5. Being a patient
"T- T- Taicho-sama? What do you mean?", Isane stuttered.
She seriously wished there would have been another person beside her, Unohana-sama could have referred to as a patient. Just not her.
"I am perfectly fine. Really!"
"Is that so? Then Isane, please explain to me your symptoms, if they are not due to illness!", Unohana demanded to know.
Now Isane was at a complete loss. She had rarely seen her taicho so stern, serious and scary at the same time. Coming to think of it - she had never seen Unohana-sama this way. Even in the gravest of situations, she would always be calm, composed and kind. Right now, she looked rather like a dragon waiting for its pray to move within reach. And what symptoms was she talking about? It was impossible for her to know about the headache and the sore throat. Both are not visible symptoms and the later was not audible, yet.
"My symptoms, taicho-sama? There are no symptoms to talk about."
"Is that so? Well, then let me rephrase my question, my dear Isane. What causes a person to shiver and to sweat at the same time, while sitting in a well heated room? And what causes that person to be as pale as a ghost?"
"Fear."
That word escaped way to fast out of Isane's mouth. She did not intend to speak that thought aloud. Seeing the surprise on Unohana's face and being shocked of having possibly suggested to be afraid of her own taicho - the very person she admired most - Isane immediately sank down on her hands and knees, putting her forehead down on the wooden floor. She did not dare to look up at Unohana.
"I am very sorry, Unohana-taicho-sama. What I meant to say was, one possible explanation could be, that this person is scared of something. Another possibility could be a rising body temperature, which may indicate an illness", Isane answered with an unsteady and nervous voice.
Seeing her fuku-taicho in so much distress, kneeling down on the floor, her voice whimpering and trembling, Unohana instantly got to Isane's side, padding her on the back, speaking very softly.
"Isane? Isane, please look at me."
Slowly, Isane rose her head. However, she did not dare to look into her taicho's eyes. Right now, she wanted nothing more but to hide in the deepest hole available, feeling so ashamed of herself. Given, that unfortunately no hole was available right now, she instead tried to put some space between Unohana and herself.
"No Isane, please look at me!", Unohana said, gently holding Isane's right arm with a firm hand.
Slowly Isane lifted her head and faced her taicho.
"I apologize taicho-sama. I don't know, what got into me. Maybe I am really just a little stressed out from this week's work", Isane tried to explain, taking a very deep breath to keep her voice steady and calm.
"Isane, I am very concerned about you. Now, please tell me, did I give you any reason to fear me?"
"No, of course not!", the young fuku-taicho exclaimed, pulling out of her taicho's grasp, finally being able to put some distance between them. Still facing her taicho though, she felt the need to elaborate.
"Unohana-sama, you never gave me a reason to fear you. You are the most accomplished healer I know and I only wish to be useful in providing you assistance."
Relieved, that her fuku-taicho was back up on her feet on her own, Unohana got up herself. There was still the pressing matter of Isane's symptoms and what had caused them.
"I am glad to hear that, Isane. However, that also leaves us with the only other explanation for your symptoms. You said yourself, only fear or a fever normally causes them. As you do not fear me, you must have a fever."
At that point, it occurred to the fuku-taicho, that Unohana-sama may be right. Looking back, she had been shivering since her taicho escorted her into this office. And while she truly did not want to let Unohana know about her secret research, she did not fear her. Not in a way, that would cause such physical symptoms anyway. Closing her eyes for a short moment, she felt the chill on her skin, the perspiration on her brow as well as the pain in her head and throat. Giving in on her fate, she opened her eyes again and bowed her head slightly.
"Maybe you are right, Unohana-taicho. I may got the flu as well. In that case, I ask you to relieve me of my duty for the rest of the day, so that I can go home and take care of myself."
Isane was silently praying that Unohana would grand her wishes. Becoming sick was one thing. That can happen from time to time. Considering however, how much of the taicho's time has been already wasted due to her stupid mistake and this cold, Isane was determined not to spend anymore of her taicho's precious time. After all, her Unohana was supposed to take care of sick patients, and not of her fuku-taicho!
