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Andrew didn’t know if he could say he hated hospitals; he hadn’t had much experience with them to know to hate them. However, he knew to be wary of them. They asked too many questions; questions which could get himself and his family into trouble. That was what Smurf taught them, so they all learnt some rudimentary first aid to deal with any injuries.
But Andrew was trying not to be like Smurf, trying to not follow her lessons anymore. She had been wrong about a lot of things. Leaving it all behind put it into perspective, especially when he took over guardianship of Lena. He couldn’t even comprehend doing the things Smurf had done to him and Julia as children to Lena. She was so small, so scared and quiet of the large world around her. Her hands were tiny, slipping into his calloused and scarred hand, seeking out comfort. She looked to him for protection and love, and Andrew couldn’t comprehend not giving it freely.
Andrew didn’t know how to give comfort either, but he would do his best. And that best meant that he would fight his uncertainty with hospitals to make sure Lena would be okay.
The waiting room of where Jack worked was packed. A bacteria’s dream with all the sick and injured people. Cradling Lena close, Andrew forged through the crowds, waiting impatiently to be called through. It had only been a few minutes, by they were taking too longer.
There was a pain in his chest, panic clenching hard around his lungs and heart at how fucking terrified he was for Lena. Andrew knew what a concussion looked like, and had done his best to keep Lena awake as he hastily brought them through the city to the ER.
“We’ll get a nurse to escort you through as soon as we can. While you wait, fill out these forms please.” The woman had instructed, sliding a couple pieces of paper and a pen under the glass to him. Andrew grabbed them them, having to lean awkwardly to keep a firm hold around Lena, before finding a seat. Keeping Lena on his lap, he had quickly scrawled out all the answers he could before giving them back to the woman at the desk.
Now, as his panic continued to build and build, Andrew was close to kicking the door down just for Lena to get checked out when the was a call for them.
Standing quickly, Andrew moved towards the door, where a male nurse opened the door for him. “Hey,” The man was tall, hair greying, “I’m Jesse, I’ll be your nurse, if you could just follow me to a room?”
Andrew could follow instructions. He preferred to, even. Right now, he desperately needed someone to tell him what to do, arms tightening around a quiet Lena. She had stopped crying awhile ago, snuffling tearfully as she gripped the fabric of his shirt. Her body shook, skin greying from the pain. But Lena was a fighter, even at only seven years old.
They were brought to a private room, curtain being pulled back as Andrew set Lena down gently on the bed. The nurse began to speak as he tugged on some gloves, “I’ll get the pediatric doctor in a second, but just going to do a quick inspection and ask a few questions, if that’s alright?” And here, he dragged over a stool to begin assessing Lena.
Andrew nodded silently.
The nurse gave a kind smile over to Lena, the girl drowsy and trembling, “I heard your name was Lena, it’s nice to meet you I’m nurse Jesse. I heard you took a bad fall?”
Lena gave a small whimper, eyes fluttering from the pain as her hands flexed. Andrew reached out to hold one. “She fell off the jungle-gym at the park.”
Jesse gave a sympathetic wince, “Been there, Lena. Not a fun time at all.” Clicking on a pen light, he murmured next, “I’m just going to look in your eyes, sorry about how bright the light is,”
The man then glanced over at Andrew, “Has she vomited or lost consciousness?”
Andrew shook his head, “N-no, she uh, she may have blacked out when she fell. But she screamed when she landed. Been awake since.”
Jesse bobbed his head, pulling back as he clicked off the pen light, “I can’t diagnose but looks like a mild concussion, possible sprain to her leg going by the faint swelling I see. Does she have any allergies?”
“No.”
“Alright, let me update her chart and go get the doctor. He’ll be able to do a further inspection and prescribe some medication for the pain.”
Choking up, Andrew couldn’t find words again as he gave a slight nod. The nurse left, pulling the curtain close. It didn’t drown out the sounds of the ER, but it meant that Andrew could let out a shuddering exhale as he sat on the edge of the bed. Lena looked so small, laid out on it.
Running a hand over her hair, Andrew promised, “We’ll get you all sorted. We can go home when you’re okay.”
