Helpless

Semester breaks were normally a good thing, especially for the hard-working doctors gang, but this November...was not good. It was not good at all, Pha thought glumly as he watched Ming, Wayo, and Forth take off for home, leaving Pha, Beam, and Kit behind on campus.

Participating in this inter-session med student work/study program had seemed like a great idea months ago when he wasn't faced with two entire weeks without his beloved Yo.

Beam and Kit were trying desperately to look like they didn't care, although they were failing miserably (albeit in different ways). Kit was stomping back and forth on the sidewalk, muttering imprecations against his boyfriend, while Beam was standing very still, mouth tight with suppressed emotions.

With a sigh, Pha turned away. "C'mon," he said. "We might as well make the best of it. Let's get dinner."

Near-identical glares turned his way before they both sighed and nodded, following him back to the dorms.

It was two weeks. They'd lasted this long without them...surely the three of them could survive for two weeks without their new boyfriends.

***********************************

The days went surprisingly quickly, to Pha's joy and relief. They had long field trips to spend time in various medical wards, plus sessions with various doctors to discuss possible specialties.

There were entire hours when Pha didn't think about missing Yo. Beam endeared himself to the chief surgeon with his passionate interest in the subject and could be found hovering over various forms of diagnostic imagery with the man. Kit was grumpy, per usual, but he accumulated useful seniors with surprising ease. (Pha was sure the dimples were involved, although it would be taking his life in his hands to tell Kit that.)

With only a few days left to go, Pha was surprised to find an agitated Kit turn up on his doorstep.

"Damn it," Kit burst out as soon as Pha opened the door.

Blinking, Pha waved him in. "What happened?"

"A disaster." Kit stomped around the room, looking irritated.

Slowly, Pha sat down on his bed. Kit didn't look upset enough for an actual disaster. "A disaster?" he repeated finally, when it looked like Kit wouldn't elaborate.

"Ming's going to be angry."

"Angry at you?" Pha's eyebrows shot up. "I can't imagine anything that would make him angry."

"Who would have thought that laundry was so complicated?"

"Laundry."

"Stupid laundry."

Pha frowned. "Ming's going to be angry you did the laundry? Did you shrink his sweaters or something?"

"No. Er, I may have turned all of his white underwear and socks pink, though.­"

Pha spent a moment trying to suppress his snicker before giving up and laughing outright at him.

"If you're just going to laugh at me, I can leave." Kit crossed his arms and scowled.

Pha grinned. "Okay okay. But I'm pretty sure Ming won't be angry about some underwear and socks."

"It's not that. Exactly."

"Then what is it? Exactly."

Kit took a deep breath and then spoke very quickly. "I promised him that I would be fine while he was gone and he's going to pout if he thinks I had any problems without him." He paused. "Well, pout or smirk. But they're both annoying."