Cinders 7
Cinders
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by June "KaraOhki" Geraci
April 4, 2001
Ranma 1/2 and its universe was created by Rumiko Takahashi, and belongs to her. This work of fiction was written for entertainment only, and is not intended for commercial purposes.
Chapter 7
Akane listened carefully as the doctor outlined his plans, but soon became quite confused. "Doctor, that doesn't make sense!" she protested. "If I'm going to be very tired, why don't you want me to sleep?"
"That's not it, Akane. You will sleep, but we'll need to monitor you very carefully to be sure that you don't slip into too deep a sleep. It will be necessary to wake you regularly, and you'll need to eat something every time we wake you."
As the doctor spoke the door opened, and several hospital employees wheeled in carts filled with equipment.
"What's all that stuff?" demanded Ranma.
The doctor ignored Ranma's tone of voice when he responded. "Monitoring equipment. We're going to use it to help us keep tabs on Akane's condition. It will warn us if her vital signs dip too low. The monitors will be linked to the nurses' station, and we'll have staff members in and out of here all the time."
"Not good enough. I want somebody to watch Akane ALL the time, and anyway we didn't agree to this yet!"
Akane shivered and pulled the blankets around herself. The doctor noticed and put a hand to her forehead. "You're getting feverish. You need to make a decision, and make it quickly."
His words only served to frighten Akane more. She looked from his face to Ranma's, and then over to Cologne's. The doctor and Cologne seemed to be making an effort to keep their expressions neutral, while Ranma's worry was plain to see. She closed her eyes and tried to find the right words. Her decision had already been made, but she wanted to say it right.
Akane opened her eyes and looked around at everyone. "Please give me a few minutes alone with Ranma."
*****
Ranma sat holding Akane's hands. They were alone in the room, and so far Akane had said nothing to him. Instead she just sat looking at him while tears ran down her cheeks.
"Akane, talk to me!"
Akane pulled her hands out of Ranma's and crept into his arms. He held her close, not touching any of the badly burned areas on her back. She sniffled for a minute before raising her eyes to his.
"It's not fair."
"What?"
Akane's eyes flashed. "None of it! We never, ever get a break! And..and�"
As quickly as the anger had come into Akane's expression, it was replaced with fear.
"Tell me, Akane."
"I'm scared. I don't want to die."
"I won't let you," stated Ranma forcefully.
A fleeting look of amusement crossed his wife's face. "You can't protect me this time. There's nobody for you to fight. We have to trust Cologne and the doctor to do the best they can. I want to. I HAVE to."
"But it's too dangerous!"
"Doing nothing is too dangerous! Please, Ranma! I don't want to leave you, and I don't want to fight with you. I need you to be on my side."
"I'm always on your side." Ranma emphasized his statement with a gentle kiss, which turned passionate as Akane responded to it. "If this is what you think is right, then let's do it." He pressed the button to call the doctor back in, hoping desperately that he hadn't made a terrible mistake.
*****
While the young couple in the hospital room made their decision, the older pair outside in the hallway held a quiet conversation.
"What do you think they're going to do?"
"They'll take the chance," replied Cologne. "I've never met a braver couple, or one more stubborn." Cologne paused and chuckled. "Perhaps I should rephrase that. Ranma is the first young man I met who surpassed you in stubbornness, Akito."
"Is that so?" he murmured. "Sometimes I look back and wonder if I made the right decision all those years ago."
"Do you? We all look back and wonder how our lives would be if we took different roads. I don't think you would have been happy if you stayed with us. You certainly wouldn't be the respected doctor you are today if you had."
"That is true, but I can't help but remember her."
"She has never forgotten you, despite her long marriage to another. Have you ever considered contacting her? After all, you are both alone, and perhaps lonely?"
"There was a time when you wouldn't have suggested that I contact your granddaughter. You've changed, Cologne."
"We all do." Cologne looked at her friend, but he refused to meet her eyes. "I'm returning home soon. If you wish me to carry a message to Lili, let me know."
"Thank you. I will consider it."
