Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Why do people have to die in the summer?” Nico complained, loosening his tie as soon as they walked away.

The sun was beating hard on the cement flooring of the cemetery during that early June morning, and the suit Nico was wearing made it even harder to withstand it.

Bianca looked at him through her eyelashes, shaking her head. She was wearing pretty much the same attire, even though she had no tie and a skirt instead of pants, but she wasn't making half the fuss about it.

“If people didn't die in the summer then we would have no money to survive during it.” Bianca reminded him.
“And besides, you look much better in suits than what you usually wear, so you don't really have anything to complain about.”

Nico shrugged.
“Can't find a boyfriend among the dead, can I?” He joked.

Bianca sighed.
She had known Nico for as long as she could remember, obviously, they were siblings, but sometimes even she got startled by his relentless dark humor.

“Speaking of the dead, the family said they want an open casket funeral.” She said, looking at the papers she was holding.
“Do you think it's possible?”

“Hm…” Nico wondered, rubbing his chin.
“The shotgun wound is on his shoulder, right?” He asked.

Bianca nodded.
“Closer to his clavicle, though.”

“It's doable.” Nico confirmed.
“They just have to pick the right shirt, and then I can make the skin around the wound a more presentable color with some makeup, and if necessary, I’ll use some silicone.” He explained.

Bianca hummed, silent.
She had no idea how her brother managed to do his job with such meticulous carelessness.

Working at a funeral home wasn't easy for her either, even though she mostly made arrangements and talked to people, but being a mortician? She could have never handled it.

Their father before him had his same job, and Nico had picked it up at just 19 when his father was nearing his retirement, and he had never once complained about it.

His attitude wasn't creepy, or worrying. After all, his apparent lack of sensibility towards having to deal with corpses daily was easily explained with his close proximity, ever since a young age, to the family business: The Di Angelo funeral home.

But still, Bianca could have never handled it.
She loved her brother a lot, but she knew damn well he was, in fact, a bit cynical.

When they reached the cemetery’s exit, they began looking around.

“Where's dad?” Nico complained.
“He said we’d meet here and get back to work.”

Bianca shrugged.
“He's probably still at the mausoleum.” She guessed.
“Can you go get him?”

Nico rolled his eyes.
“Why can't you go?” He said.

“I’m not feeling the best.” Bianca admitted, covering her forehead from the harsh sunlight with the back of her hand.
“It's probably because of the heat.”

“Fine.” Nico sighed, but walked her to the car, under the shadow of a tree.
“I’ll try to be quick.” He promised, helping Bianca out of her jacket, which he later propped up on his forearm so that she wouldn't have to hold it.

He turned back and walked inside, moving through his usual path mindlessly.

The door to the mausoleum was open, and so he just slipped inside.
“Dad?” He called.
He could have made an effort to not sound so annoyed, but he didn't care enough.

When his father didn't answer he grumbled heavily, beginning to climb down the stairs to officially enter the mausoleum.

As expected, his father’s tall figure was standing in front of his wife's grave, lightly caressing the picture on it.

“Dad, come on.” Nico said abruptly, skipping the formalities.
“Let's go back home, me and Bianca are dying from the heat.” He said.

His father didn't look at him, eyes fixated on the image in front of him.
“You're not going to say hi to your mom?”
He said, ignoring what Nico had just said.

Nico rolled his eyes, putting his hands in his pocket.
“Hi mom.” He said, his tone flat.
“Can we go now?”

“That's it?” His father complained.

“Dad.” Nico said firmly.
“You know how it is. You know how I am.” He murmured.

He took a quick glance at the grave, but he eventually had to look away.

“28/01/2000.” Was the second date on her grave, the day she died.
And it was also the day Nico was born.

His father finally turned to look at him, before sighing and nodding.
“Alright.” He said.
“Let's go.” He agreed, but didn't step away yet, whispering a few words, Italian words, to the grave before him.

Nico tapped his foot on the ground nervously, and took a deep breath as soon as they stepped outside.

The mausoleum, being underground, was cooler than it was outside, even if rather humid, so when the dry heat of that damned day hit the top of Nico’s head as soon as he walked out he sighed heavily, but began walking.

His father stayed a few steps behind, mumbling to himself.

Nico gave him a passive look, before lighting up a cigarette as they neared the entrance.

When he could finally see the gates he squinted, looking for Bianca, noticing she had left the spot they left each other at.

He looked at the car first, thinking maybe she had gone inside to battle the heat with the air conditioning, but as he walked closer and closer, he realised the vehicle was empty.

He stopped in his tracks, confused for a moment, and instinctively turned around to look at his father.

Nico was, as always, met with his dad’s clouded gaze, lips pressed together in a somewhat stern expression, which the younger boy knew had nothing behind it.

He turned his head back towards the exit, speeding up his step until he finally realised.

Bianca had never left the spot she was originally in.

She had just crumbled down, falling unconscious, but was still resting under that tree’s same shade.

Nico’s eyes widened in shock, and just like in the most cliché movie, he began running towards her with all the strength he had in his legs.

-

“So it’s not a match, I’m guessing.” The young girl said softly. She didn't sound mad, or disappointed, as if they were talking about some blind date she had, and not her possible kidney donor.

“I’m sorry, Hazel.” The doctor whispered, his eyes looking down towards her chart.

“Don’t give me that, Dr. Solace.” She said quickly.
“It’s not your fault I am a basically impossible match.”

