CHAPTER 3

It was cruel for heaven to look like the Oceanside's gymnasium, Hikaru thought as he opened his eyes to a familiar ceiling. Now he'd have to spend all of the eternity remembering the life he used to have before he died. Perhaps he'd ended up in hell instead.

Slowly, testing himself out, he sat up, taking a deep breath to steady himself and regain his bearings. He couldn't remember how he died, or when that happened, but it was finally over, and Hikaru could rest at ease.

But then... Why did his body still hurt all over if he was dead and hanging out in heaven now? And why the bandages everywhere? Couldn't God just snap his fingers and fix him?

"This sucks," he huffed, crossing his arms, and biting his lip to stifle a cry of pain. He breathed harshly through his nose until the sensation ebbed away and then carefully turned to sit on the edge of the bed. Then, he realized that he had a tube sticking out of his nose, and he cried out softly, touching it. It was taped to his nose and he had no idea why it was there, but he figured he'd ask when someone came around. Until then, he needed to know what was going on.

The soles of his ***** feet were raw and hurt when he tried to stand up, and his knees buckled at first, but Hikaru steadied himself with the bed and began taking a few steps around his little bedroom. Although that term was rather lightly used.

In reality, it was just a single mattress mounted on a metal bed frame and a small table at the side. Curtains had been set up with poles and created two walls whilst the gym walls made up the corner where the bed was pushed. It was a sweet little setup, and Hinata was grateful for the isolation.

But he needed to know what was going on.

Tentatively, he went for the curtain and gently pushed it open. His eyes immediately fell on the scene in front of him, and his eyes widened.

He stood on the landing that ran above three sides of the gym, looking down on the court where he used to play volleyball with his friends. His hands tightened on the railing to steady himself, sudden vertigo taking his entire body hostage, and his knees buckled. He held onto the rail for dear life until he could bear his own weight again.

The gym was mostly empty, although there was a small set up next to the back entrance to the gym that looked like a camping stove and some buckets of water. Plastic dishes were stacked on top of a table next to it, along with some other cooking utensils, and the whole setup looked like an improvised kitchen, and a pretty good one at that, too. If Hinata bent over the railing a bit, too – his ribs hurt like hell, nevermind -, he could see a small table with a laptop on it, some maps, and what looked like a battery-operated radio. There was a chest next to it and some chairs, and the number of papers and pens strewn around the area made it look like it was often used.

He turned his attention to the top landing, noting that it had become something of a bedroom, for the most part. Sometimes separated by cardboard boxes, curtains or nightstands, futons, mattresses, and clumps of blankets were lined up against the wall, some of them made up really nicely, others completely messy. Hinata chuckled at that. It made the whole setup look lived in, and strangely homey.

On the central stretch of the landing, where he was standing, there seemed to be a medical station, hence the isolated bed. There was a desk with some papers on it and pens, and then a bunch of medical equipment. Hikaru could see disposable gloves, masks, bandages, antiseptic solution, and maybe a syringe or two. The rest of it was probably in the cardboard boxes stacked under the desk. Then, further away, there was a blue cooler, and next to it were some ripped grocery bags that obviously contained half-eaten food.

Hikaru's stomach grumbled at that, and he made a move to go grab something to eat.

"Eh...? Hikaru!"

At the sound of his name being cried out in such surprise, the short teen turned around to face the person who'd called him, the sudden movement almost making him lose his balance. He swayed on his feet, but thankfully, there was a reassuring grip on his arm before he could fall.

"Hikaru, what are you doing? You're not well enough to be up. Go right back to bed, alright?" the person chided him gently, and a huge grin blossomed on Hinata's face.

Maybe... maybe being alive wasn't so bad after all.

"I'm so happy to see you, Beau," he beamed and put his arms around the red-haired third year. And Beau laughed and held him, and Hikaru laughed and cried, because finally, finally, he was home.

_____________________________________________________________________

Beau had picked up nursing, apparently, in the six days since the world went to hell. He'd taken textbooks and practically transported the school nurse's office to his little corner on the gymnasium's landing and had poured everything he'd had into mastering skills necessary to take care of his team. To Hikaru's relief, Beau had informed him that most of the members of their volleyball team had gathered and had made it through thick and thin, only to set up base in the gym to try and outlast the storm.

But then, although he'd had a thousand and one questions to ask him, Hikaru had been just too tired and had retired. Beau had come around with a stethoscope and a heavy-looking textbook and had done his best to give him a head-to-toe check-up according to the book's instructions. He then had skimmed over what he'd done for Hikaru and had told him that the tube, that they'd been using to feed him liquid foods while he was out for the past day, could come out now. Hikaru didn't really fancy anything inside of him that didn't have to be and agreed that Beau should take it out.

Once it was out, Beau told him that it was important that he drink lots of fluids to help ease his state of dehydration and malnutrition. If he didn't keep anything down, he'd have to get fluids intravenously.

But then, when Hikaru looked down at his arms, both of which were mottled with bruises he didn't think he had before, he kindly refused Beau's offer to try and insert an IV (which had obviously turned out so well the last... fourteen times he'd tried?), and he promised to eat. Tomorrow.

Beau told him the team should be back from their daily raids for dinner soon, and that they'd be glad to see him, but Hikaru was too tired to stay up. That isn't to say that he didn't try, but then at some point, his eyes slipped shut and he was gone.

Medical notes: What Beau put into Hikaru's nose is a nasogastric tube (nose to stomach). It's actually pretty easy to insert, so he could do it if he knew the theory. Although NG tubes need to be used to administer prepared feeds only, Beau obviously doesn't run a hospital, so I imagine they injected cold chicken noodle soup and diluted juice or diluted, mashed-up food into the tube. It's not the intended use, but... you gotta make do! As for IVs, they're also easy to set up once you've got the catheter in the vein, and the types of solutions to infuse are pretty easy to understand, but venipuncture (the process of piercing the vein to insert the catheter) is suuuper hard, especially if the person has difficult veins. So no wonder Hinata had bruises all over his arms from failed IV insertions.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***