*****
Within a few minutes of the final decision, all was ready to begin. An extra IV line with more nutrition was added to Akane's arsenal of medications. She was hooked up to all of the monitoring equipment that had been brought in, and looked rather lost amid the wires and sensors. The dietary department brought her what looked like a milk shake, but was actually a nutritional supplement. Akane took a sip and made a face.
"Finish it," said Ranma sternly. "You promised you'd do whatever it took."
Akane made another face and continued to sip. If this was what she was going to be given every time she woke up, it was going to be rather difficult. She drained the cup and handed it to Ranma, who inspected it to see if it was really empty.
"I miss Kasumi's cooking. It would be easier to eat if everything tasted good."
"Fine," said the doctor. I'll call your sister and ask her to bring your favorites, but only if you agree to keep drinking the supplements."
"Thank you!" Akane brightened at the thought of having her sister bring her "real" food, and then she saw Ranma's face. He looked rather wistful. "Can she bring enough for both of us?"
"Do you doubt that she would?" asked Cologne.
*****
The doctor walked over to the door and locked it while Cologne made her preparations. He still felt slightly uncomfortable about the use of magic on one of his patients, but his long friendship with the Amazon had taught him to trust her.
Cologne opened the pouch of sand and poured its contents into the palm of her left hand. She waved her other hand over it, speaking words no one could understand, and the doctor gasped as the sand began to glow blue. Cologne held the sand over Akane's head and allowed it to trickle from her fingers. As it had before, the sand vanished before it reached her. Then Akane began to glow a brilliant shade of blue.
When the doctor saw what else was happening he came closer to get a better look. Akane's burns were fading. When the blue light dissipated he could see that they were still there, but now she looked as if she had hardly been injured at all. "I can't believe what I'm seeing, Cologne. If you could market that, your village would be wealthy."
"I'm afraid that's not possible. There are very few of us who have the power to activate the sand, and without that power it is quite useless. We've given you the ointment, but that's all we can give."
The doctor put his hand on Akane's forehead and smiled. "The fever is already gone." He went to the door, unlocked it, and called the nurses back in. Instead of going to Akane, they walked around the bed and began working with Ranma's pump.
"What are you doing?" he asked curiously.
The doctor couldn't help but smile. The suspicion and rudeness were gone from Ranma's voice. "We're taking you off the pump, Ranma."
"Why?"
"You told me that you want to watch over Akane. In order to do that you need to keep alert. I don't think you really need this any longer, so I'll let you tell us when you need pain relief. I'm switching you to a milder medication, and if you need it the nurse will bring you a pill."
The gratitude in Ranma's expression was obvious. "Thank you."
Then one of the nurses attached a familiar-looking medication bag to Ranma's IV.
"Um, why are you giving me an antibiotic?"
"Akane is going to be in a very delicate state for the next few days," replied the doctor. "I'm not going to chance that you may have caught her infection and could pass it back to her. Besides, despite what you may think there is a very real danger that you could get sick yourself, and this is a necessary precaution."
"Oh."
During that brief interchange Akane's eyes had already begun to droop. She reached over and grasped Ranma's hand. "I can't stay awake."
Ranma leaned over and kissed his wife. "Sleep. I'll be right here."
Akane was out within seconds. Ranma caressed her cheek and looked at the doctor.
"Explain all these machines to me. I want to be able to tell if something's not right."
*****
An hour later Ranma's eyes were starting to hurt from staring at all of the monitors. Members of the staff came in regularly to check on Akane, but he still felt responsible to protect her himself. Then a nurse came in with a small tray.
"It's time to wake Akane. Do you want to do it?"
Ranma's answer was to lean over his wife and kiss her cheek. There was no response, and he patted her cheek very gently. "Hey, sleepyhead! Time to get up!"
Akane's eyelids fluttered, and she looked around the room. Her gaze came to rest on Ranma, and she smiled. "Have I been sleeping long?"
"About an hour." Ranma helped Akane sit up and took her snack from the nurse. "Time to eat something."
"Did Kasumi come?"
