Disclaimer: I do not own the names, the places, or the characters in the following story. It is for entertainment purposes only, and the content expressed belongs to Atlus. All the other used themes are property of their personal copyright owners. Hope you enjoy! This is my first Trauma Center Fanfic whoo! Reviews please!

The pain that had only intensified since the operation on the neko girl, Marie, had been bothering researcher Victor Niguel all day. It was a disturbing shooting pain all up and down his left arm, and it didn't go away within 10, 20, or even 30 minutes. The hell with it, I probably just slept on it wrong… The frustrated researcher thought to himself.

"Good job today, Victor," came the familiar voice of Dr. Derek Stiles. He'd performed the surgery on Marie, assisted by Victor. Victor was the only one in Caduceus that knew anything about nekos, so it was in the young teen's best interest to have him by the surgeon's side as he operated on her. "I don't think we would have been able to save that neko girl without your help."

"True, you'd all be pretty helpless in this hospital without me," Victor said expressionlessly to the young doctor. Derek rubbed the back of his neck and grinned slightly; a little annoyed and a little amused with Victor's blunt comment. "How is the patient doing now?"

"She's alright. I'm surprised how comfortable she is already with humans, one would assume she'd be more comfortable with cats or something!" said Derek with a chuckle. Victor did not smile or return the laugh. He just stared at him coldly and began rubbing his throbbing arm. Derek sighed. There was no getting this guy to laugh.

"The only difference between nekos and humans is that nekos have cat ears and a tail and they see in the dark. That's about it. You should know that, you operated on her," Victor said quietly, annoyance in his voice. Derek nodded slowly.

"Hey, Victor, since I obviously know so little about my own patient, maybe you should go look at her for me," Derek said, nearly becoming inaudible midway through the sentence. Victor scowled and stormed off, realizing if he refused he'd only receive hell from the other staff.

"Marie, it's Victor Niguel, the researcher. I'm coming in now," he said as he slipped inside room 93 of the hospital. Marie yawned and nodded, but otherwise took no notice of his entrance. He approached her and looked her over, scribbling little notes to himself. He wasn't a doctor, but research alone had given him enough information on how to look over a patient. A 15-year-old neko patient in this case.

She looked up at him with her huge emerald eyes, her short black hair hanging partly over them. As he turned to walk to the other side of the bed, his arm brushed her ear and it began twitching and circling. He watched it for several seconds, narrowing his eyes as if demanding that it stop. Marie blushed in embarrassment, her ear continuing to swirl around and around. She had no control over it.

"Sorry," she said finally as her ear stopped moving. "The slightest touch sets it off." Victor snorted and continued the examination.

"Whatever," he said noticing anxiety spread across the features of her face. Nekos were constantly nervous or anxious, and they worried over nothing. They were physically powerful, but their emotional selves were wrecks. Suicide was the main cause for decrease in the population due to their high likelihood of having chemical imbalances at birth. Also due to this, was the unfair loss of youth at a young age. Because of their constant worry, they often wore their bodies out and not many nekos escaped wrinkles. Still, though Marie's face wasn't flawless, it was pretty and Victor had to admit that. She was a cute young girl, and it upset Victor to see her in Caduceus USA for extreme heart and respiratory problems, especially at 15.

"Am I okay then?" Marie asked, her face relaxing again. Her tail swayed calmly, awaiting a response from the researcher.

"Yeah, you're fine," Victor replied. She smiled and thanked him. He nodded half-heartedly, beginning to leave. Marie's eyes grew sad. She sensed something.

"Mr. Victor…?" she began. Victor looked back at her. "You're in pain…" His eyes widened at this. How the hell does she know?

"I'm fine," he growled.

"It's your arm, isn't it? You've been experiencing pain in it?" she inquired loudly.

"Yeah… but how'd you know?" he asked nervously.

"I'm very sensitive to vibrations, just like a cat's whiskers are sensitive to its surroundings. I feel every footstep, every heartbeat, and every cringe of pain. I can even feel the pain reverberating in your arm," she stated matter-of-factly. "A book won't tell you that, because I'm a rare type of neko. I'm much more aware than them; not as numb as the others to the world around me." He nodded, letting her words sink in.

"What's it to you anyway?" Victor snapped. She flinched. Every little thing scared her.

"You helped save my life, I just want to repay you I guess, or something," she replied with a bored tone. She was trying to make the air between her and Victor more comfortable by acting and speaking the way he did, but it failed.

"Are you mocking me?" he asked offended. Marie shook her head no.

"I wasn't mocking you, I'm sorry. I strongly react to humans' emotions and expressions, that's all," she said to Victor timidly.

"Yeah, whatever," Victor replied in his indifferent tone.

"Now, let me see your arm," she demanded in a gentle voice, grabbing his arm. He struggled to free his arm from her grasp and was surprised at her strength. "Don't even try it, I used to be a healer in the war when I was only ten years old, and I held down 200-pound men." He was even more shocked at this statement. He thought she was a mere child, but she was a bright and powerful teen. He wondered silently what went on in that complex mind of hers.

She pulled him towards her by his arm and sat him on the bed beside her, hinting that this would take a moment. She examined his arm carefully; feeling all the joints and muscles to be sure nothing was dislocated or pulled. She felt nothing; no irregularities.

"Can I get back to my job now?" asked Victor impatiently.

"Have you experienced chest pain, shortness of breath, shoulder or jaw pain, or anything like that?" she asked, ignoring his question.

