Heartaches

Chapter 47

By KellyQ

When Jack and Yusei made it to the hospital, Kiryu was happy to see Yusei. He wrapped his good arm around him and fell back with Yusei's upper body on top of him.

"Yus. Bed."

"I wish I could sit with you," Yusei said, trying to slip out of Kiryu's harsh grip. A disapproving sound came from the back of the crippled teens throat. Yusei winced as he tightened his grip. "Kiryu, that hurts ... let go!"

Kiryu shook his head. "No! Yus! Stay!"

Crow reached out and placed his hand on Kiryu's arm. "Kiryu, you need to let go, you're hurting him."

Gradually, Kiryu let go of Yusei as he straightened up. Crow was about to ask questions when the door opened and Kiryu's Doctor came in with a clip bord in his hand.

"I have some news," he said. "Kiryu's legal Guardian, Rudger Godwin, had a stroke two days ago. Kiryu will either have to be placed in a group home or Foster care, because Rudger can no longer care for him."

The room was silent...

"I would suggest that you either place him in a group home or in a foster home," Godwin suggested, pulling out his cell phone when it beeped, and put it to his ear. "Yes? I'm coming. Don't worry about it."

Yusei narrowed his eyes watching Godwin walk past him. A friend, huh? he thought. Yusei glanced down the hallway. He made his way to the room and slowly opened the door.

The sight before Yusei shook him to the core. Rudger lay in bed, an oxygen mask strapped to his face, and taped to arm. On closer look, the older man was resting.

Yusei lowered his gaze stepped back and closed the door soundlessly.

"Rudger ..." Kiryu said, snapping Yusei out of his memory.

"No! I'll be the one to take care of him!" Crow blurted out.

The Doctor sighed. "You don't qualify for that."

Anger welled up within Crow. He wasn't going to be separated from Kiryu.

The crippled teen tilted his head. "Crow?"

"Just because I don't have any documents to work with him, doesn't mean I don't know how! I've worked with disabled kids before! Besides, he's my friend, and I love him!" Crow explained in a rush.

The Doctor sighed. "I'll see what I can do, but if you can't handle the responsibility. He's going straight to one of those places, is that understood?"

Crow nodded his head as Kiryu leaned against him and smiled. Kiryu's doctor turned and walked out, saying that he was going to come back with some paperwork.

"Kiryu. Love. Crow. Kiryu is happy." he smiled.

"Yeah ... I love you, too," Crow said softly, rubbing his back.

"I know what room he's in," Yusei said, placing the bag on the bed. He pulled out Hakase's diary. The cover got Jack's, and Crow's attention, even Kiryu's. He reached out and patted it. "Yep. That's a book."

"I like the cover," Crow commented.

"That's your dad's diary isn't it?" Jack said, glancing at it.

Yusei nodded his head. "Yeah ... I skimmed a few pages and Rudger did a lot for my father ..."

Kiryu tilted his head. "Rudger is friend?"

"Rudger was a friend," Crow corrected.

Kiryu blinked and glanced at his two friends, and his eyes fell upon Jack. Kiryu blinked again.

"Friend?"

"Yep. He's a friend. It's Jack," Crow informed, rubbing Kiryu's back.

"Jack ... is. A. Friend." Kiryu smiled at him. Jack didn't know how to respond to that, since they never got along when he and Yusei became a couple.

Kiryu became violent and unbearable to be around after that. It was as if a completely new side of him was born. At the time, Yusei tried countless times to reason with Kiryu, but the result always ended with Yusei getting beat up. Crow and the others tried to get Yusei to get a restraining order on Kiryu so that he wouldn't get hurt any further than he was.

Martha offend shook her head when Yusei didn't want to go that far. She knew that he was trying to help Kiryu understand why he chose Jack, but it never worked.

Jack grunted in response. "Fine. Whatever you want."

"Jack ... he doesn't know any better," Crow scolded lightly. "So, what's the plan, Yusei?"

He lowered his gaze, putting Hakase's diary back in the bag. "I just want some answers why Godwin didn't find who killed my parents ... and why Rudger hates me when I didn't do anything."

"Of course you haven't done anything! Rudger was probably jealous that your father had everything he didn't!" Crow pointed out, hoping that what he said made Yusei feel better.

"Y-you think so?" Yusei said, snapping his head up to look at his red-haired friend.

"Look at it this way: all four of us wouldn't be standing here today, right? So some bad things lead to good things!" Crow reasoned.

Kiryu reached for the duffel bag, but Yusei moved the bag out of his reach.

"You're right ..." Yusei said, as a disapproving sound came from the back of Kiryu's throat when he tried to reach for the bag. "Sorry ... but that's not yours."

"Book. Is. pretty," Kiryu said with a disappointing look on his face.

A small smile made its way to Yusei's lips. "Thanks, pal, it it's mine."

"So, what are we going to do?" Jack asked, feeling a little reckless. He still wanted to confront Godwin, but Crow did make a valid point: some bad things lead to good things.

"From what I've also read - my father did love Rudger until he met my mom, and I came into the picture ... things fell apart after that ..."

Yusei paused for a moment before something clicked - the newspaper clipping and the diary. Rudger was the possible one who killed his mother and raped his father after he killed him.

Kiryu reached out and poked Yusei on the cheek, snapping him out of thoughts. "Smile. Okay?"

"So, what's the plan?" Jack asked again.

Yusei glanced at the door and his left hand balled into a hard fist. "Rudger may have done some damage, but if he knew the truth then he'd understand and repent for the wrongs he did."

"That's crazy talk, Yusei!" Crow said. "What makes you think that Rudger would listen? We know that Rudger doesn't even care who he hurts! Take a look at Kiryu! He used him to get to you!"

Yusei lowered his gaze and cringed. "I know that," he said quietly, feeling responsible for what happened. And I'm going to fix things! Yusei thought. "But Rudger should know the truth just like I had to know the truth."

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Jack asked.

"I still think it's crazy!" Crow said bluntly, watching Yusei nod his head before walking out, "but if you want to do that, who am I to stop you?" Crow shook his head after Yusei walked out. "He's a bigger person than the three of us combined." Jack gave Crow a look. He rolled his eyes. "I'm saying that he has a bigger heart than all of us."

To Be Continued ...