What is this life?
folder
Gravitation › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
31
Views:
4,973
Reviews:
25
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Gravitation › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
31
Views:
4,973
Reviews:
25
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Gravitation, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Chapter 29
What is this Life?
Chapter 29
Ryuichi wakes up in the recovery room of the hospital. He's groggy and has trouble focusing on anything or anyone. Through his blurry vision he can make out three distinctly different colored individuals. He blinks several times and shakes his head slightly which causes excruciating pain in the front of his neck. He groans slightly but the sound is more muted than one would expect. Ryuichi tries to lift his left arm to check his throat but it's being weighed down by some kind of restraint. As he lowers his eyes he finally is able to focus on the cause of his arm's restriction. There's a long thin board onto which his arm is taped. He looks down at his arm and sees an IV needle and tube extending from just below his elbow and leading up the railing on the bed. Ryuichi turns his attention back to the colored blobs and squints to see if he can make out exactly who is there. Finally he is able to concentrate on the nearest colored individual and makes out that it's Hiro. He tries to speak but pain prevents anything other than a squeaked out peep.
Hiro takes hold of Ryuichi’s right hand and gives him a gentle squeeze. He knows that Ryuichi doesn’t understand exactly what’s going on, so he tries to explain. “You just got out of surgery to remove the bullet that was stuck in your neck. It grazed your vocal cords and tore up some of the surrounding tissues. The doctors said that you won’t be able to talk for some time.” Hiro turns to his companions and winces. He told Ryuichi part of the truth. What he didn’t say was the doctors don’t know if Ryuichi will ever be able to talk again.
Ryuichi’s eyes grow wide and sheer panic takes over his face. He pulls his hand away from Hiro and grabs at his throat. The pressure of his hand on the bandages is painful and silent cries come from Ryuichi’s open mouth. Ryuichi is totally mute! Ryuichi starts thrashing in his bed. If it isn’t for the tape holding his arm in place, he would rip the IV out. His heart monitor starts beeping as his heart rate jumps from 68 to almost 200 in a matter of seconds.
Hiro steps back and yells for help. A male nurse and two medical aides are already rushing to Ryuichi’s side. One aide holds down the taped arm and the other aide leans over Ryuichi’s body trapping his free arm and is upper torso under the applied weight. The nurse takes a needle and withdraws some medication from a vial, then inserts the needle into a juncture on the IV tubing. With seconds Ryuichi’s body goes limp and the aides relinquish their hold on his body.
Hiro looks over at his two lovers as they gape at the medical staff attending Ryuichi. Shuichi is trembling so much that his knees begin to buckle; only Tatsuha’s grip on his arm is keeping him upright. Hiro quickly searches the immediate area and finds a chair which he grabs and slides over towards Shuichi. Tatsuha helps Shuichi sit down just as Shuichi’s legs give out from under him.
Tatsuha moves over to the side of Ryuichi’s bed and leans over the railing. He looks up at the nurse that has just medicated Ryuichi and asks what he just did, since Ryuichi seems to be unconscious again.
“I gave him a sedative. The doctors expected he would react badly to the news that his voice is gone.” He checks the monitors behind Ryuichi’s head and sees the heart rate is dropped to normal and his oxygen levels are at 97%, which is acceptable under the circumstances. “He needs to rest now, so I have to ask you all to leave the recovery room. It will be about an hour before we can move him to the private room that the doctors have ordered. You can wait in there if you so choose.”
Tatsuha reluctantly rises up and moves away from the bed. He and Hiro grab Shuichi under the younger man’s arms and help him get up and they leave the room, each glancing back over his shoulder checking on their bedridden love.
Over an hour later a nurse appears in the private room assigned for Ryuichi. She advises the threesome that Ryuichi is being transported up to his room and asks them to step out into a visiting area until Ryuichi is settled in there. As they exit the room, the hospital bed carrying Ryuichi from the recovery room to his private room is seen being pushed down the hall by two aides. Ryuichi doesn’t appear to be awake, which everyone feels is a good thing.
Once the aides put Ryuichi in his new quarters and leave, the nurse is able to go in and check Ryuichi’s vital statistics. His blood pressure, temperature and pulse are checked. She makes sure that the IV is flowing properly and a new bag of fluids isn’t going to be needed immediately. Once all is checked and properly documented in his chart, she leaves the room and goes to the visiting area. “He’s sleeping now, but if you are quiet you may go in and wait there. Please don’t try to wake him. If he wakes up, don’t try to get him to speak. I will be back in half an hour to check on him.” With that she turns and soon disappears around the corner.
