Oh wow. I'm overwhelmed by the kindness you all have shown me! Your reviews just blow me away. I'm so shocked that people actually like this story! I'm so inspired to continue it! Anyway, one of you asked if I as in college and no I am not yet. I finished cosmetology school over 6 years ago, but it's kinda time for a change. One day! Haha! Never too old to go back. Anyway, a gentle reminder: I'm not a medical professional, do not judge me! I'm sure a lot of it is incorrect. I'm writing from personal experience and some faint medical knowledge that's probably vague and inaccurate! Sorry! You are all so wonderful!

As as for Tifa and Zack. I'm sorry, I absolutely love that pairing, and it did come out in my writing. I didn't intend for that to happen, and I'm not saying it may not happen again... Who knows! That wasn't really my intention though.

-B


Yuffie looked at her friend happily, relieved that things between them had suddenly gone back to normal like nothing had ever happened. Here they were, gossiping and talking about hot guys once again, and it felt good. Tifa had just asked her about the patient who had boldly asked Yuffie out on a date.

"Well, after you kicked me out of the labor and delivery unit-"

"I'm sorry about that, by the way." Tifa interjected as a frown made its way across her face.

Yuffie waved her hand, "no worries. As I was saying, after you kicked me out, your father assigned me to look after the Chairman of the Board, Mr.-"

"Mr. Valentine?" Tifa asked as her eyes widened a little.

"Please don't tell me he's your ex!" Yuffie exclaimed, dreading what relation her friend might have to her upcoming date.

Tifa giggled and covered her mouth. "No, no!" She finally calmed her laughter and looked at Yuffie. "Vincent is my cousin."

"Your father never mentioned that the patient was his nephew!" Yuffie was thankful that Tifa hadn't had some crazy romantic past with the man, and perhaps it was good that she was related to him. She could let her in on any hidden information about the mysterious man.

"That's because he's on my mother's side. Most of them blame my father for my mother's death. So neither accept each other as family. " Tifa explained.

Yuffie frowned at her friend for a moment, she envied the fact that Tifa even had parents to begin with. "But you and Mr... Uh Vincent, you guys are on good terms?"

Tifa nodded and smiled at Yuffie. "He's a really great guy, Yuffie. You're lucky."

"Maybe it's you who should be telling me about him?" Yuffie felt an excitement rush through her, as if they were two high school girls discussing their crushes late at night.

"Ah-ah-ahh... Then where's the fun in getting to know him yourself?" Tifa smirked at her friend and reclined on the couch a bit.

Yuffie pouted and crossed her arms like a child. "That's no fair! Come on!"

"How about this, once you guys get to know each other a little better, I'll start telling you embarrassing things about his childhood. But until then, the work is up to you." Tifa offered.

"Okay, I can handle that. But how do I know he's even gonna like me enough to go on another date? It might just be because I caught his condition just in time." Yuffie started to have a few doubts about herself. She hoped the man was genuine in his want to get to know her, but perhaps he just felt indebted to her.

"Vincent is a forward type of man. If he asked you out, it's because he likes you, not because he 'owes' you. If he really wanted to repay you, he would've offered you money." Tifa stated as she ran her finger along the rim of her coffee cup.

Yuffie nodded and then let out a sigh. "So, when are you ever gonna try and date someone Tifa? Ya can't keep on living alone like this, I mean don't you get... Lonely?"

Tifa blushed, knowing exactly what Yuffie meant when she used the word, 'lonely.' "Um, there's something I have to tell you.." She paused as she watched her friend's onyx eyes light up with anticipation. "Something happened last night, between me and Zack."

Yuffie's jaw dropped and she stared at Tifa in disbelief. Tifa was absolutely not the home wrecker type, so the fact that something happened between she and a married man, utterly floored Yuffie. "What?!"

"Well not like that! I mean, he came to my house and was completely wasted. And he kissed me..."

"Tifa.."

