Safe Haven | Yuzuru Hanyu

27.

"Yuzu, You know I would tell you if I could."

"What I mean is that you don't have to pretend with me."

"Okay"

"Are you hurt?"

Somehow, he seemed to always know when something was wrong, even if she tried her best to hide it from him.

"I'm fine."

"So, you're hurt?"

"You're such a pain in the ass..."

"It's 4 am, what do you expect?"

Shit, Emma thought, she hadn't even thought of the time difference.

"Sorry, Zu! I didn't even think..."

"I just want to hear your voice, it doesn't matter at what time."

"No wonder you sounded sleepy."

"I have more than enough time to sleep later. We can't videocall can we?"

Emma thought for a few moments before thinking about it. Even if he suspected anything, it was better to protect him with what she could.

"Maybe some other time. You understand, right?"

"Yes yes"

"Let's talk about something else. How are things there?"

"The same. Everything is closed, we can't go out for most stuff."

"No news of the rink?"

"I think it might open soon. At least for athletes."

"Any news of competitions?"

"They want to do GP, but I'm not sure if I want to go."

"You have to think of your health. Catching COVID can be dangerous for you"

"And it's a losing game too."

Emma had never heard him speak about it so clearly. After she did her research on him, there were a few scoring problems that she noticed. She wasn't sure if he thought of it, but what he said just confirmed that he was aware.

"You can't think like that..."

"My negative side catches me sometimes."

"Then turn it off. Have you been training?"

"Yes. My off-ice triple axel is good now."

"Your what?"

"I didn't say? I started doing it to train the quad."

"When?"

"Long time ago"

"That's crazy. Straight up crazy."

The laugh that graced her ears made her day instantly better.

Their conversation was interrupted by a nurse entering the room, equipped with some supplies for what Emma assumed to be a blood draw.

"Yuzu, I have to go."

"I understand."

"I will call when I can and I promise I will look at the time before I do."

"As long as we can have contact, you can call me whenever you want."

"Get some rest, superstar."

"Em..."

"Tell me when you can hold me again..."

"I will. Bye, Emma."

Disconnecting that call hurt her more than she would have liked but he also needed the rest and she was still under observation at the hospital.

And her Major was still very much around.

"Captain..."

"Please tell me you have good news." She told him after the nurse was done.

"I'm afraid not. You will have to stay in the States until things calm down."

"What am I even supposed to do until then?"

"Rest."

"You're joking!"

"No, Anderson, I'm not. They will be paying you a significant amount because of the mistakes made during the operation. Just enjoy some time without work and get some rest for once."

Emma's idea of rest was now cuddling on the couch or bed with Yuzuru. Being miles away from him made this rest time frustrating and confusing. The woman had no idea what she would do with so much free time while she was supposed to be on bed rest.

This felt like those first months after she was discharged before joining the bodyguard service with the Sargeant.

And now?

Now she couldn't even do that.

One, because she had to rest before being able to protect anyone.

And two, she wasn't quite sure that she wanted to be a bodyguard for anyone else but him now.

More than anything, Emma was confused about what to do next. The world was in an absolute mess, the man that she...well...loved...was too far away, and she had no one to go back to and no job to do.

All she had were 2 new scars and a mess of a life that didn't seem to be fixable by itself.

The worst part was that maybe Yuzuru could help by giving some incentive to the Japanese government, but she didn't want to tell him the whole story and risk any accusations of breaking national security laws. That and abusing the name of his power was probably not the best move.

On top of everything, she was feeling more pain than usual on her surgery site. Even if she tried to be a strong person and refuse most painkillers, the pain only made the time go slower.

Emma found herself binge-watching his skating on YouTube while she was alone at the hospital, going through every program enough times to almost be able to replicate it and memorize every step, jump, and spin.

Not that she had any plans to even attempt something like that.

Her stay at the hospital ended up being longer than initially expected. Well, maybe the doctors weren't predicting it but it was quite natural. Her wounds were infected, which is no surprise to her given just how much traveling her injured body did before finally being treated.

A good dose of antibiotics later and she was being discharged from the hellhole that was the military hospital.

The only decent perk of them was that she didn't have to pay for her care, which knowing the state of the States health care system was for sure a relief given that her insurance probably wasn't that great.

The last thing she needed was to get in debt like when her mom was sick.

Emma had to find a new place to stay.

Truth be told, she wanted to be on the other side of the world or at least in Toronto, but given that traveling was pretty much impossible at that time, she had to settle with an Airbnb for the first days and later on a small apartment in the Washington Area.

In her head was only one thought, the world better figure its shit together so she can get back to Japan.