Hey folks,

Cheers to my reviewers, woke up to a few this morning which was amazing, any why this is out so quick. Love hearing from people.

Little warning folk - attempted nastiness here. If you don't like then don't read.

Part two

Ichigo found out who was responsible. He didn't intend to but being quiet and listening rather than talking got you far with things like that. It helped that he was so innocuous that people often over looked him. And not that it was a good thing, but he was reassured to learn he wasn't the only one under Aizen's ire. The nurses knew, of course they did. Nothing escaped them and Aizen was right, a lot of them were friendly towards him because they knew his father. A lot of doctors disregarded nurses, not that they were nasty or dismissive towards them but that they just expected them to be there and do what they were told. It wasn't always the case however and Ichigo wondered why Kyoraku had bothered asking them when he was able to go down to the nurses' station and just ask them. Chad was one of the male nurses, huge man with massive hands but the gentlest nature Ichigo had ever seen was one of the few the residents didn't mess with but Ichigo actually doubted he would do anything to harm one of them. Unless he was defending a patient.

Ichigo was in an older lady's room to remove her stitches one afternoon a couple of days after his finger had been broken and he was coping with having the injury but it still really hurt. That made him worry that the damage was worse than he'd hoped but he wasn't able to go for help. Kenpachi would have helped him but he would have reported it and Ichigo didn't want that. Chad was across the bed from Ichigo and handed him the scissors, Ichigo taking them with his dominant hand but then winced as he tried to put his fingers through the holes and having to trade them over to his other hand.

"Are you alright Doctor Kurosaki?" The lady was very pleasant and patient. She was looking at him with concern on her lined face.

He smiled at her, looking more like a grimace than a smile. "Yes ma'am. Just got a sore hand. I just have to take out these stitches and we can see about getting you home." Ichigo went back to his work, sliding the thin blade under the first black thread and snipping it.

"Oh, that's wonderful. That I'm getting home, not that you've hurt your hand. That must make things difficult. How did you hurt it?"

Ichigo glanced at Chad, the gentle giant looking down at him through his fringe of hair. Ichigo rotated his sore hand to put the self-applied bandage out of sight as he snipped the next stitch. "Just an accident, it'll heal soon."

Ichigo finished with the patient and cleared away his mess before filling the chart out. The lady was delighted that she could contact home to get picked up later that day and he left her as she was dialling on her phone. Ichigo dropped his pile of used equipment into the dirty bin and the used drapes into the contaminated bin before he dropped the chart off. He turned to go, looking straight at Chad's chest. He went to step round but the long arm that stopped him directed him into the nurses' room and he didn't argue, knowing it was pointless.

Chad stood silently, holding his hand out until Ichigo put his injured one into it. Chad pulled the white sleeve back to see the white bandage around the ring and pinkie fingers with padding between them. Chad poked and prodded down the side of the hand, glancing back to Ichigo when his flinch was particularly pronounced. He pulled a pair of scissors from his chest pocket and snipped the bandage to unwrap it.

"Chad, it's fine honestly."

"Is it broken?" Chad dropped the bandage onto the table at their side before sliding the padding out. Ichigo had been avoiding looking at his hand too much but as Chad turned it, looking at the back of the hand and the palm, Ichigo could see the swelling and bruising on his skin. Ichigo bit back a cry as Chad bent the fingers and he stopped instantly. "Sit down, do not move."

Ichigo pulled his hand to his chest and sat on one of the comfy chairs, feeling a tad shaky with the pain. He also felt a little ridiculous since it was just his little finger.

Chad returned with a scowling bald man, Ikkaku Madarame being one of Kenpachi's attendings and therefore a bone expert. He raised an eyebrow at Ichigo before holding his hand out. He wasn't nearly as gentle as Chad had been but he did soften a bit when Ichigo cried out. "What the fuck did you do?"

Ichigo glanced between to two men, dropping his gaze. "Caught it in a safety rail I was pulling up, thought it was stuck so I gave it a yank."

