::Part 6::
Ken could hear voices. They sounded so
far away, muffled most of the time, but he could hear them. He didn't recognize
any of the voices. All of the voices were like strangers for him. He has never
heard it before. But then, distantly, he recognized one voice. It was Youji's.
He abstractly realized that he didn't
understand what they were saying. He knew they were talking, he knew he should
be able to understand them, but for some reason he could not. What he did
register was the tone of the voices. Some were serious, some were firm, as if
giving orders and instructions to the other. And he noted that Youji's voice
was both excited and nervous. He wondered what they were talking about, but he
wasn't really concentrating. He found that he couldn't do that either.
Something was definitely different. Ken
felt himself floating in a kind of darkness that was tangible and imaginary all
at once. He had never experienced anything like it. Unable to analize where he
was or what was going on, Ken just floated.
He wasn't hot or cold, happy or sad,
frightened or apathetic. He didn't feel anything beyond slight curiousity and a
strange sense of safety. He had no idea how long he existed in that state. Time
had no meaning or revelance where he was. But then he heard Youji's voice.
It was the sound of Youji's almost
pleading voice that finally reached him in the dense blackness. He became alert
as he searched for his teammate. The darkness became oppressive now as he
became increasingly aware of where he was. He still had no idea what was going
on, but now he needed to know.
The murky blackness slowly turned the
light shades of gray until Ken was completely surrounded in a bright white
light. He felt himself being pulled away from where ever he had been… where to
he did not know. It wasn't until he opened his eyes that he understood any of
it.
Ken blinked several times with
difficulty, his eyelids heavy and uncooperative. He was so drowsy that he was
tempted to fall back into the darkness where he felt safe. But then the voices
grew animated and he blinked again.
This time a young woman's face appeared
before him. She was smiling down at him, a comforting smile. He heard her
called his name, more clearly this time. Then he saw the estatic figure of
Youji as well. He was almost grabbing the soccer player in happiness before
someone stopped him, telling him that the patient was still very weak. Ken
tried to focus his eyes better as he looked at the people that surrounded him,
and he slowly became completely awake.
He felt strange. The first thing Ken
was conscious of was the present of something in his throat and mouth. He tried
to swallow, but whatever it was scratched against his throat so he soon
stopped. He tried to move his lips to ask what was going on but he made no
sound. Frowning, Ken tried to remove the foreign object, but discovered that he
couldn't move his arms.
He was frightened now. Ken was starting
to process different sensations and he realized he could not feel much of
anything below his neck. There was a dull aching pain on either side of his
head just above his ears, but the lack of feeling scared him the most. He
looked anxiously to Youji, silently begging for his help, for some kind of
explanation, anything…
"Ken? Ken, can you hear me?" the
young woman asked loudly and clearly, as if she was speaking to a foreigner who
didn't understand any Japanese.
Frustated that he couldn't answer her,
to scream that he didn't understand what was going on, Ken just blinked,
holding her gaze intently.
"Everything's allright. You are
alright…," she stroked his cheek and Ken was relieved that he could feel
that. He noted that this young woman was a nurse and her name tag read
"Kusuda Sayoko". "Don't worry, the doctor is on her way
here".
"You are safe now, don't
worry,". This time it was Youji's voice. He shifted his vision a little
and saw the womanizer was staring at him intently. "You are in the
hospital, Ken. There was a car accident, do you remember?"
Ken watched him carefully as he tried
to comprehend his words. He was busy concentrating on finding the memories
somewhere in his clouded mind. An accident… He was having difficulty
remembering anything until he suddenly saw a flash -- there was a blinding
light, terrible screeching noises and then the impact. It didn't really mean
much to him. But then he suddenly saw something else -- another flash, this
time a smile. It was a familiar smile, one Ken knew by heart. He realized with
a wrenching feeling that it was Aya's smile. Focusing on that image, Ken
suddenly remembered more than he wanted to. He remembered seeing Aya beside
him, hearing him calling his name…
Sayoko saw the fear flod on Ken's face
as he remembered the accident and she looked disapprovingly at Youji. Ken's
eyes filled with fear and he tried again to speak and move his hands, this time
with more vigor. But the ventilator tube preventing any speech and Sayoko
hushed his futile attempts to remove it.
"Shh, Ken, try not to talk. You've
been in a coma for five days and the doctors have hooked you up to a machine to
help you breath," Sayoko said.
"Try to calm down," Youji
added.
Ken stared at Youji, silently begging
him to tell him if Aya was allright or not. Youji seemed to understand his
silent question.
"Hey, Ken. Aya's allright, don't
worry about him. He's got a bump on his forehead but he's okay," Youji
said, somehow knowing it was the only thing Ken wanted to hear. He watched as
the young assassin's face softened with relief and he shut his eyes.
