TW: lying, shock, wasted food/refusal to eat, implied suicide note, ongoing panic/anxiety attacks, crying, constant mentions to death and suicide, disbelief in others, yelling, hospital setting (I.V.s, monitors, constant noises, pretending for children, stomach pumping, confirmed overdose and seizures, past eating habits (binge eating to not eating enough), confirmed purging/bulimia, cutting, confirmed suicide attempt, and a mother's hurt.
As soon as Mrs. Tachibana hung up on the call with Matsuoka Rin using her son's phone, Mr. Tachibana already had the twins in the back seat of the car.
"Mommy! Daddy! Where are we going?" The twins cried out. Their mother was frantic, searching for whatever higher power there is knows what. Their father was frighteningly quiet. Onii-chan hadn't come home either. Where was he?
Mr. Tachibana got into the driver's seat, his hands trembling. He was still in shock over what his wife had told him. But just how could he explain this predicament to two ten-year-old kids, his children nonetheless? He breathed shakily. "Makoto is in the... Hospital right now, and we're going to see him."
Ran and Ren stared at each other. Onii-chan was in the hospital? That must mean he's very sick. They started to think of what to give him to get better. Ran waved her arms, "ooh"-ing like a monkey.
"Can we buy Onii-chan chocolate as a get better gift? "
"Yeah, we should do that! Then he'll feel so much better and leave the hospital early!" Ren agreed. The twins chattered about how they would present their gift to Makoto when Mr. Tachibana raised his hand to shush them.
"It's very thoughtful of you both to want to buy Makoto a gift... But it won't necessarily work. Besides, I don't think we're allowed to bring him anything, anyway," he said rather regretfully. The twins sighed in disappointment. It wasn't fair in their minds; they had the right to give Onii-chan presents because he deserves them all the time. Mr. Tachibana honked the horn once and called out to his wife. "Hurry up, please!"
Mrs. Tachibana heard her husband; she was just searching her son's room. She couldn't find much out of place. All she found were folded pieces of paper with writing and Band-aid wrappers. She had a feeling she needed to read what was written on the paper but at the moment she had no time to do so. In the car, she'll do it. Suddenly, an odd smell attacked her olfactory sense. It smelled like... Fried rice? And curry? Mrs. Tachibana followed her nose and tried to sort through the trash in Makoto's garbage bin. She felt something cold but not completely solid. She pulled back and realized it was food.
It was food.
Suddenly, it made sense. Her eldest son could eat a lot, but he hadn't been for the past few days. Of course the meals would be completely eaten and leave the plates sparkly clean. She covered her face in utter disgust and shame. Not because of Makoto but herself. It was because he didn't eat that the plates were so clean. How could she have been so stupid? Hearing her husband blast the car horn again, she ran out of Makoto's room, grabbed her purse, and sat in the passenger seat. The Tachibanas drove off to the hospital.
She forgot to read the paper.
They burst through the hospital doors, each parent holding the hand of one twin. Ran and Ren let go, however, once they spotted the small group of swimmers they also knew as Onii-chan's friends. They almost collapsed onto Haruka's lap when Butterfly-nii-chan and Rin-nii-chan held them back. They would've started to complain, but they took a second look at the raven-haired teen currently curled up into a ball. Haruka was in no state to be touched, the twins figured from a second glance.
Mr. and Mrs. Tachibana went to triage, already erratic with fear of what could be said to them. "Is there a Tachibana Makoto here? We're his parents," Mr. Tachibana said calmly. His voice still shook though. The nurse scrolled through her computer screen and nodded.
"Yes, there is. I would like the two of you to wait with those young men there," she stated and pointed in the direction of the swimmers and the twins. Mrs. Tachibana's breath hitched.
"I... I don't think you understand. This is my son. You can't possibly expect me to wait here when he could be dying at this very moment!" Without her realizing, her voice had risen and the entire waiting area was staring at her. Even Haruka, his oceanic eyes glassy, red, and wet. The triage nurse sighed.
"Ma'am, I completely understand how you're feeling right now, but the doctors have made your son their first priority. They tagged him red," she said sympathetically. "However, once the patient is stable, I will notify the family first. Is that alright?" Exhausted, Mr. and Mrs. Tachibana nodded. They walked over and sat down beside the twins, Haruka, and the others.
"Mommy, what does it mean to be tagged red?" Ren asked, his head tilting to the side. Mrs. Tachibana breathed deeply. She didn't want to explain that a red bracelet meant that the patient was in critical condition and would die without immediate care.
"It means that your brother is very, very sick right now and the doctors have to do their best to make him better before we can see him," her husband came up with before she could piece together coherent sentences. Ran crawled onto her father's lap.
"So if we go see him too soon, we'll get sick like Onii-chan?" she asked. The tallest of the swimmers (Yamazaki-kun, the parents believed he was) grimaced and looked away before it could be noticed by the children.
"... It's not the kind of sick you're thinking about, Ran," Mr. Tachibana whispered, brushing the girl's bangs away from her face. He wondered if he even knew what kind of sick Makoto was. Mrs. Tachibana turned to her right, facing the curled up ball that is Haruka.
"Haru," she said firmly. She needed more answers. She wanted confirmation. That's what she made herself believe.
Really, she didn't want to believe what Rin was implying to over the phone.
Haruka slowly lifted his head again. (He didn't even realize he let it drop against his knees.) His vision was foggy and he could just make out the familiar face of Makoto's mother. It didn't make him feel warm inside like it usually did, though. Maybe that's why he didn't understand what she said to him- that makes no sense
God, his thoughts were so messed up. Fucking idiot.
