Blaine wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting when the doors opened; maybe people in the same ugly scrubs he was forced to wear, running around carrying stethoscopes and blood pressure monitors around their necks, or moving sick people in wheelchairs from one place to another in a weird and almost depressing silence with unpleasant smells in the air, but whatever it was that he was imagining, wasn't this.
The doors slid open and he was faced with some sort of common room, only there weren't sofas or a TV, but a gorgeous looking blue chair with an empty table safe for a small, white, stiff-looking table cloth in the very middle of it. Left to the table was a very elegant-looking music stand, but with no sheets holding it and Blaine found himself wondering what it was for and why it was standing in this very spot.
Before he could inspect the area more, he noticed the doors slipping shut before he even got out, he was so lost in thoughts and turned a dark shade of red under his mask. Thankfully no one was walking past him as he wiggled out of the closing doors and made himself look like a tool twice in only a few minutes- first with Shannon, and now this.
As soon as he'd stepped outside the elevator, he noticed the very peaceful vibe around him, it smelled really nice and he silently apologized to someone he didn't believe in above for prematurely expecting a place like this to smell of very unpleasant odors. It sort of smelled like lavender, but not the old kind that smelled like his great-grandma's wardrobe, but the fresh, late summer night kind of lavender. The walls were all painted a pretty shade of lilac and there were black and white pictures on the walls of some of the sights of their town from when it was first founded, he assumed.
On his right was the door to the staircase, and the room next to it was a storeroom. The room right behind the chair and table had the tag 'Prayer Room' on it and Blaine gulped. Right…how could he forget something as important as this? People died in here, this was the last stop for these patients. Once more he found himself wondering what the hell he was thinking he was doing here. He quickly shook his head and made an immediate turn to the left, and across from him was a closed see-through door with the tag '3.01 DUTY ROOM- Head of Ward: Kurt Hummel'. That was probably his boss, then. From what he could see, the room was empty but Blaine figured it was the safest option to wait inside instead of wandering around looking for his new boss and probably getting lost in turn.
Taking a deep breath, Blaine squared his shoulders and groaned quietly at the feel of his crisp, stiff uniform against his skin. Then he started walking towards the duty room, which was maybe 15 steps away, and praised himself when he managed to avoid yet another embarrassing encounter because halfway to his destination, a very tall guy came out of nowhere from the long corridor on his left side and nearly bumped into Blaine.
"Oh God, I'm so sorry!" Blaine yelped and inwardly face punched himself for the jitters in his voice. Then Blaine was really glad that he managed not to face forward run this guy over because he was carrying a tray with very, very many tiny cups with pills in them.
"I'll live. Oh, you must be Blaine. Follow me," the guy said in a clear high voice that didn't sound muffled at all under his mask, nothing in comparison to Blaine's own voice.
Before Blaine could respond or, you know, greet the guy, he found himself trying to catch up on tall guy with quick steps, because wow he could walk fast without making much of an effort, his legs just were that long!
Blaine allowed himself a nanosecond to take a glimpse at the dude to try and figure him out before said guy made a fleeting halt and turned around to face Blaine and Blaine nearly ran into him again.
"So, a few things you need to know. You're not allowed to wear jewellery during shift, so that ring has to go. I'll give you the key to your ward locker in the duty room after basic care." After the initial shock of nearly walking into the guy again, Blaine glanced down at his left hand and swallowed. He didn't feel comfortable taking off his ring, it was the one he got when Joe was born and he hadn't taken it off since then. Well, minus the times he'd had surgery, but he tried to blend that out. Then he wondered how on earth the guy saw Blaine's ring, because to Blaine's knowledge, tall guy hadn't even so much as looked past Blaine's nose yet. Then Blaine thought that urgh, his nose wasn't even visible under his mask. Freaking times they were living in, seriously.
Blaine carefully slid the ring from his fingers and put it as deep inside the pockets of his ugly top as possible, and before he could say anything, tall guy was speaking again. "Your hair is pretty long, you should consider cutting it a bit shorter, or else you'll have to wear a hairnet or tie it together. I know that's kinda forward of me to say, but it's our boss's orders and simply how nursing works."
Blaine felt himself blushing and this time he was glad that his nose wasn't visible. Cutting his hair for a job?! No way. But his other choices weren't appealing, either. He didn't want to add another ugly accessory to his already ugly uniform, and tying his hair together was just ridiculous. Okay, so that decided it for him, then.
"Okay…" Blaine mumbled and felt himself flinching when tall guy raked his eyes over Blaine's appearance. Then he nodded to himself and continued walking, probably indicating for Blaine to follow him on fast feet.
"We're like a big family here," Blaine heard tall guy speaking in front of him, but he didn't stop in his tracks until he reached a door with the number and name 3.50 Mrs. Evers on it. "If you ever have a problem with someone, I want you to come to me immediately and I will see how to handle the situation. Same goes the other way around," tall guy continued, turned around and stuck his pinkie out, only to curl it artfully around the red magnet key on his shirt. Then he casually leaned on the doorframe, balanced the tray with the pills with practised ease, and looked straight into Blaine's eyes, which did something funny to Blaine's insides.
