What Medical School Doesn't Train You For
Title: What Medical School Doesn't Train You For (3/?)
Author: xoxo_nat_xx
Pairing: Eunhyuk/Donghae (and several other ninja pairings)
Ratings: PG
Genre: Romance, Fluff, Angst (in the future)
Summary: Donghae's the new intern at this prestigious hospital, and he's one of the best medical students produced from his school. He thinks he is prepared for whatever that comes his way, anything, from that emergency surgical procedure to dealing with the aftermath of accidents, he has everything sailing smoothly. But Eunhyuk comes in and sticks out like a sore thumb, and disrupts Donghae's schedule, who soon falls into pieces. Does medical school really train you for everything, or is the real experience out there, after all?
The night has been rather quiet, and this is a rare occurrence that the interns savour. Donghae and Kibum are doing administrative work, keying in patients’ particulars into the computer, a relative easy job. Donghae feels like there is this tense atmosphere between Kibum and him because of the incident this afternoon, but he doesn’t know how to break it; Kibum’s just too quiet, he will probably nod as a sign of acknowledgement.
Siwon enters the room, his thick brows raised so high that Donghae’s a little bewildered, how is it possible that someone be so disturbed, or amused? Donghae notices that Kibum is also wearing a slightly amused expression, and he tilts his head; Kibum showing an expression is equivalent to the blue moon appearing in the night sky. Perhaps it is, the world seems different today.
“What’s wrong?” Donghae ventures, and Siwon turns around so quickly that both Kibum and Donghae gets a shock.
‘Donghae. Kibum.” Siwon starts, and he is wearing this serious look on his countenance that makes Donghae wants to laugh. Kibum turns towards Donghae, where Siwon cannot see his expression, and mimics Siwon’s features by raising his eyebrows as far as they can go. Donghae hurriedly rearranges his features into a stony one, so Siwon doesn’t notice anything astray.
“What if…someone asks you to let him die, will you let him die?” Siwon asks solemnly, and Donghae turns silent immediately.
“What a philosophical question.” Kibum states simply, and he turns back to his laptop to resume his task.
“I was just walking by this ward, and he asked me this question. I don’t know, doctors are supposed to help save lives, not end them, right?” Siwon asks, but he sounds so unsure of his answer that Donghae is a little puzzled as well. Doctors are supposed to save patients, but euthanasia is supposed to be seen as a kind act, instead of an uncompassionate one. It is unkind of take away someone’s right to die, but doctors are definitely not the one to carry it out, although they are in the first contact with the patients.
“Who asked?” Donghae questions, and there is this nagging feeling that refuses to go away in him, as if this is foreshadowing something in the future.
“That patient…the one who is rather weird in some sense…” Siwon trails off, snapping his fingers repeatedly as he tries to recall the name.
“Eunhyuk?” Donghae suggests, and he is rewarded with an enlightened glance from Siwon, but he misses the curious gaze from Kibum. Kibum exchanges glances with Siwon, and Donghae is left bewildered, unsure of what is going on.
“Donghae, since when the patient on Bed 13 became Eunhyuk?” Siwon teases, and Donghae kicks his leg against the desk a little too hard. He pretends not to hear that question and dives back into the staggering pile of paperwork on his desk, and Siwon snickers softly, earning a mock glare from Donghae. No, he is positive that he cannot hear what Siwon is going on about.
“But still…why do you think he asked this question?” Kibum muses so softly that Donghae nearly missed the question, and his heart jumps a beat at the question. His first patient who he has interaction with, dying; the one who managed to help him through this afternoon, dying; the one who provides all the philosophical questions and makes Donghae search the answers for them until he fumbles and ends up scratching his head, dying, and Donghae has no answer to what will go on next.
--------
Donghae manages to convince himself to be there when his very first patient is going to leave the hospital. He smiles awkwardly from the side of bed as his patient smiles up at his from his wheelchair, prosthetic legs already in place. Donghae feels like he doesn’t really deserve this, not all those bows and words of thanks the family is showering on him now, no, he feels unworthy of all this. He fumbles slightly with the board that has the patient’s medical particulars on, and quickly takes a peek at the name.
