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Nico knew baseball was a bad idea. Yet here he was, on a muggy Saturday morning, trying to play with the guys. He was really irritated. Firstly, because it was so hot and so early and he could be sleeping right now; and because baseball was just so damn confusing. In Italy, football was simple and universal. Everyone knew how to play, even if you weren't good. But in baseball, there were so many rules, ways to cheat up and steal off the bases, different pitches you could use to throw off the batter.
Nico was pitching now, which seemed to be the only position he was halfway decent at. All he had to focus on was throwing the ball right into Beckendorf’s catcher's mitt. There weren't even enough of them for one full team, so they were batting one at a time and rotating positions as they went. Nico took a deep breath as Percy stepped up to bat, trying to ignore the cocky smirk on his face, and those baseball pants... He had gotten over his childish crush on him a long time ago; and even told him, and they were friends now, but still. Distracting.
Nico fiddled with the baseball, lining up the laces. He tried to look for any weaknesses. Percy was left handed, so his hits would pull farther to the right, towards first. He was also two steps closer to first base, because he was left handed he wouldn't have to step over home plate after his hit. Nico checked in with Beckendorf, who gave him a thumbs up from his spot behind home. Nico took another deep breath, knowing Percy would probably get a good rip over the fence and make him look like a dumbass.
Nico threw two pitches and both were pretty good, as far as he could tell. But Percy just stood there, not even flinching. What is he waiting for? Nico looked over at Frank, who gave him a reassuring nod from his spot as third baseman. He dug his foot in the dirt of the pitchers mound. The second the ball left his hand, time seemed to slow down. Percy swung, throwing out his hands and rolling his wrists. Nico flinched as the ball made contact, a loud crack against the wooden bat.
He closed his eyes out of instinct. When he opened them, the ball was hurtling towards him, a perfect line drive. It was moving too fast for him to dodge to the side. The ball slammed into his chest with a sickening crunch. "Ah, cazzo." Nico staggered but stayed on his feet. He dropped a hand to his rib cage, and something shifted painfully under his fingers. Oh, God. His vision blurred.
Before he could get his bearings, everyone was crowding around him. Frank scooped him up easily, like Nico weighed nothing to him. They started to move towards Beckendorph's truck. Nico tried to protest. " Guys I'm fine. Seriously, put me down." Jason patted his foot lightly. "Nico, you really aren't fine. you broke at least one of your ribs." Percy appeared on his other side. "Annabeth broke a few of her ribs once. She was fine, so you probably won't die."
That was the last thing Nico remembered before everything faded into shadows.
....
Nico was alone in the hospital room for what felt like several hours before anyone came to check on him. He had an IV going and he had medical tape and Ace wrap around his ribs. A woman in flowery scrubs came in to change the fluids on his IV. Percy came in a few minutes later. "Hey, man, how are you holding up?" Nico was too tired to reply. He shrugged, grumbling into his pillow. The nurse smiled. "Is he your brother?" Percy laughed. "No, just a friend." Nico tried to throw him an intimidating glare, which is hard to do when you're tired. "No, he's the idiot that got me into this mess."
Percy rolled his eyes. "Well, since you're in such a good mood, I'm gonna come back tomorrow. Maybe if i bring Annabeth you won't be so grumpy."
After Percy had left, the nurse started explaining things to Nico. He was probably going to be allowed to go home tomorrow morning, because ribs healed pretty easily on their own once the were set properly. He had broken two of his ribs, but they were a clean break, so there wasn't a risk of him puncturing a lung from any little broken-off bone shards.
She came around to the top of the bed, creating a mountain of pillows around Nico's head. " Now, the doctor's gonna come in an hour or so and check your vitals and whatnot."
"Okay. Thank you." As soon as she left, Nico sank into the pillows, totally exhausted. It only felt like two second of sleep until someone came into the room. What struck Nico was that he looked so young, with wavy blond hair and blue eyes. Probably only a year or two older than himself. Is 25 even old enough to get through Medical school? He's also kind of cute, Nico thought. But that's irrelevant. You're here because you broke your ribs, not to get a date.
