Work Text:
Look, it isn’t his fault that he keeps ending up in the emergency room, sporting the stupidest injury you could think of. They were all accidents! That's what happens when you work with a bunch of traumatized kids, it's just part of the job description, okay?
Still, getting hurt and being in pain isn’t on Nico’s top ten list of favourite things in the world, believe it or not, he’s not actually a masochist. Not to mention the embarrassment that comes with having to explain how he got stabbed with a pencil to the very tired-looking nurse at the front desk.
“Remember, you’re not the guy with the remotely phallic-shaped object up his ass”, he tries to remind himself. “The nurses have seen worse.”
Apparently, his injury is “definitely not lethal” (thank god), he’s “not a priority right now” (ouch), and he’s gonna have to wait an indefinite amount of time to be seen by a doctor (he’s just glad that his phone battery is on 80%).
After his quick chat with the nurse, Nico hobbles over to one of the empty seats in the waiting area, plopping down on one of the plastic chairs. The fluorescent lighting was already starting to give him a headache. It smelled strongly of antiseptic.
He’d give the waiting room a 2 out of 10 for comfort.
Believe it or not, this isn’t his first visit to the ER since he started his job at one of the local women’s shelters. After graduating with a degree in social work and child psychology four years ago, Nico has spent most of his time looking after children and preteens recovering from all kinds of abuse. Nothing hurts him more than listening to their devastatingly sad stories, but he’s found his purpose in helping them in any way he can.
He really should have known better though, than to lean over a kid's shoulder without announcing himself first. The picture they drew just looked really cool. He should have known that a traumatised child might have a fight response after getting startled like that.
Today he must’ve just decided not to use the last brain cell he had left and it got him a pencil to the thigh… a freshly sharpened pencil to the thigh.
Which is why he’s here now, 26 years old, a college graduate, freshly stabbed, sat in an ER waiting room eating a bag of sour candy from the vending machine. He tries not to think about the fact that his favourite pair of black jeans is now ruined, maybe he could turn the hole into a fashionable rip? If he ever managed to get them somewhat clean again.
He decides to send his sister Hazel a text, asking her how to remove blood from clothes, trying his best to sound as ominous as possible. He quickly got a reply consisting of about 20 question marks, her telling him that she was not in the mood to go grab the big shovel from the basement and that he should just dump the body in a lake somewhere. Stifling a laugh he texted her that he was halfway to Mexico already and that she didn’t answer his question about the blood.
“Mr. di Angelo?” Nico was so immersed in his phone, that he didn't even notice that one of the nurses came up to him. “Will you please follow me?” He tried his best to stand up as elegantly as possible, which was a lot harder than it sounded and followed the nurse into one of the nearby rooms. “Please sit down, the doctor will be with you shortly”, she shoots him a quick, very practised-looking smile, places his file on the table next to the door, swiftly turns around and leaves Nico alone. He sits down on the rolling chair, leans back and looks up at the ceiling.
He didn’t want to be caught staring at his phone again, so he decided to snoop around the room for a bit. Sue him, he’s a child at heart. He uses his non-stabbed leg to push the chair to the left side of the room and starts examining the contents of the different bins lined up on the counter. A variation of band-aids, gauzes and sterile pads that he decides to keep his hands away from.
Next is an anatomically correct skeletal model of a hand, which he finds equal parts intriguing and bizarre. He’s always had a weird fascination with bones. “Maybe in another life, I would’ve become a pathologist”, he utters quietly while playing with the different finger joints. “Or a gravedigger.”
Suddenly scared to break this, probably very expensive, model he sets it down before spying the selection of surgical gloves mounted on the wall next to the door. “I wonder what my glove size is?”, he thinks before rolling over. He has pretty long fingers so he decides to pull a pair out of the box labelled “large”.
He’s just finished putting on the gloves (perfectly sized by the way), before hearing the squeak of the opening door. Nico spins around and is met with the most beautiful pair of pale blue eyes he’s ever had the pleasure of gazing upon.
“What the hell are you doing?” It took a while for Nico to realise that the perfectly shaped lips residing on the same face as the enchanting eyes had actually said something.
And what a face it is. Pink lips, slightly chapped, and a cute nose sat between the most squishable-looking cheeks, littered with a galaxy of freckles. The aforementioned eyes underneath furrowed brows and everything is topped off with the most beautiful golden curls. The light coming in from the hallway makes it seem like there's a shining halo resting on top of his head.