“You’re not impossible.” Will frowned, sitting down beside her.
“You’re just…rare.”

Hazel laughed. Surprisingly, it was sincere.
“I’m flattered.”

“I’m serious.” Will doubled down.
“AB- is rare, sure, but there is still someone out there who could help you out.” He looked at the chart again, as if waiting divine intervention.
“We just have to…” He pressed his lips together for a moment.
“Find them.”

She looked at him for a moment, reflecting, before gazing outside her window.
“It’s three weeks, right?” She asked, as if talking about the weather.

Will looked at her with something close to disbelief.
“Hazel…” He sighed.
“Don’t even think about that. We’ll find someone.” He grabbed her hand, delicately.
“I promise.”

Hazel turned to him slowly, as if she was in a dream.
She smiled once more, nodding.
“Alright.” She said.
“I believe you.”

Will looked at her and smiled back, even though he felt guilt burn up in the pit of his stomach.

“May I ask you to get me something a little easier to find than a kidney?” She asked after a moment.

Will nodded, getting up from the chair.
“Sure.” He replied.
“What do you need?”

“Some pineapple?” She asked.

“Absolutely.” He replied.
“I’ll be back with it in a minute, alright?”

Hazel nodded, and waved as Will walked to the door, reciprocating the gesture.

In a couple minutes he was in line at the cafeteria, waiting to pay for the pineapple slices he had just bought.

A young doctor, her blonde box braids tied into a ponytail, walked to him.
“Hazel?” She questioned, looking at the fruit in his hand.

Will turned to her and nodded simply, before turning back to stare in front of him, unable to conceal his concerned expression.

“Are you celebrating?” She questioned, still.

Will sighed, staying silent for a couple seconds.
“No. It’s more of a consolation.” He admitted.

Annabeth, that was her name, rubbed her chin for a moment, surprised to hear the news.
“The kidney wasn’t a match?”

“It was a complete HLA mismatch.”
He admitted, even though he really didn't want to talk about it

It was his turn at the register so he stepped up to pay, also taking the chance to leave her behind.

When he walked out the line though, he still found her standing there, waiting for him.

“Did you tell her the truth?” She asked.

Will frowned visibly.
“What truth?” He asked, playing stupid.

“The truth, Will.” Annabeth insisted, looking at him with piercing grey eyes.
“She won’t make it.”

“We don’t know that.” Will insisted, beginning to walk.

“We’ve only found one plausible donor in the past three weeks.” She replied.
“What makes you think we’re gonna find another one? And if we do, what are the actual chances it’s going to be the match we need?” Will continued walking, but she followed.
“You have to be honest with her, she needs to be ready for whatever is next, you’re not being professional-”

She was interrupted by the loud ping of their pager beeping.

Will took his out, reading the few information on it quickly.
“We have to go. ER.” He announced.

Annabeth just began running, and so did Will, making a quick move to leave the fruit to some nurse, directing her to Hazel.

-

When Jason joined them, their patient was already back to being stable.

“27 year old female.” Annabeth began recalling.
“Came in the E.R. after a sudden, unexpected stroke. She’s also presenting a nose fracture probably caused by the fall she took when she collapsed.”

“Any other previous symptoms?” Jason asked.

“Not that we know of.” Will replied, giving his back to him as he switched his gloves.
“But we haven’t had the chance to speak to any relatives yet. We just got done stabilizing her.”

“A 27 year old woman doesn’t just stroke on a random monday.” Jason protested.
“There is definitely a specific cause, and we need to find it before it’s too late. I say we run some labs.”

“Blindly running labs will amount to nothing. Peculiar means the cause is specific, so we need to know where to look first.” Will retorted.

Jason agreed silently, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“Do we have any medical history?”

“We just got some documents from Evergreen General.” Annabeth said, looking through those same files once more.

“It's just regular stuff though. A few check ups from a couple years ago, a broken arm last summer, stuff like that.” Will added, before taking the papers from Annabeth and handing them to Jason so that he could look for himself.

“We need some more information as soon as possible.” Annabeth announced.
“Is there anyone we can speak to?”

“Her brother and father are here with her.” Will said.

“Alright.” She said.
“Will, go get her brother, Jason, talk to her father.” She ordered.
“I’ll wait for her to wake up and see what she can tell me.

They were all technically on the same level, but Annabeth took the role of the leader so naturally no one ever questioned it.

And so they all parted ways, each busy with their own task to complete.

Chapter Text

As he walked in the waiting room, Will only took a couple seconds to find who he was looking for.

Even though Bianca’s face was covered in blood from her broken nose, she still had such a close resemblance to her brother Will had no problem matching them.

The man, who was dressed in a suit, was pacing back and forth, right hand over his mouth and eyes fixated on nothing and everything at the same time.
His black tie was dandling from his left hand, as he had probably just recently taken it off.

An older man was sitting close to where Bianca’s brother had been pacing, but he didn't seem as worried, a magazine opened on his lap, even though it didn’t seem like he was reading it at all.
That was probably thier father.

“Di Angelo?” Will called, walking towards him.

The man seemed to be startled by the sudden call, but he collected himself quickly, walking big steps towards Will.
“Yes.” He replied promptly.
“How is she?”

“I’m Dr. Solace.” Will wasn't bothered by the lack of introduction. After all, the young man was probably worried sick, and with reason.
“She's stable as of right now, but I need you to clear up some things as soon as possible so we can treat her.”

