Chapter 2: Snow Angel

It's so cold.

What's that smell? Smoke? It's hard to breathe.

Why can't I move?

"Y-yuuri?"

Brown eyes opened and struggled to focus on a blur that seemed to be bright silver and a flash of blue-green.

Who is that?

He felt something being placed over his eyes and blinked as his vision cleared to give him full view of a battered and bruised, but angelic face.

"Can you see now? We have to get out!" the beautiful man urged him.

He blinked as snowflakes drifted into the wreckage he laid in, from outside.

"C-cold!" he managed, shivering.

"Yes," the angel agreed, "We can't stay here, Yuuri. We have to get out now."

"S-snow?"

"Yes, the rain has turned to snow. Yuuri, we don't have time," the angel said more urgently, "Come, take my hand."

He grabbed onto the surprisingly real feeling spirit, but as the angel pulled, Yuuri made a sharp sound of pain and the pulling stopped. There was a rustling and the sound of his angel panting harshly.

"Here, your foot is trapped. God, I hope it's not broken. Yuuri, let me move it, okay?"

Another man's voice shouted to them in another language, but Yuuri needed no translation.

The car is on fire.

He shivered, watching anxiously as his angel carefully extracted his foot, then gave him an encouraging smile.

"It's time to go now, Yuuri."

"Okay."

He buried his face in the pretty angel's shoulder, breathing in his comforting scent as he was lifted and dragged out of the now more furiously burning car. As he was freed, he felt his angel stagger and heard a groan of agony. Other arms pulled him away and his glasses were knocked off.

"N-no!" he gasped.

Voices babbled at him in that other language and his glasses were replaced just in time to see two men dragging his collapsed angel away as red, orange and yellow light blazed behind them.

"Yuuri!" his angel sobbed.

"Let go!" Yuuri called out, struggling.

The voices around him grew louder and more worried and Yuuri's head ached furiously; so badly that his vision began to fade.

"Wh-where is he?" Yuuri pleaded, "He saved me."

The babble of voices ran together, fading into the dark smoke and ash that mixed with more falling snowflakes and cooling his flushed face as he gave in to the blackness again.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Vitya?" whispered a woman's shaky voice.

He felt a soft hand slip into his.

"Is he going to be all right?" a man's voice.

Mother?

Father?

Where is Yuuri?

"He has a moderate concussion and most likely some muscle and tendon damage. We checked for broken bones and found just cracked ribs. We will look more closely at the soft tissues after any swelling has gone down. We've given him something for pain to make him comfortable."

The doctor leaned over Victor, then made a sound of surprise as the Russian skater's eyes opened, and Victor's trembling hand grabbed his arm.

"Yuuri! Wh-where is Yuuri?"

"Please try to be calm, Mr. Nikiforov," the doctor said soothingly, "You are asking about your companion? The Japanese skater, Mr. Katsuki?"

"Y-yes," Victor managed, his voice shaking harder, "where is Yuuri?"

"Mr. Katsuki suffered serious head trauma in the accident," the doctor explained, "He was taken to the hospital across town, where there is a special unit with trained staff who can best handle his kind of injury."

"Yuuri!" Victor exclaimed, trying to climb out of the bed.

Instantly, the doctor and Victor's father pushed him gently, but firmly back down.

"What are you doing? Yuuri's hurt! I have to go to him!"

"Vitya," his mother said, brushing the silvery strands of her hair away from here surprisingly youthful looking face, "you are in no condition to go anywhere. You have injuries too…and besides…"

She trailed off, glancing at her husband.

"You know that, even if you went there," he father added, "you would not be allowed in. With such serious injuries, he will be in intensive care, and the rules there do not allow any but immediate family. Son, I am sorry."

"But I am…" Victor began.

He trailed off, his eyes filling with tears.

Our marriage isn't legal here, in Russia. That means that they see me as his coach, not a family member.

"I am sorry," his father said again.

Victor looked up at the two, his father, who looked much like him, except for the pale blonde color of his hair and his green eyes, and his mother, a tall, slender woman with the same silvery hair and bright blue eyes that were filled with genuine concern for him.

"May I ask you why you've come?" Victor inquired, his voice calming somewhat, "I've given Yakov ability to make decisions for me if I can't, for some reason."

"Yakov is out of the country this weekend for an exhibition," his mother explained.

I was going to give Yuuri ability to make my decisions and have him do the same for me, just because I worried about something like this. We just hadn't gotten to it yet. I'm so stupid. It should have been the first thing we did. We wouldn't be in this situation.

"You still had us listed on your contacts as relatives, so we were called by the hospital."

