Disclaimer: I may be eccentric but I am NOT delusional so: Fruits Basket is not mine.

Beep. Where am I? Beep. What am I doing here? Beep. What's going on? Beep. Ugh, my head. Beep. Ouch, don't move. Beep. Will that infernal beeping not stop! Beep? Shhh. Beep. Great. Something else. Shhh. Beep. Can't they just let me sleep? Shhh. Beep. Dammit. That's really starting to get on my nerves. Shhh. Beep. ARGH!

Yuki Sohma's eyes sprang open. He glared at the familiar white tile ceiling. He wrinkled his nose against the antiseptic smell that wafted through the place. Realizing he had tensed once he awoke, he consciously forced his muscles to relax and sink into the bed. A nurse bustled in.

"Good to see you awake, Sohma-san." She smiled sunnily, flashing perfect white teeth. Not feeling particularly pleased at the moment, Yuki only glared back. "I suppose you want to see your family? They've been waiting since you were brought in last night." Her grin faded slightly. Kyo. He was waiting? No. Kyo was dead, remember? Yuki nodded to distract the woman from the hitched sob that rose up in his throat. She disappeared and after a few minutes, returned with the worried, frightened and relieved members of the Sohma clan. Ayame was allowed in first.

"Hello little brother," he said hesitantly, all dramatics gone from his movements. He looked wan and bags appeared under his eyes, making him look much older than his young age. "I'm glad you're okay." He sat down and put his hand on Yuki's. "Look, I know it seems as if I don't care about you, as if the only reason why I try so hard to get you to like me is to resolve my guilt but it's not only that. I really care about you, Yuki, I do. You're my brother after all and what kind of brother would I be if I didn't care at all? You scared me—us. We got the call telling us that you were at the hospital again and my heart just dropped. I couldn't breathe. I know you're pretty upset over what's been happening lately, I can see it, and," he squeezed Yuki's hand gently, amber eyes shining with love and concern, "I just want you to know that I'm here for you if you need anything. Okay?"

"You—you were scared—for me." Yuki rasped, looking skeptical. Ayame bit his lip and nodded. The corners of Yuki's lips lifted slightly and he returned the squeeze. "Thank you," he said softly.

"Well, the others are waiting to see you." He stood and, with one of his trademark grins, left the room. Shigure and Hatori jostled their way in after their silver-haired friend and both made a scene of acting calm and dignified. When they got closer, however, Yuki could plainly see anxious expressions on both their faces. Both of them tried speaking over each other and Yuki watched them bicker with one another. He snickered to himself when Hatori said something that left Shigure speechless. They seemed to be trying to make him laugh again, forget his pain for even the shortest of moments and their ploy was working. Yuki shook his head; they loved each other so much and yet sometimes he wondered how they could stand each other. They left with jaunty smiles, arm in arm and strutted from the room as Haru, Momiji, and Tohru raced in, one after the other.

"Sohma-kun, you're alright!" Tohru rushed at him but Haru held her back. "Oh, that's right. I'm sorry." She smiled brightly at Yuki. Momiji attempted to jump on the bed but Haru grabbed at his collar. The white-haired boy rolled his eyes and seemed to be asking himself why he was stuck babysitting the overactive Momiji.

"That wouldn't be wise, Momiji." He said, raising an eyebrow sternly at the rabbit, who shrugged and settled for sitting at the edge of the bed and chattering away happily. The others ignored him. Haru leaned in dangerously close to Yuki, staring him straight in the eye. "Well? What happened? You jump in front of that vehicle or what? Trying to commit suicide again?" Even Momiji became quiet and Tohru gasped. Haru's hand reached out and grasped Yuki's chin, forcing the older boy to look up. He hadn't gone "Black" but there was an angry, ugly look in his eyes.

"No, Haru, I wasn't." Yuki answered calmly although something flickered in his eyes. "I just didn't see it coming my way."

"Liar. You saw it. If you had just jumped out of the way like I'd told you, you wouldn't even be in this predicament." There was that damn voice again. Yuki almost growled in anger. Just leave me the hell alone. Haru released Yuki who turned his head to look out the window. An uncomfortable silence filled the air and the tension thickened until Hatori poked his head in.

"Hey, we have to go home now. Come on." All four jumped but Momiji stood, pulling his cousin with him. Haru went with the slight boy a bit reluctantly.

"I'm sorry Yuki, if I seemed a bit—harsh. It's just that we're all so worried about you. You're not who you used to be and it's scaring us." He hung his head and left the room, not resisting when Momiji grabbed his hand and tugged him through the door. Tohru looked at Yuki worriedly, afraid he would be upset over Haru's words.

