Sorry this update is late...
These past few weeks have been interesting, and things don't seem to be getting too much brighter at the moment, so I've decided it's best for me to update once per week instead of every three days for a bit.
I'm sorry, but apparently some things are more important that fanfiction (I know, crazy, right?).
~Ace
To Viktor's dismay, Yuuri opted for option two.
Two weeks after their conversation about how to proceed, nothing had been done about the men who had hurt Yuuri, and nothing would be done going forward. Yuuri didn't want all of his friends and family to know. He didn't want his fans to know. He didn't want random strangers who had never heard his name to know. He didn't want anyone else to know.
Viktor silently bit his tongue when Yuuri told him he wanted to keep his name out of the news at all costs. Yurio yelled. He didn't yell at Yuuri, but he certainly yelled in his general direction. He stopped when Yuuri started crying, tearing up a bit himself.
"I'm sorry, I'm just mad." Yurio seethed at his own behaviour. "They shouldn't get away with it." And he huffed off, heading to wherever Otabek was.
"We should get going soon." Viktor wrapped his arms around Yuuri, who nodded and wiped the tears away. He knew Yurio wasn't trying to hurt him, he was just angry. He wanted justice. Yuuri wanted that to, but if the cost was exposing what had happened to him… he thought that price might be a bit too high.
Forty five minutes later, Yuuri and Viktor were in the waiting room at the clinic again, ready for Yuuri's second follow up with Dr. Tanaka. As soon as they'd taken a seat in the crowded waiting room, Yuuri had latched onto Viktor's hand and cast his gaze down, staring at his own knees as his leg bounced up and down.
"It's okay." Viktor whispered after a few moments of silence, pulling Yuuri into a firm embrace. "You haven't been dizzy or had headaches at all these past two weeks?"
Yuuri shook his head, leaning closer to Viktor. His strong arms held Yuuri tighter, squeezing away the panic that had been slowly rising.
"Well then she'll clear you." Viktor found serenity in the fact that he was finally able to run his fingers through Yuuri's hair again without him flinching.
"Katsuki?" The word that allowed the couple to leave the waiting room echoed to their ears. They rose, followed the nurse, and waited for Dr. Tanaka.
"Hello, how are you feeling today, Mr. Katsuki?" Dr. Tanaka's smile did little to ease the tension in the room.
Much better, thank you.
"I'm glad!" She plopped down at her computer after nodding a greeting to Viktor.
"So, any dizzy spells, unexplained headaches, nausea, confusion, or blurry vision since we last saw each other?"
"No." Viktor voiced as Yuuri shook his head.
"Great!" Dr. Tanaka smiled as she typed up her notes. "Nod and shake your head as fast as you can." Yuuri followed the instructions, feeling rather ridiculous as he did so. "Anything?"
Yuuri shook his head, gentler this time.
"Well then you're cleared. I know it's annoying to come all the way here for that, but better safe than sorry, right?"
"Of course." Viktor smiled, willing to do anything, absolutely anything, to make sure Yuuri was safe and healthy. "So is he able to return to skating?"
"Yes, but not at the level you may be thinking." Dr. Tanaka sighed. "You will definitely be able to compete this season, but ease yourself back into it. Don't try to throw a quad your first day back on the ice. And if you feel tired, sore, dizzy, anything I previously mentioned, get off the ice and sit down immediately."
Understood.
"Good, if you start showing symptoms consistently again, give me a call and we'll figure out what's going on."
"We will." Viktor gladly took Yuuri's extended hand as they headed for the door.
"Oh, before you leave!"
"Yes?" Viktor and Yuuri turned around curiously as they paused at the door.
"Has there been any progress with your speech at all?"
Yuuri shook his head, sadly. He was beginning to forget what his voice sounded like. That was scary. To not know his own voice. Something that had been in his ears for as long as he could remember. It was like forgetting his own face. Or how to do a single loop. It just shouldn't happen.
"You may want to consider seeing a speech therapist. A psychologist might also do you some good."
"We will look into it." Viktor nodded. "Thank you."
"Good luck!"
"You don't have to do anything you don't want to." Viktor assured after the door closed, seeing Yuuri's slightly widened eyes. "We can look into it, and decide once we have more information."
Yuuri nodded, leaning on Viktor as they left the office.
"Can you set aside a few hours for Yuuri and me?" Yuuri listened to Viktor's side of his conversation with Yakov durring the ride home, leaning on Viktor's shoulder, eyes drifting open and shut with the twists and sways of the car.
"Thank you, we'll see you tomorrow." Viktor hung up and smiled down at his sleepy fiancé. Neither of them had gotten much sleep, nightmares having plagued Yuuri's mind nearly the entire night. Viktor had woken up to whimpers, kicks, tears, and screams all night, not minding at all until the morning came and he actually had to get out of bed and do things. "Yakov set aside some time in the afternoon for us tomorrow. Just us."
Yuuri nodded, his exhaustion taking hold of his mind and not releasing it.
"Sleep." Viktor whispered the unneeded command into the top of Yuuri's head. Moments later, Yuuri's breathing evened out, forcing Viktor to very willingly carry him inside when they arrived home.
Rather than go all the way upstairs, Viktor let Yuuri down on the couch, arranging them so Yuuri's head was in his lap. Makka curled up at Viktor's feet, falling asleep himself in less than five minutes. Viktor just stared into space, mindlessly running his fingers through Yuuri's hair as he slept, peacefully. It could have been minutes or hours later when the front door opened and the rest of the current residents of the house came in.
Viktor turned to the door as quickly and gently as possible, holding a finger to his lips and gesturing to the sleeping Yuuri in his lap.
"How'd the appointment go?" Yurio asked as soon as his skating bag was discarded to the floor.
"He's cleared, we're going to the rink tomorrow." Viktor smiled as the trio came into the living room. Otabek lowered himself into an armchair, dragging a blushing but grinning Yurio by the waist to sit in his lap. Phichit plopped himself on the floor next to Makka, immediately gaining a blanket made of poodle.
"That's great!" Phichit's whisper was possibly the loudest whisper Viktor had ever heard, although that could have been because he was hypersensitive to sounds when Yuuri was sleeping. Especially now, when it had been so long since he'd slept soundly for more than a couple of hours.
"You guys had a hell of a night." Yurio observed the sleeping Yuuri and the bags under Viktor's eyes.
"Yeah, nightmares again." Viktor rubbed at his eyes, only succeeding in increasing the desire to keep them closed.
"We heard." Otabek nodded.
"Sorry." Viktor cringed, feeling horrible for inviting their friends to stay only to keep them awake at night.
"It's cool." Phichit grinned as he scratched Makka's head. "Nothing you can do about it."
"Unfortunately." Viktor sighed.
"Hey," Yurio snapped, "we'll figure it out."
Viktor nodded and smiled at the angry Russian boy, loving how mature he suddenly was, but hating how they'd come to that point. Viktor found himself agreeing with Yurio much more frequently than ever before. "We will." He nodded. "We will."