I wrote this while being in another country and having no acces to a single english corrector. I like to surprise the people that read my stuff so, enjoy.
The original thread: https://twitter.com/spicyexsistance/status/1644440761805467654?s=20
It was a quiet night. /Was/. More than usual. Izzy didn't do night shifts anymore now that he was associated with Dr. Bonnet but he needed a couple of extra bucks so he decided to make some extra hours.
He didn't mind working, he loved his work as a nurse.
He walked the corridors of the silent hospital nursing coffee. Nodding to some of his companions who didn't dare speak to him on the best of days.
Nothing like the white tiles of floor reflecting the lights tracing a path with darkened corners to reflect the peacefulness of the night . But peace doesn't last, at least not enough for Izzy's taste.
A man on a stretcher accompanied by a policeman burst through the front door. Izzy snaps, leaves the coffee on a counter an jumps into action.
He gets on the man's side and stars giving orders.
“ What happened? What's the situation?” He asked to the policeman.
“ I- I don't know. ” poor kid seemed to be a rookie on his first patrol. “ I was just, I was doing some standard search and he just, he fainted. I'm sorry, It just happened so fast. ”
“ Don't be sorry, just awnser me.” Izzy placed his fingers on the man's hot skin finding his steady pulse. “ Did he look confused? Did you see him falter or stumble a little or something? ”
“ N-No, he was just- fine and suddenly he wasn't ” The agent looked like he was about to faint and Izzy didn't need another patient today.
“ Alright. ” Izzy placed a band on the man's arm to take his blood pressure feels his muscles tense while the policeman
continues rambling about something.
“ I swear I didn't do anything — ” and Izzy had to stop him there.
“ I'll take it from here, go home or get some rest. ” The policeman didn't question his orders as Izzy led the man into a room with more privacy.
Clearly the policeman didn't know that this was not standard hospital procedure. Izzy pressed a hand to his temples, it's not the first time he's seen this modus operandi. He steps closer really watching the man.
He's got brownish skin, a beautiful curly dark short hair and the beginnings of a beard, practically just stubble. He's around Izzy's age. Maybe that's the thing that really angers Izzy, for some reason. But Izzy's lived enough to stop from asking himself the big question: why.
He takes off the band on his toned bicep and:
“ You can stop pretending now. ” Izzy waits but the man doesn't even stirr. Alright if that's the game he wanted to play... He steps away. “ Alright, I'll need a 4 inches tube to perform an anal- ”
“ ¡Oh gosh miracle!” The man suddenly rose. Izzy crossed his arms at his chest with his best sour face. No one in their right mind would continue to speak at him in normal circumstances and yet...
“ Oh, how did I get here? I was at home and then... thank you for saving me, but I'm already fine. ”
“ Oh, I'm afraid I can't do that mister...?”
“ Mister Teach, It's my job to make sure you're okay, run some tests... Maybe it's something serious. ” Izzy forced a tight fake smile.
The man - Mr Teach, if that was his real name - looked at him with a glint in his eyes.
If Izzy knew better he would've thought he was checking him out.
“ Well, If you insist... ” Mr. Teach licked his velvet lips. “ Y'know I think I felt some pain in here before I fainted maybe you should- check. Maybe it's a tumour or some shit”
The man moved his hand from the bed to his chest. Just in the middle of his pectoral.
“ What do you think, Mr nurse. ” He tilted his head exposing the skin of his neck. In his tight purple shirt there was little left to imagination.
“ Oh for fucks-... I know you were faking it. ” Izzy tried to stop the red flush off his face, growling at the man. “ I don't give a fuck what happened with you and the police but don't go wasting my time with this shit. You're perfectly fine. ”
“ Okay, you got me there mate. ” He replied still with a playful look on his eyes. “ Still I think you should check at-...”
“ Yeah? You want me to check on what's your friend's opinion on that? ” Izzy pointed to the door refering to the police officer.
“ Oh, you're into that? I wasn't planning on a threesom- ”
“ I'm giving you a chance to fucking leave without being handcuffed, just take it before I ran out of patience. ” Izzy stopped him before he could stick his leg deeper into that mud.
“ Alright, alright, no need to get aggressive. Uh... I'll just.” He hopped off the bed and walked to the door. Izzy stopped him there. In his hands he held a bin.
