Chapter Text
CW: Blood, cut
The halls ran busy per usual. Fast-paced steps accompanied by squeaking casters along the long lines of the building. White walls and white noise. Well, perhaps the constant activity and voices filled with trepidation shouldn’t be considered as such. Perhaps one too many visits to this place had stripped Suguru of the necessary apprehension.
Despite the normalcy, he would never claim to miss it. It was a hospital after all. People die here or they are here because they are very sick. He wasn’t sure in which category he belonged but he guessed most didn’t. He sighed and glanced over to the neatly made hospital bed next to his. At least this time he had gotten an empty room. He was thankful that he had gotten the bed next to the window. Not that there was much to see, just a dismal courtyard where equally gloomy nurses and doctors went to smoke on their rare breaks. Part of him didn’t mind the melancholy. Hospitals weren’t supposed to be happy places after all.
With another sigh he decided to rest a bit, taking advantage of the pain medicine he had been given. Despite the rather strong dosage, he could still feel a dull pain in his lower abdomen.
Suguru hadn’t always been the sick kid. He had been given a whole two years of being normal in school before it all began. Enough time to learn how to fit in and make friends before the rug was pulled from below his feet. Then he became the kid who threw up on the floor in the middle of lunch, the kid who had to sit down instead of play during recess.
When you are eight and form your entire personality around being the best stick-fighter in school, it’s not an easy blow to take. Sickness stripped him of identity, affiliation, and confidence. Suguru always came back to the thought, that the cruelty of sickness was that it took away something you once had.
Eight years later and the ambulance was, since long, on speed dial. Emergency stay-over-at-hospital-bag always ready in the apartment entryway. It had become mundane to the point of Suguru being both comfortable enough and allowed to go by himself. Well, these days there wasn’t much choice. Ever since his bastard of a father had left, his mom had taken on an extra job, often working until late at night. Due to the frequency of his visits and hospital bills running their wallets dry, they could no longer afford her taking time off work. And it wasn’t like he needed her there. He had been accustomed to the routine for years now.
“Oi, I don’t think it will be necessary for me to lay in a bed ,” Suguru could forget about resting. Some ruckus could be heard from the corridor outside of his room. He could only guess that the peace and quiet he had rejoiced only moments ago, would be coming to an end.
Predictably two silhouettes appeared in the door frame, one belonged to his favorite nurse Kusakabe, who greeted him with a nod. Linked around his arm was a patient making a moderate attempt to free himself from the nurse’s grip. He was tall, probably taller than Kusakabe, with long legs and an overall lanky look. Apart from the snow-white hair on his head, he looked around Suguru’s age. He found himself wondering if that hair was natural or if this teen had decided on the grandpa look by his free fill. Over both of his eyes, he wore eye pads secured by a bandage around his head.
Kusakabe pushed the younger down to sit on the other bed. Upon release, he immediately got up on his feet again.
“Sit down!” the nurse said with an assertiveness that Suguru never had received from him. Sure, Kusakabe lost his cool sometimes but it usually took a lot before he was this upront with it. With the nature of his job, disobedience was not a new concept, yet this kid seemed to have gotten under his skin pretty fast.
“As I said, there is no need for me to sit on my ass, my ride should be here at any moment,” he stated, still standing, back facing both the bed and Suguru. Kusakabe places his hands on his shoulders, pushing him down once again. The white-haired boy seemed to comply easier than his words argued, settling with crossing his arms in an almost childish demeanor.
“Your parents have been informed that you will be discharged in an hour, only then are you allowed to leave.”
The boy huffed in response before swinging his legs up on the bed. His dress pants rode up in the action, revealing strawberry-patterned socks around skinny ankles. Suguru couldn’t help but smile at the contrast against the otherwise business casual attire. White dress shirt accompanying the black pants. He wasn’t dressed like a normal teen on a Tuesday. He looked fancy, well-put-together, borderline elegant.
“Then at least get me some sweets old man,” Kusakabe paid him no mind and instead turned to leave the room. Either this kid was a regular or he was already fed up with him.
“There is water on the other side of the room, knock yourself out,” he stated calmly before turning to Suguru with an apologetic smile. “Suguru, see you later!”
“The name is Satoru, Satoru Gojo,” the teen shouted after Kusakabe who was already out of their sight.
“Nice to meet you Satoru,” as soon as he spoke the other teen flinched and turned towards him. As Suguru expected he had been completely oblivious to his presence. The half-second of chock before picking up his composure again was something Suguru made sure to save and store away inside his memory bank. He had a feeling he would need a few one-ups on this kid if they were going to spend an entire hour in the same room.
A lot of the times when he got a roommate, either they or Suguru would be knocked out or too high on painkillers to hold a conversation. On a few rare occasions, he had shared some talks, usually with elderly people. Somehow they always were more prone to talking, and Suguru was a good listener. He also didn’t mind as long as he felt good enough physically.
