Closer: Part One

Summary: Rei Sato has been crushing hard on a certain surgical intern…

Author’s note: I’m very excited to write about my MC, Rei Sato. Not only because I made her Tom’s cousin and older sister figure, but because she’s different from the type of character I usually write: they mostly are confident and bold. Rei is… just a nervous mess (a little bit like her lil cousin lol). She puts too much pressure on herself, doubts if she’s good enough and is a workaholic. This fanfic takes place between chapters 5 and 6.

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Pixelberry Studios.

Song: Closer – Tegan and Sara

All I wanna get it a little bit closer

All I wanna know is, can you come a little closer?

“Ugh, I can’t believe those butchers are already here. It almost feels like this is the only bar in town.” – Jackie commented as soon as they entered the ever dingy and packed Donahue’s. The surgical interns were already playing darts with their drinks in hands.

It was a Thursday night, Rei was accompanied by her roommates and all the medical interns had just finished their latest fourteen-hour long shift. They were all feeling pretty tired, but also feeling like celebrating. They had survived another endless shift, they deserved it.

“Well, this is the nearest bar of the hospital…” – Landry murmured. Indeed, it was just down the hospital’s street.

The group immediately headed to their favorite booth. After two weeks being regular customers there, they were already feeling like the booths area belonged to the internal medicine interns. Rei’s eyes immediately landed on a figure on the other side of the bar. He was playing games with the other surgical interns, as usual.

“Okay, whose turn is it to get the drinks? Is it yours, Rei?” – she snapped out of her trance as she heard Sienna talking to her by her side.

“Is it? Okay.” – her friends cheered as Rei headed to the bar and asked for a round of tequila for them.

She hummed to the song that played in the crowded bar as she waited for her drinks, when someone approached her, followed by a voice she knew almost too well by know.

“Fancy meeting you here.” – even before she turned to look back at him, Rei knew he had that characteristic cocky smirk on his face. Bryce’s playful dark eyes found hers. – “Feeling better?” – he asked in a lower volume, his usual confidence replaced by a quick mask of concern.

“Yeah.” – she murmured back, unable to prevent her cheeks from getting hot. Dammit, she knew she was blushing. – “Uh, thanks for checking upon me.” – she said, referring to what happened earlier that day.

“No problem. I’m a doctor. It kind of is my job to know if people are doing okay.” – but before Rei had a chance to reply anything back, Bryce’s colleagues called for him; it was his turn on the game. – “Coming!” – he grabbed the gin tonic the barman gave him and turned to her: – “Guess this is my cue. Talk to you more later?”

“Yeah.” – she smiled coyly to his wink and he walked away.

She couldn’t contain a frustrated sigh as the barman handed her the tequila shots.

Rei Sato’s been gathering up enough courage to ask Bryce Lahela out. But whenever she found herself alone with him – something that would happen quite frequently, based on all the times they had made out in that supply closet already -, the words just seemed to not come out of her mouth. As if she suddenly had lost her ability to speak.

At the same time that he would instantly put her at ease with that laidback, easygoing and overly confident personality, he made her that nervous.

Rei returned to her booth and her friends swung back the drinks at once.

“Ugh, will this thing ever start tasting better?” – Landry asked with a scowl as he put his empty shot glass back onto the table.

“It gets after a few more shots, Olsen.” – Jackie chuckled, as an upbeat pop song started playing.

“That’s my jam! Who cares to join me?”

“Let’s do this, Greene.” – Jackie got out of the booth and guided Elijah’s wheelchair toward the dance floor.

“Uh, the drinks are already making effect. Excuse me, girls.” – Landry said and headed towards the men’s restroom.

As soon as they found themselves alone in the booth, Sienna leaned closer to Rei’s side:

“You should ask him out!” – she clapped her hands together, whispering conspiratory to her friend. Rei almost choked on her drink.

“Ask whom?”

“Don’t try to fool me, Sato! Bryce Lahela! I saw you two chatting at the bar! There is something going on, I can sense it.”

Oh my god, what she was going to do? She couldn’t let any of her roommates know that she crushed on him that hard.

“Me? Asking someone out? Did you take one of your patients medicines?” – Rei said instead.

“I’m serious, Rei! What’s the problem? You clearly are interested in him.”

“Oh god, is it that obvious that I’m attracted to him?” – Rei hid her face behind her hands, casting a quick glance to where Bryce was with his friends.

Sienna giggled.

“Well, yeah. But don’t worry, it’s reciprocated.”

“How can you be so sure about it?”

“Because I know.” – Rei rolled her eyes to her friend’s vague answer.

