Amare Memoriae

Part 2 The call

Nishikata didn't stop to hear the rest of what she had to say, and quickly ran up the stairs into his room to look for his phone. "She's fine, she probably wasn't even there." He said as he threw things off his desk. "Heck, I'd probably be interrupting her quality time with her mom." He continued to try and rationalize it, but no matter what he tried, he could help but worry. "Where did I leave that?"

He stopped for a moment, slapped his forehead, and reached into his back pocket to pull out his phone. "Of course." He began calling Takagi and waited impatiently for her to pick up. After what seemed like an eternity, he reached her voice mail, and hung up. "She probably has it on silent ... yeah, that's it ... she's at dinner with her mom, it only makes sense that she wouldn't be able to pick up her phone." He stared out the window and tried to calm down. "Yeah, what am I worried about, she's fine."

He put down his phone and sat in his chair, trying to smile. "Yeah, I mean it's really rude of me to try and call her while I know she's out." He picked his phone back up and looked at the time. "But ... I think I'll call in another half hour ... just to be sure."

He waited a half hour, just as he planned, though it felt like the longest half hour of his life. "Okay, time to call." He picked up his phone and tried to call, only to be met with the same result. "Okay ... I'll give it another half hour."

Time rolled on, slower than Nishikata would have liked, but eventually, a half hour had passed, but still the same result. Nishikata waited again, and again, and before long, two more hours had passed, then four, and before he knew it, it was already nine at night. "Damn it, DAMN IT!" He said as he paced about his room, no longer trying to convince himself that everything was going to be okay. "Please pick up this time." He waited as the phone rang, each ring causing his heart to ache more and more. 'Come on.' Surprisingly, there was a click.

"Hello?" Came an unfamiliar and slightly shaky lady's voice.

"Hi, is Takagi there?"

"Um ... Speaking?"

There was an awkward silence, as Nishikata tried to contemplate what had just happened. "Huh?"

"Oh, right, you're ... probably trying to reach my daughter."

'That's right, Takagi is her family name ... and I don't know her given name.'

"Well ... she ... " It sounded like the woman on the other end was about to burst into tears, something that didn't bold too well for Nishikata.

"She told me she was going to a sushi restaurant with her mother, and I just ... saw something unsettling on the news. I'm sorry, but please tell me everything's alright." There was no response, in fact, it sounded like she was about to cry. 'Oh my god ...' He dropped to his knees as his heart began to beat irregularly. "I ... is she ... is she okay?"

The woman took a deep breath. "She's ... she wasn't hit by the truck."

"Okay, good news."

"She ... was hit by a falling support beam ... but she is alive."

"Okay, alive, more good news." Nishikat began to grow optimistic.

"And ..." From the sounds of it, it sounded like she was struggling to talk about it, something that Nishikata didn't want to press.

"Hey, if it's too much-"

"No, no, she's still unconscious, she's got a few broken bones but ... she has a cracked skull, and the doctors don't know if there's any brain damage just yet, the MRI is backed up."

Nishikata's emotions were now all over the place, like a smoothie of pain and suffering. "Well ... thanks for telling me ..." A thought occurred to him, making him feel almost as worse than before. "I completely forgot to ask if you were-"

"I'm fine." Takagi's mom interrupted with what sounded a little like a laugh. "Nishikata, I presume?"

Nishikata again slapped his head. "Yes, I'm sorry, I completely forgot to introduce myself when I called."

"Again, it's fine, and ... thank you ... for calling."

"Thank you for sharing." Nishikata replied. "Also ... would it be okay if I came to visit tomorrow?"

"Please, she's in the hospital that's a little further north from her school."

"I know the one." Nishikata replied. "Again, thank you."

"No, thank you ... She's lucky to have friends like you."

Nishikata blushed a little and scratched the back of his head. "I'm just ... she's important to me, you know?"

"I know, she talks about you a lot so I'm aware of how close you two are."

Nishikata's blush deepened as he struggled to find what to say. "I ..."

"I probably shouldn't keep you any longer." Takagi's mom interrupted. "It is a school night, and it's gotten really late."

"I ... I guess so." 'The last thing I want is detention for being late to school.' "Anyway, thanks again ... I'll be there right after school lets out."

"I'll be here with her, by." And with that, they hung up, leaving Nishikata to stare at his phone.

"She's ... doing good so far." What little strength his legs had left gave out, causing him to fall onto his stomach. "My legs feel like jelly."

On the other end, Takagi's mom was looking at the heavily damaged screen on Takagi's phone, a little surprised. "Wow, there are a lot of missed calls from him, guess I was really out of it." She put the phone away and looked towards Takagi, who was still unconscious in a hospital bed, with bandages wrapped around her head and her left arm. "I'd expect no less from the boy who captured my daughters heart."