Two in the Morning
By: Karasu Kyra
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
It's 2:00am.
Sasuke Uchiha looks at the clock on the wall of the hospital room, daring it to go faster. He watches as the second hand drags and drags, then clicks to the next second. What if Naruto was very sick? What if he was dying? He definitely looked sick on the car ride here, his face pale, coughing blood. What if it was some incurable cancer? What would Sasuke do without his blonde fiancé? He would probably lose the will to do anything; perhaps pine himself to death. Could you die of a broken heart?
It's 2:01am.
Sasuke rings his hands together, cursing the clock. He glances at the other people in the room: a small girl, curled in a chair, asleep, an older man who looked far too calm for one who was sitting in an Emergency Room. He looks at his shaking hands, ringing them together, over and over and over. He knows he's paler than normal, sitting under the fluorescent lights. He threads his fingers together, holding his hands firmly still.
It's 2:02am.
The raven-haired man is aware of every breath. He keeps having to force himself to breath, the instinct wiped from his panic-stricken mind. Breath in, breath out. Breath in, breathe out. Breath in, breath out. He keeps chanting the mantra in his head. He listens to the soft, long breaths of the sleeping girl, trying to pace himself to her. The girl shifts and her breath hitches. Sasuke stops breathing. He holds it, holds it, holds it, and he then exhales loudly, extracting a glance from the older man.
It's 2:03am.
Sasuke gets up and heads towards the free coffee. He picks up a styro-foam cup and places it on the counter, the reverberating sound filling the silence of the room. He picks up the pot of coffee, feeling the warmth on his shaky knuckles. He hears the slosh of the liquid as it first enters his cup, those few sounds bouncing around his mind. He puts the coffee pot back in the warmer with a clank, lifting the cup to his lips. He sips loudly, a glare coming from the other male occupant of the room. His feet sound dully on the carpeted floor as he takes his seat again.
It's 2:05am.
A doctor comes out and calls the older man's name, who starts shuffling towards the doctor. Sasuke watches the doctor intently, then listens to the news. "Sir, your daughter Ayame has a severe case of pneumonia. She'll be fine if we keep her here for a week or so, until she's out of the danger zone. Please, you can see her, but don't stay too long. She needs rest." So a loose body posture and tight face means moderate news. Sasuke cataloged that into his mind.
It's 2:07am.
A doctor appears again. "Sasuke Uchiha?"
Sasuke practically leaps from his seat, bounding to the doctor's side, all ideas of reading body language out the window. "Yes? Is it bad?"
"Well, he's got lung cancer..."
Sasuke's heart leaps into his throat, threatening to choke him. The room spins wildly and he has to put a hand on the wall to keep from meeting the floor. He looks back to the amber-eyed woman. "Is it bad?"
"Well," she began again, "we've caught it early, so it's treatable, but it's going to be expensive."
Sasuke gave a sigh of relief. Expensive he could deal with.
It's 2:10am.
Sasuke is following the blonde doctor, her nametag reading Tsunade Sannin. He follows Dr. Sannin into a room, the door slowly shutting behind them. There, on a bed, sits his blonde angel, hooked up to many noisy machines, pale and a little frightened. He watches Naruto's eyes light up at the sight of the Uchiha. Sasuke rushes to Naruto's side, clutching his hand.
It's 2:13am.
Sasuke is explaining to Naruto that everything will be all right, that he's all right, and that he'll be getting treatment. He holds the trembling blonde man in his arms through the tear-filled night. He breaks it to all of Naruto's friends. He takes all into his own hands.
It's 2:00am, seven months later.
Sasuke sits with his blonde who is half-asleep on their large bed. He listens to the tick of the clock on his wall, his mind drifting back to the frightening night in the hospital...