Chapter Text
Waking up next to Shiro still hadn't become mundane or boring, even after so long. Keith still cherished the few minutes every morning he always spent just looking at him. His wild hair, fluffed and scattered from rolling around on the pillow all night, the way his lips were just barely parted as he breathed deeply while he slept, the silly configurations their arms and legs ended up tangled in, Keith still appreciated every detail.
He tried to slip out of bed without waking him, but Shiro was, as always, a light sleeper. He laughed as Shiro grabbed him and pulled him tightly to his chest, placing a kiss to the junction where neck met shoulder. “Nope, too early. You can't leave.” He murmured into Keith's heated skin.
“C’mon Shiro, I gotta get to work.” He replied fondly. It was a game they played often.
Shiro tugged him around and planted himself on top of Keith's smaller frame. “You should just quit.” He said with a seriousness that had Keith chuckling again.
He leaned down to press soft kisses across Keith's collarbones and Keith almost let him. “Well unless you found a sugar daddy that I don't know about, we both need our jobs.” He finally groused, pushing Shiro's head away from his chest.
Shiro's blinding grin still made his heart melt. “Oh man, that's a great idea. I should put an ad out or something.” He teased as he finally relented and let Keith get up to get dressed. “Hot young paralegal seeking an older gentleman to fund his extravagant lifestyle.”
Keith threw a pillow at him as he laughed. He pulled on his least wrinkled suit as Shiro walked into their bathroom, pressing another kiss to his lips on his way to the shower. When they'd first moved in together Keith forced himself to become a night-showerer due to how often they were both late to work from either sleeping in too long and having to wait for the water to heat up again or getting distracted from trying to share.
He smiled at the thought as he struggled with his tie. It faded quickly when he saw the small black box sitting on their shared dresser. Their fifth anniversary had been the weekend before and in that box was an object that Keith feared much more than its tiny packaging warranted. A ring.
“It's not a no. God, I'm so sorry. I'm just… I'm not ready Shiro.” His face burned with tears he refused to shed.
Shiro smiled sadly at him. “It's ok, baby. I don't need a ring or a piece of paper to prove that I'm yours forever. I shouldn't have sprung this on you out of nowhere.” He was still holding one of Keith's hands, but he'd placed the box on their dresser so he could take the other.
Keith wanted to say a thousand things. “Thank you.” “I don't know if I'll ever be ready.” “I still keep waiting for you to leave.” “Yes.” The thoughts all warred in his mind. He didn't voice any of them, just stepped forward into Shiro's chest and buried his face into the soft fabric of his shirt.
He grabbed the box and put it in Shiro's sock drawer so he wouldn't have to look at it as his eyes misted over. He'd just tie his stupid tie when he got to the office.
He started the coffee maker and threw his laptop back into his bag along with the lunch Shiro had made him the night before while he made his own. It was just a turkey sandwich and a bag of veggies to munch on, but the thoughtfulness still had his throat tightening uncomfortably. He burned his tongue drinking the coffee too fast.
Shiro was just finishing in the shower when Keith went in to brush his teeth. “Your coffee’s on the dresser.” He said around a mouth full of foam as Shiro toweled off.
He came up behind Keith and kissed his temple. “You're too good to me.” He said with a grin, pinching Keith's butt on the way out. He laughed at Keith's startled squeak. Keith didn't wipe the spray of toothpaste off the mirror in petty revenge.
He thought about Shiro on the entire ride to work. It was only 20 minutes but sometimes 20 minutes on a bus felt like a lifetime. Shiro had a much farther drive to work, so Keith didn't mind him using their only car to commute.
Their car. The words stuck in his head. Their apartment. Their life. They were already basically married, Keith tried to reason with himself. Both of their names were on the lease, they shared a phone plan, a car, and a savings account. Even still, he couldn't shake the feeling that Shiro would wake up one day and just… leave. Just like his parents had. Like his uncle. Like every other boyfriend he'd ever had.