"And you thought it was a good idea to relocate the bone yourself and not get an x-ray? I checked when Chad told me just now, you've not seen anyone about this have you?"

Ichigo shrunk a little, hating that he had to be so small figuratively in that place. "I, was embarrassed."

"Hmmm, I'm not surprised. You seem to be very accident prone with all the falls and drops you have. And you want to go and work with babies and children. Please don't drop them; their bones are a pain to work with. Anyway we'll be getting an x-ray for this and if you are very lucky it will just be a cast and not surgery for it."

Ichigo stood, taking his hand back. "It's fine honestly, I can't do anything with a cast on. I'll be fine with a bandage."

Ikkaku's scowl deepened. "Are you really that thick? It's your hand, the thing that goes inside people, tiny people for you. You need all the movement and dexterity you can get. Why are you willing to risk losing it?"

Ichigo sighed, looking out the door to catch an unfriendly gaze. He dropped his eyes instantly, his back tensing and his jaw clenching. He stood silently for a moment before he spoke up again. "I didn't want to get it on my record. I didn't want to make a fuss."

Ikkaku closed his eyes. "Come on boy, I'll take you up to Ken's lab. That way you'll skip the x-ray queue and the fuss there. He's got everything I'll need to cast you up but if it needs surgery then there is nothing I can do alright?"

Ichigo followed the senior doctor, Chad clapping him on the shoulder as he passed. He was heading for the elevator when the head trauma surgeon caught him, Kyoraku calling out to him. "Kurosaki, you free?"

Ichigo turned, glancing at Ikkaku as he paused as well. "No, he's not. He's with me."

"Can you spare him Madarame? I've got a kid in trauma room 2 and I could do with a hand."

"Find someone else boss." Ikkaku turned and started walking again until he realised Ichigo hadn't started moving yet. Kyoraku had a hold of his upper arm and Ichigo had frozen. Ikkaku lifted the hand up, showing the clear injury to the department head. "He is the patient here and I'm off to take care of him alright, find someone else." Kyoraku let go of Ichigo stumbling over an apology and asking Ichigo to let him know if he was alright later on. Ichigo nodded, keeping his head down as he followed Ikkaku into the lift.

"Who is it?"

Ichigo glanced up at the slightly taller male, Ikkaku leaning back on the wall with his arms crossed. He wasn't looking directly at Ichigo and his arms were crossed over his front. "Who is what?"

"The person or persons who are giving you shit. Someone is picking on you kid, your body language is screaming it. I didn't see who you spotted out of the door to the nurses' room but you might have well have a sign over your head. Did they break your finger?"

Ichigo stiffened, eyes wide and breath starting to come faster. He was still looking at the floor and was terrified to look up. "I don't know what you mean."

Ikkaku snorted, pushing off the wall as they reached the correct floor. Ichigo followed after him, Ikkaku holding the door to the bones lab for him to go in. Kenpachi was working a power sander in the dust booth, shaping an implant and Yumichika was scraping at a mould he had made. Kenpachi banged at the glass when he spotted Ichigo, Ichigo waving back as he took a seat over at the small x-ray machine they had. Yumichika wandered over as Ikkaku set him up for his picture.

Yumichika was one of the few doctors who were around Ichigo's height plus he was actually delicate with it as well. Very long fingers and delicate bone structure hid his true strength and most people doubted his chosen speciality since the burly Kenpachi was more the stereotypical orthosurgeon with the visible strength to haul bones apart and back together again. "Oh my, what have you been up to Ichigo?" Yumichika pulled the lead separator over, surrounding Ichigo and the machine as Ikkaku stepped out after throwing the lead groin pad at the younger man. The x-ray clunked a couple of times as if took the images before it was pushed away and the separator pushed to the side.

"He's getting picked on but isn't willing to point the finger." Ikkaku retrieved a reusable ice pack from the fridge/freezer they had, clicking the separator before holding it against the back of Ichigo's hand.

