Chapter 2 Volunteer Work
When they arrived at the hospital, she instructed Soujiroh to drop her at the front door. She gave him her card key to access the employee parking garage.
"Park in slot 4F, on the 4th floor. That is the safest place for your bike not to get messed up. Then come to the 5th floor, ask for the pediatric cancer wing and then ask for me."
He nodded and was about to ride off when he remembered. "Wait what is your name?"
"Oh, ask for McKenzie sensei."
"Good morning." She smiled and greeted everyone by name when she walked through the door. The patients stared at her, but all of the staff smiled, acknowledged her with respect, and returned her greeting. She made her way to the 5th floor. She swiped her badge to let her into the pediatric cancer ward. "Sempai, I'm so sorry that I'm late. I ran into three idiots and their nice friend at the dango shop."
A man resembling an older, more serious version of Soujiroh looked at his watch.
"You're not late. You're just 30 minutes early instead of the usual hour early for your shift."
"Yes, but for me that is late. Besides today is special, and I wanted to get here early to set up the refreshments that I bought."
He looked around. "Can I help you with them? Where are they by the way?"
"Oh, since I was running so late I had one of the idiots drop me off first. The nice friend is coming with the snacks." She looked through the clear glass that could only be seen from the inside of the ward. Outside the ward, no one could see through the window. "There's the idiot who gave me the ride now. I better go get him."
Soujiroh had come to the 5th floor amongst a series of "Ah's" and "Ooh's" as everyone recognized him as the playboy of the F4. He had stopped at the reception desk to ask for her. The young receptionist looked at him and gave him the biggest smile she could. "May I help you?"
"Yes, I'm here to see …." He didn't finish because she came up beside him and grabbed his arm.
"This way, follow me."
They all stared after the young lady. They were all jealous although they genuinely liked and respected the young lady. It's unfair. How does she know and get to hang out with the F4 after being here for such a short time?
She swiped her badge and opened the door. "Okay, let me get you some scrubs and you can wash up before you go visit the children."
"Uhm, visit the children?"
"Yes, you are going to volunteer to read to them, sing to them, play games with them, whatever they want to do or else." He looked at her incredulously.
Dr. Nishikado came up and saw him. While she went to get Soujiroh scrubs, he motioned for his younger brother to come talk to him.
"Ok, what are you doing here?"
"I came to volunteer."
"What are you really doing here?"
"Well, we kind of insulted McKenzie sensei at the dango shop, and she threatened to infect us with diseases if we didn't volunteer."
Dr. Nishikado smiled. "Sounds just like her. And she will do it, too. Anyway stay out of trouble and don't get in the way." He walked off from his brother who grabbed his arm and turned him around.
Soujiroh glared at his brother with disdain. He has no idea how tough I had it with Mom and Dad after he ran away and shirked his responsibility. My life was a mess, and he wasn't there for me to help me out the way Tsubaki was for Tsukasa or Shizuka was for Rui. I was left all alone to cope on my own, and now he thinks he can play big brother who knows best. I don't think so. "I'm not the sniveling little brother that used to look up to you. I've grown up, and you can't order me around."
"But I can." Dr. McKenzie had a questioning look on her face. "Now, put these on. Don't worry, they are brand new. No one has ever used them before."
"Why do I need these? They are going to mess up my hair. I spent a lot of time getting it just right."
"I'm sure your stylist can fix it. Besides, I'm sure the kind of ladies you deal with will take you any way you are. But you have to wear the scrubs, the head covering, and the mask. These children have impaired and weakened immune systems. You are more of a danger to infect them than they are to you. I can't risk you passing anything on to my patients." She helped him put on the clothes and tied them in the back.
By that time Rui showed up with the treats. She saw him through the one-way window and went to let him in. Again the nurses were shocked and jealous that she knew two of the F4 and was able to get them to come to the hospital.
Once they went into the pediatric ward, she showed Rui to a reception area. She washed her hands, put on gloves, and began setting out the snacks.
"Hanazawa san, thank you for coming and bringing the snacks. I am sorry to have troubled you since it was your friends who caused the problems. I'm making the other three stay and play with the children, but you may leave if you wish."
There's no way I'm missing this, he thought. This should be interesting. Besides, I'm not even sleepy yet. He shrugged nonchalantly. "I'll stay."
"You will?" She gave him the most beautiful smile, and then hugged him. "Great. Do you have your violin?"
He was surprised that she knew about his violin. I wonder about this girl. She is really interesting. How does she know so much about all of us? I have to find out about her. "Yes it's downstairs in the car."
