::Part 3::
Omi had been walking back and forth for what seemed like half an hour already and the movement was starting to get on Youji's nerve. "Omi, for the love of God, please stop and sit down!".
"But Youji-kun," he whined. "They have been late for two hours!!"
"They've been late for only two hours, Omi," Youji said tiredly. "They are both grown up young men, they can handle themselves so quit worrying".
"But it had never happened before! They always go straight home after every mission!"
"Maybe they have a sudden things to do," the older man said.
"Like what?" Omi retorted. "Delivering flowers? At three am in the morning?"
"That's right. It's three am in the morning and if my memory serves me right, you have class on Monday, so go to sleep!"
"But I don't want to! I have to know first what has happened to Aya-kun and Ken-kun!"
"Omi, nothing's happened," Youji sighed. "Relax. Maybe Aya suddenly has the urge to visit his imouto and you know how Aya is after every mission".
"C'mon, Youji-kun. Make a hospital visit at this hour?? Get real!," Omi snorted. "Something must had happened to them, I know it".
"You are so stubborn, Omi," he sighed. "Here, can you help me wrapping up this bandage on my arm? It's kinda hard to do it just with one arm".
Omi came up to him, his expression still troubled. He took the bandage and started wrapping it around Youji's arm after putting on the medicine on the wound.
"How about you just sleep, Omi? I'll wait here for them and when they come home I'll punch them for making you worry".
Omi smiled a little. "Ne, you can't say that you are not worry about them, Youji-kun," he said softly.
Despite whatever he tried to show in front of Omi, Youji had to admit that he was very worry about Aya and Ken. It was so unusual for them to go somewhere after a mission. Was that mean that Omi was right? That something happened to his fellow assassins? It couldn't be that they failed on mission…or…did they…were they late to escape when he and Omi push the button to explode the building?
As the thought dawned on him, he felt shivers ran down his spine. No, it couldn't be. They knew when he and Omi would explode the building. And they were much too experienced assassins to do such a mistake like that. But what if they couldn't escape the guards? What if…
Youji shook his head to get rid of the thought. Definitely not tell Omi about this possibility or he would be acting much worse than this.
But Omi caught his movement. "What, Youji-kun? Thinking something bad has happened to Aya-kun and Ken-kun?" he asked.
"No," Youji said quickly. A bit too quickly. "No, of course I'm not. You know what an optimist I am, Omittchi" he smiled. But he knew his smile was unconfident, not comforting.
He was thinking to check on the hospital for any victim of the explosion when suddenly the telephone rang, snapping him out of his reverie and making Omi jumped in surprise. Omi quickly dashed to the phone but Youji was quicker and he answered the phone, much to Omi's dismay.
"Heh, Aya, where are you?," he snapped to the phone, not caring who actually made the call. "What…? Oh sorry…Yes, this is Kudou Youji speaking…".
Omi saw Youji expression ashen and his face was going unusually pale when he listened to the person on the other end. And in an instant, Omi knew that his feeling was right. That something bad had happened to Aya and Ken.
"Yes…yes, thank you very much, miss…," Youji said to the phone. "Yes, we'll be there as soon as possible…yes, thank you".
"What happened, Youji-kun?" Omi asked as Youji hang up the phone, his voice sounded strangely high-pitched.
"It's Aya and Ken," Youji said in a low voice, almost whispering. "They have a bad car accident…'
"Oh, God," Omi gasped. "Youji-kun, we have to go to the hospital now!!"
"Yeah, yeah," Youji said. "But lemme call Manx first…"
* * *
Aya was trying to get some sleep, but it wasn't easy in the noisy ER cubicle. They had not admitted him upstairs for observation yet, but the nurse who came in every so often to check on him whispered that it wouldn't be much longer.
He was relieved when Youji, Omi, Manx and Birman arrived. He was relieved to have someone to talk to. As soon as he saw the redhead, Omi rushed to Aya's bedside.
"Aya-kun! Aya-kun, how are you feeling?" he asked worriedly. "Are you okay?"
Aya smiled tiredly and informed them that the doctor had told him that he was okay, that they just need to keep him overnight because of a possible concussion.
