Hit the road
Not noticing an injury
Shinichi and Heiji
ooO-Ooo
"Jeez, Hattori - don't tell me you actually like this song," Shinichi groaned when his friend turned up the volume of the radio, and an annoying pop song blared out of the speakers.
"Bite me, Kudou, it's catchy as hell."
Shinichi chuckled and searched for an opening to ease them into the heavy traffic on the highway to Nagano, where they would meet with Inspector Yamato Kansuke for a case. The drive would take a few hours, but the two young men had preferred the car over the train for the advantage of flexibility.
"Remind me again why they're sendin' us over there? Didn't ya tell me that Yamato-keiji is quite capable?" Heiji asked while he rummaged through his bag in search of some snacks.
"Because it's related to a case I worked last month and they hope that I can be of help," Shinichi explained. "And you are tagging along because you're trying to avoid Kazuha's wrath, although you pretend it is for 'bonding-matters'." He flashed Heiji a shit-eating grin.
"Come on! How was I supposed ta know that Kazuha hadn't told Ran-chan about tha pregnancy yet? And anyway – she didn't have ta be that mad about it."
Now, Shinichi outright laughed. "And they say I am dense."
"Yea sure, rub it in, why don't ya," Heiji grumbled, and took a huge bite out of the chocolate bar he had unwrapped.
"Please, keep in mind that this is a rental car – any chocolate stains on your seat are your own responsibility. I will not pay for any extra cleanings."
Heiji raised an eye-brow. "How do ya of all people get ta have a dad-mode? Is that a remnant of dealin' with tha detective boys? And I'm not a messy eater, thank ya very much."
Rolling his eyes, Shinichi opted to ignore Heiji for now, instead concentrated while he pulled onto the fast lane. Hopefully, the traffic would thin out soon - they had decided to drive through the night for a reason after all. Why were there so many people on the road? Had none of them ever heard of the importance of proper sleep?
"I think you'll get a lot of experience with the 'dad-mode' as soon as the baby is there." It was interesting to see how his friend had changed over the last few years. University, working with the PD, and his relationship with Kazuha had mellowed some of his edges, though he still was the same goofy, quick-witted idiot he'd always been – just with more of a sense of self-preservation.
"Are you nervous about it? You know… being a dad?"
"Terrified," Heiji shuddered. "Are they really goin' ta let us take tha baby home from tha hospital, just like that? I mean – ya have ta get a license for anyhtin' and everythin', but a baby doesn't even come with a manual. Who says we are goin'g ta be good parents? What if I screw up? Drop it or whatever?"
Shinichi smiled. "I guess just the fact that you're thinking about this stuff is worth a lot. You'll be doing great."
"Hmm… hope ya're right." And after a moment. "What about ya guys?"
"Not until Ran finishes her medical education, and I'm sure she'll want to work in her field for a while before taking a few years off, so, no rush."
"Yeah, well, did ya know- Whoa-!"
Heiji's shout was cut off by the crashing sound from metal against metal, and the whole car was violently shoved to the side as the truck next to them pulled onto their lane without noticing them.
"Fuck!" Shinichi floored the gas pedal to accelerate them out of the gap between truck and guardrail that became narrower by the second, sparks already flying where their car was scratching against the rail, the screeching sound ringing in their ears.
They barely made it, but the nose of the truck caught their tail and sent them spinning, pinballing between the barriers, before the car was completely off-balance and rolled over a few times, then came to a stop on its side.
ooOO-OOoo
The world came back to Shinichi in stages. First, there was only static in his ears, before he became aware of his harsh breathing that didn't seem to get enough air into his lungs, leaving him light-headed. Then, the black obscuring his vision transitioned over grey to blinding light that made him squint while he tried to get all the blurry outlines into focus. Lastly, he noticed that his body was tilted in an awkward angle, like hanging sideways? He couldn't get his thoughts into enough order to figure out why, though.
With a groan, he lifted his head a bit, still blinking to clear his eyes.
After a few seconds, he realized that what blinded him was an artificial light whose rays were catching on splintered glass above him, making the edges glow, the nightly sky as a backdrop.
Noise from outside was now registering, and the volume was deafening.
Voices shouting.
Honking horns.
Suddenly, adrenaline spiked through him as he remembered what had happened, and he frantically looked around to assess the situation, search for his friend. While Shinichi was hanging in his seat belt, Heiji lay on the passenger door. He was unconscious and under him, concrete was visible through the cracked, red tinted window.
