Author's Note:  *gasp*  *choke*  *sputter*  Whaaaaaaa??? A new chapter to BEACHSIDE??!  Well, gee golly, Ryuen, it's only been, like, a yeaaaaaaaaaar! 

...ehehe.  Well, ah...yes.  Sorry. ^_~.  Buuuuuuut, I was reading over it this morning, and I'd forgotten how much I really enjoyed writing this story.  So, here's another chapter! ^_^;  Unfortunately, as I'm on a tight schedule this morning (gotta go pick up some train tickets ^_~.), this chapter won't include the usual mix of characters that most of the other ones do, but never fear!  They'll definitely be included in the next chapter.  Until then, adieu!  Arrigato for reading!  Don't stone me for making you wait so long between chapters! ^_^;;

b   e   a   c   h   s   i   d   e  

Chapter 7

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The interior of the clinic was very little like Hotohori had found himself expecting.  After following Nuriko through a set of glass-inlaid double doors, he found himself in a small, rectangular room lined with chairs, all made of the same dark brown wood and upholstered with a velvety maroon padding.  The walls were, rather than the stereotypical Doctor's Office White, a warm shade of cream, with a three-inch tall line of seashell wallpaper running a few feet below the ceiling.    There were no flourescent lights to be spoken of, either, much to his surprise; the only illumination came from two matching table lamps, one in each corner, beneath which—on small, also-matching tables of the same dark wood as the chairs—rested a variety of magazines and pamphlets, one of which Hotohori could see had, "Abstinence:  The Best Birth Control," scrolled across the top in large block letters.

As the chairs lined the walls, there was a large empty space in the center of the floor; the twenty-one-year-old found, to his shock, that there was actually a cardboard box of toys waiting there, enough of its interior visible for Hotohori to pick out a few legos, a Barbie doll dressed as a doctor, and a forlorn-looking baby-doll, its lightly-painted lips pursed upwards as if in prelude to tears.  He came to a trembling halt there, in the center of the floor, palms feeling suddenly cold.  The baby doll only stared at him, blue eyes sparkling slightly in the lamplight, one plastic thumb frozen a few centimeters away from its mouth.

It wasn't until he heard Nuriko's voice that he could break away from that silently accusing stare; when he did, he was forced to cross both arms over his chest to halt a shiver.  Finally, though, he turned and found the older man standing in front of a glass partition broken only by a circular hole into which something like a speaker had been affixed.  Nuriko was currently speaking into that hole, while the woman on the other side of the glass—pretty, with a reddish-blonde ponytail and wire-framed glasses—shook her head slightly.

"I'm sorry," Hotohori heard the woman say.  "I can't reveal any patient information."

"But, she's my sister!" Nuriko exclaimed, gripping the ledge below the partition so tightly that his knuckles went white.  "She's my sister and I have to see her!  Look, I can prove who I am—you have to let me back there!"

"Please," Hotohori said, taking his place off Nuriko's left shoulder.  "He'll show you any kind of identification that you need, but it's very important that he speak with his sister."

The woman—her nametag, Hotohori could now see, named her as "Heather"—stared at him blankly for a moment, and then shifted her gaze slowly to Nuriko.  "H...He?" she echoed in a small voice.  She leaned close to the partition, peering out at Nuriko with narrowed, studying eyes.  At last, she leaned back and shook her head, still looking extremely uncertain.  "Look," she said at last, "I'm sorry.  We're not allowed to give out any patient information, no matter who you are.  The only people allowed past that door are pregnant women and staff.  Unless you're one of those, you can't come back here.  You'll just have to wait until your sister's operation is over, and then say whatever you need to say."

Nuriko went pale.  "Sh...She isn't having an operation today," he whispered.  "She's just...she's just having an appointment with the doctor."

Shaking her head, Heather glanced over her shoulder, looking back towards where Hotohori could see another woman—older, plumper, and wearing a cow-patterned nurse's blouse—just hanging her jacket on a wall peg.  "We don't have just appointments," Heather said at last, returning her attention to Nuriko.  "If a girl wants to just talk to the doctor, she can do that over the phone.  If she wants her pregnancy terminated, she goes back there."  She jerked a thumb towards the door a few inches away from the glass partition.  "Now, look—my shift is over, now, so I'm going to be leaving.  If you want, you can stay in the waiting area and wait for your sister, but if not, then I suggest you leave.  All of the staff upholds the same policies here, so really no matter who you are or who you talk to, you're not going to be able to see your sister until she comes out through that door."

