Thief

Author: (Japan) Rui Iseihime | Translator/Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: With her right hand on the front passenger door, Meiko turned her head back to look at her husband, Yosuke. Yosuke's hands were resting on the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the front of the parking lot. Through the dim lighting, the building of Seigawa Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital could be seen in the distance. Heading east from the Danbokyo Station on the Keihan Electric Railway, there were kindergartens, elementary schools, and middle schools along the way. During school hours and dismissal times, the streets were filled with children walking around. However, once you turned into the narrower side streets, there were almost no people to be seen. Especially at night, this area was completely free of noise, being an extremely quiet residential district. Seigawa Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital was located at one corner of the residential area. A large sign with the hospital's name stood in the parking lot. In the night, the lights installed at the top and bottom of the sign cast a three-dimensional effect on the green text. Through the yellow lighting on the parking lot, fine particles like dust could be seen falling from the sky. Oh, it was snowflakes. Would it snow more in a while? Yosuke pressed the windshield wiper button. The radio in the car was playing the news, sometimes reporting that a bus carrying a ski tour group had had an accident on the highway; other times, it announced that a Christmas tree had been lit up at a department store, etc. Taking a gentle breath, Meiko opened the car door and stepped into the pitch-black night. In an instant, she felt the cold night air of December, and she instinctively tightened her neck, her hands pressing against her abdomen, which was covered by a maternity dress. Inside her swollen abdomen was a large bath towel, and her low-heeled leather shoes were wide, making a tapping sound as she walked. Everything Meiko wore—her shoes, underwear, stockings—was maternity gear. Maternity tights had enough padding around the abdomen and hips, and compared to regular tights, their size could almost be described as "huge." Additionally, the material was stretchable, so there was no worry that the folded bath towel would shift or fall out. The bath towel made her abdomen swell, and when she wore the thick maternity dress over it, it looked just like the big belly of a woman near her due date. Meiko carried a light pink nylon bag and, as usual, slowly walked to the hospital, her belly prominent. The main entrance of Seigawa Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital was a pair of automatic glass doors. When the doors opened to the sides, a small gust of warm air from the heated indoor space gently blew onto her face. The waiting room was filled with about twenty women waiting to be seen, sitting on beige leather sofas, waiting for the nurse to call their names. The wall clock had already passed eight. Seigawa Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital was a specialized hospital for obstetrics and gynecology, and it was also renowned for its achievements in treating infertility. From magazines and TV features, she had learned that infertile patients from all over the country would come to seek treatment here. As a result, even though the registration time was until 7 PM, there were often many people still waiting in line after 7. The patients who came to the hospital had long since grown accustomed to such long waits, and they would either read books or knit sweaters. Meiko walked through the waiting room and up the stairs to the second floor. The first floor had outpatient and treatment rooms, while the second floor had delivery rooms and inpatient wards. The nurse's station was at the other end of the corridor on the second floor, next to the nursery. Three years ago, Meiko had received nearly a year of treatment at this hospital. Although both her home and the hospital were in Kyoto City, it was still very inconvenient to travel from the Yunoshima area in the north to the Fushimi area where the hospital was located. However, there were many patients from Shiga Prefecture and Osaka who came to seek treatment here, and compared to them, being able to receive treatment within the city was already considered very lucky. Yunoshima was a village in the mountains, and even now, it had neither light rail nor subway access. It took about an hour to drive from her home to Kyoto Station, and then another twenty to thirty minutes to take the train south to Danbokyo Station. Now, Meiko slowly climbed the stairs to the second floor. When she turned her gaze to the window, she was surprised to find that the apartment next door was almost built right up against the hospital building. She saw red, pink, and yellow lights flickering behind the glass windows of one of the apartments in the building. These lights moved rapidly along a green line shaped like a mountain. She guessed it must be a Christmas tree. On the balcony railing of the apartment next door, there was an electric decoration symbolizing a Christmas tree, with orange and yellow lights flickering on and off. Watching these familiar street scenes of December, she took a gentle breath and turned her attention back to the long corridor on the second floor. The layout of the hospital was already perfectly imprinted in her mind. In order to P3