I worked in the children's ward of the hospital. I worked closely with the youngest children the hospital treated. I loved the children, and I loved being a doctor, but I hated my job. I could never stop myself from feeling...helpless. But I would never allow myself to feel hopeless. Children could not tell emotions apart as clearly as adults, but they could sense them more easily. I couldn't allow myself to feel hopeless, because my job was not only to take care of these children, but to inspire hope in them and their family. I couldn't feel hopeless, because I couldn't let them feel hopeless.

At all times that those young eyes were watching me, I had to have a smile on my face and hope in my eyes. As long as I was in sight of those children, I had to emit an air of hope and strength. No matter what, when I was in that hospital, I had to believe in myself so that those children could believe in me. I loved the children, and I loved being a doctor, but I hated my job. For the sake of those children, though, I would faithfully and faultlessly do the job that I so hated every day.

You would think with such a tiresome job that I would falter and fall flat on my face the very instant I stepped out of that hospital. But you would be wrong if you thought that. I could still be seen by the children then. Many of them knew exactly when I got off work and would rush to the nearest window at that time to wave and shout farewells to me. The children loved me just as much as I loved them, you see. I loved the children, and I loved being a doctor, but I hated my job. I would keep doing my job as long as I was in sight of them, though, even if I was off the clock.

It was when I reached the tennis court—it was across the parking lot from the hospital. I think it was part of the property of a school close by. I didn’t really pay much attention to it, honestly. I just used it as a sort of marker. Because when I reached that tennis court, I was just far enough away from the hospital that the children wouldn’t be able to make me out very well, even if they could see me. That was when my façade finally fell. That’s when I finally fell. Every day I fell right there just at the entrance gate of the tennis court. I fell to my knees and tears fell from my eyes as I allowed myself to feel as hopeless as I felt helpless.

Children should never have to see the inside of a hospital. Nobody under the age of sixteen should ever be sick or hurt enough to have to go there. Yes, I was wishing myself out of the job. I would gladly give up being a doctor if I thought that could somehow help those children. It would not help them, though. Staying a doctor is the only thing I could do to help them. Doing my job is the only thing I could do to help them. I loved the children, and I loved being a doctor, but I hated my job. I would do it for those children, though. I would do whatever I could for them. Even if I felt helpless, I would do all I could to help them. Even if I felt hopeless, I would do all I could to give them hope.

For myself, though, there was no help or hope. I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t hope for myself. I could only break down and cry and ask whoever it was that ran the world why the world had to be this way. There was no cure for the cruelty I faced with a smile every day. There was no medicine to make everything alright. There was only momentary relief as I tried to rebuild my façade while tears streamed down my face. There was only secondary relief as I tried to lighten my mind by crying out the thoughts that weighed me down.

“Excuse me, doctor?” came a soft voice. A child’s voice. I turned shocked and sorrowful eyes to the side, catching sight of the boy there. “Are you hurt, doctor sir?” he asked softly.

“Ah, no, I…“ I went to speak, wiping swiftly at my tears. I needed to stop the thoughts from flowing out so I could gather my thoughts and make a plausible excuse. I couldn’t seem to get my thoughts to focus the way I wanted, though. They were dashing about all over the place, trying to figure out who this kid was rather than figure out an excuse to give him. Who was this boy? Was he one of mine—one from the hospital? No, he didn’t look sickly. He looked very healthy, actually. An athlete’s body. A tennis player’s tan. He had a tennis racket in his hand. He was from the court. He was from the school.

All at once he’d come over and wrapped his arms around me, easily resting his head atop mine while I was on my knees like this. It was a reflex from working with the children in the hospital that made me automatically return this boy’s embrace without a thought. “My dad says hugs help when you’re hurting. It’s like anesthesia. He’s a doctor, too, you know,” he said softly as he kindly held my head to his chest.

