Silent Honor Read Online Free PDF Page A

you have other children, sir?”
    “A daughter,” Masao said distractedly, staring at Hidemi in wild-eyed desperation.
    “I'm sorry.”
    “Is there nothing you can do now?” Masao asked. Her breathing seemed even fainter and more labored than it had when the doctor arrived. She was slowly losing her grip on life, and there was nothing he could do to stop her. He felt rage and despair wash over him, as the doctor answered.
    “We must wait until we get to the hospital.” If she lived that long, the young doctor thought. He doubted now if she'd even survive the operation she needed to save her life and the baby's. It was almost hopeless.
    They careened through the streets in the ambulance, and finally reached the hospital after what seemed like an interminable journey, and Hidemi was rushed away from him, still unconscious on a gurney. He wondered if he would ever see her alive again, and he waited alone for what seemed like hours, as he thought of the two brief years of their marriage. She had been so good to him, so loving in countless ways. He couldn't believe that it might all end now, in a single moment, and he hated himself for getting her pregnant.
    He waited two hours before a nurse finally came to him. She bowed low before she spoke, and he had a sudden urge to strangle her. He didn't want obsequities, he wanted to know how his wife was.
    “You have a son, Takashimaya-san,” the nurse told him politely. “He is very big and very healthy.” He had been a little blue when he was born, but he had recovered very quickly, unlike his mother, who was still in a grave state in surgery. The outcome did not look hopeful.
    “And my wife?” Masao asked, holding his breath in silent prayer.
    “She is very ill,” the nurse said, bowing again. “She is still in surgery, but the doctor wished you to be informed about your son.”
    “Will she be all right?” The nurse hesitated, and then nodded, not wanting to be the one to tell him that it was unlikely.
    “The doctor will come to see you soon, Takashimaya-san.” She bowed again and was gone, as Masao stood and stared out the window. He had a son, a little boy, but all the excitement, all the joy, was dispelled by the terror of losing the baby's mother.
    It seemed an eternity before the doctor came to him. In fact, it was almost noon, but Masao didn't know it. He had completely lost track of time. The baby had been born at nine o'clock, but it had taken another three hours to save his mother. But they'd done it. She had lost frightening quantities of blood, and the doctor explained with regret that this would be her last child. There wasn't even the remotest possibility that she could have another. But she was alive. They had saved her, though barely. He explained that she would have to rest for a long time, but he felt certain that eventually, as young as she was, she would be healthy, and useful to him.
    “Thank you,” Masao said earnestly, bowing low to him, as tears stung his eyes and filled his throat. “Thank you,” he whispered again to the doctor, and to all the gods he prayed to. He would have been lost without her.
    Masao never left the hospital all day, although he called his neighbors to tell his mother-in-law that Hidemi was all right and they had had a little boy. And after he'd done that, he went to see his son. He was a fat cherub of a child, and Hidemi had already told him months before that she wanted to call him Yuji. She hadn't even chosen a girl's name this time, for fear that picking one might mean she would need one.
    And then finally, at the end of the day, they let him see Hidemi. He had never seen a living woman look so pale, and they were still giving her transfusions, and assorted medications intravenously. She was groggy from the painkillers they'd given her, but she recognized Masao the moment she saw him, and she smiled as he bent to kiss her. He almost wished she would blush so he could see some color in her cheeks again, but at