Ken opened his eyes just in time when
the doctor came in. "Oh, doctor, he is awake," Sayoko said.
Miho moved over to Ken and smiled at
him. "Well, it's good to see you finally awake, Ken," she said
cheerily, calling him with his nickname, no longer Hidaka-san. "I'm Dr.
Suzuki." Noticing the boy tried to speak over the ventilator tube, she
nodded in understanding. "I know it feels awful. That tube's been helping
you breath when you were asleep. But I think we can take it out now, if you
like to".
She looked at Sayoko who nodded back.
She ushered Youji away with gentle murmur and took her place on the other side
of the bed.
"Okay, Ken, I need you to listen
to me carefully," Miho said as she undid the tape that was holding the
tube in place in Ken's mouth. "When I tell you to, I want you to take in
the deepest breath you can and blow out hard. Now, it's going to hurt a bit
because you've got some broken ribs and one of your lungs was punctured in the
accident. But just do your best, okay?"
Ken didn't know what to do except just
blinked.
"All right, on the count of three,
a deep breath and blow, okay? One, two, three…"
Ken did as he was told and felt the
tube snaking out of his throat as he blew out the painful breath. The
irritation to his throat caused his to gag and cough at the same time, but the
nurse and doctor were holding him down. Ken couldn't cough very successfully
anyway, his chest hurt so much and he couldn't move at all. His body just
spasmed as he tried to get rid of the terrible soreness of his throat and
lungs. It was several minutes before he stopped feeling the urge to cough. He
was exhausted from the effort, and barely felt the nurse wept the tears that
had fallen unnoticed down either side of his face.
"I know it hurt like hell, but you
did great, Ken," Miho reassured him. She was inserting another kind of
tube into his nose now. "This is just going to give you some oxygen, okay?
It's not as bad as the previous one".
Ken was powerless to do anything to
stop her even if he wanted to. He was suddenly feeling so tired and had no
energy at all. The doctor smiled down tenderly at him.
"It's okay, honey," she
soothed. "How do you feel now?"
Ken licked his lips and tried his
voice. It hurt to make any sound, but he forced himself to speak. He managed to
make a noise, not really a word, but the doctor, the nurse and Youji looked at
him encouragingly.
"What's… wrong?" Ken finally
managed to whisper hoarsely. When no one answered straight away, he thought
that maybe they still couldn't understand what he was saying, but then the doctor
cleared he throat.
"The accident was very serious,
Ken. Your back was injured, that's why you can't move properly. We've got your
neck in a special brace so you won't do anymore damage". Miho pulled out
an instrument from her pocket. "Now, I need to test how much sensation you
have in your arms and legs, so can you help me out? I want you to tell me when
you feel a pin prick, okay?"
"'Kay"
Miho started with Ken's arms and hands,
touching a sharp pin to his skin at regular intervals. Ken murmured each time
she did. Miho then moved to the foot of the bed, lifting up the blanket and
exposing Ken's bare feet and legs. As she proceeded to apply the same
technique, there was a silence in the room. Miho, Sayoko and Youji all looked
at him as Ken remained staring at the ceiling while Miho continued to prick his
legs and feet. The doctor glance at Youji and the nurse but said nothing,
covering Ken up once more.
"That's good, Ken. All's
finished".
"Okay?" he asked, trying to
catch her eyes.
"Not bad. We're going to send you
for some tests though, to see what's going on," Miho replied, not allowing
her concern to affect her expression and tone of voice. "They won't take
too long".
The doctor squeezed his arm and nodded
to Youji. She left the room to make necessary arrangement. Another nurse came
in to administer Ken with more pain medication to keep him from feeling the
full pressure of the head clamps and the pain of his broken ribs. As the drugs
took effect, Ken felt himself beginning to float again, so he almost forgot to
ask Youji something before the orderlies came in to take him away for the test.
"Call Aya," he whispered as
they wheeled him out of the room.
Youji was walking beside him.
"Okay, Ken. I'll call him soon. Promise".
Youji stopped when they came to the
elevator and the orderly said it'd be best if he waited in Ken's room. He
remained standing there until they disappeared inside the lift, then he walked
away quickly to find a telephone.
* * *
Aya and Omi walked quickly through the
hospital corridors towards the admissions desk. "Hidaka Ken?," Aya
asked the desk staff a little brusquely, impatient to see for himself that the
brunette was alright.
The receptionist tapped away her
keyboard then stated, "Level Three, room 20"
"Thank you," Omi said
hurriedly while Aya forgot to. He was already walking towards the elevator.
When they found his room and found out
that it was empty, Aya let out a frustated breath. He just wanted to see Ken
and now he wasn't even know where he was. Looking around in annoyance for a
member of the hospital staff to berate, he was stopped by Omi shaking his hand.
He had spotted Youji in the waiting lounge at the end of the corridor.