"I stopped him! I wouldn't let him advance, but.." Tifa looked down at her hands shamefully.

Yuffie smirked and looked at Tifa. "You wanted something to happen."

"I did but, I couldn't. And I still won't. Things need to cool down, and I absolutely refuse to be the rebound!" Tifa said firmly. She was better than that, and more importantly, she deserved better than to be someone's second choice.

"Well, good for you Teef. You deserve someone who will give you their 100 percent. Not just some. But something tells me, Tifa, that Zack wasn't the one who you really had your eye on." Okay, so Zack had texted Yuffie about planting a little bug in Tifa's ear regarding Sephiroth. Yuffie didn't know then that Zack had previously come on to Tifa. What a strange entanglement this was turning out to be.

"What do you mean?" Tifa quirked an eyebrow and looked over at her friend who had now placed her feet on the coffee table comfortably.

"Come on, nurses are whispering about the chemistry that you and Doctor Sephiroth had in the OR."

"No, they're whispering about the argument had, I'm sure." Tifa shook her head. Still, she couldn't really deny feeling something toward the surgeon. She hadn't decided if it was anger or maybe, feelings...

"You like him, don't you Tifa?!" Yuffie squealed and decided she would turn Tifa into an excited school girl too. This desperately needed to happen. Tifa had been single for much, much too long.

A blush crept onto Tifa's face, and she quickly stood up from the couch. "I haven't had enough wine to even begin to talk about this!"

"So break out the wine, girl! We have all night to talk about these hotties!" Yuffie rubbed her hands together as if she were hatching some devious plan. It was amazing how such a terrible day turned itself around and became such a good one.

A handsome and mysterious man had asked her out, and she and her best friend had made up. And perhaps that friend would finally open up to her about her feelings! And maybe Yuffie could manage to help Tifa find the courage to move on with her life and start a relationship with someone new.


"Tifa! Tifa! Get up, we're gonna be late for work!" Yuffie exclaimed as she shook her friend's shoulders violently. Apparently they had had too much wine the night before because they both overslept and now had just minutes to get ready and head to work.

"Hmm?" Tifa sat up and rubbed her aching head. "What time is it?"

"It's seven!" Yuffie had already stolen a pair of Tifa's blue scrubs she typically wore when performing any surgeries or deliveries. They were a little baggy, but would work.

Tifa shot up from the floor and rushed up the stairs and into her bedroom. She quickly flung her closet door open and went inside, searching for an easy yet professional outfit. In a hurry, she opted for a pair of maroon scrubs and her lab coat, she was in too big a hurry to be picky.

After getting dressed she ran to the bathroom and did her make up quickly, but made sure not to smudge any eyeliner or mascara before pulling her long hair into a neat bun atop her head. Once her teeth were brushed, she ran downstairs and she and Yuffie hopped into her car and were off.

As they drove, Yuffie did her best to recall the conversations they had while under the influence. She had hoped Tifa would open up, but all she could remember Tifa telling her about Sephiroth was that she thought he was attractive. And she felt slightly drawn to him for some reason.

And Yuffie could understand that feeling, since she herself felt that way toward Mr. Valentine. And she found herself growing more excited as they neared the hospital, because she would be seeing him again today. In fact, she would be returning to labor and delivery, but only when Mr. Valentine was discharged. She enjoyed having him in her care, but while he was in the hospital, he couldn't take her on a date. So she wanted him to recover quickly.

Tifa felt tired from the night before, and she was regretting a lot of things that morning. She regretted how much she drank, letting Yuffie pry into her business, and also firing Yuffie. Had she not fired her, she would probably not have missed her morning coffee. And she was in desperate need.

She found herself wondering how Zack was coping with the situation with his wife, and wondering where he stayed for the night. Maybe he had kicked her out to live with Cloud. She knew Yuffie certainly didn't want to be home, because if Cloud did take Aerith In, she would know about it. Now the fact that they lived so close was a pain rather than convenience for her friend.

