He was asleep in the mid-morning sun's rays. The light was reflecting off his hair, now decidedly bi-toned. I was studying its colors. His roots seemed to be a brownish black, not an inky black like it seemed to look compared to the light blonde color of the rest of it. This close up and so bright in the light, it was revealing its true self. I compared with my fingers how long these black roots were. We'd have to get his hair rebleached soon. It might make him feel better. We could go to the hair salon like we'd wanted to.

I jumped as the door opened. A nurse we'd had before was coming in, holding a tray with testing supplies on it. There were other things on the tray that I hadn't seen brought in before, but I recognized the objects. There were two long, thick, stretchy ribbon-like rubber things, like what they use to tie up your arm before a blood test.

"What are those for? Are you going to give him a blood test?" I asked while sitting up on the bed. I quickly swung my legs over and got off it, to get out of the way.

"No, but good eye. These are for you two to take home. It's for his exercises. They're different than the ones use for blood tests. I'll let you look at them in a minute." She was kind as always. She was older, and reminded me of a grandma.

"Okay. I see there's an extra cup of pills today. What is it?" I took a seat on the other side of the bed. Sana was turned to me, and he looked so innocent sleeping there.

"It's potassium. He was getting it intravenously, but he'll start taking it as a supplement from today. It's to help his heart. Unfortunately, we'll have to wake him. How's his sleep been?" She started to arrange things on her tray, glancing over at us as she spoke.

I nodded. "It's been going well. I'll wake him for you. One minute."

She smiled at me, and kept putting things in order. "Yokohara-sensei also wants to weigh him. So, we'll take him over to the scale after we're done."

"Weigh him? What for?" My hand was hovering over Sana's shoulder, but this statement had caught me off guard.

"I'm not sure, I'm sorry."

"It's strange. He's never been weighed in the hospital before."

"I can ask her for you, if it's a concern."

"No, it's okay. You're kind."

My hand met Sana's shoulder, and moved it back and forth slowly. I leaned toward the bed, getting close to his face. It was kitten-like in cuteness. Gently, I blew on his nose. His nose twitched a little, making me smile. I blew again. It twitched more, and like magic he drew a long breath like a Princess coming out of a one-hundred year sleep. His eyes opened and blinked at me. That shy, little smile bloomed on his face.

"Good morning, my darling," I smiled back at him. "Nurse Itou-san is here. She's going to give you your medicine this morning."

"Oh," he breathed. His eyes looked up at the ceiling, and his eyebrow creased. "Can you help me turn over? I'm sorry." His voice sounded stronger than before.

"Don't be sorry." I grinned at him to encourage him. He smiled bigger than before. I squeezed his shoulder twice in love, and got up. Very gently, I pushed his shoulder. He laid on his back now, and he turned his head to Itou-san. "Good morning," he said to her. She was so happy to see him, so pleased.

"That's the first time you've spoken to me. You're doing so well," she said, clasping her hands together.

Standing like this, I could see his face clearly. His eyes dropped back closed. He really wasn't as alert as he sounded. I grinned more. "Wait, wait, wait," I laughed. "Don't sleep."

His eyes snapped open. "Oh, oops."

"It's okay. Sometimes I fall asleep after I wake up, too. Let me help you sit up," Itou-san said. She was being so kind to him. It filled my heart with gladness. She moved to touch his shoulders, and his eyebrows creased again.

"Wait a minute, I feel dizzy. Wait." He closed his eyes, his eyebrows still knitted together.

"Is the room spinning?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay."

We both waited patiently for him. "Do you feel nauseous?" I asked. I recalled whenever I felt dizzy like that, nausea usually wasn't too far away. However, that was only when I was drinking. I knew this was different.

"A little."

"I can bring some Ondansetron," Itou-san piped up quickly. "If your dizziness persists, I can bring something for that, too."

"I've been on something for dizziness before. It was weird. It still felt like I was dizzy, but there wasn't any dizziness." He was gripping the bed now, as if trying to stabilize himself. Maybe if I got on the bed and held him to me...

"Would you like to try it again? I can ask Harada-sensei."

"I think I'd rather sleep and see if it goes away. Thank you, though."

"No problem at all."

"Here, let me see if this helps." I put my knee on the bed experimentally, and he didn't budge. I got up on the bed and placed my hands on his shoulders gently. He didn't protest, so I slowly hoisted him up to a sitting position.

"Oh, wait a minute," he said, in a troubled voice. "I'm sorry."

"You keep saying sorry. Don't feel sorry. It's okay." I wanted to kiss him, but I didn't want to move and make him feel sick. So, I patiently waited.

We waited for a few minutes. I was enjoying holding him like this anyway. His eyes were still pressed tightly closed, causing little crinkles across the bridge of his nose. They were so delicate. I wanted to touch them.

"I'll get some Ondansetron. I'll be right back," Itou-san said, bowing slightly to us.

"Thank you," he breathed. She nodded and left the room hastily.

I squeezed his shoulder a little. "Feeling any better? I want to hold you properly."

