A/N: I just want to thank all of my reviewers who have stuck with me since day one, and the new ones who continue to reassure me that I'm taking this in the right direction. I hope you enjoy this next enstallment.

Forgotten
Chapter 8: Options

"Good afternoon, doctors." Seguchi said quietly into the phone. "There's been a change in plans." A pause. "Shuichi has been told of his illness and the possible outcomes, he has also been reunited with Eiri. I would like your permission to place this call on speaker so everyone involved can hear what you have to say."

There was another pause as Seguchi Tohma listened and then he smiled and pushed a button on the phone base and placed the mouthpiece back into its cradle.

"Good afternoon, everyone," said a calm, assuring voice on the other line, marred only by the static of the phone. "My name is Doctor Tabemono and I have with me the surgical resident Doctor Kuroi."

"Afternoon," said another, deeper voice.

"Doctors, we have with us today Shindo Shuichi, Yuki Eiri, and Nakano Hiro." Tohma said as he took a seat in his overstuffed chair behind the desk.

Shuichi and Hiro both mumbled a hello. Eiri kept his face buried in Shuichi's hair and said nothing.

"Well, Mr. Shindo, we've had quite a scare with you," Dr. Tabemono chuckled. "When you first came to the hospital, the nurses and doctors all assumed your problem was a stress related illness, that perhaps you hadn't been taking the best care of yourself. You came into the hospital with hallucinating, your body attacked by infections and dehydration, just to name a few problems."

"We discovered your memory loss a little over a week later," interjected Dr. Kuroi. "The initial diagnosis was Huntington's Disease, a rare genetic disorder that causes amnesia, loss of muscle control, and early death. Upon further testing we discovered the actual cause of your memory loss was due to a tumor growing in your brain."

Tohma had placed his gloved hands in front of his mouth, resting his mouth against them. He moved to interrupt, "Any questions Shuichi?"

"No." Responded the singer quietly.

"So what are our options with this illness?" Hiro asked in a slightly rough voice.

"Well," sighed Kuroi. "Without the tumors immediate removal, Shuichi will die in a matter of weeks, maybe even days. The question is: will the surgery prove successful?"

"Our hesitation lies in the placement of the tumor. Its removal could result in a permanent vegetative state. Worst case scenario might even be death if there is internal bleeding in the skull after removal, or if the brain shuts down from the stress of surgery. Best case scenario, we get the tumor out and Shuichi returns home with his memory nearly regained."

"You mean I won't ever have all my memories back, even if the surgery goes perfectly?" Shuichi said in a hoarse whisper, his eyes bugging from their sockets as he stared at the phone.

"Not all of them, no, some of your more… outstanding memories might prevail. The memories of your schooling might stay with you, math, science, factual information that has been ingrained into your memory since childhood. For instance, when you first came too in the hospital you could hardly speak and could not understand any form of language. When you awoke a second time, you had regained your ability to speak and understand, but had lost all other memory previous to that time," Kuroi hesitated, and then began again reluctantly. "Perhaps with very strong memory chargers, things that will remind you of your past, sights, smells, tastes, sounds, any sensations that are sharp enough to bring a memory back from the depths of your mind."

Shuichi felt the tears on his face but made no move to remove them. Eiri had remained silent until then, but whispered into Shuichi's hair, "It's still a chance."

"Better than nothing, Shu." Hiro said quietly.

"Indeed," Tohma agreed. "What is the success rate for such a surgery?"

"None of our patients in the last seven years have died during this surgery. About forty percent regain some of their memory. Twenty percent come out with only the ability to speak and understand language but have to relearn such things as writing, and most do not recognize even their closest family members. The remaining forty percent remain in vegetative state."

"That's a pretty vague margin." Tohma said doubtfully. "But it's better than the absolute certainty that we have now of Shuichi dying."

"I'll do it, if there's a chance that I might remember Yuki." Shuichi said quietly. Eiri's eyes widened behind the curtain of bubble-gum pink hair, his fingers clutched tighter to Shuichi. "When can we schedule the surgery?"

There was a rustling sound on the other line and a pause before Dr. Tabemono replied, "As soon as Friday afternoon."

"Day after tomorrow…" Hiro said hoarsely.

"I'll do it." Shuichi said firmly.

"Very well then, I suppose we have our answer." Tohma said in a finalizing tone. "I'll set up the minor details at a later time."

"Take care, Shuichi." Kuroi said in farewell.

"We'll see you on Friday." Tabemono added.

"Have a good evening, gentlemen." Tohma said politely before hanging up the phone.

There was a long silence between the four men in the office. Despite the hectic events of that afternoon, no more than an hour had passed since Eiri's arrival at NG. Hiro was the first to break it.

"Do you want to move back in with Yuki, Shu?"

Shuichi looked bewildered. "I'm… not sure…"

Eiri removed himself from Shuichi's hair and gave Nakano a pointed glance. "Of course he'll move back in with me," then he seemed to catch himself. "That is, if you want to." He added tenderly.

"Hiro?" Shuichi asked, his voice rising, panicky.

"It won't hurt my feelings." Hiro replied, understanding Shuichi's hesitation easily.

"But you've done so much for me; I don't want to ditch you, what kind of thanks would that be?"

"It's okay, anything to make you feel better." Hiro replied sincerely. "If you'll excuse me, I've got to go back. K and Suguru will be wondering where I've got to."

Tohma nodded. "Please let them know everything that's happened. If they have any questions they're welcome to ask me."

"Sure." Hiro retreated with a wave. "You can come over any time and get your stuff, Shuichi." He said as he left.

"Thank you, Hiro." Shuichi said softly.

