By the early afternoon, a thunder storm had rolled in. The calming smell of rosehip tea filled my kitchen and living room. Sawai-san had brought a tea set that she'd found in Sana's apartment, and made tea for us. It had been a rough morning, so we were relaxing now on my couch and watching the weather report on TV. The tea set was so cute, with designs of many kinds of flowers, creating a rainbow bouquet effect. It looked distinctly English.

Sana was asleep in the bedroom, and the door was open just in case. He'd woken up, crying, saying his belly hurt in the early morning. What followed was a few rounds of his stomach being upset. It definitely wasn't something he'd eaten, just an effect of his thyroid. We called Yokohara-sensei, and she said it could be a couple of things, from his thyroid still not being used to the medication, to his body adjusting to the medication. Either way, she said for him to drink plenty of fluids and get some rest.

His pain had finally stopped around noon, and he fell asleep immediately, almost as if the sleep had taken him away. That's when Sawai-san suggested tea to calm us down, because we were both so worried. She'd left to fetch the tea set she'd seen at his apartment, and I'd waited patiently.

The rain made big waves on the window now, a furious thing.

"I'd hate to be out there right now. Glad I went to get the tea set when I did," Sawai-san remarked, setting her tea cup back on its fancy saucer. As if summoned, her cellphone started going off, playing Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. "What is it?" She mumbled at it, patting her pocket for it.

"Huh?" I asked. I wondered who it could be. There was so much I didn't know about her yet. It could be anyone.

"Oh," she said, her voice deepening as she rolled her eyes. She lifted it up to her ear as she swiped to answer.

I knew immediately why in a second. I covered my mouth to stop myself from laughing at her reaction.

"Yuuhi, wait a minute. Hold on. I'm putting you on speaker...why? Because I want to...because I'm your mom and I have freedom of choice. You sound like you're four. Okay. Wait." She lowered the phone and pressed a button. Yami's voice filled my living room.

"It's pouring! I left my wallet at home. I'm much closer to where you are than my apartment. Can I come over? Just until the rain stops, then I can walk. Or can I borrow some money? I need to take the train."

"No." She rolled her eyes, but smiled. She was teasing him. I struggled so hard not to laugh at him. "What kind of thirty-five year old man leaves home without his wallet? How did you get to work in the first place?"

"My buddy from work does a car pool for those of us who live in the same neighborhood, but they took off as soon as the lightning started. I'm stranded."

"Of course you can come over," I interjected. Enough teasing. The sound of a giant lightning strike crashed through her phone. He let out a huge gasp.

"Okay, hurry, hurry," Sawai-san said. "We'll leave the door unlocked."

"Thank you!" He breathed. "I'll come right over."

"You're welcome, stay safe," I called to him.

"I will. Bye bye," he said.

Sawai-san hung up, and wordlessly, she got up and went to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator, and started to make him some food. I watched with interest. Even though she acted annoyed, she still was his mom at the end of the day, taking care of her child.

Sitting on one of my nice chairs in my living room, Yami was eating egg fried rice like a dog who hadn't eaten in a week. He was soaked and sweaty, and had left his muddy work boots next to the door.

"Do you have any more?" He asked, between absolutely inhaling the rice.

"Don't eat all our food," his mom scolded.

Their interaction was making me smile behind my hand again. Just what I needed.

"I didn't have any lunch," his said, his mouth full. "I forgot my wallet. Why are you so pissed off today?"

She crossed her arms. "I was have a nice time with Tetsu-chan, and then you called. We'd just sat down to have some tea."

"We can still have a nice time. By the way, how's Sana today? I kind of came in and just started eating. I'm sorry." He looked around, maybe for Sana.

"He's okay." I leaned forward, my elbows resting on my knees. "We had a rough morning, but he's okay now. He's sleeping in our bedroom. Yokohara-sensei said for him to rest."

His eyes narrowed in concern. "You had to call Yokohara-sensei? What happened?"

"He had stomach issues. She said it's his thyroid being hyperactive. But, the medicine is still working. It'll take some time before we see its full effects." I stared at my undrunk tea, the dark pink, reddish color was so pretty against the white interior of the cup. I admit, my worry level was still high. Talking about this was only reminding me of my anxieties. Maybe I should drink the tea, even if it was cold now.

"That's awful. I'm glad he's on this medication now, though. I remember when he had this issue before, with his thyroid. It went away after a while, because of the medication. I promise it'll get better. He was so much better afterwards."

I looked up. He was giving me a wistful face.

"It was? What happened? I want to know. Maybe it can calm some of my anxieties about it." I straightened up, giving him my full attention.

"I keep forgetting that you don't know this stuff. It's so normal for me." He put his bowl down on his lap, on hand still on it, keeping it steady. I nodded. That was understandable. "Well," he said, letting out a sigh. "Some years ago, he started getting some stomach issues every time he ate. We wondered if it was something new that he couldn't eat, some common ingredient. It was pretty scary. So many things were dropping off that he couldn't eat, so we wondered if it was something new."

He adjusted in his chair. I realized my hands were gripping my knees, hearing just this, and I relaxed my fingers.

"Well, he went in for testing with Yokohara-sensei, because his stomach issues we unbearable. He was getting this weakness, too. He figured it was because he was so drained from his stomach problems. It was getting to be everyday, and was starting to affect him at work. He wasn't able to do his job as well anymore, because he was always in the bathroom. And he was getting so tired. I was so worried. So, Yokohara-sensei did a whole bunch of tests, a full work up, and found his thyroid hormone levels to be sky high. It explained a lot. Even problems he'd been having that had nothing to do with his stomach and the weakness."

