Hey folks,

This one is a bit of fun that is influenced by my infatuation with Grey's Anatomy. And that is where my medical knowledge ends BTW so please don't take any of this as true in any way.

It's at most three chapters long though so I hope people like it!

Phoe
xxx

Part One

Ichigo stabbed through his lunch with little enthusiasm. Superfood Salad was what was on the label but it was all a little limp and warm, having sat in his locker since five that morning. He was lucky he was getting to eat it at all though, some days he went for his whole shift without getting more than a mouthful of water. He couldn't sit in the cafeteria at lunch time, couldn't use the coffee machine in the locker room either; unless he was very lucky and no one else was there.

He glanced around, swinging his leg as he glanced down the dim corridor, glad it was a quiet day. Even the corridor to the morgue had to be used obviously and being his only hiding place that could give him enough time to eat he needed to make sure he wasn't found or bothering anyone who could stop him.

He knew it was sad and pathetic, third year was supposed to be when he got to go solo on his first patient, when he should have an intern or two of his own but his class was a big one and the current year of interns were all divvied up between the 'better' residents. He was good at his job, the clinical part of it anyway. He could feel his way around the human body better than most, had instincts that led him to the correct vein, the right space or the problem on an organ. His mentors claimed it was inherited, that his blood ran with surgery thanks to his dad but all that meant was they expected more of him, expected his father's vain, comic personality to bounce around and everyone had been disappointed by the skinny, orange haired punk that showed up in the white coat the first day. He didn't even inherit his dad's reasonably impressive height and there were a couple of the female residents who measured up to him, more now that they were starting to dress smarter and wear heels occasionally.

It wasn't supposed to be that way, he wasn't supposed to be hiding out in the morgue, scared to walk the halls without an attending and basically mute around anyone in a white coat. He was supposed to shine, was supposed to be outdoing all the others. And he was, quietly, but that was the big problem. And he thought he'd be done with bullies in high school. University was just a vacation from them. And boy had they upped their game.

It had started with the smallest things; things that he'd just accepted were his fault until they happened over and over, and to no one else. No one else lost all of their test results. No one else waited nearly as long as he did to get patients into scans unless they were vital. Then again any vital patients were under a more senior doctor. Meaning it was definitely him they were targeting, his name on the paperwork.

'They' happened to be in his year and seemed to shine to bright but Ichigo always though it was more like a glare. Like they were putting on a show to distract you from their actual abilities and personalities. How else could the spilled drinks on his lunch, the splatters on his scrubs and coat and the chair pull-outs be explained? It really was petty and pathetic but he had nowhere to go, no one he could complain to. How could he rat in the director of the residency program's son? He'd not last a week after that with the senior staff after him as well.

A loud beeping broke his thoughts and he nearly dumped his salad on the floor. He checked his phone and darted up, jamming his lunch box into the nearest bin as he passed on the way to the emergency room.

"Kurosaki, with me."

Ichigo took a breath and headed over, glad to be working with the head of trauma, seeing why he'd asked for him almost immediately with the belly rising above the patient. Ichigo had made his preference to work with children in paediatrics at the start of the year and while he still rotated round all of the specialities, he focused his research and a lot of his own time to perfecting the ability to do all of the intricate surgeries needed on a tiny human being.

The woman had been involved in a car accident and had been cut out of the car. Ichigo helped out but he was more another pair of hands, stitching up a leg wound and monitoring the baby through monitors strapped to the woman's stomach. The baby seemed to be in no danger and once she was getting sent up to a room for observation overnight, she was out of danger and so was her baby. She was so thankful to them all and a bit emotional to the point that she made Ichigo feel uncomfortable. The police were in to speak to her and Ichigo was writing up his notes when a bunch of his year mates congregated to discuss what had happened.

"Did you hear the guy was on his phone when he ploughed into her?"

Ichigo's head jerked up, a frown on his face at the discovery. He hated when people put other's lives in danger like that.

