Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ This I Promise You ❯ What Happened? ( Chapter 15 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Chocho
He’s still asleep. Yes, asleep. I refuse to think of him in any other way. Wake up, Shuichi, please! We have to go on our honeymoon still and then maybe we can talk about having children. Shuichi, please…

Anime/Manga: Gravitation Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Shounen / Angst / Suspense / Romance / Fantasy / Hentai | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 03.16.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.0K | Visits: 695 | Status: Work In Progress

This I Promise You
Prequel to: Because of You
Written by: Chocho
Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation
Story summary: Everybody assured him Rinjin Yasashii was just another obsessed fan with a crush and that there was nothing to worry about. Little did they know how wrong they all were.
Chapter summary: He's still asleep. Yes, asleep. I refuse to think of him in any other way. Wake up, Shuichi, please! We have to go on our honeymoon still and then maybe we can talk about having children. Shuichi, please…
Warnings: M-preg, explicit sex, language, violence, angst
Key: Blah blah blah: flashback/dream
Blah: stressed words
*: change in POV or time
***
 
Chapter 15: What Happened?

The front lobby at the hospital had been commandeered by the press and the president of NG. Representatives from every newspaper, magazine, television and radio station were present. There were cameras, photographers and sketch artists. The front desk usually worked by either volunteers or receptionists was littered with microphones and tape recorders. Sitting behind the desk was a blond haired, green eyed man in his signature bowl hat and a fake smile plastered on his face. Despite the fact that he had been up for over twenty-four hours talking with doctors, police and making various arrangements, his suit was crisp, clean and unwrinkled.
Tohma watched the media swarm the lobby like ants to syrup. The air was a buzz as they spoke to each other and their station managers on their cellphones.
Sighing, Tohma cleared his throat. Immediately, silence fell upon the “press room”. Those who were standing and gathered in groups trouped to their seats, readying their pens and notebooks. “Thank you for coming on such short notice,” Tohma said softly, taking in the dozens of men and woman. Half of them were conservatively dressed in suits while the rest had on informal wear of jeans and T-shirts.
Bad Luck had been at the top of the charts since their debut on NG about ten years ago. Through their ups and downs, good times and bad, no matter what was going on in their personal lives, the guys had never once disappointed their fans. Now, here he was, announcing the country's number one band was going to be given an indefinite leave of absence from the world of music. He had known Shuichi for a long time and knew that he would feel extremely guilty for letting down his fans like this, but the millions of fans would want their favorite singer to heal and get better more than anything and that was what Tohma was going to make sure Shuichi did.
There was one question on everybody's mind today. Shindou Shuichi has not been seen in several days and because of a damn leak at NG, the public already knew that there had been a halt in Bad Luck's activities, but nobody knew why, so rumors had started floating around. Some people were saying Shuichi had been fired from the band. Others said there had been some internal dispute between the band and Tohma. There was even a rumor about the band breaking up. He heard one that said Shuichi left the band to go solo. None of them were true, but the one that hit a little too close to home was the one that said Shuichi had been killed in a home invasion.
Unfortunately an ambulance chasing photographer had caught sight of four covered bodies being transported out of an apartment building rumored to be the residence of Shindou Shuichi and Uesgui “Yuki” Eiri. When the photographer saw the famous writer hopping into one of the ambulances, he put two and two together and jumped to conclusions. One of those bodies had been Shuichi. Tohma had told the EMT's to cover him because he did not want the press to swarm all over this before they were ready; unfortunately things had not gone as planned.
“Today I am not just speaking to you as the president of NG, but as the brother-in-law of Shindou-san and Eiri-san.” Let them try to find the hidden meaning behind that cryptic statement, he thought. “I would like to introduce you to Dr. Ohtani Tsuzuki, head physician here at Keio University Hospital.”
The middle aged man stepped forward and bowed politely to Tohma as the man stepped aside. “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am Dr. Ohtani and Shindou-san's doctor. Yesterday at twelve-oh-five in the afternoon, Shindou-san was brought into the ER with a mild concussion, two broken wrists, broken legs and some spinal damage.” He paused to take a breath and let the public take in the news. “At three-thirty that same afternoon, he slipped into a coma. Questions?”
“Doctor,” shouted the press, their hands waving in the air. “Doctor!”
Dr. Ohtani pointed to a man in the back.
“Doctor, can you tell us what happened to Shindou-san?”
A plainclothed detective stepped forward. “If I may, doctor?”
The doctor stepped aside.
The detective was a short, skinny man in his mid-forties who did not like the type of music Bad Luck made. He was more of a classical music kind of man, but despite his adverse attitude towards “pop” music, he would do his job and help these people get some kind of closure so they could move on with their lives. “Unfortunately, we cannot discuss the details of an ongoing case, but what I can tell you is that Shindou-san was attacked in his home yesterday morning as he was leaving for work. Both of his bodyguards, unfortunately, were killed in the attack.”
As he stepped back, another question was hurtled to the men. “What will happen to Bad Luck?”
Tohma stepped to the microphone. “For now, I have given the guys an extended leave of absence and my full support. I and my staff will do everything in our power to help the guys in this critical time. And when the time comes that they want to return to the studio, we will welcome them eagerly.”
“What about their eagerly awaited greatest hits album that is scheduled to be released in two weeks?”
“I have talked it over with the guys and we've decided to release it as planned.”
“Do you think that's wise?” came another question. “People may think that you're trying to ride the coattails of this tragic event. Anything to sell albums.”
Tohma grew angry at that comment. His smile was still plastered on his face, but there was a sudden under current that told the reporter to fuck off. “It's no secret that my brother-in-law was never fully behind the creation of this greatest hits album, but he would not want all his hard work to go down the drain. Everybody has worked too hard to just shelve it. We are releasing the album as scheduled because that is what Shindou-san would want.”
“Doctor, about Shindou-san's injuries! Are they serious?” came another question.
Dr. Ohtani stepped forward. “They are not that serious. Unfortunately, the one we are keeping a close eye on is his spinal injury…”
 
