While waiting for Ryunosuke to wake, Mikomi and Karoline’s stress levels plummeted which gave way to fatigue. Seeing his mother fast asleep became contagious and soon thereafter, Mikomi closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep as well. It had only been a few minutes since they dozed off when Ryunosuke woke up and noticed the two of them. Neither one of them sounded as if they were in deep slumber so he cleared his throat and tried to get their attention.
“You guys are still here?”
Mikomi opened his eyes and glanced over at his father who was sitting up in his bed. Karoline, on the other hand, was still asleep. When she didn’t wake, Ryunosuke did his best to lower his voice so that he wouldn’t disturb her.
“I thought you guys would have gone home by now. The doctors can take care of me if you and your mom want to head home. You don’t need to hang around here.”
“Yeah, but you know how mom is.”
Ryunosuke chuckled but didn’t overdo it as his chest was still sore from the surgery.
“Cassandra stopped by while you were sleeping, she left you some flowers. It looks like everyone at work signed a get-well card for you, too.”
Ryunosuke glanced over and saw the bouquet of roses sitting on the table next to his bed. He picked up the card and looked at all of the signatures on it. Ryunosuke laughed to himself as he set the card back down on the table.
“Those guys… “ he muttered to himself. “Say, Mikomi. I wanted to thank you for urging me to go get a checkup. I never imagined that something like this would have been the result of a simple exam. It just goes to show you that life will throw a curveball your way whenever it feels like it.”
He motioned for Mikomi to come closer to him. Mikomi got up and then sat on the edge of his father’s bed.
“Mikomi, do you happen to know the etymology behind your name?’
Mikomi never really thought about what his name meant. He simply believed that his father decided to give him a Japanese name because it was his native country. He never once thought to look up the meaning behind it. He shook his head “no” in response.
“Well, I guess you’re old enough for me to tell you this, but you’re not the first child that your mother and I had.”
Mikomi’s eyes widened. Of all of the things he knew about his life, he had never known that he wasn’t an only child. Rather than dwell on this new piece of information and how it could be another difference in this world’s timeline, Mikomi decided to hear the rest of the information first.
“It was about a year and a half before you were born. Your mother was pregnant with our first child but something went wrong. Your mother went into labor seven weeks before she was due and the baby was born prematurely. It was a girl so I decided to let your mother name her. The name she picked for her daughter was Daphne...”
“...It wasn’t long after that Daphne passed on. She was just too weak and the doctors couldn’t do anything to save her. It devastated your mother and me and I only wished that medical technology was as advanced back then as it is today… then maybe she would have…. No. It’s wrong for me to wish for something like that. What happened, happened and there’s nothing any of us can do to change it. It’s something we just have to live with. This is why I decided to name the A.I. Daphne. It was a reminder that no matter what the future had in store for me, I would never forget the daughter that was taken from us.”
“It was a difficult decision to have another child but your mother insisted that things would be different a second time around. So, your mother and I tried and she became pregnant with you. We thought history was going to repeat itself when she went into labor five weeks early. Not only was I worried about your mother’s health but I was also worried about what would happen to you.”
“When you were born, you too were weak. We feared that you wouldn’t make it and because of such, I decided that I wanted to name you so that if you were to meet the same fate as your sister, that I would never forget you. I prayed and prayed for you to make it through and so I named you Mikomi. In Japanese, Mikomi can mean chance but it can also mean hope. I felt it was fitting given that your last name is Saigo, which means, last or final. Your name, Mikomi, translates to final hope because that’s what you were.”
“Your mother decided that she wouldn’t have any more children after you. If you didn’t make it, it would have broken her. She wouldn’t have been able to stand the thought of going through this a third time but that hope of yours shined bright and you pulled through. It wasn’t an easy recovery but the fact that you’re here right now is proof that you made it.”
“I’m telling you this because you’ve been living up to your namesake more than ever these days. The code for the A.I... telling me to get a checkup which, ultimately, saved my life, even your relationship with Serah. All of it has instilled hope and I just wanted to say thank you for that.”
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
Mikomi didn’t know what to say. He simply sat there in silence on the edge of his father’s bed. Until now, he had never known what his name meant. To him, a name’s meaning was something trivial but upon hearing the meaning behind it, Mikomi realized that a name isn’t as trivial as it seems. He began to appreciate his name now that he had heard the story behind it. It also carried with it a bit of irony given the fact that his second chance at life could also be seen as his last chance to change everything. Whether it was final hope or last chance, his name meant both and at that moment, Mikomi knew that he could not fail.
“Your mother has had a long day as have I. I’m still pretty tired from the surgery so I’m going to try and get some more sleep. When your mother wakes, tell her to take you home so you, too, can get some rest. Tell her not to worry and that I’ll be fine.”
Mikomi nodded as his father laid back down in his bed. It wasn’t long after that he fell asleep. Shortly thereafter, his mother woke up and Mikomi delivered the message to her. Karoline was a bit reluctant at first but she ultimately agreed to head back home. Even when they left the room, Karoline kept looking back over her shoulder as she felt uneasy leaving her husband alone but she knew that she had to trust the doctors and the nurses to take care of him.
It was deep into the night when the two of them left the hospital. The ride home was the kind you would expect… one of silence. The hum of the motor was the only constant sound that could be heard as Mikomi glanced out of the passenger side window. With little to no traffic on the road, it didn’t take long for the two of them to return home. Mikomi and his mother said goodnight to each other and they both went to bed.
