Disclaimer: I do not own digimon or am associated with anyone who is.
I realized this has grown to almost a short story length and I'm nowhere near done. I hope everyone continues to enjoy reading as much as I'm enjoying writing. Your feedback is very encouraging too! So, thank you!
The smell of antiseptic was strong and the beeping of a heart monitor nearby rang loudly in T.K.'s ears as he began coming to. He opened his eyes slightly to a bright white ceiling. His head pounded and he closed his eyes again, hearing Matt's voice yelling from a distance.
"—How did this happen?" Matt's muffled voice came into clarity.
T.K. turned his head, squinting toward the door, seeing Davis sitting in a chair next to where he lay, staring worriedly at the door. A moaned escaped his lips as he tried to shift his stiff body. "Mmm…"
Davis turned at the sound and looked at him with concern. "Hey man. How you feeling?"
T.K. opened his eyes a little wider, his vision focusing a bit as he looked up at Davis. "What happened?" he started to lift his left hand up to his head, realizing then it was painful to move his shoulder and his movement was being restricted by a sling.
"One of the guys from the other team was trying to stop you from shooting the ball and slammed right into you, Amura I think was his name. You hit the floor pretty hard." Davis watched worriedly as T.K. cringed and lifted his right hand up to his head instead. "The doctor just left. You dislocated your shoulder and got a nasty cut on your head. They were waiting for you to come to, to see if you had any signs of a concussion."
"Where are we?" T.K. finally asked, trying to look around.
"The local hospital." Davis informed him.
"Great." T.K. felt a large bandage on the side of his head, just below his hairline by his temple. "What happened after I blacked out?"
"Nothing really." Davis shot an angry look at the floor. "I think he did it on purpose. The look of rage on that kids face wasn't about the game. And judging from the reaction his teammates had, it wasn't the first time."
T.K. almost laughed. "It's probably because I stopped him from harassing Kari before the game."
Davis' eyes widened. "He was doing what?" his voice raised unintentionally.
T.K. pushed himself up, fighting the urge to wince. "I took care of it. He didn't do anything to her."
Davis clenched his teeth. "That bast—"
"Hey," T.K. smiled uncomfortably. "Don't get all riled up, it's over."
Davis crossed his arms angrily, letting out a deep breath. "You're too calm about these things."
T.K. watched Davis' expression closely. "How long have I been out?"
"About two hours." Davis glanced up at the clock on the wall before continuing. "It's almost 11."
T.K. was about to ask Davis another question when he heard a loud slam from the hallway. "No. I will not be calm!" Matt yelled from the other side of the door.
Davis eyed him carefully as he shifted toward the edge of the bed. "Dude, you probably shouldn't…" before Davis could do anything, T.K. took the heart monitor off his finger and painfully reaching his left hand over to rip the IV out of his right arm, before slipping off the bed and walking toward the door. "T.K.!"
T.K. ignored him and pulled the door open, Matt, his teacher and the coach were all standing outside the door, each looking at T.K. with surprise as he gave Matt a glare. "Enough. Let's go home."
Matt walked over to T.K., ignoring the adults. "Are you alright?"
"I will be." T.K. glanced at his arm. "I just want to go home."
T.K.'s teacher looked worriedly at her student. "I'll call the doctor back."
He forced a light grin on his face. "I'm fine…" She had disappeared down the hall in an instant.
His coach looked apologetically. "I'm going to have a long talk with Azuba High's principle tomorrow. This will be taken care of appropriately."
T.K. nodded and thanked his coach. Looking to Matt he asked lightly. "Can we give Davis a ride home too? It's late."
Matt looked T.K. over, like he was waiting for him to collapse in front of them. "You should get back in bed T.K." he spoke lightly, worried at how pale T.K.'s complexion had become.
"I'm fine."
"T.K., I'm your legal guardian until you turn 18, I'll decide—"
"Can we not do this in front of everyone, please?" T.K. sent Matt another glare.
Matt's voice rose with frustration. "T.K. we're not going anywhere until the doctor releases you."
#
Davis rode in the backseat of the car silently as Matt and T.K. argued in front.
"Why didn't you tell me you had a game tonight?" Matt snapped.
T.K. rolled his eyes. "Until earlier today I thought I was going to be on the bench all night. Plus, you were obviously busy, you weren't even home all afternoon."
"I was out with some friends; it wasn't anything important. I could have been there. If I had of been, when it happened—"
"What? What difference would it have made?"
"Well for starters that punk wouldn't have walked away without any consequences." Matt hissed.
