Interns.

Phichit's text accompanied by the vibration on Yuuri's phone while he added a packet of brown sugar into the liquid elixir of wakefulness.

Interns. Yuuri texted back.

You ready?

There's no such thing as ready. Yuuri stirred inhaling the aroma, his cells waking up one by one.

We don't have to write notes anymore!

If your intern can write them fast enough...Yuuri picked up a plastic cap and a sleeve over the green paper cup.

More importantly are you ready for this weekend? Phichit ignored him being skeptical.

Looking forward to it.

Well, I can't wait! Btw I can tell when you didn't drink your morning coffee, you are much crankier. Phichit read his mind.

You are currently keeping me from my coffee. Get back to work :p.

Yuuri handed his ID card to the cashier in the cafeteria to pay for his coffee while grinning from cheek to cheek.

Can you come to see this patient with me?

Sure. Yuuri texted the new intern back as he peeled the plastic part of the cafeteria coffee cup and snapped it back. The aroma of the world's most mediocre coffee brought life back to him like a neglected plant given water.

"I was paged because the nurse found bugs on him, she put some in the specimen jar," Leo avoided Yuuri's gaze, wiping his clammy palms on the stiff, pristine white coat, "I wanted you to look at it with me."

Yuuri pulled open the metal drawer of the isolation cart and handed a yellow gown to Leo.

"Can you put in the order for permethrin cream?" Sara, the nurse taking care of this patient, mentioned in passing.

"Um sure," Leo fumbled with the strings of the isolation gown.

"What do you think?" Yuuri picked up the bug at the bottom of the specimen jar with a gloved hand.

"Lice?" Leo glanced at the homeless patient now cleanly shaven.

"Yea, order the permethrin cream," Yuuri took off his gloves.

"I have so much respect for nurses," Leo rumpled his isolation gown and stepped on the dispenser.

"I do too. By the way, we are rounding with Baranovskaya today, she likes to pimp interns about hyponatremia," Yuuri warned Leo.

"Good to know, I'll skim the flowchart before rounds," Leo flashed a sleepy smile and resumed walking at intern speed.

Yuuri grabbed the coffee hidden behind a computer at the nursing station, happy that the unit clerk who grew a habit of walking all over residents didn't see him and took the second sip.

He carried out rounding on the patients as his interns scrambled to write notes. He knew the best places to hide coffee on each floor.

The next patient's son showed up in scrubs and his 'attending physician badge'.

His wife pushed up her dark horn-rimmed glasses, "are you an intern?" She sat up.

"The resident," Yuuri stood on by the elderly pleasantly confused patient's bedside, "good morning."

"Well, my husband is a famous interventional cardiologist, Dr. Richard Warren, I'll have you notify the attending that his mother here is a VIP patient."

Richard Warren huh, never heard of him. Yuuri pasted on a fake smile as he updated his 'famous' colleague on his mother. We treat all of our patients the same, like VIP patients. Yuuri rolled his eyes as he exited the room as Chris, the nurse and Victor's friend, snorted in silent laughter.

Fuck it, intentionally saving his coffee at first, he downed the rest of it. I need an IV caffeine drip. He walked briskly to the elevator.

Perfect, nobody else is in the elevator, Yuuri grinned. Then from the corner of his eyes, he caught a glimpse of the biggest suck-up in his residency program wearing his hideous orange bow-tie. Yuuri shuddered thinking about his colleague cutting up food for the patient only in front of the attending.

His hand flew to the button that closed the door before the gunner had a chance to accelerate his footsteps. Success. Yuuri smirked. Did residency turn me into an asshole? Shaking his head, he decided the jerk who threw every other resident under the bus deserved it.

On the next floor, he walked into the room of a patient who could barely speak full sentences yesterday.

"Dr. Katsuki, you have to listen to my lungs!" She exclaimed, "I feel so much better." The patient swung her legs over the bed.

Yuuri grinned, "I'm glad." He places the stethoscope on her back, "looks like your wheezing is much improved."

"You know, I have been thinking about our conversation yesterday. I've got two kids at home and I really can't be in and out of the hospital all this time. I am going to quit smoking."

"Great, let me know if there is anything we can do to help. Let's watch your breathing till this afternoon, we'll see how you do then, maybe we can discharge you."

"Sounds good, thank you. I wanted to let you know, you are all wonderful doctors, and the nurses here are kind too," the patient's hand gripped the bed railing.

"I'm glad, being hospitalized can be a stressful experience, it's the least we can do."

"Can I have some water?"

"Sure, I'll grab it for you right away."

