It wasn't a secret that Nico hated hospitals. He wasn't afraid of much, but smiley doctors that try to distract him from a large needle with suspicious liquids inside by yammering about how the weather sure is nice freaked the hell out of him. Truth be told, Nico di Angelo would rather lie in bed miserable than go in for a check-up.

His sister, Hazel, however, wouldn't hear of it. As soon as she'd heard Nico's groggy voice on the phone she drove over with cartons of orange juice, horrible tasting medicine, and tissues. After a few days, and Nico was still just as bad, she put her foot down. "You're going to the doctor's," she said, pulling out her phone, "and that's that!"

Nico had pleaded. Nico had begged. He even tried to bargain. But Hazel was just as stubborn as he was, and didn't give in. She made the appointment – Friday at noon at Elysium Hospital – and even drove him there to be sure he wouldn't skip out on it. "You'll be fine," she assured him. "People go the hospital to get better."

"Or die," Nico muttered under his breath.

"You sound like Dad."

"Shut up."

Hazel signed Nico in and sat with him in the waiting room, reading a magazine. Nico sat stubbornly in the chair with his arms crossed, glaring at the wall. At twenty-four years old, Nico wasn't above pouting. In fact, he'd pout and be proud.

"Di Angelo?" a fake, cheery female voice called, and Nico looked up to see a nurse standing at the door. "This way."

"Go ahead," Hazel urged. "You'll be fine."

Nico gave her a look of deepest loathing before standing up. He made sure to cough extra loudly as he passed the nurse.

She did the basics. She took his height and weight and blood pressure and all that jazz. She tried to make small talk, but Nico was too busy eyeing the chart in her hands to respond. What was she writing?

"The doctor will be with you shortly," she said happily. Nico gave a terse nod.

Let him come, he thought bitterly. But if he even TRIES to jab me with anything then…

His thoughts drifted into static as the door opened again. A young man, tan and tall, walked in with an easy smile on his face. It wasn't the plastic sort of smile the nurse had worn. It was a genuine, soft smile that almost made Nico relax. Almost. The white coat he wore made Nico sneer distrustfully. Still, as the doctor shut the door behind him, Nico let himself appreciate the rest of him. The doctor's hair was a bright blonde and his eyes were a deep blue. His entire appearance was just too bright, too perfect, that Nico felt himself already blushing by the time the man's smile grew and he extended a hand. "Hello. My name is Dr. Solace."

Nico didn't take his hand, but he murmured a quick greeting before erupting into coughs.

"Right, that doesn't sound good. How long have you had that?"

Nico shrugged. "A few days?"

Dr. Solace raised an eyebrow. His smile became a little strained. "A few days… like Monday or last week?"

"Tuesday…?"

"You don't sound so sure."

"Does it even matter?"

"I guess I can always run a few tests and find out the hard way." There was a playful glint in his eyes. "Course, they might be a little painful."

Nico resisted the urge to shiver. "It started on Tuesday."

Dr. Solace nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer. "And do you take anything for it?"

"My sister's been forcing this cough suppressant down my throat," Nico huffed out indignantly.

"Hm. Suppressant only does so much. We've gotta wipe out whatever the cause is before you get any better." Dr. Solace pulled a sterile popsicle stick out of one of the jars on the counter and turned back to him. "Let's take a looksee, shall we?"

Nico's jaw clenched tightly.

"Now, come on. Say 'ah!'"

Nico resisted.

Dr. Solace rolled his eyes and put a hand on his hip. "I'll call for sedatives. Don't think I won't."

Reluctantly, Nico opened his mouth and made the offending noise, rolling his eyes as Dr. Solace said, "There, was that so hard?" and held up a little flashlight, peering into his throat. He hummed. "Strep."

Nico coughed, almost swallowed the popsicle stick, and choked. Dr. Solace clapped him on the back, chuckling. "Are you sure?" Nico groaned. Hazel was going to baby him for weeks.

"Sure am. Luckily, we've got these things called anti-biotics that'll clear that up in a week." Dr. Solace winked. "So your sister won't be able to baby you for much longer." Nico blinked and the doctor laughed before explaining. "Earlier, your sister pulled me aside and asked if you were my patient. When I said yes, she began telling me about your apparent phobia of hospitals. She told me to go easy on you."

Nico's face turned red. "She said what?" he tried to yell, but his throat just itched and he coughed some more.

Dr. Solace snorted in amusement. The sound ticked him off and made him strangely happy at the same time. "Don't worry, I'll tell her that you were very brave," he said in a patronizing tone that made Nico scowl.

