Chapter Text
Eskild was sitting at the information desk of the hospital, as he did every day of the week, when two patients approached him.
“Good morning, my name is Eskild. How can I help you?” He asked, like he did with everyone else, with a wide smile.
“My baby is coming!” The woman said between gasps.
“Name, please?” Eskild asked them.
“Aksa Amundsen,” the man told him.
Eskild frowned and looked at him. “You don’t look like an Aksa.” The man stared at him, like he couldn’t believe what was going on. “It’s her name. I’m Trygve Amundsen. ” Eskild nodded, “So you’re brother and sister? Did you have a baby together and you’re brother and sister!?” The man opened his mouth, about to reply, but he didn’t know what to say, “She’s my wife!”
Eskild sighed and typed something with the keyboard. He looked at the screen and then at the couple, “Computer says no.”
“Please, I need to see the midwife,” The woman said, despite the pain.
“I’m sorry, but computer says that the baby is due next week. Come next Monday and we’ll manage everything.”
“But we need the midwife now!” The man complained.
“I’ll see what I can do. Do you know the surname?”
“Hellerud,” The pregnant woman said, grunting.
Eskild typed again something on the computer, “We have two Helleruds. You know, this hospital is quite big. Are you interested in seeing Dr. Hellerud, in charge of the prostate tests, or midwife Hellerud, who helps women deliver their babies?” Eskild asked them while he wriggled his eyebrows.
The man was shocked, “What do you think?” Eskild stared at him for a few seconds, “I guess you are looking for the midwife,” he whispered while he typed something, “Okay, go to the basement, Vilde Hellerud is waiting for you. Bye!” He rolled his eyes when the couple had finally left.
“Hei, Eskild,” a voice behind him said. Eskild knew who he was before turning around, “Hello, my baby gay!” He told Isak, who was already wearing his nurse uniform, “Ready for another day? I hope you’re enjoying your internship here.” Isak smiled, “Eskild, I’ve been here for a year now, you know I like working here.” Eskild chuckled, “Well, Isak, you know that you’re not working here yet . Once you finish, you will. By the way, there are new students coming today! They’re starting their internship as well. Maybe you’ll find a cute boy for yourself!” Isak sighed, “How do you know that I’m single?” Eskild rolled his eyes again quite comically, “Isak, we share a flat since you were sixteen. You literally tell me everything, like with your friends from uni.”
Eskild was right. When he attended Nissen, he ended up living with Eskild due to family drama, and he relied on the older boy for almost everything. Of course, his friends from university, Jonas, Mahdi and Magnus, knew about his problems as well, but with Eskild it was… different. He’d been the first person he’d come out to.
Eskild had the phone between his ear and his shoulder while he typed something on the computer, “By the way, Isak, William and Chris are coming with the ambulance right now. Jonas and Magnus are trying to stabilize the patient but they need more help when they get here, so get ready to fetch the stretcher when the ambulance arrives. They want you to take the woman to Sana, she’s in the operating room number four.”
“Can I help with the operation? Or see how it works, at least?” Isak asked with excitement. Internship students were rarely allowed to take part in operations, but Isak still had some hope left.
“You ask Sana, she’s the queen inside her operating room. If she doesn’t want to, come back so that you can show the new students around. I’m sure that your pretty face will cheer them up.”
The ambulance stopped outside the hospital and Magnus and Jonas, along with Chris, went inside the building with the patient. While Magnus and Chris pushed the stretcher, Jonas sat on top of the woman, his hands stained with blood. The scene resembled one of Isak’s favourite shows, Grey’s Anatomy.
“What happened?” Isak asked while he approached them and started pushing the stretcher.
“Car accident, as usual. Sana is in charge of her operation,” Jonas explained.
“Hello, darling,” Chris said behind Isak, to which Isak turned around while running and groaned. “Not now, Chris.”
Isak had had… something with Chris in the past, when they were both at university, although he didn’t consider it a relationship. They just hooked up and fucked when they needed release, that was it, but Isak knew that he would develop feelings for the older guy. He then decided to end his something with Chris, although it seemed that the other nurse wasn’t so keen.
“We’re going back to the ambulance now,” Magnus told him, “We’ll be free after our shift.”
They finally reached the operating room, and Jonas jumped from the stretcher. Sana, the surgeon, was already prepared for her job. Sometimes Isak felt like she lived in the hospital or something.
“Can I help?” He asked the girl.
“Nei, Isak. I already have Chris, who has finished her studies. You’ll have to wait until next year.” Isak rolled his eyes, he couldn’t wait another year. “Fine, I’ll go and meet the new internship students.”
___________
“No luck with Sana, right?” Eskild asked him when he approached the information desk. The older boy was talking with Eva. Well, he was talking and she was listening with a cup of coffee in her hand and dark bags under her eyes. She had her elbow on the surface of the desk and her head on her hand.
