"Shot heard around the world"

Prologue

Ryoma and his group are at a party for the Tennis Hall of Fame, sepias all there to see Ryoma inducted. Ryoma and Sakuno have been dating. Ryoma plans on proposing to her at the after party. They're on their way to get into limo, sepias behind them. When it happens; Sakuno gets shot while protecting Ryoma from a crazed fan turned nasty, and tries to do him in, and Sakuno sees and protects him.

…

They were all sitting at the table together. The crowd was holding their breaths, waiting for the announcement that would induct the youngest tennis player in history into the Sports Hall of Fame. At one particular table, bated breathes were held to their lungs fullest intake. One small voice egging the announcement on.

Finally the tennis category came up; this was it the envelope was slit, and the presenter announced…

"And for the last, but not least, the category most of you have been looking forward to, The Tennis Category. We all know that these young men have worked hard for the chance to enter the Hall of Fame, but this young man has blown all his competitors away. It is my great honor to introduce to you…

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The lights flashed as cameras vied for Ryoma's attention. Everyone wanted to get the first, best shot of the newest member of the Sports Hall of Fame. Sakuno Ryoma's ever present supporter and girlfriend of 3 years tried hard not to blush as she and Ryoma were hurried to their awaiting limo, the camas flashes reflecting off the car and over the black expanse of a 9 mm handgun. Sakuno looked up into the face of the person holding the gun, it was pointing straight at Ryoma, who was wondering why Sakuno had stalled as she went to get into the enclosed space. Milliseconds went by like hours as Sakuno watched the finger tighten on the trigger. Sakuno turned around and threw herself towards Ryoma, with only the thought "I hope Ryoma's not hurt." The sound of the shot never registered in her mind. The last coherent thought she had was of Ryoma's scent and the feel of his cotton suit. Blackness engulfed her and Sakuno breathed out.

...

Chapter one

The smell of antiseptic and the sounds of heart monitors could be heard echoing down the Emergency Surgery ER. The old regulars sat outside the operating room door, the "surgery in progress" light shown bright red. No one said anything; subtle movements proving that the statues where indeed humans. Ryoma was sitting on the chair closet to the door. His ears were still ringing with the sound of the gun shot; the yells and screams of bystanders. The wailing of sirens as ambulances rushed to get Sakuno onto a stretcher and to the hospital. The police lights discoloring Sakuno's face as Ryoma got into the ambulance and they sped away.

Ryoma's breathing hitched as the scene once again flashed through his mind. Sakuno's beautiful pale face as she flung around pushing him back as the gun went off. The extra jolt that signaled the bullet entering Sakuno's back. She collapsed into his arms as Momo, Kaidoh, and Taka, who'd been his faithful bodyguards for the event, followed after the gunman successfully catching him and beating him to a pulp. Ryoma stayed rooted to the ground as Sakuno's breathing became labored. Oishi ran over and looked Sakuno over finding the bullet wound coursing out blood. Applying pressure with his hands Oishi yelled for an ambulance. Already security guards and police officers at the scene ran over to block the area off and handcuff the assailant.

The others noticed Ryoma's action, but couldn't think of anything to say that would be of help. Ryoma couldn't take it anymore, standing up he begun to pace; only about seven feet each way before turning. The old regulars watched. A bouncing in his pocket caught Ryoma's attention. Putting his hand into his pocket Ryoma lifted out a small, once light pink and gold, now red stained box. That did it, Ryoma slammed his hand onto the wall leaning as his head bowed down, his eyes became hot and blurry. The engagement ring box was clenched tightly in his grasp.

"Why her, she didn't have to move?" Ryoma gritted his teeth. The why empathized by a small thump of his fist against the wall, Tezuka came up to him and laid a hand onto Ryoma's stiff shoulder.

"She did it because she loves you. It was her choice, just like it was the gunman's choice to pull the trigger." Ryoma turned, showing them all, the pained look in his eyes. They'd never seen their friend so tormented.

"Then it's my entire fault. If she wasn't with me she never would have been hurt." Ryoma turned away.

"Don't say that, you don't know what would have happened. She's in there fighting, and you should believe in her." Eiji said. Ryoma felt like a fool all over; he just didn't want to lose her. The guilt of her protecting him was getting to him. They all knew he wasn't in the best state of mind; they were all worried about the "Little Sister of Seigaku."

