A slightly sadder story, though not too much.
Good intentions always start somewhere.
Shouts echoed through the hospital halls, the sound of shoes clattering on the floor as the Resurgam staff ran busily to and fro. A fire had occurred in an apartment complex, and victims were many. Thankfully everyone was evacuated, but many patients were in severe condition: second and third degree burns, irritated lungs and respiratory canals and broken bones due to the building's second floor giving in.
At the end of the week, every soul in the center was weary and everyone was aching. Most of the people had been taken care of and were gone back, but the most critical cases still had to stay under intensive care.
Gabriel hadn't ended up as bad as most other medical experts. His expertise being diagnosis, he was mostly assisting Maria during the evacuation on the first day, where he would give a general idea of the victims' states to determine whether or not they were in immediate danger. After that he was to assist Hank, Tomoe and CR during surgeries. The three of them worked ardently to save their patients, but Gabriel soon noticed that Hank was by far the most passionate one; the diagnostician was vaguely aware of the orthopaedist's past, and he assumed it was linked with it.
Hank was, in Gabriel's opinion, the kindest and scariest person he had ever met. The man was huge and menacingly strong, but beneath the skin was a heart as tender as a lamb's. An odd comparison, but it sure fitted him. He used his enormous strength only to protect the weaker, and he treated every person as an equal. Prejudice was not a word that could be used in the same phrase as his name.
Hank and Gabriel were both sitting in the break room, and seeing as they were alone, the bitter doctor spoke up.
"Say, Hank, why are you so… you?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
He was clearly confused by such an unexpected question, and especially coming from someone who didn't seem very curious about other people outside his patients.
"I mean, you're just so kind and outspoken. You'd expect someone like you to be a sort of savage animal or something."
"By 'someone like me', are you talking about someone who's seen the war and lost someone dear?" Gabriel nodded.
"You've obviously never seen the horror of it. I did it to protect the country I live in, but the hypocrisy is just painful. War is not heroic. There is nothing brave about taking other people's life. Everyone thinks soldiers on the battlefield fight with a patriotic flame burning in their heart. And it's a lie. We fight for our own skin. It's egotistic."
The diagnostician was left speechless by the outburst.
"I'm sorry about that. What I mean is, I'd rather now save lives by preserving them than by taking them away. Who knows how many fathers', brothers' and husbands' lives I've taken? How many families I've ruined? I don't want it to happen again. I'll do everything I can to protect those I hold dear."
For a moment, Claire passed through his mind. He understood why he was so protective of her: she had wanted to take away her own life, and after the horrors he had seen, seeing someone as young as her pass away would have been terrible.
"Ah, that sure… did explain a lot. You didn't have to go into such personal details, but thank you for your trust."
And next time Gabriel saw crouching to give a saucer of milk to a stray kitten and pet the little thing, he didn't cringe in fear for the poor animal, nor when he saw Hank give a reassuring pat on the kid's shoulder when they were done working in the garden.
Well, that was… kinda short. I'll try to write longer chapters from now on, though it's not necessarily easy. I'm always scared they get too long and boring!
Anyways, a bit of a more... serious story, with some insight on Hank's reasons. I've never lived the war, or well, I did, but I was barely a year old so I don't really remember. But my father was indeed in the army, and he indeed did the war. It's a sad thing, and it's a pretty touchy subject with me.
You know, one thing that's a bit difficult to understand when people make request is whether or not they are asking for something romantic or not. I mean, most people tell me 2 numbers, and I have to go from there, which isn't bad. I'm just kind of afraid of butchering up, so sorry if the story isn't going the way you anticipated. I do get a lot of ideas though, so feel free to request a pair that's already been written. Hell, you can request as many characters as you want, though preferably not too many!
Love you all, and see you next chapter!