Long weeks passed and Byakuya never went out of the fourth division unless he really needed to attend some emergency bussiness. So unless something really bad happened he stayed in a bed next to Renji's and had food, tea, clothes, work and everything he needed brought to him by servants.

He had everything he needed. Except for a Renji who was clearly awake and grinning at him like he always used to. And he needed that Renji so much right now. Because after these 5 weeks of this lonely waiting for his beloved husband to wake up he wasn't sure he could handle any more of this.

He dropped his head onto the bed next to where his hand was holding Renji's. He was so tired, too tired to even care that he was showing it so well. In these past weeks he had told Renji so much about his life. Things which he hadn't told anybody, not even his grandfather. Things like the story about his first love, about how things were with Hisana, how even thought he'd loved her with everything in his heart he had still felt that something in the way he loved her wasn't right. It hadn't felt like what he was feeling with Renji right now. He had been devastated then, but he was feeling broken now.

It wasn't the same. It was a million times worse. He had survived Hisana's death. But he would in no way be able to handle Renji's.

And the thought of Renji dying nearly brought him to tears.

But it was the thing that happened next that really made the tears flow down his so very pale cheeks. He could feel Renji's hand twitch in his. It was just a single twitch, nothing more, but that single twitch gave him some hope.

Hope enough for him to look up into his husbands face to see the eyes screw shut and hear a groan coming from the man's lips.

He immediately stood up from the chair he was sitting in, not letting go of Renji's hand, just grabbing it even more tightly as he hoovered over the lieutenants face, watching for every single sign of life. He could hear is own rapidly flowing blood so loudly that he didn't even hear the door open and the healers rush inside to assist the redhead in his waking up.

The redhead's eyes opened slowly and their gazes met. A soft apologetic smile adorned his lips as he reached his hand up to touch his waiting husband's cheek.

"How long?" He asked in a soft whisper, his voice sounding broken after long weeks of not being used.

"5 weeks." Byakuya answered gently, laying his hand over the one on his cheek, enjoying the feeling of the other's reassuring palm.

Another weak apologetic smile played on Renji's lips before his hand suddenly fell down and his body started shaking harshly, making Byakuya's eyes widen in shock.

He could feel Hanataro Yamada pull him outside out of the room, waiting for him to meet his eyes before speaking about what the hell just happened.

"He went into a seizure. His body wasn't ready to wake up yet after what he'd done to himself. I'm guessing he pushed his body awake just to be able to tell you that he was still alive in there and to hold on, but by doing that his health made a serious drop, destabilizing him."

The Kuchiki clanleader nodded softly, knowing very well that keeping up a front right now was useless, seeing as how the 7th seat had seen him quite a few times these last weeks.

"How long will it take him to wake up again?" He asked in a slightly deadpan way, a part of him clinging to what he knew as to keep him emotionally stable right now.

"That will depend. They're now putting him on some other machines to keep an eye on more of his vitals as they induce him into another coma. We'll probably lessen the medication doing that a little each week, but after when the medication is completely gone it will completely depend on him. It can vary from 2 weeks 'till as long as his body needs to completely restore itself. I don't know what he did to himself to attack his spirit centers like that, but it is going to take some time."

Once again Byakuya nodded. They could say whatever they wanted about the little healer but he knew when to be professional. He thanked the healer and sat down, knowing that –right now- he wasn't allowed inside the room and it would only delay things more.

A little over an hour passed before Byakuya could hear the door open. He opened his tired eyes and looked up at the captain of the fourth division thanking her for her time.

She smiled at him and led him into the room, ordering him to sit down so she could check his health as well.

And when she was finally ready with that she gazed at the man with a stern gaze. "Kuchiki-taichou. You have to eat more. You are way too skinny. I shall send a message to your house with a diet for you to follow."

The once so stoic man nodded and waited for the woman to leave the room before lying down on his bed with a deep sigh.

For a moment, a single moment he had hoped that his waiting had been over and it had been so plausible. But it seemed like faith wanted to test him even more. He was going to have to wait for at least a few months longer untill the medication would be out of Renji's system, and even longer for his husband to wake up.

He should probably tell his staff to bring him some books as well because he was nearly out of stories to tell his beloved.

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AN: I'm sorry it's such a short chapter, but with this chapter I wanted to make your skin crawl and heart clench at least a little in empathy with Byakuya.

Hope you still enjoyed tho. Please review? Let me know what you think?