"Not yet." Ranma unwrapped a straw, placed it in the nutritional drink and handed it to Akane. "Sorry, but you're stuck with this." He smiled when Akane got a determined look in her eyes, took a deep breath, and drank it down without complaint. Then she picked up her fork and slowly ate everything on the tray. When she began to lower her bed, the nurse stopped her.
"Try to stay up for a few minutes, Akane. Then you can take another nap."
"Okay." The look of determination returned to Akane's face, but she still looked very tired. Ranma reached into his bedside table and pulled out a book.
"Think you can help me with this assignment? Maybe that will keep you up." Ranma started explaining the problems he was having with his English assignment while the nurse sat and watched. He glanced at the nurse every now and then, but she gave no sign that he should stop. Evidently she wasn't ready to allow Akane to sleep yet.
Akane was in the middle of explaining a point of grammar to Ranma when she faltered. "I'm sorry, I just can't think!"
"Are you tired?"
"I'm really tired."
The nurse got up. "Then rest." She lowered the bed and helped Akane get comfortable. "You look a lot better. Do you hurt less?"
"Right now I don't hurt at all."
"I wish I knew what the doctor did for you. That's amazing."
Akane just smiled as she drifted off to sleep. Ranma tried to make himself comfortable and continued to keep vigil.
*****
The next time Akane was awakened her tray table was loaded with Kasumi's goodies and a little note from her sister, who hadn't been allowed inside. The couple made the snacks disappear very quickly, and Akane's nutritional drink went down without any complaints at all.
Kasumi had been thoughtful enough to bring enough for several snacks, and Akane found more of them on her tray when it was time for her to get up again. She failed to notice that her husband looked tired because the lights in the room were turned down low, and because she was focusing on how good everything tasted.
"Aren't you going to have some of these dumplings, Ranma?"
"No thanks."
Akane was too tired to think anything of Ranma's refusal, and was soon sleeping again.
*****
By the time morning came Akane's naps were getting longer and the nurses were urging Ranma to sleep.
"You look awful! As long as Akane is asleep, you should sleep too!"
"No. I'm not going to sleep until I'm sure she's not in danger."
The nurse looked exasperated.
"And what good is that going to do her?"
"I have to watch the monitors. I'm responsible for Akane, and I'm not going to let her down!"
"But - "
"But nothing! If I'd been faster this wouldn't have happened to her. I'm not letting anything happen ever again!"
The nurses reported Ranma's comments to the doctor, suggesting that he be given a sedative, but the doctor vetoed the idea.
"Let him do what he feels is necessary. Right now human eyes might spot something wrong with Akane before the equipment can, and he knows her better than anyone here. He'll have plenty of time to rest later."
*****
Soun noticed that Kasumi and Nabiki looked rather tired the next morning. "Didn't you sleep well last night?"
"You didn't hear the phone, did you?" asked Kasumi. When her father turned white with fear she realized she'd made a mistake.
"My baby!" bawled Soun. Kasumi and Nabiki both jumped up and embraced him.
"Father, she's fine! The doctor just called to see if she and Ranma could have some food from home, to help their appetites."
"You're sure?" Soun looked from Kasumi to Nabiki.
"Perfectly sure, Daddy," responded Nabiki.
"I want to go see her."
Kasumi hesitated. This part was going to be difficult. "Right now you can't. The doctor wants Akane to have a couple of days with no visitors. It's to be sure her infection goes away completely."
"But I'm her father!"
"Yes, and we're her sisters, and we won't be allowed in either. Neither will the Saotomes." Kasumi paused, and poured her father some tea. "I'll be going later to bring more food. Would you like to come with me? I think if Akane knows we are nearby it will make her feel better."
Soun sipped his tea and seemed deep in thought. "I'll come with you. Do you think we could bring her an ice cream sundae?"
"I'm sure they'd let us do that."
*****
"Akane. Hey, Akane, would you wake up?"
Akane opened one eye and squinted at Ranma. "It can't be time to get up. Leave me alone!"
Ranma chuckled. "You're right, but your father brought you ice cream. I didn't think you'd want to let it melt."
