Author's Note:Hi guys! First of all, a huuuuuge thank you to all those who have reviewed and marked this story as one of their favorites! :D It warms my heart to know that so many of you enjoyed my stories. ;) I am also very touched that some people have mentioned that they're willing to wait no matter how long for updates on this if ever I decided to not give up on HTDAMS just yet. xD So this update is dedicated to all you people who've been with me through all the previous chapters of How to Date… :) I love you guys. :3
Written on:February 19, 2012
Disclaimer:Naruto and all related characters rightfully belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The tips mentioned in this story are based on 'How to Date a Med Student' by Fox News iMag and can be seen on this site: www (dot) yourtango (dot) com (slash) 200919756 (slash) tips-dating-med-student.
Warning(s):AU.
How to Date a Med Student
Chapter Five
By Zagoorian Athena
5. They're expected to know everything. Everything! The name of the 8 billion-lettered, German-sounding cell that lives in the depths of your inner ear, the technical term for the "no one's ever heard of this disease" disease that exists only on one foot of the Southern tip of the African continent… But ask them if your knee is swollen, or what you should do to tame your mucous-filled cough, or why the heck your head feels like someone's been drilling oil through it for two weeks straight, and they won't have a clue.
Knock, knock.
Sasuke groaned as he waited for his girlfriend—no, slash that—fiancée to open the door to her apartment. He had been standing there in the freezing weather for more than half an hour already and he could have sworn that with each knock, he could feel a simultaneous throbbing in his head as if someone was drilling oil right through it.
He heaved a heavy sigh as he rubbed his hands together to get them even just a tad bit warmer—he was so going to get sick for this.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, the door opened to reveal a fresh-looking Sakura smiling apologetically up at him. "Sorry, Sasuke-kun. I was in the shower so I didn't hear you knock. Have you been waiting long?"
"Hn," he replied as he shuffled past her, eager to get out of the cold.
She shut the door behind her and proceeded to the kitchen to make them both some tea, used to his random bouts of unwillingness to respond to her questions like any normal person would—those things didn't matter to her anymore anyway.
The pink-haired med student then made her way to the man shivering slightly on her couch, two cups of warm tea on a tray which she placed on the coffee table in front of them as she took the spot next to him. Sasuke, who was busy trying not make it seem like he was feeling cold, promptly rested his head on her shoulder upon her arrival and began snuggling into her neck while he wrapped his arms around her.
She giggled lightly at the feel of his hair tickling her chin, but weaved her hand through his locks and combed them soothingly anyway. Sakura knew that this relaxed him, and she also knew that this would be the last time they'd get to spend a quiet evening like this before she drowned herself in books again—another hell week was coming up.
The next morning, Sasuke awoke to the loud beeping of his alarm clock, coupled with his head pounding horribly and muscles aching like shit. Albeit reluctant, he moved to open the drawer on his bedside table to grab a thermometer and stuffed it into his mouth before turning the digital contraption on.
Once the device started signalling that it was done, he removed it from his oral cavity and stared at the screen that displayed his whopping 102-degree temperature. Yup, he thought dejectedly, definitely sick. Another sigh, and then he proceeded to grabbing his cellphone from its perch on the bedside table.
The first thing he thus did was ring his office to inform his secretary that he wouldn't be able to make it today due to his condition, to which said person dumbly replied to with a stuttered "understood", finding it weird that the Uchiha whom she's worked with and for for years called in sick for the very first time. Uchihas, she vaguely remembered grumbling to herself a few years ago when she wanted time off for herself but couldn't do so due to her boss' impeccable good health, don't get sick —or so she thought.
Then, he called the indirect reason why he's lying sick in bed in the first place. A few rings later, a sleepy "hello?" was heard as Sakura picked up.
"Sakura," he whined, which was something Sasuke only ever did around her.
"Sasuke-kun, do you know what time it is?" she complained half-asleep, not realizing that it was 8AM and, therefore, a very reasonable time to be calling someone up.
"Sakura, I'm sick," he said without answering her question, putting emphasis on the last word.
"Hmm? What do you want me to do about it, then?"
"Why don't you come over and take care of me?" he offered with an indefinite suggestiveness in his tone, voice husky and all. The smirk on his paler-than-usual face could practically be heard on the other line.
Still sleepy, Sakura didn't even catch the hint and only mumbled "I'm busy. Can't you get Naruto to do that?"
At this, Sasuke scrunched up his face in disgust (oh the horror of the mental images that immediately flooded his mind!) and only continued cajoling her into taking care of him. "Please?" he sort of begged—an effect of his illness, he reasoned to himself.
