Work Text:
Xiao had a love-hate relationship with his job.
Loved the feeling of being useful, of being respected, of having a path set out for him. Loved helping people.
He hated the rest.
Hated the kids that wouldn’t sit still, the parents of new mothers that were so demanding. Hated the early mornings and late nights, hated the loudness of the hospital.
Okay. Maybe he just hated most things.
But today, on Christmas Eve itself, he hated everything just a little more than usual.
~~~~~~~~
Xiao took a sip of his coffee and sighed. He’d been working since far too early this morning, and was eager to go home. But there was still work to be done.
Venti was leaning over the counter, chatting with one of the cafeteria volunteers. Xiangling, if he remembered correctly. The only one he could trust to make a decent meal.
His coffee cup ran dry as he took another sip, and he set it down heavily.
He was, to say the least, exhausted.
He’d gotten use to being tired. He worked hard as a nurse, but sometimes he felt like he should have stuck with psychology.
“But then they were like ‘no, the green ones!’ I mean, the green ones? The ugly green ones?” Hu Tao laughed and poked at her salad. “But whatever. So I get the green coffins ready. Double death is tragic, but more profit for me, right?”
Hu Tao worked at the funeral parlor a few miles away, and was visiting today on business. At least, that’s what she liked to say. Really, she just complained about her job.
“And as I’m getting the coffins ready, the sister vomits. Full-stop pukes all over the floor. The carpeted floor. I know your job probably has a lot of vomit and stuff, but mine doesn’t, and this was nasty. What do you do in that situation?”
He sighed. “Kick them out?”
“No!” She said, scowling. “Gods, you’d be a horrible businessman. I get the janitor, give her some water, whatever. She leaves with her husband, and me and the sisters parents go over to look at flower arrangements. And then I hear a scream! So I go check, and someone just waltzed into the body prep room!”
Xiao snickered into his coffee and took another sip. Hospital coffee was good, but not that good, and he’d been living off of hospital food for nearly twenty-four hours. He’d kill for a decent home-cooked meal. Hospital food wasn’t terrible, though. He would make do.
Hu Tao picked at her black nails. “So. That was my week. How’ve you been? Any fun clients? Annoying kids? Cute new doctor, perchance?”
His lips curled. “Annoying kids? Yes. Cute new doctor? Archons, no. And even if there was, it’s nothing of my interest. I don’t work here to scope out potential partners.”
“I’m not saying you do, I’m just saying anyone can call anyone cute. Unless you’re catcalling. Gross. But just because you’re a workaholic doesn’t mean they aren’t attractive.”
“I’m not a workaholic. And I’m just not into anyone like that. Maybe romance isn’t for me. Oh well.”
“You are too a workaholic.”
“Am not.”
“Are too.”
“Am not.”
“Are too.”
He sighed and took another sip of his coffee.
“And here, we have some disgustingly fresh hospital sandwiches!” Venti exclaimed, placing a tray on the table. “Bon appetite!”
“Are these things any good?” Hu Tao asked, picking one up and inspecting it.
“As good as they can get,” Venti said, taking a bite.
Xiao took his and set it on a paper plate. “My break is only another ten minutes.”
Venti waved a hand. “Details, details. I’ll stretch your break if I really need to.”
“You’re not a head nurse.”
“Head doctors outrank head nurses.”
He sighed and bit into his sandwich. They were really good, but anyone would get sick of having them for dinner practically everyday. “Yae Miko and Neuvillette will be pleased to hear that.”
He laughed. “Yae Miko loves me! We go to the mall on Mondays. And anyway, I’ve never spoken to Neuvillette, but he seems okay.”
“Which one is that?” Hu Tao asked. The words were nearly unintelligible from all the food in her mouth. Xiao wrinkled his nose.
“Tall. White hair. Visits the kids in the pediatric ward on his lunch breaks.”
“That’s sweet,” she said, finally swallowing.
“Mhm,” Venti hummed. “You know what’s not cute? Or sweet? Ei. Oh my Archons, she is biting me in the ass.”
“I don’t think that’s how the saying goes,” Xiao interrupted.
“Whatever. She drives me crazy. Did you know yesterday she made me do the paperwork for that Collei kid that just got in? Total bitch.”
He frowned. “Don’t you outrank her?”
“Nah, we’re all on the same level. But I didn’t really have a choice, ‘cause I went to check up on how Nahida was doing with her new patient and when I got back the paperwork was all over my desk and Ei was gone. It took me forever to do. I mean, it’s Christmas Eve! Can’t a man catch a break?”
Xiao set down his nearly finished sandwich. Perhaps he ought to branch out with his meals. The sandwiches were much more bland than usual. “I think you’re just mad because you never do jack shit in the first place.”
“Damn. He’s got a point, though.” Hu Tao sipped her coke, sandwich long gone.
Venti huffed. “Don’t be such spoil sports. Let me live in misery.”
“Stop whining. You could’ve followed your music career, you know,” Xiao reminded.
Hu Tao perked up. “Music career?”
The doctor whined buried his face in his hands. “Stop it, Xiao.”
He grinned and reached for his coffee. Hu Tao frowned.
“How much coffee have you had?” She asked, resting her elbows on the table. He pushed aside the urge to search for cleaning wipes.
“Not enough.”
“You need to sleep more,” she said matter-of-factly. “You look dead on your feet.”
Venti’s head was pulled from his hands as he gazed at Xiao. “Huh. You really do. Why don’t I talk to Miko? I’ll try and lessen your hours or something.”
“I’m not dead on my feet. It’s just been a long day.”
