So Many Problems (OHSHC) [Haruhi x Tamaki] {COMPLETE}

Chapter 21

A/N: I AM BACK BABY. THAT'S RIGHT. MY PHONE...IS FIXED. (I accidentally shattered it.) Anywho, here is the next part! Please VOTE or COMMENT!! I LOVE them! And you guys, of course.
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Tamaki's face went as white as chalk. "Senpai?" Haruhi asked quietly. A loud voice came from the phone, and she wondered again what was happening.

Tamaki blinked to life...somewhat. His face was still bloodless and his eyes seemed void of any of his usual exuberance. "I'm on my way," he said, his voice hardly above a whisper.

He shut his phone and finally looked at Haruhi. "What happened?" she asked softly, as if talking to a grenade or a wild horse.

Tamaki swallowed visibly and just stood. "We need to leave," he announced in that barely-there voice.

"O-okay," she mumbled, standing with him. Whatever happened, it isn't good, her gut told her.

I know, she replied to it.

Tamaki dropped a hundred dollar bill on the table and took her hand. His palms were clammy and his fingers were cold. A sure sign of anxiety, she thought. What the hell happened?

The woman at the counter was surprised by their sudden departure. "P-please come again!" she shouted after them. Haruhi smiled apologetically at her and waved, hoping that was enough.

It was twilight when they got outside. Tamaki was completely focused, but it wasn't a determination, it was a sort of fear. He snapped open his cell phone and ordered the limo to get there immediately, since he had told the driver to enjoy himself for an hour. All the while, Haruhi sat in silence, knowing that she should just be there, to keep him calm at the very least.

The limo was there in less than five grueling minutes. "Took long enough," Tamaki muttered tensely. He opened the door and let Haruhi slide in before sinking into the seats himself. "Go," he told the driver. The limo lurched forward.

Haruhi glanced at Tamaki from the corner of her eye every so often. He sat rigidly in his seat, staring out the window in thought with dread on his pale face. Occasionally, his face would blanch even more.

Haruhi took a silent breath. "Senpai?" she began gently.

Tamaki seemed to snap out of his trance as he looked to her. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Haruhi pursed her lips in thought. Then she reached up and pressed the button that put a shield between them and the driver. Bravely, she turned her body toward him, keeping her gait open and welcoming. "Tamaki, are you alright?" she asked worriedly.

Tamaki's face didn't change from its hard expression. "No," he said shortly.

"What happened?" she continued. She scooted closer to him and grasped his cold hands in hers.

His eyes flickered from coldness to sadness and fright. "My grandmother," he whispered.

She slid forward until their knees were touching and she could hear his labored breaths. "What's wrong with her?" she asked, reaching up and stroking his brow with one finger.

Tears welled in his eyes. "She went into cardiac arrest. She's going to die."

Haruhi didn't flinch at his words. It was best to stay calm. She took her other hand and stroked his other eyebrow, her thumbs repeating the action of smoothing over his clammy forehead. "It'll be okay," she said in a soothing voice. "She'll be fine."

Tamaki's lower lip quivered. "I don't know what I'm going to do, Haruhi. If she dies... I'll be left with everything. I won't know what to do with it all."

"Here," she began, scooting back, "lay down in the seat." He did as he was told, and she continued to massage his forehead. Maybe it would get his thoughts together, calm him down. It always helped her when she would get anxious about something.

Tamaki closed his eyes after a minute and released a long sigh. "I don't know what I would do without you, Haruhi," he mumbled. Her heart jumped to life, but she didn't pause her actions. "Ever since you came to the host club, you've changed my life. You're so important to me."

Haruhi smiled shakily. "You're important to me, too. I love the host club. They're my family."

"You're such an amazing person," he whispered. "Beautiful, and funny, and kind, and open-minded... You always have me on edge," he chuckled. "I never know what you're going to do."

Haruhi blushed. Why he had started to pour his heart out, she had no idea. Tamaki opened his eyes and she was shocked by the intensity in them. The passion. "I love you," he whispered. "And I'm sorry I hurt you."

Haruhi shook her head and leaned down, pressing her lips to his lovingly. "You didn't hurt me," she said, quoting him from earlier that day. She kissed him once more and later resumed her stroking-of-the-eyebrows. "Just be quiet. We'll be there soon. She'll be fine, I promise."

-&-

"This way," the doctor said tersely, weaving his way through a crowd of bustling people. Finally they broke through and they were able to walk briskly and freely through the quiet, echoing halls. They turned a few times and sooner than expected, they were coming face-to-face with Tamaki's grandmother's hospital door. Haruhi grasped his bloodless fingers in hopes of keeping his nervous shaking under some kind of control. She could practically feel the waves of fear rolling off his tensed shoulders.

The doctor opened the door and stepped through. Tamaki was meant to follow, but he wouldn't budge. Haruhi sighed under her breath and walked in front of him, pulling him along behind her like a heavy wagon.

"Oh, miss, I'm sorry, but only family members are allowed," a nurse said suddenly to Haruhi. She was about to be pushed out, but the fierce look on Tamaki's face made the nurse back away. "Sorry," she mumbled, turning back to the hectic scene before them.

Shizue, laying still on the bed, was being defibrillated. "Clear!" could be heard almost every thirty seconds. Tamaki's grip tightened.

"Sir, if we keep this up, she won't be able to handle the stress it puts on her heart," the defibrillator-man said. His voice was muffled but loud because of the blue mask.

The doctor sighed. "Stop for now," he ordered in a defeated voice. "We can't help her anymore."

"What?" Tamaki intervened frantically. "No, no, no, she has to live! I--I can't handle all of her will! You have to make her live!"

A different doctor looked at Tamaki with stern eyes. "Sir, I'm sorry, but there's nothing more we can do. We'll be doing more damage if we keep going."

Haruhi watched in despair as her lover sunk to the ground. "So she's dead?" he whispered, seeming to be winded for some reason.

The doctor pressed his lips together in a grim line. "Essentially."

Haruhi felt Tamaki's tears. She felt his pain. Even though she wasn't a big fan of Shizue herself, it made her feel horrible knowing that she was all Tamaki had.

Turning everyone's head, a hoarse cry ripped through the hospital.

-&- {...Three Days Later...}

Haruhi's hand was tightly entwined with Tamaki's. His fingers were cold, as was the spring day as the rain fell. Under their black umbrella, their black clothes stayed dry, the same going for every other person at Shizue's funeral.

The priest said a few words as they lowered Shizue into the ground. Tamaki had already put his signature red rose on the casket, and it was the only red one on top of all the black and white ones.

"And now, the only grandson will say a few words," the priest announced in a gentle, sullen voice.

Tamaki cleared his throat as he stepped up to where the priest had been. He took Haruhi with him, making her look around embarrassedly. But she stood up next to him, knowing that he needed her at that moment. Everyone would need someone at a time like that.

She also knew, deep in her heart, he needed her some other way. A better kind of way. A way that made him long for her, and her for him.

Tamaki, looking dead ahead with steel eyes, took a deep breath and began.