This chapter has been Beta'd (: You have my eternal gratitude my friend! :D

Warning: Language, violence and same gender relationships.

Rating: M (for language, gore, violence and as the story advances, there will be mature scenes.)

Pairing: R27, slight Allx27, and others (will take suggestions for pairings)

Summary: Due to a failed assassination attempt, Tsuna losses his memories. His Guardians have gathered to protect him. But no one thought Reborn would also help. He claims it's for the Family... Is it? Or is he lying to everyone and himself?

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Chapter 04: The Waiting

In a hospital room of Pisa, Italy, the sound of a heart monitor was heard by only one set of ears. The other set completely unresponsive thus far. The sound of the TV changing channels was barely heard, almost completely silent, as a young man kept pressing on the 'down' channel button faster than the channel could settle.

The Tenth Vongola Boss was laying on a comfy bed near an opened window, still unconscious from his wounds and the plane crash. His forehead was bandaged and an oxygen mask was over his nose and mouth. The wounds he had sustained, and had apparently burned closed with his gloves in an attempt to prevent more bleeding, had been operated on. He had been opened back up in the O.R. to assess the damage done to his insides that was stitched back together later on. His arms and legs were also bandaged from a few cuts and bruises but it was nothing that time wouldn't easily erase.

Suddenly the TV channels stopped changing; the World-Wide News had captured the attention of the watcher. They were announcing something about an airplane crashed in a meadow field just outside of Honk Kong.

"—pilot in charge of the jet had received orders to land near the accident and look for survivors. Sadly, there was none. All passengers were either shot to death or had died in the crash, including the flight attendants and pilots.

The flight number was HT0120R27.

A list of the passengers that was recovered from the airport will soon be scrolling down the screen in a moment. Please join me in prayer for those unfortunate souls lost today."

The news reporter's head lowered soon after. The screen was soon blacking out to be filled with the white-bolded names of all the passengers. It rolled slowly so as to allow the people viewing in their homes to see the names of the deceased.

His eyes skimmed down the list of names, searching for the name of the man lying on the bed next to him, unconscious. His breath caught in his throat when he found it in third place of the 'S' section of the 'deceased' roster.

Sawada Tsunayoshi

The remote control was thrown rather violently at the screen, the TV now crackling and fizzing with a hole in its center, and a fit of colorful words soon followed. The one responsible was a CEDEF member named Basil.

Sitting back down on the chair, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and puffed his cheeks in frustration. Why was he reported dead? Oregano had told the members of the Control Tower just who they were taking to the hospital when she'd found out who it was! Why would they let such lies be given to the public? What if his family members were watching this right now? They were all probably having a heart attack thinking he was dead when he wasn't!

Of course it didn't help that he still couldn't get a hold of his Master. Basil flinched at the thought of his blonde superior. That particular man would probably die if he heard that his only son was dead. And what about the Ninth? His mother, Nana?

He sighed. Never good.

His blue eyes glanced at the man lying on the hospital bed named Sawada wondering, hoping even, if he had woken up from all the noise he'd made. Brown eyes he knew were hidden under those lids didn't even flinch, let alone move. Tsuna was still sleeping like the dead.

Basil stared at his future boss for a few more seconds before sighing and touching the back of his neck with his hand, turning to look out the window. He watched as a flock of birds flew by in the blue, cloud mottled sky.

"When will you wake up, Sawada-dono?" he wondered aloud as he got up and walked over to the window to close it. He sighed again before turning and heading for the door. "I have to go check in with the others." he said, as though the man would respond. "You know, so they don't worry too much and also so I can tell Oregano that those News-people don't you're here." he sighed, "You better be prepared, Sawada-dono, this place will be filled with News crews that'll want to get an inside scoop." he informed as he opened the door, "I'll come back later. I promise." With that last bit, he left the room and closed the door behind him.

"Basil, has the young Vongola woken up?" Spanner asked as he stopped his nervous pacing. Moretti looked up from his entwined fingers. Shouichi looked over from his position of leaning next to the window to watch the day outside. Turmeric was currently taking a walk around the block to clear his head and so wasn't present at the moment. Oregano looked up from the book she was pretending to read; too worried for her future boss to really see the pages let alone the words printed on them, and looked at him too. They all shifted in their seats but kept their gazes on the younger CEDEF member.