Car crash.
Blood.
"Hattori?" Shinichi asked with a rough and small voice. When he didn't get an answer, panic rose inside him, but he forced it down with some difficulty, swallowing thicky. Something warm was running down the right side of his face, and he reached up to swipe it away before it could get into his eye. His hand came away smeared with red.
Okay – so he had a head wound as well, and now that he thought about it, his head hurt quite a bit, but aside from that he felt surprisingly fine. A few aches in his arms and legs, but after moving them carefully one by one, he was almost sure that nothing was broken.
The concerned face of a man with a basecap appeared at the burst window above him. "Hey – you okay in there?"
Shinichi just blankly stared at him for a moment. He wasn't serious, was he?
The man must have noticed the stupidity of his question himself, as he licked his lips nervously. "Right, well – the ambulance should be here any minute. So – hang on?"
What the-
"What the hell, man?" echoed a second male voice outside of Shinichi's field of view, and the man was pulled away. "Step aside, you've done enough damage falling asleep while driving!"
Oh, so that was the driver of the truck then? He didn't get a chance to follow that thought, as a new face peered in.
"Hey, my name is Iwasaki, I'm a doctor. Can you tell me your names?"
A direct, easy question. Shinichi's brain was still working slowly, but that much he could manage.
"Kudou Shinichi, and my friend is Hattori Heiji."
If Iwasaki recognized the names, he didn't show it, instead he tried to look around Shinichi to get a better view at Hattori. "Has he woken yet?"
"I- I don't know – not since I came to just now."
"Can you check his breathing?"
Nodding, Shinichi leaned over as far as possible, still not able to reach him, held back by his seat belt, but he could see Heiji's chest rising and falling faintly. No deep breaths by any means, but at least he was breathing at all.
He gulped around a lump in his throat, closing his eyes. 'It will be okay, he's alive, we'll both get out of this.'
He turned back to Iwasaki. "I think he's breathing okay – could- could be better though."
"Okay – I will try to open the door." He slipped out of his jacket and gave it to Shinichi. "Use that to cover you two – splinters or shards could rain down."
Shinichi took the jacket and spread it over Heiji and himself. Then he felt the car rock when Iwasaki yanked at the door. After a few tries, he gave up. "It must be dented too much, we have to wait for the fire-fighters to cut you out, I'm afraid. How are you feeling, Kudou-san? Does anything hurt aside from your head?" he asked, eyeing Shinichi's wound.
"Not really? A bit dizzy, some bruises and cuts on my arms and legs, but I think I'm fine. Please – Hattori – his wife is pregnant. Focus on him!"
At the thought of Kazuha and the baby, Shinichi's stomach turned. Heiji had to make it - he had to!
Iwasaki smiled reassuringly at him. "We will take care of both of you, alright? I can hear the sirens of the ambulance already; the fire-fighters shouldn't be far behind."
"Okay," Shinichi tried to take deep breaths to calm down. "Okay."
A few minutes later, he was holding the jacket over their heads again, while two fire-fighters were forcing the door open with a hydraulic cutter. They then had to cut him out of his seat belt to lift him out of the car. As soon as he was out, he turned back, refusing to let them take him to the waiting ambulance, the sirens of a second one already audible in a small distance and the lights flashing through the night.
"Hattori! He goes first, please - I can wait. I'm fine."
He didn't even notice that Iwasaki was standing next to him, observing him with a watchful eye. Shinichi's focus was completely on his friend, who was now being pulled out and placed on a stretcher. He was still unconscious and Shinichi balled his hands into fists, so hard that he almost drew blood.
He stared at the doors that closed behind the stretcher, and the ambulance with Heiji in it rushed off.
When finally the second ambulance arrived, Shinichi got in and they followed the first one to the hospital.
ooOO-OOoo
Shinichi sat on a chair next to Heiji's bed and anxiously waited for his friend to wake up. He had refused to leave him to let them run a complete check up on him. He wasn't in pain - not really. They had stitched-up and bandaged his head and some of the larger cuts, the rest had been cleaned and treated with band-aids. Only his head was still throbbing and the fuzzy feeling wouldn't leave, but it was nothing compared to Heiji, who looked so lifeless on the bed.
Why did this have to happen?
