This is what Ace's next 5 visits to the hospital is like, in the span of 5 days:

He'd arrive at the evening, discreetly waving to the little ghost girl who loves flowers by the door every time on his way over to Sabo's room, where Koala would always be before except the one day where she had to work late and his mother and Luffy were there instead. Despite still being in pain, Sabo had looked more active these days, capable of talking and waving animatedly throughout the conversation with Rouge, or joining Luffy in cheering and jeering at the television over some animated show.

About half an hour to his arrival, more people will come. Ace's father or Luffy's grandfather are the most likely to come by, then sometimes it's Ivankov, the head of Mayor Dragon's PR team and a close friend, or Hack, one of Sabo's co-workers in the town hall, or just anyone who knew him. Dragon himself hadn't been able to come, but he called once at least, sounding tired despite the stoic front. It's hard to think that he won't be, with the news about the fire still being one of the biggest topic in their local news and the town on high alert over the arson once more, which means he'd have plenty in his hand right now. It didn't help that his assistant is hospitalized, but to his credit, Dragon would often assure Sabo he'd manage.

Another half an hour will be spent talking in between themselves about just any topic that the variety of visitors could come up with, and all of them will steer away from any mention of the fire itself. It left a bad taste remembering Sabo almost died because of it, Ace was not allowed to talk about it with the investigation still ongoing, and there is really no need to bring down the lighthearted mood they all so dearly needed right now.

It's all just about the same as every visit before, only one detail has changed these past 3 days.

The moment the clock shows that he had been there for an hour, Ace would excuse himself, discreetly plucking away a single flower from the various bouquets Sabo would get, and leave. Then, he'd make his way out of the occasionally crowded hall, to another, even quieter one on a different floor, towards Dr. Newgate's room. This one was just as jam packed with faithful visitors for the patient, only this time around Ace was the only person who was able to see them.

He'd greet them with a casual 'good evening', and for any outsiders looking, it'll look like he's only addressing the one man on the bed, the only living being in this entire room until his arrival.

All 5 days, he won't receive a reply, and after the 2nd day, he stopped waiting for one.

Ace would then sit down in what he now dubbed his personal chair by the bed, flower still in hand.

The first 3 days, the raven haired man would always come in to see it gone, perhaps removed by the nurses, and he'd replace it each time. Yesterday, he was surprised by the sight of the flower from the previous day and it's horrid excuse of a vase still on the bedside table, the water inside of it having gained a greenish tint to show that nothing has been changed about it since the day before. If Dr. Newgate notices his surprise, he didn't comment, just like he didn't say a single word to Ace aside from the very first day he came.

On the 4th day, while staring in confusion over the sight of the flower, Jozu Newgate leaned on the wall beside the table, a minuscule amused smile on his stoic, mostly burned face, "He told the nurse not to throw it away, said that it's not someone's idea of a prank but that the person who did it is kind of stupid," Ace was told in earnest, and someplace behind him, he heard a couple of people snickering, "I think he actually likes the flowers,"

Ace gave Dr. Newgate a dumbfounded look - and maybe a slightly irritated one because, really, insulting someone being nice to you behind their back? Classy - and placed the new flower right next to the one from dark red caranation's petals clashed with the blue and yellow shade of the morning glory, both bobbing gently against the rim before going still, leaning against each other.

With that out of the way, Ace sat back down on the chair, and would proceed to do so in silence for the next hour or so. There would be no conversation, not one between him and Dr. Newgate anyway, not a single gesture, nothing. Sometimes he felt like he's staring at a statue, if not for little twitches and the obviously breathing chest. If he tried to initiate any conversation, he'd just be ignored, as is the case for the first 2 days, so he'd just fill his time with either the television or playing with his phone.