"If you ever have a problem with me, you will also come to me and we'll see how to handle the situation. If you did a shit job, I'll tell you the same day. If I did a shit job, I'll expect you to come to me and tell me the same day. That's all I want from you. That's how we work here and what varies this ward from the others. Communication is key."
Okay, so Blaine was sort of speechless and could do nothing other than nod like a lost puppy. He was entirely too intimidated by this guy. He was incredibly tall, his hair was on point and his bright white mask did a pretty spectacular job at making his eyes shine. And just exactly when did Blaine refer to another guy's eyes as shining? His nerves were just getting a toll on him, he was sure.
Blaine was just about to say something, what he wasn't sure of yet, but tall guy cut him to it by turning away and extending his hand with the pinkie curled around the red key, and to Blaine's surprise, the little chip detached from its position and a thin, white string came to view. Then tall guy held the chip to the round circle thingy under the door handle and it blinked white and red, then beeped and tall guy let go of the chip, which made it reel into its former position with a quick snap. Wow, okay. So that was that, then.
Tall guy knocked on the door and opened it a few inches, but didn't go inside yet. Instead, he turned around again and said, in a silky smooth, yet high pitched voice, "I'm Kurt Hummel, by the way. I run this ward. Welcome to Lighthouse Point," then he smiled, Blaine was sure of it, because his mask shifted a little and his eyes crinkled at the sides.
Only then did Blaine notice that he wasn't wearing a nametag. And then all color drained from his face.
That was his boss.
With some guidance from above, Blaine managed to tell tall guy his name, although he already knew who he was. But it was the polite thing to do. Then he even managed to faintly smile and hoped that it was noticeable under his mask, but tall guy's smile from before returned, so he guessed he noticed.
"Let's get to work. You work Floor A today with Mercedes but she's already almost done since we usually start at 6:30 AM latest, but I saw that Figgins signed you in for the Mummy-Shift, which usually starts at 8:00 AM."
Oh, God. If Blaine wasn't blushing before, he definitely was now. Mummy-Shift?! Figgins didn't tell him that there was a certain word for that, just that single parents had the privilege to start later to make sure they could take their kids to daycare in time.
Then Blaine's brain had the brilliant idea to splutter out, "I'm not a mummy," and embarrass himself even further in front of his new boss. Tall guy laughed loudly at that, but not in an offending, fun-making kind of way. He just sounded heavily amused by Blaine's choice of words and his nervous blabbering.
"Trust me, I've noticed. Now go, Mercedes should be in room 3.36 where the green light is turned on. See?" He nudged his chin forward and Blaine turned to look down the even longer hallway than the one they were coming from. Over each door was a little box, and one of them flashed green, which apparently meant that this Mercedes woman was in there. The woman who was supposed to train him, a least for today. Oh Lord, he was so nervous. Especially after making a gloriously fool of himself in front of his new boss only 4 minutes into his very first shift.
Blaine took a shuddering breath, turned back to tall guy, who was nodding encouragingly at him, and said, "Okay uhm, thanks, Mr. Hummel."
Tall guy tsked his tongue in a friendly manner. "None of that. Call me Kurt. You only make me sound older than I already am. Now shoo, work waits for no one."
Blaine chuckled nervously and fiddled with his hands. He felt so lost and on edge around this guy, it was ridiculous.
Just as Blaine started to march off towards the room with the green light, a high-pitched voice called, "Blaine? Come find me during your break, you're allowed half an hour each shift. I'll hand you your working schedule for the next month."
Blaine turned around from where he was standing and said, "Alright." Tall guy nodded and disappeared into Mrs. Evers's room, and Blaine was left alone.
He walked to room 3.36 and mentally counted to ten, then pulled his red chip from its chain just like tall guy had done earlier and held it to the magnet lock under the handle. Sure enough, it blinked white and red, beeped, and then clicked open.
Blaine knocked carefully and opened the door to stick his head inside. "Uhm, hello?"
Thankfully he didn't have to wait very long, because a few seconds later, a beautiful, dark-skinned woman, who totally rocked her ugly uniform, by the way, stuck her own head out of another door, right next to the one where Blaine was currently waiting.
"Hi! Oh, you're Blaine, our newbie! Kurt told me to show you around today. I'm Mercedes, come on in, don't just stand there!" Her voice was friendly and smooth and Blaine immediately liked her. He nodded and slipped inside, closed the door, and once again started to nervously fiddle with his hands when Mercedes disappeared for a moment inside the room, the bathroom, Blaine figured, and heard rummaging inside.
Oh! Should he have followed her inside? A few seconds later, the door opened again though and the woman carried a small red plastic tub that was bursting with nice smelling foam. On her shoulders, she had placed a blue towel and washcloth and under one of her arms, she carried a pink can of deodorant.
"So, have you worked as a nurse before?"
"Uhm, no. Well, I have a degree in nursing, but I finished school ages ago and never worked in that field." Blaine fully expected her to be mad at his answer, annoyed even, but to his surprise, her voice turned even gentler than before when she said, "That's fine. I mean, I've worked for this company for 8 years, but I didn't even have a degree when I started. Still don't, actually. I remember how intimidated I was on my first day, oh who am I kidding, the first week, actually, but you'll know pretty quickly if you're set for this job or not. It's just a feeling. You know?"
Shoving all of his negative thoughts about this job aside, Blaine tried to accept her advice and nodded. "I'll uh, I'll try to keep that in mind. So, what am I supposed to do first?"
