Bungou Stray Dogs ~ One-shots

[Dazai xR] A second chance

He was bored.

He was no stranger to the fact that this kind of place reeked of death and suffering rather than joy and good humor, but that should not become an excuse to let patients sink into total boredom.

He did not ask for much, honestly. Just a television, even a book would do. The nurses who passed through his room were entertaining for a few minutes, especially when he saw them lose their minds under his overly passionate gaze.

But, of course, they could not stay at his bedside indefinitely. Their work came before everything else, even before listening to their patients. Even if they were supposed to treat them, no less.

Instead, they would happily spend more time wandering the halls aimlessly than keeping their patients company. Talk was rampant, and often the desperate calls of temporary residents went almost unnoticed by the nurses.

Gossip came first, of course.

Dazai, dressed in his ridiculous hospital gown, dropped once more onto his pillow, which encountered his back with a crumpling of fabric and a creaking of the bed, which was most likely not in its prime of life.

The nurse had just left, having of course taken at least three tubes of blood from him in the process. Not that he cared; he did not feel any pain after all the blood tests. Well, when the nurse was gentle, of course.

With his dubious hobbies, he was used to ending up in the hospital. In more or less good condition, depending on the case. For this time, he had to admit that he had made his mark. Taking a bullet from a sniper was a luxury he had allowed himself only a few times, if at all.

He had been in extreme pain, which reinforced his decisions: this method was not suitable for him. Too painful, and not immediately lethal if the bullet was not in the right place.

Damn Dostoyevsky, thought the brunet while heaving a sigh, the pain of his wound waking up slightly. Things were about to get interesting, but it was not going to be without pain, unfortunately.

Who knows how many people were going to die while he was in the hospital, without being able to do anything, without even a phone to communicate with the outside world, which he had been forbidden to use until further notice?

He did not worry about his colleagues at the agency, because they were tenacious. But he could not help but feel frustrated. Especially knowing that their boss, as well as the Mafia boss, were at death's door. If nothing were done, both would die in just a few hours.

Dazai's gaze was lost in contemplation of the slim sliver of freedom his window offered him, but which forbade him to access it for the time being... Until the doctors allowed him to leave, in other words. Or if he decided to sneak out before, who knows...

The door to his room opened wide, even as these petty thoughts passed through his mind. Almost startling him, as he began to stammer a few inaudible words, sitting up suddenly on his creaking mattress.

"I didn't mean anything forbidden, I promise...!"

When he put down his widened eyes on the front door, the brown-haired noticed that a nurse was standing there, motionless and uncertain, who had certainly heard what he had just said and who was currently questioning his mental health.

But, against all expectations, a big smile slipped on the lips of this newcomer, who gently closed the door behind her, looking at something on the file she had in her hands.

"You are Mr. Dazai Osamu, right?"

He had regained his composure in just a few seconds, and his charming smile as well, as he carefully observed this nurse, from head to toe. She was dressed in the regulation uniform, and her hair was raised in a neat bun, behind her white headdress.