After 2 hours of being completely disregarded, Ace would realize that it's getting late and he had an early shift. He'd stand up and gave the bed and its occupant one glance, and gave a murmured 'see ya tomorrow, doc', before leaving. That little bit about the flower was different, but in the end, nothing really change and he'd go home with a small wonder in the back of his mind on whether or not this weird routine actually has any bearing to Dr. Newgate and what his family had asked of Ace.

On the 6th day, Ace came in to Dr. Newgate's room to see that not only that the two flowers were still there, the water has been changed, clearly visible even through the opaque surface.

Ace sat down on his chair and carefully placed the handful he had brought with him that day: a whole bunch of carnations in myriad of colours.

He was in the middle of trying to fit the whole thing through the bottle's narrow rim, when he heard, for the first time in 5 days, Dr. Newgate spoke, "That's more than 1,"

The arrangement looked poor in the end, unlike how it was originally when he first acquired them, but then he didn't think even the best flower arranger can make flowers in a piss bottle look charming, "There's a sale in the florist near my work place and the old lady who runs it is really nice so i'm helping her out, really,"

It's not really a sale as much as it was Ace looking confused enough about the flower bouquets on the display for the lady to take pity on him, and when he had tried to pay, she gave him a special discount for 'his services to the town' and for 'being such a sweet and caring boyfriend'. He had been too stupefied by the out of nowhere conclusion to actually correct her because he's most definitely single, but at least he managed to stutter out a thank you before being pushed aside for another costumer.

"And you're not giving it to your friend instead?"

Sabo still got plenty of them and will probably continue to receive more in the future. Unlike this room, "You're the kind of shitty person who likes to complain about other people's great and generous gift, aren't you?"

Dr. Newgate glanced at the flowers, his expression much more mellow than Ace had ever seen him before, "And you must be the kind of person conceited enough to praise your own gift,"

Not that his words were any less jabbing.

When Ace left get something to drink from the vending machine nearby later on, he had just made his decision when Thatch showed up next to him, looking pleased and a little giddy, "He's been touching and staring at those flowers you gave him since you left. And he was smiling. Oh, Ace, i haven't seen him smile in such a long time, i'm so glad,"

There wasn't a way for Ace to actually know if the smiling part was the truth or not, because the moment he came back, he only caught sight of the doctor retracting his hand from somewhere near the flowers. He looked a little flustered when Ace asked, in genuine curiousity, "What are you doing?"

His question truly was in regards to the doctor's swiftly retracted hand, but he was just as curious as to why all of his siblings were crowding the bed, so much that only way Ace can truly caught sight of Dr. Newgate was through Blenheim's translucent body. Said man turned around with a large grin on his grey-blueish face and exclaimed joyously, "He was smiling! He was actually smiling! It's there, it's really there!" The rest of the Newgate siblings proclaimed the same, with their father letting out a happy rumbling laughter from his customary seat, as if this was the best thing that has ever happened to him.

Dr. Newgate himself stammered at his question, face a little flushed and possibly the most human and expressive he looked since Ace first saw him, "N-nothing. I just— one of the flower was drooping a little, so i'm trying to fix it,"

If only he knew he's been outed by so many people.

Day 7 saw another break in the routine, when Ace came to Dr. Newgate's room first, with a large bouquet of purple, pink and white peonies in a plastic vase.

"I thought i don't deserve a proper vase?"

"You don't, but the poor flowers deserve a better place to be in," Ace countered while transferring the camelia, morning glory, and the carnations over to their new home. The entire arrangement looks damn weird in his opinion, unlike the elegant and fancy ones he had seen before, but they'll do for now.

The blond man snorted, "You're the one who brings them and put them in a urinal bottle in the first place," he muttered, turning towards Ace and the bouquet. In a lower, softer voice, he said, "It's off season for peonies, they must've cost a lot,"

"But very appropriate," Izou said from the foot of Dr. Newgate's bed, lips curling teasingly, "When the flowers means healing. Ace, that is really thoughtful of you, bringing so many of them for Marco,"

Ace could feel his cheeks heating up, even though he knows for sure Dr. Newgate couldn't hear his brother's comment.

