Work Text:
Beep, Beep, Beep.
The rhythmic sound of a heart monitor.
Flowers, get-well-soon cards, a small cactus on the bedside table.
Idle conversation outside the room. Her friends, their friends.
Beep, Beep, Beep.
This sound has grown familiar to Maki over the past week (weeks), it fades into background noise like routine and she hates it, hates how she finds comfort in it. In the moving lines, the repetition, in the way it lights a fragile hope she can’t quite find the strength to crush.
And once again Maki finds herself following the path from monitor to wires, from wires to—
She sighs.
It is never easy, watching the way Mai sleeps so peacefully in that hospital bed.
Maki would smile, would pretend she’s just resting after a long day if only she didn’t look so pale, so weak. If she didn’t have a needle poking at her arm, if she didn’t need a machine to remind Maki that yes, she’s still alive, still breathing.
Maki is tired of praying, of begging everyone, anyone—Shoko, Yuta, that boy from Kyoto. Hell, she would even rip Satoru out of that damn box again if only he could do something, but there is nothing to be done.
It is all up to Mai from here.
She too is tired of hearing this.
Not a day goes by without at least one visitor.
Maki knows, of course she does. She practically has been living in this hospital for god knows how long and the way she haunts Mai’s room borders on obsessive. Even if Shoko didn’t keep her updated, Maki has had everyone's schedules memorized for a while now.
Utahime came in last week, so did Noritoshi. Yesterday was Kasumi and Todo the day before.
Which means today is—
The door clicks and Momo comes in with a flower arrangement in her arms, greeting Maki with a nod.
Maki nods back, watches the way Momo swaps the now wilted flowers she brought days ago with the new ones, wonders how many more will die before Mai sees them.
Does Mai even like flowers?
Momo turns to look at Mai and Maki’s heart aches with the need to know more, to learn more about this Mai that Momo looks at, the Mai she never got to—
“Maki-chan,”
Momo does not look at her and the pause makes the heart monitor fill the gaps even louder.
“Take care of her, okay?”
Maki wakes up with a start when Shoko enters the room.
A quick glance at the clock reminds her that it is time to change Mai’s IV fluids.
It always happens during the night, Maki recalls. She was here when it got changed yesterday, and the day before, and the past… weeks? (how long has it been?).
Doesn’t matter.
Maki watches as Shoko goes through the same practiced motions of selecting, inspecting, and labeling the new solution bag, pays close attention to the way she clamps the IV tubing like it could hurt Mai. Like Mai would even react if it did.
And this too has become routine.
“You should go home.”
Shoko removes the old bag from the pole, swaps it with the new one. Maki doesn’t know what home is anymore.
Shoko looks tired, and honestly, so does Maki. She doesn’t even need to see her own reflection in the window to know that, can’t even remember the last time she was not tired.
Still, Maki remains silent and helps move Mai into a more comfortable position.
She goes out for drinks.
She is not old enough, none of her friends are, but Kinji knows a guy and apparently everyone wanted to drag her out to celebrate her first paycheck as a special grade.
And also her birthday.
But Maki does not think about it.
Instead, she gets so shitfaced Nobara and Yuta have to carry her back to the dorms.
Maki does not dream often but tonight she dreams of Mai, begs to be taken wherever she is going.
Three days later, her phone rings.
Shoko.
Maki knows it is Shoko because she has a special ringtone set for Shoko, and she never calls because Maki is always at that damn hospital. She never needed to call but she is calling now and Maki knows why, knows why her heart beats so loud and why it wants to jump right out of her chest.
“Your sister is—”
Maki does not let Shoko finish, drops the grocery bag she was holding without wasting a second and dashes to the hospital like it is the last thing she will do.
A few familiar faces are entering the hospital when she gets there but she won’t even look. She can’t. Her brain won’t let her process anything that is not seeing Mai right this instant.
She walks past Shoko. Sees Utahime, Momo, Kasumi in the waiting room.
They simply nod and let her through.
She enters the room. The same room she’s been in and out for god knows how long and Mai is there.
Mai is there and she is awake and Maki’s heart beats, beats, beats.
“Mai—”
Maki is frozen in place as their eyes meet. Golden in, dull, tired, gold.
Mai looks at her expressionless and Maki fears the worst as Mai opens and closes her mouth, once, twice, without any words coming out.
Until Maki hears it, weak and breathy.
“Idiot.”