FireCacodemon: Welcome to my first Trauma Centre fan-fiction so this might not be the best out there but hey, first step is always the hardest. So please enjoy~ Oh, this is a One-shot and won't be any more.

Burnt Out

A Trauma Center Fan-fiction

Written by FireCacodemon

Disclaimer: Trauma Center belongs to Atlus

Summary: Everyone has a limit. Doctors, surgeons and nurses are no different. With the threat of GUILT and Derek being the first to cure the strands, work gets piled on him. Burning out seems very possible.

"Derek's grown up so much since I met him," Angie smiled as she sat down in the break room. Leslie looked over at Angie and smiled gently at her. The two nurses had become close friends while they worked together under Caduceus, while Angie mainly worked with Derek taking part in operations against GUILT and other operations which pop up. Angie had left Derek to fill in the paper work of his patients, something that was starting to pile up on him again.

"Is he filling out his paper work?" Leslie asked her, she nodded.

"He's filling out the paper work about his patients."

"Is it just me or does Dr. Stiles look like he's ready to burn out soon...?" Angie turned to look at Leslie with a confused look on her face.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Dr. Stiles is always called up on because of his Healing Touch abilities. Every new strand of GUILT which turns up he's called. Any complicated operation and he's called. I know some people who keep working so much eventually have a crash..."

"Dr. Stiles probably won't burn out, he'll be fine." Angie looked away from the other nurse. She did have a point, Derek and she were fighting against GUILT and Derek was always the first doctor to be called on for any new strain and expected him to know how to cure it. Sure, Caduceus had their notes on what they had observed but it was always Derek who did the operations, the one who stopped the strand the first time they operated on it...if he failed...probably the one who'll feel the most pain after failing. With the Healing Touch being one of Derek's strengths it wasn't often used much from what Greg Kasal told him to only use the Healing Touch when absolute necessary, Derek hasn't once found that time. Derek took Greg's advice and improved himself as a surgeon and as a doctor.

"Well, you know Dr. Stiles better than anyone else," Leslie smiled at Angie before she got up and left to return back to her work. Amy was still in hospital and she was assigned to her to make sure that everything was recovering nicely. Deftera had been killed but the recovery was long and painful (on Tyler's part). Angie was left alone in the break room while Derek finished off his paper work.

Burnt Out - Trauma Center

Derek was busy filling in the mountain of paper work which was waiting patiently to be filled out by the young surgeon. Derek still had a long way to go before Angie was going to be happy with him. The pager lay innocently next to the paper he was currently working on. The patient was another case of GUILT, the common strand of Kyriaki was located once again in the left lung. Derek felt his mood sink even more; he should have taken Dr. Hoffman's advice when it came to his own happiness. After all, he was the one that Caduceus relied on the most. There were more experienced doctors in the organisation but yet they all turn to him when something new arrived on the table. He didn't hate the attention he had received but it was getting to the point that he felt like he was the only one who could stand up to the threat of GUILT and deal with it, he had Angie by his side but for actually stopping the disease, it was him.

The pager beeped and flashed as Derek was called to another operation. Feeling the energy coming back to his body, Derek pushed his chair back and got up, it wouldn't be surprising if it was another strand of Kyriaki, the most common GUILT he had faced. There was the massive outbreak of Kyriaki in which he saw Dr. Hoffman operate for the first time. Seeing for the first time how he looked while operating was something he quite enjoyed watching. But alas, now was not the time to think back to the outbreak of Kyriaki.

"Dr. Stiles! We've been called for!" He heard Angie's voice as she shot past him with blood for the chiral test to see if it was another GUILT victim.

"I'm on my way!" Picking up the pace, Derek flew through the corridors avoiding other patients, doctors and nurses. He was stopped by Dr. Clarks upon arriving at the destination.