All three men silently walk into Ryuichi’s room and take chairs to sit vigil over their sleeping lover. Every half hour the nurse comes in and checks the vital statistics for Ryuichi and documents them on his chart and then leaves the room. This goes on for five more hours during which time each man sits and just stares at Ryuichi’s seemingly lifeless body.
Shuichi scoots around in his chair trying to get more comfortable which causes the chair to scrape along the floor and a screeching noise is made. The noise wakes Ryuichi and as he opens his eyes, he is able to finally focus on the three faces of his lovers. He realizes that the colored blurs he saw when he first woke up in the recovery room were actually these three men. Each is wearing a shirt that coordinates with the colored blur he saw. He gives a weak smile of recognition in their general direction.
Before he has a chance to try and talk, Tatsuha jumps up and runs over the bedside. He grabs Ryuichi’s hand and kisses it. He looks at Ryuichi to be sure he’s really awake. As Ryuichi opens his mouth, Tatsuha shushes him and tells him not to try and speak. “The doctors gave you some medicine in the operating room to paralyze your vocal cords. Don’t try and talk now, you won’t be able to. Just rest for now.”
Ryuichi looks over to Hiro with questioning eyes. He wants to know if what Tatsuha has said is true or if there’s more to it than that. Hiro looks at Ryuichi and knows that there’s more that Ryuichi wants to know. He gets up and walks over to the bed. He puts a hand on Tatsuha’s shoulder and guides him away from Ryuichi’s side. He looks at Ryuichi and decides that now is as good a time as any to fill him in on the details. “Don’t try to say anything, just listen to me, okay?” Ryuichi nods slightly, being sure not to put too much pressure on the front of his neck. Hiro continues to explain what’s happened again. “The bullet did a lot of damage inside your neck. The doctors have paralyzed the vocal cords to keep you from straining them. We won’t know if there is any permanent damage for a couple of days. In the meantime, you have to stay absolutely quiet.”
Ryuichi takes in all the information. He remembers hearing something like this in the recovery room, but this time he isn’t panic-stricken by the news. He takes his right hand and lifts it, making a motion as if he was trying to write with an invisible pen. Hiro understands what Ryuichi wants and searches the premises for paper and a pen. Once he has those, he holds the paper against the back of the chart that is hanging off the end of the bed so Ryuichi can write, “IS SHUICHI OKAY?”
Hiro looks at the paper and smiles. “Shuichi is fine.”
Shuichi gets up and cautiously walks over to the bedside and stands next to Hiro. “You saved my life.” Tears start to fall down Shuichi’s face as he continues. “Now you may never sing again because of me.”
Ryuichi raises his free hand and wipes the tears from Shuichi’s face. Picking up the pen, he writes a note which Hiro reads aloud. “Don’t cry. I’ll be ok. I love you.” Shuichi breaks down completely and Tatsuha comes over and takes him to the other side of the room.
The nurse walks in and sees the ensemble and shakes her head. “Ok gentlemen, I think it’s time that everyone leaves and gives Sakuma-san time to rest. You can come back in the morning.”
Shuichi tries to argue that he wants to stay, but Tatsuha and Hiro convince him that the nurse is correct. Besides, they all need to get some rest. They’ve been at the hospital for almost twenty-four hours. After each gives Ryuichi a kiss on the forehead or cheek, they leave the room promising to return as soon as they get up in the morning.
After the room is void of all people except the patient, Ryuichi closes his eyes and starts to sob. The prospect of never being able to sing again is crushing to him and he doesn’t know if he will be able to cope. As his silent tears pour from his eyes, his racked body submits to sleep.
Every day Ryuichi is greeted when he awakens by the sight of his three loves. They bring him crayons and paper and his hand-held video games. One the sixth day when the men come in they find Ryuichi out of bed, sitting in a chair no longer wearing the IV that adorned his left arm.
Ryuichi looks up as the door opens and smiles his biggest and brightest smile. He grabs a crayon and paper and writes “HELLO!” He motions to the assembled chairs near where he is sitting and everyone takes a seat. He continues writing messages to each man, asking how each is feeling and telling them that he loves them very much.
He’s about to write another message when the surgeon who operated on his neck walks in. “Good morning everyone and how is my patient today?”
Ryuichi pens a message, “You tell me.”
The doctor walks over to Ryuichi and says, “Well, why don’t we find out. I want to take out the stitches in your neck and then we’ll see if you can talk.”
