1

The day was long, and it seemed like nothing was going to go right for Doctor Kit Jones. When it was finally over, she drove home, enjoying the peace in the car. Though she was still frustrated from the day and the fact that it seemed that no one around her could do the simplest of things she was trying to unwind during the traffic jam as she drove home. It was not the place she normally would unwind, but it was the only place she could at the moment.

As the music was turned up, Kit waited somewhat impatiently for the whatever the obstacle was to be cleared as she drove about two miles an hour trapped in the pack of other cars and trucks. She laughed to herself as she wondered what fate she had pissed off for this day to have happened. It was just a part of her normal day that had turned and went sour within five minutes of being at work.

Nothing about the day seemed like it could be redeemable in her eyes. Kit knew it was just to scrap it and wait for tomorrow, which she prayed that would be better though some of the things that held her back today would be there tomorrow as well. It might be a week or so until she didn’t have to deal with the fall out of things that happened at various stages of the day. It seemed to be a cascade of events that, at some point, should have been stopped by someone other than her, but it was not. She now had to deal with all of it even though it was not in her normal job tasks. Someone she was the only one who saw all of the things that needed to be fixed.

She would have to go in tomorrow somewhat refreshed so she would just and try to relax tonight. A simple dinner. A hot shower with some oils to help get her in a relaxing mood. An early bedtime, though, she knew that wasn’t going to happen. She could at least try to reach for the stars in the meantime.

Things were going to happen over the next week that she didn’t want to deal with at all. It wasn’t her job to fix all the problems that the others had created, but somehow this fell on her shoulders. She wanted to strangle someone from the lessor team that had set all of this in motion. She knew she couldn’t, though. She would be there when she straightened everything out and could prove which one of them did it, though. That would be her revenge.

It wasn’t like Kit liked being that person per se, but in this, she was ready and willing to be that person. She didn’t like the attitudes from some of them. They always tried to seem they were better than everyone else. They always tried to do exactly what they said they weren’t going to do. The tiny doctor in the car knew they were nothing in the grand scheme of things, but at the same time, they all caused enough headaches. She wondered how they were even still there with the special teams. They were nothing but a headache in almost everything they could do.

Though the teams of people she worked with were supposed to be some of the best in the world, she had only seen that with one of the teams. The leaders of the entire unit. She had become friends with most of them and helped them out more than any other team. She only was supposed to be consulted for certain things, but somehow, she had basically found herself an unofficial member of their team. Almost every mission they ran now, she was a part of it. The seventeenth member of the team is what they often referred to her as, or their doc. They didn’t have much to do with the lessor teams that would work in their absence. She couldn’t fault them on their lack of that either. She wished she could do the same.

As she neared her house, she noticed a car in her driveway that was not familiar. She wondered if someone had just parked there. She pulled up next to it and looked over there was a person in the car. He was light-haired though it was blondish that looked like silver at times she had to smile to herself as she saw him glance over to her. She knew who it was, but she was confused as to why he was there. This was the one member of the team no one thought she would get along with. He had become one of her closest friends here in this place as unlikely as that was. They were friends and often would spend time together in the larger group or sometimes a quiet evening watching something on the television. Most of the time, it was just the two of them and they had built the friendship for years.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as she got out of her car. He had started to get out of his but was still facing away from her. She couldn’t see his face, but when he did turn, she saw much more than she had bargained for. His sharp golden eyes were reddish, and they seemed dimmer than normal. “Mitsu, what is wrong?”

“I need help,” Mitsuhide said, and his voice was not even the same. It quivered slightly which had caught her attention as his deep voice spoke. He looked at her and seemed that he was completely lost. He was a little more than a foot taller than her, and he had to look down to see into her face, which was now lost in confusion. Almost the same or more so than he was right now.

“What is it?” She asked as she took his hand and moved into the front of the house to unlock the door and go inside. Once inside, he looked around and walked to the main living area as he sat down on the couch and placed his head in his hands. His arms were bracing themselves on his knees, and his fingers were raking through his hair. She had never seen him so completely undone, and it was disconcerting to her as she watched this. Everything that was around him seemed off somehow. He was the careful one. The one who planned things to the tee. He was never without a back up plan for the twenty other back up plans he had going on in his mind for whatever he was planning out. To see him like this was disconcerting.

