Chapter 6

"Well I'm glad you don't blame me, but I do." he said.

"Don't." she said. "Is this why you are staying?"

"No.," he replied. "I am here because I want to be."

"That makes one of us." she said.

"Well I could think of a few places I would rather be, but here with you tops the list. Not so much in a hospital or for the reason we are here." he said.

"Doctor? You can come back now." another nurse said from the entrance to the waiting room.

"Go ahead." he said.

"I will be right here when you are done." he said.

"You don't want to come back?" she asked.

"Can't not family." he replied.

"Then lie." she said as she held out her hand.

"What?" he asked as he stood up.

"Just let me do all the talking." she said. "I am pretty sure I will not like what they found, and I might need some more help."

"I aim to help." he said, "Lead the way."

She walked into the ICU and made her way to the isolation room. She looked in to find Rin still sleeping, but she looked at the monitors and saw she was stable. Still very cold but she was being warmed up.

"You are her parents?" the doctor asked.

"Yes." Kit replied.

"You have a very strong daughter." he replied.

"She is like her mother." Mitsuhide said from behind her.

"She is stable. Probably if everything goes the way it should within a few days, she should be back to a normal temp. We did an exam, and the findings were that she was not sexually assaulted. There are bruises and such, but there was not actual assault." the doctor said. "She fought back. Her hand is broken, and she has a spiral fracture on her arm as well. There is a hairline fracture in her foot as well. All of these will be dealt with as she gets warmer. I will be writing up the report now for the police, I assume they have a suspect in custody already?"

"They do." Kit replied.

"Good." the doctor said as he looked back into the room. "This could have been much worse. A few more minutes in the water this would be a different outcome altogether."

"Thank you." she said. Mitsuhide put out his hand to shake the doctors as she looked through the glass.

"She will be fine for the night however if there are any changes we will call you." the doctor said.

"I understand." she said as she pulled out her business card and handed it over.

"I'll add it to her chart." the doctor said. She looked through the glass again and softly smiled. Mitsuhide stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders. She turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around him. He smiled down at her as she held him tightly.

"Come on mouse. Let's get you home." he said as he guided her to the doors and to the elevator. She still hadn't really let go of him. He chuckled as he pushed the button to the elevator.

"I'll drop you off to your place." she said softly.

"Not a chance in hell." he replied.

"What?" she asked.

"Mouse the night is not over yet." he said. "You don't have to go to a large house and sit and think what might have been alone."

"This is slightly above and beyond friendship." she said.

"I know." he replied. "Plus, how many nights do you have no kids?"

"None." she replied. He heard the strain in her voice as she said that.

"Oh no. this is not your fault." he said.

"It is though." she said. "The first time I go out in five years, and this happens." She didn't realize the tears had already fallen and were streaking down her face.

"Mouse, no it is not." he said as he pulled her closer to him. It was breaking his heart to see her blame herself for this. "Okay, I have a question for you."

"What?" she asked back.

"Would you have let them go to the mall regardless if you went out tonight?" he asked.

"Yes, probably." Kit replied.

"If your house closer or further away from the bar?" he asked.

"It is further away." she replied.

"There is your answer." he said. "You, by going out, actually saved her life not caused this."

"How is that?" she asked.

"You went out, and by chance, you were in the one place with a bunch of people who know you and were able to step in and help when needed. If you had been at your house instead you would have been alone and further away. We were able to get to the mall and then alert the police and the team quickly. You would not have thought to call us if you were by yourself. So, you saved her by going out tonight. You had the whole team ready to act on your behalf the entire night, Mouse. This is not your fault. It is the two jack asses in the police stations fault. You taught her how to stay alive, and you found her. You saved her." Mitsuhide said. "I also guarantee that when the doors open, and we make our way out of the hospital they are waiting with your car and shoes for me."

"You don't have?" she started to ask as she looked down to find his feet only in the socks they put on him. "Mitsuhide!"

"What?" he asked as he chuckled.

"You walking around with no shoes!" she said with a huff.

"It isn't like it is the worst thing in the world, mouse." he said. "I just really wasn't looking forward to walking outside with no shoes."

"Men." she said.

"You have to love us." he said with a grin that took her breath away.

"I try." she said. As the doors opened up and they made their way through the busy hallways of the ER to the waiting room, she knew he was right. They were all there waiting for the report on how he and Rin were doing. They all stood and looked at the pair. She knew she looked a mess and she looked up to find Mitsuhide's grin turned wry.

"She is stable." Kit said to break the silence. "She is in ICU for the time being."