Ryuichi’s eyes get big as saucers and nods. He lets the doctor walk him over to the bed where he lies down. After the bandages are removed, the doctor gets a small kit from the medicine closet. He takes out a pair of fine scissors and some tweezers. He carefully cuts each of the ten tiny stitches on Ryuichi’s neck and gently pulls the ends until each stitch is removed. He examines the incision and decides that perhaps it needs a couple of pieces of steri-strips to hold the incision completely closed. After applying the strips, he puts on a clean piece of gauze and tapes it in place over the incised area. He asks Ryuichi to open his mouth and using a tongue depressor, pushes the back of Ryuichi’s tongue down. He inserts a long thing instrument with a tiny round mirror on the end in Ryuichi’s mouth and asks him to say “Ah.”
A croaky little “ah” is heard coming from Ryuichi. The doctor smiles and withdraws the mirrored instrument and places it on the table. He feels the sides of Ryuichi’s neck carefully, applying a little pressure, but not enough to cause any pain. “Does this hurt?” Ryuichi shakes his head a “no.” Satisfied that the tissues are healing and the swelling has subsided, he decides that perhaps it’s time to see how much damage is done to the vocal cords. “Can you say your name for me please?”
Ryuichi tries to speak but his voice seems to be caught in his throat and panic covers his face. The doctor pats him on the shoulder and tells him to “relax.” The doctor gingerly places his fingers on either side of Ryuichi’s windpipe and applies a bit of pressure. “Okay, try again, what is your name?”
Ryuichi closes his eyes and concentrates very hard. “Ry- u- chi is a strangled response.”
The surgeon smiles, “That’s perfect! It doesn’t seem to have permanently damaged the cords.” He looks at Ryuichi and then to the others in the room. “Sakuma-san is going to need some occupational therapy to get his voice back to normal, but I don’t see any reason to think he won’t regain full use of his voice.”
He turns back to Ryuichi seeing a question rising in those bright blue eyes. “Yes, you should be able to sing again.”
Ryuichi smiles his biggest smile and clasps the doctor’s hands between his own. In a muffled voice he says, “Tank oo.”
The doctor shakes the hands holding him and replies, “It was my honor to help you, Sakuma-san. Now, you get some rest, you're going to be very busy for the next couple of weeks relearning how to talk.”
TBC
Chapter 29
Ryuichi wakes up in the recovery room of the hospital. He's groggy and has trouble focusing on anything or anyone. Through his blurry vision he can make out three distinctly different colored individuals. He blinks several times and shakes his head slightly which causes excruciating pain in the front of his neck. He groans slightly but the sound is more muted than one would expect. Ryuichi tries to lift his left arm to check his throat but it's being weighed down by some kind of restraint. As he lowers his eyes he finally is able to focus on the cause of his arm's restriction. There's a long thin board onto which his arm is taped. He looks down at his arm and sees an IV needle and tube extending from just below his elbow and leading up the railing on the bed. Ryuichi turns his attention back to the colored blobs and squints to see if he can make out exactly who is there. Finally he is able to concentrate on the nearest colored individual and makes out that it's Hiro. He tries to speak but pain prevents anything other than a squeaked out peep.
Hiro takes hold of Ryuichi’s right hand and gives him a gentle squeeze. He knows that Ryuichi doesn’t understand exactly what’s going on, so he tries to explain. “You just got out of surgery to remove the bullet that was stuck in your neck. It grazed your vocal cords and tore up some of the surrounding tissues. The doctors said that you won’t be able to talk for some time.” Hiro turns to his companions and winces. He told Ryuichi part of the truth. What he didn’t say was the doctors don’t know if Ryuichi will ever be able to talk again.
Ryuichi’s eyes grow wide and sheer panic takes over his face. He pulls his hand away from Hiro and grabs at his throat. The pressure of his hand on the bandages is painful and silent cries come from Ryuichi’s open mouth. Ryuichi is totally mute! Ryuichi starts thrashing in his bed. If it isn’t for the tape holding his arm in place, he would rip the IV out. His heart monitor starts beeping as his heart rate jumps from 68 to almost 200 in a matter of seconds.
Hiro steps back and yells for help. A male nurse and two medical aides are already rushing to Ryuichi’s side. One aide holds down the taped arm and the other aide leans over Ryuichi’s body trapping his free arm and is upper torso under the applied weight. The nurse takes a needle and withdraws some medication from a vial, then inserts the needle into a juncture on the IV tubing. With seconds Ryuichi’s body goes limp and the aides relinquish their hold on his body.
