You're the Doctor : Series

I had no classes to attend today. I had no school assignments to catch up on. I had no housework to attend to. I had no errands that I needed to run. For the first time in a long time, I had no work at all which needed to be done. That should have meant that I could stay in my bed all day, and just lay there and be warm and comfortable. I should have been able to just rest and relax. But I couldn't, because I lived with my sister while I was still merely a medical student.

First thing in the morning, my bedroom door burst open as she sang out good morning to me. It was lucky that my brain had already woken me up, being used to getting up by now, or I would've been so startled I'd probably have fallen out of bed. "It's only a good morning if you don't have to get up in the morning," I grumbled. That meant this should have been a good morning for me. But it wasn't, because her bursting in here could only mean she intended to drag me out of bed.

"Don't be so grumpy, Shane! Every morning is a good morning, because it's the beginning of a new day chock-full of wonderful chances to change your life for the better!" she declared as she flounced over to my bed.

Only now did I open my eyes, staring up at her with bleary vision. "...Speaking of changes, you had better change into your nurse uniform before you go to work, or your nurse manager is going to get pissed off and send you home again to change, Cloud," I said as I stifled a yawn.

"But this is a nurse uniform!" she exclaimed, gesturing to her outfit. I arched an eyebrow, giving her a once-over now that my vision was slightly less blurred by sleep. An extremely low-cut, form-fitting, sleeveless, white V-neck nurse scrub dress, accessorized by sheer white, thigh-high stockings, lacy, white, elbow-length fingerless gloves, red-hot heels, and a red medical cross choker hardly qualified as a nurse uniform.

"Fine, go to work dressed like one of those stripping dancers they hire for bachelor parties. I can't stop you. But, mark my words, your boss is going to take one look at you and send you home to change. He's done it a hundred times before, and he'll do it a hundred times more, until you stop showing up to work in those ridiculous outfits," I grumbled as I closed my eyes and pulled the covers over my head.

"I'm not dressed like a stripper! I'm dressed like a nurse! I just don't want to wear those boring and ugly old scrubs like everyone else does!" she exclaimed, "Honestly, what's wrong with wanting to look and feel sexy while doing my job?! It's not like it affects my performance!"

"No, but it sure as Hell affects the performance of those around you. It's unprofessional. Not to mention a bit gross for me, considering you're my sister," I grunted.

"People don't call it unprofessional when businesswomen that work in offices dress sexy! Why is it so unprofessional for a female nurse working in a hospital to dress sexy?" she demanded, now attempting to yank my covers off so I would have to look at her while we had this discussion.

I held tightly onto my covers, not about to let her pull them off of me so that the cool morning air could attack me and steal my warmth away. "For starters, you're dressed slutty, not sexy! For seconds, even when dressed sexily there is a limit to how much sexiness is appropriate in a business setting! For thirds, those businesswomen don't deal with children and teenagers and the sickly and the elderly at their place of work, so it's alright for them to dress a little sexy! For fourths, stop trying to uncover me and go put on some clothes that actually cover you up!" I exclaimed.

"I'm not going to stop trying to uncover you and I'm not going to go change! You're the one that needs to change your clothes!" she declared, now bracing one foot against the side of my bed as she pulled even harder on the covers. She may not get the covers off me, but she was sure going to get me off the bed if she pulled much harder.

"Why should I have to change?! I'm not going anywhere today! I don't have any school or errand stuff to do!" I snapped, now using my entire body to pull against the covers and roll over so I wouldn't end up sliding off the bed.

Abruptly she released the covers, and I ended up rolling over several times, right off the other side of the bed. I hit the floor with a thump that was softened by the fact that I was bundled up in a cocoon of covers. "You're coming to work with me today! I told you that yesterday, remember? It's "Take Your Sibling to Work Day" today!" she exclaimed. Ah, yes, I remembered her telling me about that clearly made-up day of hers.

After a bit of flailing around, I managed to get my head and one arm out of the cover cocoon. I was greeted with the sight of my sister standing over my head, staring straight down at me. If she were not my sister, it would actually be a pretty great view. However, she was my sister, so I was less than excited to get the chance to see that she was wearing hot red panties that had a white medical cross on the crotch.

"Oh my Jesus, you cannot wear that to the hospital!" I blurted out even as I swiftly closed my eyes and covered them with the one hand I had freed from the covers.

"Stop changing the subject back to that! You're not going to get out of coming to the hospital with me today!" she exclaimed.

"I'm not going to the hospital-or to anywhere else-with you while you are dressed like that!" I shouted, blushing furiously as I clamped my eyes shut even more tightly.

