- {Hopeless Fate} - // Komahina

Chapter Eight : Hope

[Hinata's POV]

It... happened again...

When Komaeda collapsed for the second time this week, realisation finally hit me. It hit me like a truck.

He was going to die, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Goddammit..! Why him?! Why does it have to be the one person I love in this world?! Why couldn't it be me suffering, and not him?! Why..? Why...

When the ambulance arrived, they took him straight to the ER for testing. I didn't get to see him until that night.

The doctor briefly explained his condition and situation to me as I waited for him in the lobby. I was restless, worried sick about him.

I was tired, too. I can't remember the last time I got even a wink of sleep. I was dizzy and had this anxious feeling in my stomach.

If he weren't being tested on and in critical condition, Nagito would be telling me to hold on to hope right now. Like there was a tiny light in what seemed like everlasting darkness.

But... as much as I wanted to cling to that hope... I couldn't help but feel the exact opposite. The man I loved was going to die from a fatal disease... and that was that.

Fate is cruel sometimes.

{🍊}

I'm not sure how long I waited in that hospital lobby. Maybe it was forty minutes; maybe it was four hours... but my brain couldn't be bothered to process the concept of time at this point. I just felt... so hopeless.

And so I sat there... on that plastic chair, with one of Ko's sweaters protecting me from the cold environment. My head was resting in my palms, and my brain had fallen into a rabbit hole; a spiral of thoughts... a spiral of anxiousness and despair.

I was then interrupted by a worker's voice.

"Hey, Sir... you can't stay here, you know."

What..? What does he mean I can't stay here?

I then take a moment to actually take in my surroundings. I look around the room to see rows upon rows of empty chairs, excluding the one I was sitting in. Outside the windows, the sky was dark and gloomy, and the air was cold. A half-moon had rested in its spot in the sky, emitting a dim, white light as it lit up the streets.

Huh?

Did it... get this late already?

"Sir..? Are you listening?"

"A-Ah... I'm sorry," I say, turning my head to the man. "Are you sure I can't stay the night? I'm... here for a friend, and-"

"I'm sorry, but we can't let you stay unless the patient is in a room. It's already past twelve. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

What..? Past twelve... already? No... I can't leave him alone..!

"Please..! Are you sure I can't stay? He's really sick, and I... I wanna be there for him..!" I beg, desperate to stay with Nagito.