Subject: [PMFFML] [FFML-R] [fanfic][Ranma]Cinders - Chapter 7
From: "KaraOhki" <karaohki@snet.net>
Date: 4/4/2001, 11:17 AM
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At long last, chapter 7
enjoy, and please comment


Cinders

A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by June "KaraOhki" Geraci
karaohki@snet.net

April 4, 2001

Ranma 1/2 and its universe was created by Rumiko
Takahashi, and belongs to her.  This work of
fiction was written for entertainment only, and is
not intended for commercial purposes.




Chapter 7


Akane listened carefully as the doctor outlined his
plans, but soon became quite confused.

"Doctor, that doesn't make sense!  If I'm going to
be very tired, why don't you want me to sleep?"

"That's not it, Akane.  You will sleep, but we'll
need to monitor you very carefully to be sure that
you don't slip into too deep a sleep.  It will be
necessary to wake you regularly, and you'll need to
eat something every time we wake you."

As the doctor spoke the door opened, and several
hospital employees wheeled in carts filled with
equipment.

"What's all that stuff?" demanded Ranma.

The doctor ignored Ranma's tone of voice when he
responded.

"Monitoring equipment.  We're going to use it to
help us keep tabs on Akane's condition.  It will
warn us if her vital signs dip too low. The
monitors will be linked to the nurses' station, and
we'll have staff members in and out of here all the
time."

"Not good enough.  I want somebody to watch Akane
ALL the time, and anyway we didn't agree to this
yet!"

Akane shivered and pulled the blankets around
herself.  The doctor noticed and put a hand to her
forehead.

"You're getting feverish.  We need to make a
decision, and make it quickly."

His words only served to frighten Akane more.  She
looked from his face to Ranma's, and then over to
Cologne's.  The doctor and Cologne seemed to be
making an effort to keep their expressions neutral,
while Ranma's worry was plain to see.  She closed
her eyes and tried to find the right words.  Her
decision had already been made, but she wanted to
say it right.

Akane opened her eyes and looked around at
everyone.  "Please give me a few minutes alone with
Ranma."

*****

Ranma sat holding Akane's hands.  They were alone
in the room, and so far Akane had said nothing to
him.  Instead she just sat looking at him, while
tears ran down her cheeks.

"Akane, talk to me!"

Akane pulled her hands out of Ranma's and crept
into his arms.  He held her close, not touching any
of the badly burned areas on her back.  She
sniffled for a minute, and then raised her eyes to
his.

"It's not fair."

"What?"

Akane's eyes flashed.  "None of it!  We never, ever
get a break!  And..and."

As quickly as the anger had come into Akane's
expression, it was replaced with fear.

"Tell me, Akane."

"I'm scared.  I don't want to die."

"I won't let you," stated Ranma forcefully.

A fleeting look of amusement crossed his wife's
face.  "You can't protect me this time.  There's
nobody for you to fight.  We have to trust Cologne
and the doctor to do the best they can.  I want to.
I HAVE to."

"But it's too dangerous!"

"Doing nothing is too dangerous!  Please, Ranma!  I
don't want to leave you, and I don't want to fight
with you.  I need you to be on my side."

"I'm always on your side."  Ranma emphasized his
statement with a gentle kiss, which turned
passionate as Akane responded to it.  "If this is
what you think is right, then let's do it."  He
pressed the button to call the doctor back in.

[Please, let this be the right decision,] he
thought.

*****

Within a few minutes they were ready to begin.  An
extra IV line with more nutrition was added to
Akane's arsenal of medications.  She was hooked up
to all of the monitoring equipment that had been
brought in, and looked rather lost amid the wires
and sensors.   The dietary department brought her
what looked like a milk shake, but was actually a
nutritional supplement.  Akane took a sip and made
a face.

"Finish it," said Ranma sternly.  "You promised
you'd do whatever it took."

Akane made another face and continued to sip.  If
this was what she was going to be given every time
she woke up, it was going to be rather difficult.
She drained the cup and handed it to Ranma, who
inspected it to see if it was really empty.

