In fact, Aoshi did not wake at all. Megumi's face was somber as she
entered Kyoto. She could feel the heat radiating from his body as he leaned
heavily on her. He was clearly burning up again, and in his delirium was of no
use finding the Aoiya. She scolded herself for not listening to her senses and
putting him on the coach earlier. She started asking persons on the street for
help. Most, upon taking one look at her and the sick Aoshi, turned and walked
away as fast as they could.
Fortunately, one of the Oniwaban had been
told to look out for them, and had approached her and led them back to the
compound.
"Please," she motioned to the few men standing in the compound
staring at her wild appearance and the sight of their Okashira draped on her
back, "he's barely conscious, please take him off and lie him down."
"You
heard the doctor," an elderly lady snapped and suddenly the men had managed to
pull Aoshi off and into a room nearby, helped Megumi dismount, and taken all the
bags and placed them in the entryway of an open room.
Megumi turned to
the men and handed them a bottle. "Cool him down first with wet cloths, and then
give him all of this. I will be back shortly."
She turned then and bowed
to the elderly lady. "My apologies, Obaasan, for the way things have been
handled and for my late arrival. Aoshi was not well, and I delayed yesterday a
bit to help him rest up and then prepare things which will be coming later
today."
"I am glad you are here, Megumi-san," Obaasan patted her arm.
"This sickness is not good and Kyoto is not well. Oddly, I am spared, but many
of our young folks are not."
"Can you tell me who is the most ill,
obaasan?" Megumi looked worried. "Shinomori-san mentioned that nearly half of
the people were ill."
"Were," Obaasan corrected her softly. "Four of our
workers have died since he left. Misao did the best she could with them, but
they were too exhausted from the coughing, and the fever was too strong and then
they all lost consciousness shortly after and never woke."
Megumi picked
up her satchel, "Take me to the worst and I will start from there."
As
Obaasan led her into various rooms and helped her, Megumi was rather perturbed.
The older people were untouched, or had very little sickness, but the younger
were all more severely affected.
"This is not completely like what I saw
in Aizu," Megumi shook her head.
"Aizu is not . Here we have animals,
people, and all sorts of things coming and out of the city." Obaasan paused,
"There was something like this many years ago, but I managed to get over that
sickness."
Megumi did what she could. She ordered all healthy persons to
cover their faces with scarves and then to help administer the various medicines
she had brought, use cold cloths to reduce their fever, and open the windows
when possible to offer plenty of air. A few demonstrations were enough to show
the healthy persons what needed to be done, freeing up others to
rest.
She had inquired after Misao, who she had yet to see.
She
received a message in passing from one of the women that Misao was with
Aoshi.
"Of course," Megumi allowed herself to smile at the other lady, "I
should have thought to check there.
She returned to the room where the
men had placed Aoshi to check his progress. As she entered the door, she noted
the young lady sitting by the sleeping Aoshi. "So there you
are!"
"Megumi-chan!" Misao perked up.
"Misao-chan!" Megumi smiled
in return and sat down across from her. "How is our patient?"
"His fever
is down," she looked down at Aoshi tenderly, "and his coughing has
eased."
"I'm glad, Misao." Megumi noted with approval the bowl and cloths
behind Misao. Misao had been tending Aoshi very well. She reached over to pat
Misao's arm, but stiffened. "Misao, you're extremely warm."
"I know,"
Misao smiled weakly, "it's been this way since last night, but I was taking care
of the patients."
"Misao!" Megumi paled and stood up suddenly and came
over to her to touch her head. She glanced quickly around and found another mat.
"Misao, you're very hot. I need you to lie down."
Megumi located a few
clean cloths and dipped them into the water. She frowned, it was not cold
enough. Still she squeezed the excess water and placed them on Misao's head and
arms.
She ran quickly to the screen door and looked around. "You!" she
yelled at the poor man closest enough within her hearing, "Get Obaasan, quickly!
And you," she pointed at another man, "more cold water."
Obaasan came
seconds later, clearly alarmed. "Is it Aoshi-san?"
"No," Megumi looked
up, her eyes anxious, "Misao. She's too hot to touch."
"She acted fine
yesterday," Obaasan came over to touch Misao and drew her hand back immediately.
Her face suddenly looked frightened. "She was perfectly happy!"
"She said
as much," Megumi frowned, "but she said something about a fever last
night."
Several of the able-bodied persons had now gathered outside the
door, drawn by the commotion. "Should we move Aoshi-san?" one of the men who had
followed Obaasan spoke up anxiously. "He seems stable."
Megumi looked
over at Misao, whose eyes fluttered disturbingly. "No, please. She wanted to be
here with him. Don't take him away." She gave a shaky sigh and drew out her
medicines, "Obaasan, please help me with Misao. Everyone else," she looked
suddenly weary, "I will need all your
help."
~~
She and
Obaasan worked deep into the night tending Misao, Aoshi, and nine other Aoiya
employees, family members and guests who were sick. She was constantly brewing
more medicines, supervising the able-bodied in cooling fevered bodies, and
trying to make sure that they too did not fall ill as poor Misao had
done.
She had even sent someone for another doctor or herbalist. She
needed advice on what to do about managing the fever which kept returning in
many cases. She had scribbled down what she had found to be successful for the
cough, but mentioned the persistent fever. A few times, the messenger came back
empty handed-stating that the doctor was too ill. Only one attempt was
successful - the doctor had scrawled his thanks for the cough medicine, but
regarding the fever, had written simply, "Just let it run its course."
As
late night became early morning, Megumi found herself back in the dark room with
two of her most worrisome patients. She had consulted heavily with Obaasan
regarding some lesser known herbs, and had sent someone to look for a particular
flowering plant. It had taken an hour or so to locate sufficient amounts, but
finally boiled and cooled it enough to try to serve to her
patients.
Megumi set the tea down on a small table and looked at the
peaceful faces of Aoshi and Misao. She allowed herself to smile at the sight of
their hands joined across the floor.
She leaned down and gently touched
each of their heads to check their temperatures.
Her hand froze, and her
face suddenly crumpled.
No.
NO.
She staggered out into the
courtyard and fell to the stones.
There Obaasan found her a few minutes
later.
"Megumi-san!" She pulled her up, and was startled to see the woman
crying silent tears. "What is it?"
"Misao is dead."
