23

Naoki arrived at the hospital before the afternoon visiting hours. He had not slept from the internal turmoil of planning how to approach Sagawa and whether the police would come get him first and separate him from Hana forever.

Wrapped in a blanket, Hana rested quietly in the carrier against his chest. She blinked innocently at the bright lights of the hospital entrance as Naoki pushed through the sliding doors.

Even the receptionist recognized him immediately and gave a sympathetic smile.

“Naoki-san.”

He bowed. “Good afternoon.”

Everyone in the building knew about the husband who never stopped coming. The man who fed his baby beside the hospital bed every day.

After logging in the visitor records, Naoki walked toward the ward with steady steps. 

This is it huh?

He turned the corner into the corridor, just as another man disappeared around the opposite corner. Naoki just missed him. Dr. Haruto Sagawa did not turn back.

The police officer outside Aiko’s door straightened when Naoki approached.

“Naoki-san.”

Naoki bowed slightly.

“I heard she woke up.”

The officer nodded.

“Yes.”

Naoki’s eyes drifted immediately to the door.

“May I see her?”

The officer hesitated. A second officer shifted uneasily beside him.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry?”

The officer sighed. “She requested no visitors.”

Naoki’s shoulders stiffened slightly.

She still hasn’t told anyone? Or did she really forget?

“For today.” The officer added.

Right. As I was told on the phone ..

The hallway felt suddenly colder. Naoki understood but he was also hurt. Naoki looked towards the door again.

“But I’m her husband.”

The officer nodded. “We know.”

“But this was her request.” He added.

Naoki teared up. For a moment no one spoke. Even the talkative older lady who was admitted next door. She passed down the hallway and slowed when she saw him. Her eyes filled with sympathy.

The hospital room door had a narrow glass window. Through it Naoki could see the bed. And on the bed, Aiko. Her eyes were open. Naoki stopped breathing.

She was awake.  Alive. Sitting slightly upright against the pillows.

The sight broke something inside his chest. He stepped closer to the glass.

“Aiko…” His voice trembled.

He knocked softly on the door but Aiko did not turn. She couldn’t. The bandage at her temple and the stiffness in her neck kept her movements slow and careful. 

But even if she could, she would not.

Inside the room, Aiko heard the knock immediately. She knew that voice. Her heart lurched painfully.

Naoki.

Her body wanted to turn toward him, to see his face, to reach for him, but she kept staring forward. Because if she looked, everything inside her would collapse.

Instead, she did what her heart could manage at the moment. She listened.

Naoki’s voice broke. “Aiko… please.”

The nurses nearby turned away quietly. The officer at the door shifted his weight uncomfortably. Naoki lifted Hana from the carrier.

“Look,” he whispered through the glass.

“Mom is awake.”

He raised the baby slightly so she could see. Aiko could hear the small sounds Hana made. The soft baby noises she didn’t expect she’d miss. Her lips curved faintly, but she did not turn.

Naoki saw the smile through the glass. He tried to suppress it but he ended up ugly crying. His shoulders shook as he pressed his forehead lightly against the door.

“She smiled,” one nurse whispered to another.

“Poor man.”

Even the officers looked away. The elevator doors opened with a sharp sound. Takeshi stepped out. He had come directly from the butcher shop. His apron was still tied around his waist. When he saw Naoki crying at the door, something inside him snapped.

“What is this?” His voice thundered down the corridor.

The officers straightened immediately.

“You’re not letting him in?”

“Sir—”

“That’s his wife!”

Takeshi stepped forward angrily.

“What kind of nonsense is this?”

The nurses tried to calm him.

“Takeshi-san—”

“No!”

He pointed at the door.

“That boy has been here every single day!”

The officers raised their hands defensively.

“It was her request.”

Takeshi froze. “…what?”

“Aiko asked that no visitors be allowed today.”

The words had to be repeated few times over until  Takeshi’s anger slowly drained. Confusion replaced it though.

“…she said that?”

“Yes.”

The hallway fell quiet. Takeshi looked at Naoki. The young man stood there holding Hana with tears still sliding silently down his face. The sight crushed him.

“Naoki…”

Naoki shook his head gently. “It’s okay.”

His voice barely held together.

“She just needs time.”

The officers exchanged glances. One of them whispered to the other, “If he wanted to kill her, he had plenty of chances.”

The other nodded.

It was true. Naoki had spent days alone in that room with her. If he had intended harm, he would have finished it already. But here he was. Crying outside the door. Holding his baby. Begging just to see her face. The suspicion felt impossible.

Inside the room, Aiko lay awake long after the corridor quieted. The hospital lights dimmed. Night settled slowly across the building.

She stared at the ceiling. Thinking. Remembering. Sagawa’s voice. Naoki’s voice. The past weeks. The whispers. The manipulation. The devotion. Her chest tightened painfully more so than her head. She did not sleep.

