One Last Time

14

When Kuroo heard his alarm going off the next morning, he excitedly jumped out of bed. Today was the day when Kenma was released from the hospital, and Kuroo, of course, hoped Kenma wasn't still mad at him for whatever reason so they could go home together.

After Kuroo had fed the cat, changed, eaten, and everything he normally did, he left to go get Kenma. He happily made his way to the car and started it up.

When he was ready, he drove off to go pick up Kenma. He was excited and wanted to be able to spend the day with him how he liked.

After what had seemed like an hour, he finally arrived at the hospital. His excitement had been building up since he hadn't been able to spend the day outside of the hospital for about a week. The passing minutes felt like hours to Kuroo as he continued to grab everything he needed from the car and lock it.

As he walked through the parking lot, he felt more excited by the second. He felt as if time was passing slower by the second and as if it would take him all day to walk across the parking lot. As he walked, he caught glances of other people smiling and talking to others, or he saw the gloomy faces of people entering the hospital.

His thoughts continued to race as fast as his heart had been while he walked. Maybe Kenma was still mad at him. He doubted it, but he could've been. Kuroo tried not to overthink everything too much, as Kenma could've just been in one of his moods.

He didn't know why he thought about it so much, as he usually didn't think too hard about it question their relationship much. This time though, he had a bad feeling, but couldn't push it down with the other thoughts.

As he made it to the entryway, he felt a mix of emotions - excited, scared, nervous. He opened the door, the smell of the bitter cleaners and antiseptics from the hospital filling his nostrils.

He walked to the front counter, being greeted by the guy wearing scrubs sitting at the counter. He stared intently at his computer monitor, clicking a few keys every second or so. When he noticed Kuroo's presence, he smiled ana awkward smile and looked up from the screen.

"Hi. Are you visiting?" The man slightly rubbed his chin with his pointer finger and thumb.

"Yeah. For Kenma. Kenma Kozume." He slightly smiled and scratched the back of his neck. He could feel his heart racing.

The guy at the counter pushed up his glasses and started to type on the computer. He had a disappointed expression, but it went away almost as quick as it had come. This slightly worried Kuroo, but he assumed the best.

After he had finished typing a bit, the man pointed down the hallway behind him. "Okay, can you go wait in the waiting room? The nurse will call you when she's ready to see you."

Kuroo was slightly confused at this, but he just bowed in response and walked down the hallway where he had pointed. He figured the nurse wanted to see him before they released Kenma. He had managed to convince himself in his mind that it was actually the reason for the nurse wanting to see him.

He scrolled through his phone a bit, waiting to be called. There were only about three other people in the waiting room. Two of them were together, and the other was sitting alone, just like Kuroo was. He looked back down at his phone, not wanting to seem nosy.

After he had been waiting for about 45 minutes, his name had finally been called. "For... Kenma?" The nurse scanned the room, looking for the person she needed.

Kuroo slightly raised his hand, signaling that was for him. He began to stand up and put his phone in his pocket before he walked over to her. He smoothed out his shirt when he made his way over to her.

"Right this way." She silently motioned down the hallway and started walking that brisk, nurse-like walk.

Kuroo didn't recognize this hallway. This wasn't the way to Kenma's room. He kept on trying to think the best. Maybe they had moved his room. Or maybe he was ready to leave and was waiting for Kuroo.

When the lady stopped, Kuroo had almost bumped into her. He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't realize he was still walking. He instantly became a bit more nervous, but still tried to just think of the best possible outcome.

He found it difficult to keep thinking about the best possible situation. He was usually pretty good at thinking positively, but he just had a bad feeling about this. He didn't know what it was, but he could just feel it.

When they got to the room, it was empty except for a few chairs. There were about three lined up and one chair across from it. The nurse motioned for him to come inside, and he did so when he was told.

He sat down in the middle of the three chairs. He felt anxious about everything. He nervously shook his leg and fiddled with his fingers.

The lady in scrubs calmly and quietly closed the door behind her. She had a small clipboard in her hand with a few papers on it. Kuroo was confused, and wanted to know where Kenma was.

The nurse sat down in the chair across from him and folded her fingers on top of the clipboard sitting on her lap. She quietly sighed before she spoke.

"So.. We have something to tell you." She now had a serious, straight face. No more welcoming smiles.

Kuroo leaned a bit forward in his chair to listen. He could feel the anxiety rising by the second and wanted to hurry and listen to what she was about to say.

She took a quick deep breath before she continued what she was saying. She spoke in a soft voice. "Kenma... isn't with us anymore."

"What?"