In the evening, we were all watching TV. All of a sudden, Sana started gasping for breath rapidly. I jumped up on my knees beside him on the bed, leaning over him. I yelled at Natsuko to grab any available nurse, as she frantically pressed the nurse call button.

She ran out of the room. His heart monitor started beeping a loud warning, and I panicked, calling his name. He said my name between his gasps, his eyes wild in fear. His eyes started to droop, and he went more limp, his head going to the side a little bit.

"No, no!" I cried out, smacking his face as hard as I dared. His blood pressure cuff came on, puffing up in response to the machine. It beeped its result, and I glanced quickly at it. The numbers were much too high. His eyes swam, trying to look at me. "Sana, it's okay, look at me," I demanded, my face over his. I shook him by the shoulders, trying to keep his eyes open.

The door crashed open, a doctor we didn't know and a bunch of nurses. I leapt off his bed, getting out of the way. Sadly, Natsuko and I both knew what to do. This had happened in December many times. We pressed ourselves against the corner of a wall, making no noise as they worked.

We'd been told earlier that we'd been right to bring him in. It had been his heart, Natsuko's worry had been right. His weak body meant his heart was weaker also. I had been hoping, praying, that something like this wouldn't happen. I smacked my hands together twice and closed my eyes, keeping them together. Natsuko held me from behind, trying to comfort me. But somehow, I knew he had to be okay. There was no way. I was too fierce to accept it. I was going to be a bride. There was no way he'd leave.

In the end, they gave him medications to knock down his high blood pressure, and slow his heart artificially. They got him stable, though of course he was weaker after. I sat with him on his bed, his head cradled on my lap as he barely looked at the doctor in front of us, so dazed. Natsuko sat in her chair next to him, holding his hand.

"I'm going to have a meeting with his doctor in Tokyo about what she thinks. She knows more of the story than I do," the doctor said. "My attending and I will talk to her. We'll go over everything. In my opinion, his heart is struggling so much as his body is trying to recover from the strain of the high blood sugar event from a few days ago. It's cause and effect at this point. His heart is struggling so much, which somewhat prevents his body from being able to gain more strength. Hopefully they can balance, and he can regain strength. I want to look at a couple of heart medications which could help, and we can safely have him on them as he recovers in the hospital. We can try a few out and see what could work. It should make him stronger in the long run, and are a good idea no matter what, because he's had a heart attack before. They should help prevent another one, or something else."

"What's 'something else'?" I asked, my hand absentmindedly twirling in Sana's bangs as I listened, a nervous movement.

"Heart failure."

"I... Oh..." My 'oh' was deeply weighted, descending into the depths of the fiery fears of my soul. My eyes went downward to the bedspread, staring at the white of it. My sister's hand appeared on my wrist, taking my hand out of Sana's hair. She clasped my hand and held it so tightly that it almost hurt. She'd heard my tone. My brain was trying to become dizzy. My other hand went to my forehead and swept into my hair. "Wait a minute, I need a minute," I said, quietly.

"There's no guarantee it will happen, you understand," the doctor went on, sounding sympathetic. "But these medications should help prevent it. We'll talk about it and tell you what we think."

I noticed he hadn't tried to be polite and say things like, no need to worry. Or everything will be alright. Did that mean I should be worried? And that things might not be alright?

"I- is he going to be okay? Is- I mean..." I rubbed my eye, it was blurry. I couldn't look at the doctor anymore.

He sighed, and the deepest fear in me came alive. There was a long silence. My mouth opened, and my throat made a few sounds, contracting and uncontracting. I had no words. My breath became heavy. Natsuko's hand became even tighter around mine. I began sweating.

"I'll go try to contact his doctor in Tokyo now," the doctor said. "We'll hold the meeting as soon as possible. I will be back when I know more." He bowed deeply to us, and I knew that because Natsuko bowed as deeply to him as she could in her chair.

He left the room, and the room spun. I wobbled hugely. Natsuko's chair scraped violently across the floor, and her hands were on my shoulders. My head dropped, and I saw Sana there, his eyes closed fully now. His heart monitor was beeping steadily and slowly now. He was just sleeping, but...

