At twelve forty-five in the afternoon, the lunch rush was seated in a restaurant or diner somewhere enjoying their lunch breaks leaving the bridge fairly empty. Devoid of people.
And free of witnesses.
-8-8-8-8-
"Good morning, Itachi!" Shizune greeted with bright smile. "It's still morning right? Or is it noon yet?" She checked her watch to make certain. "Eleven forty-five; oh good, it's still morning so good morning!"
Shizune's exuberance never failed to bring a smile to Itachi's face though he did not laugh along with her today. Itachi knew that the chemotherapy wasn't working and that if he had any hopes of making it another year, he needed a bone marrow transplant lest his leukemia consume him. Sasuke wasn't a donor and they had since consulted with the National Bone Marrow registry for a close match.
"How are you feeling this morning Itachi?" She asked, looking from the monitors beside his head and her clipboard whilst scribbling down a few notes. Shizune wasn't his regular nurse. In actuality, Shizune was his oncologist's assistant. Shizune's appearance always indicated that a visit from Tsunade herself wasn't far behind.
"Tired." Itachi laughed weakly. "Very, very, tired."
Shizune looked him in the eyes. Her bright smile morphed into a sympathetic frown. "I know, Itachi, I know. We're doing what we can to find you a suitable bone marrow donor which is what Tsunade is going to talk to you about in a few minutes or so—."
"Good morning, Itachi!" Tsunade roared as she turned the corner, her sharp heels clicking so loudly that they seemed to punctuate every syllable that escaped her mouth. "How are you doing this morning?" She asked, reaching out to receive his chart from Shizune.
"I'm exhausted." Itachi answered her.
"Unfortunately, that is to be expected. But that's nothing compared to when we obliterate your bone marrow for transplant."
"The transplant?" Itachi asked, perking up a little. "Does that mean…did you find a match?"
He looked to Tsunade who was still studying his charts and then to Shizune for an answer. It sounded like they had found a potential donor for him which was good news, right? If that were the case, Shizune would be beaming with excitement instead of casting her gaze to the floor.
Just when he was about to speak up, Tsunade lowed his chart and flipped her bangs out of her face with a flick of her chin. "Yes. We found a match."
"That's great!" Itachi exclaimed.
Shizune forced a smile. "It is!"
"But," Itachi started.
Tsunade sighed. "We've found someone who's bone marrow is a close match to yours but he needs to come in for testing before we can harvest any of the donor's marrow and prep you for the transplant."
"Okay…? Is there a catch or something, I don't understand." He attempted to articulate. They weren't telling him something. That much was apparent.
Shizune clasped her hands together and held them in front of her waist. "We can't proceed if we can't get into contact with the donor."
"I-I'm sorry. I still don't understand what you're saying. How long do I have before we need to do the transplant?"
"It's better we do it sooner than later to prevent the cancer from spreading…" Shizune replied.
"Okay. Who's the donor? Can you tell me their name?"
Shizune looked to Tsunade he looked down at her clipboard. "Kisame Hoshigaki. His name is on your list of approved visitors and I see you added him as one of your contacts should anything go wrong. Your chart also says that he agreed to have his bone marrow tested on Wednesday and proved to be a close enough candidate for transplant."
"We tried to call him as soon as we had the results of the testing but he won't pick up the phone." Shizune explained.
Kisame Hoshigaki. As soon as Tsunade spoke Kisame's name Itachi stopped listening to the rest. Kisame's bone marrow was a close enough match for transplantation. And if he didn't go through with the transplant soon… "What does he need to do if I get into contact with him?"
Tsunade held Itachi's chart against her sizeable bust – an unmistakable feature of hers – and said "We'll have to explain what he needs to do before the transplant can occur and prescribe some medications for him to take beforehand to ensure that everything goes smoothly. Do you think you can reach him? We've tried all morning and haven't heard anything back."
Itachi lowered his head and clutched the bedsheets. "He might be at work." He whispered. At least I hope he's at work.
"We're sorry to ask this of you but we've been trying all morning and we haven't heard anything back from the National Bone Marrow Registry yet so Kisame Hoshigaki is our best bet at the moment." Shizune reiterated.
"I'll call him." Itachi decided.
Shizune quickly nodded and looked to Tsunade who stared at him at length. "Very well." Tsunade permitted. "Shizune and I will excuse ourselves while you contact him to give you some privacy. When you reach him, ask him to visit the hospital as soon as he can so we can proceed with the transplantation procedure. Alright?"