Sakuno was an important person to all of them. She'd been there a time or two for all of them not counting all the tennis matches she'd showed up for to support them in Jr. High, High school, and Collage. She was a little sister to all of them. Expect Ryoma, whose heart she'd finally won in high school. They weren't sure what would happen, if Sakuno didn't recover. After awhile the group settled back into their seats. An hour went by before the light blinked and went out, signaling the end of the surgery. The doors opened revealing a man in his mid- 40s. His face was covered in wrinkles from years of the stressful job. The group stood as he came over to them.

"Are you the group that came in with the young lady?" At their grim nods, the doctor sighed. "To give the truth it was a hard process, the bullet lodged itself pretty near her lung and into the rib, breaking two of her front ribs. The lung was nipped as the bullet passed but it has been prepared, the bullet removed and her ribs bandaged." Here he paused rubbing his forehead as though a headache loomed. "She's very lucky lady, it appears a shard of the rib was lodged into her heart. It was safely removed, it'll heal but she'll have problems from time to time. She'll be very sore and tender, she shouldn't get to excited or put under stress of any kind. After a couple of weeks she'll be able to get around on her own, she needs to be watched carefully and brought into regulars to check her progress. Besides that she'll be fine." Relieved smiles and sighs resounded throughout the hall. The doctor smiled, and then remembered. "By the way is there a Ryo-kun here?"

Ryoma walked forward a bit. "I'm Ryoma." The doctor patted him on the shoulder.

"The little Miss was asking for you before she was put under. She was very confused and her words slurred, but she asked for you, saying your name several times. You've a very concerned fiancée waiting in recovery room 4-316. She'll be asleep, still the gas should ware off after an hour, and she'll need familiar faces when she wakes up." With that the doctor gave his goodbyes and headed to his next patent.

The group went straight for the elevators. They finally got one after waiting several minutes. When they arrived at floor 4, they asked where room 316 was. A small nurse directed them to Sakuno's room. The door was open as a nurse with a clipboard was adjusting the monitors hooked up to Sakuno. Sakuno lay in the bed; appearing dwarfed and very fragile as heart tags gushed out of the patient gown. A breathing tube was taped on her face, helping Sakuno's collapsed lung to breath. The nurse noticed the crowd but just left in silence. The group crowded around the bed, reminding her of Snow White's dwarfs, watching over their sleeping princess, except there were nine of them all tall and hot. Sakuno's heart beat sounded around the room. They all settled down to wait for her to awaken.

……

Sakuno watched as the gun faced her, the barrel and as the hole grew bigger, the grip of fear swallowed her into the incoming blackness of the gun. Sakuno screamed in her dream feeling she needed to run, but couldn't. A weight held her down; looking the lifeless, bleeding form of Ryoma looked back at her. Sakuno squeezed her eyes shut, feeling her heart pounding in her chest, the pain unbearable.

Sakuno came awake from the drug induced sleep, to the wild bleating of the heart monitor beside her. Her breathing was harsh, ragged and painful as she tried to breathe through her mouth, choking on the ventilator. As several people in pink nurses uniforms and an elderly man in green scrubs and white coat surrounded her bed. Sakuno was having a panic attacking, causing her not to be able to breath and for her heart to constrict causing the unbearable pain she'd felt in her dreams. Sakuno didn't know what was going on. Rushing flashes of the gunman, the gun barrel the feeling to protect Ryoma came at her fast. RYOMA!! Where was he, was he alright?

"Ry-chech-oma cletch- Ryoma?" Sakuno tried to yell only for it to sound like choked whispers; but the seemed to get the attention of one of the nurses, who turned to rush away. The doctor was calling for an anesthetic to calm her down. As the required needle and medication were retrieved, the nurse who disappeared reappeared again Ryoma with her. Sakuno reached for him, but the flurry of movement over her and the sedative began to confuse her. Ryoma seeing it grabbed her hand. He was placed up near her head and out of the doctors and nurses way, but Sakuno could still see him; just knowing that he was alright made Sakuno start to calm down.

