Note: Yes, I'm posting after a hideously long time. No, this doesn't mean I'm actively coming back to this story. I simply found this file sitting on an old flash drive and figured I'd upload it. It's short.

Content of this chapter you might want to know about:
Profanity
Mention of sex (whoop-dee-freaking-doo)

Cheers,
E

Chapter Six: On Call

The automatic doors that led from the OR and into the washroom slid open at Sakura's approach and whistled softly shut behind her. The procedure wasn't finished yet. The patient had sustained a crush injury to her whole right side in the accident, and Sakura's cardiothoracic expertise weren't near enough to fix the entire problem. The other surgeons were still repairing various other damages to the patient, but Sakura's work on this case was done.

With a sigh, she snapped off the bloody gloves and slipped off the face mask and the gauzy smock she wore over her scrubs and tossed them into the biohazard bin. She watched the surgery through the window above the sink as she washed her hands, and only when they began to burn did she realize that she had scrubbed them raw. She was distracted. So distracted, in fact, that she only narrowly missed making a mistake in surgery that could have cost the patient her life.

Syaoran's mad...he's mad...he's mad...at me. The thought played on a loop reel through her head, again and again. The look on his face, the hurt in his voice...they were all she could see, all she could hear. Sakura rubbed the bridge of her nose tiredly, wishing she could shut her mind's eye and focus properly for a moment.

Still, there was no way to shut out or silence this problem. And, as much as she didn't want to, she had to think about it. It was impossible now to deny that her marriage was suffering as a result of her work. Syaoran had never gotten angry-or, at least, had never gotten this angry-over her needing to leave home for the hospital. He was such an agreeable man that it was easy to forget that he even had the capacity to get mad. Even so, his anger was the stuff of legends. The ferocity that had frightened Sakura when she and Syaoran were in grade school together was still a defining trait of Syaoran's, though it had morphed and redistributed as he'd grown older. Sakura had never felt the full force of his anger upon her directly, but she'd observed it enough times to know that she had no desire to experience it herself.

And yet, this time it seemed like she might have to face it head on anyway, for she'd done enough to incur it. Regret burned in the pit of her stomach, fierce and all-consuming. There were so many things that, in that moment, she wished she hadn't done. More than anything, she wished with every fiber of her being that she hadn't shoved him away like she had. It hadn't just been a physical action. It bore psychological and figurative implications, for in staving off his advances she'd pushed aside their relationship, their intimacy, like it meant nothing to her. And, of course, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Sakura dried her hands carefully before reaching into the neck of her scrubs to bring out a gold chain on which hung her engagement ring and wedding band. She undid the latch that held the chain around her neck and allowed the rings to tumble into her palm before replacing the necklace. Sakura briefly considered the rings in her hand before sliding them both into her finger. She'd never put much stock in symbols, but the rings she wore were undeniably symbols for her marriage. For her promise to Syaoran. She didn't break promises, didn't take them lightly. She had made a commitment to her husband. She'd taken vows of love, of fidelity. But she'd also taken an oath to protect life, had made a promise to serve her patients. Did one set of promises trump the other, or was it possible for them to exist side by side? So far, it didn't seem that the latter could possibly be true. If she continued in this same manner with her career, she would be a legendary surgeon...and alone.

Sakura sighed and left the washroom, making her way out into the hallway. Things had calmed down significantly since she'd arrived, and it looked like the situation had returned to affairs as usual. Interns buzzed around the nurses station asking after patients, but other than that the walkways were largely empty. She took a glance at her wristwatch and frowned. It was 3:00 AM; of course the place was empty. Any reasonable person would be asleep.

Her pager was quiet and since this was the last of her three nights on call, her name wouldn't on the surgery schedule until for another two days. After noon tomorrow, she would be free for a whole day and a half. As the thought of time off crossed her mind, she couldn't help but smile to herself. Being post-call meant writing up charts and doing case dictations, but it also meant time at home. Time, in this case, that she could spend repairing her marriage. She wasn't looking forward to the inevitable fight, but the resolution would hopefully be worth it. And make-up sex, she knew, was incredible. Sakura shivered with expectation at the thought.

She checked her watch again, this time mentally weighing her options. The on-call room was right down the hall; she could crash there and sleep until she was needed or her shift ended. Or she could make the half-hour drive home. The idea of just staying at the hospital was insidiously attractive. Already the adrenaline from the emergency surgery was wearing off, leaving her body sore and her mind exhausted. She trudged over to the on-call room, already imagining what it would feel like to have the blankets around her. Sleep was all she wanted, all she could truly get herself to focus on. And what if there was another emergency, or one of her many interns made a mistake and required rescuing? What if she were needed here-

Her hand was on the doorknob, but Sakura forced herself to stop that line of thought and consider the alternative. She could make the trip home. Syaoran would be there, waiting for her. She needed to show him that she was invested in their relationship, and she would be damned if driving home through the rain at 3:30 in the morning wasn't a display of investment. Tired as she was, she knew it was the right decision.

Sakura's tired body protested as she trudged back to her office to grab her purse and coat, but she kept it motivated with thoughts of home and falling asleep in her husband's arms. Meiling's desk was vacant, but there was a bright blue Post-It note stuck to the door of Sakura's office timestamped 8:34PM-right after Sakura had gone into surgery. Sakura squinted at the tight cursive handwriting tiredly and read, "Mr. Li called".

"That's it?" Sakura grumbled. She flipped it over, but the back was predictably blank. Sakura rolled her eyes. Big fucking waste of a Post-It,she thought, feeling her mood darken as she thought of her chirpy, exhaustingly energetic secretary. No wonder she's always ordering more of these.

She keyed into her office and started gathering her things, frowning at the mess. It was clear from the contents of the overflowing trash bin and the extra set of clothes she had folded over the arm of her desk chair that she had been more or less living out of this room. The place needed a good cleaning, but that would have to wait for one of her days off. Hurriedly, she slung her purse over her shoulder and left, locking the door behind her.

The sight of the Post-It on her door was a reminder to Sakura, and she pulled her cell phone out of her purse to check for missed calls. There weren't any calls, but she did have a text message from Tomoyo reminding her about their dinner date. She shrugged her shoulders and slipped the phone back into her bag. It was odd that Syaoran had called at her office instead of on her cell, but not entirely unusual. Knowing she was headed into surgery, he'd probably called Meiling to find out how soon she'd be out. She considered calling him to tell him she was coming home, then remembered what time it was and thought better of it.

It took longer than she would have liked but she eventually made it to the parking lot, fielding several anxious questions from her neurotic interns along the way. Even though she'd been careful to bring her umbrella with her, she didn't need it to get to her car. A new bank of rainclouds was quickly approaching from the east, but the air was for the moment incredibly clear. The moon was barely a sliver against the deep black sky and was accompanied only by the one or two stars that managed to make themselves seen from behind the smog and light pollution of the city. The night was cold. Sakura shivered and got into the car, tossing her purse and coat onto the seat next to her before starting the engine. The small green numbers on the dashboard clock read 3:35AM. It would be 4:00 before she reached home, even without traffic.

Sakura put the car in reverse and began to back out of her parking space, grumbling to herself.

This had better be worth it.