Quantum Leap - Vol. 3 I Will Wait For You On The Other Side

C017 ICU

Time ticked by slowly and I was stirred into attention as my alarm went off at exactly 6 am. I reached in my pocket and retrieved my phone and snoozed the alarm. I subconsciously stared at the phone's wallpaper and cherished the moment I had with Akira for the past week. 

"Akira, hope you would get well soon and recover from your coma. My life would be rather lonesome when you are not around and I don't feel like going to school today." I sighed out loud as I stirred from the chair that I had placed near her. I looked at her and it seemed that she looked rather peaceful in her slumber.

I called the landlord of the dormitory on the phone and explained why I hadn't returned home and narrated on the whole incident. He asked if I need anything from my room but I do not want to trouble him with such matters at all so I declined his offer to get some necessities from my bedroom. "Thank you, uncle. I am fine right where I am now here in the hospital. Akira is still in a coma and I would be here the whole day and see what I could do if the nurses or doctors begin their rounds."

I reminded the landlord to inform his wife as well and he told me he would come to the hospital after all the students had left for school. I thanked him for his concern and bade farewell.

I flipped back my phone and looked back at Akira who was in a deep sleep and waiting for her Prince Charming to kiss her and awake from the terrible curse. I stroked her head once more and ran my thumb on her thick eyebrow... Hoping for a minuscule twitch on her face... And my tears involuntarily flowed from the corner of my eye and left a trail down to my lips.

Mr Director... Can you stop making this MC cry and cry like a baby? Really... this crying bit had already gone too far and its time for some action, what do you think?

I called the School's Head of Department and introduced myself to the recipient and told her that I would be taking a leave of absence from class. I related to her the reason for the sudden leave of absence and I can feel the recipient was utterly shocked that one of the students had a mishap and was lost for words. 

"Yes, Akira was involved with an accident yesterday at the Ozone Bus Terminal while she err... err... alighting from the area after she had visited her relatives. The doctors told the nurses that she was in a coma and have not responded to any of the treatment they had tested on her."

I narrated the whole incident and she assured me that she will inform the Principal as well as the teacher in charge of Akira's class. She later told me that arrangements for well-wishers would be made soon after school's hours today.

I thanked her and hung up the phone and as I stroked Akira's forehead, I whispered that her friends from school would come by after school. I smiled for her and kissed the part of the forehead that was not being covered by the bandage.

Time ticked by once more and doctors made their rounds while I moved away giving them the space needed to examine their patients. After their examinations and assessment, they came to me and asked who I am to Akira and told her that I was a "very special close friend" with her. 

"How do you term a very special close friend to the patient? Do you know that you are staying here overnight despite the rules and regulation of the hospital grounds and this is a female ward and we would not want you to be harassing our patients while they were in a coma or unconscious? Do you know...bla bla bla..." I was chided by one of the young intern doctors and he was quickly hushed by the others.

In the end, one of the doctors advised me to go home and freshen up since they received news from the nurses that I had come in right after the ambulance brought Akira to the emergency department yesterday afternoon and had not left the hospital since. 

I told them I would leave in a while bit and left my mobile number to the nurses stationed there in case Akira showed some progress of coming out of her coma. I explained to them that I'm going to get some clothes as well as toiletries nearby. They looked at me and since I had mentioned that, the clothes and toiletries may be for the patient or for me since I had decided to camp there beside Akira.

When I left the solitary observation room and went to the lift lobby, I can't help to overhear the nurses saying that, "It's a pity for the young man to wait for a bud of a rose, but in the end failed to bloom and withered in the progress." Frankly speaking, their words were a bit out of context and I find it hard to decipher the real meaning behind it. I am not a florist and I am just a teenage student in a Japan school.

Their words however stung at my heart like a broad-edged tip arrow that had pierced through it. I went inside the lift and descended to the ground level and look for convenience shops that sell toiletries and such. After I had made some purchases using the original Shiro's ATM card once again, I returned to where Akira was and bowed slightly at the nurses on duty there. 

I walked up and peered through the door as I opened it up, half expecting Akira to be sitting at the bed and smiling broadly as she greeted me. Unfortunately, she was still lying down on the bed as to how I had left her then.

It was already past 10 am and I went into the bathroom which was attached to the room and took a quick shower. I had bought some disposable briefs, a small face towel, and some pairs of tanktop set with matching coloured shorts, a pair of Japanese flip-flops and some other toiletries kit.

The hot shower was very welcoming and refreshing as it helped to wash away my last night's sorrows. I changed and placed my soiled clothes into a paper bag and decided to head down to the self-service laundrette later to have them washed or maybe bring them home with me and set them on the pile of other clothes and get it laundered by the landlord's machine.

