Pairing: Aizawa/Shiraishi (main), Fujikawa/Saejima (side)
Other Characters: Hiyama, with brief appearance of the fellows
Word Count: 2260 wc
Summary: The almost-perfect Aizawa Kousaku is just a man and the capable Shiraishi Megumi is still a woman, after all. (Set a month after season 3 ends)
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Blue and its characters, but I own the head-injured patient one.
Warning: Mentions of many women's problem (you'll understand afterwards), English isn't my first language so there might be grammatical errors everywhere, and the clueless Aizawa.
a/n: Written for Aishira fanfic festival held by aishiraburu on twitter.
Together with Yokomine and Yukimura, Aizawa waited for the Heli to land. The said flying vehicle was going to arrive in two minutes so they prepared to fetch the patient. It was informed before that the patient had a head injury so Shiraishi asked for Aizawa specifically.
The Heli finally landed. Aizawa ran to fetch the patient while Haitani and Yukimura followed him with a stretcher. But, it got Aizawa a little bit confused when the one who initiated to move the patient onto the new stretcher wasn't Shiraishi. Instead, it was Natori who did.
"On my count," Natori announced, "one, two, three!" and they moved the patient successfully.
Aizawa, along with the fellows, hurriedly delivered the patient to the emergency room. Noticing the absence of the staff leader who flew with Natori (and Saejima), Aizawa stole a glance at the Heli while running for a few seconds. She was there, also running with Saejima who held her waist but in rather slow pace.
The neurosurgeon frowned. Why is Saejima holding Shiraishi's waist? he asked in his mind. But then, Natori's voice snapped him back to the reality and he just realized that they had arrived at the emergency room.
"Mizoguchi Kenta, 25 years old, was involved in an accident during work. A bar of hard iron hit his head and he lost consciousness afterwards…"
Alright, he could ask Shiraishi later.
Shiraishi finally returned to the staff station. Her moves were kind of weak—she even walked slowly, something that rarely happened when we speak of Shiraishi Megumi—and sometimes she frowned with an expression like she was holding back a pain. Not to mention that her face turned pale.
She was indeed sick, but she kept insisting to do her reports. Aizawa, who was also working on his reports there, was kind of irritated to see that, not because Shiraishi was sick but because she was too stubborn.
"Why aren't you resting?" asked Aizawa with annoyed tone but his eyes were still on the PC's screen.
Shiraishi looked up to meet Aizawa's eyes. She forced a smile. "I'm not that sick, I still can do some works. Fujikawa-sensei and Hiyama-sensei helped me typing my reports earlier, so I'm going to do the rest."
Aizawa frowned. Alright, Hiyama considered Shiraishi as her best friend so it was understandable enough that she helped the staff leader, but Fujikawa? Aizawa thought that maybe the orthopedic took a wrong medicine this morning.
"Just take more rests. Let me do it," Aizawa said. He even stretched his hand out towards Shiraishi, asking her to hand the papers.
Shiraishi shook her head. "No, Aizawa-sensei. I didn't do anything after the last flight, so please let me do something."
It was Aizawa's turn to shake his head in disapproval. "At time like this, you can use your power as a staff leader to ask for my help. Have you even looked at your own reflection on the mirror? You look pale and you're sweating a lot in this kind of weather."
That was true, though. It was already fall season. The weather was considerably cold but Shiraishi sweated a lot.
"That's power harassment, Aizawa-sensei."
"Power harassment is when you're healthy and fine but you order people around while you're doing nothing," Aizawa stated. "It's no big deal. Just go to the on-call room or wherever you may think okay."
Shiraishi looked ready to argue again, but the pain that was most likely placed in her stomach caused her to wince. The sight wasn't gone unnoticed by the neurosurgeon.
"Walking is kind of uncomfortable now," Shiraishi said with closed eyes and wrinkled forehead.
Aizawa sighed. He took away the papers she was holding. Shiraishi saw his act and subconsciously reached out.
"I'll do your report, and you can stay here. No need to go back to the on-call room," Aizawa decided. "Do you want something? Have you taken your medicine?"
"No, I don't usually take medicine for this," Shiraishi murmured.
Her words made Aizawa confused. "But you look like in a severe pain. Is it ulcer? Or gastritis?"
Shiraishi fell silent. She just stared at Aizawa who stared back, but no words came out from their mouths. Maybe this was just Aizawa's mind but he could see that Shiraishi had an expression like she wanted to explain something, but she just couldn't.
