Hasegawa-san and I hanged out the entire day while she listened to me earnestly. It made me feel a lot better. But so much for not involving her.
I only went since I thought I would be hearing her rants again. It ended up being to complete opposite. She was the one who listened to me. But even after all that, the emptiness within me continues to burn. The hole that has been etched deep within me still aches.
There's still this conflict with Taki. What should I do?
I guess I'll go check up on him this Monday at school.
[Monday morning]
Until now, Taki still hasn't contacted me. He's still probably mad at me.
Time had passed by without me realizing it. I was almost late to school yet again. I skipped breakfast and ran to school as fast as I could.
As I was running off into the crosswalk, I hear a loud horn. I look to my right side to find a huge truck. Momentarily pain surged throughout my entire body before I lost consciousness.
[Ah... Is this how my life is going to end? I haven't done anything useful. I haven't even apologized to Taki yet. I'm sorry, Mom, Aoi, Taki, and Hasegawa-san.]
What is this? Everything hurts! I can't even move my limbs! Wait, I'm alive?!
Let me try opening my eyes.
Yes, I can open them!
My eyes open. Ah! Everything is bright. Wait, I'm starting to see clearly.
Is that Aoi?
"A...oi--"
Argh! My throat hurts. But she heard me.
"Brother?!" She said while she was starting to tear up.
She came closer to me and was starting to cry.
"Brother! You're finally awake..."
Aoi sat next to me for several minutes, crying. Then she called mother, saying that I'm awake. After hearing that I awoke, doctors immediately came to check my state.
A couple of minutes have passed, my mother came but so did my father. I thought he had a business trip to Hokkaido.
I wanted to talk to them, but my throat won't let me.
Mom and Dad rushed towards me, with their eyes filled with tears.
I don't know what had happened while I was unconscious. But currently, I have no idea about what's happening.
The Doctor was still in the room. He explained everything about my condition to my parents. I heard their conversation. The Doctor stated that It was a miracle that I even awoke. He also said that I couldn't talk for a while. According to him, my head was the most affected part during the accident.
"But he will be back to normal again, won't he?" My mother said.
"Ma'am, your son will be fine, but he currently has Dysarthria, a speech disorder caused by a trauma to the head. So he might not be able to talk properly or even speak at all for a while."
"Will he be alright?"
"Don't worry, ma'am, his voice will return, but I am not sure when."
The Doctor says his regards, then walks out of the room.
My mother was crying while Father was trying to calm her down.
Aoi sat close to me and explained everything that had happened while I was unconscious. She said that I was hit by a truck when I ran during a red light at the crosswalk. She mentioned that I suffered a severe head injury that caused me to be in a coma for four weeks.
I tried to be as calm as possible with the situation.
I was relieved that I had a chance to see another day, but I was also sad to see that my family was worried about me.
Wait, what happened to Taki and Hasegawa-san. Do they know that I'm here?
I begin to feel sleepy as seconds pass by.
Once again, I woke up, but this time from sleep. I feel a warm sensation to my right. I glance to my right side. This brown and silky hair, wait, could it be Hasegawa-san? She was fast asleep with her head rested on the bed. I try to make a sound, but the best I could do was a soft hum. I felt her move. I think she might be awake now.
Hasegawa-san sat straight and rubbed her eyes. She looks at me and notices that I'm awake.
"Tanaka-san! You're finally awake!"
"..."
"Oh, yeah, you can't speak. I wanted to talk to you again, but I guess we can't do anything about it."
"..."
"You're probably wondering how I know you were here. Well, It's a long story. Wait, you can control your blink, right? If you can, try to blink three times."
*blinks three times
"Great, so you can control how you blink. So blink three times for yes and two times for no. Got it?"
*blinks three times
"So, do you want to know how I know you were here?"
*blinks three times
"Well, during the day you got into an accident, I tried to call you, but it wouldn't ring. I thought that you were busy, so I didn't call again. I just left a text message saying that if you're free, call back, But you didn't. I tried calling you again the following day, but with the same results, no answer. I was starting to get worried, but I don't know any other way to contact you. I didn't even know your home address, but the only thing I did know was your school. So, after my classes, I went to your school. I tried asking people there if they knew you. Luckily I stumbled upon one of your classmates. I asked them if they knew where you were. They mentioned that you were absent yesterday, but they don't know the reason. They added that your best friend, Takimichi Makabe, would know. So I tried finding Makabe-san. After asking a couple of students, I finally found him. I asked if he knows where you are. At first, he was skeptical of me, but after explaining everything to him, he finally answered. So, that basically sums up how I found that you were here."
I wanted to thank Hasegawa-san for going out of her way just to look for me, but I still can't speak. The emotions just burst out of me, and I began tearing up. I'm happy that I have these friends and family, but I want to apologize to them for causing this trouble. Hasegawa-san notices my tears.
"Tanaka-san, what's wrong? Are you okay?"
*blinks 3 times
Hasegawa-san grabs my hand. Then she looks at me and smiles.
"Don't worry, I'm here..."
(Additional Information)
Japanese Honorifics
[Example: Tanaka-san, Aoi-chan, Taki-kun, Hasegawa-san]
San - It's a neutral term, which most closely resembles "Sir/Madam."
Chan - It is used to refer to young women you're close with.
Kun - Used for teenagers and young men.
Sama - Used in very specific situations towards people who have a high status.