“It hurts, Uncle Pope…” Lena mumbled, wiggling to move closer to his side, giving a small shiver. It was summer time, so he hadn’t brought a coat for her when they left for a trip to the park. Now, however, Andrew was regretting it. Shrugging off his flannel shirt, he ignored the way the skin of his bare arms prickled from the chilled ER, tucking the clothing around Lena to give her some warmth. Then, he pulled her closer into his side.
Legally, he was Lena’s guardian, but it took a lot of bureaucratic shit to reach that point. Jack had helped out, when Andrew called up his half-brother in a panicked state. After Smurf dealt with Cath when Andrew refused to do the dirty work, Baz began to spiral, leading to Lena having no one to take care of her.
Andrew, having already loved the little girl, took no issue stepping up where Baz failed. No matter the cruel words his adoptive brother had spoken, Andrew didn’t want to be another adult to fail Lena. He had his issues, he knew he was messed up in the head and made wrong, but Andrew loved her. That’s what mattered in the end. That’s what got him out of Oceanside and away from Smurf.
But, even with all the hoops jumped through, Andrew was still terrified people would see him incapable of taking care of Lena, and being in the hospital didn’t help. He had heard the stories from Jack, about abusive parents being caught. About CPS and social workers being called because of suspicion of injuries. Children being separated because their parent wasn’t deemed fit to raise them. He didn’t want Lena taken from him. She was practically the one thing keeping him alive.
Under the focus of trying to keep Lena calm, Andrew could feel his fear gnawing like a dog to a bone. Scraping at his rib cage as he swallowed back the panic.
The curtain pulled back.
There was a new person, a man. He was shorter than Nurse Jesse by at least a foot, dressed in soft pink scrubs. In the hospital light, his curling hair was faintly haloed as he smiled at the pair of them. There were two stickers on his cheeks: A heart and a dog. It was so jarring of a sight compared to other men he had seen in his life, that Andrew was caught completely off guard.
He’d never seen a man wear pink so comfortably.
“Hey there,” The man greeted, a very faint mid-western drawl to his words, “I’m Doctor Whitaker, I heard someone had a bad time at the park.”
Where Lena was half-buried into his chest, the girl gave him a small nod.
“Let’s get some 500mg of Tylenol for her, reduce the pain as we look over the leg.” The doctor murmured to the nurse as he approached, perching himself on the stool Jesse had previously sat on. The nurse nodded and left.
Wheeling closer, Doctor Whitaker began to talk to Andrew, “So, I’m going to do a few check-ups, similar to what Nurse Jesse had done just to double check his assessment of the injury. Could you tell me more of how Lena got hurt?”
Eyes trained on the gloved hands that moved over Lena – penlight to the eyes, moving her head to inspect the bump where she hit her forehead – Andrew unstuck his tongue to reply hoarsely, “We were at the park, she was climbing on the metal jungle-gym. I didn’t see how, there were a lot of kids, but she lost her grip and fell. Her head hit one of the poles, and I think she hurt her ankle too when she landed.”
The Doctor looked up to Andrew, eyes wide and with perpetual bags under them, they were surprisingly free with their emotion. And openness where many looked at Andrew with suspicion and caution. There was a kindness to them making him look young – he must be young to begin with anyway – but he didn’t seem fazed as Andrew talked about the incident. He must see a lot of injured kids.
“I broke my arm once, falling out of a tree,” The Doctor spoke, turning to address Lena directly. The girl stared at him as he moved to look over her ankle, “I was ten and wanted to see the bird nest that was up there. I actually had a pretty decent grip. It was my mama hollerin’ for me that made me lose my balance and fall.”
He sent Lena a crooked smile, a slight gap in his teeth as he added, “I think the farm next door could hear my screamin’, sent the cows wild.”
“You lived on a farm?” Lena softly asked, curious even under the pain and discomfort. Andrew stared at the Doctor, entranced as the man chuckled. There was stickers stuck all along his bright blue stethoscope.
“Born and raised!” He stated proudly, then adding as an aside, “I’m just going to take your shoe and sock off. It will definitely hurt a little but I need to see the swelling.”