"Yeah, and he was speeding. Some hot shot, getting a private room and everything. Got the head of plastics down to sew up his face, can't have a scar on the CEO's mug."

"She should sue him; get every penny she could out of him."

Ichigo bit his tongue, knowing his voice wasn't welcome but he was a little emboldened by the fact that his worst tormentor was absent at that point. "I think it's up to the police to sort it out and our job is just to care for them, not stick our noses in."

Six pairs of eyes swung round and looked at him, several eyebrows were raised. "Sorry Kurosaki, didn't know you were an authority here."

Ichigo just rolled his eyes, ducking his head back to his chart again. He did glance up, catching the eye of the one person in his year that had any time for him, if only due to blood relation. His cousin Uryu was a promising cardio surgeon and although they had little time for each other and had not been close growing up, they were at least civil at work. He did look like he agreed with Ichigo but would never stand up for him.

"So, Kurosaki. Didn't see you this morning after rounds. Missed you."

Ichigo felt a drop of sweat run down his spine, his hand gripping his pen tighter when the other started to speak. Ichigo slowly lifted his head, brown eyes meeting brown. Ichigo tried not to flinch as Aizen grinned a shark's grin down at him. A hand reached out and snatched the chart out from under him, Ichigo grabbing at it to try and keep it.

"Tch, you're really downplaying her injuries don't you think? She'll need all the support she can get to throw the guy in jail. Come on, give her a little hand."

Ichigo frowned, standing steadily and resting his hands on the desk. Sousuke Aizen was taller than him, more refined looking with his quaffed hair and broad shoulders but to Ichigo he looked like a snake, calm and cool one second before they pounce and kill something. Ichigo'd had bruises from him that took week to fade, all 'accidents' of course.

Taking the chance that they were in public with witnesses Ichigo struck out, grabbing the file and tucking it under his arm. "The file is accurate, everything we had to do, every procedure and drug. Excuse me."

Ichigo took the chance to bolt, turning to stride away when the oily voice stopped him. "Since you're clearly on his side, Doc Ukitake needs you to look after the other driver. He was looking for someone to monitor him for a few hours."

Ichigo turned and sneered back, knowing he wasn't going to get a punch to the thigh or elbow to the ribs from that distance, Aizen saved that shit for lectures and rounds when there was a crowd of people to hide him.

Ichigo finished the chart write up leaning on his thigh on a busy corridor before he handed it off to a nurse to be taken to the ward the woman had been on. He then went looking for one of the more kind surgeons in the hospital, the general surgeon having a gentle personality as well as gentle hands. He was also easy to spot with his long white hair in a low ponytail that day lying over his blue shirt.

"Excuse me Doctor Ukitake, I was told you needed someone to monitor the driver of one of the cars." Ichigo stood tall with his hands behind his back, looking the man in the eye as he spoke. His eyesight did dip after he'd finished, not quite ending at the floor but only because he'd been told off for that before.

"Ichigo, good to see you boy. I assigned that task to Redder, why have you ended up with it?"

Hmm, why indeed did he get landed with Aizen's lackey's job? "He was caught up with something sir, I am free though. I just finished with the lady driver and she's away up for observation for the night."

Ukitake let out a genuine sigh. "Oh that is good. I hate seeing expectant mothers caught up in things like that. It won't be easy for her. Anyway, Mr Jaeggerjaques is in the ICU, I'm afraid you've already missed scrubbing in with him but he'll need his incision checked every two hours as well as a basic neuro check every hour. He's settled down a fair bit after a shaky start. If I let you have him you've got to promise me he'll still be alive tomorrow, do you understand?" Ukitake smiled when he said it, making a joke but he frowned as he realised the young man in front of him was not only taking him seriously, he wasn't really looking at him, his gaze dropped as usual. "Ichigo, you know you can talk to me if you need to. Isshin asked me to keep an eye on you and I feel like I'm letting him down, seeing you like this. This isn't you, hiding in corridors and acting all shy around people."

"Sir, I assure you I will do my best with your patient and will keep you informed of any changes in his condition."

