-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Gin hadn't been sure they were right as he trudged down the beach toward this old pier. He could see it. Then he spotted movement. He gasped, waving at Findorr.
"There's someone there!" he yelled and tried to hurry through the rocks and debris that hindered him.
Findorr tried to catch up to Gin, but he was struggling as he tried not to trip. Isane was picking her way carefully along behind them both with her phone's light on the ground in front of her. Gin got to the fence and at first was stopped. He couldn't see a way to get through except to go all the way around the end of it, which would take a long time. Then he saw ripped material flapping in the breeze. He went to it and found a gap in the fence that it looked like they'd gone through.
"I called it in! They're on the way!" Findorr said as he caught up to Gin just as he slipped through the fence.
"We have to get there first," Gin said as he got through the other side. He could see the figures ahead of them on the pier. He huffed a breath and took off as fast as he could through the deep sand that was covered in junk.
"Stop!" Gin yelled as loud as he could, but neither of them moved, they were both just standing there at the end of the pier. "Turn around and come back!"
He got to the end of the pier where Kūgo had pulled the warning signs off to get past them. Then everything slipped into slow motion. He yelled as Kūgo pushed Ichigo off the end of the pier, following him a second later. He was running, feet slipping on the damp wood of the old pier and he could hear the sound of the wood groaning under his weight. He didn't think about the fact that there was a reason the pier was fenced off. He only thought of getting to the end of the pier to try and save Ichigo. He knew he probably couldn't swim. Finally, after what felt like forever, he was at the end of the pier. He pulled off his jacket and threw it behind him and tossed his phone with it before he took a dive off the end of the pier himself.
The water was cold and dark, and he couldn't see anything. He heard splashing nearby and saw a glint of color. He went for it. It had to be Ichigo. He heard Findorr yelling from the pier and he hoped he was getting help because he couldn't save both Ichigo an Kūgo. The bright shock of hair appeared again, and Gin was almost there. He wanted to tell him that he was coming but he didn't have time. He was about to go under again. It didn't take very long, but it certainly felt like a long time before his fingers brushed against something solid. He grabbed on, pulling whatever it was toward him. He was desperately hoping that it was Ichigo because he wasn't seeing any other splashing out here.
He managed to tread water and pulled him back toward the pier. He had no idea how he was going to get him out of the water because he felt like dead weight. He heard a noise and looked up to see a helicopter shining a spotlight down on him and a boat was slowly coming toward him. It was a small row boat, obviously a rescue boat off a bigger ship.
That was when everything sped up. He was helping push Ichigo up out of the water, but he wasn't moving. He was clinging to the side of the boat himself, waiting as they started doing chest compressions in the boat as well as they could. He couldn't imagine what would happen if he had been too late. He heard yelling and saw another boat pulling another body out of the water. He guessed they' found Kūgo as well. He turned back and heard a hoarse coughing sound and he nearly cheered. He hadn't been too late. He heard the rescuers on the boat talking to him trying to keep him calm as the light from above illuminated them all.
"Is he okay?" he yelled at the workers.
One of them gave him a thumbs up as she looked over at him. Some time passed, then someone was pulling him up into a boat. He didn't want to leave Ichigo, though. He wanted to make sure he was alright. But he needed to get out of the water himself. It as cold enough to cause hypothermia at this time of night. He was shivering violently by the time someone draped a rescue blanket around him. He pulled it closed and tried to cough up what water he'd sucked down while he was out there. There were lights everywhere as he was taken to the rescue boat. He didn't see where they'd taken Ichigo or Kūgo, but he guessed they were being tended to. He sat down on the side of the boat and looked out at the dark sea. Everything had nearly ended in tragedy tonight.
Things became a blur as he was transported to the docks and then taken by ambulance no matter how he fussed that he didn't need to be taken in by one. They still insisted. They couldn't tell him anything about Ichigo or Kūgo. Before long, he was in the hospital, sitting in a room in a dry gown and under a thick, heated blanket. He was very grateful for that, because he was still freezing.
"Mr. Ichimaru?" he heard and looked over to see a nurse in red and black plaid scrubs.