There was a pause, during which I could almost hear the gears slowly turning in Cloud's head as she translated my words to mean whatever she wanted them to mean. "...Okay, then! I'll go get changed, and you get changed, too, then we'll go!" she declared. Although I was caught by surprise by her words, I hesitated to open my eyes and stare her in shock because I feared another panty shot.

By the time I did open my eyes, she was already bouncing out of my room to go back to hers and change. I couldn't get up and go after her, as I was still encompassed by the covers. I also could not shout after her, as I was too much in shock even though I expected her to twist my words around to suit herself. ...Well, shit, I guess I was going to the hospital for the first time in a long time.



I had my hood pulled up over my head and my cap pulled down over my face, trying my best to pretend that I was anywhere other than here or that I was anyone other than myself. I hadn't set foot in this hospital since that incident. I hadn't wanted to set foot in here again, either, until afer I had graduated from medical school. Cloud didn't know that, though. She didn't know that because she didn't know about that incident; and she didn't know about that incident because she didn't know of my feelings for him.

Who was "him"? He was a doctor here. He was handsome, humorous, intuitive, and oh so intelligent. It was his intelligence that proved a problem to me. He was too intelligent-far more intelligent than I was. I couldn't keep up with him intellectually. That would only be natural, considering I was still in school, while he had been working in the hospital for years already when I had first met him a few years ago. Even now, when I had just over a year left until I finished my schooling, I felt that there still must be a huge difference between he and I when it came to level of intelligence.

Simply put, I just didn't feel smart enough to even be in his presence, let alone to confess to him. It was that feeling of inadequacy that had caused me to stop coming to see my older sister here in the hospital during her lunch breaks over four years ago. I didn't want to even so much as run the risk of running into that man until I was at least halfway to being worthy of being with him. I wasn't worried about someone else getting with him in the meantime, since I was able to keep updated on him without giving myself away by letting Cloud gossip to me about everyone in the hospital.

But none of that mattered now that I had been dragged here by my sister. Speaking of dragging, she was presently dragging me over to the reception desk. "Mber, do you have that visiting student badge I asked you about the other day?" she asked the male secretary seated behind the desk.

The man looked up from the paperwork he had been viciously scribbling his way through, looking quite surprised to see me here. His surprise, however, swiftly turned to annoyance. "No, I didn't get it, because I honestly didn't think you would get your brother to come with you. After all, you've tried and failed to do so exactly sixty-eight times over the last four or so years. I got tired of at least once a month doing the paperwork for a badge that isn't going to be used," he stated with no small amount of aggravation.

"Oh well! I guess I'll have to go home, then! Sorry to bother you! Have a nice day!" I declared, attempting to pull my wrist free of my sister's grasp so I could make my getaway.

Alas, she wasn't about to relinquish her hold on me. "Oh, no, you don't! You're not going anywhere! Mber, let him use the visitor badge you keep on-hand for when Anesthesia visits Ello!" she said as she dug her nails into my wrist to let me know my attempts to resist her will were starting to actually upset her.

I immediately stopped trying to pull away, knowing that things would only be that much worse if I pissed her off. My sister was one of the sweetest and most tolerant people in the world, but she was pure evil when you actually managed to get her mad. I usually didn't have to worry about that since we got along well enough, what with both of us possessing a passionate nature that came from our shared childhood dream of working in a hospital someday. However, I had been on her bad side once or twice in the past, and it had taught me that I didn't want to invoke her wrath ever again.

"I can't lend you that badge! What'll I do when the kid comes to see Dr. Noel, and the badge isn't here for him to use?! He'll have a tantrum, and then I'll look like a bad guy and get in trouble with Dr. Barnett, Dr. Marly, and Dr. Noel!" Mber snapped.

"That won't happen! Shane is only staying here until lunch. Please, Mber, c'mon. You have to do it, since I wouldn't have to be begging you for this favor if you had gotten the badge for Shane like I asked you to yesterday," Cloud pleaded, doing her best to bat her eyelashes in a manner that was both sweet and seductive.

"Why don't you just let him leave now, I'll do the paperwork for his badge, and you can bring him back tomorrow?" Mber questioningly demanded.

"There's no way I'll be able to get him to come back tomorrow! I was lucky to get him to come today!" Cloud exclaimed, pouting now as she threw me a glance. If that look meant she was hoping I would speak up and say I would return tomorrow if it would save us all some trouble today, then she was out of luck. There was no way I was agreeing to come to this place two days in a row. Even if it was only for a few minutes the first day, it still doubled my chances of running into him.

"What seems to be the problem here?" came a questioning voice from just behind me. Oh my Jesus. It was him. He was standing right behind me. Although I hadn't sensed him coming up, I was now highly aware of just how close in proximity we were. There was a good six inches between us, but still I was suddenly able to distinctly feel every exhalation of his breath in my direction.