He shook his head and skipped to the next song on his playlist, a happier one. Shiro wouldn't do that. He knew Shiro wouldn't do that. But sometimes knowing and believing just weren't the same. He sighed. It was going to be a long day.
The morning proved him right as he sat down at his desk with a sigh. He didn't even get a chance to fully recover from his awful, hour long, stand-up meeting right after walking in the door. The phone call he got at 9:13am was the worst thing he'd ever experienced. Matt's ill-concealed panic hadn't helped. “Keith, I really need you to not freak out about what I'm about to tell you.”
He took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. “Starting that way really doesn't help your case, but I'm sitting down, so go for it.” The ten long seconds of quiet grated on Keith's already shot nerves.
“Shiro was in an accident. He's at Altea General getting prepped for surgery.” Keith's mind buzzed with static. “Keith? He's ok. He's gonna be ok, it's probably just a complication with the prosthetic. Pidge and I are already on the way, do you want us to pick you up?” He blinked and cleared his throat.
“No, I'll get a taxi. See you there.” He hung up without saying goodbye.
Luckily Keith's boss was extremely understanding. He'd been working under Kolivan for 4 years now and they had an excellent rapport. The man had even offered to drive Keith there himself so he wouldn't have to wait for a taxi to show up. Keith accepted his offer nearly in tears of gratitude.
Kolivan drove a little faster than was strictly legal, but he was at least very safe about it. Keith was thankful for his haste. They were at the hospital in less than an hour. “Thank you so much, really. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.” He said as he got out of the car.
Kolivan nodded. “Go take care of Shiro. I'll approve your leave when I get back to the office. Take as long as you need.” Keith nodded through watery eyes and couldn't find his voice to reply. He patted the door after he closed it.
Rushing into the main waiting area, he saw both Holts right away. “Matt! Pidge! How is he?” Keith asked frantically.
They both looked pale. “He's ok. I'm sure he's ok, Keith, breathe.” Matt answered, grabbing onto Keith's shoulders. Keith took in a deep, shuddering breath. “They won't let us back even though I'm Shiro's emergency contact.” Matt explained.
Pidge frowned and glared at the receptionist. “It's immediate family only apparently. As if Shiro isn't our brother just because we're not blood. Jerks.” She grumbled.
Keith panicked. They might not let him back just being Shiro's boyfriend. This was a nightmare. He shook his head and thanked his friends before striding up to the counter. He put a little bit of a lilt to his voice, hoping the receptionist was too oblivious to notice the obvious discrepancy between a sloppy Korean accent done by a half-Texan and Shiro's 100% Japanese name. “Hi, excuse me.” He said, brows furrowing.
The lady looked up. “How can I help you, sir?” She seemed bored and disinterested. Both worked in his favor.
“I'm looking for my brother. Shirogane Takashi?” He said hopefully.
She scrolled through her computer. “Hmm I don't see him, are you sure he’s here?” Her gum popped loudly.
He faltered a little before realizing what she must have done. “Oh, apologies. It's probably under Takashi Shirogane.” He bowed his head a little and immediately felt stupid. He was playing it up too much, time to step back a bit.
She didn't look any more enthused as she scrolled again. “Oh ok. He's in surgery right now, but they'll take him to ICU recovery 4 once he's out. Should be like… half an hour?” He nodded. “Here's a pass, elevator's down the hall to the right. 3rd floor.” She popped her gum loudly again.
He took the badge quickly. “Thanks.” He blurted out, accent completely dropped. She didn't notice in the slightest. It was hard not to run to the elevator.
His phone pinged in his pocket and he fished it out to look at it. He opened Matt's text as the doors shut. “Can you be racist against yourself? Is that what I just witnessed?”
Rolling his eyes, he originally just replied with a middle finger emoji, but decided to elaborate so Matt wasn't worried. “Shut up it worked didn't it? They can kick me out for lying after I make sure Shiro's ok.” He typed out with a frown.
The doors dinged and he made his way up to the next waiting room. The nurse was a bigger guy, very friendly looking, and smiled at him as he approached. “Hi there. Pass please.” He said in greeting.
