Author's note: So for once, I tried to write a short drabble about my favorite couple of Code Blue without having any triggers in it, just fluff. Seeing the trailer of the upcoming film (although I don't understand a thing of it since I don't speak Japanese), has motivated my fantasy greatly and this is the result. I really, really, really hope we get our much deserved kiss for Shiraishi and Aizawa in the film!
More notes at the end of this, and I hope you enjoy this fic!
I am a doctor.
Shiraishi fumbled with her hands, sitting on a chair at the kitchen table in her apartment.
I am an emergency doctor.
She sighed a little, looking out of the window. The sun was shining, the trees slightly swayed in the wind. She felt the warm breeze coming in through the window. It was still May, but the weather was unusually warm and sunny. Shiraishi turned back to the full cup of coffee she made this morning, still steaming hot, and watched it with longing eyes before she huffed and stood up, moved to the sink and emptied the cup.
I have been working as an emergency doctor for ten years. I am the staff leader of the Emergency Department.
Shiraishi grabbed her light jacket and her purse and looked for her car keys. She closed the door with a noise that was louder than expected, then hurried down the hallway.
It was at that morning she realized parking a car was especially difficult whenever you are nervous of some sort. She was relieved there were not many people around; it was still early morning, and most of the hospital staff had already started their work, whereas patients were still in their rooms.
This meant there was no one around to witness the curvy and chaotic maneuvers she made in order to get that ridiculous big car into that ridiculous small space. Internally, she knew her car was not that big, and she never had problems on any other days, it was all due to her nervosity, which frustrated her even more.
Shiraishi led out a loud sight and sunk onto the steering wheel, taking deep breaths, before she abruptly turned it around one way, then another, and finally exited the car. She pretended not having seen her car being parked in a 60° angle, she didn't have the energy nor motivation to do otherwise.
Hiyama was nursing on her third coffee this morning, grumbling at every attending and intern who dared to look at her. Not only had this incredible forgetful intern of hers not turned in a report again, she had worked at Shohoku all night, not being able to go on any dinner date with Ogata-san. Although it was Thursday, her free days were still incredibly far away. At least she could spend a few calm minutes in her own office (yes, her office, a word she likes to say very proudly) before she had her first patients. She looked up from her coffee only to see an all to familiar frame walking towards her.
"Shir- ", she called out, but was interrupted when said person grabbed her by her arm and dragged her right into her own office.
"Shiraishi!", she exlaimed astoundished as her friend shut the door. She huffed desperately, slightly annoyed by the early morning shock. It was a miracle she didn't spill her coffee. "It's just like you, tramping around and loudly shutting doors this early in the morning!"
Shiraishi smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, Hiyama-sensei, but I had to do that. You were too loud on the floor, someone might have heard you."
Hiyama raised an eyebrow, hardly believing any word that left her colleague's mouth.
"Shiraishi, you're the one coming into the hospital on your free day. If you don't want people know that you're here, why did you come in the first place then?"
"This is – "Shiraishi played with her fingers, an unusual thing to do so, and – she noticed this ever since the wedding – a habit she has taken over from Aizawa whenever she doesn't know what to do with herself. How am I supposed to say this?
Hiyama eyes the staff leader's figure as she nervously looked around the room. The obstetrician crossed her arms before her chest. "What is the matter with you today? I don't remember you ever being so jumpy."
Shiraishi just looked at her friend. The little stick inside her purse now seemed to weight more than a stone.
I have been a doctor for over ten years, I have been staff leader for over five years. I ride the helicopter every day. I constantly look out for a diagnosis. How could I miss I am pregnant?
Hiyama was sometimes amazed how fast the outcome of an entire day can change within a minute. This is no surprise for a health care worker, as situations can change drastically from one second to the other, but she would have never expected this dull day could get in any way extraordinary.
The fierce doctor sat in her comfortable chair, leaning forward, her eyes trailing between the little tell-tale stick on the table and the tall doctor sitting opposite her who hadn't said anything yet about it.
"How long have you known?", Hiyama finally said, breaking the akward silence.
"This morning I bought the test."
"Have you told Aizawa yet?"