"Dr. Tanyar!" Cloud exclaimed, immediately looking pleased to have a doctor, whom could help her out, step into the conversation, "The problem is that I applied yesterday to get my brother a badge so he could visit with me as I went about my work today, but Mber didn't do the paperwork necessary for Shane to get a badge!"

"I didn't think she'd really get him to come! This is only the millionth time she's attempted to drag him back here, and she failed all of those prior times!" Mber swiftly interjected.

"Even if you expected that her brother wouldn't be able to make it today, you still should have gone through with the request and done the necessary paperwork. It's your job," Dr. Tanyar stated simply. My sister looked even more thrilled, and the secretary looked all the more aggravated.

"Exactly what I said! So I suggested that Shane could borrow the badge that is always on reserve for Anesthesia-you know, Dr. Marly's son, the boy that comes here every day to visit Ello-since he's only staying until lunchtime, but Mber refused to do that," Cloud said.

"I refused because I can't do that. I can't reserve a badge for one person and then let another person use it. Especially not since the person it's reserved for might come along and need it while that other person is still using it," Mber explained with frustration. There was a pause now as the doctor thought over both sides of this story, trying to decide who was in the right and who was in the wrong

"Hmmm... Alright, I see how this can be dealt with. Since Mber was supposed to do the paperwork yesterday but did not, he can do it today and date it for yesterday. Since that leaves us with paperwork done but still no badge to use, Shane can borrow Anesthesia's badge. The boy won't arrive until after school lets out, and that's long after lunchtime. And since the boy won't be needing his badge and the paperwork for Shane's badge will have been done, there won't be any record that a badge reserved for one person was used by another; it will just be recorded as two people using separately reserved badges at two different times on the same day," he proposed.

There it was, that undeniable proof that he still was far more intelligent than I was. I never could have thought up that solution-and not just because I didn't want to come up with a way that I would be able to stay at the hospital today. Now I not only had to stay here half the day, but I my worst fear had come true by running into him and having it proven that he was still way out of my league. I was glad he was behind me and thusly couldn't see my expression, because I didn't doubt that I looked deeply distraught right then.

I wasn't the only one who was unhappy by the doctor's proposal. The secretary looked extremely frustrated that the other man had been able to come up with a solution for the problem caused by him. "Tch. Fine. You're the doctor," he grumbled as he opened a desk drawer, snatching the badge reserved for Ane out of it and then thrusting it in Cloud's direction.

"Thank you for the brilliant idea, Dr. Tanyar! And thank you for seeing things my way, Mber!" Cloud chirped delightedly as she took the badge and turned around to clip it onto the breast of my hoodie.

"Yeah, thanks a lot," I said with not half the delight my sister felt.

"Have a nice day," Cloud chirped to the secretary as she now dragged me off. He grumbled something in reply and, though I couldn't make it out, I was fairly certain he had said that having a nice day on a workday was impossible. Dr. Tanyar walked beside Cloud and I, presumably since he had just gotten to the hospital and was headed to his office. "So, Dr. Tanyar, are you having a good morning?" my sister asked all too happily.

"I'm having a most excellent morning, actually. And yourselves?" he replied with a warm smile.

"I'm having a most excellent morning as well!" Cloud declared, "Shane's morning doesn't seem to be going too well, though," she added with a gleeful giggle.

"Oh? Why is that, may I ask, Shane?" Dr. Tanyar asked, sliding me a curious and somewhat concerned look. Right then I really wished my hoodie was the kind that drawstrings, so that I could yank them as tightly as possible to close the hood over my face. Of course, to do that I would first have to take off my hat...

"He doesn't like coming to the hospital, for some reason! That's why you haven't seen him here in years. I think he might've developed a little something like stage fright, maybe? You know, since he's in medical school and all. Like an actor who is nervous about his first performance in a play, he's nervous about how things will go when he's finally graduates and gets an internship here," Cloud exclaimed, quick to answer the doctor's question when I hesitated to reply.

I stopped dead in my tracks upon hearing the conclusion my sister had come to and the analogy she had drawn from it, feeling absolutely aghast over how she had just blurted that out to the man I was secretly in love with. "I'm not frightened! I know I'll perform my duties just fine when I'm an intern here!" I shouted. Clearly I didn't really take the time to consider the fact that shouting made it very difficult for everyone within hearing range to not unintentionally eavesdrop on this highly embarrassing conversation.

"I know you're not afraid, but it's alright to be nervous, Shane! I was nervous my first few days here, too, if you'll recall," Cloud assured me, not bothered by how I had raised my voice at her.

"I'm not nervous! And even if I was, I've got over a year of schooling left before I become an intern here, so I'd have plenty of time to get over it! So don't go around telling everyone in the hospital that I'm nervous, 'cause I'm not!" I snapped.