The truth was, that scene he had walked in on hadn't managed to quite leave his mind the entire night. Of the exuberant reaction from all of the Newgate siblings had because they saw their brother smile over some flowers, and the pure jubilance in Edward Newgate's laughter spoke of true joy, unlike the morose spirit he had seen a couple of days ago. He wondered just how bad Dr. Newgate was before all of this, if just the sight of a smile could make so many of them so happy.

When he visited the florist again this morning on his way here, Ace decided that he was curious. He wanted to see for himself to prove that he had actually done something in all of these seemingly nonsensical routine, and he supposed he wanted to something else out of the sad man he had been persuaded to look after.

He remembered a long time ago when his mother would bring him to her garden as a child, telling him that each flowers has their own meanings when you give them to someone. When the old florist had told him what the peonies stands for, he hadn't even hesitated in buying the entire thing. It had sounded so silly once he actually finished paying for them and was on his way here, and now, in face of Izou's grin, he wished he hadn't really bothered and just choose any other bouquet.

Turns out being exposed isn't really the most dignified feeling in the world. Even if the only one who could hear them was a bunch of invisible undead.

"L-like i told you, the florist's having a sale. What, you don't like them or something?"

Ace had expected another smart quip and retort like before, that the sight of a hand reaching over for the vase actually caught him off guard. He turned towards the owner, to find hooded eyes entirely focused on the colourful floral arrangement, "No," the doctor lifted his hand just enough to cup a single flower on his palm and Ace was rendered speechless when sure enough, a small yet obvious smile blooms on the man's lips, "They're beautiful,"

And just like that, suddenly everything that has happened in the last 7 days, the medicine room scare, the ghost following him around in the hospital, the scathing behaviour, the silence, being ignored, of deciding to stay in a room full of burnt, asphyxiated and even mutilated ghost, this cycle of just seemingly unfruitful endeavour…

…Maybe it's not that unfruitful after all.

"Um. W-well, good, cause you're right, they're not cheap," Ace quickly look away when the heat on his face grew even hotter and refused to simmer down. Well, he did think that Dr. Newgate is fairly good looking before all of this, but not only that, he supposed he's just… glad. Glad to see that beneath it all, maybe he had done something good.

Maybe.

Dr. Newgate didn't reply, simply humming absent-mindedly, his hand now reaching for the camelia to run them over the red petals. There's little wilts on the corner now, since these sorts of bouquets probably don't last long even kept in water, but he hardly seems to be bothered.

Ace's hand fidgeted on the morning glory's stem, feeling the silky petal against his own skin, "You know, the sale's probably going to last like uh, a while," he gulped, hoping it's not as audible as he thought it was, "If you like them that much, i can always bring more tomorrow,"

His answer was another hum, "If you want to,"

So Ace did, victoriously so.

"Okay, where exactly have you been going to?"

Ace stopped on his tracks and turn to where Sabo was watching him with narrowed, suspicious eyes, "Huh?"

Sabo frowned, "You've been leaving earlier than usual, i thought it's because you've gone home but yesterday, Luffy said he saw you in the parking lot 2 hours later when he and that directionally challenged friend of his got lost looking for his own car so you're definitely still in this hospital. Also," he gestured to the item Ace brought in his hand, "What's with the flowers? That's definitely not for me,"

Ugh, he had planned on going to Dr. Newgate's room first to give him these, but Koala had called and ask him to look after Sabo while she leaves to run a quick errand. Sabo was probably well enough at this point he didn't need someone watching over him 24/7, but it's best to be safe, "Aww, Sabo if you wanted one from me, you should just said so,"

"Quit the crap, stupid, and tell me what's going on,"

Ace huffed. Ugh, okay maybe he did owe his 'brother' an explanation for bailing out, "Okay, okay," he settled on the chair next to the bed, gently putting the flower down on the edge of the table. Today it's an entire mixture of pink, yellow, white and orange chrysanthemums, originally only white and yellow until the florist saw that it was him buying it and threw in some other colours as well, free from any extra charge. Good, romantic men are so hard to come by these days, according to her, and she would love to help him make a woman happy.