“Hello?” Nico finally tears his eyes away from the man and glances down towards his own glove-clad hands. It’s now that he realises how strange he must look, sitting on a rolling chair with a pencil in his thigh and his hands covered by surgical gloves.
“I was just curious what my glove size is”, Nico blurts out before mentally slapping himself, ”How am I already blowing my chances with this beautiful man?, Reyna was right I’m a hopeless case.”
Nico’s explanation seemed to somehow relax the angel in front of him a little bit.
“And?”
Now it was Nico’s turn to be confused. “Huh?”
“What’s your glove size?” He shifted his eyes down again, inspecting his gloved hand, and spreading his fingers apart. “Oh, um, a large.” The man nods his head. He grabs Nico’s file from the table and starts reading. “Cool, I wear a medium.” Nico looks down at the man’s hands.
“You’re sitting on my chair”, he says without looking up. “Could you move to the bed please?”
Nico finally realises that the man in the green scrubs and the stethoscope around his neck is his doctor.
“Oh yes, of course, sorry about that.” He stands up slowly and quickly throws his gloves in the bin before plopping down on the bed. “I’m Dr. Solace”, the man says. “I’m guessing you’re here because of the pencil that's currently stuck in your leg.”
“I didn’t know Sherlock Holmes would be treating me today” Nico regrets the words as soon as they leave his mouth. Why does he always have to be such a smartass?
Dr. Solace doesn't even spare him a glance before pulling out a pair of medium-sized gloves. He scoots his chair over to where Nico is sitting. “Very funny, how long did it take you to come up with that?”, he finally retorts while pulling on his gloves.
Nico could feel the blood rushing towards his cheeks. “Sorry, I don’t know why I said that.”
Dr. Solace starts examining his thigh. “It doesn’t look like the pencil did any major damage, I will have to remove it and stitch you up, then you should be good to go. I will, however, have to cut up your jeans, sorry about that.”
“Bummer, they’re my favourite pair.” Dr. Solace gives him a sympathetic smile, then grabs a pair of scissors and starts cutting away at his jeans.
“Your file states that this was a work accident, what kind of job includes stationary inflicted wounds?”, the blond asks without looking up.
“I’m a social worker, accidentally startled a child”, Nico tries to sound as nonchalant as possible. Dr. Solace looks up, gifting Nico with a small smile. “Ouch. Kids can be so much stronger than they look, can’t they?” “Yes, they can”, Nico felt the corner of his lips starting to turn upwards. “I’ve gotten my fair share of slaps and punches from tiny hands.”
Dr. Solace lets out a joyful laugh. It’s such a clear and melodic sound, like someone was plucking the strings of a harp. Nico was sure he’d never heard anything like it. “Me too, toddlers usually don’t understand that you're trying to help them when you go near their skin with a suture needle”, his gaze was fixed on the wound again.
Nico uses this chance to take in Dr. Solace’s face one more time. He looks young, about the same age as Nico, the green of his scrubs somehow perfectly complementing his tanned complexion. He also notices that the blond’s freckles don’t stop at his cheeks, they’re everywhere - on his forehead and the bridge of his nose, on his neck, his hands and all the way up his arms. They make him look like a night sky, littered with dozens upon dozens of stars. The dark circles Nico can see beneath the doctor’s eyes stick out like a sore thumb on his peaceful complexion.
“You look pretty young, are you still in training?”, he asks as casually as he can manage. Dr. Solace lifts his head again, during Nico’s daydreaming he’s managed to turn the right leg of Nico’s black jeans into very unfashionable-looking shorts and inject his thigh with a local anaesthetic.
“I get that a lot.” He smirks and Nico’s heart skips a beat. “I’m actually a board-certified ER doctor and trauma surgeon at age 26. I’d pretend to be humble about it but I worked too hard to get here.” Dr. Solace’s grin widens. Nico decides that he’d never seen a prettier smile in his whole life. He wants to find out more.
“Sounds impressive, you must’ve been quite young when you graduated from med school.” “I was 22, completed my residency a couple of months ago.”, Dr. Solace said. He seemed so proud. Almost like a child telling his parents, he got an A on his report card. Nico found it endearing.