"Yes?" he said, sitting up in the bed.
"You have a visitor," she said with a smirk and stepped away to reveal Rangiku.
"Gin Ichimaru, when you said you were going to Las Noches I didn't expect you to nearly get yourself killed again!" she said, both hands on her hips.
The nurse snickered and left the room. Gin looked at her and grinned. "I didn't expect you to get here so fast."
"When you didn't come home this morning, I decided to come find out what was going on and look what I find! Almost getting yourself killed by drowning!" she came closer to him and shook her head.
"Ah, I didn't nearly drown. I woulda froze to death first," Gin pointed out.
Rangiku shook her head again. "What am I going to do with you? Last time, you got shot, now this. I think your line of work is too dangerous anymore!"
Gin smiled at her. She always worried so much about him. They often went months without seeing each other while he was on cases or while she was on shoots somewhere or another, but they kept in text contact with each other fairly regularly. Today, he hadn't texted her at all with everything that was going on, so it was no wonder she was worried.
"How'd you find me, anyway?" he asked.
"Iba," she said. "I called the FBI office number you left with me and he told me that last he heard you were in Las Noches. When I didn't hear from you today, I decided to head down after lunch."
He sighed, still cold. "Have you seen anyone else?"
"I saw the blond-haired agent, Calius I think was his name, and the woman with the silver hair in the waiting room. That and I think the tallest man I've ever seen!" she exclaimed, putting her hand up in the air to indicate how tall he was.
"That's Nnoitra," Gin told her. "He's a good guy, actually. He's kinda dating the boy I was looking for."
"Kinda dating?" she asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
"It's a weird thing. The guy I was looking for, the Kurosaki kid, got attached to him, and now they have weird kind of relationship where Nnoitra takes control of him. It's very interesting to watch it in action," Gin said with another grin.
"I'm just glad you're alright. I can't tell you how scared I was when they told me that they had to fish you out of the ocean!" she said and leaned over to kiss him gently.
There was a knock on the door, and he looked up to see a woman he didn't know. She was tall with black hair that was long and braided down her back. She had a gentle seeming smile and wore a doctor's coat.
"Mr. Ichimaru," she said as she approached. "I'm Dr. Retsu Unohana. I'll be tending to everyone that came in tonight. You were very lucky. Your temperature was dangerously low when you came in."
"I figured as much. I know it was freezing. You'd think as warm as it is during the day that the water'd be warmer even at night," he said with a sigh.
"It can get very cold at that depth," she said. "I want to have you x-rayed just to check and make sure you don't have any water in your lungs. Otherwise, I want to keep you until your body temperature is back to normal. Otherwise, you're clear." She smiled at Rangiku and bowed a little as she left the room.
"I hope Ichigo and the other man are alright," Gin said as he looked toward the door.
"I'm sure they're being taken care of as best they can be. This hospital seems to be a pretty good one," she said and patted his leg.
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
It hurt to open his eyes. Or rather, his chest hurt, and he didn't want to open his eyes. He groaned because he really did hurt. He felt like he'd sucked down something that burned into his lungs. Finally, he opened his eyes, though, and found he was in a darkened room. He suddenly needed to cough, though, and put his hand to his mouth as it hit him. He was wheezing by the time it was over and he wondered what was happening.
"Mr. Kurosaki?" a voice came from the door. He looked up to see a woman dressed in pink. "You're away, good. I'll let Dr. Unohana know."
Ichigo looked around and realized where he was. He was in a hospital. Fear gripped him immediately because of how long he'd been afraid of hospitals. He started to panic a little but that only made him start coughing again, and that hurt to do. He laid back in the bed and decided he didn't feel like getting up right now though no matter how scared of hospitals he was. After a few minutes, the door opened again, and he saw a dark-haired woman he didn't know in a white coat. She came over to the bed and put a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm Dr. Retsu Unohana," she said with a smile. She looked very kind, but something about her was scary to Ichigo and he didn't know why. "How are you feeling, Ichigo?"
"My chest hurts," he said with a frown as he rubbed it.