Lena winced, a pained whimper escaping her as she gripped Andrew’s hand tightly. Just in time, nurse Jesse came bustling in with the pill in a small cup.
“She’s never swallowed a pill before,” Andrew couldn’t help but point out.
The Doctor glanced up from Lena’s ankle to give the girl a reassuring smile, “It’s all good, I’ve got a great trick for taking them. It’s why I brought this!” And he triumphantly pulled out a pack of fruit gummies from his pocket.
The little girl lit up at the sight of them, wiggling to sit up straighter. Grinning at her reaction, Doctor Whitaker opened up the packet and handed her a few, “Now, don’t eat them just yet, I gotta tell you the trick.”
Lena cupped the four gummies in her hand, paying close attention as Doctor Whitaker explained, “Put a few in your mouth and chew until you feel you’re about to swallow. Then, pop the pill in and swallow it all together. You won’t have to taste the grossness because of the fruit snacks.”
After a moment of hesitation, she did as instructed, face screwed up into a frown of deep concentration. When Lena popped the pill in, there was a pause before she swallowed hard. The bright smile she sent Andrew, one full of celebration, had him letting out a hard breath of relief.
“Good job, Lena.” He murmured, stroking her head to press a kiss on it.
The Doctor gave his own congratulations, holding out his hand for a high five “Yeah, great job, kiddo.” Lena only paused for a moment before slapping her hand against his. Then, pulling a few sheets of stickers from his pocket, the Doctor presented them to her, “Pick one.”
She automatically reached for the sheet full of unicorns, pointing at a particularly pink one, “Can I have that one, please?”
Doctor Whitaker flashed her a wide smile, eyes crinkling with sincere joy, “Of course you can.” Peeling it off the sheet to present it to her, Lena hesitated before slapping it to her arm. Beaming, she showed it off to Andrew.
Lips twitching at her brightening mood, Andrew murmured, “Looks good.” She stuck it to the left side of her shirt.
“Well, now that we’ve got that all sorted, let’s talk about how we can work towards you feeling better.” The Doctor said, drawing their attention back to him.
Sitting up straighter, the older man focused all his attention back to the Doctor, the man relaxed as he talked to both him and Lena, “So, we’re going to do a CT scan on her head, check there isn’t any damages. You told Jesse that there wasn’t any vomiting and Lena seems pretty alert, so I’d say she only has a mild to moderate of a concussion. That will need monitoring when you are discharged. We’ll prescribe some more Tylenol, for the pain in her head and ankle.”
“Now,” He wheeled himself closer to said ankle, “I’m going to just feel around a little, see if this is a fracture or sprain. Right now, I can say just looking at it that it’s not broken. Which is a good thing. Unfortunately, you won’t be getting a cool cast.” And Doctor Whitaker sent Lena an exaggerated frown of disappointed, to which the girl giggled.
The ease in which the younger man interacted with Lena, drawing her out of her shell, was impressive. She was always a reserved child, especially after her mother died. Andrew could admit in that moment he was taken by the man’s boyish charm. He could see why he was a pediatric doctor, his entire demeanour calm and casual that it made the frightening atmosphere of the ER disappear. Hell, Andrew felt his own nervous energy die back with the ease at how the man went over this whole situation, the least threatening man he had every interacted with. It made Andrew feel less like a failure of a guardian for Lena, watching the other man’s cheeks move, stickers crinkling with every smile.
“How long will it take until she’s okay to go home?” Andrew had to ask after Doctor Whitaker finished up his explanation.
“After we get the results back from the scan, I’d like to monitor her for another hour or so, just to make sure everything is alright. But first, lemme check out this ankle and then I can give you a better idea of further treatment.” And when he said this, it was with a softening of his tone, like it was Andrew that needed reassuring.
It helped. Giving a short dip of his head, Andrew watched closely as Doctor Whitaker moved his gloved hands around Lena’s bruising ankle. It was swollen and bruising. Under his arm, she twitched and whined, good mood dimming at the flaring of pain. The Doctor murmured a soft word of apology as he tested the range of motion for her ankle, “I know it hurts. You’re being so brave right now, Lena. And if you need to cry, go for it. Crying is good for the brain.”
