Chapter Text
Almost four days of waiting.
Rationally, she knew that he was starting to stabilise, albeit slowly. A small seedling of hope, allowing her to stay valiant while waiting. To stay sane. Though she knew very well she was far from that.
Not until he would be out of the woods.
Almost four days, now.
Patience had never been her forté, in all honesty. Actively, passionately getting done what needed to happen was much more agreeable to her, a much more tangible thing, allowing for at least the illusion of control.
No, patience had always been his strongsuit..
At least, she could still hold his hand, tightly. Not all was lost yet. It was a horrible sight, nonetheless.
With every passing day, he had looked a little bit less... well, dead, though he was still awfully pale, the dark circles beneath his eyes remaining insultingly present. But the fact he was still breathing, mixed with the occasional beeping from one of the machienes he was hooked up to for the time being, let her know he was still alive, still with her. He was still with her, and fighting like hell to remain so.
Just like he had promised.
It was early evening when she could have sworn to have felt a miniscule twitch in his fingers. A slightly firmer grasp. She did not want to think much of it, but moved up a little closer, just in case.
It didnt take long until it happened again. This time, there was no doubt. It had only been slight, but he was holding her hand just a tiny little bit tighter than before.
"Hey..", she placed her free hand on his arm, carefully stroking up and down, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Are you.. waking up?"
It must have taken another hour or so for her question to be answered. She had barely dared to move, almost staring, waiting for any signs that he might actually be coming to.
A small twitch in his brow at first, and his heartrate had increased ever so slightly. If she had moved in any closer, she might as well have crawled onto the bed beside him.
"Its okay..", she whispered, not letting go of his hand, nervously rubbing her thumb over his skin, even pressing a swift kiss onto his knuckles. Maybe, a familiar voice would make it a bit easier. Maybe, talking helped her to remain calm as well.
"Take your time. Im here."
She held her breath when finally, his eyes blinked open, just a smidge. There was little of him to be found in the blueish grey of his gaze yet to her dismay, eyes lost and glassy. Keeping them open at all seemed an excrutiating chore.
Yet despite all, it was not long before he did find her.
The spike in his breath and the horror settling over his expression suggested a less than peaceful awakening, though.
"Im here.", Sato repeated, adding another kiss to his hand.
"Y.. you..", he strained when finally, his body allowed for enough energy to speak. "No.."
She furrowed her brow. It was understandlable that he would be massively out of it, but she knew well enough that this was beyond exhaustion.
This, unfortunately, was pure fear.
"Shh, Its okay, its okay.", she soothed. Maybe, the medicine explained his confusion.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that his pulse was increasing far more than it should, though.
"Y.. you cant.. be here.."
"What?", she came closer, so she could understand, his words barely audible.
"Please..", he begged, though his grip on her hand remained as panic grew, "You need to go.. They.. theyll kill you, you need to go, you.. you cant be here.."
Realisation came to her like a slap to the face.
Kaito had told her all about what had happened in the days prior. What he did not tell her, she gathered from reports he had given, however much it had turned her stomach. That a hell as such existed, invisible, just below the surface of their 'modern' world was beyond her. It went without saying that these experiences would leave marks.
And that he probably could not remember his escape.
In his mind, he had never made it out.
And, perhaps worst, now she was there beside him.
"Hey..", she tried, before he could gather himself enough to form words again. She put her free hand on his face, caressing ever so gently, redirecting his focus onto herself as best she could. "Hey. You're okay. You're in the hospital. You're very hurt, but you made it out, okay? You're safe."
He simply returned her gaze as his mangled thoughts tried to keep up with what she was telling him. At the moment, everything was simply confusing. All that remained somewhat steady was her.
"W.. what..?"
"You're safe. We found you, on the beach, remember?", she attempted, keeping up the calm facade.
He thought hard for a moment. "No.. w.. what.. how.."
A quick look to a monitor, and she knew that slowly, while he couldnt yet fully understand, he began to calm. "You're.. You're safe? Please, please promise me you're safe.."
"I promise.", she swallowed, hard. She had never seen him like this, and she sincerely hoped she never would again. A stab to the heart could not have felt much different.
For a small moment, they simply looked at each other. It was clear he couldnt grasp his situation through his haze, holding on to her with all his might. Not that that was particularily much, at the moment.
"Did.. did the boy.."
"Hes safe too. Dont worry." A bittersweet smile forced itself onto her features. "You dont need to worry anymore. Everything is okay now. Trust me."
It seemed like at last, he began to believe her. If anyone, of course he could believe her.
The tremors in his hand began to slow. The more he settled, the harder it was to stay lucid, his eyes barely open. "God, Miwa..", he sighed. "Im so tired."
"I bet.", she turned to discreetly force down the tears beginning to collect in her eyes. "You just rest for now, alright? Youll feel better soon. Ill be here when you wake up."
"Alright.."
Slowly, Sato moved up from her seat. Placing her forehead against his, keeping her hand on his face, she waited. He was in bad shape, and if the least she could do was let her presence be consolation, she would do it.
