Food Therapy

This is a story of brotherly love and the favorite art known to mankind. Through the storytelling, the narrator aims to develop the relationship between the two protagonists of the Suite Life Series, and at the same time bring forth to readers of this fandom the wonder of fine dining, the workings of a professional kitchen, and food, which remains both a source of nourishment and a developer of bonds and human relationships.

Enjoy the story.

Prologue

He worked like an artist possessed, his hands moving fervently across the dough, kneading it carefully using the palms of both his hands. The dough quickly gained his desired even texture and elasticity. Tossing a handful of flour onto the cutting board, the dough was moved onto the board, where he continued kneading. Once he was satisfied, he placed plastic wrapping over the dough and allowed it to set.

He glanced at the clock. 30 minutes.

Just enough time for me to prepare the vegetables, he thought to himself.

The zucchini, yellow squash, onions, red pepper and green pepper were placed neatly on the other end of his workspace. Dicing the vegetables with unperceivable speed, he paused only to shout at the sous-chef to help him shred the mozzarella and dice the tomatoes.

Behind him, the entire kitchen staff stared breathlessly at the master as he tossed the vegetables into the frying pan. With the final order for the evening brought to the kitchen, and the late night customer waiting patiently for his food, there seemed to be very little for the remaining staff to do besides staring at the executive chef and trying to learn the details of his craft through visual observation.

And observe they did. They often liken their executive chef to an orchestral conductor, a maestro who waves his hands and the desired ingredients fall into place, creating edible music beneath his baton (or, as they worked in a kitchen, his knife).

He was to cooking what Beethoven was to music, or what Michelangelo was to sculpture.

An angry glare from the sous-chef prompted the staff to assist with the incomplete food preparation.

With the vegetables done, the executive chef poured the diced tomatoes and diced vegetables into a pot and began to boil the mixture. Wasting no time at all, he cracked an egg with breakneck speed and continued the pasta preparation. In mere seconds, thin sheets of dough became thin tubes of pasta with diagonally cut ends. Penne.

In 30 minutes the masterpiece was completed, its components mixed together in a delicious rendezvous.

The executive chef poured the sauce over the waiting pasta as the rest of the kitchen staff paused their washing and cleaning.

It looked like a piece of art suitable for display at any museum.

It smelt like a plate of heaven.

What it tasted like, the cooks would not know for themselves, but there was only one way to find out.

One of the line cooks passed the completed plate of Garden Penne to the waiting server. Carefully, the server placed the aromatic food onto a tray and pushed her way through the kitchen doors. Reaching the table of the waiting customer, she put the colorful canvas down in front of him.

Gripping a fork in his hand, he tucked in.

Zack Martin smiled as loud exclamations were heard from the dining area, the customer in awe at the taste of the pièce de résistance that he had just sunk his teeth into.

Mission complete.

He started cleaning up his workspace.

"He went into cardiac arrest twice during the operation, though we managed to bring him back from that. However, his injuries were too severe, and he lost too much blood."

The woman's face fell. Beside her, her toddler grabbed onto her leg and started bawling.

"I'm sorry. We did all we could."

Tears of grief began their descent down the widow's face, and she cupped her head in her arms, as though trying to escape her visual perception of the scenario she was in. The child was hysterical now, despite his limited vocabulary he understood what the man in white had just said, and the child was now seated on the floor sobbing, droplets of salty liquid hitting the cold, polished floor.

As the woman removed her hands from her face, her expression was not one Cody Martin had expected.

Instead of grievance, he saw a slowly boiling rage in her eyes.

"Liar." she whispered.

Without warning, a hand shot out from beside Cody. He dodged it with a split second to spare, and immediately found himself backed up against a wall as the woman gripped his shirt and shoved him, with mere inches between their faces.

She started yelling.

"You didn't try your best to save him!"

"I assure you I did, madam, and the rest of the team did their utmost best as well. We-"

"Stop lying! MY HUSBAND IS DEAD AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

A few security guards stationed at the main lobby quickly made their way to the commotion and pulled the woman away from the young doctor. She was still screaming as they dragged her away. Another doctor placed a gas mask over her and her struggling ceased, her shouting slowly simmering down into murmurs.

"Didn't try...I can't...James..."

Another tear rolled down her cheek.

Cody straightened his tie.

Just another day at work, he thought scathingly to himself.

So this is what Yale Medical School has given me in exchange for 8 years of my life.

He was tired of being the bearer of bad news. He was tired of waking up in the middle of the night to respond to emergency pages that turned out to be mistakes on the receptionist's part. He was tired of the smell of formaldehyde and the crimson of blood. He was tired of being an emotionless machine towards his patients, as medical school had very kindly engrained in him the ability to hide emotion and not get attached to his patients. He was tired of having to force himself to act cordially with his ex-fiancee, whom he met at the hospital nearly every day.

He was tired of his job.

Most of all, he was tired of his life.

His brain thirsting for alcohol, Cody tore off his scrubs, signed out for the day, and leapt into his car.

Author's Note - Welcome to Food Therapy, a new Suite Life fanfiction. The story is meant to be an amalgam between the Suite Life series and the greatest art favored by modern day humans, cooking and food. Please do enjoy the story and leave reviews to help me improve on my writing. :)

~SUITELIFEFAN