His words, like his embrace, seemed to trigger another reaction from me automatically. I let out a breath of relief, my eyes drifting closed quite quickly as I lightly rested my head against his chest. My thoughts were no longer rushing around. My thoughts had all rushed right out of my head. All of the ache I felt had likewise rushed out of me. All at once there was just this oddly nice and very soft contentment as this child held me like I was a child.

I haven’t the faintest clue how long we were there like that. I knew it didn’t feel like it had been long enough, though, when a call from another child just inside the tennis court gate called to the boy hugging me. His head lifted from mine, a softly displeased noise escaping him as he looked over at his friend. He obviously didn’t want to leave if I was still upset. How sweet.

“Ah, boy…” I said softly as I opened my eyes and pulled gently away from him and out of his embrace. He looked quickly back at me, letting out a sound even more displeased now. “That hug made me feel much better. Thank you very much,” I said, offering up a soft smile. I gave him a quick but kind pat on the head as I rose to my feet now, completely putting the embrace to an end. “You best be on your way now, though. Your friend is calling to you, and I have to go now anyways,” I said.

“Anesthesia!” he blurted out as I turned and began walking away.

“Yes, I know, it’s anesthesia. Thank you very much for that anesthesia. I feel much better now, thanks to your excellent doctoring,” I called lightly back to him with a wave.



The next day, at the same time as always, I made my way towards the tennis court, counting the seconds until I reached it. Today was not like every other day, though. I was not counting the seconds until I could drop the façade I kept up for the children. I was counting the seconds until I could see the one child who had seen me without my façade up. Despite myself, I was extremely eager to see that small face that had seen my face with tears streaming down it. Despite myself, I was anxious to look into those young eyes that had peered into mine when they were filled with tears.

A glance carefully worked to seem thoughtless showed me that there was no one in sight on the tennis court. Ah, but of course, how silly of me. Unless a student was in tennis club, they certainly wouldn’t be on the school courts every day. And that boy was much too young to be in a sports club. He had probably only been playing tennis because it was his P.E. activity for the day. The likelihood of running into him again was extremely slim.

Even with this thought, I stopped dead in my tracks the instant I reached my usual spot. Today was not like every other day, though. I did not stop and drop to my knees. I just stopped. Just stopped and stood there. My eyes refused to turn again in the direction of the tennis court, but my feet refused to allow me to continue walking by. Even if my mind wouldn’t hold a thoughtful hope of seeing that boy, even if my eyes wouldn’t hopefully search around for him, my feet would hold me still and hold the hope that the boy would come by.

Though my mind, in it’s foolish hope, had anxiously counted the seconds until I arrived at this spot, it did not continue counting seconds as I stood there. Like my feet, it stood firmly in its resolve—only its resolve was to not hope for a second longer, rather than to hold out hope even longer than was wise. And so I simply stood there without a thought in my head, well unaware of how much time was passing but fully aware of how childish this was of me to be acting.

I was no foolish child. I knew there was no hope. It was something I had learned after long, cruel years of waiting on hope to arrive. Yet here I was after all these years, foolishly holding some small hope again. You would think I would have learned better by now. But you would be wrong if you thought that. The reason I cried every day was not because I had become completely hopeless. It was because I wasn’t yet without hope. It was foolish of me, but I couldn’t help but hope a little every time I looked in those young, hopeful eyes.

Slowly I lowered myself to my knees, reluctantly agreeing with my feet to wait around. I wanted very badly to cry like I normally would. I couldn’t, though. I cried each day because I lost my hope all over again when I was beyond the children’s sight. But today that hope wouldn’t go away. It had wrapped softly but kindly around me, just like that boy’s embrace. And just like his embrace, I wouldn’t be released if I didn’t pull away. And I wasn’t trying to pull away, even though that would have been the wise thing to do.

“Doctor!” exclaimed an excited voice. I hardly had time enough to look in the boy’s direction before he hit me head on. Thankfully I was already on my knees, otherwise it would have rather much hurt to be smashed into by the boy and then smashed onto the ground. Not that it didn’t hurt anyways. It just didn’t hurt as much as it could have. “Doctor, are you hurting again?!” he asked, his arms already wrapped around me in a helpful hug.

