Rhythm of Life

Chapter Fifty-One

Cross groaned and pulled his pillow over his head when he heard his cell phone go off. He wanted to ignore the damn thing, but it kept on ringing, interrupting his sleep. It seemed only minutes ago he and Tiedoll had finally got to bed.

"Marion, it's your phone," Tiedoll mumbled, placing his foot on his lover's leg and gave him a nudge.

"I hear it, Froi," Cross said groggily as he reached over to his nightstand and fumbled around on the top until he grabbed it.

"Hello?"

"Is this Marion Cross?" The person on the other end asked. Cross's eyes flew open when he realized it was the hospital calling.

"Yes this is. Has anything changed with the boys?" he quickly inquired as he swung his legs off the bed, his feet hitting the floor as his heart pounded frantically in his chest, afraid of what distressing news the nurse bored.

"I'm sorry to have wakened you so early but yes it has. I also need to contact Mr. Tiedoll and wondered if you might know where I could reach him?" the nurse asked.

"Yes, I do, he's here with me," Cross replied, not giving a damn what the nurse thought about his comment.

"Thank goodness. Could the both of you please come to the hospital as soon as you can?" The urgency in the nurse's voice sent a shiver down his spine.

Tiedoll had sat up, wide awake, and listened to Cross talk with the nurse on the phone. The moment his partner had turned to look at him he saw the distressed look written on his face. Kanda's foster father's stomach took a nose dive into a pit of fear as Cross shut his cell phone off while still looking at him.

"We have to go to the hospital as quickly as we can. There were some complications this morning and both boy's took a turn for the worse, so they want us there just in…in case…they don't pull through," Cross choked trying to keep his voice steady for Tiedoll's sake—he had to remain composed. His partner's mouth dropped open and his face turned pale white as he sprinted into the bathroom.

Cross rushed in immediately when he heard him vomiting and squatted next to him by the toilet. He rubbed his partner's back to sooth him, but damn he couldn't think of a single word that would ease his lover's mind. It was meaningless to tell him things were going to be all right when he himself didn't know.

Silently, he helped Tiedoll off the floor and walked him over to the sink where he wetted a facecloth for him to clean up. When Tiedoll had finished, Cross placed his hands on his partner's shoulder's, who looked up at him in the mirror. The skin around Tiedoll's eyes was swollen and puffy and he gave Cross a pained stare and sighed heavily. Cross turned him around and hugged him closely, letting his actions speak where there were no words, only his love.

"Let's get dressed," Cross urged. They walked out of the bathroom and got dress quickly. Shortly, they were in the entryway where Cross picked up the keys to his car and they left the house. On the ride to the hospital, Tiedoll's stomach wouldn't stop the wrenched twist of pain as it gnarled forcibly inside. Whatever had happened to his son he needed to be there by his side if anything should...Tiedoll dropped the thought immediately. His son would pull through this.

Arriving at the hospital they walked swiftly into the building and took the elevator to the fifth floor, room five-fifteen, where they had left the boys earlier that morning. When they walked past the nurse's station, the morning nurse greeted them and told them to go ahead into the room, she would notify the doctor.

Upon entering the room, everything seemed the same as it had only a few hours ago. The sound of the equipment worked noisily along with a device that beeped continuously, but if they were reading the boy's monitors correctly then both of them had considerably low blood pressures along with very low pulse rates. When Cross glanced over at Allen he noticed his charge's bandage on his forehead where blood had seeped through the gauze and needed to be redressed.

The doctor was informed about Allen's and Kanda's parent's arrival. He nodded his acknowledgement and finished his instructions to the nurse on duty about the patient before he left to meet with them. The boy's doctor entered the room and greeted their father's before he began to explain what had happened since they last spoke.

"At morning rounds the nurse reported both boys' vital signs had dropped. For Kanda, he developed a high fever from a bacterial infection at the incision site where we removed the piece of metal. The fever has added extra stress to his body putting him into an acutely critical condition. I've put him on a bacterium medication that hasn't taken affect at this point, but I fully believe it will with time," the doctor explained collectedly. A nurse walked into the room during their briefing to change the bandage on Allen's forehead and tugged on the curtain to surround him for privacy. Neither Cross nor Tiedoll wanted to interrupt the doctor and allowed him to continue on.

