Title: Heart Shaped Clock.
Author: shou_ni
Pairing: ToraxShou, some NaoxHiroto
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Romance, Angst, Fluff, Smut-ish
Disclaimer: I dont own anyone, just the story.
Summary: When a beautiful guy enters Tora's life, he's smitten. Unfortunately Shou has a secret and he doesn't want to share it
Sitting alone in the waiting room wasn't exactly how he has pictured the night ending. Shou had been whisked off straight into the operating theater, he was in a bad way for sure. Which terrified him beyond belief. Of course, it wasn't the first time he'd been in this kind of situation. He spent numerous nights in hospital while Shou was being seen too, in the past, it was much less serious. This time, everyone was running around, shouting nonsensical crap about vitals and other words he had no idea about, he sat, hugging his knees in distress, for what was feeling like a lifetime.
"Pon" He heard a voice call from the corridor, looking up to see Nao and Tora running over to him.
"How is he?" Tora asked, trying to remain as calm as he could.
"I don't know, they took him off to the operating theater, I haven't been told anything else" He choked. Nao pulled him into an embrace, holding him close as he kissed his head softly.
Tora turned on his heels and made his was to the reception desk.
"Excuse me, I really need to know whats happening with my boyfriend" he blurted, clearly he didn't think before he spat out that sentence.
The receptionist looked at him for a second before giving him a small smile.
"Okay, can you tell me his name, I can have a little look on the computer"
"Oh, its Kohara Shou, he was admitted about forty minutes ago."
The girl nodded, turning to input said information into the computer.
"It appears that he is currently undergoing surgery, After which he'll be admitted to the intensive care unit so he can be closely monitored. I'm sorry, but that's all the information I can disclose at the moment" Tora nodded, signaling that he understood.
"Just so you know, there's a cafeteria just down that corridor, and some spare blankets behind here if you need any." She said with a sympathetic smile.
In the end, he took 2 blankets, one for Nao, one for Hiroto. If it was anything like last time, it was going to be a long night.
Given a different situation, the scene he walked back to would have been quite endearing.
Hiroto has been worrying so much that he had compleatly worn himself out and was currently asleep on Nao's lap. he draped the blanket on the small frame. Wrapping the other one around Nao's shoulders.
"Any news on Shou" The redhead asked, stroking his lovers hair gently.
Tora simply shook his head.
"I'm terrified Nao" He whispered, "what if something goes wrong, he was in such a bad way"
"Don't think like that Tora, he's going to be fine"
"But what if he's not?"
Nao looked him dead in the eye, a serious expression on his face, telling Tora that he meant business.
"You have to remain positive, Shou is gonna come out of there and wake up, and he's going to be in pain, he's going to be afraid. So you need to be there to support him, he needs you to be optimistic and dammit, Hiroto doesn't need you being all negative, he's already scared enough as it is" He frowned, still stroking his lover's soft locks.
Tora sighed, fisting his hands into his own hair. Frustration building, mixing with the fear and upset he was already feeling. The worst thing was, he knew Nao was right, but that couldn't stop him from wanting to scream the walls down.
The awkward atmosphere was broken when Nao wrapped half of his blanket around Tora, so that they were both sharing. They sat in silence, finding comfort in the warmth. Hearing the distorted sounds from the operating theater.
"Excuse me, Ogata Hiroto?" A voice caused the three to snap wide awake. Stood in front of them was a doctor, clipboard in hand, and a worrying expression on his face.
"That's me" Hiroto gulped, sitting up straight.
The doctor took a seat opposite them, gazing down at the clipboard for what seemed like forever.
"How is he" Tora asked, leaning forward as if it would get the desired information to him faster.
"Kohara is currently sedated in the intensive care unit, we'll need to keep a very close eye on him for a little while." he said, matter-of-factly
"is he going to be okay?"
The doctor sighed, removing his glasses to massage the bridge of his nose.
"The operation did have a few complications, the combination of heart problems and a head trauma proved to be very difficult, but the surgeons managed to overcome it. Now, Shou's going to extremely tender and in quite a bit of pain for a little while, so someone will need to care for him until he's better."
The three looked at each other, no idea what to say. Hiroto glanced at the doctor.
