Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Fleeting Inspiration ❯ More Medical Issues ( Chapter 24 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Anna Sartin 
Anime/Manga: Gravitation Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Comedy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 04.02.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.9K | Visits: 746 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Gravitation Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Comedy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 04.02.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.9K | Visits: 746 | Status: Work In Progress
Fleeting Inspiration
by Anna Sartin
. . .
Chapter Twenty-Four: More Medical Issues
.
"Why are you stalking me!?" both men shouted in unison. The two stared blankly at each other for a few seconds.
"Stalking YOU?" Mamoru Eto asked incredulously. "First you show up at my apartment, then at my book signing in Osaka and now my hospital and you actually have the nerve to claim I'm stalking YOU? What the hell are you doing here?"
"I don't have to answer to you," Eiri answered defiantly, crossing his arms.
"Getting your head examined, hopefully!" the older man retorted, throwing the magazine he'd been looking at down on the nearby table. "You seem to be in serious need of psychological help!"
Eiri took a step forward, seething with rage. "I don't need to hear that from you. That piece of shit you wrote proves that you're LONG overdue for a shrink!"
"I should file a restraining order against you!" the old man said, crossly.
"I should file a restraining order against your stupid book!"
"For the last time, if you don't like the damn book then don't read it, but leave me the hell alone!"
"The damn thing is stalking me!"
"Stop talking nonsense. Are you on drugs, boy?"
"No, but obviously you were when you wrote that damn-"
The door to the X-ray room opened suddenly and a cross-looking lab technician stepped out. Both men stared at her mutely; the elder with his index finger in the air (to wave during the lecture he'd been about to begin) and the younger with his mouth hanging open (from the sentence he'd never gotten to finish). Neither looked very intelligent. The woman would never have believed that she had two highly respected award-winning authors squabbling in the waiting area of her department like ill-mannered children. She looked hard at them both.
"Gentlemen, I'm going to have to ask you both to be quiet. This is a hospital and I would hope that at your ages you know how to conduct yourselves accordingly. Now, are one of you Mamoru Eto-san?"
"I am," the older man confirmed, standing up.
"We're ready to begin your chest X-ray," she told him, stepping aside to let him in the door. To Eiri she said, "Take a seat, sir. I'll be with you in a few minutes."
Eiri sat down in a huff and grabbed the magazine Eto had been reading. It was a trashy celebrity tabloid. Somehow I expected hospitals to provide reading material with a bit more class in their waiting rooms...
He skimmed through the pages where the names of both well-known and lesser-known celebrities were dragged through the mud. An actress was supposedly pregnant with her cross-dressing lover's baby. A popular radio announcer had been arrested on drug charges, for the third time now. Same old shit. Turning the page revealed more interesting "information". Apparently aliens had landed on the Diet building and were holding secret meetings with certain members of the Japanese government. Possible plans included helping American scientists blow up the moon, invading a secret Russian colony on Jupiter and founding a new technology-based religion for the new millennium. Eiri rolled his eyes. Why do people read this stupid shit?
Eiri turned the page again and snickered at the picture of Ryuichi Sakuma sitting on his brother's lap. Apparently someone had spied them dining together and snapped a great shot of Tatsuha feeding Ryuichi with his chopsticks. Wild rumors were flying about Ryuichi Sakuma and the teenage Buddhist monk. He carefully ripped the page out and folded it before stuffing it in his pocket. Good blackmail material was not something to pass up.
The next page featured an article that claimed he and Shuichi had been arrested last week at Music World for being involved in a "smuggling operation". Apparently they'd also tried to kidnap a teenage girl in the process. Eiri growled and threw the magazine across the room. No wonder Eto thought he was crazy! Why were tabloids allowed to write this shit???
He spent the next twenty minutes sitting with his arms crossed, looking very much like a sulking child as he debated rather or not he should call his lawyer, crawl back to Tohma for help and ask him to gag the media or simply hole himself up in his apartment and never come out again.
. . .
His next stop after getting his stomach X-rayed was the hospital pharmacy to get his prescription filled. Of course Eto was there. So was his annoying granddaughter. Eiri gave them both the Evil Eye and went to pick up his medication. Lola glared right back at him, while her grandfather buried his face in a magazine and ignored him.
After picking up his medication Eiri noticed something... odd... over by the vending machines. A hand was sticking out from behind one of them, and two crutches were propped up against the side of it. He moved closer to investigate. He found Shuichi sandwiched between the wall and the machine.
