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Alternate Tracks 2nd Story in Rivalry Series	By : kurahieiritrJIO Category: +G to L > Initial D Views: 2493 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Initial D, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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A/N: Thanks to all who have read this story as it gets close to the ending point. A special thank you for those who have reviewed. I really appreciate the time that they took to give me feed back.

CHAPTER 33

Takahashi Ryosuke walked into Fujiwara's room, followed by a subdued Takeuchi. The young man was out cold, although the ravages of tears remained on his face. Itsuke told him. "The nurse put something in the IV when she was here, Ryosuke san."

"I'm not surprised. Did Fujiwara say anything when he woke up?" Ryosuke turned to the younger man as he asked.

Takeuchi shuffled his feet. "Tak woke up crying. I thought it was because he was in pain, so I called the nurse's station for him." The younger man slid a hand through his hair before he continued. "Tak said it was his fault Keisuke got shot."

Ryosuke sighed. He needed to gain more specific information from Fujiwara's best friend. "Did Fujiwara say anything else, Takeuchi?"

"Well, hai. Tak said he should have left the team when he first found out about Keisuke san's feelings so this wouldn't have happened. He also said he hurts minnasan when he gets attached to them."

The older Takahashi brother frowned at his younger brother's beloved. Fujiwara twitched in his sleep as his features contorted. His comatose dreams must have been torturous considering the younger man's haggard expression. It was frighteningly obvious to everyone present the previous night that Fujiwara loved Keisuke.

Mogi had proven herself as dangerous as Akiho. Ryosuke wished he had gone with his gut feeling and warned Fujiwara personally to be on guard. He could only assume Mogi had gotten their itinerary from the Project D website. He held the greatest blame in Keisuke, and Fujiwara's life threatening injuries if that was the case.

Ryosuke knew he had to remain strong for his family members, both in hospital beds because of his complacency with Project D fans. Keisuke had been the more difficult to help as he fought to staunch the bleeding with his fingers. With Fujiwara's help, Ryosuke had pried Keisuke's hands away from the top wound to determine how severe his injury was. Singing-Wolf had handed him a small stick that once broken, foamed with an antiseptic agent, and a wad of heavy gauze to slow Keisuke's bleed rate. The combination of first aid measures insured infection was less likely to kill Keisuke than the original wound.

Fujiwara had also protected Keisuke's skull while holding him down during each convulsion, to the teen's own detriment. The teen's panic over Keisuke's condition had made it impossible to give the younger man emergency aide as he focused on his boyfriend's plight. Ryosuke doubted that Fujiwara had any idea that his injury was as dangerous as Keisuke's in a literal sense. Singing-Wolf finally knocked Fujiwara out to get a tourniquet on his leg before he bled to death.

It had been Ryosuke's duty to stay at the hospital to sign all medical forms, and bill payments. Ryosuke had called his home, and the Fujiwara residence to give them the news about the shooting, and frequent medical updates. Every communication had been stressful as he informed both families of the tragedy. Their mother was on her way to the train station to get to this hospital even as he stood in Fujiwara's room. Fumihiro would pick up Yukiko Takahashi at the train station because Ryosuke had to remain at the hospital. The possibility of Keisuke destabilizing and needed additional emergency care was still high.

Ryosuke had notified Bunta Fujiwara that he had signed the documents for Fujiwara's treatment, and was paying the medical bills. Yet, Fujiwara's father was not satisfied with telephone reports this time. Fujiwara senior said he would catch a train to come to the hospital in person. Ryosuke had not expected that reaction from Fujiwara's parent. Fumihiro would also have to pick Bunta Fujiwara up when his train arrived. The only problem was that Ryosuke had no idea when Fujiwara's father would arrive.

Now, Ryosuke had to create a plan to help Fujiwara in more ways than one. Ryosuke doubted anyone could do much for Fujiwara's mental health unless Keisuke had a hand in the healing process. Fujiwara's mental state could prove lethal if Keisuke died. Worse, Fujiwara was in no shape to be there for Keisuke, should his brother slip into a coma. With Fujiwara's father in the picture, and the truth coming out, this situation was endangering Fujiwara's precarious position even more.

Ryosuke stepped closer to the bed, and spoke to the unconscious youth. "Fujiwara, Keisuke's condition is stable. He'll be upset that he frightened you so deeply. Keisuke will get better because he loves you. He won't tolerate staying away from you for very long. I'll talk to you in the morning to give you another update on Keisuke. I need to tell him that you're going to be all right before visitors' hours are over."