Keith handed over the small plastic rectangle as his heart thudded. “The lady at the front desk said he was almost done in surgery?” He asked, trying to keep the swell of emotion in his chest from bubbling out.
The nurse smiled. “Don't worry, Mr. Shirogane. Your brother's gonna be just fine. He's in totally amazing hands and I'll call you up right away when he gets brought to a recovery room.” His soft brown eyes did help Keith feel a little more content.
He peered at the name tag clipped to the front pocket of the man's scrubs. “Thanks, Hunk. I appreciate it.” He took his badge back and sat down in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs.
Mr. Shirogane He repeated in his head. He realized that he hadn't told Shiro that he loved him that morning. He couldn't stop himself from wondering how close he'd gotten to never being able to tell him again.
Hunk called out “Mr. Shirogane?” before he had a chance to delve too deeply into the black pit of that particular train of thought.
Hunk led him to room 4 and had him wash his hands before letting him inside. “We had to remove the prosthesis, and he needed a lot of stitches, but he'll be back to normal in no time.” He said with a smile.
Keith's eyes watered as soon as he saw Shiro's sleeping face. It was a little bruised and there was a bandage across the bridge of his nose, but he was breathing and the heart monitor was beeping steadily. It was too much. “Sorry, can we have a minute?” He asked, voice hoarse with emotion.
Hunk smiled at him. “Sure, sure. One sec.” He copied down a few readings onto his tablet and checked under a few of the bandages on Shiro's right flank. “Ok, he's all yours. The doc will be here in a few minutes to give you the full details.”
Keith thanked him as he left, shutting the door behind him. Immediately Keith was at Shiro's side, careful to avoid the IV poking out of his left hand as he squeezed it. He let a few tears slide down his cheeks as he pressed his lips to Shiro's forehead. “I love you.” He whispered. “I love you so much.” He tried not to sob.
Shiro was ok. He'd be fine. He'd been through worse. His old prosthetic arm was starting to lose charge too quickly anyway, he was due for an upgrade, Keith told himself as he tried to contain his mixture of anguish and relief.
Shiro's eyes fluttered open slowly as Keith held his hand and tried to keep more tears from flowing. “Hey, baby.” He whispered. “What happened?” He asked as his addled brain caught up.
Keith choked back a sob. “You got in a wreck. I don't know anything else. Your arm got mangled, though.” Shiro sat up a little and winced, squeezing Keith's hand.
“Mmm… stupid kid texting. Didn't see the light change.” He mumbled as his eyes slid shut. “Hope he's ok.” Keith shook his head. Of course Shiro would be worried about the idiot that almost killed him.
Before he could answer, the doctor strode in. She had a shock of poofy platinum hair loosely contained in an elastic and a comforting smile that put Keith at ease right away. “Mr. And Mr. Shirogane, I'm your surgeon, please call me Allura.” She greeted with a smile.
Shiro eyed Keith with amused suspicion and blinked his tired eyes at her. “Well, I'd say nice to meet you, but…” He smiled at his own bad joke.
She chuckled as she looked at his readings. “No offense taken.” She assured. “Good news first: we were able to save the port, so as soon as you can get back to your specialist they should have no trouble attaching a new prosthetic.”
Keith blew out a puff of air. He'd met Shiro before he'd been able to get fitted with a new arm and knew how much it meant to him to have it. That was definitely good news.
Shiro nodded groggily. “And the bad news?” He asked gravely.
Allura made a noncommittal gesture. “I'd like to keep you here until the sutures in your side and at the edges of the port are ready to come out. It shouldn't be more than a week, but it depends on how well you heal.” Shiro groaned. “I know, I know. But if you end up with an infection you might damage your chances of being able to support a new arm as high tech as your old one.” She explained patiently.
Keith squeezed his hand. “He'll stay as long as he needs to.” He assured her.
She smiled at him and then glanced back at her chart. She frowned at what she saw there, perplexed. “Well, if you need anything just let me or one of the nurses know. They'll be around to check up on you in a bit.”
They both nodded to her as she headed out the door.