Never mind that he's not giving this to a woman but instead a sickly doctor who has some health and haunting problem. He should probably tell her one of these days if she kept cutting her own profits like this.

"Okay," he repeated again with a heavy sigh, "First of, you're not allowed to freak out about it because you asked first,"

For a split second, Sabo had looked concerned, until realization seem to have finally dawned on him and as expected, he turned pale and began to whimper, eyes darting from each corner of his room, "Oh god, this has something to do with ghost, isn't it? There's a ghost in this hospital, isn't there?"

Actually, there's a lot of them, 15 in just 1 room and not counting the few other ones he had seen throughout the day. Ace rolled his eyes when Sabo began shaking his head and mutter intelligibly, something along the lines of 'you're right, i regretted asking', "Look, do you remember your old doctor, Dr. Newgate? The one that suddenly got replaced by this current one you got?"

The blond stopped his cowering, expression turning thoughtful, "Yeah, i wonder what happened to him. Not that i got a problem with my new one, but i liked Dr. Newgate, he's efficient and really to the point about stuff. Apparently he got sick?"

"He fainted in one of the hospital's staff only area and apparently has a hole in his stomach that needed to be operated on, i don't really know the detail. I was the one who found him," Ace bit his lower lips, bracing himself for whatever bombastic response he is sure to get, "With a help from his brothers' ghosts,"

As if on cue, Sabo's expression went back to pure fear, "Gho— What do you mean his brothers' ghosts? Ghosts?! Like plural?! Oh my god, my doctor is haunted this entire time please, please, please don't tell me those ghost has been coming into my room. Don't tell me there's one here right now!"

"No, there's none," Yes there are, past and present, in the form of the old patient from before, once again sitting on the sofa. Like before, he seems to find deep amusement in Sabo's panic, and unlike before, instead of walking away, he limps over to the bed, and stood right behind Sabo like the joker Ace had suspected him to be. The raven haired man tried so hard not to pay any attention to him as not to reveal his own lies, but it's kind of hard to do so, when the old man started making faces behind his terrified friend's head.

Okay, that's a little funny, maybe it'll be funnier if Ace wasn't being choked right now.

"Are you sure?!"

"Damn, Sabo, do you want to know what i was doing or not?" he raised his volume a little and struggle a bit more than he needs to to shake off his friend's hand, if only because he also needs the distraction to keep from laughing when the old ghost leaned his face next to Sabo's, eyeballs abnormally rolling to the side pointedly to the blond, "Look, do you remember that case of the Newgate Arson 5 years ago?"

The grip on his collar slackened, and while the change of topic doesn't calm Sabo down completely, he could at least give a reply, "Y-yeah, who didn't. Auntie Rouge was freaking out when you applied to be a firefighter 3 years after that, and— wait, Newgate Arson… Dr. Newgate… Wait, is he—"

"Yep. Apparently the only surviving one. And the ghosts following him were the ones who died on that fire, including Edward Newgate himself,"

"Oh shit," the fairer of the two gasped, most of his colours having returned to his skin. The old ghost next to him was done making fun of him as well, seemingly preoccupied with listening to their conversation, "Wait, i did hear that they eventually found out someone did survive, but there weren't any follow ups on that or who it was. And that person is actually Dr. Newgate?" he frowned, "Kind of weird no one made the connection when he still uses that surname,"

Ace shrugged, "People on this hospital definitely knows; my buddy's surgeon boyfriend that works here said people's been keeping his identity a hush-hush around here under the dean's orders, while outside… i don't know, you probably won't attach just any surname to any major incident,"

"I guess, but i wonder why the news outlets didn't put any r— Wait, so that's where you're going this entire time? To see Dr. Newgate?"