Ryosuke lifted a warning finger to his lips to keep Takeuchi quiet. Fujiwara did not need to know that Keisuke had not awoken from surgery. It was too early to tell him that Keisuke was on an oxygen assisted ventilator to insure he continued to breathe. Fujiwara was too traumatized to endure the truth. Ryosuke watched as some stress lines relaxed around Fujiwara's mouth. His words had gotten past the pain killers. It was the only thing Ryosuke could do to ease the nightmare his downhill specialist was having. The dark-haired Takahashi brother pointed to the hallway with a strong wave. Takeuchi understood the gesture as he nodded and left the room.

Takeuchi demanded once Ryosuke left Fujiwara's room, "When did Keisuke san wake up? I thought he was in the Intensive Care Ward, Ryosuke san. I mean, I hated not being able to tell Tak anything that could help when he woke up earlier. Keisuke's in really bad shape."

"Takeuchi, the last thing Fujiwara needs to know is how critical Keisuke's condition is right now. Keisuke has stabilized enough to give the isha sensei in charge of the ward reason to believe he will survive his injury. I'm certain it's because he saw that Fujiwara was still functioning before he lost consciousness. If Keisuke beats the odds tonight, it will be because he loves Fujiwara."

"I saw how Keisuke san protected Tak last night. I didn't want to admit it, but I know I was wrong. Your otouto really does love Tak." Takeuchi looked at the tiles as he trudged beside him toward the main nursing station.

"Keisuke wasn't happy when he first realized that he was in love with Fujiwara, Takeuchi. Those two have come a long way, in a short time."

"Tak fell apart when he saw that Keisuke was hurt. I've never seen him act like that before. When he woke up, he started crying. He loves Keisuke san too, . . . I guess. I couldn't do anything for him except tell him that Keisuke was alive. I felt pretty useless."

"Fujiwara needs Keisuke in his life more than you can probably understand, Takeuchi. The few things I know about Fujiwara tell me that if Keisuke dies, your best friend may be beyond anyone's reach for the rest of his life. He'll become an emotional cripple, much worse than his otosān."

The younger man looked over at him with a frightened expression. "Are you serious, Ryosuke san?"

"Fujiwara has had many disappointments in his lifetime. If he loses Keisuke's positive reinforcement and affection now, Fujiwara may never form emotional attachments to others. He believes that he has alienated you, so nothing you say can help him to cope with the loss if Keisuke dies. We can only pray that Keisuke wakes up soon. I hope we can also keep Fujiwara from having a nervous breakdown until Keisuke rallies. My otouto is tougher than most, so I believe he is going to pull through very soon."

"I don't want Tak to think I'll abandon him. I can't do that. He's still my best friend. I just have a hard time getting my head around him and Keisuke san getting together. That's all." Takeuchi's head hung as he continued to walk next to him. They got onto the elevator and headed for the Intensive Care section.

"Takeuchi, they expected your negative reaction. I know the reasons you have a difficult time with their relationship. I was also shocked when I found out that Keisuke was in love with Fujiwara. However, I decided that I would support them because I see how well they work together. I know that they bring out each other's good points. I also want them both to be happy. I doubt Fujiwara's known much happiness."

Takeuchi rubbed the back of his neck. "I made things worse by freaking out on them when I found out that they were dating."

"As I understand things, you arrived at a very inopportune moment, Takeuchi. Seeing two otoko making out is far more shocking than getting told that they were seeing each other. Only time will tell if you and Fujiwara can regain your previous level of trust in each other's judgement. For now, I need to try to get a message to Keisuke." Ryosuke stopped beside the Intensive Care nurses station. Takeuchi nodded and walked into the waiting room.

A nurse asked from behind the desk. "Can I help you, sir?"

"Hai. I would like to check on my otouto, Takahashi Keisuke. He should be in ICU-4."

"You are?"

"Takahashi Ryosuke des." He handed over his driver's license so she could verify his identity.

"One moment, please." The nurse tapped on a keyboard as she double-checked his stats. "Takahashi Keisuke, gunshot victim, correct?"

"Hai."

"There's no change in his condition, sir. He's listed as stable but in critical condition."