“I-It is?” Lena whispered, biting her lip as she squeezed Andrew’s arm.
Flashing them a quick smile once more, Doctor Whitaker nodded, “Yup. When we are upset for whatever reason, chemicals in the brain build up. Crying actually releases those chemicals, makes us feel better and less hurt. I cry all the time!”
Andrew stared. Did that mean he should be crying more often?
“Can I cry, Uncle Pope?” Lena quietly asked him, and staring at her wide brown eyes broke his heart.
“Yeah,” His voice cracked, “You can cry if you want.”
Sniffling, the girl buried her head into his side and began to sob. Lena seemed to be the only person he’d been able to hug without any tension in his body, leaning into her to give the girl the comfort she needed.
The Doctor let out a soft sigh, catching Andrew’s attention. He gave a sad look to Lena before glancing up at Andrew, “I’m confident that she’s got a moderate lateral ankle sprain. It means that when she fell, she landed on her foot and it rolled inward. It’s a common sprain. With it being moderate, she’s partially torn a ligament. She won’t be able to put much weight on it for a while, and it will need to be elevated with some ice. I’ll get you a pamphlet with all the instructions on how to treat it. I would like to order her an x-ray though, just to rule out any fractures.”
Nurse Jesse came back in at that moment, to which Doctor Whitaker turned to him to issue some quiet orders, “Could you get some ice and something to elevate her foot for me please?”
The man nodded, passing over a pad before disappearing again. The Doctor began to quickly type over the screen.
Clearing his throat against the thickness that was building at the genuine care from the Doctor – why hadn’t anyone cared about Andrew like this when he was sick? Why couldn’t he have gotten this momentary tenderness when he was a child? – Andrew asked gruffly, “And how long will that take?”
“I know you want to leave,” Doctor Whitaker replied, sympathetic as he glanced back up at them, setting the pad onto his lap, “And I will try to get these tests done as quick as possible, but it’s all to make sure Lena is going to be okay. I want only the best for her, as I’m sure you do too.”
Staying quiet, Andrew looked down the trembling form of Lena in his arms.
“Hey, Andrew?” Doctor Whitaker murmured, bringing the older man’s attention back to him. There was a seriousness to his expression. Andrew stared at him, braced for the questions and demands. “Are you-”
There was hurried footsteps seconds before the curtain was tugged back, revealing Jack. His half-brother was quick to take in the scene, the younger doctor startling at his arrival. “Doctor Abbot…?” He asked, glancing between Jack and Andrew, obviously quickly piecing together their relation.
“Younger brother,” Jack answered the unasked question, moving towards Lena on the other side of the bed, saying to Andrew, “All good?”
Relieved the man had received his text, Andrew said, “Yeah, uh, he was saying that Lena needed some scans.”
Jack looked to Doctor Whitaker, who met him with an unimpressed look. There was a pause as they had a stare off before the pediatric doctor let out an explosive breath, handing over his pad, “Fine, but no treating her, she’s my patient and you know the ethics.”
“Yeah, yeah, get on my case later, Dennis.” Jack waved off Doctor Whitaker – Dennis – who rolled his eyes. The attitude was a complete 180 from the softness he had just seconds ago. Andrew couldn’t stop the amusement flooding him at the sass.
Picking up his stack of stickers, he flipped through them before swiftly peeling one off to smack onto Jack’s arm. It read ‘Loser’ in cheerful orange.
“Hey!” Andrew’s brother protested, half-hearted, “I thought you only had nice stickers.”
“I do,” Dennis deadpanned, “But they’re for my patients. I save my mean ones for idiots like you.” He then faced Andrew once more, who couldn’t take his eyes off the man. Something about him was just fascinating to observe; you couldn’t drag your gaze away even if you wanted to.
“You want a sticker?”
Andrew blinked, surprised. “Do you normally give people stickers?”
“Kids love them,” Dennis shrugged, “And some adults do too.” And here, he once again peeled a sticker off. “Gimme your hand.”
