Ache

Ch 8

It'd been a few hours since they'd brought Mika to the hospital. Hours since a squad of nurses carted him away behind a set of double doors leaving Nina and Reed behind reeling and trying to come to terms with what'd happened earlier that night.
It felt like eternity before someone finally came and talked to them, gave them word of Mika's condition.
And when a nurse finally did come to them it had only been to ask for Mika's personal information. Nina had been too shell shocked to give her own name much less Mika's information so Reed had been the one to take care of all the paperwork.
She'd been so out of it during those first couple of hours that she didn't even know what lie Reed had fed to the nurses to explain Mika's injury but whatever it'd been it had been enough to appease them or at least to get them to stop asking.
It wasn't long however before the doctor, an older grandfather like man with graying hair and blue scrubs, came into the waiting room and finally brought them news of Mika's condition. Apparently the amount of blood Mika had lost had been too much and he needed a blood transfusion immediately. The issue was not the transfusion itself but rather the blood type availability: Mika had a rare blood type, AB- to be exact and they just didn't have it in their disposal at the moment. And from the grave look the doctor wore on his face, time was not on their side as the he explained how they'd already sent for it but it wouldn't arrive until a few hours later. Hours that they could not afford to lose or waste.
He'd asked if either Nina or Reed knew of Mika's family members who could donate it themselves, a quicker solution to the problem and just as she'd been about to explain that Mika's family was in another state Reed had stepped in.
"I'll do it. Take as much from me as you need."
He didn't even bat an eye.
Apparently Reed was type O negative, a universal blood donor.
Without a word Reed disappeared with the doctor and a flank of nurses behind the same double doors as Mika had earlier that night, leaving Nina alone in the cool white waiting room with nothing but magazines and hard cushioned chairs to keep her company.
Though she'd started out pacing, staring fixedly at the white wall then the door, chewing on her fingernails until her fingers were raw, someway or another she'd ended up curled on her side in one of the cushioned chairs fast asleep.
When Reed finally stumbled into the waiting room hours later he'd found Nina fast asleep in one of the cushioned chairs inside.
She practically jumped out of said chair when he'd tapped her shoulder. Her pulse had throbbed painfully against her tongue as she waited for any word or news he might've gleaned on Mika. But Reed simply shook his head and she knew there was still no news to be had. Defeated she'd slumped back into her chair but not before taking stock of the young man beside her.
There were dark shadows under his eyes, unruly hair from running his hands one too many times through it and his skin was pale. Even his cheeks looked slightly sunken. Despite the strong line of his back she could see the slight weary slump of his shoulders, the stiffness in his neck and hands. When he looked at her and met her gaze she saw the depth of fatigue, worry and fear swirling deep inside.
He looked so lost. Practically empty inside from the thought of possibly losing Mika.
So she hadn't even though twice about it when she opened her arms to him. She didn't have to say anything either. He understood and wordlessly came to her.
When the doctor in charge stumbled upon them once more, he found them sleeping with their heads bowed close together, their shoulders pressed against one another and Reed's jacket draped over their sleeping forms. Maybe the sight of the two had struck something inside of that older man for he decided to take pity on them.
Very gently he'd shaken them awake and waited patiently until their blurry vision and the foggy gauze of sleep cleared before smiling.
"Your friend is going to be alright. He fought long and hard and luckily for him, and you two I might add, he's doing just fine. And it's thank to you young man that he's on the road to a swift recovery."
At his words the pair practically jumped out of their seats with wide hopeful eyes. The doctor couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.
"Would you like to see him?"
From the looks they gave him words weren't even necessary.
Of course they did.

They'd been struck silent the moment they set foot in Mika's room.
And while Reed quickly shook his shock off and swiftly crossed the room until he stood then just as quickly took a seat beside his tiny lover, Nina found herself stock still by the door.
The sight of Mika, so small and so fragile within the expanse of the all white hospital regulated bed was jarring.
It took her breath away.
His skin which usually glowed a creamy pale was now paper thin and nearly translucent. The shadows ringing the bottoms of the his eyes practically throbbed eerie bruise-like purples and blues. And around his neck was a white gauze bandage, hiding the stitches, the wound, the missing piece in his neck.
But these were not the reasons behind her shaking hands. These were not the reasons behind the shudders and shivers dancing up and down her back and arms.
No.
The reason why she found her body rooted to the spot, the reason why her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat was the shock of silky white hair atop of Mika's head.

"It's natural," the doctor had said. "For some people to be so shocked, so terribly frightened by something that their hair lightens, essentially becoming white."
Nina found it hard to believe.
"Have you heard of Marie Antoinette?"
She'd nodded dumbly her gaze still trained on Mika's hair.
"There's a story of how when she was captured and forced to endure the torture and isolation the she was subjected proved to be too much. When she finally emerged from her cell, they say her hair had become as white as snow."
She frowned. He had to be messing with her. 

"But, you're a, you know, doctor and stuff... why would you believe in a bunch of nonsense like that? Aren't you supposed to be al about facts and stuff?"

The words just streamed out of her mouth. She didn't even stop to think about how they might come across. She got that he was trying to get her to feel better but really? A conspiracy theory like that?

She snorted. "Please,"

The doctor chuckled softly beside her. "I know, I know, hard to believe no? But even if you don't believe me, I can assure you that cases like these," He motioned to the young Mika. "have been documented before. A person's sensibility and composition are all different and you never know just how they will each deal with certain issues and problems. "

Nina frowned... he had a point.

"Whatever your friend saw, whatever your friend experienced proved to be too much for him. It broke something inside of him and that break manifested in the head full of white hair he has now."
She flinched at the doctor's words as they triggered the memory of the moment Mika's throat had been torn open.
"What he needs now,"
Nina jumped at the sudden feel of the doctor's hand on her shoulder. It was warm and a gentle weight on her shoulder. Reassuring. Scaring off the memories...

She turned to look at him and saw the warmth in his eyes, the tenderness in the wrinkled folds at the corners of them. Those lines and wrinkles were traces of many bouts of laughter. And when he smiled at her, his eyes crinkling at the corners, she knew she was right. His was a face that knew all about laughing.

"What he needs is for you to say it's okay."
The doctor's eyes, two pools of dark coffee, were warm and tender as they smiled at her then turned towards the bedridden Mika as if to prove his point. Reed had pulled one of the nearby chairs and set it beside the bed where he now sat with his hands wrapped protectively around Mika's.
"Right now, the color of his hair, the circumstances behind his accident- none of them matter. What matters is that he's alive, that he has good friends; the little things. No?"
Nina felt the sudden apprehension deep inside her body lift. She felt the tension simply melt away with the doctor's words.
He was right. Instead of standing there like an idiot, focusing on the color of Mika's hair she should've been thanking his lucky stars that he was alive,  she should've been rushing to Mika, thanking her lucky stars for keeping him safe. She shook her head and berated herself for the way she'd been acting. With a small smile Nina turned to face the doctor  and nodded gratefully.
"Thanks."
Nodding the doctor gave her shoulder one last squeeze before turning to step out of the room and give them their privacy.
Taking a deep breath Nina took her own first step into the room and made her way towards Mika and Reed.