Chapter 8: The Call
"What do you mean you're in the hospital with Yuuri? What the hell happened?"Yakov yelled in his normal harsh tone, showing anger to hide the concern he felt."I will be on the next flight out. Make the call you need to make and try not to do anything stupid until I get there."
Yakov hung up without saying goodbye.
"What have you gotten yourself into now Vitya?" he said quietly to the empty room he sat in.
Victor took a breath and began speaking in Russian when his call was answered.
"Yes you can help me," he answered the woman who answered, "My name is Victor Nikiforov and I need to speak to the person in charge of the investigation of the death of Anton Lyutov."
"I'll put you through. Please hold."
Soon he had been put through to the proper person.
"This is Detective Pronichev. You are Victor Nikiforov, named legal guardian of Mr. Lyutov's son?"
"Yes," Victor replied, "I am calling to report something I think will be important for you to know"
He explained, then, what Seva had shown them with the dolls. When he was done, the line was silent for a long time.
"Are you still there?" he asked still speaking in Russian.
"Yes I am," the detective answered, "Thank you for the information. I cannot tell you the details of an open investigation, but I can tell you Mr. Lyutov's death was no accident and is being investigated as a homicide. I will be in touch. I think the safest place for you and the boy is where you are now. I assume you are in Japan with your student and lover's family? I know your career well, young man. Again, I will be in touch. Be careful."
The man frowned when Victor told him about the accident involving Yuuri, but he kept his opinions to himself and bid goodbye to Victor.
Victor hung up his phone and returned to the room where his husband slept. He walked into a meltdown from Seva, who was now awake.
"Hey now calm down my little one. You have to be quiet so Daddy can rest," Victor soothed him, rubbing the boys hair.
He noticed Seva had a death grip on the rail of Yuuri's bed.
"HE'S GOING TO DIE!" Seva choked out "They…they…they…"
Heavy sobs wracked his small, slim body as he gulped down air and released it violently.
"Mr. Nikiforov," a nurse interjected, entering the room suddenly and startling the boy, "I am sorry, but if you cannot quiet your son, he is going to have to leave. He is disturbing other patients, who must be able to rest."
"No!" Seva shouted, tightening his grip on Yuuri's bed, his little knuckles going white with the grip.
He looked at all the monitors Yuuri was hooked up to.
"I want to stay with Daddy. I couldn't help my first Daddy but my new Daddy is different. They are not here anymore," the boy sobbed, dropping his head onto the matress next to Yuuri's sleeping body.
Seva's words struck Victor's heart like a ton of bricks. Had Anton's death and Yuuri being run down been connected? He had a feeling the two events were connected, but he said nothing for now, not wanting to scare Seva. Instead, he spoke to the boy in a soft, soothing tone.
"He is not going to die Seva," Victor assured his son, "While you were sleeping, I talked to the doctor. He said Daddy has no broken bones and he will wake up very soon. Please try to stay calm. It will be all right. You have to be calm and quiet down, now, if you want to stay here," Victor said as he picked up Seva letting the boy cry more softly, into his shoulder.
Minako blinked in surprise.
"When did he start talking?" she asked.
She had heard the scream of Daddy when Yuuri was hurt but she figured that had been a fluke. She smiled softly rubbing the little boys back to calm him.
"Last night?" Victor recalled, "Everything is such a blur, you know."
"Yeah," Minako agreed, "It's so cute that he calls Yuuri Daddy."
She heard him mumble Papa as he hugged Victor's neck.
"That's cute. Daddy and Papa," she said smiling.
Suddenly the was a groan from the bed. Minako spun around.
"Yuuri!" she exclaimed as Victor hit the call button for the nurse.
Soon all three of them stood in the hall in front of the door to Yuuri's room while the doctor and nurse checked Yuuri out. Seva started to cry again silently.
"Don't worry, Seva, the doctor just has to talk to him ok?" Minako reassured the child who was still in Victor's arms.
"Are you sure he won't die" Seva asked, his voice hoarse from all the crying.
Seva squeezed Victor's neck.