Before dawn, the hallway remained nearly empty. The night nurse stepped away briefly. The officer outside the door checked something on his phone. And Dr. Haruto Sagawa slipped quietly inside once more. He closed the door softly behind him.

Aiko’s eyes were already open. She had expected him. 

Sagawa smiled warmly. “Good morning.”

He stepped beside the bed.

“Did you sleep?”

Aiko said nothing. Her body could barely move. Her neck was still stiff. Her head was heavy.

Sagawa leaned down slightly. “You handled yesterday well.”

His voice lowered into a purr. “I’m proud of you.”

Aiko’s stomach turned. He leaned closer.

“Too cl ..”

Before she could react, his lips pressed against hers.

“Sto..”

It was not gentle and not romantic. It felt like being owned. His hand briefly touched her cheek. Aiko’s eyes widened. Her body could not move. Her arms felt like stone. She could only endure it.

He pulled away slowly. “See?”

Sagawa carefully touched the rest of Aiko’s face longingly.

He smiled. “This is what you’ve been missing.”

Without warning, his hand trailed down to her neck. And even lower, and lower. Aiko’s throat burned with anger, but she could not push him away. Sagawa took her silence for compliancy.

He licked his fingers. “Get better quickly.”

His voice softened again to a purr. “Then report whoever you need to report.”

He winked. “Freedom is waiting.”

He walked out as if he hasn’t just committed physical and emotional assault.

Asshole.

Aiko was left staring at the empty ceiling with tears streaming down her face. Her chest trembled. Disgust crawled through her body. She wanted to scream, but instead, she waited. She knew what she had to do now.

Morning arrived. The hospital doors opened for visitors. Naoki stood outside the ward earlier than anyone. The officer at the door tried to look surprised.

“You’re here early.”

Naoki nodded. “I wanted to try again.”

The officer glanced at the room, then back at him.

He knocked lightly. “Aiko?”

Inside the room, Aiko whispered, “Let him in.”

The officer opened the door. Naoki stepped inside slowly. For the first time since she woke, their eyes met.

The room was suddenly too full. A nurse stood near the monitors. One of the officers lingered just inside the doorway. Another waited in the hallway. Naoki remained beside the bed, unsure whether to move closer or keep the distance.

Aiko looked at all of them.

“Can you give us a moment?”

The nurse hesitated. The officer shook his head immediately. “I’m sorry. That’s not protocol.”

Aiko did not look at him. She looked at Naoki, then back at the officer.

“You’re standing right outside the door.”

Her voice trembled slightly from the strain of speaking.

“If anything happens, you’ll hear it.”

The officer still looked uncertain.

The nurse spoke softly. “They’ll be two meters away.”

She gestured to the door. “Right there.”

The officer studied Naoki.

This was the man who had spent weeks beside the bed. The man who fed his baby in the hospital room. The man who cries outside the door to hide it from his wife.. If he had wanted to kill her .. he would have done it already.

Finally, the officer nodded reluctantly. “Curtains stay open.”

Aiko shook her head slowly. “No.”

Her hand lifted weakly toward the curtain beside the window.

“I want privacy.”

The nurse hesitated and still, she pulled the curtain halfway just enough to shield the bed but not enough to hide the door. The officers stepped outside.

The door remained slightly open. Two meters. Just like Aiko promised.

The nurse followed them. The room fell quiet. Naoki stood beside the bed. He looked almost boyish with relief. In the end, he just a man who had just been handed something he thought he lost forever.

“You look better,” he said gently.

Aiko watched him. The same face. The same voice. The same careful kindness. For a moment she almost forgot everything. She remembered the whisper in the morning. The forced kiss. The manipulation. The lies. And the strike.

She swallowed. “Come closer.”

Naoki inhaled. “Okay.”

He stepped forward and stood beside the bed but he remained cautious and respectful.

Aiko studied him carefully.

“Closer.”

Naoki obeyed immediately. He moved until his knees nearly touched the side of the bed. His heart beat loudly in his chest.

Aiko’s eyes never left his. “Closer.”

Naoki leaned forward slightly. Their faces were now only a foot apart. He could see the small stitches near her hairline.

His chest tightened with guilt. “Aiko .. ”

Her voice interrupted him. “More.”

Naoki leaned further. His hands rested lightly on the mattress beside her shoulders. His face hovered just inches from hers. He could feel her breath. Her eyes were calm.

For a second, Naoki forgot everything. The police. The hospital. The guilt. The revenge plan. He was suddenly just a husband again, finally allowed near his wife again.

“Aiko…”

She whispered. “Closer.”

Naoki leaned until his face hovered beside hers. He was close enough that their foreheads almost touched. Close enough that he could see every tiny movement of her eyes. Close enough that the rest of the world disappeared.

Once satisfied no one would hear them, she spoke so slowly and very softly that only he could hear it.

“I remember what you did.”