deciphered

only time can tell II

"I guess it's time for me to let you have some alone time with Hajime." Dr. Takeda nodded before placing his hands in his pockets and clearing his throat. He turned his body to face the nurses, and called them all over to give you both some space. "Alright, nurses! Back to triage!"

A choir of groans from the nurses echoed the room, but in a matter of seconds, a wave of farewells from the nurses replaced it. One by one, the nurses exclaimed "Goodbye, Hajime!" before exiting the room with Dr. Takeda closing the door.

The room stayed silent for a brief moment as you and Iwaizumi made eye contact. He still had the same smile on his face as before, and the same blue hospital gown he had been wearing for the last six months. A bottle of apple juice and a half-eaten sandwich rested at the side of his bed, sitting on one of the hospital trays. He was no longer hooked up to the monitors, which indicated his progression in health.

In all honesty, Iwaizumi was fully capable of being discharged if he hadn't developed amnesia. Physically, he was healthy—his weight was normal, he was able to walk all on his own, and he was able to speak coherently and have full conversations—but up in his mind, all he could remember from the past was his own name.

"Hey, Hajime. How are you feeling?" You asked with a soft smile on your face, pulling up a chair right next to his bed.

"Hey! ...Er, I forgot your name, but I'm doing fine! The nurses are really cute here." Iwaizumi scratched the back of his head, sheepishly smiling. "I'm glad you're here again!"

You winced when he forgot your name, even though you knew he had been constantly forgetting it every week due to his amnesia. Every time, you'd have to remind him, and then he would snap his fingers and exclaim "it was on the tip of my tongue". Nonetheless, you introduced yourself once again, and reminded him you were his cousin on his mom's side.

"Damn!" Iwaizumi snapped his fingers and crossed his arms over his chest. "It was on the tip of my tongue."

You chuckled, knowing his actions were predictable. Iwaizumi reclined back against his hospital bed, placing both of his hands behind his head while you simultaneously reached around your chair and grabbed your tote bag, digging your hand deep into the large pocket.

"Did you bring any snacks?" He piped up, raising his eyebrows while directing his attention towards the inside of your bag.

"No snacks today, but I did bring a photo album," you replied, taking out a small black leather book with gold accents on the spine. "I made it just for you."

"For me? Why?" Iwaizumi sat up from his bed again, leaning over the side railing to take a closer look. You ended up handing him the book by placing it on his lap before he opened the cover to the first page.

"It's to help you remember your past," you pointed at a printed picture of Iwaizumi when he was younger, giving a thumbs up in front of a cake for his 7 th birthday. "This was your life before the accident."

He didn't respond as he was too busy flipping through the pages lined with pictures, all ranging from when he was younger to present day, where he's posing in photos with people and places he doesn't remember.

"That's you and me," you leaned over the hospital bed railing to get a better look at the photo album in Iwaizumi's hands, pointing to a younger version of you and him playing in a field of grass. "You were about seven and I was about five, your mom yelled at us that day because we got the new shoes grandma gave us all covered in mud."

He chuckled a bit, dragging his finger along the edge of the thick scrapbook pages. Gracefully, he turned it over to show a picture of him with Oikawa, their arms wrapped around each other's necks in a side hug. They were both wearing coveralls loose on their torso, the buttons open down to show their chests covered in oil.