Edward woke quickly, looking around in surprise, before remembering he had stayed overnight to make sure that Jasper was alright. He looked over at the hospital bed, smiling when he saw that Alice and Jasper were still sound asleep. 

That got him curious, so he looked at his wrist, seeing that it was barely after nine a.m. He raised an eyebrow, getting up slowly, being extra careful not to wake them. He checked the monitors, relieved to see that his patient's vitals were good and strong. 

He left the room, almost bumping into Dr. Fredricks in the process. 

"Ah, good morning. How is our patient this fine morning?" Dr. Fredricks asked, a kind smile playing across his lips. 

"He appears to be doing well. The anesthesia wore off around 2 a.m. and caused him to be very ill. Since then, he slept soundly." Edward listed off, rubbing the back of his neck with one of his hands. 

"That is very good indeed. What is bothering you, Edward?" Dr. Fredricks asked gently, seeing the deep frown starting to color the younger man's cheeks. 

"It's not medically related, sir." Edward said, knowing that the older doctor wasn't there to help him with his personal life. He was there to teach medical students to be surgeons.

"Ah, well then, off the books." Dr. Fredricks persisted, taking Edward's arm and leading the younger man to his office just down the hall. He opened the door, gestured to a chair, and sitting down at his own chair behind his desk. 

"Are you homophobic, sir?" Edward asked uncertainly, not wanting to jump right in. He sat down uncertainly, before standing back up again and pacing anxiously. 

"Not at all. I, myself, am happily married to my domestic partner of fifteen years. What's going on, Edward?" Dr. Fredricks asked warmly, smiling understandingly at his student. He had a feeling he knew what was going on, but he knew that part of it had to do with Jasper.

"As you know, I have known Alice for awhile, and she talks nonstop about her brother. So I kinda know Jasper too. But... I... well, he is the model in my sketching class. And I reacted to him... Strongly..." Edward explained, blushing deep red at the end. 

"You mean, you got hard?" Dr. Fredricks asked knowingly. 

"Yes, sir." Edward mumbled, his voice strangled and nervous. 

"That isn't a crime, my boy. It's human nature, to react to someone we find attractive or impressive." Dr. Fredricks said, softly chuckling. 

Edward blushed even more red, looking at the floor shyly. 

"I don't do crushes, or friends really... I am too weird for anyone to stick around." Edward admitted bitterly, suddenly getting the urge to hit something... hard.

"But you do have a crush, and you do have a friend. Luckily for you, they are brother and sister." Dr. Fredricks pointed out gently, standing up and moving over to Edward's side. He put a hand on the younger man's shoulder, pushing him to sit on a couch. 

"Why me?" Edward asked, in a tortured voice. He looked up at his mentor, with tears brimming. 

"What do you mean?" Dr. Fredricks asked, in surprise, grabbing one of the chairs and pulling it in front of Edward. He sat down, watching fear, pain, longing, confusion, and hopelessness cross over the younger man's face in moments.

"I can't be what they want me to be." Edward whispered brokenly, wiping at his cheeks swiftly, as the tears brim over. 

"I may be wrong, but I think that they only want you to be you." Dr. Fredricks said gently, reaching over and grabbing some tissues, which he offered to Edward. 

Edward shook his head at the tissues, sniffling softly with a soft sigh. "What if they hate me? I am quiet, angry, and too easy to devastate." he said heavily. 

"I think Alice has already made it clear, that she likes being around you either way. As for Jasper, you'll have to give it a try, see what happens. However, I have to ask... What happened to make you quiet, angry, and too easy to devastate?" Dr. Fredricks asked gently, quoting Edward's words back to him in an effort to be clear. 

Edward sighed, shaking his head briefly, as memories overwhelmed his mind. "I spent most of the first ten years of my life in and out of hospitals, having multiple surgeries to repair my heart that was failing constantly. After getting a heart transplant, when I was eleven, I started getting better... Then my dad took a contract with the military. For about six years, we moved around about fifteen times, never staying anywhere long enough to make good friends. 

The week before my eighteenth, an officer came to my house, saying my mom and dad had been killed in a car bomb explosion. Just like that, I was on my own and alone. That how I have been, until I met Alice about four years ago." he explained, not bothering to hide his tears, as they poured down his cheeks. 

Alice opened the door, looking at Edward in devastation. "I'm so sorry, Eddie. I had no idea you were hurting so much." she said, wiping at her own tears. She ran to his side, wrapped her arms around him tightly, and held him tightly as he started sobbing. 

Dr. Fredricks smiled sadly, grateful that she had gotten his silent page when Edward started acting upset. "You see, Edward? You have an amazing friend right here. And I'll bet, that Jasper will be your friend too, even if you and he don't see eye-to-eye romantically." he said gently.

Edward nodded slowly, sniffling as he wiped the tears off his cheeks. "Thanks, Alice." he said softly, his voice a bit off from the crying. 

"Romantically?" Alice asked, looking from Dr. Fredricks to Edward. She nodded to Edward, relieved that she finally knew more of his story. She had been trying to figure him out, since they had met.

"It would appear that Edward and Jasper have already met, and that Edward, here, has a bit of a crush." Dr. Fredricks said, with a smile in the younger man's direction. 

Edward blushed, looking away quickly in embarrassment. 

"You like Jazzy? Where?" Alice asked, in surprise. 

"School... I got to draw him." Edward admitted softly, wondering why it was such a big deal. 

"Oh... okay. Well, I was going to introduce you two to each other." Alice said laughing, as she bounced up and down excitedly. "Oh! I completely forgot to tell you, he is awake." she added.

"Go and see him, both of you. Get out of my office." Dr. Fredricks grumbled, good-naturedly. He got up, moved to his chair behind his desk, and pointed at the door with a wink. 

Edward and Alice jumped up quickly, moving to the door in sync. Alice opened the door, bouncing out the door in her excitement.

Edward stopped at the door, before turning around to look at his mentor. "Thank you, Dr. Fredricks, for your advice and time." he said softly, a soft smile coloring his cheeks.

Dr. Fredricks nodded, tilting and nodding his head, as if to say get going. 

Edward followed after Alice, allowing her to enter Jasper's room first. 

"Hey, Jazzy. I want you to meet, Eddie." Alice said excitedly,  opening the door and motioning Edward in. 

Jasper looked up, as Edward walked in, his eyes widening in disbelief. "Eddie? Or Edward?" he asked hoarsely, frowning when he saw that Edward was in scrubs.

"Either is fine. Your vitals look good, how are you feeling?" Edward asked calmly, trying to not show how stressed he actually felt. 

"Sore, but that's normal... I didn't know you were a doctor." Jasper said softly, looking at his sister thoughtfully. 

"He's not just a doctor, Jazzy. He is one of the two surgeons to save you last night." Alice said, with a big grin.