Author's note: I would like to thank the lovely catholicorprotestant for answering my many questions about nursing. I tried to make this fic as medically accurate as possible and did hours of research, but if there are errors, I hope you all can forgive them. After all, this is fiction, not a medical textbook. ;)

For most people, work was an unavoidable if not unfortunate part of life. For Kiku, it was his life…even if his job revolved around seeing people lose theirs.

Being a hospice nurse was never something Kiku planned to do. It was never something he dreamed about as a child, never something that crossed his mind when he wrote essays in grade school about what he wanted to be when he grew up. Throughout his childhood and adolescence, he knew only one thing about what he wanted to do- he wanted to help people. That combined with grades good enough to get into a college with a great nursing program led him to just that. Hospice was something that simply happened somewhere along the line, and he did not fight it.

The seven years that passed between the time he started nursing and the day he moved across the country flew past him in a blur of monotony. This was not to say he disliked his job; it was not even to say it was boring. Even in the midst of the chaos nursing brought to his life, he was able to find some semblance of a routine. Most days were fine. Kiku liked immersing himself in his work, he liked the majority of his patients even if conversation never came easy to him, and he liked feeling useful. Some days were sadder than others, some brought new challenges…but most were simply, fine.

And things stayed that way until Kiku moved across the country, found a new job at new hospital, and his entire life turned on its side.

.

After Kiku parked his car in front of the hospital- the one that was at least three times the size of his old one- he yawned and leaned against the steering wheel. He had not managed to sleep as long as he planned, since his nerves had kept him up. In reality, the nerves were baseless. He knew how to do this. He'd taken vitals, assessed the needs of patients and administered medication more times than he could ever possibly count. He was good at his job, and he had been doing it for seven years. Somehow, that thought did nothing to calm his racing pulse.

Kiku sighed, smoothed down his scrubs and finally exited his car. No matter how nervous he was, he wasn't about to let his punctuality slip. His professionalism was always something he prided himself on.

When Kiku entered the staff room, he nearly had a heart attack when he was swept into a sudden hug. He broke away, stunned and uncomfortable, to see a small man standing in front of him. He had a huge smile on his face and strangely enough, one wild curl sticking out of his mess of amber hair. He was dressed similarly to Kiku, so it could be assumed he was also a nurse. He was slightly relieved to see another male nurse, since he had felt so out of place in his last shift. He could already tell whoever this was had quite the personality. The patients must love him.

"You must be the new nurse! Dr. Beilschmidt told us you were starting today, my name is Feliciano, what's yours?" He said it all in one breath, his jumping Italian accent filling the entire room.

Kiku blinked away his confusion and put his professional expression back on. "I am not new to this, if that is what you meant. I simply transferred. I have been a nurse for seven years." He said. The last thing he needed were his new coworkers thinking he was some inexperienced rookie. "My name is Kiku."

"Oh, I like that name! Japanese, right?" asked Feliciano. Kiku nodded. "Okay, cool! Well, my shift just ended but I'd be more than happy to stick around for a bit! I don't want you to be confused or anything- wait, you need to meet Dr. Beilschmidt!"

Kiku allowed himself to be pulled to the other side of the room by Feliciano. Sitting at the table was a large, stone-faced man. His rigid posture and slicked hair implied he did not take nonsense from anyone. Once he caught sight of Kiku, however, his expression seemed to soften. He stood up and extended his hand. "Hello, my name is Doctor Ludwig Beilschmidt. I was told you moved here recently, Kiku?"

Kiku shook his hand firmly and nodded. "Yes, that is correct. I assure you I know exactly what I'm doing." He said, making sure to force himself to hold eye contact.

Dr. Beilschmidt nodded. "Our house supervisor had nothing but positive things to say. No worries there." He broke eye contact to read something off his clipboard, much to Kiku's relief. "You will be meeting your first patient today. He is right down the hall, actually."

Kiku blinked. That was certainly unusual. "Patients are usually cared for in their own homes."

"This is a special case," said Dr. Beilschmidt. "It is…a bit of a long story."

Kiku did not want to ask. Instead, he simply sat down with Feliciano and Dr. Beilschmidt to go over the change-of-shift report. By the end, he knew only a couple pieces of vital information about his soon to be patient. His name was Heracles, he had congestive heart failure, he was admitted under a week ago, and he was recently told he had- at most- six months to live.

Kiku felt a shudder shoot through his body at the idea. He had always hated the first day with a new patient. Sometimes they were angry, sometimes they were terrified, and they were almost always sad. Kiku could never be sure which was harder to deal with. When Dr. Beilschmidt asked if he had any questions, he simply shook his head. It was a lie by omission- he had about a hundred questions. But not a single one had to do with the job itself, so he said nothing.

