Today's my one-year anniversary of being on this website, so here's a one-shot to celebrate. I've been working on this for a long time. Please tell me what you think!

-SOS


I don't know where you're going, but do you got room for one more troubled soul?


The emergency room's chaos. Will can't even see his colleagues through the masses of new people being brought in. Before he can turn and go, however, he notices an unmoving, beautiful looking girl with dark brown hair that falls around her face like a curtain and pale white skin on a bed in the corner. Her eyes are closed, and she's hooked up to all sorts of machines, but none of them seem to be helping. Will can see her pulse slowing by the second, and he wishes he could help, but he doesn't know what's wrong. Also, he's on his way to his office to pick up another patient's data so he can write their report. Nonetheless, before he leaves, he glances quickly at her patient chart (her name's Bianca di Angelo, he notes) and whispers a silent prayer that she will be okay.

After slipping quietly out of the crowded room, Will swipes his doctor's ID to get out of the emergency area and into the actual hospital. He walks down the hallway until he comes to another locked door. Swiping his card again, he sighs. Passing through the waiting room is not something he's fond of (too many mixed-up emotions in one place) but he has to do it in order to get to his office. He tries to keep his head down and walk quickly through the people demanding to see their loved ones. When he's close to the exit, he thinks he's home free. But right before he's about to sigh with relief, a tightly gripping hand on his shoulder stops him in his tracks.

Turning around exasperatedly, he tries not to roll his eyes in boredom of having yet another person ask him about their friend or brother or whatever. But when Will's blue eyes meet the stranger's dark brown ones, he just about forgets everything he was going to say. The boy who is touching him has taken Will's breath away. Managing to pull his eyes away from the other boy's entrancing stare, he mumbles awkwardly, "Hi. Um, what do you want?"

"I want to see Bianca, my sister," the boy says. "I'm Nico, by the way." Will studies the boy named Nico for a second. He can't be any older than Will, who is twenty-two. Nico's black hair is unruly, like he just woke up, and his brown eyes are rimmed with red, like he had been crying. Will remembers the girl Bianca in the emergency room. If Bianca was beautiful, Nico was like an angel compared to her. Jolting Will out of his thoughts, Nico repeats, "I want to see Bianca."

"Sorry," replies Will, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. Then he apologizes again. "Sorry, visitors are not allowed into the emergency room."

Nico's face falls. Tears spring to his eyes but he wipes them away. "But...but she's my sister. And I need her. She's all I have left. Please take me to her,-" he stops to look at Will's name tag before pleading, "-Will. Please."

Will sighs. He makes a list of reasons in his head about why he should either let Nico in or not. Nico's alright; he won't do anything stupid, Will reasons. But he might get in trouble. Shaking the anxiety away, he grabs Nico's hand and pulls him into a nearby doctor's lounge. After contemplating everything for a second, he tosses Nico a pair of scrubs, and says, "Change into this and we can go."

The expression on Nico's face (a mixture of happiness, determination, and mourning) is enough for Will to forget any possibilities of getting in trouble. A few minutes later, when Nico comes back out of the bathroom with the extra-large pair of scrubs on and a slightly less excited facial expression, Will is still ready to go through with the plan. So, he's fine when Nico pulls him into the corridor and uses Will's ID to unlock the emergency room door. In fact, Will is more than fine; he's really just happy that he's helping someone more than anything else.

Once they are in, Nico tugs at Will's arm like a small child. "Where's Bianca?" he asks softly, all traces of nervousness either very well hidden or nonexistent. Will wonders if the other boy even cares that they could get in huge trouble for this escapade. But the ambition in Nico's eyes makes him laugh at even thinking that he could even care at all.

Will notices the tears hidden in the corner of Nico's eyes, and decides that he will bring him to Bianca immediately. "Come on, this way," Will says, tapping Nico's shoulder, as the other boy has become distracted with another patient in the meantime. Nico follows him like a dog to the bed in the corner that Will has assumed is Nico's sister's.

One look at Bianca's stone-cold body, and Nico's face turns white. "That's not... That can't be her. Yesterday morning, she was figure-skating on the pond outside of our house and making me hot chocolate. She wasn't...dead!"

"She's not dead," Will wants to say, but knows it isn't going to help. Bianca is close to dying, her heartbeat slowing down and her breathing becoming more shallow. So he settles on saying, "Is it okay if we leave now? They're probably going to come soon."

Nico is shaking too hard to ask, "Who?" But once they are out of the emergency room, he does mange to choke out a small, "What are they going to do with her?"

Will bites his lip. He doesn't want Nico to burst out crying in the middle of the hallway. "You know what, let's go to my office. We can talk there, okay?" Will says. He herds the younger boy through the hallway, around empty stretchers, and past curtained-off areas. Once Nico is seated across from him in his office, Will sighs. "They are going to pull the plug. I'm sorry."

No words can express the look on Nico's face. Will almost wants to hug the poor boy, and would have if Nico hadn't suddenly, out of nowhere, punched himself in the arm. Before Nico can do it again, Will, having no idea what he is doing, is holding Nico's arms apart so he can't hurt himself anymore.

In this awkward position, Will suddenly remembers his crush on Nico. Trying not to blush, he gently murmurs, "Why did you do that?"

"Because everyone I had is gone," Nico whispers. "Bianca and I? We only had each other."

"That's no reason to hurt yourself. Listen, if you're so worried about someone being there for you, look at me. I'll help you get through whatever you need. I know Bianca's death affected you, and I know it will take you more than a whole to move on." Will's expression softened. "But I'll always be here for you along the way."

Nico leans back into Will's grip, which becomes an embrace as soon as he lets it be. "Okay," he whispers. "Thank you for helping me."


I don't know where I'm going but I don't think I'm coming home and I said:

I'll check in tomorrow if I don't wake up dead. This is the road to ruin

And we're starting at the end... Say yeah!