"What are you doing back there?" he asked his boyfriend.
"Hiding behind the vending machine."
"I can see that. Why?"
The singer pointed to Lola, who was seated at the other end of the room. "So SHE doesn't see me!"
"Oh, for the love of... Get out of there!" the writer ordered, dragging his lover out.
"Ow-ow-ow-ow-OW! Careful of my ankle!"
"How long were you planning to stay back there?" Eiri asked.
"Until she went away!" Shuichi responded, handing Eiri a small square machine he'd been holding so he could get his crutches. "Can you please hold this for me? I don't want to drop it."
"Fine." At least he wouldn't have to go wandering the hospital corridors in search of his pink-haired idiot. He'd had enough of doctors, lab techs and hospitals for one day, and he'd had enough of Mamoru Eto and his stupid family to last a lifetime. "So what is this thing?" Eiri asked, examining the contraption. It was obviously a piece of medical equipment, but he couldn't figure out what it was for.
"A nebulizer."
"A what?"
The singer's smile faded and he lowered his eyes to the floor. "Yuki, I... I need to talk to you..."
"Can it wait until we get out of here?" Eiri asked, already heading for the exit.
"Uh... sure..." Shuichi swallowed the lump in his throat and hobbled after him, struggling to keep up on his crutches. "So how did your appointment go?" he asked, forcing a smile.
Eiri held the door open for him. "Fine."
"What did the doctor say?" Shuichi inquired, when his lover didn't offer any more information.
"That I should quit smoking, stop drinking and avoid stress. The usual."
Shuichi's eyes clouded over for a moment before asking, "Are you going to do it?"
"Hell no."
"Do you... do you think you could do it?"
"I don't care to find out."
Shuichi heaved a deep sigh, but said nothing. He could only imagine how his lover would react when he told him how HIS appointment went. Would he get angry? Upset? He might even cough up blood again... he thought as they reached the car. What am I going to DO?
. . .
Shuichi spent the entire ride home feeling sick to his stomach. By the time they got back to the apartment the pain was unbearable and he collapsed onto the couch after Eiri had gone to the kitchen to get a drink. It feels like someone's doing back flips in my stomach... He still had no idea how to talk to his lover. He was rather surprised Yuki hadn't asked about his appointment already. Despite his nonchalant appearance, the blond was usually very perceptive and knew immediately when something was wrong.
"DAMN IT!!!" Eiri shouted from the kitchen.
"What is it?" Shuichi called out to him.
"I forgot to stop and buy beer!"
Shuichi closed his eyes, trying to will himself not to cry. It wasn't working.
"Do we need anything else from the store?" Eiri asked as he entered the room, prepared to go out again. He found his young lover curled up in a ball, his body shaking from repressed sobs. "Shuichi?" He approached his companion and knelt down beside him. "Shuichi? What's wrong with you?"
I've got to tell him... I've got to tell him now... Shuichi opened his eyes. "Yuki... The doctor says I'm not allowed to sing."
Eiri stared at him for a few seconds before asking, "For how long?"
"Three weeks, or longer if I can't sing without getting winded. He says I shouldn't do anything to strain my lungs."
"You'll live," Eiri said coldly, trying not to sound as relieved as he felt. He's such a drama queen. Three weeks is nothing to cry about! He turned to leave, slightly angry at his lover for worrying him. Shuichi grabbed his sleeve.
"Yuki?"
"What?"
"I... I've got to talk to you," he said softly, pulling himself into a sitting position. "About something important."
This got the author's attention. "I'm listening."
"The doctor says... If I want to keep singing... I shouldn't live with you anymore."
"WHAT?"
Shuichi burst into tears. "H-he said that getting water in my lungs weakened them and... th-that if I live with a person who smokes they're going to get worse. He said... if I wanted to continue to sing professionally I have to stay from things that will damage them more, otherwise..."
Eiri stared blankly into space, feeling as though the bottom had dropped out of his world.
Shuichi pulled his knees up to his chest, burying his face as he cried. "I'm so sorry, Yuki! I love you so much, and I love to sing, too... I don't want to lose either, but I don't know what to do!"
Finally Eiri embraced the sobbing figure sitting in front of him and buried his face in the boy's pink hair. He took a deep breath.
