Best Friends - Chapter Seven

Two hours later

puff here’s chapter seven, enjoy… faints of exhaustion

The sound of the impact of fist hitting skull resounded through the entire hospital. Jon was about to slap Sakura when she gave him a right hook that would’ve a pro-boxer. Jon fell over, a huge purple and black bruise already showing on the side of his face. Sakura was wearing the ring Syaoran had given on her twelfth birthday, so that in the middle of the huge bruise, there was a heart-shaped imprint. Jon stared at Sakura with terrified eyes. Clutching at his cheek, he scrambled out of the room.

Sakura strode over to her mother’s bed. “So, is she going to be okay?” She asked Dr. Shobu. He gazed at her intently, as if studying her features. She suddenly realized how young he looked; he was probably about the same age as her mother, somewhere in his mid-thirties. He had penetrating, kind gray eyes and short black hair. ‘Hm, he’s kind of handsome…’

“She’s stabilized, she’ll be okay now, as long as that guy stays away from her. I suggest you get a restraining order against him.” He suggested.

“Thank you doctor. I’ll go to the police station on my way to the lawyer’s firm down the street. Would it be okay if you watched over her for a while?” She was very reluctant to leave her mother all alone but she had to do this so that both and her mother could breathe easily and not be worried about Jon coming near them ever again.

Sakura was almost halfway out the door when her mother called her back. “Sakura…your real mother, her name is Kinomoto Nadeshiiko.”

“K-Kinomoto Nadeshiiko?” The sound her name held a ring of familiarity, hearing it made her remember all the good things in life, chocolate cookies and bright sunny days… And that was all she remembered before everything went black.

She was lying down on a soft pillow that smelled like spices and sandalwood. Her pillow moved rhythimically, up and down, up and down. ‘Pillows don’t usually move, do they? Did I sleep so long that I ended up in the future and I’m sleeping on a future pillow! Wow that’s so cool. I wonder what the future looks like…’

She opened her eyes and realized that it was not a pillow from the future, as she originally thought, but Syaoran, her best friend. He was lying down beside her. The door opened someone came in. It was Nurse Aika.

“Hello Miss…ah Kinomoto was it?” Sakura smiled and nodded. “How are you feeling? Your boyfriend came in within five minutes of you fainting; he was very worried about you and started panicking so we had to give him a sedative. We don’t have many empty beds in the hospital so we figured it was okay for him to be next to you.” She smiled at the couple.

“Oh thank you Nurse Aika but…he’s not my boyfriend.” The nurse looked puzzled and said “Oh! I’m sorry, I’ll just remove him then…”

“He’s my best friend, not boyfriend.” Sakura corrected. The nurse’s expression cleared up a bit but she still looked confused.

“Then why are you…?" She pointed at them and Sakura blushed. Her head was against his chest and his arms were wrapped tightly around her waist. She had her arms around his torso and both of their legs were intertwined. She tried to move but he held onto her tightly and she didn’t want to wake him. “It’s okay, I’ll just be going now.” Nurse Aika said before closing the door behind her.

Sakura didn’t know what to do, and she was so exhausted from today’s excitement she just buried her head in his chest and went back to sleep.

Syaoran

When he woke up, it was dark outside and he was holding onto something warm. He blushed furiously as he remembered that it was Sakura. He tried to move without waking her, but every time he did, she stirred. He sighed. He could just imagine Tomoyo and her evil camera taping them, he even swore her heard a quiet “Kawaii!” from somewhere in the room. He looked up, straight into the blinking red light that proved that Tomoyo actually was in the room. The memories flooded back to him…

Flashback

Tomoyo and Mei Lin dragged Syaoran along with them to go shopping for a get-well-soon present for Avalon-san. They were in the toy store; looking at super cute stuffed animals to go with the flowers they had bought when Syaoran had stiffened suddenly. His eyes went hard and concentrated for a moment before realizing it was Sakura. He started panicking and he forced himself to calm down. He grabbed his half sister’s arm.

“Imotou-san (a/n did I even spell that right?), something’s wrong with Saki.” He said urgently. She was about to tell him to stop faking and trying to get out of shopping when she looked at his face. He was dead serious. “We have to go to the hospital. Now.” Mei Lin decided to wait until later to tease him about it.

“Moyo, we gotta go to the hospital, little brother says something’s wrong with Sakura.” The girls looked over at Syaoran, who was pacing like a caged lion and exchanged worried glances.

“Alright let’s go.” Tomoyo nodded. It was only about five minutes and a half from the mall to the hospital in Tomoyo’s Range Rover but to Syaoran, it seemed like an eternity. He kept fidgeting in the back seat and playing imaginary drums on his lap Mei Lin finally turned around and said, “Look, we know you love her alright? Just stop fidgeting before I turn this car around so you won’t be able to save your girlfriend.” Syaoran was a bit lost; he wasn’t really listening because he was so worried. He did, however catch the words ‘save your girlfriend’. “But, it’s Sakura in the hospital, not Jet.”