"I miss Kasumi's cooking.  It would be easier to
eat if everything tasted good."

"Fine," said the doctor.  I'll call your sister and
ask if she can supplement what we're serving with
her home cooking.  Is there anything special you
want?"

"Anything!"  Akane brightened at the thought of
having her sister bring her "real" food, and then
she saw Ranma's face.  He looked rather wistful.
"Can she bring enough for two?"

"Do you doubt that she would?" asked Cologne.

*****

The doctor walked over to the door and locked it
while Cologne made her preparations.  He still felt
slightly uncomfortable about the use of magic on
one of his patients, but his long friendship with
the Amazon had taught him to trust her.

Cologne opened the pouch of sand and poured its
contents into the palm of her left hand.  She waved
her other hand over it, speaking words no one could
understand, and the doctor gasped as the sand began
to glow blue.  She held it over Akane's head and
allowed the sand to trickle from her fingers.  As
it had before, the sand vanished before it reached
her.  Then Akane began to glow a brilliant shade of
blue.

When the doctor saw what else was happening he came
closer to get a better look.  Akane's burns were
fading.  When the blue light dissipated he could
see that they were still there, but now she looked
as if she had hardly been injured at all.

"I can't believe what I'm seeing, Cologne.  If you
could market that, your village would be wealthy."

"I'm afraid that's not possible.  There are very
few of us who have the power to activate the sand,
and without that power it is quite useless.  We've
given you the ointment, but that's all we can
give."

The doctor put his hand on Akane's forehead and
smiled.  "The fever is already gone."  He went to
the door, unlocked it, and called the nurses back
in.  Instead of going to Akane, they walked around
the bed and began working with Ranma's pump.

"What are you doing?" he asked curiously.

The doctor couldn't help but smile.  The suspicion
and rudeness were gone from Ranma's voice.  "We're
taking you off the pump, Ranma."

"Why?"

"Can't you guess?  You already told me that you
wanted to watch over Akane.  In order to do that
you need to keep alert.  I don't think you really
need this any longer, so I'll let you tell us when
you need pain relief.  I'm switching you to a
milder medication, and if you need it the nurse
will bring you a pill."

The gratitude in Ranma's expression was obvious.

"Thank you."

Then one of the nurses attached a familiar-looking
medication bag to Ranma's IV.

"Um, why are you giving me an antibiotic?"

"You should be able to figure that out for
yourself," responded the doctor.  "Akane is going
to be in a very delicate state for the next few
days, and I'm not going to chance that you may have
caught her infection and could pass it back to
her."

"Oh."

During that brief interchange Akane's eyes had
already begun to droop.  She reached over and
grasped Ranma's hand.

"I can't stay awake."

Ranma leaned over and kissed his wife.  "Sleep.
I'll be right here."

Akane was out within seconds.  Ranma caressed her
cheek and looked at the doctor.

"Explain all these machines to me.  I want to be
able to tell if something's not right."

*****

An hour later Ranma's eyes hurt from staring at all
of the monitors.  Members of the staff came in
regularly to check on Akane, but he still felt
responsible to protect her himself.  Then a nurse
came in with a small tray.

"It's time to wake Akane.  Do you want to do it?"

Ranma's answer was to lean over his wife and kiss
her cheek.  There was no response, and he patted
her cheek very gently.  "Hey, sleepyhead!  Time to
get up!"

Akane's eyelids fluttered, and she looked around
the room.  Her gaze came to rest on Ranma, and she
smiled.  "Have I been sleeping long?"

"About an hour."  Ranma helped Akane sit up and
took her snack from the nurse.  "Time to eat
something."

"Did Kasumi come?"

"Not yet."  Ranma unwrapped a straw, placed it in
the nutritional drink and handed it to Akane.
"Sorry, but you're stuck with this."  He smiled
when Akane got a determined look in her eyes, took
a deep breath, and drank it down without complaint.
Then she picked up her fork and slowly ate
everything on the tray.  When she began to lower
her bed, the nurse stopped her.