After parking in her designated spot near the front of the hospital, Tifa got out of the car with Yuffie and both headed inside. When they got into the elevators they sighed in relief. They had made it just in time. Both had to laugh aloud for a moment.

"So, are we hanging out tonight?" Yuffie asked curiously as she pressed the button for the second floor.

Tifa shook her head sadly. "I'm on call this weekend, I'm gonna stay here at the hospital. But you're more than welcome to stay at my house. I know you probably don't wanna see Cloud.

"Thank you Tifa." Yuffie was so thankful for the offer, and Tifa was right. She did not want to see Cloud. If she did she was definitely going to knock him out. "Ah, gotta run. See you at lunch!" Yuffie exclaimed as she hopped out of the elevator just in time before the doors closed.


She was surprised to find her patient sitting up comfortably in bed, speaking with the doctor. But she couldn't help but smile at the sight. "Good morning, Mr. Valentine. Good morning Doctor Hewely." Yuffie greeted them both warmly as she walked up beside the doctor and smiled at their patient.

When he saw her walk into the room, Vincent's crimson eyes lit up, and he felt something within him ignite. It had been such a very long time since anyone had impacted him so much. He hadn't felt this way in many years. Yes it was true, the young girl saved his life, but he wanted to get to know her for more selfish reasons. Because he wanted to. Because he needed to.

She was interesting, she was spunky. She wasn't like any other woman he had ever met before. She said what she felt, and she meant what she said. She was direct and straight forward, but also compassionate and kind. She had a wonderful laugh and a killer smile. Not to mention the fact that she was quite beautiful in her own right. He hoped that the doctor would discharge him,

The doctor examined his incision, looking it over thoroughly before returning his gown to its place and looking down at the patient's chart. "Well, the incision looks good, but it looks like you ran a small fever last night. I'd like to keep you one more day to make sure that fever goes away, alright?"

Vincent nodded, reluctantly. "Sure. Thank you doctor." At least he knew he would be spending some time with Yuffie today.

"Nurse, why don't you give him a round of IV antibiotics. It'll help him fight infection, and reduce the fever." The doctor requested curtly.

"Will do, doctor." Yuffie said before excusing herself to get the medicine for the man. She was a little disappointed that Mr. Valentine was not going to be discharged today. But the doctor was right. It wasn't safe to let him go home while running a fever. They needed to keep an eye on him and make sure his body was recovering properly after surgery.

When she returned to the patient's room, the doctor had already left. Leaving her to do her work alone. She felt a little nervous now, standing in the room with him alone, just because she didn't know what to expect next. But she had a job to do and she did it. She added the antibiotics to his iV, hanging the bag next to the saline drip. "It'll sting just a bit as it starts out, but it'll go away in a few minutes." She assured.

Vincent nodded his dark head and glanced over at the nurse. "Thank you, nurse."

"You can call me Yuffie." She instructed as she stood beside his bed and offered him a reassuring smile.

"Only if you call me Vincent." He asked in return.

"It's a deal." Yuffie giggled quietly and looked down at him. He seemed a little less... Outgoing today. But still kind. He was a lot more quiet than he had been yesterday, and it lead her to believe that perhaps all of his talking had been the pain medicine he was given. Percocet tended to do that to people.

He couldn't help but smile just a bit when he heard her giggle. Her joy was contagious it seemed. "So about dinner," he started.

"Look, I understand if you want to cancel. You were just coming out of surgery and probably didn't really mean what you-"

"I was going to ask you where you'd like to go." Vincent chuckled to himself. "Don't be so unsure of yourself."

Yuffie blushed and looked down. "Don't embarrass me.."

"What do you like?" Vincent ignored her statement, as he planned to make her blush whenever he felt like it. It didn't matter if it embarrassed her or not. "Is there a favorite place you have."

"No." Yuffie looked back up at him and crossed her arms. "Just surprise me. But for now, mister, you need some rest.

