Waste the Day Away
The hospital room smelled of starch and hopelessness, and the nurses weren't very good at hiding it. Sanada had noticed the sinister figure cloaked in black surrounded by blood and death, waiting for the souls to come to him; it lingered in Yukimura's room for weeks. Sanada guessed that it was his own stubbornness that made him cling to the frail hope that he would recover by some miracle. He wasn't faithless yet; just doubtful, that was all. It didn't stop him, though, from thinking that Yukimura would suddenly sit up and remove the IV tubes stuck in his arms in the swift, precise movement Sanada himself was better known for, semi-bitching (bitching? No, with Kirihara that was appropriate, but with Yukimura it would probably be mild complaining) about the world and then at his body and finally at him for being such a goddamn idiot. Why did he let them stick those tubes in him anyway, and would Sanada kindly stop being a damned girl because he was crying all over his unwashed hair?
Even that infernal 'things-will-be-alright' grin wouldn't annoy him slightly. It was better than the blank expression on the patient's paler than usual face. Hell, anything was better right now.
He touched Yukimura's closed eyelids. It felt smooth beneath his fingertips. He touched the parched lips and pressed his head to the other's chest. Still breathing.
That was good for now.
Pushing himself off Yukimura, he stood and looked around the room. The machine registered below-normal heart rate.
Rise.
Fall.
Rise.
Fall.
The flowers Yanagi had arranged in the vase yesterday were wilting. It smelled faintly of fragile dreams and broken promises. He moved to touch it, and beneath his fingers it felt as smooth as Yukimura's bare skin.
A petal fell to the floor and was promptly crushed by Sanada's foot.
He thought to say something, anything to break the silence, but there was nothing he could say.
Sanada felt his breath catch in his throat when Yukimura's chest lay still and did not rise, and cautiously let out an involuntary gasp when Yukimura finally did.