Author's note: I think I'm not going to promise when updates will be anymore. Let's just say it's been a really stressful, hectic year and I'm sorry. But wow, twenty six reviews for three chapters! That's a nice welcome back, and how could I not get right back to writing after seeing that? Thank you all so much for your continuous support, and I hope the delay didn't lose me any dear readers. After all, a writer is nothing without you. I'm sorry this chapter is kind of bland compared to the others. Trying to get back into the swing of the story and personalities is harder than I expected. Plus, I've never written Jyou-centric before. So this is a first for me.
"I'm really sorry Taichi." Good ol' Jyou, he wanted so badly to be able to fix everything. He was, after all, the oldest Chosen, at least from the Japanese group. And he was a doctor! It was an insanely suffocating feeling to be so completely useless, helpless. It was a feeling he hadn't felt the full intensity of since his early days in the Digital World, and he couldn't say he was welcoming it like an old friend. More like damning its existence, willing things to make sense again. When things made sense, logic could solve everything without fail. But now? The world was upside down, and all anyone could do was hold on for dear life. Taichi's grip was slipping, and his parents had already been forced to let go.
"What about Hikari, though?" Trust Takeru to search desperately for that silver lining, the small sliver of hope when everything seemed miserable, lost and desolate. His eyes were bright with moisture, but the tears weren't falling yet. Jyou didn't think it would take very much to send them over the edge though. Takeru spent much of his free time at the Yagami residence, when he wasn't with Daisuke and Ken. It wasn't difficult at all to believe that he had been close to either, if not both, of Taichi and Hikari's parents. But he would hold himself together before his childhood heroes found in his brother and Taichi, at least until Jyou told them about Hikari.
Jyou took a deep breath and sighed. "Hikari's alive," he said carefully, but that was good enough news in light of the fate that had fallen upon her parents, and Sora exhaled in relief and closed her eyes. Even Yamato seemed to release a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, and Takeru's face seemed to... relax, like his worst fears had been proved to be little more than a bad dream.
Jyou wished he shared their utter relief, except Taichi who barely seemed to be connected to them anymore. Sora's hand was gripping Taichi's shoulder as she stood beside him, as if that was keeping him tied to his shaky reality. Jyou almost wondered if it would be kinder to let their leader go, but bit the words back. Tactlessness wasn't his area, after all. And he wouldn't be the one to voice thoughts like that. He was the doctor here. He was the one they were all looking expectantly towards, pressure he was largely unaccustomed to from his friends.
"Alive." It was, of course, Yamato who caught the careful choice of words. Well, Jyou thought, annoying as it was, he hadn't expected any less. Yamato was an artist, a musician who made a living off horrible circumstances spun into beautiful words. He frowned at Jyou as the others let Yamato's suspicious tone sink into their heads, and slowly Sora and Takeru's, even Taichi's distant eyes were all focused on Jyou, who shifted his weight nervously to his other foot.
"How bad," Sora whispered, opening her eyes. They were wide, and fearful of Jyou's answer. Takeru actually shook, and Yamato put a protective arm around his baby brother's shoulders. Takeru looked like he considered shrugging it off, and reconsidered. Sometimes it was nice, Jyou thought, to be able to accept the support of others. He wished he could lean on someone else right then, but of course... that wouldn't happen. Sometimes you had to carry the weight by yourself, and it really sucked. But it came with the territory, he supposed, just like his brother had always said. Breaking the news was the worst part, unless they were leaving the hospital unscathed.
"She, well," Jyou hesitated as Taichi fixed him with a hard stare, unblinking as Jyou fumbled to find the words he was looking for, "She has a concussion, moderately serious. Skull fracture. A couple broken ribs, a hairline fracture in her arm... She'll be hanging out for a while," Jyou concluded, running a flustered hand through his hair as Taichi blanched. Sora was biting her lower lip. Even Yamato, cold distant Yamato, looked fairly nauseated as they imagined it. "She's a little banged up, the nurses haven't had a chance to totally scrub her down, so she looks a little worse than she is."
It was clear from Takeru's expression that he, at least found that extremely difficult to imagine. He was still shaking, although he hadn't cried. Jyou fought the bizarre urge to refer to him as a 'big boy'. Seriously, it had been way too long since any of them could call him that and have it considered a compliment by any stretch of the imagination. Jyou could honestly just imagine the sort of glare he'd get, but at least it would be something that resembled their norm. This... this was not it. When they were gathered like this, serious and quiet, it was because they were scheming up ways to tackle a demon, not to come to grips with the fact that they couldn't prevent everything. That, he thought, was really hard medicine to swallow.
