Disclaimer: I make no claim of ownership over the Hana Yori Dango series/manga.

Story Summary: Tsukushi needs a heart transplant! They're having trouble finding a suitable heart, and the future is seriously cloudy. Read to see how this plays out!

Chapter Two: Give It to Me Straight, Doc

Eye lids fluttered. Heart rate increased. Slowly Tsukushi opened her eyes to the world. A white ceiling glared down at her. Her whole body felt stiff. She groaned quietly.

"She's awake!" Suddenly Yuki and Kazuya were leaning over her. She didn't know what was going on yet, but it was a comfort to have her best friends around.

"What's going on?" Tsukushi managed to croak out. Her head was still very fuzzy, and it wasn't clearly quickly enough for her tastes.

"You collapsed at school, Makino. Don't you remember?" Nishikado answered. He, Mimasaka, and Rui had just come in the room. Memories slammed back into Tsukushi's head. She had felt funny all day. She remembered arguing with Domyoji and kicking at him. There! The last thing she could remember was her heart hurting and not being able to breathe well.

"Where am I now?" She moved her head around on the pillow beneath it and saw the room contained various machines, a heart monitor, an IV stand, etc.

"The hospital," answered Rui this time.

"It's the same one that you and Tsukasa were in after that jerk Junpei attacked you," Mimasaka added.

"Enough questions, Tsukushi! You should get some rest!" insisted Yuki. By looking in her eyes, Tsukushi could tell that her best friend was happy to see her awake, but she was still upset that Tsukushi was in the hospital. Tsukushi was also becoming increasingly aware of the oxygen tube under her nose. It agitated her. In fact, the whole fact that she was in a hospital again agitated her. She didn't like being here; it brought back old memories.

"Does anyone know what happened?" asked Tsukushi.

"Not yet. The doctors were waiting for you to wake up before they started running some tests on you," said Yuki. "Oh I hope it's just exhaustion or something! You always work yourself too hard, Tsukushi!" Tsukushi smiled. It made her happy to see that Yuki was still worrying too much about her. Things seemed to be happening too fast so seeing something she was used to was wonderful. Smiling pained her chapped, dry lips. How long had she been asleep? She looked around for a glass of something, anything, to drink.

"What do you need, Tsukushi? Just tell me and I'll get it for you!" pestered Kazuya.

"Water, please?" she said. Kazuya raced off. There were a few moments of silence following his departure. Mimasaka, who had disappeared without her noticing, came back in with 2 chairs, which he and Nishikado preceded to place next to her bed. Now there were enough chairs for everyone in the room.

"Makino…" Nishikado started. She turned to face him. He seemed to be struggling to find the right words. She raised her eyebrows expectantly.

"Well, you haven't been doing anything stupid have you?" he asked bluntly.

"What! No! Of course I haven't! I don't have the time or the money to do anything stupid!" Tsukushi was angry that he would even think to suggest something like that. Of course, getting excited made her heart hurt and she was soon inhaling her air through teeth clenched from pain. Naturally her friends rushed to her closest side to see if she wanted a doctor to come in. A few seconds passed and the pain receded. She alleviated their immediate worries with a shake of her head.

"Um, could you guys leave?" requested Yuki. "I want to talk to Tsukushi alone." Glances were exchanged.

"Oh, its just girl-talk and stuff like that. You wouldn't be interested in it!" assured Yuki, trying hard to convince the boys to leave.

"Alright, well, we'll visit tomorrow, Makino," said Mimasaka, the others nodding in agreement and waving as they walked out of the room. Yuki shut the door and quietly walked back, sitting down in the chair closest to the head of bed. Tsukushi watched her. When Yuki finally locked eyes with her hospitalized friend, Tsukushi saw a rare unreadable expression. Usually, you could tell what Yuki was thinking from her face as easily as you could get information from reading a book. Finally Yuki spoke.

"They're just worried about you, Tsukushi. I think this whole situation might even scare them a little. They're used to seeing you strong and stubborn. There aren't too many people who have seen any of your sides besides that one. I've seen them, and I'm still scared out of my mind. Can you imagine how they feel?" Tsukushi stared at her friend. Speaking of sides, how often did one get to see Yuki's stern, lecturing side? A grin slowly spread onto Yuki's face though.

"I probably shouldn't tell you this, but Domyoji, even though he wasn't here just now, was probably the most worried of all." Tsukushi felt a faint blush spread to her pale cheeks. "I arrived a few minutes before he left. He really does care about you, Tsukushi. He had the most concerned look on his face. Nishikado and the others told me that he carried you all the way to the hospital. He wouldn't even wait for the ambulance!" Yuki paused to laugh. "You should have seen Kazuya! He was so worked up when he heard that! I think it really worries Domyoji most of all to see you like this. I think he's always scared to death whenever he thinks he might loose you."

Tsukushi sighed loudly, turning her head to stare at the ceiling. She raised a hand to her face and covered it. She knew how Domyoji felt about her, though she still tried to deny it. He had told her that he loved her several times. She just couldn't bring herself to accept his feelings. Moving her hand away, she turned back to Yuki.

"When did you get so observant?" she asked. Yuki smiled and laughed.

"Well, it's from all the time at work with you!" Both girls laughed. Then Yuki kept her promise to Nishikado and changed the conversation to more girlish topics. They both commented on Kazuya's disappearance. Just where did he go to get that water anyways? An hour passed. To his disappointment, Kazuya arrived just as visiting hours ended. Apparently he got lost looking for water. Twice. Her two friends promised to come visit her again the next day. After they left, Tsukushi was left bored. There was nothing to do in her room, not even another patient to talk to. There was a TV, but she didn't feel like watching it. It seemed awkward in her mind for her not to be up doing something or working. Tsukushi, given her family circumstances, had never been one to just sit and waste time very well. It took some time, but she eventually fell asleep, machine's humming softly in the background.