Victor downed his last gulp of coffee from the mom-and-pop-type shop down the street and dialed the phone, "this is Dr. Nikiforov returning your call."

"You won't believe what happened, doc, I opened my medicine cabinet yesterday and I dropped my bottle of oxycodone into the toilet."

"What about your heart and thyroid medication?"

"Oh I still have those."

Victor buried his face in his hands, "could you please give me a second to open your chart?"

Instead, he logged into the database that tracked every prescribed controlled substance that could potentially be addictive.

He sighed inside, "when did you say you lost your oxycodone?"

"Yesterday sir."

"The records show you picked up a prescription from another doctor this morning."

Silence.

"I meant it was this morning, I dropped it in the toilet this morning. You know what? I am getting a new doctor. None of you understand my pain," she slammed the phone.

Victor's forehead rested on the table, it's only 8:15 am. His first patient didn't show up to the appointment, which gave him a head start on phone calls to return.

He reached the top of the pile of paperwork he needed to sign.

"Your first patient is ready," his medical assistant knocked.

"Thanks," Victor picked up the laptop.

"Hi Dr. N!" The middle-aged man beamed, "good to see you."

"Likewise, you look great, what can I do for you today?" Victor shook his hand.

"Well, here for the annual physical, you know because the wife insisted. No complaints."

"Sounds good."

They chatted about sports, the patient's recent vacation to Florence and Rome for a few minutes.

"So, your next patient wants you to fill in his disability form for parking. He said he sprained his right ankle six months ago and walked in here without even a limp," Georgi the medical assistant cast Victor a sideways glance, "good luck."

Victor sighed, "here goes." He tried to empty the rest of his coffee but forgetting nothing was left.

Victor's following patient rescheduled, which bought him fifteen previous minutes to review old medical records.

How's attending life? His phone glowed from Yuuri's text.

It's nice. Calls are screened before they show up on my pager for one. How are your interns? He texted Yuuri.

So far so good. Sometimes I didn't feel like I was learning during intern year, but when I started teaching them, I realized I've come a long way and maybe I know a thing or two. Yuuri replied.

Remember the days you were my intern? :)

Of course! Best senior ever.

You ready for tomorrow?

I can't wait. Phichit downloaded an app that counts down to tomorrow's date since three months ago haha.

Victor grinned as he straightened Yuuri's navy tie, "you are gorgeous."

"You should see yourself," Yuuri kissed him on the cheek and closed the car door.

They didn't want an elaborate wedding, instead, they asked the guests to donate to charities in honor of the occasion. They also requested casual attire encouraged sandals.

A small crowd gathered beneath a veranda by the ocean. Phichit wore a form-fitting dark-blue suit, and Yuuri caught him wiping his eyes on multiple occasions. The ocean wind, diluting the heat, and not a single cloud in the sky, the guests gathered around them.

"Now the couple will speak a few words," Phichit stood between Yuuri and Victor, holding Luke's hand. The two-year-old beaned in his tiny suit with a lavender tie matching his dad's. Makkachin sat on the other side of Phichit.

Luke giggled while dropping the golden rings into Phichit's open palm.

"When I was tired and felt like an imposter in a white coat that was too long," the medical part of the crowd chuckled, "you were my first senior," Yuuri began, taking both of Victor's hands in his, "you told me it gets better. I didn't believe you at first, but now I do. Residency taught me sometimes the first thing we need to learn is how to drown, and you watched over me but made me realize that I can swim back on my own. Thank you for believing in me when I didn't believe in myself." Yuuri slid the ring on Victor's fourth finger.

"Resilience is born from a place of darkness. You came into my life when I was in a dark place. When I opened up, you met me where I was. Thank you for reminding me that there is hope, even when I couldn't see it," Victor's fingertips warm against Yuuri's, the ring gleamed in the perfect day in July.

"There Is," Yuuri kissed the ring and smiled.

Author's Note:

I am no longer a resident!

I created this story because I wanted to write about hope.

There was a time when I was an intern, I used to go home every day and cry. One of my mentors told me back then "I believe in you". He wasn't someone with many words, I was taken aback...and that became the inspiration for chapter one.

Thank you for all of the support for the past year when I posted chapter one, I hope you'll find that my writing improved since day 1.

To aspiring doctors or anyone else along this path: parts of residency is suppose to suck, but along the way you'll find the strength, the focus, and the resilience like you never knew you had.

There Is hope.

It gets better.

Please remember to take care of yourself.

Much love & I believe in you,

-Antares

P.S. I will be posting future works on my ao3 account under AntaresPromise, see you there!