[FANFIC] Ryo, the Latchkey Boy, Chapter 3: A New Hope
Title: Ryo, the Latchkey Boy
Characters: Kanjani8, News, Various other JE boys.
Main Focus: Ryo
Summary: An unexpected event rips the hearts of Kanjani8 and News members. They are left to attend their wound while looking after one of their own.
Format: Multi-Chapter Story
Warnings: This is set during spring 2010 while News was still a six-member group and *obviously* Subaru was still in the band.
Enjoy!
Edited on 14.02.2019
Chapter 3 : A New Hope
When they arrived at Ryo’s flat that night, the first thing they did was to check how Ryo left his house; the last touchs when he was alive, and his smell.
That was the worst thing for them; the smell.
There was an ashtray on the coffee table with a half smoken cigarette in it and a dvd cover with an empty crisps packet next to it, a blanket on the couch, an empty noddle pot on the sink and a tshirt and towel left on the bed.
“Ah, he is as messy as always.” complained Hina.
That was the only sound that broke the silence that night; their phones were turned off till morning. They already shared memories and cried during the day. All they wanted was silence to settle their minds.
It was a painful night, but, with the help of the beer they brought along, it quickly turned to morning. They didn’t understand how, but it did.
At sunrise they were still sitting in the living room; some on the couch some on the floor. Some were already sleeping despite their uncomfortable position. But even they were sleeping nobody dared to go into the bedroom. Ryo’s smell was effecting them bad already. They hadn’t realized Ryo had a very unique smell to him, but once he was gone, every little touch and smell in his house reminded them of his presence. They felt like he was just in the next room. They couldn’t afford to sleep on Ryo’s bed, which probably reeked the strongest with Ryo.
Subaru rubbed his eyes and opened another can of beer, before pushing Yassu away from his lap. Yoko jumped at the sound. He always had been a light sleeper and jumped at every little sound. He, for the tenth time that night, looked around to see where he was, and whom he was with. Yamapi, who was sitting on the armchair all alone with a beer on his hand, was slowly drifting to sleep. Tegoshi was squishing Koyama to get some more place at the couch. They both were asleep for awhile now. Maru and Hina clink their beer before every sip. Shige was sitting alone and sipping the empty can in his hand, every time he sipped air he reminded himself to open a new can, but he forgot it a second later. Massu, who was actually kicked out of the couch, was now on the other side of Koyama and borrowing his lap, but his red eyes were not closed.
Yoko yawned and turned to lay on his left side. He saw that Ohkura secretly crying at the corner of the room; his face was calm and void of emotion but the tears were giving him away. Probably the drummer thought nobody saw him as he swept his endless tears one after another but Yoko could see him from the gap under the couch. Yoko’s own eyes started to burn so closed them.
A faint clink caught Yoko’s attention and he opened his eyes, Ohkura still in his sight of vision. The beer can on Yamapi’s hand had slipped to the floor once he succumbed to sleep
“Subaru.” He called out with a rough voice. It seemed like he didn’t use his voice for ages. He cleared his throat.
“Yes?” Subaru’s voice was worse than his.
“Coffee?”
“Good idea.” They got up slowly and looked at the other people in th messy room. “Anyone wants coffee?” they asked in a gentle voice.
The answer was silence.
Yoko and Subaru slowly waddled towards the kitchen. Yoko grabbed two cups from the cabinet, but something stopped him. After thinking for a minute, he got another one out and started to search for the coffee.
Subaru on the other hand filled the heater with water and turned it on. Once done, he turned and watched the sunrise from the window. The sky a lighter shade of inky blue, but a pale yellow line was starting to show on the horizon behind the tall buildings. The street lamps were still on but not for long for sure.
“Subaru.” This time Yoko’s voice was so faint that Subaru nearly missed it. Acknowledging the other took some time as even after hearing the other voice, his brain still wasn’t sure how to respond. He must have been exhausted.
“Yeah?”
“I don’t want to let go.” Yoko continued in a low voice. In the dim light, he really looked much younger, child-like, searching for some kind of hope, maybe help, in the other man’s eyes.
Subaru didn’t know what to say. He knew exactly how sensitive Yoko was, and if he didn’t console him, it would grow worse and worse every second, and eventually scaring his friend. But nothing comforting came to Subaru’s mind.
“I wish I had something to say to you Yokocho but I don’t want to let go of him either.”
“Maybe the company is right Subaru? Maybe he is just missing, eh?”
The water heater turned off with a click. Subaru blinked. “I am afraid to hope.”
Yoko remained silent as he grabbed the heater and filled the cups. Subaru turned his attention to the brightening world as he mixed sugar with his coffee. He didn’t hear Yoko leave.
Yoko waddled to the corner of the room and offered one of the cups to his bandmate. “Here.” Ohkura raised his head with surprise but he didn’t say anything as he took the cup. He then he smiled at Yoko bitterly.
Yoko crouched on the floor next to Ohkura and took a sip from his own cup. The lights were off now; someone must have turned them off when they were in kitchen. The room was dusky but relaxing to their sore eyes.
