The psychiatrist was a very slim woman, tall, about forty or so. She had long red hair and blue eyes. They met in Wren's hospital room, which was where she had been confined for the longest time. She was not allowed to go to school, or to go out on dates with her friends. So this was where she had ended up: talking to a shrink.

Wren sat in her bed, hooked up to a blood bag, an IV bag, and an oxygen tank. She was not too comfortable, and the fact that she had to talk to a shrink did not make it any better.

"Listen," Wren started. "I don't really care for psychiatrists too much. In fact, I downright hate them. Now let's just get this over with, shall we?"

"Perhaps you can tell me why you hate psychiatrists so much?" the psychiatrist's voice was soft and sweet, like a summer's wind.

"Well, for one, you never look your patients in the eyes. You're always paying attention to what you have to write down and never to what your patient has to say."

"How can you stereotype like that?" she asked.

Wren was beginning to run out of answers. "W-Well…It's just how all shrinks are."

"But your sheet says that you've never been to a psychiatrist before, so how would you know?"

"W-Well…okay…I guess I don't know."

The psychiatrist seemed to be amused by this. "Then how about we get to know each other better before we get started, huh?"

"O-Okay…"

"I'm Natsuki Kawa." Natsuki held out her hand. Wren took it.

"Wren Takimoto."

"Very nice to meet you, Wren Takimoto." They released hands. "Now, Wren, how's about you tell me about yourself?"

"Don't you have it in that little binder thing?" Wren pointed to a black binder that Natsuki had in her lap.

"Not the specific information that I want to know. Besides, I want to hear it from you, not from a written report." Wren was surprised at Natsuki's answer. "Go on,"

"Wren Takimoto, age fourteen. My two best friends are Riku and Risa Harada." This time, Dr. Kawa began writing these things down.

"Favorite color?"

"Green."

"Favorite pastime?"

"Painting." Dr. Kawa looked up from her writing.

"You like to paint?" she asked.

Wren nodded. "I love the impressionists' works. Rodin, Monet, DaVinci, Degas, Degas is my favorite."

"Really? I love Degas!"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. I especially like 'Little Dancer'."

"Erm…that one's nice, but I prefer paintings like 'Dance Class' or 'Before the Ballet' over sculptures."

"Oh, those are beautiful as well." Wren smiled. She liked Natsuki. She was a very good friend. "Now let's get into the more detailed stuff."

Wren hesitated. "Okay…"

"Tofu or sushi?" the hesitation melted away.

"Sushi."

"Iced tea or green tea?"

"Green tea."

"McDonald's or Mos Burger?"

"Or."

Both Wren and Natsuki laughed at Wren's answer.

"Rice noodles or egg noodles?"

"Rice noodles."

"Rice or noodles?"

"Noodles."

"Miso soup or hot and sour soup?"

"Both."

"Boyfriend?"

"I wish."

"Preferable hair color?"

"Sandy-blonde, but I'll take whatever I can get." They laughed again.

"Preferable eye color?"

"Green."

"Weight?"

"…Next question…" Wren blushed. Natsuki chuckled.

"Have you ever been in love?"

"No, but I want to someday."

"Chocolate or vanilla?"

"Chocolate."

"Mint or strawberry?"

"Strawberry."

"Plays or musicals?"

"Both."

"Sodas?"

"No way."

"Do you drink?"

"Non-alcoholic beverages only. Goes with the leukemia."

"Do you smoke?"

"Never."

"Do you have intercourse?"

"Not until I'm married."

"Have you ever kissed a boy?"

"Once, in kindergarten…"

"Where are your parents?" At first, Wren could not answer. This question hit too close to home for her. She started to stutter.

"They…I…I was…My parents…when…when I was first diagnosed with leukemia at age ten, they…One day…they took me in for treatment as usual…but when the time came for them to pick me up, they never came…"

"So they left you at the hospital, correct?"

Wren nodded. "Luckily, one of the nurses there convinced the hospital board to let me stay in the Children's Ward because of my disease. I had insurance, so that covered all of my transfusions and medications and everything. But then…my insurance expired."

