For Valentino Villalba, usually he would not be shocked to find himself in the ER with his best friend Olivia Colomar after a night of partying.
"What are your symptoms?" The nurse asked in a thick French accent, standing at a computer looming over him.
Val blinked a couple of times before responding slowly. "Nausea. Vomiting. Headache. Really bad migraine." His migraine was making it hard to form sentences.
Tonight however, instead of Olivia—or as he called her Sombra—behind the half wall of triage, it was himself. He sat patiently in a chair with his head in his hand, while Sombra nosily waited a few feet away at the triage area entrance. It wasn't an unusual occurrence for him to have a migraine so bad he couldn't form a coherent thought, but he usually didn't vomit for several hours during one.
"Any alcohol?" He shook his head. The pale nurse looked him up and down. "Are you sure?" It was Sombra's suggestion to come to this freestanding ER since she just started working here. They wouldn't recognize him, she said, they'll treat you like a normal person she said.
"I don't drink," Val groaned. He was starting to regret it with the way the nursing staff was.
She simply raised her eyebrows and typed away at her keyboard.
"Do you smoke? Any illicit drugs?" The nurse continued flatly.
"Yes, and no," he answered, and she quietly typed away at her keyboard.
"Can you hurry up?" Sombra interrupted the quiet typing. "I thought you were supposed to be good at your job."
"Do you know why I enjoy your days off Colomar?" The nurse started. "It's because I don't have to talk to you, yet here you are. You're having floaters and light sensitivity right?" The nurse shifted her attention back to Val.
Val squinted at the nurse through the glare of the lights. "Yeah." He paused for a moment. "You're one of those mean girls in high school who became a nurse, aren't you?" He said without thinking. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Don't worry, I'm still mean. If those are your only symptoms, they'll take you back now." She passed a piece of paper to an older red headed woman without another word. Val stood up from the chair to follow the nurse to the back room, rubbing his pulsing temple.
Time seemed to crawl by achingly slowly in the room as the two of them waited. His head felt like there was a vice gripping it. The clock on the wall simply ticked away. The only thing he could do was cover his eyes and lay down to relieve some of the pounding in his head. Even just the light from his phone or the light in the room aggravated his head.
Sombra attempted to make conversation.
"How are you feeling?"
"If I had anything to throw up, I would."
"Do you want some water?"
"No, I'll throw up," he grumbled.
"Do you want a bucket or something?"
He sat up and gave her a tired stare. "No, can you just please be quiet?" She pressed her lips in a line, looking away. "Sorry, I just, I'm really noise sensitive right now." He laid his head back down, covering his eyes again.
More waiting. The clock on the wall pounded in time with the hammering in Val's head.
A knock on the door finally came, making Val uncover his eyes.
A tall, medium skinned man, with salt and pepper hair in a lab coat entered, opening his mouth about to speak. That is, until he spotted Sombra. The man blinked, then scoffed. He shook his head as she waved her long nails at him.
"You again? I can't get rid of you," he said, feigning disgust as he sanitized his hands and sat himself down on the stool.
"Hi, Gabe," Sombra said, smiling. "Nice to see you too. Be nice to my friend, he's hurting right now."
"Right, I'm Doctor Reyes. I guess Olivia brought you here, what's the problem?" The doctor asked, a bit gruffly.
"I've been vomiting for the past, I think four hours? And I have a horrible migraine, I can't even keep water down."
"Where does your head hurt?" The doctor asked. Val circled his temple with his fingers, and the doctor nodded, then asked, "Do you tend to get migraines? Let me check your eyes," before pulling out a light pen, and in a flash checking Val's pupils. Blinking, Val barely even noticed the light, the doctor using a practiced precision to not shine it directly in his eyes.
"I get migraines, but they don't usually make me vomit."
A few more questions were thrown at Val, to make sure there weren't any other causes behind his vomiting or nausea. Very quick, very blunt questions, easy for Val to answer in his state thankfully. Bedside-manner was clearly not this man's forté, and Val started to see why Sombra told him to be nice, he was very straight forward.
As the two made eye contact though, he started to notice behind the doctor's facial hair was quite the sharp jawline. Even though he was older, he was very handsome. Boy would Val have something to talk about once he and Sombra were alone.
"Alright, I'm going to get you some painkillers, and something for that nausea. I just need you to sign a paper for the nurse so we can hook you up to the IV."
"An IV and painkillers? You're the most beautiful man in the world," Val cooed in his pained daze. The doctor rolled his eyes as he left, flicking off the light switch in the room.
The computer monitor as the only light in the room, Val and Sombra sat in silence for a few seconds.