"Hey, Aya," Youji said, his voice soft.
"Hey," he replied back.
"Aya, Birman and I are going to take care of the administration, okay? Youji and Omi will stay here with you," Manx said. Aya nodded in an answer.
Youji gingerly brushed his hand to Aya's in a safe, friendly gesture, signing to the redhead that he was there with him. He stared intently at Aya's face while Omi keep talking to Aya, trying to ignore the angry bruise that marred his pale face. He felt his warm skin and hear Aya's steady breaths and he felt immeasurably better. Despite whatever others might think, he cared a great deal about his younger teammates. The fact that he was the oldest in Weiß made him feeling over protective about his teammates. But of course, he never showed it openly.
Youji was thoroughly relieved that Aya was really all right, and somehow, knowing that Aya was okay made it easier for him to believe that Ken would be okay too. During the frantic journey to the hospital he had imagined the most gruesome injuries they might have suffered, and yet, Aya wasn't too bad, despite some cuts and bruises. He prayed that Ken would be okay too.
Youji spotted Birman standing at the door and she gave him signall to come over. He turned to Omi who was still talking to Aya, although Aya kept quiet for most of the time. "Omi, I'm going with Birman. I'll be back in few minutes," he said.
Omi stared at him and opened his mouth to say something, but Aya overtook him. "Are you going to find out about Ken's condition?" he asked quietly.
"I think so, Aya,"
"Do come back and tell me," he said. "I have asked the nurse but they kept fob me off".
"Of couse I will, Aya," he said reassuringly. "Now try to relax, okay? Omi will keep you accompanied". He then turned around and walked with long steps towards Birman.
"What?" he asked.
"I'm going to the doctor on duty to asked for Ken's condition. I thought you want to come," she said.
"Where's Manx?"
"Still taking care of the administration," she said then turned on her heels. "C'mon".
"You haven't asked any nurse?"
"One told me that they are still working on him, can't tell us much about that," she said. "It's much better to asked the doctor directly".
Youji sighed and followed her.
From his bed, Aya watched them left, a deep frown creasing his brows. He didn't really acknowledge what Omi was saying to him. He was too focused on finding the news about Ken's condition.
* * *
Youji and Birman stood impatiently in front of one particular room. The nurse told them to wait for Doctor Suzuki there. Youji shifted restlessly from one foot to another while Birman sometimes tapped her foot in a gesture of impatience.
One nurse, to whom they had asked about Ken's condition come up to them. "Well?," snapped Birman.
"They said just to wait. Apparently the specialist is still examining him," she replied calmly. With a polite nod, she continued to walk.
Youji felt his emotions bagged up and lump on his throat. Why does it take the doctors so long? Why haven't we heard anything? Why was there such a delay? Youji swallowed hard and tried not to let his imagination got the better of him. Before too long, a dark haired woman in white coat emerged from one room and walked up to them.
"Are you here for Hidaka Ken?" she asked politely. Birman nodded calmly while Youji nodded eagerly. "I'm Doctor Suzuki. I appologize for not speaking to you sooner --- "
"Is he all right?" Youji snapped.
"Well, Mister, perhaps ---"
"Please, go ahead, Doctor," Birman said. One of her hand holding Youji's arm tightly in order to prevent him from doing something reckless.
"Very well, then," the doctor began gravely. "Hidaka-san's injuries are very serious but we have managed to stabilize him. He's still unconscious and we have sedated him as well for this moment. He'll be moved to the Intensive Care Unit shortly, where we can monitor his condition further… But I'm afraid Hidaka-san will be in the hospital for some times. He has suffered from a spinal injury, the extent of which we can't determine yet".
"What?" Youji frowned.
"Hidaka-san has severe swelling around his spinal cord from the impact of the collision. Until it subsides we can not fully assess the damage that's been done. All we can do is wait at this stage".
"His spinal cord? Are you saying that he's paralyzed?," Birman asked carefully. She was only asking what she knew Youji was thinking too.
"I really can't say at the moment," Miho said, stalling her answer. She wasn't certain what she should tell them when nothing was known for sure. But the fierce looking young man that stood in front of her was not the one to keep in the dark. Nor was the woman that stood beside him. She decided to come clean.