After several minutes, Sakuno was calm and made comfortable in her bed. Ryoma having not left her side, sat down in a chair offered him, never letting go of her hand. When it was only them two, Sakuno saw something she never expected, small tears were in Ryoma's eyes as he looked at her. He was tensed and upset but he was alive and Sakuno couldn't believe the relief. Feeling like she needed to talk went to work her throat, just to remember the respirator was still in place. Instead she reached up to touch his face, feeling the hot as it hit her fingers. Ryoma turned his head and kissed the inside of her palm. He never showed this tender side to himself to anyone but Sakuno. Ryoma cupped her palm in one of his free hands looking back towards her face. They were still looking at each other when Eiji popped his head in. Technically he wasn't supposed to come in, but after their group had been rushed out when Sakuno's heart monitor when on alert, then for Ryoma to be retrieved moments later had worried all of them. Momo and Fuji were keeping a look out to see if anyone was coming, when they opened the door wider and announced their entrance. Sakuno was very happy to see them all, but she didn't seem to be able to show much, as her eyes tried to drupe closed. Sakuno dropped off to sleep moments later, the weariness getting the better of her. After all she'd lost a lot of blood from the wound and surgery.

……

They all sat quietly as the nurse they recognized, from when she'd gotten Ryoma earlier, came into check up on Sakuno. They thought she'd kick them out again, but she brought her finger to her lip in the universal 'stay quiet' signal. She then proceeded to act as though she couldn't see them, but she did close the curtain around the bed, as she checked the surgical incisions for any signs of problems, trying to give Sakuno some privacy. After she finished she turned to the group of young men.

"So is there anything I can get for you? You've all been hiding in here for the last hour." Apparently they weren't as sneaky as they thought they were, but then they'd never been really good at it anyway. Seeming to understand their thoughts she smiled saying. "I saw you from the security cameras at the nurse's station, don't worry I didn't say anything. I feel that when people are hurt they need people around them, I think it helps in the healing process." Feeling gratitude towards this mysterious nurse they asked her name. "Nurse Dove, nice to meet you." Her Japanese was very good, but from her looks and accent they could tell she wasn't native Japanese, probably American from the accent.

"How is she now?" Oishi asked, indicating Sakuno. She was still asleep, Ryoma sitting close to her. They were all lounged around on couches and chairs, two sitting on the widow seal. The room they were in was made for more than on guest, the couch able to pull out to make a bed for overnight guests. Having the forethought, since his uncle was a doctor, Oishi had requested a large room, knowing Ryoma wasn't in the mind to fill out papers, or answer questions.

Nurse Dove smiled a kind smile, "She's doing much better now. I think her panic attack was due to the fact she was worried about your friend over there, and not knowing what was going on." Acknowledgements of agreement and understanding were made after this statement.

"How long will she have to stay in the hospital?" Taka asked.

"Probably a month just for precautions sake." Then turning towards the door, she seemed to remember something. "I forgot to ask, but is she elementary teacher at Sieshun Gakuen Elementary School?" They were surprised when she asked, enough so that even Ryoma was brought out of his thoughts, he'd only been half listening.

"Yes she is how did you know?" He asked. Nurse Dove smiled deciding she had a few minutes she could spare to talk some more.

"She's my two nieces and my nephew's teacher I think. They all go or have gone to Seigaku elementary school." This statement confused them and she smiled. "You see my family moved here just before I started Collage, my family owns a large Logging Company back in the states, and we do most of our business here. So all but my eldest brother moved here to Japan, so my nieces and nephews have grown up here." Eiji was curious about her family, and wanted to ask her how many siblings she had seeing as he'd come from a large family himself. But he was beat to it, surprisingly by the quietest of their group, Tezuka.

"How many siblings do you have?" He asked in his quiet, stern sounding voice. This made them all wonder what was up, their stoic ex-bouchou was curious about a girl, thinking she'd be intimidated of him, or affronted by the personal question they turned to see her. She was smiling kindly, a softening coming into her eyes. She didn't seem bothered at all.

"I'm the youngest of seven. Well eight if you count my cousin who grew up with us, he might as well be an older brother." This flabbergasted them. You didn't often hear of families that size nowadays, and she didn't seem that old at all. She looked their age.

"How old are you?" Momo asked, getting hit by Kaidoh at the insinuative and intrusive question. Dove just laughed at the reprimanding Momo was getting.

"It's alright I don't mind. My friends often tell me I'm an open book when it comes to my life." She said taking up for Momo who looked embarrassed. "I'm going to be 24 in December." So she was their age. She was older than half of them, but she was just younger then Tezuka, Oishi, Inui and Fuji. She was Eiji was excited to find his age. They weren't sure why they were so interested about her, but it seemed to keep their worry for Sakuno at bay. They spent better part of an hour talking about themselves and asking Dove questions.

Note to all readers

This character is not based on me; I did use my code name though, because heck it's my story. I do with it what I will. Please read and review about how you think its going. Thanks for reading this chapter.

BlackDove of Blessings.