Vincent was reluctant. He didn't want to rest. He wanted to talk with his nurse. And it wasn't like a perverted nurse/patient fantasy. It was genuine want to know the person standing in his hospital room.

Yuffie noticed a small tinge of sadness in his eyes. She felt her heart sink a little, but she knew that if he didn't rest he wouldn't recover. But another thing she noticed, was that the entire time he had been hospitalized, he hadn't had a single visitor. And she knew he hadn't been married, Tifa at least told him that last night. Loneliness must run in Tifa's family.

"If you don't rest, you won't recover." Yuffie warned.

"I'm in bed, aren't I?" Vincent asked. "Rest doesn't necessarily entail sleeping, does it?"

"Mr.-" Yuffie paused, correcting herself. "Vincent, yes it does."

"You're awfully stubborn." Vincent noted, looking down at his hands.

"Who can blame me?" Yuffie smiled to herself. "I've got a hot date waiting for me. He just needs to get better first."

"Well when you put it like that..." Vincent gave her a small smile. "Alright, I'll get some rest." He said, finally surrendering to her wishes.

"You know how to contact me. You just press that button on your bed, and I'll be right in." Yuffie said. "Can I get you anything?"

"No, thank you. I'm doing alright." He assured her.

Yuffie nodded and was about to leave when she heard him call her name. She looked over her shoulder and in his direction. "Yes?"

"Thank you for taking such good care of me."

She smiled once more. "I'm glad I could be your nurse."


Once again, Tifa had a bouquet of flowers waiting for her outside her office. And she picked them up routinely and carried them inside. She sat them on her desk in annoyance. The mystery had gone on too long. And she felt like it was just a waste, the flowers died quickly anyway. She knew today was going to be a very, very long day. After getting her things settled into her office a bit, she decided that she had enough time to get a cup of coffee or two, as her first patient for the day was in an hour, and currently there were no moms to be in the delivery rooms.

Smiling to herself, she figured today may be smooth sailing. Until she reached the break room and noticed the coffee machine to be broken down. She frowned but didn't fear. There were so many coffee pots in the hospital, she was bound to find one that worked somewhere.

The next floor down was surgical. She knew who would be on that floor. The one that she and Yuffie gossiped about the night before, the one she had gotten into an argument with and hadn't spoken to since. But, coffee was her drug of choice, and she desperately needed it. She took the elevator to the sixth floor and walked into their break room.

Low and behold, there he was. Doctor Sephiroth standing there in the break room speaking with a few of the other attending surgeons and surgical nurses. He was wearing normal clothing, which for him was quite dressy. He had black dress pants, a grey dress shirt and black vest that were covered up by his lab coat. He looked very handsome, Tifa noted inwardly. Though she would never admit it.

Once everyone spotted her walk in, all eyes shifted to her, and they all fell silent.

Tifa giggled nervously, "hi.. The coffee machine is broken on the fifth floor.. Do you mind if I?" She hated the fact that the men were gawking at her, especially with how sloppy she felt today. But Sephiroth never did.

The men in the room gave her the seal of approval, some even offered to pour it for her, but she turned that down. She began to fix her cup when the man whom she had hoped to avoid walked up to her.

"Hello, Doctor Lockhart." He greeted coolly.

"Hello," she said quickly. "Do you drink coffee?" She asked, offering to pour him a cup too. She didn't notice, but the other surgeons in the room had jealousy written all over their faces.

"No." He stated. "Surgeons have to have steady hands."

At first Tifa was shocked, but then it did make sense. "Oh that's very true. I'm sorry." She said, putting the coffee pot back down on the burner. "Thank you for letting me take some."

"Doctor Lockhart, may I speak with you a moment?" He asked unexpectedly.

Tifa looked at him nervously, it was probably about how she embarrassed him and herself when she had tried to confront him not too long ago. "Um, sure." She said, snapping out of it.

