Through A Child's Eyes (3/3)
TITLE: Through A Child's Eyes
AUTHOR: redblonde7
RECIPIENT: maiyeng
GENRE: Romance/Fluff/Humour
PAIRING(S): USUK
RATINGS/WARNINGS: 12, warnings for medical illnesses, procedures etc. Mentions of cancer and children with cancer as well as child protection issues. Nothing explicit though.
SUMMARY: Prompt was Doctor!Alfred x Nurse!Arthur. In this Arthur has a bad day and his and Alfred's date turns out a little bit differently than expected.
NOTES: Thanks to edelweiss123 for betaing this for me. flowing_rein couldn't do it due to me sending her this chapter very late so I'm really sorry for that. Medical notes and Hetalia notes at the end. Hope you liked your Secret Santa fic maiyeng!
Part 1
Part 2
Having organised a date for Alfred on Christmas Eve, Arthur was understandably disappointed when Tino rang him up on the twenty-third and asked him to work the next day as Feliks had contracted gastroenteritis from somewhere. He 'umm'-ed and 'ahh'-ed on the phone until Tino asked if he could work a short day instead. Not exactly how Arthur wanted the day to go but at least he would be out of the hospital by three.
"What happened?" Arthur asked in shock as he stared at the board when he arrived for the morning handover. There was a name for every single bed on the board.
"Winter happened," Yao answered as he came into the staffroom, picked up a patient folder and walked straight out.
"Damn." Arthur looked at the board again. Raivis was still here but was in cubicle two, nicknamed the blue cubicle, because it was the only one with positive pressure, perfect for children with diseases or treatments that suppressed the immune system. It was there mostly for oncology patients like Mei Xiao and the only reason Raivis would go in there would be if he was oncology too.
He also recognised Wendy Thompson in cubicle one and Felix Mugel, another regular with ALL, in cubicle three. There seemed to be three surgical cases but Arthur knew that, while it was quite common for children to come in for day surgery, it was not always true. Elizabeta walked into the staffroom and, like Arthur, she stopped short at the sight of the board.
"I am not looking forward to this day," Elizabeta said flatly as she retrieved a handover sheet and started to copy the names down. "Do you think it's as bad as it looks?" Yao bustled in, followed by Tino, and heard the tail end of what Elizabeta was saying.
"It's worse. We couldn't even think about breaks until about three in the morning. It's been horrid," Yao said, putting the patient files he was holding to one side before getting the handover book. "Ready?" Arthur felt a rush of gladness that Emma was coming to do the late shift, it seemed to be the only way that he would actually leave here on time. He had left Alfred a message that he was working an early but there had not been any reply.
"As I'll ever be," Arthur replied and he heard Elizabeta sigh next to him. It was going to be a long day.
At eleven o-clock, when the kettle was normally put on and everyone could grab at least one cup of tea, the staffroom was deserted. The drugs bay, however, was full.
"Well this morning has been hellish," Arthur said as soon as the door slammed behind him. Elizabeta and Tino were already in there, drawing up medications for their separate patients. "How have yours been?"
"Not much better," Tino replied with an unusually grim look to his face. "Raivis' parents, even though they are giving up parental responsibility, are understandably upset by their son's diagnosis of cancer. His foster father, Ivan, doesn't seem to quite understand how serious Raivis' diagnosis is. He's worried but thinks that Raivis will be fine after undergoing treatment and I want to tell him that Raivis' prognosis is not good, but at the same time, that's the last thing I want to do. And Raivis does not seem to be dealing well with it, I've talked to CAMHS about it and they're going to come and see him. The only thing that seems to cheer him up are mentions of his brothers, Toris and Eduard, but they're in a different country at the moment and getting them in touch with them is very difficult. And I think that Ivan and his parents are not trying all too hard. And social services is involved so everyone has to be documented at least three times. Felix, on the other hand, is much the same as ever and keeps trying to escape to the playroom." After this rant, Tino took a deep breath and went back to checking the BNF.
"That's nothing. I have two surgical patients, nice and easy, then Mi-ran, the paracetamol overdose, is shoved in between them, which is the last place she wants to be, I'm sure. And, when Yong Soo came up here to collect one of the surgical patients, turns out that Mi-ran is his actual biological sister who has not seen for years, due to their foster father cutting off all contact between them after Yong Soo left. That was a very awkward conversation. And then there's Ferdinand, who is in for exacerbation of asthma, and is wheezing along, even as he stays on oxygen and hourly nebulisers," Elizabeta said, sounding exhausted even though it was only mid-morning.
Arthur listened to the two of them, knowing that sometimes you needed to do that, behind locked doors with other people that worked on the ward, who knew names and the exact situation that was happening, without worrying about them judging you, or breaking patient confidentiality.