The woman laughed warmly and winked as she walked past Blaine and further inside the main room. "Honey, I don't expect you to do anything at all during your first couple of shifts. Your job, for now, is to just stand there and watch me, ask me stuff, observe my tasks and learn with your pretty eyes. I'll let you know when I need your help."
Blaine flushed warm and lowered his gaze for a moment at her compliment about his eyes. But then another voice appeared, and his head snapped up once more.
"Nurse, who is this man?" A thin, old lady asked in a frightened and quiet voice from where she was lying in her bed and Blaine wanted to punch his stupid head off. How could he forget about the person actually living here?!
Thankfully, Mercedes handled the situation with a calm and comforting voice. And wow, did she speak loudly all of a sudden. "Good morning, Mrs. Gebert, that's our new male nurse. He just started working here today. Don't be afraid of him. I think he's way more afraid of you right now!"
Okay, so that was probably meant as a joke, (she actually giggled!) but it really wasn't that far from the truth. He was afraid. Not of her specifically, but of being here in general. But despite all that, his manners kicked in and he slowly walked closer to her, until he stood right in front of her bed and crossed his hands behind his back, and out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Mercedes setting the tub with water on the table by the window and walking to the woman's closet.
"I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself. Forgive me, I'm a bit nervous because I really did just start working here and I've uh, I've never done this before. I'm Blaine. Is it okay for you if I watch Mercedes for a bit? To learn?"
At that, the sweet old lady smiled brightly and her entire face crinkled up. "Oh! Oh, of course, young man! It's fine with me, I apologize for having said something rude before!" Blaine was slightly confused by her words, because why would she apologize? He was the rude one, he thought, but then Mercedes appeared behind him and carefully touched his arm with a gloved hand, leaned in, and told him in a quiet voice, "That's just her. She's very frightened of everything and apologizes for every little thing. Just go with it, she's a sweetheart."
The next 15 minutes or so, Blaine watched from the foot of the bed, how Mercedes drove the bed up with the little remote control attached to the bed with a curly cable, then carefully removed the covers and pillows and undressed her, washed her body, turned her from side to side with clever moves, heard the lady moan in pain but had Mercedes comfort her and Blaine wondered if that was normal also. Surely her being in pain wasn't normal?
As if reading his mind, Mercedes started speaking in a calm voice while she leaned down and grabbed a huge, white lady pad and a weird-looking net-thingy from the bedside table.
"Her hips and shoulders always hurt. She has bad osteoporosis, so moving her around, even if we're very careful, is painful for her. Right, Mrs. Gebert? Your bones all hurt so much, that's really irritating for you." Mercedes said, then, speaking directly to the lady again while she unfolded the white pad and placed it under her butt, then turned her back on her back slowly and Blaine felt bad for her when she hissed in pain.
"Oh well. Pain is part of life. Isn't it, young man?"
Blaine was surprised when she spoke directly to him to where he was watching from the end of her bed. "Sadly, it sometimes is Ma'am, I'm sorry you have to feel like that," he said with a voice that hopefully sounded sympathizing.
"Oh, such a proper young gentleman. You're so nice!" The lady said with a huge smile again and Blaine felt drawn to her. She really was a sweetheart.
Blaine's heart was a bit lighter while he continued watching as Mercedes folded the pad with practised fingers until it was covering the lady's lower half and then grabbed the weird net-thing Blaine saw earlier. Turns out that it's some sort of disposable pantie because apparently that's more sterile and more breathable than normal underwear, judging by the stuff Mercedes explains while working quick yet relaxed.
And then Blaine wants to facepalm himself because of course, he'd seen these things before and even wore one of them before if he remembers correctly. He had a lot of surgeries prior and once they made him wear one of those pants, but he was so embarrassed that he refused to wear them again. It was even written down in his medical records and no one ever talked about it again, which is probably why he forgot about it until now. He was young then, only just diagnosed with Crohn's and already forced into surgery. It was traumatic and not nice to think back to, yet he felt shame bubbling in his stomach, because if this lady, and probably everyone else here wore these pants, why couldn't he? He made a mental note to have his doctor cross his bid from ages ago out of his records, which was probably a relief because the hospital staff was always annoyed when he came with extra wishes and demands. He was sort of a brat, he realised shamefully.
Mercedes pulls him out of his thoughts and back into reality by saying, "Blaine? Hand me that pillow?"
"Right! Of course, here," Blaine says and grabs the long pillow from the chair by the window and hands it to her.
"Thanks, so this is to position her. Mrs. Gebert and many other of our inhabitants need to be positioned because they either can't move on their own anymore or because it's at least very restricted. Mrs. Gebert can still move a little on her own, so we only offer her the positioning. She's allowed to say no, but because the skin on her hip is a little red from the night from laying in the same spot for so long, we usually position her in the mornings for a few hours to give her skin a break. Otherwise, she could develop bedsore, or how we like to say, a decubitus, and we definitely don't want that," Mercedes explains and puts the blanket back on the lady, then grabs the remote and drives the bed down again.
"Oh, yeah I actually had decubitus as my exam topic. I had to write a huge paper on it and got an A. It was the best paper in my grade!" Blaine says proudly and doesn't miss the smile under Mercedes' mask as she starts to pick up the towel, washcloth, and used pad she threw on the ground earlier.
