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Recovery: Chapter 3 - White Plum & Chilled Sake

by Haku Baikou ::: 01.Mar.2003

His hallucinations began two days later.

Megumi was having lunch with Okina when Sae came running downstairs, eyes big as saucers and completely out of breath. Megumi's heart nearly stopped when she saw the normally proper Sae barreling down the stairs, hysterically shouting her name. She thought for sure that Kenshin was dead.

She nearly dropped her bowl in relief as Sae reported between breaths that Kenshin was awake, delirious, and attempting to pull off his bandages. The three of them hurried upstairs to find the rurouni halfway off the futon, in a tangled heap beneath the covers. He was desperately crying out a name, over and over again.

"Tomoe!"

Megumi didn't have time to wonder who Tomoe was. Kenshin was busy ripping at his bandages, causing fresh blood to flow from a number of wounds.

"Sae, stay back," Okina warned. Sae looked like she was about to faint. "Megumi, can you get Himura's legs? I'll get his shoulders."

Megumi nodded, and together, she and Okina carefully approached the distraught redhead. He fought them as they got him back on the futon. He was too weak to put up much of a struggle, but it was still a long time in moving him. He was wounded in so many places it was difficult to get a good handhold without hurting him further. But they finally settled him in, and his struggles subsided as fatigue quickly overcame him.

Okina then escorted a shaky Sae downstairs, leaving Megumi alone with the injured swordsman. Megumi sat wearily beside her friend, feeling more than a little shaky herself. Despite a lifetime of dealing with wounded patients, it was a different matter--quite unsettling, really--to see someone dear to her own heart struggling incoherently amid smears of his own blood.

Kenshin lay quietly, his violet gaze directed towards unknown distances, silently reliving horrors which Megumi could only guess at. He was very still, but by no means at peace, she observed worriedly. Watching the distressed rurouni, with his rapid shallow breathing and fluttering pulse at his throat, she was sure he'd be screaming at the top of his lungs if his exhausted body would allow such an effort.

"Ken-san?" she called softly. Her touch was gentle, but he flinched as if she'd struck him. She called his name again, but it was no good. He was a world away.

"Ken-san, what are you seeing?" she wondered, despairing at her inability to help. There was nothing in her repertoire for this. No medicine to take away this kind of pain. Megumi drew her legs up and rested her forehead on her knees. She was tired. Her head ached. She'd been at his side for days, insisting on taking longer shifts than anyone else watching over him. But now that he was finally awake, he was suffering, and there wasn't a damned thing all her medical training could do in this situation. She couldn't even give him something to make him comfortable, considering sedatives and pain medications had a tendency to worsen the hallucinations, not take them away. She could continue treating his wounds, continue fighting his fever. But that took time. And in the meanwhile, all she could do was watch him and do nothing else, helpless, despite all her knowledge, as any of the others.

"Why did you go?" The words were a faint rasp, barely audible, but even so, the agony they conveyed was heartbreaking.

She looked up quickly. "I'm still here, Ken-san. I haven't gone."

She knew he wasn't talking to her at all.

"I have to find her," he whispered, and began once again to reach for the bandages around his throat.

Megumi grabbed him by the wrists. "Ken-san, don't! Those are there to help you. They won't choke you, I promise."

"Have to find her!" His voice took on a new edge of urgency, and although he couldn't break Megumi's hold, his fingers opened and closed spasmodically as he fought her grip.

"Who?" she asked. "Is it Tomoe? Are you trying to find Tomoe?"

A slight commotion on the stairs took her attention from the rurouni a moment as Megumi heard Hiko's deep voice talking in hushed tones with Okina. The tall warrior entered the room soon after, scowling as Okina came and stood by the doorway, explaining what had happened earlier.

"Do you know who this Tomoe is?" asked Megumi.

"Perhaps the Oniwabanshu could be of help in locating her," offered Okina.

Hiko shook his head, silent for a moment. "I have no idea who he's talking about. But if you could get what I asked for, Okina-san, that might help."

"I'll see what we can do," said Okina.

