Writer’s Block

Axel/Roxas

Started: August 12, 2008

Roxas rolled over, groaning at the slight throbbing pain that was assaulting the right side of his body. He glanced over at the digital clock that was sitting on his bedside table and rolled his pretty blue eyes; it was only seven-thirty in the morning. On a Saturday.

The blonde sprawled under the covers shifted, grunting as the move caused pain to shoot up his spine. He turned back onto his stomach slowly, deciding that since it was Saturday that he could sleep some more before he had to get up and start his weekend homework. He hoped that the pain in his side would be gone the next time that he opened his eyes.

Roxas felt nauseous; extremely nauseous. Any moment it felt like he was going to lose what little dinner he had eaten the previous night all over his sheets if he didn’t pull himself from his warm bed and to the bathroom. But every time he moved crippling pain rippled across his body and made him want to scream in agony.

It was silent in the house, which meant that his brother was either still sleeping or out with his not-so-secret love interest Riku. His mom was probably out grocery shopping by now.

Tears dripped down his cheeks as he pulled himself from his bed, his arms wrapped around his stomach as he shuffled his way, hunched over, towards the bathroom.

He didn’t make it.

With a loud scream he collapsed in the hallway, whimpers escaping his lips as he clenched his eyes shut, trying to block out the intense pain. Sora’s door slammed open, his brother skidding out in the corridor dressed in a pair of large socks, boxers and a too big white button down shirt. Riku followed after him, dressed in a pair of low-slung pajama bottoms.

“Roxas!” Sora yelled, rushing to the blonde’s side and flopping down next to him, carefully brushing his brother’s bangs away from his sweaty forehead. “What’s wrong?!”

“I don’t know,” Roxas gasped. He swallowed heavily; his stomach was churning and as much as Sora loved him he didn’t think that the brunette would appreciate being vomited on.

“Where does it hurt?” Riku asked. He was as calm as ever, but his teal eyes were worried as he looked at the two curled on the floor.

“Everywhere,” Roxas answered. He moaned, leaning his forehead against his brother’s neck and clenching his hands into fists.

“Sora, I need you to call 911; I think it’s best that we get Roxas to the hospital,” Riku said. He easily lifted Roxas carefully from the floor and cradled him against his chest, but even as cautious as he was Roxas still shrieked in pain. The blonde bit his lip so hard to stifle his screams that it split.

“Where are you taking him?” Sora asked. His big blue eyes, identical to his brother’s, were filled with tears and panic. The shoulder of the shirt that he was wearing, which happened to be Riku’s, was sliding off his off and exposing one narrow tanned shoulder.

“I’m just going to put him on the couch,” Riku soothed. They headed downstairs, Riku stepping slowly and gently so as to not jar the blonde curled against him and once they reached the landing Riku went left into the family room and Sora right into the kitchen, where the phone was.

"9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” the operator asked after Sora had dialed.

“My brother, he’s in a lot of pain,” Sora said. He was trying desperately to keep from panicking, but he knew that his voice was probably frantic.

“Please calm down sir, everything will be alright,” the operator said in a gentle voice. “Can your brother come to the phone?”

“No,” Sora replied. He made his way into the family room, where Roxas was writhing in pain on the couch and Riku was trying to calm him down, gently running his fingers through Roxas’s matted blonde locks.

“Can you tell me what kind of pain your brother is in?” the operator questioned. Just as she spoke Roxas began to scream, his neck arching and his hands clutching his abdomen.

“This kind!” Sora shouted, holding his phone towards his brother.

“I’m sending an ambulance right away,” the operator said when Sora placed the phone back to his ear. The brunette gave their address to the woman before hanging up and going to unlock the door so that the paramedics could just come in when they arrived.

When Sora came back into the room Riku handed him the phone again. The silver-haired teen’s hands were still combing through Roxas’s hair, doing his best to try to soothe him, but Roxas’s breathing was labored and quick, his cheeks flushed red and his eyes clenched tightly shut.

“Call your mom and tell her that we’ll meet her at the hospital,” Riku instructed. Sora hurriedly did as he asked, but the call went to the voice mail so the brunette left a quick, garbled message before hanging up and sitting at his brother’s side.

