Chapter Text
The worst thing about residency were 24 hour shifts in the emergency room. Isagi totally despised them: they were filled with mothers that were extremely worried without reason for their children, and fathers that brought their children without knowing even the age of the infant, just because their wives had told them to bring the child to de emergency room. Most of the children he saw had nothing urgent to treat, they could have waited to the next day to see the child’s pediatrician. And he tried to be empathetic, he really did, but after 16 hours seeing patients non-stop, empathy disappeared while exhaustion filled him.
There was only one good thing about shifts in the pediatric emergency room: they ended. He was a second year resident, and next year he would only be doing shifts in the floor. He was counting the days he had left in the emergency room. That day, the shift was going as good as it could have been: he had Bachira by his side, the first friend he had made during residency, and none of his patients were in a critical condition.
“Hey, have you seen that kid’s CT scan?” Asked Bachira.
“The one that fell from his bed and hit his head? No, I haven’t seen it yet. The kid’s fine, so I’m not really worried.”
“If there’s anything, you call neurosurgery. Last time I got yelled” said Bachira. Neurosurgery residents were one of the most elusive residents in the hospital. Bachira and Isagi were both second year pediatric residents, and were yet to meet the neurosurgery resident from their year. They also had the fame of being rude and screaming for no reason, like they believed they were better than anyone else.
Isagi opened the CT scan, with Bachira looking over his shoulder. He looked idly at the images, as if he could interpret everything he was seeing, but he noticed nothing serious. However, he opened the radiologist report, he noticed that it described a subarachnoid hemorrhage in a cortical sulci.
“I knew it! I’m not calling!” Laughed Bachira, while Isagi groaned. He was not looking towards the experience.
Isagi marked the number of the pager in the hospital phone, and waited for someone to pick up.
“Hello, neurosurgery” was the answer he received. It was a male voice, low and soft.
“Hello, I’m Isagi Yoichi, I’m calling from the pediatric emergency room. Can I consult a case?”
“Yes, I’m free to listen.”
“I have a two-year-old boy that fell from his bed while napping. He’s fine, but I made a CT scan and the radiologist reports a focus of SAH. I was wondering if you could take a look at the case.”
“How’s the kid?”
“Fine, like I said.”
“I take it he has no neurological focal deficit and adequate neurological development, right?” The voice on the phone was getting angrier by the second, and Isagi knew he had to be quick, or else he would get yelled at.
“Yes! That’s it. And he has no coagulopathy. His ID is 083846393”
“Okay. We’re in the OR, I’ll go when I can.” and the call ended abruptly.
“He’s such an asshole.” complained Isagi.
“I knew it! There’s no nice neurosurgeon. They are born and raised in hell.” agreed Bachira.
“The dick just hang up like that. Like he didn’t care about a traumatic brain injury in an infant. It’s his job to come see the patient. At least he told me he would drop by.”
“We’re seeing a neurosurgeon down here? That’s rarer than seeing a unicorn.” replied Bachira
“We’ll see about that. Who knows if he’ll actually drop by”.
It was about 3AM, and Isagi and Bachira were relaxing for a bit. All of their patients were stable, the rush hour had passed, and they had no new patients to see. The lights in the emergency room were off, the only light was the one in the resting room they were currently in. Suddenly, someone appeared in the emergency room, a dark silhouette that made no noise while walking.
“Who’s that?” Whispered Isagi.
“A ghost?” Replied Bachira, in a hushed voice. Isagi just glared at him “You know as well as me that this place is hunted.”
“It is not hunted, and ghosts don’t exist.” was Isagi’s replied. He went towards the door, hoping to see or hear something.
“Be careful. I don’t want you to die” Isagi just rolled his eyes and signaled Bachira to shut up.
The silhouette was lurking near one of the patients’ bed, talking in a hush voice with the mother, without waking up the infant. Isagi could not make what was being said, but remained on alert, in case that person represented a danger. Bachira rose and placed himself by Isagi’s side, trying to make out what was happening. After a few minutes, the dark shadow turned and started going towards them.
“Isagi! It’s coming! We’re going to die!” Exclaimed Bachira.
“Bachira! It’s probably someone. Just stay quiet.” They both tried to retreat and lay in the sofas, but the intruder entered the resting room before they could. He was taller than Bachira and Isagi, with sharp, teal eyes surrounded by long eyelashes, and dark hair framing a pale skin.
“Hello, I’m Itoshi Rin, second year neurosurgery resident. I’m asking for Dr. Isagi?”
“Yeah, that would be me.” Isagi could not feel more mortified. He was caught up in the middle of the resting room, standing with Bachira by his side instead of sitting on a sofa.
“I’m not even gonna ask what are you doing standing in the middle of the room at 3AM.” Rin murmured, probably talking to himself, but it further mortified Isagi. “I came to see the patient in bed 4. He’s okay. We recommend that the patient stays here for 24 hours and then, if everything’s okay, he can go home. I’ll write a note.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“You’re second year? We are too!” Exclaimed Bachira, racing towards Rin. He was too bright, taking into account that they had been working for 19 hours straight. “I’m Meguru Bachira! I haven’t see you around in residents’ meetups.”
