[A/N]: Damn, this chapter was short! It wasn't even 1,000 words! *my God!* Oh well. Regardless of the length, I hope you still enjoy it. (and sorry for the long wait! I need to take some time to do some planning!) ~Sasori33-001
And The Secret Sal, if you like how Itachi loses it and worries in Things Better Left Unsaid, I think you'll like this chapter!
Friday.
This Friday, Itachi was told, he would be admitted to the hospital in order to start treatment for his AML.
The treatment would take a month. A month Itachi would spend lying in a hospital bed instead of doing his work. While Itachi didn't particularly enjoy working, it allowed him to keep his mind from conjuring up ways Sasuke could be struggling to make each pay check and starving himself to make ends meet. Or worse, the fact that Sasuke may have surrendered to drinking his troubles away, thus flushing his money down the drain by doing so, which would get him evicted from his apartment and because of his pride, he wouldn't bother to ask Itachi for help. And even if his pride wasn't an issue, he was still mad at Itachi for pushing him so hard in the first place when he should have just trusted him from the beginning and talked to him more instead of focusing on work and assuming that things were going to be alright.
Itachi shook his head to dispel the dark thoughts rolling into his subconscious. He hadn't even been admitted for treatment yet and already he felt sick to his stomach. How the hell was he going to distract himself from Sasuke for a month if he couldn't even distract himself for five minutes?
He sighed. It was Wednesday; a day he could have spent tying up loose ends at work instead of sitting at the hospital waiting to consult with his doctor about what he needed to do to prepare for his upcoming treatment in two days.
That was it? There were only two days between now and his treatment?
"Itachi Uchiha?" A woman called, pulling him away from the ledge of an oncoming panic attack.
"That's me." Itachi said, rising to a stand.
"The doctor will see you now."
-8-8-8-
"Please, call me Tsunade." The doctor said, beckoning him to take a seat in the chair across from him.
Never in his entire life had Itachi seen a woman with breasts as big as this woman's. Now, normally, Itachi didn't pay attention to such things because if he were a woman, he'd prefer for people to look into his eyes rather than his…endowments….But in this instance, it was unavoidable. How did she find clothes that fit her correctly? Her bust was as wide as her hips were, maybe wider. Did she get them tailored? If so, it sounded like it would be a hassle Itachi was glad to be free of.
"So, Itachi," Tsunade flipped through the papers on her clipboard. "I see that you're scheduled for treatment Friday morning."
Itachi nodded.
"Are you prepared?" She asked, her amber eyes locking with his anthracite ones.
Itachi swallowed to dispel the cluster of words lodged in his esophagus. When none came, he simply nodded and uttered "I think so."
"Have you talked to your employer yet? You'll be out of work for at least four or five weeks, depending on how everything goes." She explained.
He nodded. "Yes, I talked to them.
Tsunade didn't take her eyes away from him and tapped a ballpoint pen against her clipboard. "And you are aware that under the Family and Medical Leave Act, you cannot be fired from your job while receiving treatment?"
"Yes."
Nodding, Tsunade set the clipboard aside. "Do you have someone to watch your house while you're in the hospital?"
Please let me stay. I've worked hard to earn your respect and gain your trust and if you let me stay, I'll prove to you once again, that I'm worth taking chances on. Itachi remembered Kisame saying the other day and replied "Yes."
Tsunade regarded him doubtfully. "And do you have someone to drive you to and from the hospital for admittance and upon discharge?"
Why did he need somebody to drive him there? He drove himself here today, so why did he need somebody to drive him here again on Friday? "Actually, I have a car; I can drive myself."
The oncologist sighed and propped her cheek against her knuckles. "That may be, but you need to take into account the amount of energy you'll have upon discharge." She explained. "Chemotherapy isn't always a walk in the park, Itachi. It'll be a while before you start to feel like yourself again, even after the conclusion of your treatment. More often than not, most people are in no condition to drive themselves home afterwards."
Itachi couldn't deny that there were times in which he nearly fell asleep at a red light or two on his way to work. And that was when he believed he was fatigued from overexertion at work. He could only imagine what it would be like after receiving chemotherapy.
"In addition to that, the parking lot outside is not secure, meaning the hospital is not at fault if your vehicle is stolen or vandalized while you are undergoing treatment." Tsunade said. "In most cases, patients' family members, friends or neighbors drive them here and back."
Itachi's mother and father were both deceased and Itachi's brother currently wasn't speaking to him or answering any of his phone calls or texts, thus ruling out family members. Itachi never really cared for making and keeping friends so that wasn't an option either. And Itachi didn't know his next door neighbors well enough to bother them with such a burden, especially on a Friday morning.
"Co-workers you have a close relationship with?"
Itachi shook his head. He didn't like chatting with his co-workers when there was work to be done.
"Do you live alone?" She asked.
"I have a roommate." Itachi supplied.
"Do you think they would be willing to drive you?"
Itachi could ask himself the same question.
I don't know who suggested that Tsunade be Itachi's doctor, but I originally said no because I didn't want every character that appears in the story to be a Naruto character, thus, Dr. Mignogna was created (though I must admit, I really don't like OC's...heh...heh) but I think it's fitting that Tsunade be Itachi's oncologist so kudos to whoever came up with that idea!
I'm hoping that I get around to the next chapter within the next week or two...I dunno. Feel free, as always, to check out my profile page for chapter progress! I update it quite frequently!
Until next time~
Sasori33-001