Akio has a little bit of trouble prying his eyes open the first time around. However with a little amount of effort, he succeeds.

  The pale grey design of his room ceiling stares back at him, and he takes a deep breath. His body feels weird, stiff. Like it hasn't been in use for a while. His senses are all over the place, lungs contracting and expanding to accommodate quantities of air that shouldn't necessarily be a problem for him.

  A soft sigh by his side draws his attention, and he forces his stiff neck to roll towards the sound. Towards Alex, seated on a chair, head planted on his bed, - hands pillowing her head - in deep slumber. The tiny puddle of drool that has accumulated by her open mouth is a testament to how deep the sleep is.

  He cracks a smile - swears he can actually hear cracking sounds as his muscles contort - and closes his eyes, letting Alex's deep breaths lure him back to sleep.

  When he opens his eyes again there are beeping sounds coming from all around him. His body seems to have regained some of its fluidity, his ability to - with minimal struggle - crane his head down and inspect the electrodes on his bare chest proving it.

  A glance to his right inner elbow, places the IV pumping nutrients into his tired body. Another glance to the door shows Alex talking to a Man.

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  His hearing not a perfect 50-50 yet, he can only guess from how animated Alex's hand gestures are, that the news is not all good.

  “Can a guy get a glass of water?” he tries to drawl, but it comes out more of a drunken slur, the lead feel of his tongue not having been anticipated.

  Their heads both snap towards him in surprise, the man (who turns out to be a doctor) of course recovering quicker, and striding to his bedside with purpose.

  Alex is stood outside his room, by the threshold of the door, arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed in intense concentration. Her eyes cataloging every movement of the doctor.

  After the necessary poking and prodding - and being a doctor himself and understanding the necessity of the checkups doesn't make it any easier to endure - he is permitted ice chips, and placed on a soup diet, the last of which gets the doctor a particularly dirty eye roll.

  The doctor exits the room, stopping by Alex for a moment with strict instructions for his care before finally taking his leave.

  He and Alex stare awkwardly at each other for a couple of minutes. And Akio thinks with some dejection that it has never been this strained between them before, not even when they met for the first time.

  He remembers how thirsty he is and his eyes flit to the ice chips on the table beside him, and back to Alex. Alex clocks the movement and quickly spurs into action, grabbing the plastic cup and sitting on the chair beside his bed. She feeds him dutifully, eyes suddenly stuck on the cup in her hand when he signals he's had enough.

  Turns out he's also had enough of the uncomfortable silence. “So. What have you done, that you can't meet my eyes?”