A/N: Credits to Lotus (Niyuis) and Fruity (FruitySmell) for two scenes in this chapter that were inspired from real-life experiences which turned into prompts. I tweaked them a bit, and I won't say which scenes for privacy reasons, but they will know once they read it. Thank you for giving me permission! ^O^
To my other binches, I shall fulfill your requested prompts in time. I am 2 weeks late with update, but I shall compensate my tardiness with a long chapter. Please be patient with me and thank you all so much for reading my work! (:*
Also, to my fellow Anna stans, this chappie is for you.
WARNING: Mild coarse language and sexual innuendos.
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AN APPLE A DAY – Chapter 4: Breeding Ground
It was easy as one, two, three.
The keyboard keys' clanking at the touch of his fingers was the only thing that can be heard within the room as he held his breath.
It didn't even take him long to recall what HoroHoro entered on the search box last time he showed it to him and the others. It was clear as day how his friend typed those letters that made up the account username. And today was one of those days when he thanked the gods for blessing him with photographic memory.
He took his time in scrolling down to view the feed like a well-experienced stalker. His eyes narrowed and widened alternatively at every photograph he encountered along the way. Occasionally, he would pause to admire the backgrounds and sceneries, the attractive colours and hues, and the way the pictures were angled perfectly when taken. Those curves, those edges, her mesmerizing eyes, her supple lips, her pretty face that— aaargh!
'Fine,' he scoffed inwardly as he admitted it to himself.
Yes, he was looking, no, stalking Anna's Instagram account. And yes, he was doing it first thing in the morning whilst within the comforts of his consultation office at work.
On how the idea entered his mind will be another topic of pondering for another day. But what's more amusing to him is that the blonde's account was not set to "private." Not that he was complaining, though. He just thought Anna was quite the private person when it came to her personal life.
He continued with his quest like an esteemed knight sent to fulfill an important mission. After a few minutes that turned half an hour, he managed to get down to the bottom of her very first post which dated back two years ago. Within that timeframe, she has posted various personal and work-related photos and videos which highlighted mostly about women's health. Interestingly, she has been invited to interviews, guested in podcasts, even featured in a health magazine that showcased Tokyo's young and influential women in the medical sector. This must be the explanation on how she has accumulated a whooping 87.3K followers.
How come he never knew about her account? And how come his friend didn't even tell him? He thought of asking Horohoro about that later.
He chuckled when he saw the blonde in a silly photo with what seemed to be an icing on the tip of her nose. It appeared that she was baking judging by the apron she wore, the wooden rolling pin on one hand, and the traces of flour smudged on her clothes. It looked candid because she didn't look amused and was probably thinking of murdering the person who put the damn icing on her face. The photo was posted on the 12th of May last year.
His eyes widened.
Something clicked in his mind, and this has initiated a whole new mission for him to investigate something else. He was inclined to find proof, to look for tell-tale signs to confirm his theory. He automatically scrolled back to the rest of her profile's contents and a few more interesting photos caught his eye, including the one he previously saw from HoroHoro's phone where Anna was wearing her dark red two-piece bikini while posing near the shore of some beach. He was about to continue searching for clues when something has piqued his interest. He clicked on the same photo to enlarge it but not before peeking around him to ensure that he was alone. After all, he was looking at a photograph of a female in a skimpy swimsuit while at work, and he was pretty sure that it wouldn't look good for his reputation in case someone had come to witness.
He proceeded with his scrutiny upon deeming the environment "safe". Still, he couldn't help but immerse in Anna's beauty; her alluring face and body drawing him in. His eyes carefully studied every little detail, from the way she held that cone of ice cream on one hand, and on how those droplets of water clung to her flawless skin. It was taken at the famous Waikiki beach, in Hawaii, on the second week of May and in the same year as the other photo where she was baking. Anna was wearing polarized sunglasses that if one just looked close enough, they would notice one itsy-bitsy detail that would not be visible to the naked eye at just one glance. Squinting his eyes keenly, and gradually nearing his face towards his computer screen, he examined Anna's eyewear that seemed to reflect a silhouette of someone holding the camera. If only he zoomed-in close enough then—
Two knocks and his office door was flung open within a split-second.
Yoh's nimble fingers quickly pressed Alt + Tab on his keyboard at the sudden intrusion. He swiftly leaned back on his chair and pretended to massage his forehead in hopes of hiding his flushed face successfully from the cretin who dared to disrupt his morning activity.
"What is wrong with your face?" It was Ren. Of course, it had to be one of his friends.
"What's wrong with my face?" he repeated innocently, his fist covering his mouth to stop himself from smirking.
His spiky-haired mate looked at him weirdly. "You look… flustered."
"Really? Ah. I was just doing some… morning stretches. What's up?" he attempted to divert the topic.
Ren looked at him more suspiciously for a few seconds due to his poor choice of excuse before he shrugged it off. "You do realise that it's nearly time for rounds, no?"
Yoh looked at the clock on his desk. It was indeed time for their doctors' rounds, and he didn't realise how long he must've already spent viewing Anna's profile. He hurriedly grabbed his white coat from the back of his chair. "Okay, Let's go!" he escorted Dr. Tao outside, but not before making sure he locked his desktop.
He will have to deal with his investigations later.
. . . . . . . . . . .
What a feeling!
The weather was perfect. Not to hot and not too cold. Flowers were starting to bloom everywhere, giving the outdoor air a tinge of soft floral scent.
This was why one Kyoyama Anna couldn't wipe that serene smile from her face while she strolled around the bustling outskirts of the central business district. She had just finished her morning jog, freshened up, and was now on her way to this so-called "Nayeon Mall" out of curiosity. It was one of the new things for her ever since she has last been to Izumo, and she immediately included it to her bucket list of places to explore on the first week of her return. She had nothing to worry about; it was her day off, after all.
Anna couldn't believe how much modernisation has transformed the city that was once a tranquil chunk of land. "Guess change really is inevitable," she muttered to herself.