"No problem." The door shut quietly behind him.

"Well," Tohma said as he stood, hands on his desk, palms down. "It seems you two have a lot of catching up to do. I'm sure you have quite a few questions, Shuichi."

The singer stood from Eiri's lap and zipped up his jacket a little self consciously. Eiri stood as well, looking as stoic and unemotional as ever. He smoothed the wrinkles from his shirt and nodded once to Tohma in farewell.

"Thank you… for everything Mr. Seguchi." Shuichi said with a bow.

"You're quite welcome Shuichi." Tohma replied. "I'll see you on Friday."

Shuichi and Eiri both nodded and retreated out the grand oak doors of Seguchi's office. There was quiet tension between them, neither knowing what to say in this situation.

As they coasted downwards in the elevator Eiri took Shuichi's hand in his, a public display of affection he would never have done a mere month before. Of course, a month before the act would have sent Shuichi into hysterics, and now he simply blushed and looked at his feet.

"Would you like to stay at work, or have you had enough adventure for one day?"

Shuichi had nearly forgotten about the work day, about K and Fujisaki and Mr. Sakano and the recording session they had booked to show Shuichi some of his songs, some of his arrangements, some of his life before the illness.

"I think I'm done," he said calmly. "I'd like to collect my stuff from Hiro's and go…" his sentenced trailed off; he was unsure how to finish it.

"Home." Eiri offered as the elevator opened to NG's bottom floor. Shuichi beamed.

"How long have I lived with you?" Shuichi asked as they made their way forward.

The question was so simple, yet the answer was so complicated. Technically, in Eiri's eyes, Shuichi had been a guest in his home. But given the length of time Shuichi spent, it should have rightfully been called his home. Then again, Shuichi was also kicked out of the apartment on a fairly regular basis, spending half of his time crashing at Hiro's or in a hotel when it was too late to intrude on the guitarist. Eiri opted for the simple answer.

"Since a couple weeks after we met."

"Wow, so soon…" Shuichi breathed.

"You were… persistent."

"I'm sorry."

Eiri stared after the rock star as he retreated to the studio to let Hiro know he was going to get his things and where he was going to hide the spare key. It was just like Shuichi to feel apologetic for something so trivial (and something he couldn't even remember to boot).

"Do you need directions to Hiro's?" Shuichi asked suddenly as they stepped into the glaring sunlight. Eiri found himself slightly annoyed as he realized he'd left his sunglasses on the floor of Seguchi's office. He'd have to get those back somehow.

"I know the way," he answered, almost adding in reflexively "I've been there enough times to drag your sorry butt back home" but caught himself last second. He opened Shuichi's door for him, took the parking ticket off his windshield, gave it a glance and shoved it his pocket, and got in. With a purr the Mercedes came to life and Eiri smoothly drove it into the traffic, weaving deftly around slower vehicles.

"It feels weird, you must know so much about me that I don't even know about myself."

"I probably know more than you ever did."

Shuichi smiled. "I wish I could say the same about you."

"You knew a lot about me Shuichi. You knew things only my father and sister and brother-in-law know about."

"Will you tell me about them?"

Eiri felt his chest tighten, was this going to be another roller coaster ride of emotion, letting Shuichi into his past again? The first time had been hard enough. He'd nearly killed himself in New York.

"Maybe later." He said noncommittally. Maybe when hell freezes over…

They arrived at Hiro's apartment a short time later, Shuichi bounded from the car as Eiri lay back and relaxed. Such a crazy afternoon, a routine meeting with his brother-in-law turned not-so-routine. The information he'd processed in an hour was falling in on him, making him feel like he was burdened with the weight of a thousand secrets he wasn't supposed to know.

The possibility of Shuichi dying, the surgery, the tumor, the illness. Where had it all come from, just a million little things diverging on their lives all at once? And Shuichi seemed to be digesting it all just fine, taking things in stride, keeping calm and collected, questioning very little and asking for help as he came across obstacles he couldn't cross, questions he couldn't answer. Like a warrior, fighting for a cause he didn't quite understand but knew was right.

Shuichi came hurdling back in less than ten minutes, carrying a small bag of belongings with him. His smile was radiant as he slid into the car and Eiri could help but smirk back.

But now they new Shuichi wasn't going to die, there was even a good chance he would regain some of his sharper memories. What things would come back to him, the day they met? The first kiss they'd shared? His childhood? His friends, his family, his job, his music? What if nothing came back at all?

Suddenly Eiri remembered the promise he'd made Nakano in the hospital.

"Shuichi will love someone else. If I don't deserve him, then maybe I shouldn't stick around. You should know, though, that I will fight to see him well again. After that, for his wellbeing and your piece of mind, I'm gone."

"Then what's the fucking point?!"

"The point is to make sure he's okay."

"Once he's okay, you know he'll want you again."

"Like I said, I'll be gone."

"Why?"

"You're right. I don't deserve him."

Was he willing to stick to that, to see Shuichi well again and then leave so that his beloved pink-haired singer would never be hurt by his selfish, bastard lover?

The thought was almost painful. With Shuichi's imminent doom at hand, Eiri's emotions had been thrown into sharp relief. He realized that everything he felt for the singer, even the anger and annoyance and worry was all wrapped up in a neat little package with a label that said 'love'. Eiri loved Shuichi, though voicing that word was difficult for him.

He didn't know if he could ever get over that idea.

Didn't Shuichi deserve someone better? Someone who could openly say I love you and mean it?

The answer was yes. But that brought forth a new question.

Was Eiri man enough to leave and give Shuichi a chance with his real Mister Right?

End-9