Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Alright, you both seem to be completely healthy so you have nothing to worry about, okay?”

She nodded, wiping her eyes. She’d been crying ever since she got here, worried that her baby was going to die because he hadn’t kicked all day. So they gave her a full checkup and now here lance is, telling her the good news.

“Thank you so much—“ she continued sobbing and lance smiled “Of course”

“Sorry for being such a mess, I just—The last pregnancy I had didn’t—“ she didn’t finish and covered her face. Lance assumed she meant a miscarriage so he sat down on the bed next to her “Your baby is completely healthy—so are you. Believe me, you have nothing to worry about”

He’s not sure he’s allowed to say that but he said it anyway cause there’s no reason for her worry at the moment. But if anything happens, obviously she’ll get help.

She nodded and hugged him, and he let her cry on his shoulder until his pager went off. She laughed and sat up, wiping her eyes again “Sorry—sorry, I know you have to go”

Lance shook his head and stood up, smiling again “You don’t have to apologize, it’s alright. I’ll have a nurse check on you and then give you your discharge papers, then you can relax at home”

She smiled and nodded “Thank you”

He politely nodded back and left, going to the main desk, where he was paged. Pidge was there, talking to hunk about another patients labs.

She noticed him and waved “Hey, lance, I have a question about Ms. Davis—did you ever get a urinalysis from her? It says on her chart you did but we haven’t gotten it yet”

Lance narrowed his eyes, thinking……..then he gasped “Oh my god I think I left it on the other desk”

Pidge groaned and covered her face “laaancce you can’t do that!”

Lance laughed and turned around “I’ll go get it—“

“Nuh-uh, you’re throwing it away and getting more!”

He turned around and pouted, hoping she’d give in. But pidge has never gave in so he waved his hand at her and trudged his way to the desk near the door, where the nasty little cup….wasn’t there.

He started freaking until there was a loud cough “Missing something?”

He jumped and turned around, seeing allura, holding the cup—in all its grossness. Lance is fine with blood, guts, pus, maggots, other horrible stuff but he hates handling pee. It’s nasty!

“You can’t keep forgetting about these things, soon it’s going to really backfire on you”

“You sound like you’re foreshadowing something” he grabbed it from her, making sure to act especially grossed out.

“You baby”

She smiled and walked away, leaving lance with his pee cup. Filled with someone else’s freaking pee. See? It’s nasty!!

He quickly put it where it belongs; the hazardous waste bin. Then he went back to Ms. Davis’ room, who was confused and a little annoyed but begrudgingly filled up another cup.

This time, lance made absolutely sure to get in to the lab, where they can look closely at the pee—the freaks. Lance hates lab techs. Mostly because he’s jealous of how much they can handle. Ugh, he guess he respects them for handling pee with no fuss.

He passed pidge while walking back to the ER so he wiped his hands on her “Take my pee hands”

She scoffed and pushed him away, but laughed “You’re so gross”

He stopped and shrugged “I’m not the one who admires pee all day long” he started walking away and Pidge yelled at him “it’s not just pee!”

“Yeah, keep tellin yourself that”

She waved her hand before turning back.

And as if on time, he got another page—this time, making his adrenaline spike a little. In a good way.

Cause it’s a 911.

He picked up his pace to get to the ER quicker and saw allura there, already in full PPE “what is it?” He started putting on his PPE and she exhaled, getting herself pumped “Man vs. motorcycle”

“Oh crap, really?”

She nodded and they started walking to the entrance where the ambulance was about to come. “They said he was unconscious and it was really gruesome”

“The paramedics said that?” He laughed and so did she “Yeah, they said it’s bad”

“You think it’s surgical?” He felt himself getting excited as the clock ticked. She nodded again, this time excitedly “Definitely”

“I feel like we shouldn’t be excited—this guy could die” she sighed, looking just a little guilty.

“Yeah but……yeah you’re right, we suck”

She laughed and rolled her eyes. But they both heard the sirens and in no time, it was at the door and they—plus a few others now—are outside.

The ambulance got there and the back doors opened and the paramedic was completely covered in blood. And she sighed “He woke up in the ambulance—he’s not fully there though. He’s also irritated and combative”

Allura gave lance an ‘oh yeah’ type look before they both walked up to the ambulance. They pulled the stretcher out and allura immediately started talking “Hello, my name is allura. Can you tell me your name?”

Lance gawked at the vision in front of him. This man….is absolutely…….mangled!!! His leg is 100% broken, you can literally see the tibia. His arm is partially degloved , and his head is bleeding. Plus a whole bunch of other bad things. It’s crazy how he’s even awake.

But also it’s deeply concerning because he’s losing a lot of blood. And even though this is awesome, it’s also absolutely horrible and one of the worst things he’s ever seen.

He didn’t answer allura but just swatted his hand at her and mumbled something incoherent. She just patiently smiled and grabbed his hand “You were in an accident and were going to help you, alright?”

He mumbled a “no” and lance smiled at him “Hey, we’re not gonna leave you all messed up like this—“

He looked at lance—and he had to stop himself from openly ogling at this guys nasty laceration on his cheek—and he immediately stopped and his eyes got wide. And he managed to actually say something slightly coherent—but it’s not something Lance wished he said “You’re beautiful”

Some of the other doctors and nurses had to stop themselves from laughing—but they quickly stopped when he started coughing up blood. Well, that’s bad.

They quickly wheeled him inside and the nurses and doctors who prepared for him all immediately started working.

He quickly passed out as they moved him to a gurney and hooked him up to the machines and examined him. They cut his shirt off and there was a very big bruise, so he checked his ribs and yep, a few of them were broken.

Allura started a chest tube and as she did that, hunk came in. “Woah, what happened?”

Lance smiled “Motorcycle” he then started working on wrapping up his arm so it would be ready for the OR.

“Aw, poor guy” he walked up to the stretcher and looked at his leg “Do we have an OR prepared?”

A nurse nodded “Yeah, they’re preparing it now”

“Shouldn’t it already be prepared?”

Hunks always hated how long some of the staff takes. And it’s not because he’s snobby, they literally just always take their sweet ass time.

Then he looked at the paramedics while holding his leg “Why isn’t it splinted??”

She scoffed “He wouldn’t let us touch him”

“That’s kind of your job”

“You weren’t the one dealing with him while he trying to hit everyone who looked at him”

“Ok woah, everyone calm down and just focus on the patient—cause newsflash! He’s kind of right here” lance gave hunk a look that said calm the heck down so hunk nodded.

He worked on splinting the leg while Allura finished the chest tube. Which was obvious when blood squirted everywhere. Great. I guess that’s worse for the cleaners though.

“Oops” she was smiling so lance rolled his eyes “I hate you”

“It was him not me!”

“ORs ready” the nurse put the phone back on the…thingy…? And they started taking him to the elevator.

Once they were in the elevator, they continued checking his general condition—which is obviously horrible—but somehow his vitals are pretty good.

The elevator doors opened and they beelined it to the operating room. The anesthesiologist, shay, put him under so he wouldn’t wake up while they were setting his bones and sewing him up because that would probably be worse than being horribly disfigured by a motorcycle. Mostly because the adrenaline will be gone.

They all scrubbed before actually starting surgery. Which consisted of a lot of things. The nurses helped everyone, love ‘em, and allura worked on his head, bringing in the cool portable mri.

Lance worked on his arm and tried to save it without having to either amputate or lose a chunk of it. And hunk worked on his leg.

So basically, allura and lance are general surgeons and hunk is an orthopedic surgeon. That may not be completely right but hey, who actually cares?

Finally. FINALLY the surgery was done, he looks exponentially better than he did—anything would be to be honest—and he was stable, yet on a ventilator.

So after they finished everything, they worked on his chart.

Male, Asian, in his twenties maybe, no wallet so John Doe, idiot for riding a motorcycle.

“Hey, don’t put that” Allura laughed and took the pen from him “hey!”

She took the clipboard and scratched out the “idiot” part.

“What? No one who rides a motorcycle is smart”

“What if he’s an astrophysicist or something? He could be very smart”

“Not to be judgy, but I doubt he even went to college”

She stopped writing and they left the room, after the nurse who was watching him came in. “That’s rude, you don’t know anything about him!”

“I know he rides a motorcycle, has tattoos, and long hair. Which is literally the recipe for high school dropout”

“You said not to be judgy and then proceeded to judge him completely, you know that, right?”

Lance shrugged “He’s probably not gonna make it anyway, he won’t care”

“You’re so insensitive!” She hit his arm and he laughed “I’m joking! Obviously he’ll make it. I mean, he had the best surgeons working on him”

She got a smug look on her face “I mean…”

“Exactly. He’ll make it”

The smug look got even smug..ier…? “I hope so, I mean maybe you’ll finally find a date—he does think you’re beautiful”

Lance gasped, extremely offended “I can not believe you’d think I’d lower my standards from you to anyone else”

She rolled her eyes and smiled “I’m too much for you. You could never handle my strong woman aura.”

“It also doesn’t help you’re totally romancin it up with Shiro”

“I’m not” she groaned and lance laughed and put his arm over her shoulder “Don’t worry, princess, if he ends up suspiciously disappearing, I’ll be here to take your hand in marriage”

She pushed him off, scoffing, but with no actual malice “I hate you”

“Alright alright, let’s go cuddle in the on call room”

“I’ll make you suspiciously disappear if you touch me”

“I’d much rather cuddle with hunk anyway. He’s like a giant teddy bear”

“That’s so true”

They went to the on call room and just immediately collapsed.

But obviously since they’re still on call, they only got to sleep for about half an hour before being paged again. And that’s pretty much how the day went. Until he finally went home.

God, he loves this job.

But he also despises it.

Chapter Text

After about two weeks of making rounds of all his patients, assisting in minor emergency surgeries, leading some, blah blah, doctor stuff—something fun finally happened. A 911 page.

Until he saw what it actually was. A little girl with second degree burns all around her face and body. And she’s been crying so much, she hasn’t said what happened.

Lance hates stuff that has to do with kids. But he also likes helping them.

So he went in her room and she was crying while ezor, a pediatrician, worked on her face. Lance smiled and walked up to her “Hey! I’m Dr. McClain, what’s your name?”

She continued crying as ezor kept working on her face “Sorry, Luna, it’ll all be over soon” she comforted her and nodded, making Luna nod back sadly.

Lance nodded “Luna? That’s a really pretty name, where’d you get it?”

She looked at him and after a moment, smiled a little bit “My mommy”

“Well, then she’s really good at picking out names”

“Thank you”

“So, what happened, if you wanna tell me?” He already knew but he always feels any conversation is good to distract her. Which is why ezor paged him. He’s kind of the best distraction anyone knows.

Ezor stopped for a moment so she could answer.

“I was trying to make noodles for mommy because she’s sick and I spilled the water when it was really hot” she frowned and lance nodded, gently sitting down on the bed “That’s really nice! What kind of noodles?”

“Ramen” her eyes sparkled and lance knew what he should talk about “Ooh, I like ramen, what’s your favorite food?”

“I like chicken nuggets”

He laughed “Good choice”

He continued talking to her about food until her mother came back. They both talked to her until ezor finished cleaning up the burns.

And when he left, she tried to get him to stay but he said he had to go save the world so she excitedly let him go. That always works with the kids.

Before he went back to the icu, ezor thanked him. But he doesn’t even feel the need to be thanked. I mean, these kids are probably having the worst day of their lives. So it’s really the least he can do.

And thankfully, when he got to the front desk, Allura was there, talking to hunk. Lance slid next to her, putting his forearms on the desk and sighing dramatically.

She turned around, sighing “Yes?”

“I feel like a lung”

She shook her head “What?”

He leaned closer to her and smirked “Cause looking at you takes my breath away”

She smacked him in the head and he sat up “Ow!”

“That’s what you get”

He held his forehead and frowned “Fine then! Hunk!”

“Yeah?”

“You stole my heart so you should get cardiac arrested”

Hunk smiled and batted his eyelashes cutely “Aw! You’re more like an appendix though, not a lung”

Lance frowned “What??”

Then hunk smiled mischievously “Cause I should take you out”

Lance knew it right then and there. Marriage.

“Hunk I would gladly let you take out my appendix”

“Thank you” he smiled and he got paged so he had to leave but that left allura to still mess with. Buuuuut, he’ll give her a break.

Leaning down on the desk, he sighed again, way less dramatically, she copied him “Mr. Alwood is back”

“Drugs?”

She sighed again “Yep. Keeps asking for morphine”

“I just comforted a kid with burns all over her face”

She looked at him, a little shocked “What happened?”

They talked for a bit but had to get back to work and make rounds on all the patients. First, gsw straight through the foot, had to have reconstructive surgery and has been regularly doing physical therapy. He had a little accident but he’s healing well so he’s being discharged today after a few more hours of monitoring his stats.

Next, old woman who fell down the stairs. She has a broken arm and an acute hematoma. But they drained the blood in surgery the other day so they’re just keeping her and monitoring neuro stuff. She’s doing good.

Now, motorcycle crash. He’s been here and on a ventilator for 2 weeks, which isn’t a very good sign, but it’s not the worst thing ever. He had a small issue with bleeding in his abdomen a few days ago but nothing a small surgery couldn’t fix. His arm was partially degloved in the accident so they did a skin flap surgery since they couldn’t salvage the skin that was peeled back (gross) and it’s doing good. Minor brain bleed but they fixed that on the day of the crash. Still monitoring him on that though.

At first, he thought the laceration on his cheek was from the accident but on closer inspection, it was just an old scar so it was nothing to worry about. Then a tibial fracture, hunk did surgery but he had to end up amputating since it was too damaged. They clean the wound every day so it’s not infected—both the leg and the arm—and now, it’s just a matter of waiting for him to wake up.

Because they still aren’t able to identify him.

He started with checking his abdomen to make sure his bowel sounds are all good. And everything’s feeling okay. Then his heart—

He started gagging. Lance froze for about a second before calling the nurse in there. He immediately started taking his ET tube out and talking, calmly “Hey! Hold on, I’m taking it out now”

Once it was out, he started coughing and lance smiled at him “Do you know where you are?”

He looked at him and looked genuinely terrified. But most patients do when they wake up from a big trauma.

“I’m Dr. McClain. You were in an accident and you’re in the hospital now.”

His looked around the room a little frantically. Lance assumed he’s unable to talk or just scared so he kept going. Just as calm.

“Everything is ok. You’re fine and stable right now but it was a pretty big trauma so we’re gonna have to keep you here for a bit longer”

He looked back at lance, less frantic, and dropped his head down on the pillow, looking tired. Then he looked down at his arm and then his leg. He sighed and—to lances surprise—rolled his eyes.

“Do you remember what happened?”

He didn’t answer and pointed to the ventilator, seeming distressed. Lance nodded back “You had to be put on a ventilator—“

He shook his head and then pointed to his throat. “Oh, do you want water?”

He nodded and lance gestured for the nurse to get some so she left. “I know it’s hard to talk but can you tell me your name?”

“Sh…” he struggled and swallowed but he kept trying “Shr…o”

“Your name is Shrow…?”

He closed his eyes and shook his head, confusing lance but before he could ask, he said “Brot..brother…”

“Shrow is your brother…?”

He nodded and pointed to the door. Alright he’s completely confused. But then again, he may be out of it because of medicine or trauma.

“Is there any way to contact this Shrow?”