“I…” – she looked down to her hands fidgeting nervously on her lap. – “Well, I guess we kind of already had a date. I mean, he invited me to this concert after a shift last week.”

“Oh! Really?” – Sienna shuffled excitedly on her seat. – “And what happened?”

“We enjoyed it.” – Rei’s cheeks turned a shade pinker. – “We danced… got some drinks… kissed…” – her friend let out a squeal. – “It was good.” – a small smile turned her mouth upwards. – “He even accompanied me back home, but then I had to run back to the hospital…” – she frowned as she remembered what happened afterwards. Dolores Hudson. Little Ethan.

“Well, but you clearly enjoyed it! And, based on what you told me about what happened today, I’m pretty sure he cares for you, Rei. So, what’s the problem? You two had already made out a few many times in the supply closet, I know.” – the petite woman winked playfully to her friend, who groaned in embarrassment.

“But… it’s different. I mean, asking him on a date.” – her face went pale. – “I’ll have to flirt. Oh god.”

“Hm, yeah? This is basically what you do on a date? Why? What’s the problem?”

The problem was that Rei Sato had never been a great flirt. In fact, she kind of sucked at it.

Okay, she totally sucked at it.

She never knew what to say. What to do. Even when people flirted with her. “Was that glance a ‘hey, you seem nice, let’s talk’ type of glance of a ‘hey, you’re hot, let’s take our clothes off now’ one?“. She never knew what they meant.

She had a few crushes growing up, but they never became anything more, and it never bothered her, really. She could count on one hand how many people she made out with in her whole life. And god knew how many times she had sex too: twice. And the first time was awful; they were both drunk and did it on a stall in a nightclub. Oh god, even remembering it made her cringe so hard. The second time was a bit better. They had privacy and were on a comfy bed. But he was her best friend. Things turned strange after it. And then they weren’t best friends anymore. Not even friends.

Anyway, to be honest, Rei Sato never cared much about it. About love and sex and that kind of stuff. Just thinking about it kind of made her nervous. She didn’t care anymore that she was 27 years old and had kissed only four people her whole life and had sex a couple of times. There was just one event here and there that she would look at someone and think ‘wow, this person is hot, I wouldn’t mind if they tore my clothes off’. It happened so sporadically that she just accepted that it was her nature and the way she was.

After she accepted it, things turned so much easier. She could finally stop creating fictional partners. She didn’t have to pretend she had fake crushes anymore.

It was handy that she didn’t have time for it too. Her life was entirely focused on saving other people’s lives. Rei always knew, since she was a little girl, that she wanted to be a doctor. It was her dream, her destiny, her goal, her wish, her everything.

But boy, oh boy, it wasn’t easy. There were times that she had almost given up. And, even though she apparently was a capable doctor – she still was an intern, but either way -, based on her impeccable report, Rei Sato still doubted herself, every single minute. Although she had always been one of the best students of her schools, Rei lacked confidence. What if she wasn’t good enough? What if she put some of her patients’ lives in danger again? What if one of her patients… died because of her inexperience?

And then, she started her internship at Edenbrook Hospital. Under her personal hero, Dr. Ethan Ramsey’s guidance. And with a bunch more of super capable and super confident – and super intimidating – interns. And everything felt like a competition; the majority of the other interns were always comparing between themselves who picked the toughest cases, who had treated the most patients. There were days when Rei felt like the job’s pressure and all that harshness between the hospital staff were so intense they were going to crush her.

…And today was one of those days. That made her want to throw it all away and fly back to Oregon, to her family.

The pressure was maddening.

…Rei’d never been a quitter. She had endured everything until now firmly and had never given up. She wasn’t going to start doing that now.

…But she had to take a little break.

She walked down the hallway in a quick pace and only let out a relieved sigh when she found herself  alone and safe inside the supply closet, closing the door behind her. It wasn’t the ideal place for a break, but that was what she could have. A bit of fresh air would be nice, but she couldn’t leave the hospital, even for a couple minutes on the parking lot. What if one of her patients needed her? She had to stay inside that maze – she’d been working there for weeks now, but she still got lost – to know in case she was needed.

The intern took a few deep breaths, calming herself.

She knew it was going to be like that. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Then, why she just kept having breakdowns regularly?

…She was pathetic. She had to change. She had to stop whining and do something. If she really wanted to be a doctor, she had to become tougher–

“I knew I’d find you here.” – his voice sounded both calm and confident. Even before she turned to face him, she knew he was smirking.

Bryce Lahela always had that cocky smirk on his face.