“I don’t know what to do.” He said softly. He was trying to focus. He was trying to think, but Kit could see nothing was forming in his mind that he could focus on.

“Well, I can’t help you if I don’t know what the problem is.” She said as she moved to sit right next to him. When she did, she placed her hand on his leg and waited. She knew whatever it was, it had to be bad. She also forgot about her day as was willing to help him in anyway she could. In her mind she knew that what was friends did for each other. Bad day or not.

“You are the only person who I thought could help. At least answer some of the questions I have. I know you had a horrible day, so I didn’t want to do this. I don’t want to add to it.” Mitsuhide said as she sat back, and she knew he meant it. He wasn’t the type to throw his problems out into the air. He dealt with them like her most of the time and just hid the rest under whatever blanket was big enough. She knew this had to be big. This had to be something that he really didn’t know how to deal with. It seemed something had become the thing that defeated him.

“Whatever it is, I will help you. I know you would do the same, Mitsu,” she said, trying to calm him enough that he would actually tell her the problem. This was not something he normally would do or did. He was the calm one. The planner. The one who took his time in gathering all he needed to, to make sure everything would go to his plan. This man in front of her was someone she didn’t really know. She had never thought he could be so vulnerable. That anything could pierce through his thick walls and make him show emotions that seemed unlike the him she knew in any way.

“Would I?” Mitsuhide asked as he looked at her. “For some, I guess I would. Sweetheart, this is not something I would want to bring you into, but I have no other choice.”

“I get that. Always trying to protect me. However, this time I think I need to know so I can help you. Something is clearly bothering you.” She said as she looked into the golden pools of his eyes, and she almost forgot why he was there. She had to shake her head, and she knew she could not get distracted by his eyes and the wonders contained in them.

“This is not something that is normal, either.” He stated as he looked at her. “A nightmare.”

“I get that because if it was, you would be able to handle it on your own.” She smiled softly. “Mitsuhide, whatever it is, just tell me. I can’t even begin to understand the problem or help you with it if I have no idea of what it is.”

He settled back into the couch. He looked her over and closed his eyes for a minute. “I have to think on how to say this. I don’t really want to say it out loud.”

“What?” Kit asked, confused as to what was going on with him.

“If I say it out loud, it is real, Doc.” He said softly, “I really want this to be a mistake.”

“Mitsuhide.” She said as she moved her hand from his leg. He was clearly not able to process whatever it was. He quickly opened his eyes and grabbed her hand back and held it in his hand. He looked at it as if she was his only lifeline. Her heart was sinking. This had to be bad.

“Doc, I just got a call from where my sister is.” He said softly. “My sister, my twin sister, was in a car accident five years ago.”

“Mitsuhide, how did I not know this?” Kit asked, surprised.

“I don’t talk about it.” He said with a slight chuckle. “I question every day why I let her stay there.”

“Where is it?” she asked.

“Not far from here. It was supposed to be one of the best in the country.” He said.

“What happened to her?” she asked as she was trying to figure out where this was headed so she could step in and help him.

“The accident killed her husband on impact. It should have killed her as well.” He said even softer, “But it didn’t. It left her in a vegetative state, though. It was up to me to leave her on the machines or take her off.”

“Mitsu.” Kit said softly. Beginning to see some of his problems.

“I kept her on. Some of the doctors let us have hope, but as the weeks turned into months, we started to lose that hope. We just left her there.” Mitsuhide said. “To finish everything naturally. At the time, I didn’t care which option was used. My aunts pushed to keep her with the help.”

“That is understandable.” She said softly.

“However, the place did good for a while,” Mitsuhide said. “Her needs were met, and we didn’t have anything to worry about, or so I thought.”

“Mitsuhide, what is this about?” she asked. She knew by the way he was talking his sister was still alive. She was more and more confused on what could be really bothering him, though.

“My sister is pregnant.” He said completely devoid of emotion.

“What?” she asked, “How?” Kit was now the one who was trying to process that information. She had never heard of something like this happening in a private care center before.

“That seems to be the million-dollar question, Mouse.” He said. “It seems she was raped.”

“My god.” She said as she looked at him, and with those words, she grasped all he was telling her and everything he was not saying as well. This was going to change everyone’s lives involved with this.