Chapter Text
Four hours, he’d counted.
Four hours of his turbulent, miserable little life had been wasted sitting on a plastic chair within the A&E waiting room. Kunikuzushi had watched the clock tick by, closing one eye or the other to see the clock change places slightly, missing the magic tick between numbers for a second or so as if it made time go by faster.
Hypothetically, if he were in an accident, which he was, by the way, and if it were an emergency, depending on how severe it was he could’ve been dead after waiting four agonising hours. And maybe there was a priority system, and if he were close to dying he’d be rushed through the doors on a stretcher, doctors yelling “We need an IV, stat!” or whatever else he could remember from Grey’s Anatomy reruns. Maybe he just wasn’t injured enough.
Briefly, Kunikuzushi entertained the thought of digging his black fingernails into the wound on his hand, making it well up and wet the bandages with red. It could shave off another hour or so of waiting on a chair so stiff his backside felt like he’d been rawed anally by a sander and left to bleed out. He’d get up, but the place was already packed, and losing his seat meant losing a little more of his own sanity. So he’d sat there for four hours, sander be damned.
He’d been lost in thought, thinking about the pros and cons of worsening his wound in order to be seen quicker when his name was called out by a nurse.
“The doctor is waiting for you in Room 6.”
Kunikuzushi got up, briefly thanking the woman even if he thought she’d done shit all in the time he’d been there. But manners, Kuni, he could hear his stupid, nagging sister chide. He missed the days when she used to ignore his existence and lock herself in her room with a snack cart and a dream.
Pushing open the door was difficult, and Kunikuzushi winced a little at the heavy, hard door against his bony shoulder as he nudged it open with all the strength in his body. He opened it a few inches and soldiered on until the weight was eased off him all too suddenly. His body went hurtling into the room until a strong pair of hands held him by the shoulders, catching him.
“Woah, there. You okay?”
He’d have looked up, but his face was pressed against the clavicle of his saviour, letting him breathe in the scent of a musky autumn breeze mixed with a cosy fabric softener. Slowly, he used his uninjured hand to put some distance between them, finding use in his own two feet again. He glared at the stranger.
“The hell do you think?” He bit out.
“I meant are you okay because you came careening through my door, not because you’re at A&E because I mean, you’re obviously not okay there.” The stranger shut the door behind Kunikuzushi and gestured to a seat next to a computer desk.
“You’re the fucking doctor?”
“Have been for a few years, last I checked,” the doctor said, smiling up at Kunikuzushi.
“Well some fucking doctor you are. Making me open my own door. Like do you not know what the problem is?” He waved his bandaged hand in front of the doctor’s face, watching those pleasant eyes dart across the injury.
“I did know the problem. That’s why I opened the door when I saw you struggling. Then you proceeded to bulldoze your way into my room and I caught you,” he replied, turning to his desk and typing away at the keyboard. He picked up a pen and used it to point at the seat next to him without looking away from the screen.
Wordlessly, Kunikuzushi sat down, mystified.
Did doctors always cop an attitude? It had been a while since Kunikuzushi saw one. It was uncomfortable, not knowing whether or not you were the most sarky person in the room. The doctor gave him his side profile as he typed at his computer, accessing all kinds of dirt on Kunikuzushi and who knows what else. Kunikuzushi couldn’t help but drink in how attractive his doctor was. His hair was silvery white, a single area streaked through with red contrasting with the snowiness, as if it were a preface for the unexpectedly challenging personality that lay beneath his gentle exterior. He had good skin; smooth and blemish-free, probably as a result of eating an apple a day or whatever doctors did. Unlike his face, his hands seemed rough, and Kunikuzushi could almost glimpse the calluses on the underside of his bony hands if they would just stop flying over the keyboard, a mile a minute.
His eyes, Kunikuzushi thought, were the best part of him. Tender and warm when he addressed you, like you were the only person in the room, or maybe even the world because thinking back, Kunikuzushi was the only other person in the room, and that kind of paled in comparison to the sheer emotions he felt looking into them. When the doctor looked away, however, his eyes seemed more serious. They hardened, narrowing as he examined the screen, smile dropping into a neutral line. He felt like a completely different person, and Kunikuzushi couldn’t even bring himself to word a complaint, even after being pointed into the chair by the doctor’s pen like a misbehaving child.
