Disclaimer: I do not own the show or characters. All I own is the writing and story.
Warning: I guess I should warn that there is implied suicide attempt mentioned in here.
"Hey, Nurse, Are You Still Open?"
Another day, another patient. Lorna smiles as she gets herself ready for another long day of work. Ever since her release from prison—nearing five years ago—she had a calling to become a nurse. She didn't think any hospitals would hire her, though, with a felony on her record but when one finally did, her whole life changed. The decent pay provides a good life for she and her son, and taking care of patients keeps her mentality in check.
After dropping her son off at school, the brunette mother drives the fifteen minutes it takes to get to her place of employment. She parks her car in the garage before making her way into the hospital and finding what floor she'll be working on for the day.
"Morello, good, you're here," the chief nurse acknowledges her, staring over the work assignments briefly. "Off to the ER with you—they just got some woman in here – sounds like she overdosed on some pretty strong drugs. Better hurry down there; they're gonna need all the help they can get with this one."
Lorna quickly does what's asked of her, frisking her way down to the emergency department. A few of her coworkers see her and motion for her to come over to the exam room. She follows suit. Before she's even half-way in the room, her heart drops at the sight of who the patient is. Her eyes dart over to the other personnel, "Is this the overdose patient?" She bites the inside of her mouth to keep her emotions from showing.
"Sure is. We just spent fifteen minutes pumping her stomach. You need to stay here for the next twenty-four hours and monitor her—keep constant checks on her vitals and refill her IV bag when it empties. Make sure absolutely no medicine is given to her unless permitted by myself beforehand. Is this all understood, Morello?"
Twenty-four hours? What about her son? She can't just work a shift like this without given the proper notice. She inwardly gulps, not sure if she should open her mouth to say anything on the matter. "Twenty, twenty-four hours? My son – I gotta get him from school this afternoon. I can't leave him by himself," Lorna timidly informs the ER doctor.
The woman gives her a harsh stare and shrugs her shoulders. "You signed up for all kinds of crazy long shifts like this when you accepted the job here, Miss Morello. That is a problem you're gonna have to figure out because there is absolutely no way you're leaving this room until exactly this time tomorrow. So, you better pray to God that you find someone who can watch him."
Lorna lets out a sigh once she's left alone with her patient. She walks over towards the bed to get a closer look at who she'll be stuck with for the next day and feels her heart burst when she sees that familiar bush of matted curls. "Oh, Nicky, what-what have you done to yourself?" Her voice hushed as she looks at the woman's face—the paleness and visible pain that seems to have been self-inflicted brings an overwhelming amount of heartbreak over the brunette.
It makes her wonder what the woman's been spending her time doing all these years. How could she go back to using drugs after spending so much time in prison for that exact reason? But then it dawns on her—she is the reason Nicky's overdosed. She chose to go back to her beloved husband rather than with her true soulmate—the person who, obviously, needed her most.
An hour's passed; Lorna waits and waits—and waits some more for the patient to finally wake up.
"Holy shit," a familiar raspy voice calls out. "Lorna fucking Morello—is that really you? You're actually a nurse?" Big brown eyes stare up in shock at the brunette.
Lorna immediately stands up from her chair and walks to her bedside. She touches her comfortingly on the head, making sure Nicky knows this is – indeed – real. "That's nurse Lorna fucking Morello to you," she makes a slight joke and that gains her a small—strained—laugh in return. Quickly, though, her face becomes serious as her eyes gaze worriedly down at the other's.
"What-what's been going on? Why would you do this to yourself, hon? You coulda ended up worse than lying in a hospital, Nicky!"
The redhead groggily looks up at her nurse—inwardly laughing at the phrase; it's hard to believe that Lorna went through with becoming a true certified nurse. "The love of my life left me the minute she got outta prison. My mother—or the woman who's acted like a real mother to me—died from a heart attack a month ago and heroin just subtly found its way back to me. You do the math, babe."
"What—Red died?" Lorna's hand instinctively covers her mouth at hearing such shocking news. Her heart soars for the older woman's unimaginable amount of grief. She hates herself for not keeping in contact with Nicky and the rest of their prison family. She hates herself for leaving Nicky and making her feel this terrible.
"Yeah, unfortunately, she did. And you woulda known if ya hadn't a just fucking walked away from us all. I mean, Jesus, kid—it's like we meant nothin' to ya."