“ If you got anything on you throw it or I will register you myself and I won't be nice about it. ”
“ Oh, don't threaten me with a good time. ” Mr Teach replied, bold but whatever he found in Izzy's face made him drop his mask immediately. “ C'mon Izzy, don't make me do this, man. ”
The man reached into his pants, dropped two bags of some kind of stuff. Nothing good probably.
“ That's all I got. ” The man's words were sincere, he was defeated. More resigned than sad. That would be enough then.
“ You can go now. ” Izzy commanded.
Mr Teach spares Izzy another look, a mix of emotions glued together. Like a kid who's just been caught doing something wrong but with something else Izzy couldn't decipher. He's not good at emotions. And then he flees.
He got rid of the bin making sure no one saw it and then dismissed the police officer. It's not the first time Izzy's dealt with some poor bloke in trouble. He knows what the hospital thinks about free healthcare or lying to the authorities but fuck them.
It's not like Izzy was something bad by saving those kids some trouble. Most of the white guys who made those rules had the money and the contacts to get into this job and live a fullfiling life. They didn't have to fight for a meal or a warm place to stay.
They don't understand what its like. So fuck them, they're not smart enough to realise what Izzy's been doing for about five years or so. If he's lucky enough he won't have to attend Mr. Teach for an overdose in a couple of nights.
Maybe he'll never see him again that black haired man.
Izzy did in fact meet the man again. Another night shift, twelve o'clock a coffee in his hands keeping him awake. The man who crosses the automatic doors is wearing a black leather jacket and a hooded green sweatshirt
covering all his features. Something about the way he walked (unsure and shy but gaining confidence as he walked) towards him felt familiar.
“ Hey mate, ” The voice was too characteristic for Izzy to forget. Deep, rumbling and robust.
Warm and safe. Like a wooden shelter in the middle of the forest or coming home after a long winter night.
“ I felt horrible last night and I thought after fainting that couldn't be good so... Y'know what they said.”
“ You didn't faint, Mr Teach. ” Izzy raised an eyebrow, this man couldn't be serious. He saw the facade falter a bit but the man kept pushing.
“ Well it felt like that.” He shrugged. “ I - I read that might be some serious stuff, cancer and all that shit. I'm not the expert ”
“ And you believe everything that Google says? ”
“ Thought you couldn't refuse to attend your clients. It's in your code n' shit. ” The man grinned and Izzy knew he couldn't get out of this.
He got him there. Izzy took a deep breath.
“ Follow me. ” He left the coffee and guided Mr Teach to some of the emergency rooms. The man followed him with a weird excitement. “ On the bed, take off your jacket and hoodie. ”
“Well, well, well. You're not even going to ask my name? ” The man hopped to the bed laying on his side mocking the sexy pose. Izzy without reacting pushed him onto his back.
“ Alright, I'll go first, the name's Edward, Edward Teach born on a beach. ” He chanted while Izzy worked on taking his blood pressure. Trying not to be distracted by the tattoos decorating the other man's entire arm.
“ Izzy or Mr Hands, nurse Hands as far as you're concerned. ” He hissed dangerously while ripping the band of the blood pressure monitor.
“ Ow, kinky...” The man kept that dumb smile on his face, so perfect that Izzy had to turn around before punching that smug face.
“ Hold this for me. ” Izzy turned to place the thermometer on his armpit, at least he followed that order.
“ Thought nurses were supposed to be sweet and careful. ”
Edward kept teasing, enough to make Izzy want to crawl off his skin or slap him. Maybe both.
“ You want a lollipop after this? Will that make you feel better?”
That fake smile was back in Izzy's face offering zero to none kindness and some shy red filling his face (obviously from the anger?). Izzy's harsh and abrasive he knows that, that's why he's not in pediatrics.
“ Maybe. ” He shrugged Izzy's claws away and answered with a playful smile. The way those deep brown eyes stared back at him, with a glint of something made Izzy realise two things: that this man enjoyed this sick game and that Edward Teach was beautiful.
Whatever words Izzy wanted to say got stuck in his throat. The thermometer counter ended. Izzy took the device in his hands and said:
“ And... You're fine. Temperature's good, blood pressure good. You're perfectly fine. ” Izzy announced in his I-told-you-so voice.