"Don't worry," he said, trying to sound reassuring. "We'll figure something out." But the words sounded hollow even to his own ears. For once, he wasn't so sure.
.
~End chapter twenty-four~
by Anna Sartin
. . .
Chapter Twenty-Four: More Medical Issues
.
"Why are you stalking me!?" both men shouted in unison. The two stared blankly at each other for a few seconds.
"Stalking YOU?" Mamoru Eto asked incredulously. "First you show up at my apartment, then at my book signing in Osaka and now my hospital and you actually have the nerve to claim I'm stalking YOU? What the hell are you doing here?"
"I don't have to answer to you," Eiri answered defiantly, crossing his arms.
"Getting your head examined, hopefully!" the older man retorted, throwing the magazine he'd been looking at down on the nearby table. "You seem to be in serious need of psychological help!"
Eiri took a step forward, seething with rage. "I don't need to hear that from you. That piece of shit you wrote proves that you're LONG overdue for a shrink!"
"I should file a restraining order against you!" the old man said, crossly.
"I should file a restraining order against your stupid book!"
"For the last time, if you don't like the damn book then don't read it, but leave me the hell alone!"
"The damn thing is stalking me!"
"Stop talking nonsense. Are you on drugs, boy?"
"No, but obviously you were when you wrote that damn-"
The door to the X-ray room opened suddenly and a cross-looking lab technician stepped out. Both men stared at her mutely; the elder with his index finger in the air (to wave during the lecture he'd been about to begin) and the younger with his mouth hanging open (from the sentence he'd never gotten to finish). Neither looked very intelligent. The woman would never have believed that she had two highly respected award-winning authors squabbling in the waiting area of her department like ill-mannered children. She looked hard at them both.
"Gentlemen, I'm going to have to ask you both to be quiet. This is a hospital and I would hope that at your ages you know how to conduct yourselves accordingly. Now, are one of you Mamoru Eto-san?"
"I am," the older man confirmed, standing up.
"We're ready to begin your chest X-ray," she told him, stepping aside to let him in the door. To Eiri she said, "Take a seat, sir. I'll be with you in a few minutes."
Eiri sat down in a huff and grabbed the magazine Eto had been reading. It was a trashy celebrity tabloid. Somehow I expected hospitals to provide reading material with a bit more class in their waiting rooms...
He skimmed through the pages where the names of both well-known and lesser-known celebrities were dragged through the mud. An actress was supposedly pregnant with her cross-dressing lover's baby. A popular radio announcer had been arrested on drug charges, for the third time now. Same old shit. Turning the page revealed more interesting "information". Apparently aliens had landed on the Diet building and were holding secret meetings with certain members of the Japanese government. Possible plans included helping American scientists blow up the moon, invading a secret Russian colony on Jupiter and founding a new technology-based religion for the new millennium. Eiri rolled his eyes. Why do people read this stupid shit?
Eiri turned the page again and snickered at the picture of Ryuichi Sakuma sitting on his brother's lap. Apparently someone had spied them dining together and snapped a great shot of Tatsuha feeding Ryuichi with his chopsticks. Wild rumors were flying about Ryuichi Sakuma and the teenage Buddhist monk. He carefully ripped the page out and folded it before stuffing it in his pocket. Good blackmail material was not something to pass up.
The next page featured an article that claimed he and Shuichi had been arrested last week at Music World for being involved in a "smuggling operation". Apparently they'd also tried to kidnap a teenage girl in the process. Eiri growled and threw the magazine across the room. No wonder Eto thought he was crazy! Why were tabloids allowed to write this shit???
He spent the next twenty minutes sitting with his arms crossed, looking very much like a sulking child as he debated rather or not he should call his lawyer, crawl back to Tohma for help and ask him to gag the media or simply hole himself up in his apartment and never come out again.
. . .
His next stop after getting his stomach X-rayed was the hospital pharmacy to get his prescription filled. Of course Eto was there. So was his annoying granddaughter. Eiri gave them both the Evil Eye and went to pick up his medication. Lola glared right back at him, while her grandfather buried his face in a magazine and ignored him.
After picking up his medication Eiri noticed something... odd... over by the vending machines. A hand was sticking out from behind one of them, and two crutches were propped up against the side of it. He moved closer to investigate. He found Shuichi sandwiched between the wall and the machine.
"What are you doing back there?" he asked his boyfriend.