Yumichika arched a manicured eyebrow at him, looking down since he was still standing. "Oh right, and let us think who that could be. Who was around that day you fell off your seat in the cafeteria. And who else was working the night your labs were misplaced? You think other people hadn't noticed?"

Ichigo's face flushed, hating that his secret was out for everyone to see. "And what the hell am I supposed to do about it? You noticed and didn't do anything, probably so has everyone."

"Yes but it is one thing to ignore pranks and a bit of hazing, if they are endangering patients and now resorting to physical abuse? We can't ignore that. Ichigo if they'd picked a different finger you might have been looking for a new career." Ikkaku had plugged the board into the machine to scan for his image. It would appear on the screen when it was done and didn't take long now it was digital.

"Yeah, they knew that too. Said they would next time."

"They? So it's more than one then. You know you can go to Director Aizen? He'll listen to you." Ikkaku's frown hadn't lifted yet and he seemed to be taking Ichigo's bullying personally.

Ichigo couldn't stop the snort from escaping, clapping his free hand over his mouth at the volume of it.

Yumichika sighed, running his fingers through Ichigo's soft orange spikes. "He won't listen if it's his son that is the perpetrator, isn't that right Ichigo? Redder might be the one doing most of the visible stuff but that's only because Aizen is too smart to be caught."

"Aizen was the one who ripped my finger over." Ichigo looked straight up, blinking furiously to stop the forming tears getting too far.

Yumichika wrapped an arm around the other's shoulders. Ichigo was broader than him and it felt odd to have the smaller man round him but it was nice. "Go to the Chief then, he is over the director after all. He'll stand up for you. You can't let this happen anymore."

"I've got a year and a half then I can get my fellowship somewhere else. I don't want to do anything that would antagonise them. He's got all of the residents against me; everyone would back him up against me so it would be my voice against fourteen others. Even the chief wouldn't go against all of them." Ichigo sighed and shrunk in on himself again, shoulders bowed in and his chin down.

The image came up, Ikkaku pointing out the chipped bone from either the dislocation or Ichigo's relocation as well as the crack further down. "You've a shit load of ligament damage as well but it doesn't need surgery at least. Three weeks in a cast I'm afraid. How's the pain at night? Need anything?"

"No, honestly I can cope with it. And thanks for taking care of me. I'm sorry to have bothered you with all this."

Ikkaku traded a glance at Yumichika, the smaller male rolling his eyes at him. "You know we hoped you'd be joining up in ortho. You've got the strength and you're good with your hands. If you're ever looking to specialise with baby bones let Ken know, he's got a few contacts that would take you on. Let's get you cast up. Any colour in particular?"

Ichigo ate his sandwich in Grimmjow's room, his black cast resting on the arm of the sofa as he chewed. "I told Ikkaku and Yumi that happened, kind of. They got it out of me really but it was nice to have someone listen. Not that you don't of course Grimm. You know I didn't even consider ortho? And I was good in craft at school, good with tools but it didn't even cross my mind. Might have been better there, at least they want me there and seem to care about each other. Kuchiki barely tolerates me on paeds but he seems to respect by abilities at least. Well I hope so." Ichigo finished up and brushed his hand on his scrub covered leg. He stood and walked over to Grimmjow's bed, perching on the side for a moment. "You ever going to wake up Grimm? I'd like to talk to you, well you to talk to me really. Well, there is always the possibility that you'll not even like me so maybe this is better. Think it'll break my heart to know we don't get on. Promise me something? That we could go for a cup of coffee, just once? I was never really your doctor so it's not like we have to worry about that."

Ichigo played with the arm at his side, running his hand up and down the pale skin. It was cool under his fingers and it made Ichigo pull the blanket up further. "Why doesn't anyone come to visit you Grimm? Have you not got a family? What about your brother? I feel like calling him just to insist you had someone other than me complaining at you to keep you company. Actually, is that why you won't wake up? Is it cos I'm always whining at you?" Ichigo chuckled as he stood. "Anyway I'll see you for dinner alright?"