He rolled his eyes again and then the nurse came back and lance let him drink some water before talking again.

“Sh..shirogane”

“Shiro…..” Lances eyes widened with realization “Shiro??”

He nodded and lance asked again “Like, takashi shirogane?”

He nodded again, as if it was obvious. And lance smiled, trying his best to hide his shock “Ok, well then I’ll contact him and tell—“

He started shaking his head quickly “No”

Lance frowned and stopped him from shaking his head “Why not?”

He just shook his head still so lance nodded “Ok, I won’t then…but can you tell me your name?”

He swallowed “Keith”

“So, Keith shirogane I presume?”

He shook his head again “Kogane”

Trying to lighten the mood a little, lance laughed “Are you married?”

He shook his head and lance nodded, writing down that he’s conscious on his chart and his vitals.

“Is it okay if I check your heart and stomach?”

He nodded and lance smiled “Alright, I’m gonna raise your gown and push down on different parts of your stomach and you tell me if anything hurts, okay?”

He nodded and lance put a blanket on the part he probably doesn’t want him to see before raising his gown.

As he pressed on certain parts of his stomach, he watched his face to see if he winced. He did a little when he pressed near the incision from one of the surgeries but that’s normal.

He then took his stethoscope and put it in his hands to warm it up a little “I’m gonna listen to your heart and lung sounds now, to make sure there’s no liquid.”

He put them in his ears and pressed the base to his lower neck to listen to his trachea “Deep breath in”

He listened “Deep breath out”

It sounded good so he moved to the sternum to listen to his lungs “Breathe in” he breathed in “breathe out” he breathed out and lance noticed that it sounded a little hollow so he’s gonna have to get some labs done to rule out any pneumonia or fluid. But it doesn’t sound horrible.

He would usually get the patient to say something to hear how it sounds but since he can barely talk, it wouldn’t be that helpful.

He continued the check up, checking his oxygen, heart rate, capillary refill—just cause it’s fast and easy—and reflexes.

He wrote down everything in his chart and then smiled “Are you down to give me a little history? It’ll mainly be yes or no questions”

He nodded and lance started and asked a few generic questions about his past health like ‘have you had any major health issues or allergies’ and he said no. After a few more, he started on his social history.

“Do you smoke?”

He scratchily(?) said “I used to” and lance nodded “Cigarettes?” He shook his head and lance asked again “marijuana?” He nodded and lance wrote it down, smiling—trying to be polite and not make him feel judged.

“Do you drink?”

He swallowed before saying “Sometimes”

“Ok, do you have kids?” He shook his head “Do you have a partner?” He said no again and lance smiled writing all that down. He usually asks the easy questions before this one “Do you take any recreational drugs—besides marijuana”

He looked away for a moment, and then said “I used to”

Lance nodded, carefully “Not anymore?”

He shook his head and lance wrote it down. Then he smiled and put his hand on his arm “Ok, that’s all I have to do for now. I’ll be back to talk to you about your labs—which the nurse is going to take after I leave, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask for me or ask a nurse. Either is fine—but do you have any questions now? Maybe…like……about your condition?” He glanced at his leg—or lack thereof—wondering if he noticed.

“Where….where’s Shiro…?”

Lance nodded “He’s all the way in Africa right now, since he’s a volunteer for work like that—you know, since military stuff is his thing”

He rolled his eyes again and lance smiled “And just to be clear, you’re his brother, but you don’t want me to tell him that you’re here?”

He nodded and lance did back “Ok then, I’ll see you later”

He left and quickly went to find allura, who luckily was just leaving a patients room.

“Allura!”

She jumped, probably not expecting lance to come running at her frantically. “What?? God, you scared me!”

Lance laughed “Sorry—but uh, motorcycle guy woke up”

She smiled and they continued walking “Really? Did you get anything from him?”

Lance looked around “Yeah, I got his name and……other information”

She snorted “What, his number?”

He scoffed “No, I’m not that slutty—come here”

He pulled her into an on call room and she frowned “What?”

“He said he’s shiros brother”

He may be breaking all hippa laws right now but he’s gotta talk about this

“What??”

“Yeah I asked his name and he said Shiro and I thought he said something else but he said brother so I asked if—“

“Slow down, I can barely understand you”

He rolled his eyes “Long story short—either this guy is crazy, or he’s shiros brother”

“You don’t think he’s one of those people that claim to be a well known persons family member for fame or something?”

“Maybe?? He said not to tell him he was here”

“That’s pretty suspicious…”

“Yeah but I can’t tell Shiro because he’s in freaking Africa and because of literally one of the most important laws in medicine”

“Did he look like him?”

“I don’t know, he’s been in a hospital bed for two weeks he could look completely different normally”

“What’s his name?”

“He said Keith Kogane”

“Kogane? How could they be brothers if they don’t have the same last name?”

“I don’t know! Ugh! I’m so confused! Also that rhymed!”

“Me too! And I know!”

Suddenly, the door opened, revealing hunk, looking absolutely exhausted. But he seemed to notice them kind of freaking out so he squinted “What’s wrong?”

Lance didn’t even hesitate before telling him everything. And he also started freaking out. Like, should they tell Shiro that someone is possibly faking being his brother? He’s never mentioned a brother before?? Like, that’s just creepy! And probably illegal?? But it’s also illegal to tell a patients information to anyone but the patient??

He needs to take a nap. And that’s what they all did.

After the doctor left, Keith had to take another deep breath. Honestly, he’s surprised he could even breath earlier. Because holy shit that guy is attractive.

But because of his burning throat, he isn’t sure which type of thirsty he is.

Oh, and of course—the crash.

He doesn’t really feel anything. His arm kind of hurts though. And it feels like someone is scraping a fork down his throat. A fork that is also on fire.

And he probably looks like shit, too. Great.

He doesn’t remember that much of the accident. He just remembers swerving off the road and then blacking out. And there were lights, probably from the ambulance. Or maybe it was aliens and he got abducted. That would probably be a better alternative than this.

He’d much rather get probed than have to deal with staying in an uncomfortable bed, not being able to move for god knows how long.

And in this place. He knows this place. Shiro works here. And he’s completely sure Shiro does not want to see him. Keith just up and left one day and now here he is, half dead in the hospital he works at.

But hey, maybe he’ll go easy on him because of the half dead part. Or maybe he’ll just kill him since it’ll be easier. Who knows.

After the nurse got all she needed from him, he felt drained—a bit literally. He barely even has the energy to move his eyes. And he’s uncomfortable. Really uncomfortable.

He slowly turned his head to look out the window in his room. He watched as doctors and nurses and patients walked through the halls. Apparently Shiro is in Africa or some shit so he’s not worried about him seeing him here.

That is, until someone walked past the door, small, fluffy hair, round glasses, and terrifying demeanor.

He quickly looked away, praying to whatever gods are out there that she didn’t see him. After a few minutes, he sighed, relieved. He turned back around—

“Thought you could hide from me, huh?”

He jumped, then winced at how much it hurt his entire body. But she was right next to him now. “Jesus—“ he exhaled, trying to calm his racing heart.

“I’d recognize that mullet from anywhere” she looked away and pursed her lips before looking back, carefully.

“So……you’re motorcycle guy?”

He raised his eyebrows and she snorted “We already have a John Doe so you’re motorcycle guy”

She looked at his injuries and whistled “You sure got yourself in quite the scuffle, huh?”

He rolled his eyes and she got a more serious look on her face “Are you okay? Keith, it’s been so long. Well—besides from the obvious reason you’re not okay at this moment.”

Keith sighed again and nodded “I’m okay” his voice was course and a little shaky. She smiled “Ok”

Then he pursed her lips again “So are you gonna talk to Shiro?”

Keith sighed, knowing she was gonna ask him.

“Listen, I know you think he hates you or whatever but I promise you, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. He cares about you and is really worried. You need to tell him you’re here”

He looked at her and felt heat prickling at his eyes “I can’t”

“Yeah you can. He isn’t gonna be mad at you. Just tell him what happened”

Keith motioned to his throat “Can’t talk though”

“I can talk to him for you. Or your doctor can.”

Keith took another deep breath. “Ok”

“You want me to?”

He nodded and before she left he stopped her “With me”

“Ok I’ll come back when I get off”

She left and Keith watched her walk away. Then he looked at his arm and leg again. This sucks. And it’s embarrassing.

After a few hours of nurses constantly checking in on him, asking questions, poking at him, looking at him, everything Keith hates, there was yet another knock on the door, which is something they probably shouldn’t even do because they just come in anyway.

But it wasn’t a nurse, it was the doctor again. And of course, he still gorgeous. Making Keith breathless and even more unable to talk.

“Hey! So the nurses tell me you’re doing great! Well, so does your chart. But I got your labs back and wanted to talk to you about them.”

He walked up to the bed and smiled “But before that, I forgot to ask your age because it was already filled out as ‘late 20s” so that’s my bad”

A little flattered, keith flushed “Uh, 32”

He raised his eyebrows “Really? I would’ve guessed probably 27.” he laughed as he wrote it down. And obviously that just made him blush more.

“It’s all good news! Everything looks just fine—no infection, blood count’s good, you don’t have aids” he laughed and Keith didn’t respond cause—how do you respond to that?

He stopped laughing and shook his head “Sorry—uh, just—everything’s good”

Unfortunately Keith’s a sucker for rude humor so he smiled, as much as his poor little face could. The doctor saw and smiled back “Sometimes I just have no filter” he looked back at the chart “So we’re gonna get you a chest X-ray to make sure there’s no fluid in or around your lungs, then an mri to check on your brain—cause when the crash happened, you had a little bit of a brain bleed so we have to make sure it’s not back or anything”

Keith nodded and the doctor put up the rails on the bed. “The radiologist is gonna take you there and then I’m gonna have Dr. Garret come in to ask you a few questions about your…leg. All that sound okay?”

He just nodded again, even though he probably doesn’t really have a choice.

“Ok great, I’ll discuss what I find after everything.” He left and waved before Keith was rolled away by a few people. And finally, he was able to breath normally.

That was until he got the mri done cause damn that’s a small machine.

—

When he got back to the room, another doctor was there. He was a bigger guy but he looked really nice. Like a teddy bear or something.

“Hey! I’m Tsuyoshi Garret, but you can call me Dr. Garret or hunk if you want—it’s a little more fitting” he laughed and Keith was too tired to respond. ‘Hunk’ seemed to notice and sighed “I know it’s super exhausting, right? We can talk about this tomorrow if you want to? Losing a limb is a lot to deal with—especially if you’re tired”

Keith immediately nodded making him laugh “Alright, I understand, you can rest now”

He got out a ‘thank you’ before he left and Keith closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

—

But he was gently woken up by pidge, who was quiet—probably because she knows how much pain he’s in.

“Hey, wake up, sleepy”

Keith groaned and rubbed his eyes with the hand he can actually move. Pidge was sitting on a chair next to the bed and still in her scrubs and lab coat.

“Time?” Keith pushed out, with quite a bit of effort.

“It’s 12, when I get off…sorry it’s so late—but it’s better anyway since he’s in Malawi. Y’know, different times n such.”

Keith nodded and took another deep breath. This is going to suck. He doesn’t know if he can handle two major crashes in his lifetime. The motorcycle one was enough he can’t deal with his life now.

She started dialing a number and as she pressed call she laughed “He’s got a satellite phone so it might take a few tries”

But she smiled after a few seconds “Oh—hey shiro” she listened for a few seconds “No, everything’s fine here, just uh—“ she looked at Keith and he couldn’t handle it anymore so he grabbed her phone and put it to his ear.

“Hello? Pidge? Did I lose you?”

Hearing his voice made him want to cry. And apparently he already was because pidge wiped his cheek with a napkin.

“God I hate this phone—hello?”

“Hey” still raspy, he wasn’t sure if Shiro heard him. But he just chuckled “Sorry—I think the phone went out for a second, is everything okay? And you sound significantly different”

“Uh, it’s uhm……Keith”

He got silent and Keith felt pidge wipe his cheek again. Hating the silence, he laughed awkwardly “Surprise?” His voice cracked a little.

“Keith…?”

“Yeah….”

There was a long sigh “Oh my god”

“I—“ before he could say anything, Shiro spoke again.

“Keith you have no idea how worried I was. Why didn’t you come back?? Why are you back now?? Don’t get me wrong, I’m ecstatic that you are, but why? And have you been crying? You sound horrible?”

“Uh—“ he tried to clear his throat “I’m uh…in the hospital….”

It went silent again. “…what?”

Keith looked at pidge and shook his head so she took the phone back. “Hey it’s me again—yeah, I know—he’s still here. But—yes he is—he—oh my god Shiro let me talk” she waited a few seconds before continuing “He crashed his motorcycle—Shiro!”

She groaned and put him on speaker “He won’t stop talking”

Shiro was still talking about what happened, why, how, who, when, where—all that. But Keith stopped him “Shiro—I’m fine”

“What are his injuries?” Shiro pretty much ignored him and Pidge rolled her eyes “I dunno, lance is his doctor”

“Then get lance on the phone, right now”

Is lance the doctors name? Keith ignored that—but silently remembered it.

“He’s working”

“Well this has to do with his patient. Page him 911”

“What?? No! It’s not emergent! Just calm down, jeez. I’ll page him but you know how long he takes.”

“Ok”

She took out a little device and typed some stuff on it then put it back in her pocket “He’s been paged”

“Thank you, how hard was that?”

“Harder with you telling me what to do”

“That’s my job”

“Nah, that’s your job for everyone else. Except me. Im too cute to be told what to do”

“No you’re too manipulative”

“Exactly”

Keith couldn’t help but smile. He misses this. But he knows it won’t last. It never does.

“I can leave tomorrow at ten and be there Saturday”

“Wha—no! You don’t ha—“ he started coughing and Pidge set the phone down on the bed and got the cup of water the nurses have been using for him.

“What happened? Is everything okay?”

Pidge sighed, bringing the straw to his mouth “Calm down, mr dry throat here can’t talk”

“Was he intubated?? How long?!”

“Like I said, I don’t know, I’m not his doctor”

“How long has he been there? Why didn’t you tell me earlier??”

“I didn’t know, his name on the chart was motorcycle guy. And he had tubes coming out of his face!”

“How bad was the crash??!”

“Oh my god, Shiro—“

There was a small knock on the door and ‘lance’ opened, seeming surprised to see pidge there.

“Oh, hey pidge…?”

“Get your ass over here and calm this man down”

He frowned and pointed to Keith, who was obviously calm “Him…?”

Pidge groaned “I hate you people”

“Lance! Tell me absolutely everything”

“Shiro?!” He walked up to the bed and then looked at pidge and then the phone “So he’s actually your brother??”

“Yeah, he is”

Keith frowned “Why would I lie about that?” He barely managed to get that sentence out so pidge pat his shoulder, stopping him from talking.

“Lance, please just tell me what happened. What are his injuries? Was he intubated? Is he—“

“Ok ok woah, I’ll tell you” he got another chair and sat next to pidge. “He came in about two weeks ago—“ he smiled “a magnificent sight, degloved forearm, major broken tibia, hematoma—“ Pidge hit his arm “Ah! What was that for??”

