Chapter Text
[ Tokyo Hospital, A week later ]
He woke up.
Which, was rightfully expected. Of course, he wasn't supposed to be alive after that fatal shot to his head. Yet alone awake, or breathing just fine on a hospital bed, hooked up to heavens knows what while monitored by machines of all sorts to keep him alive.
He was supposed to have died on the ambulance, if not on the scene in Heiji's arms.
In silent disbelief, Shinichi opened his now very dry eye and made eye contact with a nurse who looked as if she had seen a dead man walking. She then proceeded to punch the call button for doctors and flipped the hospital upside down with Shinichi’s miraculous awakening.
Overwhelmed and confused, Shinichi passed out while the doctors were rushing into his room to check up on him.
.
The next time he woke up, he was welcomed by multiple familiar faces staring at him in pure shock and tear-stricken joy.
Heiji was standing on the left side of his bed, beside a teary Ran. His parents were standing up to greet him, knocked over chairs by their feet. His mother desperately, yet gently held his hand with tears rolling down her tired yet joyous eyes. Quite a surprise, because Shinichi hadn't seen her cry like that in years, if not ever as he tried not to suffocate from her bone crushing hug.
"Shinichi! My baby...!!" Yukiko sobbed as the tension broke in the room into a flood of relief and joy, Shinichi choking in his mother's hug as Yusaku gently pried her off.
"Shinichi!" Ran cried and fell into a flood of tears, holding onto his left hand as Yukiko cried on his right. "We were so worried...."
Surrounded by the people he loved, Shinichi tried to smile back with honest effort, but felt exhausted immediately as the short high from the moment slowly fell off. He couldn't do anything but to gently squeeze back both his hands.
"Hey..."
Wow, his vocal cords needed some polishing, hearing how croaky it was. Heiji grinned with tears poling his eyes and lightly punched his shoulder which Shinichi playfully shrugged back with.
"Idiot, I knew ya' would make it."
Well he really didn't. But Shinichi didn't bother correcting the sleuth who seemed to be tearfully glad with his awakening.
"’orry for the scaring you all, I scared myself too..."
Ran sobbed again as Shinichi sadly looked over at her.
"Ran," The karate champion looked up at him with tears streaking down her cheeks. Shinichi wiped her tears off of one of her cheeks and smiled softly at his childhood friend. "I'm still here."
Absorbing the words, Ran happily smiled back, eyes full of tears yet happier as she tightly held his hand in agreement.
"…Yeah, you are."
Shinichi smiled back, equally as happy. That injury was more than a close call. He was positive that he went to hell and back during the ambulance ride, considering how much blood he had lost. He was alive, despite getting shot in the eye... The... eye?
...He got shot in the eye. The realisation struck him like another bullet to his head as he frowned in confusion, looking up at Heiji who noticed his concern.
"-What happened to my eye?" He asked. The Osakan detective glanced at the others with concern, before roughly scratching the back of his head and answered hesitantly.
"...Ya' lost it." He confessed and Shinichi stilled, before hearing him continue with a deep sigh. "Ya' almost died, if it wasn't for that guy at da' scene to give ya' that implant-"
"-Hattori-kun!" Ran hissed and slapped his shoulder hard, making him yelp in surprise. "You weren't supposed to tell him yet...!"
Heiji seemed confused, before realising hard as his jaw dropped in shock.
But it was too late. Shinichi's hand trembled as he immediately figured everything out within the few seconds, courtesy of his profession as a detective.
"...Implant?"
Shinichi could feel his hands shake in denial, then in horror as he looked up at his friends and family who were all aware of his realisation. Kazuha punched Heiji once more in the shoulder.
"Who...?"