"Can we see him?" He asked, a voice barely coming out.
"of course, right this way"
A soft beep and gently rasping of a ventilator was all that could be heard in the room. A maze of tubes and wires invading his skin.
The three males sat on chairs at his side, staring intently at him, the sorrowful picture.
"he looks terrible" Hiroto said quietly, his eyes were red and tired looking.
Tora stared down at his lover, feeling sick seeing him in such a state. it didn't even look like Shou underneath it all, dark circles under his eyes, purple lips and a bandage on his head. Not to mention the IV, blood drip, ventilator and such. He was so worried, he just wanted Shou to wake up and be compleatly fine.
Of course, he wasn't so naive, he knew that when he did wake up, it was going to be painful and uncomfortable.
The sun had risen, sending light through the curtains, basking the room in a soft warm hue.
Tora looked over at Hiroto and Nao. They both looked compleatly exhausted, leaning on each other slightly.
"You two should go home and rest" He said softly.
Hiroto merely shook his head "What if he wakes up?"
"Then I'll call you, he's not gonna run off is he"
Nao took his boyfriend's hand in his own, "He's right Hiropon, you really need some sleep, you'll make yourself sick if you just sit here"
The younger stayed silent, eyes fixed on Shou, he nodded with a sigh.
Nao helped him to his feet and wrapped an arm around him.
"I'll call you if anything happens" Tora said.
Hiroto gave him a grateful smile, letting Nao guide him out of the room.
The few hours he spent alone with Shou had given him plenty of time to think things over. Various Shou related topics buzzing around his skull. He had called Nao a few times to report there being no change and to check on how Hiroto was doing. Which in its self, he found strange, usually he found it very difficult to get along with him, but now, he was concerned about him.
He had spent his hours watching over his motionless boyfriend, wondering what he was going to do when Shou did wake up, when he did leave the hospital? Was he going to have to go to a care home? It was a horrible thought and Shou would most likely protest against such a thing.
He rested his head on the bed next to Shou's hand, glancing up at the clock. 9 hours had passed since Nao and Hiroto had left. His own fingers started stroking Shou's, tracing little circles on his skin.
That's when he felt it, the tiniest twitch from the younger's hand.
Hiroto sighed on Nao's lap, he'd been asleep while Nao had chosen to watch a film. Unfortunately, it just happened to be the worst film he'd ever had the displeasure to sit through. The only good thing about it was that he gently played with Hiroto's hair as he slept.
Hiroto turned over so that their eyes met.
"Nao" He said, pursing his lips for a second as the elder hummed. "Thank you"
"For what?" the redhead asked, raising a brow.
"For being such a help last night, and for looking after me all day, I'm really grateful"
"HIropon, you don't need to thank me, that's what I'm here for" He smiled, stroking his lovers cheek affectionately.
Hiroto leaned up and captured Nao's lips with his own. Kissing him sensually.
He suddenly felt a warmth pooling in his stomach, traveling to his groin. Maybe relieving his stress would make him feel better.
Without warning he shifted, so that he was straddling his lover. Kissing him harder, hungry for some form of contact. Nao's hands slid up his sides and under his shirt, caressing the warm flesh beneath it, earning a moan from the other.
"Bedroom" Hiroto mumbled, breaking the kiss.
A flurry of Kissing, panting, moaning, sweating, pumping, grinding and screaming. The two seemed to melt together with pleasure, breathing harshly. Crying out each other's names as white hot bliss erupted over them.
Nao fell onto the bed next to Hiroto, an arm draping over his chest.
"That was amazing" He sighed into the crook of the smaller males neck. Planting a small kiss on his collarbone.
Hiroto hummed in agreement, snuggling up to his lover.
"Hiropon, whats wrong" Nao asked, stroking his cheek gently. "you can tell me"
"I'm just worried about Shou, what if somethings happened?" he asked, looking just as worried as he felt.
Nao simply wrapped his arms tighter around the small frame, kissing him softly.
"Tora said he would call if anything happened. Shou's in good hands okay, now you should get some sleep, love" he said with a smile. Hiroto sighed and closed his eyes, giving in to the warmth of slumber.
