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Alan stood at Kim’s bedside with one hand on his hip and the other resting behind Kim’s head on the raised end of the hospital bed. “Are you sure you’re alright?” He asked his friend with concern marring his handsome face. Kim nodded and painfully adjusted his injured arm. The sling it was in felt tight on his shoulder but he guessed that he just wasn’t used to wearing it yet. “Yea, P’Alan, I’m fine. You don’t have to stay, besides Kenta is here so I’ll be fine.” He nodded towards the figure clad in all black leaning up against the far wall. Alan glanced over in his direction too before looking back at Kim.
“Okay,” he agreed before pushing away from Kim’s bed, “I gotta go check on Dean and the rest of X-Hunter but I’ll be back in the morning.” Kim nodded his understanding as Uncle Alan patted his leg before turning to leave. He stopped in front of Kenta and gave him a task, “Look after him okay?” Kenta wordlessly nodded before Alan patted his shoulder and left.
Kim turned his full attention to Kenta but before he could say anything his doctor walked in. “Khun Kim? We got your lab work results and X-Rays back in,” she said. Kenta pushed off the wall and headed for the door, wanting to give Kim some privacy, but he halted in his tracks when he heard Kim call his name. He turned to see the other man shaking his head. “Stay,” Kim requested firmly, so Kenta stayed. He moved to the left side of the bed and sat in the chair.
“Okay so luckily the bullet didn’t hit any bones and it passed right through. We were able to stitch up the bullet wound and sent a prescription down to the pharmacy for some antibiotics for you,” she informed him. He nodded as she continued, “All your bloodwork came back normal, but we do want to keep your IV drip going for a couple of days because you seem to be very, very dehydrated. We’ll probably release you in a few days and we’ll have breakfast brought up to you in a couple of hours. Are you allergic to anything?”
“He’s not but he doesn’t really like oranges or tomatoes,” Kenta chimed in looking up at her. “Noted,” the doctor said before hanging Kim’s chart at the foot of his bed and turning to leave. Kim felt fuzzy inside, he didn’t know Kenta was paying attention to him enough to know what foods he hated.
“Dehydration?” Kenta questioned incredulously. He folded his arms and looked at Kim with a raised brow. Kim rolled his eyes and responded with, “I haven’t been able to eat or drink much water these days, I’ve been very occupied with worry.” “You were that worried about me?” Kenta asked in disbelief. “I was sick with worry Kenta,” Kim told him with furrowed brows, “And when Pete told me he lost contact with you I thought I was going to go insane. It felt like no one cared that you were missing except me. I might kick Pete’s ass the next time I see him because I am so pissed off at him.”
Kenta tightened his arms and said, “I was fine.” “And yet, I was still worried,” Kim countered, staring into Kenta’s eyes. Kenta felt a bit guilty, “Thanks for saving me…and thanks for trusting me.” Kim nodded and replied, “You’re welcome, don’t ever do that shit again.” Kenta nodded and answered, “I won’t and don’t blame Pete. I know it may feel like I’m being used…” “You are,” Kim interrupted. “But you have to understand that I feel less useless when I’m of service to other people,” Kenta finished.
“I noticed. And Pete is an asshole,” Kim grumbled. “I want you to care more about yourself Kenta,” Kim added, “I want you to care about yourself the way I care about you.” “I’m working on it,” Kenta affirmed. “I’ll help you,” Kim offered through a smile.
Kenta unfolded his arms and dropped his hands in his lap, lacing his fingers together. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he queried. He quickly looked Kim over. He could see scratches on the visible patches of Kim’s skin and the very obvious sling his left arm was resting in. His upper arm was wrapped up. His chestnut colored hair was all over the place and there were bags under his eyes. But at least he still looked like Kim, handsome and soft.
The racer grinned even wider, “Are you worried about me?” he teased. He saw Kenta shut his mouth and his ears turned a bit red. Kim couldn’t help but laugh but quickly stopped when he felt a sharp pain in his side. “Owwwww,” he whined as he pressed his free hand to his flaming, throbbing side, “I think I broke a rib.” He was sure the doctor told him but he really couldn’t remember.
“Let’s see what your chart says,” Kenta offered as he stood up to grab the chart hanging at the foot of Kim’s hospital bed. He plopped back down in his seat and began to read aloud what he saw on the chart, “Gunshot wound to the left bicep. Bruised ribs on the right side. A minor concussion.”
Kim pressed his hand to his head and rhetorically asked, “I did hit my head didn’t I?”
Kenta flipped to the second page on the chart and continued, “Various cuts, scrapes, and bruises all over. And worst of all, severe dehydration.”
