The Force of Gravity ✅

Chapter Seven

Pain. Pain, pain, pain, pain. It hurt to breathe.

Miori tried to open her eyes, but the lights overhead were too bright. She wanted to scream, but her throat felt paralyzed. She reached up, clawing at the oxygen mask covering her mouth, but an unknown hand pushed her hand away. "Chibana, don't! You need that on to breathe!"

She fell again against the bed, slowly coming in to awareness. An oxygen mask? Was she in a hospital? Why—

She remembered then, and she tried to sit up. "OHTA!" she screamed. Or at least she tried to scream under the mask.

More pain came then, far more intense than before. Because she remembered—she knew. She knew why she was in a hospital in pain. A car landed on top of her and broke her arm. The same car crushed Ohta.

The same car KILLED Ohta.

Miori screamed. She screamed and screamed and screamed, and the overlapping voices over her couldn't calm her down. She saw a doctor insert a syringe into her IV, and the world became dark once more.

~*~

Miori opened his eyes, and recoiled against the bright lights overhead. The smells around her were familiar to her. The sounds of the machines were familiar to her. She was in a hospital.

...What happened? Why am I in a hospital?

She felt sick. She tried to sit up, but her vision swam and she collapsed against the bed. She didn't want to be there. She had to get out of there. She had to go home.

"Shh..."

Miori stiffened, reconizing that voice but her eyes felt heavy. She couldn't open her eyes again. Her right hand was lifted, and it was cradled between two warm hands. She recognized these hands. The fingers that stroke her knuckles...she knew this touch...

"Relax, Miori. Just relax..."

She turned her head towards the voice. She was now not sure if she was awake or asleep. "Ju—Junichiro?" she mumbled quietly.

"I'm here." the reply was soft and caring. "I'm here, Miori. I'm here."

She used to love it when he spoke to her like that. It was so easy to think that she had the world when she had someone who loved her as much as she thought Junichiro loved her. But then he hurt her...

"I hurt you because I was hurting. A-And in a way, I thought that if I hurt you then it would sully the memory of my relationship and I wouldn't be tempted to ever come looking for you. And it—I succeeded."

He hadn't meant it. Junichiro broke up with her because of family pressure. He married another woman due to family pressure.

I'm no better than he is. I married another man out of spite.

Miori squeezed his hand, but she lacked the strength to do so tightly. "...Please don't leave." she whispered the words. She couldn't even hear her own voice.

Somehow though, Junichiro heard her. "I'm here, Miori. I will never leave you again."

In the moment—for just a moment—Miori felt so unbelievably happy. Her chest felt warm and tears stung her eyes. She let out a soft sigh of relief—