“Potato, tomato,” Venti chided. Hu Tao snorted into her coke. “You’re at the hospital all day, every day. You need personal time. Take a vacation day.”
“It’s fine. I like working.”
“I don’t care if you ‘like working’. You’re a nurse. You take care of people. You need to take care of yourself once in a while.”
Xiao opened his mouth to reply when his watch went off. He checked the time and sighed.
“My break is over. No more conversation about my health.”
Hu Tao rolled her eyes and finished her coke. “I suppose I should take my leave. Pleasure speaking with you two, but there really is business to be done.”
Venti yawned and stood. “As should I. Paperwork to do, doctors to speak with, runaway patients to find. The usual.”
He hummed in response and walked away, heading for the surgical unit.
He was a surgical nurse. It was stressful, and difficult, and frankly a little disgusting, but he loved it. Perhaps it was a bit morbid, but he was in his element during surgery.
He just wasn’t ready to perform now.
But of course, nothing ever went his way.
Only a few moments of him being in the surgical unit, Diluc rushed past, pulling his mask up.
“Emergency surgery,” he said quickly. Xiao didn’t need anymore explanation. He swiftly fell into step behind the man, reaching into his pocket to grab his mask.
“Critical?”
“Car crash, two siblings. One has internal bleeding in a lung, as well as possible concussion with other skull injuries and multiple puncture wounds according to Keqing. Crushed chest entirely.”
“Shit.”
Internal bleeding was always a pain to deal with, and if it caused for even Diluc to be stressed, it was sure to be dangerous.
They reached the room that he supposed they would be performing in, and Xiao quickly pulled his hair up into a ponytail. “When will they arrive?”
Diluc rushed around the room, gathering the things needed to prepare the surgery. “Two minutes, I believe.”
Xiao pulled up his mask and prepared himself for a long day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
He collapsed onto the floor and leaned against the wall. Diluc followed.
“Job well done,” Xiao said, exhausted. “Yay.”
“. . .What time is it?”
He struggled to lift his arm. His hands were shaking, and his legs felt so heavy. So was the post-surgery feel. It was like you’d never be able to stand again.
“. . .Four.”
“In the morning?”
A sigh. “Yeah.”
The other surgeons and nurses were also spread across the floor. Ganyu was sleeping against a cabinet. The patient had already been escorted out of the room by other nurses.
“That took. . .”
“Forever?” Diluc finished.
“Way longer than I expected,” Xiao corrected.
“Multiple puncture wounds my ass. Felt like I was playing Operation or some shit.”
“Or, like, Risk. All the soldiers are the medical tools.”
“Different continents are different body parts?”
“I knew you’d understand.”
They sat in silence, taking in the room. Sometimes, the laser focus from surgeries fell into the following process, and he ended up staying razor sharp for hours. It was bothersome, to say the least.
“How’d’ya think the other surgery went?” Diluc asked, words slurring together.
“I dunno.”
“This one was practically a miracle on its own.”
“Yeah. Maybe God is real.”
Diluc snorted. “Nah. We’re just amazing.”
“Damn straight.”
“I’m starving.”
“Same. I need sherbet or something. Anything sweet and cold.”
“I just want McDonalds, to be honest.”
“Have you ever been to that ice cream place a few blocks away?” He asked, glancing over.
Diluc’s brow furrowed. “The. . . the one by the apartments, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Never been.”
“I want that. Salted caramel.”
“Strawberry is better.”
“That’s so fucking untrue. Strawberry sucks. It can kiss my ass. Whoever invented strawberries, I hope they rot in hell.”
“Someone invented strawberries?”
“Yeah? Someone had to invent them.”
“I- I don’t think that’s how it works.”
“Hm. Maybe it’s the exhaustion talking.”
“Maybe. Or you could just be dumb.”
Xiao mustered all of his remaining strength and energy to kick Diluc in the foot. “Don’t talk bad about your surgical nurse. I’ve saved your ass too many times.”
“I didn’t ask for you to be my nurse.”
“Don’t lie.”
“Maybe they need to even it out. A super talented surgeon with a bad nurse.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Bad? Really? I’ve never felt more offended.”
“Quiet. Headache.”
“Ass.”
A snicker. They fell into silence.
“Hey Xiao?”
“Hm?”
“Merry Christmas.”
“. . .Merry Christmas.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Xiao stood by the curtain, watching the boy he’d saved. Him and Diluc and Ganyu and all the other nurses and surgeons in the room.
Aether, was his name.
He’d been asleep for almost a week at this point, and shifted to the coma unit. No one knew when he would wake.
So far, only one person had come to visit him. A girl, shorter than Xiao- which wasn’t saying a lot, no matter what Diluc said- and with dyed white hair. She stayed for hours. Just talking to the boy.
It really was a miracle he survived. Two crushed lungs, internal bleeding, and multiple pieces of metal stuck in his skin from the car. His chest had gotten the brunt of it, though.
His sister, on the other hand. . .
She hadn’t been so lucky.
He spoke to Keqing, one of the paramedics at the scene. She said the were both under the car, and it made the injuries worse with how long it took to get them out. While Aether still had a chance to live, the girl was doomed from the start.
Lumine, Yanfei said. She had been the surgical nurse helping Kaeya. While Aether’s surgery had taken around ten hours with how careful and precise they had to be, Lumine had died only three hours into hers. It was a lost cause, they said. No hope at all.
Xiao found that rather depressing.
But he still had his friend, the white haired girl. Hopefully she would keep him company with her rants. Perhaps they would manage to wake him up.
Until then, Xiao would keep him company. He didn’t mind.