"No need to worry, Honda-san," he said quietly, smiling serenely. "I think I deserved that."

"Damn right you did. What the hell were you playing at?" Yuki twitched and clenched the sheets in his fist. Just then a handsome young doctor bustled in. He was about the same height as Hatori and held himself tall but relaxed. Coffee brown hair framed a thin face with large hazel eyes.

"Hello. I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" his eyes switched from Yuki to Tohru, who was holding his hand. Both of them shook their heads.

"I ought to go. I'll be back tomorrow, okay, Sohma-kun?" Tohru bowed her head and left the room, casting a sorrowful look at Yuki.

"Good. Good. My name is Doctor Nakamura and you are Sohma Yuki, I presume?" he glanced at the clipboard he was holding. "I will be your doctor, checking up on you every once in a while to make sure everything is healing properly. So we'll be seeing quite a lot of one another." His tone suggested something other than a doctor-patient relationship and Yuki tensed slightly. He had heard that tone before—with Akito. But somehow with Doctor Nakamura, he felt more at ease. It was as if he was showing his feelings for Yuki without asking anything of him. But the man had just met him. Was Yuki being presumptuous? "I suppose we're finished for today. I'll see you tomorrow, then." His hand remained on Yuki's leg for a second too long as he walked away from the bed. The boy's mouth dropped open slightly and his question was answered: if anything, Doctor Nakamura was interested. Yuki sighed once the doctor was gone and leaned his head back against the pillows, wishing he could somehow obtain Kyo's pillow. He missed the smell of the cat that lingered on everything he had once owned but Yuki wasn't going to ask Shigure for that small favor. He knew he would never hear the end of it and he really wasn't in the mood to deal with the teasing or the pity for the fact that he was only just realizing his affection for Kyo.

But this Nakamura. Yuki gulped as he remembered the smile that adorned the doctor's fair face when he left the room. He didn't feel scared that Doctor Nakamura was a bit friendlier than he should be. Actually, he felt flattered. The doctor wasn't so much older than he was, right? He couldn't have been over twenty-five and Yuki WAS eighteen already. So the age difference wasn't too big. And he really was good-looking. A light blush spread across his face as his thoughts drifted to the way that hand had touched his leg. He shook his head thinking about what Kyo would say if he was found blushing over a doctor. Would he be jealous or just laugh at the fact that Yuki was attracted to a young, handsome, MALE doctor?

"He's dead. D-E-A-D. Dead. I won't ever see him again. He doesn't care." Yuki sounded unconvincing, even to himself. "Anyways, he probably still hates me wherever he is. He was laughing when I almost died. He WANTED me to suffer." No. He didn't. Did he?

"What the hell? How could you say that? It's not like you were inside his head or anything, right? ASK him before you assume." Yuki was once again struck by how much that voice sounded like Kyo. Especially when it sounded indignant, like it did now. He ignored the offended splutters that seemingly came from nowhere and sunk into a brooding silence.
It had started out as guilt. He had felt guilty for his last words to Kyo, guilty for the contempt and scorn he always showed. But this feeling inside him would not go away. He could not deny that he wanted Kyo, would always want Kyo, would forever long to taste those soft lips, would constantly wonder what it would feel like to run his hands along the muscles and the smooth expanse of skin that covered the orange-headed cat. Yet, much as he desired to do those things, there was an emotion, a strong emotion, inside him. It could not be explained or described but it confused Yuki. It was more than guilt and lust, more than anger or condescension, much, much more than every emotion he had ever felt before.

Then Doctor Nakamura's face popped up in his thoughts. Yuki liked him, plain and simple. He liked the warm smile, the dark eyes, the easy mannerism. The doctor was easy to like, friendly and compassionate to everyone. He was adored by females everywhere and they vied for his affections though they were a bit intimidated by his "take-charge" demeanor whenever a critically ill patient arrived at the hospital.

He would not admit it to himself but Yuki was infatuated. It went more than just a platonic feeling of friendship for this doctor. He was captured by Nakamura's resounding voice that seemed to thud in Yuki's chest, was interested by the way his eyes almost changed color in the light and showed many different emotions all at once, captivated by the feeling of warmth that flared in his stomach when the doctor's hand strayed a bit from its course. He didn't feel threatened by him, not like he had with Akito. So why did he feel, deep down somewhere in his subconscious, that liking Doctor Nakamura was a betrayal to Kyo?

A/N: I have a basic idea about how the story will end. How I'll get there I have absolutely no idea. I love reviews and they have the same effect on my writing as caffeine does to a poor sleep-deprived person. So review and maybe my brain will be stimulated into working faster.