(Wind Breaker) The Green Rose's Thorns

Part 21

"Oh, Suo and Nirei-what the hell?! Aoi?!," Kotoha greeted the Furin boys like normal until she spotted Aoi slumped over Suo's shoulders. She flew into action, practically shoving the boys to the back room and completely abandoning her customers.

"Aoi," Suo lightly bumped Aoi to rouse him. There was a grunt, then the injured boy stirred into slow motion and slid off Suo's back. He teetered on his feet, using Suo's arm for support until Kotoha got him a chair.

"Nirei," Suo pointed to the door, signaling for them both to leave. Nirei was slower than usual to catch on, but once he did he made a rushed dash for the door. Suo started to go, but he felt something catch hold of his sleeve and hold him in place.

"Aoi?," Kotoha had just returned with a collection of supplies and was just as stunned as the other two by Aoi's random clinginess. Aoi didn't look up or really respond, and his grip was getting lighter and shakier as the seconds ticked on.

"Actually, sorry. Can you help out a bit?," Kotoha took that opportunity at face value and asked for an extra set of hands. Suo stayed, apologizing to Nirei before the freckled boy disappeared from the room. He was in too much shock to really process anything as he held Aoi's shoulders so he didn't keel over. Kotoha lifted up the shirt and grimaced at the mess of blood underneath it.

"Can you sit him up a little more? It's better if we can get his coat off," Kotoha forced herself to press on, and with some help they were able to remove the Furin coat. Suo was then tasked with holding Aoi's shirt up just enough so Kotoha could try to clean the area and assess the damage more properly.

After several swipes with a cloth dunked in hot water, the knife wound was clearly visible. It had stopped bleeding quite as furiously, and with a closer look Kotoha was sure it hadn't actually gone too deep or into anything vital. She felt somewhat squeamish about her next step, and urged Suo to look away as she sewed the severed skin and muscle back together. After several agonizing minutes, the barely two inch wide gash was closed tight. Next an antiseptic was applied, and gauze wrapped around Aoi's midsection and taped up.

"Oh," Kotoha paused when she slid the straps of Aoi's mask over his ears and pulled it back. Under his matted hair and gritted teeth, his eyes were half-open and staring forward. A thousand yard stare, as he was fighting to stay conscious. But he was still conscious, something the other two had assumed to not be the case with how unresponsive he had been during the stitching of his worst wound. Kotoha went to wet the cloth she was using to clean up blood, but realized her pail was full of scarlet liquid. She got up to refresh it, gut wrenching as she emptied its contents and watched the red fluid swirl around the drain. She took that chance to rinse her hands off as well, then returned with a fresh bucket of water and carefully blotted away the blood.

"You can rest, y'know," Suo chirped at Aoi, who tried to shake his head to answer.

"Don't move so much," Kotoha chided him, sweeping his rewetted bangs out of the way and glancing at Suo to help hold his hair. The gash on his cheek wasn't as severe as the stab wound in his side, but it was a lot bigger. It trailed from just beside his eye all the way down the side of his face to his jaw, with uneven edges. She cleaned it up as best she could and covered it with two long plasters and some extra tape.

"Sorry, do you mind staying with him for a little bit? I don't think he can make it to the apartment like that," Kotoha made another request while she cleaned herself up. She frowned at the bloodied apron and discarded it in the sink, grabbing up another one and stepping back out to address her customers.

Suo nodded, though he felt certain he wouldn't be able to leave even if he wanted to. His hand was again held tightly in Aoi's, just shy of crushing despite his current state. With some effort, he was able to move Aoi so that he could either lay down on the floor or lean into him. Aoi chose the latter, half-falling into Suo's lap with his head pressed against the other's chest.