"And have someone send for Kaoru," added Megumi. "I think she needs to be here."

She hated having to say it, but it was true. As much as she disliked the thought, she knew that the girl's presence would have a calming effect on Ken-san. Jealousy was not an appropriate emotion to be feeling at a time like this, she told herself. At least, that's what her brain said. Her heart, on the other hand, strongly objected.

Okina nodded and quickly left. Hiko remained standing, staring down at the rurouni with a mix of emotions that Megumi could not decipher.

"Who is Tomoe?" she asked.

Hiko's eyebrows lifted as he turned to Megumi. He towered above her as he looked her straight in the eye, and without flinching, said, "I have no idea."

"Why don't I believe you?" said Megumi quietly.

Hiko's gaze did not falter. A hint of a humorless smile crept at the corner of his mouth, but he said nothing.

"Someone he loves, perhaps?" ventured Megumi, her heart pounding.

Could Ken-san's heart have belonged to someone else all this time? He never made any mention of this Tomoe woman. But then again, Ken-san almost never mentioned anything about his past. Megumi knew it was low of her to be feeling such jealousy at the moment, but she couldn't help herself. And oddly enough, she found herself suddenly feeling sorry for Kaoru. She blinked. Now this was an unexpected feeling, this sudden concern for her chief rival's mental well-being.

Hiko remained infuriatingly silent.

The three of them stayed as they were for several minutes more, Kenshin struggling occasionally as Megumi still held his wrists, Hiko watching impassively the whole while. The waiting became awkward.

Megumi heaved an inward sigh of relief as one of the Shirobeko waitresses arrived soon after, her cheeks flush and hair in disarray. She handed Hiko a small black lacquer vial, then shyly ducked away. He in turn tossed it casually to Megumi.

"What is this?" Megumi looked at the small bottle curiously, then carefully opened it. "Perfume?" she said in surprise as she dabbed a small amount on her fingers.

“Perfume,” he agreed cordially.

It was a lovely scent, but.... “I don’t understand how--“

"Haku baikou," came a whisper from where Ken-san lay. The tone of his voice was odd.

Megumi looked over to the rurouni and saw that Kenshin's eyes were half-lidded, his hands relaxed. His breathing began to ease, and he looked calmer of a sudden, apparently soothed by the white plum fragrance she held in her hand.

"Nani?" She blinked in surprise. It was a pleasant enough scent, but the miraculous change in the rurouni seemed a bit disproportional considering the simple nature of the remedy. She looked in disbelief at Hiko.

"You knew this would happen?"

His reply was typically sardonic. "As I've said. Hiko Seijuro is never wrong."

"I don't suppose you'd care to explain?" She asked, knowing full well he would not.

He threw her a haughty glance and turned to leave. "I'm going downstairs for some sake."

He paused before he walked out the door. "You may join me if you like."

A disgruntled Megumi shook her head at the retreating figure of Ken-san's master. The man was impossible, she thought, as she quickly surveyed Ken-san's bandages and fixed some of the ones that he had torn. She worked quickly, but by the time she finished, Ken-san was out again, asleep, and looked for the most part comfortable. She shook her head, once again marveling at how effective the perfume had been. And now that Kaoru was no doubtedly on her way here, Megumi felt assured that Ken-san would be all right for the rest of the day as well.

As much as she wanted to throttle Hiko for not telling her his secrets, she was grateful to the man for his help.

Maybe, she thought, if he drank enough sake, his tongue would loosen and she could weasel the story out of him. She smiled to herself, her impish Fox Lady instincts surfacing now that Kenshin was no longer in danger. Cheered by that prospect, Megumi made her way downstairs to the Shirobeko dining room and found Hiko in one of the booths. He noted her arrival with a slight nod, and without preamble, poured her some chilled sake and handed her a cup.

It was a little early in the day to be drinking sake for Megumi's taste, but she accepted his offer and took a seat opposite him at the low table.

Megumi smiled when she tasted the beverage.

No big surprise, she thought to herself: Hiko liked his sake dry.