“You’re talking to his brother”

Lance rubbed his arm and pouted “Yeah but also the chief of surgery…”

“ok ok just tell me everything”

“Alright, we did an emergency thoracotomy since the ultrasound showed a lot of fluid—which turned out to be blood and allura got it all over me—“

“Ok, what about his head”

“I’m getting to it! He was bleeding from his head so we did an mri and there was just a little bit of bleeding but we just got another mri today and his brain looks beautiful. So does his arm, thanks to a skin flap and his leg…uh…” he looked at Keith, who was shaking his head “Uh…is also good”

If he knows he lost his leg, he would freak out. More than he is now.

“Was he intubated?”

Lance moved in his chair and leaned against the bed “Uh, no, we put him on a ventilator and he stayed on it for roughly two weeks and just woke up today actually. And to be honest, I didn’t really believe him when he said you were his brother” he laughed but since no else was with him, he quickly stopped.

“He mentioned me?”

He nodded “Yeah he said your name when I asked for his. But then he was all like ‘he’s my brother’ but he told me not to tell you he was here but I guess he had a change of heart…not literally…there was no heart transplant.”

“Two weeks…..Keith, what happened?”

“I crashed, it’s not a big deal” he coughed again and lance pursed his lips “Well…it kind of is, you could’ve died…like…you were standing right next to death”

Keith let his head fall on his pillow and he closed his eyes. Why is it always the most attractive people who suck the most. His head hurts.

“Is he stable right now? What are his vitals?”

“I mean, he’s awake and talkin to ya so I’d say he’s pretty stable”

“Lance…” even keith could hear the disappointment in his voice. Then he could hear ringing…and then…nothing?

As lance was about to defend himself, the monitors started going off. They quickly stood up and as if on cue, he started having a seizure.

“Oh shit—“ Pidge grabbed the phone quickly as Shiro started asking even more questions. “Shiro—I uh, I gotta go—“

“No! Tell me what’s happening!”

“He’s having a seizure, I have everything under control” lance made sure to be careful of moving his leg and being too rough with his arm as he moved him to the recovery position. “Will you hold his head?”

Pidge nodded and went to the other side of the bed and held his head up so he wouldn’t stop breathing.

“Is he still seizing??” Pidge had put her phone on the end table next to lance so lance answered as he called the nurse in the room with the button “Yes, we’re just gonna wait it out and then take another ct to see if it’s another brain bleed”

“Let allura do it, she’s really fast”

“I know”

The nurses came in and Pidge quickly gave Keith an anesthetic to stop him from jerking around. It worked but now they had to get him to a ct as fast as they can.

Allura was there in seconds “What happened?”

“So it turns out, he’s actually shiros brother and I was telling Shiro was happened and now he’s having a seizure—I think it might another brain bleed—“

She nodded “Ok the ct scan will take about a minute”

They finally got to the room and moved him onto the scanner. Allura put on the protective apron before they left and started it.

And unfortunately, his suspicions were true. A brain bleed. Or subdural hematoma if he wants to be fancy about it.

The nurse already called an OR so he told allura in the speaker and she nodded. And now it’s all up to how fast they get there.

After surgery, they completely drained all of the blood, looked for more potential bleeders then closed him up. And if this happens again, they might be dealing with something bigger here. But he doubts it because the head trauma is still pretty recent. Hematomas can take a while to show symptoms. Little jerks.

He took him back to his room, where pidge was sitting on the sofa, hugging her knees. She looked up and her eyes were wide and red from crying. It surprised lance because he’s known her for most of his medical career but he’s never seen her cry. She always says crying is for the weak.

Once they got everything situated, lance smiled at her “Flying colors”

She sighed and put her head down on her knees “Oh my god that was the worst day of my life”

“You know him?”

She looked up at him and nodded “We used to be really good friends cause our families know each other”

“What happened?”

She shook her head “It’s not my story to tell but he left and me and Shiro haven’t seen him since then.”

“Has he always been reckless or something?”

She laughed “Pretty much. He used to be an asshole too so I’m surprised he hasn’t tried to to just up and leave—or refuse care.”

“Wait I thought you were friends?”

She laughed again “When we were kids, he used to refuse to hang out with me but since I’m annoyingly persistent, he gave in and we became friends”

“Do you think he’s still a jerk?”

She shrugged “I mean, I didn’t expect him to actually talk to Shiro so maybe he’s gotten better. But he may just be too exhausted.”

Lance looked at allura, who was fixing his iv “See? I told you”

“Oh, shut up”

“What?” Pidge squinted at him and he looked away guilty(ily?) “Kinda…assumed a few things about him”

“Oh, cause of his overall biker aesthetic?” Pidge said, smiling.

“Yeah, I mean, who rides motorcycles? And crashes them??”

“A lot of people actually. A lot of very smart, nice people—well—not the crashing part” allura said, finishing up.

“Well, if pidge says he’s an asshole, he’s probably an asshole…because pidge is an asshole”

“That’s so ru—“

“Nah, he’s right” Pidge said, snorting.

“Oh!” Allura exclaimed, seeming to remember something “What about Shiro? How is he?”

“He started freaking out and now he’s coming back”

“He’s just leaving Malawi?” Allura yawned, probably sick and tired of standing and just generally being awake.

“Yeah, I mean, he’s his brother of course he’s leaving. If I was across the world and Matt was hurt I would literally let whoever I was saving die before I let my brother die”

“Wow that’s harsh”

Lance shook his head “No, I get it—I’d do that for my whole family” He smiled at allura “Plus I’m sure you’re happy shiros coming back”

She rolled her eyes and ignored him.

Instead of going home, they stayed in Keith’s room and Pidge sat on the chair next to his bed and lance laid down on the long couch. Allura did too, sleeping with her feet up near lances head and vice versa. She didn’t even let him make a 69 joke.

And Pidge had the recliner to move to if she got uncomfortable.

But they slept like that all night. And the next night too, waiting for Shiro to get there.

Chapter Text

His head pounding, he squeezed his eyes shut. The pressure kind of helped. But then he opened his eyes but could barely see since the lights were off.

He couldn’t hear anything either, just the beeping of the monitors and breathing—wait what?

He looked beside him, wincing and saw three doctors all tangled up together on a long couch near the window. They look uncomfortable…but also really really comfortable.

Then he looked to the other side and flinched a little. It’s Shiro. He’s in a recliner with a blanket over him. He’s also asleep. Keith took a deep breath in and looked at the ceiling, not knowing what to do. He’s trapped.

Not just because he doesn’t have a leg anymore but also because even if it wasn’t, Shiro would never let him leave again. He doesn’t know how that makes him feel. It makes him feel good that he cares about him but also scared—no— terrified that he’ll realize there was nothing to care about in the first place.

“Keith?”

He considered acting dead but then he realized that would probably just cause a whole lot more problems (and it would be impossible since he’s hooked up to a bunch of monitors) so he cautiously looked beside him at Shiro, who was now awake.

His eyes got wide and he jumped out of his seat. A cup was knocked over, making one the doctors wake up—it apparently was lance because he fell off the couch, waking up the other doctors.

“Hey…” Shiro picked up the cup and went to the side of Keith’s bed, smiling. “You’re awake”

All of a sudden, Keith completely realized what’s happening….he doesn’t know. “What happened?” He squinted at him, too tired to fully open his eyes.

Shiro grabbed his hand carefully “You had a seizure but you’re fine now”

“I’m sorry” Keith couldn’t stop his eyes from welling up and his voice from cracking. Shiro quickly shook his head “It’s ok, you don’t have to apologize” Keith doesn’t know if shiro actually knows what he’s apologizing for.

“Keith?” Pidges voice was loud, hurting his head. Shiro put his finger over his mouth and she gasped “Oh—sorry” she whispered and walked next to him and sat down on the chair. Then she grabbed his arm and put her head down on the bed “You asshole, you scared me”

Keith didn’t expect her to cry but she was.

“I don’t even know you but I want to cry” another lady doctor said, tiredly, but also sadly. “Nothing makes pidge cry” lance added, making this so much harder for Keith.

He’s so selfish.

“I’m sorry” he brought his hand up and put it on her head. She looked up at him and grabbed his hand “I’ve never been so scared in my life when you started having that seizure”

“I’m sorry”

Shiro laughed “Stop apologizing, it isn’t your fault”

It is though. And Keith couldn’t feel more guilty. For making people care about him then betraying them.

“Alright, let me check his neuro…stuff” lance yawned and Pidge moved out of the way and Shiro laughed “You just woke up, someone else can do it”

Lance waved his hand at him, shaking his head “Turn on the lights”

He went to the sink and started washing his hands “Ooh, I can do a super detailed exam since I have time”

He looked back at Keith “I’m off right now so consider yourself lucky”

“Pretty sure it’s illegal for you to even touch him” Pidge said while the other doctor laid back down “I’m going back to sleep—Mr. Kogane, I’m very sorry for what’s about to happen” he was a bit surprised by her English accent but ignored it.

He looked at Shiro, who shook his head “She’s joking”

“No I’m not” she added, even though she was already laying down.

He just rolled his eyes and lance walked up to the bed, smiling “Firstly, I’m gonna sit you up a little—“ he raised the bed so Keith was sitting up just a little bit more. It kind of felt nice to move from the position he was in.

He got a thing from the wall “Im gonna check your eyes first—“ he brought the thing close to his face “Look to your left” he shined the light in his eye and then nodded “To your right” he nodded again and checked the other eye the same way.

He then opened his eyelid with his thumb and moved the light back and forth from his eye. He did the other eye and he had to blink because now he can only see a black dot.

“Both pupils are responsive bilaterally—“then he said something about his quadrants—just stuff Keith knows nothing about and Shiro sighed “This is unnecessary, you just need to see if he’s ok after surgery. We know all that, the neurologist put it in his chart”

Lance put the thing back on the wall “I haven’t done this since I was a resident, come on, let me do it”

Shiro looked at Keith, sighing “Do you consent?”

Keith just blinked and rubbed his eyes. “You’re confusing the poor guy” Pidge said, hitting lances arm gently.

“That’s concerning so I think I have to check more”

“I’m gonna call security if you don’t stop” Pidge looked serious but Keith could tell she was joking.

Lance looked at Keith, pouting “Can I continue?”

Keith is tired and doesn’t just accept attractive peoples offers because they’re attr—“Sure…?”

Ok maybe he does.

Lance stuck his tongue out at pidge and looked back at keith “Alright, Mr. Kogane, I’m gonna need you to stick your arms out like this” he put up his arms, palms facing up and Keith did it too, but forgot about the pain in his left arm.

“You can skip that one, because of his arm” Shiro said and lance nodded “True, you can put your arms down.”

He sat down on the bed next to him and they did the nose touch thing. And Keith tried his hardest not to look him in the eyes. He actually thinks he might not be able to look away.

Then he grabbed his hand and held onto it a bit tightly “Ok I’m gonna pull. But try to resist it. It’s okay if you’re a little weak right now”

Not really having time to think, Lance pulled away and Keith pulled torwards him, pulling all of lance on accident.

Pidge started laughing “Lance, you’re the weak one”

Now, a lot closer, lance laughed “I guess that isn’t a problem then”

“Sorry”

Lance shook his head “It’s fine, I’ve got lanky noodle arms anyway”

“Lanky noodle body” Pidge corrected, earning an offended look from lance. Who hasn’t let go of his hand yet. It’s making Keith slowly start to feel warmer. But he’s gonna deny the reason so it might be a fever.

But then he did and Shiro shook his head “I’ll get someone else to test his strength later”

Lance rolled his eyes and then looked at Shiro “Do we have those sharp dull thingies?

“Every room has them”

“Yeah, but where?”

Shiro didn’t answer and shrugged “Shouldn’t you know already?”

“Yeah but I just woke up” he groaned and Shiro pointed to a cabinet “The second one down”

He got up and looked through the cabinet. He pulled something out and laughed “Ha! Found it”

“Pretty sure Shiro did” Pidge said, yawning.

“Be quiet, I’m assessing my patient.” He walked back over to Keith and held it up “There’s a sharp end and dull end to this thing, you close your eyes and tell me whether it feels sharp or dull, ok?”

Keith nodded and closed his eyes, a little cautiously, not knowing what to expect. He felt a poke on his forehead so he instinctively pulled back “Was that sharp or dull?”

“Uh…dull?”

A few more pokes on his face were dull until there was a sudden sharp one, making him flinch and open his eyes “Ow”

Pidge snorted “Drama queen”

Keith rolled his eyes and looked at lance “sharp”

He nodded and smiled “Good job, you did great—but there is something I worry a little about—“

“Dude, they weren’t all dull” Pidge shook her head, chuckling a little.

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean we have to worry! It could be temporary, okay? Somatosensory problems sometimes happen but—most of the time—for only a few days. But it’s good you at least feel pain.”

“Yeah, good” Keith coughed and Pidge held out a cup of water and he shook his head.

“Well, in a sense of you being able to survive, it’s very good”

Lance threw the little thingy away and then went on with the exam “Now I’m gonna draw a number on your hand and you’ll tell me what number I wrote with your eyes closed”

He grabbed Keith’s hand again and slowly drew a 2. It made his arm tingle a little.

“Uh, 2”

He opened his eyes and lance was smiling and nodded “Great! That’s great—now I’m gonna whisper something in your ear”

He moved closer to him and brought his hand up to his left ear and made sure he couldn’t hear before moving closer to the right side of his face. Keith might die? He doesn’t even know if his heart racing is from his plethora of injuries or because the hottest man he’s ever seen is whispering in his ear—he doesn’t think he wants to know which one it is.

“Two blood cells fell in love but alas”

He felt his breath on his ear, sending shivers down his whole body. It hurts but also oh my god. And Keith knows what he said but why did it have to sound so romantic?? His heart can’t take this.

But as quickly as it started, it was over and he was moving back “Did you hear that?”

Keith nodded, a little too scared to talk.

He did the other ear, saying a different sentence “Pidge is a jerk”. Even though it still made him shiver, he had to stop himself from smiling.

He laughed “Did you hear that?”

Keith nodded, unable to hide his small smile now. “Good, you agree?”

He squinted at pidge and then nodded before looking back at lance.

She scoffed “Are you talking about me??”

Keith accidentally snorted a little, hurting his throat. He started coughing and she scoffed again “What did you say??”

“Just how amazing you are”

“You’re both asses”

“I know I know, I have a great one—you’re not the only admirer”

Honestly, you could probably put Keith on the list of admirers—When did Keith get so thirsty??

“I hate you so much”

“Aright, are you gonna finish the exam or not? He just woke up from surgery” Shiro sighed and lance mocked his impatience with a face.

Shiro then shook his head and pointed to lance when Keith looked over at him “I trained this idiot”

“You trained all the idiots” lance said, standing up. He got something else from a cabinet and came back with a little red reflex hammer. This time, he didn’t say anything about what he was doing and just grabbed his arm and did the test while talking to Shiro “And if you trained me and I’m an idiot, which idiot do I have to blame?”

“Whoever raised you” Pidge said, snorting again.

“My mother is not an idiot…maybe my papá is though”

“Shiro should be given a medal for turning idiots into slightly less idiots”

Shiro looked at pidge and smiled “Also the person who trained you”

She flipped him off and Keith just listened while lance checked random stuff with the hammer. He wasn’t really paying attention to that anymore though.

After that, he started moving around his arm and tapping on his finger on his arm—he doesn’t know, but he’s not gonna question it—and they continued talking, sometimes talking to Keith, who would just give small answers or nods.