The two walked out of the break room and Tifa pretended not to hear the howling and cat calls coming from inside the room. "So, what did you want to talk about?" She asked, looking up at the talk man, trying to pretend like she wasn't nervous.

"How do I put this?" He mumbled as his hand rested on his strong chin.

"I'm sorry." Tifa finally said, unable to handle the tension. "I never should've confronted you like that. I should've trusted your instincts as a surgeon. Especially with your reputation."

"Doctor Lockhart," Sephiroth smiled, he couldn't help but do so, she looked quite cute when she was flustered. She must have assumed he was going to demand an apology. Most doctors were the type to do so. "You are a skilled physician, and you told me to do what you thought best for your patient. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. You defensed what you felt was right. I'm not angry with you for doing that. In fact," he paused for a moment, looking at her wide wine colored eyes that seemed to match her scrubs almost perfectly. "I admire that about you."

Tifa blushed and her eyes grew even more wide at his surprising compliment. And suddenly, her heart was thumping more rapidly against her chest. "S-still. I'm sorry. I was out of line."

"Please, don't apologize." Sephiroth urged.

Tifa nodded and offered up a small smile. "Thank you, Doctor." She paused looking down at her cup. "Oh, and thank you for the coffee."

"Don't mention it." Sephiroth nodded to her

Tifa gave him one last smile before turning and making her way down the hallway. And then she stopped, realizing that he hadn't mentioned why he wanted to talk, she had interrupted and he mentioned that her outburst wasn't the reason he wanted to talk.

Sephiroth chuckled to himself and walked to where she had stopped. He decided it was now or never he had to work up the courage sometime. "Doctor Lockhart, I-"

But before he could finish, Tifa's pager went off. It was an emergency delivery and she had to go. "I'm so sorry, Doctor Sephiroth. I've gotta go, it's an emergency." She said briskly.

"Some other time. I understand. Go on." He urged, before watching her run quickly to the elevators. It was a bitter sweet moment for him. He wanted to tell her about the flowers, but watching her in action was something spectacular to him.


Yuffie went later in the afternoon to check on Vincent, making sure he had eaten and that he was behaving and obeying her orders to rest and take it easy. He seemed to be doing so, but he wasn't sleeping. He was sitting up in bed reading.

She noted how incredibly handsome he looked in a pair of reading glasses, and she didn't even think it was possible for him to become more attractive. But she had been wrong before. "How are you feeling?" She asked as she crept up to his bedside.

Vincent removed his glasses and set his book on his side table. "How do you feel about sushi?"

Yuffie giggled, "I like sushi. But you didn't answer my question." She teased, but she was really enjoying their interaction.

He chuckled to himself, "starting to feel a lot better."

Yuffie could tell that the answer was genuine, and she was quite grateful for that. But she was hiding just how nervous she was, because she had come on Doctor's orders to change the bandage dressing on his wound. That meant she would be seeing his incredibly sexy body, once again. And she turned into some kind of babbling school girl when that happened.

"Okay, let's take a look at your incision." She stated as she put a pair of gloves on and went to him. She kept the blankets draped over his waist while she had him lift his hospital gown. She then took the bandages off of his wound as gently as possible. It looked good, clean with no real redness or inflammation around it at all. That was very good. She had never seen stitches placed more perfectly. The man may not even scar that badly. She was shocked, Doctor Sephiroth must have been some kind of perfectionist.

His upper body was so chiseled, she noted that he had to spend a lot of time in the gym to keep up such a physic. His skin was quite fair, and creamy but still so delectable. She fought off a blush and forced herself to look away as she gently cleaned the wound and rebandaged it delicately.

Vincent noted that she had very gentle hands. Also cold, but then again, most medical professionals had cold hands. He watched her work, admiring her the entire time. He could tell she was blushing but trying not to, and he held back a chuckle. "Thank you, Yuffie."

She shuddered a little when he said her name, it was a little strange but it was exciting all at once. She smiled and discarded her gloves. "No problem. It's looking really good."

