Tsuna paced back and forth through the halls of the mansion, mumbling incoherently to himself.
His feet began to sting after ambulating for a multitude of hours; he looked over to the welcoming chair at the end of the corridor and decided it would be best to sit instead of walking a mile worth of steps in the halls of the Vongola mansion. He ran a hand through his soft, chestnut locks as he sat in the comfortable chair, letting out a restive sigh.
The young boss looked out the window; a sensuous view of Italy greeted him, but the comeliness of the scenery contrasted his lament heart.
He felt a presence in the room and his heart leapt at the final confirmation of his fears.
"Hayato," he slowly turned to his staunch Storm Guardian,
"How bad is it? I had heard one of our squads were caught in a fire, but who's injured?" He didn't try to hide his worriment as he rose from the chair and came closer to his right hand man; confronting the answer head on.
"Judaime," The silverette gave a weak attempt at a reassuring smile as he began his report,
"The Alcamo group we had under investigation for kidnapping children were tipped off before CEDEF could infiltrate their base. The children were still inside and Hibari lead the rescue squad." Tsuna's heart dropped as he heard his Cloud Guardian's name and saw Hayato's doleful look.
"There was an explosion in the enemy base, Hibari and his unit got all the children out, but..." There was a pause, but Hayato collected himself quickly and finished the report,
"Hibari Kyoya was caught in the explosion and is in the Intensive Care Unit within the base."
The male barely finished his sentence before the Vongola Boss flashed passed him with such celerity that Hayato was slightly startled when he blinked and Tsuna no longer stood before him.
The Right Hand Man gave a tenuous sigh as he turned and saw the receding figure heading towards the other end of the mansion.
He ran his fingers through his lustrous hair; he knew this would be hard for his boss because of Tsuna's nepotism towards the pervicacious guardian, but the look of complete dismay on that usually benign face tore him apart.
Tsuna made it to the medical ward in record time,
"Where is Hibari Kyoya?" His stentorian voice echoed with desperation, making the few Sun users in the room freeze and stare at him.
A nurse timidly came forward and apprised him of the room he was looking for. He gave her a distrait, half-mumble of a 'Thank you' as he slowly made his way to the desired room.
He softly opened the door with an audible click and closed it behind himself, not looking at the bed; his heart wasn't prepared yet, even though he rushed all the way over to see him.
Tsuna took a deep breath and pushed down the feeling of trepidation at what he may see and turned towards the awaiting bed.
The semi-recumbent form abed was motionless except for the slow rise and fall of his chest. The cadence of the heart monitor beat to Kyoya's unfaltering pulse and the oxygen mask fogged with his breath.
Tsuna moved in a daze towards the sleeping patient, reaching the bed, he could see the full extent of Kyoya's injuries; his legs were charred to the knees and the leathery skin was sickening to look at. His legs were swollen profusely and some skin was torn away in places to show incarnadine, rotund muscles.
Tsuna could feel his stomach lurch at the grotesque smell of the scorched flesh. He put a hand to his mouth as his eyes loomed over the strapping body cautiously for more injuries. There was a lurid red on the side of his temple, a gash that was now bandaged, but the blood was still plainly evident underneath.
There were scratches gracing his body and bruises had started to form from his impact with the ground after the explosion propelled him forward. Tsuna's eyes finally set firmly on to Kyoya's face. A set grimace of pain was etched deeply into his features, but he seemed to be sleeping peacefully.
Tsuna could feel tears build up behind his eyes, but he willed them not to fall, for if they fell he feared he wouldn't be able to stop crying for days.
He reached down and grabbed hold of the un-scalded hand as his legs buckled; he knelt by the bed and trembled slightly.
He brought the clasped hand forward and pressed it to his forehead as he shakily spoke,
"K-Kyoya?" He could feel the unwanted tears begin to overflow when he heard a susurrant voice,
"Stop your whimpering or I'll bite you to death." Kyoya groaned and placed his free hand on his forehead and winced slightly when his fingers touched the bandaged gash.
"Tsunayoshi" he pulled off the oxygen mask and rolled his head towards the kneeling boy as he quietly called his name.
