Ichiru sat at the cafeteria table as she ate her lunch, completely at ease after the number of patients she took care of in the span of five hours.
A familiar annoying light brown haired man sat across from her his lunch tray and a stupid smile, "Hey Ru-chan." he greeted, getting Ichiru's attention as she glared up at the pediatrician, "I asked you not to call me that."
Tsumori just continued to smile oh-so-innocently at her, "What? It's cute. So, how have you been?" Tsumori asked, wanting to engage in small talk with the attractive woman.
Ichiru decided to humor him, "Well, I've been hanging out with one of my patients who is expecting a baby and is having trouble telling her baby-daddy. But get this, the father was her ex from high school, her current boss and her neighbor." she summarized, making Tsumori's eyes widen.
"No way, tell me you're joking." Tsumori asked, incredulously as Ichiru shook her head, "I wish, total mind fuck when she first told me. I ran into her at the park where we chatted, then I took her to the karaoke/sushi bar and I went maternity clothes shopping with her yesterday." she added, earning an impressed look from Tsumori who listened intently.
"That's pretty neat. I never pegged you for someone who would hang out with one of her patients. Not that it's a bad thing." Tsumori said quickly, not wanting to insult her.
Ichiru shrugged as she took a bite out of her pasta, "She's been going through a rough transition and she needed my help. See, I met the father once when I delivered the papers for her when she had to take much needed rest, and let me tell you, he's more annoying than you." she said, pointing her chopsticks at Tsumori.
Tsumori had a mock hurt expression, "You are so mean to me my beautiful Ru-chan." he whined, dramatically placing a hand to his heart.
Ichiru shook her head at this man, "Well you're second place on the Irritation List, deal with it." she said as a 186 cm man sat beside the pouting pediatrician, "Hello Kusama." she greeted.
Nowaki smiled in greeting, "Hello Kurosaki-san." he faced the moping man beside him with confusion, "Do I wanna know?" he asked, turning to Ichiru.
"Don't ask." was all Ichiru said until she caught sight of the bandage on the tall man's temple, "Aw hell, don't tell me you forgot to duck in the doorways again."
Nowaki lightly touched his injury, wincing slightly at how it throbs as the two stared at him, waiting for an answer, "No, my girlfriend smacked me with the wooden spoon." This raised Ichiru's eyebrows as Tsumori snickered behind his hand at Nowaki's misfortune.
"Huh?" Ichiru said, obviously confused and curious to know what happened.
"I came home, saw my Hikari glowing in her apron, making dinner, couldn't fight the attraction, tried to have her for dinner instead then 'whack'." Nowaki said, feeling a little discouraged when he tried to show his Hikari how much he missed her.
Tsumori turned away from Nowaki and doubled over in laughter at his friend's misfortune while Ichiru was struggling to keep a straight face when she pictured what Nowaki did to piss off his girlfriend. "Good for her." Was all Ichiru was able to get out as she smirked behind her hand, trying to keep from laughing like Tsumori.
"I appreciate your sympathy." Nowaki said sarcastically as he stared at his two laughing colleagues.
Ichiru removed her hand, but continued to smile in amusement, "Obviously, you've forgotten that some women during pregnancy are not always up to it when their partners demand attention. How long has it been for you, days, weeks, a month?" she asked, teasing her colleague.
Nowaki sighed, knowing he was not getting any help from either of them, "Yeah, I know, I just feel very lonely. She's already showing and seems to get angry at every little thing I do nowadays." he said, looking down at his tray as he pushed his food around.
Ichiru decided to council the poor boy, "Don't worry, it's natural for pregnant women to feel moody. By the time she gives birth, you'll both forget the whole thing. Although most of it is your fault considering since you got her pregnant in the first place." she added, teasing Nowaki with a shit eating grin.
Nowaki was unamused, "You know, her getting pregnant was partially your fault as well, you gave me that massage idea that resulted in this." he said, not really blaming her since it got him one of the best nights with Hikari.
Tsumori continued to laugh at that comment as Ichiru smiled in pride, "I know, I'm a genius, right?" she said rhetorically where Nowaki shook his head at her before smiling as he thought of Hikari.
"But you know, I'm still happy that I'm gonna be a Dad. Having this baby means a new start, I get to spend more time with Hikari, and I get a mini-Hikari to coddle." Nowaki said, imagining the bright side that will come when their baby is born.
Ichiru smiled in encouragement, "That's the spirit gentle giant. Let's hope that your kid inherits that self confidence you have." she said before giving him some helpful advice, "Oh, if you really want to get her into a good mood again, try rubbing her aching feet, that should give you some physical contact with her. You still have that massage oil I gave you, right?" Nowaki nodded, ready to give it a try when he gets home.
