Chapter Text
The ICU Room 106 had been the home of the Miyas for three days now.
They had no choice but to wait until the doctors decided to wake their eldest son up. After all, Miya Atsumu's heart stopped for an indefinite amount of time. They had to put him in a medically induced coma so they could avoid brain injury.
Miya Osamu sat beside his brother's bed, eyes glued to his phone. He's exchanging messages with his assistant so he can assist him despite his absence.
For the past 3 days, he never left his brother's side.
He was the one who witnessed it happening first anyway.
3 days earlier...
The Adlers VS Black Jackals game just ended. Both teams' players were either interviewed, asked for autographs, or were asked to take pictures with their fans. Miya Osamu, as well as the other vendors on the stands, braced themselves for the surge of customers they will be having- now that the game is over, the customers were no longer preoccupied and were probably hungry from watching such an intense game.
That, and also since his brother, Miya Atsumu, decided to go over his stall.
" 'Tsumu, don' go makin' my stall yer fan sign event!" Osamu complained.
"Why, ya don' like me bringin' ya customers?" Atsumu replied smugly.
Osamu just snarled at his brother and went back to entertaining the customers. There was a good 20 customers- all of which were Atsumu's fans. Atsumu was kind (ostentatious) enough to give them a chance for a selfie with him and Osamu. Osamu, however, didn't enjoy it.
After that unintentional fan service, Atsumu sat on a monoblock inside the stall. Osamu took one glance at him and immediately figured something was strange. His twin looked as if he'd lost 20 years of his life span from exhaustion. Osamu would be lying if he said he wasn't worried, not that he'd say that out loud though.
"Congrats for pullin’ it off," Osamu said, trying to liven his twin's mood. "That serve ya've been trainin' fer." He handed the order to the last customer in line who thanked him with a bow. He smiled at her and he was sure he caught the girl blush. He looked at his twin, held his hand to a fist and waited for a fist bump.
"Yeah..." Atsumu panted in reply without looking up. He was sitting with his head hanging low, his elbows placed on top of his thighs. Although Osamu felt disheartened and annoyed when his brother did not return the fist bump, he couldn't get mad as Atsumu looked so tired. It made him think that the blonde didn't even hear what he just said. He felt something weird creep its way into his thoughts.
"Damn, that game must be so intense to render ya like this," Osamu kidded even though he couldn't ignore the worry taking its spot in his brain. “Yer adrenaline finally comin’ off?” he asked with a smirk, masking the worry he was feeling. Atsumu just snorted in reply, still not moving from his position.
It didn't sit right with Osamu.
"Hey, ya sure yer okay?" Osamu gave up masking his worry. He held Atsumu's shoulder to catch his attention.
Atsumu shook his head; not for saying 'no'. It looked like he was trying to wake himself up. He stood up and walked towards the exit of the stall.
"Hey," Osamu called, feeling annoyed and anxious. "Where are ya goin'? I'm still talkin' to ya, y'know!"
"I'll just go to the-"
And then Atsumu fell.
Atsumu fell right in front of the Onigiri Miya stall.
The first 3 seconds were a blur of shock, disbelief, and confusion before the figure of Atsumu on the floor registered to Osamu.
“What the fuck?" The cook exclaimed in disbelief. He removed his apron and went out of the stall. He stared at his twin's body, who was lying on his side, his worry finally making itself valid. However, he refused to believe this was real and not just one of his brother's stupid pranks.
So, he softly kicked his brother on his bicep, "Hey ‘Tsumu! What the heck are ya trynna pull off?!” annoyed that Atsumu could be so dramatic and dumb to pull off something so stupid and embarrassing. He couldn't even comprehend why and why now of all places.
Unless it wasn't a prank.
But it had to be.
"Hey!" Osamu kicked him again, this time a bit stringer. When the third kick didn't make Atsumu budge, anxiety took over his mind. He knelt beside his brother and shook Atsumu harder.
“Oi, this isn’t funny, y’know. This is embarrassing!” he hissed. Atsumu remained still, seemingly unconscious. Like, really unconscious.
Osamu started to panic.
" 'Tsumu?" he shook his brother again. Atsumu still didn't respond. Osamu gulped. What the fuck is going on?! He looked around his surroundings, too confused to speak and ask for help. His eyes settled with Natsume, his assistant, the man looked as confused and shocked as Osamu was. Then, without missing a beat, he grasped the situation and immediately fetched his phone to call for an ambulance.
Osamu had no training for dealing with sudden unconsciousness, until it happened to his twin and his body just went on autopilot, suddenly knowing what to do.
He checked for breathing first, placing his fore and middle finger under his brother's nose to feel for air.
He didn't feel anything. Nothing came out.
He placed his ear on Atsumu's chest to listen for his heartbeat.
He heard nothing.
He placed two fingers on his brother's neck and still felt nothing. He couldn't feel a pulse. He tried on the wrists.