"Hi Nico, my name's Will and I'm just gonna check some things really quick,'kay?" He started flipping through the clipboard on the bedside table. He fiddled with the machines at the bedside, the IV fluids, the heart rate monitor. He pushed a few buttons and looked back at his notes. Nico knew what was coming next. Will would probably ask him to sit up,he'd check Nico's heartbeat on the stethoscope that hung around his neck, and ask lots of invasive questions. Nico didn't even have the energy to raise his head. "Fight me."
Will looked up at him and pursed his lips,like he was trying not to smile."Maybe later." he reached forward and fluffed up some of Nico's pillows, and he left.
Nico slept until he was woken up by the sound of Percy's keys jangling against his leg as he bounced it up and down. Since he met Percy, Nico noticed that he did this constantly. Or it was twiddling with his thumbs, pulling at his necklace, or anything, really. Anything except sitting still. He imagined Percy was rocking back on his chair as well, hovering dangerously with only one chair leg on the floor.
Nico kept his eyes closed. Pretending to be asleep was one of his few talents, and it had proven to be pretty useful, especially when people were talking about you. "-Well, he's just sleeping, Annabeth! lying there doing nothing. I say we go get donuts and come back."
Annabeth sighed. "Percy, no. He's gonna be waking up any minute now, and besides, we don't need donuts."
Nico heard the door open. He recognized Will's voice from earlier. "Hey guys, Doctor Will Solace, you can call me Will." His voice was soft, like he was staying quiet because Nico was sleeping. He thought that was kind of endearing, but couldn't explain why. It wasn't like Nico liked him or anything. Chair legs scraped against the floor as Percy and Annabeth stood, making introductions.
"So, he's going to be just fine. Now that we've got his ribs set, they'll heal up pretty quick."
Nico was really starting to like the sound of this guys voice, soft and charming. And was that a Southern accent...? Shit. Nico was in too deep. He would probably never see Will again after today.
"-However, I was wondering if you could help me answer a few questions, since the three of you are close friends?"
Nico was tempted to blow his cover now so he could deflect the questions, but curiosity got the better of him. He wanted to know what questions Will was trying to find answers to. Nico steadied his breathing and forced his face to go blank, and kept up the act.
"Oh,yeah of course." Nico heard the tone of concern in Annabeth's voice. Crap. He hated making Annabeth worry. Ever since he had lost Bianca, Annabeth had kind of taken him under her wing. "Okay, let me see here..." Nico heard papers shuffling. "First up, Family History. Nico was born in Venice, Italy?"
There was a loud creak as Percy set the other three legs of his chair back on the ground. "Actually, born in Florence. He visited Venice like one time when he was six. I don't get how all his records keep messing it up."
Will scribbled something in his notes. "And he's 23 years old, was born on the Twenty-Eighth of January?"
"Yep. That makes him an Aquarius. I'm a Leo."
"Percy, enough with the Zodiac already!" Annabeth interjected.
"That's a very typical Cancer reaction, Annabeth."
Annabeth sighed. "Percy I swear... Sorry about him."
"Oh no its fine, I track my Horoscopes too. I'm a Taurus. Does Nico have any living relatives?"
" Yeah, his dad and his half sister. they live in California. Dad's in L.A. and Hazel's in Berkeley. His mom and full sister Bianca were killed in a plane crash a few years ago. Plane got struck down by lightning. He doesn't really like to talk about it much. " Annabeth murmured.
Nico could almost feel the three of them turn to look at him. His skin crawled, certain they were giving him that look of sympathy he hated.
"Do his father or sister have any medical conditions? Hereditary diseases?"
"Well, if being scary as hell is a disease, Dad's terminal." Percy said, in a kind of tone that you could tell he had said that completely straight-faced.