Just then, the sound of an ambulance siren approaching made Ichiru's shoot up before she got out of her chair and make her way to the window to see an ambulance park in front of the hospital entrance. The ambulance doors opened, and the paramedics stepped out, rolling out the gurney carrying "Ritsu?" Ichiru said out loud when she recognized the unconscious woman being rolled into the hospital.
Without so much as a thought, she rushed out of the cafeteria and down the hallway just as paramedics rolled Ritsu in with Masamune holding her hand as they moved her into a room. Ichiru followed them inside as they lifted Ritsu into the hospital bed, "What happened to Onodera-san?" she asked with underlying anger in her voice as she rushed to Ritsu's side and began checking her vitals.
Masamune answered, still holding Ritsu's hand, trying to remain calm, "I don't know, my coworkers were with her when she fainted, said she started to sway before she dropped." he said, gripping Ritsu's hand, willing her to wake up.
"How long ago was this? Has something like this happened to her before?" Ichiru question, shining a light in Ritsu's eyes to see if the pupils dilate, which they did thankfully.
Masamune checked the clock that was behind him, "About ten minutes ago; I'm not sure if this happened before. Sorry." he apologized, his eyes going back to Ritsu who remained unconscious.
Ichiru nodded, "That's fine." she paused before requesting, "Could you wait outside for a bit, there's something I have to check."
Masamune looked like he was about to protest, but he nodded in agreement as he left Ritsu's bedside and walked out of the room and stood against the wall beside the door. For a long time, at least that's what it felt like to him, he would glance at the door, waiting for the doctor to come out and tell him she's okay.
Earlier, he already called Yokozawa to tell him that he and Ritsu won't be attending the meeting due to Ritsu's condition. He never waited for a reply, he stayed by Ritsu's side the whole time as the paramedics came and brought her to the hospital.
The door opened as Ichiru walked out, sighing in relief as Masamune turned to face her, "How is she?"
Ichiru smiled, "She's stable, it was a mild case of stress and much needed rest. She's sleeping it off right now, she'll be fine when she wakes up." she said, this seemed to calm him down somewhat before he asked, "Can I see her right now?"
Ichiru frowned, shaking her head, "I'm afraid she shouldn't have visitors at the moment. However, there's something I need to talk to you about." he nodded, nervous on the inside as Ichiru led him to her office.
Once they were inside, Masamune sat in the chair that was in front of Ichiru and her desk as she took her seat behind said desk. Resting her chin on her woven fingers, she stared at Masamune with critical eyes before opening her mouth to speak, "Normally, I don't like interfering in affairs such as this, but due to Onodera's recent condition, I have no choice but to intervene right now." she said, closing her eyes, contemplating the consequences that might come with the decision she's about to make.
Masamune narrowed his eyes at her, not liking the fact that something regarding his Ritsu was being kept from him, "There's something else; something you both are hiding from me." he said, keeping his eyes on the doctor in front of him.
Ichiru opened her eyes, locking them with Masamune's, "First of all, Takano-san, I need to ask you something." he nodded, signalling for her to continue, "How much do you love her?" she asked, his eyes widening at her question.
Masamune clenched his hands into fists in his lap, "I love her with every fibre of my being; she's my first and only love." he said, before speaking his thoughts, "When I saw Ritsu lying there...in the middle of our department, unmoving, unresponsive, it felt like my life was ending right there. I was so terrified I would lose her again that I couldn't breathe." his heart clenched at the memory, "I've hung onto her for ten years, no matter who I was with, they couldn't replace her...I don't want to replace her. She's the only thing that keeps me tied to this Earth, and I can't let her go, not again." he finished, looking down so that the doctor doesn't see any tears that wanted to come down.
"You miserable son of a bitch, now you're making me cry." Ichiru said, sniffling as his words pulled at her heartstrings. He looked up as she pulled tissue paper out of the box and blew her nose before handing some to Masamune.
Once Ichiru was done taking the snot out of her nose, she tossed her last tissue into the trash bin before facing Masamune, "Now," she began, regaining her composure, "about Ritsu's real problem, it's nothing too serious. But Takano-san," she leaned forward with an expectant look in her eyes, "what I'm about to tell you, I need you to be 90% more sensitive, but no tears, I'm out of tissues. You see, Ritsu is going through something which is mostly your fault right now. Emotionally, she's constantly at war with herself when it comes to her feelings for you, it has increased physically due to her condition." she paused, in order to let Masamune absorb what she was telling him.