Part of me wanted to tell him no so that he would calm himself. Another part of me wanted to tell him yes so that he wouldn’t stop hugging me. “The hug helps,” I said simply, loosely wrapping my arms around him, “Thank you very much, little boy.”

“Anesthesia,” he said softly. He pulled back to look at my only now, checking for either tears or a smile on my face.

“Ah, but of course, I meant the anesthesia helps,” I said, smiling softly not merely for his benefit but because I was amused.

He sighed, shaking his head. “No. Not that. That’s my name. My name is Anesthesia,” he said, seeming a little miffed that I didn’t understand.

I lost my smile, staring at him blankly now. His name was what? What kind of person named their child Anesthesia?! He had said his father was a doctor, yes, but come on! You had to be some kind of crazy or cracky to name a child that! Though, admittedly, that did make the thing about hugs being like anesthesia all that much cuter. It was still horrible to name a child that, though. That was not a suitable name for any human being. Just imagine how much the poor boy was probably teased by the other children. Perhaps I was overreacting due to sympathizing, though. After all, my own name wasn’t exactly the most usual or popular name of my time.

“What’s your name, doctor?” he asked, cutting into my thoughts.

“…Ello,” I answered softly, “Ello Noel.”

He stared at me for a moment, and then gave off a single, soft laugh as he smiled brightly. “That’s a very cute name. It really suits you, doctor,” he said.

“Oh, well, thank you, little boy,” I said, responding mostly on reflex. Wait a minute now… What had he just said? Had he just insinuated that I was cute? Wasn’t I supposed to be the one doing that? I was the adult here, after all. Adults called children cute, not the other way around.

“Anesthesia,” he said, sounding miffed again as he lost his smile.

“I apologize. I just…it’s a bit long. Might I just call you Ane? Or is that too girlish sounding for you?” I asked.

“Ane is fine,” he said, his bright smile making a comeback, “I’m really glad I managed to catch you, doctor. I was worried I wouldn’t make it before you got up and went.”

What on Earth did he me? I mean, obviously he had come this way from school just to see me, but why? “Why were you worried you would miss me?” I asked.

“Yeah. That’s exactly it,” he said, nodding his head, “I was worried I would miss you. Then you would have gone away without a hug, and you would still be hurt. If I had missed you, I wouldn’t be able to make you feel better, and then we would both feel bad.” He’d misunderstood my question, but he had answered it nonetheless. And what a surprising answer it was. This boy, who hadn’t known my name before a few seconds ago, had rushed straight from school all the way over here today just to give me a hug before I went on my way.

The arms that I had loosely wrapped around him on reflex now tightened slightly on instinct. “You don’t have to rush tomorrow. I’ll wait around for you,” I said without a thought in my head. He just smiled more brightly and hugged me more tightly. I couldn’t tell—Was I getting myself out of something, or into something? And was I sure I could really handle it, whichever way it was?



“Aw! Sitting with you back to the fence is no fair, doctor! How am I supposed to sneak up on you that way!?” Anesthesia exclaimed from directly on the other side of the fence, causing me to jolt. Despite his complaining, he had managed to sneak up on me. Of course, what he had meant by sneaking up was probably more like how he had run up and tackled me yesterday.

“It’s unsafe to do that. You could hurt yourself,” I said, tossing him a glance over my shoulder and through the fence.

He pouted, poking at me through said fence. “I don’t get hurt all that easily. I’m tough,” he said, apparently trying to reason with me. Or just argue with me.

I reached over my shoulder, returning the favor of poking him past the fence. “Nonetheless, no need for unnecessary risks. I’d rather not have to see you as a patient in the hospital,” I said as I poked at him. He grabbed my fingers, holding them to keep me from poking him as he continued pouting at me. “Are you just going to hug my fingers today, then, instead of hugging all of me?” I inquired casually.

As I had expected, he immediately released my fingers and rushed around the fence, throwing himself at me in a hug. “I’m going to hug you every day!” he declared, just to clear up my confusion.

