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Hospitals are never quiet. One may find peace in a storage closet, or a private hospital room with the door closed, but there is never total silence. The squeak of rubber from the heels of nurse’s shoes, the beeping of a heart-rate monitor, people calling each other, phones ringing, gurneys rolling down the tile hallways; all non-stop, all keeping him awake as he lay, waiting for sleep to come.

After what must have easily been three hours, Kevin sat up and shifted to the middle of the hospital bed, turning so that his feet were hanging over one side of the bed, and his back was leaning against the hard plastic safe-guard railing. He lay that way, arms crossed over his stomach, studying the curtain that had been pulled all around his bed. After coming out of surgery, and kept under close watch in a private room, and infection was found in his bloodstream, and he was moved to the Intensive Care Unit. The particular wing of the well-funded hospital had twelve other beds in it, all hidden behind curtains that hung from the ceiling all the way down to about a foot off the floor. Kevin sighed and inhaled slowly through his nose, smelling the iodine and cleansing fluid in the air.

He was wearing hospital pajamas. It didn’t take long for him to decide that he hated them. The pants were a little too long for him, and the ankles gathered at his feet unceremoniously. The draw string was tied loosely around his waist, and his right leg was about three times as thick then his left due to the cast that wrapped around the limb under the fabric. It was sore, but numb. Oxycotton, the nurse had said. It’s a very strong pain killer, but it will help with your leg and head.

Head… Why his head? Kevin reached up and brushed his fingers across the bandage that stuck ever so persistently to his forehead. Then he remembered what the woman had told him after she applied the painkiller to his I.V.; You got hit on the head pretty hard, honey. It didn’t affect you right away, but you’ll have some memory loss for a little while.

Great. Kevin dropped his hand down onto the mattress and felt it bounce. He was chilly, in that irritating way where you weren’t exactly cold, but it was still horribly uncomfortable. As he lay there, studying the curtain will minimal interest, a noise sounded from behind him.

“Pssssstt…”

Kevin glanced over his shoulder with an absent look on his face, and found a boy pulling back the curtains awkwardly. It was obvious that he was leaning out of his bed, for he was almost at a vertical angle. He was pale with a shaved head and a patient identification band around his wrist, like Kevin. He couldn’t have been older then ten years old. The neko-jin dipped his nose once in a nod to signify that he was listening.

“Aren’t you the guy who got shot in the leg?”

Kevin blinked twice, face blank, before nodding. The kid shifted.

“I’m sorry. Are you just here for the night, then?”

“No. I got some sort of infection, and it’s in my bloodstream. I don’t know how long I’ll be here.”

The boy frowned. “I’m sorry.” He repeated, this time more sincerely. “You should come by the children’s oncology ward sometime. The nurses and doctors there are really nice.”

Kevin raised an eyebrow and adjusted his position so that he could look at the boy easier. “You have cancer?” He asked after an uncertain pause. The boy coughed into the crook of his arm before answering.

“Yeah, it’s no fun. But I’ll get better. Besides, I get to meet famous people.”

“Yeah, there’s that.” Kevin mumbled a little more blandly then he intended. The boy smiled faintly.

“Well I’m talking to you, right?”

This made Kevin blink and look straight at the younger boy, who resumed coughing.

“Maybe you should lie down.” Kevin said a little softer. The boy nodded and rolled back onto his bed, letting the curtain sway into place. There was a pause, a cough, and then a reply.

“Do you think tomorrow you’ll come with me to the oncology ward? There’s this little boy who really likes beyblade and he’s going to die soon, so…”

“Yeah, sure.” Kevin said, swinging around so that his head fell onto his pillow. He pulled his legs back up and buried himself under the blankets, but as a wave of dizziness came over him, he regretted the quick action. When he recovered, he quickly caught on to a flaw in the younger boy’s plan for tomorrow.

“But you’re in the ICU too, so aren’t you in just as bad a condition as me?”

The boy sighed.

“Not really. I just have these coughing attacks sometimes, so they put me here tonight because I had one earlier today. But I’ll be fine.”

Kevin rolled his head to the side and looked at the curtain that separated him and the boy.

“Well, we’ll see. I’ll go, but only if you’re okay. Okay?”

“Okay.” The boy replied. Kevin could hear the smile in his words. Then they both fell asleep.

-x-x-x-

“When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me…”

“Hm?”

“Speaking words of wisdom, let it be…”

“Tala.”

“And in my hour of darkness-”

“Tala!” Kai snapped, extending a hand and smacking his friend’s shoulder. The red head jumped and pulled off his headphones.

“What?!” He barked defensively, before recognizing that he was singing out loud.

“The Beatles, Tal? Really?”

“Hmph.” Tala snorted. “Better then the s**t you listen too. Besides, it’s my calm music.”

“‘Calm music’?” Kai asked, raising and eyebrow and laughing. He say Tala’s face darken considerably, but kept chuckling.

“Yes. We’re about to barge in on what’s most likely a room full of oozie-wielding buff guys, and get our brains blown out of our ******** skulls. So excuse me if I’m a little worried about that.”

Kai sighed. “You act like we’re going in the front door.”