Chapter 27

"Would have been a year in three days." Isshin continued, "We tried… But…" Ichigo was floored. She might have guessed a few months, but a year? Her sense of time had been badly altered by her stay in Las Noches. Apparently, she spent far more time unconscious than she might have guessed. Her dad continued talking, giving her all the reasons their rescue missions had failed, and all the reasons they had all but given up, but it glossed over her. She remained silent, even as a group of fourth squad officers burst into the room, led by Isane fuku-taicho who sent one of them after the taicho when she realized that Ichigo was actually awake.

The officers scurried to do their work, recording vitals, checking bandages, changing what needed to be changed and then scurried out, off to the next patient until the only people left in the room were Isane fuku-taicho and her father. After several moments of silence, a short knock on the door alerted them to the fact that there was another party waiting. When Ichigo made no move to respond, Isane softly called "Come in!"

Unohana swept into the room, a serene presence amidst her bustling division.

"Isane-san," she greeted with a nod, "Kurosaki-san." Finally she turned to rest her eyes on Ichigo. "Kurosaki-chan," she said softly, "I am glad to see that you are finally awake. Your poor father has slept on the side of that cot for three days now." Ichigo still made no move to respond, only staring blankly off to the side as feelings of dread washed over her. So much time had passed…

"Kurosaki-chan," Unohana said quietly, drawing closer to the girl, "Can you hear me?" Ichigo still didn't answer. She could fully hear the healer taicho, but being able to respond was another matter. Despondency set into her bones and it was all Ichigo could do to keep herself rooted down to where she was. Unohana continued to talk to her, trying to get the girl to respond and Ichigo couldn't do a thing about it.

Finally, Unohana rested a hand lightly on the side of Ichigo's face, shining a light into her eyes. The taicho watched as the girl's eyes dilated, relieved. She might not be answering, but she was at least conscious.

Isshin watched quietly from the foot of the bed, having walked to that post when the healers came in to stay out of their way. He might be a doctor, but it had been a long while since he had the opportunity to practice healing kido. Besides, he wasn't sure how well he would do at healing the injuries he knew were covering his little girl. The physical ones, yes, those he could probably handle. But the mental issues? Those were another beast all together.

Unohana backed away from Ichigo, taking a seat beside her bed on a stool, folding the cloth of her hakama gently so as to not trap the fabric at odd angles under her on her perch. Isane moved next to the window while her taicho reviewed the information that had been gathered. Silently, the other two responsive persons in the room waited. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, Unohana set down the clipboard.

"Kurosaki-san," she said gently, addressing the sole male occupant of the room, "Was Kurosaki-chan responsive before our healers entered the room, or was she like this from the moment she opened her eyes?" The taicho saw pain flicker briefly across Isshin's eyes before he answered.

"She was responsive," he admitted, "But it was only for a few moments. She asked how long it had been and I told her how long she had been gone… Then she became very quiet, staring straight ahead just as the members of your division entered the room."

"I see," Unohana murmured quietly, "Then this is merely an issue of anxiety. She should be alright again soon. Was she prone to anxiety attacks before?" Isshin shook his head, moving to hold his eldest daughter's limp hand tightly in his own.

"No," Isshin finally vocalized his response, "No. She's always been calm, the only time I ever saw her do anything remotely like this would be when a friend had been injured or when… When Masaki…" He was unable to finish his sentence, but the message still came across strongly. "Ichigo…" he murmured, still clutching her hand, "Ichigo… It'll be okay."

While Isshin continued to murmur sweet nothings in an attempt to coax Ichigo out of her daze, Isane approached Unohana.

"Is there anything more you would like me to do for Kurosaki-chan or Kurosaki-san, Unohana-taicho?" she asked respectfully, inclining her head in a small bow to her commanding officer. Unohana pondered the question for a long moment before responding.

"No, thank you, Isane-san. Should I require anything more of you, I will send for you. For now you may resume your normal duties." Isane bowed to Unohana and to Isshin before leaving the room. As the door closed softly behind her, Ichigo seemed to jolt back to life. Her amber eyes were stretched wide open, panicked as they roved over the room in desperate search of… Something. After finding only her father and the taicho of the fourth squad, she sagged back into the pillows of the bed, chest heaving with breaths that were far too silent.

"Ichigo?!" Isshin said, worried with her violent action, "Ichigo?! Are you alright? Can you hear me?" After a long moment, Ichigo managed to nod. Isshin breathed a sigh of relief and gave the hand he was holding a slight squeeze. There was no motion back, but he knew there wouldn't be, at least not for some time to come. Unohana had already briefed him on the state of her wrists and the slow muscle regeneration.

"Kurosaki-chan?" Unohana asked gently, "Can you speak?" Isshin frowned, of course she could speak! She'd spoken mere minutes ago, hadn't she? With a sickening bout of fresh worry, he turned his eyes from the healer back to his daughter. Her eyes were closed now and she was frowning.

"Y-yeah," she said, voice strained and no longer coming out as easily as it had before, "B-but… It's ha-ard." The words seemed to catch in her throat, almost as if the muscles around her vocal chords had forgotten how to form the words. She had more she wanted to say, she wanted to ask if there'd been any sign of anyone coming after her, who had found her, were her nakama alright? Did they know she was alive? But all she could seem to do was sit there and gape uselessly like a fish.

"Ichigo," Isshin said, drawing her attention again, "It's alright, relax. We'll figure it out, but we have to take it one step at a time. Ichigo sighed and nodded her head. Finally she realized again that her father was squeezing her hand. She still couldn't feel it. Her frown deepened. Unohana, seeing where her patient was staring, chose that moment to speak up.

"Your wrists were badly damaged during your captivity," Unohana said gently. "We did the best we could, but I'm afraid it will be a long time before you will be able to use them again and you may never regain full feeling in them due to the extensive nerve damage."

Ichigo nodded again. This type of damage she could deal with. She was alive, she would use them again, she didn't have to feel them to know that much. As long as her range of motion would come back, she would be fine. At least in that much, she could have hope.

AUTHOR'S RAMBLINGS

So... Yeah. I'm alive. Ichigo's alive. Huzzah. Let's hope everyone stays in their current state of let's all be alive.

See you all next time, let me know what you think.