Mikado was utterly exhausted when he got home, he knew that he probably shouldn't stay at his apartment anymore now that Aoba knew where he lived but the teen was just too tired to care.

He entered the apartment, he'd managed to go to the grocery store and pick up Izaya's cake despite everything. He set the bags down on the kitchen counter and pulled out his phone.

This is strange, Izaya would have usually rung me by now. The teen thought, looking up at the time and then back at his phone. It was pretty late at night and while Izaya hadn't said he'd be able to come home tonight, Mikado assumed he would seeming it was his birthday tomorrow.

The teen hesitated slightly before calling Izaya. I'm positive he had something to do with what happened to today but I'm not going to ignore him. I'll just call him and see what he's doing. He decided pressing call on the informant's number.

He probably just got caught up in work again. Mikado thought, his gut churned and for one reason or another, he knew that something was seriously wrong. He listened to the phone before it rang out and went to voice mail.

Okay, nothing to worry about. I'm sure he's just busy. Mikado told himself but as he rang again and again but his lover didn't pick up which was something that hadn't happened in the entire year they'd been dating and the teen knew something was seriously wrong.

Worry ate at him as he restlessly paced around the apartment trying to ring his lover again and again to no avail. All of his exhaustion disappeared, quickly replaced with worry and unease.

No, where is he? Why isn't he answering!?

"Calm down." Mikado shook his head and commanded himself. "Maybe something happened to his phone." He said with a forced chuckle.

If I go to sleep, he'll be here when I wake up and then we'll celebrate his birthday – just me and him. Mikado convinced himself and set off to go to bed.

But of course, it could never be something so simple.

Mikado was woken up out of his uneasy and restless half-sleep by his phone ringing. The teen bolted up in bed before doubling over in pain with a loud groan.

Ow! Ow! Ow! Damn, the painkillers must have worn off…what time is it? The teen thought, squinting at the alarm clock to see it was twelve o'clock. Ugh, what the hell? I've only been asleep for fifteen minutes! He grabbed the phone and answered it, not even looking at the contact.

"Hello?" he asked sounding every bit sleepy as he felt.

"Oh Hello. Is this Ryugamine Mikado-san?" a woman's voice asked, bright and clear.

"Yes. Who's this?" the teen rubbed his eyes and tried to force himself to wake up.

"My name is Hasane Sara, I'm a nurse at Tsuragaya Hospital. I have a patient here named Orihara Izaya-san who says you are his emergency contact?"

"Oh no." Mikado felt the blood drain from his face. "I am…is he okay? What happened?" he asked suddenly wide awake, fear pulsing through his body.

"Orihara-san was attacked with a knife in the street yesterday evening. He is in a stable condition and is doing well."

"Oh god, so he's okay?" Mikado climbed out of bed, ignoring the pain of his body to go into the lounge room to find his laptop. Opening it up, he searched for the hospital the nurse had mention finding out it was in Gunma-ken – almost three hours away from Ikebukuro.

The next train was in an hour.

"Yes, he is okay." The nurse replied. "But he will have to stay here for a few days."

"I see. Well, I live in Ikebukuro so it will take me a few hours to get there but can you tell him I'm on my way?" the teen said standing up.

"Of course. If you can bring some of Orihara-san's belongings such as a change of clothes that would be most appreciated. I would like to apologise that we are contacting you so late, you aren't listed as his emergency contact. We were only able to call you once Orihara-san gave us your details." The nurse sounded truly apologetic and Mikado shook his head.

"It's okay, I understand." He said with a strained smile, his heart beating too loudly in his chest. "Please contact me if there is any change in his condition."

"Of course. Thank you Ryugamine-san." The nurse said and Mikado replied.

"I should be the one thanking you."

An eerie calm came over Mikado, his mind was in utter chaos and his heart hurt but he moved like a robot, efficient and fast. It didn't take long for him to get dressed, pack a bag of Izaya's clothing and medical supplies, down some painkillers and head off to the train station.

The midnight air was freezing as Mikado hurried through the streets of Ikebukuro which was alive with nightlife. He'd put on an overcoat knowing it would be cold but even that didn't do much to shield his sore body from the cold air. His staggering breaths became white clouds and his nose was red and numb by the time he reached the station. He quickly descended the stairs and brought a ticket for the bullet train.

As he sat down on the rather empty train things seemed to finally catch up with him.

Izaya...god, he was stabbed! How did this happen? He's Orihara Izaya…he's so strong, I always thought he'd be perfectly fine no matter what happened! I can't believe I was sleeping while Izaya is in the hospital!

The nurse said he is okay but how am I supposed to believe that? I won't be able to calm down unless I see him myself. That idiot, what was he doing? Mikado buried his face in his hand, his eyes burning with tears.

Halfway through the journey Mikado forced himself out of his seat and to the bathroom. Redressing his wounds in a train bathroom probably wouldn't be the most hygienic thing but once he reached Izaya, he didn't want have to worry about something so trivial.

He carefully removed his jacket and shirt, placing them on the closed toilet seat. Surprisingly the toilet was rather clean to his relief. The teen removed his already soiled bandages around his knuckles, carefully peeling away the gauze which tore off a bit of the dried blood.

"Tsk." Mikado winced as he rinsed his hands under the tap before smearing them with the antiseptic cream Shinra had given him, redressing them with a relieved sigh. Most of his injuries just needed a bit of antiseptic and the ones covered with would closure strips were meant to be left alone until they fell off themselves.