Hiro looks over at his two lovers as they gape at the medical staff attending Ryuichi. Shuichi is trembling so much that his knees begin to buckle; only Tatsuha’s grip on his arm is keeping him upright. Hiro quickly searches the immediate area and finds a chair which he grabs and slides over towards Shuichi. Tatsuha helps Shuichi sit down just as Shuichi’s legs give out from under him.
Tatsuha moves over to the side of Ryuichi’s bed and leans over the railing. He looks up at the nurse that has just medicated Ryuichi and asks what he just did, since Ryuichi seems to be unconscious again.
“I gave him a sedative. The doctors expected he would react badly to the news that his voice is gone.” He checks the monitors behind Ryuichi’s head and sees the heart rate is dropped to normal and his oxygen levels are at 97%, which is acceptable under the circumstances. “He needs to rest now, so I have to ask you all to leave the recovery room. It will be about an hour before we can move him to the private room that the doctors have ordered. You can wait in there if you so choose.”
Tatsuha reluctantly rises up and moves away from the bed. He and Hiro grab Shuichi under the younger man’s arms and help him get up and they leave the room, each glancing back over his shoulder checking on their bedridden love.
Over an hour later a nurse appears in the private room assigned for Ryuichi. She advises the threesome that Ryuichi is being transported up to his room and asks them to step out into a visiting area until Ryuichi is settled in there. As they exit the room, the hospital bed carrying Ryuichi from the recovery room to his private room is seen being pushed down the hall by two aides. Ryuichi doesn’t appear to be awake, which everyone feels is a good thing.
Once the aides put Ryuichi in his new quarters and leave, the nurse is able to go in and check Ryuichi’s vital statistics. His blood pressure, temperature and pulse are checked. She makes sure that the IV is flowing properly and a new bag of fluids isn’t going to be needed immediately. Once all is checked and properly documented in his chart, she leaves the room and goes to the visiting area. “He’s sleeping now, but if you are quiet you may go in and wait there. Please don’t try to wake him. If he wakes up, don’t try to get him to speak. I will be back in half an hour to check on him.” With that she turns and soon disappears around the corner.
All three men silently walk into Ryuichi’s room and take chairs to sit vigil over their sleeping lover. Every half hour the nurse comes in and checks the vital statistics for Ryuichi and documents them on his chart and then leaves the room. This goes on for five more hours during which time each man sits and just stares at Ryuichi’s seemingly lifeless body.
Shuichi scoots around in his chair trying to get more comfortable which causes the chair to scrape along the floor and a screeching noise is made. The noise wakes Ryuichi and as he opens his eyes, he is able to finally focus on the three faces of his lovers. He realizes that the colored blurs he saw when he first woke up in the recovery room were actually these three men. Each is wearing a shirt that coordinates with the colored blur he saw. He gives a weak smile of recognition in their general direction.
Before he has a chance to try and talk, Tatsuha jumps up and runs over the bedside. He grabs Ryuichi’s hand and kisses it. He looks at Ryuichi to be sure he’s really awake. As Ryuichi opens his mouth, Tatsuha shushes him and tells him not to try and speak. “The doctors gave you some medicine in the operating room to paralyze your vocal cords. Don’t try and talk now, you won’t be able to. Just rest for now.”
Ryuichi looks over to Hiro with questioning eyes. He wants to know if what Tatsuha has said is true or if there’s more to it than that. Hiro looks at Ryuichi and knows that there’s more that Ryuichi wants to know. He gets up and walks over to the bed. He puts a hand on Tatsuha’s shoulder and guides him away from Ryuichi’s side. He looks at Ryuichi and decides that now is as good a time as any to fill him in on the details. “Don’t try to say anything, just listen to me, okay?” Ryuichi nods slightly, being sure not to put too much pressure on the front of his neck. Hiro continues to explain what’s happened again. “The bullet did a lot of damage inside your neck. The doctors have paralyzed the vocal cords to keep you from straining them. We won’t know if there is any permanent damage for a couple of days. In the meantime, you have to stay absolutely quiet.”
Ryuichi takes in all the information. He remembers hearing something like this in the recovery room, but this time he isn’t panic-stricken by the news. He takes his right hand and lifts it, making a motion as if he was trying to write with an invisible pen. Hiro understands what Ryuichi wants and searches the premises for paper and a pen. Once he has those, he holds the paper against the back of the chart that is hanging off the end of the bed so Ryuichi can write, “IS SHUICHI OKAY?”
