21. Shut In

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Beep, beep, beep...

The sound of the heart monitoring machine was echoing in his ears.

"It has been one week, Doctor. Why is he still not awake?"

[Ryuichi...?]

"He's no longer in a critical condition and all his vital signs are stable. It all depends on him now." Clearly implying about his willpower to live and wake up.

[Are they talking about me?]

"How about his legs?"

[Mom?]

"With rehabilitation, he'll be able to walk again."

"Are you sure he's okay now?"

[Aunt Rumi?]

"He still has a long way for recovery but there should be nothing so serious to hinder him from waking up. His state of unconsciousness is more of psychological than physical."

"What can we do? How can we help him?"

[Ryuichi... He doesn't sound angry...]

"Nothing. All we can do now is wait for him to wake up on his own."

Silence fell in the room and someone left as the door closed. He felt a pair of big hands clasped his left hand. Yukio knew these hands very well. Ryuichi... He was beside him.

He focused on feeling his own body. His head, fine. Neck, fine. Shoulders, chest and... no more... nothing... his baby... he can't feel her... empty.

Yukio felt the shock of pain in his heart. His mind went a thousand miles in milliseconds, twisting, running, screaming, everything and anything, he was going mad.

[Why?? Why am I still alive?? Why didn't I just die??!]

In his mind, he confronted the master of his fate.

[Do you hate me this much?! Huh?!! You killed me once, tried to kill me again, killed my child, and how about Eiji??? Am I some kind of a bad luck absorber for everyone?? Must I suffer in place of everybody??! Why can't you just get rid of me?!!!]

"Yukio..." There was a very soothing call of his name and he felt a warm finger brush below his left eye before he heard couples of footsteps getting closer.

Ah, so he was crying. Loudly and madly revolting inside but only silently crying outside.

"Yukio, are you awake now?" It was Ryuichi's voice again, low and consoling, so close to his ears.

He slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times to adjust with the light in the room. When his vision cleared and sharpened, he scanned the people around him slowly. Right, Ryuichi was just beside him. And, there was his mom, Rumi and Ichirou.

Ayako immediately approached him and touched his face. "My son, my dear, how are you feeling?" Tears were flowing down her cheeks but she was giving him a comforting smile.

[Mom... What happened? Why am I still alive?]

Ryuichi seemingly knew what he was thinking, "You and Eiji were rescued just in time before the whole building collapsed. You have been in a coma for one week but you'll be able to completely recover."

[Eiji?? Where's Eiji???]

Yukio stared at Ayako with panicking eyes. Good thing that his mom instantly understood.

"He's all right. He's alive, too. Still unconscious but... but.. h-he'll be okay. He'll surely be okay." She was not meeting his gaze and her voice was trailing off, somehow breaking.

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