The teen pulled on his shirt and coat before sitting down on the toilet and pulling off his jeans to repeat the entire process on his legs which were covered in cuts and grazes. Once he was done, he put all his old bloody bandages and gauze in the sanitary bin before carefully washing his hands of any left traces of blood before packing everything back in his bag and returning to his seat.

His stomach grumbled as he looked out the window and he realised that he hadn't eaten anything yesterday, the last meal he'd had was dinner two days ago. The teen leaned back in his seat and set his alarm for an hour before closing his eyes in an attempt to get some rest.

The train conductor's announcement made the teen open his eyes, he'd never actually been able to get asleep. He'd turned off his alarm when it went off deeming it useless.

"Sakimachi station. We are now arriving at Sakimachi station. Please ensure that you have all your belongings before exiting the train." A male voice told him over the loudspeaker. The teen stood up and grabbed his bag, making sure he had everything before leaving the train and stepping out onto the cold train platform, into the early morning darkness.

Mikado's heart beat quickly in his chest, making it harder to breathe as he walked to the hospital where Izaya was. He was nervous, scared. He knew that the nurse had said that Izaya was fine but nonetheless, Mikado was scared. He loved Izaya so much, just the thought of something happening to him made his stomach churn.

Mikado had always thought Izaya was invincible, the man's abilities were beyond that of a normal human, no one could fly through the skies like Izaya could or use a knife so skilfully – no one was as extraordinary as Izaya and yet, someone had hurt him badly enough to send him to hospital.

Mikado looked up at the hospital before him, it was three in the morning now so the streets were all but deserted but the hospital was busy. The teen walked through the front door, he'd forgotten to ask what floor and section Izaya was in. He walked up to the main desk and asked the lady who looked at him rather suspiciously.

"He's in the general ward on floor eight. There are some police officers in the reception area that might want to see you before you go in." the nurse said and Mikado nodded, thanking her with a polite bow.

Police officers huh? I guess that's only normal considering it was an attack. But what do I say if they ask me who might want to hurt Izaya? I mean, half of Tokyo hates his guts! He thought, getting on the elevator and pressing the button for the eighth floor.

But if I know Izaya then he wouldn't have told the police anything. So I'll just say I don't know, that seems like the safest option. They'll probably ask me about my injuries too – I'll just tell them the truth, I got beaten up by some street thugs.

The elevator chimed as it reached the eighth floor and Mikado stepped out into the brightly lit waiting room. The nurse at the front desk hadn't told him the room number because she'd been so suspicious.

I'll have to ask someone else…he approached the nursing station, a young nurse in her twenties stopped when she noticed him. "Excuse me, can I help you?" she asked and Mikado nodded.

"Uh, I'm here to see Orihara Izaya." He explained, his grip on his duffle bag tightening.

"Oh! Are you Ryugamine Mikado?" the nurse asked with and smile and the teen nodded once again. "Excellent, I'm Hasane Sara, the one who spoke to you on the phone."

Mikado's eyes widened and bowed deeply. "Thank you so much. I was so worried about him when he didn't answer my calls!" the teen exclaimed, his voice breaking slightly as tears burned his eyes. If she hadn't called him then god knows when Mikado would have found out what happened.

"That's perfectly fine. Follow me, I'll lead you to him. I'm just glad we were able to ask Orihara-san if he wanted us to call anyone else. We tried calling his parents but they're in America, his sisters answered but they were…" the nurse struggled to find the words as she pushed open and door and led Mikado down the corridor. "…unfriendly?" she finished uncertainly.

"Ah…yeah, he doesn't have a great relationship with his immediate family," Mikado explained quietly as the nurse stopped outside of a closed door. Mikado could read the nameplate and he knew that Izaya had inside.

"Oh, I see. Orihara-san was asleep when I last checked up on him." The nurse explained quietly opening the door to the room. "My shift is ending in five minutes but there will be another nurse coming to check on him. If Orihara-san seems in need of help, he has a control with some buttons. The yellow one is for assistance and the red for emergencies." The nurse explained and Mikado nodded and bowed once more.

"Thank you so much," he said stepping into the room. It was a small room made for a single person, dim lights from outside shone through the windows on the far wall and in the middle of the room was a hospital bed with Izaya inside.

Mikado approached the bed slowly, dropping his bag on the ground as he came to a stop at the side of Izaya's bed.

And then he burst into tears.

"Izaya…" he sobbed and carefully took the man's hand in his as he sat down next to him. The man looked deathly pale, almost blending in with the white sheets he was laying on, his eyes were closed but there were dark circles right around them. He looked so fragile and Mikado never, ever seen him like that.

He didn't even think it was possible. In his mind, Izaya was some unbeatable, untouchable, invincible force…but now as he laid there before Mikado in a hospital bed looking closer to death than the teen thought imaginable – he realised something.

Izaya was just like him, in the end, the man he loved more than anything….

…was merely human.

TO BE CONTINUED

I'm back! The surgery was a success (yay!) I'm still recovering but everything is going well :)

Review Replies:

Bloody Rose 16: That's true, Mikado is a smart boy after all. We'll have to wait and see!

Guest: Same, it was an amazing moment! I felt the same but Mikado needs him functional!

I love it too, he's like a cat playing with mice for fun. I enjoy writing him a little more dark and sadistic than he is in canon.

Well, that's what Mikado assumes. Mikado is much too loyal to Izaya to be even tempted by Aoba. You'll have to wait and see!

That we will!

Thank you so much! Everything went well and I'm recovering slowly :)