“Kunikuzushi…” the doctor muttered to himself, turning away from the computer. He looked away as they met eyes, and the smile and warmth returned to his person. “Pleased to meet you. My name is Kaedehara Kazuha, and I’ll be your doctor for today.”
“Pleasure,” Kunikuzushi replied, “except I literally have a fucking hole in my hand.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” Kazuha replied. “May I unwrap your injury?”
Kunikuzushi nodded, and the doctor moved forward in his wheeled chair until he was in close proximity. He reached out his hand, and Kunikuzushi placed his injured hand into the doctor’s own. In a practised manner, Kazuha rolled up Kunikuzushi’s sleeve so he could view the injury better.
The wound was not a pretty sight. Blood oozed, trickling as soon as it was exposed. The gash was entirely across the underside of his left hand, initially catching in the dip between his ring and pinky fingers and striking like a thunderbolt towards the base of his palm. He hissed as the bandage came off, exposing the wound to air and agitating the pulsating, red edges as he instinctively curled his fingers over it. Kazuha gently shushed him, holding his hand securely in both of his own and carefully unfurling his fingers.
“Was it continuously bleeding or did it stop?” Kazuha asked, looking directly into his eyes. He felt more intimidating when he was seriously engaging in something.
“It stopped for a few hours in the waiting room.”
“Hours?” Kazuha cursed under his breath. “I really am so sorry, things have been hectic around here. The waiting times are longer than they’ve ever been. People think Accident & Emergency means they can come over for the smallest bodily inconveniences. It’s why we’ve been promoting our non-urgent medical helpline.” He nodded his head towards a giant poster on the other side of the room which read DON’T BE A FOOL, KNOW THE RIGHT NUMBER TO CALL!
“Right. I did happen to see a child with a Lego up his nose in there.”
Kazuha snorted. “Now, that does seem like something you’d go to A&E for.”
“And that’s exactly why you’re the doctor, and not me. Speaking of, verdict?” His palm felt sweaty from the comforting grip of the doctor’s hands, and Kunikuzushi feared his sweat would drip into his wound and make it fester worse than the time Ajax left gyoza in the air fryer for a month.
Kazuha cleared his throat. “I’ll give you stitches, so we can help the wound close. As for the bleeding, I believe the wound was slowly healing on its own, but the extended wait time made the bandage fuse to the wound slightly and removing it made it reopen a little. Nonetheless, it's nothing stitches can’t fix. Now, I’d usually say it takes a maximum of four weeks to heal, but…” he trailed off towards the end.
Kunikuzushi scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I ain’t no fuckin’ pansy, doc. It’s not like I don’t know there’s shit going on with me.” His eyes dimmed, mouth pursing into a thin line. Kunikuzushi’s blank expression was worse than his angry, acidic scowls. It meant he was feeling actual emotions - which was disgusting, in his unbiased opinion - but inevitably a consequence of the fucked up life he’d had. He remembered being rushed in and out of hospitals his entire childhood. He remembered the sterile scent, cowering away from injections, clawing at the IV in his arm and being forced to the bed by his sisters. He knew he’d been born weak, grew sicker than most, and he fought tooth and nail to be on equal footing with everyone else.
The doctor smiled, eyes arching into glittery crescents which made Kunikuzushi think twice about his attitude. “Yep. You have an unusually weak constitution for a man in his mid-twenties. I think we can assume this wound won’t heal as quickly as it should.”
“I figured,” Kunikuzushi said, voice small but disappointed. He looked away, and missed the look of concern Kazuha gave him.
“It’s alright, it won’t be much longer than normal. It’s a feat of celebration that your wound was closing itself up, really. Your body might be unlike others, but it has strength in its own way. In my professional opinion,” Kazuha paused to chuckle after hearing Kunikuzushi scoff, “I’d say you’re a fighter, and this shows it.”
