S C H M I C O || A collection of short stories

Breathe

Nico was never one to let himself get too overwhelmed with his job. In fact, he was great at being able to separate home life from his work life. There were sometimes jobs that stayed with him when he left the hospital, such as ones that were highly emotional to work on, but other than that he was able to leave most of his work where it belonged. There had been a few occasions where Levi had actually come to Nico after a particularly hard shift, seeking comfort and reassurance. Levi was a very emotional guy and struggled sometimes, especially if he worked with patients over the course of a few months.

However, today seemed to be... different. Nico hadn't been able to get much sleep lately. There had been a lot on his mind, causing him to lose the sleep he so desperately needed. He'd consumed more coffee over the past week than he ever had before and he could tell that it was beginning to take a toll on his body. His food intake had also been pretty scarce, which meant that he was starting to feel a little shaky. People around the hospital had begun to see a change in Nico's behavior- his trembling hands, the bags forming under his eyes, his sudden change in attitude. Even Levi was suffering from Nico's lack of sleep.

"Nico, you look exhausted," Jo furrowed her brows as she rested her hip against the nurse's station, placing the chart down. Nico turned to look at her, taking a moment to register that she was even there.

"Oh, hey," Nico began to yawn, having to turn away from Jo for a brief second. She rolled her eyes at Nico before playfully pushing his shoulder with her hand. He stumbled at the touch, so exhausted that he could barely keep himself up. Jo reacted almost immediately, swiftly reaching out her hand to grab Nico's arm. "Sorry, just tired."

"Yeah, I can tell! When was the last time you sleep, Nico?" Jo pondered, concern and bewilderment slapped across her face. Nico let out a breathy laugh as he tried to remember back to the time he last had a good nights sleep.

"Uh, I can't remember. Maybe last week?" Nico stretched his back out a little, his muscles tired and sore. Jo let out a long sigh at his answer, not impressed with his lack of self-care. The hospital around them was beginning to get noisy and Jo could see that Nico was struggling.

She shoved her hands deep in her lab coat pockets, cocking her head to the side as she stared at the run-down doctor that was practically falling asleep in front of her. "Get some rest, Nico. Please. You look like hell and you sure as hell have been acting like it too."

"I have one last patient to check up on before I can rest. Just please, let me check on her." Nico almost begged, whacking out his best puppy dog eyes to convince her. She rolled her eyes and groaned as she pushed herself off the nurse's station.

"Fine. That's what I had come to tell you about, anyway- You may want to hurry. She didn't look good. An infection had set in overnight." Jo's tone faded into something solemn as she spoke, the light from her eyes dimming. The words struck a chord in Nico and he instantly took off in a sprint in the direction of his patient's room. Why had he not be paged about this earlier? Why was Jo sent to find him?

He rushed by person after person, even once almost tripping over his own two feet. When he finally reached the room his patient was in, he was greeted with the sight of three others rushing around her, trying to revive her. Her infection had spread fast, leaving her literally no chance. Nico let out a sharp breath, almost like he had been bluntly hit in the chest, as he watched the scene unfold in front of him. He couldn't move; his body wouldn't allow him to, he was frozen to the spot.

It wasn't until Link had to physically drag him from the room that he was able to move again. He couldn't even remember getting from one room to another, but somehow it had happened. All he knew is that he was now in an on-call room, perched in a chair, elbows rested on his knees with hands grasped in front of him, the knuckles of his thumbs rested against his lips. Link was staring at him, hands rested on his hips. He let out a loud, frustrated sigh as he too sat in a chair, slumping down in it.