Patients is a Virtue

Summary: He came at me so fast, I didn't even have time to flinch. His long clawed fingers gripped my neck and slammed me against the wall. "What d-do you want?" I choked out. His hostile stare made it hard for me to look at him. He whispered, "Your flesh."

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

-x-

Inuyasha looked up at me and his expression was like it was before. Sad, and full of love. He left Sesshomaru to hop up next to me. He took my hand and looked at me. I looked at him very carefully as his eyes stared to turn gold again.

"Kagome." he whispered. I realized I was crying. "Please don't... I didn't mean to hurt you." he said. "It's okay now, love. I have full control of myself now."

"Why did you snap?" I asked as he wiped the tears from my cheeks.

"I honestly have no idea." he replied with a weak smile. He pulled me in for a hug and kissed me a couple times. "I'm so sorry I hurt you..." he cooed. I instantly melted into him. I missed this so much, mainly because I was scared I'd never have it again. I smiled into his chest and he pulled away to kiss me once more.

Then I heard Sesshomaru scream and a gunshot. Inuyasha was suddenly leaning all of his body weight on me. I tried to look at his face. "What's wrong?" I asked. He rolled over and fell face-first into my lap.

A bullet was in the back of his neck.

I stared down, unable to move, unable to stop the red liquid from oozing out of him, staining his hair and shirt. I couldn't even scream. It took me a moment to realize I wasn't breathing. Inuyasha's blood was shed in front of me, and I couldn't do anything but stare. I looked him over carefully. All signs of life were gone. He was stiff, motionless, and his torso was perfectly still, with no signs of breathing.

Then I screamed. Then I cried. Then I picked him up and cradled his head in my arms, desperately trying to get a hold of him. His eyes stared up at me, but they were emotionless. Dead.

"Inuyasha, please!" I screamed. I was loosing it now. I refused to accept the fact that I lost him. I didn't loose him. He's too strong to go down so easily... right? I shook him and and lightly slapped his cheek.

"Look at me! Say something, please!" Just don't say goodbye.

I had officially lost it. I kissed his lips tenderly. Then all I could do was bring him closer to me and cry. And I cried like a baby. They say you don't know what you have until it's gone. They were certainly right, but I always knew how much this man mattered to me. He was my soul. My love. My everything. The spark in my life that kept me going. My Inuyasha.

Someone yelled from the distance, but I wasn't really paying attention. I continued to kiss Inuyasha's dead lips, sobbing incoherent words.

Then Sesshomaru was behind me. He gasped down at Inuyasha's dead body. I was sure I heard him sob a couple times too, but I didn't pay much attention to him. I just continued to kiss Inuyasha's face.

"Kagome, I'm so sorry." Sesshomaru gasped. I felt him put a hand on my shoulder.

"He's not... he couldn't be. Right...?" I asked between sobs.

"I'm afraid he is..." he was only whispering.

Then it all happened so fast.

I dropped Inuyasha. He rolled down my arms and into my lap, then he began to slowly roll down one side of the roof. Sesshomaru grabbed Inuyasha's body before it could fall and hauled him up. He look back at me in terror. "Kagome?" he asked nervously.

Then I stood, shaking, staring at nothing in particular, ignoring Sesshomaru's call. I felt dizzy.

I felt my legs give out under me.

They collapsed, and so did I.

I fell, and Sesshomaru wasn't quick enough to stop my body from tumbling down the roof. The grass from below rushed up to me so fast it stunned me.

I heard a sick crunch as my body hit the ground.

-x-

I was aware of a bright light outside my eyelids, but it was too bright for me to open them. I felt numb. Drugged. No pain. No awareness of my surroundings. So this is what heaven is like. No wonder people thought of death as a way out of misery. It was so quiet and peaceful. Not to mention comfortable. I was a little cold, and there was a distant beeping sound, but other than that, nothing was bothering me.

Maybe Inuyasha is waiting for me? That is, if he made it to heaven. I should look for him. I wasn't going to accomplish that with my eyes closed. I opened them slowly, peering into the brightness through my damp lashes. At first I was just staring into an annoyingly bright light, then I got a look at my surroundings.

I was in a hospital room. And it was very high class. Decorations, flowers, famous paintings on the walls. But it was all thrown off by the machine I was hooked up to.

I tried to move, to sit up, but I was too weak. It was frustrating. I rolled my eyes and closed them again.

I did not die. I did not make it to heaven to see Inuyasha. I felt my eyes water up at the thought of him. The bullet in the back of his neck. The dead stare in his eyes. The stiffness of his body. The blood...