Before this discussion could further morph into an argument, Dr. Tanyar interjected. "Your schooling over the years sure has helped you to mature and change, hasn't it, Shane?" he asked.

Immediately I whipped my head around and up to look at him, a very light blush already playing upon my cheeks. "Wh-What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, I just mean that you seem to have a lot more confidence and resolve now. When you used to come here to see your sister, you just silently stayed by her side. You would hardly speak at all, even when you were spoken to; and when you did speak, you always spoke so softly that you were almost inaudible. You appeared to be so timid and bashful. Most of us doctors were actually afraid to talk to you, because we thought we might scare you," he answered with a sunny smile and a soft chuckle.

"I actually would have agreed with Cloud's "stage fright" theory back then, with how you acted. I can tell now, though, that you definitely don't have any such sort of fright or nervousness. And I must agree that you'll probably do quite well once you finally graduate and enter into an internship at the hospital here. I am very much looking forward to being able to work with you in the future," he added warmly.

As a flaming blush shot across my face, I swiftly whirled around to be facing away from the doctor, instinctively grabbing onto my sister's arm with both my hands, squeezing it hard as I ducked my head. Oh my Jesus, I couldn't believe he had just said that! Dr. Tanyar had just praised me! My heart was pounding so hard and fast that I could barely think! But I had to respond! I couldn't say nothing when he had said all of that! "Tha...Thank you, Dr. Tanyar. I'm very much looking forward to being able to work with you, too," I said, struggling not to stutter and to speak in a normal tone of voice.

Only after I finished speaking did I dare peek up at my sister's face, hoping her expression might give me an idea of what Dr. Tanyar's expression was at the moment. Surely they were both a bit puzzled over what was seemingly the sudden return of my past bashfulness. However, my sister did not look at all puzzled. Actually, she looked as though she suddenly had realized exactly what was going on. Oh shit. I forgot she and some of her co-workers were yaoi fanatics. She definitely had just figured out that I had a massive crush on Dr. Tanyar.

Suddenly the look of realization was replaced with a look of pure, unadulterated joy. "You know, I just had a great idea! Instead of visiting with me until lunchtime, he can visit with you! It'll help him get a look at a doctor's day in the hospital! That'll prepare him much better than yet another look at a nurse's day in the hospital, since he's going to be a doctor, not a nurse!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Naturally, I was too shocked and horrified by this suggestion to object. My jaw literally dropped agape and I just stared at her with unmasked terror. I was not at all afraid of working in the hospital. I was, however, very much afraid of working with Dr. Tanyar. Even if I wouldn't actually be working but instead would merely be observing, the thought of having to spend half of the day following him around as he worked terrified me. I was not prepared for this! I wasn't ready yet! I wasn't good enough yet! Why was she doing this to me?!

"Hmmm.... Well, I don't have too many appointments scheduled before lunch today, so he might not get to see too much work being done. If he's fine with that, though, then I'd be glad to have him accompany me today," the doctor replied. He spoke to my sister rather than me, having picked up on the fact that I likely wouldn't respond. Of course, he thought it was due to me feeling bashful all over again, not due to simultaneous shock and horror.

"He's fine with that! I'll go tell Mber now before he does the paperwork, so he doesn't have to redo it! You two go on! I'll see you at lunch, Shane! You have to come eat with me before leaving, after all! Unless you two end up going out to lunch together! Then you can just find me before you go to tell me and say goodbye!" Cloud exclaimed. With that she swiftly pried her arm from my hands and took off down the hallway back to the reception area, waving over her shoulder at us.

Now I was stuck in a nightmare come true: I was in the hospital with Dr. Tanyar, unqualified and unprepared to be alongside him. I would say I wished that I would suddenly be struck by a debilitating illness that would make it impossible for me to follow the doctor around today, except that he would probably end up being the one to treat said illness. That would only make me look even more incompetent and unintelligent. I didn't want that.

"Looks like it's just you and me, Shane," Dr. Tanyar said, drawing my gaze to himself. I stared at him for a beat in a bit of a stupor, then swiftly looked away as my blush from before returned. "...Well, before we do anything else, I need to go to my office to make sure everything is in order, okay?" he asked as he offered up a fresh smile.

"You're the doctor," I answered in reply, my voice noticeably softer than normal. Oh, man, I really was deteriorating back to how I had acted in this hospital years ago. What did he think of me now that I was returning to being mousy? This was shameful. I wanted to just turn around and run out of the hospital, but that would only make it worse...

After waiting a moment for me to make a motion showing that I would follow him and receiving no such motion, he settled on reaching out with his hand hovering just at my back so that he could push me along if necessary. "Come along, then. The offices are this way, if you don't remember," he said. I just nodded my head meekly, moving forward only when he did to walk beside him.