“Should I feel honoured to be treated by the hands of a prodigy?” He just couldn’t stop himself from being an ass, could he?
“Oh absolutely, Mr. di Angelo, they’re gonna ask you for an interview as soon as you step out of the ER.” Dr. Solace didn’t seem to have a problem with his bickering. Nico hadn’t even noticed the huge grin he was sporting until now. “Don’t call me Mr. di Angelo, please, Nico is just fine.”
“Do you expect me to tell you my first name now?” Dr. Solace had removed the pencil from Nico’s thigh by now and began his second round of disinfecting.
“That would only be fair, don’t you think?” Nico leans back, hands propped behind him on the cot.
“It’s Will.” The small smile on Will’s lips made Nico’s heart beat faster.
“It’s nice to meet you, Will.”
“That's Dr. Will to you.”
Nico barks out a laugh. “Okay *Dr.* Will, how does my leg look?” Will had begun stitching him up. He worked fast and precise, while still being very gentle, as if he had done it a million times before. In hindsight, he probably had done it a million times before. Nico should really try and get it together.
“It looks like we’re done here” Will snips off the last bit of thread and begins to wrap Nico’s thigh with a roll of gauze he took out of one of the containers Nico had eyed earlier.
“Thanks Dr. Will.” He examines his thigh, stretching his leg, trying to feel something.
He felt the pair of brilliant blue eyes looking at him. “You should refrain from any physical activity for the next couple of days. Try not to walk as much.” Will gave him a blinding smile. “Luckily we both know you’re an expert at getting around in a rolling chair.”
Nico crosses his arms in front of his chest and raises an eyebrow. “Very funny, how long did it take you to come up with that?”
Will lets out a laugh. “Touché.”
He stands up and walks towards the door. “Goodbye Nico.” He turns around one last time and gives Nico a warm smile. “Try not to get attacked by a child again.”
Nico grins. “No promises Dr. Will.”
That night he dreams of pencils, surgical gloves and sun-kissed skin.
Two months go by. Two months of daydreaming about freckled cheeks and mesmerizing eyes.
If he’s taken to blasting Enchanted by Taylor Swift on his commute to work every day, singing his little heart out, then that’s absolutely no one’s business.
His return to the ER was inevitable, but this injury was even more humiliating than the last one. He doesn’t even want to admit what happened he’s so ashamed of himself.
Well, here it goes: He fused his fingers with super glue.
Nico can’t believe this is happening to him. One minute he was sitting at a table surrounded by a bunch of crafting 5-year-olds, trying to open the child safety lid on a bottle of super glue and suddenly he couldn’t pry his fingers apart.
Sometimes he can’t believe that his job entails keeping children from hurting themselves with crafting supplies, he’s obviously not qualified for that.
After getting laughed at by not only the kids but also pretty much all of his colleagues he gathered his stuff and was on his way to the ER.
The nurse didn’t even look fazed, she just told him to go sit in the waiting room. It’s then when it hits him that Will might see him in this utterly embarrassing state. Nico hopes he will be spared, he doesn’t think he could ever recover from that.
The waiting room was pretty empty so it only took around 30 minutes before one of the nurses led him to a very familiar-looking room and told him that “the doctor will be right with him.”
This time Nico sits down on the cot immediately, trying to prevent himself from any further humiliation. He starts to pray to any deity he can think of that Will has a day off today.
It doesn’t work. Of course, it doesn’t, Nico is never allowed to have any kind of luck in his life.
The door opens and a familiar mop of golden curls enters the room.
Nico swears he saw a quick smile on the doctor’s face when Will first takes him in. That was enough for the butterflies in his stomach to go rampant.
“Nico, right? The social worker?” Nico can’t believe Will actually remembered him. “Yes, that’s me. It’s nice to see you again Will.”
The blond gave him a quick once-over. “I can’t see any stab wounds today, what brings you into my lovely ER this time?”
The butterflies drop dead within a second. Nico could picture them falling mid-flight before getting crushed at the bottom of his stomach.
Shit. Now he had to tell Dr. Pretty Face about the super glue.
He can’t bring himself to say it out loud so he just lifts his hand and tries to give Will the most charming and confident smile he can muster up.
Will seems confused at first, takes a step closer and then lets out a laugh so loud Nico is sure the whole ER must’ve heard him. He’s glad Will closed the door earlier.
