Chapter 03 :
[Music : This love ~ Maroon 5 – this is great music ! I absolutely love this song !]
The wounds were starting to heal and slowly , he was finally starting to feel a bit better .
Flowers came in everyday , all of which were unsigned , but he could tell that they were expensive . He'd seen a lot of those kinds of arrangements in the upper class florists in town and he always resented the fact that they cost a hell of a lot more money than he had ever seen at any given time . They were always brought in by a silver-haired , one-eyed man who had not , in the many occasions he had come , uttered a single word to him ; nor to anyone for that matter .
Ken didn't really mind . He wasn't really a friendly person by nature because he had grown in environment where you have to distrust others and their intentions to survive but still there were times when the familiar presence of the one-eyed man almost made his skin crawl .
" You're up early today ." He was jolted out of his morning reverie when the familiar figure in white entered with his flaming hair in a neat ponytail behind him . Apparently , his white-haired visitor had once again vanished into thin air .
He glanced up , feigning a look of indifference . " Why do you care ?"
It's been more than ten days and they seemed to have developed a ritual of annoying each other with their biting retorts.
Not that Ken liked it but he was getting used to the sharp remarks and his consequent equally lethal responses. Sure he was a hothead by nature but his temper had never been stimulated daily like clockwork .
The doctor walked to window and opened it , letting in the cool breeze . " You don't have to pretend , you know ."
Ken frowned , his lips turned in a scowl of irritation . " Pretend to do what ?"
" I know you're not as stupid as you pretend to be . You just want us all to think that you're a big grouch when you're not . Don't think that I don't know about you giving chocolates to all the nurses in the floor - I'm not as gullible as you think either ." Dr. Schwarz turned and gave him a slow knowing smile . " I AM older than you are , and that means I know better ."
He begged to differ , but the damned bastard would probably take any reply as an invitation to babble some more . He settled for a resentful " Hn ." and scowled again as he glanced at the garden . He'd been wanting to go outside ever since the day he woke up . He didn't like being stuck inside a room like a caged bird and being with this smug asshole certainly didn't help in the least .
The doctor seemed to notice his look and said . " Don't worry , you'll probably be out soon . For someone who came close to dying , you sure have a lot of fighting spirit , kid ." Schuldich Schwarz grinned as he ruffled the brunette's hair affectionately . He couldn't deny the fact that the kid was growing on him ; in fact , he looked forward to his regular check on the kid . He'd regret to see him go .
Ken tried to look right through him , but the cheerful and amused banter of the redhead was just too much to overlook ; that and his fiery carrot-coloured hair was just impossible to ignore thoroughly , much to his utter dismay . He felt his temper rising and all he could do was clench his teeth to keep himself from smashing the smug bastard's face.
Schuldich grinned as he tapped the clipboard with his fingers . This kid was just too easy to tease . That temper of his was bound to get him into deep trouble sooner or later – and sooner more probably than later .
" Don't worry kid , you're bound to be released after a few days . Besides , you've been staying here for only more or less two weeks and everything's been taken care of by your generous benefactor so why don't you just sit tight and relax ?"
He patted the boy's shoulder before turning and giving a mocking wave as he walked out . He didn't neglect to note the low growl the boy sent after him .
Yup , he did enjoy poking into that young head of his .
" See you tomorrow , Hidaka Ken ."
It was all Ken could do to keep himself from hurling the breakfast tray towards that ugly red head like a Frisbee .
† † †
The silver-haired man was back again , carrying an expensive-looking box of sweets that was bound to get his teeth aching after a few bites .
Ken eyed the chocolates in irritation . Sure , he'd never tasted anything so good while he was living in the streets , but he couldn't just eat the whole damn things for the 13th day straight ! It was just inhuman !
He sighed ; he couldn't just throw it - the nurses will surely fawn over him more than usual tonight .
" Where are these coming from anyway ?" he growled .
Pure silence reigned in the room . So maybe the white-haired man was deaf or mute or whatever.
He was about to 'hmmppff' his annoyance at being ignored when for the first time in weeks , he heard the man actually say something . " My boss sends them ."
Wide-eyed , Ken stared at the man like he was some sort of freak show . " You talk ?"
Grunting his disapproval , the Farfarello glared back at him and rose to his feet without another word before disappearing through the door .
Ken scowled and tore the box of chocolates violently open before tossing one of the delicate sweets into his mouth and chewing angrily.
Damn, he felt like a lab rat.
Pausing , he swung his lugs over to the side of the bed and for the nth time that day considered making a break for it – but the damned thing was all the nurses on that floor knew him despite him trying to drive them away by the hordes.
He was starting to wonder what his mysterious benefactor looked like. For him to hire a man like that one-eyed guy – well it was really out of the ordinary .
But you're not ordinary too.
Why didn't you just kill yourself , Hidaka ? Why did you wait for someone to save you ? You really are useless . You can't even let yourself die properly .
You're useless . All you're worth is being my little fuck toy and you're not even to good with that, huh, boy ?
Nobody wants you .
Why don't you just die , Hidaka ?
Why don't you just die ?
Slowly , Ken buried his face into the pillow to drown out all the shouts.
God , he didn't want to hear anymore .
Not anymore .
† † †
" Ohayou gozaimasu Schwarz-sensei ."
Schuldich gave a polite smile at the nurse before going to the locker room . He was out earlier than usual and he was looking forward to going home to his flat .
He folded his coat and placed it inside his locker before shrugging into a jacket even though it was a little warm outside .
