Kingdom Hearts ❯ My Glass Heart ❯ Shimmer ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or its characters. All Kingdom Hearts properties belong to Square Enix and I am not, in any way whatsoever, making money from this fanfiction.

Author Notes: Well, I've broken my own rule of updating on a monthly basis. I apologize for keeping you guys in suspense like that, but I was in a sort of writer's slump. Well, now I'm back, and the rest of the story is going to be somewhat experimental. I want to try to make the story longer, so the next couple of chapters are going to be angsty and slow moving. But I'll get to the “good stuff” later, about chapters seven or so. Well, enough reading here, on with the story.

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Two Weeks Later

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Click

“How is he, doctor? Is he responding at all? Anything?”

A pause. “No, nothing. He won't respond to anyone. Doctors, nurses, therapists, friends, no one.”

A pause, followed closely by a sniffle. “Oh…”

“I'm very sorry, but we're doing all that we can for him.”

“I know.” Pause. “Does he still refuse to eat anything?”

“Unfortunately, yes. We can't get anything in him. And I'm afraid that if this keeps up, we'll be left with no other option but to force-feed him.”

A small gasp. “Do really think that's necessary, doctor? What if it becomes a repeat of the last time?”

“I'm afraid of that also, but if we can't get him to eat on his own he'll starve himself to death. I'm terribly sorry, but it has to be done. Excuse me.” Footsteps echoing, the resonating sounds dying away gradually until they finally disappear.

A small, stray sob. “Why? Sora, my baby… Why?” The sound of a woman's high heels clinking down the long hallway.

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The hospital's cafeteria was remotely deserted, a stray man or woman occasionally entering for a quick bite to eat before they returned to their daily matters. There was small chatter in the air, warding away the otherwise heavy silence. Two teenagers sat at a small round table in the center of the facility, their friends adventuring to find a decent vending machine, talking in almost hushed voices. Concern and sorrow was clear on their usually bright faces, and they ate their lunch slowly. Well, only one was really eating.

Selphie slowly lowered her can of soda to the table, setting it down with a soft clack, and turned to the silver haired teen next to her. He was sitting with his elbows on the tabletop, his forehead resting on his hands. His usually tame and silky platinum hair was tangled and messy, a small sign of the stress he has endured the past two weeks. Selphie's forest green eyes softened in sympathy. She addressed him with a gentle voice.

“So he still won't talk to anyone?” she asked in hopes of getting the boy to talk. Riku had become slightly distant from the rest of the teenagers. They knew it was mainly because he was worried for his friend, but it wouldn't stop his other friends from worrying about him.

All she received was a halfhearted “No.”

The brunette girl sighed in defeat and slumped back into her chair, thinking that the conversation was over. She looked up in surprise when he lifted his head and let his arms slowly fall, folding on themselves on the tabletop.

Riku sighed, and Selphie saw the weariness in his aqua eyes. When was the last time the older boy slept?

“He won't talk to anyone at all; not his mother, not even me. He won't even respond. No nods or shakes of his head. No indications that he acknowledges anything at all. Hell, he won't even eat. He hasn't eaten anything since he's been here, and they said that before that he hadn't had anything in his system.” He sighed, twining his fingers before him. “All he does is stare. Sometimes he will stare out the window, sometimes he will just stare at nothing in particular.”

Selphie could only stare at him in a sympathetic manor as he rested his head on his folded arms, shoulders trembling slightly. “Riku…”

“Why? Why won't he talk to me? Why won't he listen to me? Why won't he at least try to get better?”

Riku was suddenly aware of being pulled toward someone, and a pair of small feminine arms wrapping around his shaking shoulders. “I don't know, Riku. But you have to believe that he will get better one day. He will, you'll see.” Selphie whispered to him as she gave him a comforting hug. He could only nod and hope she was right…

They stayed like that, Selphie holding Riku and whispering comforting words to him. They didn't, however, see Tidus coming back, Wakka, Cloud, and Leon in tow.

