1

Aina slowly came into consciousness, feeling a fuzzy, warm, comfortable hug enveloping her. Her last memory was that she was seated in front of her coffee table pouring over her notes. Rubbing the sleep off her eyes, she looked around and realized that her apartment had been tidied up! Her 'war-zone' coffee table was clean! Her papers and books were neatly stacked; and gone were her clothes that were 'normally' haphazardly strewn around her apartment.

"..good morning! Coffee?" Sarge sat down on the couch next to her, handing her a mug.

"...morning" Aina mumbled, reeling from shock. "...wha?" She managed to say but he cut her off.

"Do you expect your Mom to clean up? She and Tito are on their way here, you know." Sarge said, peering into Aina's mug and taking it from her. He stood up and walked to the kitchen, proceeding to wash them.

"What's today?" Aina replied, stretching. She didn't know for how long she had slept but she felt a little recharged.

"Saturday. Your parents are coming over to pick you up. Get up and shower. In case you haven't noticed, you're still in your scrubs from 2 days ago". He leaned forward, scrunched his face, and stood up.

She looked down at her body. She was in the same scrub suit she was wearing from her 36+ hour shift.

"Thanks" She said as she stood up from the couch and shuffled to the bathroom in her bedroom.

"I'm off. I also got some donuts from that newly opened shop around the corner; the one we wanted to try out. Tell me how they are. Bye!" Sarge said as he left her apartment. Aina had a habit of not closing her bedroom or bathroom door after her.

---

Aina and Sarge are resident doctors. They met thru a messaging app almost 2 years ago. After months of messaging, texting, and a few video calls, they finally met at the hospital cafeteria on one slow evening.

Aina had just started working longer shifts. She suddenly felt ill as she walked to the cafeteria. She had been feeling off since the morning and had skipped meals due to the emergencies that kept coming in. She managed to sit down at a table before she suddenly passed out.

"I'm going to the cafeteria; do you guys want anything?" Sarge asked his mates as he stood up from the desk. He, too, had been working long hours so he needed to stretch.

"We're good. Thanks."

"Okay. Be back in an hour." Sarge replied, looking at his watch.

"I'll have the soup and sandwich combination please. And an iced tea with extra ice." Sarge ordered his food. The cafeteria dining hall was generally empty since it was deep into the night. Sarge glanced around and noticed someone slumped over one of the tables. "…long shift…" he thought as he turned back to the counter, paid for his food, and walked to a table with his tray.

As he neared the table, he felt that the person was someone he knew. The way the person's body was positioned on the table was also a bit odd. Sarge immediately put his tray down on the adjacent table and called out, "Doc?" It was a term they loosely used among colleagues since the person was also wearing a white doctor's jacket. When the person didn't immediately respond, Sarge came closer. He called out again, "Doc, are you okay?" but this time, he gently nudged the person.

Aina regained consciousness. "Oh, sorry. Sorry." She said softly. Sarge noticed how pale she was. His immediate reaction was to check her pulse. As soon as he took her wrist, he noticed how warm she was! Without second thoughts, he lifted her off the chair and ran to the emergency room.

"…I found her in the cafeteria. Weak pulse…" he said as he was led to one empty bed. Since he wasn't assigned to the emergency department, he stepped back and let the nurses do their work. He walked back to the cafeteria.

"How is she?" Sarge asked after an hour.

The nurse who was just about to leave, glanced at him. "Her fever went down a little bit. We're still waiting for the blood test results. It seems like her sugar went down…" the nurse said, reading off from the chart in her arms.

"Diabetic?"

"…we're waiting for confirmation…" the nurse said and left.

Sarge moved toward the bed and gently brushed off some of Aina's hair that fell on her face. She stirred and fluttered her eyes open. "Where? Where am I?" she asked.

"…emergency room…" Sarge replied. "How are you feeling?"

Aina closed her eyes and put her hand to her head. "Ugh!"

"Dizzy?"

"…hungry…" she softly replied. "…super hungry…"

Sarge smiled. He was relieved. He immediately figured out what caused Aina to pass out.

"…told you it was drizzling the other night, right?" He chuckled. "…and you skipped eating again. It was just a matter of time when this would happen…"

"Sorry, Doctor Perfect but the emergencies kept coming in after that accident yesterday…" Aina grumbled.

"Looks like you'll be staying here for another hour or so…" Sarge said while looking up at the IV bottle next to Aina's bed. He pulled a chair and sat down next to the bed.

"Are you done for the day?" Aina asked, wondering why Sarge decided to stay.

Sarge shook his head. "I just went on extended break. Besides, it's a quite night upstairs. I'll wait here until your IV's done." Sarge replied and rested his head on his arms. It was his turn to nap.

"…thanks…" Aina replied, she hesitated on running her fingers through his hair. She closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

---

He first saw her physically during the residency orientation. Even from across the room and with almost everyone wearing the same color, he recognized her. He never mentioned this to her but he vowed to watch over her since then.

"…goodnight. I have an early and long day tomorrow…" Aina texted.

"Goodnight. Oh yeah. Take care." Sarge replied. They had been exchanging messages like this for over a month since he randomly messaged her asking something about a paper he was researching on.

Since they met and began messaging each other, they both really didn't exchange thorough details about each other. "…when we met each other face to face…" Aina always said when their conversations turned 'detailed' and 'personal'.

As Sarge laid Aina on the hospital bed in the ER, it was the first time he learned of her full name, Maine Athena C. Mendez, from her hospital ID.