Two sharp knocks came from the front door and when Sora called ‘come in’ the door opened and in streamed the paramedics. One was a black-haired man with violet eyes and he immediately moved forward, ushering Sora and Riku away from the couch so that his companions could do their work.

A second paramedic kneeled next to Roxas, who was panting and whimpering on the couch. His slate colored hair covered one of his eyes and he rubbed the blonde’s shoulder in comfort, asking him questions that Roxas was trying to gasp out answers to.

Two other paramedics followed, guiding a stretcher carefully into the slightly cramped living room. The men were both tall and one had electric blue hair with a large scar across his face. The other man had flaming red hair that spiked behind him, his eyes a blazing emerald color with two unique tattoos under them.

Roxas yelped as the short paramedic pressed against his stomach, trying to pinpoint the area of where the most pain was. “My hands and feet are numb,” Roxas whispered to the man next to him.

“I need you to breathe for me, Roxas, okay? If you breathe the feeling will come back into your hands and feet, I promise,” Zexion soothed. He watched as Roxas tried to follow his directions, the blonde’s small chest contracting and expanding with deep breaths. “Good.”

“It hurts,” Roxas moaned.

“I know, we’re going to help you,” Zexion said. The blue-haired man stepped forward, taking Roxas’s blonde pressure and dictating to Zexion who jotted what was said down on the clipboard that had been handed to him.

“Let’s get him onto the stretcher,” the scarred paramedic said. Zexion moved out of the way and the redhead pushed the stretcher closer to the couch before stepping forward and gently lifting the blonde. Roxas groaned, his throat sore from his shouting, and the redhead easily placed him on the stretcher.

“We’ll meet you at Radiant Hospital,” the black-haired paramedic, who was named Zack, said quietly to Sora and Riku. The brunette was folded into Riku’s arms, his tears sliding down the silver-haired teen’s naked chest. “You’re brother is going to be fine, I promise.”

“Thank you,” Riku said. Zack nodded and then followed his coworkers outside where they loaded Roxas into the ambulance and then took off, sirens blaring.

“I’d ask if we were dealing with an ectopic pregnancy(1), but I don’t think that’s the case,” the redhead smirked, sitting next to the blonde on the stretcher and filling out some more paperwork.

“Now isn’t the time for jokes, Axel,” Zexion snapped. He finished taping the IV into Roxas’s arm, the liquid cool as it made it way through his veins.

“Actually I think now is the perfect time for jokes,” Axel rebutted. He sent a soft smile to the short blonde. “We want to keep his mind off the pain.”

“I don’t think anything can take my mind off the pain,” Roxas responded.

“I’m sure if we gave you a couple of drugs you wouldn’t remember what the word pain even meant,” Axel laughed.

Zexion glared. “Axel! Do you ever think before you open your mouth?”

“On occasion, but it hurts my head,” Axel replied with a shrug. Roxas couldn’t help but smile; this paramedic was an odd man, but he was amusing and seemed gentle. He was also quite attractive.

The siren roared loudly, Zack driving quickly towards the hospital as the other cars on the road pulled to the side to let the ambulance pass. Saix sat in the passenger seat next to the violet-eyed driver.

Roxas groaned loudly and closed his eyes as another throb of pain laced through his abdomen. Axel touched his cheek gently and the blonde peeked through barely open eyes at the redhead whose stare was filled with tenderness. “Why don’t you tell me about when the pain started?”

“This morning at seven thirty,” Roxas moaned.

“Was it as bad as it is now?” Axel asked.

“No, it was more annoying than excruciating,” Roxas said. His hands twitched as another tremor of pain passed through his body and he fisted them in the blanket that Zexion had pulled over his form before they strapped him to the stretcher.

“Excruciating,” Axel hummed, impressed. “That’s quite a word for a twelve year old.”

“I’m not twelve,” Roxas glared.

Axel smiled innocently at him. “Thirteen then?”

“Try seventeen,” Roxas said.

“Never would have guessed,” Axel whistled, his statement accompanied with a wink.

“When did the pain intensify?” Zexion asked, sending Axel a look that clearly said, ‘be quiet or else’. The small paramedic had his clipboard in hand, writing down the answers Roxas gave to his questions.

