[A/N: I wanna change Bizen Nishiki's human mother name to Benibana Bizen to be accurate to real life, but that would mean that she would be a horse girl too. I already wrote her as a human girl, so it's too late. So her name is forever Bizen Ruby]
Bzzzzzz-
Hummmm-
The ceiling lights continue to hum as everyone sits on the chairs, worried and concerned. The corridor outside the operating room felt too long for what it was. It was supposed to be a straight stretch of polished floor with pale walls, and yet it doesn't feel like that.
Every second, the corridor stretched thinner than it should've been; time didn't flow as fast as they expected.
It's been almost an hour since Bizen Nishiki entered the operating room. The fractured bone surgery should've have taken an hour if it were a simple, clean fracture.
Echo tilted her head down in worry. She saw the fracture; she saw how Nishiki's bone was poking out of her skin. So she knows that there must be a large amount of small bone fragments in her leg, hence why the surgeons take a long time.
Nobody spoke at first. Nobody knows what word to speak.
No matter how much they wish or pray for Bizen Nishiki's health. The red light above the operating doors never stopped shining onto the corridor. It hasn't changed even when they arrived 47 minutes ago.
Symboli Rudolf sat beside Echo Eclipse; she didn't show any concern or worry outwardly, but inwardly, Bizen Nishiki was still her classmate and a friend, despite her reluctance to acknowledge it. And because Echo cares deeply about her friends.
Echo felt like she was in a daze.
Not the good daze she typically goes into when racing or daydreaming, it was an uncomfortable daze.
Everything sounds muted for her, even the small noises such as footsteps, distant voices, and the soft rolling of a cart somewhere far down the hall.
Echo glanced at Gold Way, who stood the closest to the door. Gold Way haven't sat down yet; she's just continued standing up. She is doing her best to hear anything from the operating room, but no sound escaped from inside. No reassurance, no indication of progress.
Yet, she continues trying to hear.
Her hands were clenched at her sides, so tight enough that even Echo and the others could see Gold Way's knuckles long since turned pale.
The others had settled in quieter ways.
Onward Cameroun sat with her head lowered, fingers intertwined with her thumbs brushing against each other in a slow, repetitive motion.
Suzu Mach kept glancing at the door and back at her knees, repeatedly. She bit down on her lower lip out of concern. Suzu Parade's tail is wrapped around Mach's waist as a support. Bizen Nishiki was an important figure in Suzu Mach's life as a racer.
It was Nishiki's positivity, her stubbornness, her unwillingness to give up, and how hard she worked so she could beat Symboli Rudolf.
No one checked the clock yet, or rather, they don't want to return to the harsh reality just yet.
That red light.
It was strange how loud silence could be.
'Did my family and friends experience the same thing when I was struck down with that incurable illness?'
Echo Eclipse thought back to her past life. It started with her toes. She couldn't feel or move her toes.
With each step she takes, she cannot walk normally anymore, always swaying.
Then it crumbled like stone, making her feel like her toes were in molten lava with countless needles pricking her. It spread slowly, up to her joint, then to her legs.
Almost as if… Her body couldn't continue containing her incredible spirit any longer, the same spirit that the goddesses took notice of. The same spirit that is meant to run without restraint.
And yet, she was born in a human body.
"..." Echo closed her eyes and felt her heart pumping; she was still alive right now. She is living right now. This isn't her past life.
As time stretched. Minutes blurred together. Or maybe they didn't move at all. It was hard to tell.
Without a word, without any gestures, everyone who was waiting outside the operating system immediately thought back to Bizen Nishiki.
Gold Way finally shifted from being a statue right outside the operating room, just slightly, though, her gaze never leaving the door.
"She said she'll keep winning… She said she will be the fastest short-race runner ever, and be crowned as the greatest Short-race Emperor ever…" Way muttered under her breath.
