I'M FREEE! No more glitter and convulsions and internet just at Library's computers! And we have two weeks of Easter holiday! *cries* I'M FREEEE! *cries more* I'm free! I'M FREE, PEOPLE, I'M FREE! I can't believe that I'm free... *smirks evilly* Oh, but I'll get my revenge... *whispers* I drew some nice Easter cards for my teachers... *winks*

Chapter 20: Life for sale

Everyone was waiting in the hall of the hospital, sitting down, leaning against the same wall, in this order, from left to right: Hikaru, Madoka, Yuu, Benkei, Kenta and Gingka. The hall where they were collapsing was quiet, dark, no nurses or doctors running madly. They were looking in nowhere, without looking one at each other, their faces expressionless. Hikaru's fist was bleeding, but she wasn't paying attention. Hikaru also had a dark red trail of coagulated blood on her left cheek while Yuu had a scratch on his right cheek. Benkei was nervously crunching some chocolate cookies.

"It happened, right?" Hikaru mumbled without moving her lips too much, still with that frozen gaze. Madoka nodded, without looking at her. "Yeah." she murmured in answer. She rested her head on Hikaru's shoulder.

"Do you know that feeling when it's like someone filled your stomach with cement?" Hikaru asked after a moment, still without moving her gaze. "Yeah." the others said at one time.

They didn't seem to be sad, or happy; they were just... there, looking at the opposite wall; their expressions faded away, like they didn't have even the smallest touch of feeling inside them. "You're such a bitch." Madoka murmured to Hikaru, but didn't look at her. Hikaru nodded her head in approval. "This is rude." she scolded. "...and completely true." she continued after a long sigh.

"Is it odd that I'm not pacing?" Madoka asked Hikaru, who shook her head. "Nah. If I could turn back the time I would make better mistakes. So nah." Hikaru muttered in answer.

"For how long are we here?" Hikaru asked after a moment. Madoka checked her cell phone. "Five hours." she answered.

"Nah... I can bet at least thirteen hours." Kenta contradicted.

"Definitely at least twenty-eight hours." Benkei continued.

"Nope. I think there are already thirty-seven hours." Gingka added afterwards.

"Nah, nah, you're all wrong... Fifty-two." Yuu gave a reply to everyone.

"Really? It feels like I spent my whole life here..." Hikaru added a last sentence. Madoka shook her head in disagreement.

"You are raving... Kyoya's surgery started at 10 p.m. and now it is 3 a.m.; five hours." she corrected everyone.

"Yeah... But that feeling never changes." Hikaru replied.

"When it's like someone filled your stomach with cement?" Kenta asked, making Hikaru nod at him. "Yeah, it never changes." she approved. "You're such a bitch, Hikaru." Kenta continued, making her tackle a sad smile. "I know. But... Do you think he'll survive? I mean... it was just a bullet in his shoulder and one in his hip. And he's... he. Oh God, the last thing I told him was that I don't want him anymore! He cannot die, right?"

"Yeah, maybe... You know. You were there when he was shot." Madoka approved anyway. "Who wants chocolate cookies? I'm not feeling well." Benkei murmured as he held the box of cookies to the others.

"No, thanks."

Hikaru suddenly stood up and sighed heavily, long. "Let's so something different! Let's go to the cafeteria and drink a coffee or something! The tension is too high here!" she yelled without any reason; Madoka and Yuu approved and stood up, too.

At hospital's cafeteria...

Hikaru pulled a coin inside the coffee machine, then pressed the button for tea. The machine poured tea in her plastic cup.

A few yards from there, Madoka and Yuu were sitting down at a table; Yuu was drinking orange juice, Madoka coffee, both nervous at hell. "I didn't know that this place is open at this hour." Madoka remarked, making Yuu nod his head in agreement.

30 minutes later

Hikaru finally came at Madoka's and Yuu's table. She had a bag with her which she put on the table and revealed from it:

Um... many things. Pizza, cookies, coffee, fruits, juice, etc... Things for eating, and some thing for not eating. Like magazines. Madoka and Yuu made some confused faces as Hikaru also revealed some game cards, Monopoly, Rummy and Scrabble.

1 hour later

They were playing Scrabble (this time the word means the game, not the term I use for that kind of intercourse between two people because this is a K+ rated story). Hikaru added a letter at her word. The word that formed was 'hook'. She took a slice of pizza and bit from it. Madoka wrote something down on a piece of paper and then added a letter to her word. The word she formed was 'evening'.