Nothing.
He learned from basic biology that not having a pulse means not having a heartbeat. Not having a heartbeat means the heart stopped working. The heart stopping from working means death.
It can't be that Atsumu's heart stopped working. It can't be that--
“No, no, no, no, no. GET HELP!” This time, Osamu was able to shout hysterically. There were gasps. There were sounds of commotion. Hushed voices. People who were already watching started to move, some took their phones out, some shouted asking where the medics would be, some went towards Osamu to ask how they could help.
None of that registered with Osamu. He couldn't register anything aside from his twin's unmoving body.
Driven with panic, Osamu zeroed in on his brother's limp form. He began moving Atsumu to a supine position and placed his palms- one palm on top of his other hand- on Atsumu's chest and started CPR. Some bystanders audibly gasped at the sight of the scene. It was understandable; why would a volleyball star player require CPR? Anyone would be shocked. Then of course, some of the newcomers, like the assholes that they were, just had to take their phones out and take a video of what was happening.
Oh, what nice headlines that would be. It could- WOULD- go viral for sure.
Osamu didn’t give a shit. He couldn't. All he wanted and needed to do was keep his brother alive.
He absolutely refused to believe that Atsumu was dead.
His health subjects in high school and university were now paying off. He learned that in doing basic CPR, you must do 30 compressions and then give 2 breaths. At least that's what he remembered. One thing he won't ever forget from their lessons is that chest compressions could be timed with the tune of Bee Gees' "Staying Alive". He noted that, and started singing the song in his head while counting the chest compressions aloud. It felt unbecoming, having to sing something in his head while doing something so crucial.
When he reached 30, he tilted his brother's chin upwards, pinched his nose, and blew air through his brother's mouth. That would’ve been repulsing for both of them under normal circumstances. Never in a hundred years did Osamu think he'd need to join his lips with his brother's.
Atsumu should be waking up just by that action if this was a prank-- something that Osamu still wanted to believe.
The doomed reality hit him when he tried to feel for his brother’s pulse again- and still felt nothing. He felt his limbs weaken, tears started to prick in his eyes.
“C’mon ‘Tsumu…” he panted, as he began the process of CPR again, trying to hold his tears back. He couldn't even feel the exhaustion from the chest compressions. He was driven with adrenaline, leading him to do whatever needed to be done to keep his brother alive; to keep his twin's heart beating, and survive whatever fucked up situation this was.
On his 20th chest compression, the EMTs that were on standby for earlier's game finally came, along with the other members of the Monster Generation. Natsume or someone from the crowd must've called for their attention. He didn't -couldn't- stop the compressions despite the presence of the EMTs; afraid of what could happen if he stopped. So, he still gave his brother 2 breaths before letting EMTs take over the process. However, he didn't move too far, his hand still tightly clasping his brother's hand.
Osamu felt someone pull him back. "Hey, hey, let them help Atsumu," the person told him calmly, but Osamu couldn't let go of Atsumu. He latched onto him as if he was his life force.
"Osamu-san," another person kneeled in front of him, as the other person who was pulling him away from Atsumu continued to gently remove his hand from his brother's. He felt his brother's hand slipping away from his grasp and he couldn't do anything. Nothing registered to Osamu; not the sound, not the people, not even the person in front of him. He was in a state of shock. His eyes were fixed on Atsumu, whose body was limp on the floor as the EMTs pumped his chest manually. Osamu felt nauseous.
"Osamu-san," the person called to him again. He could feel his body being moved away from the scene. It felt like the world had stopped when his brother collapsed, and now it's just starting to work again but in slow motion.
Someone was tapping him on his cheek.
"Osamu-san, we need you to calm down," the person said more firmly. He couldn't breathe. He realized he was crying and trembling. When the world finally shifted to normal, he learned that it was Fukurodani's setter who was kneeling in front of him, and the one who pulled him back was Bokuto.
He looked around his surroundings and saw that all the members of Black Jackals and Adlers were gathered around the stall. There were also some media reporters now, but thankfully, the two teams' members were huddled purposefully around the scene so that the media wouldn't be able to show what truly was happening.
Then his eyes traveled back to his brother: one of the EMTs was holding something over his brother's face to help him breathe; or more likely to breathe for him since he wasn't even breathing in the first place. The EMTs were still doing CPR. That's for how long now?
“How long has he been unconscious?” Osamu heard one of the EMTs ask. However, he couldn't answer.
“We're not sure." It was Natsume who responded. "Maybe around 5 minutes? It wasn't too long before you guys came.” The EMT nodded and gave instructions to the others for the next steps to take.
He attempted to crawl back to his brother but Bokuto was strong enough to stop him. "Osamu, no! You gotta let them help him." Bokuto said softly, though his grip was communicating otherwise.