Will seemed to take Percy's joking in stride. "And his sister, Hazel?"
Annabeth must have decided Percy really wasn't the best to answer the questions, and she took over.
"Well, a few years ago, she had these fainting spells, which was apparently a lack of Iron, but she's fine now. She has ADHD and Dyslexia, so does Nico, but she's hardly ever gotten sick since I've known her. Good genes, I suppose."
"Okay, this last question is going to seem kind of odd but, is Nico a guarded person at all? Like, is he normally kind of defensive or stubborn?"
Why the fuck do you wanna know? Nico thought. This was one of the reasons Nico hated doctors so much,even this one- who was so cute he almost made an exception to Nico's rule . They were always trying to get in your head and "understand you", asking you the same questions in a hundred different ways, as if they would get different answers.
Nico wanted to jump out if the bed at this point, yelling "It's not that deep!". Honestly, he came here because he got hurt, not to talk to another shrink.
And to make it all worse, Annabeth and Percy laughing! At him.
Oh, once they got this IV out of him, Nico was going to fight this stupid doctor,or maybe ask him if he was single... Fuck, there he went again. If he thought about it, the entire thing was horribly cliche, a hot doctor swooping in and saving a lonely schmuck of a patient. Nico di Angelo, he thought to himself, you are one hopeless piece of shit. But one could dream.
"Yeah, "defensive" is kind of Nico's natural state." Annabeth said, still laughing slightly.
"Well, that makes sense, because when I came in here earlier, he took one look at me and told me to fight him."
Alright, enough is enough, Nico decided. Playing asleep gets boring after a while, and he didn't want Percy and Annabeth to have an opening for embarrassing stories.
He inhaled deeply, stirring just enough to catch their attention. He rolled to his side, pretending to be surprised that they were in his room.
“Hi, Nico.” Annabeth’s face looked apologetic. “We didn’t wake you, did we?”
“No, you’re fine.” He looked over at Percy, who had his Resting Brood Face on full display, as per usual.
Nico finally let his gaze drift over to Will, who was looking at him with an expression that was more than mere concern for a patient. Nico caught his gaze, but Will looked away quickly, returning his attention to his papers. Nico could have sworn Will was blushing, but it was hard to tell because he was so tan.
“So Nico, you get to home now, we’ve just got to go over a few things,” Will lifted up a folder, no doubt filled with prescriptions Nico would barely be able to afford.
“And we’ve got to get that IV out of your arm.” Will regarded Nico warily, like he was a cornered animal Will didn’t want to startle. You scared of me, huh pretty boy?
It was hardly an insult though, because Will really was pretty. All of his features were delicate;handsome, but almost feminine. His blonde eyelashes were so long that they brushed against his eyelids.
Percy and Annabeth stood, the keychain rattling against Percy’s leg again.
"We're gonna go bring the car around, Nico. We'll be at the West side door." Annabeth said.
When she and Percy were near the door, Percy winked, pointing at Will. Nico glared at him,but Percy just flashed him that crooked troublemaker grin, raising his eyebrows suggestively. Thank god Will was facing the other way. Nico dropped his hand over the edge of the bed and flipped Percy the bird.
Will shuffled around the bed, hitting buttons on the IV machine. “Okay, Nico, we’re gonna take that IV ot, so I’m gonna need you to sit up now. Can you do that? “
Nico grumbled. “Of course I can- fight me-” When Nico moved, a sharp pain flared in his chest. hE winced , trying not to double over from the pain. Will seemed to notice, despite Nico’s effort. “ Right. I don’t want to fight you though, because I don't think i would win.” With deft hands, he turned over Nico’s wrist, gently pulling out the needle. It stung a little bit, but Nico kept quiet. Will rubbed the spot with alcohol and covered it with a puff of gauze and a Tweety Bird bandage. “ Now can you put your feet over the edge of the bed, with your back to me?” We've got to undo all that tape.” Nico shifted to the edge of the bed slowly. He didn’t really want Will to take off all the bandages and expose him like that, because Nico was pale and scrawny sand Will was… well,not. He looked over his shoulder at Will. “Can I ask why?”