I chuckled to myself as I reflexively returned the embrace. “Oh? What about weekends?” I asked.

“Every day! Even then!” he declared with determination.

“What about rainy days?” I asked, smiling to myself.

“Every day! Even then!” he declared purposefully.

“Every day until there are days no more?” I asked, thoughtlessly running a hand through his hair now to straighten it out.

“Every day until you’re all better again!” he declared. I stopped all at once, losing my smile as I looked down at him. He pulled back his head just enough to look up at me, wondering what was wrong. “Doctor? Are you hurting again?” he asked.

I sighed and then smiled softly, shaking my head as I returned to straightening his hair, now doing so in a very thoughtful manner. “No, I‘m not hurting. I feel much better now, thanks to your excellent doctoring,” I said.

“You know! You know, I am going to be a doctor one day! Just like my father and just like you!” he exclaimed excitedly now.

“Is that so?” I asked, arching an eyebrow curiously down at him.

“It’s true! I’m going to go to the same medical school as my father did, and I’m going to go to work at the same hospital, too!” he declared, “And maybe I’ll work alongside you, too. Then you won’t have to wait until after work to feel better, because I’ll hug you any time you want me to!”

“Oh boy, I can hardly wait for that day,” I said, my smile growing. Cute. This kid was too cute for his own good. It was just a good thing that I had been the person that had caught his attention, rather than some weirdo that could have hurt him or done worse. It was probably best that I talk to him about that, now that I thought about it. “Ane, do you go around hugging strangers all the time?” I asked, my smile returning to just a soft, faint one again.

He looked at me, curiously cocking his head to the side. “You’re not a stranger, doctor,” he said. He missed the point. It was expected, though. Children could be quite simple-minded and short-sighted.

“Well, not now I’m not. When you first hugged me, though, I was,” I pointed out softly.

“You looked like you really needed a hug, though!” he blurted out.

“I’m just wondering if this is something you normally do, Ane,” I said, still speaking softly.

“Oh, no! Not at all! You’re really special to me, Dr. Ello! Really!” he exclaimed earnestly.

He really was too cute for his own good. And funny, too. I had to stifle my laughter by reminding myself that I needed to be momentarily serious. This was an important matter. Things had turned out quite well after he had hugged me, a complete stranger, but that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. This might give him the idea that it was okay to associate with strange adults he didn’t know. It could lead to bad things if I didn’t seriously set him straight. “Ane…” I said softly, working hard to keep a straight face.

“Please believe me! You have to! I’ve never hugged anyone the way I hug you! And I’ll never hug anyone else again but you!” he declared desperately, hugging himself to me more tightly now.

Despite myself, I could not keep a straight face. Laughing softly and smiling brightly, I returned every ounce of passion in his hug. “Alright, Ane, I believe you. I was just making sure that you know not to do anything like this ever again. It could turn out badly, after all. You’re lucky that I happened to be the one this time,” I said, loosening my hug now to pat his head kindly.

“I’m very lucky! I’m the luckiest kid alive!” he exclaimed. His hug remained tight, but held less desperation and more joyousness. I said nothing, merely smiling to myself as I continued to return his passionate embrace. If he was the luckiest kid alive, then I definitely had to be the luckiest adult alive. I had never really had many (good) thoughts about God or ever prayed; but if I had prayed before, it definitely would have been for this kid.



A glance out a window made me almost walk into a wall. When had it started raining at all, let alone so hard?! There wasn’t supposed to be any rain today! It hadn’t been raining when I had come into work! It hadn’t been raining the last time I’d looked out the window! It had rained all day yesterday! Why did it have to start raining again now, just when I was getting off work?! Now I was going to have go a second day without getting to see Anesthesia! That wasn’t fair!