"Oh, shit," Natsuko whispered under breath, as all of my weight went on her arms, and my eyes went into my head. I was still conscious, but I was gone. "Lay back, lay back," she ordered, pushing me back on his propped up bed. I laid there, my head to the side, every nerve ending in my body firing at once. She sat back down in her chair and opened one of the sodas she'd brought in the hospital gift bag. She offered it to me, and I took it, drinking quickly.

I closed it, and she took it back. She drank some, too, and put it on the table. My mouth was slightly open, as I stared straight forward. We were quiet for a long time. Then, she jumped in her chair and dove into her purse. She had her cellphone in her hand. She was calling our mom quick as lightning.

"It's a repeat of December," Haru was saying, as he took one of the sodas Natsuko had gotten from the vending machine. She'd run out of the room as soon as everyone arrived, claiming she needed to grab snacks for everyone. In reality, I think she'd needed to get some fresh air. I didn't blame her.

Haru leaned back in his chair. He finished his drinking, and put the soda down between his knees. He continued. "It's just like December. This is nothing new. I think we all need to calm down. They handled it well in December, remember? He recovered. There's nothing to worry about. They'll have it handled again. He'll be put on some heart medications. From his symptoms, it sounds like he'll need a beta blocker and an ace inhibitor. Easy as anything."

"Then we should transfer him to the hospital in Tokyo again," my papa said. He was holding my mom's hand. She was much too worried to speak. "They're the ones who healed him, not this hospital. They know his case better. They know what worked before. His doctors are there, the cardiologist and his endocrinologist, Yokohara-sensei. No need for these less intelligent doctors here to hold meetings with her. We'll get the old team back, and he'll be right as rain. We should do it now."

"It doesn't mean the doctors here are less intelligent," Haru said, sounding a little bit offended, but we all knew my papa could be forceful when stressed. He didn't really mean that. "But, you may be right. They do know his case better, and they are much better equipped than a smaller hospital like this. With what happened today, I can't say I'm not concerned. You are right, he needs people who know his case back to front."

My papa nodded slowly, like he knew it all already. It was comforting to me.

Naoko made a sound like someone hit her. All of our eyes went to her. Daichi went to hold her, and she started sobbing in his arms. "It's all my fault," she cried, long wails. "If I hadn't put the sugar in... If I'd paid more attention... I've killed him, I- I've..." She buried her face into his chest, completely losing it.

"No, Naoko," Natsuko sighed, her voice so soft and gentle. "It's not your fault."

"Yeah, Sana doesn't blame you at all, I promise," I said, trying to soothe her. I had to let her know that. He really didn't blame her at all. He was so forgiving. Always so kind... The room blurred. My hands went over my face. My body ached to feel him. Feel his arms around me. I felt wobbly, expecting to feel his body around mine as I started to cry, feeling the air instead. Where was he? Why wasn't he holding me when I was crying? "I- ah- I-" I sputtered. I felt someone's hands on my shoulders, too large to be Sana's.

"Breathe," Haru said, so close to me. "You need to drink some water. Don't faint."

"Th- thank you," I said, breathing deeply at his instruction. Natsuko handed me a bottle of water, and I opened it, starting to drink. It was cold, and felt good. I put it against my forehead after, closing my eyes and breathing deeply.

My papa stood up, looking antsy. "Let's go tell them what we want right now. We can't delay. If he has another episode... He needs to be where the doctors know what they're doing. He can take a helicopter again. The sooner we tell them, the better."

"It doesn't work like that, calm yourself," Haru said. "We have to discuss it with Yokohara-sensei. She can send her recommendation. She's the key to all of this. She works at that hospital. She can give the order."

"Yes. Y- yes, do it," my papa said, starting to pace. His anxiety was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Haru took out his phone. He handed it to me. "Please input her number," he asked me gently, giving me a small smile to calm me. I took his phone and did it. He took it back. What followed was a very medically termed conversation between two doctors, sounding so professional. She was on the speaker phone, so we could all hear. None of us said a word, letting him take over. We knew he was a professional, and knew better than us. It was incredibly humbling.

"It is my opinion that he should come over to us," she told us, finally. "You are right. He needs to be where he was when he was initially treated. I'll send over the order. I will prepare, and call the same cardiologist he had. We'll do everything possible."

"Thank you, Yokohara-sensei," I said, maybe too quietly for her to hear. She didn't respond, so I knew she didn't hear it. Haru's hand was on my shoulder again. I leaned over on my knees, my head dropping down, breathing hard.