My mom came back to see me sitting with my head in my hands. My cellphone was on the table beside me, and she thought I was crying.

"Te-chan," she gasped. She rushed over to me and put our teas on the table, hugging me around the shoulders. "Did the doctor come? What did they say? I'm sorry I wasn't here for it."

I shook my head. "They didn't come yet."

"I shouldn't have left you alone."

I shook my head again. "You didn't leave me alone. Sana is here with me."

She just held on to me, and I closed my eyes, feeling her warmth and comfort. It's what I needed. Yami's voice was in my head. Warning me. He was probably talking to his mom right now, and they were making decisions. My eyes opened. I had to tell my mom about this.

With a sudden chill, another thought. What if it wasn't right that I'd invited her into my parents' house? She was a stranger to my papa. My mom had barely met her. But...when they had, they'd bonded. The memory of them passing a skinned orange back and forth, taking pieces, smiling with each other. It gave me hope.

"Mom? Um... I have to talk to you about something." Resolve was filling me. It was the right thing to do. The more I thought about it, the more I knew. I patted the chair beside me, and she sat down slowly. She looked at me curiously, and I found I couldn't look back at her face. Something inside was stopping me.

"What is it? You can tell me anything."

My chest filled with fog, and it curled into my throat at her words. The depth of them. Remembering Natsuko mouthing that I could tell her anything. Maybe she was right.

I took her hand, and her other hand went over mine, too. I pressed my lips together, staring at the floor. "Um... Um... I just talked to Yami. A- about Sana."

"Mm-hmm."

"Well, he thinks his mom would... I mean to say, he thinks she might want to...come up here and help us. I- I..." Despite my resolve, it was so hard to get out. My mom was patience itself, though, as always. She didn't say a word as I struggled. "I felt so helpless in the garden. I didn't know what to do. What if something like that happened and you're not here? I wouldn't be able to move. I'd freeze. I always do... I feel like I failed him. And I know Yami's mom... Sawai-san... She really cares for Sana, and she'd know what to do when I don't. She knows so much about Sana's illness. She's been there since before Sana knew he was sick. She has so much knowledge... I'd really feel safer if she was here. I know you're a nurse, and you have a lot of knowledge, too. I can't tell you how much I respect that, but I also feel that with the both of you... It could be a lot safer. Especially now that Sana is... He's just getting worse... I-isn't he? He's getting worse, and I don't know what to do- I don't kno-ow..." I dissolved into tears, leaning over towards my knees.

My mom's hand descended onto my back, rubbing in a soft circle. Small sobs escaped my throat, already raw from crying so much in the past couple of days. As they became more intense, my mom laid her body over mine, hugging me the best she could.

"I think it's a great idea." Natsuko smiled over video call on my mom's cellphone. "I'll come over and help, too. We all can. If Sana needs more help, then I'll help, too."

"Now, there's some factors we must consider," my mom said. "She will come during the day, when papa is at work. That's a long time. Should we pay her? We can afford it. We're not well off by any means, but I believe we could do it."

"Mom, don't poison this with money," Natsuko sighed. "She doesn't seem like she'd want our money."

I was nodding, and could see myself doing so on camera. My mom shook her head at the same time. "It seems wrong to not pay her," she said. "She'll be at our home for such a long time."

"Gosh, mom, then why don't we pay everybody? Pay me, too, and pay Tetsu. You don't pay family to help with family. Sawai-san is family. She won't want to be paid."

"Hmm... That's true." My mom was still troubled.

I put my hand on her shoulder, and she turned to me. "I don't think she'll want to be paid. Maybe a gift is more appropriate, if you need to give her something."

"Yeah! Like a gift of fruit. You know what I mean, the stuff that comes in a box. She brought some for us before, remember? When we met her? That was so nice. We can give one to her. How can anyone be offended by that?" Natsuko was getting excited.

"Yes, I think that would be appropriate. It won't feel like we're paying her, if we do that." I squeezed my mom's shoulder hopefully.

"I suppose you're right."

Natsuko nodded. "Well, I'm going to come over there. I want to see her again. Yami's coming, too, right? I want to be there. I think you need more support, besides. Has Sana woken up yet? Is the ketoacidosis gone?"

We'd described to her what had happened this morning in the garden. She was so worried. It pinched my heart.

"We don't know yet if it's gone. He's still asleep, and I'm glad he is. He needs rest after that."

My mom leaned forward towards her phone. "They gave him a sleeping aid. He won't wake up for a while."

"I'm glad he's able to sleep. That sounds so painful. I'm so sorry."

His screams. Like a cold knife, they were piercing my body again. They'd never leave me. My mouth opened a little, but I didn't say anything. My mom's arm went around me, and I let out a long breath.

My mom spoke up for me. "The doctor will be coming back soon to test to see if the therapy they're giving him is working, and how effective it is. All we can do is give it time."

Natsuko nodded. "I'll be there soon, then. We'll wait together. I just..." She paused for a moment, looking at the ground. She closed her eyes, then opened them, hardening her lips. "I can't imagine how scary it must have been. Not knowing what's happening... I'm so, so sorry..."

