Karoline sat in the hospital room with Mikomi, her hands folded in her lap, waiting for him to wake up. The sound of hurried footsteps could be heard coming up the hallway and that’s when Ryunosuke entered the room. Karoline, on the verge of tears, got up from her chair and embraced Ryunosuke with a hug.

“Is he…”

“No. He’s just sleeping. The doctors did a lot of tests on him and we’re waiting on the results but they said, so far, everything seemed to be normal. They can’t explain why or how he came to be like this. It’s so frustrating!”

Ryunosuke hugged his wife tightly when there was a gentle tapping on the door. The two of them turned around and saw a young girl standing there in the doorway, unsure of whether or not she should come in.

“S-sorry if I’m interrupting but I’m Mikomi’s friend Serah.”

“Right… you were sitting outside when I ran by. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that you were his friend. I’m Ryunosuke Saigo, Mikomi’s father. Please, come in and have a seat with us.”

“A-are you sure it’s… okay?”

Ryunosuke let out a laugh and gave her a reassuring nod. “Of course, it is! Come on in and sit down.”

Even in this kind of situation, Ryunosuke found a way to be hospitable. Serah took his offer and walked into the room, taking a seat by Mikomi’s bed. She began to wonder if he was going to wake up this time. All she could remember was when he collapsed at her house and with this being the second time today that this has happened, she was really worried about him. The expression on her face told it all and whether it was Ryunosuke being the optimist that he is, or maybe he had to say it out loud to give himself the strength to deal with this but he walked over and knelt next to Serah and grabbed her hand, cupping it in his.

“Don’t look so worried. My son is a strong young man and something like this isn’t going to beat him. I’m sure he’s going to be just fine!”

Serah looked at Ryunosuke and gave him a faint smile. She was conflicted about whether or not she should tell them what had happened at her house. It may make them worry even more but in the end, she had to put those feelings away because it was the right thing to do.

“I… don’t know how to say this but… please don’t tell Mikomi I said this. This isn’t the first time this has happened to him.”

Karoline and Ryunosuke’s faces turned to complete shock as Serah paused. She looked up at the two of them and realized the gravity of what she had just said. She then looked back down towards the floor like she is used to doing with Mikomi. Her tone became a bit softer and more somber-like as she tried to explain what she meant by that.

“When he was at my house earlier today, he held his head and cried out in severe pain… then he passed out on my floor. I was scared and didn’t know what to do. I should have called for an ambulance then but I didn’t. He had a fever, too, so I put a cold washcloth on his head and just prayed that he would be okay. I was scared of what people might say or think if they knew he left my house in an ambulance. I panicked and I think made all of this worse by not bringing him here. I’m sorry... I'm so sorry!!”

Serah was completely upset. She balled up her hands into fists and rested them on her legs. She could only stare at the floor and tremble as she waited for the verbal backlash. While Mikomi’s parents were shocked to learn that this was the second time it happened, Ryunosuke looked at how scared she was and knew that it wasn’t her fault and decided to comfort her.

“Thank you for telling us, Serah. I’m sure you were scared but if you’re feeling guilty about it then you can come with me and explain this to the doctor. It might give him the answers he needs to find out what caused this.”

Serah nodded in agreement and stood up. She went with Ryunosuke to inform the doctor of everything that had happened. Meanwhile, a nurse came in to do a routine check of Mikomi’s vitals and to draw some blood. Once she was done, Ryunosuke and the doctor returned but Serah did not. She, instead, opted to sit back outside. She thought that it was her fault for not saying anything sooner and couldn’t deal with being in the same room as Mikomi right now. Karoline stood up as the doctor had a sheet in his hand.

“Despite the new information given to me by that young girl outside, we can’t find anything wrong with him. The only thing in his tests that came back abnormal was heightened brain activity. If anything, it seems like he’s either experiencing a dream, or his brain is processing a lot of information. We see this kind of activity in a lot of coma patients so this is considered normal. His blood tests continue to come back normal and there’s no sign that he’s in any danger. All we have to do is wait for him to wake up.”

The doctor took a brief moment to pause.

“However, the pain that was described to me does have me concerned. What’s even more puzzling is that neurological pain is usually associated with things such as stroke, a concussion, or some other kind of head trauma but all of his scans show no damage. His mind seems healthier than any other normal patient's. The only thing I could see was that he suffered an intense migraine and passed out from the pain. We’ll have to talk to him when he’s awake to see if the pain is recurring and if it is, I can prescribe some medicine to help with it. I’m afraid there isn’t much more we can do except wait.”

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Ryunosuke gave the doctor a nod who then excused himself, leaving to go tend to another patient down the hall. Ryunosuke walked over and sat next to his son. He took Mikomi’s hand into his own and delivered to him a message.

“I know that I’m a terrible parent. I spend most of my time away from the family at work because what I’m working on would give us a better life. Eventually, I wouldn’t have to work as much as I am and I could be home with you and your mother. I’ve been working so hard for that and this is what I miss when I’m away. It makes me feel helpless knowing that I’m stuck in some damn office while my son is growing up without me. I know I haven’t been the best father but I promise that the end is coming soon and I will be around more often. If you can hear me, son, I want you to know that I’m sorry.”

