Again and again, I apologize for taking so long in updating. I just passed my thesis exam last week, so I'll try to be more scheduled and consistently updating this story. Thank you for all the reader who reviewed, subscribing for this story, and also subscribing for me as an author.
Last but not least, I want to thank my beta reader, Eternal Witch, for making this story becomes more beautiful and enriched =)
Nowaki kneeled, reaching out to the boy who was lying on the dusty ground. "Are you okay? Please hang on," Nowaki said as he pressed his palm on the boy's forehead. He silently prayed that this boy was okay, that it was just a normal fever due to fatigue…
But he felt like his hand was burnt above the boy's temple, and as Nowaki touched him on his shoulder and neck, he was so sure that the whole body's temperature was high. Nowaki believed this would lead to a more dangerous symptom. He gently opened up the eyelids of the boy that had been shut tightly with his fingers. He then looked closely to the boy's green emeralds before his thumb suddenly soaked with tears that streamed down from them.
"Tell me where it hurts." Nowaki instructed as calm as he could.
With the help of the Nowaki, Misaki sat up slowly and clenched his fist on his right ribs as he said, "I can't breathe…"
"Oh, God," Nowaki hissed and hugged the boy's shoulder. He shook his head as he fully realized that he and his patient wasn't in a hospital or emergency room, and so he decided to take the boy to the proper place.
He lifted Misaki's small frame off the ground easily. Carrying the boy on his shoulder, he dashed back to the building he got out from. He cocked his head to his left frustratingly when he saw the warden, whom he was previously talking to, blocking the entrance. He tried calling the warden to move, but he didn't know his name, and he couldn't salute him in any way in this emergency situation. He kept running towards the entrance, until the warden walked few steps from the door and behind him appeared a bigger man that was even slightly taller than him and whose bodily figure Nowaki had never seen before.
Nowaki stopped. He stood in front of the man and as polite as he could be, he said, "I'm sorry, Sir, but I have to treat him immediately. "
"Is something wrong with him?" A deep and sharp voice coming from the mysterious man. The taller figure walked out from the shadow inside the building to as he approachedNowaki. When the man stood two steps away from the entrance, the sunlight allowed Nowaki to have a better view of him.
He was, Nowaki guessed, at least 5 inches taller and his short blonde haircut gave Nowaki the exact image of a millitary member's face. He looked like a man in his mid forties or older with some wrinkles on his face, but Nowaki could see that in overall, his body was strong and well-built. He wore the same wardens' uniform, only which it had an overcoat and his hat had thin red line circling around a little flag-like emblem. Nowaki assumed that this person is in a higher position in the facility as he watched the other warden bowed at him and left. The man observed Nowaki with his sharp-looked gray eyes, waiting for a brief explanation over the situation that was just occurred.
But this isn't the time for crappy chit-chat, Nowaki thought.
"Yes, and with all respect, Sir, please let me head into the infirmary."
The man smiled and stepped aside. Nowaki could care less to anything that man would think of him and kept urging himself to think about any pulmonary's first aid treatment for the symptoms he just saw earlier. Steps taken like it were miles away from his workplace before he opened the infirmary's door and put the boy on the bed near the window. A person's stepping sound can be heard nearing the two.
"Keiko-san!" Nowaki called over his shoulder after he confirmed that it was his assistant. "Please check his vital signs!"
"Sensei, what happened to him?" A woman with a white uniform dashed blatantly to the intern doctor and gasped as she saw a sobbing teen on the bed. She hastily went away from the ward, but she came back in seconds, bringing a white wooden box. She grabbed a thermometer out and gave it to the intern doctor before she readied a lamp pen. "Sorry," Nowaki grunted as he undone the boy's uniform top and put the thermometer on his armpit.
"The patient's around 18, he is having pain on his right, from lower chest to the ribs, and-" Nowaki took off the thermometer and frowned. "Forty degree Celcius!"
"Should we give him a painkiller?" asked Keiko, giving the lamp pen to Nowaki.
"But there is an impression of pulmonary anomalies, and the fever might indicate an infection, so it's too risky." Nowaki illuminated each of the green eyes. He had to keep the boy's face steady to see if the pupil was dilated by the light, and he found that it was in a normal state.
"Sputum and blood sampling." Keiko mumbled to herself and she went away again to ready another tools.
