Chapter 33 - Hospital Stay

A serious atmosphere settled in the clinic while Isshin led Jin to the nearest hospital bed and gestured for him to sit.

"Can you remove your shirt?" The man calmly asked.

Jin nodded. Since his right shoulder ached, he mostly used his left hand to unbutton his shirt. Gauze wrappings covered most of his upper torso. Some dried blood stained the wrappings near his right shoulder caused by the scab cracking. The wrappings overlapped unevenly since he applied the bandaging on his own.

Upon seeing the wounded area, Isshin's eyebrows dropped. Shaking his head a little, he washed his hands, put on some gloves, grabbed a small pair of scissors, and stepped toward Jin.

"I'm going to remove the bandages."

Jin nodded. He remained completely still as the cold touch of the metal scissors pressed against his chest before sliding up to cut open the bandages. Before long, the gauze wrappings fell loose. Isshin deftly pulled them off and threw them in a nearby waste disposal bin for hazardous materials.

With the bandages out of the way, Isshin stared at the wound on Jin's shoulder. He walked around the hospital bed to look at Jin's back. Seeing the exit wound on Jin's back near his shoulder blade, Isshin frowned and crossed his arms.

"Were you shot? No, nevermind. This is a little different… Were you stabbed by something?"

"Yeah," Jin answered. Then, he looked over his shoulder to make eye contact with Isshin and added, "By the way, I don't know if it'll change the way you go about treating me, but I'm a new part-timer at Urahara's shop."

"Huh?" Isshin's eyes widened. Then, his pupils dilated briefly and his eyelids narrowed to slits. "If you're saying such a thing, then you must have heard something about me. Did that guy say something unnecessary?"

"No. I just happen to know. It's a bit of a touchy subject, but we can talk about it later with Urahara around if you want."

"...That might be a good idea," Isshin quietly replied. Then, he walked back in front of Jin and started inspecting the wound for a few seconds in silence. Eventually, he stopped, changed gears from a normal doctor to somebody from the supernatural side of the world, and asked, "Did this happen while fighting a hollow?"

"No, but it was something similar with supernatural attributes, hence why I came here instead of any other hospital."

"I see. I thought it lacked the dreadful aura of a hollow, so I guess I was right. When did it happen?"

"Last night."

Isshin's eyes widened, and he couldn't help asking, "And it's already healed this much?"

"I know. I'm surprised too."

Only somewhat surprised by Jin's healing rate, Isshin nodded and ran a few tests, including a physical exam as well as x-rays. After checking everything, Isshin rubbed his chin with an unworried gaze.

"Cut through one of your ribs, and there's also some tissue and ligament damage. I'd recommend resting for at least a couple weeks and visiting every couple days for check-ups."

Frowning, Jin replied, "I'll be doing something tonight that may involve combat, and it'll be in an area where it might be difficult to act as a soul."

At that, Isshin also frowned and asked, "You fight in your actual body?"

"Most of the time, yeah. I'd say I'm more like the people from Soul Society's West District than a Soul Reaper."

Raising his eyebrows, Isshin muttered, "So you know about them, eh? That's surprising. If it's like this, I'll need to call Kisuke and ask him to bring some ingredients over so I can make a special medical salve for you."

"I had plans to head to his place after this, so is it possible to just go over there with me and make the salve there?"

"Unfortunately, no. All my equipment is here."

"Ah. I see."

'I wonder if Jellal will end up sending me something, too? He mentioned potions, but I don't recall them being common in his world. The salve is at least better than nothing.'

"Rest here for a few minutes while I go call him."

Jin nodded in response. As soon as Isshin left the room, Jin laid down and checked his phone. The only new message in the chat group was from Zoro.

Directionless First-Mate: [When you send a message about coming here, I will tell the crew. I will asalso warn you that my captain is overly friendly, though.]

"Hm. Only one typo this time. Good job, Zoro," Jin mumbled while chuckling to himself. Due to the message's contents, he recalled Luffy's character and wondered if he should buy a few dozen kilos of meat before the mission.

A little later, Isshin returned. With a casual expression on his face, he sat down on the visitor's chair in the medical room and started talking.

"Kisuke is sending somebody over with the ingredients I need. It shouldn't take long."

"Cool… Do you not have any other patients to attend to while waiting?"

"Not at the moment, no, so I'll just hang out here for a few minutes," Isshin answered, shaking his head. Then, he rubbed his chin and asked, "I saw you talking to Ichigo, Rukia, and even my daughter Karin earlier. You all seemed familiar with each other, which is surprising."

"We've run into each other a couple times the last few days, but that's about it."

Isshin nodded slightly. He remained silent for several seconds before saying, "If you can befriend my son, I'd appreciate it."

"Maybe. Kid's like a porcupine, and I'm also busy these days."

"Haha. Maybe he is, but you aren't much better. Well, he does have other friends, but it wouldn't hurt to have more. If you do have time later, feel free to stop by and bug him."

Jin smiled in a slightly nostalgic manner. Distant memories of this older man as a character in a manga doing his best as a single dad warmed his heart, causing him to subconsciously mumble, "You're doing your best for kids, huh?"

Surprised, Isshin blinked a few times as though caught off guard. Then, he turned his head, which ended up facing his house next door to the clinic. Calming his expression, he commented, "You're a bit mature for your age to catch on to stupid things."

"Well, maybe I just relate more easily to you old geezers."

"Hahaha! Is that so?! You're still too young for that. You should be out enjoying your youth while you still have it."

"Maybe every once in a while."

From there, the two talked about some mundane things, such as Jin's school life, or how he ended up working for Urahara. Eventually, though, a bell chimed as somebody entered the building. Isshin stood up and walked out into the main hall to greet the guests. A minute later, an oddball trio of two kids and a black cat entered the already cramped space.

A certain redhead clicked his tongue.

A certain twin-tailed girl waved and greeted Jin with a monotone, "Hello".

A certain black cat waved its tail, flickered away from the birdsnest of red hair on Jinta's head, and landed on the bed. It stared at Jin's freshly bandaged shoulder with puzzled eyes.

"We're running into each other an awful lot lately, huh," Jin commented.

~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Another short chapter, I know. Something better than nothing, though, right?