Shiraishi lowered her head. "No, he was already away this morning. I figured I wouldn't just tell him while he was working, and I needed to get a doctor's appointment, so – "
"You came to me.", Hiyama finished. She chuckled a little. It was almost adorable how Shiraishi sat in her chair, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. She was flustered, nervous even and most importantly chaotic, a sight Hiyama had never seen before. She wouldn't tell her but she gradually enjoyed the moment.
"Alright, then.", the obstetrician moved, grabbing a file and a pen and started to write Shiraishi's initials. "When was your last period?"
"March 9th."
Hiyama looked up. She quickly grabbed a chart on her desk and moved it around. "Shiraishi, that's more than two months. How did you not notice until now?"
"I don't know, I think I was just really invested in work, there has been a lot of load in the emergency room and the new interns are still so young and inexperienced, I didn't find the time."
You didn't find the time to notice, Hiyama thought inwardly and wanted to scoff, but then again, it was Shiraishi they were talking about. If there is one person that would not be noticing that because she simply put other matters before it, it was her. Hiyama stood up and signed Shiraishi to lay down on the stretcher.
"Let's have a look, shall we?"
"I only noticed this morning when I was running some errands and passed by the tampons in the supermarket. That's when I immedately went looking for a pregnancy test.", Shiraishi mumbled, lifting her blouse and exposing her slim stomach.
Hiyama turned on the ultrasound and put gel on the sensor, moving it across her stomach. A greyish image became visible. "Did you have any symptoms yet? Nausea? Sore breasts?"
"I was feeling a little nautious in the mornings, but other than that nothing in particular."
Hiyama nodded, her eyes trained on the ultrasound image, as she moved the sensor to a new area more clearly. "Well, the pregnancy test didn't lie." She smiled at her friend. "Congratulations."
Shiraishi swiftly turned her head, studying the image. There was something moving in the middle, very small and timid, but lively. "Is that the baby?", she asked. She had seen countless ultrasound images of children but seeing her own was something she couldn't quite believe.
"Yes. According to the chart, your ten weeks pregnant." Hiyama turned on the sound, and a fast heartbeat filled the air in the room, leaving Shiraishi gaping at the image. There it was, small and growing, a child inside of her, and she hadn't even realized it was there. She absentmindedly touched the skin of her stomach, careful not to get in the way with the sensor, and lightly padded it.
"So, how are you going to tell the father?", Hiyama suddenly asked. Shiraishi abruptly lifted herself up on her ellbows, the sensor gliding away from her stomach. Hiyama flinched slightly at the sudden movement and watched her friend with a surprised yet amused expression.
"How?"
"Well you probably have known that something like this could happen, or was it by accident?", she asked, lifting an eyebrow.
Shiraishi was quick to replay. "No.", she said, then stammered, looking for words. It wasn't quite easy to explain the turmoil of emotions deranging her mind. About a month before their wedding, Aizawa and her had finally talked about having children. It hadn't been a forced conversation really, and not a very thorough one, but the consequence of it had been that they agreed to stop using protection. While Aizawa had been quite calm and relaxed about it, Shiraishi remembered how she was very excited when her period was late, and she clearly recalled the pang of disappointment in her heart when she got it a while later.
With months passing like that – and a few encouraging words spoken by Aizawa on late weekday nights where she was feeling down – she had grown more relaxed about it, thinking it was going to happen when it should.
Being confronted with the happy news now was overwhelming, she couldn't really grasp it yet.
"I mean… it was… we…"
"Even though it's planned, it's still a lot to take in, isn't it?"
Shiraishi eyed her friend astoundished. "Yes, it is. How did you know?"
Hiyama looked at her with a strange gaze. "Shiraishi, I'm an obstetrician, you're not my first expecting mother." She handed her a towel and moved away from the stretcher to write something down.
"Right.", Shiraishi sighed, cleaning her stomach and sitting up. "I feel like my brain is broken."
"That's the pregnancy. Happens to the best of mothers." Hiyama turned with a mocking grin and printed out the ultrasound image of Shiraishi's stomach. She gave it to her and watched her expectantly.
"So? How are you going to tell him? Any ideas?"