"Be.. be honest..", he whispered, though consciousness faded like sand between his fingers the more he relaxed into her touch. "Cause if..if im dying... please dont let me die here.."
"You're not dying.", she answered quickly, more a command than it was a promise, "You are not dying.", she repeated, placing a quick but decisive kiss onto the very edge of his mouth. "You're not dying.."
She waited until he was asleep to let herself cry.
Exactly why she did so eluded even her, since of course it was a good thing he had been conscious for a little bit. But still, the sting was vicious.
Once he was out of the woods, everything would be alright again, she told herself. Once hes had a chance to recover, things would go back to normal. She would have him back.
It was only a matter of time.
She stayed until the sun was pretty much set, a deep red tinting the horizon. Perhaps giving Inu a nice long nighttime walk would cheer her up a little. At the very least, it would give her some much needed energy to stay valiant.
Oddly, she had almost forgotten the dog was not the only one waiting for her at home.
~~~~
"Heyo!", Kaito greeted, yelling from all the way on the living room sofa, as soon as Sato had closed the door behind her.
Admittedly she did jump a little, but immediately remembered. "Hey.", she greeted back, but Inus joyous barking drowned her out before she had a chance to keep going. Before there had been any opportunity to get her coat or shoes off, the dog was jumping at her, yapping and licking at her face as though they had not seen each other in years. She was extremely obedient, being a police dog, but this one habit was something even Sato had not managed to teach her not to do. Then again, she didnt really, honestly care to.
"Heyyy baby...", she cooed, deciding to just kneel down a little to properly ruffle through Inus dark, silky layers of fur. Not that she had to, given the dogs considerable size. But still.
"Heya~", Kaito chimed back in, having moved from the couch to the doorway. "How are ya, chief?"
It had only been a couple of days, and still, the teen had made himself right at home. Of course, he didnt feel like himself yet. With what he had gone through, it would take a long time until he would.. Being at a safe place for the time being had been good on him though, that much was undeniable. He had a way with people, and while the police woman was admittedly rather scary, it wasnt enough to truly intimidate him. If anything, it underlined that he was indeed, safe. Especially when, additionaly, there was a big, fluffy dog to cuddle when nightmares would not stop terrorising him at night.
"Im good, im good.", Sato answered, though her tone suggested that wasnt entirely true. "Put your shoes on, time to walk Inu."
"Oh, nah dont bother.", he replied, smiling at her rather pleased with himself, "I already took her a little bit ago, you took a bit longer so i figured id just do it. Gets pretty boring in here, you know?"
"You did?", Sato looked up, "Hey, you know you're not supposed to go on your own?!", she scolded, though the massive dog-tounge slopping over her face as she did so took most of the impact away immediately.
"I wasnt alone?", he laughed, "I had Inu with me."
"Shes a dog, though."
"A police-dog, isnt she? Thats technically an officer."
"No shes.. not?", she couldnt help but stifle a little smile. "And if she was, shes not on duty!"
Hah.
Kaito huffed, now extremely pleased with himself. He had gotten her to smile a little, finally. "Suppose thats right."
"Dont do that again though, come on. Promise. You know its for the best."
"Yeah yeah, I do."
She had to admit, not having to walk around was nice. Just a little bit. She was rather tired...
Finally, she took off her shoes and coat. "So. What do you want for dinner? A bit late I know, but we can still order-"
"Nah, I took care of it. Its been takeout for 4 days straight, so... Yall had some pasta and such so I whipped up a casserole, should be done in like 20 minutes."
Sato looked at him intensely for a few seconds, trapped somewhere between exhaustion and utter bewilderment. "You're a menace.", she finally sighed, "But thank you, thats nice."
"No biggie~" he said, leading the way to the living room. "Also, you're out of soda. And chocolate."
"So..", the teen began, once they had settled, an unusual careful tone in his voice. "How.. was he, today?"
Sato had anticipated the question. And yet, she wasnt entirely sure how to answer.
"He woke up for a little bit.", she said matter-of-factly, though the look on her face betrayed her.
"Oh?", Kaito tried, though he had assessed already that something was off, "Thats good though, isnt it?"
"Yeah.. I guess so.", she sighed. There wasnt really a way around it. "Its a good thing. But.. He was scared. Ive never seen him like that before.."
"Oh... I see."
As they talked, Inu sat in front of Sato, laying her head down on her lap. She could probably tell her master was sad. Dogs had that gift, after all..
"I hope that doesnt last too long. Its so weird to see him like that.."
"I guess so.", Kaito watched closely, but for once, truly didnt know what he could do or say to make it better.
Thankfully, he didnt have to.
After a little silence, Inu shuffled her nose against Satos hand, sniffing intently before starting to wag, just a little.
"Hm?", Sato stroked her head gently, "What is it?"
"I think shes smelling him on you.", Kaito said.
"Oh.. Well, that makes sense, actually." Sato smiled, albeit bitterly. "That right, honey?", she continued toward Inu, more or less seriously. "You're smelling da- I mean, smelling Wataru?"
As though she understood, Inu did start wagging more at her words.
Kaito however almost burst out laughing. "What was that?"
"Nothing!"