Strangely enough , even after pulling a six-hour shift , he didn't at all seem tired and now he had nothing better to do but lounge around in his condo.
He suddenly thought of Ken and the longing gaze he placed through the window.
Poor kid ...
The fact that someone was willing to pay for the exorbitant hospital bills whom Ken did not at all know (he had gathered as much anyway) was quite puzzling considering that Ken had been living on the streets without any parents since he was young – that was what he said.
The truth was, getting him all riled up was just a rouse that was both for his pleasure and for Ken's benefit .
He didn't seem like the king of boy to socialize so freely with others although he unwittingly managed to endear himself with all the floor nurses but the fact that Schuldich noticed was, he wasn't really ready to forgive himself for surviving . It was something he didn't really understand because although he knew that Ken reacted violently to him at most times and even letting loose a barrage of threats, there was an underlying fear – or maybe regret .
He had never studied psychology or anything like that , but it was a basic instinct and he knew – he just knew that Ken was dangerous .
Not to others but himself .
Hidaka Ken was suicidal .
Slowly, Schuldich turned and walked out of the locker room and stepped into the elevator .
He finally knew what was making Ken Hidaka tick . And there was no way in hell he was going to allow the boy to hurt himself .
† † †
He was suddenly surprised by the sudden change of atmosphere, different from the one when he'd left just several minutes earlier.
He stood there for a moment, silent, not wanting the boy to notice him standing there by the partially open door.
He knew he caught Ken off-guard, nursing a private moment and there, his vulnerability showed and he was once more transformed back into the abused young boy that he was.
Oh yes, Schuldich saw all the scars that marked him – it was he himself who had done a physical check and he could tell that those marks meant chronic abuse. Ken was a battered child which was why he wasn't surprised to see him acting the way he did.
But despite that, Ken was resilient. He stood up after every fall and that was what kept him alive all those years living in the streets.
He had, in fact, a death wish; that much he knew – but the thing was, his sense of survival dominated that and he is now what he is because of that.
He stood there for several moments, still uncertain of what to do, only minding with watchful eyes as the brunette closed his eyes as if wanting to block some gruesome images from his sight.
Ken was a strong person, but right now, he was still a boy in Schuldich's eyes, awfully young to be tormented in such a way that it would be difficult for him to mend.
And suddenly, it was as if Ken had finally sensed his presence, because he opened his eyes to face him without saying a single word.
Schuldich found himself wavering under that soulful gaze and all he could do was forge a smile and say, " You want to go out for a walk ?"
A dozen eternities passed with the question hanging in the air in between them before pale lips moved for a tiny soundless whisper before a soft, hoarse voice rasped out. " Yes ... I'd like that ."
Schuldich smiled. He was glad that Ken accepted.
He didn't know why, but he was glad.
And that itself was enough.
† † †
Redemption_Moon : I can't believe I'm actually updating this ! Well, anyway, I'm going to have a little more time on my hands now that the midterms are over and I can probably update this and the other one more often than I'm used to. Anyway, just a note. I'm highly aware that you can't just take patients out of the hospital just for the heck of it. That would just be weird if they allowed that kind of thing to happen .
But this is a fanfic dammit ! And I can do pretty much what I want to do with it so for now I say Schuldich could take Ken out of the hospital for a walk and that's that !
*LOL*
Misura : Well, I haven't really thought about the Amazon nurse. But I'm betting you're going to see her a lot in the future. And I'm betting on some KenxSchu action for a few more chapters. I'm glad I'm actually managing to write something *amusing* And here I was thinking that I could only manage to make people cry, sniffle, have heart attacks and all that. ^___^
Noise : I shall. Please continue on reading and reviewing. The BradxKen is bound to come in soon.
AA Battery : I'm glad. You're the one who's shown the most enthusiasm for this story, and I shall continue it for you if I can. I've already planned a lot of things in the future and you're bound to be in for a few surprises. Hai, hai. Gomen nasai, I didn't know that you were a musume. Now I know. ^___^
Kitsune Hashiba : Yup, I won't tell anyone else that you're here... but that would be really weird since I replied to your message and is therefore acknowledging your presence ... O______O;;; I'm so glad that you made an exception- for me! Wow what an honor! So please, keep on RnR'ing. I really need more support on this one coz' it doesn't seem to be as popular as 'the other one' . Anyway, ja! I hope to still see you around !
Schu : Waaaaaaaaiiii ! *glomps* I don't know why but I'm feeling a strong urge to glomp you ! yayayayayay ! Updateupdateupdate. O____O;; Goodness, I'm so hyper today.
Whisper Reilman : I do like that too ! ^___^ And you do more than you should methinks. *LOL* No, you haven't mentioned that before. You love him more than you love Ken ?! I hoe you get well soon. There is nothing I hate more than having cough or flu. Migraines you can sleep away, but not that. I'm thinking that it would be fun watching him do it too. But we're in for a really turbulent roller coaster ride here – that much I can promise. Oh, I like that ! 'Beautiful, painful disaster'. I like that ! ^_________^
Kasugai gummie : Yeah, I haven't been writing much lately. And yes, school is being a bitch, but hopefully I'm able to rest from the frenzy for a little now that tests are over. Arigatou gozaimasu ! I'm really glad you're around here, reading. Really ?!! Hontou ni ?!? Well ... yeah, Schuldich doesn't seem to be the type to be doctor but it fits him here methinks! I like him as a doctor and I'm glad you do too !