Shiraishi studied the image in her hands. "Not really. I think I was just going to tell him and then show the picture or the pregnancy test."
"Shiraishi, you got to be kidding me."
"What?" Said doctor looked up, only to witness her colleague standing up from her chair and going to her bag.
"A pregnancy announcement isn't the same as announcing you have some kind of decease or breaking down news to a patient. It's something unusual, exciting, it calls for creativity." She grabbed her phone and unlocked the screen.
"What are you doing?"
"This is a very difficult case. I need a consultation from another expert."
Shiraishi always wondered as a little girl how the characters in this comedy tv shows must feel when they accidentally forget to wear pants or wear the wrong pants or even dresses and go to school like that, only to find everybody staring at them as if their an attraction of a circus.
Never did she know that she might actually feel the same way in her early 30's. This thought ran through her mind as she sat opposite of a mustering obstetrician and flight nurse, all three of them awkwardly quiet while Shiraishi nervously played with her fingers.
"Shiraishi-sensei, maybe you should prepare a present for him. The image and the stick in a little box.", Saejima mused, earning an unhappy snort from the doctor next to her.
"No way, this is too simple."
"But Aizawa-sensei isn't really the type for speeches and extraordinary announcements. And I doubt Shiraishi will feel comfortable going out of her comfort zone like that."
The pregnant doctor sighed. "I still think giving him a present like that is too much. If he would have been home this morning, I would have told him right away."
"No.", Hiyama said strongly and Saejima nodded in agreement. "Much too simple. Personally, I think it should be something sweet and creative. You can't just tell him like that."
"Oh.", Saejima called out. "What about a little baby shirt? Or little baby shoes?"
"Exactly! Or you could get really creative and print the ultrasound image on a coffee cup. That would be a surprise!"
"Not to mention too much.", Shiraishi chuckled. "I don't get why this is such a big thing."
"Believe me, you at least want to think about it.", Saejima said. "When I was pregnant, and Kazuo found out by chance, I was happy that he approved of it, but I was a little disappointed. He found it out all by himself, when I wasn't even sure whether to feel excited about it or not. Thinking about it now, I would have preferred to tell him my way."
"Think about it, Shiraishi.", Hiyama said. "This is the one of first moments in the life of your baby where you are able to collect little reminders of the time you were pregnant. You have the ultrasound image and the pregnancy test, you also need a reminder of how you tell Aizawa. Not to mention you must record his reaction or at least take a photo."
This time, Shiraishi was not the only one to be taken aback by her colleague's ideas, the flight nurse was also quite astoundished. "Filming?"
"More than ten years working with Aizawa in the same hospital, and never once did I see him laugh or smile. I am not the person to believe there exists a human being with a beating heart that simply can't smile, and I refuse to think that Aizawa will change that." Hiyama leaned towards Shiraishi. "I need proof that Aizawa can smile, Shiraishi."
Shiraishi laughed, while Saejima just shook her head. "Hiyama-sensei, I will not film my husband when I'm telling him that I'm pregnant. And he has smiled before."
"This creepy smile he had as a fellow whenever he could participate in a surgery doesn't count."
"I was actually talking about our wedding."
"Alright, I think this discussion is heading to nowhere, and since I still have patients to look after, I should get going.", Saejima said with a look on the clock on the wall. She stood up and headed for the door, when she turned to Shiraishi with a smile.
"Congratulations on the pregnancy, Shiraishi-sensei."
"Right.", Hiyama nodded. "I have my first patient in 20 minutes." She glared at Shiraishi. "And you have a task to do."
Shiraishi smiled politely at the elder lady in the shop that had passed her with an expecting look for the third time, as the female doctor was helplessly standing between one table of little baby shoes and one clothes rail full of romper suits. Daddy's little princess, Little hero, I love Daddy was written on blue, white and pink fabrics, in tiny sizes and extra-large sizes.
Shiraishi observed two women next to her loudly discussing which accessories and clothes to buy. One of them had her baby boy in a pram, explaining to the other lady – who had a huge belly – which sizes the baby would most likely be wearing when he or she was born.
