S C H M I C O || A collection of short stories

Breathe

"There was nothing that we could have done to save her," Link muttered, breaking the silence of the room. Nico didn't reply; in fact, he didn't even move. He was off in his own world, his mind having been consumed with raving thoughts.

It was another few moments before Nico let out a stiff sigh, sitting himself back in the chair. Link watched on, brow raised as Nico kept fidgeting in his seat, unable to keep himself still. He had never seen his friend in such a state as this- it was unnerving.

"Nico, you alright?" Link asked, cautiously pushing himself up from the chair he was sat in. He took a couple of timid steps towards Nico across the room, a feeling of worry growing deep in the pit of his stomach. Nico was chewing on his bottom lip, his eyes glassy as his fingers tapped against his knee. Eventually, Link knelt down by the side of Nico's chair, gently resting his hand on Nico's shoulder, which snapped him back into reality. The mere touch of Link's hand had made Nico physically startle, his breathing suddenly becoming erratic and labored. "Woah, hey, it's just me."

"She- She, we couldn't- Is she dead?" Nico held his hand against his chest, struggling to find the words. Link furrowed his brows, distressed to see Nico take an abrupt turn for the worse. Link kept his hand on Nico's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze as he pursed his lips together, nodding his head slowly. The news that he had lost a patient sent him right over the edge. "Oh my God, It's all my fault!"

Link took a deep breath in as he watched Nico fall apart, unable to take a breath to calm himself. Link could see the absolute panic that just took over Nico's whole being, preventing him from doing anything to help himself. "Nico, it wasn't your fault! You couldn't have done anything to stop this, the infection took over too quickly!"

"She- She was so young, I-I messed up, Link I- I don't know what's happening," Nico turned his head to look at Link who was knelt beside him, the look in his eyes that of pure fear and panic. Link removed his hand from Nico's shoulder so he could reach into the pockets of his scrubs, digging out his phone. "I can't breathe, It- It hurts!"

"It's alright, just keep breathing as best as you can. I'm going to get you some help, alright?" Link didn't really understand what was happening to Nico, as he was never like this. The fact he hadn't slept or eaten properly in days only contributed to his unstableness. He stood from where he was knelt and unlocked his phone, tapping on the screen a few times before raising the phone to his ear.

-

Levi was just finishing up dressing a wound on an eight-year-old, who'd fallen from his bike and gotten a pretty nasty laceration above his eyebrow. Just as he finished patching him up, his phone buzzed in his lab coat pocket, alerting him that someone was trying to reach him. Taryn was with him, assisting him whenever he needed it. Levi was unable to reach his phone so signaled for Taryn to reach in and grab it.

Helm took Levi's phone from his pocket and answered it, excusing herself to the corner of the room, turning her back to Levi and the patient as she answered it. After making sure everything was correctly in place, Levi peeled his gloves from his hands, disposing of them before turning back to the young boy. His father was standing on the opposite side of his bed, leaning down a little to try and get a better view of his son's injury.

"There you go, you should be fine! Don't go getting it wet or dirty yet, and in a few days you should be able to-" Levi was about to instruct the father on how to care for the wound when Helm turned and interrupted him, her tone urgent.

"It's Nico." That was all Taryn needed to say to get Levi's attention, both her tone and her expression letting Levi know that it was urgent and he needed to leave now. He gave her a single nod as he turned back to his patient, replacing his frown with a fake smile, keeping his professional side up until he could leave.