“Hey! We're back. After searching the entire effin' hospital, we found…” Tidus stopped mid-sentence, “…Are we interrupting something, guys?”

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“I see. I wonder what we could do to make him talk to us.” Cloud mused aloud, being uncharacteristically serious. When no ideas came to him immediately, he leaned against his boyfriend, Leon, for support and thought.

“I don't know. But at this point I'm willing to beat some answers out of him,” Riku muttered, head still down in his folded arms. “I want to know why he tried to die in the first place. I want to know why he won't talk, move, or eat. I want the old Sora back, damnit.”

A snort of amusement was heard, “Regardless of what you want, you can't just go and beat him up. We're all worried about the kid.” Leon, Riku's older brother stated coolly. He had always been the more logical of the two siblings, and able to keep his temper more in check than his younger brother. “And I wish we could help, but they won't even let us in.”

It was true. The only people allowed into Sora's hospital room were the doctors, of course, Sora's mother Sakura, and Riku himself. The doctors claimed that they didn't want to put that kind of pressure on the boy. Riku thought it made some sense, but maybe letting Sora see that his friends cared about him too would bring him back.

But that didn't stop the others from coming to the hospital every day, awaiting news that never seemed to change. Some of the islanders, like Tidus and Wakka, only came on a select few days. Selphie, Cloud, and Leon, however, would accompany Riku everyday to see their young friend. It was an obvious reason as to why Selphie came. Anyone would want to see their friend at a hospital. At first Leon had said that he only came to give his little brother emotional support and that he couldn't care less about Sora. But Riku knew better. Leon would be Leon.

When the others had first heard the news about Sora's little stunt, they had been devastated. Riku had called everyone, including his elder brother and his boyfriend, to the play island to announce the news. Selphie was in tears, saying it was her fault, that she should have stopped him while she had the chance. Tidus and Wakka were stunned. Happy, energetic, optimistic Sora tried to kill himself? They didn't understand. Leon appeared emotionless at the time… but when he didn't respond to his name being called for the third time Riku knew he was effected deeply. Leon had known Sora since Riku had been in third grade.

But Cloud. Cloud did nothing. He couldn't do anything. After receiving the news, he just sat there, wide eyed, staring into space. He was in a state of shock. Understandably so. Ever since Cloud had been in sixth grade (he was now a college sophomore) Sora had been a sort of little brother figure to him. He would always treat Sora to ice cream parlors, occasionally take him shopping at the mall, and generally treat him like a brother would. When Sora was being bullied around by bigger kids at school, it was usually Cloud and Riku who came to his rescue. When Sora would tease him, Cloud would grab him in a headlock and grind his knuckles into the boy's skull painfully but playfully and they would both laugh. Sora went so far as to call Cloud “Oniichan” once. Cloud was so proud that he was bragging about it for months.

After while of sitting in the sand, he couldn't control it anymore. He flung himself into his boyfriend's arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Riku looked on with an expression of sadness and sorrow as he watched Leon slowly, almost as if unsure, stroke the spiky blonde hair. Cloud was just told that is `little brother' just tried to commit suicide.

Riku growled in annoyance. Couldn't Sora see how much he was hurting his friends and family? Couldn't he see how badly this was effecting everyone close to him?

Riku froze and a thought suddenly occurred to him. Those were probably the exact thoughts Sora was screaming in his head the whole time Riku and Kairi were together. Can't Riku see how much he is hurting me by being with her? Can't he see how badly this is effecting me?

Riku abruptly stood up, startling the conversing teens. “I need to talk to Sora. See you guys later.”

He slid out from behind his chair and walked away from the group. He was oblivious to the concerned and pitiful stares on his back. They all knew that the situation was effecting him the worst.

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“… Come on, Sora. You've got to talk to me eventually. And it might as well be sooner rather than later.” Riku pleaded, holding the small, cold hand of the boy lying in the small bed.