Somehow, the fact that Sabo can reach that conclusion on his own without needing Ace to explain it and inevitably mentions ghosts again gave him a greater relief than possibly warranted. For one, he won't have to explain the weird request he was given by the family, the entire reason he was doing all of this, because as bizarre as the whole situation was, it also felt rather… sad, and private. He won't be able to mention the request without also mentioning Dr. Newgate's condition and Ace didn't think that's something he needs to tell people, even if it's Sabo he's talking to.

The second reason is that there is a slim chance Sabo will freak out and possibly choke him again, "Yeah, i kinda just.. want to see if he's okay,"

"Oh," blue eyes flickered towards the flowers in understanding, and Sabo grumbled, "Ugh, could've just told me that instead of having to say stuff about the g-ghosts. Oh god, how many times did he came in here bringing ghosts with him? Is that why i sometimes felt chilly whenever he comes around? Is that the ghost?" he began to tremble and shake on his own, cautiously looking around as if he'd so happen to be able to see what Ace can see. Which he can't or else he'd be much more freaked out when he made eye contact with the old patient ghost.

"If it's any comfort, they left when he does. They're only interested in following him around instead of doing anything diabolical to scaredy cats,"

"I'm not a scaredy cat, i just don't like thinking about anything supernatural, okay?!"

Stifling his snickers - though not by much - Ace stood up and picked his flowers up again, "Yeah, yeah. I'll be on my way now, i'll come back later, okay?"

"Yeah. Hey, give my regards to Dr. Newgate, will you? Tell him to get better soon,"

He nodded, fixing one of the bent petals, "Sure, Sab',"

"Give the good doctor and Mr. Newgate Sr. my regards too, young man,"

The raven haired man lifted his eyes and nodded to the old ghost, "Sure thing, sir,"

"Ace…,"

It took Ace exactly 2 seconds to realize what exactly he had done, the exact time it took for Sabo's eyes to go wide and he turned in pure terror to the direction Ace was talking to.

"Oh, fuck,"

"I thought i heard screaming earlier. Did something happen?"

Ace gulped, still busying himself with the vase of flower medley and the new batch he has with him. Damn, it even reaches up here? "Yeaaaah, you could say that,"

(Koala had been absolutely unamused to come back and see her boyfriend has turned into a crying and sobbing mess, clinging on to her like her namesake would a tree while muttering about ghosts and wanting to go home. The former had caused the attending doctor to worry about his mental health, so Ace had to lie to make sure his best friend won't be given a psychiatric evaluation, and said that he simply had a bad dream. Thankfully the doctor had believed him and let it go, but Koala had received the entire story and was even less impressed.

"Ugh, i can never understand you two. How is it that a guy who is easily scared out of his wits when it comes to ghost came to be best friends with someone who can see them?"

"…Opposite attracts?")

Dr. Newgate frowned at his answer, "Was it an emergency?"

"Not really, it's just uh, an incident from a patient," once he was finally sure that the flowers looked just right, Ace took a step back to admire his handiwork. Yesterday, he had mixed the single red camelia with a bouquet of anemone, while the morning glory had joined in with an assortment of snapdragon and the two stems of peace lilies. Today, he placed the chrysanthemums in the middle with the carnations, just a little behind of the peonies, and all of them were placed just close enough to the bed that Dr. Newgate can admire them, "What do you think? Looks good, don't they?"

"I think you just moved one vase a centimetre to the left and just been playing around with the chrysanthemum's petals than actually doing any arranging,"

From somewhere behind him, Ace could hear someone snickering, and he flicked his gaze to the source to find Haruta and Namur giggling, "Well excuse me, Mr. Art Critic, i'll have you know that my mother is an expert in ikebana and i've learned all i know from her. The smallest details are the most important—"

The clicking sound from the door latch disturbed Ace's justification, something he didn't think he'd expected to hear in this room because no one aside from himself ever visited and the rest of this room's 'occupants' hardly needs doors to come in. He turned to see a stern-faced old woman by the door, the lab coat swishing and the stethoscope around her neck dully thudding against her chest with every step she took. In her hand was a familiar, hospital logo emblazoned clipboard, one she brandished out once she's close enough to the bed.