“Is she okay?” He asked, his frown deepening.
“What's wrong with her?”

“I’ll explain everything we know so far to you in just a moment.” He promised.
“Just follow me. Someone will also come to get your father soon.”

Nico didn't reply, and stepped beside Will as soon as he moved.

The doctor quickly found an empty office nearby and walked the man inside, closing the door behind them and finding a seat.
Nico remained standing.

“Your sister suffered a stroke.” Will announced, trying to stay brief.
“But she’s stable now and will most likely recover from it without any complicances.”

Nico stayed silent for a second, his hand going over his mouth for another moment. “So she's okay?” He murmured.

Will paused.
“We don't know that for sure.” He said honestly.
“Considering her age and history, it’s unlikely that her problem is just the clot that caused the stroke. We still need to find the underlying cause.”

Nico finally grabbed the chair in front of Will’s desk, sitting down in front of it.
He leaned over, his elbows resting on the wood.
“So what are you waiting for? When are you going to find out?” He demanded.

“That's what I’m trying to do right now.” Will replied, keeping his composure.
“I need to talk to you to better understand what happened and to recover any other pieces of medical history we might be missing.”

Dealing with patient’s relatives was never easy, but it was something Will had always proven to be good at, considering his empathetic nature.

“Alright.” Nico replied, trying to keep his cool. He looked at his shoes.
“Ask away.”

“First of all, I need to know more about what happened to her today. Were you with her when she stroked?” Will asked.

“Not exactly.” Nico explained.
“I was with her a couple minutes before, though. We had a meeting at the cemetery to arrange a burial happening in the next couple days.” He began recalling.

“Was there a recent passing in the family?” Will asked, beginning to take notes.

“No.” Nico replied quickly.
“We own a funeral home, we were there on behalf of a client.”

Will nodded.
“How did she seem when you last saw her?”

Nico reflected for a moment.
“She seemed fine.” He said.
“I mean, she was complaining about the heat, and since our father had stopped at the mausoleum she sent me back to get him while she waited by the car.”

“So she was feeling fatigued?” Will questioned.

The other man nodded, joining his hands together and resting his chin on them.
“Yeah. I guess so.” He murmured.

“Alright.” Will nodded.
“So you didn't notice anything else other than her struggling with the heat and the sudden fatigue? No slurring in her speech? Nausea, Confusion?” He asked once more.

Nico simply shook his head.

“So when you walked back to the car you just found her laying there, correct?” Will continued, this time, he earned a nod.

“Alright.” He murmured, reflecting.
He still hadn’t found what he was looking for.

“Are you two close?” He tried to ask.

Nico frowned for a moment, not understanding the reason for such a question, but replied nonetheless.
“Yes, very.” He said.
“We still live in our childhood home together, with our father.”

“So you’d be able to tell me if she had any medical concerns, lately, yes?” Will supposed.

“Yes I would.” Nico replied, a hint of pride in his tone.
“She had none. She had the flu this winter, but that's all.”

“Alright.” Will replied. After all, the records his team had of her confirmed everything.

“Let’s go over some family history then, starting from you and your parents.” Will said, bringing out a new page to take notes in.

Nico took a moment to say anything else, his expression darkening in seconds.

“Do you want some water?” Will proposed.

“No.” The man answered sternly, picking himself back up.
“Just tell me what you need to know.”

“Umh…” This time, Will was a little taken aback by the sudden moodswing. He paused.
“Anything, really.”

“Our father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s two years ago, but other than that, he’s never had any problems.”

Will nodded.
“I doubt that has any connection to Bianca’s issue.” He replied.
“Alzheimer’s disease is genetic, but she's way too young to present any symptoms, even if we were talking about early onset Alzheimer's it would be very unlikely.” He explained.
“What about your mom?”

“That's a bit more complicated.” Nico admitted.
“I…I don’t really know what happened to her.” He said a bit shamefully.
“She died during childbirth, and was also apparently healthy before…that happened.

“Was Bianca the child she was bearing?” Will asked.
“Or was it you? Or another sibling?”

“It was me. We don’t have any other siblings.” Nico said simply.
“That's why I don’t know much.”

“Understood.” Will said, looking at him for a moment. Nico had been avoiding his gaze most of the time he had been there, always looking around himself or staring into space.
“But it would probably help us to know more about what happened to your mother. Are there any records about it?”

“Yes.” Nico said. He knew for sure. He had seen them at least a thousand times while tidying up the house, but he never had the courage to open them.

“What about you?” Will asked.

“I am anemic, have been for a couple years, she’s not.” He said briefly.

“Alright, so…” Will cleared his throat.
“You won’t be able to see your sister for at least a couple more hours, we’re gonna keep her in the icu until we’re sure she's okay to be admitted in the ward.” He looked at Nico, accurately predicting the expression of disappointment he would see in his face.

“I know this is hard to hear, but trust me, it’s for the best.” Will tried to reassure him.
“Besides, you could use up this time to go home and grab your sister’s necessities and, most importantly, your mother’s medical records.” He suggested.
“The sooner we have them, the sooner we can help your sister out.”

Will kept his distance. He expected some kind of negative, maybe aggressive reaction from Nico, considering he had shown to be a bit feisty, so he stayed a few steps back.

Instead, Nico nodded, getting up.
“I’ll go now.” He replied.
“Can my father stay here?”

“Yes. That's not a problem.” Will nodded, also getting up, watching Nico approach the door.

