| Give the Other Fella Hell [Closed to Raidou and Tsume] | [Aug. 31st, 2008|04:51 pm] |
Takes place 24 hours after The Best of Our Dreams Fell Apart
Tsume watched Tori push the sliding door to the hospital room partially closed, then open again, itching to do it herself. She felt like a tick-bit invalid in the wheelchair, given firm orders by the nurse that she could leave the room but she was not to wander around on her own.
She supposed she should just be grateful that Tori had offered to take her out. Anything was better than trying not to toss and turn, trying not to wake the two men sharing a bed with her. It had been almost twenty-four hours since the last time she'd been conscious, and there had been tubes stretched over the three of them again. Kakashi was wearing hospital pajama bottoms, and both dogs looks distinctly sleepy.
Tsume was very much awake, and painkillers--while making her groggy--meant she wasn't hurting. She was bored.
She'd jumped at the chance when Tori had offered to take her to a visiting room, to see her children--Yasuo had told them they could skip school.
Tori had gotten permission from a nurse, left a message with one of the dogs in case either man woke, and found a wheelchair.
Wheelchair.
"This," Tsume muttered, using a thumbnail to tear the bandaging further away from her eye, "is annoying."
"Be glad you're alive to be annoyed," Tori snapped, leaning her heavily pregnant weight into the chair to get it rolling. "All those little stunts you pulled--"
"I didn't pull any stunts!" Tsume yelped, then hissed as she jerked, thumbnail digging momentarily into the burns near her eye. Even the drugs couldn't stop the quick flash of pain.
"Idiot," Tori muttered, reaching out to slap Tsume's hand away. "Don't pick at it! It's gonna scar bad enough anyway!"
Tsume put her hands in her lap and slouched in her chair.
They rolled down the hall, past doors and gurneys, and finally reached the elevator. It was a short enough ride down, and then they were out.
Here, the sterility was muted by people. Sick, injured--over there someone had spilled blood--but at least it wasn't pine cleaner and antiseptic. The halls were noisier, less with the dying ANBU and more with complaining children.
"MA!"
And speaking of children... She focused on the two pups leaping around at the end of the hall, barely controlled by Tori's son, Taro.
"Mother," Taro said with complete exasperation, and hurried down the hall to take the wheelchair. "Tsume-obasan, you shouldn't let her--"
Tsume bristled. "Do I look like I'm in a position to argue?"
Taro subsided, but only reluctantly. Tsume remained tense, highly aware of his prickly male chakra behind her, instinct warning her he was at an age to challenge--and she was in no position to defend.
He kept his energy carefully neutral, though, as if aware of how miserable she'd make him later if he tried to challenge now. At least he was a smart boy.
Then they were out of the hall, and her own cubs were dancing back away from the wheelchair, looking a little uncertain.
"Ma," Kiba said at last, "you feel real funny."
Tsume offered him a wrinkle-nosed smile. "It's just my chakra is tired. I'll start feeling normal again soon." That seemed to reassure him, at least, and he catapulted up onto her lap before Taro could stop him.
Tsume hissed in pain, but hugged Kiba close anyway even as she tried to move her face out of the way.
"Ki-ba!" Hana bellowed. "You have to be careful 'cause Ma's hurt!"
Whatever Kiba said was lost in Tsume's neck. She chuckled and patted him, glancing around the big waiting room. "We're in the way, pups. Tori, didn't you say they had a visiting room for us?"
"Ma!" Kiba reel back, face flushed with excitement. "You could be a pirate now!"
Her smile was dryly amused. "Hmm. I still have an eye, though, cub."
He held a hand in front of the bandages half-covering the mentioned feature, ignoring her flinch back. "We could pretend!"
At least he wasn't upset. "That's true. We could pretend."
"Kiba," Hana said with great despair. "You are so dumb." |
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