Disclaimer: I own nothing
"Alright, Troy. How bad is the pain?" Tristan asked as he read his chart.
"Probably a five, I'm feeling good today." The boy smiled.
"That's good. We're going to try and see if we can get you feeling like a four." He smiled back. He hated the oncology ward. Kids fighting so hard, parents trying to smile when their child asks for remission instead of presents for Christmas. It made his heart hurt.
"Dr. DuGray?"
"Yes."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Anything, you know that." Tristan said.
"Are you married?" He shook his head.
"No."
"But you have a girlfriend?" He smiled.
"Yeah, I do." Tristan knew what he was thinking. "What's her name?" He said as he turned around to pull a chair up to the side of the bed.
"You can't tell anyone." He said.
"Doctor-patient confidentiality. I can't tell anyone anything." He assured him.
"Okay." He thought about it. "Her name is Sarah."
"Sarah, good name." Tristan said. "Where did you meet her?"
"Here." He said simply.
"She's an oncology patient?" Troy nodded.
"Leukemia." Tristan was still surprised that patients defined each other by how sick they were. Leukemia was a bad sign. "She's feeling sad because the last of her hair has fallen out." Tristan nodded.
"And you have a crush on her?"
"Kinda. I just don't want her to be sad anymore. She's my friend."
"So you want to cheer her up, and maybe get some attention at the same time." Troy let out a guilty smile. "Okay, we can work with this. Here's what we're going to do."
OOOOO
"I can't do that."
"Kelly, this is true love between dying twelve year olds. You're not going to stand in the way of true love, are you?" Tristan asked sweetly. The nurse smiled. He handed off the gift with a wink. "Thank you."
"You could do just about anything with that smile, has anyone ever told you that?" She said.
"Everyday." The truth was that he hadn't resorted to flirting to get his way in a very long time, but today, he was a little desperate. It was nice to know that he still had what it took. He waited until Sarah was wheeled back into her room before grabbing her chart.
"Hey, Sarah. My name is Dr. DuGray. I'm going to be checking up on you today."
"Okay."
"Is it your birthday?" He asked as he looked at the package at the foot of her bed.
"What?" She looked confused.
"Where did that come from?" Her mother asked.
"I don't know. It was here when I got in." She looked at him. He picked it up. "It's got your name on it."
"Well, go ahead. Open it." Her mother said. She tore the wrapping off of it. Opening the box, Tristan watched her face rather than the gift. Taking out the new silk scarf, she ran her hand over it.
"It's beautiful." He said. "Does it say who it's from?"
"A beautiful blue scarf to match your beautiful blue eyes. Love, your secret admirer." He looked over at Sarah's mother, who had tears in her eyes.
"Help me put it on?" She asked her mother. She helped her tie it and stood back. "What do you think?"
"A gorgeous girl like you, wearing a scarf like that, driving all the boys wild. It's almost not fair." Tristan smiled.
"You're just saying that." She said with a small smile.
"I'm not. I met my girlfriend back in high school. She had the biggest blue eyes I've ever seen." Tristan said to her mother. "She still uses them against me to this day." He said honestly. "A girl bats her eyelashes and a guy will do whatever she wants."
"I don't have any eyelashes to bat." She said.
"I don't think your admirer will mind." Tristan smiled. "Sounds like he's really head over heels for you. Any ideas of who it is?" She shook her head. "Well, keep an eye out. Guys like this usually have a plan." She nodded.
OOOOO
"Hey Sarah. Nice scarf." Troy said as they met in their usual place to play checkers.
"Thanks. It's new." She said, glancing to read his reaction.
"Are you ready to play?" She nodded. Tristan watched as the two began the game.
"Was it him?" He turned around to face Sarah's mother.
"I don't know."
"I think it was him."
"It was a kind gesture. Girls usually struggle with losing their hair more than guys do. It shows he understands her feelings."
"Is it wrong for me to think that she's being foolish for getting into a relationship while she's in a hospital?"
"You wouldn't be her mother if you didn't want what was best for her." He said with a smile. "But sometimes the best thing is for them to just live like a regular person for awhile. Happiness is a better healer than we are."
"I don't want her to get attached any more than she needs to be."
"As a doctor, I think it's a good thing. It gives her just another reason to fight." He gave a pat to her shoulder and walked off.
OOOOO
Looking up to see who was knocking, Rory knew that Tristan was up to something the second she saw him walk through the door.
"Hi." She said, looking around her office for a chair to clean for him.
"Hello." He said as he kissed her.
"To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"I thought I would drop by and surprise you with lunch."
"Really?" He held up the bag in his hand. "You did! That is so sweet." She pushed some books to the side to make room for the bag.