“His towel is still wet.” Ohkura informed. Yoko turned his head to look at him. “I couldn’t help myself. I thought that maybe...” he took a short break and then continued with a heavy sigh. “I don’t know what I thought… but, his towel was still wet, like he just took a shower.” Ohkura lowered his head. Yoko didn’t know what to say. He pulled his legs closer to his body unconsciously.
They watched the light grow in the room and welcomed the day with red eyes. Yoko didn’t remember drifting to sleep again, but he jumped at the phone call. He raised his head from Ohkura’s shoulder and looked around. When his brain finally registered no one was going to pick up he forced himself up and slowly made his way to Ryo’s phone.
It wasn’t going to be a happy news anyway, why would he rush?
He sighed before picking up the phone. “Yes? Who are you calling this early at the morning?” he whined.
“Early?” the voice answered. “It’s already noon.”
“Eh?” Yoko checked his watch. 11:42.
“Sorry to disturb you; I am Saito Michiko from Ichikawa Hospital. I called The Jimusho to get Nishikido Ryo’s house number...”
Nishikido Ryo’s? Yoko’s heart sunk. Did they found...it? No, please God, don’t let them.
“Hello?”
“Sorry, yes, I am here. What were you saying again?”
“I was asking if it is correct that this number belongs to Nishikido Ryo.”
“Yup it did.” Yoko sighed.
“We just found-“
“No please!” Yoko cut of the woman harshly.
“I am sorry?”
“I don’t want to identify his dead body.” Yoko cried. Someone mumbled at Yoko’s high voice.
“My head hurts.” Hina complained with a husky voice.
“No please listen.” The other voice said with a rush. “I am not talking about a dead body. There is a person, who is quite alive, looks like the popular idol Nishikido Ryo. Are you his relative?”
“Alive?”
“Yes, are you...”
“Say that again. Is Ryo alive?”
Subaru, who just woke up to find himself lying on the kitchen table, moved near to Yoko. He wasn’t joking when he said he was afraid to hope. If this ended up false, Subaru wasn’t sure how he would cope.
“There is a person who looks like him.” said the voice warily. “You need to come over to identify if it his him. He is found at Haneda airport in a comatose state, he was brought in unconscious-”
“Is he okay?” Yoko wasn’t afraid of Hope like Subaru was. Actually he was quite welcoming of the possibility of Ryo being alive.
“We are not sure yet. We can’t say anything before he wakes up. If you can come over we can provide more information. And we need to identify him as well.”
“Okay I’ll be right over.” He didn’t wait for a reply as he hung up. He hugged Subaru who was standing next to him and laughed cheerfully. “He is alive you see. They didn’t call for an identification of a dead body, instead it is an alive one!”
Subaru was taken aback. “Yoko don’t hope too much.” He managed to say. “You may get hurt more deeply.”
“Talk about yourself! I need to go now.”
“Idiot.” Subaru rubbed his forehead. “I am coming too. We need at least one adult soul there.” He couldn’t help his lips curl up.
“What’s going on?” asked Yassu with a sleepy voice. “What’s all this commotion?”
“We are going to see Ryo. He is alive!” Yoko screamed with happiness.
Subaru smacked his head. “Don’t give false hope. Yassu we are going to the hospital, apparently there is someone who looks like Ryo.”
Yassu scratched his head “You mean our Ryo?”
“Yes, of course our Ryo! Which other Ryo is there?! We need to see if it is him. Wake up Shin-chan, explain the situation and wait for our call.”
“Understood!” Said Yassu as he sat up straight.
As they got out the guitarist went to wake up the said man. “Shin-chan, wake up. There is an incredible turn on the events!”
“Hmm...” Shingo turned the other way.
“Oi wake up or you might not see Ryo again!”
“hmm... I probably won’t.” He mumbled.
“But he might be alive.”
“Yeah... what!” Shingo opened his eyes in an instant. “Yassu… that’s a cruel way to wake someone up!”
Down on the side of the building Yoko and Subaru were trying to catch a cab. Subaru watched his overly excited bandmate with worried eyes.
“Yoko... he might not be...”
“I already know that. Don’t break my joy please.”
“But-“
“Yayy lucky, an empty cab! This is a lucky day!”
Subaru followed him quite concerned. “I am just-”
“Could you please shut up already Subaru!”
They entered the Hospitals ER with extremely different moods. Yoko was quiet cheerful with a big smile on his face, looking all around with excitement. Subaru was extremely anxious that he gave a scary vibe. They went straight to the information desk; Yoko walking briskly and Subaru paddling along him.
“Hello.” Said Yoko cheerfully. Subaru watched the scene with a frown. “We are here to see Nishikido Ryo. Somebody called us a while ago.”
“Oh.” Said the middle aged woman in charge of the desk. “I was the one who called.” She smiled.
“Where is he?” Yoko offered the woman a big smile.
The woman smiled back at him. “You are full of hope.”
“Of course I am! Wouldn’t you be.”
