Unsure of what to do, I glanced over at one of my mentors and was met with an approving nod. If he says that it’s ok, then I guess it is?

“Ok…please follow me this way…” I said as I led the way to a private treatment room.

Once we were in the room, I quickly urged for Ren to take a seat. I knew he was injured but I still had no idea where his injury was or how bad it is. Ren also didn’t seem to be in pain and that was confusing me a little.

“Ren, show me your wound. I’ll try my best to heal it,” I instructed.

“Oh that…actually…” Ren said sounding very hesitant and unsure.

That only made me more curious than before. Was the wound so bad that he didn’t want me to see it? Or…was it located in an embarrassing place?

“Please show me, Ren. If you’re wounded, it’s always better to treat it as quickly as possible,” I said encouragingly as I offered him a smile.

Sometimes patients get scared of the treatment, one of my mentors had told me. In these situations, it is very important for the doctor to act reassuring and encouraging.

Hesitantly, Ren placed his right hand in mine with the palm up. I stared down at his palm in utter confusion. The last I checked, my eyesight was fine and so I didn’t understand why I couldn’t see a wound on his hand. Was it something small like something had pricked him?

I lifted his hand up and held it closer to my face so that I could see clearer…but still…

“You see…while I was working, the paper of the one of the reports that was sent accidentally cut my finger…” Ren said, sounding a little guilty like he was admitting to a petty crime.

Did he just tell me that his wound was a papercut? That he ‘accidentally’ got a papercut from working…and he’s in the hospital to heal it?

Really?!

I dropped his hand immediately before turning to face him with narrowed eyes. Does he have any idea…how busy everyone is at the moment?

“You know, when they said that you were wounded, I was super worried and thought that it was something serious…” I said in disbelief.

I was pissed and I didn’t bother hiding it from him.

“You don’t understand a thing, do you? The crown prince of this empire had spilled blood and yet you say that it’s nothing serious?” Ren replied before he heaved a sigh at my ignorance.

“Spilled blood…from a paper cut? Do you need a handkerchief to wipe your tears because it must be really painful, Your Highness?” I said sarcastically.

“What kind of doctor are you to be so cold-hearted towards a patient that has suffered an injury,” Ren retorted.

“Ok, let me clean the cut and apply some medicine and then you can be on your way,” I replied curtly as I quickly got up and took out the most basic first aid kit.

Even the first aid kit that I had in my bedroom could fix up a papercut and I refused to believe that in his entire gold-plated castle, there was not a single first aid kit available. Quickly I went to work, ignoring the feeling of Ren’s eyes on me. The cut was small and not deep, and all the bleeding had obviously already stopped completely even before I started treating it.

“Ok! All done,” I announced, glad to get this over and done with so that I can return to taking care of other patients that really need the help.

“That’s it?” Ren asked, confused.

What more does he want?

“Your wound should be fine now, crown prince. Please get back to your work so that we can get back to ours…” I said before smiling politely at him.

Ren looked at me as if he had something that he wanted to say but then decided against it. I stood up and gestured towards the door as I waited for him to take his leave. With a sigh, Ren got up from his seat and headed slowly to the door.

“You won’t even walk me out?” Ren asked when we were in the hallway.

I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes at him.

“Sure. Let’s go…” I said as I took his hand and hurriedly pulled him after me towards the exit.

My eyes were on the faces of new patients walking into the hospital. There’s so many of them. I wished that I had more time to spend with Ren but…duty calls.

“Let’s part ways here. Have a good day, Ren,” I said briskly once I have dragged him to the front door.

Quickly I turned on my heels and walked as fast as possible back inside. Once inside, it was chaos once more. I got called by one of the doctors to help out immediately.

“Yes! I’ll follow you now…” I quickly replied.

…

“It seems like your woman doesn’t really give a damn about you, huh?” Shin teased with a chuckle.

It was clear that Shin was having so much fun seeing the whole situation between Ren and Rin unfold. He found the whole thing very amusing and couldn’t help teasing Ren when he saw the disappointed look on his friend’s face.

“If you’re free to be here teasing me, why don’t you go back and hammer some sense into my brother’s empty skull…” Ren snapped, not finding his friend’s joke very funny.

“Oh…that’s a little harsh…” Shin said with a laugh.

“Should I give you more work to do?” Ren asked, threateningly.

“Why? So that you’ll have more time to visit the hospital to get your paper cut treated?” Shin said, unable to stop teasing his friend.

Ren made a face and strode past his friend without looking back. Shin watched his friend leave before he burst out laughing. He knew that Rin was too busy now that she was working and training in the hospital. The hospital was always a busy and understaffed place, after all. He prayed that Rin would be successful in her journey in becoming a royal doctor because perhaps, that would make her stay.

--To be continued…