“Yeah…” – she murmured, turning her face away and staring at a blind spot on the floor.

He calmly sat down by her side.

“You okay?” – the tone of his voice was low and genuine. And she somehow knew he was asking it because he truly cared, not just because he was just being polite.

“I’ll be.”

“Tough day, huh?”

“Yeah.” – they stayed in there, in the dark and tight supply closet, in silence, for a few minutes.

Bryce didn’t force her to open up. He never did; he would just sit there and… wait. Until she opened up to him. It was always like that.

Eventually, she finally found the words to tell him what happened, as usual:

“Today… Ethan Hudson was taken.”

“The preeclampsia patient’s baby?” – she nodded to his question.

“Dolores… both her parents are gone and she didn’t have any siblings… and the kid’s father is out of scene. After a week in NIUC, he was finally discharged today and an adoption social worker came to take him. I’m glad that he’s alive and healthy, but…” – her frown deepened. – “He’s all alone. He’ll never get to grow up with the love of his mom… It’s not fair…” – she cut short in sobs.

“Hey, hey, hey.” – Rei felt one of his strong arms around her shoulders, pulling her closer. Bryce didn’t seem to care that her tears wetted his uniform. – “It’s okay. He’s going to be okay.”

She sobbed for a few minutes, letting it all out, Bryce patiently rubbing her back up and down with his warm hand in a comforting move.

“And how are things with Dr. Ramsey, by the way?” – Bryce asked when she finally calmed down. He knew Rei had a rough start with the more experienced doctor.

“It’s getting better.” – she answered, wiping her tears off. – “He’s a good mentor.”

“I heard about this competition between the medical interns to know who’ll be Dr. Ramsey’s junior fellow in the diagnostics team.” – she nodded, with her forehead still laying on her knees. – “It must be feeling like a war zone between you.”

“You have no idea.” – she let out a heavy sigh. – “Everybody is this close to get into each other’s throats. People are working like crazy, competing to see who’s attending the more patients and all. I’ll be honest, it would be a great opportunity become Dr. Ramsey’s junior. But… I don’t know. I wish we didn’t have to fight like this. We should be helping curing people because that’s our profession, not because we want a promotion.”

“You’re one of a kind, Rei.” – Bryce murmured softly, and the woman immediately felt her cheeks flushing. Thankfully, it was dark in there and he couldn’t see her face. Well, that was what she hoped. – “And you know, it’s never too late to switch to the surgical interns team.”

Rei Sato laughed for the first time that day. She lifted her head and looked at him.

“Why are you always trying to get me to switch sides, Lahela? I’m not leaving internal medicine. If Jackie hear this, you bet she’ll beat you—”

“Maybe because I want to see you more frequently.” – he said softly, and Rei shut her mouth immediately. He had a serious expression on his face. Unconsciously, she held her breath when his hand brushed a strand of hair off her face.

Their faces were just inches apart when they suddenly heard the P.A. System’s voice echoing through the building. It was for none of them.

She immediately pulled out, her heart beating fast. The mood was gone.

Rei felt her face getting hotter by the memory of Bryce’s face just inches from hers that afternoon, his big and warm hand cupping her face.

“You’re kidding me. You like that surfer bro?” – Jackie’s words immediately hit her.

Yes, she liked him. A lot.

There was something about that “scalpel jockey” – like Jackie would call him – that drew her to him. His dark, playful and magnetic eyes. That smirk… that at times would make her want to punch him and others kiss him until her head got dizzy. And god, that hair… And he was so ridiculously hot too.

But it wasn’t just physical. She really liked his personality. She greatly admired that cocky and carefree attitude of his. She wished she had all that confidence and spontaneity.

She was so drunk on him. She was falling for Bryce Lahela.

It’s not just all physical

I’m the type who won’t get oh so critical

So let’s make things physical

I won’t treat you like you’re oh so typical

“Oh I know! You could invite him to our apartment’s housewarming party on Saturday night!” – Sienna clasped her hands together, bringing Rei back. Uh, for how long she’d been zoning out?

“That… that would be nice. If he could go, I mean.” – Rei murmured and her friend nodded, with a satisfying grin.

“It’s settled! Now go talk to him!”

Rei looked down to the table, her eyes resting on the last tequila shot left untouched. Maybe she should have one more shot to boost her self-esteem. Just in case.

She drank the tequila in one swing – there, that should be enough – and left the booth she was sharing with Sienna and walked decisively towards the surgical interns, under her friend’s shouts of encouragement, with renewed confidence.

You got this, Rei.

I want you close, I want you

I won’t treat you like you’re typical