Free! - Sink to the Bottom

(1) Chapter 4: Sakura Blossom

Rin Matsuoka

I clench the flowers in my hand while I walk through the doors. The smell of hospital hits me in the face when I walk into the welcome hall.

Not knowing where to go, I go to the reception desk. A young lady with pink hair is sitting behind it. She looks up from her computer screen when she notices me.

"Good afternoon, can I help you?" she asks politely.

"I came to visit Haruka Nanase," I say and I blush when I see the receptionist looking at the flowers. She probably thinks Haru's my partner. I lower the flowers until I'm sure she can't see them anymore. "Do you know where I can find him?"

"I'll take a look for you." She looks back at her screen and scrolls with her mouse. "He should be on the second floor, in the HDU department, room H07."

I thank the receptionist and try to find Haru's room by following the signs to the HDU department. Sometimes it gets a bit confusing, because every halway looks pretty much the same.

After wandering through the hospital for a ten minutes, trying to follow the signs. I finally find a room numbered H07. I knock on the door before walking in.

The room is mostly full, since the entire Iwatobi swim club decided to visit Haru at the same time. My sister is also sitting on one of the chairs. She's the first one to look up when I walk inside.

"How's Haru doing?" I ask to no one in particular.

Rei and Nagisa look up when I talk, but Makoto keeps staring at Haru's sleeping body.

Haru looks bad, worse than he's ever looked before. He's pale and he's hooked up to some machines – including a heart monitor and a breathing machine. I bet he hasn't woken up yet after the accident or he was too tired to stay awake longer.

"He's been unconscious since the accident, but the doctors say he's doing better than expected," Gou eventually answers my question. "He'll probably wake up somewhere this evening."

I walk closer, and take a seat on the only empty chair left. I sit next to Makoto, next to Haru's head. His face is turned in our direction and I see that his eyes are moving quickly under his eyelids.

Makoto is quiet, not saying a word. Not even when I ask him if he's okay. He just shrugs, ignoring the question.

"Where can I put down the flowers?" I ask, gesturing at the flowers in my hand.

Gou's the only one to reply. "There's a vase here." She gestures at a blue vase which is standing on a nightstand next to Haru's bed. "I can put them in there if you want."

I nod, handing over the flowers to Gou. She looks at them before putting them in the vase. Her eyes go sad for a single second. "Are those..."

"Sakura blossom?" I finish her sentence. "Yes."

She mumbles something inaudible and a giggles afterwards.

I look back at Haru. I wonder if he's in pain, I hope not. If he is when he wakes up, he probably won't even say anything about it.

"Did the doctors say anything else?" I ask, looking at everyone one by one.

I see that all of their faces have saddened even more. They seem nervous.

"What?" I ask. "Can someone please tell my why you all seem too nervous to answer to my question?"

Gou glances away, while Nagisa, Rei and Makoto completely ignore my question.

"What?" I need to know what's going on, because my mind is already making up what could be wrong with Haru.

Brain damage? Or broken neck?

I shake away the thought and wait for an answer to come from someone.

"Well," Gou begins after hesitating for a moment.

I hear Makoto groaning next to me and then he says, "They made a CT scan of Haru's back when he arrived in the emergency room and it appears that he's got spinal cord damage. Haruka might not be able to walk again. Not ever."

Never... walk? That means no swimming as well.

"Makoto, not so pessimistic!" Nagisa yells at Makoto. "They said they can't know for sure until Haru's awake."

Makoto stands of with a lot of force, making the chair fly across the room. He angrily looks at Nagisa. They're both crying. "Oh yeah? Doesn't severe fractures in the lower back sound like it could probably cause paralysis? What do you think, Nagisa?" I never heard Makoto yell this loudly. He sounds genuinely furious. "Because it does sound quite obvious to me."

After that Makoto leaves the room, followed by Gou, who probably wants to calm him down.

I look down at my lap and my glance moves from my black sweats to Haru.

Please, don't let this be true. Haru and swimming is one and the same. They can't go on without each other.

I close my eyes and listen to the beeping of the heart monitor and the buzzing of the breathing machine. I breathe in and out slowly.

Please... not Haru.