#valai

Ai could hear the murmurs of a rant in Russian from the corridor. She couldn't help but gulp slightly. Gabrielle had told her to not bother the Doctor if she could hear ranting in the other's mother tongue, but this was unfortunately not something that could really wait.

She glanced at her bleeding hand. An accident, genuinely it was, she just got a bit carried away with a shipment of knives. She'd never realised until joining The Ruby Butterflies that knives could be so pretty. She wasn't even sure how she'd managed to cut herself, but she had and now she was bleeding.

She reached the open door to the doctor's office, Valeriya was at her desk scribbling on the paper and talking to herself. Ai didn't know Russian but she assumed it was most likely swear words spilling from the woman's lips. Nervously she held up the hand that wasn't bleeding and knocked on the door. The way Valeriya's head snapped over to her almost made her reconsider but she pushed on regardless.

“Ah, I am sorry to disturb you Dr Mikhailov, but I wasn't sure if this should wait,” she explained, feeling very uncomfortable under Valeriya's hard gaze. She held out her cut hand as an explanation, watching as Valeriya's face actually softened when she saw it.

“Oh, little sun, what did you do to yourself?” Valeriya spoke as she stood up and walked over and took Ai's hand in her own. I wasn't expecting that.

“It was an accident, I... Uh... Got a little carried away with the knives.” Ai felt her cheeks heating up as Valeriya adjusted her glasses to take a better look at the cut. Why is my heart still racing? She isn't angry at me like I thought so…

“A little?” Valeriya asked as she gently led Ai into the doctor's office. Ai was settled down onto a medical cot, while Valeriya walked towards her cabinet to collect some supplies. “Are you allergic to anything?”

“Not that I am aware of, no,” Ai confirmed, watching as Valeriya snapped on a pair of rubber gloves. Soon the doctor was back by Ai's side, with what looked like a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and some medical wipes.

“I need to clean the wound first and then I can assess the damage,” Valeriya explained, taking the top off the bottle of alcohol and pouring it onto one of the wipes. “I am hoping you have gotten lucky and the wound is mostly superficial.”

Ai nodded, there was definitely a lot of blood but hopefully it was a case of it looking a lot worse than it really was. As the wipe was brought to the wound, Ai couldn't help but jerk back slightly and hiss as it stung.

“Sorry,” Ai apologised, feeling extremely embarrassed by the pathetic display. She must think I'm an idiot.

“No, I should apologise little sun, I meant to warn you that this may sting slightly,” Valeriya countered, once more bringing the wipe to the wound. Ai managed to not pull away this time. “I believe this is the first time we've spent any time alone together.”

Ai was a little taken aback by that statement. It was true, Ai was still fairly new to the syndicate and the only times she had really interacted with the Doctor was during a few meetings they'd had. Still she hadn't expected the other woman to have even really taken notice of her.

“I... Yes, I think it is?” Ai replied sure her confusion bled through in her voice, but weirdly felt a little more relaxed when Valeriya chuckled.

This isn't what I was expecting from her. Honestly the way Gabrielle spoke about the doctor made her sound like a monster, but Ai wasn't seeing that right now. Maybe initially, but that intense anger had seemingly disappeared the instant Valeriya had seen the blood.

“May I ask you something, my dear?” Valeriya asked. Ai couldn't imagine what the question would be but she nodded approval anyway. Not like refusing would do me any good. “How did someone like you end up here?” That was certainly a question Ai asked herself frequently. “Do not take this the wrong way, little sun, but you are hardly the criminal type.”

“I guess not?” Ai wasn't sure what the criminal type was but she understood where Valeriya was coming from. Ai was very introverted, shy and she didn't like getting involved with the more violent parts of criminal life. She was very happy being in the background and simply doing the more administrative tasks within the syndicate. “I... Mostly just followed Satomi.”

“Ah. Following big sister to make sure she doesn't get into too much trouble?” Valeriya's tone was light and joking but really it wasn't too far from the truth.

“Someone has to,” Ai joked back. She loved her sister, lord knew she did, but good grief did the other woman have a talent for getting herself into trouble. “Our mother had links to the Yakuza though, it inspired Satomi's... Uh... Passion for crime.” Ai reached up to curl a strand of her hair around her finger. “I just happen to be better at the organising side of things.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” Valeriya offered, pulling the medical wipe away from Ai's hand. “Honestly this place has needed someone with that skill set for years, your contribution is truly appreciated... At least I do. Honestly it is nice to have my supplies brought in so well organised.” Well, it was nice to know her efforts were appreciated by someone, but Ai guessed that Valeriya also took more of a back seat to the main action within the group. It seemed reasonable she would appreciate someone else in a similar position. “Your injury was, like I suspected, less severe than it looked. I think simply a bandage will suffice.”

Ai gave a little sigh before she whispered, “Thank goodness.” She felt a little silly, having made such a fuss over such a small wound, but at least now she knew. She watched as the Doctor made her way over to her supplies again, looking for padding and gauze. Ai's curiosity got the better of her. “What about you? How did you end up here?”

Valeriya laughed under her breath, as she made her way back to her patient. “Ah, let's just say, the medical board does not take kindly to you stealing and selling powerful medications on the black market.” She sat back down in front of Ai and took the padding and placed it against the cut. “Gabrielle was already someone I was in contact with, and when she discovered my, hm, legal issues, she offered me a way to escape.” She reached for the gauze and began to wrap it around Ai's hand, seemingly taking care to wrap it tightly but not too tight. “The escape involved me working for her, and the rest as they say, is history.”

Valeriya finished wrapping up Ai's hand, and seeming satisfied with her work pulled away and removed the gloves at last. Ai held her hands up to look at the bandage.

“I'd avoid using it too much for a few days, and I will need to replace the bandages every now and then, but...” Ai almost jumped out of her skin when Valeriya's hand settled on her head. “You should make a full recovery, little sun.”

“Oh. Thank you Doctor Mikhailov,” Ai said with a blush, not entirely sure if the hand on her head was a weird form of endearment or something else. It felt intimate, and Ai couldn't tell if that was intentional or not.

“Ah, Ai, my dear, no need to be so formal.” Valeriya finally removed her hand, instead adjusting her glasses and looking at Ai with a fond smile. “Call me Val.”

Ai stood up, starting to make her way towards the door, but stopped just short of Valeriya. Well, Val now I guess. “Um. Then thank you Val.” Ai bowed slightly, before returning to standing. “I hope I wasn't too much of an inconvenience.”

“Never,” Val replied, winking at her and Ai felt herself blushing all over again. What was happening? Why was such a tiny gesture making her act like a schoolgirl with a crush? “I do hope from here on we can get to know each other better.”

Oh, this is happening isn't it? Despite internally screaming at the sudden realisation that she was attracted to the doctor, she replied with, “I hope so too!”