Will doubles over before flinging himself down onto his chair, the impact causing him to roll a good meter and a half before stopping again. It takes about a minute for him to calm down.
With flushed cheeks and still giggling the blond reaches for Nico’s glued hand to take a closer look. “How did you manage to do this? Be honest, did a child attack you again? I thought I told you to avoid that.” Nico looks away sheepishly. “No, this is all my doing.”
He raises his un-glued hand to play with a strand of his shaggy black hair.
Will gives him a huge grin, “Well, I have to thank you, this is the first time I’ve laughed all week.” Nico stops his fiddling and furrows his brows. That doesn’t sound right. He notices the dark circles under Will’s eyes. They were even darker and deeper than they did the last time he saw him. It didn’t suit his youthful face. It looked like someone had taken a chisel and scored deep lines into the handsome face of Michelangelo’s David.
“Why?”, he asks. Wow, really classy Nico. Will lets go of his hand and averts his eyes before taking a deep breath. “I broke up with my boyfriend last week. The last couple of days haven’t exactly been the easiest.” He looks sad. Nico feels like the worst person alive for immediately coming to the conclusion that Will is not only single but also queer. He needs to work on his empathy skills.
”Oh”, is the first thing that comes out of his mouth. Then, “I’m sorry about that. Breakups suck.”
Before he could think about it any further he adds “I know we’re practically strangers but I’m all ears if you want to talk about it.” Will gives him a small smile but it doesn’t reach his eyes.
“Would it make you feel less embarrassed about your superglue situation if I told you about my failed relationship?”
Nico chuckles. “Sure, why not.”
“Okay, but I’m only doing this because you said it will make you feel better” Will starts to prepare a bowl of warm, soapy water before gently placing Nico’s hand in it.
“I met him back when I first started med school. We weren’t together back then but we were very close friends. I’d skipped a couple of years in high school and I was always a lot younger than all of my classmates, so I only really began dating when I got into med school at 19. He was there for all of my failed first dates, laughed with me about embarrassing hookup stories and supported me after I got my heart broken over and over again. I wasn’t particularly successful at dating if you couldn’t tell.” Will looked a bit ashamed at that.
“At some point, the workload just got way too much and I kinda gave up on trying to find someone. He asked me out when we were halfway through residency, told me he’d had a crush on me from the beginning.”
“The first year together was great, it was my first relationship and he was a real gentleman until he started cheating on me with one of his colleagues.”, he said with a very unsettling grin on his face.
Lifting Nico’s hand out of the bowl he tried to gently pry apart the fingers. “Let me know if it hurts. I might have to grab some acetone, you really went overboard with the glue.” Nico winced. “Yeah, yeah you’re not finished with your sob story, I want to hear more about your piece of shit of an ex.” Nico silently beamed with pride at the laugh that came of Will.
“Well, he effectively cheated on me for more than a year. I found out last week when I walked in on him and his boy toy in the call room.” Nico let out a gasp. “No, he didn't! He works here with you?” Will began applying acetone to the spots where the glue didn’t budge. “Yeah, he works in the oncology ward. I wanted to surprise him after my shift but it turned out I was the one who got the surprise. Honestly, I always thought hooking up in the call room only happens in trashy hospital dramas, I couldn’t imagine a less erotic setting.”
Nico grinned. “So what you’re saying is that these dramas are an accurate depiction of hospital life?” Will gave him a smile accompanied by a small eye-roll. “No, they’re full of shit and way too unrealistic.”
“Back to the story, I didn’t want to have a fight in front of any patients and the staff so I just left the room and went home. The screaming match came once he dared to show his face at our apartment.” Will lets out a huff. “My god, he was being such a dick about it as well, trying to gaslight me into thinking that it was my fault he was cheating on me.” Nico could tell that the story was starting to get to Will but his hands were as calm as ever.
“He told me that he didn’t feel like I needed him enough, that he was insecure because I’m so much younger than him but I’m already done with my residency and that I didn’t make him feel like a real man , whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean. I threw him out after that.” Most of Nico’s fingers were free now. “Anyway, that’s my tragic story. Do you feel better about your glue hand now?”