Victor lowered his eyes and sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"For what, son?" his father asked, "If you need us, we are always here for you. We told you that when you left for the academy."

Victor continued to look down at his hands.

"I know, but…at the skating academy, w-we were discouraged from being too dependent on anyone. They said it was important to be able to cope on our own, as much as we could."

"We know," his mother confessed softly, "We, too, were told that it was important to let you assert yourself and not to put too much pressure on you to meet demands we might make."

Victor swallowed hard, blinking back the rising tears in his eyes.

"They said that if we wanted to succeed, we needed to think only about our skating…not about how much we missed our families, or our stinging feet or aching bodies. We were all very talented and fighting for positions in the upcoming competitions. They said that we were privileged to have the chance, and if we wanted a place on the junior national team, we had to fight for it, keeping nothing but that in our heads."

He paused, drawing in a shaky breath.

"I knew it was wrong," he whispered.

"You were seven years old when you left us, Vitya," his mother said gently, "It isn't your fault."

"But I already knew it was wrong," Victor insisted, "and even if I didn't then, once I got older and I began to train with Yakov…once I met Yuuri Katsuki's family…"

He paused again, struggling for the right words.

"I knew it was wrong to have stopped talking to you. I knew, but so much time had passed, and I didn't know if you would have wanted me to call you."

"Of course we would!" his mother exclaimed, taking Victor's tormented face in her hands, "Vitya, we never wanted to be distant from you. We would have called you, but that infuriating man from the skating academy insisted that we would distract you and cause you to fail."

"What?" Victor mused, "That is crazy!"

"Yes," his father agreed, "it was. A part of us knew that, but we also knew how much you loved skating, and how hard it would be for you to leave by then. You were working hard and you showed such promise. Still, if I had known then what I do now, I would never have listened to that man."

"Well," Victor said, smiling sadly, "that man is long gone. He was arrested years ago and charged with abuse of students at the school."

"Good gracious!" his mother said, covering her mouth with a hand, "Vitya…"

"Oh, he didn't hurt me," Victor reassured her, laying a hand over the one that still rested on his face, "I made sure that I never disappointed him. It was hard, but I always succeeded. It's why I was able to make the junior national team, and then, Yakov became my coach and I got away from that place."

"Yakov was such a blessing," his mother said, smiling, "He kept in touch with us, even though he knew that we had become estranged. He encouraged us to talk to you, but…we were ashamed."

"What do you have to feel ashamed of?" Victor asked softly, "You were just trying to support me. You were doing your best."

"And so were you, son," his father added, "We were all misguided, but now that we are here with you, maybe we can start to be closer again…if, that's what you want."

Victor let out a shaky laugh and hugged them tightly.

"Of course that's what I want."

He paused and pulled away slightly, looking at them questioningly.

"What is it, Vitya?" his mother asked, "Is something wrong?"

"No," Victor assured them, shaking his head, "I just wonder. Does it bother you that I am married to another man?"

He paused, blushing.

"I mean, I know it isn't recognized here, but…"

His mother smiled, a lovely feminine version of Victor's own charming smile.

"Vitya, Yakov has told us all about you and your student, Yuuri Katsuki."

"In fact, more than once, he was angry at you for running off to Japan to coach him."

"That must have seemed strange."

"It's not so strange," his mother reassured him, brushing her fingers through the long hairs around his face, "You are a passionate boy, and you were missing something in your life…something that you found when you saw this boy. He is cute, Vitya."

"He is, isn't he?" Victor said, blushing more brightly.

His smile faded quickly and his eyes became haunted.

"I need to know what's happening!" he exclaimed, trying to sit up, and groaning as his injured body erupted all over with shards of pain, "Ugh!"

"You need to rest," his mother chided him, helping him lie back down.

"I will go to the other hospital, and when his family arrives, I will meet with them and keep you up to date. It is the best we can do for now. Will you accept this?"

"Does it look like I have a choice?" Victor said sadly, glaring down at his aching body, "I just need to know if he will be all right."

"I will go right now," his father said, turning towards the door, "Vidana, I will call you with news when there is any."

"Of course, Lyosha," his mother answered.

The two watched as the elder Nikiforov exited the room, then Vidana smoothed the blankets and brushed the stray hairs out of Victor's face again.

"Now, my boy, will you sleep?" she asked worriedly, "You were in that crash too, and you need to rest and let your body heal."

"It's hard to rest when I don't even know if Yuuri is still alive," Victor replied anxiously.

"Still, you must try, if you want to be there for your husband."

Victor's breath caught and his eyes filled with grateful tears.

"I will try," he promised, "for Yuuri. But you must wake me as soon as there is word."

"I will tell you right away," his mother promised, "Now, please, go to sleep."