Ichigo sighed as he walked out; he was getting to close to the strange man in the bed wondering if Florence nightingale syndrome was hitting him. He was stopped in the corridor by Kyoraku and he showed the man his cast and told him the bullshit story of catching it in a safety rail. He was sure the other doubted him but there wasn't anything he could do about it.

"Kurosaki, another thing. Have you heard anything about the incident two nights ago? I know you tend to keep your ear to the ground?"

Ichigo cleared his throat, glancing down and to the side to see Tousen standing not far, staring at him. His eyes widened and he pulled his gaze away. "No sir, I haven't heard anything."

"Hmm, it's strange. A man comes into the ER with a stomach complaint then ends up in the ICU with a brain bleed and heart complications, none of which were even diagnosed in the initial check-up. If you happen to hear anything you make sure and let me know alright?"

"Sir, have you tried asking the nurses? Surely they would be a better source than me." Ichigo couldn't stop his glance back over, seeing that Redder had joined Tousen. He felt the sweat gather at his creases and knew he had to make an escape before he started to hyperventilate. He cursed his weakness and fear as he made his excuses and scarpered away, feeling light headed as he bolted, going the long way but eventually ending up in Grimmjow's room. He slammed the door closed, holding his free hand to his chest to try and calm his breathing and his heart rate. He leaned his head against the door with his eyes closed as he normalised, glancing over at the bed to see the sleeping figure exactly as he'd left him, blanket still high over him to keep him warm.

"You alright kid?"

Ichigo nearly had a heart attack as the voice sounded in his silent escape room and he glanced around, seeing an extremely tall black haired men sitting on his sofa flicking through a magazine.

"Who are you?" Ichigo kind of blurted it out, so shocked to see another being in the room.

"I'm Nnoitra Gilga, I'm his brother. Are you Grimmjow's doc?" The man stood and walked over, Ichigo swallowing at the extreme height difference.

"Not exactly, I've been kind of looking after him, checking him and so on for the last couple of weeks." Ichigo stared at the hand extended out towards him and he took it with his cast hand, the other raising an eyebrow at the injury and shaking it the best way he could.

"Doctor?"

"Sorry, Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Doctor Kurosaki, how is he? The nurse said she was going to get the doctor to come in and see me, I just didn't think it would have been at a run."

Ichigo flushed, looking at his feet. "No, I was just checking on him again. You're his first visitor and I didn't want him to be lonely." Yeah, Ichigo knew how stupid that sounded after he'd finished.

Nnoitra snorted, scratching his cheek. "Well we wouldn't want the lazy sucker to get lonely would we? I was away when he was hit, just got back today. The fucker wouldn't have like me dropping out of a work thing just to babysit his ass. Glad to know he's not been alone. Any idea when the other doctor will be here?"

Just as Nnoitra asked the door behind Ichigo rattled, Ichigo stepping away before it hit him. He assumed it would have been Doctor Ukitake to speak to the brother or Unohana because of the head injury but when Aizen and co stood in the door he knew his hiding place had been found.

"Told you he would be here. Is this where you've been hiding? Even the fucking vegetables can't get peace from you eh?" Redder wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer and had clearly no noticed the other in the room.

Ichigo jumped back automatically when Redder reached for him but Aizen caught Redder's hand having noticed the tall thin stranger.

"Who the fuck are you calling a vegetable? When I called the hospital they told me he was going to be fine. Is that why this is taking so long? Someone answer me or they'll be looking at some hospital bed time." Nnoitra wasn't happy about the hostility in his brother's room, the nice young doctor that came in first clearly unhappy as well.

Ichigo turned to the brother, stepping to the side to stay out of arms reach of the others. "No Mr Gilga, Doctor Redder was just joking. In poor taste I assure you. Mr Jaeggerjaques has just a bruise on his brain that is healing. He will wake up any day now."

