"Hikaru!" the sweet voice called for him, "Hikaru, open your eyes." No, I can't. I don't want to see what they did to you, Hikaru cried in his mind. "Please Hikaru, please open your eyes," Akira begged. He sounded tormented by his lack of response. "Hikaru, please let me see your eyes." My eyes?
Hikaru was confused. He finally realized that his eyes was closed even though he couldn't remember closing them. Where was he before? He couldn't remember a thing anymore. He realized that he was lying down on something soft and covered by something equally soft and warm. Someone was holding his hand and kissing it, maybe?
"Hikaru, please open your eyes. Don't sleep anymore. You've been sleeping for a whole week now," Akira's tone was thick with sadness now. Hikaru realized that Akira was crying and he could feel the wetness on his hand. "Please wake up," Akira sobbed.
No, don't cry please. Don't cry Akira. You're going to make me cry too. Please don't be sad, Hikaru thought with all his heart hoping that the message will get through soundlessly. All that happened was a tear trickling down his eye.
"Hikaru? Oh Kami, you're crying," Akira's tone was instantly hopeful. "Can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you can hear me, please," Akira begged as he wiped the tear away. Akira sobbed once more but he was happier that time.
Squeeze you hand? I can do that, Hikaru thought and he concentrated on squeezing his right hand. After a while he heard a relieved sigh from Akira and the male laughed once. He must have squeezed. Wait, why do I have to squeeze his hand? What's going on? He tried to open his mouth to say something but nothing happened. He tried to move his shoulder but he couldn't do it. What's going on? Why can't I get up? Hikaru thought frantically and his heart rate sped. Akira must have known because he was shouting at somebody the next moment.
"Nurse! Doctor! Help me!" Akira shouted for help as the heart-rate monitor blared. A second later two nurses came in and quickly tended to the male on the bed. A female doctor was right behind them. The nurse handed her a syringe and she injected Hikaru with it. His heart rate quickly stabilized. Then the doctor turned to Akira.
"What happened?" she sounded worried.
"He was crying and he squeezed my hand when I asked him too. He heard me," Akira said in awe.
"Really? He was conscious?" the doctor asked.
"He didn't open his eyes but he responded to my voice. Is he going to be alright Doctor Austin?" Akira asked.
Doctor? Am I in a hospital? Why am I in a hospital? What happened? Someone tell me what's going on, please! Hikaru thought furiously and he felt another tear streak down his face. He heard a gasp and someone grasped his hand again. It was slender this time and he realized it was the doctor.
"Mr. Shindou? Can you hear me?" he heard the lady asked. He heard movements and a familiar hand wiped away his tear. "Squeeze my hand once if you can hear me," the doctor ordered and Hikaru did so. "Oh my God. Thank you," her tone was filled with glad, like she thought he was never going to squeeze.
"Mr. Shindou, I want you to squeeze once for yes and twice for no. Can you do that for me?" Sure, Hikaru squeezed once. "Do you remember anything that happened to you?" Hikaru squeezed twice. "Do you know why you're in a hospital?" Hikaru squeezed twice again. "Alright, I'll explain everything to the best of my knowledge." Hikaru squeezed once for okay. Then the hand let go of his and another had took his.
"My name is Doctor Nicole-Ann Austin. You were involved in an accident a week ago. You were hit by a commercial truck trying to save a little rabbit. You sustained heavy injuries from the accident. Both your legs broken, your right shoulder dislocated and you had various cuts and bruises. You also sustained massive internal bleeding and had multiple organ failure. You had to have a liver transplant as well as many other surgeries but all is well now that you've woken up. It was the head injuries that we were afraid off. We didn't know the extent of injuries to your brain since we don't have a CT Scan machine here, or any other machines that could help see your head. But now that you are awake we don't think you've suffered any lasting brain damage but we will have to monitor your activities." The Doctor sighed gladly.
