"I gotta go home. Thanks for my foot stuff," she muttered, almost on her feet before Dr. Casey could stop her.

"Woah, woah. Where do you think you're going? You take one step on that foot and it's going to open right back up," the doctor told her, pushing her directly back down onto the bed. Nico pushed back against the woman's hands, whining out of frustration as she tried, and failed, to get up. "Nico, you need stitches. It won't heal right without them. You need to stay here and let us help you."

Nico looked up with a defiant expression and shrugged the doctor's hands off. "I don't need to do anything except get out of here!" Nico snapped. She tried again to stand, but Dr. Casey was right in front of her, almost nose-to-nose. This motion caught them both by surprise.

Dr. Casey suddenly felt a pang of anxiety: she was crossing a line here. Nico's bratty reponse to her fear was causing too many pieces of the pattern to fall into place for Dr. Casey to ignore. Whether this woman knew it or not, she was unsure, but the rabbit indicated that maybe she was self-informed about the headspace she was in.

"Nico, you are going to stay in this bed. I'm going to get you a warm blanket to help you feel a little more calm and then we're going to talk about what needs to happen next," the older woman's voice was calm, but left no room to discuss. "And..." Dr. Casey replied, rolling down towards Nico's feet and pulling a tablet mounted to yet another moveable arm out from under the bed where it had been stored. "We have pretty much every streaming service ever," she said to Nico, logging into the device before turning it to face her patient.

Nico's brain was running on overdrive. She was terrified of the procedures she was going to have to endure. She was struggling to understand how this doctor was making her feel and she wanted more than anything to go back in time to before she decided that chocolate milk was the thing to make. "You're so stupid. You should have used a plastic cup," she hissed to herself, burying her face in Mol's fur.

Dr. Casey heard every word and her heart melted while her hands were busy getting a warm blanket from underneath Nico's bed to cover her with. Poor thing thought it was her fault just because she dropped a glass and cut her foot open. She couldn't wait another second, her hand landed squarely on the young woman's outer leg after she spread the cotton blanket over her, folding it down for Mol. "You aren't stupid, Nico. Accidents happen, see this little scar?" she asked, pulling up the long sleeve of her lab coat to show a slightly darker scar on the inside of her forearm. "I did that taking a pan of cookies out of the oven. As if I don't cook in that oven all the time or the racks moved! But it was just an accident, right?"

Nico nodded mutely, slowly lower Mol until he was against her chest and not hiding her face. Her vice grip was snaked across his pear-shaped tummy and the doctor casually nudged the tablet to get Nico to notice it. When she finally did, her grip on Mol loosened and she made to sit up, only to be pushed back down by Dr. Casey's gentle palm on her chest. She whined initially, kicking her half-booted feet a bit, until the tablet was moved to be in front of her face and tilted down so she could see it and lay down.

Dr. Casey could feel the tug in her chest. She was doing it: moving into a place of control to look after a vulnerable person. She felt her body language changing to mirror Nico's, even her voice and speech pattern changed. When was the last time she showed an adult, a patient, her burn scar to assure them that accidents aren't an indication of intelligence? Literally never.

"Okay kiddo," she started, pausing for a second too long after hearing the dominant tone plainly now. "Uh, Nico. I'm going to go see some other patients. A nurse is going to come in and give you the IV to get you rehydrated and then I'll be back to give you the anesthetic and the stitches. If you need me or the nurse, you can just push that red button right by your head." She pointed at the dime-sized button at the top right of the bed's metal rail.

Nico's attention had been fully captured the second Dr. Casey used 'kiddo', but she kept her eyes on the tablet until she pointed at the button. She suddenly realized how frightened she was at the thought of being alone in here, then stabbed by a total stranger...while alone. She ignored the button and nodded mutely, silently begging Dr. Casey to stay with misty blue eyes.

Dr. Casey was rooted to the spot. She wasn't sure how intentional this interaction was, but it was gut-wrenching. Nico's fear was obvious and she felt a tug in her chest, propelling her forward until her hand was laid over Nico's fist, clenched on Mol's ear. "I'm going to come back, I promise. And Nurse Clark is very nice," Dr. Casey told Nico, lightly rubbing her thumb across the back of her small hand.

