Accidents Happen For a Reason

Chapter Three: The Aftermath

The waiting room for surgery was still and quiet except for the hypnotic tick of the old plastic clock hanging on the wall and the few people who couldn't help but fidget with anxiety burrowing itself in their guts. A smell evoking images of latex gloves and sanitized cleanliness- too clean, as if one had bleached everything time and time again- came to the minds of those who had the displeasure of having to sit patiently while they waited for news on friends and loved ones.

Satoshi stared down at his clammy hands, twisting and knotting them as if doing so would hold back the turmoil inside himself. Despair roamed the room, expelled on the breath of worriers like him and those doing their best to bite down on the pain that brought them here. He glanced at his best friend who didn't look to be coping any better than him.

Yasuchika's legs bounced, emitting a sharp tapping sound against the cold hard floor. He bit his thumbnail again for the upteenth time that night, this time he tasted blood, but the throbbing pain was a grateful distraction. He gave up on the nail biting and settled for repeatedly twisting the admittance band around his wrist. His eyes traveled to his father.

Yorihisa Haninozuka glared at the annoying ticking clock on the wall straight ahead of him. He let out a huff and crossed his arms over his chest while he recrossed his legs. He moved his glare to his son, whom he caught staring at him.

Yasuchika quickly averted his eyes to the floor for a minute, but it felt like an hour to him. The copper haired boy couldn't help but look at his older brother, pleading with his big brown eyes for any sort of forgiveness.

Mitsukuni has fallen asleep on their cousin, Takashi. His small body was curled up in the tall boy's lap, his honey golden head rested on Takashi's chest, just below the chin. Before he had fallen asleep, Mitsukuni had cried into Takashi's neck while Takashi's face remained blank, just like his father's, and held him in close embrace, offering him much needed comfort.

They were scared and tired. They all felt like they each had a hand in this unfortunate event. If only they hadn't planned the party. If only they hadn't been out so late. If only they hadn't went out at all. If only they had taken a car. If only they hadn't opened their mouths about not being grateful for their lives. If only they were paying closer attention. If only they had just moved. If only….

The guilt was eating them, specifically Yasuchika and Satoshi. Of course they were beyond grateful for that girl saving their lives, they all were, but they couldn't handle her blood being on their hands, they'd break.

Yasuchika felt a tear slide down his cheek and he hastily wiped it away and his runny nose. He couldn't afford to look weak in front of his family, especially right now. Just thinking about the disappointed look on his father's face after they explained what had happened made him feel a whole new wave of tears flow from his eyes like a water faucet. His father couldn't even speak to him, he was that furious. Did he hate him now? Would he disown him? But Yasuchika apologized, shouldn't that be enough? No, a young girl's life was at risk because of their mistake. An apology wouldn't save her. An apology wouldn't fix anything right now.

As for Akira Morinozuka, Satoshi and Takashi's father, he remained stoic and unreadable as ever. Not uttering a word to anyone, not looking at anyone either. His eyes stayed glued to anything that wasn't his family. It was like he shut down his emotions and everything that surrounded him, but they all knew that that wasn't true. Takashi and Akira are very alike when it comes to things such as that. They are simply suffering in silence.

They wondered where the girl's family was. Shouldn't they be there? Where were they? Did the hospital get into contact with them? Did they know where she was and what happened? Maybe the hospital doesn't know who the girl is, she could be a Jane Doe. How long before her family comes looking for her if they haven't already? Will they find her before it's too l- no, she wasn't going to die. Yasuchika refused to accept that and he refused to take responsibility for something something he couldn't control.

That being said, all they could do was wait.

It was 7:17 am when a doctor came strolling out of the automatic double doors. The Haninozuka' sand the Morinozuka's were to stubborn to leave last night, all (except for Mitsukuni whom nobody dared to awaken) silently insisting that they were going to stay and wait for the news together. They were all anticipating the news, but they also felt it was their duty to stay and be there for the girl, especially since the girl's family never showed up.

"Is there anyone here with the patient from the hit and run incident?" The doctor called, examining the waiting room. Besides the Haninozuka's and the Morinozuka's, there were nobody else in the lobby. Yorihisa and Akira both stood from their seats and walked toward the doctor. Yorihisa shot a look to Yasuchika whom looked like he was going to stand too, which immediately made the boy stop his movements.

From beside him, Yasuchika noticed Mitsukuni stir from his slumber. The blond blinked and rubbed his eyes with a yawn. Takashi shook his head as if he was trying to shake the sleepiness out of his head. Satoshi looked like he was trying desperately to eavesdrop on the adults' conversation, but it wasn't working out quite well. All four boys sat, now wide awake, waiting for the news to come back.

When the two parents came back, Akira's face was still painfully expressionless, but Yorihisa's face looked grave. He slid his hands up and down his face before firmly grasping a bit between his fists. They sat down and their children stared at them, wanting them to tell them something, but they still had enough common sense to not speak when they're like this.

Finally, after a minute of deafening silence, Yorihisa said, looking at the clock on the wall, "they still have no identification for her. The only thing that could lead them to it was her phone they found in her pocket and her high school uniform. The phone was shattered beyond repair, so they couldn't use that as a lead. They're going to call the high school where the uniform is believed to be from and ask around for any leads.

"As for her condition, they said it was a miracle she made it this long and they don't expect her to last the day," Yorihisa said.

Yasuchika buried his face into his hands as he broke down in body wracking sobs. He couldn't believe someone was dying because of him. It was all his fault. Again, thoughts of 'if only' raced through his mind making it harder to focus on what his father was saying. He didn't care about all the broken bones, or that her lung collapsed. He didn't care that she had brain damage and that her brain was literally swelling. He didn't care about all the other possibilities and concerns the doctor had expressed. He didn't care that if she made it the possibility of her being paralyzed or brain dead was high because all he could think was that she was going to die. He had to accept that as his mind shattered.

Satoshi looked like he was frozen in shock. He stared fixed at the plain white wall directly across from him. He was no longer fidgeting, he wasn't moving. Time seemed to stop for him. He couldn't hear his uncle list everything that was wrong with her. Everything was white noise to him. All he could think about was that it was his fault. A deep dark feeling began swirling in the depths of his stomach. Self hatred mixed with guilt was never a good combination, Hell, those emotions never went well with any other emotion because they were so powerful, so painful and so scary.

Mitsukuni didn't cry this time. This feeling that he had, it was so strong. For the first time in a long time, he felt numb. At first he felt an overwhelming grief, but then it was like his emotions were fighting each other and it left him feeling numb. He let Takashi hug him close to his chest, he made no move to stop him. He knew Takashi wasn't doing it for himself, he was doing it because he thought that's what Mitsukuni needed, but in truth, all Mitsukuni needed was some air and time to think. He needed time to let his feeling register to his brain, but at the moment he was kind of grateful not feeling anything.

"I called a driver to come pick you all up and take you home. You are excused from school today, I want you all to go home and get some rest. I will remain here and inform you if anything changes." He looked at his taller son, "We will talk soon, Yasuchika."

Yasuchika nodded as they stood and walked to the vehicle waiting to take them home. Takashi put a hand on Satoshi's shoulder, alerting him that they were leaving. He flinched and then stood, following his older brother out the door.

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Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club.

I hope you enjoyed this long chapter. I apologize for the short chapter, this was a necessary filler. Anyways, please leave a review and tell me how I did.

Updates may be delayed because school is kicking my ass. Until next time :)