the lives of others (v)
title the lives of others
pairings in no particular order: karim benzema/yoann gourcuff, xabi alonso/steven gerrard, sergio ramos/fernando torres, iker casillas/cesc fabregas, david villa/david silva, guti/raul, implied gonzalo higuain/fernando gago
rating r
word count 14,439 (and to think, i used to only write drabbles!)
summary the long awaited (kind of) hospital!au.
“Hey, are you okay?” Iker asked Cesc as they prepared to turn in for the night, not that either of them were planning on actually leaving the hospital. Cesc passed him a cup of coffee and nodded wearily.
“Just some family stuff, I’m fine.”
“Seriously? Because you can talk to me if you need to,” Iker pressed.
Cesc looked at him curiously. “Thanks. But I already went and spilled my guts for Thierry and I don’t really think I’m ready for round two,” he said, shrugging.
Iker felt his shoulders tense up. “Thierry, eh? That’s nice. Nice that you two have such a close relationship.”
Cesc rolled his eyes and put one hand on his hip, looking just as bratty as he felt in that moment. “Titi’s a great mentor, but I haven’t fucked him for years, if that’s what you’re worrying about.”
--
“I take it you two had a good weekend?” Stevie remarked to the two Davids as they strolled into the clinic, hand in hand.
“Mmm. It’s always a good weekend when you get engaged,” Silva chirped happily. Stevie grinned.
“Well congratulations! It’s about time, what’s it, six years?” Villa nodded. “Damn, Iker won the betting pool.”
“Betting pool? Care to expand?” Villa asked, eyes narrowing dangerously.
“Woah, ease up there,” Stevie said, throwing his hands in the air dramatically. “It was just on how long you two would be together before getting hitched, nothing sinister, promise.”
Silva laughed, and Villa’s face relaxed a little. “Well then. Perhaps we should just congratulate Iker, then.”
“You can do that later, he’s got a patient in critical condition and it’s all hands on deck.” Stevie nodded in a sad sort of way. “Ramos is operating and Yoann is off for today so can you two handle the clinic by yourselves?”
--
“Shit, paddles, now,” Sergio grunted, withdrawing the clamps he was holding from the chest cavity and taking the tongs Karim thrust into his hands. “Clear? Clear!”
The jolt of electricity reverberated through his arms and he bit his lip, sweat beading on his forehead. “Again. Clear!”
The monitor was still flatlining.
--
“I’m sorry if I offended you earlier, Cesc,” Iker said, desperate to break the awkward silence that had settled over them, sitting in the hallway outside of Maria’s room. Raul and Guti were inside, keeping vigil by their daughter’s bed.
Cesc shook his head. “It wasn’t your fault, I’m just. Really, really stressed right now, and people have given me shit about Thierry in the past so I just jumped to conclusions. It’s fine.”
“What happened that’s making you so stressed?”
“This,” Cesc gestured loosely towards Maria’s room. Iker nodded. “My sister, also, she, uh. She got into a car accident, she’s in intensive care. I just found out and I was really shaken up this morning.”
Iker slipped his arm around Cesc’s shoulders and drew him against his body. Cesc let his head drop to Iker’s shoulder and it felt just as good as when Titi held him.
--
“Are you okay?”
The sight of Sergio tearing down the hallway, ripping off a pair of latex gloves and still wearing his operating scrubs was enough to make Fernando feel a little panicky. The fact that Sergio either ignored him or didn’t hear him made things even worse. Fernando grabbed Karim’s elbow as the nurse trudged by.
“Is he okay? What just happened?”
Karim blinked dolefully a few times. “We lost the patient. Xabi says Sergio no has lost patient for five months, yes? So he is upset.”
“Shit. Thanks, Karim,” Fernando said, releasing the Frenchman’s elbow and racing down the hallway after Sergio.
--
“So.”
Karim looked up from his employee locker, where he was busy pulling on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, eager to be out of his surgery scrubs. He wanted to just wash himself clean of the past few days, go back to the way things were when he first started working here, before he was losing patients in the OR and Yoann was merely being insensitive, not actively fucking with his heart.
“So?” Karim arched an eyebrow and waited.
“So, I’m not drunk, I’m not hungover, and I will argue with you to kingdom come, but I’m still pretty damn positive I love you, and according to Xabi, you love me too, so I don’t think I’ll need to argue too much,” Yoann said, all in a rush. Karim pursed his lips.
“According to Xabi?”
“Yeah, Xabi. Xabi, dating Stevie? Xabi, everyone’s counselor? Xabi, your friend? You were giving me pretty mixed signals yesterday morning and he kind of caught me being confused at Fernando in the break room and set me straight,” Yoann offered by way of explanation.
