Train Wreck

Disclaimer: I don’t own nor have I ever owned Gravitation. Just ideas and my own made up characters.

(words)= just to remind you what happened last time.


Chapter 16: Together

(“Fujisaki! Get over here! Hurry! I can’t find a pulse! Dammit Eiri Yuki. You better not be gone,” Hiro muttered the last angrily.)

“Tilt his head back. Maybe something got stuck in his airway,” Fujisaki yelled franticly.

Hiro lifted Eiri’s head and propped it on his bent knee. “You do know what you’re doing right?” Hiro asked nervously glancing up at him.

Fujisaki slowly nodded his head with sweat glistening on his forehead. Technically he didn’t know for sure what he was doing but it was pretty obvious what had to be done. After all it was common sense to know basic first aid. A little white lie wouldn’t hurt.

“Okay, Hiro, you’re going to have to breathe for me. Do it exactly when I say.”

“Wait, what? What the hell does that mean?” Hiro asked surprised.

Calmly, Fujisaki sighed and looked Hiro in the eyes. “That means you need to breath into Yuki’s mouth when I tell you to.”

“Hell no! No way in a million years would I do that?!” Hiro yelled out, a look of disgust on his face. “Besides, have you ever seen Shuichi when he’s jealous? It is not a pretty sight.”

“Hiro, for heavens sake, will you just do it. A depressed Shuichi is worse.”

“Well, yeah but… fine! But I swear if you tell Shuichi about this I will kill you,” Hiro threatened.

-------

(She felt as if she couldn’t comfort him as she watched Shuichi collapse, like she was supposed to just let him pour out all his grief and suffering. But it was harder than it might seem. She couldn’t take it much longer. It was a type of cry that should never be heard by any human ears.)

Kyoko stood there at a loss for words. She had plenty of sympathy but couldn’t seem to force those emotions into actual speech. Shuichi’s cries had lessened and now he sat up against one of the many rocks surrounding them.

Kyoko watched as he looked up at the sky, like he was searching for something. His eyebrows were drawn together above eyes red from tears and his mouth still quivered slightly. Slowly making her way over to him, Kyoko reached out a hand and gently touched his shoulder. Jumping slightly at the unexpected touch, Shuichi’s head shot down from looking up at the sky and a gasp escaped his lips.

A small smile gracing her lips, Kyoko bent down so she was face to face with Shuichi. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Listen, I know talking is the last thing you want to do right now but it might help. And anyway I have to let Hiro and this Fuji-something guy know that I got you out safe and sound.”

Shuichi turned his head slightly and looked at Kyoko in a weird way. “What are you talking about?” he asked softly.

“Your friends, Shuichi. They’re on the other side of these rocks. We need to find a way over them,” Kyoko stated softly. “That includes taking him along.” Kyoko said, pointing to the old man who was just starting to wake up.

“Oh. Sorry, it’s just-” Shuichi started quietly but was cut off as Kyoko shook her head.

“You have no reason to apologize. I think I understand.” Kyoko smiled sympathetically and removed her hand from Shuichi’s shoulder.

Shuichi looked away from Kyoko to glance at the guy across from him. He couldn’t help the tears that came to his eyes when remembering what happened while the old guy was knocked out. Shuichi then lifted one of his wrapped hands and looked at the bandage. Little light red spots could be seen on the fabric, places where it had soaked up the blood.

In his mind Shuichi could see Haruna’s throat being cut in slow motion. When the blood flew from the veins and her head fell to the ground with a thud, it morphed into Eiri’s face. Shuichi shook his head, ridding himself of the image as tears clogged his throat. “Eiri’s okay, so I’ll be okay. I know he’s okay. I can tell that he’s still alive. I can feel him,” Shuichi mumbled to himself. It was said so softly that Kyoko barely heard him say it around all the wind that circled the mountain and valley.

-----

“26, 27, 28, 29, 30.” Fujisaki counted, pumping Eiri’s chest. “Hiro, breathe into his mouth twice.” He motioned to Hiro and removed his hands from Eiri’s chest.

Reluctantly, Hiro did as he was told. But if Fujisaki said anything to anyone, he was going to deny every word of it. “Hey, I think he’s breathing.”

-----

Kyoko stood up and turned to her right. “Hey guys! Are you still there? I have Shuichi with me. Hey!” she yelled looking up to the top of the rock pile in front of her.

“That’s great! Is he okay?” Hiro yelled back after a beat, relief lacing his voice.

“Yeah, Shuichi’s fine. Just upset.” Kyoko sighed and continued with careful words. “Um, listen guys. I know I’m just a medical doctor not a ‘head’ doctor, but…” Kyoko paused, not sure if she should continue to give her opinion.

“But what? What is it?” Hiro asked franticly, thinking something must be seriously wrong.

Kyoko put a hand to her forehead and the other on her hip. Heaving a great sigh, she continued. “Well the thing is I don’t think Shuichi can take much more of this. It seems like without that other guy around, that Uesugi guy, he just kind of…” Again Kyoko paused in her explanation, hands waving in the air as she searched for the right words.

“Just spit it out already!” This came from Fujisaki, who sounded annoyed. “What’s wrong with him?” he asked, followed by a round of coughing that was heard near the same direction as Fujisaki’s voice.

