Homesick
Chapters Six
Nowaki watched as a luxury car rolled up to the Hospital's south entrance.
His nerves were on edge: his anxiety about Hiro-san compounded by this unexpected meeting of Hiroki's mother.
The lady Kamijou had been quite shocked to hear another voice on the line when she'd answered her phone with a warm greeting for her son. All her happy fluttering had stopped abruptly.
Nowaki had been surprised, given Hiro-san's rare descriptions of his mother as an excitable woman, to find her manner quickly shift to something far more businesslike. Her cultured voice was filled with concern as she'd asked for the specifics about her son's situation.
A driver popped out of the car, moved around quickly, and opened the door to the backseat and a middle aged woman in an elegant kimono emerged. Then the driver went round to the trunk and brought out a small wheeled suitcase which he brought around.
The woman nodded graciously.
"I'll call you if I need your services further."
"Of course, Kamijou-sama." The chauffeur offered a low bow before departing.
Nowaki studied Hiroki's mother as she watched the car take off. She was a stunning woman and he could immediately see so many physical echoes of Hiro-san in her.
He watched as she sighed and then drew herself up to face the unknown. Carrying herself regally she turned and began to move toward the hospital entrance.
As she scanned the surrounding people, searching for the height the voice on the phone had offered her as a means of identification, her eyes immediately alighted upon Nowaki.
Nowaki felt his anxiety increase and rubbed the back of his head nervously.
Meeting Hiro-san's parents was something he'd fantasized about occasionally, but this particular scenario was not like anything he'd ever imagined.
He was acutely aware that he must have looked more than a bit disheveled, wearing his slept in tee-shirt and sweats. Nowaki realized suddenly he should have at least ducked into the men's room to check his surely sleep-rumpled hair, but in his concern about Hiro-san all that had seemed so inconsequential.
Pretending none of this mattered; he stepped forward to greet the Lady Kamijou.
"Kamijou-san," he greeted with a bow.
The woman returned the gesture and if she found his appearance rough, she didn't show it.
"Kusama-san, I presume." Despite her clam demeanor her eyes were anxious. "I got here as soon as I could. Where is my son? Can you take me to him?"
"Ah, he's still in surgery, Kamijou-san," Nowaki offered sadly. "But we can wait in the waiting room and someone will come tell us how things went as soon as they're done."
"Please tell me again exactly what happened," Hiroki's mother entreated.
"I'm afraid I missed some details in your call: I was so shocked." Kamijou-san admitted this blushing slightly.
If the situation hadn't been so dire, Nowaki would have reveled in seeing this bit of his lover's own meticulous nature (as well as the blush) reflected in Hiroki's mother.
After Nowaki repeated the story, the lady Kamijou cocked her head slightly as she studied the young man before her.
"You sound so professional when you tell it, Kusama-san."
"I'm a medical student, Kamijou-san. In fact, I just started my residency here," Nowaki offered.
This bit of information brought a slight look of relief to the lady Kamijou's worried eyes. Then this light shifted into something more curious.
"And you said you're Hiroki's flat mate?" Kamijou-san asked. "He never mentioned living with someone to me."
"Well, we have only been living together for a month or so." Nowaki hoped that his voice didn't reveal his sudden nervousness.
Kamijou-san looked as though she had something else she wanted to ask, but then her expression shifted and instead she bowed to Nowaki again.
"I must thank you, Kusama-san, for looking after my son. Who knows what might have happened if you hadn't gone looking for him."
This very thought had been haunting Nowaki ever since he'd learned Hiroki's diagnosis:
What if I hadn't found Hiro-san, or if I hadn't been home and answered the phone, or if Miyagi hadn't bothered to call?
"I'm just sorry I didn't realize how badly he was feeling this morning. I would have made him come in earlier."
The lady Kamijou looked at Nowaki kindly. "Kusama-san, please don't blame yourself. If I know my son, he was probably far from forthcoming about his distress. Hiroki can be very stubborn."
Nowaki couldn't help but find his lips curling just slightly at this maternal observation. This smile fled immediately however, when he heard a familiar voice call, "Mama Kamijou!"
Looking down the walk Nowaki saw an elegant silver-haired figure approaching.
"Aki-kun!" Hiroki's mother cried.
The mask of composure she'd been wearing fell away at the sight of Akihiko. She rushed over to him and Nowaki watched the author bow.
"Why didn't you call me and tell me what happened?" The tears of worry Kamijou-san had been restraining suddenly filled her eyes.
Akihiko's lavender gaze glanced uncomfortably over at Nowaki.
"I'm sorry, Mama Kamijou, but Kusama-san only recently called me, so I actually just learned about this myself.
"I came down as soon as I heard what happened."
