Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ How to Save a Life ❯ Fight or Flight, All or Nothing ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: slidetackle
AU, yaoi, 3x4, 1x2 and perhaps some 5x...you'll see... YAOI This is a story about our favorite pilots in a medical setting. These surgical interns are in for the biggest ups and downs of their lives! Can they survive the realm of surgery unscathed?

Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Angst / Shounen | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 02.10.2008 | Updated On: 02.10.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.0K | Visits: 484 | Status: Work In Progress

How to Save a Life
by: kudasai
Warnings: AU, yaoi, lemon, angst here and there, drama, romance
Pairings: 1x2, 3x4
Disclaimer: Well. I'm not gaining anything from this other than amusement. (In other words, no $$) And no, they're not mine. -- The title of this fanfiction is taken from a song by the Fray; the name is solely the artists for profit, I gain nothing. Also, many situations are presented in a series called Grey's Anatomy; I claim no gains as a result, merely enjoyment.
Author's Note: This is a fic I was inspired to write one day. The inspiration came from the Fray's song, “How to Save a Life.” I know that it's overplayed by now, but I connected to it at that time, so please don't think me to be cliché. There will be a lot of Grey's Anatomy type action going on, and you'll probably notice a lot of parallels with the show (because I think it's awesome.) I really hope you enjoy it.
Chapter One: Fight or Flight, All or Nothing
As the group of interns stepped into the large, sterile operating room, the realization finally hit them: they were here; this was it. This would be where they'd have to apply everything that they'd learned in medical school. There was no messing up anymore, no erasing. It was a scary feeling, but there was no turning back now.
“Welcome to Conrad-Irving United Hospital,” said a man with brown hair. “You've all arrived here as a result of your hard work, but even harder work lies in your immediate future. It will be a long journey for all of you; some of you will make it to the very end, and become surgeons. As for the rest, you'll most likely decide to do some other type of work in the medical field. But the matter of your future is irrelevant to me. I am interested only in the present. What I need while you're here is a job well done. If not…you know what the consequences are.” His dark brown eyes glinted as he looked around the room, then he continued. “My name is Dr. Treize Kushrenada, chief of surgery. I'm glad that you all are here at my hospital. Resident assignments will take place in twenty minutes in the west wing of the second floor. I suggest that you all don't start out on the wrong foot. Be on time.”
The brown-haired man turned on his heel and walked out of the double doors. He walked away knowing that those interns had no idea what was in store for them.

Phew, talk about intense, thought Quatre Winner to himself as he made his way to the fourth floor elevator fifteen minutes later. After the brown-haired man had left, he and most of the other interns had stayed behind to take in all the aspects of that operating room. As he walked away now, he tried to familiarize himself with the location of some important things on the floor. Ahh, like that drink machine, he thought as he pushed the down button outside of the elevator.
He heard a ding as the doors slid open. Inside there was another person, wearing light blue scrubs the same as his own. The boy had a single long braid that fell gracefully down his back. Even more interesting, however, were the dark violet eyes that opened as Quatre stepped into the elevator.
The button for the second floor had already been pressed, so Quatre leaned back against the wall. He noticed the violet-eyed man glance at him for a moment, and soon after, he stuck out his hand for Quatre to shake.
“I'm assuming you're an intern as well?” he asked as they shook.
Quatre nodded. “Yes, I am.”
“Well, my name's Duo Maxwell. Good to meet you.”
“I'm Quatre Winner-”
Duo's jaw dropped before he recovered. “Not from the Winner family?”
Quatre knew that that was going to happen. In fact, he expected it to happen. That's just what a person should expect for having a famous doctor already in the family. Thanks to his father and some of the surgeries he had pioneered, reactions like that followed Quatre everywhere. Not only that, but his sister Iria Winner had also made her way into the nation's top most promising surgeons list.
He sighed. “I'm afraid so,” he said to Duo with a weak smile.
