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“I want my Sunshine!” Nico whined.
Charlie sighed, she just wanted to go home.
She’d been on shift for almost nine hours at this point — she still had at least another six to go — and The last fifteen minutes had been spent going around and around with one of her patients.
Nico.
He’d seemed icy and mean when she’d met him before his surgery but now after… well he was reduced to a pinning mess.
His first word as he woke up, still under the delirium of anaesthesia had been ‘Sunshine?’
At first she’d thought he wanted to be in the sun, so she opened up the curtains letting the suns rays spill into the room.
Nico had practically hissed. He’d ripped the blanket over him muttering something in a language she didn’t know.
And Charlie swore she saw shadows wrap around Nico as the blanket lagged behind.
“Sorry, sorry.” She muttered, closing the curtains again.
“Is there anything I can get you?”
“Sunshine.” Nico had muttered, peaking out from the blankets.
“Uh, like the sun? You want me to open the blinds again?”
“No, no, Όχι. Il sole. Θέλω τον ήλιο μου. E non quello stupido e chiassoso Απόλλων. Voglio il mio raggio di sole.”
“Sorry? What was that?” Charlie asked. That had not been in English, she was sure of it.
“Voglio il mio raggio di sole! Stupido. L'ho già detto.”
Fuck.
If she couldn’t get him to speak English how was she gonna know what he was saying? She couldn’t google translate a language she didn’t know!
She picked up his chart hoping it would be written somewhere the language — languages? Yea languages, it was definitely two different ones she’d heard. — he could speak.
Double fuck.
Nowhere, maybe a place of birth?
Charlie sighed, not on this chart at least, and she did not have access the any other charts he might have.
“I want my sunshine.” Nico whined again, Charlie turned smirking at the fat pout on his lips, he may have looked like a tuff, icy, too-cool-for-school look. But deep down he was a whinny, baby, crying for his ‘sunshine.’ — whoever the fuck that was — and she certainly wouldn’t have been shaking in clogs
“Don’t laugh at me!”
“I didn’t!”
“You smirked at me. Same thing.”
Charlie rolled her eyes.
“It not.”
It was silent for a few minutes as Charlie flittered around the room.
Nico groaned.
“You ok?” she asked.
“I want my sunshine.”
Great back on this.
“I’ll get you your sunshine, if you would just tell me who — or what — that is.” Charlie groaned.
“He’s my sunshine, we’re going to get married next year.”
Ok so ‘sunshine’ was a person. Specifically a he.
A he that Nico was engaged to.
Charlie blinked, once. Twice. Three times.
Right.
That explained… everything.
Absolutely everything.
“A fiancé,” she repeated carefully. “Okay. That’s… good. That could actually be very helpful. Do you know his name?”
Nico pulled the blanket higher, suspicious eyes peeking out from the fabric like he was being interrogated.
“No.”
Charlie paused. “You don’t know your fiancé’s name.”
“I do…I just don’t feel like telling you.” He grinned.
“…Right.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose, breathing deeply.
“Okay. What about a phone number? I can call him? Or someone who can give me his contact or get in touch with him? Anyone who might know where your,” she gestured vaguely, “sunshine is?”
Nico went very still.
The room felt darker, like the shadows were tense and ready to attack. The hair on Charlie’s arms rose, the cold suddenly prickled her skin.
“No.” He said quietly. “No phones.”
Charlie frowned. “Why not?”
“Because they’ll come.”
“That’s… usually how calling someone works.” She raised an eyebrow.
Nico glared at her like she’d personally offended him, muttering something that sounded definitely not English but like idiot.
“If you call him, they’ll come. A-and I’m not there to protect him.”
The fear in Nicos eyes was enough to make Charlie want to throw all phones in their immediate vicinity out the window.
She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again, and opened it again.
Okay. So this wasn’t just post-anaesthetic confusion.
It was protective. fear-based.
She softened her tone a fraction.
“Alright. No phones,” she said. “We don’t have to do that.”
Nico’s shoulders loosened a millimetre, like he’d been holding his breath without realizing.
But then his expression crumpled again.
“Voglio solo lui,” he muttered, smaller this time — Charlie internally groaned, back on no English . “He said —“ Charlie perked up, English! English was good she knew English. “— he’d be here when I woke up. He promised.”
Charlie’s heart did that annoying professional thing where it stopped being purely professional. Although it had already done that ages ago for Nico.
“Hey,” she said gently, pulling a chair a little closer, “he’s probably on his way. You’re in recovery. It’s been a long surgery. And sometimes people are just… delayed.”
Nico shook his head immediately.
“No. Ha detto che l'avrebbe fatto, δεν αθετεί ποτέ μια υπόσχεση.”
The certainty in his voice made Charlie hesitate, dispite having no idea what he was saying.
“…Okay,” she said slowly. “What does he look like?”
That should help? Right? If he was here and lost she could find him?
Nico stared at the ceiling for a long moment, like the answer was written there and he just needed to remember how to read it.
“Warm.”
Charlie blinked. “Warm?”
“Like…” He swallowed. “Like standing in the sun, after being cold for a long time.”
That was… annoyingly poetic.