He was ready to say goodbye when Nico turned to him once more.

“You said you can help her out.” He said. For a second, Will thought he might have been talking to himself.

Instead, Nico stared right at him for the first time, his irises were the same color of Bianca’s: dark and intense, but bright at the same time.
“So you will, right?” He asked.

Will blinked for a moment, unable to speak.
He looked at his notes as if they could give him the right words.

“Yes.” He said in the end.
“Yes we will.”

-

Bianca surprisingly recovered faster than expected, and so she was transferred to the ward about an hour later.

Will had called Nico to inform him, and was now standing outside his sister’s room waiting for him, Annabeth and Jason beside him.

“We need to start her on some tests.” Jason insisted on the argument he had brought up earlier.
“Instead we are wasting our time like this.” He said calmly, his tone almost stoic.

“No. It’d be too risky to just test her for everything and anything right now. We have no leads, and it’s late. We could risk stressing her body out and causing something else for nothing.” Annabeth replied.
“She's stable as of now, let her rest for the night and tomorrow we’ll start looking through her mother’s chart for hints with a fresh mind.

“Besides…” She added.
“Your shift is about the end, and Will’s has been over for about three hours now.” She shot a look at the blonde, who pretended to check the time on his watch with a surprised expression.
“Go home, eat, rest and we’ll see each other tomorrow at eight o’ clock sharp. I’ll cover the night and page you if anything happens.”

Jason sighed, agreeing silently, and began taking off his robe.

Will stayed still.
“I’ll wait for her brother to come back, first, I think it’s only fair since I spoke to him earlier.

He looked to his right and looked at the old man sitting a few rows of chairs away.

Bianca and Nico’s father still had the same magazine he had been holding that morning firmly on his lap. He had never turned the page, though.

“There’s no point in waiting.” Annabeth brought back his attention.
“He’s not gonna want to talk to you, or any of us for that matter, he’s just going to want to be by his sister’s side for as long as he can before staff is forced to kick him out for the night.”

As if following a script, Nico walked in the hallway as soon as Annabeth was done talking.

He moved fast, leaving everything he was holding by the door and quickly walking himself in, without asking for permission or greeting anyone on the medical team.

Bianca was looking around, seemingly reflecting, but turned towards the door as soon as she heard Nico entering.

Nico slowed down as soon as he walked into the room, stepping carefully towards her.

His older sister found the strength to smile softly at him.
“Come Here, Ni’.” She called.
“I’m not contagious, at least as far as we know.”

Nico followed her directions, quickly reaching her bed, standing beside her.
“It's not that…” He murmured.

Bianca reached for his hand, and Nico held it tightly.
“It's fine, Nico, it’s-”

“No.” He interrupted her, shaking his head.
“Don’t start this, Bianca. You’re sick, you’re the one who needs support right now.”

The older girl gazed at her brother softly, rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb.
“I got all the support I need.” She replied, gesturing to all the medical equipment she had been strapped to.

“I’m not talking about that.” Nico said.
“You…you must be scared, anxious.” He said apprehensively.

“Not as much as you are.” Bianca retorted, raising a brow.

Nico sighed, defeated, and finally grabbed a chair, still holding Bianca’s hand with his other one.

“I just want you to be okay, Bi’.” He murmured softly, sitting down and resting his head on the side of her bed.

“I am okay now.” Bianca insisted. She let go of Nico’s hand to cup his face, caressing it lightly.

“We don’t know that. Those useless doctors haven’t figured out a thing.” He grumbled.

Bianca laughed a little. Nico had always been so quick to grow grudges.

“Give them time, Nico.” She said.
“And besides, I really am fine now. I’m not feeling sick, just really exhausted.”

Nico checked her expression. She was being sincere.

“So you think it was just…a fluke?” He murmured.

“We can’t know anything for sure right now, Nico.” Bianca said carefully.
“I’ll just enjoy the fact that I'm able to take this night to rest, and we’ll see what tomorrow holds.”

“I can’t believe you’re using your “Take it one step at the time” mentality in this situation, too.” Nico sighed, looking up at her with a newly found softness in his eyes.

“Even if I do happen to be terribly sick, worrying at this moment will amount to nothing except ruining the last peaceful moments I might have.” She explained calmly.

Nico looked at her once more, before finally smiling.
“Why do you have to always be right?” He joked.

“That's big sister magic.” She said softly, smiling back at him.

Nico sighed, resting his cheek on Bianca’s bed, as the older girl began running her fingers through his hair.

“If you dare die I’ll have you buried in the ugliest hairstyle you could ever think of.” Suddenly, Nico seemed to be able to grasp at his own cynicism again.
“I’ll also draw a unibrow on you.”
He murmured.

Bianca laughed.
“What are you, 12?” She asked.
“You’re gonna draw a vulgar symbol on my cheek too?”

“Thanks for the idea.” Nico dead-panned.

“You'd be remembered as the worst mortician ever.” She said.

Nico laughed at that, holding her hand tight to his chest.

Bianca might have been sick, but she was still holding on pretty well.

Nico knew death, he knew it better than anyone else did.

To be fair, his whole life was practically about death, and Bianca looked nothing like it.

Maybe she was right. Maybe he had nothing to worry about.

He told himself that as he sat beside her bed, he told himself that as he was getting kicked out by the night nurse, he told himself that as he drove home.

He kept repeating it to himself in bed, but still he found it hard to fall asleep.