"How's work going?" He asked. She shrugged.
"Slow news day. What about you."
"I think I might have played matchmaker today." She raised an eyebrow.
"Really? Do tell." As he went through the story, Rory couldn't help but fall for Tristan all over again. She leaned back in her chair and sighed.
"So now, we need to come up with stage two of the plan. Any ideas?"
"Movie night." She said slowly. "You can get them in the same room?" He nodded. "Let them watch a movie together. Casablanca. It's innocent enough for the mom, but the kids will get to sit in the dark together. You never know what could happen."
"You're good at this." He said with a mischievous smile. "I like it."
"I love that you are doing this." She admitted.
"I need to. I need a reason to go in there and not feel terrible about every patient I come across." He said softly.
"What do you mean?"
"It's really hard to be a doctor and not be able to fix children. Young, otherwise healthy children should be able to be cured." She grabbed his hand and ran her thumb over his skin.
"You do your best, and that's all anyone can ask of you."
"I know, but sometimes the best isn't good enough." Rory watched as the pain flickered over his face. Hating herself for not recognizing it sooner, she sighed.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For not figuring this out sooner." Tristan didn't understand. "This isn't about them. This is about your relationship with your dad." Tristan's eyes went cold.
"This is not about my dad." He said defensively.
"Tristan, it's okay to care more because you have personal experience. It just makes you a better doctor."
"You have no idea what transpired between my father and me, nor do you have any right to speak on the matter." He said, raising his voice.
"Tristan…" Rory said, not wanting to cause him any pain. Unfortunately, that was the last thing he wanted to hear.
"Don't." He said as he held up a hand. "I'll call you later." He muttered before walking out the door.
OOOOO
Sarah and Troy were both clearly nervous as they sat next to each other in bed. As they watched the movie, Troy slowly reached out and held her hand. She smiled.
"Was it you?" She asked.
"Was what me?"
"The scarf? Was it you?" Troy didn't say anything. "I wanted it to be from you." He looked over at her.
"Really?" He asked, surprised. She nodded. "Well, it was." With a smile, she squeezed his hand.
"I like you Troy." She admitted slowly. "I've never had a boyfriend before."
"I've never had a girlfriend before."
"Do you…I mean, would you want to…be my boyfriend?" She asked.
"Yeah." He said.
"Okay then." She said with a smile. When the movie ended, Sarah turned to Troy.
"What did you think of the movie?" He asked her.
"It was good. Thank you." He smiled. She leaned over and kissed him chastely on the edge of his lips.
"Bye." He said, completely dumbfounded as he walked slowly back to his room in a goofy trance.
OOOOO
"I suck." He said as she opened the door.
"How did you get in my building?" She asked.
"I explained the situation to your doorman and he let me in."
"Well that's comforting." She said with a shudder.
"I'm sorry." He said, still standing in the doorway. "Can I come in?" She hesitated but relented.
"You never called." She said as she sat down on the couch. "You told me you would call me later and you never did."
"I needed a few days to sit in the corner and think about what I had done?" He offered. "I am truly sorry. Look, I've never talked about my relationship with my dad with anyone, including my mother. So when you brought it up, I went into defense mode." She raised her eyebrow. "Okay, so I was a linebacker. I told you, I suck."
"You don't suck." She said with a small smile. "But you could have told me that you didn't want to talk about it."
"I have a feeling that eventually I'm going to have to talk about it with you."
"Not if you don't want to. You just have to tell me what is off limits." She said. "I don't know unless you talk to me."
"I have to talk to you about not talking?" He furrowed his eyebrows.
"Yes you do." She smiled. "I didn't mean to touch a nerve."
"It's okay, you didn't know." He teased her. Inhaling deeply, he sighed. "So…are we good?"
"Yeah." She said. Biting her lip, she grinned. "I missed you." She said, her voice going low.
"You did?" She nodded as her bedroom eyes appeared. He walked over to her. "I missed you too." He slowly climbed over her and she sighed comfortably as his weight pressed her into the couch.
"I missed the way my pillows smell like your after-shave." She admitted coyly.
"I missed the way you taste." He kissed her slowly, as if he could make up for lost time by relishing in this one kiss.
"I love you." She whispered in his ear as he trailed his lips down her neck. She sighed as she wrapped her fingers in his hair. "I love you so much." Tristan groaned his reply, virtually unable to pull his lips off of her skin. She giggled at his worship of her and put her fingers under his chin. "Tristan!" Finally looking up at her, he smirked.
"I love you too." He said to appease her. "But right now I want to show you, not tell you. I know it's a strange phenomenon for you, but when it comes to you and me, words just aren't enough." She was surprised by the honesty in his voice.
"Okay, show me." She said.