Itazura Na Kiss- Eternal Love Story

#3 Confirmation

(Kotoko POV)

A week passed in a blink. I failed my test miserably. After knowing about my oka-san, I knew I shouldn't delay my check-ups anymore.

I will visit the Neuro-Hope Hospital tomorrow. I mentally prepared myself. I called Irie-kun for some courage. As expected he didn't receive. Without thinking too much about it, I called him several more times until he answered.

"What is it Kotoko?" he sounded irritated.

"Irie-kun" was the only thing I could say.

"What? Why did you call?" He asked.

I didn't know how to answer to that. I couldn't tell him I called him for getting some courage. Instead I asked him, "How's your preparations for your exam going?"

"You surely didn't call me in the middle of the night just to ask that!" He snapped.

Darn it! I quickly checked the time on the phone. It was 2:35 am. What was I thinking?

"I'm so sorry. I didn't see the time." He didn't say anything. "I... I just wanted to hear your voice." I added in a small voice. Naturally he got mad. Irie-kun wasn't exactly the type of person who would get all happy and romantic hearing that after being awaken from the sleep.

"If you don't have anything better to do than that right now, just go to sleep and let the others to do the same. I thought I told you not to call me for unnecessary things during the exams." He sounded angry.

Irie-kun it's very urgent. I can't breathe. I needed some air so I called you. Your voice is like air to me, you might not know. I thought silently.

"I'm so sorry." I repeated."

"Well then good night." He cut the connection.

"I love you... Irie-kun." I said out loud which only reached my ears. Calling him was a bad idea probably. The little air that was inside me seems to have left me and I found it harder to breathe. Silent tears started to fall. I didn't try to stop them. I cried until I was too tired to cry that night.

...

I had dark circles around my eyes the following morning.

"Kotoko-chan, what happened to you?" Oka-san asked worriedly.

"I studied until late oka-san. Just a bit sleep deprived, don't worry." I tried to give her a dry smile.

"Baka. Today is Saturday. You could have sleep at night and study in the morning." Yuki-kun said.

"Oh he he. I guess I could have." I acted dumb. He just shook his head and looked away.

"You should have slept for some more time then Kotoko-chan."

"I'm really fine oka-san. I needed to go to the university this morning. Our nursing group planned to have a study session this morning." I lied.

"Ah okay okay. You go ahead." Oka-san encouraged.

After the break-fast I came outside and started walking towards the train-station. I had taken all my previous test reports from Tonan with me. I got an appointment with the neurologist Dr. Furukawa referred me. I had to wait for nearly an hour until I was called in. Dr. Shinju reviewed all my reports and inquired about all the symptoms in details.

"Irie-san, I will not get to any conclusion with all these right now. I will repeat all the tests again and also may add some more tests if required. You shouldn't get worried. But if your mother suffered this, there might be a chance that she already had the disease while she was pregnant. If not, then this might be a full coincidence that both you and your mother have the same disease. I think it would be better if you show me your mother's reports if you still have them by any chance."

"Sorry Doctor. Few years back due to an accident my house collapsed and all my mother's possessions were destroyed." I said sadly.

"Oh. That's unfortunate. Okay let's start with your tests then."

I did a few tests and got appointments for others. The next few days went by only getting tests done and analysing the reports. A group of doctors had several meeting on those and also some reports were sent to USA to a specialised neurologist who was there to work on a case. 

Meanwhile I decided to find out more about my mother. Well it was next to impossible as I didn't wanted to ask anything to my father. But I didn't know where to start. So I again brought up the topic to him. I told him I wanted to find the origin of this disease so that I could help that patient in a way. Otou-san was a bit surprised seeing me so serious but he agreed to help me. 

With some information from him, I tracked down the hospital which diagnosed my mother. It was a far-away hospital located in the north-west corner of Tokyo where my parents used to live during my birth. I went there to get more information. Although oka-san died nearly 19 to 20 years ago, they kept her few diagnosis reports on their record as this disease was a rare one. I collected as much information as I could and returned home.

...

Next afternoon I went to the Hope after class. All the tests were done. The results were out. The decision was made. I felt my hands shaking when I put that on the door knob of Dr. Shinju. I closed my eyes and Irie-kun's face flashed into my mind. Finally I pulled myself together and entered his room.

"Irie-san, how are you feeling?" He asked me.

I only smiled and shrugged while sitting down in front of him.

"I am really sorry to say this Irie-san, but you indeed have Neuroshia. We have done all kind of tests we need to. Checked them over a hundred times and finally we concluded this." Dr. Shinju said very politely.

I felt like I have lost my voice. I only nodded at him. I wasn't surprised or shocked. Somehow while doing the tests during the past week; I got prepared to hear this result. I tried to think how to respond but the only thing that came to my mind was Irie-kun. Dr. Shinju must have understood how I felt as he kept quiet and gave me some space. After a while I told him, "I... I understand."

"I will suggest you to start your treatment immediately. Although there is no definite medicine and the treatment is still on its experimental phase, I will still suggest you to start as soon as you can. "

"The... the treatment is still on the experimental phase, so that means... that means I might not get cured at all, right? Even after going through the treatment?" I asked him with a hollow voice.

"Nothing is definite. You have been diagnosed with it at the very initial stage. This is a very positive factor in your case. Who knows you might also get 100% cured. If not at least you would live longer than without having any treatment." Dr. Shinju replied.

I swallowed the tears that were threatening to fall. I nodded again meaning that I understood what he said.

"Right... okay... I... I should probably talk to my family about this. I... I will come back after... after some time." I told him looking down at my hands.

"You should of course share this with your family immediately. " Dr. Shinju agreed.

"These are some reports of my mother which I collected from the North-West Tokyo hospital where she was diagnosed. I thought they might help." I said in a small voice.

"That is great Irie-san. They will of course help. I will review them and let you know."

"Okay then I will take my leave for today." I tried to sound normal but it sounded the opposite.

"Take care Irie-san."

"Yes. I will see you later doctor."

My mind was totally blank on my way back to home. I couldn't think anything properly yet. I needed to talk to Irie-kun. I needed to be held by him right now. I needed him to assure me that everything was okay. I needed him to tell me that I will be alright and that I will always be by his side. 

I took out my phone and called him which he didn't receive. I called him again at night which he again didn't receive. I only talked to him once during the past week. I didn't call him much since he was busy and I was also too tired mentally to call him. I decided not to call him since he isn't answering.

I will just go to Kobe tomorrow. I told myself and with that thought I went to bed.