Jesse
“Stand by, you’re about to go live” I heard Juri, my director prompting me over on my earpiece.
It was Christmas and instead of spending it with family, here I am freezing my ass off. Tokyo sure does look pretty in this season, the illuminations where I will do my broadcast twinkled and and danced in the night sky. “In 3…2…” I took a deep breathe and flashed my biggest smile.
When my broadcast ended, I checked my phone and saw text from my sister asking me to buy the cake I just did my report on as consolation for not making it `to Christmas dinner and leaving her alone with our parents and their prying questions.
“The live just ended. I’ll check if the the shop’s still open, tell mom I’ll come by the house tomorrow” I texted her back.
“Hey is the cake shop still open?” I checked the time and it was almost 9:00 p.m. No way that shop’s still open, but I asked Juri anyway. “They closed about an hour go man, lemme guess, Sanna asked you to get one” his director and friend said while blowing air into his hands trying to warm himself up. “You owe her more than a cake for feeding her to the wolves tonight” he said while shaking his head. We’ve been friends for so long that he can already read me like an open book.
“Don’t waste that pretty face yours” as Juri always says. He was the president of the broadcasting club during our school years. He talked me into doing my very first video announcement in high school, they needed a “face” he said. Don’t get me wrong he’s not bad looking dude and he can talk as well as me, heck even better. But he said he liked working behind the scenes, it gives him more freedom to do whatever. We started working at the TV station at the same time, and the rest as they say is history.
“The shop actually gave us some cakes. They’re in the van, ask one of the assistants” On our way to van, Juri was telling me about how one of the assistants messed up earlier on the broadcast, I was so engrossed at replying to my sister asking her if she wants anything else and a few steps ahead of him, then “BAM!” I hit my head on the glass door ahead of me. Next thing I knew Juri was helping me up. The loud thud was still ringing in my ears and I was still a bit disoriented with what just happened.
“Shit man, you’re bleeding” he pointed out, as I felt something warm trickle down my forehead.
I silently cursed at myself “I guess the cake would have to wait” I said with a chuckle trying to lighten the mood.
“Let’s bring you to the ER” Juri said as he handed me a handkerchief.
Hokumi
“Am I the only doctor in this hospital?” That came out angrier than it should have. “Sorry Dr. Matsumura, the other doctors in the ER have their hands full because of there was a traffic accident and Dr. Kyomoto is still in surgery” the intern said while stuttering.
It was holidays and were running on skeletal staff. I just came from assisting an 8 hour emergency surgery myself. I threw a little tantrum in my head, this was supposed to be my 10 minute break, with a deep sigh I grabbed the coffee I bought from the vending machine when the intern found me. “Come on, brief me while we walk"
“Patient J.L. is 30 year old male, whose chief complaint is a wound in the right temporal area of the head. History started one hour prior to consult—“ “Loss of consciousness?” I cut off the intern while I was chugging my coffee. My 4th one, no my 5th since my shift started. As a surgical resident, I should be helping with training the interns, but tonight was just so toxic. I just wanted this long day to end.
Holiday parties plus alcohol were the perfect combination for drunken brawls which results in ER trips like this. “There was none, It wasn’t blunt injury.” I sighed and kept walking, irritated that I jumped to that conclusion. The intern must have thought my annoyance was directed at her, she looked so nervous while talking to me I can practically see tears in her eyes. She was still briefing me when I asked her “What needs to be done?” without skipping a beat.
“I think we should suture the wound…”
“You think?” I said with while raising an eyebrow “Not sure?”
The intern’s eyelid flinched, was I really that scary?
_________________________________
“Congratulations, the interns are scared of you” My roommate and fellow resident, Kyomoto Taiga said one morning as I handed her coffee. “That’s so unfair, I made one intern cry, one” I said as I rolled my eyes “Maybe lessen the scowling and the dagger eyes” She said while flashing me her brightest smile. “You see when you do that” referring to my best friend’s smile “it looks natural, not forced at all” I shrugged at her “When I do it I look like am plotting something”
She just laughed “It’s the years of practice and to be fair you’re not scary just misunderstood.”