"That's fantastic! Kurt will be pleased with that; he always pays special attention to our inhabitants with decubitus risk. Hey, could you empty the water from the tub into the sink and rinse the foam out for me? I know I said you'd only have to watch, but th-"
"Oh, hey no, that's fine," Blaine says with a chuckle. "I'm glad, actually. I hate standing around and not doing anything, it makes me feel so useless."
"Don't let the others hear you say that, they'll make use of that faster than you might think," Mercedes laughs happily and then turns to Mrs. Gebert and tells her that breakfast will be served soon. Then she waves and the old lady raises her thin arm and says goodbye to both of them, but not before asking if they would come back soon.
"Of course, Hon. I'll be back in just a few minutes!" Mercedes says friendly and with a loud, smooth voice, waves once more with the towels in her hand, and then gestures for Blaine to lead them outside.
Once the door closes, she starts walking back to where Blaine came from earlier, or well, ran after their boss earlier, opens the lid of one of the laundry collectors attached to a care trolley he hadn't noticed earlier. In the first bag, she throws the used laundry and in the other she throws the pad, then shrugs off her gloves and throws them in as well.
"So this is the throw-off. One's for laundry, obviously, but never ever throw the clothes of our inhabitants in there. They have separate bags in their rooms for that. The other is for trash. At the end of our shifts, we put new laundry and trash bags on them and bring the full ones down to the laundry room, I'll show you where to find it later. Oh and when we're done using this thing," Mercedes says and pats her palm on the top of the care trolley, "We fill it up with new towels and washcloths, beddings and such for the next day. I'm sure you remember most of these things from school, but it's always nice to hear them again, I think."
She flashes Blaine a smile and leads him to the room with the fresh laundry, which is just a few steps away, actually. Then he notices two other rooms just next to each other, one has the tag Faeces Disposal and the other is tagged with ., which probably stands for incontinence material. How hadn't he noticed all these rooms earlier? He stood right opposite of them, after all. Blaine wants to blame his boss, so he does. Then he remembers that Mercedes had just spoken to him and he feels like an ass for not answering her.
"Sorry, God I'm so nervous. I feel like I don't even know where to look first. And please, explain these things to me if it's alright. I forgot pretty much everything from school, it's been a long time ago and lots of totally different stuff happened since then, so…"
Mercedes smiles and starts taking new towels out of a big wardrobe. "Don't apologize. First days are always hard. I get it. And don't worry, I'll give you the grand tour once we're done here. You came here at a good time. Mrs. Gebert was last on the list since she has breakfast in bed. The others from this floor eat in the dining room so they have to be taken care of first."
Blaine breathes in relief and helps Mercedes carrying the mountain of laundry she just fished out of the wardrobe. Then he follows her out of the room and to the care trolley to help her refill it.
"So, uhm, what's next to do then? Do we have to hand out breakfast in the dining room?"
"Nope, only to the ones who eat in their room. Thankfully, for us, that's only Mrs. Gebert. On B, the other floor, there are quite a few peeps who don't leave their room and are bedridden. Next on the list is to make sure the surroundings are fine, which basically means doing stuff like this," she says and nods to both of them putting away the washcloths, "taking out the trash, filling up the Inco. Storage and such."
So they do just that, and Mercedes explains every little task she does, lets Blaine arrange the boxes of gloves and masks, shows him how to use the fecal disposal and how to wrap those stupid, complicated laundry bags into their holder. He never managed to get it right on the first try back in school and he probably won't now. But Mercedes just laughs kindly and tells him that she still got it wrong sometimes and that he shouldn't worry about something as irrelevant as this.
She shows him the dining room where a brown-haired girl in regular clothes is busy preparing breakfast. The room is filled to the brim with old people in wheelchairs and rollators, slowly munching their food, and when some of them ask him who he is, he flushes and tells them that he's the new guy. It feels rushed and he's super nervous again, being alone with Mercedes had been nice and calming for his nerves, but seeing all these old people reminds him where exactly he is and what he's supposed to be doing here.
He doesn't know any of their names yet, doesn't know what their specific needs are, nothing about their backstories or possible illnesses and he's momentarily overwhelmed and just wants to flee because they all look so fragile and he just can't screw this up! Thankfully, Mercedes seems to notice that he feels incredibly uncomfortable and drags him out of the dining room.
"Give it time. I guarantee you that in only two days you'll feel way more comfortable here. By the way, that was Marley, one of our E.C. girls, which stands for Everyday Companion. One of them comes here in the morning and evening to help with the food and during the day they're here for entertainment and stuff like that. Come on, I'll show you the other stuff."
She shows him Floor B, which looks just like the one they came from, the common room, where he finds chairs, sofas and a TV, a very old radio and sees a huge balcony outside the big windows. Next is the room for technical aids, where he makes out two different lifts, a chair scale, and other intimidating-looking stuff that he doesn't even want to know how to safely use in fear he does anything wrong, then shows him the prayer and storeroom he saw when he was coming up here, and then walks straight ahead and opens the duty room door.
The door opens with the red chip just like the other doors he's seen so far, and inside he sees tall guy, standing in front of a huge cabinet, that, by further inspection, is filled to the brim with meds.