“Yikes,” Kim murmured as Kim put his chart back, “I guess it could’ve been worse. Thanks for getting that guy after he shot me. Who would’ve thought it would actually be a good idea to bring a knife to a gunfight?”
“Yea lucky for you I found it before you got me out of there.” Kenta said as a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. ‘Out of there,’ echoed in Kim’s mind as he tried to erase the image of Kenta strapped to that death chair from his memory. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. He only opened them when he felt a warm hand grip his chin to stop his head from shaking. He stared into Kenta’s worried eyes, “Does your head hurt?” he asked, pushing his hair back to reveal his forehead.
“No. Are you sure you’re okay Kenta?” Kim questioned. He checked Kenta out while the other man checked him. Kenta was pretty much covered up aside from his face and arms, and all Kim saw was a bruise or two on his arms and one on his face. He didn’t even look tired and his dark hair seemed perfectly styled. “Kim, I’m fine. It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle,” Kenta reassured as he let Kim’s chin go.
Silence filled the room and Kim nodded off for a bit. However, he did instantly wake up when he heard the door squeak open. “Where are you going?” Kim yelled, stopping the other man in his tracks. Kenta wasn’t even sure how to answer that, he didn’t even know where he should be going.
“Stay. Please, don’t leave,” Kim begged. He felt like Kenta was always trying to run away from him. “Why?” Kenta queried defensively, “Tony is hopefully dead. You don’t have to watch over me anymore.”
“No, but I won’t be able to race until I’m fully healed so I need someone to watch over me this time,” Kim told him. Kenta walked back over to Kim’s bedside and looked at him in confusion. “Are you asking me to stay?” he questioned. Kim smiled at him, “Do you want to stay? With me?” he questioned back.
Kenta frowned, “I thought you were going back to Korea when this was all over.” Kim did his best to shrug, “I can go back anytime. We can go together. Or we can go to Japan. Or we can just stay here. I just want us to be together, it doesn’t matter where,” he sincerely admitted.
Kenta felt his cheeks flush. He was shocked and touched. Sure, they had kissed a couple of times and sure Kim had shown great concern and care for him…and it was just hitting Kenta that he liked it. He liked being around Kim. He liked having Kim care for him and about him. It was just hitting Kenta that he didn’t acknowledge Kim’s feelings because he thought Kim was going to leave in the end.
He watched Kim stretch his good arm over his body and extend his hand to him. Kim winced but kept his hand out for Kenta to take. “Will you stay with me Kenta? Take care of me so I can take care of you,” he requested. It sounded like a freaking proposal and in a way it was.
Kenta grabbed Kim’s wrist and softly pushed it back down to his side. “Your ribs are bruised on that side, you shouldn’t stretch your arm like that,” Kenta lightly scolded. He pushed Kim’s messy hair out of his face and softly pecked his forehead. “I’ll stay,” he conceded, “As long as you want me here, I’ll be here.”
“So you’re fine with forever?” Kim asked with a smirk and raised brow. Now that really was a proposal. Kenta rolled his eyes and looked away, but said nothing. He felt painfully shy all of a sudden. Why was Kim always so forward? Kim nodded, “Good,” he said before puckering his lips up at Kenta. Kenta wasn’t going to kiss him, but soon Kim’s pucker turned into a pout and Kenta couldn’t deny him the affection he wanted. He tried to pretend like he was annoyed but Kim was really cute and his lips did look really soft…despite them being so chapped.
Kenta planted his hands on the edge of Kim’s bed and leaned in to kiss him. He was going for a short kiss, but Kim had other plans. He felt Kim’s hand grip the back of his neck and pull him in closer as he deepened the kiss. Kenta opened his mouth when he felt Kim’s tongue run over his lips. He leaned further over Kim’s bed until he accidentally bumped Kim’s injured arm. Kim hissed in pain and jerked away.
He groaned in agony and kicked his feet under his blanket. Kenta couldn’t help but grin and said, “Serves you right.” He nudged Kim’s forehead and ordered, “Now lay back.”
Kenta turned and headed for the door again and again Kim stopped him. “Where are you going? You just said you’d stay with me,” he said frantically. “Relax,” Kenta replied, “I’m going back to the apartment to get us some clothes. I’ll be back. Calm down.”
“Well it’s not like you’re not a flight risk…” Kim muttered. “Shut up,” Kenta called back as he was finally able to leave.
Kim covered his chest with his free hand and released a shaky relieved breath. He felt warm inside. He was fully committed to the idea of showing Kenta what it felt like to be loved and he was willing to dedicate his life to the cause.