*
 
As the press conference continued downstairs, a sullen man sat glued to his husband's side in the ICU ward. Eiri had refused to leave when visiting hours ended and the hospital staff had not the heart to kick him out.
He clutched his husband's wedding ring in one hand while his other one held onto the small finger's sticking out of the cast. Resting his forehead on their linked fingers, the writer took deep breathes to calm himself down as his chest and throat constricted around threatening sobs. In through the nose and out through the mouth.
Seeing his husband laying in the bed, not sure if he would even wake up, filled him with such regret. He kept thinking that if he and Shuichi had done something other then just talk about having children these last few years, then maybe he would have something to remember his baka by…in the off chance that he lost him.
Eiri growled and mentally kicked himself. Stop thinking like that, he scolded himself. Shuichi will pull through and be back to his normal hyper active self. “Then we can make an appointment to talk with the adoption agency, right, Shu-chan?” He gripped his husband's hand tighter. The other brushed away a stray lock of hair out of his eyes. “I'm sure your mother would be ecstatic to have a couple more grandchildren, huh?”
He knew Shuichi felt as if he were stuck in a muddy ditch on the side of the road as he watched everyone speed on by, but what the man did not know was that Eiri felt the same way. He had never admitted it to anyone, especially not to Shuichi, but seeing everyone in their lives getting married and/or having a family left Eiri feeling jealous and extremely envious. Michael had two children and a third on the way. Hiro and Ayaka would be welcoming their first child any day now. Noriko, Mika and even Maiko had children of their own.
Shuichi and Eiri discussed having children countless time. The only option open to them was adoption. Neither wanted a surrogate mother. For some reason, though, all they did was talk. It never got any farther than that, but then a couple months ago, even the talk stopped. Part of Eiri had been relieved. He was not sure if either one of them could handle being a parent. Both were too busy and too much in the public eye to have a child in their lives. He did not want to subject his child to the same intense scrutiny that he and his husband went through day after day. But another part of him was disappointed, not that he would ever tell Shuichi though. He had felt that maybe they could give it a shot. They could be a real family, just like everybody else.
A sudden commotion outside the hospital room had Eiri sitting up. Moments later, the door opened and in walked Tohma and Dr. Ohtani.
“Hello, Uesugi-san,” the doctor greeted. “How's our patient today?”
“The same,” Eiri said. He watched the doctor walk across the room to Shuichi's bedside, a manila folder tucked under his arm. The doctor checked the constant instruments that were hooked into the tiny man, who seemed dwarfed in the huge white bed.
Tohma came around to stand besides his friend. “How're you holding up?” he asked, a hand on Eiri's shoulder.
Eiri shook the small manicured hand off him. “How do you think,” he retorted. He watched as Dr. Ohtani took out a small penlight and began checking Shuichi's throat, nostrils, pupils and ears.
Tohma took the attitude in stride. “The press conference went really well,” he told his friend.
“Hn.” Not like he cared either way.
“You'd better be forewarned, Eiri. Now that the public knows about Shuichi, you're going to be besieged with get well cards and gifts from fans.”
Eiri snorted. That was all he needed, to be surrounded by teddy bears for the next…however long Shuichi decided to sleep- he refused to think of his husband's condition any other way. At least at home, the extra bedroom was where all the gifts were kept that Shuichi managed to accumulate. Well, most of the gifts anyway. All the bra's and underwear Eiri burned.
“Well,” Dr. Ohtani said as he stood up. He put his penlight in his coat pocket and tossed out the tongue depressor. “Everything seems fine.”
Eiri nodded, his hand still linked to his husband's. He laid his head against his husband's shoulders, silently demanding that he wake up. A stray tear slipped down his face unnoticed by all but Tohma.
The president of NG glanced down at his long time friend and felt a well of sadness for his friend and brother-in-law. His always present smile slipped off and was replaced by a true look of sadness. Sighing, he laid a hand on the doctor's arm and tilted his head towards the door.
Silently, the two men left the hospital room, letting a man grieve for what might have been.
 
***
 
A/N: Keio University Hospital is located in Shinjuku-ku.