"From here on, either Doctor Nuuru Hans or I will be seeing to you. Oh I hope you have a fast recovery Mr. Shindou." Hikaru swore he could hear her sobbing. She was quiet and Hikaru somewhat panicked. He had so many questions but he couldn't ask. He couldn't speak. But then Akira voiced out his concerns.
"How long till he can open his eyes? Or talk?" Akira asked.
"Well, I'm not sure either. He is recovering quite fast but I have no idea why he can't open his eyes yet. But he is awake, we should be thankful for that. I have to go see Dr. Hans. She'll want to know what happened." Doctor Austin excused herself.
"Thank you doctor," Akira thanked. "Be careful on your way. I mean the baby and all," he added earning a giggle from the doctor. Oh, no wonder she was so emotional, Hikaru thought. Then Akira was by his side, holding his hand again. Hikaru sighed for real and unseen to him Akira smiled.
"Hey, I'm so glad you woke up," Akira said leaning down and kissing his forehead. The action felt so familiar yet so strange. "They said you flat lined three times on the table and they lost hope by the third time. You were technically dead for over a minute but Dr. Hans and Dr. Austin wouldn't give up on you. You survived thank to them." Akira told him what the doctor forgot to mention. Hikaru tried hard to talk, or at least make some kind of noise. He huffed and finally he was able to groan. Akira was instantly alarmed.
"Are you hurt? The morphine should still be in your system so you shouldn't feel any pain," Akira fussed. Hikaru squeezed his hand twice. Akira was puzzled. Hikaru tried groaning again and it worked. Then did Akira get what he was trying to do. He chuckled.
"Don't worry about it yet. You'll get more function after they wean you off the morphine. Right now you need it to keep the pain away. You'll be in a lot of pain when they take the drug off," Akira explained and Hikaru huffed again but this time in annoyance. Akira chuckled.
Fine, if I can't talk then at least I want to see, Hikaru thought hard on opening his eyes. He focused on the thought and tried to move his eyelids. Unconsciously he squeezed Akira's hand so hard Akira thought he was trying to get up or something. Then he saw Hikaru's eyeball moving under his eyelids and his smile widened. Then he leaned closer and kissed his eyelids softly.
Haha, like that would help, Hikaru wanted to giggle but he smiled instead and slowly he was able to open his eyelids. Oh, it worked! Hikaru closed his eyelids and opened it again. His vision was so blurry it was like he hadn't used it in a long. Oh wait, I was out for a week. He exhaled heavily a few times and blinked a few more times so he would be able to see the closest things to him. Once his vision cleared enough he saw Akira's face.
You look awful, Hikaru wanted to say but he couldn't open his mouth. He finally realized that he was numb all over. Must be the morphine, he thought.
"Hey there," Akira smiled. Oh I miss your smile, Hikaru though returning the smile. He took a good look at Akira and noticed that the male had his hair tied behind his head. It looked so familiar. He moved his head as if to get closer to Akira only succeeding in turning his head to the right. Akira chuckled again and touched their foreheads together. Hikaru sighed in content and squeezed Akira's hand.
"You're going to tell me why you're here once you're better right?" Akira asked only to get a confused look from Hikaru. "It's okay. Just wait till it all comes back to you. Right now I just want you to get better." He leaned to kiss his forehead again and Hikaru felt himself going sleepier.
Hikaru groaned as pain began to fill his body. It had been two days since he woke up and the doctors had slowly been lowering the dosage of his painkiller medicine. He didn't feel anything till the morning of the second day. He hurt all over but mostly from his chest. He still couldn't feel his legs and his left hand but at least he was regaining speech again. Akira had been with him the whole time, only leaving to get food and shower. He learned that Akira was staying in a nearby hotel but he refused to leave Hikaru's side. After all, they weren't in Japan.
