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1.
Mickey looked around the packed ER, dread filling his gut. It was bad enough that they’d been given a veritable mountain of paperwork that Mickey had needed to be the one to fill in since Mandy had hurt her writing arm, but it was also looking like they weren’t going to be seen any time soon. Mandy seemed to be in a similar mood to him as she scowled at the room at large.
“It wasn’t my fault you decided to fall down the stairs,” Mickey pointed out when she let out her fifth sigh in a minute.
Mandy’s scowl deepened. “I was drunk, and you were the one that let me go down the stairs.”
He laughed. “I can’t stop you from doing shit! And look where it’s gotten us. In the fucking ER on a fucking Saturday night with the other drunk assholes.”
“Look, I’m sorry we’ve been here ages. You didn’t have to come with me, you know,” she said, not looking at him.
“Of course, I was going to come with you, asshole,” he muttered.
The two Milkovich siblings fell into silence after that. Mickey took out his phone and began to text people quickly. He would need to push some serious weight if he was going to pay for Mandy’s medical bills. Usually, they would just dine and dash as it were, but considering this was the only hospital that didn’t have them barred in the entirety of Chicago, that wouldn’t be an option this time if they ever wanted medical treatment again.
“Mandy Milkovich,” someone called out a good half hour later.
Mickey looked over and saw that it was a smoking hot nurse. A redhead, tall and broad, and with a kind face which his model-level good looks didn’t detract from in the least. Mickey’s eyes widened even as he heard Mandy let out an appreciative noise next to him.
“Bagsie the nurse,” Mandy murmured under her breath as she stood up.
“Fuck off,” Mickey grumbled, only just stopping himself from elbowing her and jostling her broken arm.
“I’m Mandy,” she said when she approached him, all sweetness.
The nurse looked between the two of them, and Mickey had to swallow quickly to keep his cool under the redhead’s green eyes.
“And this is…?” He asked leadingly.
“Her brother,” Mickey provided quickly. “I’m Mickey if that matters.”
“Of course, it does. I’m Ian. Alright, well, I’m here to get you some pain relief before the doctor sees you,” Ian said charmingly, turning to Mandy. “I hope you weren’t waiting here long.”
“Oh no!” Mandy said quickly. “Not long at all.”
Mickey snorted under his breath. His sister was so obvious when she was flirting it was embarrassing.
Ian led them through to a side room and took a long at Mandy’s arm. Mickey watched Ian work with rapt attention. There was something about someone being good at their job, especially if it was to do with helping people, that was always a turn-on for him.
“I think you’ve only fractured your arm, but you’ll have to have an x-ray to make sure,” Ian said, and Mickey winced. The mental tally of how much he’d have to fork out only increased. “Then a doctor is going to probably have to put a cast on your arm.”
Mandy nodded, and Mickey could tell from her expression that she wasn’t happy about the idea of having to have a cast.
“Let me get you set up for that x-ray appointment,” Ian said, ducking out of the room quickly.
The second that Ian left the room, Mandy turned to look at him with wide eyes.
“Get a load of that hottie!” She hissed.
Possibly the most upsetting part about Mandy knowing that Mickey was gay was that she insisted on talking about hot guys nearly all of the time. The fact that they had almost the exact same taste in men ran at a close second.
“He’s working, dipshit!” Mickey huffed. “He’s got going to fuck you.”
Mandy pouted. “You’re just upset because he’s probably straight.”
“Hey, he kind of gave me gay vibes,” he replied, smirking at her affronted look.
“You’re lying!” She huffed. “I’ll ask him when he gets back.”
Mickey glared at her, not putting it past her in the slightest. “You ain’t gonna do shit.”
“Try me,” she said challengingly.
He reached out to give her a tried and true titty twister, but she was too fast, dodging out of the way quickly. Mickey wasn’t about to go reaching after her with her arm the way it was, though it was tempting. Still, he wasn’t about to hurt her more since he was going to be the one paying for the medical bills. Mandy would try to protest, but really, when it came down to it, they both knew that Mickey would be paying.
Mickey saw Ian rushing around, looking busy while he waited for Mandy to be finished with her x-ray. The nurse looked both harried and supremely in control. It was a combination that Mickey found oddly attractive. And besides, those scrubs were doing Ian a multitude of favours. Mickey might not be going to do anything about his attraction to the nurse, but he could look, dammit!