"Not yet, I'm afraid." he responded with a helpless shrug.

Shouichi gave a sad sigh as he went back to gazing out the window, his arms folded in front of his chest. Moretti shook his head and the small hope in his eyes vanished as he went back to staring at his hands. Oregano's lips pursed in agitation. She had been hoping that Decimo had woken up. Spanner turned around, a blank look in his eyes, and was about to go stand with Shouichi when Basil's voice sounded behind him.

"Don't worry, guys, he's been through much worse when you think about it. I just know he'll be alright." Basil said, a steady smile on his lips, and a confident air radiating off of him. The young man watched as the edges of Shouichi's lips turned up at his words. Oregano's lips were still pursed but at least she wasn't scowling as bad as before. Moretti just seemed to relax a bit more in his seat. He could only hope that his words had also made the blonde mechanic in front of him smile too since he couldn't see his face.

He shook his head. There was more than one reason he had come out of the Decimo's room.

"Miss Oregano?" he called.

When she looked up at him again, he motioned for her to follow. Raising an eyebrow she got up and put her book down in her just vacated seat. The men being left behind were confused, wondering what Basil could possibly want with the woman before deciding that if it was important than there was no reason to take her away.

They went back to what they were doing.

"Did you see the news, Miss Oregano?" Basil asked once he was sure they had gotten out of earshot of the others.

"The news?" she asked. He nodded. "No, I haven't. Why?"

The older of the CEDEF members cocked an eyebrow in confusion when she saw the younger bite his bottom lip.

"Well..." he hesitated and she was even more intrigued for it. What could he possibly want to know that he'd hesitate to ask? "The news said that Sawada-dono was dead." He looked up at her as though she was going to get mad.

Her other eyebrow went up as she waited for him to continue.

He didn't.

"So...?" she asked slowly. He blinked in response and just stared at her, completely surprised.

"So?" he repeated incredulously. How could she possibly say that? "He's not dead!" he said in response. Of course the Tenth was still alive. They had found him! They had brought him to the hospital themselves! They had sat in the emergency O.R.'s waiting room, pacing, in hopes that what they had done wasn't going to have been done in vain! And all she had to say about the news channel saying that Sawada Tsunayoshi, the Vongola Decimo, her future boss, was dead was 'so'?

The hell?

"I know." she replied in an even tone.

Oregano was a little baffled. Why was Basil just staring at her like that? She had told Tower Control that they had someone injured in their custody, sure, but that didn't mean that she had disclosed to them just who it was, even when she found out herself. Didn't he realize what the consequences would have been if she had let them know?

She paused in her thinking. What if...

"Basil..." she said slowly. He kept silent, waiting for her to continue. "Are you mad because the Decimo is considered dead?" He looked at her as though she were crazy.

"Of course!" he replied, anger in his tone. "He's not dead so why would they say he is? Didn't you tell Tower control who he was?"

"No."

Basil blinked in shock and surprise. No...? Why 'no'? She seemed to read his mind because when she next opened her mouth she said, "No, because if I had, and they let the news crew know, then the ones who caused the crash would have found out that their target was still alive and we don't need that."

"Oh..." he looked dazedly at the floor. He hadn't thought of that.

"After all," she continued, just to be safe, "don't you think it's strange that Decimo, out of all the people there, was the only one with stab wounds instead of a bullet through the head? That had to be a sign."

If only they knew what really happened.

Night had finally taken over the sky of Pisa, Italy. The streets were quiet and practically deserted. No one who had work in the day would be awake in the middle of night. Then again, Turmeric worked irregular hours; being in the Mafia meant that some things could be handed off to other members while other things had to be done by him personally. That meant that while he could be relaxing one moment something could come up and he had to get his rear in gear and have everything ready and waiting to go the next.

He shook his head. No need to dwell on his "career choice" right now; especially since he happened to like it quite a lot. He could go without the killing part but what was done was done and there was nothing he could do about it.

He stopped in his tracks as he heard something. Something had fallen over. He looked around with his eyes, his ears straining to catch a noise. He waited for the telltale sign of a safety trigger being pulled. He heard a screeching sound instead. Looking over his shoulder he was able to see an alley entrance and a stray cat rooting through an upturned trash can. He sighed.

The cat must have knocked it over to get to the contents inside. He pulled the strap of his bag higher on his shoulder and continued on his way.