I shook my head. "The only thing I can think of is how scary it must have been for Sana. He told me he didn't know what was h- happening..." The choking came back to my throat. I had to stop speaking.

"Oh, oh..." My mom soothed, holding me closer. "Well, we know now, and we can tell him. We know what can help, too. It won't be as scary, but it's still very scary."

"That's true." I sniffled. My face crumpled in the camera. Natsuko gave a very sympathetic look. My mom turned me to her, and my eyes pressed to her collarbone, immediately wetting her fitted t-shirt.

"Natsuko, come soon, okay? We'll wait together," she said.

"Okay. I'll leave right now. I'll get my car keys."

They said good-bye to each other, and my mom put her phone back in her pocket. Her other arm wrapped around me, and I cried with abandon.

Around 6pm, Yami's mom was standing in the doorway. Yami was right behind her, holding a bag and her purse. She strode over to me with purpose, without a word. Her arms wrapped around me, and I hugged her back.

"It's not your fault, honey," she whispered in our embrace.

A small sob escaped my throat. Her hug tightened, and I was crying in her arms. Everyone was silent, my sobs the only sound in the room for a long time.

Yami opened the bag his mom had brought. Inside were nice little gifts, just the sort we'd been talking about earlier. I'd calmed down a lot, but it took effort. He handed a pear to me, and I took it gratefully, bowing a little, acknowledging how important it was. He handed pears to my mom and sister. They bowed to him in kind. He bowed back to them, and so did his mom.

"I bought half a dozen, so we can all enjoy them," she explained very formally. "I hope they're sufficient." She bowed her head again.

"Yes, they're very wonderful," my mom acknowledged. "Thank you so much, Sawai-san. And thank you for wanting to come and help take care of Sana-chan. He'll be so happy to see you."

"Oh, no need to thank me. I wanted to take care of him the moment I knew he is sick. You've invited me, so I'm the one who's grateful."

My mom bowed her head to her again, and she bowed as well.

The formality over, we bit into our pears. It was smooth like butter, with a subtle sweetness. Sana could never eat this. This thought made me stop eating. It was like a slap, and just as jarring. Dizzying.

Yami's mom noticed. Now I was being rude. A blush formed on my face.

"Is it okay?" She asked. "Do you like pears?" A little more carefully.

"I like it. I'm savoring it," I lied.

"Okay." She sounded unsure. I bit it again, the sweetness like a guilt.

My papa came to the hospital later, bringing dinner for everyone. Yami and his mom were very grateful, and he shut down the formality right away.

"We're family. No need to be so formal. I brought a variety of things. I wasn't sure what everyone might like."

And just like that, it could be no different. We were family, no going back.

We passed around containers of Chinese food to each other, filling our plates. My papa mentioned how baseball was doing, filling in with some chatter. Yami perked up immediately. Things were starting to make sense. My eyes went wide, listening.

"You like baseball? That's really great. Sana and I used to watch games all the time on TV. He learned a lot of Japanese that way. We'd collect the cards together in high school and he'd read the backs, practicing his Japanese." Yami laughed through this explanation.

His mom nodded. "Mm-hmm. I was the one buying the cards. I must have bought about a million of them. I swear between them, they had every one ever made between the year 2000 to what, 2006? Maybe? I had no idea Sana was practicing his Japanese with them. I would have bought more. He was so shy back then, not knowing enough Japanese to speak much. I have no idea how he and my son communicated."

"Well, with baseball all you have to do is point if you like it. And music is universal."

"I suppose that's so," she said, gathering more noodles with her chopsticks.

"That is true, appreciating baseball doesn't take much," my papa said. "Have you been paying attention to it this year? The Tigers aren't doing so well, I see."

"The Tigers, huh? Pardon me, I wouldn't have pegged you for a Tigers fan, Hirano-san." Yami seemed shocked.

"He likes them, because Sana-chan likes them," my mom said, smiling warmly, clearly so pleased with this conversation.

"Ohh. That's amazing," Yami sighed happily. "And yes, I see they're not doing well. It's a tragedy."

"However, the BayStars are doing excellently," my papa replied, puffing up a little in pride.

"Oh-ho, so that's who you like?" Yami laughed a little. "That makes sense, considering where you live. You wait until they go up against the Tigers. We'll see who wins." He was still speaking so formally, but challenging him in a friendly way. I was impressed with his finesse in this.

It occurred to me what was really going on, giving me pause. My chopsticks lowered to my plate, and I observed them both going back and forth. Talking about baseball like this. It's how my papa and Sana had bonded at first, and continued to bond.

If Yami's mom was like my mother-in-law, that meant Yami was like my brother-in-law. And now my papa was bonding with him. Impossibly, a smile was forming on my face. After everything today, I could somehow smile. It wasn't like they hadn't met before. They'd seen each other all the time in December. However, this felt different. More intimate. My papa was sharing his opinions with him. It was as if my papa was offering his neck, and by being so formal back, but still playing the game, Yami was accepting it.

It was a beautiful thing.

Suddenly, a hand was gently on my back. I turned to see Yami's mom smiling at me. She began to rub my back, so kindly. I smiled back to her, and like this, we both watched her son and my papa bond together.

The whole family was bonding together. It was such a strange, happy feeling.