Hiroki's eyes snapped open, and he looked around the darkened room in confusion. Nowaki was sleeping soundly beside him, his arm still draped over his waist. Just as Hiroki was about to relax and go back to sleep, he heard a squeaking noise, and a hiccup.
"Nowaki," Hiroki whispered, putting a gentle hand on Nowaki's chest to rouse him. He awoke with a start.
"What? What is it? Do you hear a noise?" Nowaki asked, raising his head jerkily and looking around frantically.
"No, I think Fuyumi is crying," Hiroki whispered. Nowaki blinked in the moonlight, then looked over his shoulder at the crib on wheels. He sat up and reached over to scoop up Fuyumi, who was crying softly, her breaths raspy.
"That's not a very strong cry," Nowaki mused, furrowing his eyebrows in concern. He slipped out of bed and cradled Fuyumi in his arms. "Buzz for the nurses, Hiro-san."
Hiroki nodded and reached behind him to press a button on the wall. Meanwhile, Nowaki set Fuyumi down on the bed and began to unwrap her from her blanket. Hiroki watched on fearfully as he unveiled her little chest and massaged her sternum with gentle fingertips. He stooped down to press his ear against her torso.
"Damn, I wish I had my stethoscope," Nowaki muttered, frowning down at Fuyumi as he straightened.
"Is something wrong with her?" Hiroki asked, his heart racing.
"I'm not sure. I don't know why her cries are so soft, I thought it could be just that she's a mellow baby, but she's wheezing a lot more than she was earlier. All of her tests came back negative for disease; the only thing I can think of is a problem in her bronchial tubes," Nowaki said. Hiroki covered his mouth with his hands, staring down at Fuyumi with wide eyes. A second later, a nurse walked into the room and turned the lights on 'low'. When the lights came on, Hiroki's eyes widened as he realized that his precious baby's skin was slightly purple.
"What's wron-"
"Get me a stethoscope," Nowaki barked, looking halfway over his shoulder, his eyes wild with concern. The nurse hesitated before dashing out of the room. She returned a moment later with a stethoscope in hand. She handed Nowaki the tool and he hurriedly hooked it on his ears and began pressing the chest piece to Fuyumi's little body. Hiroki watched him work, his eyes swimming with tears of panic.
"Sir, what's wrong?" the nurse asked. Nowaki hushed her sharply and squinted as he listened to his daughter's heartbeat.
"I need a pen light," he said after a small pause. The nurse nodded and jogged out of the room once more. Again, she returned with a small, pen-sized flashlight in her hand. Nowaki snatched it from her and clicked it on. He pried Fuyumi's mouth open and she scrunched up her face. He pinched her cheeks to force her mouth open more, and she let out a muffled, protesting squeal.
"You're hurting her!" Hiroki gasped. Nowaki shook his head jerkily.
"No, I'm not. Get me a tongue depressor," Nowaki said. The nurse nodded and exited the room a third time, again returning with a wooden stick in hand. She handed it to Nowaki. He was about to put it in Fuyumi's mouth, but he glanced down at it, then whirled around sharply. "This is not going to fit in my daughter's mouth!"
The nurse flinched as Nowaki shouted at her. She raised her hands in surrender and sprinted out of the room. She came back with a smaller depressor. Nowaki took it and turned back to Fuyumi. He inserted it into her mouth and held her tongue down. He peered into her mouth, tilting his head for a better angle.
"Shit," he swore. Before Hiroki or the nurse could ask what was going on, Nowaki removed the tongue depressor and shoved his finger down his daughter's throat, drawing a strangled cry from her little body.
"Stop it!" Hiroki wailed in terror, struggling to sit up and grab Nowaki's arm. Nowaki gritted his teeth and shoved Hiroki away. He then yanked his finger out of Fuyumi's mouth, a string of discolored liquid trailing behind his digit. Fuyumi coughed several times, each time making Hiroki jump as he looked on in horror. Nowaki put his finger into her mouth one more time, but was gentler. He scooped a strange, off-white mass off of her tongue with his finger and wiped it off on the bed sheets. He reached in one more time and scooped out more. The third time he dipped in, he withdrew with a small lump on his finger, drenched in the slimy, oozing substance. The second it was out, Fuyumi screamed clearly, folding her arms up against her chest and trembling on the bed beside Hiroki's feet. Hiroki grunted as he leaned forward with a bit of struggle. He scooped Fuyumi up into his arms and brought her to his chest, weeping softly as he rubbed her back soothingly.
"What the fuck is this?" Nowaki hissed, pinching the lump between his thumb and forefinger. He squinted at it for a moment before turning around sharply to face the nurse, who flapped her lips speechlessly.