"Time for your medicine and daily exam, brat," the doctor called out gruffly, with the sort of worn-out voice only old people could manage yet with the sort of authority and power from people a 1/4 of her age. From her pocket, she fished out a familiar looking brown bottle that Ace had seen a couple of times was brought to Sabo by nurses and doctors, which she then carelessly tossed towards Dr. Newgate. It plopped onto the bed with a clatter from its content.

The bed made a weak creak as Dr. Newgate shifted position to grab for the bottle, "Not that i'm complaining, but what happened to Dr. Hiluluk? He's the one responsible for me," he questioned as he reached for the lid, before frowning at the label, "This isn't the PPI i was prescribed with,"

"What an astute observation," the woman, Dr. Kureha said drily, "To answer your first question, Crocus had me take over for your case. The reason why is my second answer, that idiot gave you a PPI when you need an H2 blocker instead for your peptic ulcers. I know you must've noticed, but how you had been taking them for a week straight without raising any question seriously baffles me," she tossed her clipboard on the bed, leaning even closer to the bed with a grim look on her face, "Or is it true that you just don't care anymore?"

It reaction was minuscule, yet Ace caught that split second Dr. Newgate's breath hitched, "I just didn't notice,"

"And yet you clearly realized you've been taking PPIs. Don't you dare skirt around the subject, boy. I need to know whether or not mine and Crocus' goodwill were misplaced on you, because if they are, there are dozens of people every day we could've use our resources and efforts to keep alive rather than wasting our time on one who didn't,"

Around the bottle, Dr. Newgate's hand slowly turned white from how hard he was holding on to it. At the first telltale crack, Ace almost missed it completely over the voices of the Newgate siblings angry shouts towards elderly Dr. Kureha, none which will truly reach her. Haruta took Ace's attention in particular, when he ran towards the bed and leaped on to it, positioning himself right between his brother and the white haired doctor and screamed, "What kind of fucking doctor are you?! How dare you say that to my brother!"

"I…," the sickly blond trailed off, his grip on the bottle hardly loosening, "Maybe you are,"

"Marco!"

"Just like that, just that easily?" the disgust in Dr. Kureha's voice was palpable, even without the sneer on her face, "Once upon a time, you were one of our best. You had a purpose, you had a vision, you were your father's pride and joy. Where has it all gone to? No Newgate i know would ever be this pathetic human being i see in front of me right now. Edward must be rolling in his grave right now if he ever sees you like this,"

Haruta swiped at her, again and again and again, as if the harder he flung his arms the more chance it'll suddenly grow corporeal and manage to hit her. It never did, "Shut up, fuck you! Don't you dare mention Pops! Ace, make her leave! Make her leave Marco alone!"

The cacophony following Haruta's demand was deafening. From every corner of the room, every single one of Dr. Newgate's brothers' visage had turned enraged, shouting their own defences to their brother, all which eventually would fall to deaf ears. That she doesn't understand what their brother had gone through, that their brother has suffered enough, just how plain cruel it is to rub it in on his face like this, so on and so forth, and yet only one of them had kept quiet from the start.

Edward Newgate looked down to the floor, lips pursed and eyes grim.

He lifted his head just enough to look at the bed, to his only living son, when he said, "Isn't it a good thing then that Pops is gone, so he won't have to look at me at my lowest?"

"That's enough!"

To which of the two doctor he is saying it to, Ace didn't think he himself actually knows. But he couldn't stand this conversation anymore. Not when from he stood, he could clearly see the pain that seems to stab through Newgate Sr. harder than whatever it is that put that hole on his chest, the blow which, this time, had come from his own son. He hated that after that smile days ago, he has to see that resentful look back on Dr. Newgate's face, along with what he now recognized as self-loathing.

