Ryoma sighed as the crosswalk sign told him that it was ok to cross the street. It was pretty late, and there were few cars on the road. There was no one at the crosswalk with him. Taking a step forward, Ryoma stated across. About ¾ of the way across, a car came speeding around the corner. The headlights blinded the 12 year old boy. The next thing he knew was flying through the air, immense pain, and then everything went black.

Emiko looked out the window as she heard a scream outside the store that she worked at. She screamed as she saw the small body lying in the middle of the road. Grabbing the phone, she quickly dialed an ambulance, and then ran to the boy. Upon looking closely, Emiko had to resist the urge to become ill. Blood was everywhere. One of the boy's arms was at an odd angle in several places, and his pelvis looked as if it had been crushed. He had a nasty gash on his head, and in several other places. Emiko got really worried when she noticed that the kid was barely breathing. Emiko looked around. A few feet from her was a tennis equipment bag that she assumed to be the boy's. On it was the name: Ryoma E. 'That must be his name,' she thought. She went up to Ryoma, and cradled his head in her lap. By now, more people had crowded around, and Emiko could hear the ambulance coming down the road.

The paramedics jumped out of the ambulance as soon as they came to a stop, bringing a stretcher with them. They took charge of the scene quickly, and soon Ryoma was gone. Emiko got up, and noticed the forgotten tennis bag, picked it up, and decided to bring it to him or his family.

Dr. Yushimoro hated his job tonight: for tonight, he had to take care of a 12 year old boy. The kid was a victim of a hit and run at high speeds. They had gotten him stable and in the ICU after some emergency surgery to stop some internal bleeding. Now the doctor was looking for an ID for the boy. He found a school ID in the kid's wallet, and discovered him to be on Ryoma Echizen. Now that he had a name, he could call the kid's family.
Nanjirou was starting to wonder where his son was. He was supposed to be back almost three hours ago. He was just about to call some of Ryoma's teammates when the phone rang.

"Hello? Ryoma?" Nanjirou asked as he answered the phone.

"Hello, Mr. Echizen?"

"Yes"

"Mr. Echizen, this is Dr. Yushimoro at Tokyo General. Your son was in an accident. We need you to come down here as soon as possible."

"Yes, alright, I'm leaving now."

Nanjirou and Rinko ran out the door, heading for the hospital.

Nanjirou and Rinko looked down at the broken and battered body of their son that lay on the bed in the ICU. He had tubes everywhere. He was on oxygen and hooked up to a heart monitor. He looked so small and vulnerable. Ryoma had woken up for a couple of minutes after they had arrived…just long enough to tell them that he couldn't feel his legs. This had worried the doctors, but they thought it was due to swelling on the spinal cord.

"We should call Ryuzaki-sensei, the team will want to know," Rinko suggested.

"I'll call her."

"We'll call the school in the morning."

Nanjirou found the phone, and dialed his old coach's phone number. She answered on the third ring.

"Hello?" she answered sleepily, seeing as how it was already midnight.

"Ryuzaki-sensei, I'm sorry if I woke you up, but it is important."

"Nanjirou?"

"Yes"

"What is wrong?"

"There was an accident, Ryuzaki-sensei. Ryoma was hit by a car in a hit and run. The police are looking for the car, but no one got a good look…they just know that it was silver and an SUV. Ryoma is hurt badly. They have him in the ICU. They're not sure if he's going to make it through the night."

"Oh Kami! It's really that bad?"

"I'm afraid so. On top of cuts and bruises, his right arm is broken in 3 places, he has a crushed pelvis, and they had to do emergency surgery when he first came in to stop some massive internal bleeding. He woke up for a few moments about an hour ago. Just long enough to let us know that he can't feel his legs. The doctor said that the paralysis may not be permanent. The amount of swelling he has can be the cause. We can only hope until the swelling goes down."

"I'm so sorry Nanjirou. I can't imagine what this is like for you and Rinko right now. Is there anything that I can do for you?"

"Let the team know at tomorrow morning's practice. Ryoma wouldn't want them to find out through the grape vine."

"I will do that for you."

"Thank you, Ryuzaki-sensei."

"Anytime. I'll be praying for Ryoma. I'll be by for a visit tomorrow too."

"Thank you again. I'll see you tomorrow then. Good-bye, Ryuzaki-sensei. I'll call you in the morning with an update. Pray that he makes it through the night."

"I will. Good night."

With that, the two hung up, and Nanjirou went back to his wife's and son's side.