Will rolled his eyes because,if we keep it all bound tight like that for the six-to-eight weeks while your ribs heal, you won’t be able to breathe deeply like you’re supposed to, and you could get pneumonia. which is, you know, potentially fatal.”
“Okay, I get it, damn.” nico held his breath while Will practically wrapped his arms around Nico , his breath tickling Nico’s ears. “So, got hit by a baseball, huh?”
“Stupid game, baseball.” Nico muttered. “Yeah, I like football better. Played Quarterback in high school, ran track too.” Will unraveled the last bit of tape from Nico’s chest. He felt Will back away to rummage around in the storage drawers beside his hospital bed.
“Aight, strip.”
Nico whipped his head around so fast his neck cracked. “What ?”
Will tossed him a yellow hospital gown. “Change into this. I’ll wait outside.” He grinned. “Unless you want me to stay and help...”
Nico clenched the fabric in his hands. “Get.Out.” Will raised his hands in an ‘I surrender’ pose, and walked out.
Nico stood, letting out a hiss of pain as he bent down to undo his jeans, but eventually got the gown over his head and the horrible fuzzy socks on his feet.
Will poked his head in, eyes squeezed shut. “Ya good?”
Nico fidgeted with the gown. No wonder Hazel wore dresses all the time, they were actually pretty comfortable. “Yeah.” He turned towards the door to see Will pushing a wheelchair into the room. “No. No way.” Will shifted his jaw. “It’s hospital policy. You either leave in the wheelchair, with me, or you get escorted by security.”
“Fine.” Nico slumped into the wheelchair, letting himself be steered out the door and into an elevator. It wasn’t so bad, he supposed, because every once in awhile, Will would lean down and whisper in his ear, telling him things like “Had a car crash victim in this hallway. She died right here on the stretcher.” and “We were trying to give a little boy shots in that room, so his ‘Anti-vax’ mom came at us with a knife. That’s why we had to put up the mural.”
Nico tilted his head back to look at Will “So what would happen if I just, like, got up and ran?”
Will leaned in close again. “Well…, I’d hit that button on the wall to call security, and we’d knock you out with sedatives.” he let the threat hang in the air a moment. “ I wouldn’t do that though, because the cafeteria has a Starbucks, and it’s free to patients.”
Nico grunted. “never been.” Will seemed personally offended. “You’ve lived in the United States for like ten years, and you’ve never had Starbucks?”
“Americans claiming they know how to do coffee would make any Italian suspicious.”
“Oh, their espresso is pretty good, but I like frappuccinos better”
Nico laughed. “Do you spell espresso with an ‘X’ in America?”
“ No? What d’you mean? “
“It’s not ‘x-presso’, it’s espresso.” Nico said,letting his accent slip in heavily.
“Mmh. I see. Well, if you want some…” Will steered towards the cafeteria. “Fine. Might as well, if it’s free.”
“That’s more like it.” Will parked the wheelchair by a corner table. “Let me guess, you want an espresso shot?” Will asked, intentionally pronouncing espresso like a shitty American, probably just to annoy Nico.
“Yeah, five, but like all in one cup, you know?”
Will shook his head. “You’re crazy.”
….
Nico leaned against the window in Annabeth’s white Jaguar, waiting for his coffee to cool down, not at all in the mood to burn his tongue. Cautiously, he took a sip.
Admittedly, it wasn’t the worst espresso he’d ever had, but it still left a sort of bitter after taste in his mouth.
He idly traced his finger over the weird Starbucks logo, noticing a line of smudged ink that wound its way to the bottom of the cup. Nico downed the rest of his coffee in one sip, lifting the empty cup above his head, following the line of ink.
On the bottom of the cup, In messy doctors’ handwriting was: Fight me? and below that, a phone number.