Lovino practically dragged himself to work the next morning. His limbs were so heavy he could hardly move, and he had no energy whatsoever. Finally he reached the shop and unlocked it, stepping inside. He coughed into a tissue, seeing with disgust the red staining it when he pulled away. Angrily he crumpled it up and tossed it into the dustbin along with all the other bloody tissues.

The bell on the door jingled and he looked up sleepily, only to see Antonio.

"Wow. You look horrible," Antonio remarked, taking in Lovino's pale, sallow complexion, the dark circles under his eyes, his hollow cheeks.

"Thanks," Lovino started to say sarcastically, but halfway through, he erupted into another coughing fit.

"Sor-" he coughed, "Moch-" He coughed some more.

"Hey, you… are you okay?" Antonio asked, his brow furrowing in concern.

"Yeah-" Lovino bent over the sink, retching. "-Fine-" Several drops of blood fell from his mouth and made loud plinks as they hit the metal sink. He stuck out a hand to tell Antonio not to come over, but it was too late; Antonio was already by his side, peering over Lovino's shoulder. His eyes widened when he saw what it was.

"Blood," he realized. "You're coughing up blood."

Lovino was too tired to even argue; he just stood there, bent over the sink, feeling blood drip off his bottom lip and pool in the sink.

"…come on….hospital…lets go…" Lovino couldn't make out what Antonio was saying; the words swirled around in his head until they dissolved and were replaced by static.

"…Lovi…can you hear me…Lovi…Lovi…Lovi…" The name stuck in Lovino's head and repeated over and over, grossly, and he felt sick, he couldn't stand it anymore, yet it continued, speeding up until it was just high-pitched gabbling 'LoviLoviLoviLoviLovi..'

Vaguely he felt his arm shoot out, and felt skin under it- he was pushing Antonio away- his legs were moving- he was running- blurred shots of lines of packets of coffee flew across his retinas and he realized he was in the storage room- the door shut behind him- there was a pain in his side: he had run into a shelf; he felt around, spots filling his vision, and tried to run again- he tripped over a broom and grabbed a nearby shelf for support- he felt it give under his hand and something cold- fear- constricted in his chest as he forced himself to look up at the shelf that was toppling onto him…

"Lovi!" Antonio yelled, and he rammed his shoulder into the door again, trying to force it open. Finally the lock busted and Antonio hurried into the room.

"Hello, yes, I need an ambulance," he gasped into his cellphone, staring warily at Lovino's limp form collapsed on the floor, a shelf crushing him. Several glass bottles had fallen from the shelf and broken on him, and he was covered in syrup and coffee beans and powder. Antonio gave them the address, and then he tossed his phone aside and scurried to Lovino's side. His muscles straining, he lifted up the shelf a little bit and, using his foot, he nudged Lovino out of the way before dropping the shelf back onto the floor with a large crash. He picked Lovino up gingerly, cradling him in his arms, his head lolling back against Antonio's forearm. All of a sudden, Lovino slowly lifted his head up, coughing, and Antonio realized he was still partly conscious.

"Lovi?" he said frantically, but Lovino just kept coughing, an amazing amount of blood spitting out of his mouth and all over himself and Antonio.

The door burst open and two people clad in yellow garb rushed in, carrying a stretcher between the two of them. Reluctantly, for he didn't want to let go of Lovino, Antonio placed him gently on the stretcher and followed close behind.

He entered the ambulance and while some of the emergency crew glanced at him warily, they did not make him leave. He stayed, silently watching, as they rolled Lovino onto his side, because he was beginning to choke on his own blood, as they placed on his face a plastic mask that pumped air into his nose and mouth because he couldn't breathe on his own, as they tubed nutrients into his veins…

Lovino dreamed he was kissing Antonio, who, for some reason, tasted like blood. He opened his mouth slightly, to let Antonio in, and there was a strange sensation inside of him… he couldn't breathe.. he opened his eyes in alarm, trying to pull back but couldn't, and all the air was flowing out of him- Antonio was literally taking his breath away… Lovino tried to breathe but there was only blood, filling his throat and lungs, he was drowning, suffocating…

"He's not breathing!" yelled one of the emergency crew, and another pressed on his chest, up and down, up and down. He wore the customary surgeon's mask over his face, but what made him stand out was the red fez perched jauntily on top of his head, contrasting greatly with his yellow fluorescent uniform. He looked sideways at Antonio as he did so, narrowing his eyes as if contemplating something. Finally he said, pulling his mask down to under his chin so that Antonio could see his whole face,

"You wanna do CPR?"