Hiro looks at the paper and smiles. “Shuichi is fine.”
Shuichi gets up and cautiously walks over to the bedside and stands next to Hiro. “You saved my life.” Tears start to fall down Shuichi’s face as he continues. “Now you may never sing again because of me.”
Ryuichi raises his free hand and wipes the tears from Shuichi’s face. Picking up the pen, he writes a note which Hiro reads aloud. “Don’t cry. I’ll be ok. I love you.” Shuichi breaks down completely and Tatsuha comes over and takes him to the other side of the room.
The nurse walks in and sees the ensemble and shakes her head. “Ok gentlemen, I think it’s time that everyone leaves and gives Sakuma-san time to rest. You can come back in the morning.”
Shuichi tries to argue that he wants to stay, but Tatsuha and Hiro convince him that the nurse is correct. Besides, they all need to get some rest. They’ve been at the hospital for almost twenty-four hours. After each gives Ryuichi a kiss on the forehead or cheek, they leave the room promising to return as soon as they get up in the morning.
After the room is void of all people except the patient, Ryuichi closes his eyes and starts to sob. The prospect of never being able to sing again is crushing to him and he doesn’t know if he will be able to cope. As his silent tears pour from his eyes, his racked body submits to sleep.
Every day Ryuichi is greeted when he awakens by the sight of his three loves. They bring him crayons and paper and his hand-held video games. One the sixth day when the men come in they find Ryuichi out of bed, sitting in a chair no longer wearing the IV that adorned his left arm.
Ryuichi looks up as the door opens and smiles his biggest and brightest smile. He grabs a crayon and paper and writes “HELLO!” He motions to the assembled chairs near where he is sitting and everyone takes a seat. He continues writing messages to each man, asking how each is feeling and telling them that he loves them very much.
He’s about to write another message when the surgeon who operated on his neck walks in. “Good morning everyone and how is my patient today?”
Ryuichi pens a message, “You tell me.”
The doctor walks over to Ryuichi and says, “Well, why don’t we find out. I want to take out the stitches in your neck and then we’ll see if you can talk.”
Ryuichi’s eyes get big as saucers and nods. He lets the doctor walk him over to the bed where he lies down. After the bandages are removed, the doctor gets a small kit from the medicine closet. He takes out a pair of fine scissors and some tweezers. He carefully cuts each of the ten tiny stitches on Ryuichi’s neck and gently pulls the ends until each stitch is removed. He examines the incision and decides that perhaps it needs a couple of pieces of steri-strips to hold the incision completely closed. After applying the strips, he puts on a clean piece of gauze and tapes it in place over the incised area. He asks Ryuichi to open his mouth and using a tongue depressor, pushes the back of Ryuichi’s tongue down. He inserts a long thing instrument with a tiny round mirror on the end in Ryuichi’s mouth and asks him to say “Ah.”
A croaky little “ah” is heard coming from Ryuichi. The doctor smiles and withdraws the mirrored instrument and places it on the table. He feels the sides of Ryuichi’s neck carefully, applying a little pressure, but not enough to cause any pain. “Does this hurt?” Ryuichi shakes his head a “no.” Satisfied that the tissues are healing and the swelling has subsided, he decides that perhaps it’s time to see how much damage is done to the vocal cords. “Can you say your name for me please?”
Ryuichi tries to speak but his voice seems to be caught in his throat and panic covers his face. The doctor pats him on the shoulder and tells him to “relax.” The doctor gingerly places his fingers on either side of Ryuichi’s windpipe and applies a bit of pressure. “Okay, try again, what is your name?”
Ryuichi closes his eyes and concentrates very hard. “Ry- u- chi is a strangled response.”
The surgeon smiles, “That’s perfect! It doesn’t seem to have permanently damaged the cords.” He looks at Ryuichi and then to the others in the room. “Sakuma-san is going to need some occupational therapy to get his voice back to normal, but I don’t see any reason to think he won’t regain full use of his voice.”
He turns back to Ryuichi seeing a question rising in those bright blue eyes. “Yes, you should be able to sing again.”
Ryuichi smiles his biggest smile and clasps the doctor’s hands between his own. In a muffled voice he says, “Tank oo.”
The doctor shakes the hands holding him and replies, “It was my honor to help you, Sakuma-san. Now, you get some rest, you're going to be very busy for the next couple of weeks relearning how to talk.”
TBC