Chapter Text
Health check-up was finished.
Actually, the expression 'finished' was strange - Mayuko had no memory of the medical examination through endoscopy.
After receiving the anesthetic she was clearing her breath under the guidance of a nurse, but when she woke up, she felt someone's hand stroking her forehead.
The large hand was warm and its movement was tender.
Is it in the hospital? Or in her dream?
Mayuko opened her eyes.
“……?”
There was a man in front of her.
The man sitting by her bed was tall and slender.
Dressed in a perfect suit, he had an impression of being blunt and serious.
He opened his mouth.
“You feel awake?”
His voice was low, sweet, and pleasant to hear.
“You can’t get up yet. Keep on the bed a little longer. You're probably still dizzy.”
“Who’re you?”
The man blinked, and tilted his head.
“Guess it.”
“…… Are you a doctor?”
“Well it's not a wrong answer, but I'm not here as a doctor in this hospital right now.”
“Did the doctor send you?”
Seeing the man shrugging his shoulders, Mayuko frowned.
Her vision became brighter, and she could see his face more clearly.
The man was graceful as clean-cut as a classic portrait.
The neat and gentle face and his atmosphere were very close to Mayuko's ideal type.
She blurted out involuntarily.
“You are such an eye candy.”
The man smiled with dumbfounded.
Oh- his smile spreading across his face like drops of rain bit by bit caught Mayu's fancy.
“Thanks.”
“You look more handsome when you smile…… really. You…… you're right up my alley.”
The man smiled silently and bowed his head.
Mayuko stared blankly at the man's wiggly finger on his lap, and asked without any shame.
“You have a girlfriend?”
“No.”
“……!”
“But I have a wife.”
Mayuko's heart, which had reached heaven as if winged for a moment, fell back to the ground.
Oh, yeah, of course.
There is no way other women could have left such a handsome man like him alone.
Mayuko groaned in deplorability.
“I…… I envy the woman you married.”
“Is that so?”
The man tilted his head toward Mayuko, and the long hair that had covered one of his face ran down.
“……I don't think so.”
“Why?”
“I'm not as a good man as I seem. My wife deserves better than a guy like me.”
Feeling dizzy for a moment Mayuko murmured.
“Oh, my head hurts ……”
The man turned his head, and called the nurse passing by.
“I think it's time for her to recover her senses, but she's still not feeling well. Did you use propofol? Or midazolam?”
“If you wish we will check her benzodiazepine dosage for you, Dr.Sohma. But don't worry too much, everyone reacts differently. It's better for your lady to lie down a bit longer until she gets better.”
Mayuko stared blankly at the man nodding his head.
“You’re…… a doctor.”
“Yes. I said I am.”
“I think you’re…… you’re a good husband.”
The man turned his head to Mayu again.
As his profile turned to her, and his gaze moved toward her, Mayuko felt a strange joy fill her.
“Cause I’m a doctor?”
“No. Cause you are so kind and gentle…… You’re a good man ……. I bet your wife knows it best. Would be really happy to have a husband like you if I were her.”
“…….”
“You're obviously your wife's greatest joy.”
The man's smile deepened.
The man who was looking at Mayuko with calm eyes said in a softer voice.
“…… You’re my greatest joy too, my wife.”
Mayuko blinked.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Your wife?”
“Yes.”
“I’m married to you?”
Mayuko jumped out of bed.
The man grabbing her by the waist put her back on the bed, and put the duvet over her who was swept away by him.
“Keep lie down. It will be dizzy.”
“You’re so…… good looking.”
“Okay, I see.”
“But you’re married…… But I’m married?”
“Yes.”
“We’re married?!?!”
The man burst into laughter.
My god, Mayuko stared blankly at the man laughing out loud.
He was handsome enough just to sit quietly, but his broad laughing face made Mayuko's heart beat nonstop.
Mayuko couldn't realize if she was muttering inside or spitting it out.
“Damn, you’re the best hottie I’ve ever seen…….”
“Thank you.”
The man giggled and replied.
His ears were red.
“You’re my husband……. My goodness, I hit the jackpot.”
Mayuko grabbed the edge of the duvet with both hands.
“How long?”
“1 year.”
“Why did you marry me?”
“Because I love you.”
“…… Really?”
“I didn't want to be away from you for even a moment, so I proposed to you on a winter night.”
The man gently stroked Mayuko's bangs.
Embarrassed by his touch, Mayuko covered the duvet up to the bridge of her nose, and asked during rolling her eyes.
“…… We have a baby?”
“Yes.”
“Oh my! How old……?”
“Just two months. After giving birth you had some minor bleeding other than lochia, so you came to this hospital to check for any problem in the uterus. Remember now? Fortunately, dear, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with you.”
Mayuko frowned at the difficult words and asked only what she wanted to get.
“Who does our baby look like?”
The man approached her and whispered.
“She resembles both you and me half-and-half.”
“Aw!”
Mayuko covered her blushing face with the cover.
The man's constant laughter could be heard over it.
Mayuko wiggled in the white cover like a silkworm making a cocoon, and then stuck her head out again.
The face of the man close in front of Mayuko knocked her dead.
“Are we really married?”
“Yes.”
“…… Have we kissed?”
“…….”
The man gently palmed Mayuko's cheek as if touching a piece of pottery that would break if he made a mistake.
He kissed her slowly.
Mayuko closed her eyes, and slowly opened them again as the man's lips came off.
The man was staring intently at her.
The full affection in his gaze almost intoxicated Mayuko.
My God, her husband really loved her.
The man kissed her again.
It was light as a feather, soft as cream, just like Hatori himself.
His kiss was familiar to her.
His presence always embraced her as peacefully as this kiss.
“Hatori…….”
“You’re okay now?”
Hatori pecked Mayuko's forehead.
“I think now it's time to wake up, Sleeping Beauty.”
She traced her memory in a hazy feeling.
“What…… what was I saying now?”
“Can you get up?”
Mayuko leaned against Hatori and slowly got up.
“Guess I was talking nonsense all along…….”
“When they're sensitive to anesthetic drugs, they often feel like drunk. Don’t worry.”
“…… Where’s Kinu…….”
“Thankfully your mother takes care of her at our place. Let’s go home.”
Looking around Mayuko made eye contact with Hatori.
“…… What’s with you?”
“What?”
“You're in…… a cheerful mood, today?”
“Nothing special.”
Mayuko was baffled by her handsome husband who is keeping smile as if something was gotten into him.
Did she talk some nonsense or do a ridiculous act in front of him, under anesthesia?
He couldn't contain his laughter even by the time he got into the car and started the engine.
Seeing Hatori's unusual appearance somewhat made Mayuko shy.
As Mayuko struggled to find memories that she couldn't remember no matter how much she thought about it, Hatori's car drove smoothly leaving the hospital parking lot.
They went back home.
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