"Sometimes a stranger understands you better than your own friends ever will."

-Anonymous

Y/N's POV

I sat in the hospital, jotting down the statuses of the patients. To think that some people had to spend their Christmas immobilized in a hospital instead of spending it with their family was tragic.

"Nurse L/N, please give Dr. Tsumiki the update on a patient named Leon Kuwata. He has been hospitalized for four days." [MIKAN GOT UPGRADED FROM NURSE, BITCH--]

"Ah, yes! I'll be right on it!" I bowed towards the head doctor of the team.

My shoes clacked down the hallways as I neared room 11037. Crazy that our hospital houses so many patients that it surpassed eleven floors.

I knocked gently on the door, alerting the male on the other side about my presence. "Mr. Kuwata, is it all right if I come in?"

He grunted in pain as if he said "yes".

I pulled down the handle and pushed the door open, putting on a brief smile to assure him everything was okay.

Once he saw my face, he also smiled. "Score. I got a hot nurse."

I rolled my eyes playfully, heading over to help him to sit upright. "Okay, ya big flirt, does anything hurt?" I asked with a small grin.

"Just my heart..." He pouted sadly.

"I'm serious, Mr. Kuwata." I said, changing my face in an instant from the small smile to a flat line across my lips.

"Sorry, sorry." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Other than a small headache, I think I'm fine."

I marked the boxes on the paper in front of me. On symptoms/other, I wrote down minor headache.

"Anything else that's bother you?"

"Actually, yes--"

"Other than the fact that I'm not into you?" I interrupted before he could finish his sentence.

His face dropped. "Never mind."

"That's what I thought." I gave him a sly smirk. "I'll inform the doctor that you're free to go."

He nodded and slumped back into the bed, covering a majority of his face with the hospital blanket.

Gently, I closed the door, but before I could even walk down the hallway, nurses and doctors were pushing someone frantically on a stretcher.

He was a male. That I could tell. His hair was quite long, but it worked out somehow in someway for him. His eyes were squinted shut, and his groans were bouncing off the hallway walls.

"Nurse L/N." One of the doctors pushing the stretcher called. "Immediately go to room 11153 and begin preparations for surgery."

I nodded, running faster than I had ever ran in my life. 

I burst through the door, quickly locating the equipment necessary for surgery such as a scalpel, clamps, retractors, etc.

Also, I set up the operation table, making sure first to wipe it down from the last procedure. Lastly, I tested the lights and other devices to make sure that it worked properly.

After I had done this in no fewer than four minutes, I walked out of the room to see the stretcher and the swarm of nurses only about twenty feet away.

They disappeared into the room, and I could only stare at the bloody mess on top of the stretcher before solemnly heading over to finish my duty with the other patients that I had been assigned to.

-Few Hours Later-

The sky darkened though it was probably only around five o'clock. Many of the doctors were heading home early to celebrate the holidays with their own families.

I was doing the same... except the fact that I didn't have any family in the area. My parents lived in my hometown while I lived in another big city. 

Just as I finished packing everything in my purse, Dr. Tsumiki called for me.

"Miss L/N..." She asked quietly while tapping my shoulder.

"Yes, Doctor?" I turned around and greeted her with a smile.

"C-Can you take the night shift? The patient in room 11153 needs to be watched for the night. H-He's in critical injury..." The tips of her fingers tapped together nervously as if she was afraid I was going to say no.

Well, I was going to say no.

'Was I really just about to throw away Christmas just for my job? Well, there's always next year... if I can survive...'

"Sure. I'll look after him." I faked a smile.

Dr. Tsumiki's face lit up. "Th-Thank you so much! I'll see you soon! M-Merry Christmas!" She handed me a small transparent box with the label "Figgy Pudding" on it.

"Thanks..." I watched sadly as she left. "Merry Christmas..." I mumbled, trudging to put my things back into my assigned cabinet.

I took a quick glance out the window and saw the snow through the darkness. Festive lights decorated the busy streets down below, and the music was so loud that you could hear it within the hospital.

Soon, I walked over to the patient's room in which I had been assigned to. I slid the papers out of the clipboard hanging on the wall right next to the door.

Name: Kazuichi Souda

Age: 21

Gender: Male

DOB: June 29

Accident: N/A

Gingerly, I put the files back onto the clipboard and gently knocked on the door. "Mr. Souda? May I come in?"

Silence.

Taking that as I yes, I creaked the door open. My eyes rested on the man I had seen earlier, bandages wrapped around his head and torso. He was facing away from me and seemed to be looking through the window like I did a few moments before.

An awkward moment hung over us before I decided to try and break the ice.