I kept my eyes closed and sobbed silently, shaking the bed a bit. I bit my lip to contain the louder sobs, not wanting a nurse to think something was wrong.

"Kagome?" someone called in a familiar voice. I looked over the see Hojo staring at me, a look of pity in his eyes. I hated that. I hated him. I wanted him to go away.

"What are you doing here?" I asked angerily. My voice was very small and hoarse; it didn't sound intimidating at all.

He smiled weakly. "I came to apologize for eveything that's happened."

"It's too late to apologize now." I scowled at him fiercely. "Inuyasha's dead. You got what you wanted. Now get out of my life."

He looked like he wanted to say something, but then he sat back for a moment. "About Inuyasha..."

"You just had to go and stick you nosy ass into his life, didn't you? You just had to make him feel worse. He told me he'd rather die than be locked up with you for any amount of time. The only thing he likes about you locking him up is that it led him to meeting me."

"I understand but-"

"But nothing! Inuyasha stopped killing when I met him because he didn't feel the need to anymore but you just wouldn't quit. He's not a bad guy and you can't really blame him for going crazy. How would you react to going through what he has?"

He was silent for a moment. "You have a point, there." he said quietly.

"Now what are you going to do?" I glared at him.

"There's nothing I can do," he said. I closed my eyes and breathed slowly to calm down. The anger building up was leading to a major headache.

"Then leave." I said as calm as I could manage.

I heard him stand and leave. Then another set of footsteps came into the room. They moved the side of my bed and I heard someone kneel next to me. I opned my eyes and looked oer to see to gold eyes staring at me.

"Sesshomaru..." I said quietly. He took my hand and squeezed it gently.

"Thank goodness your alive." he spoke as if he was out of breath. I noticed his eyes were red, as if he's been crying. I squeezed his hand to comfort him.

"What happened?" I asked him. He pushed my hair behind my ears with his other hand.

"You fall off the roof. And I couldn't get to you in time. You and Inuyasha were rushed to the hospital immediately. You've been out for four days, Kagome. Everyone though you weren't going to make it. Amazingly, you're still okay, with minor injuries."

"Minor?" I felt like shit.

"You only have a minor concussion, and a srpained wrist." he smiled. "Inuyasha's blood flowing through you saved you life." his face fell when he spoke his brother's name. "Inuyasha, on the other hand, is a different story." he sighed. My eyes widened and my stomach turned. I didn't want to know what happened, but I needed to know. I had to know.

"He's gone, isn't he?" My voice broke. He looked at me with wide eyes.

"Kagome, he's here, in the hospital." he said.

My eyes opened so wide I thought they'd pop out of my head. "He's ALIVE?" I screamed, so relieved, so happy. I felt a huge smile growing on my face.

Sesshomaru looked like he wanted to laugh. Then he looked serious again. "Yes... but... he may be paralyzed. He hasn't been able to move his body. He's not speaking, either. He just opens his eyes, looks around the room, and goes back to sleep, like he has no business being awake. He gets really frustrated when people go in there."

"Oh." my face fell. "I want to see him."

"I was just up there. I told him you're here. He looked at the door, excited, but the I told him you were a patient here, too and he looked worried. I told him I'd come see you to make sure you were okay." he looked humorous again. "And on my way here, I heard you yelling at Hojo."

"Did you tell him I haven't woken up?"

"No! He'd freak! I just told him you've been sleeping a lot because you're so weak. He looked so mad, I thought he was going to rip my balls off." he chuckled.

I sighed. He may not be able to move for the rest of his life, but Inuyasha was still alive and well. i needed to see him myself. "Sesshomaru? With me practically being you little sister, I have a favor to ask you." I said sweetly.

He looked at me, and I could tell he already knew the favor.

"I want to see my Inuyasha." I said seriously. Sesshomaru sighed and let go of my hand to scratch the back of his neck.

"Kagome, that's a pretty tall order. It's very hard to sneak a patient out of their room and into someone else's without getting caught. Do you have any idea how many cameras there are in here?"

"Do you have any idea how fast you can run?" I shot back at him.

He looked at me for a very long moment. Then he sighed and leaned in. "Now?" he whispered?

"Now would be nice." I said. He sighed.

Without daring to be careful, I ripped all of the wires out of my arm and off my head. Sesshomaru carefully balanced me on his back and took off. He took the stairs, not wanting to the nurses to catch us waiting for the elevator. We ran all the way up to the nineth floor and down a long, bright hallway. I was getting extremely dizzy, but I didn't care. I was just happy that I'd get to see Inuyasha.