"I will, thank you." Itachi answered and picked up the phone.
"Let's go, Shizune." Tsunade ordered and placed Itachi's chart at the foot of the bed.
"Coming!"
By the time the two had exited the room, Itachi already had the hospital phone pressed to his ear. Come on Kisame, please pick up. After every unanswered dial tone Tsunade's footsteps grew fainter and fainter until he could no longer hear them. "You have reached the voice mailbox of…" the answering machine recited in his ear.
"Kisame, it's me." He spoke into the receiver. "Call me back as soon as you have the chance; it's of utmost importance."
With a heavy sigh, he hung up the phone. How many times had Itachi asked Kisame to drive all the way up to the hospital to discuss something because it was of "utmost importance?" At any rate, it would be a few hours before he heard anything back from the man because Kisame never answered any of Itachi's calls the first time he called him. Half of the time it was because he was at work. In instances such as these, Itachi would call not knowing Kisame's work schedule and leave a message and would wait for him to call back at the end of his shift.
The other half of the time Kisame was afraid to answer due to the nature of Itachi's calls. Most often, Itachi would ask to meet here in the hospital to discuss the nature of an argument or altercation between him and his younger brother. In which case, Kisame would put off calling Itachi back in fear of Itachi evicting him from his apartment.
In every case, however, Kisame would always either return the call (albeit several hours later) or would make a personal appearance at the hospital later that day or the next day.
But Itachi didn't have time to wait for him to call back or make an appearance. He needed to talk to Kisame right now.
"We've tried all morning and haven't heard anything back." Tsunade told him.
He might have been at work then. But he should be back now, right? Itachi tried to rationalize. It depends when they tried to call. He could have just started his shift which means it'll be a few hours before I can expect a call back or he could be in the middle of a shift which means it'll only be an hour or more until he notices their calls…
...unless he took the graveyard shift at the convenience store last night. Itachi took a deep breath and closed his eyes to calm his racing heart. If that's the case, he could be asleep on the couch back home.
Opening his eyes, he picked up the phone and dialed Sasuke's number. But at 12:25pm his chances of reaching Sasuke were no better than his chances of reaching Kisame as it was lunch time and both his roommate and his brother worked in the food industry. Sasuke could be at the restaurant right now…
"Hello?" Sasuke hissed into the phone.
"Are you at work?" Itachi asked.
"No, I'm at home, why? What's wrong?" Sasuke asked him.
"Is Kisame there?"
Sasuke groaned. "He just left, why?"
Itachi's heart sank. "He just left? When?"
"Just now, why?"
This time it was Itachi who groaned into the phone as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"What's wrong? Is everything okay? Itachi? Itachi! Talk to me! Why do you need to know where he is—"
"Find him." Itachi commanded.
"What? Why?"
"Go. Find. Him. Right. Now."
"I don't know where he went! He literally just left so how am I—"
"Grab your keys and your wallet and go find him. Use the stairs if that's what it'll take for you to beat the elevator and look for him in the lobby. Go out onto the street and look for him. He doesn't own a car so he can't have made it very far."
"Itachi, slow down. Why do you need to know where he is? Can't you just call him?" Sasuke asked.
"Do you have your keys and your wallet yet because the hospital has tried to reach him all morning with no answer and I called him ten minutes ago and you're the last person to have seen him so you have the best chance of finding him."
"Yes, I have my wallet and keys, darn it! I just left the apartment a few seconds ago and I'm taking the elevator to the lobby because in case you've forgotten you live on the eleventh story!"
"You know what? I can deal without your sarcasm Sasuke, so for once would you shut up and do what I'm asking of you? Please." He said and rubbed his eyes.
"I'm going, I'm going! But I'm taking the elevator!"
"I don't care what you do so long as you find him."
"Alright! Alright! I'm going I'm going! But can you tell me why it's suddenly so important to find him? Did he steal something? Did he break a law or something? Why is it so important to find this guy, Ita—"
"Kisame's a match."
"Kisame's a what?"
"Kisame's bone marrow is a match."
"Are you…? Are you kidding me?"
"I'm dead serious which is why I need you to find him."
A quick skimming of this story's reviews tells me that Dragon77 wanted Kisame to be a match for Itachi (not the rest of you weren't hoping the same thing~) Originally I wasn't going to make Kisame a match but then I decided "ah what the hell?" Why not? And so now he is.
If they can find him that is~
Whelp! Until next time!
Sasori33-001