Root Beer Float (Kaito x Meiko)

Sixteen

My head hurt really bad. That was the first thing I noticed.

As I gradually opened my eyes, I thought, it's probably just a hangover-

Wait. That wasn't my ceiling.

I jerked upright and felt an even sharper pain in my stomach. "Oh, honey, be careful. You need to be more gentle."

"Luka? What's going on?" I asked as I ran my hand over my shirt. There were bandages constricting it. "Why am I here?"

She took my hand, and I noticed how tired she looked. "Well... you got into a little accident last night, but there's nothing too serious."

"Did I crash a car or something?" I asked, still very confused.

Luka shook her head. "No, no... you passed out and a couple of guys found you. They, uh, would've done some pretty bad stuff if Kaito hadn't shown up and called the police. He was so scared."

"Where is he? I want to see him," I looked around, just in case he was in there the whole time and I simply hadn't noticed.

She patted my hand. "He's not here right now, darling. He's at home watching the kids for us."

"Oh. How long do I have to stay in here?" I was asking entirely too many questions, but Luka didn't seem to mind.

The door opened. "You can leave in just a few hours."

"How's it looking, Doctor?" Luka turned her head to face him.

He took a deep breath. "I'm just going to be honest with you, ladies. The guy who called the police last night did so because he saw two men had ahold of you. What he didn't realize was that you were knocked unconscious by excessive amounts of alcohol, not the two guys. If he hadn't called when he did, things could have gotten really serious."

"Oh dear," Luka frowned. "But everything's okay?"

"Well... here's the thing. Meiko, from what I've heard from Luka and the fellow who was here yesterday, it seems that you have an alcohol addiction."

I snorted. "What? No way. You're making that up."

"Unfortunately, I'm not," he shook his head. "What happened last night could've been fatal, and I strongly recommend that you stop drinking so it doesn't happen again."

I looked between Luka and the doctor. "You mean like forever? You can't be serious!"

"Withdrawal symptoms are a pain, and it's really hard to break addictions, I know, but I have some medications I can prescribe to you, and we have a really great support group that meets here once a week-"

"No! I don't need all of these things because I'm perfectly fine!" I turned to Luka. "Right? Tell him I'm okay!"

She gave me a sympathetic look. "Honey, me and this nice doctor discussed this while you were asleep. It's not really an option at this point."

"No, no, no. You're both crazy," I shook my head even though I had a terrible headache.

The doctor sighed. "Irritability is definitely a side effect of this," he muttered to Luka.

I pounded my fists into the bed. "I'm irritated because you're going to try and baby me when I don't need it!"

"Here's the deal, miss Meiko," he said, writing something down. "I'm going to get you set up with some medication, and I want you to stay home from work this week and rest, okay? In about a week or so we can schedule another appointment. You don't need any stitches for your stomach or anything, but try not to make any large movements that could prevent it from healing."