Silence In Numbers: File One (10 page)

I’ll be fine. Apparently it was… a little close, but they said I’ll make a full recovery. I should be fine by tomorrow.

Ayane let out a sigh, leaning her head back and staring at the ceiling.
You scared the hell out of me. All I heard was my name, and… then I couldn’t reach you.

I’m sorry… I honestly… I didn’t know if I’d make it. It was a reaction. I didn’t want to hurt you, I just… I couldn’t stop myself from trying to reach you a last time…

Katsumi’s voice sounded weak and apologetic to her; guilty. Ayane knew her sister was biting her lip at that moment, a rare sign of worry.
I appreciate your call to me, really, I do, Katsumi… I just…

M would contact you if I was really gone. Unless that happens, always believe I’m alive.

I know, I just worry. Was there no way to save yourself?

It was either me or Reno.

Well I guess you made the obvious choice, then.
Ayane smiled.
I didn’t expect anything less from you, Sumi.

Don’t pretend like you’re any different.

Ayane laughed softly.
You sound so accusatory when you say it like that.

I’m pretty sure it’s your fault.

I will gladly take that blame. A lot of things are my fault because you’re wrapped around my finger.

What?!

Ayane laughed again.
Now who’s pretending? You just try to say no to me. Just try.

She grinned as she heard her older sister’s grumbling, followed by
Oh, look, a doctor just happened to come by and tell me to get more sleep. Looks like I have to go!

Uh-huh. I’ll let you off the hook this time, Sumi.

I love you, Aya.
Katsumi’s voice returned a final time, softer and more serious.
Try to sleep…

I love you too.
Ayane looked up at the ceiling, silently thanking God as she started to cry again, but for an entirely different reason this time: relief.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kurasano stepped into the room after clearing it with the doctor. Katsumi lay on the bed in the center surrounded by various instruments and hardware, but she was conscious. It was eleven in the morning, later than Sano would’ve liked, but it’d taken that long for Captain Samakura to wake up and another hour for the doctors to clear entry to others.

The glare her lavender eyes sent his way as the door clicked shut behind him would’ve sent almost anyone else back out the door but Sano just ignored it, standing before her bed and shaking his head disappointedly. “Oh, Captain, the things you get yourself into. What’re we gonna do with you if you can’t take care of yourself, huh?”

The woman’s eyes narrowed and Sano’s widened a bit as she pushed herself up on one arm even though the other one seemed to be missing and her condition was bad enough that she shouldn’t have even been awake. “Even in this state I can still kick your ass, Kurasano. Don’t make me get out of this bed and show you.”

Sano held up his hands. “Hey, I didn’t mean anything by it, I was just joking! Honestly you don’t look weak or anything, I promise!”

Katsumi nodded and leaned back, looking out the window instead. She was obviously unhappy and Sano realized now probably wasn’t the time to be making jokes so he switched gears. “Your birthday’s in two days, right?”

“Don’t remind me.”

“Still, kinda bad timing.”

Katsumi gave him a look. “Tell me, when is a good time to have a helicopter land on you?”

Sano scratched his head. “Ahhh… Point taken. Look, I’m just trying to lighten the mood.”

“Doing a bang-up job, Sano,” Katsumi muttered as she looked away again.

He sighed. “Fine, I give up. I’ll leave, but first, Reno wants to come visit.”

She spoke without looking at him. “Fine, let’s parade the whole department through the room, take pictures or video even.”

“Don’t be like that; he just wants to make sure you don’t blame him.”

Katsumi finally looked back at him. “Why would I blame him?”

“Don’t have the conversation with me, talk to him.”

She grimaced. “Fine. Tell him to come in.”

“Right,” Sano smiled and exited the room, looking at the nervous man waiting outside with his wife. He pointed his thumb over his shoulder. “She says you can go in.”

Reno nodded, unsure whether or not he was relieved about that. “What about Lenora?”

Sano shrugged. “Your choice and risk, not mine.”

Lenora smiled at her husband. “Go in alone, no need to make her angry.” She didn’t understand the Captain’s feelings about it, but she’d heard enough to know that their visits weren’t exactly welcomed.

Reno nodded, opening the door and carefully stepping inside, shutting it behind him and staring unblinking at the hard look he was receiving from Katsumi. After a few moments of him not moving at all she sighed and looked out the window again. “Talk, Reno.”

“Right…” He cleared his throat, tried to start, cleared his throat again, and then spoke. “I’m sorry-“

“Seriously?” Katsumi interrupted, looking back at him in irritation. “Are we really going to do this?”

Reno blinked. “I…”

“You’re honestly going to try apologizing to me. Are you trying to make me angry? Are you feeling left out without an injury and looking for me to fix that for you?”

“No! I just-“

“You’re just being an idiot. We take blame for mistakes and bad decisions, not any negative occurrence that happens involving a team member. The blame for this one is mine,” she pointed at him as he opened his mouth, “and if you try to argue I swear to God I’ll break just enough bones that you only almost die.” His mouth snapped shut again and she lowered her hand, satisfied. “I’m the one who said to take the helicopter lower, between the buildings. That was a stupid decision to make. You followed orders and you couldn’t save it after the explosion; that was just beyond your power to control. Fortunately I was the only one hurt so I don’t have to deal with having injured or killed a member of my team this time.”

“Yeah, but, during the crash-“

“I can survive more than you can.”

“I saw your eyes, Captain. You didn’t think you were going to survive.”

Katsumi was silent for a few seconds before she gave him a genuine, soft smile, a sight that nearly knocked him off his feet. “I didn’t. But at that point in time it was more important to me that you were going to.”

“Why…?”

“Don’t act ignorant, Reno. You have a wife and a child; your death would destroy three people. I live alone… and I haven’t nearly as much to protect.” Katsumi bit her lip at the lie, but at the moment her goal was getting rid of Reno’s guilt, not being honest. “You have a future you’re always talking and thinking about.”

