The Dreams

Chapter Twenty Eight

As winter break continued on Rina found it harder and harder to wake up in the morning. She could feel the cycle starting over again. She knew it was happening this time. She could not ignore it and hope it would go away on its own this time. She knew it was not something she could handle on her own.

She felt awful. She felt ashamed. She knew she needed to tell her doctor as soon as possible or she would end up back in the hospital. She also felt obligated to keep Hibiki in the loop. She was still a guest in his family home and she felt as though he deserved to know.

He did not have to be told as it turned out. She had been sleeping more and more and he noticed that almost as quickly as she did. He confronted her about it before she gathered up the nerve to speak up herself.

"Are you feeling poorly?" he asked when she woke up late one morning in early January.

Her brain was still foggy, and the chilly weather made her just want to snuggle deeper into the blankets. She did not want to think about anything, certainly not anything as terribly upsetting as this. She knew she could not ignore his question for long, and hiding in bed seemed at least a bit less tempting once she realized he was already up and dressed for the day.

She sat up and tried to rub the sleep from her eyes. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Eleven hours if you didn't wake up at all over night."

She groaned and hid her face in her hands. This sounded familiar. She went through this once already. As much as she had worried about not feeling quite like herself lately she had not given enough concern to the possibility of her health would decline again. Her mother had warned her about this, and she had fought her tooth and nail, believing she knew it would not happen again. Now she was forced to admit that she was relapsing, and she had no idea what she had done to cause it to happen. If anything she had been downright lazy since coming to stay with Hibiki. They spent most of their time watching movies and playing games. It was not a strenuous life she had been leading.

Nothing she had been doing should have made her so tired. Something was certainly wrong. She wanted to cry. It was so unfair!

"Do you think you should call the doctor?" he asked gently.

She nodded. She did not trust herself to speak at the moment. Tears were already welling up in her eyes.

"Oh Rina," he said softly.

He sat down next to her on the bed and gathered her up in his arms. That was enough to break down whatever power had held back her the worst of her tears so far. Having his support freed her up to be utterly terrified of what the future might hold for her now. She pressed her face against his shirt, not caring in the least if she soaked him with her tears at this point. She could not stop her tears or the terrified sobbing sounds that now erupted from her throat.

"I don't want to go back to the hospital," she sniffled.

"I won't let them put you in the hospital again. We'll get Dr. Charlotte to help before it comes to that. If she still won't do anything without reviewing your case for a while longer then we'll go back to Penny. She helped you once before. We'll get you well again before you know it."

She shook her head. "I don't want another temporary fix."

"If we don't have a permanent solution it would at least buy us some time," he argued.
"I'm just afraid I'm never going to find out what is going on."

"Don't say that. We're making progress towards an answer. This is no time to think that way. I'm here with you to make sure you will find a cure."