Even after everything had been sorted out and Mickey had forked over his credit card and incurred several thousand dollars of debt, Mickey was already thinking of how he could get that money. And as he thought of how to get that money, he also thought of the redheaded nurse that had treated his sister. He wasn’t sure what about the man had caught Mickey’s attention. He’d seen plenty of good-looking men before, and this nurse was no different. Wasn’t he?
2.
Mickey decided that he hated his job with a vengeance. He also hated Mandy. While she wasn’t directly involved, she was the instigator by proxy. If it weren’t for him needing to pay the medical bills from when Mandy had broken her arm, then he never would have gotten involved with the assholes that ended up stabbing him over $500 of meth.
“Mr Milkovich,” one of the EMTs called out to him, “I need you to keep talking to me.”
Mickey groaned. He hated being called by his last name. Those fuckers had clearly found his ID.
“We’re not far from the hospital. It’s the best place for you. You’ll be fine,” she continued, looking annoyingly calm.
“I’ve been stabbed in the fucking stomach. What the fuck are you talking about?” Mickey groaned hatefully. Of course, he wasn’t going to be fine.
Although the EMT was clearly talking out of ass about everything else, it really didn’t take long for them to get to the hospital. The same one that he went to with Mandy. Then again, there wasn’t any choice about that.
Mickey was rushed in, and unlike last time, he was taken straight through. Everything was happening around him as if in slow motion. All of these people were there to save his life, and yet none of them were really even looking at him.
The pain was so strong that he was gritting his teeth hard to keep the sounds back, but even then, thin grunts of pain kept escaping. Mickey remembered Colin telling him about the first time that he had been stabbed, and his older brother had made out like it wasn’t anything much, but this was agony. Then again, Colin had been stabbed in the arm. This was very different. This was serious shit. Life or death shit. Idly, Mickey wondered if Mandy had been told about what happened yet.
“Mickey?” A voice saying his name pulled him from his thoughts.
Mickey looked over to see a familiar face. It took him a long moment to place where he knew this gorgeous man. He was wearing scrubs but had some sort of apron on over the top of them as well as gloves - it was all very intense, and Mickey hated it.
“The nurse from before?” He said, not realising he had spoken aloud.
Ian smiled, though his eyes were pinched. “You were stabbed pretty badly, Mickey. We’re doing our best to help you, ok?”
Mickey nodded, finding Ian’s voice comforting.
Ian took his hand, squeezing it hard. In any other situation, Mickey would have pulled away. He hated being touched in general unless it was hookups, and even then, they weren’t holding his fucking hand. Mickey never even had to tell people not to do that like he had to about kissing - they just instinctually knew not to do it. Besides, who the fuck would want to hold hands with him anyway? Clearly, this nurse did for whatever reason. It wasn’t like Mickey needed to be comforted. Sure, he hadn’t been stabbed before, but he’d been shot a few times and beaten to a pulp more often than that - he was no stranger to pain or violence.
His memory of how they fixed him up after being stabbed was foggy, to say the least. The sheer amount of painkillers he was given saw to that. Still, he knew that Ian was there the whole time, looking over him like some sort of angel.
All he remembered after that was waking up after the surgery on some of ward. It was clearly nighttime as it was deadly quiet, with only the beeping of machinery and the conscientiously quiet goings on of the nurses to fill his ears.
He thought back to Ian and wondered where he was; maybe he was at home - Mickey hoped so. Does Ian have a boyfriend or girlfriend? Someone to talk to about work and things. Mickey couldn’t help but imagine being that person for the nurse who had been so very kind to him. It hurt to think of, not just because it was Ian he was thinking about, but because Mickey grew more and more sure every day that it was simply something that was never going to happen for him. A relationship just didn’t seem to be on the cards, given his lifestyle and general disposition.
It took him a long time to fall asleep, and when he did, his thoughts were still on that redheaded nurse.
3.
The ER was absolutely packed, though Mickey wasn’t surprised by it. It was a Saturday night, after all. The room smelled of booze, a testament to the sheer number of drunks who had managed to get injured on their travels that night.
“I’m not waiting to be seen,” Iggy grumbled. “Fuck that.”
