Title: A Second Chance
Pairings: Johan/Tenma
Warnings: Fluff, sap?
Rating: PG-13
Notes: This contents slight spoilers for the end of the
manga. ^^
~*~
Doctor Kenzo Tenma walked up to the counter with a ready smile on his handsome features. The young nurse was easily taken in by his good looks and would never have guessed that the man before her had, only months ago, been chased by every law enforcement official in Eastern Europe.
“Is he awake?” he asked
politely while shifting his heavy coat from one arm to another.
“Yes, doctor,” the nurse
replied a bit breathlessly as she began to lead the way to the room. “He has
been for the past two days and all he could talk about was seeing you again,
sir.”
She was still relatively new
to the hospital, but she knew that most of the patients here were under careful
watch by the government for crimes they had committed. She had been assigned to
the newest ‘inmate’ just a week ago, and already she had been charmed by the
beautiful man’s softly spoken words and demeanor. She refused to believe that
this man had done anything as awful as the rumors had said, but then again, who
was she to voice her opinions? Her duty was to look after the sick patients and
she was going to carry them out to the best of her ability.
Tenma, for his part, was
feeling a case of extreme nerves as he gripped his fingers around the small
basket of fruit he had bought for the blond. He still wasn’t sure of why he was
coming here again to see Johan, after years of being tortured, haunted and
tormented (at least mentally) by the heartless bastard. He had been here once
before and had assumed that he was finally closing that chapter of his life.
But still, Tenma had felt a part of him unable to let go. Perhaps it was his
doctor’s instincts kicking in, but he still felt that he owed Johan one last
visit – to get the man out of his system perhaps.
He sighed heavily and then
braced himself as the nurse slid a key into the lock on the steel door to open
it up gently.
“Good morning, Johan!” she
greeted with a cheery smile as she walked in and motioned for Tenma to enter.
“I have a guest for you.”
The doctor felt his heart
skip a beat as the young man in the wheelchair, arched his neck to smile warmly
at him in recognition. Those piercing blue eyes seemed to come alive with
pleasure and Tenma sucked in a breath, wondering if it was humanly possible for
anyone to look this amazing. Johan was dressed in a dark green hospital robe
with matching slippers on his feet. He looked like he had lost some weight and
on a closer look, Tenma could see the lines of strain around the young man’s
eyes and mouth. Something hard twisted in his chest and before he could control
himself, Tenma was cupping the handsome face within his palms gently.
“Johan…” he whispered softly.
Oh god…you don’t belong in here…but you don’t belong outside either.
He had closed his eyes for a
moment, but snapped them open again as he felt the hands upon his waist. They
seemed to tremble in response to his touch and those blue eyes shimmered with
unshed tears.
“I’ll just leave you two
alone,” the nurse said quietly as she stepped out and closed the door behind
her.
“I brought you something,”
Tenma continued in the same soft voice, releasing Johan’s cheeks gently to
point to the basket of healthy fruit. “They tell me you aren’t eating much.”
Johan shrugged and
reluctantly released the older man’s shirt. “I don’t eat much anyway,” he
replied with a small smile as he reached for an apple. He balanced it on one
hand and his smile widened.
“I want to get out of here,
doctor,” he said. “When do you think they’ll release me?”
Tenma said nothing as he
peeled an orange quietly. He could feel Johan’s eyes drilling holes into his
back and his skin prickled in awareness. “Would you like me to push you out to
patio? You can get some sun…”
“You’re avoiding my
question.”
“You know as well as I do
that your trial is going to start as soon as they deem you fit to take the
stand,” Tenma grated softly. “So don’t start thinking of…”
“I can get out of here if I
want,” Johan said flatly with that small, enigmatic smile still on his
features. He was still staring at the doctor as if fascinated with the very
workings of the older man’s body. “All I have to do is…”
“Why?!” Tenma suddenly yelled
out in frustration. He wasn’t a bit surprised to find that Johan had not
flinched from the outburst but then again, one had to remember that this was a
boy who had watched an entire school body murder themselves before his eyes.
What trauma lay behind those blue eyes? How cold blooded and murderous could
Johan truly be if he so chose to?
“Why don’t you give it up and
try to live a normal life with Anna?” he finished weakly as he sank to his
knees beside the wheelchair. He held Johan’s cold hands within his,
unconsciously caressing them gently as if hoping to bring back the warmth into
the flesh – into his very heart. He lifted the hands tenderly to his lips and
kissed them gently, not embarrassed to find that he was now sobbing quietly and
that his tears were now falling upon Johan’s flesh.
“She loves you very much,
Johan,” he continued softly, his heart aching for the boy within – the boy that
had never known his real parents love - a boy who had grown up in his warped
mindset of revenge and evil. Tenma wept for his transgressions. The boy had
come to him for help so many years ago and he had not listened or bothered to
listen. He had poured out his frustrations to Johan and now…
“Then…will you let me stay
with you, my dear doctor?” Johan asked quietly.
Tenma lifted his
tear-streaked face to the younger man in clear surprise. He wasn’t sure of what
expression he had hoped to see on Johan’s face, but he definitely hadn’t
thought he would see this tortured look of suffering and loneliness in those
blue eyes. It was almost the same look Johan had had, when he had been in the
rain on that doomed night. Johan was crying inside but he didn’t know how to
show it.
“If…if you stay with me…what
good can I do?” Tenma asked. “I travel around helping people now, Johan. I do
not stay in one place for a long time…”
“Then you can’t help me,”
Johan replied as he tried to release his hands from Tenma’s grip. The cold mask
was coming into place again and the older man knew he was losing the young one
again. He shook his head rapidly and held on to the soft hands.
“I’ll stay with you if that’s
what you want, Johan,” he said firmly, dark eyes staring deeply into the blue
ones to show his sincerity. “We can live together if that will make you happy.”
Something close to
uncertainty flickered in Johan’s eyes and he lowered his lashes, a dull hue of
pink staining his pale cheeks. “Is…is that a promise, doctor? You won’t forget
me or leave me?”
Tenma shook his head softly,
a small but warm smile of reassurance coming to his lips. “I will never leave
you, Johan. I promise and besides…Dieter needs a new friend and I think he
already likes you.”
Johan’s smile widened as he
leaned close to rest his forehead against the only man he had come to admire
and trust. “And do you like me too, my dear doctor?” he asked softly.
Tenma could feel the heat
rising to his own cheeks as he felt Johan’s warm breath against his lips and
nodding slowly, he replied in a voice thick with an emotion he could not
define. “I think I can get to like you too, Johan. I really think I can…”
And when their lips finally
met in a tentative kiss of unspoken agreement, Tenma knew that deep down in his
heart, he would somehow finally find the peace he had always wanted.
~The End~