"Allen's head wounds had been seeping blood continuously after you had left and the nurse called me immediately. By the time I got here Allen was hemorrhaging and we immediately took him back in for emergency surgery to repair a blood vessel that had ruptured. He lost more blood so we needed to do a blood transfusion. With the previous trauma to his body and the extra loss of blood has put him into shock. All I can tell you both right now is with the added stress to their bodies, they're holding on," the doctor finished. He had watched the two men pale while he informed them of their son's conditions which was to be expected under the circumstances.

"Is there anything else you can do?" Cross asked solemnly as he glanced over at Kanda.

"We're doing all we can for them. You need to remember that these two boys' have sustained serious injuries, both internal as well as external. I felt the two of you should be here incase anything else went downhill quickly. Of course, I'll be back later this evening to check in on them unless something else happens in the interim. The twenty-four hour window period hasn't expired, so don't give up hope just yet. We still could see some improvement by evening," the doctor said. Anger had started to slowly rise inside of Cross where his partner was trying to let the news sink in. The doctor shook both adult's hands and started to leave the room when Cross stopped him.

"Oh, doctor, do you know anything about the condition of the young man who was driving the car our son's were in?" Cross asked. He needed to know if Alma was in as serious condition as their boy's. The kid deserved to suffer like Kanda and Allen were.

"I'm sorry to say he's in intensive care with a serious head injury, multiple severe facial lacerations, broken ribs and has some internal damage…he's in a coma on life support. His outlook seems bleak, but we have had people with similar injuries who have survived. I hope that helps," he said and left the room.

After the doctor departed an orderly pushed a cart in with morning refreshments and parked it in the corner of the room. "Compliments from the hospital, the nurse ordered it so you wouldn't have to leave the boy's room," the orderly informed them with a smile.

Tiedoll and Cross thanked the young man. When he had left they made themselves a cup of coffee and picked up a doughnut to eat. There were two recliner chairs in the room which they pulled together and sat down sipping their coffees as they looked over at the two teenagers worried about their conditions. Their bruises had deepened to a dark purple and Allen now had two blacken eyes that Cross hadn't noticed earlier.

'Damn it, Allen has to be alright. He has his whole life ahead of him to live. God help Neah if he shows his face around here I swear I'll kill him with my bare hands for provoking Alma,' Cross thought angrily.

"Marion, what do you think Alma's chances are of surviving? By the way the doctor described his injuries it doesn't sound like he'll make it. I feel relieved he didn't get away with what he did to our boys, but I really don't know how I feel about him dying," Tiedoll said. He had hoped if he talked about it he'd gain more insight as to why he felt conflicted about Alma dying, even with their son's bandaged bodies laying before him he couldn't understand himself.

"To tell you the truth, it doesn't look good for him and if he dies, he deserves it," Cross groused, still looking at the boys. "As for you, I understand your kind heartedness, but just look at what he's done to our boy's. We don't even know if they will survive this so he can go to hell!" Cross said his voice louder then he intended.

The door swung open and a hospital volunteer barged in with a big bouquet of flowers and sat them on a table. They were from the boy's school. Their classmates were in shock about what had happened to Allen and Kanda and wished them well, but they could care less about what happened to Alma whose unscrupulous reputation preceded him. When the nurse was leaving, Tiedoll and Cross settled back in their chairs when they heard a loud gasp from the doorway. They turned to see who was there and found Lavi and Lenalee—both their faces ashen.

"Oh my God!" Lavi whispered loud enough to be heard. Stunned he walked into the room and headed directly in-between the two beds where both his best friends' battered bodies lied looking like death. Lenalee was right behind him her tears streaming down her cheeks at the condition her friends were in.

"How…how serious is their condition?" Lavi asked as he turned to look at them. Tears clouded his vision. Then he turned back around and gently picked up Allen's bandaged hand. He bent down and kissed it, and did the same with Kanda's with heaviness in his chest that threatened to constrict his breathing.

"At this time, they are both in critical condition, but the doctor felt they didn't need to be moved to ICU. I wouldn't want them near Alma, anyway. Their doctor told us the next twenty-four hours is crucial," Cross answered quietly. He got up from his chair for Lenalee to sit down when he noticed her pale face as if she was ready to faint.

"You mean there's a chance they could die?" Lenalee asked. She regretted asking the question the moment it came out of her mouth.

"Yes," was all Cross said.

"They had told me not to worry…they wouldn't tell me what was going on…I…I…didn't know the situation had gotten this serious," Lavi stuttered and choked as a single tear ran down his cheek.

