Kingdom Hearts ❯ My Glass Heart ❯ Shine ( Chapter 6 )

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's Notes: Well… yet again I haven't updated since last month. My summer seems to be flying by so quickly! I saddens me. But anyway, I got a small spark of inspiration for this chapter. I still have a lingering spat of writer's block for this story since I'm working on my Origin story, and it's taking a lot out of my creative stream. Well, enough rambling and on with the chapter. Thanks to PsychicYardstick for pointing out obvious (embarassing) errors!

oOoOoOoOo

Why… Why am I still here? I should have died that night… My pain and suffering should have ended that night I forget how long ago. But why… I'm still here, suffering and slowly killing myself.

Because he saved me.

But why would he do something like that? He's bound to hate me after my confession. My confession of love for him… I told him I wanted to be with him forever… but he had someone else. The bitch that ruined my life.

Sometimes I wonder… if she hadn't come along, would I have stood a chance with my silver-haired god? Could we have been happy, maybe? Yet every time I ponder this, the rational voice in my head always answers.

Stop dreaming.

Now I'm sitting here in a bright hospital room, with bandages covering my body and an IV in my arm, because of that thinking. I don't blame my conscience, no. Why would I? It only tells me the truth. Riku would have to be as crazy as I am to want to be with me. Society would never accept it.

So I figure it best to waste away. Fade from existence in this very hospital bed that tries so desperately to save my life and make him forget about me. He would be so much better off without me. Let him have that red-headed brat back on the island. He would lead a better life…

I love him, of course. I love everything about him: the way his sexy silver hair sways in the island breeze, the way he will sit on the smaller island, on that tree, pondering anything and everything. I love the way we used to play fight with those harmless wooden swords to see who had gotten better and who would be beaten.

Heh. I guess that old saying is true: If you love them, let them go. If they love you, they will come back.

But I'm almost positive that he wouldn't come back.

But… I remember something. Something from that night when he saved my life. I don't know if I was dreaming it or not… but it sounded so real; it sounded so sincere.

“I-I love you!”

Was it real? Did he really say it? Or had I been so out of it that I could have only imagined it; a hallucination? Was he even talking to me? Oh, just thinking about it… about him makes my heart beat so fast and so loud. I love you, Riku. I love you so much.

My heart is beating so fast… so irregular. I guess I really do love you. But right now I'm so tired… I think I'll lie down again…

oOoOoOoOo

Beep… beep… beep… beep.

Beep… beep, beep, beep… beep, beep… beep.

Beep… beep… beep… Beep, beep, beep… B-beep, b-beep, b-beep…

oOoOoOoOo

Stupid heart monitor… Was Riku's first groggy thought of the day. His sleep-clouded aqua eyes fluttered open; bright white walls filled his vision. He yawned and sat upright slowly, wincing at the sharp pain in his neck - his reward for falling asleep in such a position. But as he craned his neck to the side to get rid of the pain, something stirred in his stomach…

Something wasn't right.

Upon instinct, his head jerked up towards the bed that held his loved one. He was met with confusion that further sent his sleep-hazed mind into chaos.

Nothing seemed physically wrong with Sora. He was just lying down, eyes closed, sunken into the pillows. He even appeared to be sleeping peacefully. But the heart monitor. It was going crazy. Unpredictable, sporadic beeps echoed throughout the small room. They seemed unsteady… unnatural. Something was definitely wrong.

Frowning, Riku made his way to the bed to check on the brunette. Yet, despite his sickly appearance, Sora looked fine.

Gingerly, he reached a hand out to rest upon the younger boy's cheek…

…when the monitor stopped completely. Yeah, something was seriously wrong.

It took the wide-eyed youth all of four seconds to rush to the door, throw it open and call for someone.

“Somebody help! Something's wrong!”

Riku stepped back out of the way as a few doctors and nurses filed quickly into the room with a defibrillator and gurney. Amidst all the shouting and barking of orders, he could only watch horror as the doctors did what they could to bring life back to the brunette before they rushed him out of the room…

oOoOoOoOo

“Wh-what happened, Riku?” Selphie asked timidly, as if afraid of the pacing teen before her. Riku turned again, ready to begin a new cycle. His sea green eyes shimmered with fearful tears. His thumb was stuck in his mouth as he chewed savagely on his nail. After a prolonged minute of pacing, he turned to the brunette girl and his other friends in the waiting room who were staring at him patiently.

“I don't know,” he mumbled, running a hand through his messy hair, “One minute he was fine, the next his heart is beating like crazy… then it just stopped…” His voice wavered slightly, “I called for help a-and they brought in this machine with… paddles and shocked him until it started beating again.” He placed a hand over his eyes.