"Would you mind going to get it, please? The children would really love it if you could play for them, and so would I."
When she spoke of the children there was a soft and gentleness in her eyes that belied the aggressive, violent young lady that had assaulted his friends earlier. "Sure." How could he turn her down?
"I really shouldn't be doing this, but here." She handed him her badge. "Here is my badge. That way you can get back in here without having to wait for me." He nodded and took it.
By the time Rui had returned from getting his violin, Tsukasa and Akira had arrived along with six servants carrying loads of books, toys, and games. Tsukasa was yelling at the reception lady for not being able to identify 'that foreign doctor who was infuriating.'" Akira was busy trying to charm the lady to keep her from calling security and had kissed her hand. Rui chuckled as he walked over.
"Yo, Tsukasa, Akira, follow me. I know where to go." When they reached the pediatric cancer ward, all cell phones were out and the staff were making calls that went something like this:
"Hello. Guess who is here? The F4. I don't know what they are doing here, but they look like they are doing volunteer work. I know. No, they are even cuter in person."
When the lone newspaper woman and camera man arrived they were wondering what the buzz and excitement was about. "Oh, didn't you hear? The F4 came to volunteer." One of the staff informed them.
The news paper lady was excited and called her boss to tell him of the scoop. Pretty soon the news had spread throughout the media community, and within 15 minutes representatives from the top newspapers, radio and television stations in Tokyo were there trying to find out why the F4 were there and get a scoop or interview.
Dr. McKenzie had just finished setting up the reception area and getting the F4 washed and changed into scrubs when she looked out of the one-way window and saw the ensuing media circus. She cringed. "I better go handle this." She stepped outside and closed the doors behind her, and she held up her hands to get their attention.
"Uhm, excuse me everyone. I thank you all for coming and supporting our children's cancer ward. I must say that we were not expecting so many to show up since we only received one RSVP. That being the case, we are going to allow the ones who RSVP'd to come in first and stay the whole time. Everyone else will be rotated in and allowed to stay for 20 minutes. Now, I need you all to sign in on this sheet of paper and present your credentials to our administration people. Once you have done that, and they have verified your identities, you will be allowed back to visit with our children. I must remind you that these children are all seriously ill and have impaired and weakened immune systems. Therefore we will ask you to wash and don scrubs before entering. In addition, please do not tire out the children by asking questions or getting too close. Please observe them and engage them. Finally, I know that the majority of you are here because you heard that the F4 are here. That is true, but they came to volunteer for the sake of the children. Therefore, I ask you to respect that and do not use this opportunity to interview them, get a scoop on them, or interrupt their interaction with the children. The staff will be monitoring your progress and anyone violating these rules will be escorted out by security immediately. Now, can I have everyone's cooperation? Oh, one last thing. Please, no pictures of me. This is not about me. It's about the children."
They all agreed, impressed at the young foreign doctor.
In the back, the F4 were also impressed at how she had managed to calm and charm the media circus.
She escorted the first newspaper woman and camera man to the back and had some of the nurses assist them in getting sanitized and changed. Meanwhile she assigned the F4 to various children. Nishikado was playing cards with a ten-year-old boy suffering from bone cancer. Hanazawa was playing his violin for a group of children. Domyouji was reading to a five-year-old girl with lukemia, who was correcting his Japanese, and Mimasaka was playing house with two little girls.
She went to check on Nishikado first. She walked in and placed an arm around Nishikado's shoulders. "How is it going, you two?"
"Fine." Nishikado smiled at her.
"Guess what, McKenzie sensei, I've beat him seven times already. He is really crap at cards."
She smiled. "I hope you are not playing for money, that's illegal." Then she whispered, "But if you are, make sure you beat the pants off this guy. His family is loaded." Both of them smiled at that, and she winked at them. As she left, Nishikado stared after her. He then turned back to the boy, who had a suspicious look on his face.
"Hey, you aren't trying to steal my girlfriend are you?"
Nishikado smiled at him. "No."
"Good because I saw her first and I have dibs on her." He raised his eyebrows and looked at the boy.
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, as soon as I get better and get out the hospital, I'm going to ask her out."
"Is that so? Well, I'll tell you a secret between you and me." He leaned close and whispered to the boy. "I plan to ask her out, too."
"Well, I've already been working on her. So hands off."
"I tell you what. We'll play cards for her. Winner gets to ask her out first."
He frowned and shook his head. "No way man, that's disrespectful to her. She's not the kind of woman you can win that way. I plan to win her by my charm and stunning good looks." He rubbed his head now bald due to radiation treatments. Soujiroh could not help but to laugh at the young boy.