After the little meeting, Kiku loaded up his cart and set off down the hall. With every step, his heart pounded almost painfully in his chest. Calm down, he told himself, this is only work. Be professional. He looked down at his chart and tried to think of his patient as only a number, a necessary part of his career like he had so many times before…but he could never quite do it. This was a person he was about to meet- a person who was terminally ill. The situation always reminded Kiku of his late grandfather. He had succumbed to Alzheimer's, and the last time he saw Kiku he didn't know who he or Yao were. By the time he finished mulling over the memory and recovered from the heavy feeling in his chest, he arrived at the room.

He knocked a few times. "H-hello, this is your nurse." Kiku cursed himself for his shaking voice. He needed to make this patient feel secure in his ability to care for him.

A sleepy, quiet voice came from the other side. "Come in."

Kiku opened the door and nearly dropped the chart he was holding. He had expected an elderly man- his patients had almost always been seniors. The person staring back at him from the bed was young, likely within a few years of his own age. Surely he had the wrong room…no, this was the one. He had checked at least three times. Surely there had been some kind of mix-up… "Heracles?" He said his name like he wasn't sure about it. After all, this couldn't possibly be Heracles…

"That's me. Are you going to come in?" He sounded so calm; too calm for the circumstances.

"Hai." Kiku bit the inside of his cheek. He hadn't meant to let his mother tongue slip; he was just so shocked. "I mean, yes. Sorry."

Kiku walked up to his patient's bedside, and for the first he was able to get good look at him. He had a mop of unruly brown hair that fell lazily to almost his shoulders, soft features, and sleepy green eyes that stared calmly back at him. He possessed the undeniable dew of youth, though it was muddled by obvious fatigue. Kiku glanced down at his chart and read the line he must have missed- Date of Birth: 3/25/83. Heracles Karpusi was twenty-seven years old, a mere two years younger than Kiku. He felt his chest tighten in a way he had never felt towards a patient. He was just so young…

Kiku didn't realize he had been staring until Heracles smiled at him. It was a slight, lazy grin that could barely be seen, but it was definitely there. "Are you going to do something?" There was no impatience in his voice.

"Oh, um, yes, I do apologize." Kiku had to force himself to take his eyes off of Heracles. That smile stayed in his thoughts, and before long he noticed his face was warm for reasons he wasn't sure of.

It wasn't until Kiku was halfway through checking his vitals that Heracles spoke again. "You seem nervous." There was a long pause before he continued. "I never did get your name."

Kiku mentally reprimanded himself. How did he become so transfixed that he forgot something so important? More importantly, he knew he should not come across as nervous. "How unprofessional." He said under his breath. "I apologize. My name is Kiku."

"Kiku is a nice name." Heracles tilted his head as if he were confused. "You say you're sorry a lot. Since I've met you, you've apologized three times."

Kiku immediately felt himself grow embarrassed. Apologizing a lot was a habit that he could never seem to break. "Oh. I'm-" He quickly stopped himself. He had almost done it again. For the purpose of saving face, he quickly changed the topic. "Heracles Karpusi… that is Greek, correct?" He was actually completely certain it was Greek, but at least the question filled the silence.

Heracles nodded. "Yes. And you are Japanese." The way he spoke was interesting. It was as if everything he said was in slow motion.

Kiku nodded. Before he could think of something else to say, Heracles gripped the front of his shirt and his eyes grew suddenly wide. "Chest hurts…"

An unfamiliar jolt of panic surged through Kiku's veins upon remembering what condition he was dealing with. He had seen patients in pain plenty of times before, why did seeing this make him feel like he himself was in pain, too? He forced himself to maintain a stoic expression. "Please remain calm. Your medication should help."

Heracles looked up and their eyes locked. He looked so young…too young for this. Kiku felt a surprising little jump in his chest. "Thank you." Heracles's words came out in a weak breath. His face pinched, and he closed his eyes.

Kiku nodded and quickly handed him his slew of medication. It always shocked him, even after all these years as a nurse; just how many pills his patients took. It seemed as though there were a pill for just about everything under the sun. Most of the pills given to Heracles were mainly to keep him comfortable- diuretics for swelling, something to help the pain…but it still seemed like an ungodly amount for someone in their twenties.

In the short amount of time Kiku had to review Heracles's file, he learned that he was here because his medications had stopped working. His heart failure was hereditary, but it had progressed much faster than the doctors had anticipated. Much faster. It made him feel almost guilty. Here he was, completely healthy, while someone even younger than him was forced to face this. Not long after the thought passed through his mind, he noticed Heracles rubbing his legs.

"Here," said Kiku. He took two pillows from the copious amount on the bed and propped up his legs. "This will help with the swelling."

"You are very kind." Heracles said. Then he yawned. "I am very tired." And he looked tired. His eyelids were heavy and surrounded by dark circles. He carried himself as though his limbs were twice as heavy as they ought to be.

"If there is nothing else you need, I can leave you alone to nap."