Ukitake sighed again, this time in frustration at the situation. "Alright then, you enjoy your all-nighter. I don't envy you at all; glad I've out grown that sort of thing. I will see you in the morning Ichigo." He clapped the younger man on the shoulder as he left, shaking his head at his uselessness.

Ichigo headed to the nurses station, seeing the name written on the board and getting the room number as he lifted the iPad. He quite liked working in the private wards, they had all the toys and he was a much faster typist than he was at script. He pulled the chart up on the screen as he walked to the room, opening the door with his elbow as he took a handful of gel from the bottle on the wall to wash his hands. He closed the door behind him, blinking in the din light.

First impressions were blue, bright blue hair which made Ichigo snort. He'd got such a hard time at school for his hair; he wondered how natural the blue was. Then he took in the man's basic stats; tall, probably over six feet. Hundred and thirty pounds probably and most of it was muscle. He wasn't muscle bound and rippled but he clearly took care of himself. Nice strong arms came out of the white flecked hospital gown and laid on the green blanket, one with a name bracelet on it, the other with an IV going into his veins. Ichigo pulled his pen torch out of his top pocket, making a bet that the guy's eyes matched his hair before he pulled one eyelid up, checking the pupils still worked one at a time before marking it in the chart. He had various other things to check, not too many as the patient as still unconscious and could hardly tell him where it hurt. The scar was under his left rib cage, meaning he'd had a liver bleed or something near there and he had various scrapes and cuts on his exposed skin, one right over his nose that had been steri-stripped together. He had a tube going into his mouth and it hooked up to the ventilator but according to the chart they would be removing it the next day when he was more stable. There was a note that if he was fighting it, it could be removed overnight.

Overall he seemed to be in fairly good shape for having been in a car that barrel-rolled down the street. Ichigo wondered if there was more to it than the story he'd heard from the other residents. The guy was hot; Ichigo could tell that from his extreme facial bones and his physiology. In reading his personal profile, he was only twenty nine, five years older than Ichigo, but was already at the top of his game, CEO for some company that Ichigo had heard of, but wasn't sure what they did.

"And you just had to use your phone when you were driving eh? You seem to have it all, top job, gorgeous and by all accounts you're loaded. Why the hell would you risk it all? And why don't you have hands free, I'm sure you can afford it." Ichigo sighed. "Don't worry, I'll not judge you. Be glad I took you from Redder, he'd probably smother you if you started to snore."

Ichigo left him after completing all his notes and completed various other checks he had to before finding a safe quiet place for the night. A quick trip to the vending machine produced his exciting dinner, salt and vinegar were not his favourite but that was the only choice. He debated where to go to enjoy his meal when he realised he knew exactly where he could sit in peace, where no one would bother him.

Mr Jaeggerjaques turned out to be a wonderful dinner companion. Ichigo curled up on the sofa in his room, slipping off his trainers and tucking his feet up as he quietly crunched on his crisps. The first few were chewed slowly, like Ichigo was afraid a couple of potato chips would wake a man with a head trauma but then he got over it, staring at the mottled floor as he ate. He glanced up at the man, tilting his head before he pulled the iPad over again and pulled the chart up. The next of kin was a Nnoitra Gilga, relationship written that they were brothers which was strange with such different names. Odd that a high powered man, who was gorgeous, had no wife or girlfriend listed.

"Are you gay?" Ichigo crunched another crisp as he waited for nothing. "You could be, I can never tell. You hear these stories of GAYDAR but I didn't get it when I hung up my vagina preference. Wonder if your 'brother' is something else entirely. I'd happily have you, unless you're a dick. Are you a dick, Grimmjow?" Ichigo checked the first name again, having no idea if he was pronouncing it properly. "I don't think you are, I think you're just a bit stupid but that's not a unique trait. You know how many dicks there are working here? Loads. This is the first time in months that I've had a conversation with anyone, and you're asleep! Ok, that is pathetic. Sorry, not that it's your fault." Ichigo paused, dropping his head onto his hand. He crushed the empty crisp packet and shoved it into his pocket. "I'm talking to a guy in a coma like he's my bestie."

