Banana Fish - Another missed flight

Stage 3: Waking Up - Max

Another missed flight (3)

Waking up – Max

Thanks to Max's fast intervention Ash was taken to a private hospital and immediately went into surgery. Max had luckily been able to arrange that at the last minute, so he had been taken to a private hospital owned by an old army buddy of his. The doctors told Max that Eiji and Sing had definitely saved his life at the last minute but that it would depend on Ash's strength if and when he would finally wake up.

It took Ash one week to wake up shortly a few times but he always fell asleep again after a moment, still too dazed to recognize anyone or anything around him. The doctors said this was normal because of the after-effects of the surgery and the painkillers they had given him afterwards.

After ten days he finally woke up long enough to finally notice his surroundings.
"So, I'm still alive, huh?", he thought as his surroundings slowly began to take form. The first thing he noticed was that he couldn't move his body at all. His arms were feeling like lead and he couldn't lift them even an inch. He hated the feeling of having no control over his own body.

His jade green eyes had just opened little by little and hadn't adjusted to the blinding light yet, so he still couldn't make out all of his surroundings.

"What the hell happened to me? Max, is that you? Where am I? ", he groaned weakly in a hoarse voice.
"Yeah, it's me. You're in a private hospital owned by a friend of mine. You apparently have a never-ending supply of luck. It's a miracle you're still alive.", Max replied, his eyes full of relief that Ash had recognized him this time. Ash wondered if he had imagined the tears in his eyes.

"How are you feeling?"

"I feel like I was run over by a truck or something." Ash replied in a faint voice, color slowly returning to his pale face. "The last thing I remember was sitting in the library."

"That's where you were found bleeding out.", Max said in an exasperated tone.
"I can't believe you didn't even try seeking medical attention. The next time you do something stupid like that give me a warning in advance. Good grief, I nearly had a heart attack when I got a call about what had happened to you. I'm too old for stuff like this.", he said, running a hand through his hair, exhaustion dominating his features.

"Don't worry. Next time I'll get killed I'll send you a message in advance from the future, old man.",Ash answered sarcastically, more awake now.

"If you can answer with sarcasm, you'll be alright."  Max gave him a half-smile, walking to the door. He still had to take care of some issues and wanted to plan ahead just in case.
Thanks to his "son" he hadn't slept well for days.

He had to take care of getting him to a hospital where he wouldn't be arrested on the spot and where his enemies wouldn't find him in his weakened state. He couldn't involve too many people either, so the ones he could ask for help were strictly limited. And he had had a hard time trying to convince his buddy to confirm Ash's death and to finally sign the death certificate and the rest of the necessary documents.

He had also had to cash in a lot of favors to arrange Ash's second death including a new name, ID card, passport and so on. Since most people still thought he had already been dead anyway, his newspaper just published another article about gang wars in New York recalling  Ash's death incidentally.

"Where are you going?", Ash asked, a confused look on his face.

"I'll go tell the person who saved your damn life that you're finally awake. That Japanese boy saved your life despite being injured himself. Again. Be a good boy for once and thank him properly." Max told him, a smirk on his face. Ash rolled his eyes.

Then the full meaning of Max's words suddenly dawned on his face.  Ash's mouth fell open and his eyes lit up for a fraction of a second.

No, it couldn't be ...

"Eiji ... is  ... here?!" Ash asked incredulously.