Yes, Hikaru had finally remembered where he was. Well, which country he was in at least. He wasn't sure which hospital he was in though. He remembered why he was there instead of at home with his parents and friends in Japan. He was running away, Officially speaking, he was taking a break from Go but in actual he was running away from it, from a certain player specifically. And since Go reminded him of that player he thought it was best he took a break from the whole thing itself. It just hurt a lot to be around him since he fell in love with the man when he was seventeen, and he's twenty one years old already.
Akira noticed how sullen Hikaru got in the last two days but he didn't ask, yet. He hear Hikaru groan as the pain came in full force, though not fully. He was glad the doctors didn't take his pain medications off fully. And he know as a fact that Hikaru can talk already. He called his name the next morning after he woke up. At the moment he just finished showering and he wanted badly to go back to Hikaru's side. The two toned haired friend of his was moaning in pain.
"Is it bad?" Akira asked the young male after he exited the bathroom. Akira had made sure to get Hikaru the best room in the small hospital, which meant close to total privacy for the both of them. Hikaru groaned and opened his eyes.
"I can't even sleep with all the pain," Hikaru whined. Akira was by his side in a heartbeat.
"They had to take the drug off so you don't end up depending on it. I was for your own good," Akira said taking Hikaru's hand in his like he always does.
"I know but it hurt s lot," Hikaru whimpered.
"Okay, how about we talk about something else?" Akira suggested and Hikaru nodded. He didn't mind anything as long as it can dull the pain. "Oh yeah, did I tell you your parents are coming in today? They finally got a flight here." Hikaru's eyes widened impossibly wide.
"What? They're coming here? You told them!" Hikaru was beyond upset. He didn't want his mother, especially, to see him. Heck, he didn't want her to know. Count on Akira to break the new to her. Damn…
"Of course I told them. They're your parents," Akira's tone scolding. "Your mother was worried when she couldn't reach you when you told her you were taking a break from Go. You didn't event ell her where you went and she didn't know what else to do and she called me first." At that memory Akira frowned.
"You didn't even tell me you were taking a break. When your mother asked me if I've seen you or heard where you were at, I was really surprised. Then I checked with the Go institute and they told me you asked for a month long break. I called all your friends and none of them knew where you disappeared too. I had to hire a private investigator to track your financials and he told me you purchased a ticket here months before you even asked for leave.
You left your phone back home, you didn't even bother sending a note to your mother and you didn't bother telling anyone where you were and it was like you wanted to disappear so I flew here and looked for you. Imagine how shocked I was when I finally saw you and you were running on the road chasing an escaped rabbit and got him by a truck. I thought someone ripped out my soul when I saw you got flung to the sidewalk, bloody all over," Akira's breathing got heavier the more he spoke and he stopped completely when he remembered the most horrible moment in his life.
"I'm sorry, Akira, I'm sorry," Hikaru sobbed. "I'm sorry." Akira brought his face up and looked at Hikaru's tear streaked one. He sighed and sat on the bed.
"Tell me why you came here, please?" Akira asked in a low voice. Hikaru sobbed once more and nodded.
"I needed to get away," Hikaru said. He looked at Akira and saw his gaze urging him to go on. I won't interfere, Akira's eyes told him. "I wanted to get away from you." He saw the shock in Akira's eyes and the silent question, Why?
"It hurts being around you." Hikaru raised a finger to Akira's lips stop him from interrupting. "No, you didn't do anything. It was me. I couldn't be around you without feeling hurt inside. I…" Hikaru hesitated, "I love you. And it hurts when I see you and can't do anything about-," Hikaru's lips were suddenly occupied by another pair of lips. He looked up and saw Akira and he cried in his heart. Is this pity? He thought before closing his eyes and let savored the kiss.
"You idiot," Akira's tone was a mix of emotions. Anger, frustration, joy, exasperation- so many that Hikaru wondered if he really kissed him out of pity. "You stupid idiot," Hikaru heard annoyance too this time, "you should have told me about things like this. You are such an idiot."
"I'm sorry," Hikaru apologized again and to his surprise Akira sobbed.
