#mehak

Kaiser Medical Clinic Manhattan, New York 2044

“Hello, sir, can I help you?”

“We’re here to see a Doctor Kaiser?” The man - young man? Boy? - smiled tersely, the politeness in his voice not quite matching his expression. His companion, a young woman, offered a polite smile alongside him - right before shooting the man daggers.

The nurse pretended not to notice, checking her tablet.

“And is that Chief or Director?”

The man blinked - and the woman sighed.

“Look, I’m very sorry to be what I’m sure is extremely abrasive to someone who is only doing their job,” He began apologetically. The receptionist - Oona - simply smiled, too busy enjoying his accent to be offended. It seemed to be British, but there were American lilts. She’d work it out. Oona liked puzzles. “But all I know is that I spoke to a member of your senior management and they promised me that we put in the care of only one of your best doctors - and I was told to come to reception and ask for a Doctor Kaiser, that’s all I know, I’m afraid.”

British. Definitely British. The wording was too formal. Back when Oona had been a little boy, she’d enjoyed watching period dramas with her mother. She could tell the difference that a few word choices could make.

“Give me two ticks.” Oona said warmly. “I’ll just-”

“If Doctor Kaiser is busy, or if there’s some kind of emergency that requires their attention, which I’m sure there is-” The woman’s eyes narrowed as the man sighed, rubbing his eyes. Oona stilled. She’d spent enough time managing the ER desk to know a couple’s dispute when she saw one. “- then, honestly, tell him not to bother. This trip really isn’t that necessary-”

Now, this was interesting, because Oona was pretty sure that was a British accent, too - but with more of an American lilt than the guy. Immediately, Oona’s imagination went wild. Were they travellers? A couple who had gotten lost? Total strangers who would hook up by the end of the night? Oona had seen more surprising things. Though, judging by the senior management comment, it probably wasn’t that interesting. Unfortunately.

“Let me just go and find out, before we make any decisions.” Oona said soothingly - soothing was her specialty -, before reaching for the phone.

*

“I’m sorry for the wait.” He shut the door behind him, before shaking their hands. They looked… Nervous. It was too early in the night for them to look nervous. “My name is Doctor Adam Kaiser, I’m one of the directors of this clinic. I understand we’re dealing with a kidney donor?”

Adam raised his eyebrows in surprise as the girl slid off of the hospital bed, wincing slightly, before staring defiantly at her partner.

“You’re the one that insisted on dragging me here, you can give the good doctor here the synopsis while I try and find a snack.” She told him shortly. Adam tried to hide his raised eyebrows as the man’s mouth fell open. “Excuse me, doctor.”

“Is he authorised to speak on your behalf?” Adam asked quickly, before she left the room. The girl smiled, but not entirely pleasantly, in the boy’s direction.

“Oh, yeah. He made damn sure of that.” She replied sweetly - before slamming the door behind her.

There were a few seconds of tense silence, as Adam watched the young man look heavenward for guidance. Realising he wasn’t going to speak anytime soon, Adam decided to break the ice.

“So what seems to be the problem, Mr-?”

“Zafar.” The boy - he really did look young, light stubble aside - said suddenly, snapping out of his thoughts and offering Adam a hand. Adam shook it with what he knew to be one of his most reassuring smiles. “Sorry, it’s Danny. Danny Zafar and that was just my wife, Samara.”

Adam tried to sound as neutral as possible. “Wife?” Hopefully that was a young colloquialism. You know. A street version of girlfriend or… Sibling?

“Yeah. You’re old.” Adam tried not to laugh as Danny Zafar immediately cringed and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m so sorry, I just mean - you’re - you’re experienced, right? Obviously, I just-”

“I’ve been a surgeon for over twenty years.” Adam said kindly… And, seeing Danny’s hesitant expectancy, tried not to laugh as he continued. “I still perform surgery regularly, I’m not that old. At least, I don’t think I am.”

“And you trained…?” Adam decided he didn’t mind Danny’s questions. Judging from his expression, he seemed self-aware enough to know he wasn’t in a position to ask - and Adam kind of felt for him. The guy was worried. He saw that all the time.

“I went to Harvard Med-” Adam noticed how Danny seemed to perk up slightly. “And I trained in paediatrics at Johns Hopkins.”

Danny frowned. “Paediatrics? I know we’re young-”

“A part of specialising in paediatrics means you have to first fully specialise in general surgery first.” Adam explained. Danny’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “Kidneys falls under general and I am one of the most general surgeons qualified here.”