"Hiding behind the vending machine."
"I can see that. Why?"
The singer pointed to Lola, who was seated at the other end of the room. "So SHE doesn't see me!"
"Oh, for the love of... Get out of there!" the writer ordered, dragging his lover out.
"Ow-ow-ow-ow-OW! Careful of my ankle!"
"How long were you planning to stay back there?" Eiri asked.
"Until she went away!" Shuichi responded, handing Eiri a small square machine he'd been holding so he could get his crutches. "Can you please hold this for me? I don't want to drop it."
"Fine." At least he wouldn't have to go wandering the hospital corridors in search of his pink-haired idiot. He'd had enough of doctors, lab techs and hospitals for one day, and he'd had enough of Mamoru Eto and his stupid family to last a lifetime. "So what is this thing?" Eiri asked, examining the contraption. It was obviously a piece of medical equipment, but he couldn't figure out what it was for.
"A nebulizer."
"A what?"
The singer's smile faded and he lowered his eyes to the floor. "Yuki, I... I need to talk to you..."
"Can it wait until we get out of here?" Eiri asked, already heading for the exit.
"Uh... sure..." Shuichi swallowed the lump in his throat and hobbled after him, struggling to keep up on his crutches. "So how did your appointment go?" he asked, forcing a smile.
Eiri held the door open for him. "Fine."
"What did the doctor say?" Shuichi inquired, when his lover didn't offer any more information.
"That I should quit smoking, stop drinking and avoid stress. The usual."
Shuichi's eyes clouded over for a moment before asking, "Are you going to do it?"
"Hell no."
"Do you... do you think you could do it?"
"I don't care to find out."
Shuichi heaved a deep sigh, but said nothing. He could only imagine how his lover would react when he told him how HIS appointment went. Would he get angry? Upset? He might even cough up blood again... he thought as they reached the car. What am I going to DO?
. . .
Shuichi spent the entire ride home feeling sick to his stomach. By the time they got back to the apartment the pain was unbearable and he collapsed onto the couch after Eiri had gone to the kitchen to get a drink. It feels like someone's doing back flips in my stomach... He still had no idea how to talk to his lover. He was rather surprised Yuki hadn't asked about his appointment already. Despite his nonchalant appearance, the blond was usually very perceptive and knew immediately when something was wrong.
"DAMN IT!!!" Eiri shouted from the kitchen.
"What is it?" Shuichi called out to him.
"I forgot to stop and buy beer!"
Shuichi closed his eyes, trying to will himself not to cry. It wasn't working.
"Do we need anything else from the store?" Eiri asked as he entered the room, prepared to go out again. He found his young lover curled up in a ball, his body shaking from repressed sobs. "Shuichi?" He approached his companion and knelt down beside him. "Shuichi? What's wrong with you?"
I've got to tell him... I've got to tell him now... Shuichi opened his eyes. "Yuki... The doctor says I'm not allowed to sing."
Eiri stared at him for a few seconds before asking, "For how long?"
"Three weeks, or longer if I can't sing without getting winded. He says I shouldn't do anything to strain my lungs."
"You'll live," Eiri said coldly, trying not to sound as relieved as he felt. He's such a drama queen. Three weeks is nothing to cry about! He turned to leave, slightly angry at his lover for worrying him. Shuichi grabbed his sleeve.
"Yuki?"
"What?"
"I... I've got to talk to you," he said softly, pulling himself into a sitting position. "About something important."
This got the author's attention. "I'm listening."
"The doctor says... If I want to keep singing... I shouldn't live with you anymore."
"WHAT?"
Shuichi burst into tears. "H-he said that getting water in my lungs weakened them and... th-that if I live with a person who smokes they're going to get worse. He said... if I wanted to continue to sing professionally I have to stay from things that will damage them more, otherwise..."
Eiri stared blankly into space, feeling as though the bottom had dropped out of his world.
Shuichi pulled his knees up to his chest, burying his face as he cried. "I'm so sorry, Yuki! I love you so much, and I love to sing, too... I don't want to lose either, but I don't know what to do!"
Finally Eiri embraced the sobbing figure sitting in front of him and buried his face in the boy's pink hair. He took a deep breath.
"Don't worry," he said, trying to sound reassuring. "We'll figure something out." But the words sounded hollow even to his own ears. For once, he wasn't so sure.
.
~End chapter twenty-four~