"Dr. Stiles, we believe that Mr. Staolt has been infected with GUILT, most likely Kyriaki as he's been complaining about his chest feeling like it was on fire," Dr. Clarks informed Derek. Linda Reid complained about her chest feeling like it was on fire when she was infected. What they needed now was the chiral reaction test to see if Mr. Staolt was infected with GUILT or not. Angie had returned with the test results.

"Chiral reaction positive, strand is Kyriaki. Location is the left lung."

"Let's get him ready for the operation and to remove the GUILT," Dr. Clarks spoke as Derek and Angie nodded and prepared for the operation while Dr. Clarks briefed them on the situation. "Dr. Staolt has a weaker immune system. This has leaded him to be coming into hospital more than any other patient. We've done a lot to help him get over his weak immune system but with the outbreak of GUILT, it was only going to be a matter of time before he became infected. I don't think I need to explain the steps in how to handle this strand. Drain the large lacerations of blood before closing it shut and suture them up as well as the smaller lacerations. Then the battle with Kyriaki will start."

"Doctor, he's ready for operation," a nurse alerted them. Derek nodded.

"Then let's begin the operation." Derek gave his trademark pose after saying those famous words. Derek and Angie moved into the surgical room to operate on Mr. Staolt.

Burnt Out – Trauma Center

Derek disinfected the area before proceeding with the lobotomy. Opening up the patient, Derek was greeted with four large lacerations with blood pools outside and 3 smaller lacerations with will just need stitching up.

"Drain please," Derek never took his eyes off the left lung while Angie handed him the drain, going into the patient's body, Derek drained the blood and dealt with the larger lacerations before dealing with the smaller ones. Derek fell silent while working on the patient. He was too focused on the operation in front of him to even ask for the tools that he would need. Angie watched as Derek continued the operation, even without the healing touch active, Derek moved fast to make sure that the patient would be saved. Angie passed Derek the forceps as he offered his hand. Taking hold of them he continued to close the large lacerations and stitched them up before they could re-open. This continued for the other three as Derek continued to operate. The room was silent (to Derek anyway) as the operation continued, rubbing more anti-biotic gel on the lung helped improve the vital signs slightly, just enough before Derek sutured up the last laceration.

Three lacerations formed on the lung in three different directions but Derek kept his cool as Angie gave him the ultra sound. Spotting Kyriaki swimming under the surface of the lung, Derek quickly grabbed his scalpel and cut in front of the parasite, sending it up to the surface while creating another laceration. Angie handed Derek the laser, switching it on he turned on the parasite and killed the parasite. Angie prepared a syringe filled with the stabilizing juice as Derek dealt with the Kyriaki which kept on attacking. After five immature Kyriaki were defeated, Derek left a tiny laceration untreated while he brought up the vitals of the patient before he faced the mature Kyriaki lurking under the organ membrane. Once the vitals were up, the final battle against Kyriaki began.

"Are you okay Nurse Thompson?" Dr. Clarks asked the young nurse. He noticed the worried look in her eyes and judging by the way she was looking at Derek. Angie looked at the older doctor as she shook her head.

"I'll talk after the operation is a success." Angie gave a sweet smile before turning her attention back to Derek as he performed the surgery; she was going to be by his side for as long as possible. Her mind threatened to drift back to the conversation she had earlier but quickly shook it off as Derek offered his hand for another surgical tool; Angie looked over to the patient to see that he needed the sutures once more. Kyriaki had gone into hiding but Derek knew that it was going to die the next time the laser hit it. Derek moved quickly to finish off the Kyriaki before it caused any more trouble.

"Chiral reaction negative," Angie smiled happily.

"Please finish the operation Dr. Stiles." Dr. Clarks said as Derek continued to finish up the operation.

"Operation successful," Angie said once Derek had finished suturing up the patient. He removed the mask from his nose and mouth.

"I couldn't have done it without you Angie," he spoke with a happy smile on his face.

"You both did a good job, I'm glad you both joined Caduceus," Dr. Clarks congratulated the two doctors.

