It was the first time in a while the girl seemed peaceful, even asleep. The lines of worry in her forehead seemed to fade, but maybe that was the aid of intense medications and painkillers.  Still, the sheer size Kagome had been reduced to was alarming. With the rise and fall of her chest, he could see, just barely, outlines of her ribs under the hospital blanket.  She could be good to gain at least another ten pounds.

Sango still quarreled with the doctor in the background.  Taishou could see peaks of her wounds at the top of the blanket and robe, the lashes so deep. While his blood had provided a sheer cover for her wounds, but he knew they would scar. There was a tight bandage on her cheek, covering up the other small lacerations she had.

Kami, hadn’t this poor girl been through enough? Having to move out of her home for the sake of her best friend and boyfriend, her brother dying, and now her supposedly loving boyfriend had attacked her? What did she ever do to deserve this?

He reached over and brushed some lose strands of her hair out of her face. “Kagome…”

Her finger twitched again.

Taishou-san blinked and looked at her closely. Had he imagined her moving? He looked over to Sango and the doctor. The doctor, from the looks of it, was going over charts and financial figures for Sango. Taishou-san knew that Sango was going to try and take care of this before Kagome woke up, or she’d be more upset. Still, neither seemed to notice the minute change in the girl.

Taishou looked back at Kagome.  There was no white glow, but he felt something inside him shift, his beast let out the tiniest hint of a whimper. For the most part, being hanyou, his beast tried to ignore him as much as possible. But now his beast was whimpering? He leaned over Kagome’s frame and sniffed.  Nothing, no movement.

He sat back down and nudged her hand just slightly, whispering to her, “Kagome.”

Again her fingers twitched, this time both her index and ring finger had moved. Now Inuyasha was sure he’d seen her move. He smiled. The girl was a fighter, for sure.  Her facial expression hadn’t changed, but she knew that Kagome was somewhere in the damaged body.

Slowly, he picked up her hand, and gave it a squeeze. “Oye, you klutz, getting yourself hurt like that. Would you wake up? I’m supposed to apologize to you, remember?”

Kagome couldn’t make out what people were saying in the room. From beneath her eyelids, she swore she could sense the people in her room. There were maybe…two…or three? Oh, she wanted to open her eyes so badly, but it was so hard for her. Her fingers flickered.

‘I’m here, I’m in here! I’m just tired.’

Then she felt it, something squeezing her hand. It was a faint touch, a hesitant one, but it skimmed deeper than the surface that she was fighting against. It was trying to pull her up, up over the weight that kept her down. Kagome tried to scream inside her shell. Who was calling out to her?

Inuyasha took her hand between the two of them and leaned his forehead against them.  What was it like, to be an orphan, like her, and know no happiness? She was only human.  He sighed, “Kagome, please get up.” His beast inside let out a long whimper to her.

Her eyes open, bolt open, as if a shock and flown through her entire system.

She let out a long gasp.

The room was full of bright lights, white, it was hard for her adjust to it. Her eyes squinted shut, but she forced them open again, afraid if she shut them they’d stay shut forever.  Kagome opened her eyes one more time and turned her head, just slightly, to look at who has her hand.

Her lips curved up, just slightly, “H…hey there…Tai…shou…san.”

Taishou-san smiled, fang sticking out over his lip, as he gave her head a small shake, “You sure do sleep a lot.”

She laughed once, her voice breathy, face scrunching in pain from her wounds.

“Oh my Kami, Kagome! You’re awake!”

Sango was suddenly at her side, as was a man she did not recognize. Kagome could only guess this was a doctor judging by his white lab coat, stethoscope, and charts. Sango was at her other side, leaning over Kagome, running her hands over the girl’s hair.

“Oh, my Kami. Kagome. I’m so sorry. I’m here. I’ll take care of you. Kami, Kagome.”

The doctor cleared his throat slowly and gently moved aside Taishou and Sango. He looked down at Kagome and smiled, “You gave us all quite a scare, little lady.”

She smiled, but could do not much more.

He pulled a small flashlight from his pocket and began to shine it into her eyes, one at a time.  She blinked and focused on the feeling of his hands touching her body. He pushed on her chest, which had her wince, but he nodded in approval. He listened to her lungs and asked her to do small things, like clenching and unclenching her fingers.

“You had quite an accident, Miss Higurashi,” he began slowly, sitting on the edge of her bed.

“I know…”

“You have two major wounds,” he hovered his pen over the bandages. “But, because of some interference with demons, we cannot simply stitch you back up.”

“…Demons?”

The memories came back. That woman’s eyes, anger, and hate, hit her with a renewed impact. She felt her body tremble. But soon after she thought of Koga.  The look on his face, filled with tears, sorrow and pity.  Kagome closed her eyes and let out a shaky sigh.

