Pretty Boy (bokuaka)

5) The Hospital

I wake up in the ambulance, eyes blurred and bright lights in my vision.

"He's conscious! Can you hear me? Say something if you're hearing me, Akaashi," a medic says frantically, sitting next to the stretcher I'm laid on.

I cough a few times before nodding, getting a headache from doing so. "I can- I can hear you."

The ambulance pulls to a stop, the back doors open shortly after and I'm carried away through the hospital.

"Are you in any pain at the moment? Are there still flowers in your lungs?" one of the medics asked as I was pushed into an empty room.

I shook my head, it had cleared up at this point, I'm thankful for that. However, as I thought about what caused it and what Bokuto had said just before he kissed me, I started to cry and the flowers grew again. The stretcher stopped next to a hospital bed and I leaned forward so I wouldn't choke on the petals.

"Let him cough it out," one of the nurses said until she saw that there was blood on the flowers. "Get some water before he's done."

A male nurse came in shortly after with a clear plastic cup filled with water. I continued hacking until I was finally able to ignore what had happened with Bokuto, it was hard to push down though. I quickly grabbed the cup and downed all of the liquid, easing my raw throat.

"Akaashi, you've had this disease for a long time, correct? Yet this is the first time coming to the hospital for a serious episode," the doctor was looking at some sort of log. By now most of the room had cleared out, it was just him, another nurse and I on the bed.

I nod, "it's the first time it's been this serious." I hand the cup back to the nurse as my hand shakes, "may I have some more water?"

He nods and leaves the room with the cup.

"And how long have you been coughing up blood with the flowers?" he asks, not looking up from his clipboard as he writes. The nurse returns with the cup refilled and I sip at it this time instead of chugging it in one go.

I have to think to answer his question. It's probably been about two weeks. Just small amounts at first, but then it became more and more. "About half a month," I answer.

"And your parents haven't thought to take you sooner?" he asks, apauled. "You do know that blood is not a good sign, right?"

I nod with a small hum as I sip at the water again. "They didn't know until a couple days ago. I told them not to take me to the hospital."

"A bad choice, on yours and their end," he scribbles something down and I roll my eyes. I'm already aware.

"I want the surgery," I tell him.

He looks up from his note taking and simply stares for several moments. "You're extrememly young to make that decision, you know," he says flatly. "Your parents will ultimately be the ones to make that choice for you. Open lung surgery is quite dangerous."

The phrase open lung surgery scared me, but I couldn't back out of it. Not when it seemed like I was about to die because of this stupid disease.

"I still want to do it. I can tell them when they get here."

"Yes," he sighs and writes a bit more before holding the board at his side and looking me in the eyes. "They should be here soon, one of your friends called them."

"My friend- shit. Did any of them see the flowers? Do you know?" I asked frantically as I realized any one of them could've figured out the disease I had contracted years ago.

He shakes his head, "I think one of the first responders said she flushed the toilet. You're in the clear-"

"Akaashi!" My eyes widened hearing the familiar voice of Bokuto Koutarou. "Akaashi! Where is he?!"

"Sir, you need to stop shouting, this is a hospital," a nurse tries to calm him. It won't work.

"He can't come in here," I tell the doctor, my eyes still wide.

"I'll take care of it," he sets the clipboard and pen on the counter and walks out of the room, shutting the door. "What's your name, son?" The doctor asks him and he answers. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but Akaashi doesn't want to see you at the moment. You can visit him later-"

"What?!" he cuts off the doctor as a tear runs down my face. "There's no way! He- he's my best friend! What happened to him?!"

"Please stop yelling, Bokuto," the doctor tells him calmly. "I can't disclose that information without his permission-"

"Doctor Toshiaki," I hear my mother's voice enter frantically. "Oh, Bokuto- you don't need to be here," she tells him. I can practically see his hurt expression.

"But why, Akaa-"

My father cuts him off, stepping forward. "Keiji doesn't need to be around you right now. It's for his sake. Please, he'll be okay, right doctor?"

"Yes, he's stable right now. And there's actually something he needs to speak with you two about."

They all (minus Bokuto) begin walking back towards the room.