“ You sure, Mr. Hands? I feel so...hot.” Edward covered his eyes with one arm and the other running down his torso uncovering part of his stomach and the tentacle tattoo that wrapped his side and trailed lower and lower and... Maybe Izzy should stop looking.
He covered his chest with his arms protectively as if that would cover the red on his cheeks.
“ I-It's what the thermometer says. ” That's the only excuse he can find.
“ Sometimes those things fail. ” This is the moment were Izzy's done.
He pushes the arm out of his eyes finding those brown irises looking at him. Izzy places his hand on Edwards forehead, places his other hand on his heart feeling the rise and fall of his chest. It's a quiet moment. Edward trusts him enough to close his eyes.
The other man's skin is soft under Izzy's callused hands, warm but not warm enough to be abnormally hot. It's the pleasant kind of warm. He slides his fingers down Edward's face, finding his cheek and his eyes land on his wanting parted lips. Waiting to be kissed.
And Izzy expects the kiss too but instead he slaps softly his cheek.
That seems to wake up the man. This isn't a movie and Izzy is sure as hell he's not the main character.
“ Hey! ” he sits up faster than Izzy expected. Fire on his eyes, ready to fight back Izzy's harshness.
Edwards stomach growls instead.
That seems to cut the fire. The man stays there looking at the bed... A different light on his eyes, he's embarrassed, he's trusting Izzy. Making himself vulnerable to the nurse. Izzy could easily break it.
He doesn't want to see this look on the man again.
“ I'll get you something to eat. ”
Izzy scrambles out of the room, he can still feel Edward's eyes looking at him as if he was a person worth knowing. He gets his (now cold) coffee back into his hands and quickly assembles what's the most bland and horrible meal he's ever seen.
Izzy almost feels ashamed to consume this stuff daily.
The door seems to startle Edward. He's back from wherever his mind had gone. At the plate he smiles, big, it even reaches his eyes.
“ So it's a date now. ” He rubs his hands together and crosses his legs on the bed.
“ It's just some cold turkey sandwich and some jelly. ” And also was Izzy's dinner. He shoves the plate to Edward's hands unceremoniously and finds a chair to drink his coffee in peace.
“ Still on my top five dates of all time. ” Honestly, Izzy doesn't want to think how horrible the other dates may have been. “ It's my favourite! ”
He moves the plate and the jello wobbles.
“ Have you ever wondered what jello is made of? ” the man inspected the sandwich like it was going to kill him.
“ It's made out of collagen and sugar. ” Izzy tried to sound annoyed.
“ Yuck... Thought it would be something cooler, like magic.”
Izzy squints at Edward as he makes the jello dance on his plate like a child.
“ Just fucking eat it, stop playing with it. ” Izzy snaps, always prone to anger.
“ Nope, jello it's a dessert, first the sandwich.” Izzy looks at him, almost expectantly as he unwraps the cold plain food. He takes a bite and bursts laughing. “ God... It's fucking horrible. ”
“ Then don't fucking eat it. ” Edward just keeps laughing. “ That's it, give me the damm thing.”
“ Nope, it's my sandwich!” Edward complains and before Izzy can snap back and try to reclaim the damm sandwich he adds.
“ Don't get mad, okay? It's fine, it's good it's just... Thank you. For the jelly and the other day. ”
“ Nothin' ” Izzy mutters into his coffee.
Against all the odds, after that it becomes sort of a ritual. Edward doesn't come all days, no, there's days Izzy waits expectantly but the man doesn't show up. However Edward always finds a way to come back to Izzy.
More importantly, always finds excuses to get Izzy's attention and hands on his body. Usually it's just an innocent touch like a hand on his forehead. If Izzy's hand slips and runs his fingers on his hair one else needs to know. The man's magnetic and Izzy's weak.
After the standard procedures usually Izzy brings whatever he can sneak away from the hospital's kitchen and pretends to be annoyed about whatever idea passes in Edward's head. And he's gotta give it to him, he's a genius. A waste of potential.
Probably cast away by the scholar system from a young age. Ironically more common than you think. Edward's brain jumps from idea to idea you just had to understand his line of thinking.
Something Izzy's recently discovered is that they've got more in common that one could see.
