Doctor's Orders

Chapter 8

Eren

When I was a freshman in college, on my first biology exam, I got a 14%. The professor announced everyone's score out loud to the class, and when my name and grade came up, the entire class burst into giggles or murmurs over the pathetic score. I thought that would be the most embarrassing moment of my life, but I was wrong.

So very wrong.

The new top spot has officially been stolen by my drunken behavior on the phone with Levi last night, admitting my feelings for him in the worst way possible and then immediately backing out....also in the worst way possible.

"What's wrong Dr. Eren?" A soft voice asks me, and I look over at the little brunette sitting up in the hospital bed, her glasses falling crookedly on her face.

"Nothing, Marina, don't worry about me. What you should be worried about is the fact that you haven't been taking your medication, what have you been doing with it?"

A sheepish expression passes over her face and she averts her eyes, gripping her light blue security blanket a little tighter. "I hide them in my mouth then spit them out when the nurse leaves."

A laugh escapes my mouth as I shake my head, children can be so crafty sometimes and it never fails to amuse me. "You're ridiculous, Marina, but you have to stop doing that. I know the medicine can be yucky, but you need to take it. How about this, whenever I have the time, I'll come and give you the medicine, that way you don't have to deal with Nurse Jean." I lean a little closer and whisper conspiratorially to her. "I know he can be a meanie sometimes."

"O-ok! I promise I'll start taking them now."

A bright smile spreads across my face as I finish her quick checkup, giving her a peppermint before leaving and heading back to my office, mood dropping significantly as I'm no longer in the presence of the little girl. One thing I love about my job is that even if I'm having the worst day, a child's bright smile as I compliment them or give them their favorite candy never fails to lift my mood, but even that can't stop my brain from re-entering the negative space it was in earlier, replaying the events of the night before in an embarrassing re run.

I cringe slightly as I think about my outburst, and the way I insulted the girl he was with multiple times. Stooping low enough to go after someone's physical appearance is something I will never be proud of, even if calling her a "strawberry shortcake ass bitch" isn't the worst thing in the world.

I'm so wrapped up in my spiral of remembering all the other bullshit I did last night, I don't notice the door to my office already ajar, two voices drifting out from the small gap. I slow down as I approach the door, peeking my head over to glance through the small glass window, a gasp escaping my mouth as I take in the two people inside.

"Yeah, I honestly couldn't tell you if his phone really did break up or not. I kind of passed out for a good ten minutes."

"Damn. It would be kind of weird to fake your connection being bad to get out of a conversation though....I take that back. I've definitely done that when talking to Hanji."

"Who's Hanji?"

"They're kind of like a cold sore. Incessant and ugly."

Levi and Jean are sitting in the plush chairs that sit in front of my desk like they own the place, chatting away to their heart's content, completely unaware of my presence. A small part of me wonders if Joanne from the front desk revealed my location again or if Jean led him here, but the majority of me is entering fight or flight mode. And flight is rapidly winning over.

I slowly begin to back away from the door as inconspicuous as I can, but I bump into an extremely inconvenient corner (whatever architect designed that deserves a ticket straight to hell) and drop the folders in my arms, a loud slapping noise echoing through the air as they make contact with the floor.