It wasn't loud enough to start a conversation. It wasn't meant to. The words just… slipped out of Gold Way's frustrated mouth, hanging in the air before fading into the quiet.
Nobody tried correcting her, because that wasn't the point anymore.
Win or lose, it simply didn't matter anymore.
She did her best, and she reached the finish line with her hand.
That's all that matters.
And the light above the door remained red.
And nobody remembers how long it has been.
Soon, the silence was interrupted by two quick-paced footsteps approaching in their direction.
Symboli Rudolf and Echo Eclipse glanced toward the direction of the footsteps, and Echo first showed confusion about who's the adult man and woman are. But Symboli Rudolf later cleared her confusion by whispering "Nishiki's parents" in Echo's ears.
"Dandy Lute… Bizen Ruby…" Gold Way spoke with a trembling voice; her tail started swaying at the sight of Bizen Nishiki's parents.
"Is our girl… inside?"
Everyone nodded.
Dandy Lute took a deep breath and stared at the door, ever stoic and silent, but you can tell that she is affected by her daughter being injured by the shakiness of her eyes.
Ruby gave a soft, gentle smile as she hugged Lute's arm. She lived a long life and experienced many things, but she knows that the girls here are still teenagers; this must have been their first time experiencing their friend suffering from an injury.
So it's her duty as Nishiki's mother to be there for her; she's the adult here after all.
Dandy Lute understood this from the start, but she also knows how impactful getting an injury could be for a racer. This may be her retirement from racing at the age of 16. Nishiki has only celebrated her single birthday in her career; she hasn't even become a senior-year racer.
"Ah- You must be Symboli Rudolf and Echo Eclipse," Ruby said with a soft smile as she approached them. She knew Nishiki's fondness for her close friends and her desire to surpass Symboli Rudolf.
Dandy Lute gave a silent nod in their direction before standing beside Gold Way.
"Thank you for taking care of our girl." Lute took the initiative to start a sentence.
"Ah- no. It was me that she took care of. I'm not really good at making friends. But she tore down my wall and led me around…"
While Gold Way was talking, Ruby moved on from the conversation she just had with Echo and Rudolf to Suzu's sister and Onward Cameroun, who was currency sitting near each other.
"Ah, I should get going the-" Onward Cameroun tries to leave to give space to Nishiki's parent, but Ruby stops her.
"Nonsense, you're Nishiki's close friends, just stay here… I really don't mind." Ruby left out a soft sigh before glancing at the operating door. The red light continues shining.
"So enough about being tense, that isn't good for the mood!" Ruby lets out a cheeky grin, and it is clear that Bizen Nishiki inherited this part of her mother.
Just in mere minutes, the atmosphere lightened up, and they are no longer tense. It was still serious, but at least nobody is silent in concern anymore. The deafening silence is no more.
"And Nishiki would always-" The red light disappeared, and everyone went silent, turning their head toward the opening operating doors.
The surgeons walked away with a professional smile, the kind that gives you good news.
"The surgery went successfully, and the patient shouldn't have any difficulty walking." They step aside, and they spot Bizen Nishiki lying down on a patient bed, her leg encased to ensure the bones don't deform or warp.
"Heey." Bizen Nishiki gave a light-hearted smirk as she waved at everyone immediately. Her mother and her friends entered the room to talk to Nishiki.
However, Dandy Lute stood behind, glancing at the surgeons.
"Will she be able to run?" She said with such a low volume that Bizen Nishiki's friends wouldn't overhear them. This was her being considerate of Nishiki's friends.
"There's a chance that she could run casually without any problem, but not run professionally. We don't know; we have to perform tests on her leg weekly." The surgeons glanced at each other before reporting to the parents.
"This is just speculative, but we will have to see and examine the patient's leg weekly. But keep the worst news in mind, from what we saw, cleaned and rearranged your daughter's leg bone during the surgery; it wasn't a clean fracture."
"Her leg might not return to the way it was before the incident, and she might have to retire prematurely."