Unexpected

"Fixable"

"Need something? You haven't eaten in awhile."

Zack smiled tiredly and ruffled Sora's hair. "Nah. I'm fine for now, Prince." The boy nodded and settled himself more comfortably on the bed beside Zack, taking a moment to pull the covers higher on the man's chest. Zack chuckled at this; Sora was a right mother hen when he was worried.

"Shush, you," he said as the laughter faded away, but the boy was smiling. He raised a hand and traced two fingers down the other's cheek. "I have to take care of you when you're all sick and stuff."

"Eh… just a bad day," said Zack, rubbing at his chest. "I'll be fine tomorrow."

"Maybe, but your heart will still be sick anyway."

Zack winced; it was true. The strain on his heart wouldn't go away like the strain on his body would. As if to back up this point, his chest gave a particular painful twinge, and he drew in a sharp breath. Sora jumped at this and leaned over to press his palm directly over the ache in the man's chest. The boy could feel the muscle beating harder and more quickly than it should have been, and his blue eyes lost some of their color.

After a moment, Zack shook his head and removed Sora's hand from his chest. "I'm okay," he said, though his voice held no real conviction.

"Uh huh." Sora glared at him with a sort of angry concern.

"Well, for now I am," he conceded, then grinned at his young lover. "Don't worry so much about it, Sora. I promise I'll be okay."

"Good…" He looked down for a moment, then smiled. "Cause I don't have a Keyblade that could help you."

Zack laughed at that, rubbing his chest subconsciously. "No, this time you'll have to let someone else be the hero."

"Darn," said Sora, but he was still smiling. "Sucks that I have to be replaced by pills." The teen shot a glance at the prescription bottle over his shoulder.

Zack was quiet and thoughtful a moment before speaking. "Actually, Prince… there's something I haven't told you yet."

Sora's head whipped around and stared horrorstruck down at Zack, who held up a hand quickly. "No, no, it's… well, not necessarily good, but not bad!" Sora didn't relax, only let his eyes relax so they weren't quite to wide with alarm. The older male smiled softly and stroked a hand down Sora's arm. "My heart… it's fixable."

"Fix…able?"

"Yes. I'll spare you the medical details that I don't even understand fully myself, but the condition I have is fairly common, mostly hereditary, actually. I was born with it. The doctors were surprised it took this long to show up."

"But… it's fixable?"

"Uh huh. All I need is surgery." This only made Sora more upset.

"So it's just going to take one teensy little open-heart surgery?" the boy demanded.

"No! Not even open-heart." Zack sat up and tugged Sora into his lap to calm him down. "It's heart surgery," he whispered, resting his head on Sora's shoulder. "So it's a pretty serious surgery. But they won't even have to crack open my ribs. Just four incisions: a camera, two wires, and a snipper tool."

Sora fidgeted around before settling. "Okay… so… what happens?"

"They cut me, go inside to play with my heart, then stitch me up and I'm all better."

"That's… that's all?"

Zack smiled when he heard the relieved wonder. "That's all. Won't even take two hours, and I'll never have this problem again. I'll have to take medicine, but… hey, I'll take it over having a busted heart any day."

It took a few moments for Sora to process all of this. When he did, though, it was almost like an explosion.

"Whoa!" Zack yelled as Sora spun in his lap and knocked him back onto the pillows. He couldn't tell if the boy was laughing, crying, screaming, or – yes, he was serious – meowing. He soon realized, however, that no matter what Sora was doing, it was a good reaction.

"Wow… just… wow." The boy groaned after a minute.

"You okay there, Prince?"

"Yes, I'm just… relieved."

"Good. Uhm… were you meowing?"

"Maybe. Lost control of my vocal cords."

"That relieved, huh?"

"Oh yes."

Zack started laughing, feeling the twinge in his chest that would soon be gone for good.

-end-

Sassy: Happy endings to crises are made of win. Just ask Sora the cat.

Leave a review?