This was different though. It was rare to meet someone his age and awake and talking at that. Suguru only felt a bit high from the medicine going into his body through the infusion in his arm. Perhaps that was in his favor.
“What the hell,” Satoru had gathered himself but the surprise seemed to have agitated him. “Are you some creep or something?” he huffed again.
Suguru spotted the discomfort in the other, body language not quite matching the words being spoken. He had stuck his head forward as if he could gawk through the eye pads if he only tried hard enough. It was a rather funny sight.
“Seeing something out of those?” he just couldn’t help himself. There was something about the other teen that made him want to take shots at him, be a little mean. Suguru told himself it must be because he had called Kusakabe an ‘old man’ or simply because the kid seemed a bit too cocky for everyone’s good.
“Funny.” he deadpanned and tore his ‘eyes’ off Suguru. In one big swing, his legs met the ground and he was up on his feet for a third time. “Well, I’m not staying in the same room as a creep,” he stated in a chirpy tone and began marching out, taking long strides with a confidence that said shouldn't belong to a boy who currently couldn’t see.
Suguru noticed the nurse cart too late. Satoru didn’t notice it at all. Not until he full-on collided with it, sending those long legs in the air. The sound of tens of metal utensils and other supplies filled the room. Suguru hissed for the other, quickly getting up on his own two feet.
A bit too quick it seemed. His vision whitened as he gripped whatever was near, steading himself through the vertigo. After giving himself a few seconds he gripped his IV stand and made his way to the Satoru who was still on the floor, tangled with the nurse's cart.
“Are you okay?” he asked softly, reaching out a hand for the other. He held it out longer than he would like to admit before realizing that he couldn't see it. Upon realization, he retreated it in sheer embarrassment. When he didn’t get an answer from Satoru who was still flapping like a fish on land, he reached out again to tug at his sleeve.
“Go away,” his voice was stern but not sure enough for Suguru to give in.
“Oh swallow your pride,” he retorted. “Here, I’m holding out my hand and you will take it,” Suguru wasn’t one to order people around. He enjoyed taking the back seat, listening, and taking in everyone else’s thoughts and opinions. Subsequently, he also knew when someone needed more than that from him.
The frown turned into a pout on the white-haired teen before he flung his arm out, waving it back and forth in a quest to meet the others. Suguru grabbed a hold of it, holding his IV stand equally firmly with his other hand. He pulled and was met with strength from the other. He was surprisingly strong. Or perhaps it was just Suguru being weak. Gosh, he hated to admit that.
One tug and the taller was up on his feet again. He led Satoru back to his bed, carefully navigating them both, and his own IV stand, through the mess on the floor. Only when the other was seated on his bed again did Suguru notice the dark red stains painting the right side of his shirt. Fuck, he must have cut himself when he fell over that damn thing. In a smaller panic, he reached for Satoru’s shirt to pull it up, revealing where he was hurt.
“Woah, okay what are you doing?” hands fought against Suguru’s.
“There is blood on your shirt, let me check,” he stated, still adamant about finding the cause of it even if it meant invading some privacy.
“It’s just from my hand,” he stated, holding up his right hand in front of Suguru’s face. Rightfully, there was a cut going through about half his palm, blood still running down. He grabbed it to take a closer look. This time he was met with no resistance from the other. The cut itself didn’t seem too deep but it still needed to be cleaned and wrapped.
“I’m going to go and get Kusakabe,” he said and turned. Kusakabe was never too far off so it probably wouldn’t take long. A tug on his shirt stopped him. Looking back he saw that Satoru had grabbed ahold of his shirt, staining it red as well. “What?” he asked when he didn’t say anything.
“Can’t you do it? We don’t get along that well,” he admitted with a grimace. At that Suguru crossed his arms.
“Sure you want to be attended to by a creep?” Suguru had to admit it, it was a little too fun teasing Satoru. A smirk spread across his face the second and a frown spread on Satoru’s.
“I’m blind and I’m bleeding, cut me some slack,” he tried, still holding Suguru’s shirt. His voice had been a bit softer than before. Not vulnerable, but a bit desperate. With Satoru seated, he no longer towered over him. Suddenly the boy looked small, the wavering ego was both surprising and very much not.
“Do I look like a nurse to you?” Suguru countered, nessling out of the other’s grip.
“Does it look like I can look?” a smug smile painted Satoru’s face as he pointed to his bandaged eyes. Suguru was thankful the other couldn’t tell that it spread to his own face. The last thing he needed right now was for Satoru to know he found him funny.
“I’m getting Kusakabe”
“You trying to undress me didn’t make you less of a creep,” he called as Suguru made his way out of their room. Of course, he had to get the last word.