“Stop it.” Subaru smacked Yoko’s head but without any strength in it.
The woman smiled at them before turning to one of her co-workers “Can you take charge for a while Sakamoto-san.”
“Sure.” The other answered.
Yoko couldn’t stay still, he was so excited, his hands were all over the place and he smiled at every passing doctor, patient and nurse alike. “Let’s go, let’s go. Ryo hates waiting.”
Subaru rolled his eyes but said nothing as they started to follow the desk employee through the hallway. She turned left, to another hallway and walked to the very end. “We thought he might be an idol so we hid him away from the curious eyes as much as we could.” She offered them as an explanation for their long walk.
“Why would you?” asked Yoko with wide eyes.
“Patient rights probably.” Subaru shrugged. “It’s good they did, even if it’s not Ryo.”
She smiled shyly. “That and we didn’t want anyone to slack off. Nor did we want any unnecessary people filling the ER. You see ER needs to be active to save lives, help people.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Yoko nodded absentmindedly. “Can we see him now?” Yoko tried to get past the door but the nurse stopped him.
“It might be better you know what happened to him first.”
“Can’t we do that after we identify him?” asked Subaru.
“Okay.” The woman sighed and opened the door. “He hit his head pretty badly and his face is a bit swollen. But it will go down soon.” She let them in and went to a curtained area which was hiding the bed behind them.
Yoko and Subaru took a deep breath at the same time. They slowly walked over to the bed. Yoko was actually trembling with both excitement and fear. They lifted their heads with fear when the desk employee pulled the curtains.
There he was.
Yes, of course, it was Ryo. Who else could it be; with those moles on his face and long eyelashes and that big nose which he was proud of. He seemed like he was asleep rather than comatosed.
Yoko hugged Subaru tightly while smiling and crying at the same time. “I told you so, it is Ryo!”
Subaru didn’t deny it either; he was grinning like crazy.
“So it really is him?” asked the desk employee.
“Yes.” Subaru confirmed.
“Okay.” She marked something down.” I’ll go and inform the doctor in charge. You can take your time. The Doctor will be here to talk with you as soon as he can.”
“Thank you.” They didn’t pay much attention to the nurse actually. Not when their dead bandmate was lying in front of them pretty much alive.
Ryo was wearing a hospital gown. There was a tube coming out of his mouth and an Iv on his arm. His head was bandaged, but still his messy hair was all over the pillow. His left hand and elbow was bandaged. There were little scars on his hands and face. The woman was right, his face was a little swollen; actually it was his left cheek with a big black bruise on it. Whenever that happened, it happened a while ago judging by the colour.
Tears were still streaming down Yoko’s cheeks as he laughed. His instinct was to hug Ryo but he was afraid to harm the other further. So he settled on hugging Subaru instead.
“It is him, you see.”
Subaru let out a sigh. “Yup you are right. I am sorry.” He rubbed his eyes. “I feel like weeping... Probably it’s an after effect of walking around with a kid.”
“Hey don’t complain about it. Besides I am not the cry baby of the group.” He smirked.
“He looks beaten up.” Subaru commented after a while.
“At least he is alive.”
“Yeah.”
They sat quietly and waited patiently for the doctor or for Ryo to open his eyes. They were so happy that they didn’t mind how many minutes or hours passed by. Ryo being alive relieved them so much, they could even wait for days.
The doctor arrived around half an hour later. He informed the two Eito members of how they found Ryo and what they did to him, what was his condition, all the important details from the past three days.
In summary, Ryo was found in a cargo bay in Haneda airport, unconscious and beaten up. Nobody knew what happened to him exactly but evidence suggested he was robbed. He probably was forced into the cargo bay by some unknown assailant. Apparently, there have been these kinds of incidents in the airport lately. There was an open police investigation for the case as well.
Looking at his injuries, it was clear that he fought back; well Ryo wasn’t a man to give in easily. So that’s what landed him in this state. He had two wounds on his head and multiple fractures on his body; ribs, wrist, elbow etc. Luckily, nothing was broken.
His fever was high due to his head wounds being infected. But everything was under control, the doctor assured them. All in all, the doctors were quiet positive about his condition. Their only worry came from the head wound. All head wounds were serious and they could cause many illness. Ryo’s was pretty dangerous, and him not waking up yet worried the doctors.
Subaru sighed at the information. Once the doctor finished his explanation, Yoko went to call the others and the Jimusho - they both had forgotten their cell phones.
“They are trying to collect their thoughts.” He informed Subaru when he returned to the room. Subaru was watching Ryo with thoughtful eyes.
Yoko turned his attention to Ryo and inspected the younger himself. He could see goose bumps on the others arms. Yoko sighed and pulled the sheets to cover Ryo’s body more. “He always complains about cold doesn’t he?” He turned to Subaru when the other didn’t reply.
The tiny guitarist was sitting at the very edge of the bed, trying not to harm Ryo.
“They all want to come over obviously, but Hina is trying to calm them.” Yoko informed. “We are too crowded for a hospital. Hina and Yassu are trying to arrange them, so they can come on by one.”