Mei Lin sighed and threw up her hands. “Wow, um okay I know this is going to be totally pointless but I’m going to try any ways. Are you listening?” He looked at her and nodded. “Good. Syaoran, everyone believes that it should be you and Sakura together, not that stupid rich cow Jet.”

“But, I love Jet and she loves me. She even said so.” He replied, sounding like a little kid who was trying to prove you wrong.

“She loves Kai.”

“Then why did he rape her?”

“Syaoran, you idiot he didn’t, she was just saying that so you wouldn’t dump her. Think Syaoran if Sakura and Jet were trapped in a burning building, who would you save?”

“I-I would save…” He faltered. He would save Sakura, of course. But why? Jet was his girlfriend. Screamed his mind in protest. He felt guilty because he was supposed to love Jet, not Sakura. Jet was his girlfriend, Sakura was just his friend. Luckily, Tomoyo pulled up on front of the hospital, saving Syaoran from answering Mei Lin’s awkward question and reminding him that something was wrong with Sakura. He raced upstairs, not bothering to wait for his sister and Tomoyo. He burst into Avalon Jade’s room and saw Sakura lying on the ground. “What happened?” Without waiting for an answer knelt down beside her and started shaking her tiny form frantically, muttering something like: ‘please don’t be dead’. Nurse Aika was afraid he might break her neck with all that shaking so she gave him some sedative and he began to drift asleep, pulling Sakura close into a protective hug and glaring at all the men in the room before relaxing and letting himself fall asleep.

Tomoyo and Mei Lin ran into the room just as Syaoran pulled Sakura into his arms and started falling asleep. “Kawaii!” squealed Tomoyo, going all starry-eyed and pulling her evil camera out and filming her best friends as they slept on the floor. A man, who Tomoyo recognized as Dr. Shobu said, “Who is this young man?”

Thinking quickly, Mei Lin answered, “It’s her boyfriend, doctor.”

Tomoyo grinned evilly. “Yes, they’re very close.”

The doctor sighed and said, “Well, we’d better put them in a bed, then. It’s going to be hard because the hospital is so full, they might not be able to be in the same room as each other.”

“They could share a bed, doctor.” Tomoyo suggested, her expression unchanging.

The doctor gave it a moment’s thought then gave consent. “Alright, as long as you two girls are there to watch them and make sure they don’t do anything wrong,”

“Of course, doctor.” Answered Mei Lin, her expression matching her friend’s.

End Flashback

He looked down at the sleeping beauty in his arms. As he brushed away her bangs from her eyes, they opened. They looked around the room before resting on the masculine form of her best friend in front of her. She smiled and blushed, remembering how they were positioned and what Nurse Aika thought of them. He blushed too, remembering that he was still holding her and that Tomoyo was still taping them. It took every bit of self-control he possessed to not kiss her. Even so, it was not enough. His lips traveled toward her, seemingly of their own accord. Then, landed on her forehead.

“How are you doing?” He whispered softly, so that Tomoyo could not hear.

“I’m okay. How about you? Nurse Aika came in and told me that you went crazy when you came in.” She paused to giggle. “She said they had to give you a shot or something. Why are we whispering?”

“Well, because Tomoyo and her evil camera are right behind you. Also, I’m okay. I was just worried about you.”

“Aw, Syao that’s so sweet of you. But really, I’m fine. I just fainted because…” She trailed off, momentarily forgetting why she had fainted in the first place. “My mother’s name is Kinomoto Nadeshiiko.” She said loud enough for Tomoyo and Mei Lin to hear.

A collective gasp was heard around the room. After a moment’s pause Tomoyo burst into (seemingly) uncontrollable squeals and giggles. The room’s other occupants stared at her blankly, sweat dropping at their friend.

“Um, Moyo? What is it?” Sakura asked, a little tentatively.

“Sakura! Omigosh Sakura! I thought you knew! Kinomoto Nadeshiiko, as in Aunt Nades from my party last year, remember?”

Sakura blinked in response. “Huh?”

“My Aunt Nades! She’s my mom’s best friend since forever, remember at the party, we were playing truth and it was like ‘what’s the most tragic thing that ever happened to you?’ and she was like ‘I lost my daughter to someone I thought I could trust’. She had this super intense sad look on her face and I swear she was looking right at you, I didn’t get it then but I understand now.” Tomoyo explained, bubbling with more excitement than a kid on their birthday.

“So…do you think she knows that I’m her daughter? And, if she did then…why didn’t she come to me?” Sakura wondered aloud.

