((POSTED ON MEME: 10 AUGUST 2012))
"Karkat, it's good to see you again!" The elderly woman smiled fondly at the teen walking through the too-white hospital, his red scrubs sticking out almost painfully. He flashed a small smile before looking at his clip-board, a slight tinge to his cheeks. He mumbled something, but being elderly, she couldn't quite make it out. "Speak up, honey, you know these old ears of mine ain't as good as they used to be."
"Hello, Mrs. See, it's good to see you too." He hugged her from her wheelchair as he approached. She ruffled his unruly black mop gently and placed a small peck on his cheek, causing a small squeak of protest. She laughed as he pulled back, blushing at the PDA. She couldn't help it, he just had that effect on people. "How are the ulcers?"
"They've gone away since the last time you visited, Kar-honey."
Karkat blinked, unnaturally red eyes filled with confusion before joining the smile on his face. "I'm glad to hear that Mrs. See." He hugged her again.
"It's because of you." She patted his hand sagely, cloudy eyes looking distant.
Karkat simply rolled his eyes affectionately. He'd grown used to being told he worked miracles since joining the hospital as a volunteer four years ago as a thirteen year old who wanted to read to the younger kids. Since then he'd done everything from that to visiting the seriously ill for comfort. Mrs. See had been his favorite since the beginning (though it made him feel absolutely awful to have a favorite, he couldn't help it, he was a human and there for entirely flawed) of his time here. He just felt bad that he couldn't make her better. Her ulcers acted up every once in a while causing immense pain and the occasional blood vomiting. It scared him and her son, Jeff, but she assured them both that she was just fine.
He shook his head lightly, giving one last hug to Mrs. See as her nurse approached to take her back to her room. Glancing at his clip-board, he grimaced. He was three minutes late for his shift. Guilt wracked his frame. He hated being late for anything, let alone helping people. Thankfully, the room was close by, just two hallways over from Mrs. See's room. He hurried, short legs trying to cover more distance than possible without flat-out running. He didn't necessarily look forward to cleaning the ICU, but that didn't mean being late was any excuse.
He made it just as the doctor left the room, a sad scowl plastered on her face, aging it beyond her thirty years. "Doctor Peixes?"
She jumped, her clip-board clattering to the floor loudly. "Oh! I didn't see you there Mr. Vantas!" Her scowl quickly changed into a blinding smile as she rushed to recover said item.
Karkat bit back an irritated groan and a few swear words. His lack of height did not give the nooksniffers around him the right to ridicule him about it endlessly! At least Feferi meant it in a nice way. He guessed. "I get that a lot." Some of the inner scowl slipped out.
Straightening, the symbol of her profession back in hand, she giggled. "Oh, Karcrab, always so touchy about things." She tweaked his cheek before looking at the charts on her board. "You're doing routine cleaning in Room 420, correct?" All trace of childish playfulness disappeared from her stance and face.
Karkat, ever immune to the subtleties of conversation, picked up on the change. "Yes, Dr. I am. I apologize for being late. Is..." he glanced at the name on his own chart "Makara doing well?" Shame washed over him, ICU, duh, that normally fell into the "not-doing-so-well" category. Stupid, stupid, stupid!
The doctor's face stayed professional as she shook her head slightly. She didn't tell him what was wrong with the patient, confidentiality and such, just walked away. For the first time since meeting the bubbly doctor, Karkat thought he saw tears in her magenta eyes. He watched her for a second longer, trying to ignore the slight blush (damn it, he hated the fact that he blushed easily a LOT more than he hated most other things) from his major fuck up before putting his hand on the knob to open the patient's room.
