"Let's go for a walk," Em sighed.
As much as Yuzuru was a great person to talk to and all, she was still bored, being shut in the room.
"Um, okay," came from Yuzu while she heard some shuffling from the other side.
Em put on her slippers, and turned around - Yuzuru was struggling to stand, hopping on one leg.
It was then that she noticed his wrapped ankle.
"Oh my god bad suggestion bad suggestion, I'm such an idiot okay, okay, um, don't move, sit down, I'll go get something," she said, unplugging her IV tap with a smooth flick of her hand.
Sometimes she wondered: with all her experience in this hospital, she should be allowed to work here part time.
She got an adult wheelchair from the main nurse station (paediatric, she decided, was way too small).
Yuzuru was patiently sitting on the side of his bed when she returned, and she helped him up, hobbling to the wheelchair together, her facing the other way so that Yuzu wouldn't see her blush.
When he was finally settled in the wheelchair, he thanked Em and blushed a bright pinkish hue.
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"You know, the daisies here are beautiful," Em commented, pushing the wheelchair along.
"Yeah, they are," Yuzuru pointed at a small purple weed on the side.
"My friend, this is called a lavender."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, you gumbie,"
"Oh."
"How did the accident happen? I mean, I'm sorry but if you don't mind, you know,"
Yuzu took a deep breath.
"I really didn't see him coming. I swear. Um, my friend was driving and I was in shotgun, and he wasn't used to driving on the other side of the road, so yeah. He's alright though," he lied, brushing his fingers through his hair.
"Did it hurt a lot?" Em stopped for a while, and she sounded like she was winded.
"I blacked out for a moment. And at the moment, when I woke up in pain, all I wanted to do was to just cry," he mumbled.
God, the pain he went through.
All the media poking and prodding him like some specimen.
And all the federation officers arguing.
He wasn't sure if they truly were concerned about his health, or the media coverage, and the gold medals that he was supposed to bring to the country.
In the span of a day, he understood what his worth was.
"You there? We're back. Doc wants to run another scan," she gently reminded him.
"Oh um, yeah. Sorry, zoned out."
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And even after he was discharged, Yuzuru was visibly shaken.
His Mother could see it.
Javi could see it.
Nam could see it.
Brian, as well.
He knew, too, from the way that he got small looks from his friends whenever he fell on another jump.
And the texting continued, between the two of them.
Suggested outings for pancakes and waffles, to the park, all never really carried out.
It was either his training, or her treatments.
The doctors decided to put her on more aggressive treatment to help her cope with her asthma, including two nebuliser treatments per day, oxygen therapy at night, and a ton of medicine to bring whenever she went out.
Em was absolutely bummed, of course. Tammy's plan to go for another ice skating would have to be postponed as well.
So they skyped each other, at night.
Yuzu would be back from training, just out from a shower, exactly at 8.30pm.
And she would be doing her oxygen therapy.
Once, she'd caught a tiny glimpse of him putting on a shirt hurriedly, and the small flash of his skinny torso.
"How's your day?" She would ask.
"Tiring," he would always say.
It was his trainings, again.
She hoped for him to tell her what he competed in, but he would always change the topic whenever they came remotely near it.
Em decided to let things flow naturally.
And she would share her day, as well.
How Thomas Anderson stuck a pencil up his nose in biology, or how the annoying popular kids teased her for her inhalers again.
"This shall not do, I will crush them," he would joke.
This went on for weeks.
Em found herself always waiting for the usual ring that she was accustomed to, every night at 8.30.
And Yuzuru would, too. He would finish his dinner quickly, sometimes leaving dinner early, leaving Nam and Javi bewildered. He would sit in front of his old laptop, looking at his messy hair in the reflection, and attempting to flatten his poof of mushroom hair, in the moments before she picked up the call.
It never took more than three rings.
Today, she was talking about Roanna, a nerdy girl in her class. How Roanna got bullied by big jock Tom, and got teased for her spectacles by Popular Kid Mackenzie.
"Then you should flip the table and warn them," he would laugh.
Today, he stopped mid laugh. A sharp pain pierced through his abdomen, a little like being stabbed. He winced, confused by the sudden pain.
Em noticed. She always did.
"Are you okay? You look squeamish," she said softly, her hand extending towards the camera - as if she could ever possibly reach him.
The pain ebbed away. He straightened up again.
"Yeah, fine, maybe just something I ate with Nam," he reassured, patting his belly.
"Ah, Nam! He should teach us to skate again, he was really good!" She exclaimed, laughing.
"I bet you'll fall on your ass, unlike Nam, he's so graceful," she sighed.
Me? Fall on my ass? Lady, I'm more graceful than Nam, he thought.
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That night, he tossed and turned.
He felt like he was having stomach cramps.
Is this how the famous period cramps feel like? Man, I don't ever want to be a woman.
He had a competition tomorrow - he had less than a day to fix this problem.
He took two pills of painkillers, along with flu medicine, just in case.
Here we go.
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AIGHT GUYS GNIGHT I'm really really sleepy
I really want to work in the field of medicine in the future, but because of my English (somehow it's better than the average in my country maybe it's a fluke idk) my parents and friends support me being a writer rather than a doctor.
Ugh. So now I'm still under my fake alias here on wattpad, so even if I'm famous (by some streak of luck) I won't be teased for my stories :')
But once again thank you guys for your support, I'll try to update these two stories from time to time, but I'm considering to stop this story because
1. WW is not very popular lol
2. Stupid school