Chapter Text
A cold autumn afternoon prickled with a chilling breeze as the sun lazily crossed the sky.
Orange and yellow leaves crunched under the feet of the emergency responders as they walked back and forth from the house to the large ambulance parked in the driveway, along with several cars that lined the sidewalk.
In the house, four children sat silently in one of the upstairs bedrooms.
Shouting echoed in the mind of a black-haired boy as the events of the incident replayed over and over. Guilt clenched Sunny's heart and crept into his throat, choking him into silence.
She'll be okay...she'll be okay...she'll be...okay...
Tears blurred his red and blue-stained vision as he tried to steady his trembling hands. He sat on the ground, curled into a ball, hugging his knees to his chest.
Kel sat beside him with a comforting hand on his shoulder, while Aubrey was on his bed behind him fidgeting with one of Sunny's various stuffed animals to stay calm. Hero sat on the floor in front of him with a haunting look in his eyes, causing Sunny to avoid the older brunette's gaze.
By now none of them had spoken for what felt like an hour, their minds still processing what had happened.
As if to pierce the silence and calm everyone's nerves, Basil slowly entered the room. Sunny twitched at the sound of the doorknob. Aubrey sat up, and everyone's eyes went to Basil expectantly.
"Any news?" Kel tried to steady his words, a lump catching in his throat.
Basil shook their head. "I-I tried to look at her, but the adults told me to come back inside..." He sat next to Hero, who was now staring at the floor. "Sunny's parents seemed to be arguing," they added almost in a whisper.
The air thickened with tension as silence seeped back into the room.
Sunny's heavy breathing trickled through the quiet, and Kel gently squeezed the black-haired boy's shoulder.
He had no clue what happened, Basil had just shown up and told him to come to Sunny's house as fast as possible. When they'd arrived, Mari was hurt and Sunny was tearfully calling 9-1-1.
Basil occasionally cast glances at the black-haired boy. He knew what had happened. They both did.
The others only knew what the adults said, "She fell and she's hurt, go to Sunny's room for now."
Everyone sat in the dark room wordlessly, as if they all had something to say but didn't know how to.
Trickles of light came in from Sunny's window, adding a gloomful glow to the room. If one strained their ears enough, they could practically hear the busy chatter from the various adults outside.
Eventually, Aubrey broke the silence with an uneasy question. "Is Mari gonna be okay...?"
Hero fidgeted with his hands before responding, "I-" he paused, "I don't know Aubrey...We'll have to wait and see," His voice cracked as he fought tears, resigning to curl into a ball and bury his face in his knees.
Sunny still trembled, feeling like a nervous clump of anxiety. His eyes hurt from the tears stabbing at the back of his eyes, and guilt filled his mind as he once more thought back to earlier in the day.
It'd all happened so fast, it was a blur.
--
"I said I don't want to!"
"Where do you think you're going!? We're still talking!"
"Let go of me!"
"SUNNY, STO--"
--
Polly quietly came into the room and four sets of eyes turned to her, awaiting the news she carried from the adults outside.
"Hey guys, the medics checked on Mari--" Everyone but Sunny stood up at once, causing Polly to pause as they practically swarmed her.
Hero spoke first. "Is she okay?!"
Sunny sat quietly and slowly looked up at the older girl, the slightest wisp of hope glimmering in his dark eyes.
Aubrey shifted positions, trying not to step on one of Sunny's hands as Kel moved closer to Polly, and Basil stepped back a bit to give the tan boy more room.
"She'll be fine but she has to go the hospital," Polly continued slowly, sorrowful empathy lacing her tone.
The tears in Sunny's eyes began streaming down his face, blurring his vision from his friends' various reactions to the news, though he could assume the tearful expressions they might be wearing.
"She does..?" Basil's voice cracked as they spoke.
Polly nodded, "I came in here to check on you all, and uh," She turned to look at Sunny and knelt a few feet in front of him, "Your mom wanted to ask if you wanna go to the hospital or if you need to stay here."
He slowly stood up, still shaking as he nodded. Polly helped steady him, and Kel grabbed her sleeve when Sunny was up.
"Can we come too...Please?" He asked with pleading brown eyes.
She smiled and nodded, leading the group of five down the stairs and outside to the front of the house.
Hero, Kel, and Aubrey went over to their parents, while Basil stayed near Polly, and Sunny ran to his mother, who was standing next to the open ambulance doors, sorrowfully looking at the black-haired girl inside.
Sunny tightly wrapped his arms around his mom, sobbing as tears streamed down his face. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." he mumbled over and over.
"Hey, it's okay. Why are you sorry?" she asked, but he kept mumbling.
Mrs. Suzuki gently kissed him on the forehead. "I know this must all be shocking...Come on, let's head to the hospital with your sister," She helped him into the back of the ambulance, and sat down.
Sunny avoided looking at Mari's rigid body. It was his fault, he didn't deserve to look at her.
The ride to the hospital felt like seconds, and before he knew it Sunny was in a white hospital room next to Mari's bed.
Basil and the others arrived shortly after, hurriedly walking into the room.
"Is she alright Sunny?" Aubrey asked in a fretful tone, placing her hand on the black-haired boy's arm.
Hero walked over to them. "Have the doctors said anything..?"
Sunny just kept staring into space, the edges of his vision fogging over.
"Sunny?" Kel's voice was muffled by the ringing in his ears.
The rest of his surroundings started to blur together, the similarly hued objects in the room mixing into an incoherent mess. He felt his heart rate quicken and his breathing turn heavy.
"Sunny, breathe hun," he could barely hear his mom over the eerily loud silence of his mind.
"Sunny?"
His gaze quickly snapped up causing Kel and Aubrey to back away from the sudden movement. Mari's voice...
But that was impossible, she was on the hospital bed unconscious because of him.
His mom sighed quietly and put her hand on his shoulder. "He'll be okay. Mari, on the other hand..." Everyone quickly turned their attention to her. "The doctors said she's going to be fine."
Sighs of relief were shared, and she continued, "However, her body is weak, and she'll have to go into a coma."
Kel's jaw dropped into a gape, and Aubrey fell into the chair beside Sunny. Hero crumbled to the floor in front of them as tears welled in his eyes.
"What!?! For how long?" Kel asked loudly, causing Sunny to flinch.
Mrs. Suzuki looked over at Mari, trying not to cry again as tears threatened her eyes once more. "We don't know..."
Sunny curled up in his seat, incoherently whispering to himself. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry..."
Basil stood silently near the door of the room. So far, they had said nothing the whole time the group had been in the room, knowing that if they tried the tears would be even harder to fight back.
The blonde didn't know if Sunny wanted to tell everyone about that yet. He had barely spoken since the ambulance arrived, the only thing Basil had heard him even mutter was some form of an apology.
I'll ask him later...whenever I get a chance away from the others, I'll ask.
--
The group spent all day at the hospital.
If it weren't for Hero and Kel's parents, they probably would've spent the night there too. However, they opted for a sleepover at Sunny's house instead, Kel's idea, so they could all be there for each other throughout the night.
As everyone got tucked into their respective spots Sunny quietly set up Mari's bed as if she was in it. No one commented on it.
Mrs. Suzuki came into the room shortly after everyone had settled. "Do you need anything?" She asked, to which they all shook their heads.
"No, thank you," Hero spoke quietly.
"Okay, sleep well, everyone..."
Sunny had never had so many nightmares in one night.