Donned in casual clothes— knitted jumper, a skirt and white sneakers, the blonde continued with her explorations. It was perfect timing for she was aiming to buy a gift for her long-time friend whom she was planning to meet this afternoon. "Decisions, decisions," she pondered, while looking at a myriad of choices inside the shops. She hasn't seen her friend in years so she wondered what was the best choice to give as a present.
Turning her head from left to right, Anna noticed that she has entered the "accessories section" where almost everything was sparkly and bright. 'This must be the right place,' she thought. She was greeted courteously by several sales-attendants as she graciously roamed around the aisles, meticulously inspecting the items on the glass stalls.
Anna couldn't help but to mull over her past when she was treated differently by society. Sure, she was always appreciated and upheld by the opposite sex because she was an attractive lady, but she almost always had trouble with the females— the women of high society, to be exact; because one, she came from a poor family, two, she was smart and talented, and three, she did attract a lot of attention from men.
Who knew that possessing some admirable qualities would make you a candidate as one of the most hated individuals in their universe, right?
"Hi, can I help you, miss?" one saleslady pulled her out from her recollections.
"I'm looking for gift. Any recommendations?" she inquired with a civil smile.
"Well, we have lots of options here. Does your friend like accessories?"
"Yes, I suppose." Anna replied, her eyes glued to the selection of items in front of her when something caught her attention. "Oh, could I have a look at that?" she asked while pointing at something, and the lady immediately brought it out from the display counter.
The blonde's mind travelled back to when she could only such admire expensive things from afar. But now that she has finally reached success that she had sworn to attain no matter what, she could do whatever she wanted and buy all the nice things that she encountered.
"Good choice, miss… It's one of our rare ones. It's quite pricey but—"
"I'll take it," Anna declared, not letting the lady finish the unnecessary other descriptions about the item. She took out her card holder, "Please wrap it nicely."
. . .
Anna has just finished paying for the goods. With a soft-bound novel in hand, which she conveniently bought from the bookstore nearby, she was now sauntering around the area to look for the perfect spot to read. Come to think of it, she hasn't had her breakfast yet so the growling in her stomach also put her on a quest for good food.
She carried on until she reached a semi covered part of the mall and there, she found an innovative and quirky place where you can lounge and dine with domesticated animals— a cat and dog café. Her eyes sparkled at the sight of the adorable furry babies in all shapes and sizes. There was a Husky, a Labrador, a Maltese, a Shih Tzu, a St. Bernard. And as for cats, a British Shorthair, a Ragdoll, a Scottish Fold, a Siamese, a Tabby and many more! Oh, she must have found heaven amidst the metro. She was eager to walk inside, and she couldn't wait but to bury herself in her book while being smothered with love by the animals. Anna immediately thought of her adoptive parents, Johann Faust and Eliza Faust, for she knew they will certainly enjoy this slice of paradise on Earth. She made a mental note to recommend the café to them, if everything goes well with today's visit.
The irresistible aroma of coffee and chocolate has reached her senses upon entering the premises. A thought entered her mind about a certain male doctor, who used to hate drinking coffee when they were younger. "It's too bitter," he used to say, and would normally opt for other sweeter concoctions whenever they spent time dating outdoors. She exhaled and unknowingly smiled at her recollections. It has been more than a month since they met each other again, and they have surprisingly worked "harmoniously" around each other, so far. She missed Yoh's boyish aura like that. He was the most carefree, easy-going, and laid-back individual she has known all her life. Not that he didn't have a tinge of those qualities with him now, but as she contemplated deeper about it, Yoh kind of exuded a different aura at present. He seemed… more confident— borderline jerk, really. More experienced, wiser, still exuberant but somewhat jaded. On top of it all, he seemed so daring, so manly, so…
'What the heck am I thinking!?' Anna huffed involuntarily.
She was surfing through dangerous territories of her past and present, and it wasn't exactly a good sign. If she only looked at a mirror right now, she wouldn't like how her face was all red and hot. No! She cannot wallow in such forbidden thoughts, and she mentally slapped herself for letting her weak side win the battle for a second.
The blonde shifted her gaze towards the café staff who was about to approach her. She was going to ask for a seat for one but halted when her phone rang. She groaned when she saw the name on the caller ID.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about you calling me at this time?" It was Faust, and she could feel his smirk from behind the line as a way of replying to her sassy attitude. She listened to her father's peaceful and hypnotic voice as he proceeded to explain something to her, and then she decided to mutter her first complaint for the day. "WHAT!?"
Looks like she would have to re-schedule that meeting with her friend.
. . . . . . . . . . .
"I heard she's already married," murmured one male staff who was lingering by the nurses' station in the ED.
It was the most opportune moment for Yoh and Ren to walk-in to. Both had several pediatric patients with cardio cases, and so they had to do their rounds together. They were waiting for one Intern Doctor Usui who was supposed to join them but was missing in action.
"Yeah. They said she married her childhood sweetheart," added someone else.
"Really? So, is 'Kyoyama' her married name or what?"
Yoh raised an eyebrow but kept his silence. Those gossipers didn't know a thing. Ren turned his head back and forth to look for the source of the voices. It appears to be a group of individuals from mixed departments— pathology, physiotherapy and even nursing.
"But how come she doesn't wear a ring?" countered another. A female, this time.
"The absence of a ring does not confirm nor deny one's marital status."
"So she's off the market, then? Damn," said a male voice once again.
"Oh come on, you bunch of amateurs! The latest scoop is… that she is in a 'secret' relationship with someone from the higher-ups and that's why she's being favoured and was able to come back to this hospital despite facing disciplinary action from the past."
The other employees gasped and turned their heads to a grinning orange-haired female who was holding a kidney dish full of used syringes and was wearing nursing scrubs.
"Where did you get that information, Mati-san?" asked a male nurse.
"I've got my sources." Mati shrugged confidently. "Take it from someone who has witnessed all the drama."
"Ooh, tell us more then!" urged the physiotherapist whilst making his patient do some supervised exercise nearby.
The nurse went to discard the sharps in the designated bin. "Well, you see boys and girls..." she started with a raised forefinger, "…your beloved Anna-san is an old employee and has already served here as a Registered Nurse before."
