Heal Me (Akito Sohma Love Story)

House Calls

You woke as the sun was rising to your obnoxious alarm. Sure there were prettier melodies to choose from, but if you were going to actually wake up, your alarm had to be assertive. You shut it off and looked around you. Surrounded by boxes, you realized you had more stuff than you thought, and the task of unpacking seemed monumental. You decided to keep everything packed for now. After all, who's to say this job was really for you?

Slipping on a simple black blouse and capri khakis, you kept your outwards appearance professional, but relaxed. Hatori's assistant. Does that mean fetching him coffee, handing out Band-Aids, or helping with real wounds? 

You never wanted to be that kind of doctor. Despite your parents persistent guidance, therapy had always been your true interest. So many of the people you saw come in to your family's clinic had wounds on the inside that were so easy to see, yet overlooked. In secret you began to speak to these patients, and really listen, and they would come back for you until your father discovered what you were doing. Your internship was finished, and your family slowly shut you out.

You remember when you started to pack your bags. You spread it out over a few days. You didn't try to hide it, and it didn't make your parents any less cold to you. You remember your sister coming home from the clinic one day before your parents and trying to convince you to stay. "We're all just so stubborn, (Y/n). You can't let them get to you like that--" "They're not getting to me!" You argued.

"You know what the last thing dad said to me was? 'That's just not how we do things, (Y/n).' They're not trying to get to me, Hana, they don't care anymore. I don't understand how you can let them decide your life for you."

"They're my parents! They know whats best for me."

"Exactly. They're your parents. They know what's best for you. Honestly, it's not just because of the clinic, it's not because their silent treatment is getting to me... I was gonna do this eventually... You knew it, right?"

Hana hugged you. Hana had always been kind to you; it was well known among everyone in your life that she was the better sister, the better daughter. She was never spiteful towards you, she just naturally succeeded in your parents eyes. And, true, you had been packing bags since you were 6. Everyone had known.

The next time you saw your sister it was on a photograph of a wedding invitation 2 years later. In all that time in between, neither of you had contacted each other. You contemplated tearing it up, but thought better of it. You booked your flight home and set up in your hotel. Your sister had arranged a meeting at the family home for you to meet your new brother in law. And you were planning on delivering the apology your been creating for years. When you finally made it down that dirt road, though, you saw the smoke through the trees. Next you saw the firetruck and the silent ambulance.

Your car stopped but you couldn't seem to get out. Your hands locked tighter on the wheel and time moved like molasses. Tears made your vision blurry, but you watched as your sister fell apart in her fiancés arms. When she saw you, and cried your name, you wanted to drive away. Go back to your hotel, back to Ohio, and forget you ever had a family. But you were frozen.

She ran to your car and cried and kissed your face through the open window.

"(Y/n) they're.."

"I know." You said. You felt your tears drip down your chin but could only stare ahead.

"How?" You dared to ask.

"The firemen are saying daddy left his cigarette burning."

You furrowed your brows and finally were able to look at her red face.
"Dad doesn't smoke."