“The second time I woke up, but I don’t know what time that was,” Roxas sighed. Zexion asked a few more questions and Axel made a few more comments before they pulled into the ambulance parking at the hospital. The four paramedics helped pull the stretcher from the back of the vehicle and then wheeled the blonde teen into the hospital where the nurses took over. Roxas got one last glance of Axel and his flaming red hair before he was wheeled into a curtained off room.

“Hello, my name is Dr. Leonhart,” a brunette man with stormy grey eyes said as he came into the room. Roxas was lying in the stretcher, still in agonizing pain; the nurse that had come to him after the paramedics had dropped him off had explained that they couldn’t give him any pain killers until they knew what was ailing him because they might do more harm than good. Then the man, a ipink-haired/i, man had sent him to the bathroom to pee in a cup for his urine test. Roxas hadn’t been expecting the pain that had accompanied that usually simple task.

“Is my son going to be alright?” Roxas’s mom asked. She had gotten Sora’s message when she had checked her phone, which she had left in the car after it fell out of her purse, when she had gotten back from picking up a few things from the market.

“What’s wrong with Roxas?” Sora whispered. He was sitting in a chair next to Roxas’s bed, holding his brother’s hand. Riku was standing behind the brown-haired teen, brushing the hair back from his forehead in a calming motion.

“The results of the urine test say that Roxas doesn’t have a urinary tract infection ,so I want him to have an ultrasound to figure out what is going on,” Dr. Leonhart explained.

“So you have no idea what is wrong with my son,” mom said, looking at the doctor with disdain.

“There are a number of possibilities and the ultrasound will help me figure out exactly what it is. Abdominal pain can mean a variety of different conditions; it is an indicator that something is wrong, but it doesn’t explain what,” the doctor said. “I’ll have a nurse come in in a moment and they will take you down to radiology to perform the test.” He gave a small smile to the blonde on the bed. “Then after I get the results we can see what we can give you to make that pain go away.”

“Thank you,” Roxas said softly.

“You’re welcome, Roxas. I’ll send a nurse right away.”

The nurse that came in to take Roxas down to Radiology was called Mulan, a sweet young woman with dark hair pulled into a short ponytail and dressed in crimson colored scrubs. She reassured Roxas’s mother that her son would be fine and proceeded to take him from the curtained off room and down the hallway, wheeling him through a couple pairs of doors before settling him in a room with a large machine that looked like a computer.

The ultrasound went smoothly, Mulan asking him questions irrelevant about why he was in the hospital which Roxas answered softly. Afterwards Mulan wheeled Roxas back to his little corner area; Sora and Riku were still there, but his mom had left to get some coffee. She came back a few minutes later with two cans of soda for Riku and Sora and a cup of weak tea for Roxas. He thanked her but didn’t drink any.

“I’ve gotten the results back from the ultrasound,” Dr. Leonhart said as he stepped through the curtain, looking down at the folder in his hands.

“And?” Roxas’s mom asked, staring at the man in the white coat.

“Roxas has appendicitis,” Leonhart said, closing the charts.

“Appendicitis?” Sora parroted.

“Yes. We’ve ruled out a urinary tract infection with the urine test and the area of the pain indicated by Zexion when he did the abdominal examination made me suspicious, but the ultrasound concludes that it is indeed appendicitis,” the doctor detailed.

“So what’s going to happen?” Roxas asked nervously.

“I’m going to get you into surgery as soon as possible,” the doctor said quietly.

“Surgery?!” mom nearly shouted, standing from her chair. “Is that really necessary?”

“It is,” Leonhart nodded. “If we don’t remove his appendix it will eventually rupture which can cause a fatal inflammation of the lining of the abdominal cavity. The sooner that we remove the appendix the less risk Roxas will be at.”

“Is the surgery dangerous?” Sora whispered. He gripped his brother’s hand tightly between both of his, eyes wide as he stared at the doctor.

“All surgery is dangerous, but as operations go the risk for this is very minimal,” Leonhart said.

“What’s going to happen?” Riku asked.

“I’m going to give Roxas some antibiotics to insure that Roxas does not have peritonitis which is a condition that can go along with appendicitis. Then you’ll be placed under general anesthesia, the surgeon will perform the operation, you’ll be wheeled into a private room and then a few days later we’ll discharge you. After that you’ll have to take it easy for two to three weeks, but then you’ll be as good as new,” the doctor smiled.