"And stethoscope." Nowaki shouted while he put on the teen's clothes again, and curled the hem of the boy's uniform to prepare him for blood sampling before he realized 4 kanjis on the right side of his clothes.
"Takahashi… Misaki." Nowaki said in a low voice. By now Nowaki confirmed from Misaki's breathing rhythm that the teen had become calmer. "Takahashi-kun, can you hear me? Please tell me how you feel right now." Nowaki lowered his head so that he could hear what Misaki was saying. He wanted to know if there is another symptom like a tubular breathing that could be added to his diagnosis. (1)
"I… feel cold…" the boy said with crackish voice that wasn't normal.
From his voice, Nowaki could hear that he had bilateral coarse breath sounds, and he confirmed that the bronchovesicular breath sound was coming over the right lung. At least he isn't coughing blood, Nowaki thought.
"I'm really sorry but I have to force you to sit rather than lying." Nowaki helped the boy sit up, and moving the small body backward so that his back met the wall. "Now please cough to stabilize your lung." (2)
"I'm s-sorry… troubling you…" Misaki slurred between his cries and coughs, and his tears mixed up with sweats below his emerald eyes.
"Don't mind it, Takahashi-kun," Nowaki tapped Misaki's shoulder once "Do you feel better now?"
The boy nodded weakly. Nowaki waited for a moment until Misaki's breathing became more stable. He then made sure the boy sat in balance so he could sleep for a while before the check-up procedure continues.
Just when Nowaki was about to call the nurse, he turned around and gasped when he found another inmate standing near the ward's door. The young man bowed to Nowaki and came closer to him.
"Sumi Keiichi. I'm Misaki's roommate and I just heard the news," he said in a flat tone.
"Eh?" Nowaki's eyebrows lifted.
"And I'm here to give this," Sumi said as he showed a letter to Nowaki. "Misaki-kun had been wanting to show this to someone in the infirmary, and I guess that someone is you."
Nowaki saw a familiar name was written on the head of the envelope before Keiko entered the ward. He quickly grabbed the letter from Sumi and put it into his pocket, thinking that he'll read it later. Keiko was already beside Misaki, preparing the stethoscope and others, and Nowaki walked back beside her.
"Try contacting Usami Akihiko."
Nowaki's eyes widen in shock. Usami… Akihiko?
"Sensei!" Keiko called the intern doctor with an urge. Nowaki quickly stared to where Sumi was, but the teen were already gone.
It was a tiring process, Nowaki thought, while he wiped off sweats streaming from his temple. With the stethoscope still around his neck and a six millimeter tube full of red liquid beside a journal, Nowaki jotted down the prognosis of the symptoms that were found from the procedures of lung anomaly detections while his mind wandered in between the newly found facts.
"He's the only newcomer from Tokyo."
"He just came about two weeks ago."
"Akihiko's brother got stabbed by a teen."
"So young, he's only 18."
"'Takahashi Misaki'"
"Contact Usami Akihiko."
Contact Usami Akihiko, Nowaki echoed the thought and he suddenly remembered the four-eyed boy who gave him a letter. Though the identity of the boy piqued his curiousity, he chose to read the letter first.
He searched frantically in his pocket. When he found it he tore it open and saw tables, charts, and lines, and each part of that letter fastened his heartbeat. Every line indicating the status of Takahashi Misaki's lung held his breath, and the data about the boy stunned him. Even though he was a rookie doctor who had taken only few steps from zero in pulmonology, he could understand the result of these.
"God…" Nowaki shivered and covered his mouth.
In a second Nowaki flipped open his mobile phone and pressed a speed dial that would connect him to his lover. He was waiting after the fourth rang until the door of his office got opened and the tall supervisor he met earlier entered the room. He closed his phone in a rush and placed the letter to the nearest drawer.
"Good morning, and good job for treating the inmate," the man said. "I'm chief warden Kyouta Ryuusei."
"Good morning." Nowaki said as he stood up and bowed. "I'm Kusama Nowaki, the new intern doctor here for the next 6 months. Nice to meet you, Sir."
The chief warden signalled Nowaki to sit. He folded his arm and thoughtfully stepped to the front of Nowaki's desk. Nowaki was aware that Kyouta was looking onto his report curiously, so he slid the clipboard to give the chief the better view of it.