When we got to his office and went in, he explained to me everything he was doing as he went about the task of making sure everything was in order. I just stood beside his desk in silence, observing what he did and occasionally giving a curt nod when he asked if I was following him. After about fifteen minutes of this, he had covered everything and felt that his day was all in order. "We're good to go, it seems. So, since my first appointment for the day isn't for a while still, what would you like to do in the meantime?" he inquired.

"....You're the doctor," I replied after a moment of thought. In other words, I hadn't the faintest clue. Or, rather, what I would like to do-namely, leaving the hospital and not returning until I was an intern here-I couldn't exactly say.

He was a silent for a moment, staring at me with deep thought, his mouth drawn into a tight line that almost could be called a frown. All of the sudden a smile broke out on his face as he rose from he seat and came around the desk to stand in front of me. "You're exactly right, Shane, I am a doctor; and you will be a doctor one day, too. Since it's basically a given that when that day comes, you will be working here, I should introduce you to all of the other doctors. You met them back when your sister started working here, but you never really got to know many of them," he said.

Oh, man.... What had I gotten myself into now? Why couldn't I have just asked for a tour of the hospital or something? Even though I actually remembered where everything was, I could still use a refresher tour, I'm sure. But it was too late now. I couldn't argue with him when I had basically said I'd do whatever he thought we should. "Sounds go to me," I agreed weakly.

A short few minutes later, he had gathered a good number of the other doctors in the breakroom for a bit of a meet-and-greet session. As it were, one of the doctors he had gotten to come was Dr. Barnett, the chief physician and surgeon of the hospital. Naturally, being the boss, he had taken over the little get-together after being informed of what was going on.

"I'd like to thank you all for taking a little of the precious time out of your busy schedules to drop in here for a small chat. Now, as most of you may recall, when Ms. Cloud Holde joined the ranks of our nursing staff almost five years ago, we got the pleasure of meeting not only her, but also her little brother as well. And, as you may also recall, back then little Shane here," Dr. Barnett stated, gesturing to me now, "had just enrolled in a medical school that offered combined undergraduate and medical school programs."

"For a while there we were fortunate enough that Shane blessed us here with his presence after his classes almost daily. Of course, as we all do recall, attending medical school is quite grueling work, and only more so when you're on a combined degree program. So Shane hasn't had even a moment to spare us for years. However, as his final year of schooling approaches, he's working to find the time to reacquaint himself with our hospital and with us all so that he will already be fully familiar with his colleagues and work environment when he enters an internship with us," the doctor finished.

It would have been both appropriate and polite of me to then say hello or something of the sort. As it were, however, after that little speech by Dr. Barnett I was so deeply embarrassed that I could not say a single word. So I just stood there and stared at all of the older, more mature, more intelligent men, looking rather like a deer caught in the headlights. This nightmare-come-to-life was getting worse and worse with every second that it continued. I could not even begin to imagine how horrible it would be by the time lunchtime came around and I would be set free from this horror of horrors.

Noting my anxiety, Dr. Tanyar attempted to lend me a hand. "Ah, is there anyone you see that you don't remember from before, Shane? Someone with an unfamiliar face, or who you can't quite recall the name of?" he asked. Swiftly and vigorously I shook my head no, not yet having located my mysteriously vanished ability to vocalize my answer.

Suddenly one of the doctors stepped forward, offering up a smile. "You remember even me, Shane, even though I wasn't a doctor when you visited us last?" he asked. Yes, I remembered him. He was Nurse Kenjiro-or, well, Dr. Kenjiro now. I nodded my head now, this time less forcefully, but I still did not speak. His smile wavered a bit at my lack of verbal response.

Seeming to notice the small waver in Dr. Kenjiro's smile, one of the other doctors reached out to put a hand on his shoulder and pull him back from me. "He's speechless, Dr. Kenjiro. I do believe Dr. Barnett's speech embarrassed the poor boy to the point of muteness," the other man, Dr. Sanjit, stated lightly.

Immediately all of the other doctors' faces lit up with realization and also some small amount of amusement. Great. They knew I was embarrassed, and they found it humorous. Only now was said embarrassment displayed in the form of a bright blush coming to my face.  "Oh, dear, I didn't intend to embarrass you like that, Shane. I profusely apologize if I did," Dr. Barnett said, offering up an apologetic smile.

I simply shook my head, signaling that it was alright and that I accepted his apology. At least, that's what I was trying to signal. "Oop, I think he's mad at you, Dr. Barnett," Dr. Maveric said with a wry smile.

"Yep. Looks to me like he's pretty upset with you, Averil. You really embarrassed him too badly," Dr. Dhynam said with a chuckle. Several of the other doctors chuckled as well, showing that my signal had not actually been misread, but that they were merely teasing both Dr. Barnett and myself.

