There must not be a single hospital on this planet, or beyond it, that has comfortable lighting,Tatsuma thought to himself as he waited in the fluorescent, yet dimly lit hallway. He tapped his fingers over and over on the cold, chrome armrests. The cryochamber was able to sustain Nobunobu's life until they returned to Earth, but the surgeon had given no clear sign whether he would survive the night. Mutsu placed her hand firmly on Tatsuma's shaking thigh. She didn't offer words to console him, instead she just gazed with large, understanding eyes.
"Thank you, Mutsu," his voice trembled and cracked.
She leaned in closer and squeezed his arm. He looked around anxiously for Zura. Sure, Zura might not have had the bond Tatsuma shared with the shogun, but they all had fought together in the battle to defend Earth.
"Where'd Zura go? It's been forever. And we've been waitin' forever. I'm gonna find a nurse."
Mutsu pushed Tatsuma back into his seat as he stood.
"I don't think so," she glared, "the nurses will kick you out if you bother them one more time."
He listened to her, she was right, but that didn't make the wait any less unbearable.
"I can't believe he forgot...damn him…how dare he just give up like that..." Tatsuma mumbled to himself. Any sound, even bitter angry words, was better than that unnerving hum of the overhead lights. He became so immersed with his muttering that he was wholly unaware when a surgeon approached him and Mutsu.
"Your friend, Akage Chad, is out of surgery, he-"
Tatsuma looked at the man speaking to him with twitching brows, "Who the hell is Akage Chad!?"
Mutsu stomped on his toe and interjected swiftly, "Chad is our friend, remember?"
Rather than yelp, he belted out his signature laugh and scratched his head nervously. In his flustered state, Tatsuma had forgotten that they chose not to give Nobunobu's true identity. In the chaos when they had arrived at the hospital, Akage Chad was born. Though it was a wonder no one recognized the shogun with his blonde undercut and unique features.
"Right, right sorry we don't usually call him that," his laughter dwindled to silence and then seriousness took over, "Is-is he goin' ta be alright?"
The surgeon nodded slowly, "We've stabilised him and there is no immediate danger to his life. We-"
The largest grin spread across Tatsuma's face as he interrupted the surgeon again, "Where is he? Can I see him?"
"You can't just charge in like a madman," Zura advised as he returned with snacks in hand.
"He's right, your friend needs his rest-" the surgeon began only to be cut off yet another time.
"It'll only be for a moment, I'll be good!" Tatsuma said with the joyous urgency of a child in a toy shop.
"What's the rush to see him any way? I'm glad he's alive, but he's one of the most foolish men in history. You sure have strange taste in friends." Zura added.
Mutsu rolled her eyes at the blabbering, "You're one to talk. Your best friend is an alien penis prince duck monster."
"Elizabeth is beautiful and perfect!" Zura said with increasing volume.
Tatsuma started to wave his hands signaling the need for everyone to settle down. The surgeon took the opportunity to interject with a bellow, "This is a hospital! It's no place for this raucous conversation!"
The three quieted down and offered their full attention.
"Look, you all seem like... decentpeople...but we can't have loud, rowdy visitors disturbing the patients. If twoof you would like to come back for a brief visit, you may."
The answer was obvious, it had to be Tatsuma and Mutsu. Tatsuma because of his friendship with Nobunobu and Mutsu to support her captain. Zura volunteered to say behind without saying a word.
The hallway to the recovery room was low-lit and thankfully more peaceful than the waiting area. As they approached the door to the shogun's room, the surgeon turned and said, "Your friend is on a lot of medication now, don't be alarmed if he seems out of sorts. I'll give you a few minutes, but then you should let him rest."
Tatsuma nodded diligently. He would have agreed to almost anything so long as it meant Nobunobu would get better.
They entered the room. Tatsuma's throat tightened. Despite knowing that Nobunobu was no longer grasping for life, it was still painful to see him suffering on a hospital bed. He wore a grimace on his face and his eyes were shadowed with a deep purple. An IV dripped fluids into his arm and his torso was constricted with some sort of brace. He rolled his head to the direction of Tatsuma and Mutsu and greeted them with a small, but discernible smile. Tatsuma had come to know and detest that smile, because it was usually followed by self-loathing.
"S-Sakamoto-san. You saved my life...again. I'll never be able to repay you," Nobunobu said quietly.
Tatsuma clenched his fists. He should have been overjoyed to speak with him, but instead felt a surge of anger. That feeling used to be foreign to him, but now it had been plaguing him since Nobunobu uttered the words, "it's fine" after being shot.
"First off, you will call me Tatsuma. Second, you don't owe me anything! All you need ta do is live and fulfill your obligation as a leader! You keep on forgettin' what I told you! Back there you were ready ta give up so easily! I get it, you regret what you did, but l don't see how you plan on makin' up for it if you're dead! Death would be the easy way out for you. Now I know you're not a coward so stop actin' like one! I-"
Mutsu placed her hand on his arm to stop his rant, "This isn't the time."
"No, this is the perfect time, I have no choice but to listen now." Nobunobu said with a weak and raspy voice, "and it seems I'm incapable of learning anything unless Tatsuma is yelling it at me."
Tatsuma walked slowly towards the bedside. He recalled the alarming amount of blood on the floor and the bleeding bullet holes. The memory sent a frigid shiver up his spine. "Just get better, OK?"