"Ice cream?" All traces of sleepiness left Akane, and her hand flew to the bed controls. Ranma handed her a cardboard container and Akane pulled the lid off. "Chocolate!"
She devoured part of it, and then looked at Ranma. "Where IS Daddy?"
"They wouldn't let him in. When I asked the nurse, she said he seemed to be okay about it."
"Why? I want to see him!"
Ranma looked impatient. "Akane! The doctor said he doesn't want any extra people in here until you can handle it. He nearly threw ME out!" The fierceness in Ranma's tone took Akane by surprise. She dropped the spoon into the ice cream, shivering slightly.
"Don't yell at me!"
"I'm sorry. I guess I'm getting tired."
Akane looked at Ranma and reached for the light. For the first time she realized how exhausted he looked. She put her ice cream down and reached out to embrace him. "Haven't you been sleeping?"
"I can't."
"I don't understand."
Ranma gestured around at all the machinery. "I hafta watch the monitors. I have to watch YOU."
"No you don't. That's the nurses' job."
"It's my job. I'm your husband, and I'm supposed to take care of you."
"But you can't do that if you're exhausted. You're going to make yourself sick!"
Ranma picked up the ice cream and handed it to Akane. "Don't try to talk me out of it. Eat that before it melts, and go back to sleep." He picked up his own sundae and dug in.
Akane ate her ice cream, watching Ranma the entire time. He had a look on his face that she'd seen many times before. His mind was made up, and nothing she could say would change it. Unfortunately, she was so tired that she couldn't even think of an argument.
"You done with that?" Ranma asked. Akane handed him the container, which was quite empty. "Good. Now you can go back to sleep."
"Not yet."
"What do you mean?"
Akane smiled, and held her arms out. "Come here."
It wasn't easy for them to embrace with all the monitor leads stuck all over Akane, but they did it anyway. Somewhere in between the kissing and caressing Akane's scarf fell off, and Ranma's hand went to her head.
"Hey, what's this?"
"What's what?" asked Akane. Ranma was looking at her head, and he ran his hand over it. "Is something wrong?"
"No. I feel prickles. Your hair is coming back!"
"It is?" Akane felt her own scalp. Sure enough, she felt it too.
"You should sleep now."
"I'll try. Hold me."
Ranma held Akane and she relaxed, feeling safe and protected. As she was drifting off Ranma carefully withdrew from her arms and sat up. If he was lying down he would surely fall asleep.
*****
Somewhere between the time Akane fell asleep and the nurses came back in, Ranma's eyes closed of their own accord. The sound of the door opening caused him to jerk awake as a nurse came in, carrying a tray.
"I have snacks for the both of you, and a note from your mother." The nurse set the tray down and handed Ranma the note. "I'll leave you alone now so that you can read it."
Ranma opened the envelope and scanned the contents. He chuckled, and reached over to gently shake Akane.
"Snack time, Akane."
"Go away." Akane pulled the sheets over her head.
Ranma pulled them down again and grinned at Akane. "Does that mean the honeymoon's over?"
His wife's eyes shot open. "Why, you!" Then she stopped short and stared.
"What, you're not going to hit me?"
"No, 'cause you just made me think - this has got to be the strangest honeymoon anybody ever had."
"If you could even call it one. Maybe when we get out of here - " Ranma stopped talking when Akane blushed bright red, and he could feel the heat rising in his own face. Evidently they'd both had the same thought. Then his wife smiled.
"When we get out of here."
Ranma thought it might be a good idea to change the subject. "Here," he said as he pushed her tray table closer. "Eat this while it's hot." He waited until Akane had started eating before holding up Nodoka's note.
"Mom's a little upset. She thinks she should have been able to come see us before visitors got cut off." Ranma put the letter down and scratched his head. "Kasumi tried to explain that there wasn't enough time, but you know Mom. Once she gets an idea in her head, it's there for keeps."
Akane took a sip of her nutrition shake and made a face. "I'm really beginning to hate this stuff." Then she saw Ranma's look and took a larger sip.
