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

Special Treatment

He couldn't believe it. 

Three weeks. 

Three whole weeks he'd been learning and practicing for this damn surgery and now he was off of it, all because Jo asked to be on it? Levi knew it was somewhat ridiculous to be angry but he was. This surgery would have been a massive stepping stone for him in his career and now here he was, sat in one of the on-call rooms, study books placed out in front of him. 

A rotationplasty is not something that happens too often and the fact that he had the incredible opportunity to scrub in on it when none of the other interns did was huge. In all too quick of a moment, it had been ripped away from him. However, that wasn't what hurt the most about the whole situation. What hurt most is that Jo made that face, subtly mentioning how Levi was only on the surgery because of 'special treatment', obviously hinting towards being Nico's boyfriend. What hurt even more was that Nico just stood there and didn't say anything. He didn't deny it, didn't try and fight to keep Levi on the surgery. He knew how excited Levi was for this surgery and still did nothing. Absolutely nothing. 

That was what Levi was most vexed about. 

He hadn't heard from Nico since. Honestly, he didn't want to. He was mad. Real mad. If he saw Nico now, he didn't know how he would react. Would he snap? Would he just ignore him and hope he went away? Would he act as if nothing had happened? They were still on rough terms from that morning, which only made the situation a bit more intense. 

Levi let out a sigh as he flipped the page of the book that was open in front of him, tapping the pen in his other hand against the table as his eyes skimmed through the words. He wrote a couple important, keywords down, hoping it would help him memorize them. He still had exams he needed to do and he planned on passing them. 

As he went to write down another thing, his phone buzzed on the table next to him. It was a text from his mother, asking if he was okay. He half-heartedly smiled to himself as he picked up his phone and swiftly texted her back, letting her know that his day had just been a bit hectic. At least he'd managed to scrub in on some sort of surgery earlier. That memory of the man coughing up a massive blood clot was something he wouldn't forget. Ever. 

Just as he pressed send, the door of the on-call room opened. Levi's attention automatically went to the door, only to see Nico standing there, almost shocked to see Levi. With a heavy sigh, Levi turned his attention back to his books, picking his pen back up to scribble down some more notes. The door clicked shut behind Nico as he entered, sitting himself down opposite Levi. Even so, Levi kept his focus on his notes, not really wanting to argue with Nico right now. He didn't need the added stress. 

"Hey," Nico began, trying to capture Levi's attention. Much to his dismay, Levi didn't look up. "What are you doing?"

"Studying," Levi said, matter-of-factly, like it wasn't completely obvious what he was doing. 

"Are you okay?" Nico asked, resting his arms on the table, causing it to shift slightly. It ended up making Levi mess up his notes. They were going so well. 

"I'm fine," He spoke through gritted teeth, almost slamming his pen down on the table as he sat back in his chair, arms folded across his chest. "What?"

"You obviously aren't okay, considering that you keep snapping at me." Nico shook his head a little, letting out a breathy laugh. He couldn't believe that Levi was acting in such a manner. He could be a real drama queen sometimes. The sass Levi possessed was incredible. 

"What, are you some sort of psychiatrist now?" Levi finally moved his gaze to look at Nico, as much as he didn't want to. 

"Can you stop acting like such a drama queen?" Nico quipped. Levi scoffed at his words.