The Wounded Deer

Chapter Twenty Four

'You certainly are a reckless one Sayu. I didn't expect to see you back in Hospital again so soon.' Kaede gave an exasperated sigh.

After Lee came into the Hospital holding an exhausted looking Sayu, he was told that he would be admitted to the Hospital. Kaede discovered that whatever Lee had done to Sayu was enough to injure a couple of his ribs. It was lucky for him that Lee hadn't done any other damage aside from a few bruises here and there.

"You are one lucky guy Sayu." Kaede stared across the room where Sayu was sound asleep in his hospital bed. "It'll take a while longer for you to heal than last time you were injured, but I think you'll bounce back if you just let your body rest."

Kaede knew Sayu couldn't hear a word she was saying, but she felt that it was better than just listening to the beeping of the heart monitor; even if it was her own voice.

"K-Kaede…" a weak voice croaked out.

Kaede's eyes quickly shifted onto Sayu's face as he slowly moved an arm over his eyes to shield them from the light coming through his window. He slowly drew his arm away as he slowly pushed himself to an upright position on his bed. However the throbbing pain he felt in his ribs quickly made him lay back down.

"Hey, don't push yourself Sayu." Kaede quickly rushed over to Sayu's bed. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him from sitting up. "We've managed to heal your fractured ribs, but you're still going to feel a little sore. So try not to move around too much."

"Dammit, no wonder it was getting harder for me to breathe." Sayu pinched the bridge of his nose, a weak sigh passing his lips. "You must think I'm pretty weak huh; to end up in the hospital twice."

"Not weak exactly," Kaede smiled a little. "I would say reckless maybe, but definitely not weak. Even so, I'm glad to see that you're awake."

"Hey, how long have I been out anyway?" Sayu ran a hand through his hair.

"You've been out for about a day and a half, give or take. You had us worried when Lee came in holding you in the condition you were in."

"Oh yeah," Sayu's mind flashed back to what had happened before he passed out. Images of Lee sparring with him flashed through his mind. He vaguely remembered offering Lee a bottle of water when they decided to take a break. "The last thing I remember was giving Lee some water to drink during our break. Then he went bat shit crazy on me and… well you can probably figure out the rest."

It suddenly dawned on Kaede why Lee had attacked Sayu the way he did.

"Sayu, are you sure what you gave Lee was water?" Kaede frowned.

"Well, now that you mention it…" Sayu closed his eyes with a thoughtful look. "I brought along some water for myself too. But the water I had didn't taste anything like water. From what I remembered, it tasted sort of like sake."

"Yeah, I thought so. That's why Lee attacked you like that."

"What do you mean? He attacked me because he had sake?"

Kaede nodded. "When Lee has sake in his system and gets drunk, he goes into a frenzy called the Drunken Fist style. The more sake he drinks, the drunker he gets and the stronger he becomes. Unfortunately, Lee can't tell who's a friend or foe when he's in this stage. The effect sake has on his body is only temporary, but it looks like he was affected by it long enough to do quite a bit of damage to your body."

Sayu let out a weak laugh, cringing a bit when he felt the soreness in his ribs return. "So that's what happened. I'll definitely remember that next time."

Kaede folded her arms over her chest. "I think the bigger question is how did you wind up giving Lee sake instead of water?"

"Well, the water I gave Lee I brought from home." Sayu went quiet for a moment. "I had some sake in my fridge too, but I didn't exactly have the bottles labeled so I guess that's where I made my mistake."