Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Stolen Breath ❯ Diagnosis ( Chapter 2 )

(Author's Note: I will repeat the warning in every single chapter, well, almost every single one, just to make certain that people actually understand.

WARNING. THIS STORY CONTAINS GRAPHIC YAOI. YAOI IS MALE/MALE
SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS. LONG AND SHORT, THERE WILL BE GAY GUYS
KISSING IN THIS STORY. AND MAYBE MORE, DEPENDING ON THE WAY THE
STORY GOES. AKA, THERE MAY BE SEX IN THIS STORY, GUY/GUY.

IF YOU DO NOT ENJOY READING YAOI STORIES, OR IT IS AGAINST YOUR
RELIGION, PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS STORY. THANK YOU FOR
LISTENING. REMEMBER: YAOI IS MALE/MALE SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS.

Also, if there is a signal that says, oh, let's say:
)) TRUNKS ((
That means that it has changed to Trunks's POV. Understood? When it does:
)) JUUNANA ((
it has changed back to our main character...

Thank you for your time, good bye, and please enjoy!)

Stolen Breath

Chapter Two: Diagnosis

I wake slowly, feeling the ache in my head pounding a rhythmic beat against the inside of my skull. Groaning at the pain, I attempt to open my eyes, and find that they are, amazingly, too heavy to lift.

After a few seconds of failed attempts, I give up and concentrate on my other senses.

It smells like a hospital.

I am in a bed with a soft blanket over top of me.

My mouth is dry and parched.

I can hear the beeping of machines and the soft breathing of someone dreaming nearby.

Someone close by. My eyes fly open, suddenly no longer cumbersome, and I attempt to sit up and view the other inhabitant of the room, ignoring the pounding of my brain against my skull and the dizziness my movements cause me.

Damn. There's a barrier blocking the other person from me.

I move to climb out of bed, noticing the IV only after it was ripped from my flesh. I hiss at the pain, watching scarlet blood well up and drip down my arm.

More injury to myself.

Although, as I think about it, who really cared?

No one, that's who... No one at all.

"Who's there?" The voice catches me unaware, and I blink, promptly forgetting the throbbing in my arms and head.

"Who's there?" repeats the voice. This time I am frozen, entranced by the sound.

It's Him...

I find my voice at least, and reply. "J-Jay." Or rather, J for Juunana. My lips twist in a bitter smile at the joke. Why use the name my sister used to call me by? It isn't like she's around to apply it...

"I'm Trunks." I savor the words that He speaks. Then, realization dawns...

Trunks was hurt.

"How did you get hurt?" Anxiety makes my voice rise slightly, and I go mute, praying He doesn't notice.

He doesn't, luckily for me, and merely speaks, answering my question.

"It's kind of stupid, actually," He commented with an embarrassed laugh. "I was walking to my car, and fell. I think I hit my head on the pavement. The doctors say I have a concussion." I calm slightly. The doctors can easily take care of his wound, then. "How about you?"

I don't know, and tell him so.

"Well, I think there's a clipboard at the end of your bed that tells you what the diagnosis is," comments the one I watch over.

It is only then that the memories flood my system, locking me once more in place.

When I don't reply, Trunks repeats the sentence, sounding slightly puzzled.

I don't respond to that either, but He persists.

"Jay? Are you all right?" He asks me, His own voice raised in concern for me.

For someone He doesn't even know.

"I-I'm fine," I manage to choke out, shaking myself from my frozen state. I move from my half crouch on the bed, gingerly holding my arm to keep the crimson liquid from dotting the white linen that I rest on. Half crawling, I reached blindly over the end of the bed, my trembling hand grazing the cold metal before finding the clipboard He had spoken of. My hands shaking from exertion, feeling oddly weak, I lift the clipboard to read the words silently to myself.

Dehydration.

Fever of 103.

Starvation.

Injuries to head.

I bark a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Trunks wants to know. "Did you find out what's wrong with you?" I shrug, and then recall He can't see me through the curtain.

"I'm fucking messed up, Trunks."

"Why?" He is surprised, and worried.

"Too many things to name," I reply, suddenly exhausted. "Listen, if anyone, nurse or not, comes to visit you, tell them I'm asleep, all right, kid?" The word is out before I can help it. Even as He begins His objections, I sink back onto the bed, this time unable to help the blood that spills onto the sheets. My limbs are numb, unresponsive as they curl me into a ball, my head slightly tilted to listen to His words.

My heavy eyelids closing, I fall asleep to the murmur of Trunks's wonderful voice.

)) TRUNKS ((

"Kid?" I demand indignantly. "How old are you?"

No reply. Then I recall his words, and settle down, promising to question him about his age once he wakes up.

And figure out what's wrong with him.

'Fucking messed up,' he had said, in a kind of an amused tone of voice.

How?

My thoughts are interrupted by a knock on the door to our hospital room. I half rise before remembering my concussion, the pain temporarily lodging me in place and my eyes to tear.