“And?” she prompted.
“Loud,” he added fondly. “Always talking. Always…” he paused,his smiled softening, “smiling, like it’s illegal not to.”
Charlie knew someone like that — she also used to love someone like that, but that was a story for another time.
“Can you tell me what he looks like?”
“Home.”
Charlie was so sick of this. Fuck, why did Lee have to go die?! She could have been hopelessly in love too. Probably married too. In a big house, with a big backyard. Big enough for Lee to teach there kids how to shoot arrows — Charlie! Don’t get distracted, you’ve got a to find. She reminded herself.
“Alright,” she sighed. “Anything else?”
“He’s like a better version of his dad. But don’t tell him I said that, either of the, actually.”
Charlie groaned she was getting nowhere.
“Hey Nico?”
“Mm?”
“I’m going to duck out real quick, see if I can find out who your ‘sunshine’ is.”
“Ok.”
“Press that green button if you need anything while im gone, ok?”
“Will do!” He giggled.
Charlie stepped out, letting out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding.
She flopped onto the desk chair, spinning around a few times before facing the monitor.
“Ok,” she looked down at Nicos chart. “Nico… Di.. Angelo.” She typed in, searching for him in the system.
One came up.
She clicked on the profile, Nicos scowling face came into view, but something softer… almost fond, rested in his eyes.
“Contacts,” she muttered, scrolling through. “Contacts.”
“Ah ha, there you are. Delphi strawberry service?! Why in the world would he have that? Hmm Chiron? That sounds like an old person name, maybe his dad?”
She shrugged, writing down the number, she rolled her chair over to the phone.
She was about to punch Chirons number in when the call button rung.
Charlie groaned, just when she was about to figure out this big ‘Sunshine’ mystery! She glanced up at the room needing assistance.
Nico.
Charlie dropped the phone, stuffing the phone number into her pocket.
“Hey Nico,” Charlie smiled softly, leaning against the door frame. “What do you need?”
“My Sunshine.”
Charlie held back a groan. “Anything else?”
“No.”
“So why’d you call the nurse button?”
“I wanted to.” He shrugged.
Charlie sighed. “Only press the button if you actually need something.”
“I do—“
“Other than your ‘Sunshine’! She interrupted.
Nico rolled his eyes, “fine.”
She watched as Nicos eyes lit up, a dopey smiling appearing on his face.
Charlie turned to see Doctor Solace — or Will — approaching.
“Hey doc? You need something?”
“No thank you Charlie, I’m off the clock now!” He grinned.
“Alright?”
He stoped beside her, “how much longer are you on?” He asked.
Charlie looked at her watch, calculating the time. “five and a half hours.”
“Oof, getting there.”
“Wouldn’t be able to do it if I didn’t love it.”
“True that.”
Nico whined from behind her,
“I’ll be there in a sec sweets.” Will said, he turned back to Charlie, “See you in two weeks,” he smiled, walking past her and into Nicos room.
Wait what?
Into Nicos room?
Charlie turned as Will approached Nicos bed, sitting down on the edge us Nico practically threw himself at Will.
“Whoa, careful Neeks. Don’t want to pull your stitches.”
“Willllll.” Nico whined.
“Nico, αν βγάλεις τα ράμματα, θα σε αφήσω να υποφέρεις και δεν θα σου τα θεραπεύσω.” Will scolded him, it sounded similar to one of the languages Nico had been speaking before.
“But Will, ci hai messo un’eternità ad arrivare. You said you be here when I woke up.”
“I know, I know. I’m sorry. I got held up in a surgery.”
Nico pouted.
“Come on lay down.
“Nooooo.” Nico whined,”Will!”
Charlie left, she’d let them have a moment.
She flopped back down at the monitor, closing Nicos profile. She’d known will she he’d interned, he reminded her of the Will Lee used to talk about, but they didn’t look like brothers, not really. They had the same eyes, that was it really. But hell, she had not guessed Will Solace, would be Nicos ‘Sunshine’, she saw why he was though.
***
The rest of Charlie’s shift went smoothly and well as fast as five hours could.
She went on one last round, to check on all the patients in the ward. Only one light was still on.
Nicos.
She crept into the room. She watched as Will held Nicos close — as he drooled on wills shoulder — threading his fingers through Nicos hair, before he noticed her.
“Hi.” She said quietly, careful not to wake Nico.
“Hey.”
“He doing ok?”
“Yeah, fell asleep about an hour ago.”
“You should get some sleep too.”
“Don’t worry about me.” Will smiled shifting Nico slightly.
“I’m not. I’m just worried that my favourite doctor is going to be too tired to occupy my new favourite patient.”
Will laughed softly.
“When I get back I want to know everything that he did.”
“Oh it was so funny. He’s adorable.”
Will hummed.
“Night doc.”
“Good night Charlie.”
Charlie turned to leave, stopping by the door and turning back.
“Hey uh actually, real quick before I go?”
“Mm?”
“What languages does he speak? I couldn’t figure it out.”
“Oh! Italian and Greek.”
“Which did you speak to him?”
“Greek, we grew up learning it.”
“That’s nice.”
And with that she left, her fifteen hour shift finally over.