『 drowning 』

chapter one

A hand absent-mindedly swiped at Nagisa's face, trying to scratch his cheek. "Ow," he hissed, a sharp pain biting into his wrist. He opened his eyes, squinting them against the bright, fluorescent lights that shone overhead from the ceiling. A large window spanned across the wall next to Nagisa's bed, and he could see a small parking lot outside with a few cars scattered in it. On the other side of his bed sat a table, with a small tray holding various pills of different sizes and colors. A few hypodermic needles lay on the tray, as well as a pair of gloves and one of those pulse-readers that are put on your index finger.

At the sound of Nagisa's small hiss of pain, a male nurse looked up from the paper he had been scribbling on feverishly. The teen also felt a heavy, plastic mask covering part of his face, pushing air into his lungs.

"It's good to see you awake!" the nurse greeted cheerfully.

"Where's Rei?" Nagisa immediately asked, an innocent tone in his voice indicating he didn't mean to sound rude.

"Rei...?"

"Rei Ryugazaki?"

The nurse held a blank stare before an epiphany hit him. "Ah, yes, your friend, right? He-"

The phone rang, cutting the nurse off mid-sentence. "I-I'm sorry," the nurse rushed. "I should really answer this." He picked up the phone, giving Nagisa a few nervous glances over his shoulder.

The blonde's tired gaze drifted away from the nurse and around the room to investigate his surroundings a bit more. A few tubes ran from filled bags hanging from a rack down to his wrist. His other wrist had a paper bracelet around it, listing his name and a few other things. Friendship bracelets laced along the rest of his forearm, decorated with beads shaped like dolphins, sharks, butterflies, penguins, and orcas. He had a few to resemble each of his friends, the woven bracelets almost reaching clear up to his elbow. Nagisa smiled a little as he reached out to touch one of the wooden butterfly-shaped beads, watching it swing back and forth.

Sighing a bit, he lay back, staring up at the ceiling, tuning in to the nurse's conversation.

"Y-yes, he's awake now... The boy seems okay, he hasn't shown any signs of amnesia or post traumatic stress. In fact, he, uh... Just asked about one of his friends. What are Rei Ryugazaki's stats?" The nurse fell into a hushed silence, his grip on the phone tightening as he glanced back at Nagisa to see if he was paying attention. "A coma?" he whispered into the phone.

A coma.

coma: a state in which the victim is neither living nor dead; a death-like slumber.

coma: something that was going to keep Rei in the hospital for a bit longer than Nagisa was hoping.

coma: a word that the blonde was not wanting to hear associated with his best friend's current state of being.

He didn't... Nagisa couldn't... He couldn't bear to listen as he shoved his head beneath the covers, clenching his jaw to hold back the tears.