"Oooh…" the others cooed in unison after hearing the word "nurse", and only the gods know what kind of images have entered their minds within seconds.
"She graduated from our university and was quickly employed in this hospital because of her relationship to Dr. Faust, but that's for another story." The others nodded their heads vigorously with gleaming eyes due to the amount of information they were getting. "Anyway, after a couple of years, being the problem-magnet that she was, she got into a wild scandalous drama with the big bosses A.K.A…" Mati paused to look around and raised her palm to the side of her mouth to whisper to the group, "…the Asakuras." Everybody else, including some patients and their relatives who were now pooling around to listen to Matilda's narration, gasped simultaneously.
Yoh frowned upon hearing this. Sure, Mati was definitely a familiar persona from way back as she was already working as a nurse in Shimane Med from about six to seven years ago; but it was quite unprofessional of her to be starting rumours like that about Anna. Even though some bits and pieces were partly true, it didn't sit well with him on how she worded her story which was sort of putting the subject of their gossip under a bad light.
Ren noticed this and he immediately lunged for Yoh's shoulder when he motioned to stride around the nurses' station's corner and announce his presence. It was quite uncanny for the brunette to lose his cool like that but at the same time, it was comedic to see the accomplices have their eyes bulging out of their sockets upon seeing Dr. Asakura standing behind nurse Mati.
Yoh was about to greet the lot with feigned geniality when they all heard a familiar voice.
"Oh my, such unnecessary chatter in the morning, nurse Matisse." It was Eliza Faust, the Directress of Nursing. She must have come down from her office to help on the floor given the desperate situation at the ED. "Can someone please explain to me that how come our nurses have time to to spread rumours despite the ED being reportedly understaffed today? Hm?" The woman who had long wavy blonde hair and piercing blue orbs, asked in a calm but scary tone. Everyone gulped and almost choked on their saliva.
"Ma-madam! Lovely to see you today!" exclaimed Mati, while she sweat buckets.
"Th-that's right! Nice to see you, Directress Faust!"
"G'morning, madam!"
Everybody greeted Eliza nervously before scrambling back to their posts. Both Yoh and Ren watched the scene with pure amazement. The woman was amazing. Anna must have learned from the best.
"Oh, look! If it isn't my ex-son-in-law!" Eliza exclaimed lovingly when her vision fell towards the young Asakura.
Yoh sweat-dropped but still reached to give Eliza a cordial hug, Ren almost guffawed, and everybody stopped in their tracks due to the revelation in the directress's words.
Surely, there would be a new topic of gossip for the next day.
. . . . . . . . . . .
While the situation in the ED was a typical "toxic" Monday due to the clinical staff being severely outnumbered, it was a different story for the other wards. HoroHoro could attest to that when he went to the Pedia ward in hopes of finding young Dr. Asakura or at least young Dr. Tao. However, it seemed that luck wasn't on his side since the start of his day, for he must have roamed half of the hospital searching for them and now he is just in the brink of his losing his shit because A.) his supposedly "mentors" for the week has abandoned him, B.) he was tasked to help in the ED due to desperate circumstances.
'Damn, Oyamada and whoever approved the annual leave of 3 ED doctors all at the same time,' he cursed in his mind.
Man, times like these make him miss a specific feisty blonde doctor called Anna. Yes, she may be strict and yes, she may be aggressive, but at the end of the day, everything she did was for the benefit of most people around her, and those good deeds were just often concealed beneath her iron-clad demeanour. She was just as how he remembered her in their younger years. And now that he had been working under her tutelage for almost a month, he had come to realise just how shrewd and talented the lady really was. And did he mention she was drop dead gorgeous? Bossy, but painstakingly gorgeous, so the good outweighed the bad.
He shook his daydreaming off.
Why was he even thinking of Anna when she was supposed to be on a day off, away from all the madness? Wasn't he supposed to be glad that she wasn't there to boss him around? Did he have some weird naive crush on her now? He blushed at that thought but then quickly scoffed at himself. He didn't think he was ready to admit that as a fact; much more in front of his friends, whom one of which was Anna's ex.
The good intern heaved a sigh.
It's going to be a long day. So long that when he looked at the end of the hospital hallway, he thought his brain was hallucinating. For there, he saw a hazy image of Anna approaching him with haste, dressed in civilian clothes while she walked in all of her captivating glory, making some friendly bystanders turn their heads. She didn't look very happy. She was pissed to be exact, judging by the frown on her face. But, whatever. She still looked cute, anyway.
While he watched Anna's silhouette nearly closed the gap between them, Horo almost convinced himself that he was seeing the impossible, some sort of mirage. His mind was only playing tricks with him because no way Anna would come to work when she wasn't supposed to be at work, much less to come to his rescue when all things felt dire and—
"Oi!" was the only sound that reached his hearing. "Usui, I swear I'll slap you back to your senses if you don't get your shit together."
Horo blinked hard, brought his palms to cheeks and patted them, balled his fists and rubbed them against his eyes. He repeated this cycle until he was sure that the blonde who was in front of him wasn't just a mere figment of his imagination.
"Anna!" he shrieked, quickly drawing her into a friendly hug with waterfall tears. He was lucky the woman was too stunned to murder him then and there. He realised his daredevil move due to the silence between them and quickly separated from the contact. "Sorry! But is that really you? What are you doing here?" he followed-up in disbelief in hopes of diverting her attention from slapping him for real.
Anna's left hand twitched, her eyes closed in pure annoyance. "Don't ask me why I'm here if you don't want to feel my wrath. What's going on in ED?"
Yep, she was definitely the real Anna, alright.
"Well, apparently two residents and one JMO were all on leave at the same time, so we are having trouble handling the influx of patients. Unfortunately, there was an accident at a nearby construction site and we had six possibly neuro-ortho patients come in at once. Not to mention two cardio, three pulmo, 1 pedia and—"
"Okay, stop. Stop! And you? What are you doing here?" Anna was already massaging her forehead after hearing and imagining the chaotic scenarios.
