Chapter Text
The hospital machines beeped at a steady rhythm as the AC hummed quietly. It was white noise accompanied by a sterile, disinfectant smell Jotaro had become too familiar with over the last few weeks. He was sitting on a plastic chair(which was far too small and uncomfortable) next to the hospital bed, eyelids feeling heavy until he was jolted awake by the old corded telephone on the bedside table.
Jotaro groaned and lifted the phone to his ear, practically resting his face on it. “What?” he asked dryly, suppressing a yawn.
“YO JOTARO!” The other man yelled cheerfully, causing Jotaro to groan and yank the phone away from his ear.
“Good grief, could you not be so goddamn loud?” Jotaro grumbled through his teeth, glancing over at the bedside clock that read ‘11:30 PM’ in glowing red letters. He rubbed both of his eyes with his free hand and rested his elbows on his knees. It was way too late in the night. His friend had clearly forgotten, but Jotaro was too tired to yell.
“Sorry, sorry,” he replied apologetically. The man went quiet for a second before talking again, “Ouais, ouais, I know our time zones are different, mon Dieu!” He spoke again, playfully annoyed. His voice sounded distant, as if talking to someone else.
“Why’d you call again?” Jotaro asked, pinching his nose, giving no effort to hide the annoyance in his tone.
“Oh, yeah! Right!” Polnareff beamed again, “How’s the kid doing?”
Jotaro tensed his grip around the phone. He looked up from the nightstand and at the ‘kid’ in question. Noriaki Kakyion. The seventeen-year-old kid who had almost lost his life after proudly volunteering to help Jotaro on his mission to find DIO. He was motionless on the hospital bed, an IV in one of his hands, a bandage wrapped tightly around the top of his head, and a breathing tube in his nose. Under his hospital gown, bandages were wrapped tightly around his abdomen and waist.
His breathing was steady, and his eyes lay shut, as they had been for weeks. He had only been transferred back to Japan a few days ago after the Speedwagon Foundation deemed him stable enough to be moved from Cairo. Since his move, Jotaro has visited him, rarely ever leaving Kakyoin’s bedside unless necessary. Keeping close watch every time a nurse enters, especially since he knows jack shit about medical stuff. Only watching her expression for any twitch of concern or notice or something other than “normal”.
“He’s…stable,” Jotaro mumbled.
“Ah. Well, that’s better than the last few days then, non?” Polnareff asked.
“I…I guess.”
“C’mon mon ami!” he called out. “Be positive! He’s made progress way quicker than we thought! Told ya that kid is tough! Any progress still counts!” If Polnareff was in the room with him, he probably would punch Jotaro in the arm like he always did when trying to motivate someone in their group.
“I mean, I guess so…yeah,” Jotaro went quiet, looking down at the floor towards his shoes. He could feel the exhaustion in his bones, and his eyelids were growing heavier.
“Hang up the phone now, Jean. Let the boy sleep,” A richer, calmer voice came over the speaker with an amused tone.
“You’re right, you’re right,” Polnareff chuckled.
“Goodnight, Jotaro,” The other voice spoke again.
“G’night, Abdul,” Jotaro mumbled.
“Bonne nuit, Jojo!” He heard Polnareff chime in gleefully.
“Bye, Polnareff,” he replied, putting the phone back on the receiver. He yawned and rubbed both of his hands down his face before scrubbing at the dark circles under his eyes.
Kakyoin had been in the hospital for over 3 weeks now, only having just been moved back to Japan a few days ago. But Jotaro could still remember getting the news about Kakyoin as if it happened yesterday.
It was soon after Mr. Joestar woke up and scared the living shit out of everyone in the vehicle, including Jotaro, by thinking it would be funny to pretend to be possessed. He would’ve punched the old man straight out of the ambulance if he wasn’t so exhausted.
“Hey, boy,” Mr. Joestar pointed towards one of the Speedwagon employees in the ambulance, “There’s another one of you guys behind us. Why’s that?” He asked, moving his finger towards the ambulance doors.
This caused Jotaro to look through the window in the back of the ambulance with the old man and employee. The old man was right. There was another Speedwagon ambulance right behind them.
“Oh! Right! They’re holding your other friends!” The employee explained as the other ambulance passed by them in a neighboring lane.
“Polnareff?” Mr. Joestar asked, leaning upright where he was sitting on the gurney. Jotaro was quickly losing interest in the conversation, more focused on the pain in his torso and arm.
“Yes! But also the other two! The Egyptian and the younger boy!” The employee’s face was calm, but his tone and eyes were cheerful.
Jotaro widened his eyes and perked his head towards the worker. Suddenly the pain in his torso and arm was gone, almost numbed. He definitely had more important things to focus on now.
“Kakyion and Abdul! Oh my god!” Mr. Joestar exclaimed, showing the same hope and excitement, “But…how in the hell…” he mumbled.
“It truly is a miracle! The younger boy is in much more critical danger than the other, but they both must be transferred quickly!” He explained.
Whatever was left of the conversation was a blur to Jotaro. Maybe it was a mixture of adrenaline finally leaving, the ache in his body, and somehow experiencing grief and a shit storm of other emotions all at once, but his ears were ringing, and any other sounds were incomprehensible to him.
Kakyoin was okay - for now. His mind kept racing, making his head want to burst. Too much was going on, too much had just happened. Why couldn’t he have a moment of damn peace? God, did his head ache.
Jotaro slumped down on the bed, his head resting on his crossed arms draped over Kakyoin’s shin. His tired eyes drifted up to meet closed eyes. The soft light from the moon cast perfectly on Kakyoin’s face, illuminating his scars that reached slightly past his eyebrows and below his cheeks. Kakyoin’s lips were slightly parted after his breathing mask had been switched for a nasal tube.
Jotaro could already feel the area around his eyes growing hot, but he was too tired to do anything but close his eyes and beg for sleep to come quickly.
Jotaro was back in Cairo. Back on that street. Back at that godforsaken water tower.
He never actually saw what happened to Kakyion, only the aftermath, and when he was finally finished with his surgeries and stable enough for Jotaro to see him. And when he was told the events that occurred during Kakyion’s encounter with DIO, Mr. Joestar refused to go into any explicit detail. Only that he had been attacked and presumably killed. He probably thought it best for Jotaro’s sake, but it didn't help when Jotaro had already seen his body, and he apparently had a really fucking creative mind.
So there he was, back at the water tower. Crimson stained the clear water that was bursting through. The back of the water tower was destroyed and crumbled. The sky around him was pitch-black, with not even a streetlight in sight.
And then there sat right in the middle of the tower, a pale, slumped-over Noriaki Kakyoin. His eyes were out of view, and blood was gushing from his head and mouth. A giant hole pierced through his abdomen, and Jotaro could swear he could even spot organs poking through, almost leaning out against what was left of his stomach. The sight made Jotaro sick and lose color in his own face, his eyes stinging. Everything around him just seemed to grow darker and darker until the only thing he could spot was the water tower and Kakyoin.
Hundreds of maggots and other bugs began crawling rapidly out of Kakyoin’s stomach and mouth. More of them started crawling under the pant legs of Jotaro’s jeans. Why couldn’t he move or look away? He wanted to run, run so goddamn fast. Maybe to Kakyoin, maybe in the other damn direction. More and more bugs formed around his body and crawled faster up Jotaro’s legs. It was so DARK. The darkness and sensations were making Jotaro more nauseous by the very second.
‘I just want to move. Somewhere - anywhere. Anywhere but here for the love of fucking god’
‘Move. Move. Move.’
‘Move.’
‘MOVE.’
‘MOVE.’