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Lio twisted his hair up into a ponytail, then studied his appearance in the mirror above the basin. Good enough, he decided. In the v-neck shirt and dark-coloured trousers, Lio could pass for a nurse at first glance.
The last part of Lio’s disguise was the blue face mask. For once, wearing a mask had an upside—Lio was much less likely to be identified with half his face hidden behind the mask.
Lio stepped out of the bathroom and into the hospital’s hall. As he walked past the reception desk, the woman sitting at it gave him a wink. Lio waved before continuing on.
Third floor, room 16, Lio recalled from what his accomplice, the young woman at the desk, had told him. It was a stroke of luck that Thyma worked at this particular hospital. She’d been able to secure the uniform for him, and the room number.
Lio wished that all this subterfuge wasn’t necessary, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, visitors weren’t allowed.
Lio experienced a brief jolt of anxiety as another nurse stepped into the elevator beside him, but the nurse just gave Lio a nod of greeting before looking down at his phone. Lio waited in silence for the elevator to rise to the third floor.
Lio kept his head high and his stride confident, as if he knew where he was going. Signs guided him to his goal: the burns ward.
Room 16 was, thankfully, a private room. That was fortuitous for the hospital staff and other patients, though Lio doubted they could appreciate it yet. They would, Lio thought with a smirk as he closed the room’s door and pulled the blinds closed to give them some privacy. As soon as this particular patient was well enough, he was sure to make a nuisance of himself.
Lio walked over to the bed to check on the patient, who appeared to be sleeping. His eyes were closed, but Lio could see the lines of pain drawn on his face. His left arm was wrapped in some sort of clear dressing. Lio was careful to not look directly at it. Just the small glimpse he got of it out of the corner of his eye was enough to make his stomach churn.
An I.V. was set up beside the bed. Injecting some sort of painkiller, or maybe antibiotic, Lio assumed. Despite the fact that he wore a nurse’s uniform, Lio knew nothing about medicine. He doubted he could make heads or tails of the chart sitting in a holder at the foot of the bed.
Lio ducked into the small bathroom to wash his hands, though he’d already done so when he’d arrived at the hospital. Lio had touched buttons and doors on the way here, and he didn’t want to risk infecting the patient with COVID. Once Lio had dried his hands, he returned to the patient’s bed.
“Galo?” Lio whispered.
Eyelids slowly rose to reveal foggy blue eyes. They struggled to focus on Lio’s face. Seeing the confusion in them, Lio lowered his mask, tucking it beneath his chin.
“Lio?” Galo’s voice was weak.
Lio took hold of Galo’s uninjured hand, careful to avoid jostling the I.V. line, which was inserted into Galo’s inner elbow.
“Yeah. How are you feeling?”
Galo managed a tired, pained smile. “Great, now you’re here,” he said.
“I’m not supposed to be,” Lio confessed. “Visitors aren’t allowed. But I snuck in.”
Lio’s outfit finally seemed to register with Galo. “You dressed up as a nurse?” he queried, his voice sounding stronger.
“Yeah.”
“Hey, maybe you could talk the doc into signing me out?” Galo asked, a hopeful gleam in his eye.
“Sorry, no,” Lio replied. “You need to be here.”
“But I feel fine! I could go back to work,” Galo protested.
“You only feel that way because you’re being pumped full of painkillers,” Lio informed him. “And there’s still a risk of infection. Anyway, Ignis is pretty angry with you over the stunt you pulled. I don’t think you want to see him just yet. Give him some time to cool off.”
“No one got hurt,” Galo muttered sullenly.
“No one except you, you big idiot,” Lio pointed out.
Lio had nearly had a heart attack when he’d gotten the call from the fire department that his boyfriend was in the hospital, suffering from severe burns. Galo had gone into a burning house to save a baby. The baby was unharmed, thanks to Galo, but Galo hadn’t escaped unscathed.
Worse, Galo had disobeyed orders. The building was deemed too dangerous to enter, but Galo had gone in anyway.
Lio understood why Ignis was furious with Galo, but Lio also understood Galo’s point of view. If Lio had been in Galo’s place, he’d have done the exact same thing—and even if he were severely injured, he’d consider it a win as long as the child survived.
“Are you mad at me too?” Galo asked quietly.
“No,” Lio confessed, after sitting down on the chair next to the bed. His hand rested on Galo’s. It had only been two days since Lio had last seen Galo, but it felt like an eternity. Lio relished the warmth of Galo’s skin. “You did scare me, though.”
“I’m a firefighter. I gotta put out fires,” Galo declared. It wasn’t the first time Galo had made that declaration, but this time, it lacked Galo’s usual exuberance and spirit. Despite that, Lio knew that the sentiment behind Galo’s words was as true today as any other day.
Lio smiled fondly at his boyfriend. “I know,” he said. “I knew that before this got serious. I just can’t help worrying about you.”
“If anything ever happened to me, the only thing I’d regret is not being able to come home to you,” Galo said.
Lio stroked Galo’s hand, fingers sliding under the plastic band around his wrist. “I hope you always come home to me,” he replied.
A few minutes later, Galo fell asleep again and Lio left after giving Galo a kiss on his stupid cheek. Lio did not want to overstay his welcome and risk getting caught by the hospital staff, as he intended to try visiting Galo again.
Lio returned to the bathroom, stripped off the uniform, and changed back into his street clothes. He put the uniform into the bag Thyma had hidden it in and returned it to Thyma on his way out of the hospital.
“How is he?” Thyma asked as she took the bag.
“Tired, but okay,” Lio answered. “He’s looking forward to getting out of here.”
“Oh, we all are,” Thyma said with a chuckle. “Don’t forget that tea next time.”
“I won’t.” Thyma was referring to her favourite tea from the cafe down the street. That was how Lio had bribed her to help with his plan. Not that Thyma had needed much incentive. Anyway, Thyma’s tea was less than $10 per cup, and that was a small price to pay for the chance to visit Galo.