[Fanfic] Code Blue - An Extended Epilogue 12
Title: An Extended Epilogue
Fandom: Code Blue
Author's Note: The road to reconciliation is never a straight path. Just when you think things would go in one direction, Fate kicks you straight to a brick wall. And then all you can do is get back up again.
“So our protégé is back?” Dr. Saijo asked offhandedly as he examined a patient’s MRI. His assistant chuckled. “Their flight arrived last night. Pretty rough, or so Kurosaki said. They should be back at work tomorrow.”
“Mmhmm. Good timing too.” Dr. Saijo pushed away from the desk and placed the MRI against the backlight to see better. “The patient who was admitted last night, how’s his condition?”
“Stable, he’s ready for the operation today.” The assistant took out a patient file. “His family already signed the necessary forms, so we’re good to go.”
“Great. Yet another day in Neurosurgery. You can pass some cases to Kurosaki and Aizawa tomorrow, they can do with a bit of work.” Dr. Saijo stood up and stretched, preparing himself for the day ahead.
Halfway across town, Aizawa Kousaku awoke well into the afternoon and for a moment felt disoriented. It took a few minutes for him to remember he was off from work for the day, and he had already spent most of it in bed. Great. Deciding he should at least salvage what's left of his day, he went to visit his grandmother. Having missed the chance to see her before he flew to New York, he was nonetheless pleased to see her greet him jubilantly. “Kousaku!” The elderly woman hugged him. “You seem a little thinner. Are you eating alright?”
“I’m fine, grandma.” He smiled, one of those rare occasions when he actually felt happy enough to show it. “I brought you apples.”
“How is work? Are you still flying in the helicopter?”
Amidst the conversation he monitored her progress silently; no signs of Alzheimer although she did seem a little short of breath. Since she was diagnosed with pneumonia a few months ago that’s to be expected. She was losing muscle strength and could no longer walk without a stable cane. Other than that his grandmother was still in good health, and that reassured him.
“Kousaku?”
He blinked back to reality and resumed cutting up the apple, neatly arranging it on a plastic plate. Autopilot mode had kicked in. “Sorry grandma, I was thinking,” He speared an apple slice and carefully held it up to Kinue’s mouth. “What were you saying?”
Kinue chewed and swallowed before talking again. “I asked if you remember Mizue-chan from middle school. The grocer’s daughter.”
He frowned as he tried to remember. He never was very good with faces, so it took a minute before he could hazard a guess. “Mizue… Kaneda Mizue?”
“That’s her,” Kinue smiled brightly. “She’s a volunteer here, comes every Tuesday to play shogi with the old men and chat with us old ladies. She was really surprised to hear you’re a doctor now.”
Kousaku could hear the pride in her voice and that teased another smile out of him. “Sounds like you have fun here.”
“She’s still single too.”
His heart instantly lurched and he closed his eyes. So that's what it was. “… Grandma…”
Kinue reacted to this with a troubled pout. “It didn’t hurt to try,” Kinue patted his cheek. “It would really make me happy to see you settle down with a family, Kousaku.”
“I will. Eventually.”
Kinue drew a long sigh and looked at the clock on the wall. “Dear me, is it so late already? You should go home soon Kousaku, it’s going to be dark in a bit.”
He resisted the urge to tell her that he was not eight years old - instead he nodded and squeezed her hand. “I’ll come again soon.”
“On a Tuesday, if you can,” Kinue clearly was still mischievous. Just then Kousaku’s phone beeped and he took it out. It was a text message from Kazuo.
Yo! You free tonight? Let’s meet up at Mary Jane’s bar and you can tell us all about New York! Come on, there’ll be chicks. I need you here man!
Kousaku scowled. He could just imagine Kazuo’s pleading face.
A minute later Kazuo groaned as he read the reply text. "He said no."
"You just had to try, didn't you?" Mihoko snickered as she finished signing off the reports and stacking them. Haruka smiled. "Pretend to be a girl, Dr. Fujikawa. He might say yes."
Kazuo scowled at them. “You girls are a buzzkill. But you’re coming right, Saejima?”
“I don’t know, one of my relatives might fall sick tonight,” Haruka sighed as she gathered up her stuff and headed out of the door, leaving a laughing Mihoko. In truth she had taken the graveyard shift and needed the few hours rest in between. As she approached the elevator, she noticed the yellow tape across it. “Great, it’s still under repair.”