"You can put me down, Papa."
When he was set down, he took Minako's hand, knowing that Victor would soon be busy.
"Did they find the man in the black car?" he asked, having caught a glimpse of the driver when he had run towards Yuuri after landing hard on the ground when he was pushed out of the way, "He had dark hair."
Seva chewed on his lip, but said nothing more and didn't plan to say any more. As far as he was concerned due to this new trauma that talking caused pain.
"He will recover," came the voice of the doctor as he came into the hall, "You can go in now but don't squeeze him too tightly."
The doctor smiled down at the boy.
"Wait, Mr. Nikiforov. I need to speak to you," he said, waiting until Minako and boy were in Yuuri's room with the door closed, "He has a severe concussion. I want to keep him for a week to give his body sufficient time to heal. That way, we can keep an eye on him for any other symptoms. No bones are broken, as I said before, but there is deep bruising, so it will take time for the tissues to heal. I know what you both do for a living, so I know your threshold for pain is higher than most people's. I won't say he can't skate. I know he will not listen, but as his coach I expect you to make sure he does not push himself, once released. I understand your son was also involved in the accident. I would like to give him a once over, just to make sure there is no damage."
The doctor was solemn, but had a gentleness to him.
"Yuuri pushed him out of the way so he wasn't hit, but he did fall, so I guess that is the best thing. I will go get him," Victor said, having no idea how Seva was going to react to this, but hoping it would be ok.
"Seva," he opened the door and called to the boy who was sitting on the edge of Yuuri's bed, "We have to go with the doctor so he can make sure you are ok. How does that sound?"
Victor took Seva's hand, leading him to the exam room next door. After a thorough once over, the doctor found a cut on the boy's knee that required stitches and a few bruises on his hands and arms, where he had tried to catch himself when he landed. Luckily, the doctor did not have dark hair so Seva let him clean and stitch the gash, staying calm but silent. After the stiches were done, the doctor let them return to Yuuri's room. Victor opened the door for Seva only to find two police officers talking with Yuuri and Minako. Both were dark haired and wore dark uniforms. Seva freaked out, running to the corner of the room and cowering.
Seva was shaking like a leaf, eyes closed and hands over his ears like he expected a sound that did not come. The officers were understanding after the situation was explained to them. Seva crawled around the edge of the room to his Daddy avoiding the officers at all costs but his wild eyes never left them.
"Daddy," he said getting to Yuuri but then he went silent again and no amount of trying and coaxing would get him to speak. Yuuri pulled the little boy into the bed with him trying to get him to talk, but Seva remained shaken and silent.
"You don't have to talk if you don't want to," Yuuri said reassuringly.
He finished giving his statement to the officers, as did Minako and Victor. The officers thanked them and assured all four of them they were looking for the car and its driver. As they were leaving, one of the officers pulled out a small teddy bear and gave it to Victor for Seva, having a feeling the boy would not take it from him.
After they were gone, Minako went to call Yuuri's parents, leaving the two men alone with their son. But the little family did not get the peace they had hoped for. Minako rushed back in after her call. She looked mad and panicked all at the same time.
"The press is here," she warned them, "They know about the accident and the car."
"Hmm," Victor sighed, "I guess it's to be expected with the fact that Yuuri and I are celebrities, but this needs to be handled cautiously, "Minako, will you please stay with Seva and Yuuri? I will go and handle this."
"You be careful what you tell them," Minako said sternly, "You don't want whoever did this to get any information we don't want them to have."
"I will be careful," Victor promised, leaning over to offer his husband and child each a gentle kiss on the cheek, "I've been dealing with press for most of my life. I know what to say. I will be right back."
He left the room and walked down the hallway to the nurse's station, where he found the reporter, Morooka, speaking to one of the staff.
"I'm sorry, but you can't go to the room," the nurse said, blocking his path, "You know that."
"Yes, I was hoping that I could get a message to Victor," Morooka explained.
"I am here," Victor said as he approached, "This isn't really a good time."