"Hello?" I call through the hurting of my cranium.

"Trunks?" It's Goten, his intonation anxious. Another voice comes to my ears.

"Trunks? Are you there? It's Marron and Goten."

I blink through the haze of pain until my vision is clear, and then at last respond. "Come in." Recalling the tiredness in Jay's voice, I quick attach the sentences, "But be quiet. My roommate is sleeping." My two best friends slip through the door as it opens, both looking troubled. I summon a smile onto my face in hopes to reassure them.

"Are you all right?" Goten quickly asks, looking relieved at my grin. With the hand that is free of the IV, I dismiss the idea of being hurt, although my pounding head lingers on the fact once more. I glance over at the curtain, hoping that my friends hadn't woken him.

Since there is no movement behind the barrier, I assume he's still sleeping.

Catching my glance, Marron questions, "Who's the person on the other side?"

I shrug, and then give them the only answer he had given me. "His name's Jay."
Goten and Marron both raise eyebrows. "And?" is their reply.

I smirk slightly. "And he's sound asleep, so keep your voices down." Obediently they obey, lowering their voices to whispers that scarcely reach my ears.

I roll my eyes, but decide not to comment on it.

)) JUUNANA ((

Why are they are here? The desperate question resounds through my mind as I awaken to listen to the familiar voices of my niece and Son Goten. Suddenly their words quiet to soft murmurings. After a moment or so, I give up on trying to listen.

Instead, I look for a place to hide.

At first, staying as quiet as possible, still bleeding from my arm, I attempt to stand and move to secrete myself inside the bathroom. The overwhelming dizziness that nearly causes me to pass out quickly vetoes that idea. Once my head clears, I slowly lower myself to the floor, being as silent as a panther. Pressing my cheek against the cold tile for a moment, I stop to catch my breath, and hear Him.

He laughs, and declares, "Come on, Mar-chan! Goten! I'm perfectly fine."

His words warm my heart, and I smile for a brief second before rolling under the bed to hide. Now, if they peek through the curtains, they won't be able to see me.

Which is exactly as I want it.

Closing my eyes to darkness, I try to listen to Trunks's conversation, to simply hear His voice.

Luckily for me, he speaks rather loudly.

And I am content with that.

)) TRUNKS ((

Just as Marron opens her mouth to speak, one of the nurses bustles in, all bright-eyed and cheerful. She smiles at my visitors and me before moving to check my temperature and the IV container.

"Remind me to refill your IV during my next visit, all right, dearie?" she asks me. I smile and nod, inwardly wincing. I loathe being called dearie.

"Say, ma'am, what's wrong with the sleeping fellow over there?" Goten pipes up, jerking his thumb towards the curtain. I scowl at him, but he doesn't notice, too busy awaiting the nurse's answer.

"Oh, he's a mess, but his injuries are confidential, I'm afraid," the nurse replies cheerily, smiling back at the Son. Goten grins, and questions if Jay had a concussion too.

"Jay?" The nurse looks puzzled.

"That's what he said his name was," I inform her, nodding in the direction of Jay. The movement hurts my head, and I wince.

"We didn't know his name and don't move your head," was her quick reply, noticing the grimace. I comply with her orders, settling down. "Actually, Mr.- Jay, wasn't it? - Isn't even supposed to be in this wing of the hospital. Unfortunately we're rather crowded at the moment, and this was the only place we would put him." With another smile towards us, she bounces off to the other side of the room, slipping through the curtain before I can catch a glimpse of my roommate.

Oh well. I'd come and visit him later.

There was silence for a moment or two, and then the nurse asked with gentle concern, "Excuse me, sir, but why exactly are you under the bed?"

Goten and Marron both raise eyebrows as I frown, wondering what exactly was wrong with Jay.

)) JUUNANA ((

I open my eyes to peer into twinkling hazel ones. Instantly, my old, comfortable scowl is in place, and I do what I do best.

Glower.

"That, ma'am, is none of your business," I state icily as she drags me from beneath the bed and pushes me onto the sheets.

"And look, you've torn the IV from your arm." She continues to scold me as she sterilizes the IV needle and reinserts it. I keep my face expressionless at the prick.

"Leave me alone," I order her once she is finished checking my temperature. The nurse chuckles as if my words amuse her.

"I think you need to sleep on top of the bed, Mr. Jay," she informs me cheerily as she covers me with the blanket.

I glare in return, and retort angrily, my voice gaining strength as I speak more and more words, "Perhaps the floor is more comfortable than this horrible bed. Now leave me alone, woman!"

With a condescending smile directed towards me, the nurse nods and leaves me alone.

Well, mostly alone.

"Jay? You all right?" comes His call.

"I-I'm fine, Trunks." My voice is suddenly weak again, and my entire body aches, my head most of all. "Just let me sleep, okay, kid?"

"Don't call me kid!" is the last thing I hear before I drift off to slumber once more.