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A fellow in neurosurgery, somehow that still sounds strange to Pecco’s ears, even though it’s been almost two months since Marc asked him.
It still seems too good to be true, being able to work up close with him.
The first week was so overwhelming that Pecco nearly had a panic attack in the restroom, but somehow he survived. And he was still here.
After that he had the feeling that Marc started treating him differently, he gave him time to take a deep breath between cases and he always made sure Pecco took regular breaks.
In hindsight maybe Pecco shouldn’t have told Luca about the ‘almost had a panic attack in the restroom’ situation, because that probably meant that Luca had told Alex who had told Marc which caused Marc to treat him differently.
He hasn’t decided yet if that annoys him and wants him to take a step back or whether he finds it adorable, that Marc apparently cares so much about him.
He still hasn’t quite made up his mind about Marc, he admires the doctor but he just can’t quite wrap his head around the person yet.
It’s not that he thinks Marc is a bad person at least not anymore, no quite the opposite, he is way too scared that he will end up liking Marc, no, he is pretty certain actually, that he would, probably, fall head over heels.
He doesn’t know how many times Luca has caught him staring at Marc over lunch, Marc with his perfect curly hair, his silly laugh, and his contagious smile.
God he really had a problem.
And it isn’t exactly helpful that Luca apparently has made it his personal mission to make Pecco admit that he has feelings for the older man.
Pecco was just lucky like that, huh?
Theoretically, Luca should know better than to try to get Pecco to admit something he can’t even admit to himself yet, he should know how Pecco’s brain gets.
Also, he doesn’t really understand why Luca wants them to date so badly, when he should be the one who understands Pecco’s fear best.
Especially since everything blew up with Vale, he really doesn’t want that to be him.
God knows what Pecco’s overthinking mind would come up with.
He gets pulled out of his thoughts by someone clearing their throat. He glances up, blinking rapidly, trying to make out who the blurry figure on the other side of the room is.
“Pecco?” The person asks and the voice sounds oddly familiar to Pecco’s ears. He blinks again and slowly starts recognising the blurry blob as Marc.
“Pecco? Is everything okay?” The Spaniard asks, probably increasingly worried by Pecco’s lack of answers.
“Pecco” he repeats once more an edge of panic slipping into his voice.
“Yeah,” he finally mumbles causing Marc to let out a small sigh of relief. Marc softly grabs his shoulder, causing Pecco to look up at the older man, “Are you okay?”
Pecco pauses ‘Why wouldn’t he be okay?’, “yeah” he eventually says, but his reply probably took too long because Marc doesn’t look like he believes him.
“Okay” he says warily and it sounds more like a question than a statement but he continues anyway “I have a patient for you” he tells Pecco while handing him a file “A trauma just came in, car accident, male in his mid forties, spinal trauma.
He is already in surgery, once they are done they’ll page you.” He looks up at Pecco, making eye contact with the Italian “Stabilisation and Fixation, okay?” The Italian nods “Yeah,” and takes the file from Marc’s hand, scanning the pages.
After a while, he glances up at Marc again, who still hasn’t left him, “When are they done?” “Probably in the next two hours, so don’t get too busy. You’re on stand by the entire time, this is your priority. For anything surgical that comes in you page me. Got it?”
“Yup,” Marc shoots him a small but pleased smile “good, go to the ER while you wait, they had quite a few traumas come in, I bet they could use a hand.” Pecco agrees and grabs his things, he takes the stairs towards the ER, not trusting the elevator, at least not when he is alone.
Marc had been right they really needed all the help they could get. From the corner of his eye, he can see nurses rushing around with transfusions, he can see Alex bringing in a new patient and everywhere are people rushing.
He walks towards the nurses' station, glancing at one of the most experienced ER nurses “Where do you need me?” She points towards Trauma Bay 4, and he grabs a pair of gloves and walks towards the trauma room.
He carefully slides the door open and shuts it again as soon as he is in. Once he turns around he makes eye contact with Luca while he’s currently palpating the woman’s slightly curved stomach. “The nurses told me you could use a hand” he says, while Luca grabs an Ultrasound wand
“Yeah. She was conscious when she came in but very disoriented and has been in and out since. Can you check her?”