Lorna nearly flinches at the roughness emanating in the other's voice. But she knows that's how her actions came across; she understands the pain Nicky's feeling—the pain she caused her and that's why she will not leave the redhead again. "I'm so sorry, honey…I'm so sorry you've lost Red—she was a beautiful person just like you are. And I—I am unbelievably sorry for leaving you and hurting you!" Her hands brush delicately through the mess of Nicky's hair.
The older woman closes her eyes. She lets out a tired sigh. "I loved you Lorna more than anything in the world—it cut me deep when you fucking went crawling back to nasty ass Vince. Even now when I should hate you for all the damn pain you've put me through, I don't. I still love you—I still crave you and need you. I'm fucking addicted to you and that's scarier than being addicted to heroin. I prayed so strongly that this overdose would kill me; I really fucking did…because it's hell trying to live in this world without ma and it's even harder without you, kid."
Nicky's words hit Lorna hard. Tears pour down her eyes making it extremely difficult to take down the important vitals that she needs to. "I can't apologize enough; I feel horrible for doing that you…You're so sweet and loving—all I did was break you. I don't how to make any of it up to you, I really don't…I don't think I can. I've hurt you too much and I'm so sorry, sweetheart," she whispers softly, peering gently down into her big brown orbs.
"If it helps, though, Vinny died two years after we lived together—he got in a real bad car accident and didn't make it."
Hearing that only makes Nicky more disheveled. "So, what've you been doin' all this time then? That was three years ago, Lorna."
Lorna looks down at the marble-floor and lets out a small sigh. "I've been raising my son and working, Nicky. This is my life right here," she makes a big circle around the room with her arms for emphasis, "Taking care of patients is what keeps me going."
"Son? Ya had a boy? And you've been raising him all by yourself for three years?" Nicky's voice softens, she reaches for one of the younger woman's hands and squeezes it in her own.
A small smile spreads across her cheeks. Talking about her little boy always makes Lorna happy. He's the light of her life—the one thing that's kept her going all these years. "Yeah, his name's Nico—but I-I call him Nicky. He's a real delight. My sister helps out when I gotta work longer shifts and stuff, so ya know—it's not that bad. She'll probably be keeping him for the night since I'll be monitoring your health for the next whole day."
"You call him Nicky? How come?"
Lorna looks away momentarily. "I-I wanted to name him after you somehow. But I needed it to be subtle so Vinny wouldn't notice."
Crossing her arms, Nicky arches an eyebrow piqued with interest. "Why'd ya wanna name him after me, kid?" This woman really couldn't be hated, the redhead internalizes. Her nature is so innocent—so pure.
"I needed something to hold onto—something that would always remind me of you. No matter how much I refused to admit it; I knew, deep down, that you are the one I'm supposed to be with. And I wanted to be with you but I also knew my father would shun me way if I chose to leave Vinny for a woman. He'd disown me for making an innocent child live with two mothers instead of a father. I hate myself for not listening to my heart. Because now I'm sure it's too late. I've hurt you too much. You deserve so much better, sweetie. You deserve a person who will choose you first."
Nicky grunts out a frustrated breath. She grabs Lorna by the shoulders and yanks her into the bed with her. "Fuck it—life's too short for me to give you up. I don't give a fuck how many times ya hurt me. I need you and if you're willing to be with me, I'll take you before anyone else has the chance. You're mine. No one else is getting you. You're my damn soulmate."
The brunette wraps her arms gently around Nicky's waist, giving her a stern look. "Hey, you need to be a bit more careful with yourself. You just had your damn stomach pumped. Be easy on yourself, sweetie. Or I'll—"
"You'll what? I wanna know, nurse." Nicky smirks, pressing a small kiss to the other's cheek.
"I'll just have to prescribe you extra love and care. And you have to let nurse Lorna take care of you. Or she'll get the doctor and you won't be happy," the brunette firmly assures her with a smile.
Nicky chuckles with the shake of her head. She lays back against the pillow and stares up at Lorna with a longing look in her eyes. "You think nurse Lorna can hold me? I ain't feelin' too hot…"
Instantly, the brunette sits back on the bed with her and maneuvers Nicky into her arms. She places the other's head softly against her chest, letting her hands play comfortingly with her red hair. "Of course, she can do that. Anything to help you feel better, sweetheart. Just close your eyes and relax; nurse Lorna isn't going anywhere. You just rest on me, I'll hold ya all day and night. I love you so much, honey."