“To me you look like a lost puppy, look at those cheeks” she said as she pinched them “You’re literally the only person that thinks that” I said with a very annoyed tone.
Taiga and I have know each other since we were kids. My parents worked in the hospital owned by her family. People see us as polar opposites, they see her as a refined young lady, while they see me as the gloomy, unsmiling one, but really were just two peas in a pod.
We’ve know each other for so long that she doesn’t even flinch when I give her one of my world famous death stares, people have told me that I am intimidating, even as a child. Not only was Taiga immune to this, but she finds it so cute and amusing. She’s weird that way.
When I told her my plans of becoming a doctor like my parents, I was surprised when she decided to follow me to medical school. She was very smart and I don’t doubt she can pass, but I never thought she dreamt of becoming a doctor. “Somebody has to manage the hospital” she said nonchalantly “and also if I don’t who’s gonna be your friend thru med school?” She just said with a shrug.
“Seriously, what should I do?” I was so done with the interns treating me like a ticking time bomb. Compared to my other co-residents, I was nice.
“Nothing”
“Huh?” I looked at her as confused as ever.
“Look, you’re a brilliant doctor, really good at your job and look really hot, like I would date you hot” she was looking at me seriously now despite the last comment “People are just intimidated, and that’s not a bad thing. Keeps them on their toes”
“Look who’s talking about being intimidating” I said jokingly while I held my hot cup of coffee. “They are intimidated of me because of my family, that’s different. Now finish your breakfast so we can go to work” she says as she handed me a piece of toast.
“Yes, mom” I said as I took another sip of my coffee.
“And tell me if the others are still giving you a hard time”
“You know, you’re as scary as I am” I pointed out while chewing.
“Perks you can use once in a while” she said with a wink.
__________________________________________
If this one cries, I won’t hear the end of it.
Though almost in tears, I saw her stance change as she readied to answer my question. “We need to flush and irrigate the wound with a saline solution to remove foreign debris, literate the bleeding and do a layer-by-layer closure of the skin” Her answer impressed me. I’m gonna keep this intern, she’s braver than the others.
“What bed is the patient in?” my tone not even changing “Bed 6 sensei”
As we got near to where the patient was, I heard a loud laugh coming from behind the curtain.
Looks like my patient’s in high spirits, good for him.
Jesse
I insisted that I didn’t need to go to the ER, the cut was small. But damn this thing just won’t stop bleeding.
“If you weren’t bleeding that much, I’d laugh at you” Juri said with a smile “You know what, I would laugh at me too” I said chuckling while trying to put pressure on my forehead.
It took Juri about 30 minutes before we got to the ER and it was busier than usual. Upon further investigation, I found out that there was a vehicular accident not too long ago. I was “interviewing” the nurse assisting me about the accident when Juri gave me a disapproving look “You’re also a patient, can you please stop being a reporter and just stay still” He’s usually an easy going guy but when he uses his directing voice outside of the set I get the chills.
“Sorry dad, cant’t help it” I said as I sat down next to him and continued answering the questioner the nurse handed me.
“I’ll take you for a quick CT scan Mr. Lewis” the nurse said as I handed her the questioner back
“Just standard procedure, nothing to worry about” she added quickly, maybe sensing the mood change.
It took 20 minutes to finish the CT scan and the nurse wheeled me to a bed and told me the doctor will be with me shortly. I was about to text Juri to tell him I was done with my tests, when I saw him busy flirting with a nurse not far from where I was.
Leave it to Tanaka Juri to find a date in any situation. “Shut up man, I might as well get a date out of this” he told me when he got to where I was.
“I wasn’t gonna” I said as I chuckled and shook my head and sat on the bed
“They found anything wrong with you?”
“Aside from a few loose screws, they said am okay” laughing out loud as I said it.