"I was looking for either Yoh or Ren. I was supposed to attend rounds with them but I just couldn't catch the bastards."
Anna could only raise a brow at the intern. "Well, have you tried paging them?"
A few seconds have passed in silence. Horo's mouth that had been left wide open indicated that no, he hasn't thought of paging his friends.
"Are you normally stupid or just hungry?" The female doctor's eyes narrowed with a smirk, jeering at her companion's obvious lack of functioning braincells.
Horo's face reddened at Anna's sarcasm but acted butthurt with a pout.
The senior resident was about to continue mocking but looking closely at him now, she decided to give him a pass just this once. The man looked like he needed some sugar injected straight into his system. Anna glanced at Horohoro who was about to collapse on the cold, hard, floor and her countenance softened a bit.
"Have you at least… slept?" she asked with concern which the junior doctor did not fail to notice.
"Uhm, I have slept for, well… 3 hours tops," he looked at her sheepishly, "…but I haven't had anything but coffee since."
The blonde expired some air. He really was a fool.
"Fine. You wait for me in the study room. I'll just go change. Wander around further and you're dead."
The blue-haired doctor was stunned by the lady doctor's firm instructions but shook his head with a smile. Working with her for another day didn't seem like a bad idea, and he didn't mind it at all.
. . . . . . . . . . .
"Thank you so much, doctors. We really appreciate your time," a couple in their early 40s spoke, reaching for the hands of two young doctors after they have seen their child in the Pedia ward. Upon doing so, the father couldn't help but to bow repeatedly in embarrassment when he saw Yoh's dirtied clothes. "And we are very sorry, Dr. Asakura!" he murmured, not being able to maintain eye contact with the doctor.
Yoh just flashed his usual gentle smile and reassured his patient's father. "Please don't worry about it, really. We're glad that she is feeling better now."
"Believe us or not, it happens quite often," added Ren.
The parents could only bow further in giving thanks and apologies. "If you don't have any further questions, we would like to excuse ourselves for now," said Asakura, who bowed back politely. Ren seconded.
"Please continue with the IV fluids and antibiotics as per calculations," said Dr. Tao towards the team of JMOs, residents and nurses who were waiting for their orders once they were all out of the door.
"And kindly administer Ondansetron 4 mg, 1 tab PO stat for the nausea and emesis and report for effects," requested Yoh while removing his stained white coat, leaving him in a plain white shirt and his casual slacks. His colleagues pursed their lips sheepishly, the females reddened at his manly gesture, and he just shrugged with a smirk.
It was at least 30 minutes ago when they arrived at the Pediatrics to see some of the children whom were both under Yoh and Ren's care. The last child they saw was a sweet 9-year-old girl who was recovering from Rheumatic Heart Fever and Acute Gastroenteritis. The doctors were doing a thorough physical exam when the child suddenly felt nauseous and vomited on Yoh's clothes, thus the reason for the parents' constant apologies towards the doctor.
"Alright team! We're almost finished with the rounds. We have two more patients left but if you don't mind, please excuse me for a moment. I need 'costume' change after my little… accident. Uehehe!" Yoh expressed while scratching his head ruefully. His colleagues chuckled at his attempt of humour.
"We'll see you at the study? I'll review the progress with the team so we'll be ready when you come back."
"Sounds like a plan. Thanks, Dr. Tao! I won't be long, guys!" Yoh mentioned as he walked off.
"Take your time. We don't want a walking 'vomit bag' in our team!" Ren blurted out to taunt his friend then walked towards another direction.
The rest of the team members laughed at the friendly display between the two popular doctors. Two interns sighed in admiration as the others strolled. "Dr. Asakura is such a charming guy, don't you think, Annie-chan?"
"Yes, Mandi-chan. And Dr. Tao's deep voice always sends me. I can listen to him giving me orders the whole day."
Both female doctors giggled at their ideas before following behind the group.
. . . . . . . . . . .
He let out the air he was holding in for who knows how long. It only took him a few strides to get to the staff lockers after entering the doctor's changing room, and so he quickly reached for a plastic bag he conveniently kept in there for situations like this. The problem, however, was that he forgot to bring an extra doctor's gown to change his dirtied one. He cringed at the thought when he might get an indirect reprimand from the bosses if they'd ever see him not wearing a complete uniform. "When you wear your doctor's robe, you are carrying our name!" his grandpa used to say before giving him a smack or two whenever he saw him not wearing his attire properly. He chuckled at the memory.
Yoh secured his dirty clothes to bring home for later. He turned towards the whole-body mirror conveniently hung on the adjacent wall to check his appearance. He still looked decent halfway through his shift. His nose wrinkled when he smelled something funny which brought his sight towards his white shirt, took a few sniffs, then went back to grimacing. Sometimes, being in the medical field really does have its pros and cons.
The brunette groaned as his mind immediately calculated the time. He wanted to squeeze in a quick shower before going back to finish his rounds with his colleagues, but sadly, he couldn't afford to take longer.
Given the time constraints, he abruptly took his shirt off, went to the shower room, did a quick fix using wet wipes, trudged back to the locker room to get his perfume when he was met with a pair of honey-coloured eyes with long, luscious lashes.
His eyes expanded like there was no tomorrow. In front of him was an equally stunned blonde woman in nothing but her skirt and black bra. Yoh's eyeballs unconsciously drifted from his now companion's eyes to do a brief surveillance on the heavenly body before him. He even felt himself instinctively gulp.
"My face is up here, perv." Anna muttered calmly upon seeing her colleague-slash-ex's actions. She was too prideful to scramble for cover, but she also felt her heated cheeks betray her.
"Huh? Ah! S-sorry!" was all Yoh could reply before he whipped around to look away and give Anna a chance to at least put a cover on. He pouted at her derogatory comment because he could swear he saw her eyes also taking a glimpse at his well defined torso.
He felt an insurmountable warmth on his face upon realising the ordeal that they were both in. Still, he dared to stealthily look at the mirror's reflection that showed Anna putting on a shirt and stockings. She sat comfortably on the bench and Yoh watched how her dainty hands worked their way from her foot to her thigh to smooth the garment on.