Subaru nodded. “And what about the Jimusho?”
“They made an official announcement that Ryo was robbed and the one who was trying to travel to Osaka was only using his identity. They also informed the fans to give both groups some time. And of course ended it with an apology. Nothing is expected of us for a while. ”
“It’s funny, but I am glad he was robbed.” Subaru said massaging his neck.
“Yeah, me too. Jimusho contacted his family but it seems they can’t make it. It must be very complicated over there. I mean they had a wedding and I heard his sister was pregnant too. It’s an extremely difficult situation.”
“Whatever.” Subaru cut off.
Silence fell between them. They passed their time by watching Ryo, the monitors, the birds outside of the window and the people passing by in the hallway. There were a few curious faces every now and then, but the curtains hid Ryo pretty well. Subaru and Yoko would not show themselves much either.
Time really passed slowly when one was waiting for something, especially for someone to wake up. Seconds felt like long minutes, and each minute felt like an hour. They were happy Ryo was alive, but they were getting impatient because all they wanted was to get everything back to normal. Have Ryo laugh and sing and embarrass himself, get angry at them, play pranks with them. They wanted life to go back to usual.
Which was worse, it depends on choice; but waking up in a hospital to unfamiliar surroundings and unknown people around is a pretty scary experience. It is so scary that often it makes one feel like crying, yelling, trying to escape. But, instead, they would lay there to wait and wait for things to make sense.
That’s what happened to Ryo. His eyes stirred first, then his eyelashes trembled. He opened his eyes to a very unfamiliar room. Two happy and excited face greeted him.
Ryo became more aware of his surroundings by every passing second. He looked around with eyes full of fear. He was laying on a bed with wires sticking out all around him. This already put him in a state of alarm. He realized somewhat later there was something in his mouth; triggering his fear and making him reach and try to get it out.
“Whoa! Slow down.” Yoko caught his wrist with one arm and secured the tube with the other. “It’s okay Nishikido. You are okay.” He smiled down at his juniors fear filled eyes.
Subaru rushed out to alert the doctors.
The doctor arrived quickly this time. “Glad to see you awake.” He smiled. As an emergency doctor he lived a high tension life but he always managed to smile at the end. “Do you know what happened to you?”
Ryo shook his head from side to side in response.
“Okay. That is expected. You were found in a cargo bay at Haneda airport, you had two wounds on head...” as the doctor explained his situation Ryo waited impatiently as he tried to pull out the tube again - thanks to Yoko he couldn’t manage it the second time either.
“I see you want to get rid of that tube already. I will help you to get it out but I have to warn you, your throat is irritated. Don’t push yourself to talk.”
Yoko tried to help a scared Ryo to sit up. But Ryo, being himself and acting tough, refused Yoko’s help and got up to a sitting position.
The doctor disconnected the tube and pulled it out slowly, making Ryo cough.
“It’s okay.” The doctor soothed. “Here drink some water.”
Yoko ran gentle circles on Ryo’s back as Ryo grabbed the glass of water and tried to drink. But since his hands were shaking too much, he spilled more then he drank. Subaru got a tissue in an instant to dry his friend. Ryo startled at the contact.
“Wha...” Ryo began in a very low and very husky voice as he tried to get away from Yoko and Subaru.
“It’s okay Ryo. Take it easy.”
“Yes take it easy.” said the doctor. “We will be keeping you till tomorrow just to make sure you are okay. Don’t push yourself for anything. Your body needs to rest to heal. Ah! One more thing; the police will arrive to take an interrogation.”
Ryo cleared his throat but that didn’t help at all, when he spoke again his voice was still as low as a whisper. “What is going on? I would like to inform my relatives.”
Yoko seemed hurt but Subaru smiled. “Sorry they can’t come, not right now.” Subaru explained to the younger man. “Things are complicated at Osaka right now. I am sure you can imagine. But, hey, you still have us! We the crazy old men!”
“Who...” Ryo coughed again. “Who are you exactly?”
Yoko and Subaru looked at him with equally stunned expressions.
At that exact moment, Yamapi jumped in to the room with excitement. “Ryo-chan! You are awake already! Ah I am so happy to see you again!” hey plumped down on the bed and grinned at his friend. “Smile will you.” He tried to force Ryo in to a smile as he forcefully pulled Ryo’s lips up with his fingers. But what happened next frightened them all. The sudden contact made Ryo jump back and wrap his arms around himself. He was visibly shivering as he eyed all occupants of the room with hostility.
“I think we need to talk doctor.” Subaru said, frowning at the sight.
To be continued…
A.N : No the title has nothing to do with ‘Star Wars’, I am just enjoying myself.
ER is referring to Emergency Rooms in the hospitals where they initially treat patients as you may know.
I don’t know anything about medical science well, so please forgive me for my mistakes. Everything written here is for the plot sake :D
I might rushed this chapter coz I had to go somewhere for the weekend. Sorry if it is bad. And no I am not pleased, isn’t it short!