"They had to do chest compressions on you. You nearly drowned out there tonight. Most the water is gone, but I'm afraid some pneumonia might set in because of the water you aspirated. It shouldn't take very long for us to clear it up, though," she said and Ichigo thought that she had a very kind smile, scary or not.
"Wh-where's my Papi? Can he come see me? Please, I need to see him," he said, tears coming to his eyes already.
"Your father is out in the waiting room," she said and patted his shoulder again.
"No, not Isshin, Papi!" he insisted. "I don't want my father, I want Papi!"
She tilted her head to the side. "Who is that, Ichigo? I don't understand."
"Please, just let him in to see me again. I need him now," he said and really did start crying now. He took a few gasping breaths as he tried to control himself, but it didn't do much good because then he started coughing again.
"Settle down, settle down," she said, rubbing his back as he tried to stop coughing. "I'll go out and see who's there," she said. "If he's out there, I'll see that he's let in, okay?"
Ichigo turned teary eyes on her. "Please."
She left him alone then and his heart felt like it was going to explode. He was trying not to panic but it was so hard. He wanted to get out of the bed and run as far as he could until he found his Papi again. But he knew that he should be there. If he knew his Papi, he'd be with his father. He had to be there, right? But what if he wasn't? What if he didn't come? What would he do then? He almost put himself in another panic as the door opened again and the doctor came back in with Isshin and Papi ducked under the doorway and came straight over to him.
"Papi!" he exclaimed as he came over and hugged him.
"Chiquito," he said softly. "You had me so worried, pobrecito."
Ichigo couldn't let go of him. He just kept holding him. He felt like if he let go, he'd disappear for good, and he didn't think he could live like that. He had to have his Papi. Either that or he felt like he'd really die. He clutched him and started crying again. Papi patted his back and held him as long as he needed him to.
"I was so scared. I thought I was gonna die!" he whispered harshly into his ear.
"I know, I know, but it's okay now. You're safe, and no one is going to hurt you, okay? This hospital is a good place, so you don't have to worry, alright?" he said as he leaned back and stood up to his full height.
Ichigo laid back in the bed and took a breath that still hurt. "My chest hurts, Papi," he said and was still crying a little.
"Here, Nnoitra," Isshin said and pushed a chair up to him.
"Oh, thanks," he said, taking the chair and pulling it up beside Ichigo's bed. He took Ichigo's hand in his and kissed it.
"Dr. Kurosaki, could we talk?" Dr. Unohana said and disappeared out the door with Isshin.
"What happened to him? To Kūgo?" Ichigo asked, squeezing his Papi's hand in his tightly.
"I don't know yet; I have been too worried about you," he said as he put his other hand on Ichigo's forehead. "I was so afraid I was going to lose you. I can't tell you how hard everyone looked for you over the last couple days."
"Why did he pick me?" Ichigo asked, frowning. "He kept calling me 'star child' and saying I was half alien and that I was going to take him to the spaceship. He was so sure the spaceship was going to be out in the water and all we had to do was jump in and they'd take us on board it. I couldn't make him see that it wasn't true!"
"I know, Chiquito. I know. But you don't need to worry anymore. He's a sick man and they're going to see to him, and you don't have to worry about him anymore at all." He leaned forward and kissed Ichigo's forehead.
"Are you going to stay with me?" Ichigo asked, eyes wide and pleading with him.
"Of course!" he said. "I'm not going anywhere."
Isshin came back in and stood at the foot of the bed. Ichigo guessed the doctor lady had left. He was feeling weird and he just wanted to snuggle up with Papi and go to sleep for a long time.
"The doctor says she wants to keep you until your lungs clear up, alright?" Isshin said with a smile. "She doesn't see any reason that it should be something to worry about, just some mild pneumonia from all that water you took in. Plus, your chest is pretty bruised from the compressions they had to perform."
"Okay. I don't want to stay very long. I want to go home with Papi." Ichigo's face turned into a pout immediately when saying it.
Ichigo wanted to go home. And he wanted to go home now. Even though he knew he had to stay in the hospital, he didn't have to like it at all. He turned to his Papi.
