Gaara rushed up the stairs. He nearly ran down a few halls. He searched frantically for room 213. He froze, seeing Guy sitting near a door. His head was bowed and his eyes were shaded. The waves of stress coming from him were overpowered only by Gaara's worry and fear. Gaara sat down across the hall from him. Guy finally looked up. They briefly made eye contact. Neither said a word.
Finally, the silence was broken. A doctor walked out of Lee's room and motioned for Guy to follow them down the hall a ways. Gaara waited, still staring at the door. After a moment, the doctor left and Guy walked into Lee's room. Gaara couldn't move, even if he wanted to. He felt frozen to the floor. Ages seemed to pass before he saw Guy come back out into the hall.
"Lee…" Gaara managed to whisper. Guy looked down at the floor and heaved a sigh.
"His left leg was severely broken, and his left arm was broken in one place. They said his arm will be fine, but…" Guy paused and took a deep breath. "They said he will probably never walk again. The best we can hope for is him being able to walk with a crutch. There are also metal fragments in part of his spine. These doctors said they won't try operating on it. It's too dangerous. He'll probably have to stay on pain medication for most of his life." By now Guys eyes were blank from the pain he was feeling. Gaara began shaking again.
"But… He's alive…?" Guy nodded quickly. A slight relief filled him. "Can… I…" Guy nodded again, moving aside for Gaara to enter Lee's room. Gaara slumped down in the chair next to Lee's bed, simply staring at Lee as he slept. The left side of his body looked like patchwork with bandages everywhere and even overlapping. The right side of his body only had a few bandages here and there. Gaara reached out with a shaky hand, slowly clasping Lee's right hand.
"Please…" Gaara whispered. "Please… Don't leave me… I need you…" Gaara bowed his head. "I l-…" Gaara froze for a second before looking over his shoulder. "Hello, Guy-san…" He said quietly. Guy smiled slightly at him.
"Gaara-san… You should go home… It's late." Guy stated. Gaara shook his head slowly.
"I don't want to leave him…"
"Its fine, Gaara-san. I'm going to stay here with him. I'll call you and your siblings and let you know how he's doing. I've got Lee's phone with me if you want to call." Guy smiled. "He'll be fine. Lee's not the type to ever give up. You can count on that." Gaara looked back at Lee for a moment before nodding slowly to Guy and standing up. He reluctantly released Lee's hand and exited the room.
"Oh," Temari stood up when she saw Gaara, "How is he?"
"Call Guy-san later. He'll tell you. He's got Lee's phone for now." Gaara growled quietly and walked out to the car. His siblings hurried after him in confusion. Kankuro paused before starting the car. Temari caught a glance from him asking if something was wrong with their brother. She shook her head slightly as Kankuro started driving them home.
Gaara sat down at his desk and called Lee's cell phone. It had already been about a week since the accident. Gaara had been calling Guy at least twice a day. Lee was finally able to stay awake for a few hours now. Maybe Gaara would get lucky and he'd be up.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Guy-san." Gaara said. "Is… Is Lee awake?"
"Yes, he just woke up a little while ago. He's been asking about you nonstop." Guy laughed slightly.
"Guy!" Gaara smiled when he heard Lee yelling at Guy. "I thought you were not going to mention that!" He heard Guy pass the phone to Lee. "H-Hello, Gaara-kun."
"Hey, Lee."Gaara leaned back in his chair, looking at the picture he had drawn of Lee and him which he had taped to the wall. "How are you feeling?"
"Much better, thank you. The doctors said I can go home tomorrow!"
"How's your leg?" Lee paused.
"I can walk with a crutch now… They said I will have to use the crutch for… well, the rest of my life…" Lee sounded slightly upset. Gaara was quiet, unsure of what to say. "But," Lee sounded happier all of a sudden, "I am sure I will recover to my old self!"
"You know that won't happen." Gaara said quietly. "With all of the damage your body suffered, there's no way you'll ever make a full recovery." Lee was silent.
"There is a chance…" Lee said. "There is a doctor who just came here not long ago who would be willing to give me the surgery... Doctor Tsunade… But they said her schedule was already backed up for a quite a while… And it is too expensive for us right now…"
"Don't worry about it, Lee." Gaara heard Guy say. "We'll save up money for your surgery." Gaara sighed slightly.
"I'll talk to you later, Lee." Gaara said.
"Alright…" Lee sounded tired again. "Bye…" Gaara hung up and stared at the wall again.