After a pause, Andrew extended his arm. Even through the gloves, the Doctor’s hand was warm as he cradled Andrew’s hand. Pressing the sticker on, Dennis flashed him an odd look, “Your knuckles have some history. Do you need an x-ray too?”
“Dennis.” Jack cut off Andrew’s response, a warning tone to his voice.
Not dropping his hand, Dennis shot the fellow Doctor a glare, “Are you here as a family member or an annoyance?”
“Can’t I be both?”
Huffing, Dennis let go and snatched up his pad. Andrew felt rapidly bereft of the man’s touch, fingers twitching before curling in tight so he didn’t so something weird, like reach for Dennis.
Giving Jack an accusatory point of his finger, the doctor remarked, “If I find out you’re taking over my case while I’m gone, I’m shoving you off that damn roof myself.”
Then, any ire dropped the second he looked to Lena and Andrew again. Giving them a warm smile, Dennis said, “I’ll get you a blanket, Lena. It can be really cold in the ER. Are either of you hungry?”
Andrew slowly shook his head as Lena mumbled, “Can I have some juice?”
Softening further, Dennis nodded to the girl, “I’ll get Nurse Jesse to bring you some in a moment. For now, I’ll go put your orders in and check on you both in a bit.” He sent Andrew a lingering look that spoke of curiosity, like the doctor was someone who wanted to learn all the secret Andrew contained. Then, after shooting Jack a sharp glare, he left them alone, curtain pulled closed once more.
There was a long pause, before Lena asked, “Uncle Jack, why does he hate you?”
Jack let out a bark of laughter, plopping down on the bed by her feet, “Ah, he doesn’t hate me. He’s just protective of his patients.”
“Steal his patients often?” Andrew couldn’t help but drawl.
His brother scoffed, “It’s the ER, they’re all my patients.”
“Try saying that to his face,” Nurse Jesse laughed as he overheard that comment, coming through the curtain. He passed a juice box and blanket to Andrew, who got Lena settled with both as he gently placed a pillow under her foot. Then, an ice pack wrapped in a towel was carefully laid on her bruised limb.
Lena lightly hissed at the cold, but with both of Jack and Andrew’s comforting touches and words, she relaxed into it, sipping on her juice.
It was then that Andrew felt all his fears truly die, as the nurse left them alone. Jack was here, so he would be able to answer anything that Andrew couldn’t. Lena was going to be taken care of, reclined back and draped in blankets to look like some pampered princess. Releasing a hard breath, Andrew dropped his head to finally notice the sticker on the back of his hand.
A gold star. No words, but it was simplistic enough in its meaning to fill Andrew with some kind of foreign warmth in his chest. A praise for having done the right thing despite his fears. His thumb rubbed over the shining sticker.
“He was nice,” Andrew mumbled, barely caught over the sound of Lena drinking her juice.
Jack caught it though, head snapping up to send Andrew a smirk, “He’s kinda cute too, don’t you think?”
Glaring, Andrew mentally punched his older brother for daring to say what he couldn’t out loud. Always the mouthy bastard. But yeah, Andrew begrudgingly admitted that Doctor Whitaker was attractive. He wasn’t conventionally pretty, not like the women in the magazines, in the bars, or on TV. He was almost androgynous in looks, soft with a sharp nose and lips. Firm jawline and doe-eyes. Short in stature but not skinny; shoulders that were broad and evidence of stronger arms from the way the sleeves of his soft pink scrubs clung to his biceps. An odd accumulation of contrasts, perfectly balanced to create this angel of a man.
The stirring in his chest reminded Andrew of when he first laid eyes on Cath, and had a dreadful sensation of resignation fall heavy in his stomach. Narrowing his eyes again at the amused Jack, Andrew muttered, “Don’t be fucking weird, man.”
Hands up in surrender, Jack innocently defended himself, “Hey, just pointing it out. It wasn’t me that was making eyes at the hot Doctor.”
“I’m going to kill you when we get home.”
Dennis hummed to himself as he clacked at the keyboard, filling out Lena’s notes. Her x-rays came back good, no fractures. Her CT was clear too. All in all, a safe case that would have the pair discharging soon enough.
