"Please go away."

Nico leaned forward onto the arm of the couch. "Levi."

"Please go away and don't come back." He turned back to the screen in front of him. "We're done."

The words echoed in Nico's head for a moment, ringing against the noise of Levi's videogame. Levi had been clear—Nico wasn't wanted here. Wasn't welcome. We're done.

But Nico wasn't done. Not yet.

He turned and went back up the stairs. Mrs. Schmitt was waiting anxiously near the door to the basement. "He won't talk to you, either?"

Nico gave his head a small shake. "Do you have any soup?"

Mrs. Schmitt frowned. "Are you hungry, dear?"

"No," said Nico. "Not for me. For Levi. You made it before, I think? For a bad day?"

"Sure, I've got some in the refrigerator," she said, "but he won't eat it. I already tried."

Clearly, she hadn't tried hard enough. But Nico held his tongue. "Would it be all right if I tried again?"

"If you want to," said Mrs. Schmitt. "You can just heat it up in the microwave. It's better on the stove, of course, but . . ." she drifted off with a shrug. But he won't eat it anyway. It was apparent that Levi's mom saw this as an exercise in futility. That made Nico all the more determined to succeed.

"Thank you. I'll do that," said Nico, forcing a smile and heading towards the kitchen. He hoped Mrs. Schmitt would go back to the den and leave him alone, but he should have known better. She hovered after him, just outside the kitchen.

"Horrible, isn't it?" said Mrs. Schmitt. "He hasn't talked about it much, of course, but he said there was a young man who died."

"Yes," said Nico shortly, willing the microwave to heat faster. He didn't have the energy to discuss this with Levi's mother. He was saving his energy for Levi.

"I just don't get it," she continued. "I asked him who the supervising doctor was on the surgery, and he said there wasn't one—just him! I guess that's what they've been talking about, with all the shortages of doctors and nurses after the pandemic. There's just so much being asked of the residents, and whoever's left. It's been so hard on him. I don't know how you do it!"

Nico made a noncommittal sound of vague agreement. Mrs. Schmitt wasn't wrong, exactly, but she wasn't right, either. The microwave timer still had thirty seconds left. Maybe he was overheating it. But he didn't want to give Levi cold soup.

"Of course, it's been hard for you, too, I'm sure," said Mrs. Schmitt. "You should put some of that soup in a second bowl, for yourself. At least grab two spoons! You're so skinny, sweetheart. I'm sure you could eat!"

The microwave timer finally reached zero, and Nico had the door open before it finished the first beep. "I really am okay, Mrs. Schmitt, but thank you so much. I appreciate it."

"Oh, just take the spoon," she said, leaving him little choice by pushing two spoons into Nico's hand.

Nico hoped his expression came across as more of a smile and less of a grimace. "Thank you." He ducked his head a little and tried to make it back to the basement door before Mrs. Schmitt could say anything else.

He almost made it.

"Oh, Nico, one more thing," she said. "How long do you think you'll be staying?"

Nico glanced apprehensively at the door. He was certain his face was grimacing, now. "I don't know," he said. "A while, I hope."

"All right," said Mrs. Schmitt, sounding somewhat encouraged. "If I've gone to bed, that's fine, just make sure Levi locks the door behind you when you leave."

"I will," Nico promised. That might actually be a promise he could keep—if he was there long enough for that to happen, maybe Levi would be . . . better. Not completely better, but himself, at least. Balancing the soup and spoons in one hand, he slipped through the door to the basement, closing it behind him.

Levi didn't look up from his game. "I told you I don't want any soup. I'm not hungry."

"It smells good, though, doesn't it?"

Levi turned sharply at the sound of Nico's voice. "I told you to leave."

"And I didn't listen," said Nico. He stepped closer to the couch. "Come on, Levi. This isn't you."

"Maybe it is," said Levi. His eyes were back on the videogame.

"It's not," said Nico, shaking his head. "I know you."

"You don't know anything."

"I know you're compassionate, and you're strong, and you're a damn good doctor," said Nico. Levi scoffed. "You are. You're the best resident in the program, and one mistake doesn't change that."

"I don't want to talk about it," said Levi.

"We don't have to talk about it," said Nico. "Just—come back to me, Levi."

"I said no."

Nico put the soup down and reached over to grab one of the remotes off the couch cushion next to Levi. He wasn't sure which remote he grabbed, but whatever it was supposed to control, the power button was effective. The television screen went dark.

"What the hell?!" Now, at least, Nico had Levi's attention. "I'm going to lose my progress."

"That's not the progress you should be worried about losing," said Nico. "This residency is important to you. This relationship is important to you. I'm not going to sit back and watch you throw it all away. Not without a fight."

"What do you want me to say?" Levi asked. His voice was tight, and Nico took that as progress. It had been so painfully flat before. "I'm not good enough."

"Yes, you are," Nico insisted. "We all have bad outcomes sometimes. You get to be upset, you get to feel it, but then you have to get back up and learn from it."

"You have no idea what you're talking about," said Levi sharply.

Nico took a deep breath. "Josh Sterman."

Levi stared at him blankly. "What?"