"Try to stay up for a few minutes, Akane.  Then you
can take another nap."

"Okay."  The look of determination returned to
Akane's face, but she still looked very tired.
Ranma reached into his bedside table and pulled out
a book.

"Think you can help me with this assignment?  Maybe
that will keep you up."  Ranma started explaining
the problems he was having with his English
assignment while the nurse sat and watched.  He
glanced at the nurse every now and then, but she
gave no sign that he should stop.  Evidently she
wanted Akane to stay awake for a while longer yet.

Akane was in the middle of explaining a point of
grammar to Ranma when she faltered.  "I'm sorry, I
just can't think!"

"Are you tired?"

"I'm really tired."

The nurse got up.  "Then rest."  She lowered the
bed and helped Akane get comfortable.  "You look a
lot better.  Do you hurt less?"

"Right now I don't hurt at all."

"I wish I knew what the doctor did for you.  That's
amazing."

Akane just smiled as she drifted off to sleep.
Ranma tried to make himself comfortable and
continued to keep vigil.

*****

The next time Akane was awakened it was by Kasumi,
who had covered her tray table with goodies.
Between her and Ranma, they disappeared quickly,
and Akane's nutritional drink went down without any
complaints at all.

Her sister was thoughtful enough to bring enough
for several snacks, and the nurses brought them in
from the pantry the next time they woke Akane.  She
failed to notice that her husband looked tired
because the lights in the room were turned down
low.

"Aren't you going to have some of these dumplings,
Ranma?"

"No thanks."

Akane was too tired to think anything of Ranma's
refusal, and was soon sleeping again.

*****

By the time morning came, Akane's naps were getting
longer, and the nurses were urging Ranma to sleep.

"You look awful!  As long as Akane is asleep, you
should sleep too!"

"No.  I'm not going to sleep until I'm sure she's
not in danger."

The nurse looked exasperated.

"And what good is that going to do her?"

"I have to watch the monitors.  I'm responsible for
Akane, and I'm not going to let her down!"

"But - "

"But nothing!  If I'd been faster this wouldn't
have happened to her.  I'm not letting anything
happen ever again!"

The nurses reported Ranma's comments to the doctor,
suggesting that he be given a sedative, but the
doctor vetoed the idea.

"Let him do what he feels is necessary.  Right now
human eyes might spot something wrong with Akane
before the equipment can, and he knows her better
than anyone here.  He'll have plenty of time to
rest later."

*****

Soun noticed that Kasumi and Nabiki looked rather
tired the next morning.

"Didn't you sleep well last night?"

"You didn't hear the phone, did you?" asked Kasumi.
When her father turned white with fear she realized
she'd made a mistake.

"My baby!" bawled Soun.  Kasumi and Nabiki both
jumped up and embraced him.

"Father, she's fine!  The doctor just called to see
if she and Ranma could have some food from home, to
help their appetites."

"You're sure?"  Soun looked from Kasumi to Nabiki.

"Perfectly sure, Daddy," responded Nabiki.

"I want to go see her."

Kasumi hesitated.  This part was going to be
difficult.

"Right now you can't.  The doctor wants Akane to
have a couple of days with no visitors.  It's to be
sure her infection goes away completely."

"But I'm her father!"

"Yes, and we're her sisters, and we won't be
allowed in either.  Neither will the Saotomes."
Kasumi paused, and poured her father some tea.
"I'll be going later to bring more food.  Would you
like to come with me?  I think if Akane knows we
are nearby it will make her feel better."

Soun sipped his tea and seemed deep in thought.
"I'll come with you.  Do you think we could bring
her an ice cream sundae?"

"I'm sure they'd let us do that."

*****

"Akane.  Hey, Akane, would you wake up?"

Akane opened one eye and squinted at Ranma.  "It
can't be time to get up.  Leave me alone!"

Ranma chuckled.  "You're right, but your father
brought you ice cream.  I didn't think you'd want
to let it melt."

"Ice cream?"  All traces of sleepiness left Akane,
and her hand flew to the bed controls.  Ranma
handed her a cardboard container and Akane pulled
the lid off.  "Chocolate!"