"I am relieving you from your duties, effective immediately. Apart from that, I cannot allow you to simply go home."
"Taicho, I am perfectly capable to take care of mys ..."
"Isane!"
And here was the scary smile again. Why did Isane get the feeling, that her taicho had just developed a new scary smile just for her, seeing how often she had received it lately?
"Given that you have failed to recognize your symptoms as such, I am not convinced that it is a good idea to let you be on your own. Besides, now that you have finally admitted that something is wrong with you, I insist on examining you thoroughly."
If the pain in her head hadn't spiked up just a moment before, Isane would have felt very annoyed by her taicho's persistence. Seriously, she was the fuku-taicho of the medical squad, she was perfectly capable of taking care of such a small thing as this flu by herself. She did not need her taicho fussing over her. However, the pain was there and so Isane nodded her head slightly in agreement and allowed to be led to the adjacent treatment room. Usually, this room was reserved for taichos only, but the fuku-taicho had the feeling that her protests would be in vain.
Entering the room, Unohana motioned Isane to take a seat on the examination couch while she herself went over to a drawer taking out a note pad.
"Now Isane, are there any other symptoms besides your fever and paleness?"
Realizing, that there would be no way in hell, that her taicho would not find out, Isane sighed audibly before admitting the whole truth to Unohana-sama in a neutral and steady tone.
"Yes. I also have a headache and a sore throat since this morning, taicho-sama."
"Anything else?"
"No, not that I am aware of."
"Alright, let me take a look at you then."
The next minutes just felt endlessly to Isane. She also felt very ashamed and humiliated. Not because she had got the flu, but because she, the supposedly second best healer in Seireitei, had failed to recognize simple flu symptoms and had now to be taken care of by her taicho. Besides, she just realized, she hated to be sick and being a patient. Really.
Unohana, not willing to take a chance of overseeing any symptoms her fuku-taicho might be suffering of, decided to do this examination very systematically, from head to toe so to speak. She started by feeling Isane's forehead and summoned some of her reiatsu in her hand to determine the exact temperature.
"You have quite a fever, Isane. It is about 39.7 Celsius (103.5 Fahrenheit). You must be feeling awful."
Yes, she was. Just not for the reason her taicho was thinking of, Isane thought miserably. After that Unohana took a look at her ears, eyes, throat and tonsils before asking Isane to take a couple of deep breaths. While Isane did what she was asked, Unohana silently conjured a kido healing spell into her hands, while moving them over her fuku-taicho's chest and back. Doing so, Unohana became aware that she was just in time to prevent this infection from spreading into Isane's lungs.
Finishing the examination, Unohana was convinced of not having missed anything. Thus, there was just one more mystery to solve - the reason for Isane's constant lack of sleep. Of course right now, the signs of insomnia were not visible due to the energy pill, her assistant had taken earlier. They would return soon enough and more severe the moment the pill's effect would wear off. Thus Unohana decided not to investigate this matter any further at the moment. Before that, she needed to make sure, Isane got the rest she needed so much.
"Well Isane, you really have the flu. If you rest enough and take it easy for a couple of days, I am sure, the flu will pass by soon."
"Thank you taicho for your efforts. It is good to hear, that there is nothing else wrong with me. Can I go home now?", Isane asked in a very hopeful tone.
She really wanted to get of there, coil up in her own bed and return to her work as soon as possible. And thus making sure, not to be a bother to her taicho anymore. A big bonus in her eyes.
"No Isane. I will have a room prepared for you here. This way I can make sure you get the rest you need and can constantly monitor your condition."
"Unohana-taicho. That is really not necessary!", Isane exclaimed, horror again showing up in her face.
The thought of being stuck here for several days was bad enough. But having Unohana personally seeing after her was just beyond horrible. What was suddenly up with her taicho anyway, that she would take so much interest into her? Unohana was supposed to look after other people, mainly patients, and Isane's job was to assist her in that matter. No more, no less. There was nowhere written in her job description, that in case of sickness the taicho had to treat and tend to her personally.
"Yes Isane, it is", the taicho responded calmly in a tone that left no room for arguments.