Yuu wasn't playing. He was solving a quiz or a Sudoku in a magazine. He was tapping his pencil on the table. "Give me a synonym for 'glamour'."

"Nasty, bad, dirty, desirable, sexy... Wild, noisy, mysterious, playful, exciting, tipsy, chocolate-licking... Naked." Hikaru answered Yuu's question, still looking down at her letters, but Madoka corrected her, bored:

"You took those from your personal life? Write fashionable."

Yuu nodded his head. After some moments, again: "What's a playboy?"

"A playboy is a man that doesn't work, just enjoys pleasure everyday, without responsibilities." Madoka explained him, but didn't look at him. Yuu wrote down Madoka's answer. "Something oral. It had to be with three letters." he continued.

They wanted to answer, but then they realized something. The girls looked confused at Yuu. "Yuu... What magazine is that?" Madoka asked doubtfully.

Yuu shrugged and peeked at the first page. The girls also took a look.

Madoka widened her eyes while Hikaru smacked her forehead and snatched the magazine from Yuu's hands. "I'm so stupid..."

30 minutes later

Gingka ran towards their table, a desperate expression on his face. He sat down on a chair with an unsure move. "They are trying..." he murmured.

"Listen..." Hikaru started directly, "I'm sorry, but I'm not ready to see him dying, okay? So, if there is a chance, then... you mustn't lose your hope. When mom died, I wasn't with her, and it... hurt me. But... now it's different. He told me something before he had been shot... He made me some confessions... And one of them was that he's sorry for you all. So-"

"BU-BU-BU-BULL!" Benkei broke their discussion.

He ran towards them. "He had a complication!" he shouted as he took a seat next to Yuu. The girls made some puzzled faces. "He left the OR?" Hikaru questioned in surprise, then threw Gingka an angry glare. "I wanted to tell you..." he apologized.

Hikaru sweat dropped. "What are they doing?" Madoka asked Benkei.

"I don't know... They seemed to be very nervous and hurried..."

She took a deep breath, her hand starting to shiver. "Okay, let's calm down... " she breathed as she stood up, trying to keep her balance.

"What are we going to do now? If this boys dies, then... it's not gonna be okay. Do you imagine his funeral? I mean... Do you really imagine him dead? I don't have a wild imagination like that..." Hikaru sighed while biting in a piece of pizza. "But... I guess we will burn him, right? We cannot... No, no, we will burn him and then we will spread his ash... Does he have any relatives?"

"Yep, I heard that he has an aunt who is heart surgeon here and a cousin who is intern." Yuu answered, making Hikaru breathe freely.

"Okay... That's good. But we will burn him, right? We have to burn him, right? We have to burn him, right? We will burn him and spread his ash, right? I don't wanna see him at his funeral..." She started to pant while talking. "We will burn him after he dies, right? Tell me that we will burn him!" she yelled as she started to cry.

"No one dies, Hikaru. A moment ago you were talking about hope and chances... Calm down..." Madoka tried to encourage her. "C'mon, let's go outside. You need to air your brain."

Hikaru inhaled fresh air, thanks to Madoka. Outside was raining, but they sat down on a bench in the yard of the hospital. "You better now?" Madoka asked her; Hikaru nodded vaguely.

Madoka started to stroke Hikaru's hair. "No one dies, honey, okay? He's gonna be okay..." she encouraged her, looking at her hair although. "He has a lot of reasons to stay with us... He has dreams... He has his Leone... He'll not give it up so easy... Oh stop worrying, honey..."

Hikaru looked at Madoka and nodded with a sad and tired smile. "Oh, honey, I know that you didn't want it to happen like this... He's gonna be fine..."

"It's my blame... He cannot die now, right? He's not gonna die, right?"

Madoka smiled tiredly at that. "No, he's not gonna die. I believe that he's not gonna die. We have to believe that he's going to be fine at all."

"Then why Benkei said that the doctors were hurried and worried?"

"Oh, probably just a hemorrhage or something... Probably the suture wasn't good enough and it probably started to bleed, it couldn't get worse than this. It's just a bullet in his shoulder and one in hip. And I am ninety-nine percent sure that a bullet in someone's hip cannot kill anyone."

Hikaru threw her a worried gaze. "Ninety-nine?"

*smiles discretely, playfully* What? That's why I kept telling you that you mustn't copy Kyoya's behavior so do not blame me!