So, ya... Its been while... But I got this guy done! I'll try really really hard to get the next chapter written and up sooner. This chapter does get a little jumpy but bear with it. Anyways, here is the newest chapter of Emergency Love
It had been two and half weeks since Izumi woke up. At first, Izumi's body needed time to adjust to being awake. He slept a lot, but he always woke up. After a week, when they were sure his body could handle it, the doctors ran some tests on the blonde. They found nothing wrong with him. They found nothing wrong in his brain, he had feeling in his limbs and he could move them. Blood flow to his limbs, especially his lower body was good. Izumi wasn't missing memories. There were parts of the accident that were fuzzy, but he wasn't forgetting any important memories. The other three told doctors Izumi was acting like he did before the accident, in other words normal.
The problems came during physiotherapy. Izumi was walking between two bars, or at least trying to. The smaller blonde's legs collapsed under him and he found himself unable to stand up. He tried to pull himself up, but his upper body had no strength. Izumi let go of the bar and sunk to the floor. A couple of nurses helped him onto his feet, and the boy grabbed the bars again. When the nurses let go, the same thing happened. They tried again and again for fifteen minutes, but it all ended the same. The nurses got Izumi in the wheelchair they used to bring him to the physiotherapy room. They went and called in a doctor and the physiotherapist. The two came in and were told of what was going on. The two doctors looked over Izumi's legs, bending, poking, prodding, feeling, examining. They had Izumi do some things, wiggle his toes, straighten out his legs, swing his legs back and forth, roll his ankles. Izumi could do all these things, his legs just couldn't hold his weight. Izumi was taken back to his room while the doctors discussed what the options were.
When the doctors came in, Ryouma was sitting beside Izumi holding his hand. Shougo and Rei were in the room as well. Everyone looked at the two.
"Dr. Tadashi and I talked quite a bit about Izumi's options. There's nothing wrong medically. No nerves are damaged and his brain is fine. What we think is it could be is his legs just are not use to being used. He has to build up strength, and muscle mass in his legs. What we're recommending is discharge him, and taking him home. What you then need to do is either sign him up for aquatics therapy. What this basically is him doing regular physiotherapy in the water. This will be easier on him since the water will make it easier for him to be upright." the physiotherapist said. Rei nodded and agreed to the plan.
"Until I can walk, will I be in a chair?" Izumi asked. The doctors nodded.
"What are the chances I'll even be able to walk again?" The other three look at Izumi.
"You're young. You weren't unconscious for too terribly long, only seven weeks. Given your circumstances, and the results of the tests, I'd say you've got a good chance of being able to walk again. Until then though, you will have to be in a wheelchair. You also will need help in day to day requirements such as using the restroom, bathing and changing. This will be temporary as we have the utmost confidence in you're ability to recover."
The four nod. They get the youngest of them discharged and into the limo. They got a chair that suited Izumi's needs. They drove to the Sena home. When they arrived, Rei and Shugo went to the house and got it opened up. Ryouma took out the chair and got Izumi in it. He pushed his small lover into his home.
"I'm home." Izumi said.
"You're home baby." Ryouma replied. He leaned down and gave Izumi a kiss on the cheek. Izumi smiled up at him. Ryouma pushed Izumi to the living room, then picked him up. The dark haired man sat down on the couch and set Izumi in his lap. Izumi grabbed the remote and the two watched tv while cuddling.
For the next week, Rei and Shugo looked at a couple placed that dealt with water therapy. They checked out several places before settling with one. They got Izumi signed up and the first appointment was made. The day of the appointment, Rei and Ryouma got Izumi ready and to the facility. Izumi was changed into a swimwear and the sessions began.
At first the sessions were four times a week for an hour. Izumi would go in, do what was instructed the best he could. By the time the hour had finished, he was sore and hurting beyond what would be expected. Ryouma always spent the following hours rubbing ointment into Izumi's legs to ease the tense muscles. He would go to bed early and sleep quite heavily. This went on for a long time, almost six months. Then they went back to the physiotherapist. They wanted to see if Izumi could hold his weight.
Izumi was back holding onto the bars in the physio room. Rei was behind him, holding him up until the young blonde gave the okay. Izumi shook a little, the nerves getting the best of him. Ryouma stood at the other end of the bars.
"Come on hun. You can do this. You've done well in the water therapy. You can do this as well." Ryouma said to encourage his lover. Izumi looked at Ryouma, then at Rei, then back to Ryouma. Izumi nodded. Rei moved back a couple steps. Izumi's leg trembled, the grip he had on the bars had his knuckles white. Izumi stood like that for a minute, shaking like a new born horse but upright. He looked up at the others and smiled. The others smile back. The three held back their excitement and watched as Izumi took his first real steps since the accident. He only managed three tiny steps before he crumpled to the floor. He tried to get up but failed. Ryouma went up to him and hugged him.
"You did good babe." he said.
"I didn't go very far." Izumi said.
"You still walked a couple of steps. Its more than what you could before. You're making progress. You still have some work to do, but we can work on it." Ryou said gently. Izumi nodded. Ryouma went and put Izumi into his chair. The doctors looked him over, and got the young blonde to do some things. They had him try to wiggle his toes, move his ankle, move his legs. Izumi was able to wiggle his toes, his ankle twitched, but he couldn't get his ankle to move.
"The progress made is good. A great start. We do have movement in the lower limbs. I think you should continue the water therapy. Once we get more movement in the ankle, and start getting movement in the legs I think the next option would be to get a couple of braces for his legs. They would provide support while he is upright while also helping build up his muscles." the Dr. Tadashi said.