"Alright, you two win. Your mornings have definitely been worse than mine. All I've had to deal with have been several bronchiolitis babies and a very bouncy Elvan, who is seeing his father today, which he is absolutely delighted with," Arthur said and watched in relief as both Elizabeta and Tino smiled. "After I've given this inhaler, I'll put the kettle on." Elizabeta smiled gratefully.
"Thanks Arthur. I'll try and get in there before it gets cold again," Tino said, looking slightly brighter now and checked Arthur's drugs with a more cheerful, normal look on his face. Despite this, Arthur could not wait for the day to end.
At three thirty, Arthur finally managed to escape the ward, and Alfred had apparently contacted him while he was on the ward. With a smile on his face, Arthur started to ring Alfred on his mobile as he left the hospital and started to walk to his car.
"Hey Arthur! I'm glad you got my message. Did you just finish or something?" Alfred answered and Arthur could feel his smile widen just listening to Alfred's voice.
"Yeah, I did. Listen, Alfred, I was wondering if you would mind doing something else apart from going out tonight. Maybe we could rent a film or something? I'm just - it's been a long day." Arthur pulled the phone away slightly as he yawned widely before focusing back on Alfred.
"That bad, huh," Alfred said sympathetically and Arthur let out a breath. He should not forget that Alfred worked on the same ward as him, he understood what was happening, and knew how bad Arthur's day could be. Yes, it would be awkward if they ever broke up, but for once, Arthur was hoping for that 'if'.
"You could say that. I'm sorry, this isn't going to be a very exciting date," Arthur said, sitting in his car seat, not starting the car because he wanted to finish this conversation.
"Well, I'm still spending time with you, aren't I?" Alfred was about to make Arthur cry if he didn't shut up soon. He had bad days before, but to have someone there after them was very new to Arthur. "Besides, you'll feel better on the couch watching a film, than you will out at a fancy restaurant, if you've had a bad day."
"Alfred," Arthur said, but was unable to put his thoughts into words without sounding much too serious for a first date, "thank you."
"You're welcome. Hey, I'll see you at six then. I'll get the food and film and meet you at your house. 'Kay?" Arthur nodded, but then remembered that Alfred could not see him.
"Yes, Alfred. That sounds perfect." Alfred hung up with one last goodbye and Arthur stared at the phone for a few minutes. No way in hell was he messing this up.
***
The same thought resounded around his head as Alfred showed up on his doorstep with spaghetti bolognaise, the bolognaise part in a plastic container ready to be stuck in the microwave, a bottle of wine and a feel-good Christmas film. They settled down to watch the film first and Arthur felt himself relax for the first time that day. He knew that Alfred felt it because he kissed the top of Arthur's head and then smiled against his hair. Arthur smiled back and settled against Alfred with his arm slung around Alfred's waist. He missed most of the movie as he fell asleep during it but managed to be wide awake when Alfred moved to put the spaghetti on.
"Sorry about that, Alfred," Arthur said, trying to stifle the yawn. He knew that Alfred had noticed him asleep.
"Don't worry about it," Alfred called from the kitchen and Arthur moved so he could go and help. "Where are the pans?" Alfred asked, searching the cupboards.
"Let me do it, Alfred. I actually know where things are," Arthur replied, retrieving a pan from under the sink. Alfred didn't argue, maybe he saw sense in the argument but Arthur doubted it.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Alfred asked, unusually hesitant for anyone who had spent more than ten minutes with him. Arthur gave him a look before setting the water to boil and the bolognaise to heat. Now he could focus on Alfred completely.
"About what?"
"Your day," Alfred answered and Arthur felt his exhaustion creep up on him again.
"It was nothing terrible, it was just so manic. And you know that Raivis has just been diagnosed and that all the babies with bronchiolitis are coming in and all the parents are really on edge because they're in hospital and know that they will probably be in there tomorrow which no one wants. God, today I got yelled at by a mum because the doctors were all upstairs on SCBU and so they couldn't come and see her daughter. And the doctors were upstairs with a priority and even when I said this, the mum was still really pushy." Arthur sucked in a breath and felt tears sting his eyes. It was upsetting but Arthur really did not want to get this upset over it and in front of Alfred as well.
"Hey, Arthur." Arthur looked up to see that Alfred was now in front of him and pulling Arthur into a hug. "I know, it sucks when you're blamed by a parent for something that isn't your fault and especially when you can't do anything about it. The first time that happened to me, I had to leave the ward and go cry in the bathroom for a little bit." Arthur felt himself smile at Alfred's admission, whether due to the wry tone Alfred said this with or the fact that he was admitting something like this to him, he wasn't sure. He slipped his arms around Alfred and clung onto him.
