Broken Bonds Resurface
This is Kairi. Riku is in the hospital. Please come.
That text. That damn text. It was amazing how a few words could make his heart rise and shatter. He felt like someone was squeezing it every other second and it hurt like hell. Considering how direct Kairi was he knew it had to be serious. His shame at leaving Roxas at such a sensitive time would have to wait. He hoped "Riku, Kairi, Hospital!" was a good enough explanation for now. It was all he could give before his body rushed him away.
His legs were transformed. Running helped him fly from one floor to the next as elevators would have slowed him down. Five minutes later he found his car, unlocked it with shaking motions, then slammed into the driver's seat, wincing. He closed the door and allowed himself a few precious seconds for breathing.
One. Two. Three. Breathe.
One. Two. Breathe.
One. The deepest breath he could muster.
He tilted his head back, rubbing his eyes. His phone buzzed again and he looked at it warily. Then his lips parted in shock as the words slowly made their way to his brain.
Sora, please wait. I'm right behind you.
"Wait..." Sora slowly turned his head, blinking as he watched Roxas dash across the parking lot. He was moving so fast that Sora thought he was going to knock himself out when he reached the car.
Sora unlocked the doors and watched in awe as Roxas got into the seat roughly, somehow closing the door while simultaneously getting his seatbelt on. A few seconds passed with heavy breathing.
Sora swallowed, an unfamiliar emotion rising in his chest. "Rox..." He tried to get more words out but the tears were now streaming down his face. He didn't know how to show his gratitude.
Roxas huffed out a loud breath then glared at him. "Idiot, step on the gas and go!"
"R-right." His knuckles were white from gripping the wheel, so it hurt to turn it when he finally got on the road. His heart was racing for two reasons instead of one now. Thank god Roxas had shown up. He couldn't face Kairi and Riku alone right now...
But he now knew Roxas would shut down at any signs of thanks. His blank mask had returned, and his tone was blunt as he asked Sora if he knew where the hospital was. Though practical, this was the wrong thing to say.
"She... Didn't say." Sora shook once and his face paled. "God, what if one of them dies and I'm too late?"
"No. Calm down." Roxas held up Sora's phone, then read out the newest text. "That's the address. We'll make it."
"Traffic in that area is bad. Dammit." His breathing accelerated and a cool sensation slowly overtook his fingers. No, no, his body had the worst timing.
Roxas touched Sora's shoulder. "Stop the car."
Sora shuddered, then turned over to the curb. "Heh, you yell at me to book it and now we're stopping." He started laughing, but that quickly turned into ragged gasps as he struggled to get oxygen.
"Shhh, don't talk." Roxas' said softly, holding Sora's hands. "You're just nervous. Your friends need you to be awake when we see them. So, follow me and count to ten in your head."
Sora gave him a shaky smile even as he felt his stomach disappear. The feeling in his hands were gone, but he tried to squeeze Roxas' fingers back anyway. As Roxas counted Sora focused on the air leaving his body. He was fine. This was his mind playing tricks. Anxiety be damned.
After a few minutes of controlled breathing they switched places. With Roxas driving Sora thought he'd be able to relax, but his muscles remained strictly locked. He started rubbing his hands together just to give himself something to do.
Surprisingly, traffic slowly dispersed the closer they got to the hospital. It was a bleak, grey building with dark black metal proclaiming a name no one could pronounce correctly. After parking the walk to the building's entrance was uneventful but it still felt like a trek of doom to Sora.
You could say he hated hospitals, but that would only be scratching the surface. Approaching the counter was about as much as Sora could handle so after a few minutes of awkward staring Roxas took over and did the necessary talking to get them forward. Within a few more blinks in Sora's timeline they had reached the moment of truth.
Sora swallowed. "So he's in there," He said just as Kairi opened the door. Her red hair was pulled up in a bun and she had bags under her eyes. Her white shirt and pink skirt was in such bright contrast to her sympathetic expression that Sora nearly gagged.
"Long time no see. He... he just woke up, so I'll leave you two to talk," she said, sounding exhausted.
Sora sent Roxas a look and in response Roxas simply shoved him into the doorway. Shaking, Sora made his way further into the room, parting a set of blue curtains. The moment light green eyes locked with his hesitant blue pools, Sora knew the swarm in his chest wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Riku smiled. "You came."