“Uhh…” Donghae takes another peek, “Joonghyun, congratulations for recovering so fast.” And he releases the breath he doesn’t know he has been holding. Joonghyun smiles up at him, and Donghae sees the surprise in his eyes as both of them acknowledge that it is the first time Donghae addresses him by the name. He murmurs a soft word of thanks, inclining his heart, and for the first time Donghae thinks it isn’t that bad to know your patient’s name, for once.
Donghae quickly motions to Heechul to help push Joonghyun out of the ward, and ignores the glare that Heechul shoots him every now and then. Donghae secretly hides a smile as he watches Heechul wheel and chivvy the rest of the family members out of the ward, according to the orders of the doctor. As he watches the rest of them leave with smiles, although some forceful, he knows they are thankful that Joonghyun is at least, still alive.
“Not bad, eh, Donghae?” Donghae hears someone whisper in his direction, and he immediately knows who that person is. Without turning around, he nods, satisfied at a job well done. He waits for Eunhyuk to come up with another question, or anything, a statement, a cryptic figure of speech, but the silence between them stretches so heavily that Donghae is puzzled, and he turns around to face Eunhyuk.
Eunhyuk’s staring out of the window again, and is resolutely avoiding Donghae’s gaze, for some reason Donghae thinks he should know, but his intuition isn’t telling him anything. He wonders if Eunhyuk needs some quiet all to himself, and he stands there in silence, uneasily, as he waits for Eunhyuk to say something.
“Donghae…” Eunhyuk whispers, “when is the last time you went home? Home…as in where your family is.” He finishes, and he lifts his head so he can scrutinize Donghae’s expression. Donghae freezes unknowingly, and Eunhyuk notices all these small details; but he never says it out, it’s just his observations, and no one else’s.
“About…at least 7 months?” Donghae guesses, giving a vague figure. Studying for finals has been tough, and he needed the time to concentrate. He realizes that all this while, Henry and his mother have been the ones to come over and visit him, and he no longer knows how his previous, or his actual, real house looks like; he forgets how homely a house should be, he forgets the warmth of having a family to wait for him as he approaches his apartment late at night. And with Henry’s condition, Donghae realizes it has been tough for his mother to do all this by herself.
“Hmm…” Eunhyuk hums to himself as he makes some grunting noise that Donghae couldn’t make any heads or tails out of it. Donghae wonders if he should throw back the same question to Eunhyuk, but questions himself if he is being too insensitive then. It’s not his business as well, and asking this may only result in more pain, if what he dreamt of is foreshadowing the future.
“Donghae…how about a year, 2 months, 7 days, and counting? Is that considered long, yet?” Eunhyuk asks softly, his expression unreadable. Donghae opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out, and he stands there awkwardly, trying to think of something appropriate to say, until his phone rings, and Siwon says the head of the hospital is looking for them. Something’s wrong, Donghae thinks to himself, but he isn’t sure if he is referring to Eunhyuk, or the head of the hospital.
As he mutters an apology and turns around to leave the ward, he hears Eunhyuk whisper again.
“Out, Donghae, I want out of this hospital.”
--------
Kibum sets his lunch plate in front of the other two interns at the canteen, and the three of them eat in silence. Donghae is feeling a little annoyed, as Siwon keeps on fidgeting during his meal, as if something is biting him and he just simply cannot sit still.
“So.” Siwon starts, dropping his spoon into his soup and causing a mini splash, which raises the attention of Donghae and Kibum. He quickly adjusts himself so he is facing the other two interns, and he raises his hand to make a point.
“What do you think will happen to Yesung?” Siwon rushes the sentence out, and Donghae wonders if there is only anxiety behind that tone of his. Kibum shrugs as he returns to his meal, and Donghae just frowns. The man who was robbed yesterday came back to the hospital, with a lawsuit. He is suing Yesung for not saving his wife, although he thinks his wife can be saved. But Donghae knows otherwise; it’s one, or the other. He cannot have both, and he’s now being ridiculous trying to sue the man who saved his child.
