Chapter 4:

"Friendship"

Nanjiroh's pov---

I feel like crying.

I feel like crying again; I can't help it. Every time that I look at my son, my eyes swell with tears. But I can't let him see me like this. I have to be strong. I have to be strong for him.

I still can't quite believe what the doctor told us. I want it to be wrong. I want the doctor to come back into the room and to tell us that he showed us someone else's radiography.

After he explained all of his injuries, he told us that Ryoma had fallen in a slight coma. Apparently the severe traumas he suffered caused him to fall into the coma. 'Nothing to worry about,' He said. It's not his son who's lying in a bed! 'He'll probably wake up tomorrow, in the afternoon,' I hope he does... If he doesn't, I don't know what I'll do.

I turn to my right and watch Rinko sleep on the uncomfortable sofa of the room. Her cheeks are still streaked with tears and she's clutching the blanket that covers her. It's been more then five hours since we arrived to the hospital and I'm already sick of it. I hear my watch make a sound and I notice that it's one o'clock of the morning; Ryoma hasn't woken up yet.

I sent Ryoma's friends home. They didn't want to go, but their parents must have been worried, and I don't want anyone to experience that feeling the way I have, the way I still am.

They know that he is in a slight coma, but I think no one's told them about the paraplegia. I gave the doctor permission to tell them because I think that Ryoma would want them to know, even if he denies it at the beginning and gets angry with me when he wakes up. I thought about telling them myself, but I didn't know how. I don't know how I'm going to say it to my own son. How am I going to say to my son that he can't walk again?! That he can't run again? That he can't play tennis anymore?! I know he doesn't say it, but he likes tennis more than anything else; what am I going to do?

I don't want a good-for-nothing doctor to tell him this. He's just a child. Even though he acts all cocky and sure of himself, he is just a child. However, I'm not sure that I'm strong enough to break the news to him. I don't know what to say or how to act... Parents aren't supposed to tell things like this to their children.

I release a shuddering breath and I run my hand through my hair. I notice that I didn't even comb my hair on my way out. I didn't shave, but I actually I don't even do it regularly and Ryoma hates that; he's told me before. He's embarrassed of me, I think. He doesn't want to be seen with me most of the time. He takes after Rinko on that part; he always dresses nicely and makes sure that he looks perfect before going out. He thinks that no one notices, but I do. I'm glad he's that way.

Maybe I'll start dressing nicer, for him. I can't keep being immature forever; Ryoma is going to need his parents and his friends. He's going to need a lot of support to steady himself again. I'm aware of that, and I won't leave him alone.

I won't forget the first glance that I took at him when we were allowed to see him. I remember thinking that he seemed to be asleep. But then again, Ryoma never sleeps that way; he's messy, like me, and he always has his covers all over the floor while he rests on his belly. Sometimes Rinko gets up in the middle of the night to cover him.

This time, however, he is lying still...too still. His bed is raised in one part to accommodate him better and he's covered up to his waist. He has an IV started, one of those weird machines attached to his index finger that allows us to hear the rhythm of his heartbeats, and he's also wearing a breathing mask. Rinko hurried to his side and took his left hand, the right one was in a cast, and started crying again.

The only time that he had been in a hospital was when he was born. I still remember that day; he was all red and fussy with his cone-shaped head covered with a thin layer of hair, but he was the most beautiful baby in the whole world. At least, that's what he looked like to me. The moment I held him for the first time was the most significant moment of my life. That precious instant, in which his cat-like eyes focused on mine, was the happiest moment of my life.

After that day, I couldn't recall a single thing that filled me up as he did. That little baby was part of me and I knew that he had great things in stored for him; that strong stare couldn't be there for nothing.

I clenched my fist in front of me and I directed my sight to his still form lying on the bed. 'He still has many things to prove, great things to do,' I thought as I sat on the edge of the bed and rested my palm against his cheek, 'I'll make sure you meet them, Ryoma, I'll always be beside you'

end of Nanjiroh's pov---


A couple of hours later, a group of boys were getting changed inside the clubroom of Seishun Gakuen; everything seemed normal. Except it wasn't.

Everything was too quiet; there was a heavy feeling surrounding the regulars of the tennis club. They were missing one of their own. They felt...incomplete.

Flashback

All of them, along with Ryoma's cousin, were waiting outside room 601. The head nurse had told them that that would be Ryoma's room but he wasn't there. Eiji had opened the door and the bed had been empty. They stood outside, waiting for someone to bring him.

Suddenly, they heard the doors of the elevator opening and a doctor came out from it. Behind him, two male nurses were rolling a stretcher and one of them was also carrying a bag over his head that contained clear liquid. All of them noticed that they were coming in their direction.

Fuji approached them while the others remained where they were. When he took a glance towards the figure lying on the stretcher, he opened his eyes and drew a sharp breath; it was Ryoma.

When the little group reached the room, they all had the opportunity to see him. They noticed that the bag of liquid was attached to Ryoma's arm by a needle and that the other nurse was holding a breathing mask to his mouth and nose. He was very pale and he looked thinner and worn out. His eyes were closed.

The doctor didn't say anything to them and they all remained silent, too shocked to do anything but stare. He opened the door and stepped inside, the nurses, along with Ryoma, following him. They all looked at each other and nodded and, as one, they went through the door.

They watched as the first nurse put the bag in a stand and lower the bars of the bed...

'Why is there no noise?' 'Why is this happening?' '...Why...?'