"Papi?" he asked. "Where are we going to live?"
He glanced back over at Isshin and back to Ichigo. "Ah, well, we'll have to work all that out. Ms. Harribel has been nice enough to let us stay in the cabin while everything was going on. All your stuff is still there."
"I've already called my hospital and started a transfer here to Las Noches. I'm going in the next couple days to look at a house or two in this area. The girls are going to move into the dorms at the school for now, until I get everything moved and settled. I'm getting a big enough house that if you want to stay with me anytime, you can," Isshin said.
Ichigo nodded. "Okay, but I'm gonna live with Papi."
Isshin smiled at him. "Yeah, we're going to figure out someplace for you and Nnoitra to live together since that's what you want. I'll look at a couple places and see if we can't find something suitable for you two."
Ichigo grinned and snuggled down into the blankets but had his Papi's hand clutched to his chest. "I'm tired now, I want to sleep. I want Kon, though," he said, frowning. "Can someone get him for me?"
"That's the stuffed lion, right?" Isshin said with a small smile.
"Uh huh," Ichigo said sleepily.
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Isshin came back to the cabin and fell into the recliner. He was so grateful that Harribel had been generous enough to allow them to use the cabin as long as they had been. It was definitely one less thing he had to worry about right away. He had almost fallen asleep when he felt someone put a hand on his shoulder. He looked to see it was Kisuke.
"Oh, hey, why are you here?" Isshin asked him.
"I wanted to check in, and no one was in, so I picked up a little in the kitchen. Did you go see Ichigo?" he asked, not moving his hand from Isshin's shoulder.
"Yeah, Nnoitra's staying with him, of course. He wouldn't let him leave. It'll be a miracle if he lets the man go to the cafeteria at all. I think the whole thing is going to set him back, though. He's talking in that, what was it, 'little' voice again, even around the doctor and the nurses," Isshin said with a sigh.
Kisuke stood behind the recliner and started massaging Isshin's shoulders. "It's okay, we'll deal with whatever comes up."
Isshin thought about it. He put a hand on Kisuke's and squeezed. "We, huh?"
Kisuke paused and took a breath. "Um, I meant, I'm sure you'll be able to deal with it," he said, stepping away from the chair.
Isshin turned around and looked at him. He frowned. "Kisuke? Why are you staying around? You don't have to."
"I know," he said, and Isshin swore the man was blushing a little bit. "I just want to help out with Ichigo, that's all. I feel a little responsible since I was the first doctor he'd ever seen. Even though I'm not technically one anymore."
"You still have your license, don't you?" Isshin asked.
"Well, yeah, I keep that up and I do the training when they come up, just to keep up with everything new in the medical field and so I can teach the nursing students," he said, picking up his hat to scratch the top of his head for a minute.
"So, you're still a doctor. Just because you don't work in the ER anymore doesn't make you less of a doctor. And I appreciate what you did for Ichigo," he said with a small smile.
Kisuke nodded. "I may also like hanging around you all."
Isshin narrowed his eyes. "Us all?" he asked.
"Um, yeah," Kisuke said and Isshin swore he was blushing again.
There was a long silence between them, then Isshin stood up and walked around the recliner to stand in front of Kisuke. "Is that the truth?"
Kisuke looked up at him, eyes a little wide, but still trying to hide under the brim of his hat. "I don't know what you mean."
"I think you do, Dr. Kisuke Urahara," Isshin said and reached out to take the other man's hand.
He looked up and met Isshin's eyes. He squeezed his hand in return. "It's ridiculous, at my age."
"Our age," Isshin reminded him. "We did go to school together."
"I just, with everything that's happened, I think it's just stress and should be addressed as such. The high state of emotions that everyone has been in for the last couple months have made things a little fuzzy," Kisuke said slowly, but he didn't let go of Isshin's hand.
"If that's all it is, why are you still here?" Isshin asked.
Kisuke was quiet for a moment. "I don't know," he admitted.
"Is it because seeing Ichigo and Nnoitra together reminds you of something you haven't had in a long time?" Isshin wondered, pulling on Kisuke to get him to step closer to him.