She devoured part of it, and then looked at Ranma.
"Where IS Daddy?"

"They wouldn't let him in.  When I asked the nurse,
she said he seemed to be okay about it."

"Why?  I want to see him!"

Ranma looked impatient.  "Akane!  The doctor said
he doesn't want any extra people in here until you
can handle it.  He nearly threw ME out!"  The
fierceness in Ranma's tone took Akane by surprise.
She dropped the spoon into the ice cream, shivering
slightly.

"Don't yell at me!"

"I'm sorry.  I guess I'm getting tired."

Akane looked at Ranma and reached for the light.
For the first time she realized how exhausted he
looked.  She put her ice cream down and reached out
to embrace him.  "Haven't you been sleeping?"

"I can't."

"I don't understand."

Ranma gestured around at all the machinery.  "I
hafta watch the monitors.  I have to watch YOU."

"No you don't.  That's the nurses' job."

"It's my job.  I'm your husband, and I'm supposed
to take care of you."

"But you can't do that if you're exhausted."

Ranma picked up the ice cream and handed it to
Akane.  "Don't try to talk me out of it.  Eat that
before it melts, and go back to sleep."  He picked
up his own sundae and dug in.

Akane ate her ice cream, watching Ranma the entire
time.  He had a look on his face that she'd seen
many times before.  His mind was made up, and
nothing she could say would change it.
Unfortunately, she was so tired that she couldn't
even think of an argument.

"You done with that?" Ranma asked.  Akane handed
him the container, which was quite empty.  "Good.
Now you can go back to sleep."

"Not yet."

"What do you mean?"

Akane smiled, and held her arms out.  "Come here."

It wasn't easy for them to embrace with all the
monitor leads stuck all over Akane, but they did it
anyway.  Somewhere in between the kissing and
caressing Akane's scarf fell off, and Ranma's hand
went to her head.

"Hey, what's this?"

"What's what?" asked Akane.  Ranma was looking at
her head, and he ran his hand over it.  "Is
something wrong?"

"No.  I feel prickles.  Your hair is coming back!"

"It is?"  Akane felt her own scalp.  Sure enough,
she felt it too.

"You should sleep now."

"I'll try.  Hold me."

Ranma held her, and Akane relaxed, feeling safe and
protected.  As she was drifting off Ranma carefully
withdrew from her arms and sat up.  If he was lying
down he would surely fall asleep.

*****

Somewhere between the time Akane fell asleep and
the nurses came back in, Ranma's eyes closed of
their own accord.  The sound of the door opening
caused him to jerk awake as a nurse came in,
carrying a tray.

"I have snacks for the both of you, and a note from
your mother."  The nurse set the tray down and
handed Ranma the note.  "I'll leave you alone now
so that you can read it."

Ranma opened the envelope and scanned the contents.
He chuckled, and reached over to gently shake
Akane.

"Snack time, Akane."

"Go away."  Akane pulled the sheets over her head.

Ranma pulled them down again and grinned at Akane.
"Does that mean the honeymoon's over?"

His wife's eyes shot open.  "Why, you!"  Then she
stopped short and stared.

"What, you're not going to hit me?"

"No, 'cause you just made me think - this has got
to be the strangest honeymoon anybody ever had."

"If you could even call it one.  Maybe when we get
out of here - "  Ranma stopped talking when Akane
blushed bright red, and he could feel the heat
rising in his own face.  Evidently they'd both had
the same thought.  Then his wife smiled.

"When we get out of here."

Ranma thought it might be a good idea to change the
subject.  "Here," he said as he pushed her tray
table closer.  "Eat this while it's hot."  He
waited until Akane had started eating before
holding up Nodoka's note.

"Mom's a little upset.  She thinks she should have
been able to come see us before visitors got cut
off."  Ranma put the letter down and scratched his
head.  "Kasumi tried to explain that there wasn't
enough time, but you know Mom.  Once she gets an
idea in her head, it's there for keeps.  Now she's
got another thing on her mind, but I think for once
she might be right."