"If I'm correct, Takahashi Misaki is the inmate who attempted a homicide…" the chief explained as his index finger swept on the clipboard.
Bingo. Nowaki got excited silently so he had to put more effort to contain himself from bombarding the chief with thousands of questions.
But the chief said no more. He had one of his hands slipped into his pocket to brought out two little bottles of pills and tapped it twice on Nowaki's desk.
"Kusama-sensei… these pills," he said as his hand let go the bottles. "…were brought in by my subordinate. There's a report that the inmate you just treated was going to bring them inside."
Nowaki's jaw-dropped. He recognized right away the color of both pills before he grabbed one of the two bottles and read carefully what was written on the lable.
"Isoniazid…" Nowaki murmured, and he glanced to the other bottle sharply. "Rifampicin…"
Kyouta lifted his eyebrows, and Nowaki grunted maddeningly. "For God's sake, why did your subordinate take these away from the boy?"
"Of course it should be, it's the procedure," the chief said back, accusingly frowning to the intern doctor. "If the other inmates knew about this, they'd think that it's okay to bring up medicine and such. And so, the way for drugs to get inside will be widely opened."
"But these are not drugs! It's for his lung infection and stopping his antibiotic consumption means his immunity!"
"And isn't it logical to be on alert on something like this? The reason why I take these here is for you to make sure these aren't illegal drugs, then we'll give them back-"
Nowaki sighed out loud, cutting the chief abruptly.
"Enough of that procedure, I don't want to see this happening to other inmates anymore. And release that boy from the construction work. The place itself is worsening his condition."
A brief silence as Nowaki's blue cobalt eyes still fixedly directed to the chief's. He believed he said the last lines in a calm yet stern demeanor.
"Do not order me around, Kusama-sensei," the chief huffed in a low voice. "I've been the chief here for years and I know very well how the rule works. And I don't need a young man who's only an intern doctor to flank my position."
"And because I am the only doctor here who can help this boy, mind you, I have the right to request—not to order—to request that this boy should be freed from his current work at the site. If you're the boss here and you don't heed my warning, just imagine what would happen if one of your inmates died under your control."
That, and Kyouta steadied his pose before he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Very well, sensei. You win for now. Anything else you want to say?"
"I need every little detail about Takahashi Misaki: his crime records, personal contacts, and other medical information previously known, if any."
Kyouta lifted both his hand, suggesting that he wasn't interested to Nowaki's request. "Not much. As I said before, he attempted homicide, money theft, and rape-"
"Rape?" Nowaki asked, gape-mouthed.
A teenager with a serious disease stole money and raped Usami Akihiko's brother? Nowaki asked to himself silently. But to ask the chief warden questions about it wasn't a good option for Nowaki anymore; he had valued this institution and its people as 'unfriendly'. Thus, he determined himself to act more carefully from now on.
"How about his family?" Nowaki asked to change direction of the conversation.
"Takahashi refused to explain anymore than his own profile. He didn't want any of his acquintances to know he is here."
"But-"
"That's all, sensei." Kyouta brought an end to the conversation.
Unable to say anymore, Nowaki stared to the other man without fear because he deemed that his position and that man's position had no difference.
Chief Warden Kyouta, who felt the challenge from the cobalt blue eyes, decided to argue no more. A standard rule of every law institution required at least one medical specialist and a nurse as the guarantors of health. But having a full-fledged doctor is pretty much a money sink rather than the intern one, and Kyouta knew exactly how much he needed Nowaki to fill in the standard. He had to let the intern be; at least he had to make sure this banter wouldn't ruin his position and that old man's order. He had to, especially since Kyouta was aware that the intern has the chance to go home once every two weeks.
Both men broke the long silence; Nowaki got back to his report, and the chief warden calmly headed to the exit.
"Have a nice day, Kusama-sensei." Kyouta said bitterly as he opened the door. "Just don't be cocky on your work."
And Nowaki heard the door closing behind him. He thought no more of that man, and instead he reached his cellphone and replaced his attempt to call his lover by composing a text message.
After he sent one, he put his phone on the desk and rubbed his forehead while thinking over the newer fact he had found. He glanced to his own medical report about Takahashi Misaki. He had wrote there that he'd given the boy a sedative to put him in rest at least for the next 24 hours. He was grateful he did this because he needed to do more check-ups on the teen while he was unconscious.