"But can we see her," Takeru demanded. Taichi looked at Takeru strangely, like he ddin't understand the request. Jyou desperately hoped that this wasn't going to be the new Taichi. Maybe it was selfish of him, all things considered, but he didn't think he could handle this Taichi. This Taichi was spiritless and deflated and... Well, Jyou shook his head and straightened his shoulders. He'd worry about that later. But right now, that was only normal, right? None the less, he and Sora exchanged worried glances before Jyou nodded and smiled a small smile towards Takeru.
"Yea. You can see her." Jyou nodded across the room, and all heads turned to see what Jyou was looking at. For the first time, they all noticed a curtain pulled all the way closed, hiding whatever was behind it from view. A soft, rhythmic beeping came from behind the curtain, and for the first time Taichi looked downright uncomfortable, rocking between sprinting for the curtain and the door. Jyou didn't really blame him. He hadn't exactly painted a very pretty picture for them, had he?
"Is she..." Sora let the thought dwindle, as though she wasn't sure what exactly she wanted to confirm, but Jyou nodded and filled in the blank for her.
"Sleeping, yea. They had her pretty sedated, but..." He shrugged and crossed the room to pull back the curtain. Taichi followed him as though there were strings connecting him to Jyou, like he was unable to sit still once Jyou moved closer to his sister. But when the curtain was drawn back, he almost begged Jyou to close it again. He would've sworn that bruised, but otherwise pale face connected to tubes and wrapped in a protective wrap because of the skull fracture, a thin white cover pulled up to her chin to keep the spring chill away. Jyou heard Takeru gasp, and turned to see him wrenching himself from Yamato's vice grip around his shoulders to hurry beside Taichi, who seemed frozen to the spot.
"Taichi," Sora murmured quietly, and he jerked, like he'd been yanked out of a world deep inside his own mind. His eyes looked tortured, Jyou thought, and he cringed away from them. For a wild second, he wished he wasn't the doctor Taichi requested. Demanded, rather. Taichi rarely requested when it came to Hikari. Remember Jyou? He felt the bizarre urge to smile with nostalgia, but it wasn't the time. He had a duty to his friends, the ones who had dragged him out of his shell. Well, now he had to make sure nothing more happened to force Taichi farther into his own, for the sake of his sanity as well as everyone else's.
"Huh?"
He speaks, Jyou thought, but he kept it to himself. Truth be told, the sound of Taichi's voice, however sleepy and distant it sounded, was a relief. He just sounded off his game, like he'd lost the playoffs and dropped his food in the bleachers and got turned down by a crush all in the same hour. That not-quite-sure-life-is-real feeling you get when life happens to really, really suck. And Jyou had to admit, Taichi's life definitely fit into that category at the moment.
"Do you want us to wait outside," she asked uncertainly. Yamato nodded in agreement, glaring silently at Takeru when he opened his mouth to argue. He shut it again, if not extremely reluctantly. He cast Hikari's sleeping form a longing look. If Taichi let him have his way, Jyou had no doubt that he'd sit in one of the bedside chairs day and night till she woke up.
Taichi shrugged. "It doesn't matter." And the thing was, he sounded like he really meant it. Whether they were there, or weren't there, meant as little to him as the difference between twilight and dusk. But Jyou was suddenly nervous about leaving him alone with no one but his sleeping sister to keep an eye on him. He glanced at Sora and Yamato, then Takeru and Taichi before fidgeting with his overcoat.
"Sora, Yamato, how about we... give Taichi and Takeru some air." He raised his eyebrows meaningfully at Takeru and gestured for him to come over to him. He looked confused, but he obeyed. When Jyou spoke to him, it was in a voice so low that Takeru had to lean in closer just to hear him properly. "Keep an eye on him. And if she wakes up, or Taichi needs help, come get us. We'll be right down the hall; there's a waiting room there." Jyou pointed outside the door, and Takeru nodded. Jyou ruffled his hair, an action that even an upset Takeru made a face at, and smiled a small, sad smile. "Don't let him out of your sight."
"Will do," Takeru said in a would-be cheerful voice, raising his hand in a salute. Jyou smiled a wry smile. They needed that enthusiasm. But then Takeru's smile faltered and he let his hand fall to his side, and Jyou could see that he was struggling to find the willpower to say what was really on his mind. Jyou put a hand on his shoulder.
"Hikari-chan will be fine. She's getting the best." He gave Takeru a reassuring smile and the younger Chosen nodded slowly once, and then twice. The second nod was quicker, more enthusiastic. He was willing himself to believe it. Come on, Takeru. Hope...