"How is he?" Aya asked as
they reached the small waiting area.
Youji looked up from his half-drunk cup
of coffee. "He woke up a while ago and they've taken him upstairs for some
tests. The doctor says the swelling around his spinal cord should have gone
down some so they'll be able to tell… how much damage there is". Youji
finished the sentence with difficulty.
"But he is awake? He is
okay?," Aya asked. The image from his nightmares were still in his mind
and as much as he know that they were all just his imagination, he needed
reassuring that it wasn't as bad as he had been imagining.
"The first thing he wanted to know
was if you were alright, Aya," Youji smiled. "He wanted to see
you".
Aya couldn't help but felt himself
blushed a bit. "Oh, that stupid boy. He should be worried about himself,
not me," he muttered.
"Told you Ken-kun cares so much
about you," Omi said as he flopped down onto the chair beside Youji.
Aya busied himself by walking back and
forth, eager to know how Ken's condition was. They stayed there in nervous
silence for about an hour beside Youji finally caught sight of Ken's doctor
walking towards them.
"I'm sorry it's taken so
long," she said, coming into the waiting lounge and shutting the glass
door behind her. Her movements were smooth and deliberate, her demeanor
unwavering as she pulled up a chair opposite the waiting friends of her
patient.
"You must be Aya," she
smiled, acknowledging the dressing he still wore over his head wound. "Ken
keeps asking when he can see you. I'm glad you are here".
"Do you have the test result,
Doctor," Aya asked, not really caring if he sounded so impatient. He got
the feeling that she was trying to stall talking to them.
"We've got some preliminary
result, yes," Miho said, gravely this time. "While it will take some
times until we know the full extent and the outcome of Ken's injuries, we know
enough now".
"Well?" Youji snapped when
she stopped again.
Miho took a deep breath. "The
swelling around the spinal cord has subsided enough for us to see the damage.
The fractured vertebrae we already knew about were masking the cord injury. But
this lastest tests show that Ken's spinal cord has been affected… It's been
severed at T5 and 6".
No one said anything for a few second
as the news sank in. Omi was frowning. "What does that mean?"
"It means that Ken will be
paralyzed from the waist down. I'm sorry".
"But…but…but there's
rehabilitation, isn't there? How long will it take for him to gain the movement
back?," Youji asked, high-pitched.
"I'm afraid his injuries are
classified as complete paraplegia… When the spinal cord is completely severed
there's no sensation and no movement regained. Ken's condition is permanent. He
won't walk again".
"Oh my God," Omi moaned, his
hands covering his face. Youji moved beside him and put his arm around him,
sensing that Aya wasn't going to.
Aya just stood numbly in his spot. He
understood everything that had been said, but he couldn't feel anything yet.
Nothing was sinking in.
"Actually," Miho spoke up
again, drawing all attentions in the room to her. "In the Emergency Room
when he was first brought in, I had given him a high dose of
methylprednisolone. In some case it can give a paraplegic patience his
movements back, but the odds are small. In this case, it's almost 100 to one,
so… I can't really assure you. What I do know now is, from the tests result,
that Ken won't be able to walk again".
"So what happens now?" Youji
mumbled.
"We'll have to operate to repair
the fractured vertebrae, inserting a metal plate into Ken's spine to aid bone
fusion. We'll be able to take him out of traction, and once his spine is a
little stronger, he'll be able to start rehabilitation".
"He'll be in a wheelchair…,"
Omi whispered, more to himself than to anyone else.
"The rehabilitation process can be
long, but it's necessary to help Ken adjust to his new wheelchair and the new
limitations he will have. There are other issues he'll have to learn about and
deal with, including the loss of bladder and bowel control. But he should
regain full use of both arms with physiotherapy and will learn to be quite mobile
without the use of his legs. He's young, so he should adjust well".
Miho noticed that none of them were
really taking in what she was saying now. The news was too much of a shock for
most people, and it would take a while for them to see the full picture. She
didn't want to force the issue -- they would have plenty of time to adjust just
like Ken would.
"Does… does he know?," asked
Youji.
"I haven't said anything yet…
because Ken is a minor I thought one of you might prefer to break it to him
instead. Of course I'll be there to answer any question he might has so you
won't have to do it alone… "
An uncomfortable silence hanged in the
room as Miho waited for a voulenteer.
"I'll do it," Aya said
quietly.
Miho nodded at him, relieved that he
wasn't going to ask the other boys to come. The emotions were clearly painted
across their face and if they broke there, it would just upset Ken more.
"I'm sure Ken will be glad to meet
you. He made me promised I'd let him see you when the tests were done,"
she smiled encouragingly.
Miho stood up and ushered Aya out of
the waiting room. Aya didn't have time to change his mind or question his
strength. He took one last look at Omi and Youji and stepped out of the waiting
area towards Ken's room.
~ end of part 6 ~