"Hey girl, how's it going?" Tall guy asks as soon as Mercedes enters the room with Blaine in tow, and sits in one of the chairs while Blaine just awkwardly stands there, not knowing what to do or if he's allowed to sit. "Your floor done?"
"Yep, all done, breakfast is in full swing, trash is ready to be taken out and our new baby chick is positively anxious," Mercedes says and although Blaine knows she's just mocking him in the nicest way possible, it still makes him flush in embarrassment.
"Is that so? Anxious already? And you're sure you wanna work here?" Tall guy says, bends his head and pops it into view for Blaine from where he stands slightly behind the door of the cupboard. His boss raises an impressively neat trimmed eyebrow at him and gives him a look.
Oh God, has Blaine mentioned yet how nervous he is?
"I just, I mean, this is a lot to take in and I haven't-"
A tiny giggle escapes behind tall guy's mask as he turns back to his task from before, which involves a mortar and pestle and a cup of pills. "Relax kid, that's just my humor. I'm sure you're doing fine for your first day."
Blaine totally intends to answer, and already has a snarky remark on the tip of his tongue that involves him not being a kid anymore, but then tall guy starts to pulverize the pills, and again, Blaine really intends to say something, but all he can do for a couple of really strange seconds is to check out how the muscles in his upper arms move and how his veins pop slightly as he puts pressure on his hand and upper arms. Also, how is it that 1), tall guy wears way cooler pants than everyone else seems to be wearing, and 2), he's allowed to wear a polo shirt? Yes, it still has the company's logo on it, but Blaine likes polo shirts and would be thrilled to wear one instead of the ugly potato bag he currently wears. Tall guy could at least button it up properly and not leave 2 of the 3 buttons open. Because…well because that would be only polite.
"You know," tall guy starts again and Blaine nearly jumps out of his skin, feeling struck by lightning or something, at being caught staring at another man's arms and clothes. Thankfully no one seems to notice the way he flinches as he's being spoken to because he's shocked about himself for that, but Mercedes has her phone out and tall guy doesn't look up from his work. "I just checked your schedule for the next week and you seem to be stuck in Mummy-Shift. That's fine but it means you have to stay until 2:30 PM. Is that alright with you?"
Blaine closes his eyes and groans. "I'm not a mummy."
At that, tall guy does stop in his tracks and looks over at Blaine. "Yes, as we cleared that earlier, I've noticed. But you do have kids, do you?" It's not in any way judging, the tone he uses, but it still feels like it is.
And Blaine is a proud father, okay. So he lifts his chin a little and says, "Yeah, I have a daughter."
Tall guy nods once. "That's what I thought. So, does that work for you? And your kid, for that matter?"
Blaine is slightly touched that tall guy considers not only his needs but Joe's as well. He probably has kids himself, so he understands the pressure you're under about 90% of the time.
"It doesn't really matter, I guess. My parents and brother are my daughter's sitters, and they're flexible with my shifts. I just have to know a few days in advance so they can plan it. But If I'm completely honest, I think I'd like to start at the regular time, not when you're almost done with everything. If that's alright, I mean."
Okay, wow, so that was the longest he's spoken to tall guy yet and he's sort of proud that he didn't stutter this time.
Tall guy seems to consider this for a moment, ranks his eyes over Blaine as he did earlier, then nods to himself and goes back to crush his pills. "That's totally fine, mornings are always stuffed to the brim with work and we need every helping hand. I trust you with the sitter issue, but if after a week it doesn't work without the Mummy…or shall I say, Daddy-Shift, then, please come find me and we'll reschedule your times."
Mercedes cracks up behind her phone when tall guy says the thing about Daddy-Shift, and a second later tall guy himself starts to laugh loudly and obnoxiously. Blaine feels so tormented at this very moment, because his new boss is laughing at him, and yeah, Blaine knows it's just in good fun, but the last 14+ months were hard, and he usually takes everything personally when it comes to parenting.
Thankfully though, Mercedes slips her phone back inside the pocket of her shirt and stands up, walks the few steps over to Blaine and curls an arm around his shoulders. "Sorry for laughing, but like Kurt said earlier, that' just his stupid humour, and he and I have known each other for so long that he tends to infect me with it. We have a lot of parents in Mummy-Shift, but no Dad's, so we don't know how to refer to it."
Tall guy has stopped laughing too but still seems to be smirking under his mask, like he can't help it. He tries to hide it though, so Blaine can let it slide this time. It's not his fault that Blaine is so sensible, after all. "It's fine, I'm just really nervous right now, I think. Uhm…and Kurt, that would be nice, with the rescheduling thing, I mean. But I think it will be no problem. My family is usually fine when I'm not at home, no matter what time it is."
Blaine totally didn't mean to say that last part out loud and immediately regrets it, especially when he sees the confused look on tall guy's face. Thankfully, he only nods and doesn't ask any questions. "Alright, I'll let Ms. Sylvester know about this and have her adjust your hours. She usually works fast, so you can come to me during break like we agreed on earlier and you can take a look at it."
Blaine nods and starts fidgeting with his hands again. "Okay."
Tall guy smiles at Blaine and Mercedes squeezes his shoulder before letting go and telling him that she wants to show him around some more.