“Well, if Xabi says it, it must be true,” Karim mumbled, just the slightest bit mocking.
“Are you saying he’s wrong?”
It was the flash of worry that appeared on Yoann’s face that made Karim’s defenses crumble. “He’s not wrong.”
“Well, then.”
Before Karim could respond, or ask Yoann to finish whatever sentence he’d stated, he was being crowded against the locker, the metal cool against his back, and he was finally, finally kissing Yoann.
--
Iker only woke up because Cesc was shaking him.
The nap they’d shared on the bench in the hallway was the most sleep Iker had had all week, and he was loathe to wake up, blinking sleep out of his eyes and groaning as he heaved himself into a more upright position. Cesc’s face was swimming in and out of focus, and a panicked stream of Catalan was assaulting his ears.
“Cesc, Cesc, Spanish, please,” Iker moaned. Cesc switched dialects rapidly.
“She’s gone, Iker. Gone.”
Iker looked up, suddenly fully awake. Raul and Guti were clinging to each other by the door of their daughter’s room, and a sheet had been pulled over the small figure on the bed. The monitor was silent.
“Gone,” Cesc said again, and his voice was strangled, trapped in his chest, hollow.
--
“Are you okay, Sergio?” Fernando’s voice bounced off of the tile in the bathroom, sounding ten times louder than it actually was.
Sergio turned around from where he’d had his hands braced against the sink. His hair was a mess and his eyes were red, from crying, Fernando figured. He was still wearing his scrubs.
“I hate it. I hate this job sometimes. I hate that it feels like my fault, every time, like every time, if I’d done something differently, if I’d just worked a little faster, it wouldn’t have happened,” he said, his voice low and close to breaking. Fernando stepped closer to him and pulled the surgeon into his arms, petting comfortingly at the hair curling at the nape of Sergio’s neck.
“But you save so many people,” Fernando whispered.
“Yeah. But sometimes I don’t remember them, you know? I remember all the ones I’ve lost. The first one, this older guy who had a heart attack. His daughter was waiting outside the room and I had to tell her, and I just couldn’t, God.” Sergio was crying again. “I see her face, every time.”
“The lives you save are just as important as the lives you lose.”
--
epilogue
pairings in no particular order: karim benzema/yoann gourcuff, xabi alonso/steven gerrard, sergio ramos/fernando torres, iker casillas/cesc fabregas, david villa/david silva, guti/raul, implied gonzalo higuain/fernando gago
rating r
word count 14,439 (and to think, i used to only write drabbles!)
summary the long awaited (kind of) hospital!au.
“Hey, are you okay?” Iker asked Cesc as they prepared to turn in for the night, not that either of them were planning on actually leaving the hospital. Cesc passed him a cup of coffee and nodded wearily.
“Just some family stuff, I’m fine.”
“Seriously? Because you can talk to me if you need to,” Iker pressed.
Cesc looked at him curiously. “Thanks. But I already went and spilled my guts for Thierry and I don’t really think I’m ready for round two,” he said, shrugging.
Iker felt his shoulders tense up. “Thierry, eh? That’s nice. Nice that you two have such a close relationship.”
Cesc rolled his eyes and put one hand on his hip, looking just as bratty as he felt in that moment. “Titi’s a great mentor, but I haven’t fucked him for years, if that’s what you’re worrying about.”
--
“I take it you two had a good weekend?” Stevie remarked to the two Davids as they strolled into the clinic, hand in hand.
“Mmm. It’s always a good weekend when you get engaged,” Silva chirped happily. Stevie grinned.
“Well congratulations! It’s about time, what’s it, six years?” Villa nodded. “Damn, Iker won the betting pool.”
“Betting pool? Care to expand?” Villa asked, eyes narrowing dangerously.
“Woah, ease up there,” Stevie said, throwing his hands in the air dramatically. “It was just on how long you two would be together before getting hitched, nothing sinister, promise.”
Silva laughed, and Villa’s face relaxed a little. “Well then. Perhaps we should just congratulate Iker, then.”
“You can do that later, he’s got a patient in critical condition and it’s all hands on deck.” Stevie nodded in a sad sort of way. “Ramos is operating and Yoann is off for today so can you two handle the clinic by yourselves?”
--
“Shit, paddles, now,” Sergio grunted, withdrawing the clamps he was holding from the chest cavity and taking the tongs Karim thrust into his hands. “Clear? Clear!”
The jolt of electricity reverberated through his arms and he bit his lip, sweat beading on his forehead. “Again. Clear!”