Pecco doesn’t need to be told twice, he grabs his flashlight and checks her pupil size and reaction. He makes a mental note that her pupils are unequal, one larger than the other, and that her reactions are delayed.
“How long do you need?” he asks Luca who is finishing up the ultrasound.
“Just a sec” Luca says cleaning her stomach gently
“She needs a CT asap, she is showing signs of a hematoma”
“So surgery?”
“Yeah, you think they are stable enough for that?” Pecco asks as they get ready to wheel her out of the trauma room.
Luca’s gaze is fixed on the patient, “We’ll make it work” he replies as they reach the elevator.
He pushed the button and asked, “Do you have time for surgery?”
The doors opened with a Bing and the two of them wheeled the bed inside.
“No, Marc wants to do a spinal surgery” he briefly glanced at his watch before continuing “It probably won’t be long till they need me. I’ll call Marc for you as soon as they page me”
Luca nods but doesn’t miss the chance to shoot Pecco a teasing smile.
“Oh my god ” he groans dramatically “Luca, shut up”
“I didn’t say anything” the blond replies, raising his hands in mock surrender “Yeah, whatever” Pecco complains as the doors finally open.
They carefully wheel the bed through the corridor, towards the CT when Pecco’s phone rings.
Pecco looks at it briefly before telling Luca “I have to go, I’ll send Marc to you”
”Thanks” he hears the other Italian shout as he disappears into the stairwell.
He dials Marc’s number, as he goes up the stairs towards the OR
“Hey, can you go see Luca for a consult, I was with him but they need me in the OR.” he says as soon as the Spaniard answers the phone.
“Sure! No problem. And Pecco?” he pauses, “Yeah?”
“Take a deep breath before you go in. You’ve got this, okay?”Marc tells him softly
“Thank you”
When he reaches the OR he stops himself before opening the door. He takes a deep breath, fresh air filling his lungs. Marc’s words echo in his mind as he starts scrubbing in.
The surgery goes well and the patient is stable as they wheel him out of the OR.
Pecco scrubs his hands and afterwards walks out to check the OR schedule, searching for Marc’s name.
He doesn’t spot it, which either means Luca’s paitent is already out of surgery or she didn’t ma- Pecco interrupts himself, for a second time that day Marc’s words echo in his mind: “Don’t always expect the worst, we always pray for the best and give our all, okay? If we already go into the surgery with no hope, we don’t even have to do it at all.” he had once told Pecco.
God how did Marc manage to know him so well, so quickly, and how did he always find a way to reassure Pecco’s strangely wired brain?
The walk towards Marc’s office is short, Pecco looks through the window he spots Marc doing paperwork on his desk.
He knocks once and then opens the door.
Marc looks up at him and smiles, one of those blinding and cheeky smiles that Pecco loves.
“Hey,” he says cheerfully “how did your surgery go?”
Pecco drops into the chair opposite Marc, “Good, everything is fixed again, looks like he will make a good recovery.” he explains while popping his legs up onto the chair next to his “But my feet are deaaad” he says dramatically causing Marc to giggle.
Pecco feels butterflies spreading in his stomach, instead of focusing on that he asks with a smile “What about Luca’s patient?”
“Oh, she has a hematoma, surgery was critical but Luca and I got her through it. She is doing well.”
Pecco lets out a relieved breath “That’s good, it was a good day.” he remarks and Marc agrees with a steadied smile “yeah.”
Pecco’s gaze flicks towards the pile of paperwork on Marc’s table “You still need to finish all of that?” he asks.
Marc’s gaze drifts back to all the papers, he sighs and drags his hands over his face, “yeah”
“Can I help?” Pecco asks, surprising even himself how quickly the offer slips out, Marc only shakes his hand “No, you don’t have to-“ but Pecco interrupts him “I offered, so please let me help. This looks like a long night, if you do it alone.”
“Okay,” he finally gives in and hands Pecco part of the pile, “thank you” he says with a smile, “it would have been a long night if it wasn’t for you.”