Will POV:

"This seems all in order, Mr. Solace. You're hired."

Hired.

The word rang through the room, but Will could hardly believe it. He was hired! Finally he had a chance to prove his mother wrong, the chance to prove he could become a doctor.

Sure, this job at the hospital was only as a caretaker for one particular patient whom he didn't even know the name for yet, but it was something, right? They all had to start their dreams somewhere.

Feeling oddly giddy, Will swallowed his excitement down and asked in what he hoped was a very professional voice, "Thank you, sir. May I ask when I start?"

The man in front of him, Mr. Brunner, smiled and said, "Call me Chiron, Mr. Solace. Sir makes me feel old."

Will nodded. "Okay, si-Chiron."

"As for when you start," Chiron continued, "Is tomorrow good enough for you? We have a short supply of nurses on hand, so I hope you don't mind taking a shift from 10:00am-12:25pm and 1:30pm to 5:30pm- quite a daunting amount of work for your first day, but it sounds like you're quite capable. Besides, it's summer, so you must have a lot of free time on your hands. Or have I got it wrong?"

"You haven't," Will hoped he sounded more confident than he felt. That was a lot of work, especially he had a limited amount of experience working. But he had to have this job. Throwing away a huge portion of his summer was worth it, he decided. "Don't worry, Chiron. I'll be there. You can count on me!"

"Great." Chiron's eyes sparkled. "Now as for the pay..."

The flow of classic Chopin music reached Will's ears as soon as he opened the door.

"I'm home!" Will threw his jacket onto the couch and stretched. The afternoon's events seemed to good to be true. He doubted that even if his mother told him to clean his room, he would lose his happiness. Not when he was hired at Half-Blood Hospital, which was his entire life's dream since his mom told him his father had been a doctor.

The piano stopped playing immediately as Josephine Solace ducked her head into the hall. "Did you have fun with Butch and Chris?"

"Um, yeah," Will mumbled. He was horrible at lying, for some reason. When he left for his job interview, he'd told his mom he was going to hang out with his friends instead of the truth. The only reason she's bought it was because she'd been playing the violin at the time- and nothing, not even her son, could distract her from music. "About that..."

"Go practice your saxophone." His mom's head disappeared as the music continued playing (Mozart, this time). Will sighed. He got that his mom was a world-famous musician, but did she have to expect that he would be the same thing? Sure, he liked music...well, when he was listening to someone else's. He couldn't play an instrument to save his life, which made his mother despair more than once. But she still hadn't lost hope. Josephine seemed adamant in the fact that if only Will practiced more, he would awaken his inner talent or something. Will thought if he practiced that much, his fingers would fall off.

The only thing Will was good at, it seemed, was healing. He seemed to have a knack for it. On top of that, all that scientific language the doctors used made sense to him, and he loved that. It was like having a secret language that only doctors could understand.

If only his mother could understand his disinterest in music, and this would be the best summer ever, Will thought gloomily as he dragged his feet up the stairs. Josephine was smart, but stubbornly narrow-minded and strict with incredibly high expectations. She hated admitting she was wrong, no, in her mind, Will was always wrong and she was right.

Sighing, Will opened his saxophone case, set the instrument up, and began to play.

The next morning, Josephine wasn't in a much better mood. Her chocolate brown eyes were narrowed in her signature suspicious stare. "Let me get this straight," she said. "You volunteered for a position at a music program? To help kids younger than you learn how to play?"

"Um, yeah?" This had to be the stupidest thing Will had ever done, but there was no other way his mom would let him go. "That's a good thing, right? I mean, you're always saying how I should play music more and, um, stuff."

"I do say that," Josephine admitted. "But this is well, unlike you. Are you sick?"

"What? No!"

"Do you have a fever? Do I need to make you some soup?"

"Definitely no," Will said. His mom believed soup was the sure to every sickness in the world. Cucumber soup, to be exact. Will made a mental note that if this worked and he became a doctor, he would never make any of his patients eat cucumber soup. That stuff was torture in disguise. "Mom, I'm fine. One would think that you'd react more positively to your son taking an interest in your area of expertise!"

