A/N Please give a warm welcome to tonight's special guest ship. It's one of my favorites and I hope it's one of yours. Also if anyone is wondering where Ivan's accent went, it disappears when he is speaking Russian. Just FYI.
The wait wasn't that long, but to Ivan it felt endless. Arthur had already joined them by the time the doctor came to give them the news. They were lucky that this hospital had a doctor that spoke English. Her accent was still thick but the crew was used to this from Ludwig and Gilbert. Actually, this doctor rather resembled Ludwig, with the same short blonde hair.
"Considering the severity of the accident, Mr. Vang is doing very vell," she explained, "He has no broken bones and only minor scrapes, aside from the laceration on his head. However, this blow to the head has resulted in moderate svelling of the brain. This will likely cause amnesia until the svelling goes down."
"Oh, no. Poor Yao," said Feliciano, his grip on Ludwig's hand tightening.
"This is often not permanent. If he does show signs of memory loss, the best thing to do vould be to return him to as normal a routine as possible to help him restore the memories lost," said the doctor.
"And how are we supposed to do that-a when our circus is a fiasco?" Lovino demanded, more from worry than anger. His hands would have been waving if his wrist wasn't in a brace.
"If he does forget anything it vill be recent events. Anyvhere from moments before the accident to a few years."
"Years?" asked Ivan, and the doctor nodded.
Ivan Felt his heartbreak. He had joined the circus only a couple of years ago. If Yao lost more than 2 years of memories, he wouldn't recognize Ivan. His closest friend would go back to being a complete stranger.
"I brought some literature on the matter, but I am afraid it is all in German."
"I can read it," said Ludwig, stepping up to take the pamphlets from the doctor.
"Ve vould like to keep him overnight. If you vould like to go home ve can call you if anything progresses."
"Can I stay wid him?" Ivan asked.
"You can, but there is a fee for staying after visiting hours."
Arthur nodded and turned to the rest of his crew. "You lads can start on home. I'll finish things up here."
"I can help you at the front desk," said the doctor and she started to leave.
Antonio, Ludwig, and the brothers filed out of the room and Arthur turned to Ivan.
"Will you be okay on your own, Ivan?"
"Da."
"Alright. Just call myself or Gilbert if anything happens. We will be back by morning."
"Da." Ivan nodded, keeping his chin up although the rasp in his voice betrayed his confidence.
Arthur Looked down at the hospital bed where Yao lay.
"Ivan... are you and Yao...?"
"Nyet , we are friends." He looked down at Yao. "Only friends."
Ivan felt a surge of regret. The man he loved had almost been killed and all they would have ever gotten to be was friends.
All day and into the night Ivan remained at Yao's side. He sat in a chair beside Yao's bed, resting his elbows on the bed and head in his hand. He just wanted his friend to wake up and tell him everything was okay.
"Zdravstvuyte," said a voice at the door and Ivan looked up at the familiar language, "I am Toris, Yao's nurse."
"You know Russian?" Ivan asked in his language, as the nervous man in blue scrubs approached and he nodded.
"The staff heard that you were from Russia, so they transferred me to this department." Toris explained, keeping a bit back from Ivan, "The doctor that you have been working with has left for the day, so I will be here to help you if you need anything."
"Oh, thanks," Ivan didn't care that much. He just went back to keeping his vigil.
Toris watched with cautious observation and tried to reassure Ivan that Yao would be fine. Ivan just sighed and rubbed his forehead with exhaustion.
"That is what they all say."
"W—well... Let's see what the doctor said," said Toris, taking the clipboard from the end of Yao's bed and his eyebrows scrunched together. He took out his smartphone and typed something in. "That's why his name looks familiar. He was in the Olympics. I remember he won the bronze, but there was a big outrage about it."
"Da. Everyone thought he was going to win the gold. He couldn't go home after that. He has been with us ever since."
"Oh... where's that?"
"A circus."
"Really?" said Toris, his eyes lighting up. "My parents used to take me to the circus when I was a boy. It was my favorite thing."
That brought a smile to Ivan's face. That was one thing that he loved about his job; it made people happy.
"Are you a roustabout?" Toris asked, getting excited.
