Unbeta'd and a bit short. Sorry, life keeps getting in the way. ^^

Thank so, so much for your reviews, fav's, and alerts! For how quickly I wrote it, I couldn't imagine getting that many reviews. Thanks guys!

Another chapter for you, my dear ~TEB~

Enjoy!

You Are My Sunshine

Chapter 2

It was several hours later before the police arrived, asking for their John Doe patient. Two tall men in dark police uniforms walked awkwardly up to the information desk and spoke gently with Rina, the Alpha Ward Secretary.

Ichigo watched through the clear glass of one of the patient's room as they exchanged a few odd papers and photos with the her before they were ushered away to the waiting area. Rina turned casually in her chair behind the high counter and signaled Ichigo over with a small, brightly painted fingernail. He waited with curious eyes as the two officers made their way back down the hall to the waiting room before he slipped quietly and inconspicuously out of his patient's room.

"What can I do for you?" He asked with a wary smile, not knowing what to expect.

"They want to know if your albino is one of their missing persons. Here are some photos," She shoved a stack into his hands. "And the Missing Persons report that was submitted. The rest, my friend, is up to you!" She shooed him way with a wink.

He waited until he was inside the patient's room before he opened the report and looked at the photos. It was him alright, though, much livelier and smiling. Ichigo grinned at the photos, flipping one after another of the man's bright smile and occasional frown. His eyes, he noticed, were a deep golden brown, nearly honey colored inside the pictures. Ichigo glanced at the man in the bed and tried to imagine him smiling and doing all the things he'd done in the photos; smiling and running and, most adorably, sleeping. He vaguely wondered who'd filed the report before he remembered the he had the Missing Persons report in hand.

26 year old Shirosaki Hakuba had been missing for 3 days and was reported missing by his employer. Ichigo continued to read the report as he sat in the chair closest to Shirosaki. A police report was attached to the other paper with flimsy piece of tape. Ichigo felt his eyes widen at what he read:

Suspect arrested after burglary. Confession received upon arrival. Suspect admits to throwing missing person out of second story window. Suspect also claims to have run from scene of crime up arrival of law enforcement agents, later being arrested as mentioned above. Search continues for missing person, as no body was found outside of building; though evident suggest that something was ejected from the window of the building.

Ichigo threw the report down and moved to look at Shirosaki. He hadn't noticed the small cuts on one side of the man's face and as he lifted the sheet and pulled his gown apart he saw an increasing amount of bruising and cuts. He was outraged to say the least. He covered the man back and brushed his fingers through his pale hair and gently rubbed the dark circles below his eyes, pulling the lid down to get a glimpse of that honey-colored iris he'd seen earlier. Ichigo blushed and removed his hands.

"You should wake up, you know. People are looking for you," He said softly to the sleeping man as he gathered up the papers and photos, heading toward the door. Ichigo was surprised to find that he was bothered when he received no answer.

"Gentlemen, if you could follow me please," Ichigo instructed the two officers. They rose stiffly without looking at him and followed him out of the waiting room. Ichigo could hear their boots fall heavily on the tile of the hospital floors; his own footsteps were soft and unhurried. He opened the patient's room and hailed them inside, shutting the door behind them.

"My name is Ichigo Kurosaki. I am the head nurse for the next week should you have any more questions." He stood back from the bed as the men looked at their files and then at the man in the bed.

They talked quietly as they inspected him, glancing briefly at Ichigo with confused looks. "Come here, please," One officer requested. Ichigo frowned as he joined them by the bed and witnessed their scowls deepened. Ichigo noticed their name tags: Jun and Takumi.

"Jesus! Look at the two of 'em. They're goddamn twins!" Jun, the taller of the two, exclaimed, taking his cap off to run his thick fingers through his short black hair.

"You two related?" The man called Takumi asked in a more collected manner. His height was lacking in comparison to his partner, but he seemed to be the more levelheaded of the two of them.

"No." Ichigo blushed. Ever since that morning he'd been getting all sorts of comments on his likeness with the new patient. He'd simply rolled his eyes and ignored them. They'd figure it out eventually, but this was getting out of hand.

"And this is our guy?" Takumi continued, flipping back and forth through his files.

Ichigo looked down at the recently discovered Shirosaki. Yes, this was him. The man, who'd been thrown from a second story window, lived, wandered off and fell into a coma. Ichigo nodded to the officers.

"If you say so, Doc," Takumi huffed carelessly.

"I'm a nurse," Ichigo deadpanned.

"Whatever. We'll contact the employer and let him know we've found him. You can keep all the paper work we gave the secretary earlier, for his personal records at the hospital. Here's our office number if you need anything."

Ichigo took the offered card, "I'm not a permanent resident here, I'll give this to the attending physician and he can handle it." Ichigo didn't like the situation at all, but it was the only thing he could think to say to the officers.

"Don't really care. We found the kid, our jobs done. Good day to you, sir." At that, Jun and Takumi left the room.

Throughout the day, Ichigo found himself constantly checking on Shirosaki's condition. He knew better than to get his hopes up when it came to a coma patient, but this man seemed different – familiar somehow. At least that was what he told himself throughout the day as he cared for the other patients but found himself in the albino's room time and time again.

During his lunch hour, he sat in the armchair beside Shriosaki's bed and simply watched him breathe and occasionally flutter his eyelids. The monitors beeped and hummed with his vitals, but besides that the room was silent.

Ichigo fell asleep to the sounds of Shirosaki's heartbeat, wondering what the other man was dreaming about.

Sometime later, Ichigo woke with a start as someone entered the room abruptly and shut the door none too softly behind them.

"Ichigo!" His teal haired friend, Grimmjow, announced to the room. "Where've ya been? You didn't make it to lunch. I saved ya my rice pudding and everything."

"Don't be so damn loud, you buffoon," Ichigo yawned, stretching awkwardly in the arm chair.

"So what?" Grimmjow laughed. "It's not like I'm gonna wake him up."

"You're so fucking loud, you just might," Ichigo snorted as he stood.

"Is this the guy everyone's talking about?" Grimmjow asked with interest. He walked closer to the bed and looked hard at him.

"For fucks sake, YES!" Ichigo barked, burying his head in his hands. If one more person asks, I'm gonna…

Grimmjow ignored his outburst with seasoned ears, "What's his name then?"

Ichigo looked fondly at the albino, "Shirosaki."

"Any family?"

"Not that I know of." Ichigo was torn as to whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. Bad, because it meant Shirosaki had no family and good because he could watch over Shirosaki as much as wanted to. It was just convenient this way.

For a moment, Ichigo scowled at the man who lay in a coma. What the hell was he thinking? This was not his job. This was…not something he should be worried about. Shirosaki was a patient and for him to have been watching over him was…uncalled for.

"Ichigo?" He heard Grimmjow say, but he was too caught up in his own thoughts.

He would be gone to another part of the hospital by the end of the week and for him to be getting so interested in a patient was troublesome. He needed to stop this…whatever it was he was doing. It was unnecessary.

"Ichigo!" Grimmjow finally shouted, pulling Ichigo from his thoughts. "Come on, man. I think you need a smoke."

He looked at Shirosaki breathing peacefully, heard his steady - though slow - heartbeat from the monitor and decided that, yes, he did need a smoke.

A/N: If you find that you're getting tired of reading 'Shirosaki" each time, don't fret. (I must admit that it bothers me) I plan on using his more common nickname "Shiro" in the future. ^^ Shiro's last name, to my understanding, means "White Horse", I found it very fitting, though I doubt I'll be using it often in this fic.

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