"B-but it's ridiculous, at my age, to have these thoughts," he said quietly, looking down at his hand where Isshin held it still.
"I don't think it's ridiculous at all. The heart goes where it wants to go, you know," Isshin said. "I learned that with my Masaki. Sometimes, the heart goes places you don't expect and then you have to deal with it." Isshin smiled and reached out with his other hand to tip Kisuke's face up.
"What does this mean?" Kisuke asked, searching Isshin's eyes.
Isshin smiled at him. "I don't know yet. But why don't we find out together."
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
Uryū was nervous about going to see Ichigo in the hospital. He felt like lately he'd been avoiding him more often than not. The truth was that he was feeling guilty still about his inability to do something before Ichigo had been hurt by Ryūken. He was glad he was locked up, and he was glad that he didn't have to worry about him coming to try and find him. He was on his own, though, and that was kind of scary at the same time.
"You should go in," came the deep voice behind him. He turned and looked at Chad who had brought him to the hospital.
"Yeah," he said, clutching the stuffed lion he was holding to his chest. Uncle Isshin had given it to him to bring to Ichigo this evening because he wasn't coming back until tomorrow.
Uryū leaned forward and knocked on the door before he opened it to go in. He saw that Nnoitra was sitting in the lone chair in the room, dozing off, it seemed, but he was blinking as he sat up.
"Uryū," Nnoitra said and smiled. "You brought Kon. He'll be happy."
Uryū nodded and walked up to the bed. It looked like Ichigo was sleeping, though. He looked alright for the most part. He had a swollen lip and there was some bruising on his cheekbone on one side. He had an IV with fluids going on it, and what looked like antibiotics. His breathing was a little wheezy, but mostly okay. Not terribly bad after he'd nearly drowned.
"He'll want to see you," Nnoitra said as Uryū moved to sit the lion down on the table.
"Oh, don't wake him up…" he said as Nnoitra shook his shoulder gently.
"Chiquito, wake up for a minute. Uryū is here," he said.
"Uryū?" he said, looking around until he saw him. "Uryū!"
Smiling, Uryū nodded. "Yeah, I brought you this, too," he said and handed him the lion.
"Kon!" he exclaimed and hugged it to him. "I missed him; thank you, Uryū!"
"It was no big deal. I just brought him with me. How are you feeling?" Uryū asked.
Ichigo frowned and rubbed his chest. "My chest hurts still. The doctor said it was 'cause they did chest compressions."
Uryū noted the way he was talking and wondered if it had something to do with what he'd just gone through. He cleared his throat. "Ah, I've been staying at the dorm with my friends. You'll have to meet them sometime soon. I think you'd like Renji and his girlfriend Rukia."
"That's nice. Maybe after Papi and me get our new place and move in we can throw a big party and invite lots of people over." He paused and smiled. "I think that will be nice."
"Oh, you and Nnoitra are going to get a place together?" he asked, looking over at Nnoitra.
"Yup. My father is looking at places for us this week. I hope I'm going to be out of here soon. I don't like it in here very much," Ichigo told him. "Oh, hi Chad."
"Hi, Ichigo," Chad said, giving him a smile.
"I'm glad you're able to help Uryū," Ichigo said, hugging the stuffed lion against his chest even tighter. "Everyone needs someone to help them," he said and looked up at Uryū again.
"Um, Ichigo, did you ever find out what that guy wanted you for?" Uryū hadn't really heard all the details yet. He just knew that the guy had been insane and thought Ichigo was some sort of star child.
Ichigo sighed. "He thought I could take him to these aliens he said talked to him in his head. He said he had a receiver implanted in his head, and he could hear them clearly, and I looked like the aliens because of my hair being bright like it is. He thought I was half alien or something, and he was completely convinced that the aliens were waiting out at the end of that pier. Nothing I said could change his mind."
"Wow, that's terrible. He hurt you, though." Uryū reached out and touched his face.
Ichigo reached up and covered his bruised cheek with his hand. "Oh, yeah, he didn't like it when I called him crazy. That made him really mad. And he didn't like it when I tried to run off." He picked up his hands where the wrists were still red. "He had my hands tied behind me. I guess when I fell in the water, I got one of them loose, otherwise I don't think I would have been saved."
