Daily Life with My Busty And Cute Girlfriend-Chapter 47: Rika Called (⁠´⁠ε⁠｀⁠ ⁠)

Then he pulled away...

After a few hours... just after 10 p.m. when Leo’s phone vibrated in his pocket... He pulled it out, expecting it to be one of his parents or his uncle checking in... But the screen showed No name...

So he ignored it. A minute later, it vibrated again. He ignored it again. On the third call, he let out a quiet, frustrated sigh, stood up, and stepped out into the empty, dimly lit hallway, closing the door softly behind him.

"Hello, who is this?" he answered, his voice was very harsh...

"Finally, for God’s sake!" It was Rika’s voice, loud and annoyed. "I’ve been calling you guys all day. I texted Sarah like five times. What the hell is going on? Did you get to her parents’ place okay?"

"Yeah, we’re here," he lied, leaning his head back against the hospital wall...

"Okay... so why are you ignoring me? Why isn’t Sarah answering?" Rika pressed him quickly, not letting up. "Is everything alright? You guys were acting weird when you left."

"Everything’s fine, Rika. We’re just tired."

There was a pause on the other end. He could almost hear her narrowing her eyebrows. "Don’t lie to me, Leo. I know you, and I know something’s wrong. Your voice sounds... off. Just tell me what’s going on. Is this about the fight at the hotel?"

"No, it’s not about the fight," he said, his patience wearing thin. "Look, it’s not a good time."

"Then when is a good time?" she shot back. "I’m worried. Himari and Yuto are worried. We just want to know you’re both okay. Let me talk to Sarah."

"She’s sleeping," Leo responded quickly, pinching his nose...

"At ten o’clock? Fine, I don’t believe you, but whatever. Just tell me what’s wrong. Did you two get into a fight? Did something happen with her parents?"

Leo squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t have the energy for this, but he knew Rika wouldn’t give up...

She would keep calling, keep pushing and asking questions, until she got an answer. He thought about the weight of the secret he was carrying, the quietness of the hospital, the constant beeping of the monitor in each room... The loneliness of it all suddenly felt immense...

"Leo? Are you there?"

He took a deep breath. "We’re not at her parents’ house," he exclaimed, his voice cracking slightly. "We’re at the hospital."

The line went completely silent. The sudden absence of Rika’s boss’s like energy was more jarring than her questions had been...

"What?" she finally whispered, her voice changed completely... It was low, and for the first time since he’d met her, it sounded very scared. "What do you mean you’re at the hospital? What happened? Is Sarah okay?"

Something inside him broke out. The need to tell someone, someone outside the suffocating bubble of family grief, was overwhelming...

"No," he uttered, his voice thick with all sorts of emotion he hadn’t allowed himself to feel all day. "No, she’s not okay. She’s sick, Rika. Really sick."

"Sick how? What are you talking about?"

"She has a heart condition," Leo replied, the words tumbling out now. "A serious one. We saw a specialist today. Her heart is... It’s failing. She needs a transplant."

He said the last word and then fell silent, listening to the sound of his own heavy breathing in the empty hospital hallway. He heard a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line...

"Oh my fucking god," Rika shouted. "Leo... I... I had no idea. Is she... is she going to be okay?"

"I don’t know," he admitted, the uncertainty of it all hitting him with force. "They’re running tests. We’re just... waiting."

"I’m so sorry," she said, and he could hear the genuine shock and sadness in her voice. The usual Rika, loud, confident, and carefree...was totally gone, replaced by a friend who was just as lost as he was. "What hospital are you at?"

"Yamada Hospital."

"Okay," she said, her voice gaining a bit of its usual decisiveness. "Okay. We’ll be there tomorrow."

"Rika, you don’t have to do that," Leo said, even though the thought of seeing a friendly face, of having someone else there, was a profound relief...

"Shut up, Leo," she said, but her tone was soft. "Of course we do. We’re her friends. We’re your friends. We’ll be there. Just... hang in there, okay? And tell Sarah... tell her we care for her."

"I will," he said, his throat tightened...

"We’ll see you tomorrow," she said again before hanging up.

Leo stood in the hallway for another minute, his phone still in his hand...

He felt drained, but also... lighter. The secret was no longer just his and her parents’ to carry.

He had shared the burden, and in doing so, had found a small, vital piece of support he hadn’t known he needed so badly.

He took one more deep breath, pushed the exhaustion away, and went back into the room to sit by Sarah’s side...

He looked over at Sarah, who was still sleeping, her face was relaxed in a way it hadn’t been when she was awake...

He pulled the hospital armchair closer to her bed, the legs scraping roughly against the floor...

He sat down and took her hand again, moving his fingers through hers... Her skin was warm...

He didn’t sleep. He couldn’t. His mind was too active, replaying the events of the past two days and worrying about the tests that tomorrow would bring...

The next morning, Leo told her everything...

He waited until after the nurse had come in to draw more blood samples and her parents had arrived with fresh coffee... He sat on the edge of her bed while she picked at her low-sodium breakfast...

"Babe, Rika called me last night," he said, his voice was low...

Sarah looked up at him, her eyes immediately filled with concern. "Is everything okay with them?"

"They’re fine. They were worried about us," he responded. "I told them, Babe. I told them what was going on."