"Thanks to you, no doubt." He stated.

"No, the surgeon really treated you well. He did a great job." Yuffie corrected him.

"Thank you, for taking such good care of me. Your parents raised you well."

The words stung, and they stung hard. But she shook it off, it was not his fault. He had no idea she didn't have parents, but he was about to. Because she couldn't handle him making that same mistake twice. "I didn't have parents."

"Yuffie, I'm so sorry." He apologized sorrowfully. The last thing he wanted to do was to bring up a sore subject for her. "Had I known-"

"It's okay, there's no way you could've. But now you do. I may not have had parents, but I've got a weird little family." She was of course referring to Cid and Tifa. But it was even more strange because Tifa was also his family. Of course Tifa was just her pretend sister. "And I'm thankful for what I've got."

Vincent nodded at her, admiring her courage. "I'm glad to hear it."

"So sushi, huh?" Yuffie asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.


Tifa was quick to rush into the delivery room and find out any information she could from the attending nurses. Things were more frantic than normal, and she was soon to find out why.

"Mom overdosed on heroine, someone found her in a public bathroom. Ambulance rushed her here and got her stable, but the baby's heart rate is dropping fast." One of the nurses explained quickly as they helped Tifa into a pair of gloves and her mask.

She hated situations like this. Selfish mothers who abused drugs while pregnant. The outcome was almost never good for the baby. It made Tifa sick.

"How many weeks is she?" Tifa asked, taking note that the mother was already hooked up to the monitors that tracked her baby's movement and any contractions she may be having.

"Just at 36 weeks." The nurse replied.

She knew she would have to perform an emergency Cesarean section. The mother was completely comatose and Even though the baby wasn't full term, it was close enough to term that it had a fighting chance. She made quick work of ordering her nurses to get the room ready for that to occur. They were hasty to make sure that Tifa had absolutely everything she needed.

But they hit a roadblock when they found out that every anesthesiologist was tied up at that exact moment. They were busy assisting other surgeries.

"Call up to surgery, find someone else who can administer the anesthesia! We have to deliver now, this baby is going to die!" Tifa yelled at a nearby nurse.

The woman quickly rushed out and did as she was told.

All Tifa could do was wait, and hope to goodness that the baby would hold a little longer. And then he walked in the doorway. Doctor Sephiroth. She hadn't a clue that he was a practicing anesthesiologist as well. How incredible, he must've spent some intense times in medical school. She was so thankful to see him.

She made quick work explaining to him the situation. And he was more than happy to assist her.

With the anesthetic finally administered, Tifa was able to begin the surgery and deliver the baby. Still, she hoped to goodness that this baby would pull through. She glanced up to see the monitors, once more the child's heart rate dropped. The neonatal nurses were standing by, ready to whisk the child away and give it the intensive care it desperately needed.

It was surreal for Sephiroth to be the one watching a surgery, he was on the opposite end of the situation Tifa had just been in, and he watched her every single move. She made no mistakes, and worked quickly but he could tell she was frantic. She was scared he could see it in her eyes.

Tifa finally got the baby delivered, and after the umbilical chord had been clamped and cut, the child was out of her hands and in the hands of the NICU nurses. She stared after the baby as they took her, cleaning her up and beginning to hook her up to an iV. The poor thing was shaking violently, and Tifa could tell that she was in bad shape.

Something inside of her started to churn, she looked at the baby with longing eyes. She wanted to hold her, to nurture her. But she quickly snapped out of it. She had to stitch up the mother and make sure she was okay. After the baby was delivered, her job was to focus on the mother, not the child. But the worry she felt for that baby was unreal.

Tifa finished closing the woman up, and cleaned the wound gently before looking up at her monitors. She was still stable, and surprisingly she was waking up. "M-mm." She mumbled through her oxygen mask.

Sephiroth reached over and gently removed it so the woman could speak. "M-Marlene."