Eventually this will end, the unknown is when. Life it's just like that, the turns and twists it makes. You can't outrun fate. Over the years Izzy has learned not to fight it because life will always take what it wants no matter how hard you grip that little thing
you want to keep. Some part of Edward Teach will always live in his memory. In the stolen moments Izzy decides to silently keep. Something not even life can stole from you. The phrasing is bleak but that's the reality they live in.
Edward's a drug dealer and Izzy a nurse, he can't protect him from himself even if he wants to.
“ Iz, I've got a surprise for you. ” One night Edward says.
“ A real wound or something I can actually treat? ” Izzy guesses but he can't be so far from the reality.
“ Cold. Very cold. ” Edward smiles teasing Izzy and gets his hands inside his leather jacket. He turns around and starts working with something. Izzy pretends to ignore the movement of his hands.
“ Get to the point. ” Always the romantic.
He turns, a wide smile fixed on his face lightning all his features. Edwards hands hide whatever he's so excited to show behind his back. By the look on his face this little battle it's not over.
There's this times where he understands Edward, he can predict his moves but there's others were he just:
“ Say the word. ” He says, a light tone half laughing.
“ 'm not gonna say it. ” Izzy crosses his arms and leans back on his chair.
“ C'mon Izzy, say it...” he tries again but the plea is met with a look of disbelief from the nurse. Nothing out of character.
“ No. ” He says even if his will is starting to crumble. Doesn't take much from Edward to melt the ice on Izzy's heart.
“ C'mon Iz. ” He insists leaning too close to Izzy. His mind automatically supplies that this is a dangerous position with Edwards lips merely inches away. “ Don't you want to know what's behind my back? ”
“ You want to give me a gift without giving me the gift? ” See here's the part where Izzy tries to resist but Edward always makes him move at his will. Like hands molding clay.
“ A shame, more gift for me. ” He shrugged and started to pull away. Letting the air fill the space where Edward's lips were. Izzy feels like something is missing the moment Edward retreats.
Instead of dwelling on the feeling he sighs defeated. “ Pretty please Eddie. ”
“ That's my good boy, see? It's not difficult to be nice.” Before Izzy could jump at him he pulls his hands out of his back. “ Ta-da!”
Proudly he shows Izzy a little yellow thing. It's a cake, his mind supplies. It's a tiny cake, yellow cover and well cook crust with a candle in the middle. The candle it's way to big to be on that tiny cake.
“ That's all? ” Izzy asks and kicks himself for the careless question later.
“ Yep. ” Edward remarks the 'p' still proud of the little thing. “ Happy tenth date anniversary. ”
Izzy looks at the pastry ( too tiny to fit in the definition of cake) as if the sweet just mocked him. The silence stretches form some seconds. He doesn't realise Edward's watching him closely. He didn't realise this all started weeks ago, ten days of attending this man.
Time has a funny way to make dates feel so close and at the same time so far away.
“ Ya' don't like it? ” His eyes snap up seeing Edward's shy gaze look away packed with doubt.
“ I don't like sweets. ” That's a lie and Izzy intends to keep that little detail private, thank you.
“ I know that, that's why it's a mini lemon pie.” He pushes the pie closer to Izzy's face. “ See? It's just like you, tinny and biter. ”
Izzy just rolls his eyes to the side, his face feels too warm not exactly from fever. Tugs at Edward's hoodie and drags him bluntly out of the room without a single word. Edward doesn't fight him. He tries to follow his steps without dropping the cake.
“ Hey, hey,” he finally asks when Izzy lets himself stops to open the door to the stairs. “ Where are you taking me? ”
There's no panic in his words. Sometimes Edward likes to play it cool, ten days are not enough to build that kind of trust.
“ I'm guessing you'll want to light the candle I'm taking somewhere you don't make the fire alarms go crazy. ”
They end up in the roof of the hospital. The cold air is welcomed. It's not like they had another choice. From the top of the hospital you could see the vast city.
All lit up, a center with a white halo of light that faded into orange lots and then the darkness. The roads made the central system of the city cutting and splitting the houses and flats. Most of the windows gone cold, black. From the hospital near the heart of the city.
It's not quiet because in a city like this it's never quiet but close enough. It's just a distant buzzing of some cars. From up here the city seemed untouchable. Small.
Izzy felt revitalised. Edward walked and sat on the edge of the roof like a dumb teenager trying to feel some adrenaline. Izzy's never been one of those, he might as well try. No one will look up here.
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