"Josh Sterman," Nico repeated. "Male, 21. Hereditary osteoporosis, which caused a compression fracture in his back. I did the percutaneous vertebroplasty. It went well. I thought it went well. But I made a mistake. His pulmonary artery was destroyed. Dr. Pierce couldn't save him."

Levi shook his head. "That's different."

"Why?" asked Nico. "It was a young patient. He died. It was my fault. How is that different?"

"That was just an accident," said Levi. "This was—I was—I should've waited, I knew I was supposed to wait. I was just so—so—conceited, so—" His breaths were quick and shallow. "I shouldn't be a doctor."

"You can't base that on one patient," said Nico, carefully sitting down next to Levi.

"It's not just one patient," said Levi. "I've been a liability from day one. Remember why they called me Glasses? I'm not cut out for this."

"And do you remember what you did after that?" Nico asked. "You learned. You took steps to make sure it would never happen again. And you went back in there and proved yourself. You can do that again."

"What if I can't?" whispered Levi.

"You will," Nico insisted.

Levi shook his head. "Did you hear Dr. Webber? I ruined his teaching method. He's not going to forgive me."

"Yes, he will," said Nico. "And if he doesn't, he's an idiot."

That startled a laugh out of Levi. "Did you just call Richard Webber and idiot?"

"If he doesn't help you move forward from this, then yes," Nico insisted. "This could've happened to anyone. You got unlucky."

"Not as unlucky as Deven Gomez," said Levi quietly.

"No, not as unlucky as him," Nico agreed. "But that doesn't mean you can just give up and quit. Think about all the patients you've saved. All the patients you're going to save."

"How do I stop thinking about this patient?"

Nico shrugged. "You don't. Not entirely. But you've got to learn, and keep going. You owe him that, don't you?"

"If I hadn't been his doctor, he'd still be alive."

"Maybe," said Nico. "Maybe not. Apparently, the M&M kind of went to hell after you left, so they never reached a conclusion about what went wrong."

Levi furrowed his brow. "It 'apparently' went to hell? Weren't you there?"

Nico shook his head. "I left. I tried to go after you, but it took me too long to get out of the room. I lost you."

"I didn't know anyone was looking for me," said Levi. He looked away. "I just needed to get out of there."

"I know," said Nico. "I just wish I'd caught up with you sooner. Before you left the hospital."

"It wouldn't have helped," said Levi. "I didn't want to be found."

Nico tentatively reached over and put a hand on Levi's shoulder. "Is it okay that I found you now?"

Levi closed his eyes and let out a shuddering breath. "Yes," he whispered, and Nico felt his entire body release more tension than he realized he'd been holding. "I'm sorry," said Levi. "You shouldn't have to see me like this."

"I told you," said Nico, "I never want to be without you. I'm all in, for the good and for the bad."

Levi's face constricted. "And the really bad?"

"And the really bad," Nico agreed. He leaned over and picked up the soup. "You should eat. When's the last time you had an actual meal?"

Levi's face went blank. "I . . . I don't know. Yesterday, probably?"

"Here," said Nico, handing him the bowl. "Start with this."

Levi scooted closer and leaned into Nico. He ate one spoonful of soup, then another, and another, until the bowl was empty. He put it down and relaxed back against Nico's chest. "Thank you," he said. "I don't know what I did to deserve you."

"I love you, Levi," said Nico. "You don't have to do anything to deserve me. You've just got me. And I'm not going anywhere."

Levi looked up at him. "I'm really, really glad you didn't listen to me when I told you to leave."

"Does this mean we're not done, after all?" asked Nico. He kept his tone light and teasing, but there was a lump in his chest.

"Yes," said Levi emphatically. "I'm also really, really glad you didn't let me break up with you for no reason."

"It's not no reason," said Nico, letting out a breath of relief. "You're hurting. I lashed out at you, too, when I lost a patient."

"Yeah, but at least you didn't reach 'move back into your mother's basement and play videogames until you can't think anymore' levels."

"I've never really been into any videogames," said Nico. "And my parents don't have a basement."

Levi rolled his eyes, and it turned into a yawn.

"Have you slept?" Nico asked.

"Not really," Levi admitted. "You know how late it was when you dropped me off at home, and then I spent most of the rest of the night going over everything, preparing for the M&M."

"Come on," said Nico, standing up and holding a hand out to Levi. "Let's go back to my place. Get some rest."

"Are you sure?" said Levi. "I can just stay here, or go back home with Taryn."

"I don't want to let you out of my sight," said Nico.

"You don't have to babysit me."

"I'm not," said Nico, hand still outstretched. "I just want to be with you. Let me take care of you, Levi."

Levi looked at his hand apprehensively for another long moment, and then he reached out and took it, letting Nico pull him to his feet. "Okay."

Nico smiled and gave Levi's hand a squeeze. The bandages were off, but his hands were still rough and raw. "Thank you for coming back to me."

"Thank you for giving me something to come back to."

Nico glanced up the stairs towards the door. "What are the odds your mother has gone to sleep?"

Levi looked over at the clock. "Very high," she said. "She has a very regular schedule, and her bedtime was half an hour ago."

"Oh, thank god."

Levi laughed, and it was the best sound Nico had heard all day.