“That's awesome,” Duo responded, sensing the boy's feelings about being a member of such a renowned family. “You ready for resident assignments?”
“I'm not quite sure. That could go either way…” Quatre trailed off as he recalled horror stories from other doctors about their resident.
“Too late to turn back now…” Duo said with a knowing smile as the elevator doors slid open again.
The two men stepped out, turned left, and headed straight for a large huddle of people in blue scrubs at the end of the hall.
“Alright,” a woman said loudly once Quatre and Duo were admitted into the huddle. “Now that all of us have decided to show up,” she threw a glance at the last-minute stragglers, “it's time to get started. There are five residents, and thirty of you. We've assigned six interns to each resident. The assignments are as follows: Under Dr. Archer…”
Quatre tuned out, but perked up again at any mention of a doctor's name.
“Dr. Kent…Knox, Wellborn…Dr. Thomas…Drew…
“Under Dr. Merquise's charge is Arnold, Chang, Maxwell, Parker, Ueda, Winner…”
“Your residents are waiting for you on the third or fourth floors. You should probably group up and move out.” And with that, the woman turned and left.
“Talk about a warm welcome,” said Duo sarcastically. “Alright, there are a couple of Asian kids over there, I bet one of them is Chang or Ueda.” Quatre nodded in agreement as they approached the two boys.
“Hey,” Duo started confidently. “My name's Maxwell. Do either of you happen to be Chang or Ueda?”
“I would be Chang,” said an exotic-looking Chinese boy. At about 5'6”, he seemed a lot more confident than any normal person Quatre had ever met. His jet black hair was drawn tightly into a tiny ponytail and his dark black eyes shined in the light as he took in the appearance of his two new companions. “Good luck finding your group, Tomo.”
“Thanks, see you later.”
“We just have Arnold, Ueda, and Parker to find now,” Quatre commented as he scanned the remaining crowd.
He was obviously, however, looking in the wrong direction though, because Quatre immediately felt a light tap on his shoulder from behind.
“Excuse me, but I think I overheard my name. I'm Sachiko Ueda,” said a petite girl with long and straight black hair. The black hair was to be expected, but the grey eyes were not. Quatre suspected that she was only half Japanese, half some other nationality. “I think that that's Parker,” she continued. She's the blond-haired girl over there; we met earlier today.”
“Alright, let's go,” Duo said.
The group moved forward and met up with Lauren Parker and, coincidentally, Cairo Arnold, who had been standing next to her.
“Okay, now that we have everyone, I suggest that we save introductions for later and get up to the next floor,” Chang advised.
Everyone nodded in agreement and climbed into the elevator. As the car rose to the floor above, Quatre hoped against hope that their resident was anything but a Nazi incarnate.

As the group emerged from the elevator onto the third floor, a voice from the right greeted their ears.
“Is this my group of interns? Chang…Ueda…Winner…Maxwell…Arnold…and Parker…”
Each nodded at the mention of his or her name, silenced by the eccentric appearance of this surgeon. First of all, the man's hair was white-blond, and long (probably longer than Duo's), but his eyes had the calculating, strategic look of a seasoned surgeon, though Quatre thought for sure he couldn't be over thirty. He wore a pair of standard teal scrubs with neon yellow tennis shoes. It was required wear with a twist.
“Good,” he continued. “I was beginning to think that you all had gotten lost...Anyway, my name is Zechs Merquise, but you all will be calling me Doctor Merquise. Before we get started, we need to go over my basic rules: one, I don't care if you make it or not; I'm merely your supervisor. Therefore, I do not need to hear about your personal lives. All of your problems in your private life should be left in the locker room. Two is: no sucking up. Understood? Good. Now let's get started.”
He walked over to the central work area and picked up a stack of patients' papers.
“Alright…Winner, Maxwell, I need these lab results taken to neuro. Take the top set to Dr. Yuy and file the rest in room 406…”
Dr. Merquise handed him a stack about as thick as his forearm, and Duo the same. They exchanged glances and shuffled to the elevator.