"You're going to have to offer a much better apology to make up for it, I do believe, Dr. Barnett," Dr. Malcolm said with a soft smirk.

"Offer a better apology, you say? Well, alright," Dr. Barnett said, smiling as he turned to me, "Shane, would it make it up to you if I offered to let you get a small jump on your internship over the break you'll have between the end of this school year for you and the beginning of your final school year?"

At that offer, I could not keep the horror off my face. The last thing I was wanted was to spend time working in this hospital before I had graduated! Why was my luck today so terrible?! What, had I broken a mirror in my sleep or something!? This was like worst case scenario type stuff that was happening! Why was this happening to me?!?

"I don't think that did the trick. He looks even more upset than before," Dr. Dhynam said, being the first to react to my rather-lacking-of-enthusiasm reaction to Dr. Barnett's offer.

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Dray. I think I can see that for myself," Dr. Barnett stated flatly, shooting the other doctor a dark look.

"You know, Shane, maybe you actually do have stage fright after all," Dr. Tanyar said weakly. As he spoke he loosely wrapped his arms around me from behind and pulled me back against him, presumably to help calm me down somewhat. Of course, that didn't do anything to calm me down. If anything, I was even more terrified now. I would have been hyperventilating by that point, were it not for the fact that I could barely breathe.

Just then, the breakroom door swung open. Everyone turned their attention immediately to the intruder. Only, it wasn't an intruder. It was another doctor. And one that I actually knew from outside of the hospital, because Cloud and he were friends from their years in medical school. "Ello!" I blurted out for I don't know what reason. Probably I did it because it seemed he arrived just in time to rescue me from this painfully embarrassing situation.
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"Shane, I heard you were here! What's going on?" Ello asked as he swiftly strode over, attempting to take me from Dr. Tanyar's arms. I say "attempting" because Dr. Tanyar actually wouldn't release me; so I ended up being held by both of them, sandwiched between the two. So much for being rescued.

"Averil said something to upset the kid," Dr. Dhynam spoke up.

"Why did you say to him? Did you say something about him not working here in the future?" Ello asked, looking with confusion to Dr. Barnett.

"Just the opposite, in fact. I told him that, if he wanted, he could get a head start on his internship here over his next break from school," Dr. Barnett stated.

"No, he was upset before that. Your speech upset him. It embarrassed him so badly he can't even speak," Dr. Dhynam said.

"Although, the offered head start on his internship actually did seem to make Shane all the more upset, for some reason beyond any of our grasps..." Dr. Kenjiro added in, then narrowing his eyes slightly as he slid Dr. Sanjit a glance, "Dr. Sanjit...?"

"I didn't do a single thing to the boy, presently or at any time in the past," Dr. Sanjit stated flatly, putting his hands up as a sign of innocence.

"Wait, you think someone did something to Shane to make him afraid of coming here?" Dr. Barnett, Dr. Tanyar, and Ello asked simultaneously.

"...Well, it was...just a thought..." Dr. Kenjiro responded uncertainly.

"A thought caused by what, may I ask?" Dr. Barnett asked, "I'm assuming you wouldn't draw such a theory out of thin air."

"It's just...well, I was a nurse back then, so I saw him around a bit more than any of you did, since he was with Cloud all the time...and, well, he did seem to act far more timid around doctors than any of the other staff..." Dr. Kenjiro said. As he trailed off, slowly all eyes in the room turned back to me. The gazes were those of horrified wonder and distraught disbelief.

Oh my Jesus, now they were all thinking one of the doctors had attacked me or something of the sort! And I couldn't correct them, since then I would have to explain what actually had me so very terrified! What was I going to do now?! I couldn't let them keep thinking that! It would be too terrible of me to! But it would be too terrible to tell the truth! I had to do something! Think! Think! What to do!?

Again the breakroom door swung open as the cavalry came riding to my rescue. This time the cavalry consisted of my sister, along with several dozen other nurses. Great. Now there could be a doctors versus nurses showdown. Seriously, though, this was not the cavalry I wanted. They would do nothing to help me keep my secret, if they were headed by my very own yaoi fanatic sister. And I see she had her fellow yaoi fanatics there as her generals of war. Fantastic. I was doomed.

"...Am I to assume, Cloud, that you wished for your brother to become reacquainted with the nurses as well?" Dr. Barnett asked as the nurses marched into the room.

"No! We're here to support Shane and cheer him on as he confesses!" Cloud announced without an ounce of shame. Okay, I officially wanted to die. Right there. On the spot. I wanted to just drop dead.

"Confess? So you brought him here today because he told you about it?" Dr. Barnett asked. Oh no! No! The doctors all still thought I'd been assaulted!

"...Wait, are we too late? Did he confess already?" asked China, one of my sister's fellow nurses and fellow yaoi fanatics.