He needed to confirm something. And by that, he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.
For what it may look like, the two men sitting at the corner of the café as a scowl meets calmness was truly an awkward scene. Coffee scent flew within the distance between those two, and notes and papers spread upon the table were the proof of their affair. None of them talked ever since 11am sun still shining above their head when they met.
The brunette heaved a sigh and said "Done it" as he put away a thin pile of papers from him and adds it to the mess near his glass. He took off his glasses and rubbed his temples frustratingly.
"It's such an honor to have my book edited by Mitsuhashi Literature Department's professor Kamijou Hiroki," said the other man while serenely watching people come and go on the street outside "That's the last chapter for now. Will give you more in the next two weeks."
"Really, Akihiko, when will you stop? Publish this already!" Hiroki stated as he compiled all the chapters. "If you wait again, you'll have more to write and you'll never get satisfied."
"I'm intending to release two books at a time."
"What? What about the second? Is it you diary?" mocked Hiroki. "Am I supposed to edit it too? If only you're not my childhood friend, I would have charge you some bucks."
"I trust you, Hiroki. You know why I couldn't ask anyone else."
"Yeah, yeah." Hiroki rolled his eyes. "Then, what's with the silly request for Mitsuhashi's paperwork? Are you planning to forcibly help someone enters the college?" Hiroki grabbed some papers out of a folder he brought while Akihiko slide his manuscript to near the edge the table. Akihiko received the papers and read thoroughly the name that was written in the middle of each paper.
"'Takahashi Misaki'. Correct. But you forgot to mention about the exchange-"
"Akihiko," Hiroki cut straight. "I know you'd do everything for him, but nepotism is the last thing you'd ever do. Why did you go to such length for his brother anyway? And why Mitsuhashi?"
"It's not mainly for Takahiro now." Hiroki furrowed, unsatisfied by the answer.
"Will explain later. I don't really believe you won't blabber anything when you meet Takahiro."
"Geez, this is all I got after things I've been through with my ass-boss and his boy toy to poke on the dean and have him signed this- Wait a minute! Takahiro's coming?"
"Yes, yes! I'm sorry I'm late!" Hiroki suddenly realized that the very man had entered the café and slapped his own mouth in shock.
Akihiko nodded and stared to Hiroki, who at the same time confused to why his friend didn't move to let Takahiro sit. He automatically thought that Akihiko would want Takahiro to sit beside him, to be closer to him, but…
"Good afternoon, Kamijou. It's been a while." Takahiro smiled before he offered his hand for a shake.
"Yeah… been a while…" Hiroki shook his hand and waved to the seat beside him. Takahiro thanked him and sit there.
"It's been, umm, 10 years since the last time I saw you, right? I heard from Usagi you are a lecturer in Mistsuhashi."
"Uh, hai." Hiroki gave an awkward smile. "How about you?"
"Just a simple clerk. Ahahah..."
Hiroki, for the umpteenth time, forced a smile upon his face. "Congrats for your marriage."
"Aah yes, I don't have any idea that I'd meet you here so I didn't bring the invitation. But make sure you'll come this weekend, okay? It's in Bunkaku Church. Usagi is coming too as my best man."
Hiroki questioned Takahiro without words: how much more would he be oblivious to Akihiko's feelings?
"Sure, I'll look up onto it." Hiroki gave his most respectful smile, and the situation went quiet again. Akihiko broke the uneasiness by clearing his throat and pointed out the papers Hiroki gave before. "Oh, and… congrats for your brother. He got in Mitsuhashi and currently proceeding for exchange program."
"Oh my…" Takahiro took some time to analyze the announcement on the papers Akihiko gave to him. Looking on it from the upper to the lower parts, the words confirmed that his brother got accepted in economic department of Mitsuhashi University. "This is an amazing news yet Misaki didn't tell this to me personally. Am I not his brother anymore?"
"He once called to your apartment last week but he said you didn't answer. He tried to reach your cell phone but it wasn't active."
Hiroki could sense the white lie his friend had just said; he knew Akihiko too long and too well.
"Oh, that! I was in Osaka last week and the phone service must be out. But he could have come here too. " (3)
And by that Hiroki confirmed that Akihiko might have been deceiving Takahiro by smooth talking, and Hiroki chose not to comment anything about it.