Ichigo stood up and walked over with his hands in his white coat pockets. He reached out a hand and neatened the blue hair, sweeping the strands to the side. "You're not a dick are you? I bet you're just too busy for a girlfriend or a boyfriend. Too busy to deal with all of that. Tell you what, ask me out when you're better, I promise I'm busier than you so I'll not bitch if we don't see each other much. I'll be back soon Grimm."

Ichigo headed out, a little smile on his face as he checked on his other patients and with the on-call senior doctor. He was given the clear to get some sleep, with a reminder that Mr Jaeggerjaques was to be checked on every two hours.

That made the decision of where to sleep easy, the couch on the patient room was big enough for him and it meant that he didn't have to worry about Aizen or his crowd coming in. A blanket was easy to snaffle and he was quickly curled on the couch, setting an alarm on his phone.

The night went well; Ichigo being grumpy at around four but his companion didn't take it the wrong way. Ichigo chatted away, laughing at his own jokes and just being glad to let it all out for once. He complained about his schedule, his peers and his seniors. He had good things to say about some of them, Ukitake for example was a star. Unohana, one of the neuro surgeons was terrifying and the head of ortho Zaraki was clinically insane and Ichigo went through them, explaining them to Grimmjow and describing them. He took a different department with every check, nipping out for a coffee as the morning drew in. At half five he went for a wash and change in the locker room, hoping to avoid the others with being half an hour earlier than them but Tousen was there, folding his jacket as he pulled out his white coat.

"So is our text and drive guy still alive or did you off him in the night?"

Ichigo didn't like Tousen, the quiet man giving off malevolent vibes in every direction. "He's still stable, so is the lady. Think it's a happy ending this time."

"Until he does it again."

Ichigo scarpered after he'd brushed his teeth, banana in his stomach to keep him going until he could grab something later. He'd have to time it right with not having been home to make something like normal. He had time to check on Grimmjow once more before making it to rounds on the normal floor at seven, the crowds following the various doctors as the patients are checked on. Ichigo had to run to the private floor to make it for their later rounds – private patients didn't like the early wakeup call – and he reported to Ukitake that the night had been uneventful.

"Well that is good news; the poor man didn't deserve this." Ukitake walked out, taping on a tablet as he walked.

Ichigo frowned, wondering why his senior said that, chasing after him to find out. "Excuse me sir, why did you say Grimmjow didn't deserve that?"

Ukitake turned to Ichigo with an amused smirk. "Grimmjow? I take it you two got close last night?" Ukitake chuckled at the younger man's blush.

"Eh, I meant Mr Jaeggerjaques."

"I know who you meant. He was heading to the gym after work when that woman ploughed into him, texting on her phone and she was pregnant too. To put your own life in that kind of danger, not to mention everyone else on the road, but to have a little life inside you, it's insane."

"Grimmjow wasn't the one on his phone?"

"No, Grimmjow wasn't the one on his phone. I just hope he recovers quickly. He's due to complete a marathon raising money for cancer research with a few friends of his. He's going to double whatever money he brings in with sponsorship apparently. Do you want to sort out getting that tube out of his mouth? Remember and check the other tubes of course, liquid is going in and out of him after all. Keep me posted but Retsu said it might be a few days before his brain is rested enough to wake up."

"Yes sir, I'll take care of him." Ichigo had a smile on his face as he headed back to Grimmjow's room, iPad under his arm as he walked. He wasn't really looking where he was going when he tripped, over nothing he thought until he glanced back and saw Redder and Tousen with a few others walking the other way. Redder looked over his shoulder, blowing Ichigo a kiss before he turned a corner, Ichigo scowling as he walked into Grimmjow's room.

A large sigh burst out of him, a half-smile on his face at the sight before him. "I knew you weren't a dick."