"Thank you sir," both Derek and Angie spoke together. Angie and Dr. Clarks went to wheel the patient back onto the ward where he could rest in peace and recover. The threat of GUILT was over for him and Derek still had his paper work to finish. "Better finish that before Angie thinks I'm slacking off," he muttered to himself and made his way back to his office.

"Angie, what's making you worried?" Stephen asked Angie.

"I was talking to Leslie this during my break period and we got onto a conversation about when people become burnt out. When they've done their job for long periods of time and stop functioning as a doctor...or something like that."

"It is possible for doctors to burn out after going long periods of time without having much of a break. That's why it's important for any doctor to get the required 6 hours of sleep as well as taking breaks in the mean time. Do you think Derek will burn out soon?"

"I'm not sure...but the way that Caduceus is relying on Derek too much as GUILT's a new threat...if he crashes and a new strand appears, we'll be in trouble."

"Think he's filling out the paper work?"

"Let's go and see him before another GUILT patient turns up." Dr. Clarks and Angie went back to Derek's office.

Burnt Out – Trauma Center

A couple of days had passed since Angie and Leslie had that talk and the fear of Derek burning out had passed as no signs were there. Derek and Angie were preparing for an operation; thankfully the patient wasn't another GUILT patient but a tumour that just needed to be removed. It was a simple procedure which was going to be done.

"Dr. Stiles, are you ready?" Angie asked after she finished getting ready. Turning around she saw that Derek was nowhere near ready for the operation. He looked exhausted, his eyes were droopy and his face looked slightly red. It didn't take long before Derek wobbled on his feet, eyes closed as he fell forwards. Angie quickly moved to catch Derek before he injured himself. "I need some help here!" Angie yelled as she gently pressed a hand up onto Derek's forehead, her eyes widened as she felt the high fever.

Dr. Chase sprinted into the room to find his best friend unconscious in Angie's arms. Neither of them knew what had happened to make Derek look so horribly ill. Tyler gently scooped up Derek into his arms; Angie looked at him with tears starting to form in her eyes. Derek was an important piece of medical treasure so he falling ill and collapsing could mean different things. He could have been infected with GUILT; it was a common illness; he had reached his limit for the time being and just needed time away from work so he could rest and relax.

"What's wrong with him?" Angie asked, trying to control her emotions.

"Get a chiral test please? I don't know what's wrong with him but I'd like to rule out GUILT if possible," Dr. Chase spoke in a serious voice. There wasn't any way that Tyler was going to let GUILT threaten Derek like it did with his little sister. Angie nodded and got herself together in order to get a chiral test. If Derek was infected then they needed to move quickly...but the symptoms of GUILT didn't match what Derek had. A high fever wasn't something that GUILT did but like Dr. Chase said, it'll be better to clear that suspicion up rather than it taking hold of Derek's life.

Tyler carried Derek onto the ward, drawing many different attentions from the nurses, other doctors and even the patients. Especially from Derek's patients who looked at him confused. Seeing a spare bed on the ward Tyler made his way over to the bed to put Derek down. Steven was the first to come over to the duo doctors.

"What happened?" Dr. Clarks asked confused, moving the covers off the bed so that Tyler could put Derek down in the bed. Placing Derek down in the bed, Tyler put the covers over him and tucked him in. Although Derek's appearance looked terrible, he just looked like he was sleeping.

"We don't know yet," Tyler said. "Angie's getting a chiral test to see if he's infected. If not, then we're going to have to run different tests."

"So we need to wait for the chiral test to come back before we can even do anything?"

"Yes."

Angie came running through the halls with a chiral test in her hand. She wasn't going to fail this simple step if it meant that she was going to be helping Derek then she was going to. To do the test, Angie needed to take Derek's blood and the test will tell what strand it is and where it is located. If lucky, it'll say if the strand is mature or if it was immature. It helped a lot to understand when the patient got infected with GUILT and for how long it had been in their body. Tyler watched as Angie started up the chiral test and tested Derek's blood; the test never took a long time because of the threat of GUILT was. The test beeped, drawing Angie's attention. Looking down at the test, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Chiral reaction is negative."

