This story will have 5 chapters. It's already finished but I will post it weekly.
I needed to take a break from Gods & Monsters. Soon I will be back writing that story.
Hope you like this new one!
Enjoy!
WEDNESDAY
That morning was grey, the sky was covered in heavy clouds with the windshield almost fogged up. The rain was falling heavily on the window, the constant tinkling of the drops falling on the car and the constant sound of the windshield wipers had Sakura on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She had just come off a hard shift, she hadn't stopped all night after an emergency from a multiple car accident. Her body was on the verge of collapse from mental and physical exhaustion, and now she had to survive to get home so she could get some rest.
The streets of the city were packed with cars, traffic was heavy whenever it rained in Konoha, plus it was rush hour; Sakura was going home to rest, but everyone else was starting their day.
At a red light, Sakura didn't see the dark figure emerging from her periphery, her car's blind spot, and the windshield filled with water took away her visibility, so she heard a loud bang on her car, and suddenly she saw a figure on its hood and slowly falling to the ground. Sakura stopped suddenly, the car behind almost crashed because it didn't keep enough safety distance. Her heart began to pound in her temples, her body trembled like a flan, and her mind was unable to process what had just happened. She quickly got out of the car, not caring of the pouring rain, feeling the cold drops on her cheeks, she began to notice how the rain's moisture was soaking through her clothes. She rushed to the front of her car where there was a man on the ground; Sakura had just run over a man.
"Fuck," she said through clenched teeth, watching the world fall around her feet.What if I have killed him, she thought quickly as she knelt in front of the man's figure. Without delay, she began to perform first aid; as a doctor she was obliged to help anyone, andeven more so if I had just run him over, she thought to herself.
When she bent down to feel his pulse, she lightly moved his wet raven hair to see if there was any kind of wound on his face, but there was no one, and she prepared to see if there was a pulse, luckily, there was. The man opened his dark eyes, which looked at her in confusion.
"Hello? Can you hear me?" Sakura asked to check that he was okay, even if it was cognitively and that he had not suffered any kind of brain contusion.
"Yeah, what happened?" the man said frowning, who, now Sakura observed, was very attractive,but that did not matter now,Sakura thought.
"I ran you over," Sakura answered with a guilty face. "What is your name?" Sakura started with the basic questions to check that he hadn't suffered a concussion.
"Sasuke," he said even more confused, "why..?"
"Do you know what day it is?" Sakura asked again, cutting him off.
"It's Wednesday, October 16th, but why are you..." he continued to ask with a confused face.
"I'm just checking to see if you're okay," Sakura replied nervously, "does anything hurt?" she asked again, now she was going to check on his physical condition.
"Everything hurts," he said while wincing in pain, "especially the part of my left hip and leg," he answered.
Sakura set about doing a quick physical examination, pressing on key points where he began to groan in pain. So, it indicated to Sakura that part of his leg, and possibly his hip, were broken.
"Shit," she cursed under her breath, but Sasuke heard her and looked at her arching an eyebrow.
"Exactly, shit, why didn't you stop?" he asked now instead of confused, he was angry.
"I didn't see you, I'm sorry, I really am. Don't worry, I'm a doctor. Apparently, everything is fine, except for your pain in your hip and leg, which are probably broken, but for everything else, you seem to be fine," she began to talk non-stop, a quality she had when she was nervous.
After being sure that Sasuke was fine and there was nothing that would put his life in danger, a priori; she called emergency services.
At one point, at that pedestrian crossing, a police and ambulance deployment took place, with flashing blue and red lights, which made Sakura think that all this could not be happening to her, impossible, she was dreaming.
The ambulance took Sasuke to the hospital, and she had to declare to the police about what had happened, under the testimony of several eyewitnesses who had witnessed the accident.
Sakura's car had not suffered any damage, so she was able to go home, while the police told her to pray that the man did not sue her. That made her whole-body shudder. Well, that or the absolute cold that was on her soaked body.
MONDAY
After four days off due to the shift she had on the day of the accident, Sakura returned to the hospital with her normal shift. She spent those four days worried, thinking that maybe they should have exchanged numbers in case he needed something, or even if he needed to contact her to tell her that he was going to sue her, at least she would have known something. But, above all, she was worried about his health.