Akane took a sip of her nutrition shake and made a
face.  "I'm really beginning to hate this stuff."
Then she saw Ranma's look and took a larger sip.

"I don't care if you hate it.  Just drink it.  Let
me tell you about Mom's letter and maybe it will
distract you a little."

"Okay."

"The doctor was in before when you were sleeping,
and he said that he and Cologne had to explain to
Kasumi what they did for you, because she got
scared when she found out she couldn't see us.  He
wasn't going to tell her at all but Cologne told
the doctor that Kasumi was trustworthy.  Problem is
the doctor said not to tell Mom.  They're trying to
keep it to a small group of people."

"And your Mom got all worried, didn't she?"

"Yeah.  She wants to know what's going on.  She
said in the letter that we're keeping something
from her."

"So what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm not sure."  Ranma shrugged.  "Next time she
sees you she'll know everything's okay."

Akane choked on her shake.  "Oh, no.  What are we
going to do?"

"Huh?"

"Come on, Ranma!  When your parents see me, and my
father sees me, they're going to see a big
difference!  How are we going to explain that?"

Ranma's stomach turned over.  "We can't.  And how's
Pop gonna react?"

He thought for a minute before coming up with a
conclusion.

"I have an idea, Akane.  What do you think of
this?"

The more Akane listened, the more she smiled.

*****

Twelve hours later the doctor walked into the room.
Akane was looking and feeling much better, while
her husband was positively haggard.

When the doctor asked Ranma if he'd slept at all,
the only response he got was a set jaw and a shake
of the head.

Akane gazed at her husband with a combination of
affection and exasperation.  "You don't have to sit
up with me.  I'm fine!"

"I do, too!"

"Doctor, would you talk to him?  Please?"

The doctor's shoulders shook, and he finally began
to laugh.  "That's why I'm here."  He waved a hand
at all the monitors.  "You don't need these
anymore.  I wish I knew a way to manufacture that
magic of Cologne's, because I've never seen anyone
respond like this before.  As soon as we get you
disconnected, I want you up and out of bed, and
moving around the room.  Just a minute or two at
first, understand?"

Akane nodded.

"And you -" the doctor pointed at Ranma.  "Are
going to sleep.  Now."

"But!"

"No.  No buts.  Akane's not in danger, and you're
exhausted."  The doctor turned around and walked
out, leaving Ranma and Akane staring at each other.

"No danger?"  As Akane watched, Ranma sagged with
relief.  She expected him to lie down and go to
sleep, but instead he straightened with an effort
and remained in a sitting position.

"Ranma?  Why don't you go to sleep?"

"Not yet."

Akane opened her mouth to argue the point, but was
interrupted when several members of the hospital
staff came in and began to disconnect the
equipment.

"Would you like to take a shower, Akane?" suggested
one of the nurses.  "I'm sure you want to get all
this tape off."

"I don't know if I can stand up," admitted Akane.
"I feel shaky."

The woman smiled.  "We'll put a chair in the stall,
and I'll stay with you and help.  Moving around
will do you some good."

Fifteen minutes later a very weak Akane emerged
from the bathroom with the nurse's help.  She found
Ranma sitting there waiting for her.

"Why aren't you asleep?"

"I wanted to make sure you were okay."

The nurse helped Akane into bed and left.  Akane
reached over and lowered Ranma's bed so that he was
lying down.

"Go to sleep!"

"But!"

Akane lost her temper.  "Will you stop it?  The
doctor said it's over.  We don't have to be afraid
anymore!"

"Who's afraid?"

"You are!  And I was!  Stop being afraid, and go to
sleep."

That seemed to do it.  Ranma grasped his wife's
hand and sank immediately into sleep.  Akane looked
at him for a moment before kissing his forehead.

"Baka.  Thank you."

Then she lay beside him and slept.

--------------------------------------------------
www.karaohki.com
--------------------------------------------------
     You could turn this way,
I'm also lonely
     this autumn evening

Basho


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