He began to stand laboriously, but Mickey shoved him back in his seat.
“You leave, and I’ll fucking kill you.”
“It’s not even a big deal!” he complained.
“You got bitten by a fucking crackhead, Igs,” Mickey replied hotly. “Human bites are really dangerous.”
“Alright fucking doctor Mickey over there,” Iggy huffed but didn’t move to get up again.
“Fuck off. I just don’t want to have to drag your ass back here later,” he retorted, pulling out his phone and hoping that his brother would take the hint and stop talking to him. “Annoying enough having to do it once.”
“You’re a dick,” his brother complained.
“You’ll be thanking me when you don’t get rabies, asshole,” Mickey muttered under his breath.
Mickey had resolutely not been thinking about the possibility of seeing Ian again. It would simply be too much of a coincidence. It would be nice to have something nice to look at, though. So when Ian walked out into the waiting room, Mickey was flawed by it. Apparently, he had been shocked enough to let out a slight gasp which had Iggy looking over to him in confusion.
“The fuck?”
But Mickey wasn’t listening. All that he could see was Ian and how he was lost in a world of his own. Mickey felt an unfamiliar concern as he saw the dark circles under the redhead’s eyes, and he couldn’t help but wonder at how much Ian worked since he seemed to always be there when he was. Despite him looking about ready to keel over, Ian was gorgeous. Mickey’s memories of the man hadn’t done him justice at all.
“Serious, what the fuck are you staring at?” Iggy pressed, looking around the room in confusion, clearly not having clocked Ian.
But Ian had seen the both of them, and recognition lit up his face. He made his way over to them too quickly for Mickey to prepare himself, and he wondered how obvious his gawking was.
“Mickey, is it?” Ian asked.
He smiled to himself, inordinately flattered at Ian remembering his name given how many people he must see.
“Uh, yeah, that’s me,” he replied awkwardly before adding. “Ian?”
Mickey had no need to ask, of course.
The nurse smiled. “Yup! How is your stomach doing? The last time we met, you weren’t doing well.”
Mickey snorted - that was the understatement of the century. “Yeah. Much better, man. Still, um, not what it was, but yeah, not really expecting it to be yet.”
“No,” Ian agreed, brows pulling together. “You aren’t in any pain, though?”
“Uh, no. Nothing like that,” Mickey replied, feeling his cheeks heat slightly at having Ian’s undivided attention. “I’m not here for me, anyway.”
“Oh, I’m glad to hear that!” he replied.
“This is my brother, Iggy,” Mickey introduced his brother quickly, all too aware of Iggy’s confused gaze flicking between him and Ian. “Someone bit him.”
“You two know each other?” Iggy cut in, clearly having wanted to say it for a while.
“We’ve met before, yes,” Ian replied. “As I’m sure you guessed, I was one of the team that helped Mickey when he was stabbed.”
Unbidden, memories of Ian leaning over him and holding his hand filled Mickey’s mind, and he had to quickly push them aside in case what he was thinking about showed on his face.
“This is our third time meeting, actually,” the redhead continued amiably. “Luckily, not every time has been because Mickey was injured.”
Iggy laughed. “You two sound like soulmates.”
“Iggy!” he scolded, whipping around to glare at his brother.
“Just a joke, man,” he replied.
Ian seemed nonplussed by the goings-on but took it in his stride. He focused on Iggy, then. Taking him off to be examined and leaving Mickey to himself for the time being. Unfortunately, that gave him time to obsess over how Ian might have taken Iggy’s embarrassing comment before. Surely he would have no reason to assume that Mickey had an embarrassing crush on him. It was all fine. It was a joke; it was fine. It didn’t feel fine, though.
Mickey had never had a typical experience of finding someone attractive and then flirting with them to see if there could possibly be a mutual attraction there. It had just never been a part of his life. Ian being some random recurring character in his life made it that much more incongruous that he would capture his attention that much. Maybe Iggy was right somehow; maybe Ian kept showing up because the universe wanted to fuck with him. Soulmates were bullshit, but life wanting to make him miserable was certainly real.
His brother got back. He looked thoroughly annoyed and carrying what looked like a prescription of antibiotics.
“I had to get a fucking rabies vaccination,” Iggy growled. “It was fucking awful.”
