Without A Shadow of a Doubt // Solangelo

2 - checkup

__Nico__

My eyes peep open one at a time. I go to sit up, finding most of my muscles numb and sore for some reason. "Hello?" I call out, rubbing at my eyes.

The room is pitch black, sending a cold shiver down my spine. The window to my left has thick curtains pulled over it to dampen the light attempting to seep from the corners. I crawl out of the bed, surprised when I find my legs numb. I clamber to the floor, groaning when I realize what had just happened.

Suddenly, the door flies open and the lights are flicked on. I squint in the bright light as I try to figure out what's happening. "Nico!" Will's shrill voice pipes up excitedly. "You're awake!"

"Um, yeah." I say matter-of-factly as I try to sit up. Why do my legs feel like jelly?

Will bends down to meet my eyes, his features etched with concern. "Did you fall? Are you hurt?" I groan both internally and externally when his eyes roam my body for any point of injury.

"I'm fine." I reply with a sigh. "How long have I been asleep for?"

"Three days." Will replies simply, moving to help me up. He's also surprised when my legs swoop out from under me.

"Three days?" I echo, raising my eyebrows.

"Yeah, I was getting a little worried..." Will's voice trails off as he helps me back up into the bed. "But it's okay, you're awake now."

My eyes watch his face skeptically. For a fraction of a second, I feel something similar to tickling in my chest. I'm not sure what it is, but I only felt it when I met Will's eyes. "Yeah..."

"How do you feel? Are you dizzy?" He asks as he grabs the clipboard from the desk. The pen grazes the paper, ready for any answer I'm about to give.

"I'm fine." I reply simply. Will hesitates—that wasn't the answer I was supposed to give.

"I didn't ask if you were fine, di Angelo. I asked how you feel." He sighs exasperatedly, giving me a small, playful smirk.

"I feel fine." I lie through my teeth, the grogginess in my head making it feel like my thoughts are covered with tar. Will sighs and starts checking things off his clipboard, humming quietly as he does so. "What are you writing?" I ask abruptly.

"Nothing you need to worry about, that's my job." He replies simply, going over to the cabinet to pull out a needle and a bag of some kind of clear liquid.

"Woah, woah, woah—what's that for?" I stutter, squirming in the bed as he approaches me with the materials.

"It's an IV bag, Nico. Gives you nutrients." He hooks up the bag to some kind of stand beside the bed, and grabs a pair of blue latex gloves from a package in the cabinet. "Give me your arm."

I clutch my arm to my side, not trusting him to stick me with that needle. "Nico." Will says sternly, raising his eyebrows at me. I slowly show him my arm, and he grabs it gently with his gloved hand.

Even with the thin veil of latex between my arm and his hand, I still somehow feel small sparks right where he'd touched me. The same weird tickling feeling blooms in my chest, surprising me.

What the hell is this?

Suddenly, I feel a sharp pain in my underarm and I look down at my arm carelessly, finding the needle inside. While the sight may make me feel anxious, I ignore it, knowing that I've seen and endured far worse than this.

I'm honestly surprised that Will hasn't noticed my scars yet. There are less on my right arm though (which is the arm he's working on at the moment), since I'm right handed. So I guess that makes sense.