heartbreak weather // niall horan

three.

Niall's grin could be described as genuine, or maybe wicked. Delaney couldn't decide in the moment. As soon as Niall's next words tumbled out of his mouth, it was then clear that it was a wicked smile.

"Tell me about yourself."

"I'd rather die," Delaney deadpanned instantly, toeing off her white Hey Dudes with rainbow accents, leaving her in her sock feet.

This got Niall to laugh lightly, "How am I supposed to get to know you then?"

"I don't know, we could play twenty questions or something? Just don't tell me to tell you about myself. It's in that moment where I forget who the fuck I am, maybe even my name too! That phrase causes me to panic, I don't like it, it should burn."

"Okay! Calm down, consider the phrase burned and disintegrated. We can play twenty questions."

"Good, because I wasn't going to take no for an answer."

He shook his head, thinking of a question to ask her. Niall could start out basic and ask her for her favorites, he could ask a really complex question, there were so many options to choose from. There was one very obvious question that he wanted to ask, and Delaney was nearly holding her breath, because she really didn't want to talk about it right now.

"What do you do for a living?"

Delaney raised her eyebrows at the Irishman, not really expecting that question. She took a breath and then told him, "I'm a HUC."

"Did you say you're a fuck?"

Delaney laughed at that. Probably harder than she should have. "No, I said a HUC," she tried putting emphasis on the H at the beginning of the word.

Still, Niall didn't get it. Though, she found his face of confusion to be adorable.

She snorted at his confusion, "HUC. H-U-C. Hospital unit coordinator. My unit changes every now and then, but it's usually hematology and oncology, so mostly the cancer patients or those with other diseases. I am the person at the front desk of the area that holds all of the patient's rooms, so you only have access to it if you're an employee, a patient, or a patient's family member with an access card. I take care of all the patient's information for however long their stay may be, and everything to do with the floor I'm on for that day. I answer the call lights when they go off and then notify the patient's nurse of their needs. Just things like that."

"That sounds pretty cool, actually," she looked over at Niall to see him nodding. "Where do you work?"

"Cincinnati Children's."

"Hold on." He held up a pointer finger to her and she could just see the gears in his head turning, it nearly made her giggle, "Isn't that, like, the #1 children's hospital in the world?"

Delaney made a face and a sound of slight disagreement. "Maybe not the world? I'm not sure how Cincinnati Children's is ranked in the world for children's hospitals. Although, I can say, and you can look this up if you don't believe me, Cincinnati Children's is ranked the #1 children's hospital for pediatric care in the nation, so the United States, for 2024. I can vouch that people will travel for that hospital."

"Wow, that's very impressive." Niall looked pleased. He didn't not believe Delaney's words about the hospital being ranked #1, he remembers when that made the news. That's why he asked the follow-up question.

Delaney smiled. She liked talking about her job, and about the hospital in general. Cincinnati Children's will always be near and dear to her heart.

At once, Delaney clapped her hands together to get the Irish pop star's full attention, "So, can I now ask you three questions?"