Ten minutes later, he entered the hospital where his future Boss was staying in. He made his way past the reception desk quickly, wanting to avoid any questions the woman sitting there might have at how he'd been able to get inside. The main entrance door was supposed to be closed and locked after all. He passed the nurses and doctors who were on duty, making sure to look casual so they thought that he was just a visitor who had yet to leave but was walking off some steam.

Reaching his Boss-to-be's room, he opened the door as silently as he could, childishly pretending that he'd wake the man up from some much needed rest instead of a very serious coma, and entered the room.

Shouichi was already gone. Turmeric had called ahead of time and told him to get to his hotel room to get some sleep. The redhead must have been so tired, he hadn't even waited for Turmeric's appearance before leaving which he would have had he been thinking straight. He walked over to the bed's side and looked at its occupant.

Sawada Tsunayoshi was pale. His hair was a little flat from not being washed but it was still that gravity-defying mess it always was. He grinned, that trait was definitely from his father's side. If the heart monitor didn't tell him that Decimo was indeed alive, heart beating, lungs expanding and retracting, he would've assumed the man was dead. The I.V. drip that was attached to his left hand made sure that he had liquid in his system and extra antibodies to fight possible sickness since he couldn't get it there himself. Turmeric stared just a few moments more before deciding to seat himself in the chair next to the window. Shouichi must have moved it there to stare out the window.

He could deal with that. It was better than staring at such a dismal sight as his future boss lying in that bed still as death. He placed the bag hanging off his shoulder on the floor next to the chair as he sat down and relaxed. Looking out the window, he watched as the stars twinkled and the moon shined full and fat in the sky.

Turmeric grinned before turning to his bag to take out a pencil, an eraser and an already half-full sketchpad. Staring at the sky one more time, he started drawing. It was a hobby he happily found kept his mind off of situations he didn't want to think about, like the one that was just behind him for example.

He soon lost track of time.

His eyes started to water a bit so he stopped. Looking at his watch he gave a small, but quiet, start when he realized that he had been drawing for the better part of an hour and a half. Geez how time flies. He rubbed his eyes one more time and looked at his sketchpad. It was of that cat he had seen on the way to the hospital.

Go figure.

Picking his pencil back up, he was just about to work a bit more on the drawing when a shifting sound caught his attention. Was that what he thought it was? His eyes widened in apprehension and just a bit of hope as his body stopped moving altogether, not turning to see if it was true, not moving even a single inch.

Moments passed with nary a sound.

Releasing the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, he shook his head. He sighed exhaustedly as he placed his free hand to his temple, rubbing it in hopes of alleviating his now very severe headache. It was just his imagination. Wishful thinking.

In other words, he was very tired and needed to sleep.

Turning back to his bag, he placed all that he had taken out back in. There was no use trying to draw when a headache was starting to pound into his head. He paused again. Did he just hear more shuffling? He looked up at the bed and what he saw made relief and happiness instantly assault his core.

It hadn't been his imagination!

There on the bed was the Vongola Decimo. A very much awake Vongola Decimo. Sitting up and... and... awake! His face lit up instantly at the sight. Thank God. He exhaled sharply in a sigh, glee painting it bright, as he got up from his seat.

The Decimo didn't notice him.

What was strange to the CEDEF member however was the confused and very scared look that was on his Boss-to-be's face. The Decimo placed his hand to his head, his eyes closed tightly, as he shook it a bit. It looked like he was trying to remember something but couldn't. Turmeric's brow furrowed and was just about to ask the Decimo what was wrong when his Boss-to-be opened his mouth.

"Who am I?"

The CEDEF member stopped in his tracks at the question, his eyes widening in shock. Did he just hear what he thought he just heard? No. He shook his head in disbelief. No, it can't be! He took a step back, shaking his head some more but this time in denial. Please let it just be a mistake on the Decimo's part. Just the Decimo accidentally saying 'who' in place of 'where' in his confusion!

"Who... am I...?" asked the confused man in a whisper, massaging his temple with his needleless hand, scrunching his face in concentration as he tried to remember who he was.

Tried to remember his name.

Tried to remember... something!

All the while he was completely unaware that there was another, very much panicking, man in the room with him.

A/N: Thank you for reading!

Reviews are greatly appreciated.