I own nothing but my OC.

Chapter 6: Small Miracles

The girls were being escorted to breakfast by Saito, when Inoue came rushing over to meet them.

"Miyagawa-kun!" He called out urgently, panting. "You said you were a doctor, yes? Could you please come take a look at Takeda-kun? He was experiencing some sharp abdominal pains yesterday, but his condition suddenly worsened overnight."

"What are the symptoms?" Sumiko asked, putting on her business face.

"Aside from the abdominal pain, he has a fever and has been vomiting ever since he woke up."

"Take me to him." Sumiko said gravely. "Chizuru, can you get me my kit? I'll probably need my tools."

"Yes!" Chizuru said, darting back to their room to retrieve the small medical kit Sumiko had packed in case of emergencies, with Saito on her heels.

—∞—

"Does it hurt here?" Sumiko asked Takeda, gingerly applying some light pressure near his bellybutton with her fingers.

"Ah! It hurts!" He cried out, gritting his teeth in pain.

"This is bad…" Sumiko said, furrowing her brow. He also had abdominal swelling and said he hadn't passed gas in a long time. His symptoms were all classic signs of appendicitis. "I'll have to perform an appendectomy."

"A what?" Inoue asked.

"His appendix is infected. I'll need to perform surgery to remove it." She explained. "If I don't, it could burst and leak toxins into his body. He'll die if we don't act soon."

"Eh!?" Takeda exclaimed, understandably panicked after hearing such a grim diagnosis.

"Calm down, Takeda-san." She said soothingly. "I'm going to take good care of you. I've done this before." She glanced up as Chizuru entered the room with Saito. "Ah, good." She said, relieved to have her tools, as Chizuru handed the box to her. "Inoue-san, I'll need lots of clean cloths—as many as you can find—and lots of boiled water, and a cup of plain water." She instructed urgently

"Hai!" He said, rushing off to get them without hesitation.

"Chizuru, are you up to being my assistant?" Sumiko asked, concerned. She knew Chizuru didn't really like the sight of blood, and there would be a lot of it.

"I, uh…" Chizuru replied hesitantly, looking uneasy. She wanted to help, but…

"It's all right if you can't." Sumiko said understandingly. "Then, Saito-san, when Inoue-san gets back, I'll require your assistance. I'll need you to hand me my instruments as I ask for them and help me keep the sight of the operation clean. Can you do that?"

"Hai." He said calmly, kneeling down beside her, as she removed her surgical instruments, disinfectant strength alcohol, and some tsūsensan anesthetic. "These are…?" He asked curiously.

"Right, I guess I'd better explain what they are so you'll know what to grab." Sumiko said as Inoue returned with several more men, bearing everything she asked for. "Excellent." She said, adding the proper dose of tsūsensan paste to the cup of water. "Give this to him to drink. He must drink all of it, or it won't be as affective." She instructed Inoue before turning back to Saito so she could explain what everything she would be needing was. She paused when she noticed all the others were still standing around. "What are you waiting for?" She asked, frowning. "Get out! You're contaminating the room!" She scolded them as she pulled out two face masks for her and Saito to cover their mouths with. "Shoo!"

Chizuru smiled wryly and laughed nervously as she helped Inoue-san herd the disgruntled men out of the room so Sumiko and Saito could perform the operation in peace. Once everyone who wasn't needed were out, she shut the door and breathed a sigh. Sumiko always got really bossy whenever she was in 'work' mode.

"Don't worry, Inoue-san." Chizuru said when she noticed how deeply concerned his expression was. "Sumiko-san is very skilled. Although she has only been studying under my father for two years, she already has a lot of practice performing very difficult surgeries on animals, and she knows even more Western medicine techniques than he does. Why, she even managed to save a horse from going lame, even though everyone thought it would never be able to run again and would have to be put down."

"Ah, is that so…?" Inoue asked, impressed. Perhaps they should have her look at San'nan-san's arm when he returned…

—∞—

Three hours later…

Sumiko let out a tired sigh as she and Saito finally finished closing the patient up and came outside to let the others know the prognosis. They both had blood on them. Saving lives was hard work.