Nico noticed that he had completely forgotten about his previous embarrassment, now he just felt angry and sad that someone would hurt such a kind soul as Will. “Your ex sounds like a real dick, I’m sorry he treated you like that.” Nico paused for a second. “He should have been proud to call you his boyfriend.” Their eyes met and he was sure that he could see a blush rise on Will’s cheeks. “That’s nice of you to say.”
“I think I’m all done with your hand now”, Will says after a moment of silence. Nico takes a look at his fingers, now free of glue and finally mobile again. He starts moving them one by one, somehow in awe of how much he didn’t mind the lingering embarrassment in his mind. So what if he superglued his fingers together, at least he got to listen to Will’s calming voice for a bit.
Looking up he saw Will smiling at him fondly. Startled at being caught, the doctor abruptly stood up from his chair and started writing something in Nico’s file. Nico slowly rose from the cot and quickly realised that this was the first time they were standing next to each other. Nico also realised that he was only slightly shorter than Will. A win in his book.
“I’ll try to stay away from the crafting area from now on”, he announced, which finally got Will to face him again. “You better. You don’t have a great track record with stationary so far.” Will responds as a matter of fact. “I hope I won’t see you here again anytime soon, Nico di Angelo.” With that and one last smile he left the room.
Nico would douse himself in superglue if it meant that he could see that smile again.
The third visit to the ER occurred only a couple of weeks after what he had now dubbed the glue incident.
This time Nico had managed to trip over a pile of wooden blocks that a child had left in the playroom. It didn’t seem that bad at first but his left ankle quickly began to swell and turned a concerning shade of blue, not that there's a not-concerning shade of blue your skin can turn.
His workday was almost over anyway so he said his goodbyes and got an Uber to his favourite place in the whole wide world: the hospital. They should be giving him VIP access by now.
The nurse at the front desk looked less than impressed upon seeing him hobbling up to the front desk. “You, again? What happened this time?” In moments like these Nico is glad that he worked through his anger issues as a teenager. “I think I sprained my ankle.”, he said confidently, gesturing down to his foot. He decided to give her a blinding smile. Maybe that would make her feel bad about her rude comment. It didn’t work. She gave him a pair of crutches and sent him to the waiting room.
An hour later he was called to get an X-ray. The radiologist wasn’t very talkative which Nico appreciated, the pain was starting to get to him now. He hoped the painkillers they gave him would start kicking in soon. After another hour in the waiting room, he was finally led to the examination room, where a certain doctor was already waiting for him.
“You know, when the nurses told me about a handsome guy with an injured ankle I would’ve never expected you to be the patient. What happened di Angelo? I know there’s more to the story, that injury seems way too normal for you.” Will said, his lanky arms crossed in front of his chest, looking very smug. Nico stood in the door. He cocked his eyebrow. “You don’t think I’m handsome?”
Blood rushed into Will’s cheeks. “What, no of course you are! That’s not what I meant.” His head was beet red by now, which Nico thought looked very funny in combination with his green scrubs and golden hair. He smirked, “Calm down Solace, I was just messing with you.”
He limps over to the cot and sits down. “You’re right though, I tripped over a pile of building blocks a child left on the floor.” Will, still blushing furiously, starts to relax a little, the corner of his mouth turning upwards. “Oh, yeah, that sounds a lot more like the Nico I know. Glad to see you owning up to it.” “Ech, I knew it would make your day, I’m happy to be of service” Will started giggling, “Well, I thank you for your service.”
Nico will never get tired of the sound of Will’s laugh.
“I have some pictures of your bones, you wanna take a look?” Few sentences could have gotten Nico more excited. “Hell yeah, I’ve always wanted to see my bones.”
Will took out his tablet and pulled up Nico’s X-ray images. “First of all, good news, it’s not broken. Bad news, it’s definitely sprained, though I could have told you that just from looking at your giant ankle.” Nico glanced down. His ankle looked even worse than before, his skin a mix of blue and purple, like a disturbing watercolour painting.
“Lie down, I have to elevate your foot.” Nico obeys, scooting up and then laying down on the cot, ripping the protective paper sheet with his ass in the process. That got a chuckle out of Will. “Sorry about that, I’m usually more elegant than this.” Will rolls his eyes. “I’ll take your word for it.”
Will grabs a foam block and gently places it under the swollen ankle. Nico wonders if Will’s hands could ever be anything but gentle. He decides against it.