"Okay then, I'll give you a few pointers." Then he leaned in close and whispered to the boy.
She next checked on Domyouji who was arguing with the five year-old about what the book read and how to pronounce the words. "Gee, mister, you aren't too bright. Those words are easy."
"Who are you to tell an adult what's wrong and right. I've had the finest teachers and tutors teach me. I know how to read." He folded his arms across his chest and huffed.
Then the five year-old little girl patted his arm. "Don't worry mister. I have trouble reading sometimes too and get frustrated when I don't get it right." Domyouji was turning red, but he was also touched by her.
Next, she checked on Mimasaka, who was playing house with two little girls. He was the husband, and they were sisters fighting over him. He looked up at her with pleading eyes and mouthed the word "help." She shook her head and smiled. Then she went over and whispered to him. "You can begin passing out the gifts if you really want to get away from them."
He laughed and shook his head. "That's okay. I'm used to it with my twin sisters." She shook her head.
Finally, she checked on Hanazawa. She came just in time to hear the end of his musical piece. She clapped along with the rest of the children. Then she round up the children to give them snacks. Hanazawa was helping her when his phone rang.
"Shizuka." He smiled.
"Rui, is everything okay?"
"Huh?"
"I heard that the F4 were in the hospital and that one of you was getting treated for cancer. It just flashed across the screen and they didn't have all of the details."
Rui laughed. "No, we are fine. We just ran into this foreign doctor that Tsukasa managed to tick off, and she coerced us into volunteering at the pediatric cancer ward at Tokyo hospital."
Shizuka was relieved, and then she thought that she recognized something from Rui's depiction of events. "Uh, Rui, did you say a foreign doctor?"
"Yeah."
"Is she small, wearing two braids, beautiful, with big brown soft round eyes, and dark skin?"
"Yeah, that sounds like her. Have you met her?"
"Call out the name Diva, and if she answers tell her it's the phone for her." Shizuka knew exactly who it was and couldn't wait to speak to her.
Rui shrugged and called out "Diva." Much to his surprise, Dr. McKenzie turned around and answered. He waved the phone at her. "Phone for you."
"Hello."
"Diva!" Shizuka yelled excitedly.
Diva?
"Big sister, it's so good to hear from you. How are you doing?"
Rui was stunned. Did she just call Shizuka big sister?
"I'm fine. I see you've met the F4."
"Yes, at the dango shop where Makino Tsukushi works, and they are exactly like you described."
"I see that you have put them to work the way that only you know how." She could picture the 4 boys helping out at the hospital in scrubs. She laughed.
"Well, you told me to make sure that I took care of them. So that's what I am doing, my way."
"Okay, then do me one more favor."
"Anything for you, just ask."
"Anything, huh, go out on a date with Hanazawa Rui."
"What?" Anything except that.
"He's quiet, reserved, and shy. I think you can draw him out, and it will be good for him. Besides, I know you. You will work all day and night and not have fun if someone doesn't drag you out. I trust him, and I think you can too. You need someone to trust in Tokyo. Now, promise me you will go out with him."
She sighed. "I promise."
"Oh yeah, stay away from Soujiroh and Akira, though. Let me talk to Rui again."
She handed the phone back to Rui. "Phone." She returned to helping the children.
"Rui, I want you to do me a favor?"
"Yes, Shizuka."
"Take out my little sister, Diva. She is a workaholic and will never get out and have some fun if someone doesn't push her to do so. She is a lot like Makino in that factor, except she takes very good care of herself and knows the importance of relaxing and having fun. I promise you she'll be interesting and fun to be around."
He sighed because that is what he would normally do. "I guess so." Secretly, he was looking forward to it.
"Good, make sure you ask her out today and don't accept no for an answer. Take care of her, and keep her away from Soujiroh and Akira. Oh yeah, and if anything happens to her, I'll send Tsubaki after you. Tsubaki knows her too and considers her to be a little sister as well. Take care of yourself as well. I love you."
"Yes." He smiled as he hung up. This will be interesting.
When the event was finally over and all the presents had been distributed, Dr. McKenzie thanked everyone for coming and participating. After ushering everyone out, she went back to the F4. "Thank you guys so much for being here. The children really enjoyed you. I am sorry about hitting you guys early, but you understand why I was so upset about it. And you know you deserved it. Anyway, you guys seemed to enjoy yourselves as well. I hope you will come back some time to volunteer again without me assaulting you or threatening to infect you with diseases. The children would love to see you again, and I would be grateful for your help. Oh, if you give me all of your company's information, I will make sure to send you copies of the picture for publicity for your company and give you a form to write off whatever you spent as a tax deduction and charitable donation. If you give me your personal information, I will make sure that you receive a personal letter from me and the hospital thanking you for your time and contribution." They all handed her two business cards, one for their companies and one with their personal information.