"Huh?" Haruka managed to squeak out.
"Haru," Mrs. Tachibana repeated. Oh, so that's what she said. "What happened? Why is Makoto in the hospital?"
Before Haruka could even begin to process the waytoolong sentence spoken to him, Rin blurted out angrily, "I told you over the phone! Did you not believe me?"
"You could be wrong," Mrs. Tachibana almost growled, completely unlike her usual demeanor. Instead of motherly and caring, she was almost cold and distrustful. Rin sputtered in shock. Exactly how could he be wrong right now? He was there when it happened, not her!
"'S just what Rin said," Haruka murmured. He couldn't speak that well. The shock of Makoto (that's it, just Makoto) really got to him. Never in a billion years would he have ever thought such a thing could happen to his childhood best friend that he loved and cared for so much. Especially if the person who caused it was Makoto himself.
Mrs. Tachibana sighed through her nose. Maybe the doctors will tell her the truth. Haruka may know her son better than anyone in the world, but that didn't mean he was always right. He was wrong about this. He just was.
About ten more minutes passed by before a doctor walked up to the worried parents and confused twins.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Kinoshita. Are you Tachibana Makoto's family?" he whispered softly. Mr. Tachibana nodded. Finally. The doctor chewed the inside of his cheek before speaking again. "Follow me, but... Just be prepared for what we have to say and what you might see." Even though it was in a hushed tone, the anxiety skyrocketed among the adults and adolescents. Ran and Ren still had no idea. Nagisa and Rin began to follow the family when the doctor held up his hand, stopping them in their tracks. "I'm sorry, only family as of right now. I will inform you when you can see the patient, though." Disappointed but understanding, the group of teens stayed behind.
The Tachibanas walked passed multiple rooms with patients. Some appeared okay and awake, others were asleep for varying reasons. Ran and Ren tightened their grips on their parents' larger hands. They didn't like this place. Too many sick people in one place. It's a good thing Onii-chan won't have to stay here too long.
Finally, the doctor brought them to a room a bit more separated from the others. Makoto laid on the bed inside, asleep, with a tube wrapped around his face. More tubes were in his arms and they led to bags of fluids on a pole. A monitor beeped constantly beside his bed. There was another doctor, as well as a nurse, surrounding him. Mrs. Tachibana gasped and let go of Ren's hand. She walked up to Makoto's side, gently placing her palm on her son's broad shoulder as if he would break with too much pressure.
He probably would.
"Makoto..." she whispered. Mr. Tachibana turned to the doctor already in the room.
"What happened?" She looked down.
"Your son had two seizures before arriving at the hospital and another before we could begin to pump his stomach-" Mrs. Tachibana shushed Ran's quiet "What's a seizure?" "- to try to reverse the effects of the overdose."
"Overdose?" Mr. Tachibana muttered. "What do you mean by overdose?" The nurse behind the doctor grabbed Makoto's bag from the chair against the wall. She pulled out the empty bottle, yellow container, and a box of laxatives. Mrs. Tachibana's breath caught in her throat.
That was her bottle of painkillers. Why did Makoto have them and... Why was it...
No, she surely doesn't mean that...
Yes, she does. Rin and Haruka were right.
"What are those?" Ren asked, pointing to the yellow container. The nurse smiled at him.
"They're stress relievers. Your big brother took too many and got very sick. He did the same with these pills," she said, showing him the bottle and box. "Don't worry, though. We were able to save him and make him much better. All we have to do right now is wait for him to wake up. Now, the doctors need to talk to your parents privately so if you'll just follow me, we can play a game!" The twins cheered quietly as to not disturb Makoto from his slumber. Once the nurse left with the children, leaving behind the bag, the doctors faced the parents solemnly.
"You both understand that this was no mere accident, correct?" Slowly and almost unsure of themselves, both parents nodded. The first doctor they met continued. "We need to ask a few questions about your son. Has he been acting strangely lately? As in, change in appetite or mood?"
"He hasn't been eating the way he used to," Mrs. Tachibana started. "He started to binge eat a lot the past few months, but the past couple of weeks, it's tapered off to almost nothing. And his mood..."
"He's been holing himself up in his room or the bathroom constantly. He's done this before though," Mr. Tachibana answered. However, he sounded so unconfident with his response it was a wonder that he even opened his mouth in the first place. Both doctors nodded and the second medical professional grabbed Makoto's bag and began to rummage through it. "Excuse me, what are you doing? Stop invading our son's privacy al-!"
He was cut off by the doctor holding a fork. It was a large fork. A fork Mrs. Tachibana recognized instantly.
"I... I thought I lost that thing over a year ago. Why is it..."
"Makoto's throat was very raw when our paramedics intubated him. We could only surmise that your son has been purging his food. The fork," Dr. Kinoshita continued, "may have been used because he had suppressed his gag reflex after months of vomiting. Ma'am?" Mrs. Tachibana almost collapsed in the chair. The room started to spin as she tried to process the doctors' words.
Purging. For months, perhaps even years. Did that make Makoto, her angelic son, the perfect child, a- what was it again?- bulimic? He overdosed as well and the doctors' muffled voices mentioned something about cutting. He almost died and he wanted that.
Suicidal. That's what it was.
Mrs. Tachibana hated when her children got sick. It always meant sour moods or bad days as they weren't allowed to play outside. But she would gladly prefer Makoto come down with influenza if it meant she could replace whatever sickness her eldest had, a sickness she couldn't heal with a kiss and a hug.