"Mkay. Alright. I'll stay with Tai," Takeru agreed with a smile. "And you'll make sure they stay civil?" He sounded worried, and Jyou blinked, looking confused for a moment. And then the confusion cleared away as he remembered the break up scene. How in the digital world could he have forgotten that?
"I think I can manage," he said dryly. And Takeru chuckled a chuckle that was equally dry, fairly humorless. It was never fun when close friends, you know, stopped being close friends. Jyou almost considered telling Sora to take the spot he'd assured Takeru, but Takeru needed to be with Hikari too, and it wouldn't help her new friendship with Yamato if she was alone with Taichi, and he got overly jealous of it. Not that Jyou thought there was anything to be jealous of, given the circumstances, but... He wasn't a guy who'd been hopelessly in love, either. It did weird things to people, at any rate. "Go on then."
He pushed Takeru gently in the direction of Hikari's bed, and after a couple of slow, hesitant steps, he picked up his pace and by the time he reached the second bedside chair, he was practically jogging. Taichi was still standing beside the bed, looking down at his baby sister as though he wasn't quite seeing her, like some horrible nightmare. Takeru heard him say "Sit down, Tai. It might be a while. Wanna ask for some food or something?" And although Jyou had never heard Taichi turn down food before, he must have done, because then Takeru sighed, and quiet fell over the room.
The matter of Taichi and Hikari's supervision taken care of, Jyou the Doctor slipped out of the room, leaving the door slightly ajar, you know, just in case. He didn't trust that they could hear a shout or a scream through closed doors, no matter what his supervisor said. And the hall way was a dead end hall, leading to nothing but a cleaning supply closet and a laundry room. From his position in the waiting room, he'd see everyone who came through, so he was fairly positive about the safety of the patients in this hall. Many of the rooms just then were empty, at any rate.
Sora and Yamato were sitting exactly two seats away from each other when Jyou stepped into the waiting room. Sora was staring at her hands, and attempting to look extremely fascinated by the callouses from Tennis and random other activities. And Yamato was staring at the opposite wall, looking determinedly cool-headed, though Jyou wasn't entirely sure that was the case.
"Guess we should let Takeru call the others, huh," Yamato asked as Jyou took the seat between them. Jyou nodded silently, and Yamato sighed and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. "I'm not getting up again. I'll text him."
"I'll call Mimi," Sora offered quietly. Jyou couldn't really imagine how awkward being alone in a fairly dimly lit waiting room must have been, but he could imagine that it had been awkward at least a bit. It made him feel kinda bad that he had to get up in a minute. There were, after all, other patients under his name now besides Hikari. Just because she was a dear friend, he couldn't neglect her. He'd just be proving that doctors shouldn't take care of someone they were personally close with.
"Fine." Yamato offered neither encouragement nor disapproval, and Sora frowned at him. She said nothing else.
"Will you two play nice," Jyou demanded, though he tried to keep his tone friendly. They both looked confused, and then offended at his implications.
"We are," Yamato argued heatedly. Sora sighed.
"I'll be back in an hour after my rounds," Jyou said with a stretch as he got back to his feet. He glanced at the door. "Keep an eye on Taichi every once in a while, kay?"
"Takeru too," Yamato put in, and Jyou nodded. Mind, he was less worried about Takeru than Taichi, but still. Yamato had a point. Takeru had to be more torn up and upset than he was letting show, typical of him. Jyou had taken a couple steps towards the door, feeling there was nothing left to say, when Yamato called his name. "Hey, Jyou..."
He turned to face him, glasses glinting strangely as the light hit them. "Yea?"
"Think everything will be okay?"
It was a strange question, from Yamato. He was the one who went 'things will be fine' and stormed on while the others hemmed and hawed and fretted. He would have expected it from Sora, but maybe he was asking it for her. She was staring at her hands again, lower lip quivering. She'd known the Yagamis since early childhood. Surely, this was hitting her nearly as hard as Taichi, although she could at least keep her wits about her. And at that thought, Jyou's mind's eye conjured up the image of Takeru talking Taichi into sitting down, Taichi's brown eyes tortured, not quite seeing anything in front of him. He was like a lost little kid without a home, a man without a country. He had nothing but the remnants of a flag, a battered and unconscious Hikari. And Jyou hadn't told them that the hospital couldn't determine the extent of her injuries till she woke up, and they could monitor her brain activity. But Jyou couldn't add that to the long list of ills that night. He just couldn't.
"No," Jyou replied, turning away from his old friends and heading for the door again. "Not everything."