Chapter Text
His arms and legs were grazed from where he’d skidded along the rough tarmac, and the tie from his hair had fallen loose, letting his hair fall over his shoulders. He’d knocked his head on loose gravel and he could feel the unmistakable feel of blood running down the side of his head and all down his face. His hearing was gone, or at least muffled, because he could still hear something that sounded like voices. Lots of voices. But none of that mattered once his eyes found what he was looking for. He swallowed hard. He couldn’t remember anything. Nothing beyond the urgent, insistent honking of a car horn and then something hard and solid hitting his chest and then he was flying and something solid and metal hit his legs and hips then there was the ground and a curb and a parked car.
Someone was touching his shoulder, calling his name, but he ignored them. Ignored the offered help as someone tried to help him up. He pulled himself to his feet and, on auto-pilot, took a few shaky steps towards the dark car pulled to a stop and the dark lump on the ground not far behind it. Someone was crouched over it, desperately searching for something, while someone else stood nearby with a phone to their ear, babbling away about something he couldn’t quite hear. There were other people all around but he couldn’t see them. Not who they were, at least. Not that he cared. All that mattered was getting where he needed to be.
As he got closer, his vision focused in on the immobile lump. Clothes. He could make out clothes that looked strangely similar to the uniform he wore. A school uniform. A student? Was it a student? He seemed rather large to be just a student. Maybe one of the older ones. And his hair was dark. Mostly, at least. He could make out some lighter patches. Streaks. Silver streaks. Then it hit him.
“Sid-senpai!”
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Joe had never been fond of hospitals. They smelled too clean and had such an ominous feeling about them. Too much white on everything, except when an emergency got rushed in and there was vivid red blood everywhere. And the unmistakable beeping of machines.
It was the first thing he registered when he finally came to, followed by the feeling of something imbedded in his arm and faint voices in the room around him. A feminine soft voice, and one slightly more masculine but still soft and quiet. Ahim and Don. Joe didn’t have to think twice about it.
He willed his eyes to open, but it just hurt too much and one wasn’t budging at all so he gave in and accepted just lying there in darkness while the rest of his body woke up and he tried to figure out why he was in a hospital and why he had been asleep and—
“Sid-senpai!” He sat bolt upright at the exclamation that made everyone else in the room jump only to groan in pain as every single part of his body screamed in protest at the sudden movement. He fell back against the pillow and curled up as best he could into the fetal position, which was rather difficult considering the various devices he was attached to, and it was a few minutes before he found himself being able to relax enough to just lie still without his entire body yelling at him.
Once his body had calmed down enough, he opened his eyes, or, rather, eye, the other one covered by a patch, he had discovered, and looked blearily to his bedside. He didn’t even have to focus his vision to figure out who that was.
“Marve… lous…” Oh, god, he sounded so pathetic. He could barely hear his own voice. He wouldn’t be surprised if his friends couldn’t hear him at all. “S-Sid… Where-“ His voice stopped coming completely but by no action of his own. He shifted his gaze to the other side of his bed, giving Luka a questioning look as to why she’d covered his mouth.
“Shut up, idiot,” she scolded, softly, and removed her hand. “You’ll make something worse if you keep trying to push yourself.” He didn’t want to agree but Joe conceded and kept his mouth shut and it took Luka’s hand pressing softly on his forehead to stop him from lifting his head to try and see his other friends. He silently thanked them for taking the initiative to stand around his bed so he could see them all.
“Joe-san, I’m so glad you’re okay,” Ahim looked like she had been crying for at least a little while. Gai, too, even if he was trying to put on a wide smile beside Ahim when he lifted his hand to give him a little wave. Don was on the other side, standing beside Marvelous with his hands on the side of the bed.
The thing Joe liked best about his friendship with Marvelous was that the boy seemed to be able to read his mind. Never before had it been so useful.
“Welcome back, Joe,” The trademark smirk was still on Marvelous’s lips, but Joe could still see a little worry in his friend’s eyes. “You’ve been out almost two days now. And don’t worry about Sid, okay? I just went and saw him. He’s in intensive but he’s stable. Do you remember what happened?” Joe managed a slight shake his head. “He saved you…” Something in Marvelous’s tone changed but no one but Joe noticed. “That asshole that was shoving you and Ahim around pushed you in front of a car and then Sid came out of no where and shoved you out of the way and took the hit himself.”
Joe felt his heart stop. Sid. They weren’t even close friends. Sid was just the captain in the kendo team. A senpai Joe admired and he had been lucky enough to get the occasionally one on one training with him since he had joined the team. They’d attended competitions together, as well, but Joe had long been convinced that Sid was well out of his reach. And that just left him wondering…
“Why….?”
“What did I say about talking?”
“Luka.” A moment passed where Marvelous and Luka just looked at each other. Eventually, Luka gave in and nodded. Marvelous looked back down at Joe, a hand brushing over his friend’s hair. “Just rest now, Joe. You can ask him yourself once you’re both up and moving again.”
Joe gave a slight nod, and one by one his friend’s disappeared from view until he was left just looking at Marvelous’s face, a lot closer now. Joe assumed the others had all left the room. His friend never got this close when anyone else was around. Not out of secrecy or shame or anything. Simply out of respect. They were a tight knit group of friends who relied on each other and did almost everything together, and Marvelous wasn’t the sort to show any favouritism when they were all together.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Joe watched as his friend finally dropped the strong face he had been putting on and he leaned up a little into the forehead that pressed against his.
“Of course I’d be okay,” he managed to whisper out. “Who else would watch your back?” They both closed their eyes and for what felt like forever, they didn’t move, Marvelous’s forehead resting on Joe’s and one hand resting on the top of his head, fingers threaded into his hair. “Are you staying?”
Marvelous hesitated in his answer and shook his head a little. “I can’t,” he said softly, his eyes slowly opening. “Basco’s gonna be here to pick us up in a few minutes. But I’ll be back tomorrow. I promise.”
Joe opened his eye and gave him a weak smile. He felt almost ready to go back to sleep, so he figured it wouldn’t be so bad being alone until his friend came back. As long as Marvelous was there when he woke up again, he’d be okay.
As his friend left the room after a last good bye, Joe entertained the thought of waking up to Sid’s face as well and decided that that wouldn’t be too bad either.
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When Joe awoke next, it was to an unfamiliar face. It didn’t matter too much, since it was blurry and dark and all he understood was a voice telling him to open, drink, swallow, rinse and repeat. Medicine. Ah.
He fell asleep a few minutes later, only to have the cycle repeat a couple more times.
One of those times, he was a little more with it. He gave the overnight nurse a smile, and happily took his medication. As she pottered around his room, making sure he was comfortable and had everything he needed, he couldn’t help himself.
“E-Excuse me,” his voice was still a little dry and hoarse from lack of use, but the words managed to get out enough that the old nurse understood. “There’s another student here from my school… He’s in intensive care… Sid Bamick. You… Would you happen to know if he’s okay?”
“I don’t know, sorry, hun,” the nurse reminded Joe of his grandmother, kind and softspoken and caring. “But I only have one more room to finish seeing to. I’ll wander down there and have a look for you, okay?”
He managed a smile. “Thank you,” he said, even as he felt his eyelids begin to droop.
He never got an answer to his worries. He was asleep when the nurse returned and her words were lost on him in his partially drug-induced sleep. By the time he woke again, it was to a different nurse and the face of an old friend that he figured he could use as a distraction to stop him from worrying so much.