"May I go to his room for a few minutes? I thought perhaps if I tried to speak to him it might help him awaken."

"I'll check with the isha sensei on duty, Takahashi san." The woman scurried from her chair, and moved toward the inner room where the hospital contained monitoring equipment. Several minutes passed as Ryosuke waited. The doctor came out with the nurse.

"Takahashi san?" The older woman asked as she moved toward them. Ryosuke stepped forward.

"Hai, isha sensei?"

"I'm Yoshifumi isha sensei. I understand you want to go to your otouto's room."

"If that's permissible. I believe Keisuke might respond if I spoke with him. It's a documented fact that hearing familiar voices can trigger improvement in unconscious patients who are in a semi comatose state."

"Where have you heard about that?" The woman raised an eyebrow as she spoke. Her tone implied surprise.

"I'm a medical student. I begin my first post this fall." Ryosuke answered keeping his impatience in check.

"If you don't mind the procedure to enter his room, I think it might help to hear a familiar voice. Follow me." She hustled him into a secondary room behind the monitoring station. The doctor pointed to a sterile gown and mask, motioning him toward the sink.

"Scrub up. We can't have infection getting into his lung." The woman left so he could get ready. Ryosuke made certain he did a fast, thorough job of sterilizing his skin, and changed into the uniform. In a few minutes the doctor led him to his brother's room.

"Yoshifumi-isha sensei, what are Keisuke's chances of surviving tonight?"

"Takahashi san, he has a fifty-fifty chance as things stand. As you know, his lung collapsed due to the bullet tearing through the lower section and exiting from his back. Keisuke lost the lower part of his lung because it was too damaged to salvage. Although he received excellent emergency care before he arrived, The surgeon resuscitated Keisuke twice before we could get him into surgery. The loss of part of his lung has contributed to his having low blood oxygen levels. Because of the oxygen-boosted ventilator his blood oxygen levels are rising at a slow but steady rate, which is a very good sign. Our main concern is that Keisuke's damaged lung hasn't begun to recover from full function loss. His healthy lung hasn't taken over control of his oxygen supply needs. Also, your otouto hasn't responded within acceptable limits to the stimulus we use to gauge recovery from anesthesia. There's still a strong possibility that he may slip into a coma before long."

Yoshifumi isha sensei opened the door and walked into the room with Ryosuke. Keisuke looked like a fragile, wax-skinned doll to Ryosuke's eyes. The physician had attached the thick ventilation tube with tape to his mouth to force air into his lungs. A monitor blipped near Keisuke's head as it registered his heart beats, and blood pressure. One IV carried blood to his veins, and a secondary medication IV also dripped into Keisuke's arm. Ryosuke doubted Fujiwara could withstand this image long enough to talk to Keisuke if he fell into a coma. He found it nearly impossible to cope with the sight in front of him, and the University hospital had trained Ryosuke to accept such images.

Ryosuke swallowed hard. He had known Keisuke would look bad when he came here, but the vision of how fragile his cocky, and unpredictable tempered younger brother looked was much more traumatic than he had appreciated it would be. Ryosuke stepped closer to the bed and touched his younger brother's hand. It was frigid to the touch. He took a firm hold of Keisuke's hand and leaned down so he could relay the message he hoped would give Keisuke the edge he needed to beat the odds stacked against his survival.

"Fujiwara's worried about you, Keisuke. He's waiting for you to get well enough to talk to him. He also misses you. Don't disappoint him, Otouto. He wants to see you, but the isha sensei won't let him into this room. You have to wake up before the medical staff can move you to a room where Fujiwara can visit, Keisuke."

Ryosuke felt the blond's hand flex in his as he mentioned his lover's name. It seemed that his younger brother heard his words. "Fujiwara's berating himself over your injury. I can't get Fujiwara to stop thinking you'll die because of him, Otouto. You need to awaken so you can tell him to calm down, Keisuke. He refuses to listen to me. You're the only one that can calm Fujiwara right now. Get better soon because I can't reach Fujiwara. He'll only listen to you. Fujiwara will only believe everything's fine if you tell him, Keisuke."

Ryosuke stood up after another moment, and a second mild flex of his brother's hand. He nodded to let the doctor know he was ready to leave. He spoke with her about Keisuke's light grip as they walked back to the room where he would put his street clothes back on.

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Alternate Tracks 2nd Story in Rivalry Series