"Mou, Sasuke-kun. I'm busy!" she explained exasperatedly, still in her state of not being fully awake.
"But I'm sick and you're a doctor. Aren't you supposed to take care of sick people?"
"I have a pathology exam coming up. I need to study!"
"Isn't pathology the study of diseases?"
"What's your point?" she deadpanned.
"Aren't you at least going to tell me what I need to do or what medicine I should take?" he asked exasperatedly.
"You know, it's not like I go to med school to treat colds, Sasuke-kun! Figure it out yourself!" were her last words before he heard the unmistakable dial tone which meant that she just hung up on him.
Sasuke's eye twitched at her insensitivity—and people thought he was cold-hearted!—but not having the energy nor patience to argue with her once more, he merely placed his phone back to where it originally was and tried to make himself comfortable on the bed with a tired grunt.
Well, that certainly didn't make him feel any better.
Sasuke drew the blankets tighter around him as he stared at his bedroom ceiling, wondering if Sakura really was serious about not coming to visit him just because she had an exam. It's not like he didn't understand how important her studies were to her, but it wouldn't take that long to check up on him, would it?
The young Uchiha sighed and turned on his side, willing for the drumming in his head to disappear along with whatever seemed to be congesting his throat and airways. Every time he tried to sleep, Sakura's apathetic voice kept ringing in his head and he found that it was harder to get some rest when he was also wondering about how much his own fiancée cared about him.
It didn't help that his mother was out of the country so he really was left alone to take care of himself—and no, Naruto was definitely not an option… not if he didn't want his headache to worsen.
A few hours of tossing and turning later, a faint knock snapped him out of his muddled thoughts and it took him a few moments to realize that it wasn't just a hallucination caused by his high body temperature.
Reluctantly, he got up, donned his robe and wrapped himself in his comfy blanket, and made his way to the front door. And because he was pissed at whoever decided it was a good idea to disturb him while he was trying to rest, he was about to bite said person's head off when the sight of a very lovely behind greeted him as soon as he opened the door.
As she heard the sound of the door being wrenched open, Sakura, who was in the middle of taking the extra set of keys to Sasuke's apartment from under the potted plant across the narrow hallway, straightened up and greeted him with another apologetic smile.
"How are you feeling?" she asked hesitantly, eyeing him in his current state: flushed face poking out from under a dark blue blanket wrapped snugly around his muscled form; she would have laughed if not for the serious look on his face.
He glared at her for a brief moment then just sighed and stepped aside to let her in. "Not so well," he replied honestly.
She started at him with wide eyes, surprised that he actually admitted to not feeling well.
"What?" he asked with a blush staining his cheeks, which could have easily been attributed to his fever. "Is it wrong to admit that I feel like crap when it's true?"
Sakura relaxed with his reply—same old Sasuke, she thought—and showed him the plastic bag in her hand. "Which is exactly why I brought soup for you," she explained.
"Oh, so now you care for me?" He turned his head the other way to prove how mad he was.
"Seriously, Sasuke-kun? Are you really going to sulk when your loving fiancée took the time off from studying to visit you?" She raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips as she gave him an intent look.
He merely snorted in reply.
But seeing that Sasuke was shivering a bit despite the layers on top of him, she gave up with the tirade and stepped closer to him. "I'm sorry about that and about what I said this morning."
He gazed at her from the corner of his eye before duly giving up and wrapping his arms around her petite frame, engulfing her in his warm blanket. "Aa," he said, which she understood as 'it's okay'.
"I thought you had an exam," he voiced out, muffled by Sakura's shirt.
"I figured I could use some hands-on experience," she explained as she pulled away from the embrace and took his hand and dragged him towards his bedroom.
The doctor-to-be then lightly pushed him unto his bed and ordered him to lie down while she bustled around his apartment to gather the things she needed to make the Uchiha feel better.
He grinned as he saw her blurry form rushing past his bedroom door and thought that maybe getting sick wasn't so bad.
"Sakura," he called out.
"Yeah?" he heard her answer from somewhere, probably the kitchen.
"…I love you."
Silence, and then her head popped up by the door and said "I love you, too" with the gentlest smile he'd ever seen.
Yup, getting sick isn't so bad at all.
A/N: Sorry if this seems a bit rushed. :)) I actually wrote this when I was supposed to be studying for an exam, and I just haven't had the time to edit it properly since I was too excited to post it right away. xD Again, thanks to everyone who's been with me so far, and I hope new readers get to enjoy this drabble series as well. :) Keep the reviews coming, guys! 'Til next time... ;)