Tiedoll came over and put his arm around Lavi's shoulders. "They didn't want to worry you, nor did they want Alma coming after you if you got involved. It had nothing to do with not wanting to tell you, Lavi, they did it for your safety," Tiedoll softly deemed to relieve the boy's best friend's mind.

Cross brought a glass of water and tissues for Lavi's girlfriend. "Would you like a cup of tea, Lenalee?" Cross asked, and she shook her head no.

The nurse came in to take vital signs and told Lavi and Lenalee that they couldn't stay much longer. The couple understood and hugged Cross and Tiedoll saying their good-byes and that they would be back tomorrow. "Please keep us posted on any changes with them," Lavi asked, his eyes glistened with tears. "I'm sorry Kanda will miss his graduation, Mr. Tiedoll. I was looking forward to walking with him." The pain was sharp that struck Lavi's heart like a knife and winced when he felt it. He had to get out of there. He took Lenalee's hand and glanced one more time over his shoulder at his two best friends before he hastened from the room.

After Lavi, Lenalee and the nurse were gone; Cross closed the door and returned to his chair. He took Tiedoll's hand and squeezed it. "How are you holding up, Froi," he asked. He saw the weary look on his partner's face and wished there was something more he could say, or do, to help his partner deal with this.

Tiedoll could sense his partner's frustrations not being able to do anything and brought Cross's hand to his lips and kissed it. He looked into Cross's worried eyes and gave him a slight smile. "I couldn't have done this alone. You are my strength, Marion. Thank you for being here with me," Tiedoll said. His love shone in his eyes.

"Why wouldn't I be here? I'm your partner, remember?" Cross whispered and leaned in placing a gentle kiss on his lover's lips. He's right, he couldn't have done this alone either. Tiedoll had always been his anchor. They relaxed back in their chairs and looked at the boys again before closing their eyes to rest.

Meanwhile, deep in the unconscious mind's of the two severely injured teenagers, their thoughts swirled around them in a dreamlike state of mind. Could it be possible the two lovers' had connected on a more spiritual, psychic level as they hovered between life and death?

Flashes of the accident played out differently in each of the boy's minds. With Kanda's high fever he relived some of it while he searched for Allen. He had to know he was safe while at the same time Allen searched for Kanda.

'Darkness all around…a tunnel of light straight ahead…or…a long ray of light?...The lights swayed back and forth like a pendulum…my arm's numb…something's gripped it tightly…everything in slow motion…what was happening?! The lights flipped upward…leaves…leaves highlighted by light spots…sharp pain…the noise…ear-piercing screechingcrushing…grinding noise…terror…I'm afraid…glass smashing…tiny sparkling fragments propelled through space…who's in front of me…he's blocking me…Moyashi?

Kanda's heart pumped rapidly and became erratic in its rhythm as his unconscious mind fought to make sense of the scenes that flashed before him.

'Moyashi?...Moyashi was with him…the accident…damn, the pain in my side…stop Alma…the car accident…he needed to make sure Moyashi's alive…where are you Moyashi?!...tired…feels like life draining from me…extremely fatigued…was it time to go?...I heard something…I think I need to go…Moyashi where are you?'

'Kanda! I'm here…don't go…you promised me you wouldn't leave me…where are you going?'

'I'm tired Moyashi…it's time for me to leave…I'm sorry…I love you…'

'NO, Kanda!...you get back here...don't you dare leave me…I'm fighting…I'm fighting to stay with you…if you go then I'm going with you…'

'You can't go with me…you need to stay…I don't want to go…just so tired…so drained…there you are Moyashi! I see you…don't cry my little Moyashi…'

'Take my hand Kanda…hold my hand and stay with me…I love you…fight damn it…you promised to protect me, remember?'

'I did? Yes, I did! Something's pulling me away Moyashi!…I don't want to go…even though I'm tired I don't want to go…I want to stay with you Moyashi…'

'Then fight Kanda...damn you, fight…hold my hand tighter…Kanda you're slipping!...hang onto my hand…don't you leave me…you can't leave me alone!'

They looked at each other. Tears streamed down Allen's cheeks, their fingers intertwined, barely able to hold on to each other, fingers slipped until their fingertips touched…then they drifted apart…Kanda floated away…

'NO!...NO!...Kanda!...come back to me!'

Kanda's heart held its last beat. A long, loud beep sounded and a straight, green line read across the monitor. Tiedoll and Cross jumped out of their chairs startled. Their hearts raced when they heard the monitor go off then the overhead page.

