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Shaundra Yoshida&039;s opened her eyes wide, and she sat up in the bed A pain grabbed in her ar running to ashe remembered was She drew a blank Why couldn&039;t she remember?
The door to the room opened, and a Japanese nurse stepped inside "Oh! You&039;re awake"
"Where as
"In a hospital in Tokyo"
Tokyo Why a here?"
The nurse walked over to her and began taking her vitals
"Don&039;t you remember?"
Shaundra shook her head "No, not really I seeo and then there was this loud noise and lots of water"
"The earthquake," the nurse said loosening the blood pressure cuff on her arm
"Earthquake? What earthquake?"
"There was an earthquake in the Miyagi Prefecture about four o It happened while you were in another hospital there having a procedure done There was also a tsunami, and thousands of people died"
Shaundra looked at the nurse "Did that hospital get destroyed?"
The nurse nodded "Yes An anesthesiologist saved your life He got you out of the hospital and carried you to safety"
So water, the panic in the hospital and in the streets Shaundra shuddered re calmly to her as he carried her
"Did he survive?"
"Yes, thankfully He&039;s now stationed at a hospital in Osaka"
"So how did I get here?" She knew sheso many questions
"The two of you were rescued and flown here to Tokyo He was released, and you&039;ve been here every since "
Da to be one hell of a hospital bill "What&039;s today&039;s date?"
"June twenty-ninth," the nurse answered "Your vitals are fine and the doctor should be in any minute to talk to you"
"Thank you," Shaundra said
The nurse left, and Shaundra continued to look around, noting the changes in her body She was far fro her intravenously froain and a Japanese doctor entered
Hope he speaks English because I won&039;t understand a word he says
"I&039;lad that you have finally awakened My name is Doctor Obayashi"
Shaundra nodded politely "Nice to meet you"
"I can&039;t believe it You look so healthy I can&039;t believe you&039;ve been in a cohly, and then he sat down in a chair across froh her file "Your procedure went through sht here You are in excellent shape and can be released in a couple of days if you don&039;t run a fever during the night"
"Is it safe to say that there won&039;t be any other proble the reason for the procedure
"Yes, you&039;re past the danger point but you&039;re going to need a lot of rest and relaxation for a couple of h a very traumatic time" He chuckled "Theto very disappointed that you are leaving"
Shaundra looked at him oddly "Why?"
"You have become quite a celebrity around here Most of theht it They have dubbed you their sleeping princess They&039;ve taken turns staying with you andsure you were undisturbed in slumber They think it is a miracle that you have survived the earthquake"
"So, there are no complications?"
"None as far as I can see You&039;ll need to stay off our feet as much as possible and follow a no-salt diet"
"I understand, and I can go home tomorrow?"
"Yes, I don&039;t see any reason e should keep you Do you need me to notify someone to come for you?" he asked
"Funny, we couldn&039;t find anything on you except your naht in We&039;ve put ads in the newspaper and searched every data bank but nothing came up on an African American feed It surprised her too since she was registered as being married to a Japanese citizen
"Do you need me to notify someone to come for you?"
It was June, which meant Aomori&039;s China tour was over "I don&039;t really know anyone in Tokyo" She wondered if Harper Kehoe was in town "But I&039;ll find someone" She supposed she could stay at his place in Tokyo for a couple of days
The doctor left, and Shaundra reached for the phone on the bedside table and dialed Harper He answered
"Hello, Harper Kehoe speaking"
"Hello, Harper, this is Shaundra"
"Oh, my God," he shouted "Where are you?"
"In a hospital in Tokyo"
"Oh, thank God I was so worried I thought"
"Yes, I know Where are you?"
"In Tokyo"
"I need a ride and a place to stay for a few days"
"Sure what hospital are you at?"
Shaundra looked around "Tokyo General Hospital At least that is what is on the telephone Do you have so to write with so you can copy down this number?"
"Yes," he said "What is it?"
Shaundra read the telephone nuht?"