Mickey snorted. “At least you won’t get rabies, then.”
“Would have been worth it if I could have avoided that,” he replied.
“It couldn’t have been that bad, man,” Mickey tried to say encouragingly.
Iggy just rolled his eyes and began to walk to the door, leaving Mickey to follow behind.
“I’m fucking broke now, and I had to spend half an hour being asked about my asshole brother. Seriously, I was wondering who was meant to be getting treated here, me or you,” he ranted, but Mickey was too shocked to really take it in.
“What are you talking about?” he asked, desperately trying to keep his cool.
“That ginger nurse kept asking about you and how you were doing and if you were in pain,” Iggy replied, still annoyed. “He should have just asked you himself.”
He swallowed hard, his heart still thrumming in his chest even as he pushed down the disappointment. Of course, Ian would only be interested in him in terms of his physical health.
4.
Mickey could feel the muscles in his face twitching with the force of his scowl. He had successfully managed to avoid the ER for a good two months, but that streak had been ended by a drunken tumble down the stairs. Now he had nothing to hold over Mandy since they had now both done it. His phone had been buzzing nonstop with texts from her barraging him with laughing emojis, and he was fairly sure that she was in the process of making memes at that very moment.
His arm was also aching fiercely, which wasn’t helping his mood in the slightest. He’d been waiting for an hour already, and Mickey was going to assume that he would wait for at least that again before he was seen. It gave him time to think about Ian, the nurse that seemed to be there every time that he came to the hospital for whatever reason. Would this time be the time to break the streak? He found himself hoping not. Ian’s handsome face was just what he needed to cheer himself up, and with none of his siblings there, he would be free to look to his heart’s content.
It was another fifteen minutes before someone came to see him, but Mickey found all of the annoyance at his long wait fading away as he saw who was going to be looking after him.
“Hello there, Mickey,” Ian said jovially.
“You remember my name?” he replied, honestly surprised.
The nurse shrugged. “You are a bit of a regular customer at this point.”
“Usually, I’m not the one hurt,” Mickey couldn’t help but point out.
“I thought it was about a 50/50, actually,” he said, smiling in a way that Mickey couldn’t help but look at. “You’ve certainly made quite the impression.”
Mickey couldn’t help but look away for a moment. Was Ian flirting with him? He couldn’t be sure.
“Um, not the sort of place you want repeat customers, I’m guessing,” Mickey replied eventually.
“Definitely not,” Ian laughed. “Anyway, enough talking. I have some important questions to ask you.”
Mickey was happy to settle back into what he knew. He answered all of the questions quickly and followed behind Ian as he took him to have his arm x-rayed. Not that Mickey needed an x-ray to tell him that his arm was broken, of course. He knew his own body, and his arm wasn’t right. The sickening grinding that he could feel when he moved his arm was proof as well.
Getting the cast on was a pain, and the doctor or whoever had done it was one of those stuffy middle-aged types that loved to look down on him for his appearance. The only decent thing about it was that Ian made sure to see him one last time before he left, which made Mickey inordinately happy.
“How does the cast feel?” Ian asked, eyes full of genuine concern.
Mickey shrugged. “Pretty uncomfortable. Does it get better?”
“You get used to it,” the nurse replied cryptically. “Just wait till it starts itching.”
“Thanks for that, man,” he said, groaning at the thought.
“Won’t be too long till you can get it taken off. Don’t worry,” Ian said, smirking to himself.
Mickey couldn’t help but have an internal thrill at getting the chance to have this conversation with the truly gorgeous redheaded nurse - it was more than he could have expected. He didn’t want to come off as desperate since, despite the joking nature of their conversation, it was still work-related for Ian. The last thing he wanted to do was to make the guy uncomfortable while at work.
“Do I come back here to have it taken off or…?” Mickey asked.
“Yeah, it’ll be the outpatient clinic,” he explained.
Mickey tried to hide his disappointment. “Won’t be seeing you, then.”
“Until one of your siblings gets hurt again, I’d imagine,” Ian teased before growing serious. “Not that I’d wish that on them.”
“Wish all you want,” Mickey snorted. “They’re heinous assholes.”
“You must be the exception that proves the rule, then,” he replied easily.