IV stand in hand he didn’t need to go far. As soon as Kusakabe saw him he switched direction and walked towards him with fast-paced steps. About halfway through the corridor, his eyes grew wide and he started to jog.
“Suguru are you okay? You’re bleeding,” he didn’t have time to answer before the nurse had reached his side, checking him similarly to what he had attempted with Satoru.
“No no- I mean yes I’m okay, but Satoru hurt himself,” the nurse visibly relaxed and he let out a big sigh.
“Okay, I will take a look at it,” he put a hand on Suguru’s back and they walked back towards the room. “What the hell happened here?” upon seeing the mess in the room he raised an eyebrow and took turns looking at the two boys. Satoru simply turned his face away and wiped his bloodied hand on his shirt, further smearing the red stain.
“He fell and hurt himself on one of the tools,” Suguru explained, now pushing Kurskabe towards Satoru. The nurse seemed to have lost all sense of urgency as soon as he had gotten to know that it was Satoru who was hurt and not Suguru. Kusakabe had a lot of unprofessional habits. Treating patients differently depending on his liking was one of them. It wasn't something Suguru could approve of, though he had to admit that being liked by him felt extra special.
“Let me see,” another sigh came from the man as he finally scooted towards the white-haired boy. To Suguru’s surprise, he held out his hand without complaint.
Even when Kusakabe cleaned the wound with rubbing alcohol the teen kept a stern face, not giving a single sign of it hurting. The two of them were silent in the act, awkwardness filling the room. In the absence of better things to do, Suguru kneeled to clean up some of the mess, raised the nurse cart to a stand, and started to gather some of the spread-out utensils. Kusakabe flashed him a look.
“Suguru, leave it, I will take care of it. You shouldn't be up anyway,” he thought about arguing that it wasn’t a problem but he didn’t want to be the second disobedient kid in the room so he nodded towards him and stood back up. Immediately he felt a ring in his ears and the dizzy spell was back. He closed his eyes, gripping the nurse cart tightly.
“Hey, don’t faint kid,” he heard Kusakabe’s voice but it felt a bit distant. He blinked a couple of times to try his luck, vision still dotted white but he managed to give a thumbs up to the nurse who was keeping his eyes fixed on him.
“What’s wrong with him?” the tone in Satoru’s voice lacked tactness but he felt as though the question was genuine. He managed to come out of the lightheadedness and made the walk of shame back to his bed. Kusakabe’s attention diverted back to Satoru.
“You know I can’t disclose that. Why don’t you ask him yourself?” he simply stated, already wrapping up Satoru’s hand. Without turning his head towards him he raised his voice and asked again.
“What’s wrong with you?” Suguru had always hated answering that question. Because that was supposed to be his question. Besides, sharing your stomach problems with complete strangers was hardly something most people find pleasant. The question was too private. Or he was too sensitive about it.
“They don’t really know,” he responded, hoping that would be the end of it. Satoru turned around to look at him. His hand was neatly wrapped and Kusakabe had started to gather the bloodied pads he used for cleaning. If not for the eye pads he would be looking straight at Suguru. Somehow it felt like he did. Like his eyes actually pierced through the fabric, seeing Suguru’s embarrassment.
Instead of pressing, he turned back after a couple of seconds. Suguru let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. Kusakabe was done cleaning up the room and left the room with a simple “Behave,”. He expected the words to be for Satoru but somehow he felt like he had meant the two of them.
Silence filled the room once again and Suguru laid down. All the running around had exhausted him more than he wanted to admit. He shifted his gaze from the ceiling to the other boy. He was still seated on his bed with his back against Suguru. Head hung low but he still seemed tense.
“Your name is Suguru?” he then asked. The name had rolled off his tongue a bit too naturally. He found himself liking the way it was spoken.
“Yes, Suguru Geto,” he didn’t know why he decided to tell the other his full name but as he did Satoru perked up, turning fully towards Suguru.
“Our names are similar,” he flashed a toothy smile that felt a bit too good to receive. When was the last time someone had given him a genuine smile? Not one of pity or politeness? He honestly couldn’t remember, but the way Satoru grinned was doing something to his body.
The moment was cut short by Kusakabe appearing in the door frame once again, knocking a bit on it to catch the attention of the two teens.
“Satoru your ride is here, you are dismissed,” He could almost hear a sigh from the boy when Satoru stood up. Contrary to previous multiple attempts to escape the room, he was now dragging his feet. The nurse had joined his side again for guidance. Before exiting he turned to Suguru one last time.
“When I’m coming back to take these off you better still be here, Suguru Geto,” a small smile coated his face, white hair bouncing a bit from being restricted by the bandage. He raised his hand in departure, practically being dragged out by Kusakabe before Suguru got a chance to answer.
What a dumb thing to say. Very inconsiderate too, as if to say ‘I hope you stay sick’. Yet the words left Suguru feeling happier than he had felt for a very long time.
