Hiiro (18)
When I woke up Ikumatsu and returned to the room with Otoha whom I met in the hallway, I saw Naruhito, putting his right hand back into his mouth, trying to suppress his voice.
“I told you not to bite.”
I hurriedly ran over and pulled out his right hand from his mouth. There were several tooth marks on his slender fingers, and some places were bleeding. While Ikumatsu quickly assessed the situation and started preparing injections and drips, Naruhito, still curled up, was breathing heavily, trying not to make any sound. Otoha brought a lightly wet towel and wiped off his cold sweat.
“Naruhito, can you hear me? Can you tell me what’s wrong? Where does it hurt?”
“… I… am. Fine…”
Otoha sighed. He’s still going on like this.
“If you don’t say where it hurts, we can’t treat you. Ikumatsu is a doctor, so if you say it properly, he can treat you. But if you don’t say, he wouldn’t know where to start. How troubling.”
While breathing heavily, he looked at me. I wonder if he caught on.
“Naruhito, you don’t look okay. I want to help you, but why won’t you tell me?”
Ikumatsu, who understood my intention, spoke up. Naruhito’s mouth opened.
“It… hurts. My leg… hurts. Sor…ry…”
“Yes, I understand. Your leg hurts because there is a wound. You said it well.”
While answering gently, Ikumatsu quickly gave him an injection. While I held him, he removed the bandage from the wound on his leg, carefully disinfected it, and rewrapped it. Waiting for his breathing to calm down and the trembling of his body to stop, he attached the drip.
“Sorry…”
A small, hoarse voice was heard. The tension in his body relaxed, and he sank into the bed.
“Naru. In times like this, you say thank you.”
Otoha taught him, and although his eyes were closed, I heard him say thank you.
The three of us sighed in relief.
“I’m sorry for this, so early morning.”
“No, please call me anytime. I’m here for that.”
“I appreciate it. Thank you, Otoha.”
“No, I’m sorry for barging in. I woke up early yesterday, so I woke up quickly.”
“I finally understood what Hitachimaru was saying all this time. It seems that he won’t understand unless you make him say it with his own mouth.”
“Hitachimaru said that?”
“When we first rescued him, Naruhito pretended not to speak. We could understand him by watching his actions, like following his gaze when he wanted to go to the bathroom, but since he was pretending, and I found it cute, I left him alone. Hitachimaru though, he always said, ‘Don’t do anything until he says it with his own mouth.'”
“How did you know he was pretending not to speak?”
“He talks in his sleep, this guy. He accidentally murmured my name. He got some candy from Hitachimaru and accidentally said his name.”
It’s funny to remember.
“So he told you he was Naruhito then~”
“No, he said it’s Thirteen.”
“Huh?”
“It seems his name was Thirteen.”
“A number? What the- that’s not a name.”
“Yeah, so I gave him one.”
“… It’s a good name.”
The thin, delicate breathing of Naruhito could be heard in the quiet room.
“I’ll sleep a little more, too.”
When I slipped beside Naruhito, the two quietly bowed their heads and left.
While shifting Naruhito a little to the edge of the bed, I thought about buying a slightly larger one.