"Yes," she said "As far as I can tell Apparently I&039;ve been in a coma for three months and I just learned that I survived an earthquake and a tsunami"
"Everyone has been so worried"
"Ich?" Shaundra asked
"He&039;s in bad shape He left China to come back and search for you after you disappeared Then he learned about the earthquake and the tsunami He hasn&039;t said too much, you kno he is"
Boy did she re why she had left hi over now"
"Hurry" Shaundra said, hoping it was visiting hours "I miss you"
"I miss you too lovely lady I&039;oing Just co that you need? Some clothes probably
But that can wait until after I see you I&039;ll be there shortly darling" Harper hung up
Shaundra hung up the phone She wanted so desperately to call her husband Ichiro, to hear his voice and to tell him that she was okay
Another nurse caet out of that bed and see if you can use the toilet on your own"
Shaundra nodded She pushed aside the covers and swung her legs over to the side of the bed
"Easy now" The nurse cas "Ouch, s hurt"
"That&039;s because you haven&039;t used theht"
No, she had gained a lot of weight What have they been feedingfunctioned Good Shaundra washed herself up and the nurse helped her into a clean gown, and then she helped her into a chair while one of the hospital orderlies cae the bed The man looked at her, sed
"I&039; a visitor," she told the nurse after the orderly left "My boss He&039;s on his way"
"Then I better get you a corown a lot since you&039;ve arrived" She left the room for a moment and came back with some personal toiletries and helped Shaundra tackle her hair It had grown thick and long like it hen she was younger, and she wondered if Harper would recognize her since she&039;d changed so much
A few minutes later a male dietician arrived He too smiled at her sheepishly "This is healthy for you," he said in broken English "No salt"
Shaundra grimaced and then smiled at hi on air Crazy
Maybe she should ask the doctor as inside of her that made men act like that toward her
Someone knocked at her door a fewand a well-dressed whitea vase of flowers He stopped when he saw her
"Shaundra, oh my God, it is you" He put the vase on the bedside table and went to her, hugging her tightly He kissed her on the head and then released her "Let me look at you"
He stepped back and stared "You are so beautiful"
Shaundra sneered "I&039;ood In fact, he always did
"No, the weight looks good on you And look at all that hair Satoshi will be all over you" Satoshi was the piano roup, Aomori, and one of her husband Ichiro&039;s closest friends
Shaundra started to cry
"Oh, don&039;t do that again When did you develop hormones?" He walked over and sat down in a chair across fro her eyes "Apparently over the last four months since the last time I saw you How is Satoshi?"
"As messed up if not uys"
The dietician came back into the room, looked over at Harper and then at her, and then smiled He blushed and then left the room with her tray of dirty dishes
Shaundra shook her head and Harper chuckled "I see its still happening"
Shaundra nodded "What about the others?"
"Yori and Amaya have moved out of the farlad that their lives have gone on" She paused "How did the tour turn out?"
"Much better than we expected Kenshin stepped in for Ichiro after Ichiro returned back to Japan, and Mr Niigata and I are about to open another co has turned out well for everyone"
"For so to see your husband?"
Shaundra shrugged "I guess I&039;ll have to do it before the divorce"
Harper looked at her oddly "You&039;re still plan to go through with that?"
Shaundra nodded "More so now He needs a young wife
It rong froet over me"
"And what about you?" Harper asked "What are you plans?"
"I need somewhere to stay temporarily since I can&039;t fly just yet and will be on bed rest for a couple of o back hoo? I have a couple of places here in Tokyo as well as Osaka"
"Not Osaka I think I need to stay in Tokyo for a while to be close toback to New York"
Harper took out his cell phone and dialed a nu for me," he said to whoever he spoke to on the other line "I&039; list "And I need it ASAP" He hung up a fewclothes"
"But you don&039;t know my size," Shaundra protested
Harper smiled "Give me credit will you Haven&039;t I dressed you before?"
Shaundra ss I don&039;t think I can squeeze my butt into them"
He smiled at her wickedly "I bet you could That behind is just a little a little bigger but still stellar"
"Only you would think that"
"I speak the truth And you&039;re going to love this condo It has a sunken tub and a private beach and all the quiet you need to recuperate"
"I&039;et out of this hospital but the bed rest is going to suck I feel the need to write"
"You&039;ll have a laptop, paper, and plenty of pens at your disposal"
"And I&039;hed "You&039;ve always been on a salt-free diet but you always et that"
"Not this tiood I don&039;t have any other choice I&039;ve escaped death three tirew serious "Do you re about the earthquake?"
"No," Shaundra replied "Not e to escape?"
"A nurse told ist carried me out of the hospital I need to find out who he is so I can thank hi in a hospital in Osaka"
"I&039;ll find him," Harper replied "But I think I need to tell you that Ichiro filed a o That&039;s how he knew that you were in Miyagi"
Shaundra grimaced "Does he knohy I was there?" She already knew an African A around Japan would draw some attention
Harper shook his head "I don&039;t think so But you knoon&039;t be long before he finds you"
"I know," Shaundra said with a sigh "I just need a little ht with hin the divorce papers"
"I hope you reconsider"
Shaundra sighed again "I&039;ll think about it I just don&039;t want to be a burden to anyone"
"Do you want me to call your kids?"
She bet her four kids and her mother orried to death about her "I&039;ll do it once I&039; all the way to Japan"
Harper rose and walked over to the bed and kissed her
"When are you going to stop worrying about others? They are your fa to hiht be her husband now "I&039;, Harper I just want ently "You know things are going to change in a couple of days You have to be prepared to talk to detectives, the newsif you were dead or alive these last few months"