“That’s it?” Roxas asked, surprised.

“That’s it,” Leonhart reassured.

“You won’t be performing the surgery?” Roxas questioned.

"No, I won’t be. But Dr. Strife is an expert in his field and you will be in good hands,” the doctor promised. “I’ll send a nurse to administer the antibiotic and then I will check in on you after you come out of anesthesia.”

“Thank you, Dr. Leonhart,” Roxas and Sora said.

“You’re welcome,” Dr. Leonhart smiled before turning and leaving through the curtains.

Soon Roxas found himself in a blinding white room, nurses dressed in green scrubs fixing oxygen into his nose and hooking him up to a heart monitor. A doctor with alert blue eyes came in the room, telling Roxas that everything would be alright as the anesthesiologist administered the general anesthesia and after that all Roxas knew was darkness.

Roxas’s eyes fluttered open, the light in the hospital room blinding him. He shifted, the rustling sound of the blanket alerting the person that was sitting in the chair next to his bed that he was awake. A shadow fell over the blonde and Roxas tried desperately to focus his eyes, but they were rolling in his skull and he wanted desperately to just fall back to sleep.

“Come on thirteen, you have to wake up now,” the shadow above him said, the voice soothing and masculine. In his muddled mind Roxas wanted to curl up in that voice and fall asleep with it wrapped around him.

“Not thirteen,” the blonde muttered. “Seventeen.”

“Okay, seventeen,” the voice chuckled.

Roxas opened his eyes for a moment and saw a flash of red before his lids; which felt like they had five hundred pound lead weights attached to them; before they slid shut again. “Axel?” he slurred.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Axel confirmed. “How’re you feeling?”

“Nauseous,” Roxas answered. He felt like his head was too heavy and bobbing around in water, the area behind his eyes pulsing with his heartbeat.

“Dr. Leonhart had Dr. Strife give you some anti-nausea medication in your IV so that you wouldn’t throw up as the anesthesia wore off,” Axel said.

“I don’t think it’s working,” Roxas whispered. He could feel the sticky tendrils of sleep coming back over him and his head fell to the side, his cheek resting on the cool pillow beneath his head.

“Don’t worry, it is. If they hadn’t given it to you as soon as you opened your eyes you would have thrown up all over the floor,” Axel murmured. He brushed the soft blonde bangs away from Roxas’s forehead and the teen nuzzled into his hand.

“That doesn’t sound fun,” Roxas breathed before his breath evened out as he slipped back into sleep.

Axel smiled and trailed the tips of his fingers across the younger boy’s pale cheek, the softness of the skin sending sparks through his body. The moment he had seen the young man shivering in pain on the couch Axel had wanted nothing more than to take him into his arms and take his pain away.

With a sigh the redhead straightened and turned to leave the recovery room, but not before tucking a small surprise into the crook of the sleeping blonde’s arm.

The next time Roxas woke up doctors Leonhart and Strife were in the room, making sure that he woke from the anesthesia okay. After checking his temperature, blood pressure and stitches the two left the room, Sora and his mom coming in after.

“How are you feeling, Roxas?” Sora asked, taking the seat that Axel had vacated and grasping his brother’s hand gently.

“Better,” Roxas answered honestly. There was only a dull ache now instead of the intense shooting pain that had been there before the surgery.

“Dr. Strife said that the surgery went perfectly and that we can take you home tomorrow,” mom said softly. “He’s going to give me instructions for the after care and he’s going to send a letter to the school to let them know you’re on bed rest for the next few days.”

“I’ll get behind in school,” Roxas said softly. He was still tired, but at least now he could focus his eyes on the person who was talking to him.

“I’ll make sure to get all your homework and I bet Olette will take notes for you,” Sora encouraged. “Your teachers will understand.”

“I guess you’re right,” Roxas sighed. He snuggled back into the blankets and mom stepped forward and placed a hand on Sora’s shoulder.

“We’ll go so that you can get some more rest. I’ll be back tomorrow morning to pick you up,” their mom said. She stepped forward and placed a wet kiss on the blonde’s forehead before leaving the room to let Sora say goodbye to his brother.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sora asked worriedly.

“I’m sure, Sora; I’ll be back to normal in a few days,” Roxas said with a smile, squeezing his brother’s hand tightly. Sora squeezed back.

