A Shadow Reborn- Chapter Ten
Shigure had suggested someone be there with Yuki, when Yuki woke up the next morning, or if he woke up during the night. The nurse had said she was convinced this was unnecessary, and received four intense death glares. Hatori pointed out that they might as well stay at the hospital, since it had been well past midnight when they first brought him in over an hour ago, and they would just be coming back in a few hours anyway.
Hatori had spoken, so the issue was settled. The plan was to take shifts staying with Yuki in his room, while the others slept in the waiting room. Kyo sat in Yuki's hospital room and watched the others leave as Hatori, Shigure, and Ayame went to the first floor and set about settling in the visitors' room.
*Later*….. All the lights had been turned down in Yuki's room, and the only illumination in the room was the city's glow coming in through the window. Kyo wondered how anyone could sleep in here; there were all sorts of noises coming from different machines around Yuki's bed.
Kyo examined the hospital equipment. A computer was set up at an angle, displaying several neon numbers. One read '94', and Kyo decided that must be the percentage for Yuki's chance of living. Having assured himself thus, Kyo moved on. He saw Yuki's IV, and shuddered. Needles. On one side was a clear liquid in a pouch dripping through a cord. In the other pouch, labeled 'A+', there was, unmistakably, blood. It seeped down from the pouch, through the tube running along the side of the bed, and straight into Yuki's arm.
Now observing his cousin, Kyo realized how drained Yuki looked. In his hospital bed he looked pale and livid. It looked as though all the blood had left his face, leaving it looking colorless and expired. Kyo hated to imagine him lying, bleeding and unconscious, on a cold operation table just a few hours before.
It was past 2 in the morning, and Kyo needed sleep. Presently Hatori showed up as promised. He opened the door and looked in first, then came in and collapsed into a chair opposite Yuki's bed. He looked completely spent. Turning to Kyo, he said,
"I'll take it from here, Kyo. Get some rest."
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Yuki did not try to make out his surroundings at first, when he woke up. He was still tired and would have gone instantly back to sleep, but he became dimly aware of an unnatural glow to his left. It was a computer screen, showing changing numbers and lines. A clock on the screen read 3:20 AM. There was a low buzzing from somewhere and silhouetted objects hung over Yuki. He found it hard to focus on them, being so influenced by the side effects from several painkillers and gave up on figuring out what they were.
This room was unfamiliar, and though it was obvious enough where he was, Yuki was beginning to feel uncomfortable, on top of being confused. Just then he noticed a completely still figure seated across from him.
"Hatori?" Yuki called out hoarsely, and his voice cracked- his throat was very dry. Hatori did not stir. His arms were loosely folded across his chest and his head was leaned back. He was clearly asleep.
Yuki still felt groggy and out of sorts, and he didn't want to try to summon any extra strength to call out louder. So, delaying his curiosity as to what was going on, he allowed himself to fall back into sleep.
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The next time Yuki awoke, however, Hatori was ready for him. Feeling much more alive than he had last night, he was over by the bed in an instant.
"Yuki! How do you feel?" Hatori looked down anxiously at him.
"What time is it?" Yuki's voice was raspy. Looking closer at him, Hatori saw how unalert his cousin seemed. Yuki's eyes looked in Hatori's direction, but they were more staring into space than focusing on him. But Hatori wasn't worried. The nurse had given Yuki Benadryl and codeine, and Hatori knew Yuki would be more attentive after they wore off.
"It's almost nine. I can't believe you're already awake. Do you need anything?"
"Hm?" Yuki's voice sounded far off.
"Do you need anything?"
"For what?"
"No, I mean in general. Do you want some water?"
"Oh." Yuki closed his eyes again. Hatori actually smiled.
"Okay. We'll talk later."
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A few hours later, Yuki certainly was less out of it. He was still tired, and had nearly passed out again when he saw what was sticking into his arm, but on the whole, he was doing much better. Shigure and Hatori were on either side of his bed, and Hatori was talking.
"…And Ayame's been here since last night, but he just left a while ago for home to get some of your things. So he should be back soon. I don't know where Kyo's gone off to."
"He went to get some lunch, I think," said Shigure. "He'll be pissed to have been gone when you woke up, Yuki. But how's your stomach?
"Um…a bit shot through. But I imagine it's better than it was earlier, so I'm fine." A few minutes before, Yuki had given the nurse a hard time because he had wanted to take the bandage off and see what his stomach looked like after it had been operated on, but she said absolutely not. "But Ayame's back? When will they get here?"
"Ayame shouldn't be much longer," Hatori answered. Kyo probably got lost, though."
