Star Struck
Chapter 3: Home, Cold Home
By Kaen
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Their arrival at the hospital was nothing remarkable. There were no sirens, not doctors' alerts, not even the vicious mob of reporters that they had left behind at the concert hall. Just a small car that pulled up to the emergency room drop off zone and stopped. Two tall men stepped out of the car and one turned to help another out; a shorter man by far. Shuichi sighed and allowed himself to be lifted out of the car and seemed a bit reluctant to even stand on his own two feet.
"I really don't think this is necessary…" the pink-haired vocalist muttered as he gripped tightly onto Hiro's arm to stay standing.
Hiro shook his head and just grabbed onto one of Shuichi's arms with the hand from the arm that wasn't being latched on to.
"Idiot. You can barely stand," Hiro grumbled, yanking Shuichi up again in an effort to get him to at least make an effort to support himself.
Shuichi groaned and reluctantly complied by placing both feet steadily on the ground. He figured he was just exhausted from the long and intense concert, and would have liked nothing better than to be sleeping in Yuki's bed at this moment. He frowned a little suddenly, recalling when K had tried to contact Yuki on his cell. The home number hadn't gone through and Yuki hadn't answered his cell phone, which made everyone (even Hiroshi), a bit nervous. Shuichi blinked blearily at the bright fluorescent lights that greeted them the second they stepped into the hospital. Surprisingly enough, the waiting room was empty and K just walked up to the counter to tell the attending nurse the problem as Hiro guided Shuichi into a chair.
The next few minutes were a surreal blur of consciousness and sleep, but Shuichi was nudged by Hiro to wake him up. He had been resting his head on his friend's shoulder apparently. He sighed and blinked groggily, his eyes focusing on Hiro's concerned face.
"Hey, they'll se you now," Hiro told Shuichi, standing up and offering a hand down.
Shuichi sat, slumped in his chair, for a few seconds longer and then took his best friend's hand, helping in pulling himself up. The young nurse smiled gently as she waited in the doorway that led to the examination rooms. She held in her small hands a clipboard that held various documents with Shuichi's medical record and other notes as she held the door open for then,
"Please follow me," she said sweetly, brushing a few strands of brown hair that had fallen out of her clips into her eyes away.
She led them to a small room and motioned for Shuichi to take a seat on the high padded table-thing, explaining that the doctor would be in soon. She set the clipboard down on the counter and excused herself. Evidently, she was not familiar with Bad Luck or the outcome of that brief encounter could have been more exciting. Shuichi sighed and zoned out by watching the seconds hand sweeping around the face of the clock, once, twice, three, four and then five times. It had gone around seven and a half times before the doctor slid into the room, pulling on a pair of latex gloves.
"So, what seems to be the problem?" the short middle-aged man asks, looking up to Shuichi, Hiro, and K.
A frown was evident as he took in Shuichi's unusual garb and hair, but he said nothing as he awaited an answer. Hiro and Shuichi exchange glances as if wondering who should say what but Hiro saves them both from having to talk yet.
"Shuichi here," K motioned to the rather clueless/dazed-looking pink-haired one. "Has got a high fever and fainted about forty minutes ago. I'm sure you can note yourself that he revived himself."
The vocalist nodded a little at K's words while noting how the manager seemed even more to the point than usual. The doctors made one of those obnoxious "Hmmm…" noises and took a step closer to Shuichi, noting the flushed appearance of the young man's face. He ran through the typical procedures of checking blood pressure, heartbeat, breathing... Shuichi tensed when the cold stethoscope was pressed to his back and coughed a little before he could manage even one deep breath. The doctor just seemed to nod apathetically, holding the cold instrument to Shuichi's back the whole time. The vocalist's shirt had been rolled up at some point, revealing pale skin harshly illuminated by the fluorescent lights.
The auriscope was removed from it mounted position on the wall and received a new cap while Shuichi nervously tugged his shirt back down. The doctor went about his business and checked one ear-the right one- which was fine. He 'hmmed' again and moved to the other ear, where his mask of indifference morphed into one of surprise for an instant. He removed the auriscope and set it aside on a counter before asking Shuichi if he would please stand.
"Stand?" Shuichi blinked but obliged.
He couldn't help but find the request to be strange, though, and most out of place in the situation. He hopped off the table onto the floor, but soon found himself grappling for anything to steady himself with. Slightly trembling hands found the corner of the counter as Hiro's arms encircled his waist in support.
"Shuichi? You all right?" Hiro asked.
His voice was calm even as he was very alarmed. Shuichi leaned against Hiro and nodded a little, just taking a moment to stand on his own. Once the black spots vanished, the pink-haired boy found he could stand perfectly fine. The doctor's voice interrupted this resolution.
"Are your ears bothering you?" he asks, folding his arms over his chest. "I can't imagine that they aren't. Your left eardrum is quite swollen. It's a miracle it hasn't ruptured yet, actually. "
"My ear…?" Shuichi repeated hesitantly, resting a palm over his left ear. Just that change in pressure was enough to send a jolt of pain through it. "Ow…"
The hands were pulled away quickly and Shuichi looked up to the doctor with wide, almost betrayed eyes. "So what's wrong?" he asked, skipping directly to the point.
The doctor just nodded as her scribbled down a few notes in that infamous illegible handwriting. "I'll need to get a swab on your throat, but I'd say strep is the culprit. It's kind of a rare condition that you have now, though."