“That person is absurd.” Donghae mutters, and Siwon looks positively relieved as he hears Donghae’s statement. Kibum just raises his eyebrows at both Donghae and Siwon, and Donghae resumes eating his lunch, ignoring the intense gaze Siwon is now throwing at him.
“No, Siwon. I will not throw a party to shout my support for Yesung. I will provide emotional support by testifying what I know and what I have done in court instead. Does that answer your question?” Donghae states, a little short, as he takes his tray and dumps it at the nearest collection centre, striding out of the canteen in quick, brisk steps, determined.
Siwon turns back to Kibum, and Kibum keeps quiet, as usual. Siwon sighs, and he returns back to drinking his soup.
--------
“Yesung.” Donghae gasps, not knowing that he has accidentally stumbled into the pantry with the head of department in there, alone. Yesung looks up from his worried posture, and he visibly forces himself to relax, smiling a little as he nods his head towards Donghae. Donghae stands in the doorway, a little uncomfortable, but decides against leaving the pantry without his cup of coffee. He brushes past Yesung slightly as he reaches for a cup, and starts brewing his own.
Yesung’s quiet the whole while, and he has not moved a single inch from his previous spot, Donghae realizes. Donghae exhales slowly, wondering what he should do to make the tense situation a little better. At times, Donghae does start to doubt, but being suspicious brings him nowhere, and he’s left back at square one again. Perhaps he should trust his head of department that he has made the right choice, yesterday, but he doesn’t know what’s true, or what’s wrong yet.
Yesung sighs, and Donghae is jolted out of his thoughts. He stares at Yesung as the latter picks up an empty cup and moves towards the exit, deep in thought.
“Hyung.”
Yesung turns around to look at Donghae, a little surprised that his junior has finally thrown the formalities away, and for Donghae, it’s a huge achievement for him. Donghae manages to smile a little, the sides of his eyes crinkling as he smiles. He presses his own cup of coffee into Yesung’s hands, taking that empty cup away, and Yesung feels the warmth, both from the coffee, and Donghae’s gesture. Yesung smiles, and Donghae thinks he understands.
“Thank you.” Yesung says simply, and he leaves.
---------
Eunhyuk stares at the x-ray films in front of him, hung on that small screen where the light passes through it, so happily and radiantly, Eunhyuk almost manages to lie to himself that he isn’t collecting his weekly check up results. However, his sister is too tense sitting beside him to pass off, and Eunhyuk sighs, as he is drawn back to reality, focusing on his doctor in front of him.
“Eunhyuk-shii.” The doctor starts, and Eunhyuk sighs again, visibly this time. His sister throws him a warning glance, but it doesn’t matter, she never has the heart to be angry with him at all.
“Just Eunhyuk is fine, doctor.” The doctor fidgets in his chair, a little uncomfortable at addressing his patient on first-terms, and Eunhyuk sees the overwhelming difference between he himself, and the doctor, just like how different he is from Donghae. The doctor nods, forcing himself to act a little more casual, and Eunhyuk brings his jacket up, trying to hide a smile behind his piece of clothing.
“Eunhyuk. Your x-ray films show that…” The doctor trails off, and Eunhyuk understands. After so many weekly checkups, he already understands what is going on, and perhaps, he can even start reading that x-ray films all by himself, all he needs is that bright screen board thing, and perhaps, just the strength to allow him to stand through all this trouble.
“Doctor. There’s just one thing I want to know.” Eunhyuk states, before the doctor can finish his sentence. Eunhyuk sees his sister clutch a little tighter at her bag, and he knows this is the essential question everyone is waiting for. Why not drop the bombshell earlier, Eunhyuk thinks, and he almost laughs at his own thoughts.
“Doctor.” Eunhyuk prods, for the doctor seems to have gone into his own world, as well.
“Yes Eunhyuk. Yes, it’s getting worse.”
Eunhyuk breathes in slowly, and he exhales.
“How much is it going to decrease by?” Eunhyuk purposely doesn’t specify the ‘it’, because he knows his sister is already too uptight, judging from the tense set of shoulders, and the clenched fists, this could probably push her over the edge.
“Eunhyuk,” the doctor whispers, almost painfully. “Eunhyuk.”
And Eunhyuk understands.
