In Sickness And Health ~Shikamaru~

Chapter 38

Alsono and Choji had to force me from the room. There was something in Reira's eyes... it made me not want to leave her even more than I already did. I know it's impossible... but she looked like she didn't want me to leave... like she was begging me with her eyes to stay. And that look in her blue eyes wa stuck in my head. It made me feel like I was going to be sick just leaving her like that. But if what the doctor said is true, then this is the best course of action.

"Come on, Shikamaru. It'll be okay." Al said, taking my hand in hers and swinging them back and forth. "You can come an hang out with me and Choji tonight! If I put the soup together, Choji can cook it! We'll have some yummy soup and you can sleep over and tomorrow we'll all walk over together! Right honey?"

"Sure." He said with a big grin. I know they're trying to make me feel better, and Alsono's strange infatuation with my husky best friend usually is enough to make me feel pretty good inside. But today is a whole new story. I feel like there is something happening... something out of my controle... out of anyone's controle. And I'm walking away from it right now... leaving is making it worse...

I took a seat at the table as soon as we got to Alsono's and let out a long breath. "Every time you sigh, you're letting a little bit of happiness escape. And I think you need to keep all the happines you have right now." Al said, putting a soda in front of me. "Drink. The caffine will help your headache."

How did she know I had a headache? The sound of the can fizzing open was enough to make me feel a little better. The carbination burned my throat, but she was right. It got rid of my headache. My body felt lighter on the litte bubbles that popped in my mouth and throat.

It was quiet. The only sound I could hear was Alsono's knife hitting the cutting board as she prepared the veggies and meat strips for the soup. Choji was watching her as always from his place next to me, his eyes soft and joyful. "So." I started. "How are plans for the wedding coming?"

Alsono let out a sound and nearly dropped her knife while Choji sat back and covered his mouth, his face suspiciously red. My own lips twitched up in a grin. "Um, w-well..." Alsono turned slowly with her face pink.

"We... we were thinking about April." Choji admitted.

"That's coming up pretty fast."

"There's still most of a whole month left. And besides, it's not like it's going to be very big." Al countered, returning to her task. "Choji's parents, mine, Ikuto- where is that twerp?"

"Wow, you just noticed your brother isn't here?"

She stuck her tongue out at me and opened the back door. "Hey twerp! Are you home?!" A voice called back that I couldn't understand but sounded like Ikuto. "I'm making soup, come and get it in about twenty!" Once she closed the door she looked a me. "He's home."

Duh. But it made me smile. Al is weirdo. And it's fun to watch her sometimes. "Really, Alsono, that should be the first thing you check on." Choji said.

"What, like the first thing you think about when you walk in the house is whether or not your siblings are home?"

"I don't have any."

"Exactly, so shut up." This time, I did laugh. Choji shot me a look, but I was having to much fun with this. It feels like it's been a long since everything was so lighthearted and simple. It felt good. True to what she had said before, Alsono prepared the soup and set it on the stove, but Choji had to turn it on for her and stir it. She couldn't look at the stove while this was going on, so she sat at the table wth me and Ikuto who had come in from the garden and played rummy with us.

All night long I let myself relax and prayed that Reira was resting well too. I took up solitude on the couch around one and looked up at the dark ceiling. Tomorrow is her surjury. Which means tomorrow is also the day that she either gets better and we continue to teach her and live happily... or the day we lose her forever.

With a sigh, I shook that thought my head and closed my eyes to sleep. However my sleep was cut short when the phone rang at an ungodly hour. Alsono, who was always an early riser, cursed and quickly grabbed the phone from the table. "Yukine residence....... SHE WHAT?!" The next thing I know I'm on the floor and Alsono is shaking me like a crazy person. "Wake up! Get your shoes! CHOJI!"

What the hell is going on? I watched her sprint around the corner and not even a full ten seconds later, Choji comes running with her. "Shikamaru, we have to go, now. That was the hospital."