Odd Jobs

Chapter 26 - Inner Story

The beeping sound was deafening. It ran at a slow, heartbreaking pace. Beep. A two second interval. Then another beep.

But there was a heartbeat. And that's all that mattered to Yuu. Mika's heart was beating, meaning he was alive. He hadn't lost him just yet.

Yuichiro knocked the feelings of deja vu off of his shoulders, as he once again sat at the side of a hospital bed. Though they had been in the situation before, a passed out Mika in the bed and a worried Yuu next to him, this was incomparable to the other times the blonde had been hospitalized. The air mask attached to that beautiful face, the IV tubes attached to his body, and not to forget the stomach-pump keeping him alive.

Let aside that a week has passed since they found Mika. Yuu still sees that image everytime he closes his eyes. The image of his boyfriend, seemingly dead, lying down in a small puddle of his own blood. Without thinking, the ravenette had ran over to him, cradling him in his arms as he screamed and cried. He'd gotten some strange looks in the hospital because of it. Sure, he had calmed down when the doctors got Mika's initial heartbeat, but the poor boy was still crying and panicking. Being covered in blood most likely didn't help with the scene, either.

Luckily, the horror of that night was over. The lasting effects would always remain there, though. There was no way Yuichiro would ever be able to get that image out of his head. But, somehow, that wasn't what bugged him the most.

What bugged him the most, was the why and how of the circumstances. Why did Mika end up like this? As much as it would explain everything, there was no way this was an attempted suicide. If so, highly impractical. And if it wasn't the case, how did poor Mika get to this? Where does the wound come from? Was he attacked? Did someone try to kill him? Was someone out for his bl-

Yuu's thoughts were cut off by the entrance of someone in the hospital room. He looked up, his bright green eyes locking with a dark purple. He felt the tears dwell in his eyes again, as he rushed to stand up to hug the individual. The man sighed.

"Shinya told me what happened. You holding up?" Yuu shook his head, sobbing. "The situation's too familiar, isn't it?" He nodded.

"It's all my fault!", the smaller ravenette sobbed.

"Literally how? I know you're an idiot, but there was no way you could have prevented this. It's not your fault, Yuu. Take some pride in yourself."

"S-Sorry, Guren..." Guren sighed again, accepting Yuu's hug. "Thank you for being here..."

"You're my nephew, I felt obligated to." That earned a small chuckle from Yuu. "Has anything special happened yet with your boy?"

"Nothing...", Yuichiro replies as he let go of his uncle, moving back to his spot next to Mika's bed. "He looks like he's sleeping so peacefully... I hope he's having a good dream..."

"I don't think coma patients dream, moron."

"At least he isn't having a nightmare, then."

~~

"Hey, Mika...", she whispered, gently shaking him awake. The boy groaned, turning over in his bed. "Oi, lazy ass! We're waiting for you!"

"Eat without me... Five more minutes..."

"Come on, mom made eggs. Dad even got the fake bacon from the store you like!"

"Five more minutes, Krul... I'm tired..."

"Then you shouldn't have gone to bed at 4AM! Come on! Get up!" The blonde boy groaned once more, as his little sister threw the covers off of him, dragging him up by his arm. Eventually, he gave in, getting out of bed. Krul dragged her brother down the stairs.