𝙵𝚕𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 - 𝙷. 𝚂𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚘𝚞 𝚡 𝙾𝙲

Chapter Nineteen

The steady beep of Mae's heart monitor acted as a backdrop to the hospital's scenery as Kazumi sat in a plastic chair beside her mom, letting her head rest on the scratchy blanket while she slept. Shinsou sat beside her, slouched down in his seat with his arms folded in front of his chest, wide awake but absolutely exhausted.

Mae's condition, as expected, had worsened. The tumors in her lungs began to restrict her airways much more significantly as they spread and grew larger, attacking her body in every way they could. Once a doctor had seen Mae, he spoke with Kazumi alone and informed her that her mother would need to stay in hospice care until she passed, which he implied wouldn't be a time far away.

As soon as Kazumi had returned to the room, Shinsou stood and held out his arms for her. She shook her head, she didn't want to rely on anyone else for comfort anymore. Kazumi already lost the one other person she had trusted, though only briefly, and now she was about to lose her best friend, her rock, her mother. The worst part of it was that if she took time off of work, she'd be homeless. But if she didn't, she wouldn't get to be there for her mother.

Kazumi was terrified of her mother passing alone, she knew it would be hard, but she needed to be there for her. Shinsou was hurt that Kazumi wouldn't even accept a hug from him today but he knew it wasn't the time to show it. He sighed and took his seat once again, watching as Mae's chest moved up and down with each forced breath.

"I can be here when you're not, Kazumi."

Her eyes flickered over to his lavender irises and it was obvious to him by the tears building in her eyes that that's exactly what she was thinking about. "And I have a large house now...you're welcome to stay if you ever need or want to." Shinsou pulled out his keys and took a shiny metal one with a square top off and held it out to her. "Please don't hesitate to use it."

Kazumi stared blankly at the key he's holding out to her, a key to his house. He couldn't possibly be serious, could he? Once again, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking, he whispered three words that made the tears that had accumulated fall from her eyes, "I trust you."

With a sigh, she took the key even though she silently swore to herself that she'd never use it. "I don't know what the right thing to do is." She breathed as she studied her mother's sleeping figure. Her eyes burned as the salty drops ran down her cheeks but otherwise she felt as if she were tied to her chair, unable to do anything other than sit and watch as her mother struggled.

Shinsou, who hadn't taken his eyes off of Kazumi, couldn't imagine how this felt for her. Here she was, watching the one person she loved wither away like a flower in the fall, knowing that winter is soon to follow. He knew she was much too proud to let him pay for anything and that he wouldn't make the mistake of offering again, even though he knew it would alleviate a huge problem for her.

"Please take that job at my agency. You don't even have to talk to me at work or whatever, Kazumi. You need that job and with benefits, they'd give you time off for this while still getting paid."

Her gaze never left her mother's form as she considered his words. One thing just kept holding her back from letting him help her, what if it happened again? "I...I don't think I could, Shinsou."

Shinsou ran a hand through his lavender locks as he tried to compose himself, he knew she was making a mistake by doing this. He knew that if she wasn't here for Mae that she'd regret it but how could he say that to her? She already knew...

"Okay. I'll go make a call and let them know." He sighed and got up from his chair before walking into the hallway and leaning against the wall. Shinsou hadn't left Kazumi's side for more than a bathroom break since yesterday and even being apart from her right now felt wrong. But he needed help, and so he dialed the one person he knew might be able to do so.