Tsuna let his tears flow freely as he found the strength to stand,
"Kyoya, I-Is it okay for you to be awake? Are you okay?" He looked to him with intense worry as he rose, parting their hands,
"I'll call Ryo-Nii." Tsuna quickly went to the door and opened it slightly to speak his exigent need for a doctor.
Kyoya looked down at the hand Tsuna had been holding so tightly and gripped it into a fist. He glanced at the boy's turned back as he attempted to sit up. An immense pain shot through him from his pectus, in which he attempted to stifled a verbal outcry, but this still called Tsuna's attention to him,
"Hey, you shouldn't be moving so quickly. You're hurt very badly." Tsuna rushed back over to the bed as he gently pushed the injured skylark back into a laying position.
"I'm fine, Tsunayoshi." He cursed himself as he let out an audible grunt of pain.
"You're not fine. You've never been badly hurt before, so just wait till the doctor comes, please?" Tsuna pleaded with the remaining tears in his eyes in which Kyoya just scoffed and looked out the window indignantly.
There was a hollow rap at the door and Tsuna gave his permission to enter.
"Tsuna, Kyoya." Ryohei stepped through the door and gave them a smile.
"Ryo-Nii, Kyoya just woke up. He'll be fine, right?" Tsuna looked to his Sun Guardian for reassurement. Ryohei flipped open his notepad as he spoke,
"He has third degree burns on forty percent of his body, a couple of broken ribs, and a head wound, but other than that he's fine.", he looked up from his chart and smiled to both of the boys, "My Sun Flames will heal him in about a week's time." Tsuna fell into the visiting chair and put the back of his hands to his eyes,
"Just a week? I thought it would be a lot longer."
Kyoya ignored Tsuna's jubilant comment as he frowned deeply in displeasure,
"I'm not staying here for a week." He folded his arms in finality as he glared at his fellow Guardian.
Ryohei stepped closer to the bed as the air around him changed,
"You need rest and treatment. You can't even walk with those burns on your legs." He gestured to his tarnished limbs for emphasis, but despite his dominant demeanor the head doctor began to sweat slightly at the zealous glare he received. The glare was then directed at his own gesticulated appendage. Kyoya's glower fell away and a twisted expression replaced it as he spoke quietly,
"I can't feel my legs." Tsuna shivered as he felt the solace drain from his face and consternation ensue,
"C-Can't feel your legs?" He turned to Ryohei, but the head doctor already began to speak in a tranquil voice,
"This is typical in third degree burn victims. The nerves in your legs were damaged, so they became numb. You'll feel them again within the forth treatment of Sun Flames." Kyoya nodded reservedly but his countenance was set and inscrutable- giving little away to his feelings on the situation. Tsuna looked to him perturbed as he watched his stolid features change to a grimace as he shifted to a more comfortable position.
A warm hand on his shoulder called his attention back to Ryohei,
"Tsuna, I'm sorry to ask this of you, but can you look after Kyoya? We're short staffed right now since we're taking care of all the children from the Alcamo base as well." Tsuna looked to him in surprise,
"M-Me?" He was flabbergasted at the idea, but when he saw the pleading look on Ryohei's face and Kyoya's pained grimace he couldn't refuse,
"Un, sure. I can look after him." He timidly nodded to the pugilist turned doctor as he glanced to the slightly brooding patient.
Ryohei began to thank Tsuna as his pager went off with a distinct tone, he checked it as he spoke, "I need to go. I'll leave him to you then, Tsuna." He shot him a smile as he departed from the room.
The small room rang with silence after the door squeaked close.
Tsuna turned to Kyoya to find he was looking out the window with his arms folded and a disgruntled looked graced his stern features.
"Kyoya, it'll be okay. This is for your health, I know you're not used to staying in bed all day, especially for a week, but I'll take care of you."
The Skylark turned to the young boss with narrowed eyes,
"Fine, Herbivore, but if you're going to do this then you have to do it right. Be here tomorrow morning, exactly at six."
Kyoya's sudden peremptory attitude put Tsuna at ease as he gave a puerile smile to the martinet,
"Un, I can do that."
Kyoya stared at the excited boss and let out an inaudible sigh, 'This is going to be troublesome.'