"Lee…" He muttered.
Lee blinked a few times in the dim light of his hospital room. He had fallen asleep not long after he had talked to Gaara yesterday. Yesterday… Lee sat straight up, cradling the cast on his left arm. "I am going to be released this morning!" He thought. He looked around, spotting Guy asleep in the same chair he was in last night.
"Guy! Guy, wake up!" Lee grinned. "Guy, we can go home!" Guy jumped slightly as he woke up.
"Huh?" He looked around quickly in confusion. "Oh," Guy smiled at Lee, "morning, Lee." He stood up and stretched before helping Lee out of his bed and handing him his crutch. Lee walked back and forth across the room a few times, the tapping of his crutch echoing on the linoleum floor. "Are you ready?" Lee nodded happily. Guy and Lee started walking down the hall. Guy turned towards the elevator but Lee continued towards the stairs. Lee smiled to Guy before walking slowly down the stairs, step by step.
"Oh," the woman at the front desk looked up at the sound of Lee's crutch, "feeling better, Lee-san?"
"Yes, I feel much better." Lee smiled and paused in front of her desk with Guy. Guy chatted idly with the woman as he filled out the paper work to check Lee out of the hospital. Guy helped Lee into the car, setting his crutch across the back seat. The drive home was silent. When they pulled into the driveway, Lee wasn't really sure what to do. He waited quietly for Guy to help him out of the car and slowly walked into the house.
Nothing had changed while he was in the hospital, but everything seemed different. He made his way upstairs with an agonizingly slow pace. His room was still the same but felt odd to him. He cringed as he sat down on the edge of his bed. Sitting up for too long made his lower back start hurting. Guy knocked on the door frame before walking in.
"You might want these." He set Lee's pain medication on his desk.
"Thank you." Lee smiled as Guy walked downstairs again. He picked up his crutch and moved to his desk, sending a message to Gaara's computer.
Hello, Gaara-kun. I am home again.
Lee waited a few minutes before grabbing his medication. By now the pain was starting to become unbearable. He reached for the bottle of water nearby and swallowed one of the pills. A message popped up on his computer screen a moment later. Gaara wanted to connect his webcam. Lee smiled and sent a request to connect his before accepting.
"Hey, Lee." Gaara smiled slightly. "How do you feel?"
"Good!" Lee winced slightly. "I am feeling much better!" Gaara watched him through the screen. "Um…" Lee blushed and looked around his room. "Gaara-kun would you like to come over sometime?" He saw Gaara's eyes light up but his expression didn't change.
"Why?" He asked quietly. Lee thought for a moment.
"I want to see you…" He paused. He saw Gaara blush faintly and frown.
"It's only noon." Gaara stated. "I'll be over in a minute."
"I-Is Kankuro-san driving you?" Lee asked, confused.
"No, I am." Gaara was putting stuff in the cabinets around his computer. "See you in a minute." The video feed from Gaara's computer cut off. Lee looked around nervously before shutting down his computer and grabbing his crutch.
"Guy!" He yelled as he walked down stairs. "Gaara-kun is coming over in a few!"
Gaara sighed slightly as he stopped the car in front of Lee's house. He wasn't entirely sure why he had agreed to come over so quickly. He hadn't thought this through, but it was too late now. He saw the door open slightly and Lee glance out. Lee grinned and pushed open the door, leaning on his crutch. He was holding his left leg up so that it barely touched the ground and the lower part of his left arm was in a bright green cast. Gaara couldn't help smiling a little at how happy Lee seemed right now as he stepped out of the car.
"Hello, Gaara-kun!" Lee called from the doorway. Gaara nodded and walked up to the house.
"Hey." He muttered, following Lee inside and into the living room.
"Guy! Gaara-kun is here!" Lee hollered as he sat down on the couch. Gaara watched him closely, seeing him wince every few minutes. "Um…" Lee looked around nervously. "There are some movies and games here if you want to…" He trailed off.
"I don't need you to entertain me." Gaara said quietly. "If you want to, we will." Lee paused for a minute before nodding slightly. He slowly pulled himself up on his crutch and walked over to the cabinets next to the television. Gaara knew better than to try and help him. Lee liked to do things on his own and that wouldn't help. Lee frowned as he looked through the movies.
"There is nothing but a couple scary movies and, well… That is pretty much it." Lee sighed. "We don't watch movies very often and all of these were from Sasuke-kun." He looked back at Gaara questioningly. Gaara just shrugged, then saw Lee wince again.