He's not naive enough to believe that just because he managed to do a single happy gesture, everything was alright for Dr. Newgate, but it felt like such a setback.

Dr. Kureha turned her attention to him, one brow raised inquisitively, "And who might you be?" her eyes flicked to the side and with a hum, she nodded, "I get it, you're the 'piss bottle flower guy' the nurses were gossiping about,"

"T-the… piss bottle flower…," Of all the goddamn nicknames to be called by strangers… And of all the moments where he earned a nickname, it has to be the one time he decided to be petty.

"Don't be too sad, kid. The flower in a urinal bottle thing was the easiest thing to describe you with. The actual gossip lies in the fact that you're Dr. Marco Newgate's visitor," she sneered once more, glancing ever so slightly towards the bed, "He never has visitors. Not when he has pushed away every single person in his life," her every words were emphasised, spitted out like venom.

On the bed, Dr. Newgate has gone silent.

With a war cry, Haruta lunged for Dr. Kureha, only to pass by her and fell on to the floor in a grunting heap. Ace ignored it, as he tried to ignore him swinging at her again and spoke, "What the hell? What kind of doctor goes around insulting their patient?"

"I am more than just a doctor," she sniffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest, "I'm a friend of his father's, and i won't stand by watching his son ruin himself the way he's doing right now,"

"And what makes you think Edward Newgate would like what you're going right now?!"

The old woman took a deep breath. Behind her, Ace could see that Namur had ushered Haruta away and towards the sofa, holding him back from struggling away, while Newgate Sr. still sat silently, watching Ace and Dr. Kureha with weathered, old eyes. They didn't seem to hold his attention long, when he shifted his gaze again and Ace knew he's back to watching his son.

"Edward wouldn't like it, no," Dr. Kureha spoke at last, yet unlike her strong, biting tone from earlier, her voice wavered, only a pale imitation to the intensity it has before. Her eyes were completely dry, but if Ace hadn't been looking at them, he would've thought she's on the brink of tears, "But he's always the kind of father who wouldn't dare even scold his children for the littlest of things. Wouldn't you say that he'd appreciate it more to know someone still cares enough for one of his beloved children to be frustrated at their life choices?"

With a shaky exhale, the old doctor ran a hand through her hair, and turned towards the bed, "I wrote down the dosage, as for the rest, i'm sure you know what to do. I'll be back tomorrow with your blood test result," At Dr. Newgate's silence, she gave Ace a terse nod and walked out, swiftly and as quietly as she arrived.

The moment the door closes behind her, the atmosphere in the room was thick enough that Ace actually felt physically suffocated by it.

"You knew my father's name,"

Ace would be lying if he wasn't a little startled by Dr. Newgate's voice, and even more so by the stare levelled at him. They're exhausted and dull, and that monotone voice he used was the very same one from the first day Ace stepped foot into this room. Nothing like the friendlier one he had finally adapted as of the late, the one that held more life to them, that regarded Ace as another person rather than the nuisance he would proceed to ignore for days in hopes he'll disappear.

His chest hurts. He didn't know why this regression hurts so much to see.

"I… i do," the raven haired male admitted, as he involuntarily glanced to where said father sat, "I, uh, i found out, eventually,"

"Was that why you're here?" Dr. Newgate muttered, his voice barely a whisper and yet Ace heard the tenseness still. He squeezed his eyes shut, "Never mind, don't answer that,"

"Wait, i.. i can explain—"

"Don't," it was barely a whisper, yet it was enough to stop Ace on his tracks. Enough to make his chest tighten when Dr. Newgate spoke again, in the same whispered voice, "Please leave,"

"But—"

"Please," the blond opened his eyes to reveal blue eyes swimming behind unshed tears, "I just want to be alone right now,"

So Ace did, in reluctance and heavy heart.

Thanks for reading!