Previous Chapter: Memories of The Dead
Next Chapter: Reunion
Characters: Kanjani8, News, Various other JE boys.
Main Focus: Ryo
Summary: An unexpected event rips the hearts of Kanjani8 and News members. They are left to attend their wound while looking after one of their own.
Format: Multi-Chapter Story
Warnings: This is set during spring 2010 while News was still a six-member group and *obviously* Subaru was still in the band.
Enjoy!
Edited on 14.02.2019
Chapter 3 : A New Hope
When they arrived at Ryo’s flat that night, the first thing they did was to check how Ryo left his house; the last touchs when he was alive, and his smell.
That was the worst thing for them; the smell.
There was an ashtray on the coffee table with a half smoken cigarette in it and a dvd cover with an empty crisps packet next to it, a blanket on the couch, an empty noddle pot on the sink and a tshirt and towel left on the bed.
“Ah, he is as messy as always.” complained Hina.
That was the only sound that broke the silence that night; their phones were turned off till morning. They already shared memories and cried during the day. All they wanted was silence to settle their minds.
It was a painful night, but, with the help of the beer they brought along, it quickly turned to morning. They didn’t understand how, but it did.
At sunrise they were still sitting in the living room; some on the couch some on the floor. Some were already sleeping despite their uncomfortable position. But even they were sleeping nobody dared to go into the bedroom. Ryo’s smell was effecting them bad already. They hadn’t realized Ryo had a very unique smell to him, but once he was gone, every little touch and smell in his house reminded them of his presence. They felt like he was just in the next room. They couldn’t afford to sleep on Ryo’s bed, which probably reeked the strongest with Ryo.
Subaru rubbed his eyes and opened another can of beer, before pushing Yassu away from his lap. Yoko jumped at the sound. He always had been a light sleeper and jumped at every little sound. He, for the tenth time that night, looked around to see where he was, and whom he was with. Yamapi, who was sitting on the armchair all alone with a beer on his hand, was slowly drifting to sleep. Tegoshi was squishing Koyama to get some more place at the couch. They both were asleep for awhile now. Maru and Hina clink their beer before every sip. Shige was sitting alone and sipping the empty can in his hand, every time he sipped air he reminded himself to open a new can, but he forgot it a second later. Massu, who was actually kicked out of the couch, was now on the other side of Koyama and borrowing his lap, but his red eyes were not closed.
Yoko yawned and turned to lay on his left side. He saw that Ohkura secretly crying at the corner of the room; his face was calm and void of emotion but the tears were giving him away. Probably the drummer thought nobody saw him as he swept his endless tears one after another but Yoko could see him from the gap under the couch. Yoko’s own eyes started to burn so closed them.
A faint clink caught Yoko’s attention and he opened his eyes, Ohkura still in his sight of vision. The beer can on Yamapi’s hand had slipped to the floor once he succumbed to sleep
“Subaru.” He called out with a rough voice. It seemed like he didn’t use his voice for ages. He cleared his throat.
“Yes?” Subaru’s voice was worse than his.
“Coffee?”
“Good idea.” They got up slowly and looked at the other people in th messy room. “Anyone wants coffee?” they asked in a gentle voice.
The answer was silence.
Yoko and Subaru slowly waddled towards the kitchen. Yoko grabbed two cups from the cabinet, but something stopped him. After thinking for a minute, he got another one out and started to search for the coffee.
Subaru on the other hand filled the heater with water and turned it on. Once done, he turned and watched the sunrise from the window. The sky a lighter shade of inky blue, but a pale yellow line was starting to show on the horizon behind the tall buildings. The street lamps were still on but not for long for sure.
“Subaru.” This time Yoko’s voice was so faint that Subaru nearly missed it. Acknowledging the other took some time as even after hearing the other voice, his brain still wasn’t sure how to respond. He must have been exhausted.
“Yeah?”
“I don’t want to let go.” Yoko continued in a low voice. In the dim light, he really looked much younger, child-like, searching for some kind of hope, maybe help, in the other man’s eyes.
Subaru didn’t know what to say. He knew exactly how sensitive Yoko was, and if he didn’t console him, it would grow worse and worse every second, and eventually scaring his friend. But nothing comforting came to Subaru’s mind.
“I wish I had something to say to you Yokocho but I don’t want to let go of him either.”
“Maybe the company is right Subaru? Maybe he is just missing, eh?”
The water heater turned off with a click. Subaru blinked. “I am afraid to hope.”
Yoko remained silent as he grabbed the heater and filled the cups. Subaru turned his attention to the brightening world as he mixed sugar with his coffee. He didn’t hear Yoko leave.
Yoko waddled to the corner of the room and offered one of the cups to his bandmate. “Here.” Ohkura raised his head with surprise but he didn’t say anything as he took the cup. He then he smiled at Yoko bitterly.
Yoko crouched on the floor next to Ohkura and took a sip from his own cup. The lights were off now; someone must have turned them off when they were in kitchen. The room was dusky but relaxing to their sore eyes.