"Do you usually barge in on other people like that?" he heard her ask, and his immediate response was to blink his eyes and turn his gaze towards the ceiling like a high schooler trying not to get caught cheating on an exam.
'But I came here first!' he thought, though of course he knew it was wise not to say it. "I'm sorry, I thought I was alone."
"Hmmm," was the only response he heard from her. His eyes deviously went back to the mirror and saw her now standing with her back against him while slightly lifting her skirt up to secure her stockings. If only he looked further, he would be able to see a bit of her bu—
'No, no, no!' Yoh shut his eyes tightly to prevent his human instincts from governing his mind and body. He was still a gentleman at heart, but damn it! Why did she have to make things so hard?
But what was she doing in the hospital, by the way? He remembered HoroHoro telling him that today was Anna's day off, so why was she suddenly present in their workplace and was now changing into her work attire?
"I'm done." He heard her say. He can't figure out what, but there was something in Anna's voice that always seemed so alluring to him. He once again looked at her reflection to confirm that she has finished dressing up and that she was not going to give him any more heart attacks. He then faced her in a calmer state but still in a daze.
"What?" the blonde gave him an innocent look but with a half-Machiavellian smirk.
"What?" Yoh replied in bewilderment.
"Well, are we going to do the rounds or are you going to stand there with that face as if we haven't seen each other before?" Anna stated in her most casual tone.
"Huh? Uh, yeah, sure! Gimme a sec," the brunette hurriedly moved around to fix himself, slipping a shirt on and buttoning it, his face red once again.
"And Yoh…" Anna started, staring deeply into the other doctor's eyes, "…wipe that drool off your face," she finished off with a full-on smirk while exiting the quarters.
Yoh could only remain rooted to the ground with mouth half-opened, until he realised that he was only ogling at an empty space where Anna once was.
He couldn't help but to shake his head while grinning like an idiot. He definitely didn't see that coming.
. . .
After exiting the room, Anna stopped her tracks and partially leaned her back on the wall. She inhaled profoundly and exhaled gradually with pursed lips. She forced her eyes open with a determined look before walking-off again.
Again, it was not the right time to let herself get sidetracked.
. . . . . . . . . . .
HoroHoro was absentmindedly staring off to space with drool pooling out of his mouth. In all honesty, he felt as if his consciousness was slowly slipping out from him while his body acted on its own. He was sleep deprived with an empty stomach and all he could ever think about was lounging in a nice and warm bed after eating a humongous bowl of Ramen. But he was pulled back to his reality, he only saw himself in the doctors' case study room with Ren and the other junior doctors, preparing to see their last two pediatric patients with the most complicated cases.
He was on the verge of dropping his forehead on the table when Ren nudged him on the side with his elbow whispering "what the hell is wrong with you?" He was about to retort all sorts of expletives when Anna entered the room.
Most people who were already present inside paused their tasks, eyes following the blonde's movements as if studying her from afar. Anna must have noticed this but could not care less about how the people around her were being weird, and so she continued to stride across the room to sit next to the half-awake intern.
"What are you doing here on your day off?" Ren asked Anna.
"Don't ask me that."
"Don't ask her that."
Anna and Horohoro muttered at the same time, Ren could only raise a brow and all the other room occupants returned to their businesses, but not without sneaking glances towards Anna.
"Oh, before I forget," the female in the trio murmured thoughtfully while reaching inside her white gown pocket and revealing an apple which she handed out to her blue-haired companion.
A few seconds passed and neither one reacted.
"Oh, come on, it's clean. I just washed it," Anna exhaled indignantly and grabbed Horo's hand to place the apple in it. This has tremendously drained all the colour from the man's body as all his blood rushed to his face. The purple-haired one could only watch in shock.
"Well? Go on. Eat up while you still can. Seriously, don't expect me to lift you up from the floor if you ever collapse," the woman continued.
"Gee, Anna. Err, thanks," those were the only words that Horo could think of before biting into the apple with tears streaming from his eyes. He couldn't help but hear some supressed murmurs from the others.
As if on cue, several medical professionals also arrived in the premises including one flustered Dr. Asakura. Horohoro narrowed his eyes upon observing this. It was already lunch and the case study room was normally not jampacked at that time of the day because people would be eating their meals outside or at the cafeteria, so what's up with crowd now?
"And what the hell is wrong with you, too?" Ren asked the brunette who just arrived. Yoh just smiled at him awkwardly, Horohoro lazily took a bite on the apple and Anna stood up from her seat.
"Now the group is complete. You guys ready?" asked the female doctor.
Everybody who were supposedly included in the remaining rounds stood up and nodded their heads.
. . . . . . . . . . .
"So, how are you both so… civil?" a whisper from Ren shook Yoh from his reverie. They were walking through the hallways within the Pedia ward, on their way to their last patient, Kenzo; the boy whom they operated almost a month ago for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm. The kid has remarkably made huge progress from his condition and was now being readied for discharge within the week.
"I don't know what you mean," replied the brunette in the same hushed voice. Why were they whispering?
Dr. Tao gestured his head to point towards Anna. "Knowing how… abruptly things ended between you two, I am surprised you aren't after each other's throats by now." Both men looked discreetly towards the blonde who was walking ahead of the group together with Horohoro. She was busy giving him instructions regarding the Pedia patients they were following-up on before going back to the ED. After all, Anna did express her interest in learning some things from Yoh after seeing him perform a series of complicated procedures since he started. This was also the reason why she was joining them in their last patient review.
"Ah," Yoh finally understood what his friend meant. "Well, to be honest, I'm not sure. Maybe we've just avoided bringing-up anything about the past and tried to act as professional as possible when around each other, I guess," he mused, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks after images from earlier events involving a half-naked Anna flashed in his mind.
"Hmm, professional, huh?" The purple-head mumbled with a malicious look towards the Pedia Surgeon. And Yoh, reading his friend's silent insinuations opened his mouth to protest but was interrupted when they've reached their patient's room.
"Hello, Kenzo! Ready for your check-up today?" greeted one of the Resident doctors.