Once he finished that, he looked at pidge “Will you get a tongue depressor?” He smiled at her, probably to manipulate her but she rolled her eyes “You can’t manipulate me”

He groaned and got the stick thing himself and came back “This is probably gonna be the worst one, but I’m gonna check your gag reflex now”

Keith felt relieved that it wasn’t that bad, I mean it won’t be the first time he….uh…..anyways—he’s not scared.

That is until he remembered that neither pidge nor Shiro know he’s gay. It’s kinda something he discovered after he left. Also is a simple gag reflex test really going to out him to everyone here? No way. It’s all gonna be fine. He’s not that much of a whore. Plus would that even make sense??

“Open your mouth and stick your tongue out”

He did and he stuck the wooden stick in his throat and once it touched the back, he felt like he was about to gag but the stick was being taken out before he could “Ok, that’s a little concerning—“

“Do you think it has something to do with his brain?” Shiro seemed nervous now and lance looked at Keith. Keith feels nervous. Should he be nervous? Lance is looking at him weird. And right in the eyes. Like he knows . Alright, this is freaky.

“I don’t think so…” he narrowed his eyes a little and Keith absolutely had to look away or he would pass out or something. Then lance shook his head “Nah, he’s fine”

“How can you know?”

“I just do! Trust the doctor, okay?” He waved his hand dismissively. But Shiro insisted “I feel like you’re hiding something—no, I know you’re hiding something. Tell me”

Lance looked at Keith, who knew there was no hiding now. He looked away from Shiro and made sure to avert his eyes from pidge as well, who seemed to realize. But his brother was always pretty dense.

“Seriously if you don’t tell me I’m firing you”

Lance sighed, taking his gloves off “Why else do you think his gag reflex is…..” he stopped for a moment and then pursed his lips “ Desensitized ”

Shiro shook his head, not understanding but then it seemed to click in his brain and he raised his eyebrows “Oh……o-oh!”

Keith still didn’t look at him, wanting all this to be over now. He never thought he had to come out to anyone before. I mean, where he lives, theres no need to because no one gives a shit. Especially the men he’s slept with—for obvious reasons.

He doesn’t sleep around that much anymore though. He stopped once he had a particularly bad experience with a guy from a bar. It really made him question how safe he was being—which was not at all. In terms of who he slept with, not ‘protection’ protection. There’s no way he’s getting aids.

“Well…I mean, you know I still love you and all—“

“Stop—no” Keith shook his head at him and gave him a look that said ‘drop it’. So he did, probably also not wanting to talk about it. Pidge didn’t though. She whispered something to Lance that Keith absolutely heard “He used to listen to Britney Spears—I totally called it”

Lance was laughing with pidge until he looked and saw both Keith and Shiro glaring at him. He quickly stopped and hit pidge in the side to stop her. She looked and stopped laughing too.

“Ok, I’ll ignore you both, for the sake of your careers—are you done with the ‘neuro’ exam?”

Lance nodded quickly “Yep. He’s all good—reflexes are good…uh…” he seemed to have lost his train of thought so Shiro crossed his arms and rolled his eyes “Go back to sleep”

Lance crossed his arms and sat down in the chair next to the bed “I gotta stay and monitor him”

“A nurse can do that—I can do that. Go.”

Lance stood up, glaring at him. “I’m sleeping right over there” he pointed to the sofa, where the other doctor was still asleep, and where pidge was sitting. “And I think Keith should rest too so if you would, please turn off the lights and be quiet”

Keith looked at his brother, agreeing with lance. He nodded and Shiro scoffed and turned off the light. “Ok fine”

“Wait!” Lance turned around, facing Keith “Do you remember the thing I whispered to you?”

Of course he did, it was the hottest thing ever—“Something about blood being in love?” It took a bit of effort to say so much but lance smiled “Not exactly but, hey—“ he paused and smiled even wider, the others suspiciously becoming more disappointed “It was all in vein anyway”

Everyone groaned and Keith would have too if he wasn’t about to pass out from exhaustion—but unfortunately it made him smile—and a little more than before.

But he could do anything but smile when he woke up. Because who knew getting in a horrible motorcycle accident and then having brain surgery would hurt so much? And it’s been hurting more the past few days he’s still been stuck in this bed.

And he’s really starting to get sick and tired of all the nurses coming in and trying to get him to talk. They’re all like, ‘if you don’t use your voice, it may never be the same’ and Keith could literally care less but of course he also has shiro forcing him to try and stay alive all the time.

Maybe he should do one of those dnr things. Cause if this happens again, he does not want to deal with it.

Though he also doesn’t want to deal with it now so……ugh he hates how he knows he can’t do anything like that.

And what’s even worse than all the physical pain, is the emotional stuff. Shiro has tried to talk about everything but Keith is just like ‘not now’ or ‘I’m tired’. Which is pretty much what he used to do.

And he’s like, 100% sure that the doctor wrote down the drug stuff. Because he heard him whispering to one of the nurses about not giving him anything like Morphine or Vicodin or anything that’s addictive really.

But there’s absolutely no way in hell he’s talking to shiro about that. He stopped a while ago and he doesn’t plan on starting again so he doesn’t see the point.

Though he is a little glad they aren’t giving him that stuff.

After another nurse left, shiro came in, smiling like he always was. It was a bit weird seeing him in his whole work outfit, you know, looking professional and stuff, because the last time he saw him, he was a tired, overworked, resident at a different hospital.

He would be lying if he said he hasn’t been checking in on him every once in a while though. Like, he would google his name and look at awards he’s gotten.

It used to make him angry but now he’s just proud. And a little disappointed in himself for not going that far with his life. He basically graduated college and then stopped doing anything he was supposed to.

“How are you feeling?” Shiro walked up to the bed and Keith sighed “Tired” it’s a lot less painful to talk now, which is a relief, but that doesn’t mean it’s easier.

“Do you need anything?”

He shook his head and shiro nodded, pursing his lips. He wants to say something. He always did that when he wanted to say something. “What?”

He sighed and sat down in the chair next to the bed “So, your tattoos” He was still smiling but Keith could hear the judgment in his voice.

He raised his arms to look at them “Yeah…” he can tell shiro is a little surprised because they’re all either cliché or really weird. But Keith knows.

Shiro looked at them and and pointed to a big one on his forearm. It’s a lion. It’s one of the only ones he actually remembers getting. And it’s also one of the only ones that actually mean something.

“Does it mean anything?”

Keith looked at it and considered telling him the truth but he still can’t bring himself to say anything meaningful right now so he sighed. “I don’t know, not really”

Shiro laughed “What’s that one?” He pointed to one of a skull sticking its tongue out. It has a tongue piercing too. Keith shook his head, smiling a little “It wasn’t my idea”

He laughed again “How much did you pay for it??”

Keith put his arms down and shrugged “I didn’t”

He shook his head and laughed again and then leaned back in the chair “So…can we talk? All we’ve been talking about lately is your medical condition. I want to know what you’ve been up to”

Keith sighed, laughing a bit “I don’t think you do”

“I do. I really do.”

Not really able to look at him, he looked at the lion tattoo again “It’s a lot”

“That’s okay, I just want to know if you’re doing good now”

“I am…I just…” he looked up at him and shook his head, trying to find the right words “I don’t know, I just made a lot of bad decisions”

“Like what?”

He looked away and shrugged, laughing awkwardly “The tattoos probably and uh….drugs…and…other things”

“Why…?”

He shrugged again, immediately feeling overwhelmed “Just uh, I don’t know, people I was around? The mental state I was in…?”

This time shiro looked down and paused before talking “Was it because of—“

His chest immediately started hurting “I don’t want to talk about that”

“Ok….I’m sorry”

He shook his head “It’s fine”

“So….” He looked at his leg “How’s that?”

Keith laughed again “I don’t know”

”It’ll get better”

”It can’t get worse, right?”

Shiro smiled “I guess so”

Chapter Text

A few days passed and he’s been feeling a little better. I mean, besides the fact his arm was peeled off and his leg is gone.

Talking to pidge and Shiro has been a lot nicer than he ever imagined it would be.

And getting a little closer to that doctor isn’t that bad either.

He really doubts he’s into guys though.

Especially with how much he’s all over that Allura doctor. Obviously he’s not jealous because that would be insane but he can’t help but be a little disappointed that he doesn’t have a chance. I mean, even if he was into men—he’s his patient and that’s against like, so many laws.

But there’s no harm in flirting, especially if it gets his mind off the pain he’s in. He can’t have morphine so he’ll take anything.

Unfortunately though, when he walks in the room, he can’t speak. He’s never been so nervous to talk to a guy?

I guess he’s never been worried about his future though.

Not that he thinks he has a future with him—just that……I don’t even know. Now he’s thinking about futures.

”So…how long have you been a doctor?”

His voice is still a little raspy but it’s gotten a lot better.

”Uh…I finished my residency maybe 4 years ago”

“Does that mean you’re kind of new?”

He shrugged, still writing things down on his chart “I guess so—if you look at it in the long run”

”Aren’t you?”

He laughed “Yeah”

”Doesn’t sound like it”

He looked at him, looking a bit defensive “Are you trying to say something?”

Keith raised his eyebrows “No—just…I guess …futures change”

He laughed “Did they give you too much morphine?”

“Is none too much?”

His eyes got wide “Oh—I forgot that—“ he looked down “Sorry”

”You’re good”

The doctor left soon after that and Keith felt a little weird.

That was awkward, right?

Lance hasn’t thought about his future since high school. All he thought was ‘I’m gonna be a doctor’ and then worked towards it.

But…is that all he wants?

He must have been fidgeting because allura pat his back “You okay?”

He jumped and then nodded, a little too quick “Yeah! Yeah, I’m good”

”You’ve always been a terrible liar”

He sighed “What do you want in life?”

”Its still not you—“

”No, like…….seriously”

She looked a little shocked but nodded “Um, I guess I’d meet someone, have kids, and then……die? I don’t know”

”See? I haven’t thought that far”

”You’re 35 and a surgeon, how have you not thought that far”

”All I’ve been thinking about is my job”

”You dated that girl a while back?”

”That was during my residency. I’m like……rusty….”

”You flirt with me all the time”

He laughed “You wish”

She rolled her eyes “Anyways—based on what I know about you—“ she grabbed his shoulders “You are a smart, attractive guy who is sometimes funny” she leaned forward “And you have money”

”Those are my only good qualities??”

”You’re you…you know?”

”Thats the nicest way of saying I’m weird”

”Yes but you’re attractive—so it makes it okay”

”Or beautiful apparently” he smiled and she nodded “Yes—you are beautiful”

As much as it’s weird to admit—he’s weirdly flattered by shiros brother calling him beautiful.

”Now go do your job”

The next few days were the same—pretty much the same patients—same problems—same anxieties about his future.

But now he has to check up on Keith—who’s been improving a lot since he woke up.

He knocked before opening the door and smiled instinctively before—

“Oh! God—I’m sorry!” He covered his eyes and closed the door. What he did not expect to see was a random man making out—very passionately—with his patient.

After a few moments, the door opened and the other man was standing there, awkwardly “Excuse me”

He left quickly and Lance waited a moment before poking his head in “Are you decent?”

He nodded as he was putting the gown back over his shoulders “Uh—yeah—sorry”

Lance closed the door before walking in “So! Uhm…how are you—how are you feeling?” Why does he feel so flustered? Why does this guy look so…he looks just as flustered as Lance feels.

”I’m doing good…”

Lance nodded “Good! Just…uh…let me know if you….dont…feel……good”

Keith nodded slowly and Lance noticed something weird “Are you okay?”

”What? Yeah, just…..yeah, why?”

”You look….sad….?” He was hesitant, not knowing if he was crossing some boundary.

But Keith shook his head and sighed “I just……haven’t seen him in a while”

Lance was even more hesitant “Did you let him know you were here?”

He shook his head “….No”

”Do you……want to talk about it…..?”

Keith looked at him and the way his eyes looked mad him……warm.

He looked away and shook his head though “Uh—no…no, I’m good”

Lance nodded, awkwardly “Okay……cool”

He backed towards the door and went to open it but remembered he still has to check him.

And as you probably guessed—it was awkward.

First he had to deal with him again—now he’s embarrassed that the doctor walked in on them. God, today has not been good.

And his arm hurts. And he’s starting to realize how bad it actually is that he lost his leg. At first he just thought he’d accept it but now that it’s starting to hurt—he’s thinking about it more. About how it’s probably never going to stop hurting.

Yeah, he knows prosthetics exist but he’s also heard about phantom pain and how that sucks.

I guess all he can do right now is sleep. And maybe try flirting again. He doesn’t know.

“Has anyone told you that you look awfully young to be a doctor?”

The doctor didn’t look up from the chart and laughed “No—but I’ve been called beautiful”

”Really?” He laughed “By who?”

The doctor looked up “You”

Keith laughed again “When?”

”The day you came here—you were fighting everyone in the ambulance—but you stopped to called me beautiful”

Even though that’s really embarrassing Keith kept smiling “I don’t remember that”

“Oh, I know—but thank you anyways”

”You’re welcome”

The doctor smiled at him before looking down at the chart again.

Keith continued “It’s still true by the way”

”What is—“ he raised his eyebrows “Oh—well” he looked down, and like he was trying not to smile “Thank you again”

”You’re welcome again”

The next day, the doctor was back to check on him again. Keith is still a little nervous around him for some reason. Yesterday he flirted with him and it seemed to have went well—on Keith’s part mostly.

”How’s everything feeling?” Lance looked him over as he walked up to the bed and Keith nodded “Uh…good”

“Great! I just have to check a few things real quick”

Keith could only nod and Lance got closer and started checking stuff with his stethoscope. He put it over his heart and smiled “Your heart is beating really fast”

”Is that……bad?”

He shook his head and moved the stethoscope away “No, I’m just assuming it’s because of how beautiful I am”

He turned around and started writing something down. 

“Very funny”

“It was flattering”

”Well it’s also a little embarrassing”

He laughed “Don’t worry, I have that effect on people”

Keith scoffed, also smiling a little “Are you this bold with all your patients?”

He smiled at him “Only the ones that call me beautiful”

Okay, maybe the flirting went more well than he thought?

Another week passed and Shiro insisted on keeping Keith at the hospital since he doesn’t know where he’d go.

Lance probably should ask that. He offered to change the iv bag so he could.

”When you’re discharged, do you have any idea of where you’ll go?”

He sighed “Not really”

”Because it’s really important to have a support system after accidents like this”

Keith only nodded, seeming a little tired.

”Are you doing okay?”

He nodded again “Yeah…it just hurts a little”

Lance nodded back “Yeah…is there anything I can do to help with the pain?”

He smiled at him “Yes but I’m not sure it’s appropriate to ask”

Lance leaned forward, not understanding “If you need us to leave you alone for a while I can—“

”I’m joking” he kept smiling and Lance just got it “Oh—uh…” he laughed “Sorry”

”It’s okay”

”Well……” he already finished the iv bag but he was just standing there—feeling a little flustered “Again—you’ve flattered me”

”Sorry” Keith kept smiling at him, which was only making him more flustered. Why does he feel so flustered? He’s been flirted with before??

”Well—if you need anything else feel free to tell me or anyone here, okay?”

Keith nodded and Lance left, feeling……weird.

”Why can’t I leave?”

He’s starting to go a little insane here.