"As of right now, his vitals are stable, and the surgery seems to have been a success, but someone should stay with Takeda-san and monitor him until he regains consciousness. I need to clean up and take a nap, but don't hesitate to come get me if you think something's wrong." Sumiko said, wiping her bloody hands off on a clean cloth. "I'd appreciate it if you could sit with him, Chizuru. You know what to look for."

"Yes, of course." Chizuru said determinedly, nodding in understanding.

"Ah, so tired." Sumiko yawned as she walked away, followed by Saito, who still needed to keep an eye on her in addition to washing up, too. "Sometimes it feels like your own life is being drained right into the patient!"

—∞—

Fortunately, there were no complications, and Sumiko ended up sleeping the rest of the day away. When she woke up again, it was already time for dinner. They were eating with Kondo-san today since he wanted to thank Sumiko for helping Takeda.

"Let's eat!" Everyone said in unison after sitting down to their meal.

"Shinpatsu-san, I'll take that!" Heisuke said, aiming for a slice of the other man's favorite side dish.

"Agh! I was gonna save that for last!" Shinpachi exclaimed incredulously, mourning his loss. "Bastard, in that case…"

"Ah! What're you doin'?" Heisuke asked, trying to guard his food, as Shinpachi launched a counter-attack for revenge.

"What do you mean 'what are you doin''!?" Shinpachi asked incredulously. "You ate my food!"

"Where do you get off? You're always eatin' my food!" Heisuke retorted.

"You're a dwarf of a man, Heisuke! Bringin' up some old topic like that!"

"It ain't old, it was this morning. This morning! You ate three of my sardines! Bastard!"

"Stop it, both of you!" Inoue scolded them, finally snapping. "Miyagawa-san went through quite an ordeal on our behalf today, and Yukimura-kun is shocked, no doubt."

"Eh?" Heisuke and Shinpachi said, pausing their fight to glance at the two girls.

"Eheheh…" Chizuru laughed nervously while Sumiko calmly sipped her tea, nonplused. Why was he bringing them into this?

"Oh, that's right! I heard from Saito you saved someone's life today." Sano said, smiling, impressed.

"It's nothing." Sumiko said. "I was just doing my job as a doctor."

"Still, we owe you our thanks." Kondo said, smiling. "Without you, Takeda-san—"

The door slid open, revealing Hijikata-san in his uniform.

"I'm Back." He announced formally.

"Ah, Toshi." Kondo said.

"Hijikata-san." Okita greeted the grim-faced man as he entered the room. They were all relieved to see that he had managed to return safely, but their expressions fell slightly when San'nan followed him into the room with his injured arm heavily bandaged and in a sling.

"Vice-commander. Deputy-commander. Excellent work." Saito praised them calmly as they sat down beside Kondo.

"Yeah." Hijikata answered, setting down his sword.

"Welcome back, San'nan-san." Okita said.

"I have returned." He replied politely.

"Good work." Kondo said. "How is the wound to your arm?"

"As you can see, I suffered defeat." San'nan replied humbly with a wan smile. He glanced around the room and saw the worry and concern on everyone's faces as they stared at him. "It's alright. It's not as bad as it looks, so please, don't worry." He said trying to reassure them. "Excuse me." He bowing towards Kondo before heading for the door.

"San'nan-san! What about dinner?" Heisuke called after him, concerned.

"That's fine." San'nan paused outside the doorway. "I'm somewhat tired, so I'll be going to my room." He said, shutting the door.

"Hijikata-san. About San'nan-san's wound… how is it really?" Okita asked after a few moments.

"I can say nothing." Hijikata said solemnly. "What are you doing?" he demanded, furrowing his brow as he fixed Sumiko and Chizuru with a sharp stare.

"Huh?" Chizuru said as Sumiko furrowed her brow slightly in confusion.

"Who allowed the two of you to leave your room and dine here?" He asked them sternly.

"Uh, Toshi," Kondo said a little nervously, " I sort of—"

"I invited them." Heisuke spoke up. "To come eat here."

