Disclaimer: Don't sue! Don't sue! I am merely BORROWING the characters you evil people!

Chapter Two: A Patient At Midnight

Katsu rushed over and pulled his friend out of the large canal.

"Come on, don't die on me now!" he begged his friend while using all his strength to haul him out of the water.

The weakened man lay slumped. He did not reply him. On the other hand, there were other signs to show that he had been held under water by a whole gang of thugs!

Katsu swore under his breath. It wasn't fair that his childhood friend had had to stand up to so many of those brutes! He hated such bullies most after the Meiji government.

"Just hang on." He told his friend, and carrying him he quickly made his way to the nearest clinic.

Megumi dusted her hands and prepared to close up for the day. Stretching herself, she stifled a yawn. It had been a busy day. She also noticed that for once Sanosuke hadn't dropped by at all.

She took off her obi and hung it up, ready for the next day's work. Then, she made sure that all the equipment and medicine had been kept in their proper places. Once again, she yawned. The idea of a warm futon and a good night's rest was very appealing to her now.

Just then, a knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. Sighing, she went to answer it.

When she opened the door, she was surprised to see Katsu standing there, panting heavily. "Katsu!" she said in surprise. She wondered what he had been up to in the first place? Running? No, it didn't seem likely since he was normally the type to stay indoors and pen articles for his newspaper.

"What are you doing here? Please come in." she continued, standing aside for him to enter the clinic. When he's sitting down and not breathing so loudly, I'm going to give him a long lecture about taking good care of your own body and not stretching it to the limit. She thought to herself.

However, Katsu did not move an inch. He looked frantic, as if he had lost something important.

"What now?" asked Megumi.

"I found someone badly injured. He was beaten up by several thugs, then they held him under water for ten minutes." he told her. "It was an unfair fight if you ask me."

The lady doctor gasped, for many reasons. She wondered how someone could survive such a beating. On the other hand, how could there be such ruthless people who never spared a thought for others?

"Well, bring him in," she replied briskly. "We can't afford to waste any more time, standing here and talking like this. I will have to give him immediate treatment."

Katsu didn't move an inch. He was hesitating. Almost instantly, Megumi had an instinctive feeling that something terrible had happened. She steeled herself for the worst.

"Look, I can't treat him unless you bring him in. Who is it?" she asked

"Sanosuke."

Almost instantly, Megumi went weak. No, she couldn't afford to lose him. Not now. She couldn't let her beloved rooster head die like this.

Meanwhile, Katsu had brought him in and laid him on the operating table. Megumi quickly brought out the equipment and remedies required to heal him.

"Katsu, I need your help with this. Can you?"

Katsu took one look at the determined woman and replied, "Hai."

…

By the time they were done, they were worn out. Megumi had taken a long time to heal his wounds, and Katsu, who was not used to late nights, wanted to sleep already. But they had managed to heal all of his wounds.

"You think he'll make it?" asked Katsu.

"You think he can't?" replied the lady doctor.

He waited for her to knock his head like she always did. But she didn't. The observant Katsu also noticed that she was looking at the unconscious Sanosuke in a very –different- way.

Megumi-san, why are you looking at Sanosuke like that?"

The lady doctor immediately erased her –expression- from her face. "What do you mean –like that-?" she fumed. She didn't want to know that Katsu had found out her true feelings for his friend.

"Well… the way you looked at him as if he were on his death bed…"

WHACK!

"Itaiii…" Katsu was reeling from the knock that the lady doctor had given his head.

"Don't spout nonsense!" scolded Megumi, "Sanosuke will survive, his skull is so damn hard that it wouldn't even open if I knocked it with a brick!"

Katsu waited for Megumi to administer a knock to Sanosuke's head as if to prove her point. But she didn't.

"Uh…Megumi-san?" Katsu's voice faded as soon as he saw Megumi reach for a bedpan. He didn't need a second warning. In a minute, he had fled the clinic to avoid another potential head injury.

Author's note: so IS Sanosuke gonna recover? More importantly: What's Megumi gonna do before he does? Find out soon!

PS: I'm very sorry to say that I'm going to be on online hiatus until my exams are over… I apologise for that… ducks flying vegetables yes yes, I know you all love me too much to let me go… ducks flying bucket…