Chapter Text

The air condition had been bothering Bianca ever since she had been assigned a room.

Sure, it was summer, and as unsufferable as the heat outside was, the fricking thing had been on for like ten hours, so now she felt like she was sitting in a cot right into the center of the northern pole.

One of the nurses had shown a remote, which controlled most things in the room, like her bed, the lights and the curtains, but it had so many buttons Bianca wasn't able to figure out how to actually command the AC.

She fumbled with the device for probably the twelfth time, and groaned when she found out it was possible to turn on the light while simultaneously pulling down the blinds, but apparently not controlling the room’s temperature.

Bianca was about to cave and press the only button she hadn’t touched yet: the one to call the night nurse.

That's when she heard a faint knock on the door.

She looked up, a little embarrassed.
“Come in.” She said, whispering.

The door opened quietly, and instead of hospital staff, like Bianca had been expecting, a girl, petite and younger than her by a few years, peeked her head inside.

Her hair was wrapped into a dark red silk bonnet, and it matched the color of her pajama, which Bianca thought looked really comfortable, too comfortable to be hospital wear: She was probably a patient just like her.

“I’m sorry to intrude.” She said, giving Bianca a small smile.
“I saw the lights turn on and off over and over again from across the hallway and figured maybe you needed some help.”

Bianca chuckled sheepishly.
“I’m sorry to bother.” She said,
“I’m just freezing and I can’t figure out this thing.” She explained, showing the remote in her hand.

The younger girl approached Bianca’s bed, apparently reflecting.

“You're trying to turn on the AC?” She wondered.
“Sadly, you can’t do that with the remote, but there is a way.”

Bianca felt sudden relief, watching her move back to the entrance.

“You can’t turn the AC off altogether because it’s the same in the whole hospital, but you can press this button if you want it off in your room.” She explained, pressing a button on the wall, right by the door.

The comfort was almost instant for Bianca, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Oh, thank you so much.” She said, with honest gratitude.
“You’re a saint.”

The other girl smiled back at her, before making her way back towards her back.

“I’m Hazel, by the way.” She said.
It had been a while since Hazel had been hospitalized, and she was practically dying to make new acquaintances.

“Nice to meet you, Hazel.” Bianca replied. Even though she had to promise Nico she was fine in order to get him to leave on his own and not be dragged out by security, she had also been feeling pretty lonely ever since he left, so she welcomed her new guest gladly.

“I’m Bianca, and it’s my first day here. Kinda nervous.” She joked.

Hazel laughed, but tried to keep it quiet.
“I can imagine.” She agreed.
“On my first night, I would have probably spent the whole night crying if it wasn't for my mom.”

Bianca looked at her with apprehension.
“You’ve been here a while, it seems.” She noticed.

“Ever since I turned 16, four months ago.” Hazle replied.

Bianca's expression turned surprised. She blinked.
“Oh god, that's a really long time.” She replied.
“And you’re so young, too. I’m sorry for whatever you’re going through.”

Hazel kept her smile. She shrugged.
“I’ve been managing.” She adjusted one of her bracelets.
“The staff here is actually really good, though, I’m just a very complicated case.”

Bianca's brows almost met in the middle with the way she frowned.
“Is that so?”

Hazel nodded.
“It's a whole thing. I need a transplant, but I’m also a super rare human apparently, so it's been hard to find a match.” She deliberately decided to leave out the part where she was most likely going to pass in three weeks or so, if they didn't find an organ for her.

Bianca still felt bad, though.
“I’m sure they’ll find somebody soon.” She said, softly.

Hazel smiled once more, but didn't say a thing about what Bianca replied.
“I’m sure there's help for you, too.”

Bianca looked away for a moment, seemingly reflecting.
“They’ll probably find out what’s wrong with me tomorrow.” She murmured.
“Then I guess I’ll know, but you know what?” She started.

Hazel tuned in to listen.

“I don’t want to be hanging from a thread constantly, you know?” She moved her hands lightly as she spoke.
“I don’t know what's going to happen to me, but if I make it out, I don’t want to be remembering this experience with dread.”

“And if I don't…well, it’s not like I could have prevented it? Could I? The only difference would be that I spent my last moments agonizing instead of just…trying to make the best out of it.” She finished with a sigh, looking at Hazel.

“And I’m sorry I’m kinda taking it all out on you right now.” Bianca apologized, scratching her cheek, feeling it turn a pale rose color.

“You’re not bothering me.” Hazel reassured her.
“Actually this feels…safe, you know? Because I’ve been thinking the same way for months, and I could spend hours telling you the kind of looks or reactions I get.” She said. Her smile widened.

“It feels…safer, knowing I’m not the only who feels that way. Makes me think I’m less of an outsider.” She admitted.

Bianca's eyes lit up. She offered the young girl a hand, which she gladly took with both of hers, holding it tight.

“You’re a smart girl, Hazel.” She said softly, her big sister instinct kicking right in.

She remembered moments like these with Nico clearly, because as much as he tried to put on a facade, he had always been fragile, insecure.

It stemmed from the treatment their father had reserved for him, because even though the man did try somehow to love his son before he got ill, part of him always saw Nico merely as the reason why his wife died.

So praise was difficult, talking was hard and affection was impossible:
as Nico grew up, he only knew fatherly love as stern, cold, and somewhat painful.

And so, obviously, when she was old enough to realise, Bianca stepped in, and even though she was only two years older than him, tried to fill the voids their father’s struggle and their mother’s absence left.