"In the meantime, if there is anything that I can do for you right away, please let me know."
Just then the parents of the little girl who Tsukasa had been reading to wheeled her in to see him. She tugged on his sleeve. "Doumyouji san, I wanted to give you this picture that I drew. Here's me, and here's you reading to me. I drew us outside because I want to get better and come see you and let you read to me outside of the hospital at a park."
Doumyouji looked happy, embarrassed, and sheepish all at once. He bent down and took the picture from her. "Thank you. I want to read to you too when you get better." She hugged him, and he placed his arms around her." Then her mother wheeled her away.
The father stayed behind and shook his hand. "Doumyouji san, I just want to say thank you. I really appreciate how happy you have made my daughter. She especially liked the way you pretended to mess up on the easy words so that she could correct you. You know, she has never drawn pictures before or wanted to. I know that you will make a great CEO for Doumyouji enterprises and a great father one day."
Doumyouji was beside himself grinning smugly and with his chest puffed out. "You see that. I'm the only one who got a picture from the children. I'm the only one who had the parents come up and thank personally. I, the 'Great Me.' You don't need any of the other F4 to come back, just me. The children will all love me just like that one does."
"So, does that mean you will be back?" Dr. McKenzie wanted to take advantage of his arrogance while she could.
"Of course. I said I would."
"Great. Oh, by the way, let me treat your wounds. I can treat it so that you will not have any bumps, bruises, or swelling. How about I return your beautiful faces to normal for the ladies? Or would you rather have the bruises to gain sympathy from the ladies although I hear that you guys don't need bruises to attract the ladies."
"You really should." Dr. Nishikado came by and offered. "She's really good, and she has developed the latest techniques."
"What do I need with some foreign commoner doctor when I have the best and the brightest at my beck and call to treat me?"
She just smiled and handed them her card. "Well, I understand how you feel, but do me a favor. Give them my card and ask them to call me. I'd love to talk to the "best and brightest" Japan has to offer. So, do I have any takers?"
Both Soujiroh and Akira raised their hands. As soon as she had finished treating their wounds, they looked outside the one-way window and saw Asai and her posse making up a fuss to be let in and see the F4.
"Hey, smart girl."
Dr. McKenzie put her hands on her hips and cut her eyes at Doumyouji. "Excuse me."
"I mean McKenzie sensei." Doumyouji corrected himself.
"That's more like it."
"If you want to do something for us, get rid of those three witches."
"With pleasure."
Outside Asai was making a fuss. "Look my father knows people who sit on the board. If you don't let me in there to see our fiancés the F4, we will have a talk with them and get you fired. Who do you think you are anyway? Don't you recognize well-bred ladies when you see them?" The receptionist was beginning to cower at Asai's verbal assault.
"Excuse me ladies. Our patients are very ill. I'm afraid that I will have to ask you to calm down and lower your voices so that they will be able to rest. We don't want to lose any patients today. Now, how can I help you?"
"We know the F4 are here, and we want to see them."
"I'm sorry. I can't divulge the names of any of our patients due to doctor patient confidentiality. If you have a specific name to check the list for, then I can let you back here to visit them. Otherwise, I'm afraid that I will have to ask you to leave."
Asai turned to one of her friends and whispered. "This idiot doesn't know the names of the F4? What idiot doesn't know who they are?"
"Asai she is foreign after all." One of her friends whispered back.
"I don't care everyone should know their names."
"Uhm, their names are Mimasaka Akira, Nishikado Soujiroh, Hanazawa Rui, and Doumyouji Tsukasa."
She made a show of pretending to peruse the list checking for the names, knowing that they were not there. "No, I don't see them here. Are you sure they belong in the pediatric cancer ward?"
"Oh no, they are men. The finest men in all of Japan."
"Then, they wouldn't be in this ward. I'm sorry I can't let you in here."
One of the other girls looked on a list that she thought was a patient list and picked the first name she could find. She whispered to Asai.
"Wait, we're here to see our dear friend S. Harry McK. We have several people to visit. We were just confused as to where they were located."
"Yes, that's right. I'm sure he is on the list. Could you please check? We really can't wait to see him." Asai smiled. This stupid foreign cow is not going to get the best of us.
