Chapter Text
Something’s wrong with Peter.
She didn’t know how she could tell, but she could. Something was off, different about the strange man. Body language? A glint in his eye? She can’t be too sure. It was odd, he was still quiet, and made sure he kept his distance from the woman.
To her, it felt as if they’d barely spoken but a few words to one another over the months she’d worked in the facility. But his stares.
His stares.
They were so much worse than they’d been before. As in the past, they would be occasional; every once in a while, she would catch his eye. And even then, he would do his best to look away. But not now, no, it was almost as if he was trying to tell her something.
But he never did speak, not a word. And while his behaviour didn’t go unnoticed by the other workers, their theories were nothing like her own.
“I’m telling you he’s just a creep,” A man, in the normal white uniform stood, leaning against the doorframe of the hospital wing the woman was located in.
He spoke to another nurse, one she’d known as a woman named Delores. From what the woman could tell, they were around the same age, but that's where she saw their similarities end.
“Not to mention rude,” She hummed, sitting on one of the small stools next to a table. “He doesn’t speak. To like anyone besides the children.”
“Yet Dr Brenner favours him,” The male nurse huffs out, annoyance thick in his voice.
Truth be told, she tried to not listen into their conversation. It was rude, and frankly, none of her business. But it was obvious the two knew she was, because they turned to her after a moment, before the nurse Delores spoke.
“What about you?” She hummed, crossing her legs. “Has the infamous Peter Ballard sparked a conversation with you?”
“Huh– Oh ,” She laughs dryly, after realizing she’s been spoken to. “Oh, uhm, well, on occasion, of course, I mean, I am a children's nurse. But no, we haven’t really… had a full conversation.”
“Why am I not surprised?” She scoffs, turning back to the man. “ Nobody can crack open the loon.”
“There has to be something wrong with him.”
This made her tilt her head.
“You know like–” The man pointed to his head. “--a screw loose or something.”
“Definitely .”
“I mean the dude’s what? Thirty? No family, no wife, nothing .”
She furrows her brows, not liking where her co-workers’ conversation is heading, she hurries her work along. In a desperate attempt to leave sooner. The judgmental tone radiating off the two is reason enough to leave.
“I mean the dude’s total freak.”
She stands, maybe a little too quickly, and closes her book a little too loud. Because both nurses turn towards her, each brow furrowed.
“What’s wrong?” The other woman asks.
She inhales, eyes darting the room as she speaks unhinged. “I just– I don’t think it’s very appropriate to be conversing with each other about someone else’s life.” Her eyes shoot down to her shoes, where they stay. “I don’t mean to sound rude, but…” She stutters slightly. “But honestly, it’s not really of your business, is it?”
The two nurses pause for a moment, before Delores speaks again. For both of them.
“Right,” She drags it out, almost awkwardly. “Sorry. We were just–”
“It’s fine.” She doesn’t wait for a response before grabbing at her things, feet bellowing towards the door. The man only moves slightly as she hurries out, muttering a small ‘excuse me.’
Her flats sputter against the hallway tile, ignoring the muttering from behind her as she leaves she continues to walk. To where, she’s not entirely sure, most likely another hospital wing.
She doesn’t know why she got so worked up, so worked up over something that had absolutely nothing to do with her. Maybe it was the vile names they’d said, or the way they’d made a point to judge on family. Or lack thereof.
She hadn’t even realized how fast she seemed to be walking until she turned the corning, coming into direct contact with something- no, someone - almost knocking her over.
It was almost too quick, like they’d be expecting to run right into her, the way the person’s hands had so quickly held her up. Keeping her from falling.
“ Shit ,” Her hand rubbed her forehead with a sharp exhale.
“Are you okay?”
No.
“Yeah, yeah I'm fine,” She takes a step back before finally taking a look at who’d exactly knocked right into her.
Shit.
“There’s no need to lie,” Peter said, a soft smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He is so perfectly polished, every blonde hair on his head combed to perfection, his skin clear, and his tone professional and soft. “You could’ve taken quite a fall.”