Sakura didn't know which hospital he had been transferred to, she also forgot to ask due to all the hustle and bustle she was going through after the accident. At that moment she couldn't think straight, she had only been focused on the fact that Sasuke was fine and hadn't left any chronic injury. Which, due to the very superficial examination that had been done on him, an exact diagnosis couldn't be made either.
Her head had thought so many things during those four days, that, instead of resting, she had been more worried about that stranger than anything else.
When she arrived at her office, a few minutes later her coworker and best friend came in; Ino Yamanaka. They had both studied medicine together, and they became very close during their studies, and luckily they both got a position at the same hospital. They went from being university classmates to being coworkers, and she liked that, thinking that there was nothing better than having good colleagues at work, and Sakura was grateful for that. Besides having her best friend working there, she got along especially well with the director of the hospital, who was also her mentor during the four years of residency; Tsunade Senju. And she was also very close to the head of pediatrics; Shizune, who was her other boss, since Sakura worked on the pediatric ward.
"Good morning, forehead," Ino said as she entered the office, and Sakura turned around when she heard her friend's voice.
"Oh, hello Ino-pig, how was your weekend?" she asked.
"It was great. I went skiing with Sai," she replied happily, but she didn't focus on giving her more information, since she had come especially to give her other information. "But I came to tell you something that I think you would like to know," she said while looking at her with a smile that was hiding something.
"What happened?" Sakura asked anxiously.
"The guy you ran over is hospitalized on the third floor," she answered without any kind of concern. Which gave Sakura the information that his life was not in any kind of danger.
"And how is he?" she asked worriedly.
"I thought you would like to go visit him, and beg him not to sue you," she replied amused, and Sakura made a face of displeasure at her.Ino and her humor, she thought.
"Yes, I think it would be best if I paid him a visit," she replied, "after lunch when they've changed the sheets and everything, I'll be over," she said as she calculated what would be the best time to receive a visitor in a hospital.
After four hours on her shift, and having made rounds to her patients and having spoken to their parents, and so on. She returned to her office to eat something for lunch and then she prepared to go to the elevator, pressing button number 3. Her heart was beating fast, she was nervous because she didn't know how she was going to be received by the person she had run over four days ago. If he was angry with her, she wouldn't blame him, and if he sued her, neither would she. Sakura felt terribly guilty about what had happened.
Slowly, with her heart in her throat, she made the way to room 305 where the unknown,and handsome man,Sakura remembered, whom she had run over last week was. She knocked softly on the door and when she heard a male voice inviting whoever was knocking in, Sakura poked her head out unsure of herself.
Indeed, the man she had run over was not just handsome, he was gorgeous, Sakura observed. There he was sitting on the bed dressed in the thin hospital clothes that showed off every muscle in his arms and chest. His legs were exposed, to which Sakura observed that he was extremely hot.I hope I hadn't ruined that body,Sakura thought, almost feeling shivers from the embarrassment of the situation.Sakura, focus on what you came for,she thought to herself.
"Do you need to do more tests?" he asked while looking at her with his perfectly almond-shaped and dark eyes, dark like his hair. And Sakura was left wondering why he was asking her that, until she realized that she was wearing the gown.
"Oh, no, no," she replied. "I'm Sakura, I don't know if you remember me," she said while squinting in embarrassment, putting her hands on the pockets of her white gown. Sasuke looked her up and down; feeling self-conscious and almost judged.
"Are you the one who ran me over?" he asked with a frown. And Sakura, biting her lower lip and with a face of total and absolute guilt, nodded her head. "Why did you come?" he asked, changing his face and tone of voice completely, while leaning his back on the pillows at the head of the bed, and turning his face to look forward. Sakura understood that he was angry, and she did not blame him.
"I wanted to know how you are, and if you need anything I can give you my phone number," she said as she walked a few steps further into the room.
"Are you an orthopedist?" he asked arching an eyebrow and staring at her waiting for an answer.
"Umm, no, I'm a pediatrician," she replied, not sure why he asked that.
"Well then you can't help me," he replied angrily. "I need a good orthopedist, since I'm going to have surgery on my hip," he explained.
"Oh," Sakura understood why he asked that and also why he was angry. "I'm not an orthopedic surgeon, but I know a very good one who works here, I can talk to her," she said, wanting to make peace.
"Who is it?" he asked with a frown.
"Dr. Yamanaka, she's the best," she replied.
"Hn," he said simply. "Okay," he said this time without frowning and looking at her from the corner of his eye. Sakura thought that maybe they were starting to make amends.