Val looked at his friend wide eyed. "Oh my god, you didn't say he was going to be cute!"
She stared back, slack jawed. "No, you do not think he's cute."
Val stared at her silently for a moment, but she did not relent in her shocked reaction.
"You don't think he's even a little hot?" He asked in disbelief.
"Ew! He's like my work dad, no."
He squinted. "So he's free game?"
"Go for it, weirdo," she said, rolling her eyes.
Val laid his head back with a small laugh and waited for the nurses to come with the IV, the clock on the wall ticking away.
Another agonizing wait later, the nurse came in to hook him up to the IV. He gave a fair warning after signing the paper that he was hard to stick, but to no avail. The first nurse tried to poke him twice, then passed it off to another nurse. Then another. Then another. He patiently took the prodding as they continually failed to start his IV.
They about went through the whole building before the doctor came barging in.
"What is going on? Why are there three of you in here?" His deep voice resonated off the walls, a bit uncomfortably with Val's migraine. No one wanted to answer.
In the silence that followed, Sombra spoke. "They can't stick him."
"What is this, a circus? Everyone out, I'll do it myself," he said, shuffling everyone out of the room, including himself. There was an awkward look shared between Val and Sombra as they heard muffled arguments and shuffles in the hall for a few minutes.
More ticking. Val felt sick. Then, the doctor returned, with a screened machine in tow.
"What is that for?" Sombra asked before Val could.
As the doctor spoke he placed on gloves. "It's an ultrasound machine. This small one is to see your veins." Casually, the doctor rolled his stool over. Already prepping Val's arm to try again, Val felt his head spin. He didn't like needles, and he had been poked plenty today. "These idiots make me do everything myself I swear." The doctor mumbled to himself as he tied the tourniquet around Val's arm, and started rubbing an alcohol pad on his inner elbow. The doctor's big, warm hands on his bicep made his heart flutter a little bit. All of the nurses had small hands compared to the doctor, and the warmth was a bit of a comfort.
"Oh, that's cool." Val said, trying to distract himself. "I've never seen a tiny one like that before." Hot ultrasound gel against Val's skin, the tight band on his upper arm, with the doctor's big hands on his bicep, he would almost count this as a sensual experience, if not for the pounding in his temple ruining the mood.
The doctor stared at the screen intently as he ran the ultrasound tool across Val's inner elbow. "I have them buy this and they never use it, just stick people ten times like psychos. That's my job. That's your vein right there," he pointed at a black bar across the screen.
Val watched the screen as he felt the needle go in, a bit amazed at the black and white sight. One doesn't usually get to see their own insides, let alone something like a vein. It was also surreal to have someone else fiddling around in there, showing you what was going on. After a few seconds, pretty much painlessly, Val was hooked up to the IV. The doctor already hung a bag of clear liquid from the IV pole behind him.
"Okay, let me go grab that painkiller," the doctor said, and made his way out of the room.
Both Sombra and Val followed him with their eyes as he left the room.
There was a long silence that followed.
"He's very hands on with you, I think he likes you," Sombra said smugly.
Val gave a tired smile. "You're just saying that."
"He said he's going to get the painkillers himself. I'm not saying anything, I'm just saying," Sombra held up her hands as she stood up. "I'm going to go wait in the lobby and whatever happens, happens. Besides, I need to pee."
"Wait, don't leave me here, wait!" Ignoring his objections, she exited the room, leaving Val alone.
Another agonizing wait. At least now he was hydrated with the fluid bag.
Doctor Reyes did indeed come back, with a few syringes and vials. He also furrowed his brow at finding the room one occupant short.
"Where'd Olivia go?" He prepped the syringes fluidly as he spoke. "She didn't ditch you did she? I'll beat her next time I see her."
"No, she had to use the restroom. She's just in the lobby." Val said, holding his head.
"Good. Now, right now, one to ten, what is your pain?"
"Eight."
One after the other, the medication was steadily injected into the IV.
Val breathed heavily as he tried to patiently wait for the painkillers to kick in. He hoped a placebo effect might kick in right away so he could have some instant relief.
"Okay, give these about 15 minutes to kick in," the doctor said.
Val nodded, holding his forehead.
There was a chill that went up his core, and a small rush of relief to his head after a few minutes. There was more ticking of the stupid clock, and he closed his eyes, wanting to doze off.
Almost like clockwork, 15 minutes later, the doctor came knocking on the door.
"One to ten, what's your pain?" Doctor Reyes asked abruptly, Val launching his eyes open.
"One," he answered, a small amount of pressure still there, but feeling mostly foggy from the medication.