"My hero," he grumbled sarcastically, but Dr. Solace just beamed.

"So," he said conversationally as he scribbled on his chart, "anything else bothering you? Fevers, headaches, stomachaches, those sorts of things? You look a little pale and tired. Have you been sleeping well?"

Nico didn't have the heart to tell him that he always looked pale and tired. He shrugged. "I had a little bit of a fever a few days ago, but that's it."

Dr. Solace's eyes peered suspiciously at him. "You sure?" Nico nodded. "Well, that's good. Your body is probably already fighting off the infection. We'll just give you some steroids to help out."

Nico frowned. "I'm not going to get super angry, am I?"

He sighed. "No, no. You won't be any grouchier than you already are." He said it with such a bright smile that Nico found it hard to be genuinely offended. He handed Nico a paper cup of water. "Now drink."

"Are all doctor's here this demanding?" he asked tersely as he took it.

"Nah, they're all boring old dudes. You're lucky you didn't get Dr. Hedge. He'd be yacking your ear off about his wife and kids." Those blue eyes glanced at him briefly before going back to his clipboard. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You look a bit young for kids, but do you have a girlfriend or something?"

Nico's brain shut down at the somewhat shy expression on Dr. Solace's face. He wasn't… really interested, was he? Nico dismissed the thought immediately. "Um, no."

The smile came back a little. "Ah. Me neither. Never really had the time for girls," he said with a swift wink. Well then. Nico's cheeks heated up. "You look a bit flushed."

"I-I'm fine."

Dr. Solace ignored him, reached out, and put a hand on his forehead, humming as he gauged his temperature. Nico froze. "Seems all right." He withdrew his hand and tore off the prescription and handed it to Nico. "Take this to your pharmacy and they'll fill it right up. Now, I'm going to schedule a follow up appointment for next week, just to be sure, but I think you're all right."

Nico coughed. "Right. Thanks, I guess, Dr. Sol—"

"Will," Dr. Solace interrupted. "You can call me Will. Dr. Solace is my father."

"Right," Nico said, feeling awkward.

"Well, if there's nothing else, then I suppose you're free. See, nothing to sweat about, right?"

Nico gritted his teeth. "Don't get too cocky."

Dr. Solace – Will – laughed that wonderful laugh again. "And here I thought I'd be the one to wipe away your fear of hospitals!" He sighed, feigning disappointment and held his chest.

"Shut up," Nico said half-heartedly. His heart skipped a beat when he got a smile in return.

"All right. I release you from your torment."

"You're ridiculous."

"I do haikus, too. You wanna hear?"

"No."

"An apple a day. Doesn't keep doctors away. Eat your broccoli."

Nico snorted. "That was awful."

Will shrugged. "My dad is better at them, but they're pretty useful at calming kids down."

"Those poor children."

He laughed, much to Nico's relief, and stood. "Take care of that throat, you hear? And I'll see you next week." He extended his hand and Nico didn't even think twice about taking it.

"See you," he said, and really hoped he would.

When Nico walked back into the waiting room to get his sister, Hazel immediately noticed his change of mood. "What did the doctor say?" she demanded when he approached her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said, "like I told you I was! I just have strep. The doctor gave me a prescription and said it should clear in a few days."

"Oh, that's good. We'll stop by the pharmacy on the way home then."

"Better throw a goddamn McDonald's run in there," Nico told her. "It's the least you can do for putting me through this."

"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad! Besides, your doctor was a cutie, wasn't he?"

Nico blushed. "I didn't notice."

"Liar."

"Oh, will you just–"

"Hey, Nico! Hold up!" a voice called behind them. Nico turned and, to his horror, saw Dr. Solace rushing towards him, grinning mischievously. "I almost forgot to give you this," he said with a wink. "It's sugar-free, but it still might ease your throat a bit." He handed Nico a lollipop. Nico took it. He was pretty sure his face couldn't get any redder.

"So, uh, I'll see you next week, then," Dr. Solace said, nodded at Hazel, and left hurriedly.

"What was that about?" Hazel laughed. "Nico?"

Nico stared down at the lollipop in his hand. More particularly, he looked at the number scrawled in careful handwriting on the wrapper. He quickly stuffed it into his jacket pocket. "The doctors here are crazy," he announced and left. Hazel laughed the entire was home.

Maybe Nico was just as crazy as the doctors, however, because, when he got home, he pulled out his phone and the lollipop and began to dial.

A/N: I just wanted to be cheesy. ;u;

EDIT: Excuse me. Just getting rid of my typos. (Sweeps misspelled words under carpet.)