Chapter 16

Luka and I walked up to the front desk in reception, where a secretary sat tapping away at her keyboard. I always wondered what the hell they were doing most of the time. Is there really that much typing that has to be done? Or are they just playing solitaire? It's an age old mystery.

I awkwardly cleared my throat to try and get her attention. She looked up at me and peared over her glasses with a judging look. I'd judge me too, the hospital isn't exactly where I fit in.

"U-Um, can we visit Kaiko Shion?.. Please?" I felt Luka squeeze my hand and looked over at her to see her giving me a reassuring smile. I stood a little straighter and attempted to look more confident. If I was scared going in to see my sister, what would Luka do? She doesn't even know her and she's watching her brother be terrified. Not going to happen.

"Yes, of course," replied the receptionist at last. "If you take the elevator up two floors and take an immediate right, you'll find her room. It's room 209 and is marked with her name. If you get lost please ask any of the staff and they would be happy to assist you," she rattled off. I guess saying the same thing to everyone who walked through would get kind of boring.

"Ah, thank you." With that, Luka and I made our way to the elevator. Its doors open and we stepped in. I pressed the button for the second floor and sighed loudly. "I hate hospitals," I complained. Luka nodded in agreement.

'Are you nervous Mr. Kaito?'

I glanced at her note and let out a forced laugh. "Nervous? No!... Ok, maybe a bit..."

Luka let out a silent giggle and took my hand again. I squeezed her cold hand in my sweaty one. "Thanks for coming baby girl. It means a lot to me." I shot her a small smile, which she returned ten-fold. The elevator let out a ding, signalling that we had arrived. The doors opened to show a long hallway with tens of doors. We were entering the long-term stays ward.

Following the receptionist's directions, we took an immediate right after we got out of the elevator and counted the numbers on the doors until we found room 209. And sure enough, there was a little whiteboard outside of it with the name 'Kaiko Shion' written in Kaiko's messy handwriting. I took a huge breath and swallowed some excess saliva that had built up in my mouth before pulling down the door knob and opening the door.

There she was. Kaiko sat propped up in the bed and looked over at the door to see who had just walked in. An IV was being injected into one of her arms and her head was completely bald. All of her hair must have fallen out again. We made eye contact and her face lit up and she smiled over at me.

"Hello Kaito." Her voice was tired and hoarse, as if she had been doing a lot of talking.

"H-Hi Kaiko," I coughed out. I hadn't seen her since Mom and Dad told me I'd be transferring schools.

Kaiko held out her arm that wasn't hooked up to the IV in a hug-like invitation. I walked over, sat on the bed beside her and wrapped my arms gently around her. I was so afraid of hurting or bruising her, she felt so frail.

"Happy birthday," she croaked out.

I kissed the top of her bald head. "Happy birthday," I replied.

I sat with my arm around her for another few seconds before Kaiko straightened up and looked back at the door. "Who's this?" she asked, teasingly. I motioned for Luka to stop loitering in the doorway and come over. She did so obediently and pulled out the chair beside the bed.

"This is Luka," I explained. "She's one of my new roommates in school and a friend. She wanted to meet you so I brought her along."

Kaiko smiled politely and held out her boney hand. "Pleased to meet you Luka. I'm Kaiko, Kaito's twin sister." Luka took her hand gently and shook it very delicately. It was the same care you'd give to an antique doll. Kaiko looked up at me with a questioning look, clearly wondering why Luka hadn't spoken back to her. I glance quickly at Luka, silently asking permission to explain her situation. She nodded with a small, sad smile.

"Luka can't talk. She's mute."

Kaiko's mouth formed a small 'o' but she recovered quickly and grinned over at her. "I have cancer," she said to Luka. "Ever since I was small I've been very sick." Luka nodded, looking from the IV drip to Kaiko and back to the IV drip. Kaiko smiled and leaned back into the bed.

"So school must be going ok if you've already made friends."

I nodded. "It's alright."

She laughed. "You always were hard to impress." She turned to Luka with a mischevious grin. "When Kaito was five, Mom and Dad got him some new game console for his birthday. Was it a gamecube?" I nodded. "They got him a gamecube with several new games for his fifth birthday. And Kaito, the little brat, merely nodded when he opened it and then asked was that it. Dad was so angry!"

"... I wanted an Xbox..." I muttered. Luka held up her hand to her mouth in a futile attempt to cover her smile.

"Have Mom and Dad visited you already?" I asked.

Kaiko nodded cautiously, watching my face carefully so as not to upset me. "Yes, they were here this morning," she said. I tried to appear as if I didn't care but I did. I hadn't even gotten a message...

"Oh! Here's your birthday card," I took out the shitty petrol station card and gave it to her. Kaiko took it happily and opened it, smiling at the thought I had put in to it. That had to be it because there was no way she was smiling at the actual card.

"Will you put it on my dresser?" she asked. I took it and walked around the bed to get to her bedside locker and placed it on the dresser. She had two other cards, one from Mom and Dad, and one from the nurse who took care of her.

"I wasn't able to get you anything, I've been stuck here," Kaiko apologised. I shook my head, dismissing her apology.

"It's fine, I knew you wouldn't be able to." I turned to her with a grin. "I was always the better sibling."

Kaiko laughed. She then pulled a face when she heard me clicking the tongue piercing against the roof of my mouth. "You don't still have that awful thing in, do you?" she grimaced. I stuck out my tongue to show it to her and pulled a face. She shook her head and turned to Luka.

"I hate those piercings he insists on having. Do you like them?"

Luka took out her notepad and scribbled something down quickly. 'I think Mr. Kaito looks very cool.'

I laughed triumphantly. "I've been thinking about adding a nose piercing to the mix." Kaiko shook her head in disgust. I laughed again at her face.

Kaiko turned to talk to Luka a bit more and I stared at her dresser. There was a picture frame on it with a picture of Kaiko and I as children in it. We must have been seven-ish in it because Kaiko's hair was just at her shoulders which is the longest it ever got before she went into relapse a few weeks later. I watched the IV drip drip into the tube that connected to her arm. I didn't know what it was for but it freaked me out. I could remember sitting next to Kaiko after she had fallen asleep and hearing it drip... drip... drip... Even the memory gave me chills.

I looked up at the clock on the wall. It was coming up on two o'clock, which I knew was lunch time in the hospital. I walked back around the bed and put a hand on one of Luka's shoulder.

"We should be heading now Kaiko, it's almost lunch time so nurses will be shooing us out anyway." Kaiko nodded sadly and took Luka's hand in her's.

"I really enjoyed meeting you today Luka, you can come back any time you want." She shot a look back at me and grinned. "If my brother gives you any hassle, tell me and I'll sort him out. He's terrified of his older sister."

"You're two minutes older than me Kaiko, it doesn't count," I sighed. Kaiko let out a croaky laugh. I walked over at hugged her gently before planting a kiss on her forehead.

"I'll visit again soon," I promised.

"I look forward to it," she said back.

Luka and I left the room, giving one final wave to Kaiko before shutting the door. Luka smiled brightly over at me and I gave her a weak one back. She took my hand and we left the hospital and got back in Yuma's hunk of metal to go back to the school. I tried to convince her to let me drive but she wouldn't let me. So I huffed and sat in the passengers seat on the drive back.

Kaiko had been in good spirits but the whole time we were there, her face was peaky and pale and her movements frail and weak. I hoped that if she was getting worse, she'd tell me and not keep it a secret. But I was never sure with her.