She would wait for him after school, trying to find a different reason to compliment him everyday, to make him feel seen, heard, appreciated.

She would be the one to remember his birthday and all his important dates.

She would teach him everything he needed to know in order to, one day, walk into the world alone.

She would hold him through his darkest nights, as he sobbed silently. She was probably the only person who had ever seen him cry.

And even though it was hard at times, even though it felt like she was taking on a task that wasn't exactly meant for someone her age, she would have never once regretted it.

Now that her fate was unsure, she was glad that she somehow got to experience something similar to loving like a mother would.

It almost made her forget how she barely remembered what it felt like being loved by a mother herself.

Hazel brought her attention back as she was spacing out. She placed a small, spheric object into the older girl’s palm, before making her close her fingers around it.

Bianca felt it for a moment, curiously running the tips of her finger on the cold, smooth material. She brought it closer to her face so that she could really see it.

It was a small spheric stone, of a translucent purple color streaked with white accents that looked like smoke.

“Take this, if you will.” Hazel said.
“It's an amethyst. My mom has her own store in town where she sells all kind of minerals, so I have plenty.” She explained.

“It will bring you calm, and peace. Promise.” She whispered, looking right at Bianca.

The older girl felt her bottom lip tremble lightly, and even though she didn't really know what she was crying for, she let it go, opening her arms for Hazel.

“Thank you.” Bianca whispered softly as soon as Hazel entered the embrace.
“Thank you, Hazel.” She repeated.

“You just gifted me something special, and I’m not only talking about the stone.”

-

“You’ll have to go with Nico while we take care of this.” Annabeth said, pointing to the huge folder in her lap.

Those were Maria Di Angelo’s clinical records, which they had acquired from Nico the previous evening.

“What?” Will had spaced out, staring into the warm cup of coffee sitting between his hands.

Annabeth gave him a bit of a thorn look.
“We just discussed this.” She warned.
“I was reading some of her mother’s file last night, and found out the complications within her pregnancy were caused by sarcoidosis.” She explained.

“Sarcoidosis.” Will repeated.

“Yes.” Annabeth nodded.
“They discovered the first nodules at the start of the eight month following her complaints of sudden migraines.”

“So it was neurosarcoidosis?” Jason questioned.

“Yes, mostly.” Annabeth nodded.
“But a week into trying out treatments they had realised that, exceptionally, the nodules extended to her uterus, which was, at the time, bearing Nico.”

She adjusted her reading glasses.
“There, the medical staff realized that it was practically impossible to treat those nodules without killing Nico. At the same time, even if they induced the delivery, there were only slim chances that she would survive giving birth to him.”

“Fuck.” Will muttered. He had been in situations like that before during his training, and he always found himself stuck, unable to choose.

“Yeah.” Annabeth agreed.
“But since the nodules in her brain were already too severe, and the medical staff wasn't even sure they were treatable at all, she decided to give birth to Nico in the end, and as expected, she didn’t survive.” She concluded.

Jason rubbed his chin for a moment.
“Makes sense.” He nodded.
“It was either her and Nico dying, or only Nico surviving, basically.”

“We’re not here to discuss morality.” Annabeth chastised.
“We have to figure out how this can be useful to treat Bianca.”

“Seems obvious.” Jason replied.
“We will test her for sarcoidosis.”

“Wait.” Will interrupted.
“Sarcoidosis is highly genetic, I’m sure their mother’s doctors informed them or that. Don’t you think Nico and Bianca wouldn’t have tested themselves every once in a while?”

“They did.” Annabeth confirmed.
“Or at least, we’re pretty sure Bianca did. That was probably what all those check ups we got from Evergreen General were about.”

“But they stopped a couple years ago?” Will asked.

Annabeth shrugged.
“People tend to do that. They get tested for a while, and then they decide they're safe and forget about it. Also, sarcoidosis can be really tricky to diagnose.”

“That makes sense.” Will agreed.
“But…what about going with Nico? Where? Why?”

“We can’t have sarcoidosis as our only option.” She looked at him.
“Nico, her brother, is a mortician, he is in direct contact daily with people who are recently deceased." She began explaining.
“Many of those people often die because of infection, parasites, and in most cases, those don’t die when the body does.”

“So you’re saying maybe Nico caught something while working and gave it to Bianca.” He reflected.
“But he’s not sick, not at all.”

“Well, in the best case scenario, the virus or parasite didn't affect him the same way. Maybe, he just carried it around and gave it to her.” Jason intervened.

“In the worst case scenario, he’s affected too, and ticking like a time bomb, so we’re gonna kill two birds with one stone this morning: you will go with him into his lab and get samples while also keeping an eye on him for any possible symptoms.” Annabeth finished, closing the folder.

“Has he already been told about this?” Will asked, taking off his robe.
He had just put it on, but since he was about to head out he wasn't gonna need it.

“Yes, a nurse talked to him. He’ll be here in a half hour, after the morning visits hours are over.” Annabeth replied.
“She also got the tools ready for you.” She added, passing him a small blue bag, packed with cotton swabs, test tubes, gloves and stuff like that.

“How is she, right now?” Will asked.

Jason shrugged.
“It’s been up and downs.” He admitted.
“She seems to put up an act when her brother is around though, she probably doesn't want him to worry.”

“Yeah.” Annabeth nodded, sighing.
“We also hope taking her brother away for a while will help us get a clearer understanding of her symptoms, especially since we’re probably gonna do a lot of testing.”

