Baton: Kindness Received from Someone I Had Yet to Meet
Seven years ago, I underwent metal fixation surgery on my neck due to an intractable disease called 'ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament'.
Then, two years later.
I had to undergo metal fixation surgery on my lower back.
By that time, I had already started using a karaoke app and had known Kazuki for about a year.
We would DM each other every day and listen to each other's songs.
However, we had never met in person.
Even so, Kazuki was very worried about my surgery.
The day before I was admitted to the hospital.
I made one request to Kazuki.
I asked him to sing Hideaki Tokunaga's 'Baton'.
For me, 'Baton' was a song that gave me a push, telling me 'it's going to be okay'.
Whenever I felt crushed by anxiety, that song encouraged me.
The day of my admission.
At the hospital reception, someone suddenly spoke to me.
'This is a package that was left for you yesterday, with instructions to give it to Kotori-san.'
'Huh? For me?'
It was the first time I had ever received a package from someone at a hospital.
'They asked me to keep their name a secret.'
Who could it be?
Feeling puzzled, I accepted the small box.
The moment I opened the box, I knew.
It was Kazuki.
Inside was—
I gasped.
It was all Kazuki.
A pink charm.
A white charm.
A black bag.
An Amazon gift card.
And a box of high-quality tissues.
I couldn't help but laugh.
And then, I cried.
'Kazuki...'
I hadn't told him the name of the hospital.
'An orthopedic clinic near XX.'
That was all I had told him.
With just that information, he found me.
Apparently, Kazuki had searched for the hospital on Google Maps.
Traveling from Aichi to Kyoto between his work shifts.
He stopped by a shrine, went straight to the hospital, and then made a round trip back to Aichi that same day.
Even though we had never met.
I stood at the reception desk and cried in front of my son, who had come to accompany me.
I immediately sent Kazuki a DM expressing my emotion and gratitude.
Then Kazuki replied,
'Good luck.
I can't really do anything for you, though 🥺'
No.
That was more than enough.
Thinking about it now, why was it the day before?
We couldn't meet on the day of the surgery.
Maybe that's why it was the day before.
Perhaps.
Maybe.
We might have been able to meet for just a little bit.
Maybe we both held that expectation somewhere in our hearts.
I learned later.
That wasn't just a gift.
Everything had a reason.
In the bag was
'I looked for one that could hang on a walker.'
He had added just that one sentence.
The Amazon gift card was so that,
instead of visiting during the pandemic,
I could have necessary items delivered to the hospital.
The box of tissues was because,
I had previously told him in a DM,
'While I'm in the hospital, I'm going to listen to your songs a lot and cry...'
My face is going to be a mess from crying! lol
It's going to be all red! lol
I'm going to need lots of tissues! lol'
He remembered that I had said that while laughing.
'I put in a slightly luxurious one 🙄👍'
That one sentence
felt so much like Kazuki.
And on the day of the surgery.
I took my smartphone into the operating room,
and I faced the surgery while playing Tokunaga-san's 'Baton', which Kazuki had sung for me, on repeat.
What remained at the bottom of the box until the end was
a pair of white earphones.
'Huh?'
At that moment, I remembered.
One side of my earphones at home was broken.
'Make sure you listen to my songs properly, okay? 😏👍'
I felt like I could hear his voice.
The singing voice flowing from the earphones.
The charm I received in the hospital room.
The bag he chose so it could hang on my walker.
The slightly luxurious box of tissues.
And the earphones he included so I could listen to his songs properly.
That day, I
was not alone.
Next to me as I headed to the operating room,
there was no one.
But,
in my heart,
he was right there with me.
Since that day, I have thought.
It's not about how many times you meet someone.
It's the depth of their care
that brings hearts closer together.
Even now, every time I listen to 'Baton', I remember that day at the hospital.
【🐥🌸 Please check out my other works if you'd like 🥰🌸】
(👌❤️ I've compiled my emotional series here 💞)