"Hi, Dr. Nara! Of course! I'm born ready!" replied the 7-year-old boy animatedly.
"Well, well, well, look who we have here!" beamed Yoh as he approached the child, matching his energy.
"Dr. Yoh!" welcomed Kenzo with a joyful face, immediately sitting up in his bed. His mother, who was next to him, stood up upon seeing Yoh bow towards her. She looked like she wanted to approach him but could only bow in return due to the presence of other people in the room.
"How are you, buddy?" asked Yoh
"Feeling good!"
"Well, let's take a look at your tummy first," prompted the surgeon, still with a reassuring smile.
The boy nodded happily and bravely lifted his hospital gown to show his abdomen. One of the junior doctors came forward with a dressing trolley in tow and gently removed Kenzo's dressing. Yoh and Ren moved closer to inspect.
"Ah. Looking good!" said Yoh who reached for a high five, which was returned by the kid, both having childish smiles on their faces, while the other doctor reapplied the wound dressing.
"And the labworks?" prompted Ren.
"Looks like all bloods are within normal parameters, latest CT and ultrasound results are promising, as you have previously been shown in the study room. Patient also finished his antibiotics course and had stable vitals for the past 2 weeks," stated Anna while reading into the patient's file from the digital tablet in her hands.
Yoh proceeded to sit next to the patient, again with his non-ceasing infectious smile. "Ready to go home soon?" he asked the boy while tapping his shoulders.
Kenzo's eyes shined momentarily upon the mention of the 4-letter word but lowered his head afterwards. He didn't say a word though he leaned towards Yoh to wrap his little arms around the doctor. Everyone was amused at the boy's sudden show of affection. "Will I ever see you again?" he asked.
This left everybody quite emotional including the brunette whose eyes softened at his patient's gesture. "Of course. I'll see you in three weeks' time for a follow-up, and then another time a month after that. And you don't have to be sick to visit me here anytime, yah know?" Yoh reassured the boy while ruffling his fluffy hair as he stood up.
This, in turn, has made the kid put his wide smile back on and yelled "okay!" with a raised fist and a cute, determined face.
Everyone inside the room "aww-ed" at the tender moment including the females who almost had hearts flashing from their pupils in admiration towards the doctor. Anna was no exception, and the blonde has quietly regarded Yoh's talent in dealing with kids, just as how she remembered him.
However, the group of professionals was utterly startled when Kenzo's mother walked across the room and flung her arms around Dr. Asakura's neck and drew him in a hug. Every single person in the room had their eyes wide as saucers including the doctor himself but no one dared to speak or move.
It was when they noticed the single mother silently sobbing against Yoh's shoulder. "Thank you, doctor… Yoh… for everything. Really, I…" she managed to mumble between sobs. Anna raised an eyebrow at the way the woman addressed Yoh with familiarity.
On the other hand, Yoh could only manage an uneasy chuckle as he maintained his arms opened halfway through the hug to avoid deepening the connection; a common gesture to maintain professionalism between men and women in their culture. He whispered something to Kenzo's mom, which finally made her relax and withdrew from the hug with an evident blush on her face. The room occupants made some suggestive coughing and whistles upon witnessing the borderline romantic scene.
After a few more discussions and medical advice, Yoh flashed the woman a kind smile and bowed towards her and their patient before exiting the room while everyone followed his example.
. . .
Once finished with their task, some members of the rounds had merrily parted from the group with the intention of grabbing lunch, and others went back to their posts but not after throwing furtive glances at the Asakura.
Yoh, Ren, Anna, and HoroHoro were on their way towards the hospital cafeteria, with the three convincing the only female in their group that the remaining staff in the emergency department won't drop dead even if they were gone for another 30minutes to grab a quick bite.
"So… did you give her your number? Ren side-eyed Yoh playfully.
"Give whom what?" absentmindedly replied by the person in question.
"Oh come on! Don't you give us that innocent look! We heard how you, my friend, have been operating these days," Horo threw his arms around Ren and Yoh to insert himself between them and join in the convo. His knowing smirk and jerking eyebrows trying to send a naughty message.
And it was truly not a secret. Apparently, word has it that a certain young and pure Dr. Asakura has been spotted around the city with not just one, not two, but several female individuals in different occasions; and no, he wasn't seeing them as his patients those times.
A subtle hue of pink appeared on the brunette's face and his rambunctious blue-haired friend did not miss to point it out.
Anna also did not fail to notice the details being divulged by the three man-children before her. She has also heard about the said rumours about Yoh being the resident flirt, and the gods probably knew how much she wanted to add wood to the fire, but she chose to keep her silence at this time. She didn't want to engage with unnecessary drama because their workplace was a breeding ground for it, and she experienced being the victim firsthand way too many times before.
"There's no use lying to us, daddy," the Cardio Fellow made sure to stress out the last word which resulted to the intern guffawing like a crazed Hyena and the Pedia Surgeon to be severely humiliated.
He raised his hands in defeat. "Guys, come on. I mean, yeah, Leah's quite attractive and all…" the other two men stared at him in astonishment for mentioning Kenzo's mother's name, "…but like you said, you know… she's a 'mom' so she has her priorities. And I don't think I'm ready for that kind of thing yet so," Yoh shrugged.
"Yeah. You got a point. But you're kinda great with kids though," protested Usui. Yoh opened his mouth to add to his argument but was interrupted by a female voice.
"Why? What's wrong with single moms?" Of course, it was Anna. They had almost forgotten that they had a female included in their group and they immediately felt remorseful for their blatant guy talk in front of her. All three male doctors paused and craned their heads at the blonde. She wore a challenging aura, and her tone sounded as if she was asking a trick question.
"Well, it's not about being a single mom, it's just that—" Yoh started.
"Because a guy fucked with her and left her a lifetime responsibility, that means she doesn't have the right to be taken seriously, is that so?" Anna was straight to the point, as usual.