Victor closed his eyes and took slower, deeper breaths. A little smile touched his lips as he heard his mother begin to hum a very familiar old song.

"You used to do that to get me to go to sleep when I was sick," he recalled without opening his eyes.

"I did," Vidana affirmed, "I'm surprised you remember anymore. It has been forever since you were a little boy."

"I forget a lot of things," Victor breathed softly, "but I always remember my mother's singing voice…because I always thought it was beautiful."

XXXXXXXXXX

Toshiya, Hiroko and Mari hurried into the lobby of the Saint Petersburg hospital that the family had been directed to, and they rushed quickly to the front desk.

"May I help you?" the woman at the desk asked in thickly accented English, "You are foreigners, da?"

"Yes," Toshiya answered, "We've just arrived from Japan. We got word that our son, Yuuri Katsuki, was injured in a car accident last night, and that he was brought here for treatment. We got here as quickly as we could."

"Yes," the woman acknowledged, "I was told to expect you. I will get a message to Doctor Belinskaya right away. Please have a seat right over there. I will call you when the doctor is ready for you."

The three moved to the waiting area and Toshiya and Hiroko sat down, but Mari remained on her feet.

"I just called Yakov on the way in," Mari told her worried parents.

"Is there any word on Vic-chan?" Hiroko asked, blinking back tears, "Is someone taking care of Maccachin?"

"Yakov said that Victor's parents have been contacted and they assured him that Victor is stable and he is resting. He's badly banged up, but he's going to live. Nothing majorly broken, but they don't know how his muscles and tendons are going to be."

"Poor thing," Toshiya said sympathetically.

"His parents also told Yakov that they sent Victor's nephew to watch over Macca."

"I didn't know Vic-chan even had brothers or sisters," Hiroko reflected, "He never really talked to anyone about his family."

"I think once we get word on Yuuri, I'll go over and check in with them about Victor," Mari decided.

"That would be good, dear," Hiroko said approvingly.

The family looked up as a petite looking woman with blonde hair pulled back into a bun and gentle green eyes entered the waiting area.

"Katsuki family?" she inquired?"

"Yes, we're the Katsukis," Toshiya affirmed.

"I am Doctor Belinskaya," the woman introduced herself, "Please, come this way and I will give you an update on your son's condition."

The family followed her to a private office, where the doctor offered them chairs and sat down on the other side of the desk in the room.

"I am glad to tell you that Yuuri came through the surgery last night in good condition. He is still considered critical, but his condition is stable. He suffered a serious head injury in the car accident, and we have been carefully monitoring swelling in his brain. There is moderate swelling, so we are taking every precaution to ensure that it is treated effectively."

"Yuuri isn't awake yet?" Toshiya asked.

"I'm afraid not. No," the doctor answered, "We do expect that, as long as the swelling is manageable over the next several days and does not worsen, and as long as he does not develop a dangerous infection, Yuuri should make a full recovery. He is not, as they say, out of the woods, but he is, for the time being, stable."

"Thank you, Doctor," Hiroko said gratefully, "Will we be able to go in and sit with Yuuri?"

"Of course," the doctor said kindly, "You will need to scrub and wear masks and gowns in the room, but two of you at a time may sit with him."

Mari nodded.

"I can go over to the other hospital and check on Victor. I'll keep you up to date."

"Thank you, dear," Hiroko answered.

"If you will come this way, I will take you to the room where you can scrub and get your masks and gowns."

Toshiya noticed the suddenly distressed look on his wife's face and quickly slipped a hand into hers.

"Are you all right?" he asked softly, "I mean, I know you can't really be all right, but…"

"I'm all right," Hiroko assured him, taking a breath to steady herself, "I think everything just caught up with me at once."

"It's been a difficult day," Toshiya acknowledged, hugging her and kissing her on the cheek, "Come now. Even if he isn't awake, it will be a comfort to see him, ne?"

"Of course."

The two followed the doctor to a small washing station, where they scrubbed their hands and arms, then donned the masks and gowns. They moved to the door where Yuuri laid, heavily bandaged, his face bruised and cut in several places.

"Oh, Yuuri!" Hiroko gasped, closing her eyes for a moment and stiffening.

She took a shaky breath and forced her eyes open again. Toshiya watched through devastated eyes as his wife moved to their son's side and took one limp hand in hers.

"There now," Hiroko said, calming as she gazed down at her injured son, "We're here now."

"M-m…" Yuuri groaned, shuddering.

"Shh, it's okay," his mother soothed him, "Just rest now. It's okay. You're going to be all right."

"I…I know it is…" Yuuri mumbled almost too softly to hear, "A…an…angel s-saved me."