“His towel is still wet.” Ohkura informed. Yoko turned his head to look at him. “I couldn’t help myself. I thought that maybe...” he took a short break and then continued with a heavy sigh. “I don’t know what I thought… but, his towel was still wet, like he just took a shower.” Ohkura lowered his head. Yoko didn’t know what to say. He pulled his legs closer to his body unconsciously.
They watched the light grow in the room and welcomed the day with red eyes. Yoko didn’t remember drifting to sleep again, but he jumped at the phone call. He raised his head from Ohkura’s shoulder and looked around. When his brain finally registered no one was going to pick up he forced himself up and slowly made his way to Ryo’s phone.
It wasn’t going to be a happy news anyway, why would he rush?
He sighed before picking up the phone. “Yes? Who are you calling this early at the morning?” he whined.
“Early?” the voice answered. “It’s already noon.”
“Eh?” Yoko checked his watch. 11:42.
“Sorry to disturb you; I am Saito Michiko from Ichikawa Hospital. I called The Jimusho to get Nishikido Ryo’s house number...”
Nishikido Ryo’s? Yoko’s heart sunk. Did they found...it? No, please God, don’t let them.
“Hello?”
“Sorry, yes, I am here. What were you saying again?”
“I was asking if it is correct that this number belongs to Nishikido Ryo.”
“Yup it did.” Yoko sighed.
“We just found-“
“No please!” Yoko cut of the woman harshly.
“I am sorry?”
“I don’t want to identify his dead body.” Yoko cried. Someone mumbled at Yoko’s high voice.
“My head hurts.” Hina complained with a husky voice.
“No please listen.” The other voice said with a rush. “I am not talking about a dead body. There is a person, who is quite alive, looks like the popular idol Nishikido Ryo. Are you his relative?”
“Alive?”
“Yes, are you...”
“Say that again. Is Ryo alive?”
Subaru, who just woke up to find himself lying on the kitchen table, moved near to Yoko. He wasn’t joking when he said he was afraid to hope. If this ended up false, Subaru wasn’t sure how he would cope.
“There is a person who looks like him.” said the voice warily. “You need to come over to identify if it his him. He is found at Haneda airport in a comatose state, he was brought in unconscious-”
“Is he okay?” Yoko wasn’t afraid of Hope like Subaru was. Actually he was quite welcoming of the possibility of Ryo being alive.
“We are not sure yet. We can’t say anything before he wakes up. If you can come over we can provide more information. And we need to identify him as well.”
“Okay I’ll be right over.” He didn’t wait for a reply as he hung up. He hugged Subaru who was standing next to him and laughed cheerfully. “He is alive you see. They didn’t call for an identification of a dead body, instead it is an alive one!”
Subaru was taken aback. “Yoko don’t hope too much.” He managed to say. “You may get hurt more deeply.”
“Talk about yourself! I need to go now.”
“Idiot.” Subaru rubbed his forehead. “I am coming too. We need at least one adult soul there.” He couldn’t help his lips curl up.
“What’s going on?” asked Yassu with a sleepy voice. “What’s all this commotion?”
“We are going to see Ryo. He is alive!” Yoko screamed with happiness.
Subaru smacked his head. “Don’t give false hope. Yassu we are going to the hospital, apparently there is someone who looks like Ryo.”
Yassu scratched his head “You mean our Ryo?”
“Yes, of course our Ryo! Which other Ryo is there?! We need to see if it is him. Wake up Shin-chan, explain the situation and wait for our call.”
“Understood!” Said Yassu as he sat up straight.
As they got out the guitarist went to wake up the said man. “Shin-chan, wake up. There is an incredible turn on the events!”
“Hmm...” Shingo turned the other way.
“Oi wake up or you might not see Ryo again!”
“hmm... I probably won’t.” He mumbled.
“But he might be alive.”
“Yeah... what!” Shingo opened his eyes in an instant. “Yassu… that’s a cruel way to wake someone up!”
Down on the side of the building Yoko and Subaru were trying to catch a cab. Subaru watched his overly excited bandmate with worried eyes.
“Yoko... he might not be...”
“I already know that. Don’t break my joy please.”
“But-“
“Yayy lucky, an empty cab! This is a lucky day!”
Subaru followed him quite concerned. “I am just-”
“Could you please shut up already Subaru!”
They entered the Hospitals ER with extremely different moods. Yoko was quiet cheerful with a big smile on his face, looking all around with excitement. Subaru was extremely anxious that he gave a scary vibe. They went straight to the information desk; Yoko walking briskly and Subaru paddling along him.
“Hello.” Said Yoko cheerfully. Subaru watched the scene with a frown. “We are here to see Nishikido Ryo. Somebody called us a while ago.”
“Oh.” Said the middle aged woman in charge of the desk. “I was the one who called.” She smiled.
“Where is he?” Yoko offered the woman a big smile.
The woman smiled back at him. “You are full of hope.”
“Of course I am! Wouldn’t you be.”
