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Phil moved his clipboard to his left hand, freeing his right to tap his knuckles against the open door lightly before stepping in. Where the patient he was sent to check on, a Mr. Daniel Howell, should have been was instead a lump covered by a blanket and pillow, a small tuft of brown hair sticking out and giving away the man hiding underneath.
Phil raised an amused eyebrow. "Mr. Howell?" He asked, walking up to the bed.
The pillow moved slightly, a pair of wide brown eyes to match the hair appearing and glancing at Phil before ducking back down. Phil tried to hold back a chuckle.
"Mr. Howell, my name is Phil. I'm your nurse. I need to check your vitals real quick, so could you come out for just a moment?"
The eyes reappeared, narrowed this time. "Fight me!" A voice muffled by the hospital blanket whispered, giggling and disappearing again.
Phil sighed with a soft smile, wondering for a moment just how many painkillers he had been given. He leaned forward and gently took the pillow, moving it out of reach of his giggly patient.
"Heeeyyyyy!" The other whined, dragging out the slightly slurred word.
"I promise I'll be just a moment, Mr. Howell," Phil replied, smile growing. He took a moment to really look at his patient before recording his vitals. The man--if you could even call him that, at a young 18 years old--was lanky, long limbs barely accommodated by the hospital bed. His hair practically mirrored Phil's own, only brown and with a fringe swept the opposite direction. Those eyes though...those eyes were warm, welcoming despite the glower he was currently being given from them, and with just a hint of mischief.
Phil's stomach did a bit of a jump as he met those eyes. He looked away quickly, fiddling with the pen in his pocket and moving his attention to the monitor Mr. Howell was hooked up to. Don't even think about it, Phillip, Phil mentally scolded himself as he began jotting down numbers, he's barely even an adult!
Shaking his head, he finished his check and clicked his pen, dropping it back into his pocket. "Alright, all done," he said, handing the pillow back. "That wasn't so bad, now was it?"
The man--boy? Phil still couldn't decide which suited him better--snatched it back with a soft humph and hugged it to his chest. "Fight me," he grumbled, plopping his chin down on the feathery lump.
Phil just laughed, turning to leave. "Maybe next time, Mr. Howell."
"It's Dan," the voice from behind him muttered, flopping over on his side, sure to be asleep in a minute, given the amount of medication he was on.
Phil stopped in the doorway, turning around and looking back. "Alright," his smile had spread to it's widest point, "maybe next time, Dan."
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The sun had long since set when Phil came back to check on Mr. How--on Dan. He was at the end of his shift and didn't strictly need to do another check on his vitals, but he would rather be safe than sorry. Or at least, that's what he told himself, refusing to admit to just wanting to see him again.
The hospital was quiet as he walked down the hall, most patients fast asleep, visiting hours over. Dan was sure to be asleep, he wouldn't even know Phil had been there.
Sure enough, when he popped his head into the room the brown haired man was flat on his back, head tilted a bit to the side and cupid's bow lips just slightly opened.
For someone in a hospital, he looked as peaceful as a little cherub.
Phil was sure to tread carefully as he entered the room and walked over to the monitors, digging his pen back out of his pocket from earlier. Just as he pulled it out, however, his chronic case butterfingers chose that moment to kick in and he dropped it.
"Shoot!" He instinctively exclaimed, clapping his hand over his mouth a second too late. He swooped down and snatched up the pen, standing as still as he could is a last-ditch attempt not to wake Dan, but his efforts were fruitless. Dan's eyes scrunched up a bit, a adorable--no, not adorable, bad Phil--yawn distorting his features.
He blinked a few times before opening his eyes slightly. "I'm sorry, Mr. H--I'm sorry, Dan," Phil cringed at his own awkwardness, "I didn't mean to wake you. I'm just doing a last check on your vitals."
"Is it--" Dan paused to yawn again, "Is it morning? God, I need some fucking coffee..."