”Because I don’t know where you’d go” Shiro said, once again frustrating Keith “I got sober years ago, I won’t—“

”I’m not worried about that”

”Then what is it?”

“I……” he looked down, sighing “I don’t want you leaving again”

“I’m not going to”

”Where would you go?”

He shrugged “I don’t know—maybe get an apartment somewhere?”

”You could stay with me until you do”

”I don’t want to do that”

”Why not?”

”Because all you’ll do is try to help me—I don’t want that”

”I’m your brother of course I would try to help you—I’m also a surgeon which is another reason I think it would be a good idea”

”I got myself into this I don’t need any help getting out—especially from you”

”Why not me?”

Keith sighed, getting more frustrated “Because…because I’ve already caused you enough trouble—I don’t want to cause more”

Shiro grabbed his hand “You wouldn’t—I promise”

Keith looked at him, still feeling bad.

”And…” he looked a little awkward now “I didn’t want to ask before but are you……” he looked like he didn’t want to say it “You don’t have to say anything if you—“

”Yes, Shiro, I’m gay”

He nodded “Okay! So…when did you……find out?”

”After I left—I mean, I knew before but I really found out later”

“Okay…cool—I’m proud of you—and I still love you, okay?”

Keith smiled, still tired “Okay—thank you”

”So…do you have a boyfriend or something?” He laughed and Keith rolled his eyes.

“No, I don’t” then he thought about the doctor “But is there a law or something that prevents me from flirting with someone who works here?”

Shiro laughed again “No—it just can’t be the other way around. Why? Who do you even want to flirt with?”

Keith looked away smiling, a little too embarrassed to say.

”It’s Lance isn’t it”

He looked back and pursed his lips “…maybe”

”No, Keith, you can’t flirt with your doctor”

“Who’s flirting with who?” Suddenly Lance was there and Keith looked at Shiro, who looked hesitant.

”He just asked a question about something…”

”About flirting? I love gossip, you know that”

Keith smiled “I just wanted to know if it would be okay if I showed my interest towards an attractive man—who also happens to be my doctor”

Lance raised his eyebrows “Oh?” He laughed and  started to look at his chart “You want in on that doctor money?”

Keith laughed “No, I want in on that” he gestured towards Lance, who laughed again “Well—I’m sorry—but almost every law prohibits me from letting that happen”

”Exactly—which is what I said” Shiro added.

”You said I could flirt with him—he just couldn’t flirt with me”

“You said that?” Lance looked at Shiro, who scoffed “No, I didn’t—“

”No I think that’s what you said”

Lance smiled and walked over to them and got his stethoscope ready “I mean, patients have always flirted with me—the amount of times middle aged women have told me my eyes look like the ocean is wild”

”Alright—I trust you to do whatever—I’m gonna go now”

Lance waved innocently and when he left he started to check Keith’s heart.

”Have you ever been hit on by a guy before?”

Lance nodded, like it’s been a lot of times “Oh yeah”

”I don’t know if I’m crossing a line by asking—but have you ever been with a guy?”

He continued to check his heart and Keith’s chest felt a little funny as he nodded “In college mostly”

”That’s when it happens, huh?” He laughed and Lance smiled “You went to college?”

He looked down at his tattoos, laughing a little sarcastically “Is it not obvious?”

Lance was done but he didn’t move from the side of the bed. He’s never stayed to talk before but Keith isn’t complaining.

”Where’d you go?”

”Harvard—I studied physics and astronomy”

Lance looked shocked “Harvard??”

”Yeah—that degree went to shit though, didn’t it”

”You graduated?”

Keith nodded, sighing “Yep—top of my classes too”

”Why didn’t you do anything with the degree?”

He laughed, tired “Drugs—people”

”Oh…you know, you still can, right?”

”Yeah……I haven’t thought that far ahead. I didn’t really think I’d live long enough to though”

”Why not?”

Keith looked at him and saw his pager go off. Lance looked at it, too and frowned. But he looked back up “Would it be okay if I came back when I get off?”

Keith nodded “Yeah…..of course”

Lance nodded and left, leaving Keith just a little flustered. No, a lot flustered.

”You stayed in there quite a long time” allura smiled at him and he scoffed.

”I was talking to him”

”What about?”

”College—coincidentally you were right about him being an Astro physicist”

”I was? I told you never judge a book by its cover”

”But I’m talking to him more later about it—I want to know about……I guess his life?”

She laughed “Look, I know he called you beautiful but you can’t—“

He rolled his eyes “Not like that—I mean he’s Shiros brother—I wouldn’t mind getting to know him”

”Okay” she seemed unsure but let it go.

Later that night, Lance went back to Keith room, where he saw him playing a board game with pidge.

He contemplated on not interrupting them but knocked on the door to get their attention.

”Hey! Am I in your way?” Pidge asked, starting to move the board game. Lance nodded “No—uh, I’m off I just wanted to talk to Keith”

She looked at him, confused “About what?”

Lance shrugged, feeling a tad bit defensive “He’s Shiros brother I’d like to get to know him more”

”Oh…yeah I guess that makes sense” she looked at the board game “We were playing scrabble if you wanna take my place?”

Lance smiled “Okay”

She left and Lance walked up to the bed “Scrabble?” He said, judging him just a little.

”It was her idea”

”You should see the games she gets us to play when we’re not at the hospital”

“Is it monopoly? She always used to say she was a master at that game”

Lance laughed “Yes it is—and she still does”

”She isn’t wrong”

”No, she’s not” he looked at the board “How the hell did one you manage to put pneumonia?”

Keith shook his head, not knowing either.

”So—are you still down for talking? I get it if you want to sleep or….just not talk”

“What’s the alternative to talking?” Keith said, smiling, making lances chest feel a little odd.

”I meant if you want to be left alone” he laughed and Keith shook his head “No, I’m kind of tired of being alone actually”

”Shiro doesn’t visit often enough?”

”He does—but really only to talk about how I feel”

”What do you want to talk about then?”

He looked away for a second then looked back, smiling “What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen—as a doctor”

Lance was a little taken aback but laughed “Uh…How gruesome can you handle?”

”Anything”

Lance nodded “Okay, when I was resident, I saw a climber who fell down a mountain and landed on a bunch of sharp rocks—it was crazy, he survived too, which is even crazier”

”That’s as a resident—what about a patient that you’ve worked on?”

Thinking, he sat down on the side of his bed, being careful not to hurt anything “I mean…” he smiled remembering something “One man that came in worked in a zoo and one of the lions bit off his arm”

”Like bit it off?”

Lance nodded “Completely”

”Okay, what else?”

”I get a lot of people who fall onto things like poles—sticks—even holiday decorations sometimes—one woman fell on a small pole and it went through her eye”

They continued talking about patients he’s had and honestly, Lance never realized how much fun it is to recall this stuff—besides the sad cases obviously.

I mean, they’re all sad but there’s always silver linings in the patients that don’t die—or aren’t completely deformed for the rest of their life.

“And I mean, your accident is up there with the crazier stuff I’ve seen”

“Really? Even with the shark guy?”

”Yeah” 

Keith sighed and looked down at his leg “Yeah, I guess it was pretty bad”

Lance nodded “It’ll get better though—the physical therapist you met with—Luka, she’s very good”

“Yeah, I know”

”And I’m guessing Hunk already talked to you about ways to help with phantom pain?”

Keith nodded and Lance did too “And like I said before—a support system is really important”

“Yeah but im not sure the idea of being around Shiro and pidge 24/7 is really appealing”

”Well, you have me, too?”

Keith stared at him, once again, giving him a weird feeling “I do?”

”Yeah, of course—I mean one because I’m your doctor—two, because you’re shiros brother and he’s like family to me”

”Was I just family-zoned?” He laughed and Lance shook his head, not really thinking “No”

“So what am I to you, like your step-kind-of-family member?” Keith said, obviously teasing.

”No, you aren’t” he laughed and Keith smiled “So what am I?”

”Youre…” he stared at him, starting to feel a teeny tiny bit of a familiar feeling “You’re a friend”

”So I was friend zoned” he nodded and Lance pointed at him “Yes”

Keith opened his mouth, pretending to be offended “And here I thought we had something going on”

Lance frowned at him “Yeah, like I’d risk my medical license for that”

”I mean, I have been told I’m really…good” he smiled at him and lance was starting to get flustered “Okay, I think you’re sleep deprived”

He laughed “Yeah, probably—and in pain”

”Exactly so……I’m gonna leave now”

Keith nodded and Lance didn’t get up. He felt like he had something to say but he doesn’t know what?

”You want to cuddle or something?”

Lance got up “Okay, goodnight Mr. Kogane”

“Mr—I thought we were friends??”

”Only when I’m off”

”You didn’t sleep”

”I’m officially on call now though so goodnight—you need rest to heal”

He went to leave but Keith stopped him, smiling “Wait—what do you want me to call you when you’re off then—obviously not Doctor McClain”

Lance paused for a moment after he opened the door and then looked at him “Lance”

He left and immediately went to the on call room. He needs to sleep because he’s not actually on call right now but he’s about to be. He probably shouldn’t have spent all night talking to him.

Definitely for more than one reason.

Chapter Text

Another week and Keith’s leg and arm and other stuff is healing well and on one hand, he can’t wait to get out of here—on the other hand, he doesn’t want to stop talking to Lance.

It’s embarrassing but he’s starting to wish he wasn’t his doctor so he can ask him out. And what makes it worse is that—to be fair he could be going insane—Lance flirts back sometimes.

And what’s even worse than that, he’s been coming to talk to him when he gets off a lot more.

Shiro said he’s never done that before which only gave him more false hope.

But right now, they’re playing uno and Keith is winning.

He laid down his blue card and Lance looked at his “I’ve been meaning to ask—“ he laid down his card and Keith let him continue “Why do you ride a motorcycle?”

Keith laughed “I dont know—I guess I thought it would be cool”

Lance smiled “You were trying to impress someone?”

“No—I just…” he laughed again as he put his next card down “I liked how dangerous they were”

Lance nodded “You like danger?”

Keith sighed “Not really”

He laughed “You just said you did”

”I didn’t really….value anything at that time”

Lance nodded again, obviously thinking about what he said. He—luckily for Keith—didn’t really seem to fully understand.

”Once you’re discharged, are you still going to ride it?”

Keith sighed “I don’t know—I’m not sure I could even if I wanted to though”

“They have things where amputees can ride motorcycles—one patient told me about it once”

”Still, I don’t know”

”Good”

Keith smiled “Good?”

”Yeah, they’re dangerous—as you know”

“What? You don’t want me back here?”

Lance smiled “If that’s what you think you need to do to talk to me then maybe I need to call psyche”

Keith raised his eyebrows “I can talk to you outside of the hospital?”

”Of course—you’re not just my patient”

Feeling a little hopeful, Keith smiled “What am I, then?”

”You’re shiros brother”

”Oh” he laid down his last card and Lance seemed confused “You won”

”Yeah—I did” he laughed, not knowing why he’s so disappointed.

Lance started to put away the cards “You feeling okay?”

He nodded “Yeah, I’m just tired”

”Sorry—I’ll leave so you can sleep—I should probably sleep, too”

Keith only nodded and watched as Lance said bye and left.

Why does he feel so bad now? Obviously Lance is only being so nice to him because he’s shiros brother? Why would anything happen between them? Why would Keith be worth risking his job? Even outside of the hospital—when he’s not his patient anymore. Why would someone like Lance be with someone like Keith?

He needs to sleep. His head is starting to hurt.

The physical therapy was starting to finally be more than just moving his leg up and down and has given him a reason to move more and honestly, it’s great. He still hasn’t walked yet which is kind of stressing him out. He’s not sure how it’ll feel. It’s mostly just been stretching and stuff like that.

He should have gone home about two weeks ago he thinks but since he doesn’t have a home and shiro can pull the brother card, he’s been basically living at the hospital. It sucks.

He still refuses to live at Shiros house though. He’s not sure he’d be able to handle it.

Lance came into the room and seemed…happy.

”What?”

”Big day!” He walked up to the bed and Keith stared at him, confused “Why?”

”Your leg is healed enough to start preparing for a temporary prosthetic”

Keith looked at his leg “Oh…cool”

He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous. What if it hurts? What if he falls or something? Lance seemed to see how nervous he was because he suddenly grabbed his hand “It’ll be okay—I’ll be there with you”

Keith looked at him and could only nod.

The physical therapist came in with a wheel chair and they had gone over how to get in one before so he just did that again. It wasn’t hard.

As they went to another room, Keith tried to avoid eye contact with pidge as they passed her but obviously it didn’t work.

”Hey! Oh, shit, it is leg day??”

Lance nodded and got out her phone “I gotta tell shi—“

”Don’t do that” Keith quickly said and she squinted at him for a moment before putting her phone down “If I were anyone else, he would kill me”

He sighed “Are you coming?”

”Uh…yeah?”

—

They got to the room and Keith’s heart started racing when he saw a bunch of legs on a table. It’s getting him thinking about how different his life is going to be from now on.

“First, I’m going to put a sleeve on—“ she explained the process of getting his leg ready for the fake one and once she got all the padding on, she got the first leg “First, we’ll try this one—if it hurts or pinches, let me know, okay?”

She put the leg on and immediately, he hated it. She must have noticed and shook her head “Not good?”

He shook his head back and she took the leg off. The next one was a lot better.

”This one’s fine”

”Good! We’ll try the other ones too just in case but I’ll keep this one to the side”

—

After a while of trying on legs, he went with the second one he tried on.

She smiled “For now what I want you to do is wear it for 2 hours, take it off for another 2 hours, and keep doing that for a few days. And take it off before you sleep”

He nodded and she continued “You aren’t walking yet though—this is just to let you get comfortable with the feeling of having a prosthetic—once you are, that’s when we’ll start walking, okay?”

He just nodded again and he looked down at it. It’s kind of cool.

”And this one is just temporary—once you’re healed a bit more and the swelling is gone completely, that’s when we’ll talk about a permanent one—right now you just have to know how to take it on and off and let your brain get used to the fact that you have a leg again basically”

She continued to teach him until he got it fully. It’s pretty complicated but he knows it’ll probably get easier over time.

Lance had already left the room because he got paged but pidge was still there. It was nice having that support.

Once they were all done, they left and he got back on the bed. The leg stood next to him and the therapist told him to start doing the 2 hour thing tomorrow.

He feels like he’s gonna get tired of that though.

He was right, it’s been only a few days and he hates it.

The only good thing is that sometimes Lance helps and…well…I don’t really need to lay out why he doesn’t mind that.

Shiro was upset that he wasn’t there for the first fitting but Keith dismissed him, saying it’s not even the permanent leg.

He let it go but now he’s gonna have to let him in on the other important appointments.

There was a knock on a door and Keith was happy to see Lance. He didn’t show it though, too exhausted and tired of being in this room.

Lance frowned “Is something wrong?”

He sighed “No, I just don’t want to be here anymore” he laughed, still really tired.

”Ok—hold on” he left and after a moment came back with a wheelchair “I was told by Shiro I wasn’t allowed to discharge you but this is the least I can do—if you want to that is”

“What are you doing?”

”We can go outside! Since you can’t walk yet I’ll wheel you around—it’ll be fun. And nice to get some fresh air.”

”It’s 9PM”

”So? It’s better than nothing, right?”

”Aren’t you getting off soon?”