Thunder rolled loudly outside, and we looked toward the window briefly. Yami looked back at me, and continued. "But, after he got on the medication, it was like he was two different people. He suddenly had all this energy. It was so easy for a while. He didn't have to think twice about anything, he just did things. No caution about, 'if I go here with you, will my stomach cause a problem and we have to leave?' or 'if we go walk around, are we going to have to leave because I feel too tired?' Because, he didn't feel those things anymore. We'd go places, and he'd realize what he was doing and get so happy. He didn't have those limitations anymore. He still couldn't eat a lot of things, and if he did, he might get an upset stomach or a sugar problem, but other than that, it was almost like he was normal. It was incredible. I don't like to use the word 'normal', because who's normal, really? But in this case... That's the only way I can describe it."

I was floored. "So, he..." I couldn't imagine it. What was in store for us? If the medication could help him this much, what could we do in the future? How much better would he feel? A small ball of energy was stirring in me, an excited flurry of movement. "He can get that much better? From just this medication?"

He didn't hesitate. "Yes, if it's truly like what it was before. I know he has other health limitations now, but he felt so much better with this medication. After a while, he didn't even have to take it anymore, because it did its job too well. But things balanced out. It was like he was free."

Free. What a beautiful word to describe it.

A small sound came from the hallway. Our heads went up like prairie dogs. In a second, Sawai-san and I saw the source of the noise and rocketed up from the couch, my hands went out in front of me immediately, rushing forward. Yami jumped at our response, getting up, too, but still holding his bowl.

"Sana, it's okay, whoa," I said, my words sweet. I took him in my arms, prying him from the wall where he was steadying himself as he walked, and he leaned on me, his weight slight. His face pressed into my neck.

"Oh," he said, such a tiny voice. "I heard you all talking, and Yami's here, right? I want to join you."

"When did you wake up?" I asked, holding him close, letting him rest a bit, as I thought about the best way to pick him up from this position.

"Where's your wheelchair?" Yami asked, coming up behind us. "You shouldn't be walking. I heard you're not feeling well. You could fall down. Is it in the bedroom? I'll get it."

He smiled, seeing him. "No, my wheelchair's not here."

Oh. I paused. I placed his arms around my neck, and crouched down a little, putting my arm behind his knees. Slowly, I got him into our usual carrying position. He relaxed in my arms, sighing deeply. In a moment, we were on our way to the couch.

"Where's your wheelchair? That's not good. You need that." Yami went back to his chair, and Sawai-san sat on one of my dining chairs, sitting backwards on it to face us, her arms over the back of it.

"It's back at Tetsu-chan's parents' house. We were in such a rush, that we couldn't take it with us. We'll have to go get it," she said, sounding a bit troubled. It definitely was a problem. One I hadn't thought about. I'd been so worried about Sana, that I'd forgotten about it.

Yami shook his head slowly, a frustrated look on his face. "You need to be more responsible. What if he fell down? I'll take the train tonight and go get it. I can't say I'm not disappointed."

Immediate shame filled me. He was absolutely right. He didn't know the circumstance, but he was still right.

"We are being responsible. We haven't needed it so far. I've noticed that his wheelchair is more for outings. They do fine at home without it." Sawai-san sounded annoyed again.

Sana sighed deeply, his head laid on my lap now, the rest of his body spread out on the couch. He did still seem weak, like he was going to fall asleep again. I put my hand on his forehead, and joy overcame me at this touch. Seeing his face, that's all I needed. I'd missed him, even though he'd only been in the bedroom. He didn't seem bothered at all by this conversation, and I was grateful for that.

I shook my head, looking up at Yami. "Thank you for wanting to get his wheelchair later. We really appreciate that. But, I don't want to argue right now. Your mom is right, too. Everyone has good points. But, Sana is here now. I don't want to argue."

Yami looked a little caught. His head went down. "You're right. Sorry, Sana. I was just worried."

Despite being addressed, Sana didn't answer. Instead, his eyes closed, and I knew he was falling asleep. Strange sadness, after the joy. Yami was here, and Sana was excited about him being here, but he was too tired to enjoy this. My hand stroked his bangs, helping him fall asleep. His head rolled a little towards my belly, clearly enjoying this.

We were quiet for a long time. Yami got up to clean his dish and fork, and got a cup of water for himself. Sawai-san got up to microwave her tea. We listened to the sound of the thunder storm fade away, as the afternoon moved on into the evening.

All the while, I was thinking increasingly pleasant thoughts, watching Sana sleep. Thinking about what might come later, with what Yami had been saying, this word, free. What that could mean. It was impossible to guess at, what could change. What more could Sana do after this? Would it be anything like it was before? And what had caused this spontaneous thyroid problem? What was it really responsible for, in terms of his illness? Which symptoms would go away?

In the evening, I ordered food for us, making sure to consider all of Sana's dietary needs. It was hard to choose, but we eventually found good things. I called the restaurant instead of ordering on an app, explaining the necessary salt restrictions. They were very receptive, and I made note of the restaurant in my mind to remember for later.

As we sat down at my small dining table for dinner, Sana still looked tired, but better. I'd smoothed down his hair so he didn't seem like he'd been sleeping. His eyes were fluttering, having woken up not too long ago. I was trying to determine if I should feed him myself, when to my surprise, he picked up his soup spoon. Elegantly and slowly, he started to sip his soup. I noticed Yami watching from across from him, too, a slightly surprised look on his face. He smiled in a pleased way, and started eating his food, too.

He was getting better. Yami was right. All we had to do was be patient. Then, what things could we enjoy together? What was in store for us? All we could do was wait for this freedom that he'd talked about. I couldn't wait.

I picked up my own spoon, watching Sana as I did, and began to eat, too.