"It might be several days until we got some definitive answers. There doesn't appear to be any internal injuries, apart from the collapsed lung which we have dealt with and a few cracked ribs. But what I can tell you is the pleminary X-Ray shows he has fractured several vertebrae of his spine. Whether or not there's any damage to the cord is just too difficult to ascertain at this moment".
"And if the cord is damaged?," Youji asked, his voice low.
The doctor turned towards the tall blond young man who was staring at her gravely. Her expression softened as she saw the massive concern that was painted across his face. Miho hated giving out news like this, especially when it was about someone so young. But she had done it before, and would no doubt do it many more times before her career was over.
"If the spinal cord has been severed or damaged, then Hidaka-san will suffer some paralysis. Whether or not it's permanent will depend on the severity of the injury".
"And do you think he will?" Youji choked, almost unable to say the words.
"Like I said, at the moment --- "
"Please, Doctor," Birman cut her off. "We need to know".
Miho paused. "The fractures are severe, and in most cases this leads to some spinal cord damage. But really, we won't know the full story until we can send Hidaka-san for an MRI and operate to repair what damage we can. For now, I'm afraid that all we can do is wait. I'm deeply sorry that I don't have any better answer for you".
Neither Birman nor Youji pressed her any further. When it seemed that the two person in front of her didn't have any further question, Miho nodded encouragingly to them and slipped back inside the examination room to oversee Ken's removal to the ICU.
* * *
Birman and Youji walked back slowly to Aya's cubicle in the ER, each of them trying to deal with the news about Ken.
They didn't discuss what they would tell to Aya. Youji knew Aya would be looking to him for answer and he wondered what could he possibly tell Aya. Should he tell him what they knew? But what did they really knew? He asked himself. The doctor had said she didn't know for sure… maybe there wouldn't be any spinal cord damage at all and Ken would be okay. He snorted at the naïve idea.
But hey, who knows? He didn't want to worry Aya for nothing, if it all turned out okay. Aya was still recovering from his own injuries anyway, and Youji didn't want to compound his problem by making him worry over Ken.
They spotted Manx was standing near the door, apparently having had talk with a nurse. Birman walked up to her and patted Youji shoulder, signing him to go into the cubicle alone. Youji stared at Birman, then Manx, then Birman again, then knew that he was on his own. He prepared what he would say, took a deep breath and walked into the cubicle.
Omi and Aya looked up expectantly to him when he entered the curtained-off area, so Youji forced up a smile. Aya was obviously exhausted, and the drugs he had been given were making it harder for him to stay awake. He didn't have much energy to grill Youji about Ken's condition.
"Is he okay?" Aya asked, his voice barely a whisper. Each time he blinked his eyes it was harder to get them open again.
Youji barely paused before answering him, knowing that even in this state Aya could tell if he wasn't being completely honest.
"He's all right, Aya. The doctor said he'll be there for a while, but she thinks he'll be fine".
"Really?"
Youji wished Aya hadn't asked that. His voice sounded almost hopeful, Youji hated lying to him. "Really, Aya. Now you need to get some rest".
"Youji-kun's right, Aya-kun. Try and go to sleep," Omi said gently.
Aya didn't protest anymore. He was too tired to feel anything and it was getting difficult to even think straight. At least he knew Ken was all right. Aya finally allowed himself to surrender to the darkness of sleep, knowing that when he woke up, he would be able to see Ken for himself. He tried to think of what he would say to him, but the thought had barely registered before he lost consciousness.
Youji watched him until he fell asleep. Omi looked up and smiled to Youji, relieved that all of the dramas of the early dark morning were seemingly resolved. He had been so shocked and frightened when they received the call from the hospital, not knowing if Aya and Ken were really all right. But now everything was all right. Omi wondered why Youji didn't seem happier that their teammates would be fine. A chill ran through his body.
"Youji-kun, is Ken-kun really okay?" Omi breathed quietly, in case Aya could still hear them.
Youji glanced away almost as soon as he met Omi's eyes, and Omi had his answer.
~end of part 3~