"No." Kiku was shocked at the uncharacteristic swiftness of Heracles's response. His tone quickly snapped back into its usual slowness. "You can stay. I don't have to sleep right now."

The realization hit like a wave of cold water: Heracles was lonely. How could he not be, considering he only had four white walls to look at all day? Kiku felt a twinge of sympathy hit him like a punch to the stomach. With careful deliberateness, he set his chart down and sat in a chair by his bedside. What was the harm? Heracles was his only patient that day. "Yes, I am able to stay for a bit."

Heracles smiled in that subtle way again, but it only passed over his lips for a moment. He switched his position from sitting to lying down and met Kiku's gaze again. "So," he began, "you are new."

Kiku shook his head instinctually. "I have been a nurse for years. I am only new to this hospital." He said. Heracles nodded, and then there was silence. Kiku's mind buzzed with questions- what was he supposed to talk about? He could never be sure just how friendly his patients wanted to get with him. He decided to start as safely as he could. "Are you from here?"

Heracles blinked. Even that seemed to be in slow motion. "I moved from Greece a few years ago." He winced, likely from another wave of pain, but continued regardless. "I lived with my roommate Sadiq, now I live here." He said it as though two sentences was more than enough to cover his entire life story.

The way he said he lived in the hospital caused Kiku to frown. Even though he spent a good amount of his time at the hospital, he couldn't imagine living there. It certainly felt like anything but a home. "And your parents?"

"They both died." He said it way too nonchalantly. "Both had the same thing. Heart failure."

Kiku felt his blood run cold. Both his parents had passed, and he was in hospice care at the age of twenty-seven. How was he not crying? How was he not devastated by how unfair it was? "Oh." Kiku said finally. "I'm sorry." He knew he shouldn't be apologizing, but he could not think of a single appropriate thing to say besides those two words.

Heracles only blinked, seemingly unfazed. "How about you? Who do you live with?"

"I live alone," said Kiku. "I moved here from Japan for college. My parents still live there."

Heracles drew his eyebrows together. "Does living alone get lonely?"

"Not really." Kiku's answer was an honest one. He liked living alone. The solitude was calming. "My brother Yao visits me sometimes."

"Your brother." Heracles visibly perked up, even if only slightly. "You have a sibling. What is that like?"

Kiku shrugged. Yes, he had a sibling. What more was there to say? "He is actually my half brother. Anyway, it's fine." He said. "He was always the more popular one. He is more extroverted." Yao wasn't the most outgoing person on the planet, but he certainly had a larger circle of friends than Kiku did. Kiku couldn't say it bothered him.

Heracles nodded in understanding. "My cat is like my sibling." Suddenly, his eyes darkened in what looked like sadness. "I miss my cat. He's my only real friend besides Sadiq. And Sadiq can be a jerk."

Kiku was beyond stunned. When Heracles spoke, it didn't sound as though he was expecting sympathy. His voice didn't hold much of any emotion, really. He simply stated the facts like they were nothing. He tried his best to push the thoughts from his mind, reminding himself that Heracles was only a patient. "I like cats too." He could not think of anything else to say. "But I have never owned one. I'm too busy."

Heracles looked slightly incredulous. "You should get a cat. Cats are wonderful. They are like friends." He paused for a long moment. "Kiku?"

"Yes?"

"When you said your brother was more popular than you, did you mean that you don't have many friends?"

Kiku was taken aback to the point that he said nothing for a good ten seconds. What a strange question. He would have thought it was rude under almost any other circumstances, but the unassuming way Heracles asked it made him not think it was. He felt his ears grow hot when he realized what his answer was. Feeling embarrassed about the sad state of his social life, he finally said, "Well, I suppose I do not."

He almost expected Heracles to laugh or make a snide comment, despite how abnormal he already knew that would be. Instead, Heracles's blank expression remained unchanged. "I could be your friend, if you would like. I can't have my cat here, so it would be nice to have a friend."

This had never happened with a patient before. Well, Heracles was nothing if not straightforward. Kiku felt almost relieved that he would not have to guess what he meant. Once the relief passed, he was surprised when he realized, yes, he would like that. Not only did Heracles seem lonely, but there was also something different about him, something interesting. He supposed it wouldn't hurt to widen his social circle beyond his brother. "I think that would be alright."

"Okay." Heracles yawned again and sunk deeper into the pillow. "I think I will sleep now."

Kiku nodded. "Of course. Call if you need something."

Heracles nodded back, closed his pale green eyes, and that was the end of it. Kiku supposed that was all it took- they must be friends now. Was that usually how it worked? Probably not, but that probably did not matter. A feeling of lightness remained in his system as he packed up his things and exited the room, closing the door as gently as he could behind him. It wasn't until the door shut that reality came crashing down like a demolition site from somewhere inside of him. The truth set in, and Kiku remembered exactly what the situation was.

Heracles was dying.

To be continued...