"I miss him. I bet he really wanted to be acknowledged as an adult now that he put much effort to aim for studying abroad. I guess I was an overprotective brother to him."
"He's just too busy, Takahiro. Even though we're under the same roof, we seldomly seen each other."
"Really? Well, Usagi, don't let him forget to take up his medicine and vitamins. Also, tell him not to push himself too much. He likes to pull an all-nighter and it'd make him asthmatic the next day."
"Just relax, everything is going well with him. " Akihiko smiled reassuringly.
"And remind him not to forget to attend his brother's wedding no matter how busy he is. Bring him with you, Usagi."
In between the two's conversation, Hiroki who was silent the entire time, busying himself with his phone. Just when he thought it was as boring as the other two's talk, the phone vibrated and a familiar name came up on the screen.
It was from Nowaki.
Hiroki was ready to ask permission to leave them for a while, but the call stopped at the 3rd vibe. He frowned over it and closed the phone intrusively. At the same time, Takahiro gasped, looking at his watch.
"It's already pass lunch time. I gotta go back to my office." Takahiro stood and nodded to Akihiko. "And Kamijou, make sure you come to the wedding. Bring your girlfriend too if you have."
Hiroki gaped while Takahiro chuckled at him before he walked further from their table.
"You have one, indeed, since 6 years ago." Akihiko randomly said while he wanked out a cigarette and lit the end of it.
"Cut the crap, Akihiko. Now tell me everything."
"It's simple." Akihiko said while he exhaled the smoke. "I'm in love with his brother."
"You what?" Hiroki forwarded his face but then he waited no more for his friend's answer. "Oh okay, okay, move on to the next question: why do I have to fake these papers and certificates?"
"Because of course, I can't tell him that his brother is actually in Kinenkan."
"Don't tell me… The one who tried to murder Haruhiko is…"
"He didn't, Hiroki. He was framed, I knew it, but I have no proof for now. And that's why I'm intending to do one more research."
"Why pour it down on a book? Can't you have your colleagues investigate this within police's territory? You've done a lot to them in the past."
"Sadly, Hiroki, that territory had been invaded by either Haruhiko or my father, I don't know. It'd take too long to confirm it. But one thing for sure, I have to help him, without even Takahiro ever know this."
"But don't you think that if you delayed everything, your father will eventually find you?"
Akihiko exhaled again, and put off the cigarette on the ashtray before him. "I'm already aware that he knows my whereabouts. But he doesn't think of me as a threat because I am constantly writing books."
BUZZ BUZZ
A new message arrived in Hiroki's mobile. Hiroki opened it and he found that it was sent by Nowaki.
"I remember now! Nowaki!" Hiroki yelped histerically, suddenly lifting his head away from his cellphone.
"What's with your lover?" Akihiko asked lazily.
"Nowaki is there. He's an intern there! But-" Instead of talking again, Hiroki stared back to the message for a second before he turned his cellphone screen to Akihiko to show Nowaki's message.
Soon after that, Akihiko rushed toward his red sports car while his hand holding tightly the car keys. He could see his own frown reflected on the car window before he got inside the car and turned it on. He was enraged, he was impatient, and he didn't think of anything but Misaki until a car honked for a long duration from behind. He realized he was actually drove brutally in a speed over 200 mph on a highway along the outskirt of Tokyo. He slowed down the car, and while he kept focusing on the road ahead, he mumbled a quiet and worrisome prayer to himself, non-stop.
As usual, don't forget to comment or review. :)
A/N: The medical terms and procedures here aren't exactly the same as in the real situation, but I'll try to explain it in more general language…
(1) Bronchovesicular: a medical term used when the doctor heard something weird when the patient's doing a deep respiration; as if there is thick fluid stuck in the middle of your chest, like sputum… aaaah I'm not so good at describing this in English, but I hope you get the bigger idea .
(2) Especially for patient who have fluid inside his lungs (might be caused by tuberculosis bacteria or others), coughing is one thing that can help the patient's lung to stabilize especially if they change position from sitting to lying completely or the reverse so they won't have much pain when breathing.
(3) This is based on my friend's statement. She lived in Japan, and she said most of the phone service is actually different for each city, and they don't use general SIM card. For example, if you bought a phone with the number in Tokyo, you can't use it in Osaka unless you buy the phone and the number of Osaka there... I didn't really research on what region groups the phone service differs though...
