Short Stories (Multifandom)

Hollow Crown Pt. Three

"I know it's nothing to be worried about but I just thought I'd come in and let a professional check it out," a boy at nineteen is sat with a sheepish smile on a chair in front of Tyler. He's complaining about a sharp pain in the lower left side of his head.

"Well, you can never be too sure about anything," Tyler pulls on a pair of latex-free gloves before instructing the boy to lean his head forward. "Let me know if you feel any time of pain or weird feeling in a spot. This might just be what I think it is but just to double check," he presses down onto the small divot at the top of the boys neck then makes his way towards the spot where the pain was coming from. "I feel a knot just right here," Tyler rubs his finger gently on a spot just below the pain. "That's a tension knot, I can tell you right now. What you're experiencing is something called occipital neuralgia; it happens when one of your nerves is irritated. Symptoms are usually sharp, jabbing pains in the back of your head or neck. It's good you came in when you did, otherwise your symptoms would've worsened into slight burning and the ache would eventually make its way to your scalp."

"So...could I take something for it? Ibuprofen?" The boy is rubbing at the back of his neck.

"I'm going to prescribe you an anti-inflammatory medication, you take two capsules twice a day for three days and the pain should be gone. If it isn't, please come back and visit me. My name is Doctor Joseph," Tyler finishes writing a prescription. "Have a good rest of your day, Noah." He hands the slip with a smile.

"Thank you, you too!"

Tyler sighs as the door closes and he's left alone. The fluorescent lights were starting to give him a headache, but he can handle it. He's been working this job since he was a junior in college. He'll be fine.

"Tyler, your six o'clock is here. She's in the waiting room,"

"Thanks, Drew. Hey, have you seen Josh?"

"No, not since he clocked in, but if I find him I'll let him know you were looking." Andrew Taggart was a hero.

"Thanks, and for that you can have the Snickers in my lunch bag. Have at it," Tyler waves his hand and laughs.

"Oh sweet, I'll get Alex to give you the frozen yogurt he's getting me then. See ya later,"

The rest of the evening goes by and it's suddenly ten. Tyler has no clue as how that even happens, and he's extremely tired. He's ready for his dinner break.

Tyler is stood at his locker, his head resting against the cool metal. His eyes are closed.

Arms are being wrapped around his waist and a kiss is being placed onto his exposed neck. "You tired, baby," Josh is holding him, swaying him side to side. Tyler hums with his eyes still close. "We'll be home soon. You don't have to take the L this time, I promise. I'll drive us home,"

"Is Jenna and Ry still here?"

"No they've already left. Ry was slipping, he saw a little kid coloring and that triggered almost everything." Josh chuckles, placing another kiss to Tyler's neck.

"I wanna be little, it's no fair," Tyler turns around, his head thrown back as he whines about the cruelty of life.

"Listen, you and I don't have to be in until noon tomorrow, so how's this: once we get home you can age down, I'll take care of you and you and I can have a little sleepover in the living room. Ryan and Jen will be asleep, so we'll have to be quiet. How's that sound?"

"Sounds perfect. Can we get slushies on our way home?" Tyler asks.

"Smalls, you have to get a small cup. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Ok," Josh sighs before rubbing Tyler's sides. "Let's get this shift over with. I've got to go check on Olivia, poor thing; she's still in labor."

"Really? That's almost two days, shouldn't you go with a C-section by now?" Tyler closes his locker before they make their way out of the locker rooms.

"She's told us a dozen times that she doesn't want that, she wants a natural birth. She's not even on an epidural, and there's nothing wrong with her baby girl other than being a stubborn little thing."

"I'm sure," Tyler rubs at his tired eyes as he and Josh part ways.

Tyler makes his way back to the emergency department, where he finds Brendon speaking to a family. They look shaken. As the family makes their way back into the treatment room they've been assigned, Tyler claps his hand onto Brendon's shoulder. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I guess. Their son just hemorrhaged, we had to take him to the OR and suction out fluids; he's upstairs in the ICU recovering," Brendon points to where his patient's family are gathering their things and heading towards the elevator. "Today sucks, but how are you?"

"Oh, tired but that's nothing new. I had a few trauma patients today, the usual appointments and one death. I'm just ready to call it a day--"

"Doctor Joseph! Treatment two, forty-year old woman with terminal cancer, she's having trouble breathing and the husband would like to speak to you first," Drew sprints to Tyler, handing him a blue file and an iPad. "She's already in the hospitals records but with a different division."

"Thank you, Taggart." Tyler makes his way over to treatment two, knocking against the glass sliding door. "Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes, I'm Doctor Joseph; I understand you're having some trouble breathing?"

"Yes, she's been like this since the morning. May I have a word?" The husband asks and Tyler nods, giving a warm smile to Mrs. Rhodes. They both step out of the room, closing the door on their way out. "My wife, she—"

Tyler raises a brow, showing the man he's waiting for him to go on. He's unsure of what Mr. Rhodes will say.

"She wants you to — ah," Mr. Rhodes wipes at the corners of his eyes, squeezing them shut as he begins to cry. "She wants you to take her off of life support."

I didn't know how to end this, so here's a sad ending. I don't think I'll be finishing this one. Sorryyyy.