“Nice to know I’m dealing with a fellow Crimson.” Danny smiled.

Adam grinned.

“Harvard too, huh?” Danny nodded. “Great! What are you studying?”

“My MBA.”

“Ahh.” That explained how he’d managed to get Adam’s ass hauled out of his office for this private consultation… And that was when Adam recognised the name Zafar as one of the most influential names in the city. “So, back to the medicine - your wife?” Glancing through the blinds, Adam spotted the said wife, holding a candy bar and talking pleasantly to one of the nurses - Oona?

“She was part of a kidney transplant a couple of weeks ago.” Danny muttered, shaking his head slightly again. Adam recognised that look. One of utter despair. Unfortunately, he’d seen it all too often over the course of his career. “And she was meant to have someone looking after her and keeping an eye on things, and that person was meant to be me and…”

“And?” Adam pushed.

“And she lied to her doctors when she said I would be there and the surgery was almost a month ago, and I found out maybe thirty minutes ago and she’s in pain and I’m freaking out.” Dany replied honestly.

Wow.

“And, if you don’t mind me asking, why-”

“Why didn’t she tell me?” Dany guessed. Where did he start? He figured with the truth. It wasn’t like this doctor would have heard worse… Right? “Uh - how confidential is this conversation?”

“Are you paying for this meeting with your medical insurance?”

“… Yeah.”

“Then, seeing as that makes your wife my patient - if she agrees to treatment - and you’re footing the bill, pretty confidential.” Adam told him, smiling.

“Brilliant.” Dany nodded, rubbing his face. Adam quietly pulled up a stool. He had a feeling this consultation was going to entail a little… More than he’d expected it to. “Right, well, the thing is… Um… We weren’t exactly meant… To get married. But we did, because of something I did and…” Dany struggled to find the correct words. “She’s not… Exactly… Happy, about it?”

At first, Dany didn’t understand the grin that began to play on Doctor Kaiser’s face. For someone who had been in medicine for over twenty years, he looked… Young. Full head of dark hair, dark eyes, a friendly amount of stubble. He seemed trustworthy, though probably not enough for Dany to be spilling his secrets to - except, well, because he looked trustworthy and because Dany was more nervous about this… New information than he cared to admit, he was talking more than he usually would.

“I used to know someone just like that.” Adam told Dany warmly, upon noticing his confused gaze. “Don’t worry, Mr Zafar. We’ll have you both sorted out in no time, and she’ll go back to glaring holes into your head whenever you say the wrong thing.”

Dany’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“That’s eerily accurate.”

Adam chuckled.

“Let me go talk to her.” Adam told him, getting to his feet - and already guessing what Dany planned on saying when he opened his mouth, answered before he could. “Trust me. I’ve got a lot of practice talking to fiery young women who don’t like to be ignored.”

Doctor Kaiser left before Dany could warn him again - Samara was in a really bad mood, and she wasn’t exactly friendly when Dany was within reasonable distance -, but before he could, Doctor Kaiser was already outside.

Dany didn’t realise he was even holding his breath as he watched; first, Doctor Kaiser approaching Mara, and then quickly telling her something before she could speak. It was only when he released that breath, when Mara broke into a small smile, that he realised at all.

*

“So, where are you guys from?” Adam asked warmly. He’d already made a rough guess. Samara had been wearing harem pants and a T-shirt underneath her flowing, dark coat.

“India and Pakistan.” Dany told him, somewhat more cheerfully since he’d managed to get Samara onto a gurney, ready to be examined. “One parent from each.”

“Pakistan.” Samara told him, as Adam put on his gloves. “We both grew up in London, I moved here a little while ago.”

“I’m from Pakistan too.” Adam told her happily, smiling as Samara beamed. “Right, now, Samara, I’m going to have to ask you to pull up your shirt slightly and pull down your pants so that I can have a better look at the surgical site, is that okay?”

“Does he have to be here?” Samara asked sharply, staring angrily in Dany’s direction.

