Haku

Sam opens her eyes to an empty room. She sits up in the bed, remembering everything that has happened.

'I haven't fainted in years.' She sighs. 'Ugh, and this damn hospital smell.'

"You're awake?" Ed says from the threshold, getting Sam's attention.

"Is that coffee I smell?" she asks, eyeing the paper cup in his hand.

Ed chuckles. "It is coffee, but I don't think you are allowed to have any right now."

Sam is silent.

"How are you feeling?" Ed asks.

"I'm fine."

"The doctor said you were under too much stress."

"Causing people you love to get hurt does that to you," she tells him.

Ed narrows his eyes at her, she is being way more sarcastic than usual. He can even feel a little bitterness in her tone.

"I want to see Yoko," Sam utters. "Do you know her room number?"

"Sure, let me walk you there."

Sam took nervous steps toward her friend's room. The doctor said that both she and the baby were fine, but she wants to see it with her own eyes.

"It's here." Ed points to the room on the left. "I'll go take care of the hospital paperwork."

"Okay," Sam says absentmindedly.

When she opens the door, she finds Jiro sitting by Yoko's bed and holding her hand.

"Hey," Yoko greets as soon as she sees her.

"Yoko." Sam rushes to her friend. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm good, dear." Yoko smiles. "And the baby is good too."

"I am so sorry," Sam whispers, tears pooling at the edge of her eyes.

"For what? It wasn't your fault, Sam. It was an accident."

"I'm so happy you and the baby are safe." Sam places her hand on top of her friend's.

"Oh my God, Sam, he is so perfect." Tears of joy stream down Yoko's cheeks.

"We decided to name him Haku," Jiro says, his adoring eyes never leaving his wife's. "Written with the kanji that means eldest, in hopes to have many more children," he explains.

"That's a wonderful name, guys. Congratulations." A warm feeling of relief fills Sam's chest.

"Do you want to see him?" Jiro asks with a grin. He looks elated.

"I would love to." Sam beams.

Sam follows Jiro as they walk toward the hospital neonatal intensive care unit. Jiro glances at his childhood friend for a moment.

"Kei told me that you blame yourself for the accident," Jiro starts.

"Isn't it my fault? Those reporters were in front of MY house, they were there to get pictures of ME."

Jiro grabs Sam's hand to bring her to a halt. "You are wrong, it's not your fault, Sam. Someone is targeting Kei and your address was leaked online on purpose."

"Someone leaked my address…"

"Don't worry," Jiro reassures her. "Kei is taking care of it."

Sam nods absentmindedly. "Where is Kei, anyway?" she asks as they resume walking.

"After checking on us and making sure you were fine, he left to tackle the issue with the reporters," he answers. "He hates hospitals, you know."

"Is it because of the long time he spent in the hospital after his motorcycle accident?"

"Yeah, but he stayed at the hospital even longer after he graduated high school."

"Oh?" Sam raises her brows. "I didn't know that."

Jiro presses his lips into a thin line. "Our grandfather did not like that Kei had a limp. He saw it as a weakness, "the Ichihara heir cannot be weak," he said."

Sam notices Jiro's clenched fists.

"Kei had a few surgeries to fix his leg, then months of physical therapy," he adds.

'Now that I think about it, I haven't seen Kei use a cane.'

"Grandfather got his wish. He paid so much money and brought doctors from all over the place to fix my brother's limp." Jiro shakes his head as if he doesn't want to remember something.

Sam wonders how much pain Kei had to go through during that time.

"Come," Jiro says with excitement. "We're here."

"Welcome back, Mr. Ichihara," the nurse whispers with an amused smile.

Jiro nods at her and guides Sam to the incubator where his son is.

"Sam, meet Haku." Jiro's eyes sparkle with pride as he looks at his newborn son.

"Hello, Haku," Sam utters, her face filled with awe.

They stand side by side, gazing down at the tiny bundle.

"Can you believe it?" Jiro whispers, his voice filled with emotion. "He's finally here. Our son."

Sam smiles and places a hand on his shoulder. "I know. It's incredible. He's so beautiful, Jiro."

The two friends are still for a while, lost in the wonder of the miracle of life before them.

Sam turns to Jiro and says, "You know, I'm going to be the best aunt ever. I'm going to spoil him rotten."

Jiro laughs, a deep and joyful sound. "I have no doubt about that. And I'm going to be the best dad ever. I can't wait to teach him all the things I know."

Sam smiles at the moment of pure happiness she is sharing with her old friend. She was afraid that she would be jealous or envious, but her heart is only filled with delight.

Jiro and Sam go back to Yoko's room and keep her company for a bit before a knock draws their attention.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Ed says when he opens the door. "You need to sign some documents to get discharged, Sam."

"Alright." Sam turns to Yoko and hugs her. "I will come visit you tomorrow."

"Okay."

She gives Jiro a squeeze before following her assistant.

After a brief meeting with the doctor, Sam signs her discharge papers and heads home with Ed.

"I hope you're going to do what the doctor said and stay away from any stress," Ed says as he pulls into the garage.

"It's not like every time there is a stressful situation, I go running toward it." Sam rolls her eyes.

Ed chuckles. "I know, just make sure you take it easy, Sam."

"I promise, I'll do my best."

"I heard Kei got all those reporters to the police station to investigate the incident," Ed tells her.

"Oh?"

"He gave a press conference and basically threatened the reporters to stay away from his family and friends. He's a very scary man when he's angry." Ed sounds impressed.

"Yeah, he can be scary." Sam snickers, remembering a few situations from when they were in high school.

Ed insists on taking Sam all the way to her apartment. He goes in with her to make sure everything is alright.

"You know there is a concierge, a security system, and we are on the 27th floor."

Ed ignores Sam as he goes around to check every room.

After he finally leaves, Sam crashes on her bed and drifts into sleep right away.