“And you don’t have a future?”

Katsumi shrugged, her voice lower than normal so that he had to listen carefully to hear. “I don’t know. I know I don’t think about it. I have hopes, but… it’s possible those hopes could be lost and… I’d rather not think about it.” She really wouldn’t have a future if Ayane… But she couldn’t deal with thinking along those lines, so she moved past the thoughts quickly. Reno shook his head and Katsumi looked back up, speaking louder. “We’ve talked. You’ve realized how stupid it is to blame yourself or feel guilty, and moreover, how angry I’ll get if you do it, at least until you do screw up. Now get out, I’m tired of people being in my room. You can talk to me when I get out of this damn place.”

Reno nodded, opening the door but pausing to look back at her. “Thanks, Captain.”

“Better be the last time you bring it up, Corporal.”

Reno smiled. “No worries.” He stepped outside, pulling the door closed.

Sano clapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, you’re alive! And you have all your parts!” He raised an eyebrow. “Unless she ripped off something I can’t see.”

“Nope, I got lucky.” Reno grinned. “Though she did threaten me.”

“Noooooooo, really? That’s so out of character!”

Lenora caught Reno’s chin to turn his gaze to her. “Feel better?” He nodded and she returned his smile. “Good.”

Reno grabbed her hand. “C’mon, let’s all go get some lunch or something. I wanna get back to my daughter soon.”

Lenora smiled. “You two go ah
ead for a moment, I’ll catch up; I just want to question the doctors a bit.”

Reno nodded; since his wife was a nurse, it made sense she would have a few questions. “Lemme know what you learn.”

Sano patted his back as they started walking. “C’mon, let’s decide where we’re gonna celebrate your surviving that meeting with Captain Sama!”

“I’m starting to wish you were the one stuck in bed, Sano.”

“Aw, come on, don’t say that, you’ll hurt my feelings!”

Lenora watched them go until they turned a corner. She then turned to the room and entered it, catching Katsumi’s gaze as soon as she was inside. The older woman’s eyes narrowed in a
glare aimed at her. “I’m not going to ask why you decided to bother me as well. I assume you have a damn good reason.”

Lenora had only met Katsumi Samakura a few times in the past, less than ten to be sure. She’d always gotten the impression of a harsh but caring person, but for some reason the woman currently in front of her seemed a lot more of the former and a lot less of the latter. Lenora was smart enough to know that wasn’t always the case, though. Something about this situation made her husband’s boss very angry, but without a real knowledge of the woman she couldn’t truly understand how she felt. Still, she needed to be here. She stepped away from the door, meeting Katsumi’s gaze steadily. “My reason is good for me; it may not be for you. I need to thank you.”

Katsumi didn’t seem surprised, though her glare did fade into a simple hard look. “For your husband.”

“Yes,” Lenora nodded, stopping in front of her bed. “You saved his life and you didn’t have to.”

“Of course I did.”

Lenora blinked. “I’m sorry…?”

Katsumi sighed. “Maybe someone else could just let someone die in that situation, but I couldn’t. Especially since I actually care about Reno.”

“Still, I want to thank you.”

“Mmm.” Katsumi pulled her legs up to rest her remaining arm on her knees. “He’s lucky to have you. I’m glad you’re thanking me, but not for me.”

Lenora tilted her head. “I don’t follow…”

“I’m glad to see how grateful you are that he survived. It proves to me that I made the right choice.”

She smiled at Katsumi. “I’m also grateful he has you for a boss.”

“So he’s lucky on both fronts.” Katsumi smirked at Lenora. “Works for me. Look, as long as I have any say in the matter, Reno won’t die. You can be sure I’ll always do whatever I can to keep my team alive. According to Rufus that’s how I’m going to die, which is probably true. It almost happened last night. Still it isn’t going to change.”

Lenora smiled gratefully at her, leaning down to hug her. “I really can’t thank you enough.”

Katsumi looked off to the side as she was hugged, not hugging her back but making an uncomfortable sound. “You really don’t know me at all, do you…?”

Lenora laughed and backed off. “I decided to take the risk. Listen, I’m not going to try to pay you back; nothing I could ever do would be enough and you probably wouldn’t accept it anyway. But I hope you’ll think about simply having dinner at our house sometime. If nothing else I want you to realize your importance to our family.”

Katsumi sighed. “If you’ll stop talking like that, I’ll accept whatever invites you give me.”

Lenora blinked in surprise and then beamed. “Great!”

“Didn’t expect me to accept?” Katsumi looked at her as she shook her head. “I can understand why. But trust me, your invitation means more to me than you know. Now, please, leave the room and lock the door behind you so no one else comes barging in.”

Lenora smiled as she opened the door. “Of course, sorry. Thank you again.” She pulled the door shut behind her, hearing a long sigh from inside as she did. The whole thing had gone far better than she’d expected, though. She could hardly believe the closed-off woman had not only accepted her invitation but had seemed grateful for it. It really made her feel as if she’d managed to pay her back just a little.

With a satisfied sigh Lenora turned around to see both Sano and Reno standing in front of her, wide-eyed.

“You went in…”

“And survived?!”

“She should’ve killed you for even opening the door a third time!”

“And thrown your body out the window!”

Lenora rolled her eyes, turning both men around and pushing them down the hall. “I’m smarter than the two of you put together and she appreciates my conversation.”

Sano looked over at Reno. “Must be a female thing.”

“Are you denying my intelligence, Sano? Don’t make me hurt you.”

“Aww, dude, the boss is rubbing off on your wife! You’re doomed.”

Reno laughed at Sano’s overdramatic expression as Lenora pushed them both out of the building and into the sunlight.