Chapter 4
Kaoru was alone in the room when Kyo's eyes fluttered open. Toshiya and Shinya had left in order to clean up and get some clean clothing, and Die had gone to the cafeteria to get himself and Kaoru some food. It had been two days since Kyo had been brought to the hospital, all of them coming and going when they needed to but remaining patiently by his bedside the rest of the time. All of them and been anxious, despite the doctor's certainty of Kyo's recovery, as the days had slipped by.
When the blond gave a small groan and his eyes shifted open, Kaoru was by his side in half a second, taking the other's hand in his own. "Shit, you scared the hell out of us. How are you doing?" he asked, looking down at the vocalist.
"What happened? Where am I?" Kyo croaked, looking around. He winced and raised his free hand to his throat. "I'm thursty."
"You were very sick and have been in the hospital for two days. I'll call the nurse and ask her if you can have some water," Kaoru replied, reaching over to press the small buzzer beside Kyo's bed.
"I thought I only had a cold," Kyo commented, still grimacing as he spoke.
Kaoru shook his head. "Toshiya found you unconcious in your room. The doctor said you had something called meninjitis. Luckily, your body accepted the vaccination. You just needed to sleep it off," he explained.
Kyo nodded as he digested this information, then closed his eyes again. Kaoru looked at his pale face for a long moment, then sighed. "Kyo, I want to appologize. I shouldn't of reacted so badly when you came late for practice," he said.
"Would you be appologizing if I wasn't sick?" Kyo asked without opening his eyes.
Blinking, Kaoru could only stare at him for a moment. Then he laughed slightly. "Yeah, I would be. I was angry, and you were very late, but it still wasn't a good enough reason to blow up like that," he stated firmly.
Brown eyes opened slightly to look up at him and Kyo grinned a little. "It wasn't all your fault. I should of told you guys that I wasn't feeling well," he replied.
The nurse took that moment to arrive, Die hot on her heels with two fast-food bags in his hand. "How are you feeling, Tooru-kun?" the nurse questioned, coming to stand beside the bed.
"Like shit," Kyo stated. "And I'm thursty."
The nurse nodded, playing with his IV bag for a moment. "I can imagine that you are. Your system is still weak from the virus, but I can get you some ice cubes to suck on. Later on this evening, we'll see how you are with some soup and other liquids. Even though you are recovering, you're still sick and we don't want to stress out your system."
Kyo made a face. "Whatever. I just need something to drink right now," he replied.
Smiling, the nurse took his temperature before leaving, returning only a short minute later with a cup of ice cubes. "I'll tell the doctor that you're awake," she said before leaving once again.
"You scared us, you little brat," Die commented, ruffling Kyo's hair.
"Who the hell are you calling little?" Kyo replied, although it wasn't very threatening considering his voice kept cracking as he spoke.
"We've all been waiting for you to wake up. Toshiya and Shinya should be back soon. They needed to get a change of clothing and wash up a bit," Kaoru told him.
Kyo was quiet for a long minute, watching them as they dug into their lunch, then he laughed quietly. "Good to know I've got people who will worry about me," he commented.
"Of course we would! We're friends, aren't we?" Die exclaimed.
"Yes, I was just observing," Kyo replied quickly.
Koaru watched the two of them banter back and forth, pausing only when Kyo stuck an ice cube in his mouth. The weight that had been on his shoulders had vanished and he was glad to see that the vocalist would make a good recovery. He'd been scared, more than he would like to admit. It seemed as though the last two days had dragged by, every minute like pure hell when Kyo didn't even move. He'd looked so thin and pale, two different IV bages hooked up to him.
When the doctor came in, Kaoru and Die were ushered out of the room so he could make his examination. The two guitarists finished their lunch and threw the bags into the garbage before returning to Kyo's closed doorway.
"How are you doing?" Die asked, studying Kaoru's face.
"A lot better," Kaoru admitted with a smile. "The doctor said he would be fine, but I couldn't make myself believe it until he woke up. We talked a little while you were getting lunch and appologized for the way we argued."
"Did you tell him how you feel?" Die asked, lowering his voice so that no one would overhear the conversation.
Kaoru sighed and shook his head, leaning against the wall. "What good would it do me? Besides, what kind of time is it to tell him now? He could have died if Toshiya hadn't checked up on him. I don't want to dump my emotional problems on him while he's recovering. Especially if he doesn't feel the same way. It would just give him more to worry about."
"Hey, what are you two doing out here?" Toshiya called from a few yards away, looking a lot better than he had before he'd left. Shinya, also looking cleaner and refreshed, was standing beside him.
"Kyo woke up. The doctor is in with him now," Die replied.
"How is he?" Shinya asked quickly.
"He looked fine. He was talking and everything, but I guess that we'll know the entire story once the doctor comes out," Kaoru replied.
As though on que, the door opened and the doctor stepped into the hallway. He smiled when he saw the four of them. "Tooru-kun is doing well. He still has a fever, but it is a more reasonable tempurature. As I said, he'll be weak for the next few weeks and I want to keep him here for at least three more days, but I'm sure that he'll make a speedy recovery. He seems determined not to lay around here any longer than he has to."
Thanking him, all four men piled back into the room. Immediately, Kyo was bombarded with hugs and questions and lectures, Toshiya perching himself on the foot of the bed while Kaoru settled back into his claimed chair by the head.
"What have I missed? Did you guys practice at all?" Kyo asked, his voice sounding much better now that he'd sucked back a few ice cubes.
"Of coures not," Die stated, shaking his head. "Even if we could drag Kaoru away from your beside long enough, none of us felt like practicing without you."
"Kaoru?" Kyo questioned, blinking as he turned toward the guitarist.
Kaoru felt his cheeks heat a little and he floundered for something to say, but was beaten to the punch by Toshiya when the bassist laughed. "He refused to leave your beside, even to wash up or change! That's why I'm not sitting too close to him," he declared, pinching his nose.
"I don't smell that bad," Kaoru insisted, grimacing a little.
"Neh, well, now that you know I'm okay, you can go and clean up," Kyo said. "I think I need some more sleep anyway. Gods know I've had enough, but I'm tired."
"That's to be expected," Shinya commented. "You're still sick, so your body probably needs a lot of rest. The four of us can go and do some things that we need to do, then we'll come and visit tomorrow, okay?"
Kyo nodded, his eyes slipping shut. "See ya tomorrow," he mummbled, then fell alseep only a few seconds later.
Laughing quietly, Kaoru left the room with the others. He didn't really want to leave, but he knew that there had been some truth in Toshiya's words. He probably did smell pretty bad and he had to admit that his skin was feeling dirty. "I'll see you guys tomorrow, okay? We can come and visit him all together," he said as they made their way down the hall.
"Sure, just drop us a line," Toshiya replied before he and Shinya left. The two of them were going to hang out and watch some movies at Shinya's apartment. Toshiya had been sleeping there for the last while, not wanting to stay at his own empty apartment. He said that he felt uncomfortable being there while Kyo was in the hospital.
"You aren't going to stay another night at the hospital are you?" Die questioned, giving Kaoru as suspicious look.
The guitarist laughed and held up his hands. "No, not tonight. Now that I know he's going to be okay, I think I'll sleep in my own bed and catch up on what I've lost," he admitted.
"Good. I'll give you a lift home," Die offered.
Kaoru grimaced a little at the meantion of Die's driving, but followed his friend anyway. He wasn't feeling up for the bus, and could only imagine what people would think when they saw him. Or, rather, smelled him.
To be continued
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