Chapter Text

Will met Nico in the elevator, as they were going down towards the entrance.

“Good morning.” Will said, looking towards him.

Nico had changed himself out of his suit, but he was still wearing an all black outfit.
“Hi.” He replied shortly.

“How are you?” Will asked.

The shorter boy gave him a sharp look.
Will knew exactly what it meant: “How am I supposed to be? My otherwise perfectly healthy sister had a stroke and you stupid doctors still haven't figured out what's wrong with her.”

He looked away shamefully, before picking up his phone.
“Do you want me to call a cab to your office?”

Nico shook his head, showing his car keys.
“I can drive us.” He proposed.

Will simply nodded, scared to say too much, and followed Nico out of the elevator, towards the main exit.

“Where’s your dad?” He tried to ask.

Nico kept walking towards the car without looking at him.
“At home.”

“He’s okay to be left on his own?” Will questioned.

“No.” Nico replied.
“We recently hired a caregiver for him, even though we only call her whenever me and Bianca aren’t able to be with him. Her name’s Anna.” He explained.

“Understood.” Will said.
“How has he been dealing with the situation?”

Nico stopped in front of a shiny black honda, a vintage model which seemed pretty fitting to his looks and personality.

“He’s not.” He replied as he walked into the car.

Will entered on the other side, instantly putting his seat belt on.
“What do you mean by that?”

Nico gave him another glare.
“He probably has no idea about what really happened. Haven't you seen how he was yesterday with that magazine?”

Will took a moment to think.
“And I guess trying to explain it directly doesn't help?”

“I tried, didn't work.” The raven replied as he started the car. He spoke coldly.
“His doctor suggested not to push too hard on these sorts of things, it can just lead to useless frustration, both for me and him.”

“Yea, that makes sense.” Will agreed.
“Dementia is a vile thing.”

Nico whistled. Will didn't really know what it meant, but he assumed it was some sort of agreement.
“You should have met him before he got ill. He was a completely different person.” Still, his voice showed barely no emotion.

He drove out the parking lot and soon they entered the crowded city streets.

To Will, so far, Nico had been like a 10.000 piece puzzle.

Most of the time, he showed no emotion whatsoever, and when he did, it seemed to come out as a different shade of anger and disgust every single time.

The only time he faltered was when in the company of Bianca, or talking about her.

What was going on in this guy’s head?

“It must have been hard on you, seeing him change like that.” He tried to say.

This time, Nico didn't even look at him.
He stopped at a red light and used that spare time to grab a pair of old style ray bans sunnies sitting in his car’s drawer.

Will didn't have any of his own, but he wasn't really bothered by the morning sun shining right into his face.

“Did you guys figure out anything about Bianca?” Nico asked after a silent minute.

Will pondered his options.
How much should he have told Nico?

“They told you why we’re deciding to test your office, yes?” Will asked.

Nico nodded.
“I was talking about my mother's files.” He specified.
“Did you find anything useful inside of them?”

Will tapped his fingers on his armrest.
“We haven't tested her yet.” He said, not exactly a lie.

“But is it possible that…”
Nico paused, unsure. He masked his expression by turning his head towards the window for a moment.
“She has the same thing my mom had?”

“It’s plausible, I guess.”
Will replied.
“But it’s not our main guess.”
That was a half lie.

This time, Nico looked towards him.
His dark eyes peeked through the dark lenses, his furrowed brows cornering them.
“And you don’t think she’s at risk, right now, right?”

“Yes. She’s not.” Will replied quickly.
Now, that was a full, unapologetic, lie.

°

Will didn't really know what a mortician exactly did, but he had a faint idea of what his office might have looked like.

As soon as he walked in, though, he realised he had fallen into a pretty cliché stereotype.

First of all, the office wasn't placed in the underground basement of the fourth store building where Di Angelo’s funeral home was built, but on the highest floor.

“We offer all kinds of services related to funerals here.” Nico explained as they climbed up the stairs.

There was an elevator, but the raven chose not to use it.

“On the ground floor, where you walk in, we have the reception, and also the counseling room, where we make the early arrangements when the clients first arrive.” Nico continued illustrating.
“Bianca takes care of most of that, with her team, of course.”

“Then, here on the second floor we have a rather big chapel of rest, and then a smaller one, because most of the time, people like to hold a wake before the funerals.”
Nico pointed at the two doors, one in front of the other.

“Obviously we offer transportation too. Our hearses are parked in the back.” This time, his finger went to a window in the staircase.

Will followed it, and soon was able to identify five long vehicles. Two were gray, two were black, and then they also had a white one.

He nodded to himself, trying to stay rational.

“On the third floor, we have a series of caskets and coffins on display we offer, which are included in our plans, and obviously, gravestones too.” Nico spoke once more as they reached the third floor.

Will stayed silent. It was hard enough trying to stay neutral in front of such an atmosphere, he didn't want to risk his voice failing him if he decided to speak.

“And here…” Nico said, climbing the last bit of stairs.
“Is my office.” He said, stopping in front of a simple wooden door, which he had to unlock to open.

When they walked in, the image of what Will expected officially crumbled.

It was a rather large room, even though most of it was occupied by the six, eerie looking, human sized refrigerator cells right by the door.

That, and the drop of temperature Will felt as soon as he walked in, where the only thing he really predicted, as for the rest, everything was fairly new to him.