Redder muttered and apology to the visitor before sneering at Ichigo. "Can we have a word outside Doctor Kurosaki?"

"He was speaking to me." Nnoitra walked up to the young doctor's side, not liking the three who'd burst in.

"We'll wait then." Aizen smiled greasily at the taller man before exiting, his cronies following and shutting the door. Ichigo let out a blast of air in relief.

"Well? I take it they are the resident dickheads?"

Ichigo snorted. "You have no idea."

"Sooo, when you say you've been checking up on my brother, have you really just been hiding out?"

Ichigo dropped his head, ashamed to have to admit it. "Yeah, I have taken care of Grimmjow though. The nurses are great here but they are quite thin on the ground."

"Where can I put in a complaint then? You look like you could do with some back up."

"You know the brown haired one? Well you would have to go to his dad to complain."

"Ah, so you're up a shit creek without a paddle. Sorry kid."

Ukitake came in a second later, frowning for a second when he saw Ichigo but he smiled at the family member as Ichigo made his exit. He glanced around and it looked clear so he ventured out, heading to the ER to report in for a task. He made it round the corner before he was snatched and pushed into a supply cupboard, the door getting locked from the outside once he was in.

"So, what were you singing into Kyoraku's ear earlier? And Madarame? I saw you crying to him about your finger as well."

"Aizen broke and dislocated my finger; did you think it would just get better by itself? And I didn't go to Madarame, he came to me. And no I didn't say a fucking word about the fact that you were asleep in an on-call room when your patient was bleeding into his skull."

"Knew you couldn't keep your nose in check. So, how long have I got before Kyoraku is pulling me up." Redder grabbed Ichigo's scrub front, pulling the smaller man to his tip toes.

"I didn't say anything to him either, even though he asked me all the right questions. Look, as far as I can see the guy is going to live so as least you won't be held accountable for wrongful death but if you think you're going to get away with it then you are more stupid than I thought. The nurses know, the guy will be able to identify the red pony tail and the shaved head when he wakes up. The longer you let it go on the worse it's going to get for you."

Redder slammed Ichigo against the wall, Ichigo wincing from the pain in his back. "You know I can't leave too much physical evidence, more is the pity because I'd love to yank your shoulder out, feel what it's like to do it in reverse for once. Maybe I'll just crack some ribs this time. Or some toes. Maybe when I'm an ortho god I'll know exactly how to do it without too much damage but right now it'll just hurt."

Ichigo snorted, knowing he wasn't escaping without some injury and there wasn't anything he could say to minimise it. "I know Zaraki is insane but even he won't touch you. And Maderame and Ayasegawa will destroy you if you try anything like this with them."

"Those fags will not touch me, they wouldn't dare." Redder's eyes lit up. "Hang on, is that why he helped you? Is Maderame getting something from you? Didn't think you'd go for bald Kurosaki. Do you prefer cock then?" He gave Ichigo a shake then, Ichigo hitting his head on the wall hard.

"Get to fuck Redder."

"Sounds good."

Ichigo's struggles increased, he lashed out with his cast and clipped Redder on the temple to make him grunt. He threw Ichigo to the side, to impact on the metal shelves with a bang. Redder grabbed a roll of tubular bandage and wrestled with Ichigo for a moment before tying it tightly round his head, gagging him. Ichigo started to fight like a wildcat, not caring about anyone hearing now or about minimising injuries. If he was going to treated like that then he was going to give all he could back.

Ichigo clawed at the other, aiming for weak points and landing hits as often as he could. Redder over powered him and had him pinned to the floor after a while, a bleeding set of fingernail scratches down his neck had made him lose his temper.

"You know, we've always gone out of our way to make sure you've never looked like a beaten housewife, even if you act that way. We've always made sure you've been able to hide it like you clearly want to. Let's see how you act after this."