Nevermind the fact that I had parked my car in it’s usual non-rainy day parking spot a block up from the hospital parking lot. I didn’t give a damn if I got drenched. I could live through that. I couldn’t live through a second day without Anesthesia, though! …Okay, so maybe I was being a teensy bit over-dramatic. But that kid seriously was a lifesaver for me. I hadn’t really known what to do with myself before meeting him. Now that I had met him and had spent three weeks seeing him every day, I completely didn’t know what to with myself when I couldn’t meet up with him.

“Calm down, Ello. You’re an adult. You are not a child, so stop acting like one. You know very well that while human interaction is important to your health, it is not vital to your life,” I muttered sternly to myself as I stood before the hospital’s front doors, staring out into the rain.

All at once an umbrella was thrust into my face. I pulled back swiftly in shock, looking to my side at the person holding the umbrella. “Forgot your umbrella, Ello?” she asked, smiling brightly up at me.

“Ah, yes, I seem to have. And you seem to have brought several umbrellas, Cloud,” I said, arching an eyebrow at the multiple umbrellas tucked under her arm. They were all, like the umbrella held in my face, pink with green polka dots.

“I always bring extra, for those that forget like you!” she declared all too happily.

“How on Earth did you know to bring them, though? The forecast didn’t call for rain today,” I said.

“I always have them with me! They’re very compact, so I can easily carry three or four in my purse or my backpack,” she said, still seeming a little overenthusiastic about this. Maybe I was just being paranoid, though. After all, even though she was my friend, I had been a little skittish around her since learning from Dr. Kenjiro that I was at the top of her (and the other nurses’) “who could become gay if presented with the right person” list.

“Oh. That’s very…um…forethoughtful of you, Cloud,” I said, offering up a slightly weak smile as I finally accepted the umbrella being held before me.

“Gee, thanks, Ello! Well, here’s to hoping that umbrella keeps you dry! Just so you know, there’s no need to return it!” she said, winking at me and then saluting me with another umbrella. I just continued to offer up a pathetic excuse for a smile as I opened my new umbrella, opened the door, and headed out into the torrential rain. Thankfully, there was a lack of wind, so I was pretty much safe and dry under the umbrella. I was only pretty much dry due to the fact that it was impossible to avoid the expansive and unnumbered puddles, meaning my shoes, socks, and feet still had to suffer.

I walked swiftly through the rain but with carefully measured steps, not wanting to splash in the puddles and get my pants wet as well. I didn’t look up from the ground as I moved along, wanting to keep my eye on the water to make sure I didn’t misjudge my movements. The second I hit that place I used to always drop to my knees at, though, my feet froze to the spot. I never fell to my knees to cry on the rainy days (even when I hadn‘t anticipated the rain, like today), so it shouldn’t have been in my instinct to stop then. I couldn’t seem to bring myself to move on, though.

Yesterday this hadn’t happened, because yesterday I had expected the rain and parked in the hospital parking lot, as I always did when I knew rain was coming my way. That was then, though, and this was now. And right now my body would not allow me to move on without looking around for Anesthesia. So, though I knew it would only serve to further rub my face in this ruined day, I lifted my eyes from the ground and turned my gaze towards that fence gate where he should have be—where he was?!

“Ane?! Anesthesia!? Anesthesia!” I exclaimed first with disbelief, then with shock, and then with horror. Dashing through the rain without a thought, my pants were splashed high with water and my umbrella almost fell from my hands. The boy, who had been merely a soaked and shivering lump seated by and leaning against the fence, jumped up and into my arms just as I spread them open and held them out to him. “Anesthesia, what in the world are you doing out here in this rain?!” I demanded sternly even as I tightly hugged the waterlogged child to me.

“E-Every day!” he shouted, his voice sounding choked. I both myself back and pushed him away just enough to see his face. What I saw when I looked there was that water that was not rain was streaming down his cheeks.

“Oh my God. You waited here yesterday, too, didn’t you?” I barely breathed the question. Already the answer I knew I was going to receive put a nasty ache in the pit of my stomach. I had caused this child to wait out in the pouring rain for me for two days in a row now. There wasn’t a word that came to mind that could even begin to describe how horrible I felt at this realization.