I placed my toiletries set in the bathroom and changed into the Japanese flip-flops that I had bought earlier. The paper bag filled with my soiled clothes was placed on the floor near the bathroom door. Maybe if I placed it with Akira, she would definitely wake up due to its wonderful odour. Hahaha...! Works better than smelling salts.

I sat next to Akira on the bedside and held her hand... Mine was cold from the shower and I held her warm yet unresponsive hand. In this way, she would not realise that I had held her hands many times already and she had no chance to be feeling shy at all...!

The door creaked open slowly behind me and the dormitory's landlord and his wife entered. I stood up and bowed at them and the landlord came up to me and embraced me like he was embracing his own son.

"Shiro-San, always be strong in both faith and health. Akira will need to see you strong and healthy as the first time she has seen you. You need to pray for God's miracles to pull Akira out from her coma. The doctors had told me and it would be a miracle if Akira would pull through... Don't worry, Aki-Sama and Chomi-sama will be here when you need us. Just give a ring... "

"Thank you so much Aki-sama, Chomi-san. Thank you for visiting Akira, it would mean so much to her. I also wish you to pray together for Akira's recovery. You should know how much I care about her and all I wanted now was her to open up her eyes and be well...I love her so much and I would not leave her side... Aki-sama; Choi-sama..." Tears began jerking my eyes once more as I deeply bowed to both the landlord and his wife. I truly meant what I said and they both knew how sincere I was when declaring to them.

They took out a small cloth bundle and presented me with their homemade bento box. Their thoughtfulness struck a chord within me as they somehow knew I had neither taken any meals since last night till just. They told me to eat while they attended to Akira.

I thanked and bowed deeply to them and took the bento to the side. I was in no mood to eat but it is customary to have one's meals when someone brought over to you out of concern and pity. I opened up the bundle and the opened the bento box and the sight and smell alone brought floods of saliva within my mouth as I quietly wolf it down while it was still warm. Its a simple rice meal with several dishes but it's more than enough as I stuffed my face with them. I didn't know I was that hungry...!

Not a morsel of food was left when I handed the empty bento box to them. I thanked them again and told them not to fuss about me the next time. i bowed to them to show my appreciation as I explained that the hospital has a 24-hour vending machine that serves hot bento meals and beverages as well.

After the couple had stayed for the next half hour, the landlord and landlady excused themselves as they need to attend to their dormitories since they can't afford to leave them unattended for so long. I thanked them again and held both of their hands and told them I will call them when the need arises. Seems I was acting as the caring adult in this paragraph.

They soon left me in the ward alone accompanied by the steady beeps from the ECG machine that was kept switched on beside Akira's bed. I sat down on the chair alongside her and took out the heart-shaped origami that I had replaced them in my shorts pocket. I cleaned the origami a bit since it was a bit crumpled and was slightly stained. I then took a piece of thread from one of the sutures pack and hung it at the glass window and it twirl when a gust of air-con breeze blew on it.

A few hours passed and there was a knock on the door. I called out for them to come in and the Principal and Vice-Principal of Asahigaoka's entered.

"How is Akira-chan's doing...? Has she made any progress? How long have you been here and have you eaten yet? Akira-chan's next of kin had been notified, hasn't she? Will she be here so we could straighten some matters pertaining Akira-chan now as part of her guardian? Besides, you had skipped classes and it would not reflect well on your grades. Would you be coming to class tomorrow?"

All sort of questions were aimed at me and I answered them one by one without skipping a beat. I rest assured to both the Principal and Vice-Principal that I would be here and not leave Akira by my side.

"How about your school...?"

"Akira-chan is in this kind of condition, we don't want you to neglect your other responsibilities, Shiro-kun. Forget about the Juku and the ECA, we would like to have you back in school latest by Wednesday or Thursday."

"Pick yourself up, young man...! If you do care about Akira-Chan, go to school and spend time after school with her. We are both sure that Akira-Chan would want you to do so, are we right to say that?"

I hung my head down, it's not that I am ashamed of not going to school but I felt embarrassed to have people whom I had to not related with before, had suddenly shown their care and concern towards me.

I looked up, tear-stained (yes, yes...I know...some onion ninja passed me and squirted me with it) and I nodded in agreement with what the Principal and Vice-Principal had suggested and I bowed my head low and thanked them.

"Your wish is my command" or "Anata no kibō wa Watashi no meireidesu"

Soon afterwards Akira's classmates entered the ward in threes and brought with them some get-well-soon multicoloured helium balloons, fruit and flower baskets, a miniature bonsai plant and even 2 Ikebanas that they arranged themselves at the florist nearby. The atmosphere suddenly burst into a multitude of colours that brought life to the otherwise dull and white solitary room.