Ichigo had a blue sheet over Grimmjow's chest as he carefully pulled the tube from his lungs, a little resistance was met, the larger man gagging slightly but that was a good sign, he was conscious enough to feel at least. Ichigo wiped his face down, cleaning more of the road grime and blood flecks off. "That must feel better. Those tubes hurt." Ichigo hesitated, not wanting to go out into the hospital with the nasty people but he couldn't stay hidden forever. "I'll come and see you later alright. Don't go anywhere."

Ichigo left, dealing with other patients during his day shift. He got into surgery twice that day, spending his down time in Grimmjow's room to escape the others. He sat quiet sometimes and others he'd chat about nonsense, talking about himself occasionally but he kept away from that mainly. And that was how the next two weeks went, Ichigo getting somewhere he felt safe to breathe and the rest of the time doing his work to the best of his abilities. Better actually he'd been told by several of the senior surgeons. His concentration was better; he was speaking up more in rounds and getting involved in more complicated cases as a result.

Good things wouldn't last though, Aizen and his crowd not liking that their favourite punching bag and laughing stock was suddenly nowhere to be seen. They didn't seem to put it together that Ichigo was suddenly really good at hiding around the same time as the car accident happened but he wasn't going to tell them. Plus he was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to be eating and studying in a patient's room.

Grimmjow's injuries were healing nicely, the cut on his nose was pretty much gone and the stitches had been removed from his abdomen the week before. All they were waiting for was him to open his eyes. His brain was functioning fine, just trapped in a sleep like state.

Ichigo was thinking about him a lot, wondering why he'd never seen anyone visiting the other and what he was like when he was awake. Ichigo had googled him extensively, searched for him on social network and had read everything Wikipedia had to say about him which wasn't a lot. He'd felt a little like a stalker when he'd ended up on the man's sister's Facebook profile but when the pictures were of the two of them messing around even as adults it made him smile. It seemed that his patient was a good man all round and Ichigo couldn't wait to meet him.

Ichigo's pager tone went off again, an emergency meeting getting called for all the residents which made him run. He pushed into the room, standing at the back with a few others. Kyoraku was looking grim for a change, not really giving the residents a look. Coming from the man that invited them drinking more evenings than not it was a big change.

"Look folks, I know everyone has better places to go right now but I need you to be straight with me. I know how this place works, I know you all change your shifts and your assignments internally and as long as it works we don't have a problem with it, but now we have a problem. Who was covering the ER last night?"

Everyone looked at everyone else, Ichigo frowning and trying to remember who he'd seen on the rota. He'd had it the night Grimmjow was in, and three times since but not the night before. He had it again in two days which meant Aizen should have had it. Ichigo had to clench every muscle to stop him looking over at the other.

"Sousuke, I know you were scheduled for it but I also know you swapped it, saw you in the bar myself. Who took it?"

"Kurosaki sir,"

Ichigo immediately frowned.

"That is very strange considering Ichigo had a late surgery with Kommamuro, the records show they were in until nearly midnight. I'm talking about an incident that happened before that. Who was in charge?"

Ichigo swallowed the large lump in his throat, glad he had an alibi and Aizen couldn't pin whatever had happened to him. There were enough residents in the room that would swear the sky was green is Aizen told them Ichigo had said otherwise.

Aizen frowned and looked around, glancing at Tousen and Redder but neither of them would look at him.

Shunsui let out an exasperated sigh. "I know it was one of you, someone's chicken scratch is on a chart but it was never signed, that person is now in serious trouble and we are trying to track exactly what treatment was given." The older man looked around the room, hoping someone would admit to it so he could get it over with. "Fine, then everyone who doesn't have an iron tight hospital alibi will be interviewed. If anyone wants to speak to me quietly I will understand. Dismissed." Ichigo could tell the man was disappointed in them for not having the guts to tell the truth but even if Ichigo wanted to rat someone out, he had no idea. He had been spending too much time in Grimmjow's room that he'd been missing all of the gossip and action in the hospital. He had been enjoying the peace.

