TW:

CURSING 

BLOOD

MEDICAL STUFF 

Alexander was exhausted. He'd just finished a 48 hour shift at the hospital, having operated all night. He had two craniotomies scheduled, which should've allowed him to leave just before 8pm, but soon after a trauma came in. A drunk driver had hit a pedestrian, with the street-goer being killed on scene. The driver was way over the limit, stinking of vodka and cheap rum. Alexander was paged, 911 in the ER, just as he was about to take his scrub cap off.

As protocol instructed, he ran down to the first floor, the organized chaos of the ER hitting him as soon as the doors opened.

"Doctor Hamilton!" Peggy, one of his residents, called. He moved towards her, the crowd of nurses dispersing to allow him room to assess the patient. "Drunk driver. Hit a pedestrian and a streetlight on 181st. His SATs are low and he's already coded once."

"Okay, lets get him up to CT! Schuyler, scrub in, Reynolds, go find Nurse Mulligan and tell him he's scrubbing in." Alexander commanded, and both doctors immediately sprung into action.

The patient was loaded into the elevator, heart monitor beeping out a familiar tune. "Will we be performing a craniotomy, sir?" Peggy asked joyfully.

"Depends on what the CT shows us. Peggy- it's only us in the elevator. You can call me by my name you dingus." He swatted gently, earning a giggle from the younger girl.

"Weren't you supposed to be off shift half an hour ago?" The resident asked quizzically.

"Mmh." Alexander huffed, dipping his head in both anticipation and exhaustion. Peggy got the message, keeping herself quiet whilst the grey box ascended. When the metal doors opened, both doctors grabbed the bed and swiftly exited.

~H~

Alexander sat, looking at the CT scans from the drunk driver- who's name they'd learned was Thatcher. He sighed, seeing a large, black void on the image. Brain bleed.

"Damn, this guy must've hit that streetlight hard." Peggy said, wonder sparkling in her eyes at the image. She really loved Neurosurgery.

"Doctor Schuyler, try not to look so happy- this man just cost me valuable time with my husband." Hamilton huffed, shaking his head at the now blushing resident.

"You want me to call him? I'll let him know what's happening." Peggy asked, seeing as, one- Alexander looked utterly exhausted, and two, John was one of her best friends.

"I'll get Theo to call him, I need you to assist in the OR." Alexander stood, entering the CT room to get the patient ready for transport.

This was going to be a long night.

~H~

Alexander stood, hand clasping the scalpel delicately. Mulligan was watching the patient's vitals, whilst Peggy assisted him in stopping the bleed.

"SATs are dropping." Mulligan called out, watching the numbers on the monitor drop speedily.

"Come on, Thatcher. I'm spending my precious time on you." Alexander grumbled, hands shaking slightly. Suddenly, the monitor began beeping louder- the bleeder had presented itself finally.

"Stupid blood. Stupid brain. Stupid people." The neurosurgeon huffed quietly, stemming the bleeding and continuing with the procedure.

After 7 hours in the OR, the driver was stable and taken to the ICU, allowing the medical professionals to clean and leave the sterile room.

Alexander looked paler than normal, Peggy noted, his dark, purple eye bags looking more prominent than usual. His hands shook slightly, not much, but more than what the neurosurgeon's usually did.

"Are you heading home now?" She asked, concern hinting in her voice. Alexander removed his gloves and surgical mask, snatching his scrub cap and clenching it in his fist.

"Probably. Unless some other idiot decided to get pissed and go for a drive." He frowned, rubbing at his eyes harshly. As though the universe had been listening, his pager rang out.

He pulled the device from his pocket, reading what had been sent through.

"Oh for FUCK SAKE!" He shouted, throwing his surgical gown into the waste bin, and running from the washroom.

~H~

"Doctor Hamilton!" A voice shouted, similarly to what Peggy had a few mere hours before.

"Someone found her on the street, unconscious on arrival and appearing to have impact wounds. Right pupil is blown, she'd unresponsive and tachycardic."

"Someone page Doctor Schuyler, we'll meet her in the OR." Hamilton called out, feeling as though he'd just done the same routine a few hours before.

~H~

The OR was sterile, and the patient was open on the table. Hamilton had been waiting for Angelica to show up for over 10 minutes- which wasn't usual. Normally, she'd be in the OR within seconds of when her pager went off. Why now, of all times, was she late? If Alexander was being completely honest, he'd started feeling a little lightheaded at the end of his previous surgery, and the last thing he wanted was another surgery- and for Angelica Schuyler to prolong said surgery. The OR doors opened, and there stood, not the Schuyler he'd requested, but the youngest of the trio.

"Sir, you paged?" Peggy tilted her head slightly, unsure as to why she'd been paged instead of the cardiothoracic surgeon he'd clearly needed.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me." He muttered, handing the scalpel back to the scrub nurse that had only just given it to him.