"I-I-I-I-I don't kn-know, I've n-never seen anything l-like it before!" the nurse stammered. Nowaki looked positively animalistic, panting gruffly with throaty breaths. A moment later, Nagasaki burst into the room, his medical coat disheveled and hanging off of his shoulders.
"What happened?" he asked, jerkily looking around. His eyes rested on Fuyumi, and he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. A growl ripped itself from Nowaki's throat and Hiroki watched through his tears as he shot forward and grabbed Nagasaki by the collar. He slammed him into the wall and held up the tiny lump for Nagasaki to see.
"What is this? What the fuck did you put into my baby?" he roared, pulling Nagasaki away from the wall, only to slam him into it again. Nagasaki put his hands up, shaking his head vehemently.
"N-No! I didn't do anything!" he yelled fearfully. "I-I-I just got here for my g-graveyard sh-shift!"
"Who did this? Who put this pill in my baby?" Nowaki bellowed, shaking Nagasaki violently.
"I-I-I-I d-d-d-don't kn-know!" Nagasaki managed to choke between shakes. Nowaki finally released him and stumbled back, staring down at the pill in his pinched fingertips.
"This… this was suffocating her. If Hiro-san hadn't woken up, she'd be dead by now," Nowaki snarled. "If… if we had waited for you, it'd be too late."
The room went silent as Nagasaki shakily straightened and fixed his medical coat. He took a deep breath and exhaled.
"Listen, Kusama-san. Just relax. That lump is probably just a bit of hardened mucu-"
"It's a pill!" Nowaki shouted. "It was releasing something that was irritating Fuyumi's throat and making it swell. Someone was trying to killmy baby!"
Hiroki, who had been quietly trying to pacify Fuyumi as he watched the scene unfold before him, promptly burst into tears.
"Wh-Who would want to kill her?" Hiroki cried, clutching Fuyumi to him. Nowaki turned to him and froze, his eyes widening.
"We have to go back to Usami-san's apartment," Nowaki said. "Right now."
"What? You can't move Kamijou-san, he's still not cleared to be re-" Nagasaki exclaimed.
"I don't care!" Nowaki barked, whirling around to face Nagasaki. He pointed down to his thigh. "I took a bullet for my family! I'm not going to let raiders fuck up our lives anymore!"
Hiroki trembled, frantically stroking Fuyumi's hair as she whimpered into her papa's chest.
"Raiders are here? Raiders are in the hospital?" Hiroki choked, panic bubbling in his throat. Nowaki turned to Hiroki, concern and fear in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Hiro-san. But you're going to have to put up with a little bit more pain. We need to call Usami-san."
Hiroki held onto Fuyumi for dear life as he was sprinted down the hall in a wheel chair, his hair streaking back and his hospital robe billowing as he went.
"Where's Nowaki?" Hiroki asked over the sound of the wheels rolling rapidly across the tiled floor.
"He's behind us. He told me to get you to the car as fast as possible," Akihiko responded from above. Hiroki tipped his head back to look at his best friend's face, which was contorted in the desperation to get Hiroki out.
"Did he say that they found the raiders?" Hiroki asked fearfully. Akihiko glanced down at him.
"No, but that's what scares me," he replied grimly.
They continued down the hall until they burst through the double doors of hall F. They flew out into the lobby, where the receptionist asked them for papers, but they didn't respond. Instead, Akihiko wheeled Hiroki straight through the automatic sliding doors of the hospital, and into the cold winter night. Fuyumi squealed in protest to the sudden cold, and Hiroki brought her to his chest, rubbing vigorously to keep her warm.
Akihiko's car was right in front of the sidewalk, to it wasn't a long journey. When they got there, Akihiko lifted both Hiroki and the baby out of the wheelchair and set them down into the back seat of his car. He slammed the door behind them, then ran around the front of his car to slip into the driver's seat. A moment later, Nowaki rushed out of the hospital doors and flew into the passenger's seat. Before he could close the door, Akihiko screeched out of the hospital parking lot.
"I can't believe it. How the hell did they find us?" Nowaki panted, tipping his head back against the headrest. Akihiko shook his head.
"I have no idea," he sighed. He looked up into his rearview mirror, glancing at a very terrified Hiroki. "You alright, Hiroki?"
"Y-Yeah," Hiroki rasped. He sniffled and cradled Fuyumi, hushing her whimpers with a quiet shh. Nowaki turned in his seat and reached back to put a soothing hand on Hiroki's knee.
"It's okay now, Hiro-san. We're safe."
