Prince Of Tennis Fan Fiction ❯ "Catch Me When I Fall" ❯ Chapter 1

"Catch Me When I Fall"

By Andrea Readwolf <andrea_readwolf @hotmail.com>

Chapter: 1/?

Rating: R

Pairings: Golden Pair and others

Genre: Angst, AU, drama, yaoi

Warnings: after-high school

Spoilers: Seigaku University (?)

Summary: One wrong turn can change you life forever

Disclaimer: Tennis no Ohjisama, characters and settings are the property of Konomi Takeshi.

Date Started: June 5, 2004

Status: complete

Revised:

Word Count: 1545

"Catch Me When I Fall" by Andrea Readwolf

He could recall, with stunning detail, the expressions on his partner's face during a game.

The elation of playing against a strong opponent...

The rush of running; the thrill of jumping, spinning, smashing his racket into the ball, returning it to surprised adversaries...

The twinkle of laughter... the spark of determination.

The twist of lips as they curled around a smile of secret mirth or folded into a frown of deep concentration.

To him, all these things were Kikumaru Eiji--the boy he'd known since junior high school, the young man who was his partner in all the ways that mattered.

All of these things, which he loved so much about the other young man, were gone. Stolen away in seconds. Seven seconds, to be exact.

Seven seconds that were burned into his memory in horrifying, gut-wrenching detail:

Eiji's sleek, muscle-toned body leaping into the air, arm outstretched---the tightening around his lips and eyes when he flung his arm forward, sending the ball whizzing into the other court--

--the flash of panic under the force of gravity--

--the stark realization--

--the lightening quick calculation--

--the glance back at him as he shouted Eiji's name, already running from across the court to try and reach him....

Those blue eyes filled fear and regret and so much love as Eiji mouthed his name before his shoulder impacted with the hard concrete and pain clouded out everything else....

Eiji's scream as it tore through the courts.

Those who had caught the moment on tape said it was a matter of wrong footing or miscalculation or an imperfection of the court itself.

Whatever the speculation--the result was the same.

The dislocated shoulder and broken bones were easy to fix. The damaged spinal cord was not.

He had skidded to his knees, seconds too late to cushion Eiji's fall; not too late, however, to catch the words that tumbled from trembling lips before the redhead passed into unconsciousness.

"Sorry, S'chiroh...."

~

The other doubles team was already there, hovering over them.

"Oh shit," the redhead breathed. "Oh shit, Kikumaru, you ass..."

A strong hand gripped his shoulder, pulling him away from Eiji. He tried to fight it--Eiji was--he needed to be here, for Eiji, and--

"Move out of the way, Oishi." The voice was deep, but wavering. "The medics need room to work."

It was a trusted voice; he allowed himself to be pulled away from Eiji---

He looked up into the face of the young man who was still touching him. The other's hand was shaking he noted abstractedly, and Oshitari Yuushi looked pale under his tan.

This man was a rival--had been since junior high school; but he was also a friend, someone who understood what it was like to be partnered with a crazy acrobatic player... to be madly in love with that partner...

"Oh god, oh god, oh god..."

Gakuto was hyperventilating, staring with horrified fascination at Eiji's prone form as the medics carefully rolled him into a body brace before moving him onto a stretcher.

"You'll need to come along, too," one of the medics was saying to him. "So we can tend to your injuries..."

The rest of their respective teams were crowding the courts now. The voices of the bystanders were roaring in his ears. Another presence moved up beside him, gently gripping his shoulder.

"I've got him; you should go to Mukahi-kun before he passes out," was the soft command.

Oshitari nodded once, offering a quick squeeze to Oishi's shoulder before moving to his own partner's side.

Gakuto looked up with wide, wavering eyes before falling into his partner's arms.

Oishi felt sick, like his knees were going to give out. He turned to face his new companion.

"Syusuke..."

"Come on, Syuchiroh," Fuji replied, lips struggling to stay neutral. "We need to get to the hospital."

"Eiji..."

"Is already on his way."

He understood he was in shock. He understood that shock was the reason why, although he could remember it happened, it didn't seem like he was a part of it--that everything that was happening around him, was apart from himself... or was he apart from everything else? Like he was walking through a dream?

The ride to the hospital.