Shinichi lowered his head into his hands and exhaled heavily, when suddenly the door to the room flew open and he almost fell out of the chair with a surprised gasp.
"Heiji!"
Kazuha.
Oh God, she would hate him now - he drove the car, he should have reacted faster, better-
"Kudou-kun?"
He blinked, realized that he had panicked and spaced out for a bit. Now, Kazuha was already standing at Heiji's bed, holding his hand, and gave him a quizzical look.
"Are ya okay? Ya look awful. Shouldn't ya be in bed too?"
She was - concerned? Shinichi's mouth was dry, and he had to swallow a few times before he could answer her.
"Fine. I'm fine, I'm so sorry," he then began to babble, as everything finally caught up to him, overwhelmed him. Now, he was out of the chair, standing at the end of the bed with his hands clenched around the railing. He was shivering, and cold sweat broke out all over his skin.
"If I had realized it sooner, or hit the brakes instead of accelerating, maybe-"
"Stop, Kudou-kun, stop," she held up her unoccupied hand. "Tha police told me what happened, and ya did nothing wrong. If ya had braked, who knows - it could have been even worse, maybe caused a multiple crash. Like this, it was mostly dented metal aside from ya two. Of course it's awful that ya both got hurt, and I'm worried about Heiji, but tha doctor already told me that he will be okay, that his injuries aren't that bad. He suffered a concussion and a fractured skull, some bruising and a cracked wrist - but he will be okay." Her voice sounded a bit hoarse at the end.
Shinichi stared at her green eyes that shone with tears, but at the same time with absolute certainty, and what she had said slowly sank in.
Heiji would recover - it wasn't as bad as it seemed. Fractured skull sounded horrible, but was absolutely treatable. He would be okay.
Relief washed away the last traces of adrenalin and left him utterly spent. His vision blurred, and he had to tighten his grip on the bed when a wave of vertigo hit him, nausea welling up.
"Kudou-kun? Ya sure ya're alright? Ya're as pale as a ghost."
Kazuha's voice seemed to come from a distance through the buzzing in his head.
"I - I don't feel so good," he admitted feebly.
He was out before he even hit the floor.
ooOO-OOoo
Shinichi's eyes fluttered open, but everything was hazy, and the sounds around him were muffled. Not that there was much sound aside from some beeping and the rustling of bedsheets.
With a soft moan, he turned his head to the source of the rustling, because he hadn't to look to know that the beeping was caused by a heart-rate monitor.
"Hey - there ya are," sounded a familiar voice from the bed next to him. Heiji's smiling face came into focus were just had been a blurry blob a moment before.
He was propped up against his pillows and looked pallid and tired, but he was awake and aware and...
Why was he himself lying in a bed? He had been fine, hadn't he? Shinichi frowned as he tried to make sense of the situation, and get his brain to work properly.
"Don't force yarself, buddy, ya just woke after surgary. It's normal that ya're confused - they gave ya some good stuff, I'm sure. Take it easy, I'll fill ya in."
Surgary? For what? He carefully patted himself down with his left hand, the right one not really usable with an IV in it, and indeed, there were heavy bandages wrapped around his abdomen.
"Yar liver was ruptured from tha pressure of tha seat belt, and ya were bleedin' internally tha hole time. Not that much, but enough for ya ta conk out after a while. They guess ya didn't feel tha pain because of tha shock of tha accident and tha adrenaline that was flooding ya."
"Oh."
"Yes - 'Oh' is right. They told me ya didn't let them treat ya properly, ya Aho! What was that all about?"
"You have to ask? Isn't it obvious? You're going to be a dad - you can't- you are-"
"If ya're goin' ta say that my life is more important than yours, I promise I will sic Ran-chan on ya," Heiji interrupted him. "Who, by tha way, is in tha cafeteria with Kazuha. She's worried sick - did ya even think about that? About her?"
Shinichi averted his gaze. Of course, he had thought about Ran, he just hadn't seen the need to undergo all that fuss when he was feeling fine. Looking after Heiji had been more important.
Heiji sighed next to him.
"Okay - listen. Next time ya get hurt, ya let tha doctors do all their fancy little test before ya try ta take care of others, because let's face it - there will be a next time - and in turn, I will help ya ta placate yar girlfriend. Deal?"
Shinichi looked at his friend with a smirk, glad that they both could banter like this again.
"Deal."