Taking a deep breath, she said the most heart stopping sentence that he's ever heard, "She's pregnant with your child." Masamune felt all breath leaving his body, his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he remained frozen in his seat.
Ichiru found his unmoving silence a little disconcerting, "Takano? Excuse me, hello, yoohoo." she said, making her way around her desk to stand in front of the shocked man, "I said be sensitive not comatose. Earth to dummy, wake up." she snapped her fingers in his face, urging him to snap out of it until he blinked, coming out of his stupor.
"Oh, good, you're awake. Now, back to business." Ichiru said, going back to her seat as Masamune shook his head, still feeling shaken up by the earth shattering news.
"Ho-How long has she known?" he asked, unable to use his voice properly, but needing to know how long he's been kept in the dark about this.
"About two weeks. I'm quite impressed that she was able to keep this from with all your hovering in and out of work." Ichiru said, knowing that there's no going back, 'I'm truly sorry about this Ri-chan, but this secret has already put your life at risk. I hope you can forgive me.' she thought to herself, feeling as though she has betrayed her friend.
Masamune looked down, feeling absolutely foolish for not picking up the signs, "Two weeks, huh?" he smiled ruefully, "Was she ever gonna tell me?" he asked, feeling like someone walked over him.
Ichiru caught the bitter tone in Masamune's voice, "Somewhere deep down, she wanted to tell you. However, in light of the circumstances, I must remind you that you are also her boss." She paused before continuing, "Bosses who father children with their employees sometimes don't give a shit about what happens to the mother, and often leaves them to care for their children on their own. An unmarried woman is often looked down upon for bearing children out of wedlock, and in the end, it is the children who pay the price." she said, keeping her narrowed eyes on Masamune whose eyes widened at what she just said.
Masamune looked down, feeling guilty for being angry at his Ritsu, "That's not gonna happen." he said with a new resolve, "She's not gonna raise our child on her own, I'm not letting my kid grow up not knowing who his/her father is like I did." he said, looking up at Ichiru with his mind set and his decision made.
Ichiru then smirked as she leaned back in her chair, "That's all I needed to hear, because this is a commitment that you can't walk away from." she said, making Masamune smirk, like hell is he walking away from the mother of his child.
She clapped her hands together, "Now, there's just one last bridge we must cross: you telling Ritsu that you know about the baby." she said, smiling as Masamune sighed, knowing that Ritsu's gonna be extremely stubborn, more so than usual.
"She's far too prideful to accept me into her life, especially with the baby on the way." Masamune said, mentally preparing himself for Ritsu's stubbornness that will come when she wakes up.
Ichiru grinned, "Don't worry, you're far too stubborn to accept defeat. Now, she will most likely kill me for telling you this, but Ritsu needs you for the duration of her pregnancy. Even though she doesn't want to admit, she needs your help, and I know she still has feelings for you underneath those glares she sends you." she said, almost fondly as she thought of her friend.
Masamune smiled at that, feeling a little better knowing that this baby-their baby-might be their best shot at being together at last. He had always wanted to have a family of his own, always wondered what it would be like to hold his very own infant in his arms for the first time. He always imagined coming home to hear his child rushing out to greet him the moment he steps inside their house with Ritsu following with their second newborn. That was the life he wanted with Ritsu, and this may finally be his chance to have it with her.
"Although, speaking as her best friend, I don't see what could make her fall in love with you. You don't look interesting and you look like you have a stick up your ass." Ichiru added with a smirk, finding her new hobby to be entertaining in the form of getting Masamune riled up.
Masamune glared at Ichiru who continued to smirk without shame, "You really don't like me at all, do you?" he said, a tic-mark appearing on his head.
Ichiru shrugged, "Please, for the first few days when Ritsu talked about you, I never bothered to learn or even remember your name." she said, enjoy the look of anger on Masamune's face.
The telephone on her desk rang before she answered it, "Dr. Kurosaki speaking...okay, I'll be right there." she said before putting the phone down and addressing Masamune, "I'm needed elsewhere, you can visit Ritsu if you wish." she said as she got up from her chair and proceeded to the door with Masamune following close behind, "You remember where her room is, right?"
Masamune nodded, "Yes." he said before Ichiru paused and turned around, grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him down to her level and whispered in his ear, "You know what, if you screw this up, I'm gonna kill you with my bare hands." she said before releasing him and leaving the office.
Masamune fixed his collar, failing to understand how Ritsu could be friends with such a woman before he exited her office and made his way to where Ritsu's room is located.
Show of hands, who laughed and who cried. This is my favorite chapter so far. I would like to extend a thank you to all who reviewed in the last chapter, they made me smile and motivate me to keep writing.
Help me reach 40 reviews, and I will update.