Ian had to be flirting with him, didn’t he? Mickey wondered if he should make a move, but before he could gather up the courage, Ian turned to leave. It made sense given how busy he no doubt was, but it left Mickey kicking himself for his cowardice the entire way home. He kept running into Ian, and yet he never took advantage of the situation. He didn’t deserve it, anyway.
5.
Mickey was an idiot. He knew this all too well. Considering the fact that he never seemed to learn from any of his mistakes ever and that he was forever getting himself into some sort of trouble or another, it was obvious.
This time the blame lay squarely at his own feet. There was no trying to partially blame anyone else. No, it had been Mickey’s unwise decision to try and get the cast off early, and he was suffering for it now.
To his credit, Mickey really had thought that his arm was better. What was the point in going back to the hospital and shelling out to get his cast off when he could just get a saw and do it himself? It had taken him a while, but he had gotten it done in the end. Now here he was, in the ER yet again. He would have to explain what had happened and how it was entirely his own fault, and the thought of that made his palms sweat.
While he didn’t like to think of himself as having some kind of complex due to having grown up on the Southside, he had a sore spot about anyone thinking that he was some sort of white trash idiot. Especially the medical types that worked in hospitals. He’d been looked down on far too many times in his life for his liking, so he did his level best to avoid it when he could. The pain in his arm was too much, though, and he did have a very real fear that his arm was going to heal wrong, and then he’d really feel like an idiot.
Telling the receptionist what had happened was embarrassing, but at least it didn’t take long.
“Alright,” the receptionist sighed, “let me get a nurse right out to you. Take a seat, sir.”
Mickey bit his tongue to stop the barbed retort he wanted to let free. The very last thing he needed was to be barred from this hospital as well as then he would definitely have no options left.
Luckily, there was a spare seat, and he got himself situated as his mind began to wander. Was Ian here? Would Mickey see him again? It seemed almost too good to believe. Then again, after the last four times, Mickey wouldn’t be too surprised. The redhead seemed to work more than was healthy, Mickey thought to himself, not for the first time.
Despite his worry for Ian’s work-life balance, Mickey found himself disappointed when a female nurse eventually came to see him.
“I’m Louisa. What seems to be the problem?” she asked, and he appreciated her straightforward attitude.
“I took my cast off early,” Mickey said awkwardly, still looking over her shoulder for Ian. “I really thought my arm was better, and I didn’t see the point in going back to get it off.”
“Chances are you’re going to have to have that cast on for even longer now,” she replied, and Mickey grimaced; he had guessed as much. “You might be lucky and get away with just a sling, but I can’t say for sure.”
“I should have known better,” Mickey said mournfully.
“What’s done is done,” she replied kindly.
Mickey then noticed how her eyes flickered down to his hands. It was something that he was well used to by now. He’d had the tattoos since he was fourteen, after all. A decade of disgusted looks and open staring. Mickey knew when someone had clocked his tattoos, no matter how subtle they tried to be about it.
“Those are some…interesting tattoos you’ve got there,” she said eventually, and Mickey had to respect her for even bringing the topic up.
Mickey didn’t bother replying, though she didn’t seem put off by it in the least. So he followed her out to a side room and let her poke and prod at him and ultimately came to the conclusion that he needed an x-ray to see if he needed the arm set again. Mickey’s wallet ached at the prospect, but he already had a plan to get the money. He could only hope that it wouldn’t get him stabbed again, or he’d end up back at square one.
The x-ray came and went, and really, Mickey was starting to wonder how much more he was going to end up in the hospital before the year was out. He had gone most of his life without a trip, although they had been needed on many an occasion, and now he had ended up going three times in the last year just for himself. As a family, they were racking up hospital visits like they were giving out air miles.
He found himself waiting around for Louisa, wondering what on earth had happened to leave him stranded in the hospital. Had some crazy emergency come in or something?
“Wonder if I’ll get treated for free if she’s more than half an hour late like a damn Domino’s pizza,” Mickey muttered wryly to himself.
Just then, with the perfectly awkward timing that only the universe could manage, Mickey heard just the voice that he had so been wishing that he would hear.
“Mickey! I would say it’s good to see you, but perhaps not in these circumstances,” Ian greeted him warmly, walking right up to him and standing close enough that Mickey could delude himself into thinking that he could feel the warmth from the man’s skin.