“Stop it.” Subaru smacked Yoko’s head but without any strength in it.
The woman smiled at them before turning to one of her co-workers “Can you take charge for a while Sakamoto-san.”
“Sure.” The other answered.
Yoko couldn’t stay still, he was so excited, his hands were all over the place and he smiled at every passing doctor, patient and nurse alike. “Let’s go, let’s go. Ryo hates waiting.”
Subaru rolled his eyes but said nothing as they started to follow the desk employee through the hallway. She turned left, to another hallway and walked to the very end. “We thought he might be an idol so we hid him away from the curious eyes as much as we could.” She offered them as an explanation for their long walk.
“Why would you?” asked Yoko with wide eyes.
“Patient rights probably.” Subaru shrugged. “It’s good they did, even if it’s not Ryo.”
She smiled shyly. “That and we didn’t want anyone to slack off. Nor did we want any unnecessary people filling the ER. You see ER needs to be active to save lives, help people.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Yoko nodded absentmindedly. “Can we see him now?” Yoko tried to get past the door but the nurse stopped him.
“It might be better you know what happened to him first.”
“Can’t we do that after we identify him?” asked Subaru.
“Okay.” The woman sighed and opened the door. “He hit his head pretty badly and his face is a bit swollen. But it will go down soon.” She let them in and went to a curtained area which was hiding the bed behind them.
Yoko and Subaru took a deep breath at the same time. They slowly walked over to the bed. Yoko was actually trembling with both excitement and fear. They lifted their heads with fear when the desk employee pulled the curtains.
There he was.
Yes, of course, it was Ryo. Who else could it be; with those moles on his face and long eyelashes and that big nose which he was proud of. He seemed like he was asleep rather than comatosed.
Yoko hugged Subaru tightly while smiling and crying at the same time. “I told you so, it is Ryo!”
Subaru didn’t deny it either; he was grinning like crazy.
“So it really is him?” asked the desk employee.
“Yes.” Subaru confirmed.
“Okay.” She marked something down.” I’ll go and inform the doctor in charge. You can take your time. The Doctor will be here to talk with you as soon as he can.”
“Thank you.” They didn’t pay much attention to the nurse actually. Not when their dead bandmate was lying in front of them pretty much alive.
Ryo was wearing a hospital gown. There was a tube coming out of his mouth and an Iv on his arm. His head was bandaged, but still his messy hair was all over the pillow. His left hand and elbow was bandaged. There were little scars on his hands and face. The woman was right, his face was a little swollen; actually it was his left cheek with a big black bruise on it. Whenever that happened, it happened a while ago judging by the colour.
Tears were still streaming down Yoko’s cheeks as he laughed. His instinct was to hug Ryo but he was afraid to harm the other further. So he settled on hugging Subaru instead.
“It is him, you see.”
Subaru let out a sigh. “Yup you are right. I am sorry.” He rubbed his eyes. “I feel like weeping... Probably it’s an after effect of walking around with a kid.”
“Hey don’t complain about it. Besides I am not the cry baby of the group.” He smirked.
“He looks beaten up.” Subaru commented after a while.
“At least he is alive.”
“Yeah.”
They sat quietly and waited patiently for the doctor or for Ryo to open his eyes. They were so happy that they didn’t mind how many minutes or hours passed by. Ryo being alive relieved them so much, they could even wait for days.
The doctor arrived around half an hour later. He informed the two Eito members of how they found Ryo and what they did to him, what was his condition, all the important details from the past three days.
In summary, Ryo was found in a cargo bay in Haneda airport, unconscious and beaten up. Nobody knew what happened to him exactly but evidence suggested he was robbed. He probably was forced into the cargo bay by some unknown assailant. Apparently, there have been these kinds of incidents in the airport lately. There was an open police investigation for the case as well.
Looking at his injuries, it was clear that he fought back; well Ryo wasn’t a man to give in easily. So that’s what landed him in this state. He had two wounds on his head and multiple fractures on his body; ribs, wrist, elbow etc. Luckily, nothing was broken.
His fever was high due to his head wounds being infected. But everything was under control, the doctor assured them. All in all, the doctors were quiet positive about his condition. Their only worry came from the head wound. All head wounds were serious and they could cause many illness. Ryo’s was pretty dangerous, and him not waking up yet worried the doctors.
Subaru sighed at the information. Once the doctor finished his explanation, Yoko went to call the others and the Jimusho - they both had forgotten their cell phones.
“They are trying to collect their thoughts.” He informed Subaru when he returned to the room. Subaru was watching Ryo with thoughtful eyes.
Yoko turned his attention to Ryo and inspected the younger himself. He could see goose bumps on the others arms. Yoko sighed and pulled the sheets to cover Ryo’s body more. “He always complains about cold doesn’t he?” He turned to Subaru when the other didn’t reply.
The tiny guitarist was sitting at the very edge of the bed, trying not to harm Ryo.
“They all want to come over obviously, but Hina is trying to calm them.” Yoko informed. “We are too crowded for a hospital. Hina and Yassu are trying to arrange them, so they can come on by one.”
