Walk With Me

Chapter 4

Kyoya's P.O.V.

"Hey so.... Have you guys noticed that Tama-chan is acting really weird?" Honey-senpai said late in the afternoon. Even though Club activities were going on today, Tamaki had been excused for an appointment during lunch hour and hasn't returned yet.

"Yeah, he's been zoning out more than usual," Hikaru said. "Also, he seems to smile less and he looked like he was on the verge of tears from that phone-call last week."

"You don't think he's mad at us or something, do you?" Karou said worriedly. "What if he tries to leave us again!"

Kyoya instantly looked up. That thought had never occurred to him, that Tamaki was mad at the Club. It wasn't very logical, Tamaki idolized the club and would never openly be mad, but then again Tamaki had never been very logical. Still, part of him was thinking that this was more than a petty anger, it took a lot to get Tamaki really worked up about something. And the fact that his smile didn't reach his eyes anymore meant this was something bad. Kyoya had studied those eyes since he met the boy, and he's never seen them look so defeated. Either way, this was not Tamaki upset with the club. And no matter what, Tamaki wouldn't leave them. He promised Kyoya he wouldn't, and even though the blonde was rather air-headed, he never broke a promise.

"I don't know Karou, I think it's more than that," Haruhi stated, echoing his own thoughts.

"Okay, but we can all at least agree that something's wrong, yeah?"

"Relax everybody," Kyoya said. "If it is as awful as we think it is, we need to trust that Tamaki will confess to us. If he doesn't, and this behavior is continuing, then we'll simply have to ask him."

"But what if it's so bad he can't tell us!" Honey-senpai asked with tears lacing his eyes.

"If it's that bad then we need to focus on being there for him," Mori-senpai said softly. It was always strange to hear Mori-senpai share his opinions, but it became more frequent as Tamaki encouraged him. Mori went from grunts and one-word answers to at least four words, maybe even more if it was important. Kyoya smiled inwardly, Just another way Tamaki has changed us all for the better.

"Mori-senpai's right," Haruhi smiled at him. "We need to be there for him like he's always been there for us."

"How can we be there for him if we don't even know what's wrong though?" Hikaru muttered.

Kyoya agreed, but how can they find out?

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Tamaki's P.O.V.

The doctor's office was always boring, commoner office or not. This particular waiting room was decorated rather elegantly, with dark blue floral wallpaper and a giant fish tank on one wall, and a giant wrap-around desk with three nurses shuffling papers and typing away on computers. The other three walls were pale blue. It was pretty, in an old-fashioned and grandmotherly sort of style. But it still smelled of chemicals and latex gloves, which wasn't appealing.

He had been waiting for at least thirty minutes with nothing to do but read the magazines they offered on the table. He was nervous, and he felt a little woozy. Also, his eye still ached, but it wasn't quite as bad as before. After finishing his eighth home-decorating magazine and questioning the meaning of his life for a third time, he was called up to the front desk.

"Suoh...Re-René Tamaki Ric-R-Richard de Gran-taine?" The nurse asked, stumbling over his French name. Tamaki nodded, and she handed him some paperwork to fill out.

"Gah! This is so much work!" He whispered to himself, flipping through page after page of medical questions. How would he ever get through them all? He gulped, wishing his friends were here to help him. How was he supposed to know if he had an allergy to shellfish? When was the last time he broke his wrist? Tamaki sighed, trying his best to answer them all. He could answer most of the ones about his recent medical history, but he had to guess on quite a few of the questions. Fifteen minutes and a serious hand cramp later, he had filled everything out.

"Here you go miss," The blonde said, handing her the clipboard with all the papers attached loosely.

"Thank you so much, the doctor will be with you shortly."

Wait.

He still had to wait more? Tamaki groaned, running an impatient hand through his hair. How was he gonna sit through another thirty minutes of this! As he sank dejectedly back into his chair, resigned to rereading the same magazines again, he heard his name called.

Like a puppy, he sprung up and followed his nurse to one of the many doctors rooms in the back. Once he got his weight, blood-pressure, and height measured he was told to sit down on the examination table and wait patiently.

Goddammit, if he had to wait any longer he was gonna die of boredom before the cancer even did any damage.

~Time passes, full of machines both me and Tamaki can't name or understand.... basically they are scanning his eye and giving him a physical check up. Two hours later~

As Tamaki sat back down, he thought about what they would prescribe, what they would do to him. He shivered and wondered if they would keep him here forever. Don't be silly, he scolded, thinking of what Kyoya would say. Just look at all the other cancer-victims who are running marathons, opening stores, becoming spokes-people, and achieving other amazing things. Thinking of Kyoya brought a smile to his face in spite of his fears, and when the nurse came back in he was able to smile genuinely.

"Mr. Suoh? Please come this way," the nurse said, leading him to the main desk.

"Yes ma'am." Tamaki replied smoothly, rising gracefully to his feet and ignoring the sharp pain in his eye.

Once at the desk, he sat in one of the chairs next to the nurse and waited. Finally, after an eternity of awkwardly watching the nurses work, the doctor came over, a sad smile on his face.

"Well Mr. Suoh, we've got good news and bad news." He started. Tamaki hoped the good outweighed the bad.

"It seems the tumor hasn't spread to your other eye, nor your brain, which is good," He explained, but then sighed deeply. "On the other hand, your tumor is too big to be dissipated by chemo, and the amount of radiation required to shrink it would be too dangerous to risk since it's so close to your brain. So, we will have to remove it. All of it, including the host cells. However, this surgery will not be too dangerous ..."

Tamaki was shocked, tuning out the rest of the doctor's news. Surgery? Host cell? They're taking his eye?

"We will wait until we can better see your blood results and the scans, but plan on surgery in about four weeks," The doctor leaned down, placing a reassuring hand on the blonde's shoulder. "I know this is a lot to take in at once, but trust me, after your eye is removed it will get a whole lot better."

After the reassurance the rest of the nurses helped him set up his next appointments, and they even gave him a lollipop for his efforts. Tomorrow he would tell the club members, Tamaki vowed as he signed a few more forms. Tomorrow, he would be honest.