i’m a firm believer that will has severe survivors guilt and that he breaks down every time he loses a patient
Will opened the door to his and Nico’s apartment and set his keys down. He kept running his hands through his hair and his breaths were raggedy and slow. His eyes were red and tears stained his face. Will sat down at the island in the kitchen as Nico rushed in from the couch where he was reading.
“Hey Will! Hey, hey, hey what’s wrong? Look at me, what’s wrong?”
“I…a-a-a little g-girl…Harper…she d-didn’t survive the surgery today. I…I killed her, Nico.” Will’s voice broke and he began to sob again. Nico pulled into a tight hug, and rubbed his back in circles.
“Hey, listen to me. You didn’t kill her. That’s not your fault. It was her time to go, that’s up to the Fates, you know that.”
“She was only 8. She didn’t deserve to die, Nico,” Will cried.
“I agree, she didn’t deserve to die. But you know lots of people who didn’t deserve to die. Her death still isn’t your fault.”
“I should’ve done more for her. I should’ve-“
“No, Will. It’s not your fault.” Nico wrapped his arms around Will and kissed the top of his head. He let Will cry into his shoulder while he sang to him in Italian. After a little he pulled away. He put his hands on both sides of Will’s face and hunched down to be face to face.
“I have an idea. I do this every time you lose someone, but I think you should come this time.” Nico grabbed a pad of paper and a pen and started scribbling something on the page.
“What was her name? Full name, please,” Nico asked.
“Harper Mae Williams,” Will answered, his voice cracking. Nico continued writing on the pad of paper. When he finished he ripped the page off and folded it into a messy square. Stuffing it into his pocket, he went over to Will and took both his hands.
“You ready?”
“For what?” In an instant, they disappeared into the shadows, and appeared…where were they? Will had to let his eyes adjust before he realized that they were standing on the bank of the River Styx. A small ghost stood by the river.
“Hi. Are you Harper?” Nico asked the ghost, crouching down.
The ghost was a little girl with messy hair and a crooked smile. “Yup, that’s me. They told me to meet you here.” Nico pulled the paper out of his pocket and handed it to her.
“Give this to the judges when you see them, okay?”
“Okay.” She opened the note. “‘I, the Ghost King, give Harper Mae Williams full permission to Elysium.’ Cool, thanks! But, uh, who’s that?” Harper pointed to Will.
“H-hi Harper, I’m W-Will. I was one of the doctors trying to save you. I’m…so sorry, Harper,” Will answered, tears welling back up in his eyes.
“It’s okay Will. What matters to me is that you tried. None of the other doctor thought I was worth saving, so thanks for trying.” Harper smiled. “Can I give you a hug, please? You look sad.” Will nodded and crouched down to hug Harper, a grin breaking out on his face as more tears fell.
After Will and Nico shadow traveled back to their apartment, Will took Nico in his arms and hugged him tight.
“Thank you, Nico. You do that for all of them?”
“Mhm. And not one of them blame you. So you shouldn’t blame yourself either,” Nico said, placing a gentle kiss on Will’s lips. Will hugged him even tighter.
“Thank you. I love you, Nico.”
“I love you more, Will.”
610 words
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