Hello, everybody! I hope you all don't want to kill me too badly. I know it's been awhile. I apologize. I assure you, I have every intention of continuing this story, but in between working two jobs and practicing piano and preparing for a week-long vacation to visit my boyfriend, writing time has been severely lacking. Also, my laptop was under repairs for six weeks. I only just got it back this week, and got Word re-installed about two hours ago. And in celebration, I finished writing this chapter and here it is! In finished form!

If any of you need a recap, Tamaki finished examining the rape victim brought to him, and she spoke at last, protesting. And once all was said and done, she was led away with little hope of being seen again.

So, without further ado, here's chapter three. Please enjoy.


A week had passed and nothing could make Tamaki feel better. His nights were filled with the image of that nameless girl's pleading green eyes so that he could get no rest. He could still hear her begging him to stop his examination, and the words that had hurt him the most – "bad doctor."

He wasn't a bad doctor – at least, he didn't think so. He had often contemplated good and bad, and while he knew that sometimes he caused his patients pain, it was never intentional or with malice. He was just trying to help. That's all he had ever wanted to do.

And that's what he had tried to do for her.

"What's up, Boss?"

The twins slid into the seats opposite Tamaki at his table in the staff room, looking at him contemplatively.

"You've been moping around for a few days now," Hikaru informed him as he dropped his lunch on the table with little ceremony. "It's freaking us out."

"What happened to your usual chipper self?" Kaoru asked. "I kind of miss that noble, overconfident weirdo."

Usually Tamaki would have been offended, but he was too emotionally drained to care. Besides, there was too much truth to it – he was somber. He didn't really see the point in being happy. Not when there was so much evil in the world. He had witnessed the result of it firsthand. How could that not have affected him?

"I guess I'm in a slump," Tamaki shrugged. "I saw a girl last week who really got me thinking about the way the world works. And it's not a pretty place." Patient confidentiality kept him from saying too much about the girl. And even if he was completely free to speak about her, he wouldn't want to.

"Oh," Hikaru said. "We heard about that girl."

"Rape victim, right? Cops got no idea who she is?" Kaoru's questions felt like a knife in Tamaki's chest.

"Yeah," Tamaki mumbled, snapping the lid back onto his Tupperware container, lunch only half-eaten. He wasn't hungry anymore. "I'm going to get back to work."

The locker room was empty, and Tamaki was free to let loose a heavy sigh once he'd shut the door to his locker after discarding his lunch and retrieving his lab coat from inside. He sat down on the bench in the center of the room with his coat on his lap and buried his head in his hands.

He watched the girl topple off the exam table, keeping the stuffed horse firmly in her grasp. She looked at Tamaki distrustingly and hid behind Miss Jonochi. "Bad," she mumbled again. "Doctor bad."

He was so sorry he had hurt her again. To her he must have been no better than that man who had kept her locked up and done only God knew what to her day after say.

As he navigated the halls to the hospital's pediatric center, he heard someone calling his name. "Tamaki! Tamaki, wait up! Slow down!"

He paused in his stride and turned around to see Renge scurrying up the hall after him, a little out of breath by the time she reached him.

"Renge? What's wrong?" he asked, wondering if there was a patient asking for him and she had been sent to retrieve him.

"Well, I don't know if anything's wrong, per say," Renge said, putting her hands on her hips as she regained control of her breathing. "Gosh. Sorry. I barely saw you turn that last corner and you wouldn't stop."

"I was a little lost in thought," Tamaki said apologetically. "What were you saying?"

"Yeah. Well, that woman's back. The one who came in with that Jane Doe girl last week. Jonochi, I think it was. She's looking for you."

"What?!" Tamaki exclaimed. Miss Jonochi. He hadn't given her much thought in the last week. No, his focus had been on the girl. "Is the girl with her?"

"No. Just her. But she wants to talk to you. She says it's urgent."

"Where is she?"

"She's in the waiting room down at internal medicine. I was going to have her come down to your ward, but then I remembered it was your lunch break so I thought I'd come find you instead."

"Thank you, Renge," Tamaki said, turning on his heel and immediately starting back the way he'd come. What could be going on? Was there something going on with the girl? He hoped she was all right, wherever she'd ended up.

He found himself wondering if he'd ever see her again.


Tamaki had to force himself to stop and catch his breath before striding into the waiting room. Internal was quite a ways from the Pediatric Center, and he'd broken into a run, more than eager to get to Miss Jonochi and any information she might give to him concerning the girl, the moment he was out of Renge's sight.

The social security worker had been standing with her arms crossed at the window, looking out at the street, three stories below, watching the people on the sidewalk. Her briefcase sat on a chair next to her, threatening to burst from the amount of files they contained. Tamaki had to wonder exactly how many cases she was responsible for, and whether the girl had been lost among a sea of her other charges.

Miss Jonochi turned as he approached, unfolding her arms and adjusting her glasses. "Dr. Suoh," she greeted him stiffly.

"Miss Jonochi. To what do I owe the pleasure?" he replied, barely succeeding at being formal, businesslike. He wanted too badly to inquire of the girl he had seen last week. How was she? Where was she? Had she made any progress?

Miss Jonochi sighed and picked up her briefcase. "It seems we meet on rather… unpleasant terms once again." She glanced around the waiting room at the patients scattered about, seated in chairs and checking their phones or flipping through magazines. "I wonder if there is someplace more private where we might talk."