Mickey couldn’t help but stare. “Ian?”
“We meet again,” he replied, reaching up to rub his hand along the back of his neck.
“What happened to Louisa?” Mickey couldn’t help but ask.
Ian pressed his lips together tightly. “Um…she had…other stuff to take care of, so we swapped.”
“So you were just waiting around doing nothing, then?” he teased.
“No. She took my patient, and I took you,” Ian replied.
Mickey was about to open his mouth to question the logic of that when he immediately closed it again. If this was what he suspected and hoped that it was, he would be better off playing his cards closer to his chest.
“What’s the plan, then?” Mickey asked.
“Let me take you back to the side room for a moment while I quickly run and find some things out,” he said, already beginning to walk. “Louisa thinks you might only need a sling,” he added.
Mickey let out an involuntary sigh of relief.
“What made you take the cast off yourself anyway?” the redhead asked.
“Didn’t see the point in paying for it, is all,” he replied. “Obviously, I was wrong about that.”
Mickey absolutely didn’t mention the fact that Ian wouldn’t be there when he got it taken off in the hospital had a lot to do with his decision. There wasn’t much point in going back to do something useless if Ian wouldn’t be there. Not that he would go to the hospital just to see Ian, that would be too much. Or, he hoped that he would never get that desperate, anyway.
“I get it, man,” Ian said comfortingly. “And from the looks of it, you got the cast off just fine. It’s just that you did it too early.”
Mickey snorted derisively. “Like that makes it so much better.”
Ian shrugged. “In my book, it does. Anyway, I’ll be right back, ok?” he paused for a moment, very clearly thinking something over. “Don’t miss me too much.”
Mickey had no time to think of a reply before Ian had left, and he was left alone. His mind was racing. Everything within him was telling him that Ian was flirting with him. It had to be the case. Logically, there wasn’t too much harm in pursuing it, either. But what if he was wrong? The idea of Ian’s expression growing uncomfortable or, worse yet, pitying was more than he could take.
His thoughts vacillated between being absolutely positive that he should ask Ian out to being sure that it was the worst idea that he had ever had. He was being a pussy, and he knew it. Fuck, he’d barely even spoken to the man. What did he even like him for?
But then Ian came back in, smiling at Mickey and everything tilted on its axis.
“The doctor shouldn’t be too long,” Ian said before adding conspiratorially. “Just between you and me, I think you’ll be ok with just the sling.”
Mickey smiled despite himself in a way that he knew any of his siblings would mock him mercilessly for. “Hope so. The cast makes work more difficult.”
“Oh? What do you do?” Ian asked conversationally, eyes flicking over a clipboard that he was holding against his forearm.
“Sales,” Mickey replied easily, trotting out the well-worn lie.
Ian eyed him for a long moment, a boyish smirk tugging at his lips in a way that made Mickey desperately want to close the distance between them. “I’ll pretend I believe that.”
“Ay, you don’t know me,” he retorted, only mildly offended by the redhead’s assumption.
“Hey, not judging you,” Ian said. “Guess that makes you kind of a bad boy, huh?”
And oh, ok. Not even Mickey could fail to pick up what Ian was putting down now.
He shrugged. “Could put it like that, yeah.”
“Would I be correct if I did?” the redhead pressed, and the fission of flirtation seemed to be igniting.
Mickey flicked his thumb across the bottom of his nose nervously. “Got the tattoos, got the side hustle, got the shitty family and even shittier attitude. I think I’m all set.”
“Yeah, I like them,” he replied, eyes fixed on Mickey’s hands.
Mickey quickly unclenched his fists, twisting his fingers together nervously under the scrutiny.
“What’s to like? They’re terrible,” Mickey asked, wishing that he knew what to say to keep the atmosphere between them going.
“What can I say? You wear them well,” Ian said, seeming in his element.
“Well, I’ll take the compliment since you’re the one saying so,” he said, heart hammering as he forced himself to flirt back.
“Oh? Why’s that?” the nurse said, leaning ever so slightly closer.
“You’re fucking gorgeous, man. I’m sure you knew that,” Mickey said, the honesty leaving him slightly breathless.