“Yes, Miss Higurashi. Your wounds came from a demon, but it seems demons attempted to heal you as well.”

Koga…

“Demon blood has been let into your veins,” the doctor slowly flipped through the pages of the chart. “It was a very small amount, but we want to make sure you will be okay. After a few more hours, we will know how your body reacts to this blood. But my dear, in your records, it shows you have traces of a different blood already in you.”

Taishou’s ears perked up. ‘She has other blood? Besides mine? Is she already a hanyou?’

Sango was equally confused, standing now beside Taishou who still sat, running his finger along her hand. The beast inside of him was still whimpering.

“Other…blood?”

The doctor looked at the other two figures in the room. “We will have to discuss it at a later time. Your friends came all this way to see you. Now that you’re awake, the worse is over.” He slid off the bed and looked at her, “IF you need any more painkillers, you push that remote on your bed. You should be pretty content for now. Feel free to sleep. But when the nurse brings food, please eat it. Okay?”

Kagome nodded slowly, “Thanks, doctor.”

The doctor bowed his head and smiled, “Good job, Higurashi.”

The door clicked behind him and Sango practically jumped into the bed, sitting beside Kagome. “Oh Kagome, I had no idea this happened to you.”

“…Gomen.”

Sango shook her head, wiping away tears, “No, don’t be sorry, you dope. I’m just sorry I wasn’t here sooner. Inuyasha-san had to tell me you were here.”

“Inu…yasha?” Kagome arched an eyebrow and looked at the man who was tending to her hand. She flexed her fingers and watched his hand stop. “Taishou-san, is named, Inuyasha?”

Inuyasha (god I can finally just write Inuyasha hahaa)

Ahem:

Inuyasha nodded his head slowly, “Hai, Inuyasha Taishou.”

Kagome remembered Kikyo had called him that. Yet, he was here. Realization shone in her cerulean eyes. “I…found you…before I…”

He nodded slowly, “I found you. My crazy old boss Nana and I took care of you until the ambulance came. They wouldn’t let us go with you, so I went to get Sango-chan.”

Kagome sighed and closed her eyes. She could feel Sango’s gaze on her, intent of never removing her gaze until she knew Kagome was safe. Kagome smiled weakly, “I’m fine, Sango.”

“Kagome, don’t bullshit this for my sake. You’re in bandages. You were on life support. You had blood transfusions.” She could feel tears well up in her eyes, “You were attacked by demons, Kagome. You really could have died.”

“But I didn’t…it’s not time for me to see Souta and the others yet…”

The words sunk heavy in the room. Inuyasha looked away to the ground. Was that what she had thought before she slipped into unconsciousness, that she would be able to see her family if she died?

His beast was not happy about this. Inuyasha  clenched the fabric above his heart, feeling a twisting feeling inside of him. He snuck a glance back at her when her body pulsed, a wave of black. He lurched, feeling the twist again. Sango hadn’t seemed affected at all. But Kagome’s eyes were open as she let out a squeak of pain, her hands gripping the sheets.

“Kagome? What’s wrong?” Sango began to look over her body as her friend tensed but tried not to move to avoid aggravating her wounds.

Kagome panted, twisting her fists in the sheets. Her body felt like it was boiling from the inside, everything pulsed with excruciating pain. Her eyes were wide, threatening to pop out of her skull it felt. She let out a gasp again, her hair stood on edge, and her cerulean eyes shook and flickered to an icy white, before abruptly stopping.

Inuyasha stood and looked down into her eyes, “Higurashi? What did you just feel? Tell me what you just felt!”

Her eyes were refocusing, blurred, as the canopy of white from his hair framed her from beneath the bandana he wore. “…Kagome…chan.”

He shooks his head and held her face straight, “What?”

“….you can call me…Kagome…chan.”

Taishou-san looked at her and tried not to laugh. Covered in bandages, weak, and barely alive, she was looking at him with such a face of determination. Firmly. She wanted to be called Kagome-chan. He chuckled, “Does that mean I am forgiven?”

Sadness flickered across her face, twisting her gaze away from him to stare off into the hospital room. “You have nothing to apologize for. I know my place.”

“Kagome…” he whispered softly, momentarily forgetting Sango-chan in the room. “If you…hadn’t meant…anything…or were nothing special…I wouldn’t have…”

“Kagome, don’t think for a second that you’re not important to me or Inuyasha-kun. We’re both here, aren’t we, which is a lot more than I can say for your boyfriend!” The anger flaring from Sango was enough to make Kagome flinch.  She was pacing around the room, arms crossed. “His family moved away over night! They must be responsible for hurting you. They’re trying to avoid legal conflicts so they jumped ship and headed away to America. Damn them!” Sango punched the night stand next to Kagome’s bed.