The other elevator was at the other end of the corridor, and she wasn’t in the mood to walk that far. Making a quick decision, she headed for the stairs. Coming up to it, she noticed Megumi walking down carrying a large box in her arms. Frowning, she was about to rush up to help when she noticed Megumi swaying slightly, then tottering like a vase tipping over. Alarm kicked in and she lurched forward. “Dr. Shiraishi!”
Too late, the doctor pitched forward and everything fell. As Megumi’s body hit the stairs, Haruka thought she heard a crack, but in the heat of the moment all she could think about was stopping her young friend from rolling down and getting even more injured. In a heartbeat she was kneeling next to her, carefully checking her body for any visible injuries. Alarmingly she realized Megumi didn’t slip or lose her balance - she fell because she fainted! “Dr. Shirashi!”
“What happened?” Mihoko came by and quickly approached when she saw who it was. “Shiraishi!?”
“She’s unconscious, we need to get her to a bed,” Haruka worriedly looked around and signaled for an attendant to come as Mihoko checked over her colleague. As they waited for a gurney, Haruka noticed a bruise developing on Megumi’s left arm. “Is it broken?” Haruka worriedly voiced and Mihoko bit her lip as she sqiftly checked for other signs of trauma. Seeing the other doctor hesitate, Haruka ventured; “Should we get an x-ray to confirm it?”
“… I could, but we can’t risk it without her consent.” Mihoko said tightly and stared down at the unconscious Megumi and for the millionth time berated her friend for her stubbornness. Haruka looked at her in confusion. "Why not?"
“..." Mihoko inhaled and hung her head for a moment before looking up at Haruka in frustration.
"Shiraishi is pregnant.”
Haruka's stunned expression said it all.
"I said you guys go ahead without me,"
Kazuo grimaced and looked at the phone before trying again. "Come on Aizawa, it's not often we get together these days! It's just an hour or two okay?"
"Don't you have better things to do - "
Kazuo blinked when he saw a gurney rush past. "... Shiraishi?" He quickly bolted out of the door and caught up with the travelling gurney. "Oi, what happened to her?"
"She fainted while walking down the stairs," Haruka said in a clipped tone. "Seems she had sustained injury, we're going to check."
"No way..." Kazuo breathed. "But why aren't you heading for the x-ray rooms!?"
"Argh!" Mihoko growled and ignored him.
On the other end of the phone, Kousaku started to run.
Fandom: Code Blue
Author's Note: The road to reconciliation is never a straight path. Just when you think things would go in one direction, Fate kicks you straight to a brick wall. And then all you can do is get back up again.
“So our protégé is back?” Dr. Saijo asked offhandedly as he examined a patient’s MRI. His assistant chuckled. “Their flight arrived last night. Pretty rough, or so Kurosaki said. They should be back at work tomorrow.”
“Mmhmm. Good timing too.” Dr. Saijo pushed away from the desk and placed the MRI against the backlight to see better. “The patient who was admitted last night, how’s his condition?”
“Stable, he’s ready for the operation today.” The assistant took out a patient file. “His family already signed the necessary forms, so we’re good to go.”
“Great. Yet another day in Neurosurgery. You can pass some cases to Kurosaki and Aizawa tomorrow, they can do with a bit of work.” Dr. Saijo stood up and stretched, preparing himself for the day ahead.
Halfway across town, Aizawa Kousaku awoke well into the afternoon and for a moment felt disoriented. It took a few minutes for him to remember he was off from work for the day, and he had already spent most of it in bed. Great. Deciding he should at least salvage what's left of his day, he went to visit his grandmother. Having missed the chance to see her before he flew to New York, he was nonetheless pleased to see her greet him jubilantly. “Kousaku!” The elderly woman hugged him. “You seem a little thinner. Are you eating alright?”
“I’m fine, grandma.” He smiled, one of those rare occasions when he actually felt happy enough to show it. “I brought you apples.”
“How is work? Are you still flying in the helicopter?”
Amidst the conversation he monitored her progress silently; no signs of Alzheimer although she did seem a little short of breath. Since she was diagnosed with pneumonia a few months ago that’s to be expected. She was losing muscle strength and could no longer walk without a stable cane. Other than that his grandmother was still in good health, and that reassured him.
“Kousaku?”
He blinked back to reality and resumed cutting up the apple, neatly arranging it on a plastic plate. Autopilot mode had kicked in. “Sorry grandma, I was thinking,” He speared an apple slice and carefully held it up to Kinue’s mouth. “What were you saying?”
Kinue chewed and swallowed before talking again. “I asked if you remember Mizue-chan from middle school. The grocer’s daughter.”