He stopped outside of room 909 and I carefully stepped down, amazingly able to keep my balance. Sesshomaru was close to my side, arms out, ready to catch me if I fell.

"I can do this." I assured him. "And I want to face him alone, if you don't mind." I said. He looked at me with undestanding and stood against the wall.

"Call for me if you need anything." he said. I nodded and opened the door to Inuyasha's room.

It wasn't as classy as my room, but it as very similar. The walls and tiles were much the same, and the few chairs in the room were set up in the same style. Inuyasha's bed was angled directly in front of the TV, as mine was.

Inuyasha had his eyes closed, his body was motionless, besides the rising and falling of his chest breathing in air and letting it out. He wore a light gray nightgown like mine. It was unbuttoned down his right side, revealing the skin from his armpit to his hip, where the blanket covered the rest of him. He was abnomrally pale, almost as pale as me. His face was expressionless. He looked so peaceful.

I walked towards him and reached under the blanket for his hand, and squeezed it lightly. I closed my eyes and thought of all the things we went through together. When he attacked me at his first sight of me, his hold on me the first night he stayed with me. The look of sadness in his eyes when he told me about his past, the pity and anger in them when I told him about mine. The first smile on his flawless face. The look on his face when he told me he loved me. His lips against my magic spot, our first kiss, the night I became his mate.

I smiled, feeling tears of happiness sliding down my cheeks. My eyes were still closed. I stroked the back of his hand softly with my thumb. His hand was cold, not their usual warm temperature.

I felt his hand queeze mine gently, and opened my eyes to find his staring at mine. They looked calm, happy. He squeeze my hand a little tighter. I moved closer to him, never letting go of his hand.

"Inuyasha." I sighed as I sat next to him on the bed and stroked his forehead with my free hand. He smiled up at me, so brightly, like he alwys did. My heart swelled. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath, like he wanted to say something.

"Ka...go...me." he said softly. His voice sounded weaker than mine. But I was still happy to hear him. He cleared his throat again. "My... Kagome." he said a bit clearer. His arm trembled as he raised our joined hands to kiss my knuckles. "It's... so good... to see you."

"How are you?" I asked him tenderly.

"I'm... fine... just sore." he replied. "Kagome, I'm sorry... for loosing it."

"I thought you were dead." My voice broke. He chuckled weakly.

"No bullet can put... me down. I was just stunned, that's all." he spoke much more clearly.

"I'm so happy you're okay. But I heard you're paralyzed."

"No, I'm just too sore to move. But I'll get better very soon. We'll just have to be patient."

"Patience is a virtue." I smiled and kissed his forehead.

He looked serious. "Hojo was here... He talked to the police."

"What did they say?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "He told them everything. He told them... He was onto the right guy. He told them about my past, and you, and how you've raised me to be.... a better person. But, he convinced them that me being locked up for so long... was a good enough punishment. As many people as I killed... I don't know how he got them off my ass, but he did. I'm not being hunted anymore. Everyone... knows who I am. No one cares."

"Amazing. I guess that's what Hojo was trying to tell me when I woke up."

"Mhm."

I sighed and looked at the floor for a moment. So the hunt for Inuyasha was off? Hojo went that far to make me happy? That was really something. I'd have to thank him later. Inuyasha squeezed my hand again, trying to get my attention.

"Hey." he said quietly. I leaned into him.

"What is it?"

He smiled. "Gimmie' kiss?"

I smiled and took his lips tenderly in my own. He let go of my hand to stroke the back of my head. His other managed to pull me on top of him. I pulled away in shock.

"You're still this strong?" I asked incredulously. He winked at me.

"Like I said, no bullet can put me down. I couldn't die just yet. I've still got 50 things in mind for our future." he chuckled.

I laughed with him than leaned back in to kiss him again.

"Can I ask you someting?" he moaned into the kiss.

"Hmm?" I refused to pull away from him.

He lightly pushed me away and looked me over carefully. He looked embarrassed. "I was wondering if... you know, since we're mated already and we're bound for life... I don't have a ring and this isn't exactly a romantic setting... But if you'd be interested in being my wife, that'd be cool. I mean that be great! No wait- it'd be perfect!"

I put a finger over his lips to stop his adorable babbling. "I will marry you, Inuyasha." I said proudly and kissed his nose. He sighed in relief and pulled me back to his lips.

Two years later...

All was well. After Inuyasha and I were released from the hospital, Sesshomaru finally moved in with that girl he was dating. Hojo got the police off Inuyasha's trail, and Inuyasha and I got married 10 months after we were released from the hospital, further binding us to each other for another 200 years.

