The Prince

Part 46

Skye quietly entered Noah's hospital room with Tsukasa in tow. He looked at the tubes and wires Noah was connected to, his already small frame, looking emaciated and pale. He found it hard to look at Noah in this state, knowing that he should have reacted faster.

Tsukasa looked on silently, his eyes trained on Noah, his jaw firmly clenched. He wouldn't have known if he didn't see Hollard forcefully carting off a struggling man.

"What happened?" He asked again, hoping that Skye would be more forthcoming with his information.

"He tried to protect me and got stabbed by his brother. That's all there is to it."

"That's all? What did you do that would make him put himself in danger?"

"Don't you think I also want to know why he did it? Do you think I went looking for a fight just to get him hurt?" He didn't know who he should be more angry with, himself or Tsukasa for asking him questions that didn't help assuage his guilt.

When they were told to leave, he watched as Tsukasa gently kissed Noah's cheek, looking gutted at leaving him. Skye didn't have a much better time. He wanted to stay until Noah opened his eyes to make sure that he was safe, but no amount of begging helped. Instead, he followed Tsukasa out to where Jackson and Raymond were waiting.

"Noah's brother's been arrested," Raymond said when the two stopped in front of them. "He isn't saying anything, but you'll have to go to the police station to give a statement." Skye nodded, grinding his teeth.

"Do you two want to stay with us?" Raymond looked at the two worried boys.

"Thanks for the offer, Dad." He turned to Tsukasa. " You don't have to come if you don't want to, it's just that the hospital will call my dads if there's any update."

"I'll go with you," he said shortly.

The following morning, the four went to the police station so that Skye could give his account of the events. He still couldn't believe how quickly things escalated or that Noah's brother would even think of stabbing someone let alone his brother. He was glad when he could leave and be on his way to the hospital.

When they got to the ICU, they learned that Noah had moved to another ward. Quickly moving along the passages, they found him asleep looking much better than the previous evening, but still gaunt with dark rings under his eyes.

"We'll leave you boys to it," Jackson turned to hug Skye. "He's going to be fine now, don't worry."

Taking a seat on either side of the bed, the two silently sat looking at Noah, each gently cradling a hand. After what seemed like hours, Skye stretched his back thinking he could go and get a coffee. Getting up to properly stretch, he looked at Noah one more time before heading to the door.

"Noah?" He heard Tsukasa's voice, immediately turning around to get to the bed.

"Finally, you're awake!" Skye said, relieved.

"Are you, are you okay?" Noah's voice was raspy and soft, forcing the two boys to lean closer.

"I'm okay, but you're not. You gave us a big scare for a while."

"I'll bounce back, this isn't my first rodeo," he tried to make light of the situation.

"You're not particularly funny, you know?" Skye shot back. He was surprised that Tsukasa hadn't said anything yet.

Noah looked at Tsukasa who was still holding his hand, giving him a small smile. If he wasn't lying down, he would have fallen off the bed when Tsukasa dropped his hand and enveloped him in a gentle hug, burying his face in Noah's neck.

"Right, I think that's my cue to leave," Skye smiled at Noah who seemed at a loss of words. Closing the door behind him, he walked off to find some coffee and call his parents.

"Tsukasa?" He was surprised by Tsukasa's show of affection.

"You should never do anything like that again," he whispered still holding on to Noah. Finally letting go, he sat up and held his hand again.

"It wasn't planned, I just hope Skye's alright."

"He's more than fine, I think. Nothing ever phases him," he said sourly thinking of how uncommunicative he'd been.

"That's good," he sighed in relief.

"Promise me you'll never do anything like this again. I don't think my heart can handle the stress."

"Your heart?" What did he mean by that and why had Skye left the moment Tsukasa hugged him? Was something going on that he wasn't aware of?

"Yes, but I don't think now's the time to talk about it. You need to get better first."

"What's wrong with now? You can still tell me what it is," he tried again without much success. Tsukasa had taken to staring at him again.

"No, we'll do it later." Noah was surprised by the finality in his voice. He'd never taken a hard line against anything. Tsukasa was always happy, smiling and easygoing, so it was hard to imagine him being as firm as Skye.

Closing his eyes briefly, he felt his head start to spin. He felt tired and worn out, but didn't want to miss the opportunity to talk to the boys. He wondered where his brother was and what happened to him.

If what had happened before was anything to go by, then he'd completely lost the plot. His brother had never turned violent against anybody besides him, so why start now? Was it because Skye interfered with his plans or was there more to it?

On his way back to the room, Skye took his phone out of his pocket.

"Hollard, what can you get me on Noah's brother?"

"Do you want his blood type and family tree as well?" Hollard chuckled.

"Right, no need to get smarmy. Whatever you can get for now."

"Skye, don't go doing anything crazy or illegal. We have ways of dealing with things like this," he reminded Skye.

"I won't, I only need some more information, that's all. I'll let Dad handle the rest, but I want to know anything that could help us put him away."

"Of course," Hollard agreed and cut the call.

Going into the room, he found Noah asleep again, with Tsukasa holding his hand.

"Come on, let's give him some time to rest. We can come back this evening again." When it looked like he was going to argue, Skye continued.

"There's no point sitting here when we can't do anything. Come on, he's out of danger now and needs the rest."

Tsukasa nodded with a severe frown on his face, silently getting up to follow Skye out.