“Oh, Riku,” Selphie said, her eyes welling with tears, “That must have been scary for you…”

The boy nodded at her before he strode over to a seat and plopped down, still biting his poor nails. He shook slightly with nervousness; what if the boy didn't make it? What if Sora died here, in this very hospital? His eyes suddenly burned even more now and he bowed his head to hide the tears that were now spilling down his face. No one could comfort him, tell him it was alright and that everything would work out okay. Because right now, behind those two doors marked `ER', his love could very well die.

Sakura, who had been sitting next to the boy, put an arm around his shoulders reassuringly. She knew what he was going through. Her baby was in an Emergency Room, being operated on and there was a good chance that she might never see her son again. But she had to be strong now. There was nothing that could be done at the moment.

All heads snapped up when a doctor appeared through the double doors. His face was neutral; no one could decipher the emotion on the man's face to determine if anything good or bad had happened. It was kind of scary…

The doctor sighed a slightly as he peeled the thin white gloves from his hands and stuffed them in his long coat pocket, “Are you guys with that brunette boy, Sora?” he asked evenly. The flat tone in the doctor's voice sent chills of anticipation through those listening to him.

Before anyone else could react or answer, Riku jumped up and was in the doctor's face instantly, “Yes we are! What happened to him? Is he okay?” His teenaged voice was laced with concern and nervousness.

The doctor motioned for him to sit down again, which the boy complied. The man sighed again, shifting slightly from one foot to the other as he spoke.

“I'm afraid he's experienced cardiac arrest, meaning that his heart stopped beating. We were able to bring him back, however.” Some sighs of relief were heard.

“But doctor, what happened to make it stop beating?” Selphie asked as innocently as possible.

Instead of answering the brunette girl, the man turned to Sakura, “Ma'am, when was the last time you saw your son eat anything? Anything at all?”

The woman bowed her head in thought. When was the last time Sora had anything…?

“I don't really remember… Um… a week and a half before he came here? Why?”

The doctor nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer. “When a body stops taking in nutrients, it switches into starvation mode. Due to this lack of proper nutrition, the internal organs begin to shut down one by one; the heart included. Depending on a person's size and build, the starvation process can take anywhere from a week and a half to four weeks,” he paused to shift feet again, studying the faces of his audience, “Usually, the thinner the person, the less time it takes for the shut down. And you say that your son has had nothing in nearly four weeks?”

Sakura, slightly confused by what the man was telling her, nodded slowly.

The doctor also nodded, though it seemed more to himself than to her, and checked over the papers on his clipboard.

“Then really, it's a miracle that your son is alive at all. Now, what we'll have to do is hook him up to an intravenous and give him the nutrients he needs through an IV until he is well enough to try to eat on his own again. Do you want to do that, Ma'am?”

All eyes were focused on the brown haired woman as she thought over her decision. On one hand, she could possibly save her baby's life by keeping him on machines and life support for a while… But on the other hand, she assumed she could decline the offer, and end her son's misery.

Though if she were to choose the latter, how would she live? Her son was the only light in her life after her husband had died. She would have surely followed him into death if it hadn't been for Sora. His uplifting smiles, his jokes, his childish attitude… those were the only things that kept her alive and still do to this day. If she were to lose him now, what would she live for?

She looked back to the doctor, who was staring at her, patiently awaiting a response. Her decision was made.

“Do whatever it takes. I want my baby back, sir.”

oOoOoOoOo

When they had set Sora up in his new room later that day, everyone was allowed to visit. No longer did the other teenagers have to wait in the cafeteria or waiting rooms to be near their friend and await news on his condition. They had all rushed in the room, eager to see the boy they hadn't been able to see for nearly three weeks…

… and they wished they hadn't.

It tore at their heart strings, what they saw. It made them nearly sick to see all the machines and wires and tubes attached to the brunette; the only things keeping him alive at that moment. Selphie burst into tears at the sight and clung to the person nearest her, which happened to be Tidus. Wakka and Tidus just stood there, shocked and at a loss for words. Cloud wept silently, burying his face into the solemn-faced Leon's chest. Riku…

…Riku was over it. To him, it wasn't too much of a different sight from the other room Sora had been in, when the boy was just as sickly looking. There were just more machines this time, he told himself.

After the initial shock had left them, they took seats; some on the floor, some on the couch, and some in chairs. While the others made small conversation to take their minds off the situation, Riku sat alone, in a chair at Sora's bedside. He was in his own world, and only Sora and himself existed in it.

He sighed deeply as he watched over the younger boy. He was fighting back the urge to snatch up the brunette's hand, hold it close to him and pray that he wake up and be alright. But he couldn't. Instead, he chose to simply watch and pray from afar; almost like a guardian angel. His eyes scanned the boy he loved.