"He hasn't admitted to anything. We figured it out on our own, though, by how he was acting," Dr. Maveric stated.

"Aw, man, we are too late! Damnit, Cloud, I told you we didn't need to round up all the nurses for this, just because he's your brother!" Christina, another nurse and yaoi fanatic, exclaimed with clear annoyance.

"What do you mean "missed it"? And do you mean to say that you all know who is the culprit?" Dr. Tanyar demanded.

"...Wait a second, you don't know who yet?" Cloud asked.

"Wait a minute, did you just refer to Shane's love interest as "the culprit"?" Candy asked. He was, of course, another nurse; and, despite being a male, he was also a third and the final yaoi fanatic.

"Love interest?!?" all of the doctors exclaimed simultaneously, looking at me with great shock.

"Yeah, love interest! What did you think we were talking about?" Christina asked.

"We were under the impression that one of the doctors who works here had assaulted Shane," Dr. Barnett stated darkly.

At that, several of the nurses gasped, including my sister. "No! No one here would do that! And Shane would've told me if they had! How did he give you that impression?!" Cloud asked.

"He didn't," Dr. Tanyar growled, sliding a furious glare over to Dr. Kenjiro, who was now looking quite guilty and apologetic.

"I told you, it was just a thought!" he said with a cringe, his voice rather weak despite how he exclaimed the words.

"Well now, there's really no reason for any of us to be upset at anyone else now that we all know that Shane was not, in fact, assaulted by any member of the staff, doctor or otherwise," Dr. Sanjit said, swiftly coming to Dr. Kenjiro's rescue.

"Are you sure he wasn't? I mean, he didn't correct you, did he? So maybe he was assaulted," Christina suggested, sounding awfully hopeful considering what she was saying.

"He wasn't assaulted, Christina! He's just embarrassed because he's in love with Dr. Tanyar!" Cloud snapped, having also taken notice of the hopeful note in the other nurse's voice and not having appreciated that hopefulness anymore than I had.

Of course, I appreciated even less what my sister had just blurted out. Which I was about to vocalize now that my voice miraculously and suddenly returned to me. "Cloud, I can't believe you just shouted that! Thanks for telling the whole damn world!" I shouted, completely red-faced as I glared across the breakroom at her.

"So it's true?" came a questioning voice from just behind me. Oh my Jesus. It was him. He was standing right behind me. Although I had known that, being that he still had his arms around me, it had somehow slipped my mind just now. As my head whipped around so I could look at him, a feeling of complete mortification overcame me. I was so mortified that all I could do was turn my head away again, stare straight down at the floor, and do my best not to burst into tears on the spot. This was the worst.

There was a silence that spanned over about a minute as everyone waited for me to either confirm or deny the claim, or for Dr. Tanyar to respond to my inadvertent not-quite-confession. "...Well, this is awkward," Dr. Dhynam stated out of the blue.

"No, Dray, what this is, is a waste of time," Dr. Barnett said suddenly. Everyone, save for myself, looked over at him at that, confused as to why he had said. "...What are you all standing around staring at me for? Get your asses out of this breakroom and get to work! This isn't a damned office party! Move it!" the doctor snapped, curtly waving his arm out a few times in a gesture for everyone to shoo.

Immediately those in the room began moving swiftly to the door-except for Dr. Barnett, Dr. Tanyar, and myself. Even Ello and Cloud left, the former first having to relinquish me fully back to Dr. Tanyar finally. It was only after everyone but we three had gone that Dr. Barnett headed for the door himself, making no gesture to suggest that he expected us to follow him and leave as well.

He paused then in the doorway, looking back at us over his shoulder. "...You have until lunch to sort everything out, Dr. Tanyar. I'll handle your appointments for today until then. However, I would prefer if you would move things from the breakroom to your office, if you find yourselves needing more privacy... Even my command to get to work won't keep those busybody nurses away from here for very long," he stated flatly. And with that, he was gone. And with that, Dr. Tanyar and I were alone. And with that, I wanted to curl up and die.

"...So...." Dr. Tanyar said softly after a moment, causing me to almost flinch in fear at it became clear that he wanted to talk about this rather than let me die in peace, "...you were avoiding the hospital....because of you were lovesick...and you didn't trust me to "cure" you..."

I couldn't help but look up at him in shock. The way he had phrased that just... It made it sound like he was hurt because he liked me back. His expression was a touch hurt, but I couldn't see any sign to confirm that he might possibly have similar feelings for me. I must have misheard. Rather, I had made myself hear what I wanted to hear. He may have been hurt because I had been hiding this from him, but there was no way he liked me anywhere near the way I liked him.