"Nyet . I'm a bear tamer. Yao's an acrobat of course, but he also does an act with martial arts."
"Wow! So you get to wrestle bears?"
"Not wrestle. Animal activists don't like that. We have had enough trouble with them."
They ended up talking for a while, but it wasn't long before another nurse popped her head in to remind Toris that he had other patients. Toris went back to his station a little embarrassed but told Ivan that he would check in on them.
While Toris was filing some information on the computer, a man in pink scrubs leaned on the desk and looked at him with a pouty face.
"What is it, Feliks?" Toris asked flatly in German, since neither could speak the other's first language.
"We were, like, supposed to hang out tonight," Feliks whined, standing upright.
"I'm sorry, Feliks. One of our patients isn't from around here, they wanted me to stay and translate."
"That's totally unfair."
"And his friend is Russian, so be careful, okay?" Toris looked up at him with a warning glare. "They don't like people like us in Russia. We can't risk the safety of the patient if he freaks out and demands a new nurse."
Feliks scoffed as he crossed his arms. "You're so paranoid, Toris."
Toris turned back to his work on the computer. "I have to do my job, Feliks."
Feliks gave a sigh and flicked a flamboyant hand in the air.
"Fine, fine. But you, like, have to give me a kiss before I go."
Toris glanced about.
"Just a quick one." He stood up and Feliks smiled as he leaned forward for Toris to kiss him.
Toris looked around one more time before attempting to give him a quick kiss. Feliks had other ideas, though. He grabbed Toris by the back of the head and pulled him in for a deep kiss. The other nurses behind their station all squealed. Toris and Feliks were considered the cutest couple at the hospital, but Toris gasped and jumped back.
"W-what are you doing?" he sputtered, looking around nervously.
"That puny kiss wasn't gonna cut it," said Feliks, smiling slyly.
"He is right in there." Toris pointed to Yao's room. "He could have seen us."
"And he, like, didn't, so it's totally okay."
"No. No, it is not, Feliks." Toris sighed, resting his face in his hand.
"You work too hard," said Feliks in a serious tone that caught Toris' attention, "I, like, need to make sure you relax." He kissed Toris on the cheek. "I'll, like, see you tomorrow."
Hours dragged on until it was late into the night. Ivan never left Yao's side. He stayed up as thoughts nagged at his brain. If Yao did lose his memories, he wasn't going to get them back. He didn't like the thought of Yao being confused and scared any more than losing his friend. Ivan felt tears start to roll down his cheeks and he covered his face with his hands. He didn't know what he would do if he didn't remember.
"Don't cry," said Yao, watching him through half lidded eyes and reaching a hand up to him.
Ivan gasped and jumped onto his friend, scooping him up in a colossal bear hug.
"Moy rodnaya! Moy yedinstvennaya! Moy Solnyshko! Ya ne mogu predstavlyayu svoyey zhizni bez tebya teper!"
"I don't understand what you are saying, aru."
"Sozhaleyu. Sozhaleyu," said Ivan, releasing him, "I am just so happy you are awake."
"What happened, aru? What am I doing here?"
Ivan swallowed as he felt his fears realized.
"What do you remember?"
Yao rubbed his head where the bandages were and deep wrinkles formed at his brow.
"I don't know, aru. I think I met you for lunch but I don't remember much after that."
"Slava bogu!" said Ivan, wrapping his arms around him once again, "Dey said you might have amnesia. I was scared you would not remember me."
Yao laughed a bit and hugged his friend back.
"I thought I heard talking," said Toris in the doorway.
Ivan let go of Yao and they turned to look at the Lithuanian as he approached Yao's bed.
"Would he understand German?"
Ivan shook his head. "Just English and Chinese."
Yao looked between the two men. "Ivan, what is going on?"
"This is de nurse. Toris," Ivan explained, gesturing to Toris, who assumed he was being introduced and waved.
"How is he feeling?"
"He seems okay. He seems to have most of his memory."
"That's great. I will get the doctor, so he can look him over."
Toris left the room and Ivan turned back to Yao.
"He is getting de doctor."
"But, Ivan, what happened, aru?"
"De tent collapsed while you were on de wire. You got hit on de head."
"Aiya! That would explain the headache!"