“No,” Adam admitted, ignoring Dany’s attempts at silent communication. “But he may need to see it at some point later anyway, if you require any kind of assisted treatment.” Adam watched as Samara… Slowly nodded, rolling her eyes slightly as she did. “This may hurt a little.” He warned, looking over to Dany, who instantly was alert. “If you’d like to… Hold your husband’s hand-”

“That’s really not necessary.” Samara said through gritted teeth. Adam nodded - but glanced in Dany’s direction, and was glad to see that he took the hint. Adam put it down to the Crimson bond. “Dany, why are you standing here, I said I’m fine-”

“I want to see what the doctor is doing.” Dany shrugged - but he placed his hand next to hers on the bed, and Adam pretended he hadn’t seen how Samara’s little finger moved ever so slightly… Just enough to make sure her hand and Danyal’s was brushing. “Doctor Kaiser?”

“Ready?” Adam asked. Although wide-eyed and nervous - Samara nodded, swallowing loudly as she pulled at her clothes.

Immediately, Adam forgot how much he liked Dany and Samara, how familiar it all felt. Nostalgic. He went back to being a doctor, a surgeon, and that meant focusing solely on the task at hand.

Although Adam had already been told that Samara’s nephrectomy - kidney removal - had been done via the much less invasive keyhole surgery, her scars immediately confirmed it; three scars on the left of her stomach, no more than a few centimetres in length and forming an odd sort of triangle, were still red and slightly raised on her pale skin. The first two, higher up on her stomach, were good scars - pinkish and healing well, almost sealed.

It was the third scar, the lowest of the three, that was the problem.

“Samara, how does this feel?” Adam asked neutrally, pressing on it gently - and immediately letting go, as Samara hissed in pain. “Have you noticed anything odd, or different, about your scars since the operation?”

“Yeah.” Samara nodded, her eyes squeezed shut from the pain. “One’s more swollen, I just guessed it was deeper than the others-”

“Okay, now tell me, does this hurt?”

“Ow, Dany, it hurts!”

Adam took that as a yes.

Somewhere, during her brain becoming fuzzy from pain, Samara had grabbed Dany’s hand - and Adam couldn’t help but notice at how Dany clutched it back, glaring holes into his head as he continued to inspect the surgical site. There was a large bump underneath the third scar, and Adam knew exactly what it was.

“You’re hurting her.”

“Not anymore.” Adam told him cheerfully, pulling off his gloves. “Samara, you can pull your shirt down now.”

Samara - her eyes still closed -, nodded weakly, wincing and squeezing Dany’s hand as she tried to turn.

“It’s okay, it’s fine, I’ve got it.” Dany said soothingly, fixing her clothes with one hand, and keeping the other around hers. “Doctor Kaiser, what was-”

“Samara has an incisional hernia.” Adam told them firmly. Dany immediately looked horrified and Samara opened her eyes wide enough just long enough to look scared. “It’s likely that, when Samara was trying to look after herself, one of the scars became infected and that’s caused some tissue from the inside of your abdomen to try and… Poke out, through the wound. It’s not uncommon and is very easily treatable through surgery.”

“More surgery?” Samara repeated, aghast, at the same time Dany asked determinedly -

“When can she have it?”

Adam hesitated as the two stared at one another.

“This isn’t your decision!” Samara gasped, staring up at Dany accusingly. Adam winced slightly as Dany glared.

“It’s the only logical decision to make!” He snapped and, at hearing the word logical, Adam fought not to smirk as old memories resurfaced. “The last time you made a decision about surgery, you literally gave yourself a goddamn hernia-”

“Do I have any other options aside from another surgery?” Samara asked, ignoring how Dany groaned. Adam found it interesting that they were still holding hands. “Doctor?”

“Not really.” Adam admitted, trying not to look too guilty at Dany’s triumphant expression. “With most hernias, they can be left alone, but it’s at the risk of them later getting worse - bigger, more painful - and potentially causing serious damage to the tissue underneath that’s threatening to come out. But, with your type of hernia, you’re not only at higher risk in terms of damaging that tissue, but the original wound needs to heal. You’re still recovering from a major surgery, we need to get you back to your normal self as soon as we can.”

The young couple had become sombre upon hearing the phrase major surgery - and they said nothing for a few moments, still clutching hands, as the processed Adam’s diagnosis.

“Doctor Kaiser, would you be performing my surgery?” Samara finally asked in a very small voice.

Adam hesitated - and Samara’s eyes immediately welled up with tears.