"N-No..." I said, shaking my head weakly as I looked away, pushing down my hood and pulling off my cap, "...I...just... I wasn't lovesick. I'm not lovesick. I wasn't avoiding the hospital because I don't trust you. I was....I....I didn't want to.... I wanted to confess...but....only....only once I was worthy of working alongside you..." I said, my voice very soft as I struggled to find the right words to say.

I had never really thought about what I would say when the time came to confess, since it always had been and even now was still far off. At least, it should have been far off, but it seemed I just had done it without meaning or wanting to. Somehow things just weren't working out like I had planned for them to. I had messed up big time. I didn't know what to do now. How could I fix this? Could this even be fixed? Was there any hope at all to salvage my life's work or the love of my life?

I looked up as the doctor suddenly took my cap from my hands. "Snug fit," he informed me as he tugged it into place on his head. Of course, by "into place", I meant "on backwards". "How do I look?" he asked.

"....Um...I...I don't know how to say this nicely, but you look kind of ridiculous..." I said, staring up at him with a bizarre mixture of emotions that I couldn't even make out. Seriously, he did look utterly ridiculous. Maybe it was just because I idolized him, but wearing a cap at all did not seem to suit him-let alone wearing one backwards while the rest of his outfit was otherwise that of a very professional doctor and mature man.

"Do I look more like someone you're worthy of working alongside?" he inquired curiously, still smiling at me.

I couldn't help but gasp just softly at that question, then swiftly turning my gaze away. "It's not about how you appear, Dr. Tanyar..." I muttered.

"Please, won't you call me by my first name, Shane?" he asked now.

"...It's not about how I address you, either, Dr. Kreyt," I mumbled after a moment of hesitation over whether or not I should oblige his request.

"Well, neither is it about whether you're worthy to work alongside me, Shane," he replied without any hesitation whatsoever.

I couldn't help but look back at him at that, shocked by his words. "What do you mean?" I asked. I almost demanded it, really.

"Love. It's not about whether you're worthy to work alongside someone, but whether you're worthy to stand beside them. And you were more than worthy enough to stand beside me years ago, Shane. Honestly, I felt I was the one who wasn't worthy of standing beside you. I didn't feel worthy, and I was scared I might scare you, so I never really tried to approach you," he explained softly, a note-no, a whole song of love sounding in his tone and showing in his eyes.

"I was actually pretty upset when you stopped coming to the hospital. I kept tabs on you via Dr. Noel, though, since I knew he was schoolmates with your sister. I've been patiently waiting for the day you would graduate and come to work in the hospital. I was sure I could become worthy of being beside you by the time that happened," he informed me, the most loving smile on his face as he stared down at me.

I just stared at him, my mouth for the second time that day hanging agape because I was so shocked to hear those words. However, unlike before, I was not terrified. Nor was I horrified. I wasn't frightened or upset in any shape, way, or formed. I was just dumbstruck...and lovestruck. I had to respond, but I had no idea how to react to that beyond shock. I mean, clearly I should be overjoyed-and I was! I just...It just was so astounding that we both had fallen in love and then been working these past many years to become worthy of each other, all without the other ever knowing.

Seeming to sense the fact that I could not for the life of me figure out what came next, Dr. Tanyar-rather, Dr. Kreyt decided to put his higher level of intelligence to good use. Using the fact that his arms even after all this time were still wrapped around me, he turned me around to fully face him. Then sliding one arm from around me, he cupped my face in his hand as he leaned down to brush his lips against mine ever so lightly. "....How about we go back to my office to work our way through some of the remedies I know for lovesickness?" he asked in a very suggestive, seductive whisper.

"Ah, but...I told you....I'm not lovesick..." I murmured, a blush unlike any other I had felt before lighting up my face.

"Hey, now, who is the doctor here, you or me?" he asked, arching an eyebrow at me even as one corner of his mouth twitched up in a smirk.

"You're the doctor," I answered sheepishly, blushing all the more.

"That's right. And if I diagnose you with lovesickness, then you're lovesick-no ifs, ands, or buts about it," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Yes, Dr. Kreyt," I agreed. I might have nodded my head, but his hand was still cupping my face and wouldn't allow for me to move it.

"...Good. Now, let's go play doctor, shall we?" he purred, switching to arching his other eyebrow as he waited to see if I would argue with him again or not.

"You're the doctor," I replied, essentially assenting to his plan. The sound of only half stifled giggling and the shuffling of feet could now distinctly be heard in the hallway. Undoubtedly my sister and her friends had returned to eavesdrop, as Dr. Barnett had predicted. Now that they knew things were all settled, they were scurrying off to return to work, thinking that we were none the wiser. I didn't feel compelled to chase them down and let them known otherwise, as I found playing doctor with Dr. Kreyt to be a much more worthwhile use of my time here in the hospital.