T.K. rolled his eyes again. "It was a game. They're from a prestigious all boys high school, that probably has lawyers up their—"
"What if he'd broken your arm or—"
"I'm fine!"
Matt pulled up to Davis' apartment complex, taking a deep breath he turned back to Davis and gave him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. Thanks for calling me."
Davis frowned at Matt, looking at T.K.'s profile as he stared blankly out his window. A look of understanding crossing his expression. "If it makes you feel any better T.K., you scored the last points and our school won." He pushed his door open and slipped out into the brisk night air.
Matt inhaled deeply and leaned back in his seat, staring at the ceiling of his car for a few minutes. T.K. could hear the desperation in Matt's voice as he spoke softly. "First I didn't know where you were again. Again. And then I get this panicked phone call from Davis telling me you got hurt and he didn't know how bad."
T.K. looked up at his brother, his frown softening. "Matt…"
"First I get to the school and no one will tell me what's going on, then I find out they took you to the hospital and when I get there your unconscious, covered in blood and bandages." Matt's voice broke. "I didn't know what had happened or why you were even at school that late. It made me look like a fool in front of everyone. Davis had to fill me in on everything."
T.K. shifted in his seat, careful not to move his arm. "Can we go home?"
Matt looked at T.K. with a hurt expression, inhaling shakily he turned the engine back on and made his way back to their apartment in silence.
After they were upstairs in their tiny apartment T.K. walked straight to the bathroom. Flicking the light on he locked the door behind him and leaned against it. Glancing to the side he saw there was still blood staining his blonde hair near the cut on his head. He wanted the headache to subside before he went back out, knowing Matt was going to ambush him before he could retreat to his room.
Finally calmed down T.K. opened the door, seeing Matt sitting on the couch, his face buried in his hands. A feeling of guilt built in his chest. "I'm not used to having someone around me, looking after me all the time."
Matt looked up T.K., his concerned expression now showing confusion. "T.K.?"
"Ever since I can really remember I've always been left alone. I was the one checking my grades, I was the one making sure I had something to eat. I was the one making sure mom knew I was alright." T.K. felt a twinge of guilt at those words—he wasn't mad at his mom, but it was the truth regardless.
"T.K., I…" Matt didn't know how to respond.
T.K. continued. "Especially in the last year. Mom's work has been so consuming and tiring I basically lived on my own in Hokkaido. So when you're doing your big brother thing, asking me how my day went, asking me why I'm upset, thinking I need someone to talk to. It's overwhelming and I don't know how to handle it. And then when I start to rely on you, I realize why I never tried to rely on mom. I didn't want to be a burden. I didn't want to keep her from doing the things she needed to do to live her life, and it's the same with you." T.K. took in a deep breath, staring at Matt with a desperate look on his face.
Matt just stared at T.K. for a few minutes in silence, finally stood he walked around the couch and stopped in front of his brother. "Don't ever think you're a burden to me T.K."
T.K. felt tears sting at his eyes and he turned to look at the floor. "I…" his voice caught.
"I'm sorry." Matt spoke softly. "I'm sorry I haven't considered how different this is for you, all I've been thinking about is how different it is for me."
T.K. shook his head. "That's not what I meant…"
Matt put his hand on T.K.'s right shoulder. "I've been trying to be more like your parent than your brother, and I'm sorry."
T.K. shifted away, but Matt's hand gripped his shoulder tightly. "Matt, what I'm trying to get at is, I don't need you." He didn't want to hurt Matt, but he knew those words would push him away.
Matt's eyes widened at T.K.'s words, his hand falling from his brother's shoulder. "That's…" his voice trailed off.
"I got this. I've gotten pretty good at taking care of myself over the years." He tried to smile, but the hurt look on Matt's face made it hard.
"Right." Matt closed his eyes.
"Anyway, don't worry about me anymore. I'll—"
"You honestly think I'll stop worrying about you, just like that?" Matt's voice rose.
T.K. was at a loss for words.
Matt shook his head. "You can tell me not to worry and that you don't need me, but damn it T.K., you're one of the most important people in my life and I'll never stop worrying about you. I get it, you don't want to be a burden. But I'm not going anywhere and I'm not going to stop worrying about you, not now, not when you're eighteen, not when you're eighty!"
T.K. stared at Matt, the tears that stung his eyes earlier starting to fall down his cheeks. He turned his face and made to walk toward his bedroom but Matt grabbed him and pulled him into a hug, he winced but tried to hide it. "Damn it T.K., stop trying to push me away."
"Matt…" T.K. inhaled deeply, his voice shook.
"I'm here, T.K., whether you need me or not." Matt released T.K. who stepped back, his eyes on the floor. "And I'm sorry I'm over bearing sometimes, I'll try and tone it down a bit."