Dr. McKenzie looked at the list and then smiled. "Yes, here S. Harry McK. I'm sure he'll be surprised to see you. Let me call some gentlemen to escort you to the right place. He is a special patient and in a special ward all by himself." She got on the phone and paged security and asked that the young ladies be escorted out through the service elevator. She returned to her volunteers.
"Really, guys you are welcome to come any time and volunteer. If there is anything else I can do for you just let me know."
Rui surprised all of them and spoke up. "You can go out on a date with me." They all stared at Rui.
Hey, that was my line. Soujiroh stared slightly irritated at Rui.
She sighed, dropped her head and put her hand on her forehead in exasperation. Dang, I forgot. "Do we have to?"
"Yes, Shizuka made me promise to take you out."
"Fine then, Shizuka made me promise to say yes."
The other three stared between the two of them. Doumyouji finally had to speak up and ask. "You know Shizuka, how?"
She smiled at Doumyouji. "It's a long story. Perhaps I will tell you about it one day."
"You can tell me on our date." Rui smiled and looked at her through his long bangs.
She sighed. "Okay, but I get to decide on all of the terms."
"Okay, so when and where?"
She went and got her planner out and gave it to him. "You tell me. Look for white spaces in the book." He looked and turned the pages until he got to almost two weeks later.
"Then." He pointed to the white space.
"Okay, so the following Saturday. I have either from 11:30 – 2:30 or 6:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m."
Rui smiled at her. "Both." The three men stared at Rui again shocked.
"Ambitious, aren't we? What would you like to do?"
"How about lunch at the first time, and then dinner and a club at the latter time?" I better call Shizuka and find out what she likes and doesn't like. After all, I don't want to screw up on the first date for the day and have her beg off for the 2nd date. Besides, I want to win the money that Jiroh and Akira will bet on me striking out during the first date.
"Sounds great. I'll pick the lunch place, and you can pick the dinner and club, of course. I'll call you and tell you where to meet me for lunch."
He shook his head. "I'm a gentleman. I pick up the lady from her house and escort her home at the end of the date."
She shook her head. "Sorry, I don't allow strange men to my house until after I get to know them and determine that they are no longer strange." Besides security will never let you in unless my uncle has approved you and done a thorough background check.
"As for escorting me home, it depends upon how the date goes. You will probably get no further than the door, though."
He raised his eyebrows. A challenge? Excellent, I haven't had one in a long time. "I'm looking forward to it."
"Likewise, I guess. That reminds me. May I have my badge back?"
He took it out of his pocket and handed it to her. As he handed it to her, he held her hand and reveled in the warmth for a few seconds. Then, he let her hand go. She smiled at him and shook her head. I thought he was the quiet one. It looks like he is also a charmer.
"I will call security and have them bring your vehicles around, even your bike Nishikado san. They'll bring them to the lowest level floor of the parking garage, which opens to the back just in case some of the media or those three girls are waiting for you. I'll escort you to the elevator which leads you to the bottom floor."
She escorted them out and around the hall to a locked door. Just outside the door was an elevator which required a badge to work. She waved her badge in front of it, and the elevator instantly opened. She pressed the floor for them.
"Once again, thank you for coming. I really appreciate it. Now, if you'll excuse me I have to attend to my patients." She nodded and smiled at them as the elevator doors closed.
Then she walked back to the ward where she worked. She looked for her supervisor and when she found him, she bowed low. "Nishikado sempai, I apologize for bringing them here suddenly and without permission. I hope they were not too much trouble."
"No, in fact they helped out quite a bit. We have been getting many calls to volunteer, and the publicity for the hospital and the ward did us a lot of good. I should have thought of it sooner. No, everything was fine. Thank you for your hard work." He nodded is head at her. She stood up and returned his nod.
In the elevator, Rui was staring up at the ceiling with a smile on his face. Soujiroh and Akira nudged Tsukasa and motioned toward Rui.
"Yo, Rui, what was that all about? Do you like that gaijin?"
He stared at Tsukasa. "I told you. Shizuka made me promise to take her out, and I don't want to disappoint Shizuka." Okay, that's only part of the truth. They don't need to know the rest. There is something about her. I can't stop thinking about her, and I'm still not sleepy.
A/N: I've been wanting to write this story for a long time. I'll be loading chapters as soon as I can. This chapter is very long. Sorry, I had to get everything in. The next chapter should be short to make up for it. I know I have used sensei and Dr. interchangeably. I've tried to refer to them as sensei when the characters are speaking to them or about them and Dr. when they are not, and I am referring to them. I hope you are not annoyed that I haven't used my character's first name yet, but no one finds that out until the 4th chapter. If you read, please review.