“And you didn’t come then! You didn’t even go by!” he exclaimed, half staring and half glaring up at me with those watery, wounded eyes.

I hugged him to me again, wiping the tears from his eyes kindly as I cradled him closely now. “I’m so sorry, Anesthesia. I had no idea—I thought you wouldn’t come on these such rainy days, so I didn’t come either. I should have checked sooner. I apologize,” I said remorsefully.

“I said every day, didn‘t I?” he demanded, still half glaring up at me.

“Yes, you did; and I agreed,” I replied, nodding my head solemnly.

“Every day,” he said softly, now merely staring up at me.

“Every day,” I agreed, continuing to nod my head.

“Every day forever,” he said softly.

“Every day forever,” I agreed, still nodding my head.

He looked down now, pressing his face against me despite the fact that my clothes were now almost as dripping wet as his. “…I’m cold, doctor,” he said softly after a moment. Of course! I needed to get him somewhere warm immediately!  I had no idea how far away his house was, though, and mine wasn’t very close.

I was going to have to take him to the hospital, then. That way he could also change. There certainly had to be something in his size. I’d personally scour the hospital for dry clothes for him, if I had to. And me? I could just snatch a pair of scrubs or something. I wasn’t really worried about me right then, honestly. “Ane, I’m going to take you to the hospital today, okay? You know the one right across the parking lot over there, right?” I asked softly. I didn’t bother point to it out, since the rain was falling too hard to see that far away.

“Uhuh. I know it,” he said, glancing in the direction of the hospital.

“You’re alright with going there with me, right? You won’t be scared, will you?” I asked. Though it was obvious the child trusted me, I still had to check. Children could easily become uneasy around a person they were normally fine with when taken out of familiar surroundings. I didn’t want him to become upset with me again.

“I’m not scared of hospitals. If I was, I couldn’t be a doctor when I grow up,” he said. He’d misunderstood my question, but he had answered it nonetheless.

“Okay. Would you like me to carry you?” I asked, only now crouching down to his height in preparation to pick him up if he said yes. He didn’t say anything, but the way he now wrapped his arms around my neck was answer enough. I wrapped one arm up under him to support his weight and then slowly stood, carefully holding both the umbrella and his back with my “free” hand.

I moved back towards the hospital at the same swift but careful pace in which I had originally been moving away from it. I wanted to get Anesthesia inside quickly, but I didn’t want to joggle him. “Ello!” Cloud exclaimed with surprise when I swept inside with a wave of rain.

“Nurse, fetch some towels and find some dry clothes for this child immediately!” I barked, having turned back into doctor-mode the second I had stepped through the door.

“Yes, doctor!” she exclaimed, dropping her umbrellas all at once as she hurried off. By the time she returned—which actually was only a short few minutes later—quite a number of other nurses and doctors were gathering in the lobby to see what the cat dragged in. “Here, doctor!” she said, all but throwing the towels she had gotten on Anesthesia and I.

“Thank you, nurse. Now please take him to a room to dry and dress,” I said, wrapping the child in a towel before passing him off to my friend.

“Yes, doctor!” she said to me, “Hello there,” she added to Anesthesia as she again left, this time with him.

It was just as she departed that Dr. Barnett, the chief physician and surgeon, arrived. He stopped before me, giving me and the small puddle forming are me the once over. “You look like a drowned rat,” he informed me, just in case I wasn’t aware.

“I was thinking I looked more like something the cat dragged in, but if you insist,” I said dryly as I began drying off.

“Where is the child I was told was clinging to you when you burst in here with the tidal wave of water accompanying you?” he questioned.

“He was in the bundle of towels Nurse Cloud was carrying when you passed her by,” I answered.

“Where was he when you found him?” he asked.

“By the tennis courts past the parking lot. I parked my car a ways away,” I said.

“Is he wounded?” he questioned.

“He isn’t,” I answered.

“Is he sick?” he asked.

“He could become,” I said.