“No, I just did—which means I can stay with you”

Keith squinted at him for a moment before sighed “Alright—“ he sat up and Lance brought the wheelchair closer to the bed “I think it’ll be good for you to put the leg on so I’ll help you with that really quick”

He nodded and once it was on, he got on the wheelchair. It felt like of weird looking down and seeing a leg there. He can’t feel it though. Weird.

They stopped before a hallway and Lance leaned down and whispered in his ear—which made feel a certain way “Technically I’m not allowed to do this so try not to get anyone’s attention”

He nodded and tried his best not to make eye contact with anyone in the room they passed. They got to a door which lead outside and once Lance scanned his badge, they were there.

“It’s colder than I thought”

”Yeah—I kind of like the cold though”

He walked over to a bench and once Keith said it was fine where they were, Lance sat down.

”How’s the leg feel?”

Keith nodded “Pretty good—I don’t think my brains registered it completely though”

”Yeah—that can take a while”

They looked out and Keith looked up, surprised to see stars.

”I thought you’d like going out at night—since you studied space and stuff—plus I wanted to be here for you and I’m only off now”

Keith smiled, glad it’s dark and Lance probably can’t see how much he’s blushing.

”Thank you”

”Why’d you start studying space?”

Keith shrugged “I just thought it was fascinating.”

”I used to be really into planets and stuff when I was a kid—but then once I learned what surgeons did, that become my new obsession”

”Why’d you become a surgeon?”

”I liked the idea of helping people—I know probably the most boring answer I could have”

”No—I think it’s nice”

”Yeah—and to be honest the way the human body works is another reason but that seems kind of creepy”

Keith laughed and Lance sighed “But I agree—space is really fascinating”

They both looked up and Keith had a thought, which made him laugh and look back at Lance “Are we on a date?”

Lance smiled and laughed “No—I’m just doing something nice for a friend”

”I don’t know, this seems pretty romantic to me”

”If I took you on a date—I would do much more than just sit outside at night in the cold”

”Like what?”

”Like dinner, obviously?”

”Your idea of a date is boring then”

”Dinner is not boring”

”Its not intimate enough”

”For a first date, it is”

”I’ve had many first dates where it was more than dinner”

”And are you still with them?”

Keith raised his eyebrows and then smiled “So you want us to last—that’s so sweet”

”Shut up” he laughed and Keith looked back up at the stars, still smiling “Sorry”

“It’s fine”

Keith looked back down “You’re fine with my flirting?”

Lance laughed again “I’m about to leave you out here”

“Why? Because you’re scared you’ll do something?”

”Okay—I think I’ve deprived you of sleep enough—“ he went to stand up but Keith shook his head “No—Sorry— I’d like to stay out here a bit longer” he paused “If that’s okay with you”

Lance sat back down, nodding “Okay”

After looking at the sky for a bit longer, he sighed “Sorry, I’m just doing anything I can to distract myself”

Lance chuckled “And here I thought I was special”

Keith smiled at him “I mean you are very distracting”

”In a good or bad way?” He smiled back at him.

”In a great way”

”Good—finally, my distractions are wanted”

Keith had to look away before he attempted to kiss him or something.

But his conscious has been telling him to do something for a while now. He stopped smiling and looked back at him.

”But I’ll stop if it makes you uncomfortable”

Lance laughed “It doesn’t make me uncomfortable—it makes me feel good actually that someone like you thinks I’m worth flirting with”

”Someone like me?”

Lance looked at him, seeming like he didn’t mean to say that. He backtracked “Uh—Just that…like a…like a cool guy”

Keith laughed “A cool guy?”

”Yeah, I mean, you have the tattoos, the motorcycle, you’re attractive—“

”You think I’m attractive?” He smiled more and Lance backtracked again.

”No! I mean, yeah—but not—just……” he stopped, and Keith could see how he was thinking hard. Then he sighed looking away and smiling “…I don’t know how to go back on that one”

”Do you have a thing for attractive guys with tattoos and motorcycles?”

He looked back at him, looking a defiant “No, I don’t”

”Is it the leg?” He said, making Lance laugh “No, it’s not”

”Is it the fact that I’m in the hospital?”

”No”

”Then what is it?”

Lance stood up, laughing “It’s a little thing called sexual harassment”

”What if I completely and wholeheartedly gave you my consent?”

Lance shook his head, still smiling “The board wouldn’t care”

He started pushing him towards the door “Ok…fair”

Its been another awful week in this wretched place and Keith is starting to consider shiros offer.

Lance has been taking him outside more which has been nice but he wants to walk. It’s starting to get frustrating having two legs and not walking.

But thankfully, the physical therapist said the swelling has gone down enough to start working towards it today. He’s pretty excited.

He was pretty much forced to tell Shiro, who walked with them to the room.

Once they got there, pidge and Lance were already there and they seemed excited. Keith rolled his eyes “Why do you all need to be in here?”

”Because we’re family” Shiro said as Keith was stopped in front of Luka.

After some check up stuff, she went over the basics and he was sat down on a chair with two bars on each side of him.

She told him to put his hands on them only if he felt like he was going to fall and try to stand up.

He did but he didn’t put any weight on the new leg. Again, it’s weird. It’s a bit more pinchy than he likes.

“Now try to put some weight on it”

He did and it was uncomfortable. It didn’t hurt, it was just…for lack of any better word, weird.

”How’s that feel?”

”Weird”

”It will but once you’re used to having your weight be supported by it, it’ll feel like nothing is there—and your skin right here isn’t like the skin on the bottom of your foot so it also needs time to adjust to the sudden pressure it’s withstanding”

She continued to explain and he kept standing on the leg. As some time passed, he started to get used to it.

“Can I walk now?”

She laughed “If you feel comfortable trying, we can”

He nodded and she sat down in front of him to support his hips. She explained that he needed to walk very slowly and make sure each foot is completely on the ground before taking his next step.

He lifted his right leg and took a step forward, putting all his weight on the fake one. It wasn’t that bad. He moved his left leg and let the prosthetic move for him and both his feet were in the same place.

He smiled and looked at Shiro, who looked really proud. Pidge did too. Even Lance. It kind of made him feel good.

”Now take a step backwards”

He followed what she said and they continued doing that for about an hour.

After that, she told him he needed to do some different exercises to get more comfortable with the whole weight bearing thing. It’s basically just standing up and sitting down a bunch of times but honestly he’s just happy he doesn’t have sit forever now.

They all went back into his room and he sat on the bed, letting Shiro keep talking about the science of some prosthetic legs that are surgically attached and can be moved by your brain or something. Keith wasn’t really listening he’s not interested in doing that.

Once they were all gone, he kind of wanted to keep the leg on but listened to the doctor and took it off.

He hopes it does get easier soon because life was already hard before, he doesn’t want to have to deal with stuff like that anymore.

He doesn’t really have a good track record with coping mechanisms.

Chapter Text

Shiro had come to visit for a second and as he was, again, talking about Keith’s condition and what he can do to get better, there was a knock on the door. They both looked and Keith expected it to be Lance but it was Allura. He hasn’t talked to her much but Lance has told him a bit about her.

He noticed that he flirts with her a lot. He can’t tell if he joking though but she doesn’t seem to reciprocate anything—she only laughs about how annoying he is. They seem like good friends though.

”Hey—sorry, I was told you were in here” she smiled politely at Keith before looking at Shiro “Here’s the chart for the appendicitis patient—sorry to intrude, I didn’t want to wait and not know where you were in case you needed it urgently”

Shiro nodded, seeming a little odd “No, you’re okay—thank you”

She smiled at him and said bye to Keith before leaving. Shiro stared at the door for a second longer than what’s normal.

Keith squinted at him.

”What?” Shiro seemed uncomfortable now.

”You like her?” He smiled and Shiro rolled his eyes “No, she’s my subordinate—and the only one that doesn’t get on my nerves”

”I remember how you were when you were in high school. You definitely like her” He teased him and Shiro shook his head, scoffing “I don’t—you were in middle school, how do you even remember that?”

”I could form memories then—you know, like most people”

”Well, you’re wrong—I don’t like her.” He shook his head “I mean—I like her but I don’t—ugh! I’m not talking about this!”

”Because you like her!~”

”No, I don’t~” He stood up and Keith nodded “You totally do”

”I totally don’t—now I’m leaving—get some sleep”

”You’re denying it!”

He started walking to the door and waved before leaving.

He definitely likes her.

He’s been walking a lot more now but it’s always with someone. He wants to be able to walk on his own so he can be independent again.

But he knows if he asks, Shiro will insist he isn’t ready. So he won’t even bother.

Which is why he’s just not going to ask. He’s a grown ass man who can make his own decisions—if he wants to walk, he’ll walk, damnit!

So he put the leg on and took a breath before standing up from the bed. It took a bit for him to start moving his right leg to take a step but when he did, he laughed, but stopped himself, not wanting anyone to hear and stop him.

He moved the fake leg and successfully took his first step all by himself! Saying that makes him sound like a toddler…

He took another step…and then another…and then again…and again…until he was pretty far away from his bed.

He stopped though, not really knowing how to turn around.

Shit.

He tried to think about how someone would usually turn around but for some reason his brain just couldn’t figure it out. He could…sit down on the floor and try turning around that way? No, that’s a cop out.

Does he…jump? Oh my god, is he really stuck standing right now? He could walk backwards? What if he falls though? That would be so embarrassing. Does he just wait until a nurse or someone comes in here??

No, that’s even more embarrassing. Before that could matter though, there was a knock on the door and it was opening.

And even worse, it was Lance.

He was smiling but quickly stopped when he saw him.

”Oh—uh…whatcha…doing?”

”Uhm……just……standing……?”

”Did you walk over there by yourself?” He sounded proud and walked closer to him.

Keith nodded “Yeah…” he put his hands on his hips, trying to seem casual.

Lance stopped in front of him and looked down at his leg. Then back up. Then down again.

”Are you stuck?”

He didn’t answer immediately, contemplating whether or not this spot is comfortable to die in “……yeah”

Lance nodded and looked back up at him “You want my help walking backwards? Or do you want to turn around?”

”I’d like to know how to turn around”

He nodded and got in position to help him if he falls “Alright—put all your weight on your right leg”

He listened and froze a little when Lance grabbed his waist “Now turn—“ he turned and put down the fake leg behind him a little.

He put all his weight on the prosthetic and moved his other leg, trying his best not to think about lances hands still on his waist.

As he did that, Lance asked “So why didn’t you just sit down and turn?”

”Pride”

Lance laughed and before he knew it, he was facing left!

”Good!” He kept his hands on him as he turned again, finally facing the bed.

He smiled, feeling good about himself. He looked at Lance, who still hasn’t moved his hands.

They smiled at each other for a moment before Lance moved his hands, coughing.

”Do you want to walk around the hospital a bit?”

Keith nodded and they started walking out of the room.

Lance has never walked with him before and he usually doesn’t like it but he isn’t staying super close to him or holding on to his arm. He liked being able to do something himself.

As they walked, the other doctor, Allura, smiled at them “Getting the hang of it?”

”I think so” Keith nodded and she started walking with them, also not staying too close “You’re getting good at it”

”Shiro doesn’t seem to think so”

She laughed “He does—he just cares”

Lance put his hand on Kieth’s arm casually—not for support—just to lean closer and whisper “Don’t listen to her—she’s got a huge crush”

Keith raised his eyebrows and smiled, remembering his and shiros conversation from the other day “Really?”

He nodded dramatically and she rolled her eyes “If he’s telling you I have a crush or something on him—he’s wrong”

”I’m not wrong”

Hoping to do a good thing for his brother, he smiled “I mean, he talks about you—he said you were the only doctor that doesn’t get on his nerves”

“How romantic” she frowned at him and he kept smiling “He had googly eyes when he said it”

She rolled her eyes and then looked back “Did he really?”

He nodded and she did too, obviously trying to seem like she didn’t care.

”He stares at her too—I’ve noticed it” Lance added and Keith laughed.

”He does not” she crossed her arms and Keith pursed his lips and then sighed “For the sake of not wasting time—you both definitely like each other”

“We do n—okay—I’m walking away now” she took a deep breath started walking away. Keith looked back at her “I’m his brother, I’d know!”

She waved her hand at him and lance laughed “Do you actually think so?”

Keith nodded “Oh yeah, you should’ve seen how he acted around her the other day”

”I think they’d be great together”

”Why do you flirt with her then?” He laughed but deep deep deep down, he just wanted some kind of relief from the slight worry that he may end up being with her.

”Oh, I just do that as a joke—I just like her reaction”

Keith nodded, trying not to smile.

He still knows nothing can happen between them but……maybe just not yet.

As Lance was going through his charts, he felt his pager go off. He looked at it and it said 911 in the emergency room.

He started rushing to the ER and before he even got there, he heard screaming. It’s not very uncommon for people to scream so that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad.

Well, he didn’t think so until he got there.

The person screaming seemed to be a woman who was covered in blood. She wasn’t the injured one though.

He looked at the bed and saw a child, laying there, not moving—just as bloody.

He rushed over and the nurse spoke “Drunk driver—she was crushed under the car when the paramedics got there”

He quickly looked her over and saw the paramedics already started giving her fluids—which is good. There’s a tourniquet on her leg, which he needs to address really soon. He checked her pulse and breathing. She still had a pulse—it’s rapid. And her skin is turning blue a little.

They rushed to another area and once he checked her breathing with the stethoscope, he realized both her lungs had collapsed. He nurse gave him what he needed for a chest tube but she may need surgery.

Hunk finally arrived and quickly started looking at her legs—which were completely crushed.

The looked at the monitor and her heartbeat was rapid and irregular.

”She’s in vfib—I have to shock her”

The nurse had the defibrillator ready so he put the pads on her and grabbed the electrodes. He rubbed them together and said “All clear” before shocking her. It didn’t work so he tried again.

She started flatlining so he quickly put them back and started chest compressions.

After a few minutes, her heart was still not starting. He continued—hoping something will happen. Anything.

After a few more minutes, allura showed up and they quickly switched.

He looked around and saw Keith standing there. He noticed the nurse that was supposed to walk with him was helping right now so that’s probably why.

Not sure of how this will end though, he really didn’t want Keith to see so he closed the curtain.

Another nurse brought him back to his room and once he got to his bed, he was worried. Not only for that little girl but for Lance.

He obviously doesn’t know a lot about that stuff but it didn’t look good. Obviously.

All he can do though is wait. He’s not sure if Shiro is also dealing with that so he doesn’t want to text him. Pidge doesn’t even work near the ER so she definitely doesn’t know.

He got comfortable on the bed—as comfortable as he could anyway, with the knowledge that may have just seen a kid die.

—

He ended up falling asleep but woke up when he heard a noise coming from inside his room. He assumed it was Shiro, since he sometimes sleeps in his room.

But he was confused when he saw Lance sitting on the couch in front of the window. It’s dark so he must be off. Keith suddenly remembered the girl from earlier and how Lance saw that he was watching.

”Hey, sorry, I was trying to be quiet”

He shook his head and Lance stood up and walked up to the bed. Keith could see he had been crying. He was still smiling though.

Lance must have seen that he noticed because he laughed and shook his head “She made it—she’s at the children’s hospital”

Keith sighed, really relieved. But why was Lance crying?

He nodded “Good……that looked bad”

”It was” he sighed and Keith stared at him for a second before cautiously asking “Have you been crying?”