He frowned as he tried to remember. He never was very good with faces, so it took a minute before he could hazard a guess. “Mizue… Kaneda Mizue?”
“That’s her,” Kinue smiled brightly. “She’s a volunteer here, comes every Tuesday to play shogi with the old men and chat with us old ladies. She was really surprised to hear you’re a doctor now.”
Kousaku could hear the pride in her voice and that teased another smile out of him. “Sounds like you have fun here.”
“She’s still single too.”
His heart instantly lurched and he closed his eyes. So that's what it was. “… Grandma…”
Kinue reacted to this with a troubled pout. “It didn’t hurt to try,” Kinue patted his cheek. “It would really make me happy to see you settle down with a family, Kousaku.”
“I will. Eventually.”
Kinue drew a long sigh and looked at the clock on the wall. “Dear me, is it so late already? You should go home soon Kousaku, it’s going to be dark in a bit.”
He resisted the urge to tell her that he was not eight years old - instead he nodded and squeezed her hand. “I’ll come again soon.”
“On a Tuesday, if you can,” Kinue clearly was still mischievous. Just then Kousaku’s phone beeped and he took it out. It was a text message from Kazuo.
Yo! You free tonight? Let’s meet up at Mary Jane’s bar and you can tell us all about New York! Come on, there’ll be chicks. I need you here man!
Kousaku scowled. He could just imagine Kazuo’s pleading face.
A minute later Kazuo groaned as he read the reply text. "He said no."
"You just had to try, didn't you?" Mihoko snickered as she finished signing off the reports and stacking them. Haruka smiled. "Pretend to be a girl, Dr. Fujikawa. He might say yes."
Kazuo scowled at them. “You girls are a buzzkill. But you’re coming right, Saejima?”
“I don’t know, one of my relatives might fall sick tonight,” Haruka sighed as she gathered up her stuff and headed out of the door, leaving a laughing Mihoko. In truth she had taken the graveyard shift and needed the few hours rest in between. As she approached the elevator, she noticed the yellow tape across it. “Great, it’s still under repair.”
The other elevator was at the other end of the corridor, and she wasn’t in the mood to walk that far. Making a quick decision, she headed for the stairs. Coming up to it, she noticed Megumi walking down carrying a large box in her arms. Frowning, she was about to rush up to help when she noticed Megumi swaying slightly, then tottering like a vase tipping over. Alarm kicked in and she lurched forward. “Dr. Shiraishi!”
Too late, the doctor pitched forward and everything fell. As Megumi’s body hit the stairs, Haruka thought she heard a crack, but in the heat of the moment all she could think about was stopping her young friend from rolling down and getting even more injured. In a heartbeat she was kneeling next to her, carefully checking her body for any visible injuries. Alarmingly she realized Megumi didn’t slip or lose her balance - she fell because she fainted! “Dr. Shirashi!”
“What happened?” Mihoko came by and quickly approached when she saw who it was. “Shiraishi!?”
“She’s unconscious, we need to get her to a bed,” Haruka worriedly looked around and signaled for an attendant to come as Mihoko checked over her colleague. As they waited for a gurney, Haruka noticed a bruise developing on Megumi’s left arm. “Is it broken?” Haruka worriedly voiced and Mihoko bit her lip as she sqiftly checked for other signs of trauma. Seeing the other doctor hesitate, Haruka ventured; “Should we get an x-ray to confirm it?”
“… I could, but we can’t risk it without her consent.” Mihoko said tightly and stared down at the unconscious Megumi and for the millionth time berated her friend for her stubbornness. Haruka looked at her in confusion. "Why not?"
“..." Mihoko inhaled and hung her head for a moment before looking up at Haruka in frustration.
"Shiraishi is pregnant.”
Haruka's stunned expression said it all.
"I said you guys go ahead without me,"
Kazuo grimaced and looked at the phone before trying again. "Come on Aizawa, it's not often we get together these days! It's just an hour or two okay?"
"Don't you have better things to do - "
Kazuo blinked when he saw a gurney rush past. "... Shiraishi?" He quickly bolted out of the door and caught up with the travelling gurney. "Oi, what happened to her?"
"She fainted while walking down the stairs," Haruka said in a clipped tone. "Seems she had sustained injury, we're going to check."
"No way..." Kazuo breathed. "But why aren't you heading for the x-ray rooms!?"
"Argh!" Mihoko growled and ignored him.
On the other end of the phone, Kousaku started to run.