The monitor was still flatlining.
--
“I’m sorry if I offended you earlier, Cesc,” Iker said, desperate to break the awkward silence that had settled over them, sitting in the hallway outside of Maria’s room. Raul and Guti were inside, keeping vigil by their daughter’s bed.
Cesc shook his head. “It wasn’t your fault, I’m just. Really, really stressed right now, and people have given me shit about Thierry in the past so I just jumped to conclusions. It’s fine.”
“What happened that’s making you so stressed?”
“This,” Cesc gestured loosely towards Maria’s room. Iker nodded. “My sister, also, she, uh. She got into a car accident, she’s in intensive care. I just found out and I was really shaken up this morning.”
Iker slipped his arm around Cesc’s shoulders and drew him against his body. Cesc let his head drop to Iker’s shoulder and it felt just as good as when Titi held him.
--
“Are you okay?”
The sight of Sergio tearing down the hallway, ripping off a pair of latex gloves and still wearing his operating scrubs was enough to make Fernando feel a little panicky. The fact that Sergio either ignored him or didn’t hear him made things even worse. Fernando grabbed Karim’s elbow as the nurse trudged by.
“Is he okay? What just happened?”
Karim blinked dolefully a few times. “We lost the patient. Xabi says Sergio no has lost patient for five months, yes? So he is upset.”
“Shit. Thanks, Karim,” Fernando said, releasing the Frenchman’s elbow and racing down the hallway after Sergio.
--
“So.”
Karim looked up from his employee locker, where he was busy pulling on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, eager to be out of his surgery scrubs. He wanted to just wash himself clean of the past few days, go back to the way things were when he first started working here, before he was losing patients in the OR and Yoann was merely being insensitive, not actively fucking with his heart.
“So?” Karim arched an eyebrow and waited.
“So, I’m not drunk, I’m not hungover, and I will argue with you to kingdom come, but I’m still pretty damn positive I love you, and according to Xabi, you love me too, so I don’t think I’ll need to argue too much,” Yoann said, all in a rush. Karim pursed his lips.
“According to Xabi?”
“Yeah, Xabi. Xabi, dating Stevie? Xabi, everyone’s counselor? Xabi, your friend? You were giving me pretty mixed signals yesterday morning and he kind of caught me being confused at Fernando in the break room and set me straight,” Yoann offered by way of explanation.
“Well, if Xabi says it, it must be true,” Karim mumbled, just the slightest bit mocking.
“Are you saying he’s wrong?”
It was the flash of worry that appeared on Yoann’s face that made Karim’s defenses crumble. “He’s not wrong.”
“Well, then.”
Before Karim could respond, or ask Yoann to finish whatever sentence he’d stated, he was being crowded against the locker, the metal cool against his back, and he was finally, finally kissing Yoann.
--
Iker only woke up because Cesc was shaking him.
The nap they’d shared on the bench in the hallway was the most sleep Iker had had all week, and he was loathe to wake up, blinking sleep out of his eyes and groaning as he heaved himself into a more upright position. Cesc’s face was swimming in and out of focus, and a panicked stream of Catalan was assaulting his ears.
“Cesc, Cesc, Spanish, please,” Iker moaned. Cesc switched dialects rapidly.
“She’s gone, Iker. Gone.”
Iker looked up, suddenly fully awake. Raul and Guti were clinging to each other by the door of their daughter’s room, and a sheet had been pulled over the small figure on the bed. The monitor was silent.
“Gone,” Cesc said again, and his voice was strangled, trapped in his chest, hollow.
--
“Are you okay, Sergio?” Fernando’s voice bounced off of the tile in the bathroom, sounding ten times louder than it actually was.
Sergio turned around from where he’d had his hands braced against the sink. His hair was a mess and his eyes were red, from crying, Fernando figured. He was still wearing his scrubs.
“I hate it. I hate this job sometimes. I hate that it feels like my fault, every time, like every time, if I’d done something differently, if I’d just worked a little faster, it wouldn’t have happened,” he said, his voice low and close to breaking. Fernando stepped closer to him and pulled the surgeon into his arms, petting comfortingly at the hair curling at the nape of Sergio’s neck.
“But you save so many people,” Fernando whispered.
“Yeah. But sometimes I don’t remember them, you know? I remember all the ones I’ve lost. The first one, this older guy who had a heart attack. His daughter was waiting outside the room and I had to tell her, and I just couldn’t, God.” Sergio was crying again. “I see her face, every time.”
“The lives you save are just as important as the lives you lose.”
--
epilogue