“I’m going to come with mom when she comes to pick you up, so I’ll see you in the morning,” Sora said. “Love you, Roxas.”

“Love you too,” Roxas smiled, watching as his brother made his way out.

The blonde shifted carefully so as to not aggravate his stitches and felt something soft brush against his bare arm. Peering under his blankets curiously he saw a small, bright red stuffed dog lying against the blankets, the color a sharp contrast to the stark white of the bed sheets. A dopey grin slowly made its way across Roxas’s face as he thought of the man that had slipped it to him and he placed it on his chest before falling back into the oblivion of sleep.

A few weeks later Roxas was completely healed, the only evidence of his painful ordeal was the four inch scar on his abdomen. Roxas was glad that he had been able to go back to school after only a few days of bed rest; as much as he loved his mother her constant worrying and doting had begun to drive him crazy. He had received a warm welcome back and his teacher’s had even given him a few extras days on his assignments, much to his surprise.

Now Roxas was back in the hospital, peering around curiously as he searched for a very distinct head of red hair. In his hands he clutched a basket of homemade cookies; he and his mom had spent the morning baking and had filled a large basket for the hospital staff that had helped Roxas in his time of need.

“Roxas?” a familiar voice called. Roxas turned, surprised but happy to see Zexion walking towards him. Instead of his paramedic uniform the slate-haired man was dressed in black jeans and a light blue zip up sweater, his hair in the same style as it was the time he was called to Roxas’s house. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to say thank you for helping me,” Roxas said, pulling one of the individual bags filled with cookies from the basket and handing it to Zexion.

“You’re very welcome Roxas, but I was doing my job,” Zexion said with a shocked look on his face.

“I know you were doing your job, but I really appreciate you being so nice to me,” Roxas smiled.

“Thank you,” Zexion smiled. “Axel is at the vending machines down the hallway.” Roxas blushed but looked gratefully at the older boy. “I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

“Thanks again, Zexion,” Roxas grinned before heading down the hallway towards Axel. Zexion watched him go in amusement before shaking his head and making his way out of the hospital towards his car.

The slender redhead was indeed in the room with the vending machines, staring at them and trying to decide what he wanted for a snack. Roxas peered at him nervously, his cheeks still flushed from Zexion’s insightfulness. Axel was also dressed casually, in dark blue jeans and a black sweatshirt.

Roxas cleared his throat nervously, stepping fully into the room and clutching the handle of the basket tightly in his hands. Axel looked curiously over his shoulder, a wide smile breaking across his face when he saw who was standing behind him. “Roxas,” he said, turning fully towards the blonde. “You aren’t here for another operation, are you?”

“No, not this time,” Roxas grinned. He pulled out another individual bag of cookies and held it out to Axel. “I wanted to say thank you for helping me. And thank you for the dog.”

“You’re more than welcome,” Axel said with a tender smile. He took the cookies from Roxas, opening the bag and taking one out before biting hungrily into it. He hummed happily; chocolate chip, his favorite.

“Axel?” Roxas started hesitantly, focusing his eyes on a linoleum tile on the floor beneath their feet.

“Yeah?” Axel asked.

“I was wondering something . . .” Roxas said.

“Hmm?” Axel murmured. His mouth was full of cookie.

“Maybe, if you aren’t busy, we could hang out sometime?” Roxas asked carefully, his blush returning full force.

Axel swallowed his cookie and another smile broke across his lips. “I’d like that,” he nodded. Roxas’s head shot up, his eyes wide with wonder.

“Really?” the blonde squeaked. He cleared his throat in embarrassment and spoke again. “Really?”

“Really,” Axel laughed. “But since you asked me that means you have to pay.”

“I can do that,” Roxas grinned.

“Okay,” Axel nodded. They smiled silly smiles at each other for a few minutes before a message over the intercom jolted them back to reality.

“I should finish handing out these cookies,” Roxas said, walking backwards from the room.

“I’ll pick you up Saturday at five,” Axel grinned. “I know where you live.”

p“Okay,” Roxas said with a little laugh before turning and hurrying from the room.

“Okay,” Axel repeated with a dreamy smile.

Ended: August 13, 2008

NOTES:

(1): Ectopic pregnancy is when a fertilized egg implants itself somewhere other than the uterus.