"I'm going to leave you my personal phone number anyway in case you need anything, even though I'm not an orthopedic surgeon I can help you," she said as she took a small piece of paper from one of her pockets and placed it on the table next to the bed. Sasuke looked at the gesture without saying anything. "Do you know when you're going to have surgery?" Sakura asked.
"No, they haven't told me anything. They've just run tests on me so far," he replied grumpily. It was normal, he was tired, he had been hospitalized for more than four days.
"I can find out for you," she said, winking at him, and he looked at her arching an eyebrow, which made Sakura regret having winked at him. Sakura was used to dealing with children, and Sasuke wasn't particularly a child. "Well," she cleared her throat, "like I said, if you need anything, call me, or text me, or whatever" she said as she left the room awkwardly.
TUESDAY
The next day she talked to Ino about Sasuke's case, telling her that another workmate of hers was taking care of it, but as a favor, Ino said that she will be the one to take his case so he wouldn't sue her. When Ino said that, Sakura rolled her eyes, knowing that Ino enjoyed torturing her best friend with the subject. Every chance she got, she would bring it up and make fun of her friend who said she was the spinster who ran over handsome guys around town, and laughing at her since it was normal that she would never find a good match if she ran them all over, and so on.
Just like the day before, Sakura went back to the third floor to visit Sasuke. When she entered, she expected him to have some kind of visitor, but just like the day before he was alone.
"Hey," she said as she peeked through the door timidly. Sasuke looked at her with the same expression as yesterday; seeming to be annoyed by her presence.
"Hey," he grumbled and shifted his gaze to the TV on the wall in front of him.
"I was able to speak with Dr. Yamanaka, she has agreed to operate on you and take your case," she said as she approached the bed.
"Hn," he answered without taking his eyes off the TV. Sakura continued to look at him, waiting for any other answer than a guttural sound. And at that moment she could appreciate his features; marked chin, thin and elegant nose, thin and maliciously pressed lips, dark and medium-long hair, some strands falling over his eyes. And his eyes, beautiful and black like coffee. Sakura almost sighed, but she suppressed it when he fixed his gaze on her, since he had noticed that she was looking at him. Sakura gave him a warm smile wanting to lighten the atmosphere. She was used to deal with patients, but not with adult patients, but she thought that there was almost no difference because after all, adults were children in older people's bodies, Sakura thought.
"I know the date of your surgery. Have they told you?" she asked kindly.
"No, no one has told me anything yet" he answered with his grumpy voice.
"You're having surgery on Thursday, and you'll most likely be in the hospital for two weeks, plus rehabilitation," Sakura explained.
"Hn," he replied again, causing Sakura to roll her eyes and reaffirm that, indeed, adults were children in older people's bodies.
"Okay, if you don't need anything else, I'll go," she said as she took several steps back with her hands in the pockets. "See you tomorrow!" she said as if he were a regular patient of hers and Sasuke looked at her but didn't say anything, so Sakura simply left the room.
Walking down the third-floor hallway, Sakura sighed, thinking about how difficult it was to deal with Sasuke. Sakura realized that he was probably behaving like this with her because she was, most probably, the last person he wanted to see due to her being the cause of his current misfortune. But, still, she was doing her best to help him. Her head was constantly ruminating over Sasuke's situation, and she wanted to help him as best as possible, so that he would feel comfortable enough there in the hospital, knowing that it was a place that no one liked to be.
WEDNESDAY
The next day, as Sakura had promised Sasuke, she visited him again, at the same time as always: 10 in the morning. At that time, breakfast had already been distributed to the patients, as well as the medication they had to administer, the assistants had also come and changed the sheets daily, and checked if the IVs were in place or if they had finished. In addition, it was a very common time when patients normally had visitors.
Many patients were accompanied by relatives, who spent the night by their side, and then in the morning they took over with another relative to spend the morning. But on the other hand, Sasuke was always alone when she had gone to visit him. So, it seemed strange to her that a young man was alone every day in his room,he should have a family, a girlfriend, or friends,Sakura thought.
And just like the two days before, when Sakura arrived, Sasuke was alone, sitting on the bed and watching television, although she knew he was just watching, he didn't show much interest in what was on the screen.
"Hello, good morning," Sakura said as she entered the room, feeling more and more free and comfortable in his space, despite his non-verbal language saying the opposite.
"Hello," he said as he turned towards her direction.