"I am happy!" His mother snapped, which Will found very hypocritical. "I just think you're acting weird!"

"Gee, thanks!" Will hollered back. Why did practically every conversation he had with his mother always ended up being five second long or like this? "You know what? I'm leaving for the hospi-music centre now. See you."

Ignoring her cry of protest, Will opened the door and stepped outside.

The walk to the hospital was one of the most agonizing moments of Will's life. He was so excited to get there, so excited to be able to start his job, that it was a miracle he hadn't sprint all the way there (He would have, but then he remembered how physically unfit he was). Instead, he speed-walked as fast as he could and tried not to check his watch every five seconds.

I've walked five steps. Just a lot more to go.

Twenty steps. How far away is it again?

Thirty two steps. Keep going, Will!

Forty one and a half steps. Nearly done.

Wait, am I at fifty or forty nine?

Eventually, who-knows-how-much-steps later, Will finally reached the hospital. At the sight of the brown building, his face nearly split open with a grin. He was here, at long last! Oh, the walk had so been worth it.

Taking the steps two at a time, Will made his way into the building. The automatic door slide open for him with a whoosh, almost as if it was welcoming him.

"Hello?" Most people found the hospital loud and confusing, but Will found it strangely soothing. The white walls were oddly comforting, and the chemical smell the hospital had smelled like the perfume of home. He'd always tried to spend as much time as he could at doctor's clinics, optometrists' offices, or anywhere that had anything remotely medical, really. It was as if Will was a moth being attracted to the flame of healing.

"Are you Will Solace?" The receptionist at the front desk- Katie Gardiner, apparently, if he was reading her name tag right- asked him. "Chiron told me that you were coming. You're a newbie, right?"

"Sort of, yeah," Will said, not sure how exactly he was supposed to respond. "If you mean I'm new to the hospital, then yes. But I know a lot of stuff, and-"

Will faltered when Katie raised one hand as if to stop him. "Look, I don't need to know your entire life story. I'm sure you're really qualified, you wouldn't be here if you weren't. Just give me a few minutes so I can tell you what exactly you're doing, okay?"

"Um, sure?"

"You're assigned to Room 704, on the seventh floor," Katie explained. "I've got a few papers containing info about your patient. This week will be you're trail, during which the bosses will judge you on whether or not you're a keeper. You won't get paid this week, though if you make it to your second, you will."

Will nodded, he'd expected this.

"Your first concern is your patient," Katie said, and then she hesitated. "Your patient... well, I'm not sure you know this, but he's kind of...difficult."

Will wasn't sure if he'd heard that correctly. "Difficult? How?"

"Well, he'd never been able to keep a caretaker for more then five days," Katie winced. "And, well, floor seven is reserved for certain people with... bad attitudes. They can be kind of, uh..."

"I've got it," Will assured her. He decided not to judge his patient until he met him. He didn't like to get on by other people's opinions. Besides, he was confident that he could last longer then five days. Hehad to, otherwise his entire career was out the window, and who knew when he could get a chance like this again? "I'll see you around."

Katie's face was troubled, but just then the phone rang and she went to pick it up. "Hello, this is Half-Blood Hosiptal, how may I help,- STOLL! I TOLD YOU TO STOP CALLING!"

Will decided that now was a good time to leave.

700, 701, 702, 703...Ah! There it was, good ol' 704.

Will stopped walking and stared at the door. On the other side, his patient was waiting for him. Once he opened the door, he would open the road to his dreams, and-

Stop being sappy, Solace, Will scolded himself. You didn't let feelings take over while healing. You couldn't let your fear, excitement, or panic control you.

"You can do this," Will muttered to himself. "You are going to open this door, and do a good job, and then get a position at a medical school, and then become a doctor. Yes."

Taking a deep breath, Will composed himself and reached for the door...

... only to have it open by someone with midnight-black eyes.

Random story that fell into my head yesterday night and stuck with me. This whole thing was super easy and quick to write. I swear, there's something wrong with how unnaturally fast I got this typed up...

LAST EDITED 24/01/15.

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