Over the next few hours, Blaine finds out where to find the big laundry room and where to put the trash bags, he passes a few more colleagues, one of them being a totally terrifying woman with skin as dark as Mercedes' and short blonde hair. Mercedes tells him that her name is Roz and that she usually has a big heart, but no empathy for other human beings whatsoever, and that she's only one step away from being fired because of her rude behaviour towards other colleagues and inhabitants. She worked on B this morning with another girl named Sugar, but they haven't exchanged any words yet because they were busy at the time they passed them.
Mercedes tells him a few things about some of the 'Peeps' here, as she keeps referring to the inhabitants, that they currently accustom 37 out of 40 people on their ward. The other rooms are either reserved or empty yet, and that since they moved into this new building, no one had died on their ward yet. Blaine is not sure what that should tell him, but the smile in her eyes is brilliant when she tells him, so Blaine just goes with it.
All this time, Blaine follows her like a lost puppy with his hands behind his back and is only allowed to help when they start preparing the dining room for lunchtime. They clean and set the tables, Mercedes shows him where to find cups, glasses, paper towels, plates, cutlery and so on, explains which of the trays (they're for the people who eat in their rooms) needs snout cups and who needs to be given help with eating.
"Mrs. Gallinat and Mr. Johnson are in palliative care and they can't eat on their own anymore so we have to feed them. Mr. Johnson has severe difficulties swallowing and could aspirate if we're not careful enough," Mercedes tells him and Blaine only stares in horror.
"But what if I give him food and he chokes on my watch? I wouldn't know what to do to save him."
"Then there's nothing we can do. It happened to all of us and it will happen in the future, we know that and we prepare for something like that. And if he chokes, it doesn't immediately mean that he suffocates. I've never seen that happen, but he could aspire and that could lead to very nasty pneumonia which has to be treated in the hospital, and that's never great."
"Oh, God, what am I doing here," Blaine groans, covers his eyes and sinks down on one of the chairs in the dining room. He feels Mercedes' presence next to him and hears another chair being pulled out next to him.
"Hey," her voice is gentle and Blaine removes the hand from his eyes. The nametag on the table says Mrs. Walter. He has not the slightest idea who that is. He sighs.
"Can I ask you something sort of personal?" Mercedes asks and touches his shoulder comfortingly. Blaine nods and prepares himself for her next words.
"I understand that you're nervous, that's a given, I think…but you look kind of terrified. What are you doing here if you seem to rather be anywhere but here?"
Blaine sighs and starts picking on a loose thread on his shirt. "I was working in an Inn by the beach for the last few months but the pandemic was hard on them and they had to reduce their staff. I was fired and forced to go back to being a full-time dad. I love my kid to death, but things at home aren't good and work was usually my safe place, as shitty as it was. When I didn't have that anymore, I started looking for a new job and St. Paloma was the only one hiring. Nursing isn't my dream job, but I need money and time away from home…so yeah, That's why I'm here.
I miss my daughter like crazy, yet I'm glad I'm a few hours out of the apartment to cool off because parenting is tough and I sort of wasn't prepared for it. And my family…urgh. Does that even make any sense?"
"It does. Tina, she also works here, she has kids as well and she always tells me that she needs time away from parenting. I think it makes sense, especially if you were a workaholic before you had kids or simply enjoyed your hobbies or such before having kids," Mercedes tells him and Blaine could cry. Talking about his stupid issues, his pressing family problems, always does something to his soul and makes him feel fragile and small.
"I'll help you get settled here, and yes, some of the tasks at hand seem frightening, but you'll get used to them, trust me on that. You'll fit right in, okay?" Mercedes says and squeezes his shoulder one more time.
"I guess. And I am excited to have a job where I can go to bed in the evening and be proud of the work I've done, working in the kitchen before didn't give me that feeling. I want Joe to be proud of me, you know?"
"Joe? She's your kid? You have a photo of her?" Mercedes beams and jumps up and down on her chair.
Blaine chuckles and pulls his phone out of his pocket. Then he feels guilty because he's sure it's not allowed to have your phone with you. Mercedes must sense the sudden tension in his body and giggles.
"Don't worry, we all have our phones with us, even Kurt. Just hide it from Schue and Sylvester, they're the NSV's and don't understand no fun."
Blaine huffs in relief and unlocks his phone, opens his gallery and clicks on his favourite photo of her.
"That's my daughter, Johanna. She was a bit younger here, but she's one and a half now. We were having our weekly pancake date that day in the garden. Isn't she stunning?" Blaine can't help the emotion in his voice, he just loves this kid with all his heart and even a photo of her has him missing her and feeling guilty for being such a shitty dad to her.
"Wow, she looks just like you! And look at those curls, she has them from you! And look at that little flower dress and her jam face, my heart can't handle it," she sighs dramatically and Blaine chuckles. He's used to a reaction like that, she tends to leave people speechless with her very being.
"Yeah, she's amazing, I'm so proud of her," Blaine says and sighs himself.
"Johanna and Tina's kids should totally play together sometime! Does she go to day-care yet?" Mercedes wants to know.
"Sort of, she went for about a month, but then we had our first lockdown and she was forced to stay at home. She barely has had any contact with other kids and it breaks my heart. But I'm also too afraid to let her interact with other kids. You know, I'm chronically ill and on a shit ton of meds, my mum has asthma…catching corona would be the worst case for us. I just can't risk sending her out there, even if she loves wearing a mask and already knows how to wash her hands properly."