"That's not what we meant. We were just—"
"You were just what? Thinking of scoring and then discarding her like a piece of used cloth after? Tss, why am I not surprised, Asakura?" At this point, Anna appeared upset and none of the three men understood what fuelled her outburst. They knew that the blonde has always been quite the feminist, but it was quite unusual for her to lose her temper at some mundane boyish teasing. They could only watch her in confusion as she stomped her way ahead of them.
"A-Anna, I thought we were having lunch?" yelled Horo disbelievingly.
"Go ahead. I've lost my appetite." And with that, she left the scene leaving three dumbfounded idiots behind.
Yoh could only look at his equally clueless friends.
"What did I say?"
. . . . . . . . . . .
Due to the little scenario with Anna, Horohoro was left with less time for his break, realising the amount of pending stuff he had to do in the ED. He could only afford 20, no, 15 minutes tops to spend on his lunch, otherwise, Anna will definitely murder him.
Manta has luckily caught-up with the group to grab a bite. HoroHoro ended-up wildly eating his sandwich like there's no tomorrow, while the other three tried to eat in peace.
"Do you even know how to chew your food?" commented the Tao, and the junior just mumbled something between the words "shut" and "up," while trying his hardest to gobble-up his meal as fast as he can. Ren noticed that his other companion was somewhat in deep thought and decided to call his attention. "Yoh, I'm sure it's just miscommunication. Don't think about it too much."
"I'm sorry, what is?" Manta tried to grasp the gist of the conversation with interest.
"Shit! She's here!" Horohoro shrieked, almost choking on his food upon seeing Anna enter the place and was headed towards the barista, probably to order a drink. Yoh and Ren's faces both showed a hint of panic and Manta was more puzzled with their odd reactions.
But before anyone could react, Horo paused after noticing a sudden influx of other staff members, particularly male ones, just multiple seconds after Anna's entrance. He gasped as he remembered the same phenomenon happening back at the doctors' study room earlier. Those cannot be mere coincidences, can they? His eyes widened in realisation, and he quickly tried to reach for his pals to tell them his genius observations but then he saw the blonde now on her way to their table with a cup of coffee in her hand, oblivious to the sneaky stares and craning of necks of the male population around her.
"Anna! I thought you weren't hungry?" Horo addressed the newcomer whilst trying to swallow the remaining contents in his mouth to act as natural as possible.
The blonde only narrowed her eyes at Horohoro then greeted Oyamada back after he greeted her. She stood in front of the blue-haired man and completely ignored the other two. "I changed my mind. I need more caffeine. It's like hell in there," she stated with an impassive face, obviously referring to the emergency department. Horo could only nod in agreement and in cold sweat. "And I've come to remind you that your breaktime is over, so hurry up."
"What!? Already!? Err, I mean, yes, ma'am!" It didn't take long for the junior doctor to change his protests into agreement once he saw his senior's death stare.
Yoh, Manta and Ren could only watch the two interact before them. Anna being able to make any man bend to her whims was not something new, but her getting along really well with HoroHoro, despite still appearing harsh towards him, was an uncommon sight to see. The man must have learned overtime that his loud mouth will not get him anywhere when dealing with the fierce blonde and this has earned him positive results so far. The pair's newfound closeness did not escape the other three's scrutiny, especially Yoh's.
They watched Horohoro stand up from his seat hastily and heard him whisper, "Save me," with fake tears, before following Anna like an obedient puppy.
On the other hand, Yoh tried to call out to the blonde before she and her buddy could walk out of the scene but was deliberately ignored by her as if he was an invisible entity.
"Hey, maybe leave it for now. She'll come around." Ren encouraged his friend who looked quite bothered.
"You guys mind filling me in about the latest hospital celebrity news?" Manta interjected and both doctors glanced at him weirdly. They had a lot to catch up with.
. . . . . . . . . . .
And how could he forget that it was White Day?
Today was one of the widely celebrated events of the year in Japan and he has forgotten about it completely if not for Manta who randomly brought up about it at lunch.
Well, not that he had a current stable relationship to worry about such an occasion. Heck, the closest female he could think of giving a special gift to right now was his mom, and he definitely couldn't think of a particular female to reciprocate gifts with from the numerous chocolates he received exactly one month ago. Although, he did remember Anna sharing her dessert with him when they spent Valentines at an outdoor café together, unplanned, last month.
So, after justifying his logic, one Dr. Asakura Yoh was now creeping his way to the ED, a bar of chocolate in hand, which he cleverly got from one of the vending machines in the hospital. He contemplated at his choice of gift for a moment as it wasn't exactly the best choice for a so-called White Day present, but he wasn't exactly prepared. Plus, knowing the old Anna, he hoped his little trick would work somehow. He was just really desperate to apologise to her for whatever the hell it was that he did, or said, to offend her.
He was doing it for himself, he said.
He had to deliver the goods before their day ended, he said.
Yoh reached the staff office in the emergency department and stealthily went inside seeing that it was devoid of any team members. The place seemed busy with constant noise of mixed chatter, people pacing in all directions, and medical equipment sounds from the background.
It took him a while to realise that he didn't know what he was doing, and that left him conflicted as to where to leave his little peace offering for Anna. He frantically surveyed his surroundings and noted a pile of presents in all shapes and sizes on one of the tables. There were tons of chocolates and sweets, quite the expensive ones, he might add. There were Godiva, Ladurée and Prestat, to name a few. There were also other little items presented in cute and fancy wrappings, and Yoh felt his confidence dwindle by each second that passed.
The thought of turning away and never looking back entered his mind as he chickened out, but just as he was deciding on his fate, a group of nurses and doctors entered the office while discussing treatment plans and so forth.
The staff members just blinked at Yoh's suspicious presence, including Eliza who eventually broke the awkwardness. "Doctor Son-in-law! What brings you back so soon?" the directress greeted.
The brunette felt cold sweat dripping from his back. "Err, I-uhh, I was just—"
"Let me guess, for Dr. Kyoyama?" one of the nurses asked while eyeing the sweets in his hand. Eliza and the others looked at Yoh as if waiting for an important diagnosis, and he looked at everybody else whose eyes were filled with intrigue.
The nurse pointed at the pile of gifts at the corner with a smirk. "Find your space, doctor."