"I don't care if you hate it. Just drink it. Let me tell you about Mom's letter and maybe it will distract you a little."
"Okay."
"The doctor was in before when you were sleeping, and he said that he and Cologne had to explain to Kasumi what they did for you, because she got scared when she found out she couldn't see us. He wasn't going to tell her at all but Cologne told the doctor that Kasumi was trustworthy. Problem is the doctor's not sure if we should tell Mom."
"And your Mom got all worried, didn't she?"
"Yeah. She wants to know what's going on. She said in the letter that we're keeping something from her."
"So what are you going to do about it?"
"I'm not sure." Ranma shrugged. "Next time she sees you she'll know everything's okay. Maybe we could explain what Cologne did if Pop's not around."
Akane choked on her shake. "Oh, no. What are we going to do?"
"Huh?"
"Come on, Ranma! When your parents see me, and my father sees me, they're going to see a big difference! And I know exactly what's going to happen! Your father's going to change his mind again about who you're supposed to be engaged to."
"So what's so bad about that? After all, we're already married, and if Pop's not against it -" The look of anger on Akane's face made Ranma lean away from her as he half expected a slap. "What? What did I say?"
"That's not the point! He rejected me like I was a piece of garbage, and I don't know if I can ever forgive him! It's none of his business how I am, and I don't want him to know!"
"Calm down! You're going to get sick!" Ranma glared at Akane, and she quieted down, though he could tell she was still very upset.
"What are we going to do?"
"Let me think." Ranma sat quietly for a few minutes and tried to come up with a plan. While he thought, Akane drew closer and cuddled up to him, her anger gone. After a while he smiled and gave her a squeeze. "I have an idea, Akane. What do you think of this?"
The more Akane listened, the more she smiled. "Ranma, that's evil. I like it."
*****
Twelve hours later the doctor walked into the room. Akane was looking and feeling much better, while her husband was positively haggard.
When the doctor asked Ranma if he'd slept at all, the only response he got was a set jaw and a shake of the head.
Akane gazed at her husband with a combination of affection and exasperation. "You don't have to sit up with me. I'm fine!"
"I do, too!"
"Doctor, would you talk to him? Please?"
The doctor's shoulders shook, and he finally began to laugh. "That's why I'm here." He waved a hand at all the monitors. "You don't need these anymore. I wish I knew a way to manufacture that magic of Cologne's, because I've never seen anyone respond like this before. As soon as we get you disconnected, I want you up and out of bed and moving around the room. Just a minute or two at first, understand?"
Akane nodded.
"And you -" the doctor pointed at Ranma. "Are going to sleep. Now."
"But!"
"No. No buts. Akane's not in danger, and you're exhausted." The doctor turned around and walked out, leaving Ranma and Akane staring at each other.
"No danger?" As Akane watched, Ranma sagged with relief. She expected him to lie down and go to sleep, but instead he straightened with an effort and remained in a sitting position.
"Ranma? Why don't you go to sleep?"
"Not yet."
Akane opened her mouth to argue the point, but was interrupted when several members of the hospital staff came in and began to disconnect the equipment.
"Would you like to take a shower, Akane?" suggested one of the nurses. "I'm sure you want to get all this tape off."
"I don't know if I can stand up," admitted Akane. "I feel shaky."
The woman smiled. "We'll put a chair in the shower, and I'll stay with you and help. Moving around will do you some good."
Fifteen minutes later a very weak Akane emerged from the bathroom with the nurse's help. She found Ranma sitting there waiting for her.
"Why aren't you asleep?"
"I wanted to make sure you were okay."
The nurse helped Akane into bed and left. Akane reached over and lowered Ranma's bed so that he was lying down.
"Go to sleep!"
"But!"
Akane lost her temper. "Will you stop it? The doctor said it's over. We don't have to be afraid anymore!"
"Who's afraid?"
"You are! And I was! Stop being afraid, and go to sleep!"
That seemed to do it. Ranma grasped his wife's hand and sank immediately into sleep. Akane looked at him for a moment before kissing his forehead.
"Baka. Thank you."
Then she lay beside him and slept.