The walls were painted white, and on the opposite side to where you could find the mortuary cells, there were two large blurred windows, which brought in a lot of light.

The entire room’s perimeter was covered in drawers, and parallel to each other in the two longer sides of the room, stood a pair of clothing racks, mostly empty.

At the centre there was a simple wooden stretcher, similar to an hospital’s examination table, which was cornered by a bunch of artificial lamps, which were currently turned off.

Nico passed Will his coat without looking at him.

Will quickly noticed there wasn't any kindness in that gesture, Nico just seemed to know a stranger wouldn't have been able to withstand the temperature, and since he could, he just decided to pass on his jacket. Will threw it on his shoulders, whispering a thank you.

“There isn’t anyone here at the moment.” Nico said calmly, beginning to look through his drawers, which were also locked.
“I’ve sent all the cases we were supposed to be dealing with to other homes this morning, so you can start testing the cells, I guess.” He said.

“The cells. sure.” Will murmured, following Nico.

He unlocked them one by one, before walking to one of his drawers and beginning to take out a few neatly organized suitcases, bringing them to the work table.

“These are my more “medical” tools. Scalpels, suturation kit, clamps, forceps, stuff like that.” He explained as Will began taking swabs out of the cells.
“Everything gets thoroughly sanitized multiple times a day, obviously, but I guess it’s worth checking.” He continued.

He pointed to his two other suitcases.
“Here he is my balms and cosmetics. These are the ones I’m currently using, mostly, but I switch them often.”

Will finished with the cells, turning towards Nico, listening as he spread everything out on the table neatly.

“Then we can go dig up the trash in the basement, if you feel like you need to test that.” Nico finished. His tone was as cold as the room they were in.

Will gave him a simple nod, and slowly approached the table.

Nico raised a brow, walking to one of his windows and sitting on the sill.
“A cat bit your tongue?” He questioned.

The blonde adjusted his new pair of gloves on his fingers, shooting a look at him.
“No, sorry.” He cleared his throat.
“This is just a bit…eerie. That's all.” He admitted.

Nico scoffed, crossing his arms.
“You're a surgeon. We’re not that different.” He said.
“We both wear masks, and gowns, and gloves, and hair nets. We both cut through skin, inject stuff, and then try to hide our traces as much as we can. The only difference between us is you try to make people feel better for the rest of their lives, while I try to make people look best at the end of their lives.” He sounded bitter.

“The only exception is you get flowers, baskets and letters for Christmas and your birthday, while people I work for hope they never see me again after I’m done.” He finished.

Will began testing the first suitcase, listening silently.
“Doesn’t it ever bother you, though?” He asked.

“What, exactly, should bother me?” Nico questioned.

Will took a second to think.
“Death.” He said simply. He didn't even like how the word felt on his tongue.

This time, Nico took a moment to answer.
“It’s not like I can do anything about it.” He said.
“It’s not like you can do anything about it.” He added.

Will frowned.
“I can-” He tried to say.
“You can’t.” Nico stopped him. He smiled.
“Don’t you know how many people arrive here right from the operation room, freshly stitched up?”

“You wish you could, but you can't. I bet sometimes you enter the room, consciously knowing the chances you have, but thinking you can beat them. You tell yourself you’re gonna do it, you’re gonna be the one that saves them despite all odds, but then you still fail. Sometimes, you still fail.” He looked at Will with an unreadable look.

“You work against death, I work with death, and I’m at peace with it. I never fail.” He finished, uncrossing his arms.
“I bet you lose more of your night’s sleep than I do.”

Will’s hands stopped mid-air.
He was holding a scalpel with his two fingers, and noticed how oddly familiar it looked. He had held one of those tools so many times in his life: as much as he hated thinking about it, Nico was right: they weren’t all that different.

“It is a bit sad still, though?” He asked.
“No?”

Nico jumped down the window-sill, his shoes making a clacking sound on the linoleum floor.

“It is.” He agreed, surprisingly.
“But it's not as scary. It’s a consolation. I won’t save anyone, but I can make sure they go respectfully.”

He looked at Will for a moment.
“And there’s not as much pressure. People tend not to notice if I use aquamarine eyeshadow when they ask for zaphire.”

Will didn't dare to speak another word.
As much as he hated to hear it, Nico was right: He had been purely projecting.

“I think people should be more appreciative, though.” He said.
“What you do is still fundamental.”

Nico looked at his nails, before shrugging. He crossed his arms again.

“It’s understandable that they aren’t, though.” He said.
“But besides, what I do is not for the living. There's this whole myth about funerals not matter to the person actually passing, so many people think it’s just something that 's done to comfort those who stay.”

He paced around the room, looking around at the clothes on his racks, clothes that had been brought in and never picked back up.

“I don’t want recognition, I don’t need it, I’m serene as long as I know I made it so that the person I met had the possibility to move on to the next step looking like the best version of themselves.” He finished.

Will could only nod, and Nico didn't say anything else either, beginning to put away what had already been tested.

They were climbing down the stairs to the basement when Will got the call.

Nico went on walking when Will stopped mid track to pick up the phone.

He listened to the erratic words being spat out from the speaker, his eyes moving around uselessly.

“Nico.” Will called with urgency.

The other man finally stopped, turning around slowly.

He furrowed his brows instantly when he saw Will’s expression.
“What?” He asked, climbing up a few steps.
“What happened?”

“We need to go back.” He urged.
“Bianca just went into cardiac arrest.”