"Even after we poked you with all those needles?"
Val gave a small smile. "Yeah. Do you always have to use the ultrasound machine?" He looked over at the doctor, who was typing away very seriously at his machine, his expression unreadable. Quite the hard man to decrypt.
"No, you're just special. That means I get to play with my toys though." Val gave a weak laugh, the fatigue starting to get to him.
"You're secretly funny, you know that?" Val said, smiling at the typing doctor, the medication making him feel like he was floating. "You're funny and you're cute? Next thing you're gonna tell me is you're a doctor." He gave another laugh as he laid his head back down. The typing stopped. Did he say that out loud?
He received a squint. "You're starting to feel those meds aren't you?"
"A little," Val covered his mouth, mainly to hide his face in embarrassment. The doctor stepped closer, leaning down.
Their faces were very close as Val was inspected. He couldn't help but notice the depth of color in the doctor's brown eyes, his face starting to heat up at the proximity.
"If Olivia put you up to this I'm putting thumbtacks on her chair," the doctor finally said after a few moments.
Val fully turned bright red.
"No, she didn't," he answered, shaking his head.
Another few seconds of staring.
"I'll be back." The doctor stood up straight, leaving the room without another word.
Ticking. Val almost fell asleep to the clock ticking. That stupid clock ticking was going to haunt his nightmares. Even as he tried to distract himself the ticking clock seemed blaringly loud still.
The doctor never did make another appearance in the room. After waiting ages for the IV bag to finish, the nurse came to disconnect him, and gave him his discharge papers. Val did feel a whole lot better now. When he stood up the room spun for a second from the drugs, then he just felt a foggy headed, but he wasn't sure if it was the surreal experience of the day, or the medication.
Walking out into the lobby, Val spotted a familiar figure sitting in the waiting room. The doctor sat with his back towards him. Val paused for a second, and standing right next to the exit, he contemplated just leaving to avoid the embarrassment. He groaned, then decided to approach the doctor instead.
The man glanced up, sat in the waiting area, without his lab coat, eating out of a bag of cookies. He looked like he was on his lunch break, and this made this all the more embarrassing for Val.
"Uh, hi," Val said.
"Hi," he answered, sounding a bit annoyed.
"I just wanted to apologize for earlier, Sombra, I mean, Olivia didn't put me up to anything. I feel a lot better now though, thank you," Val said sheepishly, looking down at his shoes, feeling uncharacteristically shy.
"Oh, I know she didn't put you up to anything," the man answered bluntly.
Val blinked. "What?"
"I came out here to yell at her and she started laughing at you," he said, smirking as he shoved a cookie in his mouth.
Val nodded, turning bright red.
"Right, sounds like her." Val planned in his head how best to throttle his friend in the car in a few minutes as he blushed in front of the hot doctor. "Sorry, I just didn't want you to think it was a prank or anything."
"Of course not. I sent her home with instructions for Nightingale Syndrome just for you," the man answered coolly.
Val tilted his head. "Um, is that contagious? Or, like, terminal? If it's deadly I might have to ask for more than your number," he said, tucking a hair behind his ear in an exaggerated manner. The man glared up at him, before Val snickered to try and signal it was a joke. The doctor rolled his eyes, starting to chuckle. "Um, but really though, what is that?" Val asked again, only about playing half-stupid here as he twirled his hair.
The doctor smiled, biting into his little midnight snack.
"Go ask your friend, I'm on lunch right now."
"Okay, well, thanks for your help, have a good night."
"Yeah, have a good night."
So Val left the building, trudging to the car in disappointment with no number achieved. He found Sombra waiting in the car so she could charge her phone.
When he climbed in, he wasted no time asking her what Nightingale Syndrome was, which earned him a confused look.
"It's when patients fall in love with their doctor, why?"
Val proceeded to slam his head against the dashboard.
"I'm never coming to this place again oh my god," he whined, feeling like he could just shrivel up and die.
Meanwhile, inside the building, Gabriel Reyes was about finished with his lunch, sitting in the lobby with his bag of cookies. As he ate, he stared at the wall of the lobby, not paying much mind to his surroundings. A familiar voice rang out, startling him out of his thoughts.
He looked around for a few seconds, trying to spot where the long haired young man that had just left was. Nowhere to be seen, he listened closer.
He furrowed his brow. The only voices were coming from the TV in the waiting room. He leaned forward as he started watching the show that was playing. A few seconds passed, until a familiar voice came from the screen, followed by a familiar face.
The voice was coming from the screen.
He'd just treated the guy on the screen.
"Oh, what the FU—"