Safely behind closed doors, Duo cursed in indignation. “Damn! I did not spend years in medical school just to file papers!” Quatre nodded his agreement. “Ueda got to scrub in already too…” he trailed off longingly as they walked down the scrubbed-white hallway.
The two stopped a nurse and asked her where Dr. Yuy might be located, and learned that he was down the second hallway on the right.
As they proceeded down said hallway, Duo stopped dead in his tracks.
“Noo…Don't tell me that's Dr. Yuy…” he groaned as he blinked his eyes, apparently checking his vision.
Quatre looked past his stack of papers and saw a strikingly attractive man. The blonde wasn't necessarily attracted to his own sex, but there was simply no other way to describe him.
He stood in navy scrubs with a lab coat on, talking to a nurse. He had messy, dark brown hair and steely blue eyes. After this glance, Quatre felt himself being tugged into room 406 by Duo, who looked stressed.
He closed the door behind him while Duo held his head in his hands and rubbed his temples furiously.
“Um…Duo…if you don't mind my asking, why shouldn't that be Dr. Yuy?”
Duo breathed in slowly and mumbled something indistinguishable.
“Erm…sorry?”
“I slept with him last night.”
“WHAT?” Quatre shrieked, clapping a hand over his mouth. He lowered his voice. “You're gay?”
Duo looked around wildly, and rose from his chair to check the window. Yuy was still out there.
“I wasn't—I mean, I'm not,” he began as he started filing papers. Quatre rushed over to assist him. “It's just, he was at the bar, you know, there's one across the street from here…And he was there and he—well, you saw him, and I was drunk, and, well, you know…” He trailed off. “It was a momentary lapse in judgement,” he finished.
Quatre nodded his understanding. People did many things they regretted under such influence, and things just happened…But honestly, he thought, would I ever have dubbed Duo gay? And even more surprisingly, Dr. Yuy? Even though he didn't know the man, it still seemed highly unlikely.
“Now,” Duo began, “because of this unlikely turn of events, you have to take this paperwork to him. I can't believe this…I'll wait for you at the end of the hall, okay?” he said quickly as he shoved the papers into Quatre's hands. Quatre sighed, opened the door, and walked out.
Right into Dr. Yuy.
And felt Duo bump into him from behind. Quatre did his best to recover in good fashion, to distract the doctor.
“Oh, sorry, Dr. Yuy,” he said as the doctor looked up from his reading material. “But it's good that I found you—I was just bringing up Ms. Luther's lab results—”
“Yes, thank you,” he responded, but Quatre knew his rushed attempt to distract him had failed. The man was pointedly staring over the blonde's shoulder at Duo, who was looking rather interestedly at a point on the wall behind them.
“You?” Dr. Yuy asked in disbelief as he stepped around Quatre.
The braided man turned slowly on the spot, much like a child that had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“You're a surgical intern?”
“Seems like it,” he said in a mock-joking voice.
“Well,” the doctor paused, reading Duo's nametag. “Doctor Maxwell, it seems like I'll be seeing you around.”
And with a microscopic hint of a smirk, Dr. Yuy turned the corner and was gone.
That was certainly interesting, Quatre thought. I couldn't tell if that last bit was a pick-up line or a threat…They turned the corner, Duo followed like a shadow behind him, albeit breathing louder than necessary.
It wasn't until the two were sealed safely inside the elevator that Duo spoke.
“Oh my god.”
Quatre turned to look at his companion, leaned against the side, eyes closed, but boring through his eyelids into the fluorescent lighting above.
The blonde didn't quite understand what was going on here: yes, people made mistakes, but they were not permanent… The guy might not even be serious about Duo, and the same inversely…why couldn't Duo just blow the guy off?
“What is it?” he finally asked.
Wondering if the blonde was completely oblivious to everything, Duo replied:
“He's my boss.”