"Yes. We can try."

"Okay."

By now, I knew how to get behind him and hold him between my legs very easily and with as little fuss as possible. With expert movements, I slid around him, keeping him level and not causing him to move too much at all. Successfully in position, I leaned him a bit on my body. He relaxed completely. He didn't need to use anything to sit up anymore.

"There we go. Don't worry about anything. You can sleep until she gets back, okay? I'm right here."

"Okay."

I kissed the top of his head, and felt it shift a little on my chest. He sighed deeply, and I saw his eyes close below me. He was utterly safe. I wrapped my arms around him, making sure.

In thirty minutes, he'd taken all of his morning medications, including the new potassium pill. He'd tolerated it well after taking the Ondansetron. He seemed pretty sleepy, but Itou-san was determined to get him weighed for Yokohara-sensei. When she told him that, he wasn't disturbed by the request at all.

"I'm really thirsty," he said. An odd request of his own.

"I'll get you some water," she told him. She went out the door once more.

As soon as the door shut, his eyes were closed again. His head drooped on my chest. I rubbed his belly, and a slight smile formed on his lips.

"Were you being manipulative? Did you just want to sleep?" I asked, smiling with him.

"Yes."

So sneaky. "It's okay. You can sleep. Maybe you can be weighed later. It's a lot to ask of you. I don't know where a scale is."

"I don't understand why Yokohara-sensei would want to weigh me."

"I thought it was an odd request, too. That hasn't happened before. It seems like too much for you to do right now, anyway."

"I agree."

"I'll ask Itou-san if you can sleep and we can do it later."

"Thank you." He sighed again, and I let him sleep, rubbing his chest to get him there faster.

He didn't get to sleep long, however.

The door opened and Itou-san was back, holding a cup of water. She tapped him on the shoulder, and his eyes opened blearily. I took the cup of water and helped him drink it. A straw would have been preferable. I slowly guided the water into his mouth, keeping pace with him, rising the cup ever so carefully up. He finished, and I handed the cup back to Itou-san.

"Ready?" She asked, letting the side rail down. It confused me.

"He'll need a wheelchair. I don't know how far we're going," I said, trying to figure out what she meant to do. "He uses a wheelchair."

"Oh, my apologies. I'll go get one."

"He also has a catheter in. I'm not sure how we're going to do this."

"That's alright. We can take it with us."

I was still unsure. It was so strange. Why was she asking to move him like that? He was hooked up to so many machines. It wasn't just the catheter that would be hard to move with him, but also his saline bag. I didn't like it. It seemed like a lot of hassle for nothing, and it would exhaust him, I knew that for a fact. He didn't need to be exhausted like that.

Everything inside of me was protesting my decision, but I had to say something. For his benefit. It was part of protecting him. I knew this was major, but I had to do it.

"I just... I just don't think any of this is a good idea. I'm sorry, but can you ask Yokohara-sensei to talk to us? I don't want him moved like that. It's a lot for him right now. It might seem simple to move someone to walk to a scale and stand there, but for him it isn't. I'm very sorry, but there seemed to be a miscommunication somewhere and the message didn't get conveyed that he is a wheelchair user. If even if that information wasn't relayed... Is Yokohara-sensei aware that he's still connected to so many things? I know she thought he seemed to be getting better, but... I want her to see what's going on first. I want to know why she wants him weighed. I think it's completely unnecessary. His body doesn't need added stress."

Itou-san bowed to me. "Of course. I understand. I'll let her know. I apologize."

"It's not your fault. You've been wonderful."

She bowed again. "I think anyhow, I can bring in his breakfast. Would that be alright? He'll need to eat with some of the medications he just took."

"Yes, that would be fine. Thank you so much."

She bowed for a third time. Her face seemed really sorry. I hadn't meant to upset her, but to be honest, I was the one who was upset. Sana had hid it from her, but he was really tired. His body didn't seem to be doing it's best today, either. Maybe if he'd been doing better, I'd have said yes, but as it was...

She left and closed the door. I stared down at Sana, and beyond his messy bangs, I saw a smile slowly spread.

"Meow, husband," he grinned. He'd said meow in English.

"Meow?" I asked, immediately laughing. He was so cute. He was laughing, too, smiling so much. It was infectious. I wanted to tickle his belly.

"Yeah. You told her off like a lioness protecting her cub. It was catty. Therefore, the word meow."

I giggled, and he giggled with me. "Of course I did. I didn't want her tiring you out too much. It might make you sick. You're doing so well. I don't want something to sabotage that."

"Aww."

"Yeah." I rubbed his chest again, and he sighed against me.

"I like how you protect me all the time. It makes me feel good."

A grin so large that it made me close my eyes took over my face. The brightest, happy feeling was inside of my heart, spreading out into every limb. He'd noticed this about me, my trying to protect him.

"It's my mission to protect you," I breathed out in a deep, joyful sigh. I kissed the top of his hair, and he sighed, too. I found his hands, and clasped them in my own. I saw that smile below his bangs, and it remained there for a long time as we stayed like this.