"It sounds like a good idea. How long do you think it will be before the leg braces?" Shugo asked. The physical therapist thought for a moment.
"In my professional opinion it could be at least four months. It all depends on the aquatic therapy. What do you have him doing right now?"
"I go three times a week for an hour." Izumi replied.
"Maybe try five times a week for thirty minutes. Normally I would recommend longer times but it would be best to start short and work your way for longer times. It wouldn't be good to over work your body."
A new therapy plan was swiftly made, appointments made, and armed with instructions as to what to do and what to not do, the group left. They made their way back to their vehicles and went out to get a bite to eat. At lunch, Izumi spoke up.
"Do you guys really think I'll be walking again? I know you guys say I should remain positive and all but what if? What if I never walk again? Or what if I walk with a limp for the rest of my life? What if I'm limited to what can I can do forever? What if I have to be dependent on someone until the day I die?"
The others looked at each other, not knowing what to say. They didn't want to think about it, but Izumi had a point, and a valid reason to think like that. The doctors did say he may or may not have mobility problems, that there could be residual nerve damage. Shugo and Ryouma didn't want those ideas in their minds and ignored them, focussing on the young blonde's recovery. Rei had given the idea a thought, but not much.
"You have every reason to think those thoughts Izumi, I get that. At times its hard to think positively. The doctors say you're making remarkable efforts with your recovery and say your chances of walking again are good. Maybe you will have a limp, or maybe even numbness to your legs. Maybe time will help with healing, or maybe time won't do a thing. Right now, its hard to say. We'll take this day by day, take what we can get. If you have mobility issues, we'll work around that. You might not have to be dependent on someone. Its just too early to tell." Rei said. Izumi nodded and the our of them ate.
At the end of the day, Izumi was spending the night at Ryouma's. The two wanted to have a bit of alone time away from Shougo. They had just finished watching a movie, and Ryouma was helping Izumi change into some pyjamas. When Izumi was dressed, Ryouma knelt down to look at his little lover. Izumi looked at Ryouma, confused as to what he was doing.
"Baby, I've been thinking about what you said earlier at lunch. I don't care if you do have mobility issues. I love you and I plan to stick with you through everything. If we have to, we'll find a place that is easier for you to live in. Maybe out of the city, in a small town where its isn't as stressful. Where its quiet and pieceful. Where you can focus on living how you want. If you want to stay in the city, we can move to a quiet area. Find a place for just the two of us, where we can live peacefully, happily.
"If you have to depend on anyone, I hope you know you can rely on me. I want what is best for you. If you need me to do something for you, I don't want you to beat yourself up. I don't want you to believe you're a burden, because you're anything but a burden. Asking for help is far from weakness, it makes you strong that you know when to ask. If you get a cramp in your leg in the middle of the night, I want you to wake me up and help you. I would do anything for you Izumi, and you know that.
"Fuck baby, you have no idea how much I love you and how scared I was to lose you. When I saw you in that hospital bed, with that tube down your throat and your skin pale as death, I was terrified. I was so scared that you were gonna die. I didn't want my last moment with you to be me being an asshole. I didn't want not being able to remember me loving you. I would sit in your room and hope and pray that you would be alright, that you would wake up and remember me. When the doctors said you were getting better, when they took the tube out, I waited and waited for you to wake up. But when you didn't wake up, the world around me grew grey and dark. The sun, the sky, the world around me was no longer bright. Because you weren't there. I fell apart. Rei had to make me leave, made me eat. I was so lost without you.
"Then you woke up. Shugo was there when you first opened your eyes, but then you looked at me. Right then and there, the darkness surrounding me lifted. For the first time in weeks, I could finally breath. Colors came back to me. My world was whole again. All because you woke up."
Ryouma placed his hands on Izumi's face, wiping the tears that fell from the beautiful eyes of his love. He felt Izumi do the same, not realizing he was crying.
"I love you Izumi Sena. Now and forever. I need you like I need air. If you don't walk, fine. If you have a limp for years to come, fine. I'll forever be grateful that I can spend every moment I can with you. You are everything to me."
Izumi sat on the bed and listened to his precious Ryouma lay his heart out. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop the tears. When the dark haired man finished his speech, Izumi couldn't help himself. He pulled Ryouma close and kissed him. He had no idea that Ryouma loved him as much as he did. How the accident had affected him so much. Soon the two pulled away.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I scared you like that. If I could go back and change how it went down, I would. Or maybe I would do it all over again and not do a thing differently. I was scared and... I'm sorry its still fuzzy. I've been told what happened time and time again, but I can't really remember how I felt at the time. But I do know that I love you Ryouma Ichijou. I know I can be clueless and naive, but you love me anyways. You love me even though I'm not famous like my parents and brother. I love that you love me for me, that you accept me for who I am. Some days I wake up and think I don't deserve you. You can do so much better than me. That you should be with some beautiful woman and not a handicapped otaku. But then you go and bring me my favorite snack or watch my favorite show with me or you do something with me. Then I think, I wouldn't change a thing. That I must be doing something right when you look at me the way you do." Izumi said.
Ryouma stood up and got into bed. He helped Izumi do the same before pulling him close. He kissed the top of his blonde head. He smiled as he felt Izumi nuzzle into his neck. He reached down and grabbed the other's small hand and interlaced their fingers. He felt as peace as he felt the other's fingers rest against his hand. The two closed their eyes and fell asleep in the warm embrace of their other half, the gently glow of the moon shining around them.
Ryouma laid his feelings out. Did it tug at any heartstrings? We all know that Ryouma would do anything for his beloved Izumi.
Well I'd better get my butt in gear and work on the next chapter. Niris out!