“No, basically what I expected,” Isak told him. He looked at the girl, “Long shift?”
“I just want to go home and take a nap. Too many children with sad stories in one night, I might have slept 4 hours, I need some more sleep.”
“I don’t know how you can work with children, it must be depressing. I’m going home in a few hours as well, being here all night is boring ,” Eskild sighed while he took some documents from a drawer.
“Well, someone must do it,” Eva said, “And they are nice. It can be depressing but beautiful at the same time. At least it’s not like being a midwife, I don’t know how Vilde hasn’t given up with babies and parents shrieking all day.”
“How are things with Vilde?” Isak asked.
“Well… We’re trying to make it work. We’ll see. Anyways, guys, I’m going home. See you tomorrow, I guess.”
“Are you leaving when I arrive?” Noora said while she entered the hospital. The blonde girl smiled and, although Eva wanted to smile back, she felt like she couldn’t move her muscles.
“I’ve been awake all night, Noora, I feel like shit. Enjoy your day,” Eva said before disappearing into a corridor, which led to the staff room.
“Noora,” Eskild said, trying to catch her attention, “There are new students coming today, Isak is going to show them around. Why don’t you stay and see if there’s material for you to get over your heartbreak?”
“Thanks, Eskild, but I’ve already forgotten about William. I need to go to my office, I have to attend the victims of last week’s plane crash. I don’t want to leave Mahdi alone with that.”
“How busy are our psychologists!” Eskild exclaimed.
“So Mahdi is already a psychologist and I’m not a nurse?” Isak complained when he heard Eskild’s comment.
“Of course you’re a nurse. You’re probably the best nurse ever . But you both are technically not working here. Same with Jonas or Magnus.”
“See you at lunch, I guess,” Noora said before leaving them. Isak decided to sit in one of the chairs and read the newspaper while he waited for those damn students.
A few minutes later three boys approached the information desk.
“Good morning, my name is Eskild. How can I help you?” The hospital attendant said while he ogled them, quite interested, which was not normal.
“We’re the new internship students.” A blond boy explained.
“We were waiting for you! I’m Eskild, we’ll be seeing each other for some time now,” Eskild said while he shook their hands. “Anyways, tell me your names.”
“Even Bech Næsheim.”
Eskild typed something on the computer. “Computer says yes! Medicine student, mental health. You’ll be in the fourth floor, you have a doctor assigned.”
“What about you, cutie?” He asked to the boy with unruly hair, who laughed.
“Mikael Øverlie Boukhal.”
“Computer says yes! Dermatology… And you dare to call yourselves doctors? Just kidding! Third floor, with doctor Skrulle. And who are you?” Eskild asked the last boy.
“Yousef Acar.”
“Computer says yes again! Another kid lover? Eva has just left, but it’s okay, she’s not your doctor. You’ll be in the second floor.” Eskild glanced around the hall looking for Isak, “Isak! Come here, baby boy!” He then turned to look at the trio, “He’s a nurse intern here, you see, as well as my flatmate.”
Isak looked up and saw that there were three boys in front of the desk. Probaby the students. The three of them turned around and suddenly Isak found himself staring at one of the most gorgeous human beings he had ever seen. He had puffy lips and rosy cheeks, and his jaw could cut ice, Isak was sure of that. His hair was kinda like Isak’s, fluffy but with a darker tone, and all over the place. The boy was tall as fuck but he looked… soft. He gulped and approached them, he tended to be shy around handsome guys. Yes, he was hot, but it was obvious that he didn’t stand any chance. He probably was straight, like every damn boy Isak found attractive.
“Isak, these are Even, Yousef and Mikael,” Eskild said while he pointed at each of them, “Will you show them around?”
“Of course, Eskild. Follow me.”
The four boys walked towards the lift, which had a small map of the whole building next to it.
“So, I’m Isak and I’m also student. We’re here,” he said while he pointed a red point in the map which read You’re here . “Mobile phones are not allowed during your shifts and you cannot wear normal clothes. Come with me and I’ll show you the staff room.”
“What do you do here?” Even asked him.
“I studied nursing,” Isak told him while he opened the door of the staff room.
“Oh, a nurse! Why not medicine?”
“No offense, Even, but many people study medicine because it’s the ‘cool’ thing. I just didn’t feel drawn to it.”
“Well, I didn’t decide to study it because it was ‘cool’.”
“Then why did you do it?” They were all standing in the middle of the staff room, Yousef and Mikael looking around while the doctor and the nurse talked.
“ Grey’s Anatomy , basically,” Even explained.
“Oh… I’ve… I’ve never watched it.” What was he doing?
“You what ? You’ve never watched Grey’s Anatomy? But you have to!” Even said. He could not believe that this beautiful angel hasn’t watched his favourite TV show. Well, he couldn’t be perfect. “It’s the show for every nurse, doctor, midwife or whatever. I’ll have to show it to you one day.”