"So you know Hiroki's housemate too?" Kamijou-san sniffed delicately, tears abating, as she pinned Akihiko under her sharp mother's eyes.
"Why is it everyone else knows what's going on in my son's life better than I do?"
Akihiko's brows rose slightly at the mention of the word "housemate."
He'd known that Nowaki and his friend had been going out for some time, but somehow he'd gotten the impression from Hiroki (though Hiroki never said so directly) that they'd broken up quite a while ago.
Given this, he had been surprised when he answered his cell with a harassing salutation earlier, expecting Hiroki, only to find his friend's long-absent lover on the line.
Now at this new information, Akihiko found himself feeling annoyed with Hiroki, despite his concern for his friend's well-being. He had met with him to go over a manuscript just last week and Hiroki had said nothing about such a significant development.
Trying to avoid a potentially awkward moment, Nowaki coughed lightly drawing the lady's attention.
"Umm… Kamijou-san, perhaps you'd like to go to the waiting room? I'm not sure how much longer your son will be in surgery."
"Excellent idea," Akihiko agreed grateful for the diversion.
He stepped up next to Hiroki's mother's side and began ushering her towards the entrance.
"Would you mind showing us the way, Kusama-san?" Akihiko asked politely, only the barest trace of tightness discernible in his voice.
"Of course. This way please." As Nowaki turned toward the entry to lead the other two the waiting area, he suddenly realized that in the six years he'd spent with Hiro-san, having seen Akihiko multiple times, this was the first occasion where the man had ever addressed him directly.
"Here you are, Kamijou-san."
Nowaki held out a hot cup of tea to Hiroki's worried mother.
They had been sitting in the surgery's waiting room for over two hours. "Are you sure you didn't want something, Usami-san?"
Akihiko just shook his head. "No thank you, Kusama-san," he murmured.
Noting Akihiko's hand-tailored clothes Nowaki felt even shabbier than he had earlier.
Nowaki sighed at this realization as he took his seat back across from Hiroki's mother.
Akihiko was sitting beside her and the two had been conversing softly. Nowaki's cool blue eyes studied the author as Akihiko caught up with Kamijou-san on all the neighborhood news.
It was hard in a situation like this for Nowaki not to compare himself with Akihiko once more, though he knew that doing so would only cause him to feel even worse than he already did.
He felt a sharp pang at the two's familiarity and wondered again, not for the first time, if he would ever feel like he was on the inside of Hiro-san's world.
"And where are you planning to stay, Mama Kamijou?" Akihiko watched the woman take a small sip of her tea.
"Well, I thought I would just stay with Hiroki here, if they let me."
"I'm sorry to intrude into your conversation, Kamijou-san," Nowaki interjected, "but given the situation, my guess is that he'll be in ICU for a few days.
"If that's the case, they won't let you stay there overnight with him, I'm afraid."
Hiroki's mother frowned at this information. She turned slowly towards Akihiko.
"Aki-kun, I'm so sorry to impose, but do you think… possibly…?" she ventured cautiously.
Nowaki watched with shock as the great Lord Usami suddenly blushed at Kamijou-san's tentative inquiry.
"Erm… I am so sorry, Mama Kamijou," Akihiko stammered.
"Previously I would have been delighted to host you… but uh… I have a lodger living with me now, so I don't have a guest room anymore." Akihiko looked quite uncomfortable disclosing this.
"Eh?" What's this, Aki?" The lady Kamijou's brows rose at this information.
"Since when did you take a tenant? Are you really struggling so much that you need a renter?"
"No, Mama Kamijou," Akihiko replied seeming to have regained some of his composure.
"You remember Takahashi Takahiro." Seeing the woman nod, Akihiko continued.
"Well, you see, it's his brother.
"Takahashi-san got transferred for work and his younger brother was enrolled here at 'M' University, so I offered to take him in so that he could continue with his school."
"That's admirable, Aki-kun, but doesn't seem like you at all," Kamijou-san sniffed.
She cast an eye at Nowaki who had been watching the exchange with undisguised curiosity.
"What is it with you and Hiroki, getting housemates at your age?" Kamijou-san asked pointedly, turning her eyes back to Akihiko.
"Honestly, Aki-kun, I never figured either of you as the type to share your space, unless of course it was with each other.
"You always were such great friends."
"Ummm, Kamijou-san, please excuse me..." Nowaki jumped in, wanting to distract from the continuation of this particular topic.
"You know you're welcome to stay at our apartment. I'm sure your son would want that," Nowaki offered helpfully.
"Hmphhh, don't be so sure, Kusama-san," the lady Kamijou snorted. Then she added kindly, "Thank you so much for your offer but are you sure I wouldn't be intruding?"
"Of course not, Kamijou-san. You can sleep in your son's room.