“Oh, I didn’t mean… no that’s not what I was saying Saku, she must’ve wanted to but…” Tomoyo gave Mei Lin and Syaoran a look, silently pleading them to help her out. But they both remained silent.

“The restraining order…maybe she thought…” Mei Lin suggested, making Sakura’s eyes spark with hope.

“So…maybe she does love me after all…” No one answered her, but she didn’t expect them to, she was talking to herself. “If I tell her at the end of the week, I could tell him the day after…” She stopped muttering to herself when she realized whose arms she was in. “HOE! When did you get there Syao?”

“Tell who what Saki?” He gazed into her soft, emerald eyes, trying to discern who she was talking about from her expression, but all he could see was him, the way she looked at him. Somehow he knew that she was talking about him. What would she need to tell him? What could she possibly not be able to tell him right here, right now?

Sakura blushed furiously, turning red as the inside of a ripe watermelon. Thinking quickly of a way to escape Syaoran’s bear hug, she said, “Um, Syao? I really, really have to pee, so if you could just-“

“Let you go?” Syaoran finished her sentence for her, looking like a tomato with brown hair and sexy eyes. “Sure.”

He released her, and she wished he’d held on just a little longer, she felt naked without his arms around her. In her haste to get out of bed (a/n which I definitely wouldn’t have done considering Syaoran was in it and those hospital beds are pretty narrow…) she tripped on Tomoyo’s chair and fell flat on her face. “Ow…” She said, peeling her face off the white linoleuom. Remembering that she needed to pee, she sprinted to the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her.

When the door closed Mei Lin leaned closer to her half-brother. “Still think you don’t love her more than Jet?” She leaned back, amusing herself with the spluttering sounds of protest Syaoran was making. “I thought so.

Once again, he was saved from answering her question as Sakura exited the small washroom changed and looking refreshed. “Dinner time guys, my treat.” She said.

“Going somewhere?” asked Nurse Aika, when she saw the four of them leaving the room.

“Nurse Aika, would it be okay if I went out for a little while? I mean, I feel fine now and I just fainted, nothing life-threatening or anything like that. Also, I need to carry out mom’s requests.” Sakura explained, hoping she could go.

“Sure, sweetie. Just sign this release form and you can go on your way.”

They walked down the street because the lawyer’s firm was only about a block from the hospital where her mom was. Her first stop was the police station.

Sakura entered and walked up to the nearest police officer with her friends in tow. He was about her age, with spiked dark hair and shocking electric blue eyes. He was reading a comic book and eating a jelly donut, looking like a little kid in a uniform. “Officer?” he looked up, a look of kindness crossed his handsome chiseled features. Syaoran growled quietly beside his sister. “Um, I was wondering, how would you put a restraining order up against someone?”

“Well, you would have to have a good reason and it costs about fifteen bucks but that’s about it. Why? Is someone bothering you, miss…?” His eyes were kind and caring.

“Kinomoto Sakura, and no, it’s for my mom. You see, she’s in the hospital and she’s trying to divorce her husband. He hasn’t really done anything yet but he came to visit today and her blood pressure was raised and the doctor’s said he should never come near again, it’s too risky for her health.”

“I see Miss Kinomoto,” he said sympathetically. “Well, that is definite grounds for a restraining order.” He pulled a bunch of papers from a nearby filing cabinet. “Just sign here, and here…”

Fifteen minutes later, she was done and had a laminated piece of paper in her wallet. “Thank you so very much Officer…”

“Dimma Xishi, call me Xishi. And it was my pleasure Miss Kinomoto.”

Sakura blushed, ‘Wow, he’s so polite.’ “Oh, you can call me Sakura…Xishi.”

He smiled a bit flirtaciously at her. “Of course, Sakura. Well, here’s my number in case you’re in any trouble, day or night. I’ll come. Oh and I better out my cell phone too.” He took out a pen and scribbled on a business card and handed it to Sakura. She smiled and turned to leave and paused at the door.

“Thanks…Xishi.” She smiled and left, with Syaoran steaming behind her.

The weather was cool and Sakura was shivering so Syaoran put a brotherly arm around her. She smiled up at him but was still thinking about a certain hot police officer. They spotted the lawyer’s firm and went in.

15 minutes later

Fifiteen minutes later Sakura and her friends left the building with smiles and happy hearts. The secretary said they would send a lawyer to her mother’s hospital room tomorrow as they were all busy at the moment. Sakura led them to a quaint little restaurant that she loved to go to.

No one spokle for a while. Finally, a waiter came to seat them. They got a table by a window. Sakura loved the view so she took a seat next to it. Tomoyo sat next to her and Mei Lin sat in front of Tomoyo, giving Syaoran the remaining seat beside the window and in front of Sakura. The waiter handed them all menus and asked if they would like anything to drink.

“I’ll have a pina colada, please.” The girls ordered in unison. They looked at each other and giggled. The waiter looked inquiringly at Syaoran.