"H-Hello..." I mumbled.

"I'm sorry." The male's voice vibrated the silent room. 

Confused, I continued to stand there, staring at his bandaged back. "What are you sorry for?"

A small hesitation passed over us. "I took your Christmas away from you..."

Of course I had realized that, but was there anything for me to spend Christmas doing? Shopping for gifts to only have no one to give it to? Singing around the Christmas tree to further express my loneliness?

This man did feel guilty that he took my Christmas away, but I was thankful. I was thankful to spend Christmas with somebody, even a stranger. Obviously, I couldn't admit that because it sounded creepy and desperate.

"No... it's fine..." I smiled though I knew he couldn't see it. "I didn't really plan on celebrating Christmas this year..."

Quickly, I walked towards the table near his bed. 

"Are you hungry? I can try and put something together from the hospital pantry..." I offered, feeling more and more awkward from the silence.

"Hospital food?" He asked.

'Of course. Hospital food has a bad reputation for being gross gruel.'

"O-Oh, don't worry! Since it's Christmas, how about I try and cook you something?" 

He turned around from staring at the window, and I noticed how pink his eyes were. They were like pearls staring into my soul.

He gave me a small smile showing sharper-than-average teeth. "That'd be nice."

I nodded politely before leaving the room. As soon as I was out, my hand shot up to touch my face. It was easy to tell that its was radiating heat.

"Oh my Lord, why am I blushing?" I groaned to myself, walking briskly to the hospital cafeteria/kitchen.

Once I got there, I opened the heavy iron doors to the fridge. There were pre-packed meals for the patients, but it was Christmas. I wouldn't let anyone eat that and then report to the toilet for a serious case of diarrhea over food poisoning.

Luckily, some of the ingredients to make that gruel was still in the left side of the fridge. Shredded turkey, a bit of rice, corn, peas, carrots, a dead rat, celery, hummus, milk, potatoes, and other potential items were stored in that side.

Firstly, I plucked the dead rat by its tail by my fingernails and eagerly threw it in the trash. Then, I obviously washed my hands at least five times with soap and water.

In the end, I composed the shredded turkey and a bit of homemade cranberry sauce. I included a small cup of gravy for the mashed potatoes on the side. I mixed all of the vegetables together and smiled in satisfaction.

Everything looked edible.

A lightbulb lit inside my head. 

"Dr. Tsumiki's Figgy Pudding!" I shouted happily.

I ran to be storage cabinet and dug through my purse until I had found the famous treat.

I hurried back to the kitchen and added the finishing touches, even scooping some ice cream from the nurses' lounge.

After all of that, I walked back into the elevator with the foam tray in hand. It was the least I could do for the poor guy after he got into an accident.

Once again, I followed the routine of knocking on the door (though I had to put the tray down first) and entering.

"Hey," I smiled, heading over to his bed and setting the food down. "I tried cooking for once." I chuckled at myself.

He returned the laugh. "I guess I'm going to be introduced the to bathroom in a few minutes?" He asked humorously.

I rolled my eyes with a smile. "Yeah, yeah. Eat up, Mr. Souda."

He struggled to sit up, so I wrapped my arm underneath his to hoist him up. He gave me a quick "thank you" before I starting setting up the tray table on the bed. Afterwards, I placed the food on top.

To my surprise, he took a fork and started to pick at the turkey.

"Is this...?" He looked up at me.

I fumed. "Of course it's edible!" My face crinkled into a frown. "Now eat up. You're lacking some nutrition!"

He chuckled though he held his stomach in pain. "I wasn't going to ask that." He said sadly staring at the plate in front of me. "It's just that... Nothing..."

I nodded in respect and sat in the fold up chair next to his bed.

He began eating it, and surprisingly, his face didn't show sheer disgust. 

'Yay?'

After he finished, I helped him by throwing the tray away in the trash bin. He drank a glass of water.

"Nurse...?" He asked, intertwining his hands together over his full belly. 

"Hmm?" I hummed, my eyes trailing to meet his.

"I never quite got a hint as to what your name was."

"Oh." I smiled sweetly. "My name is Nurse L/N!" I pointed towards the badge pinned to the left side of my chest.

"No..." He trailed off once again. "What's your first name?"

Another moment of silence engulfed the room.

"Sorry... sorry..." He apologized, giving me a nervous grin. "I know it sounds a bit creepy, so--"

"Y/N..." I interrupted.

"What?" 

"You asked for my name." I said, the smile still present on my face. "My name is Y/N."

His face instantly turned from confusion to satisfaction. "Ah, Y/N. What a nice name."