"Doctor Hamilton, the patient is open, where are you going?" Peggy called after him, after he'd ripped off his surgical gown and took off down the hall.

"To do everyone else's jobs for them apparently!"

~H~

Alexander pushed open the attendings lounge door, only to be greeted with the eldest Schuyler and her wife, laughing cheerfully.

"Oh, hey Alexander, I got a page from you- but then it ended so I figured they'd paged the wrong Schuyler-"

"Get your ass in that OR now or I swear to god I will drag you there by your hair." Alexander seethed, not angry at the two women before him, more just at everything in general. It didn't help that the gentle headache he'd started with was now pounding violently behind his eyes.

"Okay, calm down, sweetie. Angelica- go." Theodosia stood, moving towards the livid neurosurgeon with open arms. The eldest sister took off, running to OR 2, to scrub in before her best friend got back and actually dragged her by her hair.

"What's wrong, Lex?" Theodosia asked calmly, knowing that the man's shift was supposed to have ended hours ago.

"Nothing. Call John. Tell him I won't make it home tonight." Alexander shook his head, wincing slightly at how much it made his world spin. He moved towards the door, opening it and straightening his posture.

~H~

"Patients BP is down, heart rate is stable and O2 is good. Well done, everyone." Angelica called, flexing her hands and stepping away from the OR table. Everyone dispersed, filing out of the operating room and continuing with their shift. Angelica turned to her friend.

"Relax, Lex. Take a breath." She shook her head gently, looking at her closest friend and how utterly spent he looked. "Go home, go see your husband. We've got it covered here." She assured, guiding them both out of the room and removing her mask and gown.

~H~

Alexander took his friends advice, finally leaving the entrance of the hospital at 8:39am- twelve hours and 39 minutes after his shift had ended.

The morning sunlight bathed him in warmth and, while he was grateful for the heat, he closed his eyes, his headache getting worse. He fumbled to get him keys in his car door, pulling it open swiftly and falling into the driver's seat. Pulling down the sun visor above his head. He lay his head against the headrest and closed his eyes, willing the pain to go away, 'just let me get home' he begged.

No such relief came, and he grudgingly reversed from the parking space, thankful that the drive was only a five minute commute.

When his car arrived outside his home, he parked sloppily on the curb and stumbled from his seat, slumping against the column that held his raised porch. His head spun and small black dots danced before him, though he took no notice.

Falling into the door heavily, he threw his scrub cap at the wall, aiming for the counter- though he completely missed.

"Lex? That you?" John called, appearing from the kitchen in a pair of black sweatpants and a white vest.

"Sorry I didn't come home last night... Trauma-" Alexander slurred, before his eyes rolled back and his husband caught his limp form.

~H~

"Alexander, can you hear me?"

"Come on, Lex, wake up honey." The voice was familiar, he knew that, but it sounded distant and muted.

"Alex, sweetie, it's John, can you hear me?" John. His love. Suddenly, as though he was pulled out from underwater, he opened his eyes and attempted to sit up slightly.

"Woah, stay down, love. Stay there for a minute." John placed his hand on his husband's back and shoulder, pushing his back down slowly so that he remained on the ground. He slowly lifted Alexander's legs and pulled a chair from their nearby table, elevating his legs to increase blood flow.

"John..? What- Wha-" Alexander stuttered, eyes adjusting to the light. All at once, his unbearable headache returned and he let out a quiet whine.

"Shh, you're okay. What hurts, darlin'?" John cooed, gently cupping his love's cheek in his hand and kissing his temple softly. Alexander said nothing, instead clenching his fist tightly and clutching at his head pathetically with the other.

"Does your head hurt, Lex?" John asked, already knowing the answer was yes. His husband whined in confirmation, grabbing his head weakly, trying to combat the pain.

"Okay, you're alright. We're gonna get you in bed, get you some pain killers and take a nap- sound good?" John soothed, seeing his husband nod weakly at his plan. Normally, suggesting taking a nap to Alexander was pointless, he gets defensive, but this time he simply agreed.

"Okay, we'll do that." John picked up his underweight husband and cooed at his small form, kissing his scalp lovingly as they entered their bedroom.

John got him settled, grabbing the large stock of medicine and medical supplies they owned- seeing as they both worked at a hospital. Grabbing an assortment of pills, he moved back over to his husband, carrying a glass full of water in one hand.

"Open your mouth for me, sweetie. It'll help you feel better." John commanded quietly, gently pulling at his husband's bottom lip, which he'd worried between his teeth. Alexander complied, and John fed him the pills and water, a challenge that seemed to take longer than first thought.

"Good boy, here you go, you're okay." John helped his ailing husband lie down, propping his head up with pillows and tucked him in comfortably. He turned to leave, but his husband's shaking hand weakly grasped at his wrist.

"Don't leave- please don't leave." He begged, tears slipping down his cheeks- he'd been abandoned too many times before.

"Never." John smiled.