Shadow Boxing:

The doctor pushed up his glasses. “She has a clot in the brain. We managed to remove it in time, but she hasn’t woken up yet.” My family and I looked at him with great concern.

“When will she wake up?” I asked.

“We don’t really know for certain,” the doctor answered. “It could be days or months. She could probably never wake up again.”

“No way…”

“We will monitor her progress and let you know if anything changes.”

My father put his hand on my shoulder. “Thank you for letting us know.”

“Would you like to see her now?” the doctor asked.

“Yes,” my father answered. I put up my hand.

“Just give me a few minutes,” I said. I turned and walked out to the parking lot.

“Setsuna-chan!” I heard my father shouting at me before the doors slid closed. I walked out to my car and slammed my fists against the roof.

“Damn him!” I shouted. First Akio, then Kiku, and now my mother? Why couldn’t he just leave me alone? I paused with that thought in my head. Wait, how can I be sure that it was really Kaoru’s doing this time? My mother could’ve just had a problem without warning. It could be unrelated. Another thought crossed my mind.

My mother’s always been in good health—even after her miscarriages. So how did she have a brain clot? I paused as I lifted my head. Was she cursed to fall ill like this? If so, how? Did Kaoru do this to her? What proof do I have this? Hell, he would probably deny it just to mock me. I dropped my shoulders and looked up at the sky.

Why am I bothering with this right now? My poor mother is lying up in the hospital in limbo. We don’t even know if she will ever wake up ever again. What about after she wakes up? Will she remember anything? Will she have to be taken care of? The last thing I wanted was her to end up in a nursing home. Maybe she will be already. I hope… I gulped as I shut my eyes. It won’t do her any good if I’m standing out here trying to work out what’s going on inside of my head. I took in a deep breath to gather myself back together.

Right… I turned and walked back into the hospital. I found papa and grandpa sitting by mama’s bedside. Seeing her like that in her bed made me think that she was just asleep and not in a coma. I suddenly remembered what papa told me earlier on the phone.

“Papa,” I spoke up.

“Yes?” he asked without looking up.

“You said mama was on the phone with a client before she collapsed, right?”

“Yes.”

“Did she happen to write down the name in client book?”

“Why yes.”

It didn’t take me long to total up the start in my head. I just needed to figure out the how and stop him before I lost everything. I walked over to mama and took her by the hand. I knelt down to her ear.

“It’s going to be okay, Mama,” I whispered. “I will fix this mess I got you caught up in.” I rose to my feet and turned to walk out the door.

“Where are you going Setsuna-chan?” Papa asked. I didn’t even turn around.

“There is something I have to check at the house,” I replied in a serious tone. I didn’t even stop when Papa and grandpa called out to me.

I can’t afford to lose anyone else dear to me!