A Life Without The Sun

Complete Juxtaposition

1 Week Later

Hinata sat bored stiff in his hospital bed, wondering when the doctors were going to tell him when he could leave. Twiddling his thumbs, he looked around his cramped room, thanking himself lucky that he wasn't on a ward with 10 other random people.

He leant his head back on the bed, and questioned what time Kageyama would be back from school. So far, he had visited him every day since he'd been admitted. Words couldn't describe how thankful Hinata was of this: he wasn't sure how much of his mother and sister he could put up with without the occasional visit from someone else.

He looked curiously at the needle that was stuck in his arm, connecting his blood stream with a drip hanging above the bed. All he knew was that this was providing him with nutrients and painkillers constantly.

After about 10 minutes, he succumbed to the boredom, groaning out loud and proceeded to attempt to get out of bed. Gripping onto his drip, he took one step forward. Then another. And another. But dizziness and an overwhelming nausea soon pinned him back down onto his bed.
'God, I just want to get out of here.' He thought to himself.

Then, the door swung open and in walked Kageyama, accompanied with Suga. Hinata beamed at them, delighted to finally have human company other than the nurse that came in every 15 minutes, and gave them both a hug from his bed.

"How are you feeling, Shoyo?" Suga asked, sitting down on a chair next to his bed.

"I feel great! I just want to get out of this bed and get back to playing volleyball!" He replied confidently, mocking the action of a spike in the air.

Kageyama smiled weakly, but looked down to the floor. It seemed to him that Hinata was being overly optimistic...

"Speaking of getting out of the bed, have the doctors said when they'll let you out yet?" Suga asked. Kageyama gave him a side glance and then looked at Hinata, hopeful to hear the answer.

"No not yet, but they said I should find out today at some point!"

They continued to talk for a good half an hour. It was as if he wasn't in hospital at all, but rather in the club room, just discussing normal things like their recent test or if they had developed any new crushes. Suga talked in depth about a conversation he and Daichi had with Kiyoko, and Kageyama basically just moaned about Tsukishima the whole time.

They laughed and smiled and...just had fun.

Suga then got up from his chair and said that he had to go home, something about it being his turn to cook for his family. He promised to come back again soon and made it clear that he was praying for him. They both waved as Suga exited the room.

Kageyama then turned to Hinata who was still smiling from their previous conversations. To him, Hinata still seemed to be glowing, despite his diagnosis. Maybe, just maybe, everything would be alright!

Just then the door swung open again, and a doctor walked in with a nurse at his side.

"Hello Shoyo, how are you feeling today?" The doctor asked. He was middle-aged, and quite skinny with a little pot belly. He pushed his glasses up from the end of his nose to the bridge, and lifted up a couple of papers from his clipboard.

"I'm feeling really good, sir."

"Ah that's good then! Now I do have some news...oh wait who is this? Only family should be in here from this time-"

"Oh don't worry doctor, he's my cousin." Hinata interrupted, giving a confused Kageyama a quick wink (of which the doctor noticed, unbeknownst to them, but decided to ignore).

"That's okay then! Ahem, now as I say, I do have some news." The doctor stopped for a moment and looked at his associate, who Kageyama noticed was looking at him with what seemed like sadness on her face.
'Please don't say anything bad.'

"It seems your condition is progressing a little faster than we had hoped. From the CAT scan we performed, we have determined that unfortunately, the tumour has spread to other areas of your brain. Because of the placement of the new tumours, surgery is no longer a safe option. Also, I'm sorry to say but it seems you also have a tumour on your lower spine, which may be the cause of your incontinence and weakness of your legs. I'm so sorry..."

The doctor continued to speak, but it all merged into an unintelligible noise which Kageyama had decided to block out. Why is he apologising? What does he mean he can't perform surgery? Spread? Is that bad? What does that mean? What does he mean when he says it's progressing faster than he'd hoped?

Hinata glanced over at Kageyama, his eyes heavy and his heart currently in his mouth. He could see that Kageyama's brain was swimming with thoughts. He could always tell when Kageyama was thinking, because his eyes would widen slightly, and they'd glitter like the brightest stars in the sky. Also, his mouth would curl down a little in the corners. Hinata smiled slightly as he noticed just how much he had analysed Kageyama to even know this.

"...make you as comfortable as possible. I'm so very sorry again Shoyo. If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to ask. I'll make sure I let your mother know too. Anyway, I'll leave you and your cousin to it." The doctor grinned sympathetically, along with the nurse, and they both walked quietly out of the room.

Not really knowing how to react, Kageyama turned around to Hinata. Even after that shocking news, he was still glowing bright. Tears started to form in his eyes, which he quickly wiped away.

"You'd better let the team know I'm not coming in for tomorrow's practice." Hinata chuckled sadly.