The group let out a collective breath and then broke up into smaller groups. Mitsuhide went to one, and she was surrounded by another. She was handed back her keys, and she was hugged more times than she could remember. She looked up and saw Mitsuhide getting a lecture on something and then a pair of shoes was thrust at him along with a bag of clothes she had to assume. He bent down and put his shoes on and then made his way back to her.

"Sorry guys but she needs to rest now." Mitsuhide's voice filled the room.

"Call us if you need anything princess." one of the guys said as they all made their ways out into the darkness of the night.

"Give me the keys." he said.

"I can drive." she replied.

"Fine but still give me the keys." he said, "We aren't going to test that theory."

"You don't know where I live." she said.

"Your right." he replied, "That doesn't matter though."

"Why?" she asked.

"We aren't going to your house." he said flatly.

"Then where are we going?" she asked.

"To my house." he replied.

"Why are we doing that?" she asked.

"Because." he said and then nothing after that. She got into the car and waited for him to get in.

"Mitsuhide." she said, but he didn't respond. He looked intent on driving her to a faraway place, and he didn't even know why.

"Mouse just sit there and try to relax." he finally broke the silence in the car.

"Not an easy thing to do, you know." she said.

"I know." he said as he made the turns without thinking. He pulled into his driveway and had plenty of room for her car because his was not there, it was still at the bar.

"You live here?" she asked with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Yeah, why?" he asked.

"My best friend growing up lived here." She said laughing. "I have spent more time in this house then I care to admit."

"Small world." he replied as he got out and went to open the front door. "I bought it a few years ago."

"Four years ago." she said.

"How did you know that?" he asked as she stepped inside.

"That was when her mom moved up north to Vermont." Kit replied. "It looks exactly the same."

"I haven't changed much." he said.

"Then I can show you something funny." she said as she walked upstairs to the furthest bedroom.

"What are you going to show me?" he asked.

"You use this room?" she asked. As she walked into the room.

"I prefer it, yes." he said.

"Why not the front room?" she asked, "That is the master bedroom."

"I like this one better." he said.

She walked over to the closet and opened the door. "See these lines?"

"I wondered what they were." he said.

"It is a height chart." she said. "The initials S.O. is my friend, and the K.J. is me."

"Your height chart is in my house?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Yup." she said. "I could tell you a lot about the house. I spent nearly every weekend here until I was sixteen."

"What happened then?" he asked.

"I graduated. It was hard being the one three grades ahead of everyone my own age. Stacey and I someone made the friendship work but when I was no longer in high school, and she was it was harder to stay close. After school though we have maintained a friendship, but it was strained for a few years." she said. "I stayed in touch with her mom and stepdad and her brother. Did you meet her brother when you bought the house?"

"I did." he smiled at the memory of meeting the young man in question.

"Denny has that effect on people." she said. "Since I was the youngest in my family I adopted him as my younger brother. I learned a lot from him."

"How is he doing?" Mitsuhide asked.

"Good. As well as can be expected. Denny has the heart issue that is common with his condition. Their mom was told when we were young that he wouldn't make past twenty. So he is living on borrowed time already. However, he still causes trouble and laughs. I saw them not too long ago, and he looked good." Kit said with a sigh. "When he goes the world will lose a slice of happiness."

"Well, hopefully, that won't be for a long time." Mitsuhide said. "So tell more about this house."

"What do you want to know?" she asked with a laugh.

"Anything." he replied as he watched her think about everything.

"We almost drowned in this room." she said with a laugh.

"How pray tell did you do that?" he asked amused.

"Stacey had a water bed." she started. "It was a normal sleepover and see these locks up here." She pointed to the eye hooks that adorned every room, "They were there to either keep Denny in or out. One night Stacey forgot to lock her room, and we woke up at like three in the morning swimming in what was her bed."

"Denny?" he prompted.

"Wanted to cut things." she said. "He liked the feel of the liner for the waterbeds. So he wanted a piece to play with. He didn't understand that he was cutting a hole into the bed and the water would go everywhere and almost kill us in the process."

Mitsuhide was now laughing as he pictured it in his head. They moved back downstairs to the main living area. "It was just Stacey and her mom at the time watching over Denny. Sue hadn't met Don yet, so I helped out when I could. Denny was a handful, but he taught us all so much." she said as they settled into the couch.

"It seems it." he said. "I wondered why all the locks."

"They tried their best to teach him not to do certain things. Like cook, or go outside by himself. However, despite being the loveable guy, he is he wouldn't listen, and he would try to do things he knew he wasn't supposed to." she said.