Chapter 3
Unfortunately, Ichigo awoke still lying on the floor. He could tell it was morning since there were maids walking down the hallway, but he wasn't aware of what time it was at all. Ichigo groaned as he sat up, his stomach clenching painfully. He lifted his shirt hesitantly, and instantly his eyes landed on a large purple bruise. It was probably the largest bruise Ichigo had ever received in his life, and a new personal best from Shiro.
"Hey Ichigo, how're you handling?" A small girl walked up to him and held her hand out to help him stand.
"I've been better." He took the offered hand and slowly stood up. His whole body ached, and sleeping on the wooden flooring last night probably didn't help one bit.
"I'm sorry. We all wanted to put you in a bed, but Master specifically ordered for us not to touch you until you awoke."
"It's okay Rukia. Where's Shiro at now?" The dark-haired girl took out a wet cloth and dabbed at Ichigo's blood-covered face. His lip was split in at least three places, and he was sporting a dashing black eye. A chunk of his hair was missing, so he had a small bald spot on the back of his head.
"He's in the kitchen eating...God! Ichigo, you look terrible!"
"I know, please don't remind me. I feel terrible too."
Rukia put her now bloodied town back into her black apron, and put the back of her hand against Ichigo's forehead. She gasped loudly.
"Ichigo! You have a fever!" Ichigo raised his hand to feel his head, but it didn't really work. You couldn't take your own temperature, after all.
"I know, I know. I am the doctor here Rukia, I could feel it." Ichigo snapped while smoothing his hair back. It was greasy and knotted, but there would be time for a shower later. Right now he just needed to report to Shiro before it was too late. He didn't dare accidentally anger his master again after what happened last night.
"You should go to Ishida after you talk to Shiro, he could take care of you better than anyone else here." Ichigo nodded, and smiled at the petite woman.
"Thanks, I will. I'm sorry for worrying you Rukia."
Rukia sighed as she watched her friend limp in the direction of the kitchen with a frown. She had known Ichigo ever since she came to work for Shiro, and the poor guy never got a break. Never.
"You're hopeless Ichigo..."
…...
Shiro was sitting at the large kitchen table eating pancakes drenched in syrup when Ichigo lightly opened the swinging doors and stepped inside. His eyes were downcast as he walked towards the table, well limped towards the table.
"Master..." Ichigo stood before Shiro, looking at anything besides his master. Shiro was dressed in a suit, which only meant that he had business today.
"I'm sorry I'm late, sir." Ichigo held in a yawn as sleep seemed to take over his body. It would have been very unprofessional is he had done such a deed in front of his master.
"Yer forgiven. What happened to yer face?" Ichigo's eyes widened. Did his master really forget, or was he just messing with Ichigo?
"W-Well...you..." He stuttered. If Shiro really didn't remember Ichigo wouldn't be the one to spark the memory.
"I did tha'?" Shiro stood up and tilted Ichigo's face to look at his split lip.
Ichigo didn't say anything, focusing instead on Shiro's gentle touch upon his chin. He almost shivered when he saw Shiro's golden eyes looking at him with something akin to concern. Ichigo must have been mistaken though, Shiro could never love him. He would never even like him.
"You deserved it, you disgusting excuse of a person!" The albino man shoved Ichigo away, and since Ichigo's body was still in so much pain, he couldn't catch himself. Ichigo landed harshly on the tile floor and groaned loudly, ignoring the fact that it was improper to do in front of his master. Ichigo lifted his weak arm and grabbed his now throbbing stomach to ease the pain, which it obviously didn't.
"Lift up yer shirt." Shiro strode over to his servant with a sneer on his face and his right hand clenched into a fist.
Ichigo did as he was told, lifting the shirt as far as he could until his weak arms would go up no further. Instantly the dark purple bruise filled their vision, standing out so easily against Ichigo's perfect skin. Shiro's eyes widened again and his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. His mouth, which was closed at first, was now hanging open as he stared at Ichigo's broken body.
"Ichigo..." He murmured, and if Ichigo didn't have super hearing he wouldn't have heard it. Ichigo didn't dare move as Shiro watched his every move.
Suddenly the albino master sat back down, causing his wooden chair to scrape against the tile loudly.
"Go ta Ishida. You can take tha rest of the day off."
Ichigo watched as Shiro picked up his fork and began to eat his breakfast once again. He bowed as deeply as he could, ignoring the sharp pains in his stomach, and then limped off in the direction of his personal office.
Ishida was the nurse here. He was currently training under Ichigo in case something were to happen to Shiro and Ichigo was not around, he could take care of their master with the simple jobs. Ichigo was still a much better doctor than he was. He opened the creaky office door slowly, and stepped into the brightly lit room.
Once inside, he spotted Ishida rather quickly in the small room. All of the sick beds were empty, thank god, and it seemed that only the doctor and nurse were currently in right now.
Ishida was brewing some sort of salve when he noticed Ichigo standing next to the door. After doing a once over of his appearance, the Doctor was promptly put into a bed before he even knew what was going on.
"Doctor, you look terrible! What happened to you?" The pale man pushed his glasses back up his nose as he wet a rag and placed it on Ichigo's warm forehead.
"Shiro was angry at me last night. On top of that I fell asleep in the hallway floor, which is why I have the fever."
"Tsk tsk. You should have come to me earlier." Ichigo pulled the thin cover up to his chin, and snuggled into the flat hospital pillow that was on the bed.
"Yeah I know. Don't harass me about it, you know I have duties to attend to." The dark-haired man sighed and went to the nearby closet to grab a thicker blanket for his patient.
"That's not going to help the fever, but I figured you wouldn't care right now anyways." Ichigo nodded and smiled warmly as the extra heat from the blanket seeped into his freezing body. It would be better to freeze the fever out, but this would help too. Well, maybe not, but at least Ichigo was warm now. Finally!
"T-Thanks." Ichigo whispered as sleep began to crush him. Everything around him was blurry, and Ishida smiled down at the exhausted man.
"Did Master give you the day off?" Ichigo nodded slightly.
"Then get some sleep. You deserve it after what happened last night. I'm going to hook you up to some fluids while you sleep to make sure that you're body doesn't get dehydrated, okay?"
Ishida figured that the slight movement of Ichigo's head was an indication of 'yeah', so he moved away from the bed to get the supplies for the IV ready. Ishida took Ichigo's arm out from underneath the cozy blankets, earning him a protesting groan of disapproval.
"Come on Ichigo, I need to do this. You already told me I could." Ishida wiped down the crease in Ichigo's elbow with an alcohol swab to clean the injection sight, and then got the needle ready. Once he saw the fluids successfully drip from the needle, Ishida pushed the sharp point into Ichigo's vein with precision, not missing the target like he had done on many occasions. He taped down the needle securely and then laid the appendage next to Ichigo once again.
"There you go Doctor, sleep as long as you want. I'll be here when you wake up."
By then, Ichigo had already fallen asleep though, leaving Ishida alone with his sleeping mentor in the lonely white room. He went to work on the salve once again, keeping a watchful eye on the sleeping berry in the corner.