T.K. inhaled deeply, closing his eyes. "Mmm." He nodded.
#
T.K. felt exhausted and stressed—the game, the accident, the things he'd said to Kari, Wisemon's cryptic words—none of it would let him sleep once he laid down on his bed. He couldn't get comfortable either, his shoulder ached terribly, the medication they'd put him on had worn off hours ago and he couldn't fill the prescription he was given until morning.
He couldn't move without it hurting, but not moving hurt as well—and his head throbbed, which almost dulled the pain in his shoulder from time to time through the night. But he wouldn't tell Matt. Despite their conversation and Matt's determination, T.K. refused to give Matt any more to deal with. He was in for a long recovery—he had dislocated the same shoulder three years prior, on a school retreat. It had been seven weeks before he could play basketball again then, there was no telling how long it would take for his reinjured shoulder to heal now.
Finally, despite the building anxiety and stress T.K. felt himself drifting to sleep—the exhaustion finally overwhelming his never stopping brain.
#
T.K. woke with a start, shoving himself upwards, which made him yell out in pain as he had tried to move his left arm in doing so. He panted and fought back pained tears, taking in deep slow breaths he gripped his bedding with his right hand tightly, trying to stop the shaking—the nightmare was back.
He regained awareness and inhaled shakily, laying back down in a sweaty heap. He had grown a lot over the years and had come to terms with his guilt and fear of Devimon and the events of that fateful day he lost Patamon because of his own weakness. And while he no longer let it plague his daily life, whenever he was extremely stressed they would come back, some more vivid than others, some varying from exact memory to distorted fears. This dream was one of the worst he'd had in almost a year.
He swallowed hard and found himself parched. His head still ached, but now he wasn't sure if it was because of the dream or what had happened the night before. He was sick to his stomach regardless—closing his eyes tightly he tried to even his breathing to calm his nerves, but after a few seconds he knew he couldn't fight it any longer. Heaving himself over the side of his bed, ignoring the pain in his shoulder, he threw up on his floor.
Pushing himself upright weakly he looked up to see Matt swing his door open in a panic. "T.K.!" he eyed his brother and grimaced at the sick on the floor. "What happened?"
T.K. wiped his mouth and shook his head. "It isn't what you think." He managed between shaking breaths.
"I'm calling Joe." Matt turned before T.K. could argue.
"I had a nightmare." T.K. yelled, though his yelling wasn't very loud.
Matt walked back to his doorway, his phone in his hand, ready to press the call button on Joe's name. "Nightmare?"
T.K. looked at the clock, it read 4:38 am. "I used to have them a lot. Particularly when I was really stressed."
Matt lowered his phone. "What nightmares?"
T.K. winced as he tried to shift his weight back onto the bed, rather than leaning over it. "Devimon."
Matt's eyes darkened and shifted to the floor. "After all these years, it still affects you that badly?"
T.K. thought maybe he shrugged, he couldn't tell through the wincing as he looked up into Matt's eyes. "I don't think I'll ever completely get over what happened. Even if I can logically look back on it and tell myself there was nothing I could have done differently at that time with the experiences I had leading up to that day, I will always feel guilty for what happened."
Matt stared at his brother somberly. "T.K.…"
#
T.K. hadn't realized he'd fallen back asleep until the sunshine beamed in through his window, making him squint and moan. On his nightstand he saw a bottle of water and white paper bag with a note attached. –"I went down to the pharmacy when it opened and got your medication. Take it when you get up, it will help. I had plans I couldn't cancel this afternoon; I'll be back before dinner. Try and eat something. –Matt"
T.K. stared blindly at the bag, not sure he wanted to risk moving. Suddenly his phone rang from his backpack by the door. He grimaced, realizing Davis must have gotten his stuff for him before they left the school and given it to Matt. Inhaling deeply, preparing for the pain he fought back a moan as he pushed himself up and got out of bed. Stopping by his doorway he gripped the wall with his right hand to steady himself, feeling lightheaded and dizzy. Reaching down he knelt over his pack and found his phone where he'd left it before running out to save Kari.
Pulling it out he saw Ken's name on the screen. "Hey." He was surprised by how weak his voice was.
"What happened?" Ken's panicked voice hissed over the phone.
"Davis call you?" T.K. asked, his voice a little stronger this time as he pressed his phone to his right shoulder and used his free hand to pull himself back up slowly.
"Yeah, a little while ago. He didn't really go into a lot of detail. You were in the hospital?"