"No, it was me." Shinpachi said.

"I was the one…" Inoue chimed in nervously.

"It was me who said it." Sano stated carelessly.

"You all…" Hijikata said, frowning, as he glanced around at all of them. "How reckless."

"Where's the harm? It's just to eat." Heisuke said. "They promised they wouldn't escape, and haven't tried to these past couple of weeks."

"It's only a couple of weeks." Hijikata reminded him, furrowing his brow with disapproval of how lax they had become.

"If you're that worried about them, you should watch them." Okita told Hijikata. "Around the clock."

"What?" Hijikata demanded in a low voice, glancing at him. Okita smirked slightly as he watched the older man out the corner of his eye, noting that the vice-commander didn't seem quite as opposed to the idea as he had before, despite the indifferent façade he had adopted.

"Toshi, come on." Kondo said. "Can't we at least give them permission to eat here. After all, they've been very helpful."

"Kondo-san." Hijikata said, sighing. "If you're that naïve, the group's leadership will fall into disarray."

"Ah…" Kondo said, smiling wryly, as he rubbed the back of his neck. He got scolded again…

"U-Um... I think… maybe we should just go back to our room." Chizuru said nervously, reaching to pick up her tray.

"Only to eat." Hijikata said, causing both girls to stop and look up at him.

'Hijikata-san…' They both thought, surprised to find themselves being let off the hook so easily.

"Well, I guess I'll eat something, too." Hijikata said more casually, finally allowing himself to relax a little.

"Ah. I'll get a tray for you." Inoue said.

"All right, Chizuru, Sumiko! Now everyone can keep eating together, huh?" Heisuke said cheerfully.

"Hai!" Chizuru said brightly. Hijikata noticed a small smile graced Sumiko's lips as she took another bite.

"Anyway, has San'nan seen a doctor yet?" The older girl asked, concerned by the way San'nan-san had just walked off without eating anything. "Do you want me to examine him?"

"You?" Hijikata asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, yes, that would be most appreciated!" Kondo said, lighting up. "Ah, that's right!" he said, turning to face Hijikata. "You've only just returned, so you haven't heard yet, but today Sumiko-san saved Takeda's life."

"What?" Hijikata asked, surprised to hear such news. He glanced questioningly at Sumiko.

"He had a case of appendicitis, so I operated with Saito-san's help. Then Chizuru and Inoue-san sat with him for several hours and monitored his vital signs." Sumiko explained calmly. "So far, Takeda-san has been making a smooth recovery. I was hoping to check on his progress again after dinner."

"I heard earlier from Yukimura-kun that you were able to cure a lame horse!" Inoue said excitedly. "If it's Miyagawa-san, you might be able to do something for San'nan-san."

"What, seriously!?" Shinpachi asked excitedly.

"That's amazing, Sumiko!" Heisuke exclaimed.

"No, hold on!" Sumiko said quickly, raising her hands defensively. "There's a huge difference between mending a horse's broken ankle and a deep laceration on a human arm! I haven't even seen his wound yet. I have to see the extent of the damage before I can be sure whether or not there's anything more that I can do for him." She explained pragmatically, trying to calm them down before they got their hopes too high only to possibly have them crushed later on. "I've heard the wound was deep. Did it require stitches?" She asked Hijikata.

"We bound the wound tightly with bandages. It took several hours for the bleeding to stop." Hijikata replied, furrowing his brow slightly as the memory.

"Has it already closed, then?" She asked.

"Not completely." He said.

"Hmm… well, as long as it's not bleeding heavily anymore, then his life shouldn't be in any immediate danger, but it sounds like it will need stitches. At any rate, the wound should be cleaned properly with an antiseptic." Sumiko said thoughtfully. "I'll have to mix more painkiller for Takeda-san soon, so I'll make some for San'nan-san, too, while I'm at it. It will help him sleep better. It's important that he eat well and get plenty of rest until he recovers."

"If it's within your power to help him, then please do so." Hijikata said solemnly.

"I understand." Sumiko said, nodding. "I'll do my best."