But shortly after, they both showed up, one right after the other. At first Ayame opened the door quietly, but when he saw Yuki was awake, he bounded straight over, holding a few filled plastic bags. Kyo followed, almost smiling genuinely for a split second before catching himself and resuming his usual sullen expression.
Ayame, obviously thrilled to see his little brother not gushing out blood, was clearly excited.
"So Yuki! How do you feel?!"
"Like hell, but I'm alright. Long time, no see, huh?"
"Yep!" replied Ayame gleefully.
Kyo looked uncomfortable. He opened his mouth, almost for a moment as if he was about to speak in earnest, before closing it and starting over.
"Um…I…You look terrible."
*blink blink* Yuki looked at him for a moment, then answered, "Well, I just got shot. What's your excuse?"
Kyo obviously had a savage comeback of some sort, but Ayame interrupted.
"Now, now, none of that!" he said joyfully, setting the two bags down on the ground. He began taking out their contents. "I hope I haven't forgotten anything….Let's see, I have your toothbrush, your clothes…Oh, and I always thought you dyed your hair, but I didn't see any dye anywhe-"
"I do no such thing!" said Yuki indignantly, running a hand through his hair.
"Oh! I almost forgot…" Ayame bent back down to one of the bags. "I brought your old stuffed Mickey Mouse. You still have trouble sleeping without it, right?"
Yuki turned red as Shigure snorted and Kyo tried- failing miserably- to suppress his laughter. But Ayame set the stuffed animal on the bed beside its owner. And Yuki, with a slightly embarrassed glance towards Hatori, reached for it and held it close against himself.
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Over the next week, they all kept Yuki company, so that he was hardly ever alone during his recovery. Sometimes they came together, sometimes individually. Shigure's visits were unquestionably the most exhausting for Yuki. He liked Shigure very much, but sometimes found it slightly difficult to follow his tales of what was going with everyone else. Shigure tended to jump to and from topics, from Hatori staying at the currently Akito-free Main House (no one had seen or heard anything of Akito since Saturday night), to Kyo's daily antics at the Sohma House.
Things were no less interesting when Ayame visited, which was often. Sometimes he worried far too much over Yuki. Other times he was beside himself with guilt or displaying dramatic scenes of apology to Yuki, who was distracted by the bewilderment on the nurses' face when she walked in and saw Ayame groveling on the floor, next to Yuki's hospital bed. However, as Yuki's condition slowly progressed, so did Ayame's mood. By the end of the week, Ayame was all over the place, with many "Ho ho ho ho's" and animated re-enactments of Saturday night's events from his point of view.
Yuki couldn't always tell if he was serious or not. "So, after your life-endangering encounter with Akito, then what?"
Ayame went on to tell all about how he single-handedly brought Hatori back to sanity after the pressure and stress threatened to make him lose his mind, and how Ayame administered CPR on Yuki, practically bringing him back to life after being on the brink of death. Yuki sat through all this with a straight face, trying to be a good audience for his brother. Besides, it was interesting. And one thing Yuki appreciated about his brother was that he realized when he was tired. When Ayame saw Yuki needed to rest, he had the discipline to either shut up or leave.
Hatori's visits were very much appreciated, too, in their own way. Every time when he first entered, he would speak relatively quietly, not blasting out Yuki's eardrums like the rest tended to do when they got going. Hatori would inquire of how he felt.
"Fine," was always Yuki's answer, but Hatori was never convinced. He would then proceed to flag down the nurse and harass her about Yuki's well being. After being assured Yuki was not being neglected by the staff and receiving adequate attention, the nurse would leave, glaring at Hatori. It seemed to Yuki they weren't on the best of terms- apparently Hatori wasn't satisfied with the competence of the nurses' medical skills, and on more than one occasion he thought he saw one of them flick the other off when Hatori's back was turned and she thought Yuki wasn't looking.
After getting rid of the nurse, Hatori would sit down and make pleasant and light conversation. Once he asked Yuki if he had spoken with Ayame about his trip, but aside from that, he never asked him questions. He tended to get quiet pretty quickly, and eventually he would just sit across Yuki's bed and read. Yuki found these visits strangely relaxing- he wasn't lonely, but he wasn't being bombarded with clamorous conversation
Kyo was at the hospital every day, too. And with him he brought an enormous variety of moods. One minute he would be serious, leaning forward and asking Yuki when he could come home. The next he would be leaning, relaxed, back in his chair, commenting on how tolerable their food had been at home since Yuki wasn't there to make it. At the same time, though, Kyo was obviously putting forth some effort- he didn't cross the usual lines in insulting Yuki, and Yuki appreciated it. He didn't think he'd be very intimidating in a battle of wits while lying flat on his back with his hospital gown on. Another thing Yuki noticed about Kyo's visits- he always brought him that day's newspaper to read.