“Thanks for the pep talk, I really needed it.”
“Then I’ll give you another one in four weeks time, when you come in for an observation.”
Kazuha gently pulled Kunikuzushi over to the doctor’s table on the other side of the room. He laid the injured hand onto the silver table, making Kunikuzushi hiss at the difference in temperature between the icy surface and Kazuha’s warm hands. Kazuha moved to tinker with something on the side of the room and out of Kunikuzushi’s peripheral view, so he turned his eyes back to the nasty gash on his hand. It sort of looked like the great Orobashi’s skeleton, and Kunikuzushi delusionally mapped out the shape with his eyes.
“Do you fear needles, Kunikuzushi?” The voice came from behind him, and Kunikuzushi almost startled from the shock. His blood ran cold.
“I…” The words were lost on his tongue. “I don’t know.” He felt compelled to give a proper answer, but he couldn’t form a coherent sentence.
In Kazuha’s opinion, that said it all. He was afraid of them and that much was certain. But Kazuha was patient, soothing, and wasn’t keen on making Kunikuzushi back away like a threatened animal if he were to voice his thoughts.
“That’s alright, we’ll take this slow either way. I’m going to ask you to look away from the area I’m working on. You’ll feel a slight pinch, and your left hand and part of your forearm will go numb. You won’t feel any pain during the procedure. Do you have any concerns before I begin?”
Kazuha’s voice, breezy and melodious as it was, lulled Kunikuzushi. His words blended together in Kunikuzushi’s racing mind. It was just like back then.
A hand came to rest on his shoulder, smoothly sliding up his neck and back down the slope. He felt his hair tickle Kazuha’s fingers.
“Hey, can you look at me? Nod if you can hear me.” Meeting Kazuha’s watchful eyes, Kunikuzushi nodded. “Everything will be fine. Shall we begin?”
Kunikuzushi nodded once more politely, obediently, even.
“Look away, okay? It’ll be done before you even know it.” Kazuha smiled at him, and Kunikuzushi embarrassedly looked away. He felt so fucking weak, losing hold of himself like that. After all that attitude, too. He couldn’t show his face in this hospital again.
Kunikuzushi looked to the side, trying and failing to keep himself from wincing and biting his bottom lip as the needle entered his skin. He felt Kazuha’s eyes on him as he raised his right hand, wiping a stray tear and refusing to look in front of him. He was pathetic.
“All done, you should feel the numbness setting in now,” Kazuha said, and Kunikuzushi could hear the clink of the injection being thrown into the medical waste bin. He appreciated the doctor’s swiftness, because Kunikuzushi couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t immediately jump on the table and hiss like a cat caught in a bad storm upon laying eyes on the offending object.
“Oh it’s there. It’s like pins and needles but like, without the pins and the needles,” Kunikuzushi drawled, head firmly pointed towards the computer desk. He traced the outline of Kazuha’s knick knacks with his eyes. The little snow globe that read From Dragonspine with love, the cluttered collage photo frame which featured a handful of photos of Kazuha and a few other people. Kunikuzushi smiled a little, then felt a smudge of darkness grow in his heart. He suddenly felt jealous of these people, who got to see Dr-Fucking-Kaedehara on his days off. Bitterly, he wondered if any of them could be a lover. He couldn’t see Kazuha with any of them, honestly, and that was his totally fair and unjealous rationale.
Demure-looking silver haired girlie sure did look like his type, though.
Kunikuzushi was unable to stop himself. “Is she your girlfriend? Y’know, silver girl. The one you have your arm around in the Irodori Festival pic.”
Kazuha let out a breathy laugh. He could easily shut this down as it breached the professional nature of their relationship, but it was a welcome distraction for Kunikuzushi, and if it kept his mind off the stitches he’d gladly open up about his personal life. Besides, it was hilarious to see Kunikuzushi come into his office like an angry cat and then curl up and lick his own wounds.
“No, that’s my friend Ayaka,” he replied. “I’m not seeing anyone at the moment. Although…” He trailed off, wanting to see Kunikuzushi’s reaction when he took the bait. “It would be nice to have someone to go home to.”
