All About Us [Yuri Katsuki x Reader]

118 - Lingering

Pushing one of the glass doors open in a dismal manner, He went inside the waiting room with his head held low. He was greeted with a brief, welcoming smile from the receptionist whom he sadly, still did not know the name of. He would have loved to learn of the kind woman's name if it were not for the fact that he had...other things in his mind. He responded by simply giving a curt nod in greeting. As much as he disliked coming here, he had to.

Yuri knew that the room wasn't exactly designed to inspire confidence and quell the restless minds of those who came here. Being inside this room along with many hopeful others did little to allay his apprehension. The few dull and unimaginative portraits that decorated the room, the square glass topped coffee table with a collection of various magazines, the rather extravagant yet obviously faux potted plants on the corners, the television that had nothing special on other than boring commercials, the simple yet uncomfortable chairs were waiting for him. The room was painted in a dingy cream color, the very same hue of that of the hospital rooms. There were only a handful of people who was there with him, most are probably in the same lot as him. There were some who distracted themselves by reading one of the said magazines, there was one old gentleman who conversed rather tersely on his phone, there was a father trying to distract his son by giving him a coloring book and some crayons.

He chose to sit on the corner of the room. It was close enough to the reception area for him to hear the receptionist type away on her computer and far away from everyone else for them not to intrude on his personal bubble.

They all were waiting for something, for someone. Like almost any other person on the planet, he disliked to wait. He might be patient than most but he really did not appreciate being kept out of the loop for long.

Just right across the wall from him was a wall clock. The wall clock was the only thing he found interesting in this room. It was the only thing that was out of place considering the room's interior design. It was sleek, modern and it stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the decor. Perhaps that was the reason why he liked it so much. It's ticking sound was rhythmic, almost hypnotic even. The sound was akin to that of the timer of a bomb. It was something that he could not stop, he could not slow done nor was it something that he could never learn to control. He had noticed that clock ever since he had first gotten here and he had been paying it much more attention than he would have liked. After much scrutiny, he had noticed something rather odd about its second hand. It seemed to be broken, lingering, lagging behind, causing a mere second to appear like an eternity.

He placed his hands on his knees to stop them from bouncing every now and then. He was getting rather antsy. He felt tension and anxiety build up as he continued to stare blankly, lost in the abyss of his thoughts. Were his thoughts visible, they would be a jumbled mess of inverse twists and sharp turns. Were his thoughts tangible, it would surely pierce his hands. It was sending his mind into a bit of a tizzy. Something heavy was weighing down on his shoulders, something familiar yet at the same time, strange. Before the panic could eat him alive, he managed to catch up on subtle breathing exercises to help him relax. Then again...

One could only be so relaxed when inside a hospital.

It has been four days since your accident, four days since he has heard of what had happened from his mom. It has been three days since he has left Hasetsu and has gotten here. He had been staying in a nearby hotel ever since. It has been three days of waiting in the very same, dreary waiting room not even knowing what to wait for exactly. It has been three days of having to endure, having to get used to the sight of you looking so fragile and still. The image of your rather sunken cheeks and almost pallid complexion would be forever imbedded in his memory. He hated seeing you that way because you would usually be so full of energy and he'd be the one lagging behind, biting the dust. He hated seeing you like that because he knew that you were anything but weak.