"My office is back in the pediatric wing," Tamaki informed her. It was too far away. He needed to hear what Miss Jonochi had to say and soon, for his own sanity. "We can use Dr. Ootori's. He won't mind." Much, he added mentally. In reality, Kyoya probably wouldn't be too pleased. "This way."

Tamaki led her back into the hall and down a few doors. He and Kyoya had exchanged spare office keys some time ago, in case of emergencies. Kyoya thus far had used Tamaki's office for matters much less dire than emergencies, merely because he didn't want to be bothered with walking all the way back to his own, so Tamaki felt little guilt as he unlocked his best friend's office door and ushered Miss Jonochi inside.

She seated herself and unbuckled her briefcase as Tamaki closed the door behind him. "What can I do for you today, Miss Jonochi?" He asked as he lowered himself in Kyoya's chair.

She was rifling through alphabetized files, and she tugged one out and set it on the desk. "It's concerning the Jane Doe you examined last week. There have been some… issues."

"Issues?" Tamaki's stomach dropped. "Explain, please. Has her condition worsened?"

"In some ways, I suppose. She doesn't seem to be in as much discomfort as she was last week thanks to the antibiotics you prescribed, but socially I was say she's severely digressed."

He felt sick. "Unfortunately, I would say this sounds like a matter of the mind. I can refer you to Dr. Kasanoda if you'd like. I believe he analyzed the girl last week? He's one of our most excellent psychiatrists—"

"That's very kind of you, but I doubt in this case another psychoanalysis will help."

Tamaki didn't like the sound of that. "Another?" he asked. "Miss Jonochi, where is this girl? Surely you've placed her in a home by now."

"I'm afraid not," Miss Jonochi replied, sounding sullen. "Her mental state was simply too deficient. She was admitted to Lobelia's some six days ago."

Tamaki sucked a breath in through clenched teeth. Lobelia's Mental Hospital was not well known for its gentle rehabilitation. That girl, so fragile, so innocent, so hurt, in a place where she would be drugged into lethargy at all hours of the day and be at risk from harm by other patients. He clenched his fists so his nails dug into his palms. "And why, may I ask, are you telling me this?"

"We were hoping you might be able to help us. You see, since you saw her last week the girl hasn't spoken a word. She refuses any and all physical contact and when one of Lobelia's caretakers does manage to touch her, she screams and claws at herself. She has had to be restrained more than once, and most of the time has to be forcefully fed her medications."

"Damn it!" Tamaki finally burst, slamming his hand down on the desk and rising too quickly. Kyoya's chair threatened to topple. Miss Jonochi was being so cold, so matter-of-fact. It was inhuman. It made him livid. "You're telling me that sweet, terrified little girl is in a place where they are doing nothing but hurting her and scaring her even more?! What the hell is the matter with you?! Get her out of there!"

"I don't like it any more than you do," Miss Jonochi said stiffly. Tamaki saw her eye twitch. He'd hit a nerve. "But the fact remains that no foster home is willing to take her, and until I have somewhere deemed conductive to her progress, I cannot have her released."

"So what do you want me to do?!" Tamaki growled, pacing the floor behind the desk in a last-ditch effort to release some of the irate tension building inside his every limb.

"It is unorthodox of me, I understand," Miss Jonochi said carefully. "But from what I've seen, Jane Doe was at her best with you. It was my hope that I could persuade you to register with the government as a foster home and… take the girl in yourself."

Tamaki ceased in his footsteps, frozen in place. Silence fell over the room.

He could see her again. The child with the magnificent, innocent green eyes who only wanted someone to care for her. To protect her. The girl who wanted love, but had no idea what love was. He could provide all of that for her. He was being given the chance.

But could he do it? Being close to the girl was painful as well as awe-inspiring. It was an enormous responsibility. So many things could go wrong.

But there were so many things that could go right, too.

"I understand that you are independently wealthy," Miss Jonochi spoke, breaking the intense silence. "So the department would have no concerns over financial issues. And the fact that you're a medical professional will almost ensure that the girl will be allowed to be placed into your home. The only issue I see is time commitment—"

"So I'll take time off," Tamaki interrupted her, surprising himself. "Six months. A year. Whatever it takes."

They stared at one another, neither of them speaking, for a long minute. Tamaki knew what his answer was going to be. If he was honest with himself, he had known the second Miss Jonochi had come out with her proposition.

"Dr. Suoh," Miss Jonochi said. The corners of her lips twitched, as if she were resisting a smile. "Are you trying to tell me you would like to register to be a foster home?"

Tamaki took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. "I don't mean to sound rude, but I'm not interested in taking in any other charges, all right? The only case I'm interested in is… Jane Doe's." He still hated the name. No soul. No feeling. It tasted strange in his mouth.

"Of course. With such a complex case, we wouldn't dream of placing another ward in your care."

Tamaki nodded his head in compliance. "Then yes. I would like to register."

Miss Jonochi's lips finally spread into a grin of modest pleasure as she opened the folder on the desk and pulled out a form. "I have all the necessary paperwork here, already filled out. All you need to do," she said, sliding the papers across the desk and placing a pen neatly atop them. "Is sign on the dotted line."


I'm proud of it, especially after five months of not writing seriously. Tell me what you think? I crave your reviews!

See you all in chapter four. Cantica, out!