The nurses fussing over his skinned knees and palms, his sprained wrist where he'd caught himself when he fell.

The wait.

Waiting for news. A scrape, a word, an updating... anything having to do with Eiji.

The cup of coffee forced into his hand.

Other people milling about uncertainly.

Eiji's mother showing up, shortly followed by other members of the Kikumaru family.

His own family showing up--his mother and sister.

It was all a cloudy dream to him as he sat, waiting, staring at the plain gold band on his finger, unconsciously twisting the warm metal--one of two, one of a pair... He closed his eyes against the sight, but every time he did that, he saw Eiji's face--

"...Eiji..."

"Oishi? I... I hope you don't mind. I, um, stopped by your place, and, uh, picked up some clothes for you?"

He looked up. Momoshiro. The younger man looked nervous as he held out a bag for him--and with good reason. Momo hated hospitals, ever since his mom had been sick and died, and now here he was, waiting in another hospital, this time for a friend... for Eiji...

"Thank you," he murmured, reaching out to take the bag, noticing for the first time how much his body hurt when he got up to go to the bathroom-- and then he noticed what a mess he was.

There was blood on his school jersey, and it wasn't just his...his face was... well, he looked pretty shitty. He took the opportunity to wash himself off a little in sink, being careful to keep his bandages at least somewhat dry, before putting on the fresh clothes--a pair of jeans and another polo shirt, the one Eiji always said looked best on him.

He shut off the light and went back out to the waiting room.... and just looked. The room was actually fairly large--nearly four times the size of Eiji's and his apartment... and it was full, completely...filled with familiar faces.

When had they all arrived, he wondered, their friends and family?

Eiji's mother looked up from where she was putting horrible knots into a piece of knitting. "He's... still in surgery," she told him softly. "The nurse said... it shouldn't be much longer until they're finished...."

"I'm sorry," Oishi murmured, closing his eyes against the pain and worry he saw pouring from the older woman. I'm sorry for letting him get hurt, for not catching him, for--

Cold hands cupped his face--he looked up, startled. "I'm sorry," he repeated. It was the only thing he could thing to say, so he said it again, and again... and again...

He wasn't sure when he started shaking, or when the smaller woman had pulled him into an embrace and started rubbing his back...

Eiji was in surgery for three hours. They were the longest, most hellish three hours of Oishi's life. The others came and went; some brought food or drinks back, others school books or something else to while away the time.

The doctor looked exhausted and weary when she finally appeared. "Kikumaru?" she asked, looking at the many faces that had zeroed in on her suddenly.

Oishi was acutely aware of Eiji's mom's fingers biting into his arm.

"Is anyone here for--"

"Yes, doctor," Fuji spook up when everyone else's tongue seemed to be tied. "We're all here for Kikumaru Eiji. Is he out of surgery now?"

"Err...Yes, yes, he is." She seemed overwhelmed by the sea of faces focusing in on her. "Is his next of kin present?"

Someone choked.

"We are," Eiji's father stepped forward.

"If you would follow me to my office?"

"Is...is he...? Is my baby still...?"

Oishi flinched at the question, echoing it in his own heart, fearing the answer but desperately needing to know...

"He--We should really discuss this in my office," the doctor tried again, but she was outnumbered.

"Please, doctor, we've waiting a very long time...?"

"Is he still... did he...?"

"Doctor, please," Eiji's father interrupted. "We are all friends and family here, and deeply concerned about my son."

"He survived the surgery," she answered, sounding tired again. "But there were complications--"

"What kind of complications?"

"What do you mean--?"

"He's alive?"

Eiji was alive... Oishi breathed, really truly *breathed* for the first time since it had happened--- but, the doctor had said there were complications?

"Kikumaru-san, will you please follow me to my office now so we can review the x-rays?"

"'X-rays'?" Oishi parroted.

"Yes," and maybe she really was more tired then he'd thought because she went on to explain, "While we were able to clean up most of the bone damage to the collar bone, left shoulder and rib cage, there was also some damage to the spinal column. There's a distinct possibility of Kikumaru-kun having sustained damage to his spinal cord as well."

Someone, Oishi wasn't sure who, whispered, "Paralysis? Eiji?"

~~~****~~~

well? Should this be continued or scrapped?