"I don't want Nurse Clark," Nico snapped, looking away from Dr. Casey harshly. She fixed her eyes on the tablet in front of her, despite not having selected anything to play. She felt bad about being rude, but her anxiety overrode her conscience and tears burned the backs of her eyes as she struggled to keep a lid on her fear.

The words sounded sharp, but Dr. Casey could see Nico's eyes welling up and feel the hand under her own trembling. She couldn't stay with the same patient for the duration of her visit, which was sure to be hours, as much as she wanted to. If she was honest with herself, what she wanted was to crawl into the bed with this girl, pull her into her lap, and provide all the comfort she could possibly need. But, she'd have to settle for what she could do and not what she wanted.

"What if I brought him in before I left? Make sure you're comfortable with him first?"

"Do I have to?" Nico's lower lip jutted forward as the tears began to roll down her cheeks. Dr. Casey felt her resolve weakening as Nico's did, which was a dangerous thing. She took a deep breath and squeezed Nico's hand, which had relaxed from its tight fist. Without answering, she pushed the Nurse Station call button on Nico's bed and they waited together, Nico's occassional sniffles the only sound in the room.

Nico felt defeated. She wanted to go home, should have just stayed home and taken care of it. She was going to get stabbed like a million different times and now some dude was gonna come in here. The defensive shell was starting to go up as she resolved to be numb and just get the hell out of here and go home. Screw it. Maybe if she was mean and didn't say too much, they'd hurry up and let her leave.

Eventually there was a light knock on the heavy wood door closing off the room and Dr. Casey called for the visitor to come in. A average-sized, blonde man came in, smiling at both of the women politely. His arms were thick and covered in elaborate sleeve tattoos, which continued up past the half-bicep sleeves of his maroon scrubs. He had his blonde hair cut short on the sides, with a curly mess on top, adding an inch or two to his height. "Hey there, Dr. Casey. You need some help?" he asked in a deep, peaceful voice.

"Hi, Nurse Clark. This is Nico. She cut her foot earlier this evening and she needs to get some stitches, but she needs some fluids first. She's feeling a little nervous and I thought maybe meeting you before you come in to put in a needle might help," Dr. Casey explained, turning her gaze down to Nico she spoke her name. She struggled to look back at Nurse Clark before she finished her sentence, which she saw didn't go unnoticed by her coworker.

He smirked at her for a split second, but wiped his face clean with the professionalism of a well-trained actor. He was happy to see that Nico had missed the entire exchange, she was staring at the tablet which didn't seem to be making any sound. "That makes sense. Hard to relax around a stranger and being relaxed is the name of the game," Nurse Clark said, plopping down on the wheeled stool and scooting all around the room as he talked.

"First of all, don't call me Nurse Clark. My name is August, but I go by Auggie. Second, I have 2 dogs at home, both of them are huskies and the biggest babies ever..." Auggie back to prattle, listing random things off about himself as he treated the exam room like a mini drift track.

By the 3rd sentence about his dogs, Nico was unable to resist the urge to watch him roll around and her trembling had stopped. Around the time he was listing his favorite desserts from fast food places, Nico was having a heated discussion with him about his "disgusting" choices and Dr. Casey was able to see her body was fully relaxed, even as Auggie began taking some updated vitals. He was checking her ears when Dr. Casey paused their conversation so she could get out of Auggie's way, which required her to let go of Nico's hand.

"Nico, are you okay with Nurse Clark?" she asked.

"Auggie!" both Nico and Auggie said in unison, falling into a fit of giggles immediately after.

"I'll take that as a yes. I'll come check on you as soon as I can," she chuckled, squeezing Nico's good foot on her way out the door. She glanced over her shoulder as she shut it behind her, locking eyes with Nico. Dr. Casey winked and she couldn't deny the pleasure she felt when Nico blushed and the very corners of her mouth twitched up.

Nico was confused and conflicted by her sudden shifting feelings. She wanted the doctor to stay...but liked Auggie too. And then she smiled at her while she was leaving and now Nico's tummy was doing flips and she could feel how red her face must be. She was glad the heart monitor wasn't hooked up yet. It probably would be going crazy right now.

Auggie got Nico's attention quickly and they found a show to watch together while he got her prepped for the IV.