Ichigo bucked his back up; his free hand caught up at his back with one of Redder's hands as the other shoved Ichigo's white coat up and fumbled with the elasticated waist band on his scrubs. It pulled down too easily and Ichigo increased his struggles more, screaming through the elastic bandaging as loud as he could. He heard a banging on the door; clearly a signal to the man over him and Redder grabbed a handful of orange hair tightly. "Shut your mouth or I'll fill it with something else. I can be nice from now or really nasty, you decide."

Ichigo twisted and turned, feeling the pain from his body at the extremes he was throwing it through and he managed to get his pelvis to turn, the man over him falling to the side into a set of shelves, knocking them to the floor. The door opened, Aizen appearing with a frown.

"Move, leave him."

Redder got up quickly, giving Ichigo a kick before he scarpered.

Ichigo fell to the ground flat, every inch of him shaking like crazy. He eased his arm round and he pushed himself up gently. Everything hurt and as he eased his trousers up he groaned slightly at the pain in his shoulders. He pulled the bandage off his head, moving his jaw around and wincing. He felt around his mouth knowing the skin was bruised and wondering how he was going to explain it.

Ichigo got himself up and righted the fallen shelves, flinching when the pain got too much. His pager tone went off but after checking that it was just a general page for anyone to respond he ignored it. He wouldn't have been much use anyway. Bending to collect the fallen supplies hurt, stretching up to his toes to replace the blankets hurt. Using the scissors from his pocket to cut the soggy part off the elastic bandage hurt as well and he looked at his hand better. His finger nails had blood under them and he'd bend a few of them back. It made him feel good that Redder would probably have a scar from him. He had plenty from all of them, even if they were just mental.

Ichigo wanted somewhere to run to but Grimmjow's room was out of bounds now, he had someone after all. He wondered about heading back to Kenpachi's lab but even the mental ortho god would report this.

He was close to the private hospital entrance and he might be able to get outside, dash to the nearby restaurant and use their restrooms to clean himself up. Ichigo looked around the cupboard to get some supplies, finding wipes and a couple of disposable ice packs he could toss afterwards. He filled his pockets before scrubbing his hair a bit, ducking his head to hide his face before making a break for it.

He almost reached the door when he spotted Nnoitra standing outside with a cigarette in his hand, Ichigo changing his mind and diving into Grimmjow's room to use his private bathroom as well as see the man one last time.

Ichigo didn't even glance at the bed, stupidly hiding his face from it as he went straight into the bathroom, stopping dead as two faces turned his way.

Ichigo felt all the blood drain from his head as he locked eyes with piercing blue ones, dark blue eyebrows that he'd stroked frowning down at him. Ichigo also happened to notice that the man who should have been asleep in the bed was completely naked and standing in the wet room under the shower where Chad was helping him stand to wash himself.

Chad tipped his head back, frowning at first before concern came over his face. "Ichigo?"

Ichigo stepped backwards, hoping for a quick exit but his head spun and he had to grab the sink unit to keep his feet.

"Ichigo?" Grimmjow's voice sent goose bumps all over Ichigo's failing body, Grimmjow glancing at the nurse helping him before turning back to the younger doctor. "You're Ichigo who's been taking care of me?"

Ichigo couldn't answer, glancing in the mirror at his side and taking in the mess he looked. His hair was a mess, his skin too pale and he had dark red bruises at the side of his mouth as well as a red lump turning black at his temple. He looked back at the others and he swallowed tightly, locked in gaze with the blue eyes. He didn't get to reply as his body rebelled, shutting down as it struggled to cope with the trauma and shock. Neither man in the shower could do anything to stop Ichigo's descent to the floor but he heard them both shout his name before it all went black.

hehe, i'm having too much fun with this. Started it yesterday and thats 10000 words done in less that 24 hours. And yes I did sleep. Haven't eaten yet...

Anyway i hope people liked this part, one more I think and now that Grimm's awake...

Oh looking for a better title if anyone comes up with something. Cheers xx