"You need to lie down. Moving around isn't good for your back." Gaara said, staring out the window. Lee was about to protest, but caught a glare from Gaara and simply nodded. Gaara stood up and watched Lee make his way back to the couch before sitting down on the floor. Lee grimaced slightly and stretched out across the couch. Gaara turned to watch him again, seeing him start to relax after a moment.
"Thanks…" Lee muttered and turned his head towards Gaara. Gaara nodded slightly but didn't look away. Lee blushed and looked around the room.
"So, what now?" Gaara asked when he saw Lee blushing again. "It's only a quarter after twelve."
"Well, there is not much to do around here besides training but I cannot do that anymore and I doubt that you want to." Lee frowned and Gaara looked around the room. He stood up for a moment and picked up the remote, turning the television on and flipping through channels.
"Nothing, nothing, nothing… Absolutely nothing good is on." Gaara sighed and selected a music channel before putting the remote back. Beside the sound of the television, the room was quiet.
The time ticked by quickly and soon it was one o'clock. Gaara turned around to look at Lee. He was asleep, his chest rising and falling rhythmically as he breathed. Gaara leaned his head back against the couch and let his eyes drift shut. Soon he was asleep as well.
"Hey you two…?" Guy trailed off as he walked into the living room. Lee was asleep on the couch and Gaara was sitting in front of him asleep. Guy smiled and walked back into the kitchen.
"They're both a little odd, but that's why they get along." Guy thought. "I just know it."
Gaara slowly opened his eyes before stretching and yawning. Lee was awake but was still lying down so as not to irritate his back. "Hey." Gaara said sleepily. Lee smiled and looked around. It was already dark outside and the clock read seven.
"Do you want something to eat?" Lee asked, sitting up slowly. "Guy's cooking is… well…" Lee rubbed the back of his neck. "It is not very good sometimes." Lee felt bad for talking about Guy's cooking like that, but it was true. Gaara just shrugged and stood up. Lee winced and pulled himself up on his crutch again before leading Gaara into the kitchen. He paused, seeing a note on the table. He picked it up, reading it quietly. "Dear Lee, I had to go to the dojo. I should be home around nine tonight. Kakashi may come back with Iruka and run the dojo again. See you later. Guy."
Lee set the note down and walked to the fridge. "There is not much here, but you are welcome to look." Gaara shook his head, still watching Lee. Lee sighed, walking back into the living room and sitting on the couch. Gaara walked over to the cabinets near the television. Lee watched as he played with the buttons on the DVD player and put a disk in.
"There." He said, searching for the remotes again. Lee froze.
"'The Grudge'?" He asked quietly. Lee hated scary movies. He was always jumpy and nervous during them. Gaara just nodded and started the movie.
Gaara yawned. This was such a lame movie, but Lee seemed scared out of his wits. Gaara grinned and stretched his arm behind Lee, tapping his left shoulder gently.
"Who is there?" Lee jumped slightly to the right. Gaara snickered under his breath while Lee's head whipped around to look at him. "That was you!" He smiled slightly and pushed Gaara jokingly. Gaara was about to push back but saw the pain etched on Lee's face from moving too quickly.
"Do you need your medication?" He asked. Lee stopped and shook his head.
"No, I will be fine." Gaara sighed, stopping the movie and putting it away.
"You need to take it. Come on, where's your room?" Lee stood up on his crutch and led Gaara upstairs to his room. "Here, just take it." Gaara threw the bottle on medication at Lee. Gaara sat down on the edge of Lee's bed and waited as he took one of the pills. Lee paused before sitting next to him. Gaara sighed, rolling his head in circles to pop his neck. He stopped when he noticed Lee watching him. "What?"
"Um… I…" Lee looked around the room before looking back at Gaara questioningly. Lee wanted to ask something but seemed to be at a loss for words. He turned to face Gaara, and Gaara mimicked him. There was a long silence.
Lee bit his lower lip slightly and leaned forward to wrap his arms around Gaara's shoulders. Gaara tensed for a moment, and then tried to do the same. That was making his arm hurt though, so he let his arms drop down around Lee's waist. Lee tensed for a brief second and relaxed again. Gaara wasn't really sure what was happening, but he didn't mind. He had to admit that he kind of enjoyed this. He laid his head against Lee's right shoulder and sighed quietly. The room was silent again.