“I’m gonna have to put a brace on it to prevent any accidental movement, I’ll be right back.” He was gone for not even a minute before appearing back in Nico’s field of vision. Nico noticed that Will looked very tired again.
“You ready?” Will raised the white and blue coloured brace a little, waving it slightly from left to right like he was about to give a treat to a well-behaved dog. “Sure, do your worst”, Nico said, turning his eyes back to the ceiling.
A comfortable silence took over the room. Nico couldn’t remember the last time he felt this relaxed with a stranger, though he was not sure he could call Will a stranger anymore - an acquaintance? No that's far too formal. A friend? That doesn’t sound right either even though Nico desperately wants it to be true. A crush? Well, that's just obvious.
He started concentrating on the muffled voices coming from the hallway and the smell of antiseptic that lingered in the room.
“Why did you become a social worker?” Will’s voice pulled him out of his trance. He looked down. “It’s not a very nice story, Will.” The doctor gave him an encouraging smile. Nico sighed, his eyes moving back to the ceiling again. “My mom died shortly after we moved to the States. I think I was around 8 when it happened. Bianca, my sister, she had just turned 10, immediately took on all the responsibility. She practically raised me when she was still a child herself. We went to a boarding school for the next two years where I had a really tough time, Bianca was my rock through all of this.” He paused. “She died in a car accident just before her 13th birthday.” He felt his throat starting to close up. His hands, fingers intertwined, were rested on his stomach.
“I was a bit of a troubled kid back then, had terrible anger issues. I started pushing everyone away, ran away from boarding school after I turned twelve. I was homeless for a couple of months until a street worker convinced me to move into a group home. Shortly after I got a call. My father, whom I’d never even met before suddenly wanted me in his life. He took me in but it took a couple of years for us to warm up to each other. I got another sister out of it though. He got me into therapy as well, which I’m grateful for.” He finally dared to look down to where Will had stopped working on his leg, his face full of compassion.
“I’ve always had this desire to help people and I know how shitty life can get, especially when you’re just a young child without any agency, without any means to escape the messed up situation you’re in. Choosing social work as my major was an easy decision. One that I’ve never regretted a day in my life.”
“Even if it lands you in the Emergency room every couple of months?” Nico could tell that Will was trying to test the waters with a small joke. He let out a small chuckle. “I met you because of it. I’d say it was worth it” The blush on Will’s cheeks was enough to paint a satisfied smirk on Nico’s face. Will stepped away from the bed. “We have that in common. The desire to help people I mean.” Nico nods, his smile softening. “I know.”
The blond sits down on his chair again. “Let’s get back to your ankle.” It felt like the intimate bubble they were in had suddenly popped. “The most important thing is rest. Refrain from putting any pressure on your left foot for the next couple of weeks. Use the crutches we gave you. Ice it every few hours and try to keep it elevated.” Nico had managed to sit up again, trying and failing to wrestle his left boot into his backpack. “Got it doc!”
“I hope you’re not planning on taking the subway home” Nico had finally managed to close his backpack. “No, someone is picking me up”
Will was suddenly very focused on scribbling something down on his tablet. “Your partner?” Nico had to stifle a laugh. Will was terrible at hiding his curiosity. He decided to throw him a bone. “No, I’m single. My sister will take me home.” He watched as Will did a horrible job at hiding his smile. How adorable.
Will walked to the door. He stopped and looked back to where Nico was standing, his hand already on the doorknob. “Please take care of yourself, Nico.”
Nico gathered his crutches. “You too. I can tell how tired you are, your eyebags look worse every time I see you.” He hobbled to the door. “I mean it, please take care of yourself. There are too many idiots out there, playing with superglue or tripping on toys that need your help. What would they do without you?” Blue eyes meet his own. A smirk formed on Will’s face “I don’t know Nico, what would you do?” He turned around one last time and left the room.
Nico didn’t talk much on the way home.
The fourth time really wasn’t his fault. He even showed up in an ambulance this time! That’s gotta count for something right?
Have you ever watched an action movie and wondered what it felt like to get shot? Nico definitely has. He knows the answer now. It hurts like hell.
Here’s a brief synopsis of what happened: An ex-boyfriend of one of the women living in the shelter showed up and started demanding to see her. He was clearly intoxicated, screaming obscenities at the top of his lungs when no one would let him in. His head turned a concerning shade of red and it looked like it was about to burst from anger.