In the flashes of red and green plus the snowflakes dancing in the night sky, I never would've realized that this meeting would turn into anything more significant.

-Two Hours Later-

Y/N's POV

"Aren't you sleepy?" I asked yawning.

He shook his head. "You?"

"Kinda... But I have to watch you sleep... not the other way arou--" I yawned. (Fun fact: I actually yawned irl so that's why I added the dashes)

"You should probably sleep, y'know." He smiled. "A pretty face like yours shouldn't be spoiled by eye bags."

'Flirt.'

"Well... I already have eye bags, so what do I have to lose?" I shrugged, exhaling deeply while the lights outside started to appear as a blur of green and red.

"Before you go to sleep..." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Can you help me learn to walk around the room? The accident kinda uh..."

Understanding, I checked the reports to see if he was allowed to walk. 

"Sure."

His face lit up a bit, bearing a smile with canine-like teeth. "Yes!"

Souda tossed his legs onto the side of the bed and I wrapped my arm under his pits as a support. In return, he placed his hand over my shoulder.

'For a guy who looks so skinny, he's pretty fucking heavy...'

His foot was hesitant as it touched the ground, but he smiled as he realized he was starting to be able to move.

"Okay, now step this way." I urged him, taking a small step away from him.

As soon as I did so, he started to wobble before leaning forwards and backwards very violently. It was as if he was trying to keep his balance.

"W-Woah! S-Souda!" I panicked, trying to help him regain support. 

Instead, however, he crashed down onto me. 

The cliché pin-the-girl-on-the-ground happened, and I was left staring up at a pair of pink eyes. Soda's face was overwhelmed with blush, and, most likely, my face was the same.

"I-I'm sorry, Souda... I shouldn't have lef--"

"Y/N. Please just call me Kazuichi." He said, smiling a bit despite the embarrassing pose and situation.

"K-Kazuichi..." I mumbled out his name like he was a classmate. "I give you my sincerest apologies as a nurse. I didn't do my job so--"

Before I could finish through my scripted apology, he got up, and I could feel the vibration ringing through his body.

He was laughing.

"You don't have to apologize, Y/N." He reassured me. "I feel fine. Better, if that's possible." 

I sat up as he tried to use the bedpost as a support to stand. Once I had gotten up, I helped him back to the bed.

"Hey..." He started the conversation again.

"Hm?" I dusted any dirt on my uniform from being on the floor. "Anything wrong?"

He shook his head, and the shade of pink that was on his face returned. "The city's having a New Years Light Parade coming Sunday..."

"Oh! I've heard that it's beautiful!" I grinned. "My friend went last year, and he said it was beautiful. He promised that he would take me this year!" As soon as those words left my mouth, I quickly shut my lips.

A flicker of hurt crossed his face. "Oh..." He mumbled. "Did he visit the hospital today? It's Christmas after all, and you're here taking care of me when you should be home with him."

My eyes then dropped down to the floor. "Why are you acting like that?" 

"Do I have to have a reason to act like this?" He crossed his arms. "He wasn't even thoughtful enough to visit you and say Merr--"

"He's dead."

Souda's eyes widened, and his mouth hung open. "What..?"

"H-He... he died two weeks ago... in a car accident..." I cried, trying to hold back the flow of tears.

Silence draped over the room like fog on a summer's day. Souda spoke up hesitantly yet quietly. "I'm so sorry... I didn't know...."

I nodded in understanding, wiping the remaining tears streaked on my cheeks. "I-I'm just going to leave now... My shift ends in three minutes."

Before I could leave the room, he grabbed onto my wrist, his eyes full of sorrow. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"You shouldn't have..." I sighed. "But you didn't know..."

"Let me take you to the Light Show on Sunday. I swear I'll make it up to you." 

Pushing the memory of taking care of my deceased friend in the hospital out of my mind, I nodded slightly. "That'd be lovely. I didn't think spending time in a hospital with a stranger during Christmas would be fun. Thank you."

"We're more than strangers now, aren't we?" He asked, still holding on. "We're friends." 

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah!"

He let go of my wrist. "I'll see you Sunday. In a wheelchair of not, I'll be there."

"Merry Christmas!" I said gleefully, heading towards the door.

"Merry Christmas... Y/N..."

***

'Little did I know that we'd be a little something more than friends.' I thought standing next to the altar in a flowing white gown. 

No words could describe the happiness that that Christmas had brought to me.

Christmas Special: Kazuichi Souda

[Complete]

{A/N: Please remember to vote (if you like it, of course) and comment! I really appreciate every single one; it helps me keep going!}