I heard the curtains being pushed aside. When I raised my head to look at the curtains direction, I’m not sure if it was because of all the blood I lost or if I really was seeing an angel. She has long jet black hair and fair skin, a small face with the most distracting pair of eyes.
“I’m Dr. Matsumura, I’ll be treating you” she introduced herself in a monotonous tone while motioning to the younger girl with her to hand her my chart “Are you his guardian? You can wait outside while we do the procedure” she said to Juri in the same tone.
“I’ll see you later man” Juri said smirking, knowing full well what was happening inside my head.
“We’ll start in a minute Mr—“ she paused and looked at my chart “Lewis” and instructed the same girl on the what she needs for the procedure “You can lay down the bed now”
She had to repeat her instructions because it took me a second to gain my composure back “Are you sure there is nothing wrong with him?” She directed the question to the the intern I presume.
“Yes doc, they ordered a CT earlier and it was all clear”
“Sorry, just a bit distracted” I said as flashed my most dazzling TV smile. She just looked at me not even smiling back. Does she not recognize me? With my face being on TV most days of the week, most people recognized me and tend to be chatty.
“Okay, we can start now. If you can lay down and stay still please” Once Dr. Matsumura started the cleaning and the prepping of my wound, it has become very quite. There was a mirror on top of the bed, so I watched how she was crouched down so close on top of my head.
“This will sting a bit” as she put antiseptic on my wound “Thanks for the warning” I said through my teeth as I felt the tiny prickling. “Am going to put anaesthesia on the area, so you shouldn’t feel anything when I start suturing”
When that was done it started to go quiet again. Sensing that she wasn’t the chatty type, I started humming a Christmas carol to drown out the sound of my own heartbeat. I got so into it that I started tapping my foot. “How long does it take you to stitch someone up?” I asked after a while.
“30-45 minutes, it all depends on how big the wound is and how still the patient can stay” she said with a bit of annoyance in her voice as she tugged the string on top of my head. It didn’t hurt but I winced a bit.
“Oh sorry” I immediately stopped tapping my foot and stayed still as a corpse. Now what can I do to mask my heartbeat so she doesn’t hear it.
Hokumi
That answer sounded angrier than it’s supposed to be, again with my tone.
“I need a 3” needle for this, can you get me some in the nurses station” I said to my Dr. Sato, the intern “also some more bandages” I think she was caught a bit off guard because she was staring at the patient with googly heart eyes. “Yes, doc” she finally said acknowledging my request.
“Sorry, you can continue humming if that makes you feel more comfortable” I said more softly this time “but no more tapping, I need you to be still while I stitch you up” the needle and the extra bandages was just an excuse so that I apologize to Mr. Lewis without the intern hearing it. I have a reputation to uphold you know, granted that it’s not great but I don’t mind it.
When she got back, she handed me the needle and the bandages, and directed a shy smile to the man I was suturing. What’s up with that? Come to think of it, he does look familiar. I just don’t know where I’ve seen him from.
“Will it scar?” Mr. Lewis asked distracting me from my thoughts “As long as it heals properly and you put the medicine I will prescribe, you wont have a problem with that.” I said matter of factly “plus it’s practically covered with you thick hair, see?” I said before demonstrating how it would be covered.
Thick hair really? I rolled my eyes internally. If Taiga heard me right now, she would tease me of flirting with this dude.
“Too bad, I really wanted to look like Harry Potter” my handsome patient said with a laugh, shaking his shoulders a bit “oh sorry, I forgot I had to stay still” he immediately said.
“You don’t have to be as stiff as corpse, you can relax for a bit Mr. Lewis”
“Please call me Jesse, nobody calls me Mr. Lewis. He sounds like an old middle school teacher” I let out a a small laugh from his last statement
“Sorry, I shouldn’t be distracting you” he said with a smile.
“No worries, it would take a lot to distract me” I said while I finishing up the last of his sutures.
“Not me, apparently it just takes the promise of free cake to distract me enough to crash into a glass door”
“You crashed through a glass door? Like in the variety shows?” I tried very hard not to sound too baffled by this.