The doctor started a breathing machine and changed Ryoma's current mask for the new one with extreme care. He then gave a sign to the second nurse, who took their friend's small body into his arms and lowered him onto the bed.

The nurses stepped out of the room and the doctor attached something to Ryoma's index finger. He turned on another machine and immediately they all could hear Ryoma's heartbeats.

At last, he turned to look at them and he gave them a kind smile, "Your friend Ryoma-kun here is very brave and very strong. He fought very well today and so he's here, breathing with us." He turned back around and covered Ryoma with a thin sheet.

"He is in a very light coma and he will probably wake up tomorrow;" He looked at them in the eyes and touched Kaidoh's arm in reassurance, "Now it's your turn to be strong and be there for him. He'll need you"

With those words, he left the room.


Some time later they saw Ryoma's parents open the door and, at Tezuka's sign, they stood up and left the room. It was right to leave them alone. His mother seemed very tense and she appeared to have been crying. His father looked very serious and stiff. Somehow, that didn't comfort them. They didn't have time to dwell on those thoughts as the first doctor they had seen when they had come to the hospital approached them.

"Hello. I don't remember if I have introduced myself before but I'm Doctor Shibahime. I'm Ryoma-kun's doctor" He greeted in a professional voice,

"Please, follow me. I want to speak with you"


He led them to an empty room and sat on the bed. He waited for them to enter and gestured for Inui to close the door. Once they were all inside, he sighed and directed his stare towards them. He gave them a pained smile and lowered his head. When he raised his head, he seemed to be collected again.

"Ryoma-kun's father, Echizen-san, told me to inform you of Ryoma's injuries. I have to tell you that he is in a very bad shape. We had to operate him because he was internally bleeding, he had four broken ribs, and his right wrist was broken, just as his left leg was. But that's not all..." The doctor paused for a few moments, seeming to try and collect himself, "Oh my...this is harder than I thought." He ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes.

Inui was furiously scribbling notes, the scratching noises of the pen against the paper filling the small room. They all had serious expressions on their faces.

"Ryoma-kun suffered a severe injury to his spinal column and his spinal cord was also affected. This is in his back," He quickly added after seeing Taka's confused face. He then directed his sight towards Momo's backpack and took a deep breath.

"I understand that all of you play tennis?"

"Yes, we're the regulars of Seishun Gakuen. Echizen is one of us." Tezuka answered.

"You see, Ryoma-kun...I mean, your friend, he won't be able to play anymore."

That single phrase got everyone's attention; all of them looked up and started asking for explanations and Inui even stopped writing.

"Ryoma-kun injured his back in the accident. I'm sorry, there was nothing we could do about it, and this injury has caused him paraplegia—"

He was cut off when all of them jumped at the sound of Inui's notebook falling to the floor, the sound of the pen rolling kept going until it reached the edge of the bed. "Paraplegia…you mean..." Inui began with wide eyes, "That can't be..."

"What's that nyah?" Eiji asked Fuji with a scared look on his face. Fuji ignored him and opened his eyes to look at the doctor with great intensity. Tezuka had his eyes wide open as well, with a quite disbelieving look on his face.

"What's the matter?" Momo asked.

"Paraplegia," The doctor continued, "Is a condition in which the lower part of a person's body is paralyzed. In this case, it's Ryoma-kun's legs and he won't be able to move them. I'm sorry."

"You're lying!!" Momo yelled, "That's not true!!" He lunged at the doctor, but Kaidoh was fast enough to hold him back, even though he had the same expression as his rival. "You're lying!!! Let me go mamushi!! Let me go!! That's not true!!" He started thrashing his arms and legs, but the other didn't let go. In a strange act of friendship from his part, Kaidoh hugged him instead.

"I'm deeply sorry to tell you this and there wasn't anything we could do. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"Let me go! Please, let me go!" Momo had stopped thrashing and was now half-heartedly hitting Kaidoh's back, "It's not true! It's my fault! I shouldn't have yelled!" He started sobbing, "Eiji-senpai! I didn't mean it! I didn't want for any of this to happen! I swear! It's my fault! We were on our way for me to apologize!" He leaned into the hug and started sobbing harder; he didn't care that it was his 'enemy'. Kaidoh, still shaken himself, patted his back and tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.

Oishi was holding Eiji who was crying openly. Fuji and Taka were looking at Momo with glistening eyes. Inui was staring at the floor and Tezuka had his hand covering his mouth, his eyes still wide open.

The doctor felt bad for seeing them like this, but it was his job. He hated giving bad news. 'Why do these things have to happen? To someone so young...'

All of them glanced up when the doctor started talking again. "Ryoma-kun is going to need his friends, so please, be strong. He's going to have to come to terms with this and it's not easy; he won't be able to do it alone. Please, be there for him, and I promise that everything will be all right" He gave them a smile and stepped out of the room, leaving eight boys to ponder on his words...

End flashback


While they were running, all the regulars were thinking the same thing, thinking about Ryoma and about in how little time lives can be changed and about how we take everything for granted when, the next moment, it may not be there. They had all agreed to go to the hospital after school. Ryoma would probably wake up that day and they wanted to be there for him,

When the practice was over and they were preparing to go to class, Fuji said quietly, with unshed tears in his eyes, "It hurt to see him like that, didn't it? I guess we're not just team mates, right? There's something else that keeps us together…right?"

"Yes. It's friendship."


Leave reviews! I hope you all liked it! I almost cried while I was writing it ...