Dangerous Lines | Yuzuru Hanyu

61. Care

It was hard to know for sure just how long it had been since that fatidical day that Yaeko left him.

Yuzuru didn't know anything of her whereabouts, no one told him much more besides reassuring him that she was safe and sound.

As much as he liked to know that, there was always a feeling of being left out.

He wondered how she was doing and if the baby hadn't been giving her too much trouble.
Any hopes that he might initially have of being by her side when their son was born seemed to vanish with each day that went by.

It wasn't that hard to do the math and figure out how the timing was getting closer and closer.

Yuzu barely slept straight with all the nightmares that seemed to make it impossible to rest properly. Possibilities of chaos constantly occupied his mind and seemed to be permanently engraved in his thoughts.

No one could judge him for losing all hints of hope.

Yet, as life deems it at times, Yuzu woke up on a random night with his phone blaring out loud.

Looking at the watch and realizing that it was around 5 am, he just seemed to connect the pieces with ease.

The number itself had no country code and adding the fact that it was so late in Japan, it made sense that it was coming from somewhere with a different timezone.

He answered the phone as fast as he could, confirming his theory from the very second she uttered a word on the line. He would recognize her voice anywhere, at any given time.

"Yae..."

Yuzu couldn't say much more than her name as his body and mind slowly adapted to the idea of her presence, even from afar.

"It's nice to hear your voice. I didn't think I would be able to."

Her voice sounded sleepy, maybe even a bit weak and he wondered if she had any hidden reason behind this call.

"You have no idea how nice it is to hear you as well. I... I can handle the distance but I can't handle the uncertainty of your safety."

"I'm alright, I promise... There's a lot I want to say but I don't have much time."

"How long?"

"I'm allowed 15 minutes."

"It's alright then, we still have time."

"There's... There's a reason why they allowed me to call you. I have some news ."

"Are they allowing her to come back??"

He was very excited about that possibility but it wasn't one she could give.

"No, honey... I'm so sorry."

The disappointment in her voice was so obvious that it pained him. Yuzuru couldn't handle knowing that she was in pain while he could do nothing about it.

"Don't. I was the one hopelessly expecting. Is everything alright?"

Yae seemed uncertain about how to tell him the news then. Yuzuru found himself wishing to be able to reassure her that listening to her voice was already more than enough.

"I...your son decided to enter the world a bit earlier. I gave birth today."

Once those words left her, Yuzu's body jumped from the bed into a sitting position. An overflowing amount of emotions consumed every inch of his body and tears threatened to fall. He couldn't be there to support her through this and that pained him more than anything in the world.