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A/N: It's coming D: And I don't know how long I'm extending this till omg.
Author: xoxo_nat_xx
Pairing: Eunhyuk/Donghae (and several other ninja pairings)
Ratings: PG
Genre: Romance, Fluff, Angst (in the future)
Summary: Donghae's the new intern at this prestigious hospital, and he's one of the best medical students produced from his school. He thinks he is prepared for whatever that comes his way, anything, from that emergency surgical procedure to dealing with the aftermath of accidents, he has everything sailing smoothly. But Eunhyuk comes in and sticks out like a sore thumb, and disrupts Donghae's schedule, who soon falls into pieces. Does medical school really train you for everything, or is the real experience out there, after all?
The night has been rather quiet, and this is a rare occurrence that the interns savour. Donghae and Kibum are doing administrative work, keying in patients’ particulars into the computer, a relative easy job. Donghae feels like there is this tense atmosphere between Kibum and him because of the incident this afternoon, but he doesn’t know how to break it; Kibum’s just too quiet, he will probably nod as a sign of acknowledgement.
Siwon enters the room, his thick brows raised so high that Donghae’s a little bewildered, how is it possible that someone be so disturbed, or amused? Donghae notices that Kibum is also wearing a slightly amused expression, and he tilts his head; Kibum showing an expression is equivalent to the blue moon appearing in the night sky. Perhaps it is, the world seems different today.
“What’s wrong?” Donghae ventures, and Siwon turns around so quickly that both Kibum and Donghae gets a shock.
‘Donghae. Kibum.” Siwon starts, and he is wearing this serious look on his countenance that makes Donghae wants to laugh. Kibum turns towards Donghae, where Siwon cannot see his expression, and mimics Siwon’s features by raising his eyebrows as far as they can go. Donghae hurriedly rearranges his features into a stony one, so Siwon doesn’t notice anything astray.
“What if…someone asks you to let him die, will you let him die?” Siwon asks solemnly, and Donghae turns silent immediately.
“What a philosophical question.” Kibum states simply, and he turns back to his laptop to resume his task.
“I was just walking by this ward, and he asked me this question. I don’t know, doctors are supposed to help save lives, not end them, right?” Siwon asks, but he sounds so unsure of his answer that Donghae is a little puzzled as well. Doctors are supposed to save patients, but euthanasia is supposed to be seen as a kind act, instead of an uncompassionate one. It is unkind of take away someone’s right to die, but doctors are definitely not the one to carry it out, although they are in the first contact with the patients.
“Who asked?” Donghae questions, and there is this nagging feeling that refuses to go away in him, as if this is foreshadowing something in the future.
“That patient…the one who is rather weird in some sense…” Siwon trails off, snapping his fingers repeatedly as he tries to recall the name.
“Eunhyuk?” Donghae suggests, and he is rewarded with an enlightened glance from Siwon, but he misses the curious gaze from Kibum. Kibum exchanges glances with Siwon, and Donghae is left bewildered, unsure of what is going on.
“Donghae, since when the patient on Bed 13 became Eunhyuk?” Siwon teases, and Donghae kicks his leg against the desk a little too hard. He pretends not to hear that question and dives back into the staggering pile of paperwork on his desk, and Siwon snickers softly, earning a mock glare from Donghae. No, he is positive that he cannot hear what Siwon is going on about.
“But still…why do you think he asked this question?” Kibum muses so softly that Donghae nearly missed the question, and his heart jumps a beat at the question. His first patient who he has interaction with, dying; the one who managed to help him through this afternoon, dying; the one who provides all the philosophical questions and makes Donghae search the answers for them until he fumbles and ends up scratching his head, dying, and Donghae has no answer to what will go on next.
--------
Donghae manages to convince himself to be there when his very first patient is going to leave the hospital. He smiles awkwardly from the side of bed as his patient smiles up at his from his wheelchair, prosthetic legs already in place. Donghae feels like he doesn’t really deserve this, not all those bows and words of thanks the family is showering on him now, no, he feels unworthy of all this. He fumbles slightly with the board that has the patient’s medical particulars on, and quickly takes a peek at the name.