“I’m okay–” She reassured him, eyes slowly moving down to take notice of the presence next to him. A child, a familiar one at that. “Really.”
“What was that word?” The girl, the one named Eleven spoke as she turned her head up towards Peter. “Shit?”
The woman nearly shrieks. “Oh god– Eleven–” She rasps. “No, don’t say that.”
Peter merely chuckles, again perfectly rich.
The child furrows her brows, utterly confused. “But you…”
“I should not have said that,” She responded quickly. “I was an accident. A bad one.”
“ Oh… ”
Sweating, and now completely nerved out, the woman flips her head back up at the blonde man. The smile never seemed to leave his face. He looked up too before mouthing.
‘She’ll forget.’
That did not ease her mind.
“O-Okay. I- well, where were you two off to?”
‘Where were you two off to?’ she scoffs at herself. it’s not like they’re just going for a stroll, god dammit.
“Actually, we were just coming to see you.”
“See me?” She sounded a little bit too shocked.
“Well…We were heading to the hospital wing C,” He explained simply. “Eleven got hurt.”
That makes sense. “Oh, Oh yeah. Right, of course,” She laughs dryly, shoving her hands in the pockets of her lab coat. “Well, I’m– I’m actually just heading to wing B, so.”
“Something happen?” Peter tilts his head.
“What?” She snaps, accidentally.
“In wing C, did something happ–”
“Oh, no, no, nothing happened,” She reassures him blatantly. “Just, bare in there today. Not much work to do.”
“I see,” he hums, resting his hand on the opposite shoulder of Eleven. “It’s just you seemed like you were in quite a rush, so I had presumed–”
“Just a fast walker.”
He nods, before grinning. “You enjoy cutting people off a lot.”
She groans. “I’m sorry.” How rude of her.
Peter laughs gently. “Only joking.”
She nods frantically as an awkward silence blooms between the two, leaving the woman to rock back and forth on her feet for a moment. Unsure of what to say next, she nearly forgets Eleven.
But she doesn’t.
She turns towards the child. “Let’s take a look at you, ‘kay, kiddo?”
“Okay.”
It doesn’t take long for the three to enter the B wing, which is almost as empty as the C wing. Though, as the kids get older they don’t get hurt nearly as much. Wing A barely ever gets filled, which is a good thing, really.
“Can you sit up here, sweetie?”
“Okay.”
The woman tries to not frown at the blank, yet, obedient response. The lack of much vocabulary burned into the children obviously wasn’t healthy, but really, nothing they did was.
“What happened?” She says, kneeling down in front of the girl, but she speaks to Peter.
“Just a scrape,” He assures her. “She fell.”
The woman turns her head up, confused for a moment as she meets the man’s expression.
“She fell?” Her voice rings, brows raised.
The man’s eyes shift between Eleven and the nurse, multiple times, before he takes a step back. Pulling the woman along by her arm, they take a few steps away.
“She’s tired,” He whispers loud enough for only her to hear. “I just wanted to give her a few minutes to rest.”
“I see…” The woman hums.
“But if her Papa finds ou–”
“Peter,” She cuts him off, letting her hand rest on his forearm slightly. “This is just our little secret. Promise.”
He nods, before smiling yet again. She drops her arm. “Thank you. I knew you were the right nurse to come to.”
“Oh yeah?” She turns her head slightly, looking over her shoulder to see the little girl already laying on the cot comfortable. She smiles, turning back around. “Why’s that?”
“Oh…The other nurses,” He hums humerously, collecting the right words. The ones that won’t cause him trouble. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I am not very popular.”
“Oh… Well I don’t know if– I wouldn’t say–”
“No worries,” He chuckles. “And no need to be so polite.”
She laughs, which makes the man laugh slightly too. “You know Peter?” She begins, letting a smile tug its way up on her lips.
“Hmm?”
“You’re a good man.”
His breath hitches, only slightly.
Yup.
Something was definitely wrong with Peter.