Kunikuzushi perked up at that, and Kazuha smiled to himself. “I see,” Kunikuzushi said. “Wish I could say the same. I have two roommates who put me through the fucking wringer daily.”
“Oh?” Kazuha continued working away at the wound, close to finishing. “How so?” It was good to keep the patient talking. They relaxed more, which made the process easier.
“Well for starters, I have the stupidest roommate in the entire world. Ajax literally lives off Mountain Dew, and one time he forgot to flush and I went in after him and his piss was neon fucking green. I mean, come on doc, you of all people should know that’s a bad sign.”
“It is,” Kazuha agreed. “Tell him to replace some of that Mountain Dew with water. Doesn’t have to be all at once, but he can do it gradually. He can come and see me.”
No, Kunikuzushi thought to himself, I don’t want him to see you. You’re my doctor.
Because gatekeeping medical professionals was totally a thing.
“If you do see him you’d have to give him a little talking to, because that jackass was the one who gave me this,” Kunikuzushi muttered. “Why do the scissor packs have to be opened with scissors? Isn’t that counter-intuitive?”
“Don’t tell me you used a knife to open a pack of scissors and it went horribly wrong.” Kazuha sounded stern. He was right, obviously. Ajax bought scissors for the house, and they didn’t have scissors to open the scissors because why would they buy scissors if they had scissors? He had roped Kunikuzushi into his plan to open the scissors by making him hold the pack down whilst Ajax sawed the plastic ties down with a butcher knife.
And that’s how Kunikuzushi ended up in A&E.
“It was his fucking fault,” Kunikuzushi said defensively, albeit weakly. “Taking advantage of my kindness like that.”
Kazuha shook his head, not even getting into the fact that Kunikuzushi didn’t exactly protest against it.
“He cooks and cleans though and fuck if I’m doing that, so he gets to stay. But my other fuckin’ roommate, the freak. Dottore wanted to sew me up himself, that’s why I jetted over here. I don’t want my quack roommate without a medical licence treating me with the rusty shit he keeps in his bedroom.”
“That was a good choice,” Kazuha murmured, bangs falling over his eyes as he leaned closer to the wound.
“Exactly. And I got to meet some hot fuckin’-” He cut himself off immediately.
“What was that?” Kazuha said, teeth showing as he smiled cockily.
“...Hot fuckin’ nurse in the waiting room,” Kunikuzushi lamely finished. “Yeah, best four hours of my life.”
“I see,” Kazuha straightened up. “I’ll tell Shinobu you said that.” He gently rewrapped the wound and got up from where he was sitting. He typed away at his computer, still standing, and Kunikuzushi watched him. The doctor’s coat was sexy, he’d admit it. The rolled up sleeves and cosy brown sweater over a button up brought an autumnal vibe to Kazuha’s looks, even if it was still the height of summer.
The printer sounded out loudly, and Kunikuzushi assumed there were some incredibly detailed wound care instructions written on them. Things he wouldn’t read, of course, because he was rebellious and impatient by nature.
“I’m printing off some information about healing stitches and how to take care of the area,” Kazuha said. Kunikuzushi revelled in the sounding click of the stapler as Kazuha put the papers together and quickly penned something down. ASMR was good for his monkey brain. “Please make sure you read the information here. You already know you’re a little more delicate in constitution than normal, so we want to prevent anything adverse from happening. Now I’ve done my part, and I ask that you do yours.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Well I’ll be seeing you in four weeks for your observation, won’t I?” Kazuha straightened up, harshly slapping the papers down onto the desk. The snow in Dragonspine stirred a little. “I have plenty of time to think up a punishment.”
“Alright, I’ll read it. God.”
Kazuha’s smile was blinding. “Good. I trust that you’ll take care of yourself.” Kunikuzushi clutched his numb hand to his chest like a maiden waiting for her lover’s ship at the docks.
“I will, thanks. You take care too.” He had to look away from Kazuha. It was embarrassing how interested he was, and it was worse that Kazuha knew it.
Kazuha walked him to the door, pulling it open for him. “Four weeks?”