"H-Huh? Me?" Antonio pointed to himself doubtfully.

"Yeah, you just pinch his nose- lock your lips over his, like that, good job," the man commentated, watching Antonio. "Now put your hand on his chest, and push. Keep pushing and then letting go. Don't stop, even if you break a rib. Got it?"

Antonio nodded as best he could with his mouth on top of Lovino's, tasting blood. He closed his eyes, billowed his cheeks, and breathed as forcefully as he could. Lovino's chest lifted briefly; Antonio could feel it under his hand as he pushed. He breathed into Lovino again, encouraged, and his body jerked in response, one finger twitching slightly. Something gave under his palm and Antonio realized it was a rib, maybe two. He tried pushing again and all of a sudden, Lovino coughed- startled, Antonio pulled back as Lovino attempted to sit up, coughing wildly, spewing out blood mixed with phlegm.

"Shit, Lovi, you alright?!" Antonio gasped, but Lovino didn't answer, just fell back down onto the stretcher after he finished coughing and resumed his unconscious state.

"Nice job," said the emergency crew man, nodding impressively. "You got a little something.." the man tapped his jaw beneath his lower lip. Antonio wiped his mouth with the back of the hand, but only succeeded in smearing the spot of Lovino's blood. The man pulled an expression of friendly indifference.

"Ah well," he lamented jovially. He leaned against the wall of the ambulance, crossing his legs. Carefully he took off his fez, dusted it off, and replaced it on his dark hair. Antonio could hear the radio playing faintly in the front, and the man tapped his foot absentmindedly to the beat. Antonio would have thought him a bit rude to be enjoying himself, considering that they were in an ambulance beside an unconscious man who was obviously very ill, but the man seemed so good-spirited and amiable that Antonio couldn't find it in him to be mad.

"How are you so..?" he trailed off, worrying that he might have offended the man, for he looked up, blinked, surprise showing in his raised eyebrows and slightly opened mouth, but Antonio's fears were assuaged when he burst into laughter.

"Why am I so.." the man waved his hand in a circular fashion, fishing for the right word, "..lax, you mean?"

Antonio nodded apprehensively.

"Well, I suppose… it's just the job, I guess. I see many people everyday, with their guts spilling out, or a bullet hole in their neck, or twelve stab wounds… you just get used to it. And your friend here," he nodded towards Lovino on the stretcher, "doesn't seem to be too bad compared to what I've seen before, praise Allah." He raised his eyes upward momentarily, as if he were speaking to Allah up in heaven directly.

The ambulance stopped abruptly and the man flashed Antonio a reassuring grin before pulling his mask back up over his face, unlatching the back hatch of the ambulance and lowering it into a ramp, which he then rolled Lovino's stretcher down and onto the asphalt, another crew worker at the other end. He said to Antonio something that sounded like,

"This is my favorite part," and Antonio wondered what that meant, but then the two men started running, barging into the hospital and making such sharp turns around hallways and passages that Antonio worried that Lovino would get tossed off. However, they all made it to the emergency unit in one piece, and one nurse was courteous enough to pull out a chair for Antonio in the corner before rushing over to the stretcher and immediately getting lost in the crowd of nurses and doctors surrounding Lovino.

Antonio sat and watched, as the doctors and nurses yelled out terms and abbreviations that he didn't know or understand, as new ones came and left, bringing or taking away various tools and utensils, as they connected tubes and needles up to Lovino. He watched them until his eyes hurt, because it was all he could do: sit and watch, as the many white coats and blue uniforms blurred into one big white fuzz surrounding the stretcher. Sometimes, when one of them moved away, Antonio was able to see a bit of Lovino for a second: an arm; his shirt, cut open so the doctors could access his chest (Antonio knew Lovino would be furious by the loss of a shirt when he woke up, and the thought of Lovino waking up cheered him up slightly), his soft, messy hair, before another doctor or nurse replaced the spot and Lovino was lost to Antonio once again.