"How are you feeling today? Are you still in pain?" she asked as she approached the edge of his bed and tilted her head slightly in interest.
"They give me enough drugs so I don't feel pain," he replied with the same tone of voice and same stoic expression.
"Fair enough," she said and continued "Tomorrow is the surgery," she reminded him, "are you nervous?" She asked, but when there was no answer, she continued talking. "If you feel nervous it's normal, many patients feel nervous the day before the surgery or hours before, it's a very common feeling," she tried to reassure him, accustomed to her younger patients and with less emotional management.
"Hn," he simply answered. Sakura was getting used to his poor communication skills. In fact, sometimes she wondered if he didn't have many communication skills or if her mere presence bothered him, but he had never verbalized it.
"Well," Sakura said, not knowing what to say. "If it's any consolation, Dr. Yamanaka is very good, so you're going to be in very good hands," she said with a genuine smile.
Sakura was really trying to make amends for what had happened, and Sasuke wasn't making it easy for her. But Sakura was a very stubborn person, and Sasuke didn't know that, so she had decided to make peace with him, and repair the damage she had done, no matter what. And she wasn't going to stop until she got it.
As expected, she didn't get any answer, he just looked at her with the same look as always that evoked so many emotions and none at the same time. Sakura knew he wanted to convey something to her, something he wasn't able to verbalize, and she wanted and was going to be willing to know what it was.Someday, she told herself,someday he'll tell me.
"Good luck, Sasuke," Sakura spoke again knowing she wasn't going to get any more answers than his guttural sounds, "Although I know you won't need it, because you'll be in very good hands," she finally said as she left the room.
When she left room 305, she went straight to the counter with the intention of asking if Sasuke had had visitors. The nurses who were on duty working on that ward were usually there. When she approached several nurses recognized her, since she had often gone down to that floor where her friend worked.
"Good morning, Dr. Haruno. What brings you down here?" said one of the nurses who was drinking coffee at that moment.
"Hello, I have been visiting the patient in room 305 these days," she explained.
"Oh," exclaimed another nurse who was behind preparing some vials for a patient, "I don't blame you, Dr. Haruno, whenever I can I am the one who goes to give him the medication or ask him if he needs anything," she said smiling while others laughed around her.
"Let's hope he stays by default, it's my only reason for coming to work," said another nurse who was now leaving the lounge they had there. Sakura laughed at the childish comments of her colleagues. It was obvious that Sasuke was a very attractive man, and due to the average number of people admitted to a hospital it was not common to have young guys, much less handsome ones.
"No, it's just that the accident he had was my fault, and I feel so guilty that I feel the responsibility to come see him," she said with shame.
"Really?" exclaimed one of the nurses "Too bad, I'm so sorry, it must be horrible," said one of them empathizing with the doctor.
"Yes, but he is worse, so…" answered Sakura with more guilt.
"Well, don't be so hard on yourself. Besides, you are his only visitor, so I'm sure he will appreciate it," said the nurse who was drinking coffee.
"Really? Sasuke hasn't had any visitors?" she asked in surprise, and grateful that they had brought up the subject themselves.
"Yeah, he hasn't had a single visitor since he was admitted," she spoke again before taking a sip of her coffee.
"Which we thought he must be single," said the other nurse who had left the lounge smiling hopefully. And Sakura laughed at such a comment.
"Well, maybe he is not from here and his family lives far away," she tried to reason why Sasuke, a young man could not have any kind of visitors, be it from his mother, his sister or a neighbor in love with him. Which Sakura thought,surely, he had some neighbor with a crush on him, but she quickly wanted to abandon that thought and focus on the conversation she was having. "Well, tomorrow he has the surgery and in a short time they will discharge him," she explained to them.
"What a pity!" exclaimed the nurse who was outside the lounge with her lips turned down exaggerating the sadness she felt. Sakura laughed at such an answer.
"Well, girls, I'm going!" Sakura said goodbye.
"See you, Dr. Haruno!" exclaimed the three nurses.
And Sakura left, thinking about the conversation they just had. It seemed so strange to her that Sasuke didn't have visitors, she knew he had some way of communicating, since she had seen his cell phone on the table where she had left the paper with her number. But she didn't understand that after so many days there he hadn't had even one visit.It must be because he isnot from the city, surely his family lives outside, it must be that, surely,she said to herself.
Beta read by Alicestka
And thank you all for reading!
Comments are always welcome.