Disclaimer: I don't own the series, I just write fanfics for it.

This is supposed to make me feel better, but I just feel really tired.

Gii frowned at the latest text message from Takumi. The Saki heir was staying in the closest Saki residence to the hospital where Takumi was, not wanting to be too far away from his love over the summer. He was thankful his parents were letting him do this instead of making him get ready for university in the fall and/or start shadowing his father at the company.

It's a big thing your body is having to deal with. You should sleep as much as you like, ok?

He had to admit that he was worried. Shouldn't Takumi be feeling better instead of exhausted?

I'm sorry Gii, I'm just going to sleep a bit.

Rest well, love. We can text more later when you feel up to it.

The doctor poured over the charts, making notes on Takumi's current condition. The poor boy had bested the fever but now was facing some exhaustion. He wasn't too concerned, as there was a lot Takumi's body had to deal with right now. The exhaustion level was enough however to make him check some labs and give the boy a day of rest instead of starting the next infusion. The labs didn't show anything bothersome – which was a good sign – and it seemed that taking a break today and letting Takumi rest would be the best choice to move forward.

Putting everything back in the folder, the doctor went to the isolated room to inform his patient of the plan for the day.

Once in the room he realized that Takumi had decided himself it was a day of rest – the boy was laying comfortably on his side again, propped up with body pillows and with a cover tucked around his ill frame. The violinist was fast asleep and the monitors all showed that he was sleeping peacefully.

The doctor made a note to inform the nurses to keep things to a minimum for the day to let Takumi get as much rest as possible and dimmed the lights on his way back out to keep his patient comfortable.

The next day found Takumi feeling less exhausted and a bit readier to face the day. His position was adjusted to let him sit up a bit while the next infusion took place and the lap desk set up again with a book and his cell phone.

"There will be one more infusion after this one, if this continues to go as well as it has been," the doctor explained as the next round began to drip down the line into Takumi's body. "Once that one's complete we'll begin the process of gradually bringing you out of isolation. I have also looked over all the labs and the records I've been keeping during this and I think I'd like to take out your feeding tube and see if we can't start letting you eat normally again. You haven't had nausea during the infusions and I'd like to not keep the tube in there longer than necessary."

Takumi's eyes lit up at this. The tube was rather irritating and he hated that he hadn't been able to talk since the stupid thing had been put in, for the most part.

"Now I'm going to be frank in that removing the thing isn't going to be comfortable and I hope it won't stress you out too much. If you are ready, we can go ahead and see about removing it now?"

Takumi nodded slightly, eager to get the thing out of him. Sure, it had been helpful, but he was very ready to start feeling more normal and getting to eat normally again.

A nurse came in to assist and the tube was unhooked from the currently empty feed bag, the end capped off to keep it from dripping. She then retrieved a cup of water for Takumi to sip on when the tube was taken out.

"Alright Hayama-san, on the count of three I'd like you to cough, this will help with getting the tube out, alright? Ready? One – two – and cough!"

It was certainly not comfortable to have the tube being literally pulled from him, but oddly enough the coughs did help to move the tube along and within a matter of several long seconds it was out. Takumi kept coughing however, and the cup of water was pressed to his lips. It took a few sips and some coaxing from the medical staff to get himself settled again. He lay back against the pillows, it feeling a bit strange now to have the tube missing from his body.

"That was good, Hayama-san. We'll start you off with some simple broth later and stick with that for a while before going on to simple foods. Your stomach isn't used to solid things right now so we'll have to go slowly to help it readjust."

Takumi nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment since he hadn't used it in so long.

"And you can try to talk if you'd like. Go easy and if it hurts too much then stop. It's been a while and the tube has probably irritated some things so don't overdo it and push yourself too quickly."

"A-alright," Takumi rasped, wincing a little not from pain but from how hoarse he was sounding. More water was given to him to sip and he gratefully swallowed the cool water, letting it soothe his throat.

"Now just relax and rest while the infusion for today works into your body. I'd say hold off on phone conversations for a few days until your voice has recovered enough for light conversation. You can keep texting however. I'll have a nurse bring you some broth this evening and we'll try that for you for dinner tonight."

Takumi smiled at this and nodded his head in understanding and agreement. He wondered how Gii was going to react upon hearing his voice again – it had been too long since they'd been able to actually talk properly with one another and he dearly missed the sound of Gii's soothing tones.

He decided that he wouldn't let Gii know via text what had gone on – he'd surprise the other with his voice once he was cleared to talk a bit more.

Gii blinked in surprise when his cell phone rang. A couple days had passed since Takumi had texted him about the next infusion round going well and they had texted on and off since then. He didn't have a clue who could be calling – he wasn't expecting anything from anyone.

"Hello? This is Saki Giichi..."

"Hello, Gii..."

A/N: My sister was on a nasal feeding tube for some months in her younger years during a bad illness. She pretty much said when she was done with the feeding tube by taking it out herself! Yeah, she was a little headstrong as a kid...

Anyway, I've had re-awakened inspiration for this one so forget what I said previously about updates slowing down.