So small was he compared to the bed he lay in. So helpless he looked there, so pale and skinny, with a breathing mask over his nose and mouth. His right arm twitched every now and then as the liquid in the IV (dextrose in saline - basically sugar and purified salt water as he heard the doctor say) was pumped into him, slowly bringing him back to life… but his face remained neutral. He looked so calm, so peaceful in his state that it was scary.

Unnerved and unable to watch the scene anymore, he jumped up from his chair and fled the room without a word.

The others looked up from their activities when they heard a chair scraping across the tile floor and watched as Riku walked out of the room swiftly and wordlessly. They exchanged worried glances.

“Shouldn't someone, like…?” Tidus's question went unfinished, though the others knew what he meant. Selphie nodded and stood slowly, worried green eyes glued to the door the silver haired teen had left through a moment before.

“I'll go after him. He must be really torn up about this. Sora's his best friend, you know?” Not waiting for an answer, she too left the room in a rush.

Riku quickened his pace when he heard the door to the room he'd just left swing open, walking briskly as his heart thumped against his ribcage. Someone was coming after him, presumably to try and calm him down…

“Riku,” Selphie's voice echoed through the dead-quiet hall, “Wait up! Riku!”

But the silver haired teen didn't stop. He was now almost jogging in attempt to escape. He didn't want to go back into that room, where his loved one lay nearly dead and kept alive by medical science. He didn't want to return to the state of mind where every second of silence added more and more weight unto his already heavy heart. He didn't want to return to that hopeless feeling in the pit of his stomach; the same feeling that told him that this was all his fault.

A sudden, petite hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks. He froze, glued to the spot under the brunette girl's empathetic gaze.

“Riku,” she began after an uneasy moment of silence, “I know what you're going though. Not as bad as you, but he's my friend too. So -“ she wasn't able to finish.

“It's my fault.”

Selphie stepped back, half-startled, confused and unsure as to what the silver haired boy meant, “H-huh?”

Riku spun around to face the girl, silent tears of regret streaming down his flushed cheeks. His face was slightly distorted from the emotional pain.

“It's my fault, Selph… If it weren't for me, Sora wouldn't be here now, wasting away in this place!”

The forest-green eyed girl took a cautious step forward, a hand on her chest, “What do you mean, Riku? How could this possibly be your fault? Sora's done this to himself; you didn't do anything.” She assured softly.

Riku shook his head and his shoulders shook with unsung sobs, crystal tears falling to collide with the tile floor.

“It is, Selphie! I'm the reason… he was only trying to tell me how he felt… and I pushed him away…” his unsteady, shaky voiced dropped off to nothing but a whisper at the end. By now, he was openly sobbing, rendering him temporarily unable to speak.

Selphie stood there, clearly surprised at the older boy's show of emotions. She was confused. Tell him how he felt? What did Riku mean by that? She didn't know, but she was determined to find out.

The girl gently grabbed Riku's arm and led him over to a row of chairs in the hallway. She sat and pulled him down to sit in the seat next to her. He silently complied, but she didn't let go of his arm; instead, she opted to rub it in a soothing, almost motherly way. She waited a few moments for the elder boy to calm down, and when his sobs subsided to only sniffles, she spoke.

“Riku, what did you mean… when you said you pushed him away? I mean, what did he do?” She asked as innocently as possible. The last thing she needed right now was for him to get upset again.

Riku continued to stare at the floor, debating on what he should tell her. Should he tell her about the events that transpired in the Secret Place? Should he tell her about Sora's confession of love for the boy? Should he tell her about his abrupt breakup with Kairi, and that he loved Sora?

He heaved a shuddery sigh. His mind was made up. Selphie was a kind-hearted, understanding girl. She tried to help everyone in their time of need and took it upon herself to comfort those in distress; she deserved to know.

Selphie almost jumped when Riku turned to her, a look of determination on his face. She'd seen that look before; he was going to tell her something important… something big.

“Selph, me and Sora… we love each other.”

oOoOoOoOo

End Chapter 6

oOoOoOoOo

Author's Notes: Wow. Dayum. That chapter took forever to write! But I think I'm getting better at this whole writing business! (happy) I had to do a lot of medical research for this chapter, so I hope it's worthy of the reader's time. I'll begin working on Chapter 7 soon. And I assure you, the readers, that I felt horrible for not updating for over a month and a half. So, see you next chapter! And a special shout-out to my friends - Toria, Wish (KairiQueen), and VashTSGirl45 - for their help and input for this chapter! Much love to you, guys!