“Hey,” Doctor Abbot sidled up to him. His expression was suspiciously innocent.
Side-eyeing him, Dennis slowed his typing, “What did you do?”
The older man huffed, shoulders dropping, “Damn, can’t even say hi?”
“The last time you had that look, I found out you had snuck out one of my patients to go for a wheelchair joyride around the parking lot.” Dennis deadpanned.
The man waved off his ire, amused, “It was midnight and a boring shift. The kid deserved a little fun after that shit show he had to witness between his parents.”
Yeah, sure. The kid definitely needed a break from his divorced parents arguing over his injured form. However, Jack had snuck the boy out when Dennis was talking to his parents down the hall. Returning to an empty room led to panicking and enraged parents. It was a fucking nightmare and the reaming he got from Gloria was completely unfair. It wasn’t his fault Jack was an asshole!
Hanging his head in defeat, Dennis grumbled before turning to face the man. He had wanted to ask Andrew about his relation to Jack because of how similarly they were, but put that off until he was done with the check-up, Lena’s health taking priority. They could have been twins, if twins were born ten years or so apart. However, it didn’t feel like the mischief was hereditary. That was all Jack.
Arms crossed, Dennis demanded, “What did you need, Jack?”
A glint in his eyes, Jack leant in, “What do you think of Andrew?”
Taken off guard, not having expected that question, Dennis replied earnestly, “I think he’s a good guardian for Lena. Quiet, but he was very concerned for her. I saw no signs of possible abuse, so don’t worry if you think-”
“Not that,” Jack interrupted, impatient, “Do you think he’s handsome?”
Dennis stared. “I’m going to go.”
However, as he turned around to do just that, Dennis was dragged back to facing Jack by a firm hand on his shoulder, the older man chuckling, “I’m serious! I’m pretty sure he was kinda taken by you.”
Flushing, Dennis glanced around to make sure no nosy nurses or – God forbid – a very specific man was listening in, “Jack, this isn’t funny!”
“Look,” Jack held up his hands in surrender, “I swear I’m dead serious here. Andrew is a little weird, that I can admit. He had a bit of a fucked up childhood, and that’s putting it lightly. Doesn’t know how to socialise well, but I think he might be genuinely interested in you.”
“You’re doing great in selling it.” Dennis blandly stated.
Sighing dramatically, Jack forged on, “He’s a decent guy, I promise. Let me just give him your number. He might not even text-”
“That’s very encouraging-”
“But if there’s a chance, I think you two might get along great!” Jack had both hands on Dennis’ shoulders, giving him an encouraging shake.
Eyeing the man for a long while, Dennis debated saying yes just to get the night shift attending to leave him alone. Dennis could see Jack badgering him constantly if he said no, so after a long moment of contemplating Andrew, Dennis gave in, “Fine. However,” He narrowed his eyes, before Jack could grin in triumph, “If this is like last time with that tennis friend of yours, I’m giving Ellis the go-ahead on those drunken photos of you. She owes me one.”
Jack scoffed, “Jason wasn’t that bad-”
“He tried to suck my toes when I was sleeping!” Dennis hissed, stepping back from Jack to be released from his grip.
The other man made a face, “Okay, I didn’t actually know he did that...”
Rubbing at his face, Dennis forced down a scream. He hasn’t had much luck when it came to dating. And maybe he was just desperate to have an attractive man’s attention which was why he was even agreeing to this. The way Andrew watched him was intense, and Dennis’ dry spell was whispering horrible things in his ear. However, it wasn’t just sex that Dennis really wanted. An actual relationship would be nice too.
And hey, Andrew might not even text him, so Jack couldn’t get on his ass for not talking to the guy in the end.
“I’m going to give them the discharge papers,” Dennis declared, stuffing away his bundle of emotions, “Don’t be there for that.” He gave a warning point of his finger, before snatching up the discharge papers that he had beside him, stalking off towards the curtained off room Lena and Andrew were in.
“You’re making a great choice, Dennis!” Jack called out behind him.
Dennis flipped him off.