"Code blue five-fifteen," the announcement blared over the sound system. A team of hospital staff barged into the room pushing a defibrillator on a cart. "Please leave the room!" Allen and Kanda's doctor ordered sharply. The two adults moved out of the way quickly and watched from the doorway…Tiedoll's hand over his heart.

The group worked at lightning speed to restart Kanda's heart and was ready in an instant. The doctor held the paddles in his hands and looked directly at Kanda's chest, and shouted, "Clear!" then pressed the paddles onto the teenager's chest. The electrical current delivered a muscle-contracting jolt to Kanda's heart, his body slightly jumped on the table. There was nothing. "Again! Increase to 300, Clear!" the doctor pressed the paddles quickly against Kanda's chest; the electrical current was delivered once again.

Tiedoll held his breath and clutched Cross's arm in pure terror as he looked at his precious son lying there dead as they desperately tried to revive him. Then…the sweet music of Kanda's heart beeped on the monitor in a rhythmic pattern that floated to Tiedoll's and Cross's ears and a heavy sigh escaped their lips.

Kanda's foster father collapsed. Cross grabbed him around the waist and pulled him just outside the room and sat him in a chair. The staff rolled the defibrillator out of the room while the doctor continued to check Kanda's condition. Tiedoll sat trembling in his chair; he couldn't take much more after Kanda's near death experience. Cross retrieved a blanket and wrapped it around his partner's shoulders fearful he was in shock.

A nurse rushed over and took Tiedoll's blood pressure and pulse, writing the readings down. She took his temperature for good measure. When the doctor came out of the boy's room he checked Tiedoll's readings then did a quick examination before he prescribed an anti-anxiety medication. Ripping it off his prescription pad he handed it to Cross before he sat down in a chair next to Tiedoll.

"Mr. Tiedoll, with the car accident and your son's serious injuries has been a traumatic experience for you and you've just watched your son go into cardiac arrest which has compounded your stress level putting you into shock. You need to rest. I'm going to have the nurse give you a sedative to help calm you down.

"Mr. Cross, could you take Mr. Tiedoll into the room so he can lay down in the recliner to rest, and cover him to keep him warm. I'll have the nurse bring in an anti-anxiety pill for him to take. Pick up that prescription at the pharmacy downstairs or on your way home. He needs to rest right now, you both do. I'll instruct the nurse's no more visitors today and to keep the door closed. Kanda's stable right now. The fever has started to come down and I don't want any commotion going on around him.

"Even though the boy is still in critical condition there's no need to move him to ICU. The nurses here are more than capable of tending to his needs. He will do better here with his father, and most certainly his father will feel better as well.

"Mr. Tiedoll, let's have you walk into the room now to rest, alright? Did you understand everything I was telling Mr. Cross?" the doctor asked.

"Yes, of course," Tiedoll replied, annoyed with the doctor who thought he couldn't understand what was going on. Luckily he had Cross with him, what would he ever do without him? The nurse handed Tiedoll a small pill with a cup of water which he took without a fuss. Cross helped him to his feet and walked him into the boy's room to rest. He prayed their son's didn't have any more relapses.

Cross closed the door behind him then helped his partner to the reclining chair and sat him down. He tilted it back and placed a blanket over him before he went to the cart and made him a hot cup of tea. Cross brought it back and sat it on a small table next to Tiedoll. He gave his partner a kiss then sat down in the recliner next to him with a blanket and covered himself to rest.

Tiedoll's eyes slowly fluttered closed as the medication kicked in and he could finally rest. Cross looked at the boys and then at Tiedoll. This was his family: Tiedoll, Allen and Kanda…if Kanda could ever really accept him. He knew he could accept Kanda as his own after nearly losing the smart ass teenager. How could he not accept him when the brat reminded him of himself? The big plus was he loved Allen, and his charge has never seemed happier since being with the older teenager. Cross closed his eyes to rest, not knowing the two boys were communicating to each other.

"Kanda…you came back to me!…"

"Of course, moron…I could never leave you…you're my one and only true love…" "As you are mine, Kanda…"

To be continued…


A/N: Kanda pulled through his near death experience which was frightening for both Tiedoll and Cross. All of these ordeals the two have gone through bring them closer together, but it also brings Cross closer to Kanda. Maybe at some point Kanda will be able to accept Cross into his family circle. It's been one heck of a day for the two adults! Feel free to comment, or review and thank you to everyone who's been supporting me with reading my story. Of course…there's more to come (devilish grin).