“Exactly like in the variety shows” he said with a laugh “Now that you put it that way, it sounds more exciting than what actually happened”
“Guess that cake must be really good” See I have humor, if the interns could hear me, who’s gloomy now.
“Well it better be. I got stitches for it” he chuckled.
“Clean, cauterise, suture” I may not be in the mood but I still need to teach the intern something, let’s just hope she’s really listening and not too distracted by our patient.
It took another 10 minutes for me to finish the sutures. Mr. Lew- I mean Jesse, started humming again. Hmm he has a nice voice, now this carol will be stuck in my head, great.
“You’re all set” I said as I cut the thread and stood up and stretched my back. He propped himself up to sit up and carefully stood up. As the intern handed me the chart again for his final instructions, I noticed how tall he actually was.
Snap out of it Hokumi! Why am I checking out a patient. I cleared my throat and that got his attention and looked at my direction.
“Mr. Lewis-“
“Jesse” he cut me off “I thought we agreed you’ll call me Jesse” again with that smile. Oh Hokumi I think you’re in trouble.
Jesse
“You can’t wet your wound for four days. Keep the bandage for 48 hours. I’’ll prescribe you with an antibiotic you need to take for a week.” She barked out her orders in a monotonous tone, her eyes refusing mine. “The stitches come off in 10 days. I’ll write down the name of the consultant who’ll be removing them” as she handed me the prescription.
“You’re not going to remove them?”
“No, stitch removal is done on an outpatient basis, not in the emergency room” Her voice was cool and distant.
I was about to say something else when I heard a familiar voice outside of the curtain “Jesse, the nurse told me you’re all stitched up” Juri said before peeking in
“Oh sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt” he quickly added when he saw Dr. Matsumura still with me.
“No we’re all done here, the nurse will assist you for the discharge procedure”
“No, I can do it! I can assist them” The intern said a bit too excitedly. Guess she recognizes me.
“Okay” the beautiful doctor said a bit surprised with her enthusiasm.
“I can take care of that for you” Juri volunteers and gave me a wink, but before he can even leave there was another call from outside the curtains “Dr. Matsumura” and a nurse appeared and whispered something in her ear.
“Sorry I need to go, you’re all set Mr. Lew- I mean Jesse” she stopped herself “if you have any more questions Dr. Sato here can answer them” as she pointed to the intern who has been assisting us from the beginning.
“Okay, I guess I’ll see you around” I smiled at her again “Dr. Matsumura?” The nurse said again trying to get her attention.
“I guess” she said. I think I saw her smile as she walked away.
“Mr. Lewis, shall we get you to billing?” Dr. Sato said
“Lead the way”
___________________________________
“So you didn’t even get her number then?” Juri said as he handed me water.
“Don’t you think it’s a bit inappropriate for me to do that” not everybody has Juri’s confidence or maybe he just doesn’t care. In our school days legend has it that he can convince anybody to do anything because of how much of a smooth talker he is.
“And as you can see” pointing at my bandaged forehead “a bit pre occupied”
“Oh come on man, I knew when I saw her” he said teasingly “She’s totally your type”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about” I tried feigning innocence
“Hahahah you can’t fool me, you even used your TV smile” he really does know me. If I shiver when I hear his directing voice outside the set. He calls my “TV smile” my go to move.
“At least tell me you got her name” Her name, oh her name I forgot to get her name “I only saw H.Matsumura on her coat”
“I knew it” he shook his head “Hokumi, her name is Matsumura Hokumi”
“I got her name from the nurse I was talking to earlier” so he wasn’t just getting a date, he was doing a bit of intel for me. This man really does know me inside and out.
“Also took the liberty of googling her” as he handed me his phone.
There she was Dr. Hokumi Matsumura, smiling at her hospital profile.
“Please don’t drool at my phone” Juri snatched his phone back “Am not drooling” I said defensively.