'You mean, all these are for Anna?' he mused to himself incredulously. The feeling of embarrassment slowly crept from his insides and more so when he saw Eliza and the others examine the gift in his grasp. He immediately tossed it in the middle of the heap, hoping for it to be buried somewhere in the abyss while mouthing "Please don't tell," to his colleagues, while they just absentmindedly bobbed their heads.
"Sorry, ladies. I just remembered that I had something important to d—" the bashful doctor reasoned while he tried to escape the scene, but just his luck, Anna's voice could be heard approaching from outside the office while doing a crash course with Dr. Usui on how the males can be more susceptible to severe UTI than females due to the anatomical differences between the male urethra, that goes through the penis, and the female one.
The pair stopped their tracks when they saw a pooling of staff inside the room.
"Whoah! What's the fuss all about?" Horo blurted out, and with more interest when he saw Yoh standing inside with the other staff, looking petrified.
"We just finished handing over to the next shift," said Eliza with a sweet sing-song tone.
Sensing something fishy, Anna just calmly walked further inside to place some patient files inside the cupboards. All eyes on her every move. She was about to clock off and call it a day, when she unexpectedly turned towards Yoh. "And you? What are you doing here?"
The brunette blinked a couple of times to assimilate the possibility that Anna was finally acknowledging his presence, but he still asked, pointing to himself. "Who? Me?"
Anna rolled her eyes. "No, I'm talking to the wall behind you, Dr. Asakura."
So much sarcasm, but he was used to it.
"I was just uh…" Yoh cleared his throat in discomfort while he tried to think of the best alibi, "…I was just discussing the importance of maintaining dignity, and privacy, and oh, confidentiality in our line of work, with Directress Faust and our other precious colleagues. Isn't it, guys?" He had to stress on those three important words while looking intently at Eliza and the rest in hopes of sending his hidden message clearly.
Anna stared at him strangely as if he was talking gibberish, but she was used to it.
Even Horohoro didn't seem to buy his nonsense because he tried his hardest to prevent himself from laughing out loud from behind the group.
The blonde moved her gaze towards her mom, Eliza, and her co-workers as if asking to confirm Yoh's claims then sighed when all she got were withering smiles and uncomfortable lip-smacking. She then pressed her forefinger on their employee log system, took her belongings and motioned to leave. She was about to bid the team goodbye when...
"Wait! Anna-senpai, aren't you going to take those home?" a nurse named Tsun, called out to the doctor while pointing at the stack of gifts that were obviously given to her by some secret admirers and some not-so-secret ones. Yoh glared at the brazen lady, and she winked at him with a wicked smile in return.
All attention returned to Anna as she walked back to inspect the items with her ever meticulous eyes. The people held their breaths when she reached to the middle of the pile, and gasped when they saw her pluck a small treat with a simple orange packaging and the words "peanut butter cups," written on it. It was a famous brand though, but everyone were just baffled with her choice, given that there were more exquisite and fancier options available.
The room occupants, except Yoh, had their mouths hanged open when the female doctor tore the foil and went straight for the kill in devouring a piece. She seemed to let go for a moment when she savoured the sweet and salty combination of peanut butter and chocolate. The sugar rush immediately lifted her exhausted mood. Several seconds passed when Anna realised that all eyes were still on her, so she carefully retrieved her composure.
She slid the remaining sweets in her bag then turned to the others with a small smile. "I would like to share the rest."
There was a moment of silence before the females fully understood Anna's intentions. They all cheered as they grabbed a treat or two for themselves, thanking their colleague for her generosity.
"Hmm, I wonder who gave you those peanut butter cups, though," Horohoro though out loud and everyone seemed to stop moving. The others knew who the culprit was, and they all tried their best not to throw some weird signals that may compromise Dr. Asakura's integrity, who was by the way, now suffering quietly at the corner.
This made Anna pause, outwardly lost in her thoughts.
There were only two people who knew that Reese's was her ultimate favourite chocolate, as far as she could remember. She then raised her head and gazed deeply into Yoh's chestnut orbs to throw him a knowing smile while she muttered a reply to Horohoro's query.
"Yes, I wonder who, too."
. . . . . . . . . . .
A/N: Hm? So what if I made myself appear in a little cameo? Got a problem with that? *avoids eye contact from readers* Huehuehue!xD
Don't you just love JanetYuezi17's (on TWT) beautiful art as attached? I asked permission to post it with this chapter because first, it was an "Anna chapter" and second, well, this fiction has an "apple" (a fruit which is widely associated with doctors) in its title. So fitting, don't you think? :)
Yes. It's late but still… belated Happy White Day and Wedding Anniversary to our OTP!3
See you next chapter. Show me some love! :3
Medical Terminologies/ Abbreviations:
Photographic memory - the ability to recall a past scene in detail with great accuracy, just like a photograph.
ED – Emergency Department.
JMO – Junior Medical Officer
Neuro – Neurology. Department that deals with brain and spine issues.
Ortho – Orthopedics. Department that deals with bones/ muscle issues.
Pulmo – Pulmonary. Department that deals with airway/ breathing/ lung issues.
Emesis – vomiting
Rheumatic Heart Fever – an inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain, and typically develops two to four weeks after a streptococcal throat infection.
Acute Gastroenteritis - an infectious disease characterised by irritation and inflammation of the stomach and intestines.
UTI – Urinary Tract Infection
Urethra - the duct in the urinary system by which urine is conveyed out of the body from the bladder.
*White Day – (not exactly medical, but just good to know) a holiday celebrated in Japan and other Asian countries set on March 14, which is one month after Valentine's Day. It is when men are supposed to return the favour to women who gave them gifts last Feb 14 or to the special women in their lives, by buying two to three times more expensive gifts for them.
DISCLAIMER: The procedures, interventions and other medical-related stuff mentioned in this work of fiction is based on professional medical knowledge but does not necessarily reflect all medical practices everywhere. Certain circumstances and facts may vary in different settings.
Italics - represent character thoughts, jargon terms, and emphasis on key words/ puns/ hints.