If I can't have you

Chapter 3

'I was thinking of holding some sort of coronation to crown myself '

Is all that sleep deprivation going to your head Levi? Crown yourself king of what? Seattle Grace? Cause I'm sure that Bailey would love to take you up on that challenge.'

'King of the ICU ward of course!'

Of course, Levis bad luck continued to prevail as it was at this moment that the Cheif decided to stick his head through the door of the room.

'Dr Helm, a minute please?'

Taryn quickly stood up, smoothing down the wrinkles in her scrubs before following Alex out into the hallway

'Do I need to be concerned about Dr Schmitt at all, Dr Helm? Because I'm already down an orthopaedic fellow and it would be nice to not lose an intern on top of that, especially one like Schmitt.'

'Honestly, sir, I think he's going a bit stir crazy. He won't leave Nico in the state that he's in because he's afraid that something will happen. He's barely eating the food Link and I bring him and I don't think he's sleeping much either.' Helm confessed, glancing in through the window to watch Levi take hold of Nico's limp hand while looking close to tears.

'Yeah. Hunt told me before he told the rest of you lot. He's got a long way to go if he ever wakes up.'

Helm felt a shiver go down her spine as she recalled that meeting. How Hunt explained the severe trauma that Nico's body had endured and was still enduring. How there had been severe internal bleeding caused by the insoles shrapnel that had almost been impossible to stop. How the bleed in his brain could have killed him.How his leg and arm bones had been so broken that it had taken Link almost five hours to repair the damage. How there was still no guarantee that he could walk again let alone work again as a surgeon. His chances of surviving were next to none.

But yet Levi held out hope. Hope that Nick would wake up. Hope that Nico could learn to walk again. Hope that the love and support that Levi would be offering at every step of Nico's recovery would be enough.

But so far there has been no such luck. Taryn and Alex watched through the window as Levi pulled a tissue from his pocket and blew into it.

'I should probably get in there and get him out before he becomes a walking contamination zone.'

You do that. Tell me if there's any change at all.'

'Yes sir.'

As Taryn opened the door, Levi looked at her with his best watery puppy dog eyes and Taryn felt her heart shatter. Her heart told her that Levi was too kind to be suffering this kind of pain and that she should wrap him in a blanket and shield him from the world until Nico recovered enough to take over. Because that would be more of a boyfriend role than a best friend in her book.

But for now, all she could do was to go against her heart and pull a protesting, crying Levi from the room. His cries of how he shouldn't be leaving Nico on his own in case something went wrong. After 5 minutes of looking like she should have her licence revoked, she achieved in getting Levi to the cafeteria and sitting him down at at Table with Casey and Dahlia.

'I'm going to go and get some food for us. Keep an eye on him you two and make sure he doesn't try and leg it back to the boyfriend.'

'Aye, aye Captain' Casey replied with a small smile before turning his attention to Levi who was sitting with his head held low and seemed to be paying more attention to his hands than his friends.

'Levi?' Casey heard Dahlia whisper and he watched as Levi lifted his head up to look at her with watery eyes.

'I know what you are going through is something that No one should have to do. Watching someone you love suffer means that you put them first but it does not mean that you can abandon yourself to whatever happens. Nico needs you now more than ever but you can't be there for him if you wont eat or sleep properly. So what you are going to do is eat whatever Taryn bring back and puts in front of you. Then you are going to go home with Casey and have a shower, get a good few hours sleep and get some clean clothes in. And before you protest about Nico being alone, we've got that covered. Everyone has signed up to sit with Nico on their breaks and we've scheduled it so that everyone s breaks overlap and they take over directly from whoever is with him. Is that clear?'

Levi nodded and have Dahlia a small smile. His friends were with him and that was all that mattered. He and Nico were not going through this alone.

It was five in the morning when Levi thought he heard something. He'd been curled up in a chair by Nico's bed, head curled around Nico's limp one when he heard it. He hadn't been sure at first if he's actually heard but a few seconds later, there was another slightly louder noise. And it was coming from Nico. Levi rubbed the sleep from his eyes hoping that what he thought was happening was actually happening.

The next thing he knew, Nico's eyes slowly peeled open and a groan of pain escaped him. Levi could see the confusion in his eyes and the pure and utter panic that appeared when he realised where he was. His eyes started roaming the room frantically, looking for something that was familiar. Levi pressed the nurses button and moved into Nico's line of vision before he started to move the rest of his body and cause further damage.

When his eyes landed on Levi, the relief that flooded them sent a wave of calm through Levi. He still remembered him. The brain damage that they had all been worried about was not there. He was okay in that sense at least.

Before he knew it, the room was flooded with people, Amelia and Link among them. 'How you holding up, Nico?' Link said from the end of the bed, affection clear in his voice, while Amelia ran several checks on his friend. 'Like hell,' Nico groaned back.

'Well, there seems to be no serious damage, so I'll be able to get some pain relief sorted out for you.' Amelia said, nodding to one of the nurses to administer it. As Amelia said this, Levi saw Nico's features tighten in pain and knew that the pain of the many injuries Nico had sustained were starting to take their toll.

As the pain relief worked its way into Nico's system, Levi slipped his hands into Nico's and have it a light squeeze. Nico turned his head towards him and have him a weak smile. 'Hey babe,' he said.

Levi responded with a weak punch to his forearm, one of the only areas of Nico's body that wasn't injured and muttered back 'Don't you dare scare me like that again, Nico Kim, or I swear to god that I will break up with you.'

'You wouldn't dare. You love me too much for that.'

'Just try me Nico, just try me.'

'Alright, lovebirds, let's break up the gooey doe eyes for a second. I need to borrow my fellow for a minute,' Link smoothly interrupted. When Levi opened his mouth to protest, he jumped in with 'Don't you worry your pretty little head, Schmitt, it's just going to be a few routine checks to make sure Nico here is going to be okay for physiotherapy in a few weeks because unless I sign off on him, your boy is going to be stuck here for a long time and to be quite frank, I need my top fellow back with me. I'm pulling less girls and too be quite frank, I don't like it.'

'Don't you have a hot neurosurgeon to be pursuing or was that just something that my mind dreamed up for me while I was out?'

'True, true, now stop getting me to avoid the subject and let me hit you for a reason.'

As Link poked and prodded to test his handiwork, Levi backed to the corner of the room to give them space and watched as they teased each other relentlessly. Nic o seemed happy, his eyes drifting over to Levi every few minutes as if to ensure that he was still there and hadn't abandoned him. Levi sent him reassuring smiles and breathed a sigh of relief. Things could only be looking up from here.