Ian was about to reply when the doctor came sweeping in, and Mickey cursed his terrible luck yet again. This particular doctor gave Mickey a terrible feeling just from the way that he barely acknowledged Ian’s existence. He dismissed Ian with a wave of the hand, not even looking in his direction. The fact that Ian didn’t seem fazed by it only made Mickey more irate. How dare anyone make Ian feel like being treated like that was ok?
Mickey had to admit that he was ruder to the doctor than he should have been, and perhaps he had used some of his natural Milkovich intimidation to put the fear of god back into the man.
“Where the fuck do you get off treating the nurses like that anyway?” Mickey asked as the doctor was bustling out of the room with as much speed as he had entered it.
The middle-aged man turned around quickly, an angry flush already spreading over his cheeks.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir,” he replied, jaw tight.
Mickey scowled, adjusting his arm in his sling. “You don’t get to treat people like they’re your servants. If I knew where Ian was, I’d make you apologise.”
“Make me apologise?” the doctor scoffed.
He narrowed his eyes. “Yes. Make you,” Mickey confirmed, tone even.
The doctor didn’t bother to acknowledge him. Instead, he went pale and left the room quickly. Mickey hadn’t been told that he could go or anything like that, but then that doctor had left in a hurry. So Mickey took a leisurely stroll to the exit, hoping against hope that he would run into Ian once last time. He wouldn’t let his nerves get to him this time.
He could see a few nurses at the nurse station, and he scanned them for his redhead. It didn’t take more than a moment to pick Ian out of the pack. He also recognised Louisa, who made eye contact with him and smiled. She then not-so-subtly elbowed Ian, who whipped around to look at Mickey himself. Ian’s face split into a grin, and he waved at Mickey.
Mickey swallowed sharply even as his legs automatically took him over to where Ian was. The other nurses seemed to all suddenly find things that they needed to do, and the two of them found themselves alone.
“Thank you for helping me again, Ian,” Mickey said sincerely.
Ian smiled. “It’s no problem.”
“No!” he insisted. “I mean it. You’ve been there for me so much, and I don’t know if that’s just the universe giving me something nice for once or what, but…I remember you being there for me when I’d been stabbed, and it meant a lot to me.”
The nurse’s smile turned softer. “I was happy to. Honestly.”
“Don’t know if I’ll see you again,” Mickey continued, almost to himself.
“Yeah,” Ian replied, the word trailing off expectantly.
“I,” Mickey swallowed hard. “I want to see you again.”
“Not when you or your family are hurt?” the redhead replied.
Mickey laughed. “I’d like to see you with no hospitals involved at all, actually.”
Ian’s eyes widened, and for a moment, Mickey was convinced that he had done the wrong thing.
“I’d love that!” Ian said loudly before repeating himself in a lower tone. “I’d love that.”
“Good,” he replied, relief almost making him sag. “Let me give you my number or something.”
And so they exchanged numbers quickly before Ian had to go back to work, and Mickey left the hospital feeling better than he ever had in his life. Ian wanted to go on a date with him, and now all he had to do was not fuck it up.
+1.
Mickey checked over his reflection in the window of the restaurant nervously. The date hadn’t been able to be arranged until a week later since Ian was working. That had given him more than enough time for Mickey to obsess over making a good impression to the point that he was making himself sick with apprehension every time he so much as thought about his upcoming date with Ian.
And now he was there, and Ian said he was already in there. He just had to step through and find him. Mickey swallowed hard, pulling the hem of his shirt down absently. It wasn’t like they were in an overly fancy part of town, but Mickey felt out of place. Ian, as it turned out, was from the Southside too, so he didn’t mind going somewhere a bit closer to the Southside even if he didn’t live there anymore.
“Just go in, you asshole,” Mickey muttered angrily to himself.
A passerby gave him an odd look, which was thankfully the catalyst he needed to get the hell in there.
It didn’t take long for Mickey to spot Ian. His red hair was obviously a factor, but it also seemed like Mickey had developed some sort of sixth sense when it came to knowing if Ian was in the vicinity. Ian seemed to have noticed him, too, as he waved him over, and Mickey quickly walked over.
“Hope you haven’t been waiting long,” Mickey said, checking his phone for the time.
“Nah, not long. I just didn’t want to be late,” Ian admitted.
“Yeah, me neither,” he replied, settling in and hoping against hope that his heart would stop pounding in his chest.