The brunette, however, continued to only stare ahead, seemingly oblivious to Riku's presence. His once vibrant cerulean blue eyes were dull and dark, droopy and downcast. He held no expression at all; his face was completely relaxed, his mouth a straight line. No smiles, no frowns, nothing. But occasionally his eyes would flit back and forth slightly. It was almost as if he were sleeping with his eyes open, but Riku knew, somehow, that he was only completely lost in his own thoughts. He was a mental wreck.

And his physical appearance was no better. The sable colored hair that used to hold a bounce to it was drooping down slightly, as if slightly damp. His island-tanned complexion was gone, replaced with a sickly paleness that didn't suit the boy at all. He still had bandages on his arms from the gashes he had inflicted upon himself two weeks ago. He was thinner than any human should be, as he refused to eat.

If it were not for the heart monitor's monotonous beeps and slow, slight rises and falls of the boy's chest, one would be convinced that he were already dead.

After a few moments of expected silence from Sora, Riku sighed and released his hand, “Fine. You win for today. But I will get you to say something tomorrow. You will respond to me.”

He rose from his rather uncomfortable chair. He stood there at the edge of the bed, both hands hanging limply at either of his sides. He gazed at the boy who he considered more and more each day his love.

“You don't know how much you're hurting all of us. Your mom is worried sick about you. All of your friends are worried about you… We don't want you to die…”

He slowly leaned down and placed a small kiss on the younger boy's forehead.

“Please, Sora. Get better. For your sake, for your mother's sake, for your friend's sake… for my sake.” He turned away from the bed and made his way to the small couch in the room. He plopped down, arms spread across the back and head thrown back.

“Please…”

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“… about Riku, doctor?” Huh? S-Sora's mother?

“He'll be just fine, ma'am. He had only exhausted himself is all.” A man's voice… I've never heard it before. Where am I? Why are they talking about me?

“Oh, what a relief! I thought he might have…” Died? “So… how is my baby?” Your… baby? Sora? Why would he be in the hospital?

The man… the doctor, sighed. That doesn't sound good. “You're son wasn't as fortunate as this boy. We managed to patch up all the gashes on his body,” Gashes? What happened? “… and drain the water from his lungs. He hasn't woken yet, so he'll have to stay here for a few days. He lost more blood than he might have intended. To be blunt, he is lucky to be alive at all. If what you said is true, then this Riku saved your son's life.” Me? A life saver?

Wait…

Flash

A boy walking away, shoulders slumped… defeated.

Flash

A girl yelling… she's enraged at something. A muffled response, and she's suddenly scared out of her mind.

Flash

Rowing, rowing… gotta get there, gotta get there… don't stop.

Flash

A scream, the woman is scared. Knock the door down! “Get back!”

Flash

A bathtub, full of water. Scared, there's someone in it! Gotta get them out…

Flash

Breathe… come on, breathe! “I-I love you!” Blackness…

Flash

I remember now. He was floating at the bottom of the tub, lifeless. I thought he was dead. I pulled him out and tried to make him live again. I had to tell him… I would die without him in my life. If he died, I would die, too. I loved him. Now it was without a doubt. I saved his life… I'm so happy.

I want to see him.

I try to open my eyes… a blinding white room and a woman's warm voice.

“Riku! You're awake! I'm so glad! Oh, come here!” S-Sakura… I can't breathe, ma'am…

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Riku woke with a slight jolt, green eyes wide. A dream. He tried to lift his head up to inspect his surroundings, but a sharp pain in his neck prevented him from his task. He instinctively reached up to grab at it… then he remembered. He had fallen asleep on the couch, with his head back. He groaned in annoyance at his own stupidity.

That was going to hurt worse in the morning.

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End Chapter 5

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Author's Notes: If this chapter is shorter than the others, I'm sorry. I thought it good to stop it there. Now you know the basic story, and the task that Sora's friend's have ahead of them. How will they get Sora back to normal? And If I disappointed anyone with the chapter two split thing then adding a chapter that already existed, I apologize big time for that. I hope that this chapter will make up for it.