“Just water for me, please.” Everyone looked at him, shocked. “What? Someone’s gotta drive.” They laughed again and the waiter left.

“So…what did you guys do today?” Sakura asked, making small talk.

“We went shopping.” Replied Mei Lin.

“All of you? Together?” She said, incredulously looking at Syaoran.

“Yes, I came with them too.” Syaoran answered the implied her question.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA” Sakura was rolling around on the ground, clutching her stomach. After about a minute, she straightened up and sat on her chair. Syaoran cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Well, just the idea of you…shopping, trying on lingerie and pink hats…” She struggled to get her giggles under control, but burst when the other two girls started laughiong too. Syaoran was spared from any more teasing when their drinks came.

They ate their meal in silence, except for the occasional ‘pass the salt Syao’ or ‘Saku, get your elbow out of my soup!’

After the meal, while the waiter was getting their bill. Syaoran stared intensely at Sakura, memorizing her features, they way she held herself, the way she spoke, the way she lighted up a gloomy room just by walking into it. He turned his head when he saw Mei Lin turn to look at him, hoping she didn’t see anything. But she did, sighing, she returned to her conversation with Sakura and Tomoyo. ‘Why does he have to be so stubborn?’ She thought to herself.

“Saki,” Syaoran said suddenly.

“Yes, Syao?” She tensed, knowing he was about to warn her about the police officer.

“I don’t trust that Dimma guy. He looks untrustworthy.” Sakura sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Syao, you say that about everyone except the people who actually hurt me. You said nothing about Kai, you’re the one who set me up with him, remember? You said nothing about Jet, who always gives me cut eye and hurts me every other way than physically. You warned me about Mei Lin, Ayisha and even Kero. But you were wrong every time, you act like my brother, but you’re not. And that’s your problem, you don’t even acknowledge the fact that I kicked Kai’s ass all by myself to you, I’m just someone you protect, like I can only like the people who say I can. But, if I did, I’d be living a pretty shit life right now. So if you could please just stop making judgements about people because I can do that on my own. So if you’ll excuse me…” She didn’t intend to tell him off, but it just came out. She stoode up put her hands on the table, cartwheeled over everything on it and landed an her feet beside the table. She silently apologized to Tomoyo and Mei Lin and threw the money on the table. She turned to leave. “Sakura...” Syaoran called weakly after her. He attempted to follow her but the restaurant was so croweded that by the time he got out, she was long gone and the waiter had already returned with their change. Mei Lin and Tomoyo glared at him. “well, what do you have to say for yourself?” His sister scolded.

“Why didn’t you move? I coud’ve gotten to her sooner!”

“Why didn’t you do what she did?”

“I cant…”

“Why do you do these things Syaoran? She can take care of herself.”

“I don’t know…” ‘It’s because you love her’ part of his brain answered him. He shoved that part to the back of his mind.

The Next Day

Hospital

Jade and Sakura were just finalizing the divorce plans with the lawyer when Syaoran came in. When the lawyer left, he walked up to Sakura. “Saki-“

“I’m sorry for snapping at you yesterday, it’s just my nerves.” She cut him off. He nodded and smiled. She hugged him.

“Saku!” Tomoyo burst in, interrupting their kawaii moment. They looked at her cautiously, but saw no camera.

“Kawaii!” Screamed Mei Lin, doing a perfect Tomoyo imitation, complete with the evil camera. Everyone burst out laughing.

“Sup Moyo?” Asked Sakura.

“Your mom! I know where she lives!”

“Where?”

“930 Chisai Lane. It’s the house with cherry blossoms in the front, you can’t miss it.”

But Sakura hesitated and looked at Jade. “It’s alright sweetie, I knew this day would come. Show this to Nades so she knows that you really are her daughter. Tell her…that I’m sorry. She probably won’t forgive me but…” Jade pressed a small emerald ring into her daughter’s hand. She licked her lips. Her voice was as dry and cracked as the desert. “Tell her that my dying wish is that she attend my funeral.” She started crying.

“No, mom…don’t cry…I’ll find a donor, someone, anyone…I’ll find them. I-I’ll be back…”

Jade just nodded and wiped her eyes on her bedsheet.

Chisai Lane

Sakura borrowed Tomoyo’s Range Rover and was driving down Chisai Lane, she was so frustrated. All the houses had cherry blossom trees in front of them. Finally, she spotted a cute little house that had the number 930 in front of it. She parked in front of it and walked up to the door.

Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door. Nothing happened. Sighing, she turned to leave. She was five steps away whenthe door opened. “Can I help you?” Asked a woman from inside her house.

Sakura turned around and gasped. The woman looked exactly like Sakura imagined herself looking about twenty years from now.

“Um, you may not know me but…I’m your daughter.”