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

Feel It In My Bones (AU)

Levi had always been notoriously clumsy. Like, really clumsy.

Maybe that's why he was now in the hospital with a potential broken bone. All he had wanted to do was get the paints that were on the top shelf. He was just too short to reach that high and climbing on the chair (which was extremely wobbly) seemed like a good idea at the time.

Looking back on it now, it was a dumb and really dangerous idea. He hated hospitals with a passion. They were creepy places full of horrible things. Plus, the doctors were never very friendly. At least, not from what he had experienced. Thankfully, his friend Taryn had decided to come along with him, not wanting him to be alone in such a place. They'd been best friends for the past few years and were extremely close to one another. She knew how much he hated hospitals.

She'd been with him the time he had to come in and get stitches when he broke one of the glass jars that held all the paint brushes. Levi's dumb ass had tried to pick up the glass instead of getting something else to pick it up, resulting in a pretty nasty cut to his hand. Taryn will never forgive him for that, as he dropped blood all over her carpet. They'd been working together on a project in Taryn's room and he nearly ruined it with his nasty bodily fluids.

"I don't want to be here," Levi groaned, resting his head back against the pillow behind him. It was a very uncomfy pillow. Taryn scoffed and turned to her friend, a brow raised at him.

"Well, it's your own fault we are here, Levi. Maybe if you'd asked someone to help you get them down, you could be finishing up your project- which is due tomorrow, may I remind you- instead of being stuck at a hospital." Taryn mentioned, using her hands to accentuate her words as she spoke.

"Why can't they just shove a cast on me so I can leave already?" Levi let out a sigh as he glanced around the ER, looking at everyone else who was lined up in beds. All he wanted to do was get out of there and hurry back to complete his work. His professor would genuinely murder him if he missed another deadline.

As Taryn opened her mouth to speak, two doctors approached Levi's bed. Finally, they were getting seen to.

"Levi Schmitt, I presume?" The woman grinned, a tablet in her arms. Levi nodded in response, watching as she tapped on her little tablet which he guessed recorded patient information. "I'm Dr. Grey and this here is Dr. Adler. Can you tell me what happened?"

"I was trying to get some paints down from the top shelf and used a very unstable chair to try to reach them. Next thing I know, I'm on the ground and my arm is throbbing." He explained, smiling awkwardly as he explained how he ended up in the hospital. Dr. Grey hummed in response as she listened.

"Did you hit your head at all when you fell? Did you knock yourself out at all?"

"No, I didn't. My arm took the full force of the fall." Levi glanced at his friend, who looked practically in love with Dr. Grey. He couldn't help but laugh a little. Taryn glared at him as she regained her composure.

"Alright. Dr. Adler, please page ortho for me," Dr. Grey instructed the other doctor, who nodded and rushed off to do just that, leaving the three of them alone. "I suspect you have a broken arm."

"Good, that means he can just be casted up and we can leave, right?" Taryn interrupted, to which Levi sighed. Of course, she would say that. Levi shot an apologetic sigh to Dr. Grey before she continued.

"Unfortunately, no. I'm worried this break may be more than just something like a hairline fracture. The ortho surgeon should-"

"Surgeon?!" Taryn exclaimed, causing both Levi and Dr. Grey to jump at the sudden outburst.

"Yes, surgeon," Dr. Grey smiled, even though Levi could tell it was forced. "He should be here soon. He'll check everything out and get scans done to see how bad the injury really is. Is that okay?"