"Kami I'm glad I didn't lose you to the accident," Akira sounded as if a big weight had just been lifted off his shoulders. Hikaru was confused now. He wasn't repulsed? He wasn't disgusted by his confession?
"You…what are you talking about?" Hikaru asked. Akira finally managed a smile.
"Idiot, I'm saying I love you too."
One night after the confession…
"Oh! What's this?" Akari the Scarecrow as she looked at the square item in her palm. It had weird button and lights and it shows pictures on its flat surface. The Sorcerer, Nuuru, laughed out loud with her sister Nicky, the Red Queen and Hikaru. Hikaru was the one who explained.
"It's a tablet. You can use this to search for things you don't know and to keep information in it so you won't forget. It's better than having a brain in a way," Hikaru giggled at Akari's confused expression.
"Inner-net?" Akari tilted her head in confusion.
"Forget about h-her. W-what about m-me?" Tsusui, the Cowardly Lion asked.
"You are going to have one on one lessons with Knight!" The Red Queen said excitedly and clapping her hands together. Tsusui looked like he feared for his life when he glanced at the Knight, or Akira's look alike. He had forgone the helmet for a while now. The Queen was quite delighted when he decided to do that.
"Okay, what about me?" Mitani asked from the wall he was leaning against. The Sorcerer and the Queen shared an evil look and turned back to Mitani looking innocent.
"Come closer," the Sorcerer beckoned. Mitani gave her a curious look but approached her none the less. "Close your eyes," she instructed. Mitani listened and she fastened something on his neck. Then he heard giggles and that's when he opened his eyes and realized that he had been collared.
"What the hell?" Mitani tried to pull the collar off but it wouldn't budge.
"That's a shock collar," the Sorcerer said smugly. "Every time you do something stupid I'll just push this button here," she whipped out a controlled seemingly out of thin air, " and you'll feel this." She pushed and Mitani convulsed as he felt a little shock coming from his neck. He was enraged the moment the shock subsided.
"What is wrong with you woman?"
"Tut tut, language," Mitani was shocked again.
"Stop that!"
"Tone," the Sorcerer smiled evilly and shocked him again.
"OW!" the Sorcerer shocked him one more time.
"What was that for!" Mitani growled.
"Fun," Nuuru said shocking him once more.
"Stop it Nuuru," Nicky said giggling uncontrollably.
"No way. This is too much fun!" And the rest of the day was filled with Mitani's shriek of pain every now and then.
"How are you getting on?" Knight, or Akira, asked Hikaru as they feasted in the castle garden.
"I'm doing okay," Hikaru answered with a big smile.
"That's good. This place looks better too now that you're calmer," Knight (better separate him and Akira even if they do look alike) said smiling too.
"Eh? What does this place have to do with my being calm?" Hikaru asked curiously.
"Have you not realized it? This place is you," Knight said.
"Huh? I don't get it," Hikaru was genuinely puzzled.
"Haha, do you remember how you got here now?" Knight asked.
"I fell asleep…oh, I'm dreaming." Hikaru 'oh'-ed. "So all this isn't real?"
"Never said that. We are images you came out with and you made us from real people you met. So, are we not real too?" Knight's word made Hikaru even more confused. He didn't even know what to reply. Then Knight chuckled making Hikaru even more confused. "Look up. He's calling for you." Hikaru raised his face and looked at the sky only to get himself enveloped in a bright light making him close his eyes.
"Good morning," a female bid to him. Hikaru opened his eyes and saw the other female doctor tending to him, Dr. Nuuru Hans. Hikaru learned that Dr. Austin and Dr. Hans were there on a visit but ended up in the E.R the day he came in with the accident since the hospital was severely shorthanded. They saved his life and he was utterly grateful to them.