Mercedes nods understandingly and hums sympathetically.
"Corona is a bitch."
That, at least, Blaine can agree on with a laugh that is half desperate half amused.
After they finished setting the dining room and helped Mrs. Broniszewski (she's blind, Blaine's learned), find her room when she was lost on the other floor, Mercedes' work phone rings.
"Yes, Kurt?" Mercedes says as soon as she picks up and Blaine wonders how she knew it was him without asking first. "Yeah, he's right next to me. Should I send him over? Okay. Yep. Oh, by the way, Mrs. Evers wanted to know about her BSL from this morning. Alright, I'll let her know."
When Mercedes puts the phone back in her pocket, she starts laughing as soon as she sees Blaine's confused glance at what the hell that was all about.
"Remember when Mrs. Evers asked us earlier about her insulin shot this morning?" Blaine only nods.
"I just asked Kurt for her BSL, - her blood sugar levels. I'm 100% certain he's told her, but she tends to forget and then starts to get nervous. Oh, and speaking of, Kurt wants to see you. We have about 25 minutes before lunch is served and besides covering the bell when one of our peeps rings, we're done until then so you should be fine to take your break now. He just finished pill-prepping and waits in the duty room with your schedule."
The few steps it takes to walk from the dining to the duty room are like torture. Blaine is nervous, still somewhat humiliated from what tall guy said earlier and he just doesn't understand what his deal is. It's not even like his boss is mean or appears cold-hearted or rude, it's the opposite, actually. Yet, he's short sentenced around him, won't really look at him when they do talk, and he seems incredibly restricted towards Blaine. Then again, maybe he's like that around everyone. Blaine has only known him for about 4 hours or so at this point and when they talked, tall guy was concentrating on work, so he guesses he can't really blame him.
Trying not to overthink everything like he usually tends to do, he shrugs his shoulders and knocks on the door. About a millisecond later he wants to shake himself really hard because why, why would he do that? It's a freaking see-through door and tall guy rolls backward with crossed arms in his computer chair and raises a perfectly plugged eyebrow that has Blaine's heartrate in the dangerous zone. He starts to sweat because he's so dumb and so nervous and tall guy still gives him that look, amused and confused at the same time and he won't even get up from his chair and open the door and help Blaine out of his misery.
Figuring Blaine can't lose more pride than he already has today, he opens the door with his own key and slowly slips inside, letting the door slip shut with a click that is entirely too loud in the room.
"Mercedes did show you how to use your key, didn't she?" Tall guy asks and Blaine could swear that he tries to suppress a chuckle.
"No actually, you did."
Tall guy looks stunned and turns his head to the side. "I did?"
"Uhm, not intentionally, I think. But I uh, I watched you this morning when you opened Mrs. Evers' door."
"Is that so?" Still, that look!
"I mean, I wasn't watching you in a creepy sort of way, just, you were there and I…" Oh, Goddamnit.
Tall guy laughs warmly and shakes his head. "I've had nervous newbies before, but you're something else. Come, now. I promised you your schedule and a set of keys."
Blaine gulps and releases a tight huff and just can't keep his hands still. But he doesn't want to embarrass himself even further by just standing there when tall guy asked him to come closer to the computer with a wave of his head, so he tells his legs to get going already and stands slightly behind tall guy's chair.
A few things happen in a row then, and Blaine is lost and confused for the millionths time this day.
First of all, he doesn't wear his glasses because even after months into the pandemic, he still hasn't figured out how to wear them without making them all foggy while wearing a mask, so he stopped bothering. Problem is, that he can't read the tiny numbers on the screen, which forces him to squint his eyes and move a great deal closer to tall guy and hover beside him by the desk, okay. That doesn't only make him look like an idiot, Blaine assumes, but it also makes him notice the immediate flash of Wow when he smells tall guys aftershave, or perfume or whatever it is, through his stuffy mask.
Next thing to have him on edge is the flash of white skin right in front of him where tall guy sits and keeps telling probably very important things to Blaine that do not make it to his brain, because apparently his brain is way more enticed in staring at the tiny freckles on the even tinier piece of skin that is visible where tall guy's stupid red polo slipped out of place. Blaine knew that he should have closed the stupid buttons on the front.
Okay, so checking out another dude is entirely too weird, even for Blaine. Why? Well, because that's a premiere right here. He's never been attracted to dude's before; Johanna's very existence is good proof for that.
"…for the regular shift, so I can't 'tease' you about Mummy-Shift anymore. Blaine?"
"Fuck!" Blaine hisses because that stupid Mummy-Shift thing certainly pulled him out of his thoughts and has him hit his knee on the desk in shock at hearing tall guy speak to him so close to him.
"God, sorry! Sorry, I never curse, certainly not in front of my boss. You must want to fire me after the first few hours of knowing me, I'm such a –"
Blaine's jittery blabbering is cut off by tall guy's hand on his shoulder and guiding him into the chair next to his own. Great, he could have been sitting down there in the first place. Urgh.
"Blaine? The part where I referred to you as a really nervous newbie earlier was meant as a joke, but now I'm not so sure. Are you sure you're okay?"
