Right Through Me

T W E N T Y O N E

"I'm fine, guys, I promise," I told Leslie and Mia, who insisted upon following me around the clinic all day. "Stop asking if I'm okay. I am, I'm fine. Never been better."

"We know when you're lying, Lina," Mia pointed out.

"Yeah, well. There's nothing to talk about so just drop it," I told them, scribbling down medication orders and checking the guest list.

"What happened the other night?"

"Nothing!" I snapped, looking up at the two. Realizing I raised my voice, I sighed heavily and rubbed my temples. "I just...I ran into Donovan. But it was needed, it allowed me to just move on already and I am, I'm moving on. He made it clear to me that what he wanted was for us to stay away from each other and never see each other, ever, and, frankly, that is fine with me."

"You make it sound like you two broke up or something," Mia scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Why are you so upset about this? The Lina we used to know would've loved to have gotten away from Donovan," Leslie pointed out.

"Yeah, well, things changed. Number one rule for a doctor; never get close to a patient. Every single day I get close with my patients. Doctors usually lack empathy but I have too much of it. I got close with Donovan as my patient. I saw right through him, right through his tough act and right through his lies," I found myself saying, spilling my every thought I've had since the incident. "Anyway, none of that matters now. He's just a stranger. He was just a patient."

But he wasn't just a patient. He was more than that, but what? If not my patient, then what? He wasn't a friend, he never acted like one. Who was he to me? He's nothing anymore, he means nothing to me anymore. Nothing. Nothing.

My gut churned and my heart twisted. I hated this feeling. What was I even feeling?

Usually being a doctor, your days go by extremely fast. However, today was by far the slowest. Yes, I went through patients like any other day, but I was only left with his nagging feeling all day that drove me insane. I had closed up the clinic and headed upstairs to my home and flopped down on the couch.

* * * * *

THIRD POV

"What the hell do you want, Hitachi?" Donovan snapped at the old, Japanese man who had made an appearance in his dressing room just before one of his fights.

"It's a pleasure, as always, seeing you, Mr. Ander," Hitachi laughed, his eyes holding nothing but mischief. "I came to speak to you."

"Yeah, right. Speaking in your book means threatening. So get on with it."

"Straight to business as always, Mr. Ander. That's very admirable," he chuckled, clearing his throat after seeing Donovan's face change into rage. "You better what your temper around me, Mr. Ander. I came to have a peaceful talk."

"You think I'd be stupid enough to break Coliseum rules?" Donovan snapped, standing to his feet and moving over to the sink to wash his face. "What do you want?"

"I want you to lose this fight tonight."

Donovan froze, the room was silent, only the sound of rushing water echoed through the room. Donovan stared down at the silver sink and slowly turned the faucet off. He stood up straight, grabbed a towel, wiped his hands and face, and turned around to face the old man. 

"You must've really lost it, haven't you, Hitachi?"

The old man laughed hysterically. "You will lose this fight tonight. I made a bet with a business partner that if Mr. Jojo Binks wins the fight tonight, he will have to sign over his company to me. He was very confident betting on you, well, because you always win. I want to change the pace, give him a little scare; make a point in my little crusade."