"How so?" Hiro interjects for his friend in concern.
"There are well over eighty or so types of strep out there. I'm sure you've heard about the common symptoms. In your friend's case here, he seems to have a few extra afflictions. They're not serious if treated correctly, but they can be persistent," the doctors states, not looking up from his papers.
"How long can this last?" K asks, suddenly reinstating himself in the conversation. Considering he looked irritated by the information, it was most definitely a good thing that they had opted to leave Sakano behind with Fujisaki.
"By persistent, I meant the symptoms might go away, and then come back say… a week or so later. It's crucial to stay on the meds until they're completely gone. No more pills, no more serum left. Understand?" He was standing in front of Shuichi holding a cotton-tipped swab suddenly. "If you will…"
Shuichi sighed and opened his mouth wide (something he was quite used to doing, by the way) and stuck out his tongue. The medic got a quick sample and pulled away, placing the instrument in a designated bag. He picked up the clipboard as well and headed for the door to the small room.
"I'll be back in about ten minutes with the results. Please, take a seat," he gestured to the single chair along the wall and the examination bench in one sweep of the arm, and was then gone.
Hiro helped Shuichi back up to sit on the table and his eyes then flickered up to K's. He was eyeing the chair, though trying to hide it.
"I'll stand," Hiroshi said, smiling a little.
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As it came to pass, Shuichi did indeed have some obscure case of strep. The doctor had been quite amazed to hear that Shuichi was a singer, though not really because of his fame. It seemed that the illness usually attacked the throat first, making it very impossible for the victim's voice to be anything more than a whisper. The obvious explanation for the initial dizziness was the acute unbalance of fluids within the bright-haired boy's ears, which was further offset by the booming speakers. It was truly a miracle that his eardrum did not rupture at that point, another fact that captivated the prompt doctor.
As for now, Hiro was helping his best friend into the elevator at Yuki's apartment complex after having visited the pharmacy to pick up the prescribed medication. He was to take two pills a day, once in the morning and once at night, in supplement to a precarious-tasting pinkish-red syrup. Of course, Hiro was confident that Yuki would attend to all of Shuichi's needs… The very thought made him roll his eyes, but his friend had insisted on going home. Even now, Shuichi looked quite a bit worse for wear. His cheeks were tinted a feverish red, while the rest skin of his body paled in comparison. His hair was a mess of dampened locks that hung haphazardly in his eyes, but he made no effort to brush them away. The elevator arrived on the appropriate level and Hiro helped Shuichi out of the contraption down the hall, keeping an arm around his waist supportively.
"You sure you don't want to just crash at my place?" Hiro asked as Shuichi punched in the key code slowly. It apparently took a great deal of concentration.
"Yeah… I just need to get some sleep. I'm exhausted. Come morning, I think I'll be able to take care of myself," Shuichi reassured him before turning the handle of the heavy door. Funny thing how Yuki was never mentioned in this ideal solution.
Shuichi motioned for Hiro to keep quiet, as the sight that greeted there eyes was pitch darkness. The shorter of the two stepped inside and leaned against the door a little. Hiro just shook his head and handed him the paper bag with his meds with a soft sigh.
"You're sure?" he whispered, his eyes looking past Shuichi into the still room. He still really was not comforted by anything that was happening.
"Yes… I'll be fine," Shuichi flashed a bright smile, though it looked a bit forced. "I'll be fine, okay?" He looked about ready to close the door when something else occurred to him. "Ne, Hiro?"
"Yeah?" he looked over his shoulder, having already taken the first few steps down the hall to go back to K and the car.
"Thanks for being such a good friend. I'll keep you posted, okay?" Shuichi said sincerely.
"Sure thing. Just take care of yourself… get Yuki to help if you have to. Now, so long," Hiro returned just before the elevator doors slid closed.
He was actually a bit worried that his concern for Shuichi would get the best of him and he would get into an argument with his friend over his (less than intelligent, in his opinion) decision. Best to just leave. It's not like anything bad cold happen, right? Hiro sighed and watched the illuminated numbers sink lower and lower on the panel, moving away from his best friend, one story at a time.
Shuichi closed the door to the apartment and leaned against it for a moment while briefly reminiscing about the time he'd known Hiro. Shaking his head, he smiled a little and decided that sleep would be better than idle thought at the moment. He deposited the brown paper bag on the kitchen table on the way to the living room and was more than prepared to crash on the sofa, but was surprised to see his 'bed' already occupied. The TV was silently fizzing it's default black and white pattern, signifying that the cable company must be having some sort of problem. Shuichi did not even notice as he gently swept a few strand of ash-blonde hair away from Yuki's peaceful face.
The vocalist stifled a cough then as to not disturb his lover's slumber and pulled his own blanket over the man. With that, he headed into Yuki's bedroom alone, thinking it would be best to not be too close to the other man until he was sure he wasn't contagious. If he was, he seriously pitied Hiro. That thought was lost, however, as Shuichi all but collapsed onto the bed.
He was asleep before his body even impacted the soft surface, and he would remain in that awkward position, unperturbed, until morning.
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All right! Third chapter's done! I've been really trying to get into a better writing schedule, and I think its working (to an extent). I'm sorry if this chapter was boring… It is really kind of hard to write about a profession which I am obviously not. I did put a lot of effort into making this chapter flow smoothly, though, so if you read it, please review! They encourage me very much and help me put out work faster.
-Kaen *^^*