Tall guy's voice is gentle and slightly concerned, and Blaine closes his eyes for a moment.
"Nervous would be an understatement." This time, his voice is quiet and airy.
"But why?" Tall guy asks and Blaine dares to open his eyes; he'd been rude enough.
"I'm not even sure. I feel like an outsider, I'm terrified of doing something wrong, I haven't been apart from my kid for nearly a month and feel like a walking jute bag in this uniform."
That was way more honest than what Blaine was aiming for, but at least tall guy is laughing amused again, and Blaine feels some tension leave his body.
"Okay so the outsider thing will stop very soon, just trust me on that. I meant it when I said we're a big family here this morning. Being terrified in this job is normal, at least to a certain degree, but good news is that this also will pass. You'll see so many things in a short period of time during your shifts that you'll get used to it, as harsh as it might sound. The thing about your kid, I'm sure she's in good hands, otherwise, you wouldn't be here, right?"
Blaine gulps and is relieved when his breathing and heartbeat are back at a normal rate. "Yeah, she's in good hands. And I'm used to being away from her, but the first day is always hard."
Tall guy nods in sympathy. "That's very reasonable. Do you and your wife live far away?"
Blaine's eyes almost bulge out of his head at those words. That one, he didn't see coming so soon. "I live right around the corner, actually. And I'm not married. Or in a relationship, for that matter. I raise Joe on my own."
Tall guy seems to consider this for a moment, then nods and fiddles with his thumb and middle finger. "That wasn't any of my business to ask, I apologise."
Maybe it's because tall guy looks out of place for the very first time today, but finally, finally Blaine feels comfortable enough to let himself chuckle.
"That's quite alright, I'm not ashamed of being a single parent and I'm fine talking about it."
Tall guy nods once more and after another second of staring at Blaine, he leans back towards the computer again and offers Blaine to take a photo of his schedule. Then he explains what the numbers and letters mean; for example, E630 stands for Early Shift and starts at 6:30, ends at 1 pm. L2 stands for Late Shift and starts at 2 pm, ends at 8:30 pm.
After they talk about the schedule for a moment longer and Blaine gets some questions about vacation and such answered, tall guy hands him a set of keys and shows him his small locker next to the medicine cabinet.
"The NSV's come check once a day if we keep water bottles or stuff like that around and if they catch you, you're in for a not so thrilling lecture, so make sure you store your drinks and food away."
Next thing Blaine knows is that he's sent out again to help Mercedes, Roz and that other girl whom's name he already forgot, with getting the inhabitants from their rooms and then handing out their lunch.
"And Blaine?" Tall guy quietly calls after him where Blaine was about to close the duty room door behind him, "You don't look like a walking jute bag. You look like a nurse capable of this job. One shift at a time. Alright?"
With that, tall guy nods encouraging at Blaine, and goes back to clicking stuff on the computer.
Blaine feels himself flush warm, partly because of the way tall guys muscles shift in his arms and he once again has to stare at it, but on a way bigger note, because of his nice words. "Thank you," he mumbles back with emotion, and truly means it.
That evening, when he's showered and totally exhausted after the 2-hour long walk he took Joe on after his 6 and a half hours at work, he allows himself to think back to what happened today while playing with Joe's ring on his finger. He was glad that it was back where it belonged on his hand and he knew he'd have a hard time taking it off every day for work.
He met a lot of new people, Mercedes was a fantastic guide for his first day, Roz pretty much ignored him all day even when they were in the same room, and that other girl – Sugar Motta, he remembers now, was nice enough and helped him when they handed out lunch and was at a loss when it came to names and faces of the inhabitants.
He had his lockers now, figured out how to use his key, helped with laundry and lunch, and even walked a sweet old man back to his room on his rollator when he asked for help after lunch.
Mercedes explained to him how to use the work phone, number 061, for example, was a direct dial to the kitchen, he remembered that much, and when it rings, it shows you a certain number, the room of the person who rang. When tall guy called Mercedes earlier, she knew who it was because each phone has a number from 381 to 384 and the boss usually has number 1, so that's how Mercedes knew and Blaine rolls his eyes at his thoughts from before. Mindreading, his ass.
Of course, when he got home, no one bothered to ask him about his first day, even if he was bursting to the brim with stories and emotions. They didn't even seem to notice his new, shorter haircut he got right after work. Johanna was the only one running to him and demanding kisses and cuddles, which nearly had him in tears. It more so appeared that everyone was annoyed to have him back at the apartment, which was why he sighed heartbrokenly, tried to ignore the ache deep in his chest, and took his sweet daughter for a long walk, even though his bones were screaming at him after his shift.
Blaine feels sleep kicking in fast and relieving, but there's something else tugging on his mind.
Blaine's not sure if he really felt attracted to tall guy today. He thinks it was more a toxic mix of nerves and being overwhelmed with everything that happened today. And Blaine could admit that some dude's he saw on the streets looked good, admirable even, but he never had the urge to stare at them or do something as stupid as counting their freckles, good God!
It's almost laughable that he fully wished for his boss to be a hot chick this morning, but he still wished tall guy was indeed a woman because at least then, he wouldn't be so confused right now.
E.C. Everyday Companion
NSV Nursing Supervisor(s)