Phil shook his head. "No, no, it's still the middle of the night." He added with a soft, teasing smile, "Language, Dan. Quite the mouth you've got on you there."
Dan gave him a look that said he would be currently giving Phil a rather rude gesture, were he not so tired. "Fucking fi--" The words caught in his throat, a cough erupting out of him. "Fight m--" He began again, lungs interrupting once more. He propped himself up as he coughed violently, face scrunching up with discomfort.
Phil stepped forward quickly, nurse instincts kicking in. He tapped the younger's back with a bit of force, leaving his hand there for longer than was probably acceptable after the coughing fit had ceased.
"Alright, back to bed with you, Dan," He pressed lightly on his shoulder, encouraging him to lay back down. "I'm most certainly not going to fight you--I'm at a clear disadvantage here," he laughed sweetly, "you'd obviously win right now. You should be out of here in the morning, so get some rest before then."
Dan looked as if he were going to protest for a moment, but decided against it after eye contact that lasted at least four seconds longer than any standard eye contact--Phil elected to ignore the way his lungs constricted during it, shushing the thoughts that wondered if the other's chest was as tight as his. He nodded, pulling his blanket up tighter around himself.
"Goodnight, Dan," Phil walked to the door, flicking off the light switch and causing the room to go dark, "sweet dreams."
It was hours later, when Phil was home and in bed that he realized he never even took Dan's vitals/
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Dan was sat up in bed, all wires and monitors detached from his body when Phil came into his room the next morning, a coffee in hand.
"Hey there," the brunette looked up, smiling widely, completely coherent for the first time since his stay began. "Phil, was it?"
Phil blushed, words all of a sudden failing him as his face went tomato red. "Uh.....yeah, yeah it's Phil. Phillip. Philly. Whatever you like," his words came out far faster
than he intended.
Dan just laughed and Phil feared he would pass out from how lightheaded he felt. The boy's laugh made his heart stutter, a comfortable warmth settling low in his stomach.
"I think Phil suits you best. Well, Phil," he never wanted to stop hearing the other man say his name, "thank you for putting up with me. I really appreciate it."
"It's my job," Phil replied too quickly, cringing and continuing, "I mean, it-it was no problem."
"Well, either way...thank you." Dan gestured to the cup in his hand Phil had nearly forgotten about. "Starbucks? That's my favorite too. What's your poison?"
"Oh!" The older lifted up the cup, "I'm usually more of caramel macchiato person," Phil mumbled, slightly embarrassed by his more 'girly' drink of choice. "But this is actually, uh....this is for you," he held out the cup for him to take.
Dan quirked a curious eyebrow, but accepted the offering.
"You had said--last night you mentioned wanting some coffee," Phil continued, shuffling his feet like a shy schoolgirl. "It's just a dark roast with some cream, I hope that's alright."
"It's perfect," Dan replied, smile less playful now, more serious but just as lovely as before, if not even more so. His eyes felt as if they were scanning Phil, processing every bit of information possible. When they came back up to meet his, they had this sort of....curiosity behind them. "Thank you," Dan said, refusing to break eye contact, "really, this is so...sweet of yo--"
"Yoo hoo!" Both pairs of eyes whipped around to see a kind faced older woman in the doorway, no doubt Dan's mother. "You ready to go, Danny Bear?"
It was Dan's turn to flush red. "Mum!" He groaned.
"Oh! I'll just...uh, go," Phil said, stepping aside to let Mrs. Howell in and turning to head out the door
"No, no, you don't have to--" Dan began, but Phil was already out of sight.
"He seemed quite nice," Dan's mum smiled, oblivious to the silent emotional exchange that had just happened.
Both Dan's heart and his smile fell as he stood up and grabbed his things. "Yeah....yeah he did."
He sighed and went to take a sip of the coffee when something caught his eye and made his breath catch. An unstoppable grin overtook his features--on the side on
the cup in messy handwriting was a phone number and two words.
Fight me?