Me and Ai

Chapter 78: Coma

Chapter 78: Coma

"How are you doing, professor?" Manager-san asks as he watches the professor examining Ai's parts.

"Nothing...nothing...There's nothing wrong with him! I can't find anything wrong with him!"

The professor stands up and throws his tools to the ground in frustration.

"I don't know what's wrong with him! I don't know why he won't wake up! I don't know! Why?! This...I'm useless...just like with Aine...Arghhhh!"

The professor starts swiping his tools off of the table and kicking a few chairs. Manager-san stops the professor and tries his best to calm him down.

It's been three days since Ai shut down and there's still no sign that he'll be waking up soon. At first, I thought that everything will be alright because the professor could fix him up but it seems that the professor can't find anything wrong with Ai...there's nothing to fix and so the cause of his shut down is still unknown. Ai...Ai! Ai, please wake up! Don't leave me! I won't be able to handle it! Please wake up! Come back! Come back to us!

A flood of tears flows out from my eyes that have been crying for three days now; I'm surprised that I still have any tears left. I've been staying here by Ai's side ever since we brought him here at the lab; I haven't left this spot at all.

The professor returns after a few minutes and closes Ai's body; he then puts away his tools.

"I'm sorry, Kaori. There's nothing I could do anymore. I've tried everything but I really can't find anything wrong with his system; I can't fix him because he's not broken in the first place. All we can do now is to wait and see if he'll open his eyes..."

The professor looked like he was going to cry as he hurriedly went out of the lab.

I looked at Ai who was resting on the bed. Knowing that I shouldn't use my voice, I couldn't help but speak to him as he lay there lifeless.

With a weak and cracked voice, I uttered, "A...i...wake...up. I love...you..."

I wanted to talk to him more but it's too hard to speak any more words.

"Kaori."

I looked at Manager-san who called my name.

"You should get some sleep. You've barely slept at all ever since we got here. You're complexion isn't very good at all; you should get some sleep."

But...I don't want to leave Ai's side. I don't want to leave him alone.

Manager-san sees that I don't want to leave and so he sighs. "You know, if you get sick, you'll just make him worry and feel guilty when he wakes up."

Manager-san's words hit me; he's right. If Ai woke up and I ended up getting sick, then I'd just make him feel bad about himself. I resigned to Manager-san.

"The professor has an extra bed in the back room where Kisaragi is. He told me to tell you that you can sleep there if you'd like."

I nodded.

"Okay. You go on ahead and get some sleep. I'll just go buy you something to eat when you wake up; you haven't eaten for a long time already."

I stood up and went inside the back room. The moment I opened the door, the first thing I see is Aine-san lying on his bed. The room was really quiet and the only noise you could hear is your own footsteps and the sound of the medical machines supporting Aine-san. I walked over to one end of the room and found an empty bed behind some curtains. I lie down on the bed and closed my eyes. Some time has passed and I couldn't fall asleep; I'm too worried about Ai to sleep. I decided to get out of the bed and I took the blanket and one pillow with me. I went back to where Ai is and I decided to sleep on the chair beside his bed. I covered myself with the blanket and hugged the pillow I had with me.