“Are you asking me out for a date?” Isak asked, frowning. There was a small smile on his face.
“You wish. I’m just making sure that you broaden your knowledge on culture.”
Isak didn’t know what to reply so he decided to tell them about the room, which is what they were there for. He wasn’t there to flirt with the cute boy. He was probably being nice, that was all.
“So, this is basically our room. You can get coffee from the machine and hang out when you have nothing to do, which, let me tell you, rarely happens. Each of us has their own locker so that you can put everything you want there. You can also cook in the mini-kitchen.”
“What’s that door?” Mikael asked pointing to a door at the end of the room.
“It leads to another room,” Isak explained, “There are bunk beds so that you can sleep during your night shifts whenever you don’t have patients. By the way, we have a chat group with interns and some workers, so, if you want, I can add you. We sometimes go out to pubs and that kind of stuff.”
“Sounds great!” Even said, “Shall we give you our numbers?”
“Just add your contact on my phone,” Isak told him while he handed the new interns his iPhone, “Now, follow me so that I can show you the canteen.”
The group entered the canteen, now crowded with patients, “We normally have coffee, lunch or dinner in our staff room, but if you don’t feel up to cooking you can always come here.”
“Isak!” A voice said from behind. He turned around to find Vilde smiling and waving at him. If he had had eyes in his back, he would have seen Even checking him out.
“Come with me, you need to meet Vilde,” Isak said while he started walking towards the girl. The other boys followed suit.
“Hei, Vilde,” Isak greeted her when they arrived to her table. She was having a yogurt and some cereals.
“Who are your friends?” Vilde asked while she spooned some yogurt.
Mikael was the first one to introduce himself, “I’m Mikael, these are Even and Yousef, we’re the new interns. Can we take a seat?”
“Sure!” The midwife said while she took her bag, which she had placed on the bench on the other side of the table.
Isak found himself between Mikael and Even, and he could feel the latter’s heat radiating from his body, as well as all the muscles of his leg touching his.
“What do you do here?” Yousef asked.
“I’m a midwife, I help the mums and the babies. I’m working here, you know, not a student anymore. And what do you do?”
“I’m in mental health,” Even explained, “As a doctor.”
“You’d get on well with Mahdi and Noora,” Vilde said, “They’re psychologists, which is not exactly the same but you know what I mean. What about you two?” Vilde asked the other two boys.
“I’m in Dermatology,” Mikael told her, “Taking care of dots, freckles, and skin cancer.” Vilde nodded and looked at Yousef.
“Pediatrics here, children and all that stuff,” Yousef explained.
“You need to meet Eva, then! That’s her job, you’ll probably see each other quite often. Anyways, I was about to leave, there might be some babies coming, I just had a woman give birth, so I better leave. See you around I guess,” she said while she stood up and held her tray. “Oh, we could go out tonight so that you can meet us all, it’s going to be difficult during our shifts! It’s Friday, after all. Isak, say something on the chat group. Bye!” And she left.
“She’s cute!” Mikael said when the girl was out of sight.
“Yes, and super gay, so forget about her,” Isak told him with a grin.
“Is there romance drama at the hospital?” Yousef asked him, “You know, like in Grey’s Anatomy ?”
“Am I the only one who has not watched that show?” Isak said, and the three boys laughed. Fuck it .
“We’re not huge fans,” Mikael replied, “But Even is a the show’s biggest fan who has the thirteen seasons in DVD and sometimes Yousef and I find ourselves watching the show because he won’t let us pick what to watch.”
Isak frowned, “Wait, do you live together?”
“We started sharing a flat when we started university,” Even explained. “And don’t make me sound like a dictator!” Isak could listen to Even’s deep voice all day and he wouldn’t mind.
“Of course you’re not a dictator. I mean, you cry whenever a character dies, dictators don’t do that,” Yousef said. Isak saw Even blush, and he found it quite adorable.
“You’re embarrassing poor Even,” Isak interrupted. “Anyways, I’ll show you your assigned place so that you can meet the doctors who will be looking after you.”
Isak found himself alone with Even in an elevator. Yousef and Mikael had already met their doctors, but Even would be working in the fourth floor, so Isak had to go there alone with the older guy. If being in an elevator with another person was already awkward for Isak, being with a super handsome guy was even worse. He didn’t know what to say.
Even finally cleared his throat, “And where do you work here?”
“Oh, we nursery interns are not assigned a place or something, we go around wherever they need us. Except for those in the ambulance, like Jonas or Magnus.”
“Well, I hope I see you a lot in the fourth floor,” Even said while the doors opened. Was he flirting with him? Isak thought. He was about to get out when Even placed a hand on his chest, “Oh, don’t worry about me, I’m sure you have better things to do. See you around Isak,” Even said once he had left the elevator. The doors closed and Isak, still thinking about that I hope I see you a lot in the fourth floor , decided to go downstairs to the information desk.