28 Days To Love You - Keiji Akaashi x Reader

Eight: Hospital

Reader's POV

I woke up groggily in a hospital bed. I looked around and saw my parents sitting beside my bedside, my mom's head buried in her hands. "Mom?" I asked, dazed. 

"Oh my gosh, thank goodness! You're awake!"

"What the hell happened?" I asked, ignoring the stern look my dad shot at me because of my language. 

"Apparently, you collapsed at school yesterday and your friend Yuri called a teacher. You were quickly driven to this hospital."

I cursed under my breath and rubbed my temples. "Does everyone know? About me?"

My dad shook his head. "They didn't want to panic the other students so they kept this quiet. Yuri just assumed you were tired or something like that." I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn't want my friends to think any different of me. 

"We'll let you rest, Y/n." My mom kissed my forehead and got up from her seat. My dad followed her. "Wait, where are you guys going?" I asked, wanting them to stay with me. 

"We're going back to work, you'll be fine." My dad assured me. 

I nodded a goodbye and sank into my bed. I wished they had stayed. Once again, I felt alone, lonely. There was no one there with me; no one there for me. 

I looked around the room once again for something interesting to look at. My gaze landed on a calendar that read: March 15.

27 days left. 27 days left to live. 

My phone rang on the nightstand next to me, the familiar ringtone echoing around the hospital room. I raised a shaky hand to pick it up to see who was calling me. 

I grasped it, but my hand suddenly jerked in a strange position and I dropped my phone on the floor. "Shit." I muttered. 

After a short period of struggle and frustration, I had finally picked up my phone and looked at the name displayed on the screen. Keiji Akaashi. I tapped the green button to accept the call. I ignored the fact that my symptoms had gotten even worse. 

Akaashi's worried, calming voice flooded in my ear through the speaker. "I heard what happened from Yuri. Are you okay? Where are you right now? I'm gonna come over there after school." He lowered his voice. "How are your symptoms?"

"Hi, 'Kaashi. I'm doing okay for now. I-I'll text you the address of the hospital." I ignored his last question. 

"How are your symptoms?" He asked again. 

"O-oh they're-they're fine. Y-yeah, I'm all good. Nothing's-nothing's changed. It's like I don't have this stupid disease at all!" I laughed nervously. 

Akaashi sighed heavily, probably exasperated with my bullshit. "You know I can tell when you're lying, right? You're so bad at it, it's sad. How are you really doing?"

"They're gradually getting worse. It's a slow process but I notice it." I admitted, withholding the fact that they're getting worse fairly quickly. 

"Hmm... I noticed. You were stuttering a lot earlier." he pointed out. "I'll come over after school, okay?"

"Okay. Bye, 'Kaashi."

I hung up and placed my phone carefully on the nightstand, not wanting it to fall on the floor again.

I clasped my hands together and looked up at the ceiling, my eyes squinting at the florescent lights hanging from it. 

My stomach had these fluttery feelings while I was talking with Akaashi. It was nice to be appreciated and cared for by someone. I wasn't ignored when I was with him. I was important to him and I liked that. I felt special. 

A doctor suddenly came in through the door. "Oh, where are your parents?" 

"They left for work. They said I'd be fine."

The doctor looked stunned for a moment. The thought of the parents of a dying child leaving the child all alone must have shocked him. They were busy, I understood.  

"On the contrary, I don't think you will be fine." 

My eyes widened. "W-what do you mean?" I asked anxiously. 

"Tell me, honestly. How are your symptoms? Are you feeling any better? Are your emotions more sensitive?" 

I looked down and avoided the doctor's gaze. 

"Judging by your reaction, all my questions are answered." the doctor said, now averting his gaze to his turquoise clipboard. "We ran some more tests, and the disease has gotten much worse than when you last visited."

"How much worse?!" I asked frantically. "How long... do I have?"

The doctor stared at me straight in the eye and said to me with all seriousness: 

"Two weeks."