"That's why you had to move here, isn't it?"

"Yes. I would have had to pay for the treatments, and they were so much, I just couldn't pay for them."

"You didn't have any distant family members that could have helped you out?"

Wren shook her head. "No one in my family is left. My only family are my friends."

Natsuki nodded and wrote something down again. "What can you tell me about your medical history?"

"I have a very rare type of bone marrow, one that doesn't come up much on the bone marrow radar. All of my doctors have told me the exact same thing: even if I did get near the top of the bone marrow transplant list, my chances are close to zilch that they'll find me an exact donor. The only chance that I may have had was a relative, but my family was small to begin with, my mother being an only child, and my father having been an orphan himself. And the chances of having an outside donor are ultra slim."

"You said you were diagnosed with leukemia at the age of ten?"

Wren nodded.

"What did you do before you were diagnosed?"

Wren suddenly grew sad. "I…I was studying to become a medical student." Natsuki lifted her eyebrows in amazement.

"Medical student? But aren't you only fourteen?"

"I graduated high school in Hokkaido at age nine and went straight to medical school. My parents had to get several loans in order to send me to school, but we managed to get through it. I was diagnosed a year later, and the treatments plus school became too hard for them to pay for, so I had to quit medical school after my third year."

"Third year? But you were almost done…"

"Yes. I didn't want to quit, but Mom and Dad couldn't handle it, and they had done so much for me up to that point…I didn't want to let them down. So I quit."

"Then why are you still in middle school?"

Wren shrugged. "I want to live life to its fullest. I never went through middle school; I skipped right over it and went straight into high school from elementary school. I never got to enjoy middle school, so I guess I just wanted to experience it…like normal kids do."

Natsuki smiled. "And what can you tell me about yourself, personality-wise?"

"Well," Wren began. "I guess I'm somewhat spunky. I don't like to have other people do for me what I can do for myself. With my disease, everyone thinks that they have to do every little thing for me. I hate it. I just want to be normal, you know? Enjoy life while I still can. I'm also very spastic. One moment I'm the nicest person in the world, the next I'm breathing down your throat."

The doctor chuckled. "You remind me a lot of myself, do you know that?"

"Anyway, it's also like that with my emotions. One minute I'm happy and the next I'm very sad. The doctors tell me its because my medicines and chemotherapy are messing with my hormones."

Natsuki nodded. "It most likely is. I can give you some medicine to control it, if you like?"

Wren nodded. "Dr. Dao is always telling me to have a fixed attitude about things, but he doesn't understand that it's just the way that I am now."

"Wong Dao is a very complicated man," Natsuki remarked.

"You're telling me…"

"Don't worry about him," the doctor advised. "He doesn't understand life from a patient's perspective."

"Exactly," Natsuki got up.

"Well, I believe that this has been a very productive session."

"You're leaving so soon?"

"It's been thirty minutes, Wren, that's how long you're scheduled for." Wren looked at the clock and gasped.

"Wow. I never knew that time could go by so fast…"

"So I take it that I will see you at the same time next week?" Natsuki asked, gathering her things.

Wren nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry that I stereotyped you earlier today, Dr. Kawa. That was not kind of me."

Natsuki shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I could only expect nothing less from a girl in your position." The doctor put a hand on Wren's shoulder. "Take care of yourself. If you find yourself in a bind, write it down, and then next week, we'll talk about it."

Wren smiled. "Thank you, Dr. Kawa." Natsuki smiled and waved goodbye to Wren as she left.

Outside, Dr. Dao was waiting for her.

"So?" he asked. "How did it go?" Natsuki tried to walk past him, but Wong followed her.

She sighed, annoyed. "I really can't tell you, Wong. Doctor-patient privilege, you know." She reached the elevator and pushed the button.

"She's my patient, and I have a right to know how she's doing." Dao snapped. The elevator opened and Natsuki stepped in. She then faced Dao.

"Well, I'll tell you one thing: she thinks you're a dick. That's what we agreed on the most." The elevator closed and Natsuki was free from Wong Dao for the week.