"I know that," Morooka answered, moving closer, "I didn't come here to cause trouble or to ask any questions. I came here to tell you something. Actually, two things."
Victor didn't answer, but looked back at him curiously.
"First, I just want to say on behalf of all of us who cover your and Yuuri's careers, we hope very much that Yuuri is well and back on the ice soon."
"Thank you for that," Victor responded quietly, "We hope for that too."
"And," Morooka added, "I wanted to give this to you."
Victor frowned even more curiously as he accepted the small flash drive from the reporter.
"What is this?"
"I don't know how helpful it will be, but, while I was speaking to some potential witnesses to what happened to Yuuri, one of the people told me that he caught an image of the car and scene just before the impact, in the background of a photo he was taking. He tried to sell it to me for quite a bit of money."
Victor's frown turned into a deep scowl.
"I know, right?" Morooka sympathized, "Luckily, my cameraman was there, and he recorded the man trying to sell me the evidence."
"You…?" Victor mused, blinking in surprise.
"Like I said, I don't know if it will help. The image is blurry and will need to be evaluated by someone who really knows their stuff. But, if it does clear up enough, we could have a picture of the hit and run driver."
Victor looked down silently at the flash drive, his expression unreadable.
"I did keep a copy of the image," Morooka went on, "but I made sure that the jerk who took it won't sell it to anyone, and I promise that I won't show it to anyone until the police have had a chance to study it themselves."
Victor gave the reporter a confused look.
"You're not going to…?"
"No," Morooka answered, shaking his head, "I'm not giving this to the station right now."
"But, the story is worth a lot, obviously."
"I know," Morooka sighed, "It's just that your family's safety is worth more. Victor, I have been following your career and Yuuri's for a long time. I can't express how much of a pleasure that has been. If there is something that I can do to keep someone from hurting you, that's more important than my next story."
Victor's eyes returned to the flash drive in his hands.
"I don't know what to say," he confessed softly, "Thank you doesn't seem like enough, you know?"
"You don't have to say anything," the reporter said solemnly, "Just give this to the police and hope that it helps them to find whoever this is and stop them from hurting you or anyone else again."
A little smile returned to Morooka's face as Victor took his hand in a warm handshake.
"And…it wouldn't hurt if you could let me know when I can give this to the station. What do you say?"
A small chuckle escaped the Russian skater and he gave Morooka a little nod.
"I'll be sure that you know as soon as the police are done trying to clean up the photo. Who knows if it will amount to anything, but if it does, I think you more than deserve the chance to be the first to report on it."
"Thank you, Morooka, really," Victor said gratefully, "I'll make sure this gets into the right hands."
The reporter started to turn away, but paused as Victor's voice sounded again.
"And…when the time is right, I promise that my family will give you an exclusive interview."
Morooka gave him a shocked look.
"But, you don't know if this will even amount to anything."
"Neither did you when you protected me and my family by keeping this quiet and getting it to me," Victor reasoned, "You are the reason we may get a glimpse of this person without them knowing we have it. If it works out and the police can identify the man, then maybe we can find him before he knows we're looking. I'm sure the police will do their best. And I want to show you my appreciation for you just giving us the chance to do that."
"Well, thank you," Morooka said, nodding, "I just hope they catch whoever did this."
"I hope so too."
Victor watched as the man left, then he took out his phone and quickly dialed a number. When the phone was answered, he tightened his hand around the flash drive and smiled very slightly.
"Yes, you told me to call if there was any more information," Victor explained.
"Did you or your son remember something that could help?" the detective on the other end of the line asked.
"Maybe," Victor answered, "I need to see you now. We may have a picture of the man who was driving the car."
"I'm on my way to you," the detective replied, "Stay where you are and don't mention it to anyone. If we can identify the driver, we may be able to apprehend him before he knows we've got his identity."
"That's what I'm hoping," Victor agreed, "I just hope that the picture can be cleaned up enough to show his face."
"Don't you worry," the detective assured him, "I have the best team in Japan. If anyone can clear up the picture, they can. Just stay where you are. I'll be right there."