"Morning Dr. Hans," Hikaru yawned. He saw Akira still sleeping on the couch and he knew it was time for his routine check-up. Hikaru allowed the doctor to do as she wished and answered any question she had for him. He looked at the doctor with critical eyes feeling something familiar. He realized that Dr. Hans was obsessed with green and whenever Dr. Austin was in the room they would argue about the color of the walls, they were green by the way. Dr. Austin loves red and blue and had no patience for green.
"Well, everything seems in order. Feeling better than yesterday?" Dr. Hans asked.
"Very much," Hikaru nodded with a big smile, "and it doesn't hurt much either. I can feel my legs now and I'm really bored lying down on this bed." Hikaru complained good-naturedly. Dr. Hans laughed.
"I'll ask the nurses to get a wheel chair in here. Maybe your boyfriend can push you into the garden when you want it. Does it hurt when you move them?" she asked.
"I move it side by side but it doesn't hurt that bad. I think I can bear that much," Hikaru said smiling. Dr. Hans smiled warmly and nodded. Then she bid farewell and left Hikaru with the awakening Akira.
"Anything bad?" Akira asked as he stretched the sleep away. The sun was barely up. Hikaru shook his head and tried to sit up. Akira quickly helped him on his back and piled up pillows behind him.
"She says she's getting me a wheelchair. You'll take me to the garden, will you?" Hikaru asked hopefully.
"Of course. As long as it makes you better," Akira stifled a yawn, "I'm bored staying in this room too. Does your feet hurt?" Hikaru shook his head. "You want to call your mother?" Hikaru shook his head.
"Let her sleep. She finally stopped crying yesterday. I can't imagine how my dad was feeling," Hikaru explained. "Hey, when can we leave for Japan?" Akira was a bit stunned by the question.
"Hm? The doctors haven't even cleared you out yet. I don't think we can go home anytime soon," Akira answered. Hikaru frowned.
"I'm bored," Hikaru said in a dead-pan tone.
"Well, do you want to play online Go?" Akira suggested but Hikaru shook his head.
"I'm still on vacation so I don't wanna play," Hikaru pouted and Akira chuckled. "Speaking of vacation, did you call the Go Institute and tell them about my condition?" Hikaru asked.
"I…didn't need to tell them," Akira's tone a bit guilty making Hikaru puzzled. "Your mom told Waya, and he told everyone else so I'm sure the news leaked at the Go Institute already. They got the confirmation from your mother yesterday."
"Oh, it's going to be hell when we get back to Japan," Hikaru groaned. Right at that moment Akira's phone rang. He excused himself to take the call and when he came back he was sighing.
"That was the press back at home. They wanted to know if it was true that you're in a hospital," Akira explained. "I didn't tell them anything but I should have expected that. Hm, how did they know I was here?"
"Maybe they called mom and she told them you were here," Hikaru proposed.
"Maybe…" Akira sat on the bed once more. "Hey, when we get back you are moving in with me in my apartment at Tokyo. I don't want to lose you ever." Hikaru smiled and nodded.
"Never again." Their silent vow as they sat that unmoving and looking at each other's eyes.
Later on after Hikaru was released from the hospital, at nighttime when he was fast asleep, he returned to his dream world. He remembered from what he had created them from. Two stories he had heard as a child, both in a fantasy world. He warped them together to fit his imagination and made all his friends into characters. In his dreamland, the people rejoice.
The Sorcerer and her sister the Red Queen still argued about colors. The Cowardly Lion was getting braver after each session with Knight, the Tin Woodman has finally stopped stealing and doing anything bad thought he does it at times just to annoy the Sorcerer, which in turn made her shock him. Hikaru had a weird feeling that Mitani might be a masochist, and the Scarecrow was still learning how to use the tablet. At least she was remembering a lot of things now.
Hikaru smiled. His dreamland had saved him from leaving his world and his dream people had made him come out clean to the people he loved. He will forever cherish that dreamland even if he doesn't remember a thing when he wakes up. That dreamland, his own Oz the Wonderland.