"Shiraishi!" a very familiar loud voice shouted, making the staff leader and the neurosurgeon both turned their heads at the same time. It was Hiyama and a big plastic bag. "I bought a lot for you. You better listen what I say and I accept no complaints!"
Although Shiraishi's face still showed a painful expression, she could manage to form a small smile. "Thank you," she whispered.
"And why are you here?! I told you to take a rest at the on-call room, didn't I? I was looking for you but I found none there," Hiyama scolded her friend. "Please restrain yourself from doing your works at your condition! If Saejima finds out, you're dead!"
Shiraishi just smiled hearing (yup, hearing, not listening to) Hiyama's nagging while taking out three bananas and a large cup of warm milk. Hiyama kept on scolding Shiraishi but the latter just had no energy to argue. She just gave her best friend free rein.
When Shiraishi was eating the banana, Aizawa paid more attention to the contents inside the plastic bag. There were seven packs of rice ball. Okay, that was a lot, but he didn't find the one he was looking for.
"Hiyama, did you not buy medicine for Shiraishi?" he asked.
The obstetrician shook her head. "I don't usually advise my patients to take some medicine for that. Milk, banana, and salmon are enough—oh, I bought rice ball for you, for Saejima and Fujikawa too, but the salmon ones are Shiraishi's."
Shiraishi widened her eyes. "What? The salmon rice balls are mine? But there are three of them!"
Hiyama leaned forward. "You're in no position to argue with me in this matter of kind, Staff Leader-san," she stated sternly. "If you want to get back to your loads of reports, you better obey me."
Shiraishi pouted—honestly Aizawa found it cute—but she didn't complain anymore and just continued on munching her banana.
"Good girl," Hiyama smirked.
Aizawa still didn't get it. "But why didn't you buy medicine for her? What if she gets sicker?"
"She could be addicted to it, of course," Hiyama answered. "This thing rarely happens to her, but this time it hurts due to stress and lack of calcium. She doesn't usually take meds, too. Right, Shiraishi?"
Shiraishi nodded as she started her second banana and open the cup of warm milk. The sight of the milk alarmed Aizawa that he immediately took it away from Shiraishi's hand. The action startled both Shiraishi and Hiyama.
"You don't drink milk when your stomach is in pain, Shiraishi," Aizawa said.
The female doctors blinked in confusion.
"But according to what I have learned in medical school, milk can relieve the stomach—"
"Are you stupid? Milk isn't good for stomachache and you should have known that," Aizawa challenged.
While Shiraishi still couldn't understand what Aizawa was saying, Hiyama got a little bit idea about what was going on.
"I guess there's something wrong here," Hiyama mumbled. "Aizawa, what kind of stomach disease that Shiraishi is suffering right now, do you think?"
"Whether it's stomach ulcer or gastritis," Aizawa confidently answered with his infamous stoic face.
That statement left the women speechless. Yokomine who just returned from doing her rounds, along with the nurses there including Yukimura were dumbfounded. Aizawa didn't notice that, though.
Hiyama slapped her own forehead. "I forget that all you care about is only brain tissue," she hissed. She took the cup of milk from Aizawa's grasp then gave it back to Shiraishi. "You're my patient, not his. Your stomach with the current condition needs milk the most. You hear me?"
"Yeah," Shiraishi nodded awkwardly.
Just in time, Saejima came with worried look on her face, followed by Fujikawa who was surprised seeing Shiraishi at the staff station.
"Shiraishi-sensei! You shouldn't be wandering around when your stomach still feels uncomfortable," Saejima warned.
Shiraishi sheepishly smiled. But then her smile disappeared as she felt something weird. She stood up and asked Saejima to check on it.
She took a look at Shiraishi's behind. When she found something shocking, she exclaimed in whisper, "Whoa! You need to change!"
Shiraishi gasped. "What?! Is it… is it what I think it is?!" and earned a vigorous nod from the flight nurse.
"That's what you get for wandering around too much when this thing happened," Hiyama scolded her again. She then turned to Saejima. "Saejima, take Shiraishi to the on-call room and please stay with her. Bring the rice balls, milk, and the banana. Oh, I also bought one for you, with tuna filling. Take it."
"Thank you, Hiyama-sensei," said Saejima with gratitude. "Come on, Shiraishi-sensei. You need to get new trousers."
Shiraishi nodded in agreement. Saejima asked Yukimura to follow them with the young nurse walking behind Shiraishi and Saejima holding the staff leader's hand because her stomach was still in pain. But it had already decreased, though.
