The unending onslaught of pain, fatigue, and nausea was really cramping Stanley Hudson's style. What made it even worse was the impossibility of sleeping whenever any of them were around. That's why the present was such a gift. He kicked back - symptom-free for the moment - in the moderately comfortable chair and began to doze off when he suddenly saw red peaking through his eyelids.

Opening his eyes, he was flashbanged by the engineers who designed the place. Pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing loudly, he abandoned any hope of a nap under the cruel and capricious fluorescent lights.

From across the room, he heard, "Oh, my goodness, I am SO SORRY! I didn't realize you were in here."

The cute Nurse placed her stethoscope, pencil, phone, and lunchbox down on her desk and then turned toward Stan.

"Are you waiting for Dr. Rajasundaram?"

Stanley was shocked at her flawless pronunciation but declined to comment on it.

"Yes, I am here to see...the Doctor."

The Nurse gave him a half-smile and nodded understandingly before asking, "Did Sharon check you in?"

Stanley nodded and pointed up at the light after playfully explaining, "Yeah, I'm not sure how long, but it has been a few minutes since she left. I've just been sitting here, catching some shut-eye. By the way, you scared the crap out of me. I thought one of those flash grenades went off in my face when I opened my eyes, but now I am pleasantly surprised. It was only the BIRTH OF THE UNIVERSE!"

Stanley smiled slightly and waved his hand while she did her "fake customer service laugh" at his antics.

After giggling for a few moments, she asked, "What brings you to see Dr. Rajasundaram?"

He could see the disbelief in her eyes. There was no way a young stud like him was dying of cancer, right?

Stanley sighed and pointed at his full head of hair, "Yeah, I probably don't match the usual clientele. We didn't catch mine in time for chemotherapy. We didn't catch it in time for anything really..."

Shrugging, he continued, "Stage 4. It is essentially full-body metastasis. I may look like a pillar of health on the outside, but internally, I'm held together with twigs and linen."

She looked him over once more and finally noticed the gaunt face. His tall frame could hide a lot, but he was clearly thinner than he should have been. The dark stubble hid the thinness of his cheeks well, as did the Carhartt jacket that every man in the country wore.

The Nurse closed the distance and sat directly in front of Stanley, something that might have once startled him. Looking for any reaction, she reached forward and held his hand gently. 

He finally broke and asked with a chuckle, "What are you doing?"

She leaned forward and wrapped her other hand on top as she explained, "Dr. Rajasundaram has us do a lot of hand-holding. The rationale behind it is similar to why mothers hold their babies."

Stanley smiled, "I thought mothers just wanted to hold their babies?"

She shook her head with a smile, adding, "Well, they do, but they are doing something too. It is called skin-to-skin contact. It is a phenomenon we observe where touching another person - or sometimes thing - can trigger the release of certain chemicals in the brain. Dr. Rajasundaram says that the effect can be so strong that it can change a life-and-death outcome."

Stanley nodded, "Right. The chemical is oxy-something, right? It is released during 'relationship building' if I remember correctly."

"Yup, oxytocin is one of them. But there are others, it is sort of like a cocktail of chemicals that splatter all over your brain when you touch someone for an extended period of time."

Stanley nodded and concentrated on feeling the warmth coming from her soft hands.

Closing their eyes, they sat there in silence for a few minutes before he spoke, "Wow. I do feel a bit better, actually."

Her face lit up as he really got a look at her. This Nurse was probably extremely attractive to a regular guy, and she almost certainly won the Tri-State Prom Queen Tiara.

Stanley glanced down at her fingers and didn't see a ring.

Seeing as he wouldn't be here much longer, he decided against ruining any 'moment' they may or may not be having.

He pulled away so she wouldn't have to keep holding his clammy meat mitten, saying, "Thank you very much, I feel a lot better. But I don't want to keep you from your work. I am sure you have to do something this early into your shift."

A wave of panic crossed her face as she nodded and quickly ran to her computer, where she began to type furiously. Once she was done, she looked back over, "Thank you! You don't know how right you were. They track my 'productivity' as they like to call it. Numbers on a screen can't tell you how you made a patient FEEL, you know?"

The rant ended as quickly as it had begun, but her rage against the machine was roaring splendidly. There was only one thing Stanley could do.

"Tell me about it."

The fierce eyes of a predator turned to him, and she began to rave, "Oh. Those nerds in I.T. are all in on it together. My computer has the LOWEST uptime in the building. The WHOLE building. Then they expect me to have an acceptable level of productivity...it's insanity. Honestly, I think they are trying to get me fired."

Just then, Dr. Rajasundaram poked his head out of his office's door and interrupted her, "Vanessa! Are you speaking about this with another patient?!

The flames comprising her hair rose higher and higher as she turned to the Doctor and huffed out a cloud of steam.

The odd moment passed, and then the Doctor gestured for Stanley to make his way to his office. With a significant effort, he finally stood up and made his way over to the door. Turning around in the doorway, he winked at Vanessa and added, "For the record, that is totally something us nerds would do. But I doubt it is for a truly malicious reason. They probably just want to spend more time with you because you are so pretty."

He caught a hint of her blush and retreated through the door before she could retaliate.