Page 73 of Mercy Written in Blood

That should have been the end of it. A patient had survived. The surgery had succeeded. The brief satisfaction he felt required no deeper explanation. Doctors smiled when people lived. Renjihad done so thousands of times. Perhaps not recently. But that meant nothing.

He turned away.

Akiko was waiting at the nurses' station, pretending not to be. Her attention was fixed on a tablet displaying Haruki's latest results, though the page had not changed since Renji approached.

"You were in there a while," she said.

"Fourteen minutes."

"That is a while for you."

"He required a neurological assessment."

"And?"

"Normal."

"No deficits?"

"None apparent."

"Memory?"

"Intact."

"Personality?"

Renji placed the folder beside her.

"Unfortunately."

Akiko looked up. There it was again — that same faint movement near his mouth. This time Renji stopped it before it became visible. Akiko's eyebrows rose.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You are looking at me strangely."

"I've known you for eleven years."

"That does not answer the question."

"In eleven years, I have seen you smile at a patient twice."

"That is inaccurate."

"Three times, then."

"I smile."

"You reassure. You soften your voice. Occasionally you look less severe."

"I am not severe."

Aoi passed behind them carrying a tray of medication. She slowed. Akiko looked at her.

"Is he severe?"