“I’ve, uh, never done anything like this before, actually,” the redhead said bashfully. “Like, a proper date with food and things.”
Mickey snorted. “Me neither.”
They were momentarily interrupted by the waiter, which was good as it gave Mickey some time to compose himself.
“Thanks for asking me out,” Ian replied, flashing him a small smile that had Mickey clenching his hands under the table.
“Don’t gotta thank me, man,” Mickey said bruskly.
Ian smiled. “Still. I didn’t think we’d ever get this far.”
“Kinda crazy we even met so many times,” he added. “I usually ain’t at the hospital that much. Crazy that you were the nurse every time as well.”
“Yeah, about that,” he said, and Mickey could see the blush spreading across his face. “It wasn’t actually a coincidence. Well, the first two times were, but after that, my coworkers knew who you were and that I, um, liked you. So they let me take care of you.”
His eyes widened. “Really?”
“Sorry. That’s creepy, huh?” Ian replied bashfully.
“Maybe, but I like it,” he said honestly. “I only took my cast off myself because I knew I wouldn’t see you at the hospital, so I didn’t see the point in going. Guess we’re even now.”
“It really probably would have been fine if you’d waited longer,” he said. “Though I didn’t say that.”
Mickey snorted. “I’m sure your bosses wouldn’t like it if they knew you’d said that.”
“What can I say? I’m a rebel,” Ian joked, leaning back in his seat
“So,” Mickey drawled, finally beginning to settle, “when I had that lady nurse and then all of sudden you showed up, that was…?”
Ian sighed, smiling again and Mickey hadn’t felt so accomplished in a long time.
“Yeah, she realised it was you because of the tattoos. I’d, um, mentioned them a few times. Anyway, she swapped with me so I could spend a bit of time with you. I couldn’t ask you out, but I hoped if I flirted obviously enough that you might ask me,” he explained.
“Yeah, I noticed something was up, then,” Mickey replied.
“And you didn’t before?” Ian asked, seeming genuinely surprised.
“Should I have?” he countered.
“Well, I thought I was pretty obvious. You were the one that was hard to read,” the redhead said.
Mickey was honestly shocked by that, given how hyperaware he had been about his behaviour any time that he was anywhere near Ian and how differently he acted. Nothing like the Milkovich drug dealer persona that he displayed with everyone else he ever met who wasn’t directly related to him.
“Guess we were both dumbasses, then,” Mickey said.
The conversation slowly grew more relaxed as they spoke about their shared upbringing in the Southside and the shared acquaintances that they knew as they ate.
“You’re Lip Gallagher’s brother?” Mickey asked incredulously. “You look nothing alike.”
“Yeah, we’re half-brothers and cousins technically. That’s a weird one. My dad isn’t my dad, my uncle is,” Ian replied.
Mickey stared, wide-eyed. “That is some sweet home Alabama shit if I ever heard it.”
Ian burst into laughter loud enough to have a couple at another table look over censoriously at them.
“Not that way around! My mom fucked Lip’s dad’s brother. So, I thought he was my dad, but he’s my uncle and who I thought was my uncle is my dad.”
“Ok, that’s better,” Mickey said. “Was gonna be checking you for extra toes and shit otherwise.”
“You think you’re gonna be seeing me naked?” Ian asked, his voice suddenly low.
He swallowed hard. “Um, maybe? Was kinda hoping.”
Ian’s foot suddenly brushed against Mickey’s leg, and he suddenly forgot all about his food. His foot was rubbing ever so slowly against his jean-clad calf, slow enough that Mickey was shifting in his seat with it. He wondered just how far up his leg Ian was planning on going.
“So…” Mickey continued, trapping Ian’s leg between his own in a sudden bout of bravery. Anyone could look under the table and see them, but he didn’t care. “Do you think I have a chance?”
The redhead pretended to consider this. “I think someone up there wants us to meet since they keep putting us together.”
“You think?” he replied breathlessly.
“Yeah,” Ian said in the same tone, “would be a shame to go against that, don’t you think?”
Mickey met Ian’s eye for a long moment. How had he never noticed how green they were?
“Fuck it,” he muttered to himself. “Let’s just get the bill.”
Ian smirked. “My thoughts exactly.”