“Sango-chan!” Inuyasha roared.

Sango looked to Inuyasha, and then to Kagome-chan who was struggling to sit up. She could barely move. Inuyasha pushed her back down gently and used the bed’s remote to push the bed up into a sitting position.

“K…Koga…is gone?”

If Inuyasha could muster more hatred into his face, he wouldn’t look human anymore. Kagome was starting to shake again. Did Sango have no tact, or what? ‘Kami, how could she do this to her?’

Inuyasha looked at Kagome and took her hand and tried to get her attention. “We don’t know where that damn wolf is right now, but Sango has promised to find out. Don’t be upset. You need to think about you. You just woke up.”

Sango, in recovery mode, nodded her head eagerly, “That’s right, Kagome! We gotta think about you. What did that doctor mean, demon blood inside of you?”

Kagome was trying to breathe, squeezing Inuyasha’s hand like it was her only lifeline.  “I don’t know. I don’t..have any demon ancestors….i mean…I don’t know much past mom and dad but…”

Inuyasha sighed and squeezed her hand back slowly, “Sango-chan, can you check on Kagome-chan’s check out process? Do we need to wire some funds from our families so she can leave by tonight?”

Kagome watched Sango go, reluctantly.

The room was quiet, the hums of the machines, and dripping of her IV, filled what would have been silence.  He let go of her hand slowly, draping it back onto the bed as she closed her eyes.



“You should probably sleep, Kagome-chan.”

Kagome bit her lip, “ And if I don’t wake up?”

“You will wake up, trust me. You know Sango-chan won’t leave your side again. She will be here when you wake up. You won’t be alone.”

She looked at him slowly as he sat back down in his chair. “And you?”

Inuyasha smiled weakly, “Keh. Guess I’m in this for the long run.  The police will investigate me since I was the one who found you.”

“I…I’m sorry…you’re burdened by this…”

Inuyasha slapped his hand to his forehead, “Damnit, that’s not what I meant!”

“But…Kikyo-san…will probably worry about you…if you don’t…call and such…”

Kagome closed her eyes and wiggled her toes slowly. ‘Toes still work…legs too…I think…I can still feel everything in my nervous system…’

Inuyasha let out a low growl, “My friend is in the hospital. She will have to understand these are extenuating circumstances.” He ran his hand over his eyes, “I won’t make the same mistake again, Kagome-chan. I am not going to treat you like that ever again.”

Her face twisted as she felt another wave of pain flow through her, “Kami---what’s happening to me?” She choked another sob down as she bit down on her thumb.

‘She looks like she’s in so much pain…’

Beast: ‘Her soul is out of sync with her body, now her body is morphing, causing more distress to her.’

‘But what can I do…I gave her the blood.’

Beast: ‘Let me’.

Inuyasha’s eyes bled to red as he climbed onto the bed slowly. Kagome was contorting in pain, she barely recognized the added weight to the bed.  She forced her right eye open, choking another scream as her arms began to twitch. Inuyasha pulled her thumb from her mouth, indents already deep in her thumb, and replace it with his hand. Kagome confused, tried to protest, but bit down when she felt her whole body shake.  She broke skin and felt the faint tint of copper in her mouth, his blood.

“It will be over soon.”

The voice was so unlike Inuyasha’s, she recognized.  A low growl, almost like a purr, rumbled from his throat. She could feel the vibrations move through his hand into her.  As small specks of blood swirled in her mouth, her shakes slowed, until finally they ceased.  She wasn’t sure how long it had taken. She swore Inuyasha’s eyes were red a minute ago, but his golden eyes stared down at her, sadness in them.

He removed his hand from her mouth and licked the side, letting it heal instantly.

“You okay?”

Kagome nodded slowly.  “What did you do?”

“The blood the doctor talked about is mine. You have my blood now. It’s weak, but it helped keep you alive.” Inuyasha sat back on the bed, cradled between her spreads, but nothing immodestly. “It was a rash decision that Nana and I made, but you were…losing so much blood.”

“You…saved me.”

Inuyasha blushed and scratched his head, “Nana saved you. I just did what I was told.” He reached forward and covered her eyes with his hand to spare him the embarrassment. “Go to sleep, Kagome-chan. I’ll stay here for now, and you know hurricane Sango-chan will return.”

“But…”

“Sleep, Kagome-chan, just sleep.”

“Thank you…Inuyasha-san…”

He shook his head even though she couldn’t see it. He hadn’t done anything. He knew he couldn’t stay by her side like she needed. She needed family. She needed a guardian to protect her.  Inuyasha smiled weakly, “We’ll figure this out….we will.”

 

Author’s Note: Been a while, but here we are.

Song Lyrics from “Afraid” by Yellowcard