“You know how when you drop a china doll it will either crack or shatter? Depending on how it’s dropped? Well, Shuichi seems…lost. Almost like he’s breaking,” Kyoko finally finished with eyebrows drawn together in sadness and a tear forming in her eye.

“What the hell does that mean?” Hiro yelled, getting confused.

“Hiro, will you calm down? Hey Dr. Namagi, Shuichi is there with you right? Can we speak with him? We have something that he needs to know,” Fujisaki asked.

Kyoko lowered her head and looked down at Shuichi. He had gone off into his own little world again. He wasn’t even paying attention to what they were saying.

Kyoko sighed, lightly shaking her head. She slowly turned in Shuichi’s direction, yelling back in the process a quick “Just a minute” to Hiro and Fujisaki before walking over to Shuichi.

Shuichi snapped out of his thoughts when a shadow moved over him, blocking the morning sun. He glanced up to see Kyoko standing in his line of sight.

“Shuichi?” she asked, speaking quietly. “Fujisaki says they want to talk with you. Come on.” Kyoko held out her hand.

Shuichi looked from Kyoko’s face to her hand that was stretched out in front of him. As the words sank in, Shuichi became curious and tentatively reached out with his hand to connect with Kyoko’s.

As he stood up, Shuichi couldn’t help the thoughts that raced through his mind. ‘What if Eiri isn’t alright? What if they found him and want to tell me something horrible. What if…he’s dead? I don’t think I could handle that.’

------

Eiri coughed, wincing at the pain in his chest, his lungs full of dirt and dust. The sun light penetrated his eyes as he slowly slid them open. Lifting his head, Eiri took a look around with his hazy vision. He could make out two figure standing in front of him, one to his immediate right and the other farther away on his left. Beyond them was nothing but blurred colors.

A headache suddenly formed and Eiri shifted slightly to lift his hand only to gasp in sudden pain. His arm could only move on it’s own for about an inch* before the pain stabbed like a hot poker. Looking down at his arm, Eiri could just make out the swollen form and the large gash that spread from his wrist to wrap around and end five inches** before his elbow. The blood was already dry but with each move the dried blood would pull at his skin. The bones in the arm fractured in spots causing more pain.

From the pain in his chest with each breath, Eiri could guess that he had most likely broken a rib or two. Taking slow deep breaths, Eiri used his uninjured arm to grasp the other and hug it to his chest. Shifting his legs, Eiri pushed off the ground and managed to stand up. At first he felt dizzy, the sudden move almost causing him to fall back down, but simply placed a hand against something solid next to him and closed his eyes briefly.

------

“Shuichi? You okay man?” Hiro asked loudly once being told by Kyoko that he was standing there next to her.

“Shuichi I know you’re upset. Dr. Namagi told us what happened,” Fujisaki put in.

Kyoko, standing beside Shuichi lightly put a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. When he turned his head with teary eyes, Kyoko spoke quietly. “Shuichi you can’t just stand there not answering. You have to say something. You’re curious as to what they have for you right? Then why won’t you talk?”

“Shuichi we’re just worried about you. Please say something?” Hiro pleaded from the other side.

A few minutes of silence followed before Shuichi opened his mouth. Tears were streaming down his face again and his voice was clogged with them. “Eiri? Is he okay?” Shuichi croaked out.

“Shuichi…” Hiro started.

“Please just tell me the truth!” Shuichi cried loudly, covering his face with his hands and crying into them.

Fujisaki took a deep breath and spoke, not wanting to wait for Hiro to speak past his feelings of empathy. “He’s fine. We found him covered in debris unconscious and not breathing.”

Shuichi’s sobs stopped like flicking a switch and his tear stained face looked up in shock and surprise. ‘Unconscious. Not breathing.’ The words kept repeating themselves in Shuichi’s mind. The part about Eiri being fine not registering. Suddenly the dried tears came back with a vengeance. They poured down his cheeks like a faucet and a loud sob ripped through the air.

The sobs continued loudly, traveling through the air. To Fujisaki, the tears sounded like the ones he had heard earlier when Hiro and himself were pulled Eiri out of the train. The ones with the sound of a breaking heart.

Hiro stood confused for a second before realizing what happened. “Fujisaki! You didn’t need to tell him the details!” Hiro yelled at him. “Hey, Shuichi! It’s okay, don’t worry! He’s fine, Yuki’s okay. He’s alive! We brought him back!” Hiro yelled back over, hoping Shuichi heard him through his sobs.

Shuichi stopped his tears and sobs and snapped his head up. ‘Alive?’ Shuichi thought. “Eiri’s alive? He’s really okay?” Shuichi said more to himself then the others.

Without warning Shuichi abruptly yelled through the air hopping for it to reach Eiri’s ears. “Eiri! Please say something! Eiri!” His voice sounding like he wasn’t going to believe them unless Eiri spoke. He wanted to hear his voice with his own ears and know for sure that Eiri was alive.

Waiting for a response and not getting any made Shuichi’s heart stop. ‘They were lying.’ He kept thinking, lowering his head to look at the ground but staring past.

“Shuichi,” A deep voice spoke just loud enough to be heard.

Shuichi eyes focused at the sudden sound and he slowly lifted his head, a smile gracing his lips as the voice spoke his name. “Eiri,” Shuichi said quietly as if reassuring himself that this was real. His tears returned and a sob escaped his lips but this time they were they sound of pure happiness.

***