Subaru nodded. “And what about the Jimusho?”
“They made an official announcement that Ryo was robbed and the one who was trying to travel to Osaka was only using his identity. They also informed the fans to give both groups some time. And of course ended it with an apology. Nothing is expected of us for a while. ”
“It’s funny, but I am glad he was robbed.” Subaru said massaging his neck.
“Yeah, me too. Jimusho contacted his family but it seems they can’t make it. It must be very complicated over there. I mean they had a wedding and I heard his sister was pregnant too. It’s an extremely difficult situation.”
“Whatever.” Subaru cut off.
Silence fell between them. They passed their time by watching Ryo, the monitors, the birds outside of the window and the people passing by in the hallway. There were a few curious faces every now and then, but the curtains hid Ryo pretty well. Subaru and Yoko would not show themselves much either.
Time really passed slowly when one was waiting for something, especially for someone to wake up. Seconds felt like long minutes, and each minute felt like an hour. They were happy Ryo was alive, but they were getting impatient because all they wanted was to get everything back to normal. Have Ryo laugh and sing and embarrass himself, get angry at them, play pranks with them. They wanted life to go back to usual.
Which was worse, it depends on choice; but waking up in a hospital to unfamiliar surroundings and unknown people around is a pretty scary experience. It is so scary that often it makes one feel like crying, yelling, trying to escape. But, instead, they would lay there to wait and wait for things to make sense.
That’s what happened to Ryo. His eyes stirred first, then his eyelashes trembled. He opened his eyes to a very unfamiliar room. Two happy and excited face greeted him.
Ryo became more aware of his surroundings by every passing second. He looked around with eyes full of fear. He was laying on a bed with wires sticking out all around him. This already put him in a state of alarm. He realized somewhat later there was something in his mouth; triggering his fear and making him reach and try to get it out.
“Whoa! Slow down.” Yoko caught his wrist with one arm and secured the tube with the other. “It’s okay Nishikido. You are okay.” He smiled down at his juniors fear filled eyes.
Subaru rushed out to alert the doctors.
The doctor arrived quickly this time. “Glad to see you awake.” He smiled. As an emergency doctor he lived a high tension life but he always managed to smile at the end. “Do you know what happened to you?”
Ryo shook his head from side to side in response.
“Okay. That is expected. You were found in a cargo bay at Haneda airport, you had two wounds on head...” as the doctor explained his situation Ryo waited impatiently as he tried to pull out the tube again - thanks to Yoko he couldn’t manage it the second time either.
“I see you want to get rid of that tube already. I will help you to get it out but I have to warn you, your throat is irritated. Don’t push yourself to talk.”
Yoko tried to help a scared Ryo to sit up. But Ryo, being himself and acting tough, refused Yoko’s help and got up to a sitting position.
The doctor disconnected the tube and pulled it out slowly, making Ryo cough.
“It’s okay.” The doctor soothed. “Here drink some water.”
Yoko ran gentle circles on Ryo’s back as Ryo grabbed the glass of water and tried to drink. But since his hands were shaking too much, he spilled more then he drank. Subaru got a tissue in an instant to dry his friend. Ryo startled at the contact.
“Wha...” Ryo began in a very low and very husky voice as he tried to get away from Yoko and Subaru.
“It’s okay Ryo. Take it easy.”
“Yes take it easy.” said the doctor. “We will be keeping you till tomorrow just to make sure you are okay. Don’t push yourself for anything. Your body needs to rest to heal. Ah! One more thing; the police will arrive to take an interrogation.”
Ryo cleared his throat but that didn’t help at all, when he spoke again his voice was still as low as a whisper. “What is going on? I would like to inform my relatives.”
Yoko seemed hurt but Subaru smiled. “Sorry they can’t come, not right now.” Subaru explained to the younger man. “Things are complicated at Osaka right now. I am sure you can imagine. But, hey, you still have us! We the crazy old men!”
“Who...” Ryo coughed again. “Who are you exactly?”
Yoko and Subaru looked at him with equally stunned expressions.
At that exact moment, Yamapi jumped in to the room with excitement. “Ryo-chan! You are awake already! Ah I am so happy to see you again!” hey plumped down on the bed and grinned at his friend. “Smile will you.” He tried to force Ryo in to a smile as he forcefully pulled Ryo’s lips up with his fingers. But what happened next frightened them all. The sudden contact made Ryo jump back and wrap his arms around himself. He was visibly shivering as he eyed all occupants of the room with hostility.
“I think we need to talk doctor.” Subaru said, frowning at the sight.
To be continued…
A.N : No the title has nothing to do with ‘Star Wars’, I am just enjoying myself.
ER is referring to Emergency Rooms in the hospitals where they initially treat patients as you may know.
I don’t know anything about medical science well, so please forgive me for my mistakes. Everything written here is for the plot sake :D
I might rushed this chapter coz I had to go somewhere for the weekend. Sorry if it is bad. And no I am not pleased, isn’t it short!
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