My family discovered who Inuyasha really was, but they didn't really have a bad reaction like I feared they would. Juno no longer existed.

Inuyasha got a job at a local grocery store (so he could get a discount whenever he bought ramen and his other favorite snacks). I got a job as a nurse at a home for the elderly. It was easier than being a nurse anywhere else, in my opinion, and my hours weren't insane so I could take care of mine and Inuyasha's son, Muteki. It took us a while to... "make" him at first, but I eventually got pregnant. Sango and Miroku had a baby around the same time I had, a girl named Kirara.

Muteki was a perfect combination of Inuyasha and I. He had Inuyasha's gold eyes, facial features and ears (much to everyone's enjoyment), and my skin and hair color. I had to take off work for a bit to take care of him, since he was only born a month ago. He was a bit of a handful, but Inuyasha and I couldn't be happier.

Muteki wasn't the only handful.

"Kagome, how old does he have to be before we can sign him up for sword fighting lessons?" Inuyasha asked one night after we tucked in Muteki.

"Sword fighting?" I asked incredulously.

"Yeah. I want him to be a warrior, just like his dad."

"You were no warrior!" I laughed.

"But I was one hell of a fighter. Don't hate." he smirked and flexed his biceps. I rolled my eyes and pushed him back, quickly straddling his waist. He put his hands on my hips and smiled at me.

"I couldn't be happier that you put off the baby weight so quickly, but isn't it a little early for this?" he rolled his hips under mine to show what he meant. I rolled my eyes at him.

"The doctor said no sex for another 4 to 6 weeks. It's been a month now, right?" I smiled devilishly. Inuyasha had been teasing me about it since before I went into labor. With the preganancy hormones, I was likely to become more sexually frustrated than he could ever become.

"It has..." he said slowly as I bent down to kiss him. His hands slid up my bare back under my shirt, playing with the clasp of my bra. Right when he was about to unhook it, Muteki started screaming from down the hall. I shoved off Inuyasha in a heartbeat and bolted into my son's room, which used to be Sesshomaru's bedroom.

"Jesus!" Inuyasha yelled as he ran in after me. I already had Muteki in my arms.

I put a finger up to my lips, indicating he should be quiet. "He's just hungry." I said lowly. Inuyasha's shoulders slumped in relief. It surprised me that despite Inuyasha being the one to ask me if we could have kids after we got married, he didn't know the first thing about raising one. I had to teach him how to make bottles and change diapers and support the baby's head while holding it.

"Did you pump any milk?" he asked.

"Nope." I said simply. "I'll just take him to our room and feed him." I smiled. Inuyasha led us to our room and sat down on the bed as I nurse Muteki, staring in fascination.

"He's so tiny," he mumble, "yet he eats like an elephant."

"He gets it from his daddy." I said simply and winked at him.

"Well he'd better not take too much because he has to share that with his daddy." Inuyasha growled playfully. I knew he was talking about my breasts, and I laughed. Inuyasha scooted closer to me and wrapped an arm around me, stroking the back of Muteki's head.

"Are we ever gonna have sex again?" he asked playfully.

"Yes... if we can find someone who's willing to take him overnight."

"I'll call your mother ASAP."

"Now who's sexually frustrated?" I teased.

"Shut up. I can smell you, ya know."

"Yeah, yeah..." my lids got heavy. I cradled the baby carefully at my side as he fell asleep. "Take him to bed please?" I was already dosing off.

"Of course." he grabbed the baby and left. Moments later, he returned. "Can we have sex now?" he asked, burying his face in my neck.

"Inuyasha... I'm too tired." I tried to shove him away. He kissed that spot under my ears and my eyes shot open, my breathing labored.

"You were saying...?" Damn him. He could use that spot to his advantage. Oh well. I wasn't complaining.

"Make it quick." I giggled as he rolled on top of me and gave me a couple butterfly kisses.

"Believe me, it'll be quick." he chuckled and kissed me once more...

From a crazy serial killer, to a loving, caring husband and father in two and a half years. Who would've thought a dull person like me could have such and impact on someone like that? Who would've thought a crazy person like him could make me whole? When they say there's someone out there for everyone, they mean it. No matter what, fate will bring you to each other, even if it's in the craziest way.

There's nothing in the universe that can outdo fate, so no matter what you do, your life will take it's place that way it's supposed to. And life may not be fair, but usually after the worse things happen, the better things come in to play. So if you're currently in a fuck-up situation, remember that you'll get a better handle on life sooner or later. You won't know when it will be, but it will come.

Just be patient.

The End