Disclaimer : I don't own Hikaru no Go.
Announcement : I don't want you to get confused so I'll tell you this. Chapter 2-5 will be about what happened 3 years ago when Hikaru was 12.
Chapter 2 : Falling down
3 years ago,
" Granpa! Hikaru-chan passes out!" Akari screamed in horror. She knew her best friend was having another stroke, she knew how dangerous it could be. Shindou Hikaru could die because of this.
Hikaru was born with a weak heart. For the Shindous, it was a curse, the most evil curse, Hikaru was the only child and also the only grandson, moreover, he was the only heir. His private doctor had predicted that he would never make it through the age of ten, yet, with the Shindous' great determined effort and the ill-fated boy's spirit, Hikaru was 12 now.
Shindou Heihachi, Hikaru's grandfather knew what to do, he hastily called the ambulance and his daughter-in-law, Mitsuko, and agreed to meet her at the hospital.
At Zawa Hospital,
Dr. Shinozame sighed as he saw his emergency patient's medical treatment profile. The boy was dying, the worst part was he had to be the one who told his family.
" Doctor! How is he? Is he alright? How is my Hikaru?" Mitsuko asked in tears, like Akari, she knew her son could…
" Doctor, please tell me how is my grandson," Heihachi begged the doctor who was young enough to be his grandson.
Sighing hopelessly again, Shinozame knew sooner or later he had to tell them anyway so he decided to do it now, " To be honest, Shindou-san, he's in a critical condition now. As you all know, Shindou-kun was born with a very weak heart, his heart loses its ability to pump blood efficiently. I've called Dr. Koto, his personal doctor, he told me that Shindou-kun got a heart failure from time to time, is that true?" he questioned since it was necessary for future treatments.
" Yes..yes, sometimes when he plays football, he…," Turning away, Mitsuko answered uncomfortably, "Hikaru loves football,"
" Football? You let him play football? Don't you know how risky it is? He can…" The doctor wanted to say it out loud but he didn't dare to. What kind of parents they are! To let their son who has a heart problem play football! Are they trying to kill him?
" I know how dangerous it is, Doctor, We all know but…" It was the first time Masao spoke, " Our son is such a playful boy, he can't sit still more than 5 minutes. He's so full of life, he likes running around everywhere. He himself understands his condition very well, he knows football can kill him, still, he wants to play it," he proudly narrated the story of his brave son. Hikaru showed to the world that even though he suffered from his frail heart, he didn't let this fateful illness consumed his soul, " He wants to be like other kids, he…he just wants to have a normal life, he doesn't want anyone to treat him like a sick child," Yes, without a doubt, he was very proud of him.
Shinozame let out a deep sigh for the 3rd time in the past 15 minutes. Maybe this is their love for their son, love has many faces after all, he thought, " I see, he's very strong little kid,"
" Yes, he is," Masao agreed, in his opinion, his son was the strongest individual, even stronger than him, " So, what will we do next?"
" He has life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms and he doesn't respond to other therapies," the young doctor informed the status, " I think there's only one way left," he declared.
" What is it?" Mrs. Shindou queried.
" Heart transplant," Shinozame stated, " I'm sure that Dr. Koto used to mention this alternative option with you two,"
" Yes, but we still doubt if it's the best way for Hikaru," Masao replied. He and his wife had discussed it with Koto numerous times.
" Heart transplant? Masao, if there's a way to help Hikaru, why don't we do it?" Heihachi suggested enthusiastically.
" Dad, you don't understand, it's not 100 percent safe," Seeing how his father underestimated the risk of taking the operation, it came pretty clear to Masao that his old man didn't know what he was talking about.
" How so?" He was right, he knew his father the best. Heihachi didn't know what he was asking for his grandson.
" Shindou-san, do you know how it works?" Shinozame wondered.
"….." As a matter of fact, Hikaru's grandpa didn't know a thing about it.
" Shindou-kun must have a transplant operation. We'll remove his heart and replace it with a new healthy one,"
" Great! Let's do it then," he said vividly.
" It's not that easy, Shindou-san, we have to find a donor first," Shinozame mentioned.
" So what? Find one then, what we're waiting for?" the old man urged the trio, he didn't understand why they treated it such a big deal, " My friend has just had a kidney transplant. How hard canit be? You take the old one out then you put the new one in, Voila! You've got a new life!"
" Heart transplant is a bit different, sir," the newly doctor tried to make the old man understand the situation.
" How so?"
" The operation is not that hard, just like you said, we take away the damaged weak heart and replace it with a donor heart but…finding a donor is difficult, the heart must come from a fresh cadaver," he gave details.
" A fresh cadaver," Heihachi inquiringly raised his questioning eyebrows. How can a cadaver be fresh?
" Yes, we'll take the heart from a donor who has suffered from brain death but still remains on life-support. Then we'll put them into a pain-free deep-sleep state and operate them," he explained the procedure.
" See? Dad? See what I'm up against?" Masao shook his head despairingly.
" But he'll live, right?"
" What about the surgery, Dad? Infection? Bleeding?" There were always risks for any surgery, even for the simplest one, he knew. It wasn't that he didn't want to save his own son but he simply wanted to be sure that it was the safest way for his little boy. Call him a nervous wreck, if they wanted but he didn't want to risk all of this in vain. Was that a crime?
" But you can't let him be like this, son," Heihachi lectured his son, " You have to do something, you can't just let him die like this, he's your son, my grandson,"
" Masao, dear," Mitsuko placed her delicate fingers on her husband tense arm.
…...
Masao looked at Shinozame asking for any suggestion in silence. The doctor in a white coat understood the unspoken question so he came out, " If he has another stroke, he'll…we'll lose him," It wasn't a threat but a truth.
Looking at his son who was lying unconsciously in the ICU ward through a large window, Masao narrowed his eyes as he made the final decision, the most important decision in his life that would design Hikaru's fate, " What do you want me to do?" he asked the doctor.
" Once you sign the papers, I'll run a test for finding the donor whose heart is as similar as possible to Shindou-kun but I've to tell you that the match is usually not perfect. No two people except identical twins have identical tissue," Shinozame clarified wanting them to understand the danger, he didn't want to get any trouble later.
" We understand it clearly, Dr. Shinozame," Mitsuko assured him, " Dr.Koto told us all about it,"
" Then you're well aware of the risk and the further problems,"
" Yes, we're," Knowing what her husband finally came to a decision, Mitsuko spoke for both of them. She also knew what the doctor was implying but she was willing to take the risk, she would do anything to keep her baby alive and she knew Masao was thinking the same.
" Bring me the papers," Said Masao.
PS. All info about heart transplant, the procedure and the operation in this chapter is real.
kathy : Right! It's good to be back :) How about you fic?
mikage : "i'm truly amazed at your creativity and imagination"I'm flattered and already forgot what to say :)
thuyhy-thuyhy : "you like hikaru no go very much , right?" Yap! And proud of it!
xiar : Well, I miss my reader, what can I say ?
kari : Is this fic long? Umm...medium long
siobhn01 : Yeah, very very strange idea. I suggest you to read the 1st paragraph of the first chapter. It has a BIG clue.
d.a.r.s.h : How come Sai is the heart? That remains to be seen ( evil grin)