“Sure, I believe you. I’ll send you the link for this, for future references” he said with a rather suggestive tone “Juri, please” I said in disgust
“Am just teasing man, come on it’s getting late. I’ll take you home”
“You still have a date?” I teased him back
“It’s midnight”
“So not a date then?” I said while laughing “You know what, I think you’re well enough, just take a cab” he said as he got up.
“I was only joking, it’s Christmas, spare me”
“Walk faster” as he picked up his pace.
Hokumi
If anybody else was going to call for me, they should be ready to be treated by a zombie. After treating Jesse, I was immediately called for a consult. Thank goodness it was just a check up and nothing major.
“Heard you treated Jesse Lewis” Taiga said when I entered the resident quarters she was on her phone. She has been waiting for me for the past hour.
“You know him?” How does she know him, am I the only one that does not know this guy?
“Dr. Sato was overly excited and all of the nurses got all giddy when they saw him” I said flatly.
“You really don’t know him? He’s literally on TV every night” Taiga said, I just shrugged my shoulders.
“You know if I don’t live in the same house as you, I would really believe that you live under a rock”
“That’s why I have you, to update me on things like these” I pat her head as plopped next to her on the sofa and checked my phone if there are places open to order food for our very late Christmas dinner.
“But you wanna hear what’s even more weirder”
“Hmm” I was a bit to preoccupied with my phone
“Dr. Sato said she thought she heard you laugh at his joke” Taiga said knowingly “Don’t know what you’re talking about” I tried to say in my most neutral tone “You want chicken?” Trying to change the subject.
“So it is true” her face lit up like the illuminations outside “When I heard her telling the interns about it, I thought she must have hallucinated because she was too scared of you” I just rolled my eyes. No point of denying it now, Taiga saw right through me.
“Do you want the 6 or 8 piece” trying to salvage the situation, am just delying the inevitable. We can do this when we get home.
“You can’t distract me with fried chicken….but get the 8 piece and the honey biscuits”
“You do know it’s just the two of us, right?” I know were both tired but we can’t possibly finish all the food.
“Shin’s picking us up, am too tired to drive and he said he was in the area”
“Fine, but he better bring us—“
“Cake, he already bought your favorite ice cream cake” I take this win as I smiled to myself while I ordered our Christmas dinner.
“Oh you’re not getting away that easy, you’re going to give me all the details when we get home” It’s scary how she does this, I really can’t hide anything from this woman. I stood up to start changing my clothes.
“There are no details to tell” I said while tossing my scrubs in the laundry bin.
“Aawww my dear Hokumi’s got a crush” as Taiga handed me my coat. I took one look in the mirror and saw how tired I looked.
“I don’t need a crush, I have you” I said as I followed her out the room.
“And you tell me there no details to this” she said with a smile.
Jesse
“Do we still have the cake?” I maybe injured but I’ll be in bigger trouble if I don’t bring Sanna her cake.
“It’s in the back seat, I don’t need Sanna’s wrath when I come over for New Years”.
“Smart man, knew I kept you for a reason” I pinched his cheeks “Cut it out man or you’ll really walk home”
“Wanna grab something to eat before we head home?” Juri asked before he started the car.
“What about your date?” If he really does have a date, as much as I’ve joked about it, I would never want to cockblock my best friend.
“Nah, cancelled that a while ago. I have a baby to take care of”
“What would I do without you?” as I jokingly stroked his hair
“Don’t make me punch you in the face” he glared at me. “Why? is this affecting you now?” I laughed
“No, but you might end up in the ER again with another injury and am sure your favorite doctor won’t be there to treat you anymore”
“Huh? How’d you know that?” I know Juri’s good but not that good, he didn’t have enough time to flirt with that nurse to get that kind of information. He must have seen the look on my face because he just laughed. Instead he gently nudged my head to the ER entrance. I was about to whine about how I just got stitches, but that’s when I saw her.
It was like every thing slowed down, she was tying her hair while she walked out of the automatic doors. She was talking to someone I couldn’t see and was laughing at their direction. I remembered the sound of her laugh when I made a joke earlier, it was only for a second but it music to my ears. She still had that same seriousness in her eyes but it is nice to see her more relaxed.