“Do you know whose he is?” he questioned.

“I’m unaware,” I answered.

“Do you know who he is?” he asked.

“Anesthesia,” I said.

“Ane—…Ah,” he said. He had looked questioning for a moment, but quickly realization had come to his face.

“Ah?” I asked, my brow scrunching and my eyebrow arching in confusion and question.

“You don’t know whose he is,” Dr. Barnett stated with amusement, a soft smirk sliding onto his face. Oh. No. Oh no. That look and that tone from this man couldn’t be good. A bit of worry squeezed onto my face now, probably giving me a very queer but comical expression. “...After you dry and dress yourself, go find your little friend,” he said lightly, already turning to leave. With a single wave of his hand, he had dismissed the situation and the staff. Everyone was swift to flee, leaving only me as I stood there and stared after the slowly retreating back of my boss. Crap.

I snatched some scrubs, dashed to the bathroom, swiftly dried, and speedily dressed in under five minutes. I was still damp, but I really didn’t give a damn. I needed to find Anesthesia and find out why Dr. Barnett had started acting that way upon hearing his name. I mean, obviously it was because he knew the child and probably his parent. But how did he know them?! I had to know! And let’s not forget I needed to make sure the child was alright, naturally.

Getting directions from Nurse China, I located the room Nurse Cloud had taken the boy to. “Anesthesia?” I questioned, poking my head into the room. I was almost immediately grabbed around the neck, being dragged into the room and into a hug.

“Dr. Noel! I see, so you’re the one my boy has been raving about for the past few weeks!” declared a colleague of mine as he fiercely hugged me.

“Dr. Marly?! He’s your son?! I’m shocked! Anesthesia didn’t tell me his father worked at the same hospital as I did! Why, I didn‘t even know you had a child!” I exclaimed, gapping at the other man. I was too shocked to try to get out of his embrace, unable to believe this turn of events. How could Anesthesia’s dad be working at the same hospital as me?! What were the chances of that?! …This did explain well Dr. Barnett’s smugness and amusement, though. He had undoubtedly anticipated I would react this way.

“I don’t like to brag! I’m quite surprised, though! Anesthesia told me that his affair was with one of my co-workers, but I’d never have guessed you! Why, I never knew you thought of children that way! Guess you don’t like to brag either, eh? You dog, you!” Dr. Marly laughed, still hugging me much too closely.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, still very bewildered by all of this.

“Well, I knew you were passionate about your work with children, but I didn’t realize you were that passionate!” he said, smiling brightly at me, “I didn’t know you were that passionate about your fellow man, either.” What was he talking about?

All at once my attention was turned to lower areas as Anesthesia squeezed his way between Dr. Marly and I, hugging one arm around me while shoving at his father with the other. “Hey, hey! Hands off! He’s mine! You may have seen him first, but I saw him in that way before you!” he exclaimed, glaring at his father as he now purposefully hugged me with both arms.

What the f— “Anesthesia…?” I asked, staring down at the boy with questioning uncertainty. He looked up at me, his eyes growing wide with innocence even as a dark blush crept across his face. “Anesthesia…” I said. My own eyes were slowly growing wide, but it was with realization rather than innocence. I didn’t blush, though.

“Isn’t it great?!” Cloud exclaimed all of the sudden.

“My darling baby boy has his first ever man-crush!” Dr. Marly declared, his hands clasping his face in an overjoyed motion.

“He’s found love at such a young age!” Cloud exclaimed.

“I’m so proud of my son!” Dr. Marly declared. The pair then clasped hands, Cloud swooning as Dr. Marly let out and excited shriek.

Now I was blushing, much despite myself. I turned my gaze back down to the child clinging to me. “…A hug a day keeps the doctor coming my way,” he said softly, innocently, adorably. Crap.

I looked away, willing the heat to depart from my face. While the heat didn‘t entirely leave my face, some of it did relocate to my chest and my stomach. “…Every day,” I agreed softly, slyly, embarrassedly. He hugged me all that much harder after that.