"Then what's the issue...?" Tyler pondered.

"Has this ever happened to him while you and Derek were in med school?" Angie asked.

"I've never seen Derek have these symptoms before."

"At least he isn't infected with GUILT...I'll ask Dr. Kasal at Hope Hospital," Angie said as she took the chiral test away and moved to call up Greg. Derek was his student so he'll know all the little quirks that Derek had. Angie knew most of them but she didn't know them all.

Burnt Out – Trauma Center

Greg felt a weight off his shoulders as he walked into the break room. Dr. Hoffman had given him a short break after all the work that he had done to replace Derek and Angie's spot for a while. His mind drifted to how Derek and Angie were doing being on the front line of GUILT. As much as both he and Dr. Hoffman weren't too keen on letting Derek and Angie go, but it was their decision and Derek would do anything to help medicine. It was painful to lose someone from an incurable disease like Derek had. So he knew why Derek would have been so interested in to help advance medicine. When he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket he grew confused. No one called him during work, and he didn't have any meetings planned so it couldn't be a remainder for a meeting. He shuffled as he reached into his pocket to bring out his phone. The vibrating phone showed the number of Caduceus.

"What's Caduceus calling me for?" He pondered. Pressing the answer button, he put the phone up to his ear. "Hello?"

"Dr. Kasal, this is Nurse Angie from Caduceus. Dr. Stiles was your student, correct?"

"Angie, you sound worried. What's happened?"

"It's Derek! He collapsed before an operation!" Angie started to panic once more. It was clear in her voice that she was worried. Greg had seen Derek collapse a few times on his watch. Once was from using the Healing Touch, another time from catching a disease. The time which caused him the most worry was when Derek was his student. When he first collapsed while he and Derek were still new to each other, he had just taken Derek on because he saw potential in him as a surgeon. Sure he was a little cocky and didn't always focus but Derek did his research and always questioned when he wasn't sure. Something some other doctors didn't. He questioned everything to expand his knowledge.

"How bad is he?" Greg asked her.

"He's not responding!"

"Angie, calm down. Listen to me carefully."

"O-o-okay." Greg smiled; he could hear Angie calming down on the other end of the phone.

"Okay, I'm ready."

"Derek just needs rest. There's nothing wrong with him, he's not infected with anything or anything like that. He's just pushed himself too far without taking any breaks and as a result of that, his body's just gone into temporarily shut down. He'll be fine."

"But!"

"Angie, if Derek's been working none stop then he's currently burnt out. Just put him in a bed and leave him. When he's rested he'll wake up and go around his normal duties."

"How...do you know?"

"Derek's done this before, just leave him to rest and he'll be fine."

"Okay. Thank you," Angie breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, doctor."

"Don't worry about it. Take care of him as well as yourself."

"I will." Angie hung up.

"Derek, you're really pushing yourself to help others."

Burnt Out – Trauma Center

Derek slowly opened his eyes; he only saw the pale white ceiling of the Caduceus ward. Derek blinked for a few seconds before he gently pushed himself up on the bed. His hands gently rubbed his eyes and gave out a yawn. "Guess I crashed, huh?" Derek thought to himself as he thought back on what happened. The operation!

"Afternoon Dr. Stiles," Sidney looked down on Derek.

"My patient, how are they?"

"Your patient is fine; you've been out for a day. All your operations were handled by others here and all were a success. Angie has also told us what my brother told her."

"Sorry sir...for crashing."

"Everyone has a limit on what they can do. If you feel like you've done so much, let us know and take a break to avoid burning out."

"Yes sir."

FireCacodemon: Thank you for reading. If you liked then please leave a review or favourite.