He laughed and rubbed his eyes “Uh—yeah—I usually do when stuff happens to kids—especially stuff like that. That’s why I’m not pediatrician. I couldn’t handle that”

”Yeah, I don’t think I could either”

”I’m sorry you saw that” he grabbed Keith’s hand “That nurse should have brought you back to your room”

”It’s fine—I kinda liked seeing you work” he smiled and Lance moved his hand, rolling his eyes, also smiling. He still seemed sad though.

But Keith needed to acknowledge a certain elephant “Why are you in my room?”

Lance sighed again “I wanted to make sure you were okay after seeing that”

Keith nodded “Yeah—I am……are you?”

Lance nodded, but Keith could tell he was about to start crying again. He sat up and all he could really do was hug him.

Lance sat down and hugged him back. They were both silent for a few moments.

”I lost a patient 4 years ago—it was a kid”

Keith rubbed his back and let him talk “There was nothing I could do to save him…I didn’t do anything wrong—no one did. But the mom kept saying I killed him”

Lance put his face on Keith’s shoulder “I still keep thinking about what I could have done”

”I’m sorry” that’s really all Keith can say in this situation.

Lance laughed but only moved his head where his cheek was on Keith’s shoulder “Sorry, I probably shouldn’t be telling you this—I’m not sure you wanted to wake up and feel sad”

”I always wake up sad”

“You do? Why?”

Keith laughed “I’m not sure you want to hear about what makes me sad. I’m fine with listening to you though”

”I do want to hear about what makes you sad”

Keith shook his head “I don’t want to make this about me”

”I wouldn’t see it that way”

Keith didn’t respond immediately. He thought about something to say that wasn’t too sad but instead of doing that—he told him the truth.

“Do you remember that guy you saw kissing me that day?”

Lance nodded and Keith put his chin down on lances shoulder “He only came here to try to convince me to sneak him pills. I loved him and I used to think he loved me until I refused to keep getting him drugs and he got mad”

Lance hugged him tighter “I’m sorry”

He shook his head “It’s okay now—I mean I was too high to remember most of it—I woke up with this scar though.”

”You don’t remember how you got it?”

”No—but I know it was him”

”I’m sorry”

”You don’t have to apologize”

”I know…I’m still sorry”

”Thank you”

”I don’t have any other sad stories to match that one” he sat up and laughed, wiping his eyes.

Keith smiled “That’s okay”

”Have you…ever talked about the things that have happened to you?”

”No—most people stop caring once they hear I was on drugs”

”Why?”

He shrugged “I guess they think it’s my fault? I mean, I guess it kind of is but still”

”Well, I care—and whatever sad stuff you ever want to talk about, I’ll listen—even more right now if you’re on a roll or something”

Keith smiled again “I think I’m too tired”

Lance nodded and then gently moved Keith so he was laying down. He laid down next to him and Keith looked over at him “What are you doing?”

”I don’t know” he laughed and Keith turned over on his side to face Lance.

”Are you sleeping here with me?”

Lance smiled “If you want me to”

”Of course I do” Keith laughed and Lance rolled his eyes again.

”It still doesn’t mean anything”

”Okay…” he said, starting to not believe him.

”I’m serious!”

”Yeah…I’m sure you are”

He huffed and Keith sighed “I guess since I am on a roll, there is something I should probably talk about”

”What?”

”The accident……” his eyes started to water “It wasn’t really an accident”

Lance stared at him for a moment before realizing what he meant “…oh”

”Yeah…and now I’m dealing with the guilt of hurting my family” he laughed, tears falling down “And I don’t have a leg”

Lance put his hand on Keith’s cheek.

“So that’s why I wake up sad”

“Im sorry”

”Don’t apologize”

”What can I do?”

He thought for a moment. But shook his head “Nothing”

Lance nodded and kept his hand on his cheek, wiping his tears with his thumb.

”Do you want me to move?” Lance asked and Keith shook his head. Lance moved his hand away and scooted a little closer.

“Thank you”

”Of course”

Being shaken aggressively was not the way he thought he’d be woken up today.

He sat up and looked around, seeing pidge standing next to him.

“Wake up”

He looked beside him at Keith, who was now rubbing his eyes and yawning.

”What?” He looked back at pidge, who scoffed “You mind telling me why you’re sleeping on Keith’s bed?”

Lance opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say. He looked around “Uuh…I was just…”

”Get up, before anyone else sees” she sighed and he got off the bed.

”That wasn’t—we weren’t—“ still not being able to formulate a coherent thought, Keith finally spoke for him.

“We were talking last night and he fell asleep and I didn’t have the heart to wake him up”

She looked like she didn’t believe him but waved her hand “Whatever—I don’t care”

”Alright then…?”

”Just wanted to say bye before I left but you look like shit so you should go back to sleep” she said to Keith, who looked offended, and then left.

”I don’t look like shit?? …do I?”

Lance shook his head “No, you don’t”

He sighed “Good……” then he smiled “Neither do you”

Lance rolled his eyes but felt himself blushing so he looked away.

He shouldn’t have laid down last night. Obviously he doesn’t regret comforting Keith but why did he have to do it that way??

He just felt so comfortable in that moment—he hasn’t talked about that case in years. And because of last night, it’s not affecting him like it used to.

He usually dreams about it every time he remembers but last night he dreamt about an animal.

”I have to clock in soon” he looked at his watch and kind of freaked out “Like now actually”

He quickly walked to the door but stopped and looked back at Keith, who looked really tired. For some reason, it’s making him not want to leave.

”Go back to sleep, alright?”

Keith nodded and Lance left, feeling really weird. He feels kind of…guilty? Like the way he’s feeling, he shouldn’t be.

But the feeling is getting more and more familiar.

After he went home, he couldn’t get the weird guilty feeling to go away.

He tried to figure out why he feels this way but he can’t think of anything. It’s not the patient story he told Keith…or laying down with him…

But when he thinks about laying down with him, he’s hit with another feeling. And it’s definitely not guilt. The hospital beds have never felt comfier to him.

And he’s slept in them many times before—because sometimes he’s too tired to drive home and the on call rooms are full. Or being renovated like that one time.

So why does he feel guilty?

Because he’s his patient and he—

His chest started to hurt. No he doesn’t…..right? He couldn’t possibly??

But…….he could. He really could.

If Keith wasn’t his patient and they met under normal circumstances, he would definitely.

Because not only is he shiros brother, he’s…well…him.

He’s probably just sleep deprived. Yeah that’s it.

Because there’s no way he can be into Keith.

Chapter Text

The next day came and pidge was staring at Keith, and it was starting to make him uncomfortable.

”What?”

”You wanna explain yet?”

”Explain what?”

”Why Lance was in your bed”

”I already did”

”But I don’t believe you”

He laughed “Well, I’m telling the truth—I’m pretty sure he would lose his job if anything happened”

”Yeah…so nothing did?”

He rolled his eyes “No—even if he wanted to I wouldn’t let him risk anything for it”

“You don’t think he does?”

He laughed again and sat back “No”

Pidge smiled “Okay”

She kept staring at him again.

”What”

”Nothing”

”It’s something”

”Where do you live?”

”What?”

”You haven’t told us yet”

”I don’t live anywhere”

She stopped smiling “What?”

He sighed “It’s fine, I’ll figure it out when Shiro lets me leave”

”You know you could live with him—hell, even me”

”No”

”Why not?”

”Because…….well it’s embarrassing”

”How?”

”I don’t want either of you to have to take care of me—I don’t anyone to take care of me”

”We wouldn’t—we just want to make sure you have somewhere to go”

”I’ll find somewhere” he laughed again “speaking of which, since it hasn’t worked the past thousand times I’ve done it, will you try to tell Shiro I’m fine to leave now—I’m tired of wearing his old shorts and shirts”

”You could go back to the hospital gown, it suited you”

He rolled his eyes “Will you?”

She shook her head “Even I wouldn’t be able to do that—not until you have somewhere”

He sighed and she stood up “Alright, well, my breaks over now so I’ll see you later”

He waved and put his head back when she shut the door.

He can’t live with Shiro. Because honestly he doesn’t know how he’d find a place to live. How could he get a job? He’s been to jail a few times.

Like, what’s he’s gonna do, work at a retail store for the rest of his life? What does he even do now? Yeah, he’s sober but he‘s never been to rehab so how would any employer actually believe him?

Who would employ a supposedly sober drug addict who’s missing a leg?

Besides Waffle House.

—

That night, thinking about his future, he was starting to get overwhelmed. He knew he was about to cry but he didn’t want anyone seeing him. He didn’t want to cry in the bathroom in case a nurse came in and thought something was wrong.

But earlier, knowing this might happen, while pidge was coming in to check on him, he did something, he kind of feels bad for—he stole her badge.

So when no one was around, he put on the leg and tried his absolute hardest to speed walk to the back door. It was mostly the fact that no one was paying attention to him that he made it since he was still going pretty slow.

He scanned the badge and walked out. He took a deep breath before walking to the bench and sitting down—taking another deep breath, since it was kind of exhausting “speed” walking here.

He looked up at the sky but his vision was too blurry to see the stars. He looked back down and covered his face, starting to cry.

He doesn’t remember the last time he’s cried. After what happened to his parents, he’s never felt the need to. Even when he found out, he didn’t cry.

And now it feels like he’ll never stop.

That is, until he heard someone.

”Keith?”

He looked up and quickly rubbed his eyes, seeing Lance. He would try to say something funny but when he opened his mouth, he started crying again.

He walked up to him quickly “Did something happen?”

He shook his head, trying to stop. He wiped his eyes again and lance spoke, quietly “Do you want to be alone?”

Keith thought for a moment before shaking his head and Lance sat down next to him.

After a few minutes of some more silent crying, he finally felt like he was mostly done. He stared up at the sky, and sighed, a little more calm now that he’s not alone.

”Do you want to talk?”

He rubbed his eyes again “Sorry”

Lance shook his head “Don’t be”

”Thank you”

”I didn’t do anything but you’re welcome”

Keith felt himself smile. He didn’t want to look at Lance since he knew he probably looks like crap right now and he doesn’t want him to see.

He kept smiling “Am I in trouble?”

He heard Lance laugh “No—I went in your room and freaked out for a moment when I saw you were gone though. But I decided to look for you before calling a code yellow”

He laughed, knowing Shiro would be livid if he knew ”Thank you”

“Of course—I assumed you didn’t want Shiro thinking you—uh…..knowing”

Shiro 100% would have thought he left again. And who knows what kind of trouble that would cause.

”How did you even get out here?” He laughed and Keith held up pidges badge and finally looked at Lance.

”I should probably apologize”

”Yeah, probably” he smiled and Keith didn’t want to look away. If he weren’t in the situation he was in, he would definitely make a move. And god, does he want to so bad right now.

”She’ll be fine” Lance added, waving his hand. Keith noticed how close he sat to him, which only made his previous impulse harder to resist.

But he looked away and sighed “I should move in with Shiro, huh”

Lance was quiet “I’m not sure it’s my place to say—but yeah”

He nodded and put his chin on his hand, sighing again “Okay”

”Do you want help back to your room?”

He shook his head “I think I want to stay out here for a little longer”

Lance nodded and looked up at the sky.

”Don’t you have to get back to work?”

Lance laughed “I can take my break now—they can page me if they need me”

Keith smiled and looked at Lance for a moment, admiring him before looking at the sky. It’s kind of disappointing compared to him honestly. But he won’t stare.

The next day, Keith watched as Shiro walked in his room, obviously ready to ask again to live with him. But Keith held up his hand, stopping him.

“I’ll move in with you”

Shiro looked surprised. Then he smiled.

”But—you can’t help me with anything. I’ll help you with whatever if you need it but I don’t want you doing anything for me.”

He nodded “Okay then”

”Okay…”

”Well, the house is ready—I have a guest room so you can stay in there”

“……Okay”

“Great! I’ll go get your discharge papers”

Keith nodded again and Shiro left. He still hates this idea but he knows it needs to happen.

—

After a while, pidge came in the room, seeming happy “I heard the good news”

”Good news?”

”It is good—I’ll make sure Shiro isn’t all up in your business—we both trust you to make good decisions”

”You make it sound like I’m a teenager”

”Sorry” she laughed and sat down next to him. She sighed “I’m proud of you”

“You sound like Shiro”

”I don’t care—I really am—I know you didn’t mean to come back but I’m really happy you did. And I’m happy you survived the crash”

Keith felt his chest start to hurt but it wasn’t as bad as before “I am too”

She hugged him and he hugged her back, genuinely feeling happy he’s alive. Although, he’s still not excited for his future since he’s so unsure.

Hopefully things will get better though.

—

As he was waiting for Shiro to get off and drive him “home”, he was just pacing around the room—bored, and still not completely used to walking.

I mean, it’s easier but he’s still not great at it.

”Hey”

He looked behind him and smiled when he saw Lance. He turned around and Lance stopped walking when he was in front of him.

”Are you excited to leave?”

Keith kept smiling “Are you excited to see me go?”

Lance kept smiling back “I’ll miss the confidence boosts”

”You know where to find me if you want more”

”Should I just show up to shiros house?”

He laughed ”If that’s what you want to do”

“Expect me at any time then” he laughed, too.

As he looked at Lance, he suddenly remembered that he’s not his doctor anymore. And that means……

”So—“

The door opened and they both looked over and saw Shiro. He looked at Lance and laughed “Saying goodbye?”

Lance smiled “Yeah, are you leaving now?”

He nodded and Lance looked back at Keith “Well….goodbye then”

Not wanting to say anything in front of Shiro he just smiled, disappointed “Bye”

Lance stood there for a moment longer before leaving the room. Shiro spoke, but he wasn’t really listening.

”Alright, come on”

He walked with him, feeling really disappointed. Maybe disappointed isn’t really the right word for it but…he doesn’t know. He wishes he would have said something.

But it’s a little too late now.

A few weeks of getting used to being in a good environment and sleeping in an actual bed, he decided to try his chances at a university as a research assistant in the astronomy department. He knows it’s probably smarter to get a job somewhere else first but he doesn’t want to spend years at a retail job, not knowing if he could have started doing what he actually wanted to do earlier.

Being a little realistic, he was fairly sure he wouldn’t even get an interview so he still looked for other jobs just in case but when he got a call, saying they wanted to talk to him, he was excited.

Honestly, in the back of his head, he was thinking they just wanted to put a face on the person who was stupid enough to think they could work at a school with a criminal record.

So as he drove there, his excitement was quickly fading.

He parked and had to take a moment to compose himself before getting out.

He wore a long sleeve shirt to try and cover up most of his tattoos but you can still see some on his neck, which is stressing him out a little.

He walked into the building and up to the receptionist. She smiled and he saw her eyes go down to his neck for a second, which didn’t help his nerves.

He said who he was and why he was here and she told him where to go. He listened and went to the area she told him to wait.

After a few very nerve wracking moments, someone opened a door and looked at him “Keith Kogane, right?”

He smiled and stood up “Yeah—uh, yes”

He walked up to him and held out his hand and Keith shook it.

They walked to the office and immediately the man started making small talk. Keith is fine with small talk though so it’s not bad.

Then he started talking about his application—he seemed impressed at the Harvard stuff and he said he liked the answers Keith gave, which made Keith a LOT less nervous.

That is until he got to the background check.