“Uhh…” Donghae takes another peek, “Joonghyun, congratulations for recovering so fast.” And he releases the breath he doesn’t know he has been holding. Joonghyun smiles up at him, and Donghae sees the surprise in his eyes as both of them acknowledge that it is the first time Donghae addresses him by the name. He murmurs a soft word of thanks, inclining his heart, and for the first time Donghae thinks it isn’t that bad to know your patient’s name, for once.
Donghae quickly motions to Heechul to help push Joonghyun out of the ward, and ignores the glare that Heechul shoots him every now and then. Donghae secretly hides a smile as he watches Heechul wheel and chivvy the rest of the family members out of the ward, according to the orders of the doctor. As he watches the rest of them leave with smiles, although some forceful, he knows they are thankful that Joonghyun is at least, still alive.
“Not bad, eh, Donghae?” Donghae hears someone whisper in his direction, and he immediately knows who that person is. Without turning around, he nods, satisfied at a job well done. He waits for Eunhyuk to come up with another question, or anything, a statement, a cryptic figure of speech, but the silence between them stretches so heavily that Donghae is puzzled, and he turns around to face Eunhyuk.
Eunhyuk’s staring out of the window again, and is resolutely avoiding Donghae’s gaze, for some reason Donghae thinks he should know, but his intuition isn’t telling him anything. He wonders if Eunhyuk needs some quiet all to himself, and he stands there in silence, uneasily, as he waits for Eunhyuk to say something.
“Donghae…” Eunhyuk whispers, “when is the last time you went home? Home…as in where your family is.” He finishes, and he lifts his head so he can scrutinize Donghae’s expression. Donghae freezes unknowingly, and Eunhyuk notices all these small details; but he never says it out, it’s just his observations, and no one else’s.
“About…at least 7 months?” Donghae guesses, giving a vague figure. Studying for finals has been tough, and he needed the time to concentrate. He realizes that all this while, Henry and his mother have been the ones to come over and visit him, and he no longer knows how his previous, or his actual, real house looks like; he forgets how homely a house should be, he forgets the warmth of having a family to wait for him as he approaches his apartment late at night. And with Henry’s condition, Donghae realizes it has been tough for his mother to do all this by herself.
“Hmm…” Eunhyuk hums to himself as he makes some grunting noise that Donghae couldn’t make any heads or tails out of it. Donghae wonders if he should throw back the same question to Eunhyuk, but questions himself if he is being too insensitive then. It’s not his business as well, and asking this may only result in more pain, if what he dreamt of is foreshadowing the future.
“Donghae…how about a year, 2 months, 7 days, and counting? Is that considered long, yet?” Eunhyuk asks softly, his expression unreadable. Donghae opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out, and he stands there awkwardly, trying to think of something appropriate to say, until his phone rings, and Siwon says the head of the hospital is looking for them. Something’s wrong, Donghae thinks to himself, but he isn’t sure if he is referring to Eunhyuk, or the head of the hospital.
As he mutters an apology and turns around to leave the ward, he hears Eunhyuk whisper again.
“Out, Donghae, I want out of this hospital.”
--------
Kibum sets his lunch plate in front of the other two interns at the canteen, and the three of them eat in silence. Donghae is feeling a little annoyed, as Siwon keeps on fidgeting during his meal, as if something is biting him and he just simply cannot sit still.
“So.” Siwon starts, dropping his spoon into his soup and causing a mini splash, which raises the attention of Donghae and Kibum. He quickly adjusts himself so he is facing the other two interns, and he raises his hand to make a point.
“What do you think will happen to Yesung?” Siwon rushes the sentence out, and Donghae wonders if there is only anxiety behind that tone of his. Kibum shrugs as he returns to his meal, and Donghae just frowns. The man who was robbed yesterday came back to the hospital, with a lawsuit. He is suing Yesung for not saving his wife, although he thinks his wife can be saved. But Donghae knows otherwise; it’s one, or the other. He cannot have both, and he’s now being ridiculous trying to sue the man who saved his child.
“That person is absurd.” Donghae mutters, and Siwon looks positively relieved as he hears Donghae’s statement. Kibum just raises his eyebrows at both Donghae and Siwon, and Donghae resumes eating his lunch, ignoring the intense gaze Siwon is now throwing at him.