"Besides, I am normally here most of the night, so most likely I won't even be there."
Even as he said this however, Nowaki was casting his mind around trying to remember if there was anything he or Hiro-san had left out that might be incriminating.
Hiroki's mother considered this for a moment and then gave Nowaki a slight nod.
"Yes thank you then, Kusama-san. You know I have never even seen Hiroki's new apartment... For that matter, I don't think I have been to visit him since after he got settled into his first apartment."
Kamijou-san had just finished saying this when a doctor emerged through the surgery's double doors into the waiting room.
"Kusama?" He called out quietly.
"Here," Nowaki answered.
The man stepped over. "Ah yes, I am Dr. Ida, I performed the surgery on Kamijou-san. You're his…?"
"Housemate," Nowaki offered.
"And I'm his mother." Kamijou-san rose to meet Ida. "Please tell me how is he?"
The doctor's eyes were kind, but his expression was serious. "He's waking up from the surgery now. We're going to be keeping him in the ICU to monitor him for the next forty-eight hours at least… um…"
"Kamijou also," Hiroki's mother offered.
"Well Kamijou-san, normally an appendectomy is a relatively simple surgery, but your son's had burst and looking at his internal conditions, things are still very serious.
"The rupture has caused peritonitis. I irrigated his abdomen as thoroughly as I could but we won't know for a bit how successfully.
"Things were so septic, he may abscess later. We just don't know how things will be yet.
"He's currently in critical condition and we're going to need to monitor him closely.
"Honestly how he was even conscious, let alone functional as long as he was seems a miracle to me.
"Given how things looked when we opened him up he had to have been feeling like he'd committed seppuku."
"Oh Hiroki, so stubborn," Kamijou-san sighed. She looked at the doctor her dark eyes huge. "He will be okay though… won't he?"
"As I said, we'll have to watch him closely for a while. I am hopeful, but even so, Kamijou-san, your son is going to be feeling very poorly for some time. I'm sorry I can't be more positive."
"May I see him?"
"If you'll come with me, I'll have a nurse take you back."
Akihiko rose from his seat and acted as though he might follow. "Are you family too?" Ida asked.
"A friend.".
"So, sorry, but only immediate family is allowed in the ICU," Dr. Ida explained.
Akihiko looked at Kamijou-san. "I'll wait for you here then, I promise."
Hiroki's mother's lips were pressed into a tight line and she nodded.
She handed the handle of her small suitcase over to Akihiko. "Thank you, Aki-kun."
She looked at Nowaki; her eyes glistened with unshed tears that had formed at the doctor's words.
"Kusama-san, thank you so much for getting my son here."
Nowaki just offered a wan smile and bowed. He and Akihiko both watched Hiroki's mother leave with the surgeon.
As soon as Dr. Ida was gone, Akihiko cleared his throat, drawing Nowaki's attention.
The two men just stood there regarding each other silently for several minutes.
"Why did you call me, Kusama-san?" Akihiko asked curiously now that the lady Kamijou was gone.
He knew that he was far from Nowaki's favorite person. He'd avoided having any contact with the man ever since their initial meeting, when Nowaki had met him in the doorway of Hiroki's old apartment and claimed his best friend.
Nowaki frowned as he considered the question.
"Well," he nodded at the clock on the wall. "I wasn't sure how long Hiro-san would be in surgery and I have to start my next shift here now in thirty minutes."
The intern paused a moment before continuing.
"When I called Kamijou-san earlier and she said she was coming, I figured she would need someone to wait with her.
"I didn't want her here by herself during such a difficult time and she knows you after all. Besides, you're Hiro-san's friend."
Akihiko remained silent contemplating Nowaki's words. His cool eyes traveled over Nowaki appraisingly.
"You're a bigger man than I am, Kusama-san," Akihiko said softly. "I doubt I would have called you at all if the situation was reversed."
Nowaki tilted his head slightly at Akihiko's words.
"I know that."
He solemnly handed Akihiko the keys to Hiroki and his apartment. He'd pulled them from Hiroki's coat pocket earlier.
Any previous insecurities Nowaki had been feeling were vanquished by these words.
"Please get Kamijou-san home safely. Okay? I have to go to work."
With that Nowaki turned and headed off towards pediatrics leaving a stunned Akihiko standing in the waiting room.
This more reserved lady Kamijou is a favor to my dear "X." I hope you all like this incarnation of Hiroki's mother as much as I enjoy writing her.
Thanks to Owolove and Glace Aquarii for the follows/favorites.
"X"- wonderful to hear from you, sweetheart. And thank you for that "Minimum Damage" review for Don't Preach.
Hiyokocchi- Angst will be being served post haste. And thank you for your comments on my tendency for internal dynamics!