"Those things don't even seem related to arm pain, unless…" he grew worried as thoughts raced through his mind. "Wait, wait, wait, you don't think I'm having a heart attack do you…?" No way, it's not possible! You're young and healthy, Victor, no way is it a heart attack! Just keep telling yourself: It's not a heart attack, it's not a heart attack…

"It's very possible, Mr. Victor. You work at a hospital, you should know the signs, doctor or not. You better get looked at. Heart attacks are serious, anyone can see that." Victor pulled away and walked off angrily, not once looking back at the neko.

What are you getting all worked up for? You're fine; you're just tired from working hard all the day, and through lunch! Shift is almost over; just hang in there two more hours.

One hour passed, and his condition had worsened. Pain radiated through his shoulders and there was a disturbing tightness in his abdominal area. He felt as if someone were sitting on his chest.

Snap out of it Victor, you're letting what that neko girl said get to you! What does she know, she's just a kid!

He sat alone in his lab, trying to take his mind off the pain by messing with chemicals and observing their reaction as they were mixed. Suddenly, the director of Caduceus entered. Victor knocked over the chemicals clumsily, spilling every vile.

"Damnit!" yelled Victor, cleaning up his mess. Sydney Kasal shook his head.

"Sorry to surprise you, Victor," Sydney began. "Patient Marie, the neko, informed me that she noticed you were in great pain. Is that true?"

"No, I'm fine, director. I just need some sleep, that's all," Victor replied.

"You know, stress can cause blood vessels to become thinner. One little heart problem or irregularity and BAM! You have a heart attack. You're quite stressed, are you not Mr. Niguel?"

"I'm fine, director," Victor said quietly, holding back screams as the pain increased tremendously. Mr. Kasal shrugged and began walking away, when he heard a large thud. To his surprise, he looked back and saw Victor moaning in pain on the floor, holding his chest and cursing all the while.

"Victor!" Sydney shouted, rushing to his side. "For goodness' sake, what's wrong?!" Victor was becoming very pale, his breaths short and choppy.

"Director…" Victor whispered weakly. "I think I'm having… a heart… attack…"

"Victor! Victor Niguel! Answer me!" Sydney pleaded, his head-researcher bleeding away before his eyes. This was much more serious than a heart attack. Victor heard only a few more ear-piercing pleads from his director before passing out.

The last thing he heard was this: "I know what's wrong with him. Prep him for the O.R., sir. I will accompany Derek Stiles in…" The rest of the sentence had been cut off as he went into cardiac arrest and his vitals dropped to a frightening 5. Everything went black, and Victor slowly began to perish…

-12:31 AM, Caduceus O.R. #73-

"I see it!" shrieked Derek as he opened Victor's chest and spotted the culprit of his heart attack and the other frightening symptoms he'd experienced. Marie, who was standing weakly beside him, wearing scrubs, nodded. "What is it?"

"It's a live virus nekos contract, but it only causes symptoms similar to the common cold for us. The virus must be fatal against humans, if he's in this much danger," answered Marie. Derek nodded, suturing lacerations on Victor's heart and draining the excess blood, prohibiting the heart attack to cause further damage. Marie, serving as his assistant, kept a steady eye on his vitals and frequently used the syringe to raise them.

Derek eyed the slow-moving virus carefully, observing it while applying antibacterial gel on the area. He reached for his forceps, grasping them firmly; eyes still on the living virus. It reminds me of GUILT… Thought Derek. Using the forceps, he neared the virus and attempted to nab it, but failed. It slipped quickly from his vision and his grasp. Maybe they act like GUILT too! He hastily snatched up the laser, relocated the virus, and attacked it; watching it slowly die. The sound it made while it withered away was blood-curdling. It was one of the most awful sounds they'd ever heard.

"I have you now!" he screamed victoriously, picking it up with his forceps and dropping it onto a Petri dish. Surely it was to be examined further later on. To her dismay, Marie did not celebrate with the surgeon, but instead pointed a crooked finger at the horrifying sight she beheld. "What the hell?!"

Infectious, tight bands had constrained Victor's heart, and it seized to beat as the pressure increased. Machines beeped loudly, alerting the surgeon and his assistant that the patient's vitals were nearing zero. Derek panicked as the line on the monitor flattened and as the deafening drone that resulted from it followed. Victor Niguel was going fast.

"It must be the result of the virus! It probably released something right before it died that caused this! Hurry, cut open his heart! That's probably where the core of the bands is!" Marie screamed. Derek immediately obeyed, using his scalpel to carefully open the heart. As Marie had predicted, the core lied inside, where the virus had planted it, and he proceeded to sever the bands attached to it. He used the laser to weaken the core, and then cut it out with the scalpel, following up with the removal using his trusty forceps. He rapidly sutured Victor's heart and chest and applied antibacterial gel to prevent further infection.

Marie at this time was using the syringe to save his vitals from completely plummeting, but with no such luck. Victor continued to draw closer and closer to the hands of death itself.

Nurse Angie Thompson rushed in with the defibrillator, readied it, and prepared to shock Victor's heart back into pulsation.

"Clear!" she shouted, placing the defibrillator on his chest and sending volts to his heart. To everyone's relief, the line on the monitor danced in large waves again, showing signs of hope and survival of the patient. The beeping was steady now, and with that sound clearly ringing in their ears, they let out a deep breath and celebrated the successful operation.

But the relief would soon come to an abrupt end. Victor's battle was far from over. This had only been the horrifying beginning…