“Look, I’m gonna be real with you—“

Keiths heart stopped.

”I can see the record you have is from many years ago—so as long as you can pass a drug test now, you’re a great candidate for the job” he laughed.

Keith sighed “Really?”

“Of course—I mean, we all make mistakes in our life—as long as you’re working towards getting better, it wouldn’t be fair to take away a good opportunity from you because of them. Especially if you’re as qualified as you are”

After that, Keith was barely nervous at all—he was actually excited again.

—

After a few days, he got a call saying he got the job.

He celebrated with Shiro and pidge and after Shiro went to bed—since he’s surgeon and he needs sleep (Keith and pidge called him old and boring), he and pidge started watching a movie.

But the whole time they were together, he’s been waiting for a chance to ask pidge something that he didn’t want Shiro to hear.

”So…” she looked at him and he was a little nervous.

She rolled her eyes “He’s fine”

“He is?”

”Yeah—and he asks about you sometimes”

“He does?”

”Yep”

“Do you think—“

”Yes, Keith, I do”

”Really?”

”Yes. I do”

She seemed tired. But still amused.

”Is he single?”

”Yeah”

”Are you sure?”

”Oh my god, Keith, you’re a grown man, ask him on a date”

”How? I don’t see him every day??”

“Then I’ll give you his number—here” she grabbed his phone and made him unlock it. Once he did, she put lances number in it and handed it back. He stared at it and she stared at him “So are you gonna text him or?”

”No, not today—it’s 10”

”Alright then”

A few days passed of him being too nervous to text him. Then a week. Then a month. Then an entire year.

It’s not that he forgot to, it’s just that he had no idea what to say. Would he even reciprocate the feelings?? What if he was just being nice? He’s still been asking about him and pidge has already told him how frustrating he’s being about it.

But he’s been really busy with his job and he finally moved out—which took a lot of convincing since the job is fairly new. But the apartment he found is really cheap. And it has an elevator to his floor which is helpful.

He had gotten a permanent leg a few weeks ago and it’s a lot more comfortable. It’s a bit complicated to put on but it’s worth it.

Even though his life is going pretty great, he still can’t help but feel….disappointed. Upset with himself that he never said anything to Lance. He knows he probably wouldn’t have had the time or energy for a relationship as he got used to his new life but he’s upset he didn’t even try to be his friend. But it’s too late for that. It’s not like he won’t be able to find anyone. At least, he hopes.

I mean, he doesn’t even know if Lance was interested in him. He’s sure he doesn’t have time to be a surgeon and deal with a man who has a much baggage as Keith does.

So it’s probably for the best anyway—so he would have to deal with unrequited feelings forever.

Lances year has been……not the best. He just can’t shake this feeling of…….he doesn’t even know.

He can’t even place where it’s coming from.

Allura seemed to notice something today because she nudged his arm “You okay?”

”Huh?”

She kind of startled him, which made her laugh “I asked if you were okay”

”Oh……uh…yeah, why do you ask?”

”You seem……sad…”

He laughed “Sad? How do I seem sad?”

She shrugged “I don’t know”

“I guess I have been thinking about my future a lot”

”Still?”

He nodded and she leaned on the counter “Well, I’m sure you’ll figure it out”

”I hope so—cause if I’m still clueless by the time I’m 40, I’m screwed”

”Why?”

”Because I don’t want to die alone”

”You could still get with someone at 40”

”Yeah….I guess so”

”Or are you worried you won’t be with someone specific….?”

He laughed “Who would I be with? You?”

”No…but there is someone you seemed pretty interested in”

He frowned “Who?”

She shrugged and then got a page “Oh—I have to go”

He scoffed “Wait—who?”

She just smiled at him before leaving.

What was that about??”

Who would he have been interested in??

Besides—

Oh crap.

Chapter Text

A few years passed and Keith’s life has only gotten better. There’s been some stressful moments but it‘s nothing compared to what he’s been through before.

Walking has gotten a lot easier—it’s almost second nature now.

So has taking the leg off and putting it back on.

He even started exercising so he feels a lot better.

The only thing that has been hard to deal with in the phantom pain. But there’s not much he can do about that. He still isn’t taking any pain medication.

As for the job, he’s made his way up a bit and has started on some projects he’s really excited about.

What he’s not excited about is the fact that pidge asked for an extremely specific snack that he can’t find but she insisted that he get because she can’t watch a movie without it.

And since he can’t ever argue with her, he just agreed to get it.

As he was looking, he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings and accidentally bumped into someone.

”Oh—I’m sorry—I wasn’t—“

They turned around and they both froze.

It’s Lance. (Shocker, right?)

Lances shocked expression quickly turned into a happy one “Hey!”

Keiths face did the same “Hey”

He looked down at his leg for a moment “You look great! How have you been doing?”

Keith smiled “Great—what about you?”

He laughed “Pretty good” he pointed at him “I heard you moved out—I bet you’re happy about that”

Keith kept smiling, unable not to “Yeah, I was pretty tired of that song he would always play”

”You’re lucky then, he still plays it in the OR”

Keith laughed and Lance spoke again “I haven’t seen you here before”

Keith scoffed, jokingly “Pidge wanted me to get these stupid gummies for her”

He frowned “She did? Is it these?” He held up a box of the gummies.

”Yeah, it is—where’d you get those? I’ve been looking everywhere”

”They were the last ones—“ he laughed “She asked me to get them for her”

Keith frowned “She did?”

“Yeah…”

Keith was confused until he remembered who she was and that this is exactly the kind of thing she would do.

”We’ll then I think she can live with just one box”

Lance laughed again “Is that all you came here for?”

Keith scoffed again “Yeah”

Lance smiled and looked at the gummies “Me too”

“Should we fight over who has to buy them?”

Lance shook his head, laughing “I’ll buy them but you can give them to her”

”No, you don’t have—“

”I insist” he smiled and Keith didn’t want to argue with him so he walked with him to the register.

—

After he payed, they walked outside and he handed Keith the box, still really happy seeing how good he looks.

”Thanks—I‘ll tell her they’re from both of us”

Lance laughed and felt himself really focused on how Keith looks. I mean, he looks really good.

In a medical sense……

“Well…” he coughed, pulling himself back into reality “It was really nice seeing you again”

Keith nodded “Yeah, you too”

They stared at each other for a moment and without thinking, Lance hugged him “I’m happy you’re doing well”

Keith hugged him back “Thank you”

The hug lasted a second longer than it definitely should have but when he let go, a lot of things started to happen.

They said goodbye and as Lance walked away, he only felt……upset? Not at Keith, but at himself.

He doesn’t know why though. The idea of asking Keith on a date being a good idea has passed a long time ago. I mean, look at him, he’s definitely with someone by now.

Lance doesn’t know why he hasn’t tried to get with anyone yet though. He just hasn’t met someone that gave him that feeling. He’s already come to terms with the fact that Keith did but it’s been years now, surely he can’t still feel the same way?

He does.

He absolutely does.

And during these past few days, that’s all he’s been thinking about. Why didn’t he ask him to have coffee at least?? What is wrong with him??

”Hey, what’s up with you?” Allura asked and Lance looked at her, not really thinking “I should have asked Keith out”

”What?” She laughed.

”I saw him the other day—I should have asked him out”

She seemed to understand and smiled “I know where he lives, you know”

He frowned “What”

She shrugged “Shiro talks about him—I don’t know his number but I know where he lives”

He just shook his head and laughed “Yeah, like it’s not weird to just show up at his house”

”I mean, you’ll never know, right?”

”I could just find out his number from pidge or Shiro”

”Yeah……but would you text him?”

”Yeah?” He scoffed and then thought about it for a moment “You don’t think it would be weird?”

She shrugged and he rolled his eyes. After a moment, he got a sticky note “Just write it down”

She smiled as she did.

—

Knowing how stupid of an idea showing up at Keith’s apartment is, he did it anyway, too impatient to wait.

And if that’s already not like it should be in a movie, it’s started raining as he was driving there so by the time he got to the stairs, he was soaking wet. It’s also late at night since he had to come when he got off.

He doesn’t even know if he’s home or awake—well, he’s definitely not awake.

When he got to his door, he stopped. This is really weird, right? What if he thinks he’s stalking him or something???

His hand was already knocking though, so he pushed those thoughts away. After a few seconds, he thinks his heart flat lined because he heard a “I’m coming—hold on” he didn’t sound tired. He heard a struggle and his mind started racing.

Oh god, what if someone else is in there?? What’s his plan here?? Show up at his home uninvited, really late in the day, soaking wet, and ask if he wants to have coffee some time??

Should he just leave?? Say he didn’t mean to coincidentally show up at exactly his apartment??

Oh god, he really should have thought about this…not only is he wet, he’s still in his scrubs.

I guess there’s no going back now. Especially since the doorknob is turning.

The door opened and Keith stared at him, seeming, appropriately, very surprised.

He doesn’t look like he’s been sleeping but he’s in comfortable clothes so he was probably about to.

”Uh….hey” Lance said, still having no plan.

”Hey…..?” he didn’t seem upset to see him though, which surprised Lance.

”Uh……” he tried his best to think about what to say but he got nothing. He wants to kiss him. But he wouldn’t do that just suddenly. He’s still not sure how Keith feels.

He expected Keith to ask what he’s doing here, how he found where he lives, what the hells wrong with him—

“Do you…want to come in?”

Lance stared at him—noticing his hair is up and how nice it looks. He nodded and Keith moved out of the way, limping a little. The struggle was probably him putting the leg on quickly.

Keith closed the door and Lance looked at him, still clueless.

“So……” he laughed “What are you doing here?”

Lance laughed back, mostly nervous but a little flustered at just Keith in general “Um…I…so…are you…” swallowing any pride or dignity he had, he just asked “Are you seeing anyone?”

Keith looked confused for a moment before his expression changed to a soft one. He shook his head “No”

Lance nodded, still not knowing what to do. He looked down, regretting everything. Also, he’s pretty embarrassed.

”Are you?”

He didn’t expect Keith to ask that. He looked up and keith moved closer to him.

He just shook his head and Keith nodded, staring at him in a way that made lances heart explode.

Lance also moved closer, still a little nervous to make the first move.

Luckily, he didn’t need to because Keith grabbed his face and kissed him.

Lance quickly kissed back and they started moving back to a couch as Keith pushed lances jacket off his shoulders.

Not caring where it well, Lance took it off and Keith got on the couch, pulling lance on top of him.

Keith pulled away though “I didn’t put my leg on completely—I don’t know if it would be weird to you if it was off—“

Lance kissed him and moved his hand down to the leg and since he had shorts on, he started taking it off for him. He started kissing his cheek and then his neck before having to look down and carefully move the leg away.

He looked back at Keith, who was smiling. They moved to a more comfortable position, still kissing.

He kept his hand on his thigh, and Keith moved his hands up lances shirt before trying to take it off. He pulled away for a second to take it off and after doing the same with keith, they went back to kissing.

Keiths hands went down to lances pants waistband and Lance pulled away.

“Do you want to go to your bedroom?”

“It might take me a bit to put the leg back on and take it off again” he laughed “Or I could hop, which may also take a while”

”I could carry you?”

Keith laughed again “Are you sure?”

Lance smiled “Yeah”

He shrugged and sat up “Alright”

Lance got up and they both laughed as he picked him up and carried him to the hallway “Which door is it?”

”That one”

He walked up to the door and Keith turned doorknob for him. He walked to the bed and set him down and Keith wasted no time before kissing him again.

He moved on top of him again but stopped “Wait—are you sure you want to do this?”

Keith put his hands on his face “I’m so sure”

”You don’t think we’re going a little fast?”

Keith smiled “I remember you saying something about first dates like this mean we won’t last or something”

”Exactly…” he laughed, shaking his head “I really like you”

Keith kissed him “Our first date already happened”

Lance smiled “If that was a first date I should lose my job”

”I won’t tell if you won’t”

He laughed and they continued what they were doing.

—

Afterwards, they were facing each other and smiling “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted this” Keith laughed and Lance did too “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything earlier. I really wanted to”

”Me too—I even got your number from pidge but I never texted you”

”Why not?”

”I was scared you didn’t feel the same”

”I was too”

Keith laughed “The whole time I was at the hospital I flirted with you”

Lance shrugged “Yeah, but I just thought you were playing around”

”At first I was—but then you offered to talk to me when you got off”

”So it’s my fault?”

Keith laughed “Yep”

“I mean, I guess I am too beautiful to resist”

”You are”

Lance rolled his eyes “So are you”

”Even when I’m half dead?”

”I did fall for you, didn’t I?”

Keith smiled “I guess you did”

A little more than a month passed and they haven’t told anyone yet. It’s not that they aren’t sure they just know everyone will tease them about it. Especially pidge. Since she definitely knew how they both felt.

Lance has been going to Keith’s apartment a lot lately and spending the night when he doesn’t have to work the next day.

They were watching a movie though when there was a knock on the door. Keith didn’t have his leg on so Lance got up for him and looked through the peephole. He quickly looked back at Keith.

”It’s Shiro”

Keiths heart rate increased “Uh—go to my room”

Lance quickly left and Keith called out “Hold on!”

He put the leg on quickly and stumbled his way to the door and opened it “Hey!”

Shiro smiled “Hey, sorry, probably should’ve called before coming”

Keith shook his head “No, you’re fine, is there something you needed?”

Shiro laughed “Do I not get to come in?”

”Oh, uh……n….no?”

Shiro squinted at him “Is someone else in there?”

He laughed, obviously lying “What? No…”

Shiro rolled his eyes “Ok I’ll come back later then—I hope I get to meet this guy one day”

Keith rolled his eyes back before shutting the door. He saw Lance poking his head past the hallway wall.

”He’s gone”

Lance nodded and looked a little hesitant “Something wrong?”

He shook his head and and Keith went back to the couch to take the leg off “You can tell me if something’s wrong”

Lance sighed “I was just thinking it may not be terrible if we told them”

Keith looked at him for a moment before smiling “I’ve been thinking that”

”You have? Then why didn’t you tell me?”

”I thought you didn’t want them to know”

”I thought you didn’t want them to know”

“I don’t care?”

“I don’t care either?”

“Then let’s tell them?”

Lance laughed “Okay!”

They’ve told everyone except Shiro. Everyone either knew already, suspected it, or was surprised but happy.

Both of them don’t know how Shiro will react. So Keith invited him over alone to tell him.

When he got there, Keith was obviously nervous and Shiro called him out on it “Did something happen? Why do you seem so nervous?”

”Uh……so….I’ve been seeing someone”

He smiled “You have? Who?”

He smiled, thinking about Lance “Uh…I mean, you know him”

”I do?” He seemed confused.

”Uhm……Lance…..?”

Shiros eyes got wide “When did you—“

He shook his head fast “Like a month ago—not when I was at the hospital”

He nodded and then sighed “Yeah, I kinda knew this would happen. I mean, I thought it would happen sooner though”

“Oh”

”Yeah”

”So……you’re fine with it?”

He laughed “I’ve already trusted Lance with your life—of course I’m fine with it”

Keith smiled “Good”

”Plus, I’m fine with anything that makes you as happy as you’ve been”

Epilogue

A few more years passed and Keith moved into lances house and is doing great. Lance is too—he finally knows what he wants in life, which is what he already has plus Keith.

They got married and lived very happy lives together :D

The End