Itazura Na Kiss- Eternal Love Story

#34 One Last Call

(General POV)

Life was back to normal... well almost. Another month and half passed. Kotoko was getting back on her feet slowly. Although she was being treated like she was made of glass by the whole Irie family. At least one of them was always around in need. She was still being served by food at her room. She was strictly told to avoid the stairs.

Mrs. Irie helped her to take showers and changing her clothes. Naoki was yet again busy with the research. But he was always available on phone. He called her every two to three hours. Also he kept her updated about the research. She was a part of the team until recently after all, so she should know all about it.

Together with Dr. Ayano he worked hard. Kotoko had another therapy session two weeks ago. They were all really anxious at the start of the therapy. But it went on without any hindrance. The new changes well suited her condition.

And then one day the inevitable happened...

Naoki received a call from Tonan hospital. It was sad news. Grandma Yoshida had passed away two days ago. It was sudden and her family didn't have the time to bring her to the hospital. But at least her son and daughter-in-law were beside her in her last moments.

Apparently grandma has left some of her possessions for Kotoko and surprisingly for Naoki too. Her son has left them under the care of the head nurse Hanoi of Tonan and apologised for not personally meeting him. He wasn't physically well himself.

Naoki went to Tonan wondering how to break this news to Kotoko. She was very close to Grandma Yoshida who treated Kotoko like her own grand-daughter. He returned to Hope after collecting the package and straight went to his office.

He wasn't sure if he should open the package without Kotoko but then knowing Grandma Yoshida, he couldn't be sure if she didn't pull any last prank or not. So he decided to open it.

The small box was divided into two parts. On top of each side's belongings had two envelops with Kotoko and Naoki's names respectively. He took out the envelop that had his name on it in his hand first. Under that envelop was a DSLR camera and its charger. He raised a brow in surprise. He took that out too and tried to turn it on. But it remained off.

It was confusing. Why would she give an unpacked camera without any charge in it? He put aside the camera and took out the other contents of the box one by one. Those were for Kotoko. Several photos were there, which were taken in the hospital while she was admitted and some other pictures that he didn't recognised. Probably those were taken while he was in Kobe. Kotoko had bandage on her wrist in some photos. Naoki remembered she said she fell down in the hospital. There were also some other souvenirs for Kotoko. Nothing was dangerous. Naoki smiled at the thought.

He put back all the contents inside the box again, except his letter and camera. He took out the charger and connected the camera for charging. Then he opened his letter to read it. It was grandma's last few words to him.

"Dear Naoki-san,

Hope you're doing well. This could be my second last letter to anyone so I will skip talking about me. You might be wondering why I gave you that camera without charging it first. Actually I wanted to make sure you read the letter first before you see the pictures in that camera. As you remember, Kotoko visited me in the summer house last year. They were the few best days of my life that I will remember till my last breath. I wanted to share those days with you too. But before I do that, you need to know a few things that I came to know during that time from Kotoko. Although, I'm not sure if she told me the entire truth, I always felt like she was holding back. If you already don't know what I'm talking about, then you should immediately ask Kotoko about that. I tried very hard to convince her to talk to you. Even after she returned home, over the year, I was in touch with her from time to time. But she was adamant that she doesn't want to be a hindrance in your life. She wanted to be able to work on her own. I remember her saying that she wanted be a home for you, where you will be at peace. That touched my heart. That girl is something. Or probably I should say woman. But anyway Naoki-san, I'm sure you know your wife loves you too much for her own good. But she doesn't really know how much you love her. I don't blame her. I know you too. I know you find it hard to express yourself. But you should express you know... once in a while. Your dummy wife needs to be taken care of all the time. She is so fragile... so precious... always treasure her Naoki-san. Always love her and if you don't, I swear I will hunt you after I die. It's just a friendly warning. Don't worry too much. I'm so tempted to write down every word that Kotoko told me that day, but I can't break my promise to Kotoko without at least telling her. Also about those pictures inside the camera, they are nothing special but I would request you to see them after talking to Kotoko about them. I need Kotoko to know that I'm breaking her promise. Hopefully she will forgive me. I will stop here for now; I still need to write to Kotoko. Hope you two will have a wonderful life ahead and will always stay happy together.