He was sure that it was just a slight muscle spasm due to the contact. But feeling it twitch again made him sit up with a jolt. He saw Shou's eyes scrunch up as he let out the tiniest groan, which was almost unheard beneath the sound of the ventilator. He coughed as his eyes struggled to open, all red and bloodshot. He looked around through a squint, obviously disorientated.
"Shou, hey" Tora said quietly so as not to startle the younger.
"T..T..To..Tora" He rasped, reaching a shaky hand up to remove his oxygen mask, but Tora stopped him, taking his hand in his own.
"Leave it on baby, you need the air"
"Where am I?" Shou questioned looking around. "What happened?"
"You're in the hospital" Tora began, stroking Shou's hand with his thumb, "You collapsed at the club last night, you've undergone surgery so you've been out for the best part of a day"
"I have?" Shou groaned, "I was kinda hoping I was at your apartment"
"Sorry, I wish you were, bed seems quite a wonderful thought right now." He sighed with a smile. "How are you feeling anyway?"
"Everything hurts and I feel like I've swallowed sand"
"I'll get you a drink" Tora said getting to his feet and leaving the room.
Shou shifted uncomfortably, removing the oxygen mask from his mouth and gripping the rail of his bed to pull himself up. As he moved, he felt jolts of pain tear through is entire torso making his cry out in agony and fall back down, clutching his chest that was now rising and falling heavily.
Tora entered the room with a jug of water and a glass in hand. Quickly setting it down on the table before rushing to his lovers side.
"Shou, are you alright?" he cried, But Shou couldn't reply with anything other that a strangled sob. Cursing, Tora quickly pressed the nurse call button on the bed remote.
Within seconds there was two nurses bursting through the door.
"What's wrong?" One of them asked making her way to the patient.
"I..I Tried" Shou stammered, trying to regulate his breathing through the pain. "I was trying to sit up, and it hurt"
The nurses smiled gently, standing either side of him.
"Okay Kohara, try not to get too flustered." One said taking the remote and pushing a button. Strangely, Shou felt the pain starting to subside a little, letting him relax.
"Right, now to raise the bed so you can sit up, just press this button here" She said as the bed started to raise "The button beneath lowers it back down again, and If you are in alot of pain, press this button here, which will give you a small shot of morphine" With that she placed the remote back on the bed and stepped towards the door with the other nurse.
"If there is anything else you need, please don't hesitate to let us know" She smiled, gaining a bow of gratitude from Tora.
The door closed as Tora turned to the younger, to see him pressing the button over and over again, sending shots of morphine gushing into his bloodstream. Causing a sigh of contentment to escape his lips.
"Hey, don't press that too much, you'll give yourself an overdose" Tora frowned, prising the device from Shou's hand. The brunette simply smiled with a tilt of his head,
"I feel better now Tora-shi" He chimed. His body relaxed into the bed's mattress, "Hey Tora-shi.." Suddenly his tone sank to a more somber and serious one.
"Did you stay here the whole time?"
"I did" Tora nodded, "I wasn't going to leave you here alone. Hiroto and Nao stayed he night as well, but I told them to go home and rest when you came out of theater."
Shou reached his hand towards the table next to the bed, trying to reach the glass of water. His throat was dryer than the Sahara desert, screaming out for moisture of any kind. Tora was quick to grab the glass for him, as not to tip it over.
Unfortunately, as much as he tried, he couldn't get a good hold on the vessel, Spilling water on himself. Frustration was starting to get the better of him , the anger surfacing in the form of a growl and frown.
"here" Tora said, holding the glass to Shou's dry lips, helping him drink it. His free hand gently stroking the others bangs in an attempt to sooth him. It seemed to work as the younger's eyes fluttered closed, slowly consuming the liquid.
Once the glass had been emptied, Tora set it back down and cupped his boyfriends cheek,
"I'm just gonna nip out and give Nao a call to let them know that everything is okay" He leaned in a kissed Shou ever so softly. "You should try and sleep a little more" Placing the oxygen mask back over his mouth.
"He's awake?"
"well, he was, I told him to get some sleep cause he was in quite a bit of pain" Tora sighed into the phone.
"Oh man, I hope he's okay though" Nao said, voice laced with concern.