Ichigo slipped out with others, hoping to make a clean break but he was quickly surrounded and the group tightened around him, walking into a linen cupboard together. Ichigo was thrown against the wall, the four others standing at the door. He scowled at them, straightening himself but he was the smallest in the room.

He hated it, he wasn't even that small. Five foot nine was not short for a man but it seemed that his work was filled with five foot eleven plus men (and women) and all the martial arts lessons in his youth left him short, literally, since many of these men were also trained. A trained person against a bigger untrained one has an advantage; a small trained person against a bigger trained person just meant a longer fight and usually worse injuries.

"I have patients to see."

"Yeah, and a surgeon's ear to whisper in I bet." Redder sneered at him.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "I have no idea what Kyoraku was talking about, I was in the OR until late, then I went home. I don't know who the patient is let alone who their doctor was. Can I go now?"

Redder walked up to him, slamming his hand onto the wall at the side of Ichigo's head. "And when you put your feelers out, talking to all the nurses that know your dad and start putting things together you'll figure it out, you always do. Just want to make sure you get the math right."

Aizen appeared at Redder's elbow, a worrying smile on his face. "Yes, we can't have you making a mistake like that." Aizen caught Ichigo's wrist, pulling it up. He pulled Ichigo's index finger up first. "One plus one," another finger went up, "Makes two. Two plus two makes," Aizen pulled the other fingers up, pushing the thumb out as well. He pouted for a moment. "Hang on, this isn't right." Aizen lashed out like the snake he was and ripped Ichigo's little finger over to the side, snapping the bone and probably pulling the tendons as well. Redder grabbed Ichigo's head at the same time, slapping his large hand over Ichigo's mouth to catch the scream.

"You remember how this feels. You can do without your pinkie but I'd hate to see such a promising career go down the drain because of a little 'accident'." Aizen patted Ichigo's cheek, looking up at Redder when he jerked his head, dropping Ichigo's hand as he turned.

Ichigo grabbed his wrist with his other hand, squeezing as he tried to hold back the scream that was forming. He made a strange gurgling sound as he held it back, the veins on his face and head popping out with the strain of controlling himself. The door opened as they all left, Ichigo breathing heavily and seeing black spots appear in front of him because of it. He turned and smacked his forehead into the wall, kicking it with a foot to try and distract himself from the white hot pain in his hand. He'd broken his wrist when he was younger but the malicious break seemed to hurt more.

The door opened again and Ichigo grabbed a blue drape, holding it over his sore hand as he rushed out, keeping his red and clearly upset face turned from the nurse. He ran to the only place he knew he could break down for a moment in, slamming Grimmjow's door closed behind him. He hurried over to the bedside, sliding down the wall and using the bed and occupant to hide himself. He sobbed and hiccupped for a moment before he calmed himself, taking a few deep breaths. He worked up to removing the drape and taking a good look at his hand, letting out a cry of horror at the fact that not only was the finger broken, it was dislocated and sticking out in the wrong direction. It needed set back in at the very least, depending on what kind of break it might even need a pin but Ichigo wasn't able to go for help.

He balled the blue drape up, shoving it into his mouth as he closed his free hand on his other, taking a few breaths before he yanked the finger up and in, holding it against his ring finger as he screamed into the cloth. It was bad. He'd felt the bones more in a relocation before but never in his own body. He usually had the patient under a lot of medication and obviously someone else was doing the yanking. Ichigo let his head drop against the mattress at his side, taking some comfort in the other human being in the room.

"They broke my finger." Ichigo felt the tears building, the hiccups and sobs caught in his chest under a fine wire. "They broke my finger so I wouldn't tell on them. I don't even have anything to tell." The wire snapped and the sobs escaped. Ichigo turned his head into the bed to smother them a bit. "They said they'd break more if I told. I don't know what to do."

Well? Anyone? Grimm's got a bit more healing to do before he wakes, who knows what Aizen and his buds will get up before that...