“Maybe because I don’t want to socialize with residents.” Deadpanned Rin, sharply tanking a step back.
“We should meet up just us, then! When are you free?”
“Not interested. Just leave me alone.” with that, Rin retreated as quietly as he had appeared, leaving both Isagi and Bachira intrigued.
“He wasn’t that bad, right?” Asked Bachira. “He didn’t act like a complete asshole and didn’t yell at us. I’ll take that as a victory”.
“You have extremely low standards” answered Isagi.
“Nah, he just looked lonely. Do you think he’ll have any friends?”
“What I think is that we should rest a bit. Just in case someone comes by” With that, Isagi dropped to one of the sofas and wrapped a blanket around his body. Hopefully, he could nap for an hour or two before having to see the next patient.
Morning started earlier than he would have liked. Both Bachira and Isagi were woken up at 5AM because the emergency room was slowly filling up again. So, with less than three hours of sleep, they got up an started seeing patients, prescribing analgesics and calming stressed parents. Isagi was exhausted, but 8AM came sooner than he expected. Bachira and Isagi updated the residents that came in to the emergency room with the patients that remained, and went to the hospital café.
“The only nice thing of this hospital is that breakfast after night shifts are free” commented Bachira, while grabbing a tray and filling in with food.
“At least it’s something nice. I heard that you have to pay for your food in some hospitals” replied Isagi, grabbing some coffee and a toast.
“Imagine being 24 hours working in a hospital and having to pay for your food. Talk about good work conditions”
“Bachira, we slept in fucking sofas because we don’t have rooms”
“Well, at least we have food. Look! There’s Rin!” Exclaimed Bachira, and slowly made his way towards Rin. He was sitting alone in a table near the wall, scrolling leisurely on his phone. Isagi had no choice but to follow Bachira. “Rin! Good morning! Did you manage to catch some sleep?” And Bachira seated besides Rin.
“What are you doing sitting here?” Replied Rin, glaring at both Bachira and Isagi.
“Just thought you would enjoy our company” was Bachira’s obnoxious reply. Isagi took a seat in front of Rin, not sure of what to do or say. He knew Bachira was eccentric, and he loved him for that, but sometimes it went too far. “So, did you sleep well? We slept in the sofas in the resting room. They are old, but it’s better than sleeping on the ground or on an examination table”. Rin just looked blankly at Bachira, and the silence was so thick that Isagi wanted to melt into the floor.
“I have a room, I rested a little bit there” the response came almost a minute later. Maybe Rin felt the silence as oppressive as Isagi.
“Where is it?” Asked Isagi, suddenly interested “Pediatric’s room is in fourth floor, but there’s only enough beds for the senior residents”
“Ours is in tenth floor”
“Woah, you should let us see it! I’m sure it has great views!” Was Bachira’s excited reply.
“I don’t think that would be possible” was Rin’s dry reply.
“Anyways, are you free later? Isagi and I are going to the mall. Maybe you should come with us”
“I already have plans. See you” with that, Rin took his tray and rose, effectively leaving Bachira with a reply ready dancing on his lips.
“He’s so rude. I don’t get it. All neurosurgeons believe they’re above us our what?” Complained Isagi.
“I don’t know. Rin-chan seems nice, underneath the assholery” shrugged Bachira. “Anyway, see you at five?”
Days after a 24 hour shift were always slow. Isagi arrived at his flat and took a shower. It was a little ritual he had acquired at the beginning of his first year. He scrubbed the hospital smells of alcohol and bleach, and the warm water made wonders on his stiff muscles. After that, he closed the curtains and lay in bed, hoping to catch some sleep. That day, he spent some hours between dream and reality, not fully sleeping, but resting. That period of disconnecting in the dark made wonders in his tired brain. A few hours later, he ate something quick and went to the shopping mall, staying by the entry. He had agreed to meet Bachira there.
“Is this real? Are you stalking me?” Rin was there, at the entry, looking a little angry.
“No, I’m meeting Bachira here. He’s late, tho. What are you doing here? You declined our offer earlier”
“I wanted to buy some clothes” was his dry reply “Now, if you excuse me…”
“Rin-chan!” Exclaimed Bachira, running towards them “Did you miss us that much?”
“No. I had plans on my own”
“We’ll go with you! It’ll be funnier that way. Right, Isagi?”
“Don’t you two have other plans? Without me?” Asked Rin. Isagi thought he looked mildly annoyed, like he was trying really hard to be polite. Or as polite as he could be.
“We didn’t really plan for anything…” was Isagi’s reply. “But we don’t want to make you uncomfortable”
“Whatever” said Rin, and he turned to enter the mall. Bachira smiled at Isagi, and followed Rin, so Isagi had no other option than to go with them. He really liked Bachira, but sometimes he thought Bachira would be the death of him.