"Well other than post-op pain, I think he's alright, he did really hurt himself when he tried to sit up, So I think he just needs to be looked after and treated with care for a little while"
He heard mumbling on the other end of the phone, not quite making out what was being said.
"Tora" Hiroto cried, obviously having snatched the phone from Nao. "Tell me he's okay"
"Yes Hiroto, he's going to be fine" He replied, smiling a little as he heard a sigh of relief.
"I'll be there as soon as possible"
"Hiroto" Tora cut in "Look, he's asleep right now, it's starting to get late, just come first thing tomorrow okay? I'll make sure he gets enough rest for you to visit"
Hiroto sighed once more, only one of dissapointment this time, as he reluctantly agreed and said his goodbyes, hanging up.
The rest of the night went unbearably slow, Tora couldn't sleep a wink, finding himself staring at the sleeping male, looking over all of the machines and wires that attached themselves to him like a leech. It was more than painful to see, then again, it was better than him being dead.
He pushed all of those thoughts aside as the sun rose, highlighting the pretty curves on Shou's face, long eyelashes residing against cute cheeks. He made a mental note to grab some lip balm for him at some point, as they had cracked with all of the air blowing on them underneath the oxygen mask.
He had obviously lost track of time as before he knew it, Hiroto burst into the room, followed by a tired looking Nao.
The door bashed against the wall a little louder than expected, making Tora shoot a glare in Hiroto's direction. Shou stirred, his eyelashes fluttering open.
"Is he okay?" Hiroto blurted "Shou" he practically threw himself down next to his best friend, who groaned at the sudden contact.
"Shou, how are you feeling?"
"Peachy" the brunette croaked "what time is it?"
Nao glanced at his watch "eight thirty" He sighed, sitting in on of the chairs. "Sorry to disturb you so early in the morning"
Shou gave a small smile, shaking his head "Don't worry about it, I've had enough rest. It's good to see you guys"
Hiroto was busy burying himself in the elders chest,trying his best not to cry.
"Don't do this to me again okay, Shou." He sighed. A weak and shaky hand found itself to rest on his head, something in which Hiroto found comfort.
"I wont, I promise"
It had been about fought night since Shou had awoken. It was a long week filled with doctors, awful hospital food and mind numbing TV shows. It had also dragged due to the fact that Tora had returned to work, he didn't want to, but he'd already taken alot of time off and really couldn't afford to take any more without risking his job. So he spent most of the days alone, Save for the occasional visits from Hiroto and Nao. Sadly Tora couldn't escape during visiting hours, so he was starting to miss him quite a bit.
That day however, was a Saturday and Tora would be coming to take him home that afternoon. He just had to endure a talk with one of the doctors again before he was free to go.
So there he sat, the doctor entering the room, the strange thing was the expression on his face, It was unlike any he'd seen before, Almost pitiful, sad and regretful at the same time.
He sat opposite the young male before letting out a long sigh.
"How are you feeling this morning Shou-san?" He asked.
"pretty good, I'm just looking forward to going home"
Glasses were pushed up the doctors bridge, fingers lingering in the air for a few seconds.
"There's something I need to discuss with you, it's not going to be easy though"
Shou felt a sudden rush of nerves pound into his stomach.
"Over the past week, we've been running alot of tests on you, and we got the results back" He sighed, looking the younger male in the eyes "It turns out you have a chronic heart condition that makes your heart pump at an irregular pace, which from time to time causes you to go into mild cardiac arrest which also triggers your epilepsy, that's why you cough up blood and black out. Now due to the severity of your condition....It's now devolved further and we are unable to treat it"
"What are you trying to say?" Shou frowned, feeling everything within the confines of his rib cage whirl around. Another sigh escaped the doctor's lips as he placed his glasses on his lap.
"It's terminal. We estimated that you have about 2 years to live,............. I'm so sorry"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Notes. EEEEKKK! Well that's a bit of a large bombshell, isn't it? I wonder how many of you were expecting that...
On other sides, some NaoxPon for you all, nothing too graphic for now, but I hope it satisfies those smut fans for now ;D
The story has taken another turn now, so let's see how this progresses.
Thank you for keeping up with it so far (5 consecutive days posting :D )
comments are all welcome :)