Tourette's || KuroKen

chapter 11 - one stage up

a/n: sorry it's this short, next will be more in depth :)

-

Ding!

Kenma lifted his head from the uncomfortable position he was in, his neck was already aching. He looked around the hospital room he woke up in once again, his ears adjusted and quickly searched for the beeping of the heart monitor. He sighed in relief once he caught the beeping of his mother's heart, he sat up more in the somewhat big chair he fell asleep in. Once again he spent the night at the hospital, sleeping in the same chair he always slept in.

Ding!

Kenma groaned and rubbed his eyes, they were extremely exhausted, he felt the crust around his eyes, did he cry earlier? He tried to remember but he gave up on the foggy memories from last night, only remembering being with Kuroo.

He questioned himself why he was up again, slowly realizing it was his phone that woke him up. Picking up his phone from the stand next to him, he turned it on and the light burnt his eyes, squinting his eyes trying to unlock his phone. His eyes adjusted and he saw the text messages from an unknown number.

Kuro: Good Morning!

How did ya slep?

Kenma squinted even more, why in the hell was he texting him this early?

Kozume Kenma: m

Kenma sighed and stretched his legs, he yawned and stood up for a second, quickly falling back into the chair.

Ding!

"Oh my god.." Kenma groaned once more and turned his phone on.

Kuro: wake up :)

Kenma face palmed himself, he stood up and turned his phone off, ignoring the text messages from him. He slid his chair over to the hospital bed his mother was in, he watched the heart monitor slowly slide across the screen and beat to the heart inside his mother.

"Good morning son," A croaky voice speaked.

Kenma looked down at the pillows holding up his mothers head, her eyes looked up at his, they were blank but still filled with love. He smiled seeing her awake, he brushed the hair out of her face.

"Kenma, you're the best child I could ask for," She smiled and reached her hand onto his and squeezed it. "I'll love you forever son."

Kenma bit his lip,"Stop talking like that.. It's like you're going to die."

She laughed, "I won't, promise."

Kenma looked down at the ground and looked back up, "Promise..?" His eyebrows crinkled and tears flushed down his cheeks.

"Promise, it'll all be better soo-" She violently started to cough, quickly Kenma stood up and propped his mother up. He wiped his tears and kept his hand on his mother's back. As she held her hands up to her mouth to cover up her mouth, his heart was beating fast. She had one more violent cough and it started to slow down, she lifted her hands from her face to show the crimson liquid spread through her palm. "Don't worry Kenma.. I'm alright."

Kenma stood there frozen and stared at the blood that dripped from her hand. His mother noticed and quickly asked him to go get some tissues. He slowly let go of her and dragged his feet over to the cabinets on the other side of the room.

She's getting worse.. Why won't she just admit it? Kenma's thoughts floated around his mind, opening the cabinets and pulling out the box of tissues, he stared at them. Sudden urges of rage flooded over him, his hands curled over the box and it started crinkle.

"Why don't you just admit it mom?!" He burst out of anger, starterling his mother, "You're getting worse.. and, and.." Tears pricked at his eyes once again.

"Kenma.. I'll get better," Her voice was shaky, "I just know it. Now please baby, don't cry over me again."

Kenma scrunched up the box and threw it on the ground, he kept his head down and walked out of the room, bumping into a nurse that was on her way in. He quickly ran out of the situation and down the cold hallway.

The nurse watched him run away, she was startled but knew their situation. She walked in and checked the IV tube his mother was hooked up to.

"Good morning Ms. Kozume," She smiled, "How are you feeling today?"

"Normal," She smiled weakly. "How are you Mrs. Ito?"

The nurse sat down and sighed, "As good as I can be." She looked around the room and saw the messed up box of tissues, "What happened here?" She got up and picked up the tissue box.

"Ah, my son," Her smile faded and she held her hands together. "He is just getting so stressed about my wellness, he doesn't even go to school.. he's so stressed."

"Oh that young boy running out of here?" She sat back down in the chair, "He seems like a nice kid." She smiled.

"Yes, I love him to death." Kenma's mother painfully smiled, "I just don't know if I'm going to make it, not to mention these hospital bills.."

Her voice dried up and she started coughing more, she knew the virus in her lungs would soon collapse and kill her. She didn't want to die, not this soon, she was fighting for her son who had already lost so much and shed so many tears for her.

More blood spilt out of her mouth and horrendous chest pain made its way to her back. The nurse, Mrs. Ito, quickly gave her some antibiotics to help the pain. She alerted the doctor that was treating Kenma's mother at the time. The cancer had spread quicker than expected, it was now she knew the stage was moving up and her life expectancy would shorten.

-

The boy ran for some time, trying to blow off as much anger as he could. He was furious, but sadness beckoned through every inch of his body. Finally he stopped, listening to all the people yelling at him to stop running, but don't they know what he's going through? Why can't they understand him? He fell to his knees and rested up against the cold wall. His hands spiraled through his strands of hair, his eyebrows furrowed, he knew people were looking at him with the rude-immature-teenager look, not like he looked as old as he was, but he still knew.

"I can't.." He huffed, still struggling to catch his breath.

He sat there with his head to his knees once again. Then a sudden urge came to him, he didn't want to see his mother, not in that state. Pulling the heavy phone out his pocket, he scrolled through his contacts - not many - and pressed on the one with the name 'Kuro.' Slowly typing what he was going to say, he contemplated.

Kozume Kenma: i'm going to your birthday party.

Quickly he scratched that. The line to type blinked at him for what it seemed like eternity.

Kozume Kenma: when's your birthday again?

Kenma looked at the screen waiting for his response like his life depended on it, slowly watching the bubble typed back, racking his nerves.

Kuro.: November 16, why? Are you coming?

Kenma slowly breathed and his shaky hands typed out the letters, y-e-a.

Kuro.: i'm glad, thank you Kenma.

He smiled, how could someone care about him this much?

Kuro.: my father will come in the morning that day, be ready!

Is he really ready? His heart raced, did he really just agree? He still has time to cancel, why did he do that? Luckily he powered off his phone before cancelling, he needed to take this step, he can not back down now.

A couple days from now he would be in a place where it wasn't the hospital or dusty, lonely home. Slowly smiling in relief, finally.