Hide drew in a breath before entering the room where the team was busy rushing around Kaneki. The ghoul was already showing signs of discomfort.

"I know, I'm sorry," Eri said sympathetically, lightly touching his hand. "I'll do what I can to help you. My name is Eri. I'm a doctor. Hide's on his way now. I need you to lie very still, I know when you're in a lot of pain that's a difficult thing to do, but to examine you and find the problem, we'll need you to try. We'll get you something for pain as soon as we can." Hide took a moment to regain his composure before approaching the examination bed. He did his best to offer a reassuring smile.

"Hey, beautiful." Hide greeted softly, kissing Kaneki's head.

"...h-hurts." Kaneki gasped. "Please, Hide. M-Make it st-stop."

"We're almost there. We'll make you better. Hang in there for me, okay? I'm going to be right here with you. I'm so sorry, Kaneki. I know it hurts."

"Kaneki?" Eri called. "I need you to tell me where the pain is."

"E-Everything hurts."The ghoul replied, his body tensing as the pain increased rapidly.

"Hide said you've been vomiting quite a bit. Are you feeling sick now?" Kaneki gave a weak nod. "Alright. Midori, go get some emesis bags, please."

"On it." The young woman called, rushing from the room.

"What's that?"Hide asked.

"Vomit bags, "Eri explained. "I'm going to have to have a look at his stomach. Vomiting blood means he's bleeding internally. I need to know how severe it is. Depending on how bad it is and what's going on, that determines how we treat it. Did you actually see it?"

"Yeah." Hide replied, tightening his grip on Kaneki's hand.

"Was it dark in color or-"

"No. It was brighter."Eri nodded.

"It's an active bleed then, damn it," Eri grumbled. "I'm going to try an ultrasound to get a better idea of what we're dealing with. I'm hoping to avoid surgery to stop it. I'd have to give him RC suppressants. I couldn't have him regenerating during the operation. We'd never get anywhere. On the other hand, going into this and not knowing what's causing it can complicate things. We might need to find supplies for a transfusion."

"Whatever Kaneki needs, you can take it from me."Hide offered.

"N-no. I've taken too much already. I can't-"

"Do you remember when we were nine?" Hide asked, softly brushing back the white hair from Kaneki's face. "I made you go skating with me at the rink, and neither one of us knew how to do it. We spent most of the trip in the game room. You loved that racing game, the one where you had the steering wheel and pedals. You won most of the races, and I had a hard time learning to stay on the track." Hide chuckled " When we finally built up the courage to put on the skates, we could barely stand up in those things. Just when we thought we could get out there and skate with everyone else, I slipped. I ended up pulling you down with me. I thought you'd hate me for embarrassing you like that, but you just looked at me and laughed. It was the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard. Don't think I forgot about the time in grade school when I was messing around and you kept telling me I shouldn't try to climb over the gate. Remember? I tore my jeans in front of the class, but you ran in front of me so no one could see it, and then you gave me your sweater so I could tie it around myself. You spent the rest of recess and the entire walk back to my house shivering. I felt so bad. My point is, You've given me a lot more than you think. Whatever you think you took from me, you didn't. I don't know what you think you took from me, but I promise you, it wasn't that you took it. I'll give you everything I have if it means you're okay. You're my whole world, Kaneki."

"Have you noticed any tenderness?"The doctor inquired.

"I didn't try. I'm not going to poke and prod him. I know how that feels when you're sick and with everything he's going through, I can't put him through all that. " When Midiri reappeared, carrying the required items, she handed the bags to Hide.

"Just hang on to those." She instructed, returning to her station.

"I'm going to have to check for any tenderness in the abdomen. We'll have to see if-"

"Don't." Kaneki pleaded. "Please."

"I'll be as careful as I can be. I promise." Eri vowed, placing her hands on the ghoul's belly. Immediately upon feeling her touch, Kaneki tightened his grasp on Hide's hand.

"It'll be okay." The blond soothed. "I got you."

"River, start the RC Suppressants, slow drip," Eri instructed. She pressed down lightly in the lower right side of her patient's belly. Kaneki gasped sharply. Applying the same pressure, Eri continued inward.

"St-Stop." Kaneki cried as tears slid down his cheeks.

"I'm almost-" There was no time to finish her sentence as she reached the center. Kaneki retched, a flood of crimson rushed from his mouth suddenly. pain erupted from inside the ghoul. Hide struggled to keep his composure as his heart sank deeper. The blood covering both Kaneki and Hide's jacket.

"Damn it!' Eri cursed, removing her hands. "Everyone, we need to prep for an emergency procedure. He can't wait. Midori, We'll need to set up a blood supply. Get some calls going and-" She turned back to Hide.

"You're sure you want to do this?" Hide nodded.

"I'm sure. I-Is there anything-"Eri reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I know there's a lot going on right now. What we're about to do is not a guarantee. Using the suppressants are his only chance at getting this fixed. That being said, it makes it a lot more dangerous. He won't be able to heal himself the way he normally would. Until the labs come back-" Hide glanced down at his love.

"I-I didn't-" Kaneki began weakly. Hide shook his head.

"I'm not worried about the jacket, I can buy a new one. There's never going to be another you, though. I don't- I don't want you to have to go through all this. Until now, I've been really selfish and I'm sorry." He gently wiped away the tears from the ghoul's eyes, while attempting to hold back his own. "I don't know how to let you go when it comes to this. This whole time I've been asking you to-"

"I-I want..Us. " Kaneki replied. "But it's so c-cold."Hide rested his forehead against Kaneki's.

"We need to get him in there. I'm sorry."

"D-don't leave." The ghoul requested.

"Never. I can't go in there with you, but I'm going to wait for you. So you come back to me, okay? I love you so much." He kissed his head softly.

"Sedative's being added, "Midori informed her team. Hide remained with Kaneki until Eri finally rushed him from the room, taking all but her second in command.

"I'm sorry, Hide." She began. " But there's not a lot of time and the suppressants work pretty much instantly. We gave him a fraction of the dose used by the investigators to get things moving but also to buy him some time. We need to get this done as quickly as possible." Hide nodded.

"Do you think he'll... Eri, does she know what she's doing?"

"He's in the best possible place he can be in. Eri's pulled off quite a few miracles in the OR. Come with me, we'll get your blood drawn, I'll run it into the room and we'll get you something to change into."Hide nodded. There would be time for questions later, Kanekihad decided to fight, and Hide would give him everything he needed to win the battle, no matter the cost.