"That's good, at least. Maybe one of these days you can learn to swim—"
"Oh no, I'm not going in deep water ever again," Ichigo said and shook his head emphatically. "Never again."
"Now, Chiquito," Nnoitra said gently. "It's a good idea to know how to swim."
"But I don't wanna!" he said with a pout on his face.
Nnoitra arched his visible brow. "Well, we'll talk about that later."
Ichigo frowned and looked back at Uryū. "Have you seen Gin yet?"
"No, last I heard they were going to keep him let him out today. They just wanted to keep him overnight. I'm sure he'll come visit you soon," Uryū assured him. "His wife came to town. Apparently, she's some famous actress named Rachel Martin."
"I don't know many people on the movies," Ichigo said a little sadly. Then his face perked up. "But since I've been in here, I've been watching some TV shows that I liked. There are superhero TV shows! Did you know that?"
Uryū smiled. "Yeah, I did. I'm glad you like them. There's a bunch of super hero movies, too. When you get out, we'll have to sit down and watch them all together with a bunch of popcorn and sodas," he said.
Ichigo's face lit up a little. "I'd like that a lot. Papi can be there, too, right?"
"Of course. We'll all be together," Uryū promised.
"Even Chad has to be there!" Ichigo added and grinned at the taller man.
Uryū turned and looked at Chad and then looked back at Ichigo. He felt that his face was a little hot. "Oh, um, yeah, that's fine."
"Chiquito, mi mamá is coming to pick me up so I can sleep at home tonight," Nnoitra told him.
"Oh, no, you're going to leave?" he asked, looking at him with a wide-eyed look.
"Sí, I have to. Remember, I have to have the breathing machine on at night. I can't sleep here," he said with a sad look on his face. "I would love to, but I must be able to sleep. I'll have her bring me back in the morning first thing."
Ichigo frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "But I'll be alone all night."
"I could stay tonight," Uryū said with a smile. "I mean, if you would like me to."
"Would you, Uryū?" Ichigo asked.
"Yeah, I will," he said and reached out to pat him on the shoulder.
"Oi, that's my mom," Nnoitra said as his phone rang. "Yes, I'll be out. Okay." He put the phone back in his pocket and got up. He leaned over and put a kiss on Ichigo's forehead. "You be good for the nurses tonight, and listen to Uryū if he tells you to do something, alright?"
"Okay, Papi," Ichigo said a little sadly.
Nnoitra gestured at Uryū to come with him to the door. Uryū nodded and walked with him over toward the exit. "He's in little space still," Nnoitra told him.
"Little space?" Uryū asked.
"It's something we were doing while we were living in the cabin, where he got a chance to be little in a safe environment, with me. That's the whole thing with him calling me Papi. It's a type of D/s relationship, and normally he doesn't stay in his little space this long, but I think that with everything that's happened, he feels like it's safer."
Uryū nodded, sort of understanding. "So that's why he sounds so…um…childish?"
Nnoitra nodded. "Yeah, he may come out of it when I leave, but I'm not sure. I just wanted to tell you what it was so you don't say anything to hurt his feelings about it. He's wanted to keep it just between us, but it seems that this whole situation has changed it a bit."
"What should I do?" he asked, looking over where Ichigo was telling Chad something.
"Just treat him like normal. Just know he might be acting like this for a while," Nnoitra said. "Good night, Chiquito!" he called and waved.
"Night, Papi!" he responded and waved back.
"Good luck," Nnoitra said with a smirk as he left the room.
Uryū didn't mind it. He just got the chair and pulled it up close to the bed and sat there with his phone. Chad left and said he'd come back in the morning and pick up Uryū for so he could get to his classes at the school. Before long, Ichigo had fallen into a restless sleep, and Uryū was dozing off and on. The chair was decently comfortable, but it was no bed. He could understand why Nnoitra wouldn't get any rest in it. Finally, he managed to fall asleep after watching some late-night TV. The future was uncertain, but it was ahead of them.