Karoline rubbed Ryunosuke’s back to try and comfort him. Ryunosuke stood up and stuck his hands in his pockets as he looked down at Mikomi. He held onto hope that he would open his eyes at any moment but he knew it probably wasn’t going to happen soon.

***

Several days had passed. Ryunosuke only left the hospital to go home and freshen up. He even called the office and told everyone not to disturb him, even if the results of the initial simulations proved to be successful. Ryunosuke made the hospital his new home as he decided that he wasn’t going to leave his son’s side until he pulled through. Serah left the hospital on Sunday evening and hadn’t come back until Tuesday afternoon. She briefly checked on Mikomi and despite an offer to stay with him, she declined and headed back home, still feeling a bit of guilt. Ryan had visited Mikomi as well but since he was still sleeping, he didn’t stick around all that long. He simply gave his good wishes and headed back home.

It was Wednesday, just before lunchtime. It was then that Mikomi opened his eyes for the first time in three days. Karoline embraced him in a hug as Ryunosuke walked into the room with a cup of coffee in his hand. He was using it to stay awake and the first thing he saw was his son sitting up in bed. He rushed over to his bedside and placed his coffee on the table next to it. He grabbed Mikomi and gave him a great big hug.

After the reunion, Mikomi inquired about Serah which prompter Ryunosuke to bring her into the room. The look of elation on Mikomi’s face when he saw her gave way to him leaping out of bed and embracing her in a hug that she didn’t expect. After Mikomi’s mind cleared and things got settled, his parents got the hint and excused themselves to go alert with the nurse.

Soon, they learned that they were going to keep Mikomi there overnight for observation. Ryunosuke stated that he was going to spend the night in the hospital. Realizing that he wanted a chance to talk to him, Karoline didn’t question it one bit. After she had left and the two of them were alone, Ryunosuke broke the ice with an apology.

“I’m sorry, Mikomi. I told you some things while you were asleep but I doubt that you heard me. I’m sorry for not being around. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to not have your father in your life all that much. What I’m working on is important to me because not only would it cause the company to be recognized as a global leader but it would also mean that I can step back and be less involved. I can be more of a manager and just oversee things… I could just steer the ship as they say. That will allow me to come home every night and be the father that I’m not. I know that I have a lot of lost time to make up for and I don’t expect you to forgive me.”

Mikomi sat there in mental agony. If only he could tell his father everything. The sad thing is, that if he did tell his father, he would be the only person on the planet who had a small chance of believing his story. What would something like that do to this world, though? Everything Mikomi had done so far was for his father because he loved him that much but how could he explain that to him without giving away his secret? Mikomi had to go for the generic approach.

“Dad, I know you love me… you don’t have to apologize. While it is sad that you’re not around as much as I would like, I don’t hate you for it. I know what you’re doing is important so I understand. I’m not mad at you one bit for what you do.”

Ryunosuke embraced his son in a hug with tears in his eyes. It was like a massive weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. That sense of relief is what carried him forward.

“So how is the project coming along?”

“That letter you gave me was the answer. We got the code implemented and debugged. They’re supposed to be running simulations but I don’t know the results. When this happened to you, I was living here at the hospital. I waited for you to wake up every single day. I cared about nothing else but to see you open your eyes. I have no idea if the simulations were successful or not. I’ll find out when I decide to go back to work.”

Mikomi nodded with a smile on his face. The two of them continued to talk through the night. After sleeping for so long, it wasn’t a surprise that Mikomi didn’t want to get any more rest. The two of them spent the time catching up. Mikomi told his father everything about this timeline’s Serah and how he may like her, how school was going, what Ryan was up to, everything. Mikomi was careful not to say anything about things that haven’t happened yet or events from the other timeline as he didn’t want to raise any suspicion, especially after the little outburst he had with Serah. He just passed it off as a typical father/son conversation.

Morning arrived and the doctor came in to check on Mikomi. After an examination, he said that he would be discharged from the hospital today. As with most discharge processes, it took several hours before they released him. Ryunosuke brought Mikomi back home and decided that he was going to return to work, but not without Mikomi’s permission.

“I really should get back to the office and check on things but if you want me to stick around, the office can wait. I’ll be more than happy to stay here with you while you recover.”

Mikomi, who was starting to feel quite fatigued, sat down on the edge of his bed. He immediately felt the difference in comfort between his own bed and the one he slept in at the hospital. Anyone who has ever been in a hospital bed could instantly relate to the elated feeling of climbing into your own bed for the first time in days.

“I’m feeling a bit drained so I’m going to get some more sleep. It would be pretty boring sitting around while I was here in bed so it’s okay if you go back to the office. Besides, I want to know how the simulations turned out just as bad as you do!”

Ryunosuke cracked a smile but behind it, he was worried about the chance of Mikomi not waking back up again if he fell asleep. It was only natural for a parent to worry like that, especially after what just happened, but Ryunosuke decided to put his trust and faith in his son and gave him a quick nod.

“Okay, son. I’ll have my pager on me at all times. If something were to happen, just know that I’ll come for you.”

Ryunosuke gave his son another hug before he took his leave. He hopped in his car and drove back to the office.