With that, Heather lifted herself up off her chair, smoothed briefly at her skirt, and then turned to walk towards her approaching replacement.  The two exchanged friendly words, the older woman laughing heartily at whatever the younger said, but Hotohori watched them for only a moment before looking worriedly at Nuriko.

The violet-haired man had sunk back against the wall, knees wavering and eyes locked on the far wall, his face so pale that he seemed almost to blend in with the paint behind him.  "She lied to me," he whispered at last, blinking a few times as if doing so might change the reality around him.  "She lied to me.  She said that this was just an appointment.  She said they were just going to talk about it..."

Face contorting in concern and sympathy, Hotohori moved to the smaller man's side and placed a supportive hand on his shoulder, opening his mouth to say something encouraging--

"Excuse me."  It was Heather's replacement, peering out at them through the glass.  Her voice was louder than the younger woman's, but warmer, somehow; a true tinge of concern worked at her words.  "Can I help you?" she asked gently.  Features softening even more at the sight of Nuriko, leaning against the wall and looking as if he was on the point of tears, she reached out a hand and slid the bottom half of the glass partition aside, giving her the room to poke her head out at them.  "Honey, I know you're afraid," she soothed, speaking in a voice she might've used with a child or wounded animal.  "But, believe me, the doctor won't do anything to you unless you really want him to.  Just going back there won't make it so you have to go through with this.  The doctor'll give you at least fifteen minutes to think it over one last time before he does anything, and he won't be mad or anything if you decide you don't want to.  Now, come on, sweetie.  Just sign your name on this clipboard here, and I'll call you when the doctor can see you.  He's just started another patient on her fifteen minutes, so he should be able to see you immediately."

Nuriko's gaze shifted to the woman, a look just slightly short of salvation crossing his features.  "O...Okay," he managed, lifting himself up from the wall.  A  moment later, he'd stepped up to the partition and was scrawling his name on the line, fingers trembling enough so that the string attached to the bottom of the pen twitched sporadically as he wrote.  Finally, though, he laid the pen back down on the counter and stepped back; the nurse, whose nametag identified her as "Nancy," pulled the clipboard in through the partition and looked at it for a moment, then glanced up again.

"Okay, Miss Seishuku," she said, smiling reassuredly at Nuriko, "you can come right back.  The doctor will be able to see you shortly.  Oh—"  Her gaze shifted to Hotohori.  "—and you can accompany her if she'd like.  You won't be there for the actual operation, of course, if she decides to go through with it, but you can at least be there for moral support now."  Her smile widened.  "If you'd like, of course."

"Y-Yes," Hotohori managed, giving Nuriko a startled glance.  "Yes, I'd be glad to accompany h...her."

"All right," Nancy said cheerfully.  "Wait just one moment, then, and I'll come around and unlock the door for you." 

With that, she slid off her chair and vanished through a doorway; Hotohori had just enough time to turn to Nuriko and whisper, "Miss Seishuku?" before there came the clicking of a lock disengaging, and there was Nancy, smiling and holding the door open for them to enter. 

They did so, Nuriko walking in front while Hotohori followed closely behind, and were led to a small room only a few feet down the hall.  There were, the younger man noted, a great many doors in this hallway, but it seemed clear that the ones farther down, with much longer spaces between them, were the areas where the actual operations took place, while these smaller ones were rooms where the women waited to be operated on, or perhaps where preliminary examinations were done. 

"Just take a seat up on that table, there," Nancy instructed Nuriko as they entered, gesturing towards a paper-covered examination table against the opposite wall.  "The doctor will be with you shortly." 

As the door closed behind her, Nuriko gave a short sigh and leaned against the table, but made no move to leap onto it.  "Sorry," he said at last, giving Hotohori a slightly sheepish smile.  "Using 'Chou' might've made them wonder if I was any relation to Korin, and..."  He sighed again, shaking his head.  "I'm sorry to drag you into this, Hotohori-sama."

Glancing around the small white room, with its frightening array of doctorly instruments, posters of female organs that he did not wish to know the identities of, and wall rack filled with abortion pamphlets, the younger man couldn't help but shudder.  "It's all right," he assured Nuriko, forcing sincerity to overcome the anxiety in his voice.  He smiled slightly.  "I don't mind being dragged in for a good cause."

As if reminded by the words, Nuriko suddenly straightened, jaw clenching as he stared at the closed door.  "Well, I guess this is it," he said tightly, glancing only briefly at Hotohori as he spoke.  "If she hasn't gone through with it yet, then she'll be in one of these waiting rooms.  And if she has..."  Nuriko swallowed hard, his cheeks paling.  "If she has," he managed in a quiet voice, "then it's too late, anyway.  Come on, Hotohori-sama.  Let's find Korin."

~*~