“It would be one of my team.” Adam said hastily. Dany frowned. “They’re very well trained, under our Chief of Surgery, who is fantastic-”

“We want you.” Dany interrupted, though not rudely. Adam sighed. “I know you’re very busy and - but - if there’s anything we can do, make a donation-”

“That isn’t necessary-”

“I was told you were the best, and you’ve been very helpful so far, but the last surgeon who said they were the best left my best friend with an unhealed scar in her stomach-”

“In fairness, surgeons can’t always anticipate-”

“Doctor Kaiser, please.” Dany interrupted again. This time, Adam went quiet, sighing to himself. He liked this young couple, he really did - even if he usually found VIP patients… Exhausting. They reminded him a bit too much of himself and… He stifled the automatic smile that came with thinking the name Mary Azizi. “Is there any way, at all, you could do the surgery yourself?”

Adam knew he should say no. He knew that he shouldn’t even have to think about it.

But he really liked these two young kids, as immature and messy as they were, and, well… When was the last time he’d just said yes to a random surgery? One that wasn’t scheduled, or didn’t require the experience of a veteran? It felt like it had been eons since he’d last done a simple surgery of any kind - and a hernia repair was hardly something that was likely to change in its method since he’d done it last.

They were cute, this… Dany and Samara. Adam wanted to help.

“It’ll have to work around my schedule-” Adam warned - but before he’d even finished, Dany was smiling in relief and Samara was lying properly on the bed again, instead of straining to look at Adam with wide, guilt-inducing eyes. “- which means the surgery may have to be as soon as this evening-”

“We’re meant to be flying out to Pakistan in a few days.” Samara gasped, before staring at Dany. “Pixie’s wedding, we can’t-”

“Your health is more important-”

“No, it isn’t, just shut up and listen-”

“It’s a very simple procedure, you should be able to travel within a maximum of two days.” Adam said quickly. The argument felt familiar, too. In not as pleasant a way. “If you’re sure about this, I can look into booking an OR.”

“We’re sure.” Dany said confidently - only for Samara to nudge him irritably.

“Yes.” She muttered. “We’re sure.”

Adam nodded, heading for the door. He shook his head at the sound of bickering behind him.

*

It was a little bit too quick for Dany’s liking.

Samara made him promise not to call anyone; she was insistent, saying she didn’t want a fuss, and anyway, how was she meant to explain how she’d managed to get a hernia in the first place? Although Dany had initially proposed lying about what type of hernia it was, Doctor Kaiser had been quick to shut that down, pointing out that not only would Samara’s recovery be for the hernia treatment, but for the original surgery as well. Plus, as much as Dany hadn’t wanted to admit it, Mara was right - it was hard to explain. How could Dany say to his family that he hadn’t known she was having surgery? Let alone giving a kidney to the parent everyone thought was dead?

Within an hour, Doctor Kaiser had booked an OR and, seeing as he’d gotten to Mara before she’d eaten that chocolate bar, there was no reason for them to wait.

Samara had said she didn’t need Dany to hold her hand during the pre-op prep, and that she didn’t need to feel him panicking, either. Dany had retorted that he wasn’t panicking, and that she was just projecting.

She’d kicked him out of the room.

Doctor Kaiser found Dany after the surgery. He’d been wearing a hole into the waiting room, and avoiding the elderly couple sitting a few rows over from him, who had looked like they wanted to start a conversation.

“The surgery went perfectly, and aside from another, pesky little scar, Samara’s going to be absolutely fine.” He’d told him - and although Dany didn’t say anything, how he closed his eyes and smiled briefly in relief said it all. “A word of advice?”

“You can give me as many words as you want, Doctor, you saved the day.” Dany mumbled, settling comfortably in his chair.

“With girls like Samara, telling them they’re wrong never works in your favour.” Adam said - and Dany sat up slightly, as this middle-aged surgeon doled out relationship advice. “Trust me. Even when it seems like they’re so completely wrong that it’s a miracle they can even think they’re right, don’t bother. Women like that prefer to learn for themselves, and the more you push them, the more they’ll dig their heels in for the sake of their pride. Which is fine too.”

Dany frowned slightly. “Sounds like you’re talking from experience.”

Adam had grinned. “Years of it.”

“What happened?” Dany asked. He suddenly remembered something Doctor Kaiser had said earlier. “With that girl you said you knew? The one like Samara?”

Adam sighed, getting to his feet and clapping Dany gently on the back.

“Tell you what.” He smiled. “You manage to make it until Samara’s check-up in a few weeks without making her mad enough to burst her stitches, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

Dany stared up at him. “That good a story?” He asked ruefully.

Adam chuckled.