Exhausted by yesterday’s events, they didn’t wake up until almost noontime. It was December 24th and this would be the first time that the family wouldn’t be home together for Christmas Eve. Karoline decided to make a nice turkey dinner anyway hoping that she could bring it to the hospital with her. The aroma of the dinner filled the house and began to make Mikomi hungry. As he sat on the couch, he heard a knock at the door. He got up and answered it to find Ryan on the other side.
“H-hey, Mikomi. I…”
Before Ryan could finish, Mikomi cracked a smile.
“Hey, Ryan… I just want to say I’m sorry for the way I reacted at the cemetery. I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind and…”
Ryan interjected and interrupted Mikomi.
“Hey, don’t worry about it. I understand. I came by because I wanted to give you this. I figured you would be busy with your family tomorrow on Christmas so I wanted to give you your gift early.”
Ryan handed Mikomi a present. As MIkomi accepted it, it occurred to him that he had never received a gift from Ryan before. In the other timeline, Ryan didn’t have an after-school job to pay for a gift. Usually, they would just hang out with each other during winter break. By this time, the two of them had already stopped being friends so he never got to experience this with him before. Mikomi almost welled up with tears with how moved he was after receiving Ryan’s gift.
“Aw, don’t tell me big bad Mikomi is going to cry!”
Mikomi quickly snapped back to reality after Ryan blurted that out as loud as he could. Even Karoline poked her head out from around the corner and cracked a smile. Mikomi shook his head and laughed it off.
“Like I would cry over something like this! Say, you want to come in for a bit?”
“Sure!”
Ryan stepped into the living room and took a look around. He noticed that something, or more accurately, someone was missing.
“Say, Mikomi? Where’s your dad? He’s not still at work, is he?”
Mikomi remained silent for a moment. Karoline poked her head back around the corner and gave Mikomi a nod.
“It’s okay to tell him.”
Just as soon as she said that she went back into the kitchen and continued to make dinner. Ryan turned his attention back to Mikomi as his curiosity had now piqued. He let out a heavy sigh and replied to Ryan with a somber tone in his voice.
“My father is in the hospital. He had to have double bypass surgery for his heart.”
“WHAT!? You’re joking, right!?”
Mikomi shook his head no.
“Oh, my God! Is he okay? Is he getting better?”
“Yeah. I was worried about my dad because Serah passed away. I urged him to get a routine exam and that’s when they found something was off about him. Turned out he had the onset of heart disease and needed to have a double bypass. Otherwise, there was no telling what or when something could have happened to him.”
“Wow! I’m glad they got to him in time! Will he at least be able to come home for Christmas?”
“No. We’re going to be spending the day with him at the hospital tomorrow. My mom is making the dinner that we’re bringing to him as we speak… that is if the doctors will let him eat it. You know how strict they are when it comes to food but we’re making it anyway just in case they say yes.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Mikomi. Maybe you should open your gift? It’ll probably make you feel better. At least, that’s what I hope it will do.”
Mikomi unwrapped the gift and noticed that it was a small white box. He lifted the cover on the box and reached inside and pulled out a silver frame. Inside was a photo of himself, Ryan, and Serah all standing together during graduation at Two Rivers High School. Mikomi began to tremble a bit as he held the photograph in his hands.
“My dad took our photo that day but with everything that happened, I never found a good opportunity to give it to you. I know she can’t be here for Christmas so I thought that it would make a good gift for ya.”
Mikomi said nothing and continued to stare at the photo.
“I-If you don’t like it, I could always…”
“No,” said Mikomi as he interrupted him. “I love it. Thank you, Ryan. Thank you very much!”
Mikomi grabbed him and embraced him in a huge hug to the point where Ryan began to blush a little bit. Mikomi took a step back and looked at the photo once more.
“I’m going to take this with me when I go back to college once the holiday break is over. I have a spot on my desk where this can go.”
“I’m glad you like it, but uh... Say... Mikomi? Have you been working out?”
“WHY WOULD YOU NOTICE SOMETHING LIKE THAT!?”
Karoline could be heard snickering in the background.
Before Mikomi knew it, the evening had passed and the next day arrived. They returned to the hospital so that they could spend Christmas Day together. He was able to enjoy his time with his family as they spent the day talking and catching up with Mikomi’s college life so far. He told them about all of Professor Edwards’ lessons, his new roommate Derek and how he feels confident with the knowledge he’s gaining there. Despite the surroundings, it still became a memorable Christmas for everyone and to make things better, the hospital gave them permission to eat the food that Karoline had made for them which lifted Ryunosuke’s spirits quite a bit.
A few days later, Ryunosuke was given the all-clear to be discharged from the hospital. Karoline was overjoyed that her husband was coming home. Mikomi, on the other hand, continued to fake enthusiasm while maintaining a sense of awareness. He knew that he had changed the world once again so you couldn’t blame him for being on edge. It was almost as if he were waiting for the world to respond to his actions. Mikomi played every day by ear to see just how the world would respond… if it would respond at all. It took a year for the world to respond to the way he changed the world before so it could also be the same with this situation.
The length of time it took for the world to balance itself was something that always weighed heavily on Mikomi’s mind. It was one of the things he couldn’t figure out and that bothered him. He decided that he would just go ahead and enjoy the remainder of his holiday break. Once he rang in the New Year, he knew he would be returning to college soon enough.