That Number Ten

29. Surgery

"Hey!" Nishinoya's loud voice rang out. "Where's Hinata? Kageyama?"

"Hah?! How would I know?" Kageyama sounded annoyed and frustrated. "He didn't show up to any of his classes today. He ditched."

"Now, now, Kageyama-kun," Sugawara placated. "He could just be unwell."

"Sugawara is right," Ukai's voice rang out as he strode into the gym, Takeda at his elbow. "Hinata isn't here because he's in hospital scheduled for surgery, now - "

"What?" It was Asahi who yelped, and he immediately seemed chagrined and embarrassed afterwards.

"His mother called our office this evening," Takeda quickly interrupted as the gym devolved into chaos. "It turns out the stomach ache he had in practice yesterday evening was actually an inflamed appendix, he was admitted to the hospital this morning and it wasn't deemed serious enough for immediate surgery so he was set in for this evening, as she was kind enough to tell us."

"Why are we only learning this now?" Kageyama barked angrily, striding over to his bag and stuffing all loose articles of clothing that were spilling out back in.

"Because you'd do exactly what you're doing now, except in the middle of your class," Ukai gave a sharp rebuttal. "Hinata will be there after practice, and you'll be no help to him, yourself, or your team if you're sat in a hospital hallway waiting for him."

"Is it serious?" Yamaguchi asked in a quiet voice as Kageyama stewed by the benches.

"I had my appendix taken out when I was younger," Daichi offered. "He'll be back in about a week, maybe two or three before he can practice again. Which for Hinata, might as well be a death sentence."

"By the time practice is finished, and by the time you get to the hospital, visiting hours will be open too," Ennoshita offered his input. "So we could all go and visit him afterwards."

"Y-Yosh!" Yachi chirped. "I'm going to buy him those pork buns he likes!"

"Oh, how nice!" Hinata's mother said cheerfully, seemingly unperturbed by the gathering of high-schoolers crowding the hallway to her son's room. A nurse walking down the opposite way and forced to squeeze past Tsukishima was perturbed enough for the both of them, muttering something under her breath about visitation limits.

"You all came to visit Shou-kun, thank you!"

"We're glad to be here, Hinata-san," Kiyoko said softly. "Hinata is a precious member of our team."

"You'll have to be quiet though," Hinata's mother said, lifting a finger to her lips. "He's still recovering from the anaesthetic and loud noises will startle him."

"I think that's aimed at you lot," Tsukishima said drably, eyes casting over Kageyama and the boisterous second years.

Tanaka's jaw worked angrily but he refrained from complaining.

"I'm going in first," Kageyama said definitively and slid the door open gently but with tension and energy.

Hinata's giggle was the first thing to greet them all, and Kageyama stayed in the doorway, dumbfounded as he tried to recognise the two bodies already in the room, one perched on the bed and helping Hinata drink from a straw that kept evading his mouth, another reading intensely from a textbook.

Hinata caught sight of him, nearly swaying from his upright position. The person offering him the drink quickly set aside the glass and steadied him, glancing towards the door.

Kageyama recognised him and the other as Hinata's middleschool teammates at the same time Hinata's delighted, heavily medicated voice declared, "Tobio!"

Kageyama immediately slammed the door shut so hard it bounced off the opposite side and reopened by a few inches before he shot off down the corridor, ears burning bright red in a blush.

You can be sure that Tsukishima teased him over it everyday up until the point that Hinata bounded back into the gym several weeks later, full of endless enthusiasm and pent up energy.