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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Jan 31, 2014 17:39:18 GMT -5
Egil and Mina had only been able to hang around only long enough to hear the diagnosis for the Tora and Kuma before they were ushered out of the room. 'Family only' the doctor had said, despite the other gunslingers' protests that they were indeed family even if there wasn't blood between them. The protests hadn't quite taken wing.
But neither of them wanted to be stuck out in the hall waiting for Satoru and Gabe to wake up. Hell, Egil had had to call Don and let him know about the situation, and the bond was holding his phone so tightly after the call that Mina was pretty certain the device was going to shatter. IT wouldn't, though, Egil had masterful control.
Unaware of all that and knocked out after the surgery to remove the bullet, Satoru slept on.
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Post by Keith Alabaster on Jan 31, 2014 18:10:09 GMT -5
Keith was pacing back and forth in the hospital room, switching his attention between his son and husband constantly as he waited for one of them to wake up. He heard what the doctors had said, Gabe had a few fractured ribs, some stitches, his nose had been broken and there were the black eyes... but those were all things that would heal with time. Satoru on the other hand…
He should gotten there faster, there was no way Toru would have been able to fend off everyone shooting at him AND protect Gabe at the same time. He knew something was going to happen, why couldn't he have gotten there sooner? He wasn't looking forward to telling him the news when he woke up, not one bit.
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Jan 31, 2014 19:14:21 GMT -5
Brown eyes slowly blinked open against the fuzz of the sedatives, his limbs felt heavy and his throat and mouth were dry and it was like waking up from a half-hour death nap times a thousand. The world smelled like chemicals and all he could see was white everywhere. Hospital, half his mind managed to deduce. He was in a hospital.
The gunslinger bolted upward as the memory of the shootout filtered back into his brain, panicking as he scrambled. He couldn't feel his legs, his eyes could see the lumps in the sheets were they WERE but he couldn't FEEL THEM oh god oh god oh god no please no--
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Post by Keith Alabaster on Jan 31, 2014 19:27:45 GMT -5
Keith was by Satoru's side the moment he saw the other man's eyes open. He took one of his hands in his own and looked at him sadly. "Just try to calm down…" He said gently, as unhelpful as it was. He wasn't sure what he was suppose to say, what do you tell someone in this situation? It wasn't FAIR dammit!
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Jan 31, 2014 19:56:12 GMT -5
Satoru's whole body jerked as his hand was taken, head twisting to look at the source. Keith. His body lurched a bit, trying to cling to the other ex-Tora despite his legs' deadweight nearly anchoring him to the bed. He couldn't even come up with the proper words, his LEGS. He couldn't move his legs and the thought just kept circling through his head over and over again. Oh god he was going to be USELESS he wasn't going to be able to walk they should have just cut them off--
His breathing hitched and his stomach churned, he didn't know if he'd have to hold back tears or vomit but he didn't want to do EITHER in front of Keith and--
"Gabe--" He croaked out, "What about-?" There was panic lacing his voice, whether it was from his concern for Gabe or bleeding in from his own realized paraplegia he didn't know.
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Post by Keith Alabaster on Jan 31, 2014 20:14:19 GMT -5
"He'll be fine." Keith answered, keeping his voice at the same gentle tone. Since the gunslinger wasn't capable of really moving much, he moved over to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "He's gonna be okay thanks to you." The inked man felt as if he should stress that. This was terrible, tragic, but at the very least it hadn't been for nothing. Their son was alive and safe thanks to Satoru, even if it had cost him. Besides, they were both alive, Keith was incredibly thankful for that.
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Jan 31, 2014 20:35:12 GMT -5
Satoru's tension eased a bit as he choked out a relieved sob, though that only helped slightly to take away the sheer terror from his current situation. He shuddered in Keith's hold, hoping beyond all hope he'd wake up to just find that a leg had been broken and this was all some drug-induced dream. He knew it wasn't, but he couldn't stand the idea of being so dependent on help. Even with one leg crippled he had still fended find for himself and now...
Now he couldn't even do that.
The gunslinger rarely cried, and hadn't really done it in years (Keith had cut down on the number of his nightmares exponentially), but right now? Right now he wasn't sure what else to do. There was no other way to get rid of the frustration and anger and shame and loss...