Kunikuzushi nodded, exhaling slowly. “Four weeks. See you.”
He stepped out of the room and into the empty hallway. The air felt cooler outside, as if the heat exuded from Kunikuzushi’s red cheeks had permeated through the air of Kazuha’s room. He reached his uninjured hand up, digging his long, black fingernails into the soft skin of his cheek.
Four weeks. This was fine.
As he walked down the long hallway, Kunikuzushi rolled the papers up and stuffed them into his back pocket, uncaring. When he got outside, he called Ajax to pick him up.
“Hey asshat, I’m done. Come and get me,” he hissed. “It’s already 11pm and I’m so fucking hungry I could eat enough to sustain the population of a small village. Or a hamlet, maybe.”
The static laugh came through the speaker loudly. “Good thing I cooked enough for that and more,” Ajax said cheerily. “How’s the wound?”
Kunikuzushi raised his hand and narrowed his eyes, examining Kazuha’s handiwork. It was neatly dressed, completely unlike the hasty bandaging Kunikuzushi had done himself earlier that day. “I don’t know, I can’t feel shit. It’ll probably hurt like a bitch in a few hours though so remind me to get hopped up on Nyquil later.”
He hung up immediately after speaking and trusted Ajax would be there within the next fifteen minutes. As he waited, he considered lighting a cigarette to ease the underlying nervousness thrumming through his veins. That wasn’t possible though, because Kunikuzushi only had one good hand so he moved to sit on a metal bench just outside the hospital.
The distinct shuffle of the papers in his pocket momentarily distracted him, and he shifted his weight onto one side so he could pull them out of his pocket.
Fucking stupid information pack. He’d had enough wounds to know what to do, and he didn’t care enough to do more than the bare minimum. No infectious and fatal disease, no need to worry.
“Let’s see…” He muttered, eyes glancing over the first paper. All change your wound dressings regularly, and don’t touch your stitches, and always clean your hands before coming into contact with the affected area, and for the record, I think you’re hot too –
Wait, what?
Kunikuzushi’s eyes went through a play of many acts, in which he repeatedly squinted and widened his eyes over and over as he read the neat message penned at the bottom of the paper, complemented by a string of numbers.
For the record, I think you’re hot too.
That fucker, that bastard, Kaedehara Kazuha.
The realisation came in waves. First shock, then disbelief, then embarrassment and anger came crashing over the shoreline of Kunikuzushi’s heart. He needed to work on his subtlety. Or, more importantly, he needed to fucking not be manipulated by hot doctors.
His mind was still in disarray, crumbling with the sheer humiliation of having received his hot A&E doctor’s number. When Ajax’s car pulled up, almost blinding his bloodshot eyes with his headlights, Kunikuzushi couldn’t even find it in him to be angry.
He was too busy thinking about what to text Kazuha. How he could encapsulate his feelings in a few short words. Kunikuzushi was never good with words, after all.
All he could think about was the tender way Kazuha held him, the way his eyes studied him with concern. The bitter twist of jealousy he felt looking at that stupid picture collage on his desk. If he played his cards right, he could be on that desk one day.
It would be nice to have someone to go home to.
Kazuha definitely baited him with that line. He wanted Kunikuzushi to know Kazuha was single and wanting someone to share his life with. But part of him - a part he wanted to squish underneath his trainer, but a part nonetheless - knew Kazuha wasn’t the type to say something like that casually, even if it was to throw off a person with a personality as scathing as himself. Flawed as he may be, he could be Kazuha’s someone.
When Kunikuzushi thought about what might blossom from this, he felt a little more hopeful for the future.
-
Kuni: fuck u
Kuni: u r not hot :/
Kazuha: Is there a problem with your other hand too?
Kazuha: You keep typing things you don’t mean.
Kuni: i dont wanna argue over text it takes me 2 mins to write one sentence. also fuck u
Kazuha: I could pick you up at 7 next Saturday? I’m off for the weekend, so you can scream as much as you want.
Kuni: wait idk ur my doctor its weird
Kazuha: We’ll call it a home visit.