Sora let out a grunt, sitting in a chair close to Riku's bed. "I guess so." He held back what would've been a awkward laugh, forcing himself to smile. "You done scaring me to death yet?"
The pain filled laugh he received in return made him wince. "God, Sora... I've missed that, you know? You're insensitive humor." His smile grew. "Who knows, maybe I'll die for real this time. Then you can be truly happy, right?" He coughed once, then laughed again.
Sora frowned and the swarm in his chest turned into a dark pit. "That's not what I want."
"Your face says otherwise." He shrugged. "But you know, I'm done fighting fate. If I go I go. Would be nice to have one last kiss before then though."
Sora slowly felt the mental walls crawling up around him. He let out a dead laugh, tilting his head. "Who did you screw over this time? Another crazy Ex?"
"You could say that." Riku slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position, body slightly shaking. It was only now that Sora noticed the multiple bandages wrapped around his chest and one of his wrists. "But for the first time it looks like I'm truly here of my own will."
An intake of breath. Cold. The room shrunk inward and it took everything to keep from running away. Sora shuddered. "Riku... are you saying you..." He couldn't finish it. His heart was panicking again.
"The doctors have it wrong. You know me, I'm not the type to do that." Riku stared at his bandaged wrist. "But, you know, I probably went overboard. It was the first time I went this far. Lesson learned."
"This isn't a joke!" Sora was surprised at the volume of his own voice, but he didn't stop his assault. "You can't keep doing this, Riku. It's not right."
"Like you're one to talk." Riku's face changed and inside Sora flinched. "How selfish can you get? You left so your opinion no longer matters."
Sora shook his head slowly. "Riku... I was your best friend. I really do care what happens to you. But I... I can't repeat what we did before. I had to leave because I was getting worse. I know-"
"Stop. This is pathetic, even for you." The eye roll hurt Sora more than the verbal poison being flung at him. "You do realize almost everything I've done in my life was for you. All I'm asking is for the favor to be returned. But, like always, you bailed on me. We all know you're a coward, so your denial isn't leading you anywhere."
Sora slowly stood, walking over to his friend slowly. He reached out, grabbing a chunk of long silver strands. He yanked Riku's head to the side, shuddering with some satisfaction when he heard the older male gasp in pain. He hated the power that flowed in him at that moment, but old habits died hard.
It was dangerous territory, Sora knew that, but he wasn't sure how else to reach Riku. He sucked in a breath, trying to keep his voice firm. "The favors you want... What you need to feel better is something I can't do anymore," Sora said. "No one will ever satisfy you. You need to accept that you have a problem. Kairi and I can't protect you forever."
Riku's laughter was genuine and Sora did his best to steel his own heart when he felt Riku's head leaning into his rough touch. Riku sighed. "The only way I can get you to touch me is by making you angry it seems."
"You didn't hear a word I said, did you?"
He felt his hand being pulled down as Riku grabbed his wrist, kissing Sora's open palm. "I heard it. But you're wrong." Riku smirked. "It's true that no one satisfies me. But you... I never felt like I needed extra with you. I realize that now."
God, no. Not again. "You don't mean that," Sora said, pulling his hand back. "How many times do I have to say no!"
Riku gave him a small smile. "I didn't ask you for anything. I'm just telling you the truth. Look, I just want to talk again. I want to see you more outside of just a hospital visit out of obligation to Kairi."
"That's..." Sora looked away. "That's not fair. You're just going to want more."
"Really? It's funny, you accuse me of this and yet you could very well be describing yourself. We're the same. Once you understand that you'll come back." Riku shrugged. "I just have to wait."
Arrogant bastard. Sora couldn't deny the power his former friend possessed. Despite being pale and contained within a hospital bed, there was a natural beauty to the young man. Currently Riku's thin pink lips had a bluish tint to them and his eyes were alert and attentive to Sora, never leaving his face. If Riku was standing the effect would be overwhelming.
Why? To still have this much of a presence when Riku was clearly the most vulnerable one here made no sense to Sora at all. It took a few more breaths for everything that was said to truly sink in. Sora slowly frowned. "Do what you want. I'm not coming back."
"You will. Because I know you."
Sora backed away, sighing. His heart was aching and he hated it. "Bye, Riku."
There was no reply back and Sora kept his eyes glued to the floor as he left the room.
Hey guys. Currently studying abroad so this chapter took more time than I'd like to finish. But nevertheless I'm still happy with the results.
Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! Any critiques would be highly appreciated.
Justice T.