The next day, doctors and nurses moved her from one test to another. It was exhausting. All of it served to reaffirm her dislike of hospitals. By the time she was back in her room, Yuki and Rui were already waiting for her. Apparently Nishikado and Mimasaka were also around, but in her absence they had spotted some girls and were being themselves. Tsukushi felt like she should be upset, because wasn't she the reason they were here? She wasn't though. In truth she was relieved. They were just two less people in the room to make her feel more like the invalid she was. Once she was settled and comfortable in her bed again, she asked Yuki if her parents had been by.

"No, they haven't stopped by more than the first day. You would be proud of them though, Tsukushi! Because you're in the hospital, they're working harder than they ever have before to find better, decent jobs! They did say they'd stop by again later tonight if they could or tomorrow."

"So, have they told you anything yet, Makino?" asked Rui. Tsukushi shook her head.

"No, I just finished my last test. They told me I'll know by tomorrow definitely, but they might even know enough to tell me something tonight." And that was that. They turned the conversation towards other things. Rui tried to entertain her with stories about stupid things Domyoji had done at school that day. The stories were supplemented with comments from Nishikado and Mimasaka when they came back. According to them, Domyoji walked around in a daze at school, making a complete fool out of himself at some points. Domyoji as a topic made Tsukushi blush, so before anyone could pick up on it and tease her for it, she changed the topic. She asked if Nishikado and Mimasaka if they were successful in their hunt around the hospital for women.

"Of course! Who do you think we are? Look, digits and all!" Both boys pulled out a few slips of paper each with lines of numbers written down. Yuki then changed the topic and told her an amusing story about a customer who had come into the Dango shop last night. It made Tsukushi happy to have something to do, people to talk to. They talked for hours. At one point Tsukushi received her hospital dinner tray. Everyone in the room was disgusting by it, so Yuki and Nishikado went together down to the cafeteria to buy something better for everyone. When they returned, everyone ate while still poking fun at the hospital food. All too soon, visiting hours were over, even for the rich, and Tsukushi's friends had to leave.

"Oh!" Yuki gasped as she was leaving. She went back over to the bed and presented Tsukushi with a bag.

"These are for you. I thought you might be bored with no one around. I'll see you tomorrow." Yuki waved as she ran out the door to catch up with the others. Tsukushi curiously opened the bag. Inside were several magazines and several of Tsukushi's¬ Hana Yori Dango manga volumes. Had Yuki still been in the room, Tsukushi would have been singing her praises. At one point, the nurse had to come back into Tsukushi's room to make her turn off the lights and get some sleep, threatening to take away her reading material. As she drifted off to sleep, her mind dragged her back through the events of the day. The last thing she thought before she fell asleep was Domyoji. Yuki had told her that he was the most worried for her out of all her friends, so why hadn't he visited her yet?

What Tsukushi was unaware of was the fact that as she was drifting off to sleep, Domyoji was lying in his large bed staring at the ceiling. Why couldn't he bring himself to visit Tsukushi? His friends all scolded him for it. They told him that he was being heartless. In truth, he was slightly scared to see Tsukushi in the hospital. He was used to her constantly being around to nag him; weak didn't suit her. He had almost had a heart attack when Nishikado came running to him about her fainting. After chastising himself properly, he decided that no matter what, he'd go to see her tomorrow. He'd even skip school to do it.

The next morning, Tsukushi woke up late to a knock on her door. At the second knock she was fully awake and called her visitor in. Her main doctor walked in and shut the door behind him. Tsukushi stiffened.

"Makino-san, we have the results of yesterday's tests. Would you like us to call a family member or friend to be with you before we tell you? Would you prefer to hear the results alone?" the doctor asked. Tsukushi looked down at her blankets. Would it be easier for everyone to hear it, or for her to tell them in her own words? Or more importantly, if it was something horrible, would she be able to tell them at all? The doctor was patient. He waited without a word or any sort of impatient motion for her to answer. After a few minutes of thinking Tsukushi looked up.

"I think I'd rather hear the results alone." Unknown to her, Domyoji was on his way down the hall at that exact moment. He even brought flowers for her. The doctor took a deep breath and started.

"You mentioned that your heart hurt and you were having trouble breathing. Your heart has a virus. It's beating irregularly and it's not delivering oxygen around your body properly." Domyoji's hand touched the door knob and turned it. He opened the door in time to here the last of the results.

"Your heart is failing, Makino-san. Without a transplant, you probably won't live even another six months."

-End of Chapter Two-

Okay, everyone! This is the end of chapter two! I hope you enjoyed it. I know I said that I might not post up if I get bogged down with work, but I didn't expect it to happen right after the first chapter! Long story short, I had lots of work and at one point in this chapter I just couldn't get the part to sound right, and I keep going back to change it. I'll try to be better next chapter!

¬I know, haha, she's reading her own story, right? In the story, shortly after Kazuya shows up, Tsukushi gets sick with a fever. For those of you who've never noticed, while she's recovering at home, she's reading manga…her manga! Specifically, she's reading the part where she throws up on Domyoji's suit as Shizuka's party! No wonder she's laughing her ass off!

◙Also, I forgot to mention this in the first chapter's notes, but if there is something you would like to see happen, let me know. I'm always trying to think of different things I could have happen. Anyways, just let me know, and I see what I can do about trying to fit it into the story.