They had a protocol for situations like this: Lock the doors, call the police, do not engage.
But after the cops still hadn’t shown up after 15 minutes the women and children were starting to get anxious, some of the younger kids even opted to run and hide in their rooms.
As one of the only men working in the shelter, Nico decided to use his privilege to try and get this guy to piss off. He mustered up all his courage, hoping his leather jacket and gloomy demeanour and resting bitch face made him look at least somewhat dangerous.
It took less than a minute for the man to pull out a gun and plant a bullet into Nico’s shoulder.
Turns out twelve years of martial arts training don’t do shit if your opponent has a firearm. At least the cops had finally decided to show up by then, though Nico didn’t see what exactly had happened. He was lying on the concrete, drifting in and out of consciousness. Why the hell didn’t he follow the protocol? It clearly states not to engage!
When he finally came to the man was already sitting in the back of the police car. He allowed himself to relax a little as soon as he heard the wailing of an ambulance coming closer.
The paramedics were very careful when they stopped the bleeding. They strapped him to a gurney and put him in the back of the car.
Nico didn’t know that you have to ride backwards in an ambulance and he had a really hard time trying not to throw up on himself. He had terrible car sickness as a child that never really went away. Luckily the ride to the hospital was fairly short.
He usually took a different entrance to the ER so this was all very new to him. Like a premier of sorts, which makes it sound a lot cooler than it was in reality. The automatic doors opened with a squeak as soon as the gurney approached the building.
Immediately upon being wheeled in he was face to face with a very concerned-looking Dr. Will Solace. Maybe it was the blood loss talking but to Nico, him standing there in his scrubs and white coat he looked like a literal angel. His blond curls had grown quite a bit since the last time he saw him and they were now pulled back by a very 90’s looking black hair hoop, revealing a freckled forehead and furrowed eyebrows.
“I promise I wasn’t attacked with a pair of zig-zag scissors.” Nico had hoped a joke would ease the concerned look on Will’s face but he was quickly proven wrong. As soon as Nico heard one of the paramedics mention the gun Will sucked in his lower lip. Only when they announced that they were able to stop the bleeding very early on, Will’s face started to relax. “Thank you for bringing him, I’ll take it from here.”
They moved him onto one of the hospital beds before the two EMTs pushed the gurney out of the building and left.
Will and one of the nurses wheeled him into a nearby room and put one of these plastic clips onto his finger like he’d seen on Grey’s Anatomy. Soon it was back to just the two of them. “Let me give you something for the pain first”, Will said, nervously pacing from cabinet to cabinet, obviously trying to avoid eye contact.
Nico could hear him rummaging around somewhere close to his head. He eventually set his selection of medical supplies down on the small table next to where Nico was laying, before pressing the button to raise the head of the bed slightly. As usual, he was quick but precise while inserting his IV, only glancing up at Nico briefly to check for any signs of discomfort.
An awkward silence spread through the room. Will was the first one to break it.
“Do you think you can sit up a bit? I need to remove your clothes and check if the bullet left an exit wound.” Nico nodded. “I might need your help though.”
Will was a lot stronger than he looked, together they managed to get Nico into a sitting position. He saw Will pulling out a familiar-looking pair of scissors and said a mental goodbye to his leather jacket.
A minute later Nico was sat shirtless on the bed with Will thoroughly examining the wound. “You got lucky. The bullet went right through and didn’t seem to have done any major damage, I’ll just have to stitch you up.” Will was speaking very quickly, still trying to avoid Nico’s eyes.
Nico put a hand on his arm. “Relax Will, I promise I feel fine.” He shoots him a grin. “And I know I’m in good hands.”
That seemed to do the trick. The tension lifted from Will’s shoulders and he mustered up a small smile, even though the worry was still written all over his face. “What happened?”, he asked quietly while getting to work on Nico’s front.
“Just some angry guy at the shelter. He demanded to speak to his ex-girlfriend and the police took forever to get there. The kids started to get scared. I thought I might be able to scare him off.” Will scoffed at that.
“You and your saviour complex, you’re such an idiot! Why would you put yourself in danger like that?”
“I didn’t think he’d have a gun on him.” That got him an eye roll. He deserved it.