T.K. made his way back to his bed and sat on the edge, grabbing the paper bag with his prescribed pain killers. "I dislocated my shoulder and I hit my head pretty hard."
"Are you alright?" the concern in Ken's voice was evident.
"I'll be fine." He sighed, trying to figure out how to open the bottle of pills with one hand.
"Are you up for company?" Ken asked lightly.
T.K. moaned. "No." Finally managing to pop the lid off T.K. took two of the large white pills and popped them in his mouth, ignoring Ken he set the phone in his lap while he took a drink of water.
"—did the doctor say?" Ken's voice faded back as he lifted the phone to his ear.
"Say what again?" T.K. asked and he laid back down on his bed, trying not to let the moan of pain escape his lips as he did so.
"How long it'll take to heal?" He asked again.
T.K. hesitated. "I don't really remember a lot of what he said last night, between Matt freaking out and my head throbbing I only really paid attention when he said he'd discharge me."
Ken let out an exasperated sigh. "What are you going to do?"
"Nothing." T.K. wished the pain killers were more instantaneous.
"T.K." Ken grumbled.
"I probably won't get to play again before summer break, because they won't want me to re-injure it and cause permanent damage if it isn't 100%."
"What about the kid that attacked you?" Ken seemed weary.
T.K. raised his eyebrow. "Attack is a strong word."
"Not according to Davis." Ken stated. "He said your teammates had to stop him from pummeling the guy."
T.K. sighed exasperatedly. "Hot head." He murmured.
"It is Davis." Ken laughed lightly.
T.K. pursed his lips. "I'm going to try and go back to sleep until my meds kick in."
Ken made a disgruntled noise before responding. "I'll come by and see you tomorrow."
"Bring coffee." T.K. said with defeat, knowing he wasn't going to take no for an answer.
Ken laughed. "Got it."
T.K. hung up the phone and realized the battery was almost dead. He didn't want to try and get up and plug it in and tossed it next to himself on the bed before resting his arm over his eyes to block out the sunlight, dozing back to sleep slowly.
#
T.K.'s eyes fluttered open, the rays of sunlight shining through his window making him squint. After a few seconds he could hear Matt's voice coming from the living room. "Yeah, I think he'll be fine." There was a moment of silence before he continued. "No. You don't need to—no, no, it's fine. I got this." Another pause. "Yeah, I'll tell him. Love you too, mom. Bye."
T.K. closed his eyes, realizing Matt had been on the phone with their mom. He felt stiff and just wanted to roll over onto his side, but his shoulder protested at the slightest movement.
Inhaling deeply, he opened his eyes again and pushed himself up, waiting for the light headed feeling to pass, T.K. sat still for a few minutes before swinging his legs off the edge of the bed. He remained there for a while, his thoughts collecting, everything that happened in the past week catching up to him—he'd only been back for a week and a day and so much had happened.
There was a slight knock on his door then, he figured Matt didn't want to wake him if he was still sleeping. "I'm up." He said, surprised by how quiet and weak his voice came out again.
Matt opened the door and peered in. "How are you feeling?"
T.K. started to shrug and winced. "Fine, if I could stop forgetting I can't do that." He held his breath waiting for the pain to subside.
Matt smiled weakly at T.K. and walked in. "Did you get anything to eat yet today?"
T.K. shook his head. "I've been asleep pretty much all morning."
Matt looked at him worriedly. "In the mood for anything in particular?"
T.K. smiled lightly. "I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday, anything would be fine."
Matt gave T.K. a look. "You know, based on the last weak and your eating habits, you should look a lot more malnutritioned than you do." He eyed his brother's fit physique.
T.K. laughed. "I usually take better care of myself."
Matt sighed in defeat. "I'll go see what I can make—Sora brought some food, so our fridge isn't actually empty.
T.K. was pleased to hear that there was actual food in the house and not something processed or take out. Though he worried what concoction Matt would whip up, he was too hungry to care.
"Hey…" Matt stopped in T.K.'s doorway. "Are we okay?"
T.K.'s expression darkened, remembering their conversation the night before. "We're okay." He looked up and smiled at Matt, hoping it didn't look too forced.
Matt smiled at T.K. briefly, maybe not completely convinced, but happy to hear it regardless. "Good."
T.K. watched Matt walk out of his room, his gaze falling to his lap guiltily. "Yeah."
So, I feel like this was a slow chapter, but things will be picking up soon. As a teaser I think the next chapter or the one after will be titled... Crests Reforged. I'm pretty excited for it! T.K.'s had a rough week, wish I could say things would get better before they get worse.
Also, if you haven't already, please check out my original work by googling The Silent Ballad Series.