| [Jul. 8th, 2016|09:13 pm] |
The door opened again. Niimi-sensei ducked her head, barely clearing the lintel. She wore the regulation beige scrubs today, her hair tucked beneath a close-fitting cap, as did the two medics who followed her. One was a young man barely older than Ryouma; the other was a Hyuuga woman in her mid thirties, white-eyed and elegant.
"Hitomi-sensei?" Ryouma blurted.
Sense caught up, a moment too late. Of course it wasn't her. Hitomi had another pack of genin brats by now, and no time to come looking after one wayward former student. More importantly, this woman wore her cap pushed back on her forehead, baring smooth unmarked skin, not a Branch House seal. Her cheeks were a little fuller, her chin less stern. She looked like Hitomi's sister, and was probably a cousin thirty-seven times removed.
"Sorry." Ryouma tried to shove up, to greet them properly. The nurse's hand on his shoulder pressed him back down. He compromised with a seated bow. "You look like—like someone I used to know…"
"You wouldn't believe how often I hear that," the Hyuuga woman said dryly. "I'm Hyuuga Mitsu. This is Morioka Goro." She tipped her chin at the young man, who bobbed his head. The Hyuuga strolled forward, hands in her scrubs pockets. "Left lateral meniscus tear, is it?"
"So it seemed," Niimi-sensei said, watching her. "Tell me if I'm right."
Hyuuga-sensei blinked hard. Veins sprang out around her eyes, bulging on her temples and cheekbones. She crossed the perimeter line and crouched down, focusing on Ryouma's folded knee. "Spot on. That's 37-3 in your favor." She reached out to trace one finger over the shape of Ryouma's kneecap beneath the skin, then popped a pen out of her pocket and inked a quick series of marks. "Adhesions here and here—and the tear itself abrading here… Two sessions might do it, if we push. Three if we take it easy on him."
"Well, no time like the present," Niimi-sensei said cheerfully. "Go ahead and lay down, Tousaki. Goro?"
The young man darted forward to assist the nurse with positioning Ryouma: flat on his back, with his right knee bent to the side, out of the way, and his left leg straight. Small pillows cushioned his knee, head, and spine. They folded the hospital gown up over his thighs, leaving his leg bare, and hooked a saline drip up to his IV line. The IV stand itself waited outside the circle along with the other machines, leaving nothing metallic within the painted border. Out of the corner of his eye, Ryouma saw Goro drawing clear fluid into a needle and injecting it into the line.
"This is just to keep you relaxed," Niimi-sensei explained. "You'll feel sleepy, maybe a little floaty. We'll also numb your knee so you won't feel any pain. If it hurts, you let me know. Okay?"
Warmth began to seep into his veins. Ryouma blinked and looked for Kakashi. "Don't let him mess with my hair while I'm high."
Goro frowned at him in confusion, and then at Kakashi. Kakashi rolled his eye. "Please. It's not a challenge unless you're sober."
Ryouma's hair wasn't long enough for braids, anyway. And Kakashi probably wasn't the type to pet his teammates, even if he was surprisingly cuddly when he was high. Even if he'd touched Ryouma three times today, of his own free will.
"This will sting," Niimi-sensei warned, from somewhere down near Ryouma's knee. Ryouma didn't look down. He didn't want to see the needle; he tried not to flinch at the bite. He kept his gaze on Kakashi. |
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