On the other hand, Aizawa who was watching the whole scene (minus Shiraishi's behind because he was focused on her face) suddenly got an idea that he was wrong about Shiraishi's problem, but couldn't find out what was actually wrong. He turned to Hiyama and asked, "It's not stomach ulcer?"
Hiyama glared at him. "Not even gastritis," she said. "What kind of medical school did you attend, to not know such things?" She let out an upset sigh. "Fujikawa, you can take one rice ball," she announced to Fujikawa before leaving the staff station with her rice ball.
"Thank you!" Fujikawa shouted.
Aizawa felt a hard tap on his shoulder and he knew it was Fujikawa. The smaller man had been looking at him in disbelief for a few minutes already.
"This is why you should get yourself a girlfriend, dude," Fujikawa said.
"What is her disease, actually?" Aizawa asked calmly, but if Fujikawa tried harder he would've heard an impatient tone in his question.
"You really don't know? Like, really, really don't know?"
Aizawa shook his head.
"Shiraishi is a woman," Fujikawa started hinting.
The neurosurgeon lifted his eyebrows as a sign of telling the orthopedic of course, duh.
"Before coming back to Shohoku, where did Hiyama work?"
He gave statement about Shiraishi but now Hiyama? "Uh… Seinan Perinatal Medical Center?"
"Good. So what do you think she is specialized at?"
"Obstetrics and gynecology."
"Talking about gynecology, what do you think may occur to every woman each month?"
Aizawa's confused look changed totally. He stared blankly at Fujikawa. A sudden realization came through his mind.
Finally his smart brain could function normally again. Finally he understood the whole story behind Shiraishi's stomachache, that was actually a stomach cramp. Finally he acknowledged that milk was actually good for Shiraishi and that taking meds wouldn't be a wise option for her. As far as he remembered, he was never experienced with any woman with monthly visitor since he never saw his late grandmother suffered from it.
"Oh," he murmured.
"Yes, 'oh'," Fujikawa scoffed. "To think that the day when I feel smarter than Aizawa Kousaku would really come…"
Aizawa opted not to pay attention to Fujikawa who chose another PC to work on while munching on his rice ball. He never once felt so ashamed before. Of course. Of course Shiraishi could also experience that. She's a woman after all. And I am just a dumb and inexperienced man.
He heard Yokomine giggled. It didn't annoy him, but he felt more miserable so he put on his stoic face to glare at her. Good thing that she stopped and continued her work.
BONUS PART
On the following day, Shiraishi came to the staff station with bright face. Her cheeks were rosy again, just like before the "first day incident". She greeted the nurses and fellows good morning before doing her rounds.
"Shiraishi."
The staff leader turned her head around to meet Aizawa's gaze. The memory of him having no idea about her "disease" was still fresh in her mind, but she didn't want to laugh in front of him. She was trying hard to stay cool.
"Yes, Aizawa-sensei?"
Aizawa walked closer to Shiraishi. When they were only a meter away, Aizawa handed a medium-sized carton of milk. Shiraishi stared at the milk blankly.
"I'm sorry for yesterday," he said. "But if you're still in pain, you can drink it."
Shiraishi kept silent for a few seconds before bursting out of laughter. Not as loud as Hiyama's, but loud enough for Aizawa to feel more embarrassed.
After she was done calming herself, Shiraishi said, "My stomach is fine now. Usually that cramp only occurs on the first day so I'm alright now."
Aizawa could feel his cheeks were burning.
"But of course I'll take it," Shiraishi continued as she took the milk. "Thank you, Aizawa-sensei!"
"Aa," Aizawa replied shortly.
With wide grin, Shiraishi left Aizawa there while holding the milk. Although Aizawa still felt embarrassed, he was glad that the staff leader was back to normal again. The Shiraishi he was looking at with adoration, was the Shiraishi he had always known. The strongest and most capable woman in Lifesaving Department.
But Aizawa took a note for himself to never, ever forget that Shiraishi Megumi is also a woman.
Note:
The title is actually a Japanese proverb.
井の中の蛙大海を知らず (i no naka no kawazu, taikai o shirazu), translated as "the frog in the well knows not of the great ocean". It's a metaphor for being mentally trapped by a narrow understanding of things.
(kawazu is the old way to say "frog", while nowadays Japanese people call frog as kaeru)
Source: nihonshockdotcom
(Anyway, I never took any meds to relieve stomach cramps because everyone always tells me not to take it because it's not good for my body. Instead, I drink milk and eat banana and warm up my stomach with a bottle of hot water. So if you prefer taking meds, it's written NOT to against your way. It's just for making up the story. But if there are some statement in the story you disagree with, I would like to ask your apologies beforehand.)