They went shopping, because apparently Rin needed new clothes and allowed both Bachira and Isagi to follow him. They entered a store that looked fancy, and Rin grabbed some jeans and t-shirts, going to the fitting room. Bachira started grabbing random things from the walls.
“Are you buying that? It’s hideous” said Isagi. He was referring to a t-shirt that Bachira was holding. It was neon pink with some black and blue stripes, something that would be really hard to pull off.
“Nope. But I’m making Rin try it” Bachira smiled deviously, zigzagging towards de fitting room “Rin? Can we see what you’re trying on?”
“You’re too much” was Rin’s exasperated reply, while he opened the curtains. He was wearing tight black jeans with a white t-shirt and a blue cardigan. It was something really simple, but at the same time, he looked really good. He had long legs, and the jeans did highlight it.
“Oooh you look great” said Bachira.
“Yeah, that style suits you” added Isagi.
“But, you should try this on” Bachira handed the horrible t-shirt to Rin, who took it with distrust. “I’m sure you’ll be able to pull it off” Rin just raised on of his eyebrows in disbelief, but turned back to the fitting room and closed the curtains.
“Did you just baited him to try that thing out?” Asked Isagi, not quite believing what had happened.
“Neurosurgeons and their egos. I knew he wouldn’t back down from a challenge” smirked Bachira, clearly enjoying the situation.
“The fuck is this?” Rin exclaimed from inside the fitting room.
“Get out Rin! It can’t be that bad” Bachira sounded encouraging, but all Isagi saw was Bachira smirking, excited to see Rin in that horrible piece of clothing. He was devilishly smiling, and Isagi thought that was his favorite Bachira of all versions.
“You did this on purpose, did you?” Growled Rin.
“Aw, come on, Rin! Are you a coward or what?” Teased Bachira. Rin quickly got out of the fitting room. The t-shirt was terrible: it was see through, highlighting the silhouette of Rin’s shoulders and waist. Strangely, even if the design was horrible, Rin looked good.
“It’s unfair that you look good in that” said Isagi. “I mean, you were better with the other outfit, but you look good”
“You are the example that if you’re hot, you can dress like a beggar and still look hot” added Bachira.
“Just shut up” Rin turned around quickly, but Isagi caught a glimpse of a blush adorning his cheeks. Rin exited quickly the fitting room, dressed with his own clothes. He was checking the price tag of the articles he had tried out, undecided.
“You should buy it” said Isagi, softly “You looked really good in those”
“Besides, you deserve it. You’ve been locked up in the hospital for 24 hours. You deserve to treat yourself” added Bachira. Rin just looked at both of them suspiciously, but ended up paying for all the clothes but the hideous t-shirt.
“Can we go to that store next? I really like their clothes!” Bachira did not wait for an answer. He just grabbed both Rin’s and Isagi’s wrists and dragged them there. If Rin chose a store with a polished and fancy feeling to it, Bachira’s was the complete opposite. It had baggy trousers and oversized t-shirts. He grabbed some overalls and went excitedly towards the fitting room.
“Sorry about that. He gets too excited sometimes” explained Isagi, looking fondly at Bachira’s direction.
“I noticed”
“So, why neurosurgery? It has to be really difficult and demanding” asked Isagi, genuinely curios about Rin’s answer.
“I like the precision it requires. Every time I scrub in, I feel both excited and at peace. Like I’m meant to be there. You?” Rin was looking ahead, not meeting Isagi’s eyes, but somehow, Isagi felt comfortable in that moment. It was just small talk, but it was something.
“I like children. I also like that there are a lot of different diseases that change during life. If a child comes with fever, it’s different, wether he’s a two days old, a two months old or a two years old. I like that complexity” Rin looked over and met Isagi’s eyes. He wasn’t smiling, but to Isagi, it seemed that Rin con pondering with answer.
“Some bonding time I see. I’m gonna get jealous, you know?” Teased Bachira. He was dressed in the overalls, but wore nothing under it, so his shoulders and part of his chest was on plain sight. “Do I look good?” He then twirled around, displaying his bare back to Isagi and Rin.
“God, you’re such an exhibitionist!” Complained Isagi, feeling his face hot while he tried to get Bachira inside the fitting room.
“It’s nothing you haven’t seen before!” Exclaimed Bachira, laughing.
“Just change already!” With a last push, Isagi got Bachira inside the fitting room and closed the curtains. It was true that both of them used the same changing rooms in the hospital, but he usually tried to avoid looking at Bachira. He was, objectively, really good looking, and had a slim but athletic body. It was the kind of body that Isagi found attractive. And, apparently, Rin thought the same, because his face was burning and he was looking to the side, clearly embarrassed. Bachira had taken a liking to Rin, and judging by Rin’s reaction… Well, Isagi could work with that.