"He needs me!" Osamu's finally said, his voice cracking. "I need him. I need to know-- I need to see-- I'm his brother, for fuck's sake!" he started protesting and trying to wriggle himself free from Bokuto's grip, but it was futile. To him, what he was doing made sense. They have never been separated before, no matter what. Not even when they took different career paths, in sickness and in health, they were by each other's side. And now more than ever, he needed to be with his brother. He had to make sure Atsumu would be okay. Because if he didn't... if he didn't...
"Osamu-san," Akaashi, Fukurodani's setter, started, "Please listen. It's too dangerous for you to be near Atsumu-san right now. It's best if we stay back while the EMTs help him."
There was a sound-- a voice from a machine instructing them not to touch the patient. Atsumu was now shirtless and had two pads on his chest: one below the left shoulder and another by the right side of his ribs. The EMT who was doing chest compressions stopped, and Osamu began to panic. He started to fight his way toward Atsumu again, but Bokuto remained firm with his grip on his shoulders. The machine spoke again telling them that 'shock' is advised before alarming.
"Clear?" one of the EMTs asked. The one doing the CPR stopped and raised his hands; the one who was pumping oxygen for Atsumu raised her hands too. The one who asked looked around to see if someone else was near or touching Atsumu. "Clear," all 3 of them responded. The EMT pressed a button on the machine, then the alarm stopped and Atsumu's body jolted.
Osamu's breath hitched. There were visible and audible wincing from the people around. Osamu forgot what it's called but he remembered that it helps with CPR. Seeing it happen in movies and dramas did not prepare him for how terrifying it would be to see it in real life, especially since his twin brother was on the receiving end of it. The EMTs waited for the command of the machine, and when it said 'resume compressions', Osamu felt helpless.
They started CPR again, which meant Atsumu’s heart hadn't started working yet.
Osamu began to pray. He learned from their captain in high school, Kita Shinsuke, that God is everywhere. He clasped his hands together and prayed to all the gods to save his brother. He closed his eyes, no longer able to watch the scene of his brother being revived. He just bowed his head and continued praying silently while sobbing, shutting everything else out.
The sirens of the ambulance came nearer and nearer until it stopped. People who were standing by the entrance began to make way for the paramedics brought by the ambulance, who wasted no time assessing the situation and began taking over helping Atsumu.
He knew he should be optimistic; these people were helping his brother’s heart to beat again, hand in hand. Yet, he couldn't think positively. His brother's heart had stopped and was being restarted. How could he even be optimistic? THIS SHOULDN'T BE HAPPENING IN THE FIRST PLACE!
Bokuto, Akaashi, and Hinata huddled around Osamu now. Akaashi kept saying reassuring words to him, as well as Hinata, while Bokuto just kept his hold on his shoulders, pinning him down, and softly rubbing his back as well.
Osamu continued praying. His hand clasped so tightly together that his knuckles were visibly white, his head bowed down and his eyes shut tight.
He didn't know how long it took before he heard a slow steady beeping sound. It was such a commotion: the paramedics and EMTs barking commands at each other, a cacophony of different medical equipment, and then a collective sigh of relief. Bokuto and the others who were seated beside him were saying things he couldn't really understand, but then Hinata said in a soft and calm voice, "Osamu-san, they got him back." Osamu began registering his surroundings again. That beeping sound meant Atsumu’s heart started beating again... right?
When his gaze settled on his brother, who was now strapped to a device that seemed to have done the CPR automatically, the EMTs and paramedics were preparing him to be brought out of the gym to the ambulance. Osamu stood up quickly, no longer restrained by Bokuto, and ran to his brother’s side.
“ ‘Tsumu?!” he called out as he tried to catch up to Atsumu's gurney.
“Sir, we will need you to--” the paramedic began but was visibly shocked when he saw Osamu’s face. “Oh,” was all the man could mumble, realizing that he was Atsumu’s twin.
“Is he okay?!” Osamu asked as he watched the team of medics drag Atsumu further away from the gym.
“We got his pulse back,” the paramedic answered sympathetically. “But to be honest, it's not looking good. We need to get him to the hospital immediately."
Osamu wanted to crumble right then and there. It's not looking good. He's not strong enough for this.
When they reached the ambulance, Osamu asked to ride with his brother. The paramedics agreed without hesitation. On the way to the hospital, he was asked by one of the paramedics different questions about the incident and what could've led to it: Does Atsumu have a known heart condition? Has he been taking drugs? (to which Osamu was a little bit offended by) How long was he unconscious before he started CPR? Osamu could only answer some of them. He couldn't answer the last one, though; he lost all concept of time the moment Atsumu collapsed in front of him.
He was in the middle of answering the questions when the AED alarmed again. Osamu didn't know what that meant but when he saw the paramedics move quickly, he knew it didn't mean anything good. The machine strapped on Atsumu's chest began working again, delivering chest compressions. Again.
This lasted until they arrived at the hospital.