“Earth to Jesse” Juri was trying to get my attention, we were already driving near to where Hokumi was standing when I snapped back to reality.
“What are you doing?” I panicked when I realized what he was doing “You’ll thank me later”
I wanted the car seat to eat me but it’s too late now.
“Dr. Matsumura, on your way home?” Sometimes my best friend has great ideas but now am still contemplating if this is one of them.
Hokumi
“Shin said he’s 10 minutes away” Taiga said as we got out of the elevator.
“Oh just in time, our food is also on it’s way” I was busy giving instructions to the delivery man. I was already by the doors when Taiga called me “Hokumi wait up, don’t make me run” she was wearing heels because she had that Christmas lunch with her parents before she got called into surgery earlier.
“Keep up slow poke” I teased her while I tied my hair. When I got to the taxi bay, I looked at my watch. Shin must be in the intersection by now. I was about to call Taiga over when I heard someone call my name.
“Dr. Matsumura, on your way home?” It was Jesse’s skinny companion. It took me a second to see that Jesse was sitting on the passenger seat.
“Hey doc” He said with a small wave and a smile. Did my heart just skip a beat? No, I was just surprised. That’s all that is.
“Shin’s almost here” Taiga said right behind me, as she put her phone in her coat pocket.
“Oh hello” she said when she looked up “Friends of yours?” I know she saw Jesse that’s why she’s giving me a wicked smile. It’s honestly creeping me out.
Please don’t get out of your car, just stay inside, I pleaded internally.
“He’s the patient I treated earlier” trying to keep my tone neutral while also telepathically communicating to her to dial it down “Jesse Lewis” and now he’s right in front of me, great.
“Oh I heard, everybody in the ER was talking about you” she said in a very teasing tone. She gave my elbow a nudge as if a cue to introduce her.
“This is my friend, Dr. Kyomoto Taiga”
“Hello, nice to meet you” she gave Jesse a quick head to toe, he might be taller than Taiga but she is not one to be intimidated. She then turned to me and gave me a look of approval. Thank goodness Jesse doesn’t seem to notice this and continued on what he was saying.
“Juri and I can give you a ride if you want. As a thank you, for treating me earlier” he quickly added “We’re not being creepy or anything, it’s just that there’s no taxis here” he said as he looked around the empty taxi bay where we were standing. I do believe him, he gave me a sincere smile with puppy dog eyes.
Crap we’re treading in very dangerous waters now. I may look and sound very collected but am panicking internally. I am sure Taiga caught this as she gave a small laugh, and just sighed.
“Sorry boys but somebody’s already picking us up” as she put an arm around my shoulders. As much as Taiga likes to tease, she is very protective of me.
“Speaking of the devil, our ride is here” Just as she said Shin parked his car in front of Juri’s and got out of the driver’s seat.
“We’ll go ahead” I said almost dragging Taiga to the car, before she says anything else. “Byeeee and Merry Christmas” Taiga said as laughing as she walked towards the car.
I was about to follow after her when Jesse called me again.
“Dr. Matsumura, can I get your number?”
“Huh? Why?” I couldn’t hide how surprised I was with this request.
“Dr. Sato said I may experience fever and stuff later. It would make me feel better if I have a direct line to you”
“Oh ok” Shin honked his horn once, I know he was telling me to wrap it up already. I knew that if I took a minute longer he would get out of the car and I really don't want that. Shin is worst than Taiga. I was out of options so I just took out my phone and showed him my Line QR code, this is faster than fishing for my business card inside my bag.
I saw Shin step out of the car “I really do have to go now” as I hurriedly walked towards it.
"Took you long enough" he said as he gave Jesse a nod.
When I got inside the car, My phone dinged and I looked at the Line message I just got.
“Merry Christmas” It was from Jesse, I couldn’t help but smile at this. I saw Taiga looking at me thru the rear view window.
“Don’t” I just told her with a stern tone
“Wasn’t gonna” she said laughing as Shin drove away.