“No, Siwon. I will not throw a party to shout my support for Yesung. I will provide emotional support by testifying what I know and what I have done in court instead. Does that answer your question?” Donghae states, a little short, as he takes his tray and dumps it at the nearest collection centre, striding out of the canteen in quick, brisk steps, determined.
Siwon turns back to Kibum, and Kibum keeps quiet, as usual. Siwon sighs, and he returns back to drinking his soup.
--------
“Yesung.” Donghae gasps, not knowing that he has accidentally stumbled into the pantry with the head of department in there, alone. Yesung looks up from his worried posture, and he visibly forces himself to relax, smiling a little as he nods his head towards Donghae. Donghae stands in the doorway, a little uncomfortable, but decides against leaving the pantry without his cup of coffee. He brushes past Yesung slightly as he reaches for a cup, and starts brewing his own.
Yesung’s quiet the whole while, and he has not moved a single inch from his previous spot, Donghae realizes. Donghae exhales slowly, wondering what he should do to make the tense situation a little better. At times, Donghae does start to doubt, but being suspicious brings him nowhere, and he’s left back at square one again. Perhaps he should trust his head of department that he has made the right choice, yesterday, but he doesn’t know what’s true, or what’s wrong yet.
Yesung sighs, and Donghae is jolted out of his thoughts. He stares at Yesung as the latter picks up an empty cup and moves towards the exit, deep in thought.
“Hyung.”
Yesung turns around to look at Donghae, a little surprised that his junior has finally thrown the formalities away, and for Donghae, it’s a huge achievement for him. Donghae manages to smile a little, the sides of his eyes crinkling as he smiles. He presses his own cup of coffee into Yesung’s hands, taking that empty cup away, and Yesung feels the warmth, both from the coffee, and Donghae’s gesture. Yesung smiles, and Donghae thinks he understands.
“Thank you.” Yesung says simply, and he leaves.
---------
Eunhyuk stares at the x-ray films in front of him, hung on that small screen where the light passes through it, so happily and radiantly, Eunhyuk almost manages to lie to himself that he isn’t collecting his weekly check up results. However, his sister is too tense sitting beside him to pass off, and Eunhyuk sighs, as he is drawn back to reality, focusing on his doctor in front of him.
“Eunhyuk-shii.” The doctor starts, and Eunhyuk sighs again, visibly this time. His sister throws him a warning glance, but it doesn’t matter, she never has the heart to be angry with him at all.
“Just Eunhyuk is fine, doctor.” The doctor fidgets in his chair, a little uncomfortable at addressing his patient on first-terms, and Eunhyuk sees the overwhelming difference between he himself, and the doctor, just like how different he is from Donghae. The doctor nods, forcing himself to act a little more casual, and Eunhyuk brings his jacket up, trying to hide a smile behind his piece of clothing.
“Eunhyuk. Your x-ray films show that…” The doctor trails off, and Eunhyuk understands. After so many weekly checkups, he already understands what is going on, and perhaps, he can even start reading that x-ray films all by himself, all he needs is that bright screen board thing, and perhaps, just the strength to allow him to stand through all this trouble.
“Doctor. There’s just one thing I want to know.” Eunhyuk states, before the doctor can finish his sentence. Eunhyuk sees his sister clutch a little tighter at her bag, and he knows this is the essential question everyone is waiting for. Why not drop the bombshell earlier, Eunhyuk thinks, and he almost laughs at his own thoughts.
“Doctor.” Eunhyuk prods, for the doctor seems to have gone into his own world, as well.
“Yes Eunhyuk. Yes, it’s getting worse.”
Eunhyuk breathes in slowly, and he exhales.
“How much is it going to decrease by?” Eunhyuk purposely doesn’t specify the ‘it’, because he knows his sister is already too uptight, judging from the tense set of shoulders, and the clenched fists, this could probably push her over the edge.
“Eunhyuk,” the doctor whispers, almost painfully. “Eunhyuk.”
And Eunhyuk understands.
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A/N: It's coming D: And I don't know how long I'm extending this till omg.