"Did you really?" Arthur asked, his voice muffled.
"Oh yeah. Another junior doctor found me and offered me a tissue. It's happened to all of us Arthur and it's even worse with kids. You don't want it to affect your care of the child but really dread seeing the parents again." Arthur nodded and blinked rapidly. "I'm just glad that you can tell me about it." They stood in silence for a few moments.
"Do you want to stay the night?" Arthur felt himself clench in horror. That came out very wrong. He pulled back from Alfred to stare at him. Alfred was looking very surprised and, hopefully Arthur was not imagining it, quite pleased as well. "I don't mean it like that, I've got work tomorrow and it's our first date. It's just it'll be quite late by the time we actually get around to eating anything and I know you've had a tiring day as well. I can sleep on the sofa if you'd like."
"That sounds great Arthur. It'll be cool to wake up to you on Christmas morning. Plus it'll be kinda cool for our first time sleeping together to be on Christmas Eve." Arthur opened his mouth to correct Alfred's assumptions when he saw the mischievous glint in Alfred's eye.
"Oh you little," Arthur started and Alfred darted away, under the pretence of putting the spaghetti in, but Arthur had seen the teasing grin Alfred had thrown at him.
Maybe it would be a better Christmas than he thought.
Notes
Bank shifts - if a nurse if off sick, then the manager (normally the nurse in charge on the day) rings around the employed nurses to see if anyone can and will do an extra shift. For extra pay, to swap shifts, or simply because there is no one else are reasons why a nurse would do a bank shift.
Short day - as opposed to a long day. Also called an Early. Goes from 0730 (when the nurses start the long day) to 1450 with a twenty minute break.
Late - opposite to an early. Person arrives at 1400, gets handover and takes over from the person doing the early normally. It goes to 2100 at night, an hour after the long day finishes and the night shift begins.
Handover - when a nurse (or doctor) start a shift, they are given handover about the patients in the ward. Name, age, diagnosis and quick rundown of treatment for each patient. When they know what patients they are taking, the nurses usually get a more detailed handover from the nurse on the shift before them that had their patients.
Oncology - cancer. A child with oncology would not spent their whole time in hospital unless it was really, really bad, but they will be in and out for treatments and any infections or illnesses that could be more serious to them due to their immune system being depressed.
ALL - acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. A type of cancer. If you’re a child, you want this type of cancer and if you’re an adult, you want AML. ALL has a good prognosis in children, while not as good in adults. Other way around for AML.
Positive pressure cubicles - the pressure inside the cubicles is kept higher than the air outside so the air inside the room goes outside the room rather than the air outside going into the room. If that makes sense, I’m not 100% sure on how it works. It’s meant to keeps the bugs outside the room. Can have a blue sign on the door to let people know to wash their hands before they come in and to make sure the door is shut.
Immune system being suppressed/repressed - the immune system has to be repressed due to treatment or an illness that causes it. It means that the person will be much more susceptible to infection and those infections can be a lot more serious.
The board - the patients in the ward are all written on this board. Helpful when you want to know which bed someone is in.
Diagnosis - what a person has.
Prognosis - what a person’s outcome is likely to be.
CAMHS - Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
BNF - British National Formulary. Book that has drug calculations/dosages/side effects, everything in there. Ward will normally have at least one in the drugs bay.
Winter - student nurses don’t go on placement to hospital wards during the summer, especially on children’s wards. Mostly because in the summer the ward if likely to be very empty.
Oxygen - is breathing in oxygen through a mask/other method that comes from a dispenser in the wall.
Nebulisers - drug is added to the oxygen that the child is breathing in and then it is sprayed upwards so the child gets lots of drugs inside their lungs very fast.
SCBU - Special Care Baby Unit. Also called NICU. Somewhere where the premature babies go.
Priority - resuscitation. The paediatric doctors normally cover the children’s ward, paediatric A&E and SCBU so if they have all suddenly vanished from the children’s ward, it’s normally due to a resus call that has suddenly come through.
Parents - they can get very upset and stressed when their child is ill on the ward and it can manifest as anger towards the nurses and doctors. They all understand it but it’s still upsetting.
Junior doctor - after medical students qualify, they are registered doctors. They’re called junior doctors because they’re still learning and still doing rotations.
Exacerbation of asthma - asthma that has been aggravated and is not being controlled by normal inhalers and is getting dangerous.
Hetalia notes:
Felix Mugel - Kugelmugel
Elvan Annan - Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Dad is Turkey.
Mei Xiao - Taiwan
Now it's time to go and work on my Secret Santa pinch hit.