Emu walked down the hall carrying a stack of files to be sorted. His eyes snapped up when Hiiro entered the hallway followed by a large entourage. A couple nurses pushed Emu over in their rush to see Dr. Kagami better.
Emu shook his head as he pushed himself onto his knees and started picking up the now mess of papers. When he was done, he looked back and everyone was gone.
He met up with Poppy for lunch.
"I thought we could make this work," Emu complained. "I understand staying professional at work but he still won't even use my name. Even Dr. Hojo would be fine. I'm just 'the pediatrician'. Just as I was 'the intern.'" He took a few bites of his food. "He doesn't interact with me at all in public."
"He's fine in CR."
"Where only a handful of people can go?"
Poppy nodded, "I guess you are right."
"I understand he is a great surgeon, people would be interested in him, but they fawn over him like a celebrity. I think half of the nurses in the building have asked him out."
"He only has eyes for you though."
"Yeah," Emu scoffed, "He's married to his job."
"You love your job too."
"Yes I do. But I manage my time between CR, Pediatrics and gaming. I also make time for him."
Poppy nodded, "I see what you mean."
"It would be so nice just to even eat lunch with him or be able to greet each other in the hallway."
"Tell him how you feel."
Emu shook his head, "With everyone wanting a piece of him I should be happy I get what I do." He finished up his food and went to stand with his tray. Poppy watched the scene unfold as Emu stood and turned straight into Hiiro, the contents of his tray spilling onto the other doctor. Hiiro raised an eyebrow but grabbed a few napkins to clean his shirt up.
Emu bent down and picked up the trash, putting it back on the tray. One of the nurses behind Hiiro demanded, "You need to apologize for getting in Dr. Kagami's way."
"It was an accident," Poppy argued.
"No, she's right, I did get in his way," Emu straightened up.
"Pediatrician?" Hiiro looked between the two confused.
"Surgeon," Emu responded defiantly, "I'm sorry for being in your way and getting food on your shirt. I'm sure I've interrupted some important business you need to attend to." He walked around Hiiro and the group, dropped his tray off, and headed from the cafeteria.
Poppy shot Hiiro an apologetic look after watching the exchange before she followed Emu.
Emu's phone rang multiple times with Hiiro trying to contact him but he kept ignoring it.
"You two fighting?" Parad silenced the phone.
"Not sure really," Emu admitted, "I just got frustrated."
"How do you know there isn't an emergency at work?"
"Poppy would be the one calling if there was."
Parad tossed Emu a controller and started up a game. Emu was off the next day but Hiiro didn't try calling again.
The day after that Emu came into work to find a bouquet of flowers on his desk. He smirked when he noticed they were pink and green, matching the Mighty plush he always had on his desk. He searched them for a clue as to who they were from, but he found nothing. He pushed them over and got started looking through his schedule for the day.
The director had Poppy working with some ER patients so Emu headed outside during lunch and started playing one of his handheld games.
"Emu," Hiiro sat down across from him.
Emu looked up surprised, "Hiiro?"
"Do you mind if I sit with you?"
"Uh, no that's fine," he slid his game system back into his pocket and picked at his food.
"Did you like the flowers?"
"Those were from you?" Emu glanced, "They're nice. Thanks."
They were silent for a minute before Emu asked, "Why are you here?"
"Am I not allowed to eat lunch with my boyfriend?"
Emu's eyes scrunched, "Are you feeling ok?"
Hiiro chuckled, "Yes." His smile faded, "I could tell something was wrong the other day and wanted to talk about it but you kept ignoring me. So I went to Poppy."
"Look, I know you want to stay professional at work. I'm not asking you to change."
"I know," Hiiro looked down. "I didn't realize I was pushing Saki away until it was too late. I don't want to repeat that mistake."
Emu nodded in understanding. "Being a surgeon is who you are, I know how important it is to you."
"You're important to me too," Hiiro admitted. "Can I have another chance to make things right?"
Emu looked at him and smiled. He was about to speak when his phone went off. After glancing at it he winced, "I lost track of time again. I'm late for an appointment." He tripped as he tried to get off the bench seat. After straightening himself up he smiled again, "We could get dinner after work?" he finally answered before running back to his job.
After his appointments he found Poppy, finally done with the ER patients. They were talking about the crazy emergencies Poppy dealt with that day before Hiiro approached. An entourage followed behind him watching his every move.
"Do they follow you into the bathroom too?" Poppy giggled.
Hiiro glared before he waved a hand up, the crowd dispersing down the hall, "They leave when I tell them too."
Emu raised an eyebrow, "Don't you get sick of them being around you constantly?"
Hiiro shrugged, "They want to learn. Or admire my work. Just like the interns that I have to work with."
Emu rolled his eyes, "I didn't want to intern with you."
"That's why you're different," Hiiro smirked. "I think you mentioned dinner?"
"You two have fun!" Poppy said cheerily as she headed to the elevator.
"It's nice talking to you at work," Emu admitted.
"Well, one thing you've taught me is unprofessionalism doesn't mean you have less talent. So I think I can at least be a little more talkative without it dampening my surgical skills."
Emu stared at Hiiro for a few seconds, "I really can't tell if that was praise or an insult… But anyway, how does sushi sound?"
Hiiro smiled as he followed Emu down the hall, listening to him talk about his favorite sushi place nearby. If it meant spending more time with Emu, maybe loosening up a bit might just be what he needed.