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Post by Keith Alabaster on Jan 31, 2014 20:55:50 GMT -5
Keith put his other arm around Satoru and held him tight, stroking his hair as his husband let it out. Just the fact that Satoru was crying nearly made tears come from Keith's own eyes, but he held them back because he knew that would just make things worse. For now, for now the smaller man just needed to get this out of his system, then they'd work out what to do from there.
On the other side of the room Gabe started to wake up. The first thing hat registered in his head was… crying? Who was crying, and why? He was pretty sure he wasn't dead, from the looks of things they were in the hospital. Awesome, okay that was something. The blond stayed quiet as he turned his head to the bed near him. There was his dad, and Satoru? Was he the one crying? He vaguely remembered his stepdad coming in and saving him from the gang that took him. There had been gunshots, and Toru had been protecting him… Oh god, whatever happened to him was HIS fault, wasn't it?
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Jan 31, 2014 21:54:59 GMT -5
Satoru took a little while to get himself back together, but before too long the gunslinger had cried about all he could without throwing up. The shaking hadn't quite stopped yet but he was... if not calmer, then too drained to really bring up too many forceful emotions. He turned a bit in Keith's grasp to wipe off his face, blinking at how uncomfortably wet his face felt, and then settled back into the younger man's hold. He needed this. He needed this badly. Just to be held.
"And Gabe's alright?" He managed to get out quietly, doublechecking with Keith because hell if he could really manage to process much as he was now...
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Post by Keith Alabaster on Jan 31, 2014 22:14:24 GMT -5
At the sound of his name Gabe turned his head back the way it had been and closed his eyes to act like he was sleeping. He'd rather not have them know that he'd seen that. Still, he wanted to know what happened? What would get Satoru that upset?
Keith turned to check on Gabe, who was(seemingly) still asleep before turning back to Toru. "Yeah, he's fine. Banged up, but he'll recover." He kissed his forehead and sat his chin on the top of the other ex Tora's head. "Thank you." For saving Gabe despite the cost, for staying alive, all of it.
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Jan 31, 2014 22:43:42 GMT -5
"He's my kid too," Satoru replied. There was no chance he was letting anything happen to Gabe while he was still alive and kicking. Just like he wouldn't let anyone hurt any of his adoptive family... So there was no thanks needed. "Don't thank me, 's my fault he was in that situation in the first place," it's not like that was deniable. They had gone after Gabe to get to him.
So, looking at it like that, he was just poorly cleaning up his own mess.
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Post by Keith Alabaster on Jan 31, 2014 23:12:17 GMT -5
Keith frowned and held him tighter. "Don't think that, it's not like you could have seen it coming." No one could have, it had been thirteen years since the last incident and Keith had been CERTAIN that the message had gotten across back then. "All I care about is that you're both here with me." Nothing else mattered, just the two people he loved most in the world.
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Feb 1, 2014 0:43:38 GMT -5
Satoru was pretty sure if Keith held on any tighter his spine would snap. He couldn't bring himself to want him to stop. God, they were getting too old for this shit. Far, far too old. "Still my fault for cutting deals in the first place," it was a bad idea altogether in hindsight. But he had needed the money when he had first gotten to the city (post-drunken stupor that was) and, well, it had been a means to an end at first. And then it had been lucrative...
But it had still been a bad idea. "Think he'll wake up soon?" He asked, trying to get off the subject of his own dumb mistakes by focusing on Gabe.
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Post by Keith Alabaster on Feb 1, 2014 1:17:21 GMT -5
Keith turned his head over to Gabe again. "Don't know, hopefully." Those guys had practically made him their punching bag, he was glad they were dead, his only regret was that they didn't have the time to make them all suffer.
And that, Gabe figured, would be his cue to 'wake up'. His eyes opened slowly and he turned his head to look at them. Not really a fan of emotional stuff, the blond gave a tired half smile. "Can I start carrying pistols with me?" He asked, only half joking.
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Feb 1, 2014 1:41:42 GMT -5
Satoru's reaction to Gabe's voice was an instantaneous relaxation. He was being a smartass, so he was alright. Still, the pistols were a good idea. "Yes." He replied almost immediately. Gabe was skilled enough with them that the gunslinger would feel safer knowing he was armed. An idiot with a gun was no better off, but the blond was no idiot.
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