"Also, since the baby will be born in July, you should absolutely look for something that can be worn throughout the summer. Let me tell you, my mother bought all these cute little outfits for him, but they were from the winter season. They were too warm for him to wear, and last winter they already were too small, I didn't know what to do with it."
That hit a nerve inside Shiraishi, as she remembered the day Hiyama had calculated out for her. December 14th. That was her due date. She looked around, and realized she was standing in the middle of the summer collection. Come to think about it, she didn't really see a great variety of winter clothings, since summer was the next season to come.
Resignated, she left the shop, and strolled down the alley, looking into shops now and then. She was thinking about going shopping for slacks and blouses, but then decided against it. She didn't know when she would be showing and how much, why should she buy clothes like this? She felt the sudden hunger for one of these delicious desserts of a bakery nearby but felt unnerved when she saw several women pass her with their prams. Her appetite was suddenly spoilt.
Hiyama sat down with a sigh and leaned into her chair, looking out of the window in her office. A coffee in one, a snack in the other hand, she took a well deserved rest from seeing to patients and performing surgeries all day. One and a half hour to go, two patients to visit and checking in with the fellows. That was her plan for the rest of her shift and then she would leave this hospital as quick as she could before anyone could ask something from her. There was no way she would stand Ogata-san up for another dinner date. She blushed slightly when she thought about that.
A harsh knock brought her back into her office, and she turned around.
"Come in." A frantic looking Shiraishi appeared in the door step, smiling apologetically. Hiyama lifted an eyebrow. "At least this time you called like a sane person would do it." She motioned towards the chair opposite of her.
"Hiyama-sensei, I'm really sorry, I didn't want to disrupt your break – "
"Did you finish your task?" Shiraishi lowered her head, shaking it. "I was in this shop, but they only sold clothings for the summer collection, nothing that the baby can wear in winter. And then I thought about shoes or something, but I have no idea what size I should buy, and at some point, I was looking at prams and this young woman offered her help, but there were so many sizes and brands, I didn't know what to do."
"Shiraishi, you are only ten weeks pregnant, why are you worrying about seasons and prams?"
"I don't know." Hiyama eyed her friend with a mocking smile, but also felt with her. It seemed to be quite a shock for Shiraishi that she was pregnant, even though she wanted the child. Hiyama had seen a lot of mothers react the same way she did, even fathers that couldn't actually believe it until their partners were in labor. She forgot that Shiraishi, too, was a woman, and even though she was an excellent doctor she was also an expecting mother for the very first time. It shouldn't actually surprise Hiyama that it was Shiraishi, the dull and slow doctor who couldn't wrap her head around it. Especially around things that were entirely new to her. Suddenly, Hiyama had an idea.
"You still can't quite believe it, can you?"
Shiraishi shook her head and laughed. "I feel like I'm back to my very first entrance exam. I feel so nervous."
"Sit on the stretcher and pull up your blouse. Take the ultrasound image with you."
"Eh?"
"Just do it." Hiyama grabbed a pen from her desk and rolled her chair over to the stretcher. She ajusted the stretcher so Shiraishi could sit upright and took the image from her.
"You are ten weeks pregnant, Shiraishi. Your baby – " She showed the spot on the image. "Is about here." She pointed at Shiraishi's lower belly, where her uterus was. Hiyama grabbed the pen. Shiraishi protested, but the obstetrician ignored her, drawing a tiny unshaped circle over the place she pointed at.
"Your baby has the size of an olive right now. At this stage, he or she can swallow amniotic liquor to practise and can kick you, but you won't feel them yet. He or she is going to grow immensely in the next weeks. All important organs are completely developed, and in a few weeks – " Hiyama smiled warmly at her friend. "You'll be able to tell whether it's a boy or a girl."
Shiraishi smiled, glancing at the circle on her stomach.
"These are your facts. This is what you should concentrate on right now. All the other things, the pram shopping and looking for the right clothes, these can wait. You'll have just enough time for that." Hiyama rubbed her friend's shoulder, then mockingly added:" You'd better prepare yourself, because I will drag you to baby shopping every now and then, count on it."