Will helped him to turn slightly, Nico’s legs now dangling from the side of the bed. The blond started to stitch up the wound on his back.
Nico sighed and started fiddling with one of the rips on his jeans. “I know it was stupid. I just... I could feel that everyone around me was scared and feeling helpless and I just felt like I had to do something, try to get him to leave or at least stop screaming until the police got there.”
He could hear Will taking a deep breath. “I think it's lovely that you care so much Nico, but you shouldn’t risk your own safety or, god forbid, your life.”
“I promise I won’t do it again.”
“I sure hope so, you almost gave me a heart attack when they wheeled you in.” Nico couldn’t stop the smile forming on his face.
“You care about me that much?”, he said sheepishly.
“Of course I do” He heard the familiar snip of the scissors, indicating that Will just finished the last of his sutures. He reappeared at Nico’s front and began wrapping his shoulder, being ever so careful not to move Nico’s arm too much.
“You’re so good at that. At suturing and injecting stuff, and bandaging me up I mean.” Will gave him an amused smile. “Please, that's nothing. You should see me in an OR, I’m a trauma surgeon after all.”
Nico could picture it as clear as day: Will in his green scrubs, gloves stained with blood, his golden hair hidden underneath a surgeon’s cap. He imagined him reattaching limbs, sewing up arteries and setting broken bones. It was an oddly attractive thought.
“I’m gonna put your arm in a sling. You should try to keep your shoulder and arm as still as possible while your wounds are healing. I’ll prescribe you some antibiotics as well.” Will turned around to grab an arm sling from one of the bottom drawers, giving Nico a nice view of his backside. He says a silent prayer to the god that got Will to take off his white coat earlier.
The arm sling was surprisingly soft and already did a great job at lessening the strain on his shoulder. Once Will deemed the fit to be acceptable he took a step back before sliding himself onto the rolling chair by the bed. His gaze moved from Nico’s shoulder to his chest. It seemed like he was just now realising that Nico was very much half naked. Will’s eyes widened, a blush rising on his cheeks. He almost gave himself whiplash from looking away so quickly.
“Twelve years of martial arts and sword fighting”, Nico said smugly. Without meeting his eyes Will retorts, “Clearly these muscles are just for show if you end up in the ER every 5 minutes.” Nico let out a big laugh. “Don’t worry sunshine, they have their desired effect.” Will’s blush only seems to deepen at that.
He finally turns to face Nico again, his blue eyes somehow twinkling underneath the grotesque hospital lighting. “You know, you didn’t have to get shot to spend time with me, you could have just asked me out like a normal person.” Nico’s smile was so wide his cheeks started to hurt.
“I’m terribly sorry about that, let me try that again: Will you go out with me Dr Solace?”
Will’s smile mirrors his own. “Of course, I will you klutz.” Nico lets out a gasp. “Don’t call me names, you have to be nice to me, I just got shot, you know.” He just got a giggle in return.
He stands up slowly and pulls his, miraculously not cracked, phone out of his back pocket, unlocks it and hands it to Will. “Here, put in your number. I’ll text you as soon as I get home.”
Will quickly saves his number in Nico’s contacts and gives the phone back before heading towards the door.
“I’m guessing you know where the exit is?”
“Of course, this is like my second home by now.” Nico glances down at his naked chest. “But could I maybe wait here until my sister shows up? I’m not keen on having to walk around shirtless.” Will rakes his eyes down Nico’s torso one more time. “Oh yeah, we wouldn’t want that now.”, he says, giving Nico a saccharine smile. “Please stay here until someone brings you a shirt.”
Will turns the doorhandle and they exchange one final smile before he walks down the corridor.
Hazel gets there within 10 minutes, going on and on about how Nico should never put himself into a situation like that again while squeezing every inch of him, trying to find further injuries. He’s too happy to even think about complaining.
He shoots Will a text as soon as he plops down on his sofa later that day with a time and place for their first date. He gets a text back almost immediately confirming their plans, a yellow heart at the end of Will’s message.
Of course, the personification of sunshine would send him a yellow heart emoji. Nico truly is the luckiest man alive.
He couldn’t wait to find out if Will’s wardrobe consisted of anything other than bright colours.
Excited to see you in something other than green scrubs and a white coat
If you’re lucky you’ll get to see me in nothing at all
Nico swears this man will be the death of him.