Bruises ~ Bokuaka

7. Diagnosis

"Akaashi Keiji!" 

Akaashi stood, walking to the nurse. 

"You're Akaashi?" 

"Yes ma'am." He brought his jacket tighter around himself, following her. She had him sit in a regular-looking checkup room. 

Akaashi stayed still, waiting patiently. He'd had to come here by himself. It was… Interesting. Nearly fainting in public wasn't as scary as imagined. 

A doctor soon walked in and smiled at Akaashi. "Hello, Akaashi. I'm Dr. Sato. I'm an oncologist here at the hospital and I've just come to ask you a few questions and see how you're doing." 

"I'm pretty tired, to be honest," Akaashi answered. 

"That's understandable. Have you been feeling tired a lot lately?" 

"Yes sir." 

"I'm sorry to hear that. Have you been having any other symptoms? If so what are they and about how long have they been going on?" 

"Oh. Um… I've felt a lot of joint pain and headaches. I bruise easily and get odd nosebleeds. Plus nausea but that only happens when I have a fever and get chilly. It's been pretty strong for uh… I want to say three months but It could be longer."

"Ah. So headaches, fever, easy bruising, fatigue. Those are all the things that you've been dealing with?" 

Akaashi fiddled with his hands. "Yes."

"Have you been feeling any better?" 

"Not necessarily. It's been hard going to work while I'm this tired. My wrists are very sore." 

"Ah. That actually may have to do with the issue you are facing." The doctor pulled out a folder, handing Akaashi some of the papers from inside of it. "When the hospital took your blood tests there was a very odd number of white blood cells present. Typically healthy blood has many more red blood cells than it does white blood cells. Your white blood cell count is incredibly high though." 

Akaashi nodded. The numbers on this paper made no sense. 

"Your bone marrow sample also seemed to be off. We did a biopsy with the sample and I personally looked over it to see what was going on and it seems that I have some bad news." 

Akaashi raised his head completely. Oh no. No more bad news. God no. 

"We found that you have leukemia, which fits the symptoms you're having." 

Akaashi took a deep breath. He fiddled with his jacket, trying to take this in. Was he even going to survive? What about Oda? Would Oda be okay? How would he tell his baby? 

Dr. Sato took a deep breath. "In situations like this with such an aggressive type of cancer, it usually requires chemotherapy and radiation. In your case, you would also need a bone marrow transplant." 

Akaashi held back his tears of frustration. "What am I supposed to do? I… I have a son. I'm supposed to get married. I don't have any money…" 

"We have payment options to choose from. It's in the packet I gave you." He closed his folder. "Do you have any questions?" 

Akaashi tried to get something out. Anything would be good. Instead, he started to cry and held himself. He had no one to hold him. His son would have to watch him get worse. Ren would hurt him. Bokuto was leaving him in two weeks. 

Dr. Sato stood and hugged him, alarmed. "Everything will be okay. Our team here will take care of you." 

Akaashi clung to him, sobbing his heart out. His chest hurt and he felt close to having an anxiety attack. 

****

"Finally, you're home. What did those doctors have to say?" 

Akaashi glanced at Ren. "Do you mind if I go lay down? I'm feeling a little under the weather." 

Ren stared at him as he removed his jacket. "Keiji." 

"Hm?" 

"What did they say?" 

Akaashi stared at the kitchen counter. He took a deep breath. "I have cancer." 

The apartment was silent for a split second. Then there was a laugh. "That's not funny." 

"I wasn't joking. I have acute myeloid leukemia." Akaashi looked up. "I need chemo treatment and radiation and bone marrow transplants." 

Ren stood and Akaashi watched him walk up to the other side of the counter. "We don't have the money." 

"There are payment options." 

Ren nodded. "Go lay down." 

Akaashi nodded. He walked to his room and let himself sleep. He was sure he slept through lunch and dinner and phone calls but honestly, everything that had been handed to him was too much. 

Somehow he was supposed to tell a six-year-old that his Dad had a disease that could kill him if he wasn't treated. He had to tell Bokuto. 

Oh. 

Bokuto. 

Bokuto was leaving soon. He would be a while away by then. But he deserved to know. Bokuto had taken care of him for years and had been a wonderful friend. Akaashi's only friend at that. He had others who he talked to but no one matched Bokuto. 

****

Ren reached over, pulling Akaashi closer. "Baby… We need to get up." 

Akaashi held on, taking a deep breath. "You called my manager already. It'll be fine." 

Ren sighed. He kissed Akaashi's hair. "Well, Oda is going to need to get ready for school." 

Akaashi sat up. His back hurt today. He went to Oda's room and woke him before checking the sheets and dressing him. Oda gave him a ton of hugs and kisses this morning. Maybe he could tell something was wrong. He was similar to his biological father in that sense. Akaashi's older brother was a sweetheart and could tell when things were wrong with everyone. God, he missed his brother. 

"Hey, Oda, can you go get Daddy's phone? I need to call Grandma really quick while you eat." 

Oda ran off down the hall. Akaashi was gifted his phone and a hug when he returned. What a sweet, sweet little boy. Hopefully, he wasn't doing that just to make Ren happy. 

Akaashi stepped into his room and called his mother, sitting down. The phone only rang for a moment before it was picked up. 

"Oh, Keiji! It's been so long honey how are you?" 

Akaashi smiled. "I could be a bit better." 

"I'm sorry to hear that. Got a cold?" 

"Worse... Um... I actually had to go to the doctor's office yesterday." He took a deep breath. "I got diagnosed with cancer." 

"Keiji..." 

"Y-yeah, mom?" 

"Take a deep breath. It's okay. It'll be okay," She whispered. 

"I'm so scared," Akaashi stated. "Mom I'm so scared." 

"I'm sure you are. Does Ren know?" 

"He does." 

"And Bokuto?" 

"Soon." 

"Alright honey. I'll be there first thing tomorrow. We'll talk then, okay? You should get back to bed. I love you." 

"I love you too." Akaashi hung up.