Shiraishi chuckled, a true laugh escaping her, before she glanced at Hiyama. "Thank you.", she said.
Hiyama nodded. "Now enjoy the time, let people spoil you. There is just one task left for you to do."
Shiraishi stood in her bedroom, her wet hair in a ponytail, wearing a black tanktop and black panties. Unbelievable, she thought. Hiyama had used a waterproof pen, and even though she just had taken a long, calming shower, the marker was still as clearly present as when she had left the hospital. She sighed but smiled. One of her hands moved over her stomach, unconsciously trying to feel any slight change she might feel already. Shiraishi turned herself in the mirror, eyeing her stomach. It was still slim, of course, the baby was still too tiny, but she knew that a few months from now, she would be showing. Her hand moved to the mark on her lower belly, carefully stroking it. She chuckled slightly. A few hours ago, she had practically hyperventilated at the thought of being pregnant, now she was looking forward to it. That's how fast it coud change. Shiraishi eyed the circle in the mirror. My little olive.
Footsteps at the door frame cought Shiraishi's attention and she turned around, gazing right into her husbands questioning eyes.
"Megumi?", he asked, wondering why she was standing in front of the mirror only in a tank top when his gaze moved across her slim figure to the place where her hands had settled around her lower belly.
Shiraishi didn't know what to say. Aizawa's shift wasn't supposed to be finished for another hour, she hadn't even prepared dinner yet. Not to mention thinking about how to tell him the news, really. Openmouthed she stood there, her gaze nervously shifting between her husband and her mirror, when the neurosurgeon walked over to her. He stopped in front of her, his eyes still on her belly. Aizawa's hands softly ghosted along her rip line, earning a light tremble from his wife, his hands settling around the mark. He stroked the little olive with his thumb, looking into his wife's eyes.
Shiraishi met his gaze and realized there wasn't anything left to say. He understood. Aizawa's eyes were calm as always, but there was a slight sparkle in them. He mustered her face, and eventually, his mouth turned slightly upright, into a true and heartfelt smile. That smile made weird things with Shiraishi, and she blushed, swiftly lowering her head, and breaking their gaze. Aizawa pulled her closer and lowered his head towards her, kissing her forhead.
One of his hands settled around one of hers, the other still laying across her stomach as he turned them so that he stood behind her, watching the two of them in the mirror.
"You're home early, Kousaku.", Shiraishi muttered, observing how Aizawa's arms wrapped protectively around her stomach, his hands stroking over the mark.
"Ah.", he simply said and rested his head on her shoulder. "I was finished earlier than expected. I wanted to spend some time with you."
"I see." Shiraishi felt his lips ghosting over her neck up to her cheek, placing a warm peck on it and turned her head, meeting Aizawa halfway as he turned to kiss her. It was a warm, affectionate kiss; deep and sensual, but in no way rushed.
His eyes stared deep into hers as she reluctantly pulled away to breathe, a gaze that woke up the butterflies in her stomach, making her legs all wobbly. He pecked her on the lips before settling his head on her shoulder again, nuzzling it, as she was leaning against the broad shoulder behind her.
"Congratulations, Mama.", he murmured against her shoulder. Shiraishi laughed. She felt relieved, ecstatic even, as she realized she had announced the news in a way it was perfect and didn't even have to plan everything thoroughly. It had just happened the way it should, the way it fit to the relationship of theirs. They never used much words or special presents to show each other their affection, actions counted the most, for the both of them.
With another step done towards welcoming their first baby into this world, they could finally settle to enjoy the time together. And Shiraishi felt like happily jumping through their apartment as she thought about that.
Just to clarify, I don't want to insult anybody that has been pregnant by describing Shiraishi as someone very chaotic and nervous as she learns about her pregnancy, even saying she feels like her brain is broken. This is just an observation I have made from some of my friends that have been pregnant, telling me they get very forgetful and so on. This is actually a natural phenomenon that happens to a lot of mothers, and it is in no way a health issue.
I have been writing on it for the past few days, but wanted to post it today, since I happened to get another motivation boost: I was finally accepted into Midwifery School! So looking forward to it!
Thank you for reading this fic and I hope you enjoyed it!
