Sutures Who: Micah and Liam Where: The hospital When: Afternoon Warnings: None
Morning with Nic had been awkward, though Micah was sure most of it was on his part rather than Nic’s. Nic had seemed comfortable and Micah had just been panicked more than usual because not only was he out of his comfort zone, he was completely one hundred percent not sure what he and Nic were now. If it would happen again. And sure, as the other man had left, he’d said he would see Micah soon, but that didn’t really mean everything right?
Unable to do anything else, Micah showered and headed to work. At least there he felt centered. Which was exactly what happened the moment he was through the doors, slipping into being Doctor Micah as if he were pulling on the lab coat again. Feeling left out because he’d missed the past twelve hours he went right for the charts, dropping his bag behind the desk and reaching for the first one to flip through it.
Liam had been waiting. Not for long, but he’d been waiting. After talking with Finn, he’d needed to get here and do something productive with his hands. And after washing them and changing into one of his pairs of scrubs, which he was really thankful to have in general but especially post-apocalypse, he was waiting for the doctor.
When he saw Dr. Micah, Liam smiled and started his way, forcing a quiet “Hello” out of his throat as he approached him. He’d rather just be quiet and listen but the obligatory greeting seemed necessary.
Micah glanced in the direction of the voice, breaking into a wide grin at the sight of Liam. The guy was a tough worker, pleased to take anything on, which was great, considering how few of them there were, and a quick learner. Minus the quiet part, Micah thought he’d make a great doctor. “Hey there Liam. Sort of thought you’d be at the festival,” he said, leaning back against the counter and flipping through the chart in his hand. “I miss anything good?” he asked before glancing up to see Liam’s reaction as he was more likely to nod than to speak.
Liam shook his head, but smiled more at Dr. Micah’s grin. "Later. Auction," He said, though his tone was about as far from enthusiastic as possible. Watching Dr. Micah flip back through the chart again, he shook his head once more. "Quiet," He answered, thinking the morning had been quiet compared to the others. "Want to work on stitching." In the downtime, he felt he needed more practice with his sutures and he knew there was no better person to learn from than Dr. Micah.
Micah looked surprised, smiling more. “You’re in the auction? Brave dude. I didn’t even sign of up for that.” He flipped through a few more charts, seeing notes on what Liam had said, it was quiet. And here he thought he couldn’t leave without things falling apart. Maybe he could. Though the only reason he would want to would be Nic. “Sutures. Got it. Come on.” He tucked the charts away and started down the hall towards where they had things that that Liam could use to practice.
“I didn’t,” He said, sighing a little as he followed Dr. Micah down the hallway to the practice room. He went for the cabinets, beginning to pull out the practice materials. He wanted to be more confident with this so in case he needed to, he’d be ready with real background for sutures and not just hope that he’d know what he was doing when the time came. “Don’t think I’ll be good for the auction.”
Micah let Liam get everything he needed, sliding the table they practiced on and his stool as well as one of Liam’s to the middle of the room where the light was best. “They asked me to, but I opted not to.” He sat and looked up at Liam. “Why don’t you think so?”
Liam went about setting things up properly and went to put on a pair of gloves before starting to get anything really set up. Gloves prevent infection, he reminded himself. He did stop and look right up at Dr. Micah, though, with confused eyes. “...Because?” He said, thinking he didn’t need more of an explanation.
“Because you’re a nice guy and have plenty to offer?” Micah tried, hands on his knees as he watched Liam with a soft smile. “I think you’ll have fun.”
“I...don’t want to be in the auction,” He said, looking back at the needles, not at Dr. Micah. “Friend signed up, going for him.” Liam pulled the cloth close to him, still wanting to perfect his stitches on that before graduating to something more perishable like fruit, and began with a very simple knot.
“I’ve heard that story already,” Micah said with a smile, watching Liam work, pleased with the movements of his fingers. “Whoever gets you will be lucky enough. Don’t worry.”
Dr. Micah had it easy, though. He was a doctor and Liam had seen him talk to people. And he couldn’t do that himself. He couldn’t talk to anyone the way Dr. Micah did, which had him extra nervous that whoever got him, if anyone did, would be expecting a conversationalist. “They could hate me...”
“Oh that I doubt. You’re hard to hate Liam. You’re probably the nicest person I’ve ever met, which is saying something. And you’re a good nurse in training.” Micah leaned forward more to watch the movements Liam was making, checking for accuracy.
Liam didn’t feel nervous there with Dr. Micah as a teacher, but half of that was probably because there wasn’t anyone hurt under the needle in his hand. He used the tool to hold the needle and threaded it through the cloth with sure hands then pulled it tight again, as gently as possible as he listened to Dr. Micah. Was he really hard to hate? He supposed now, maybe, but back in school there had been people that didn’t like him. He’d been too quiet then too, easy target for bullies before Finn came along, and even sometimes after. But he took the compliment and smiled at the doctor. “Thank you,” He said, trying to believe it himself.
“You’re welcome,” Micah said with a nod, watching Liam’s hands before reaching out to make a minor adjustment. “I think it’ll be interesting. Just hoping I find the guts to bid on someone.”
Liam had not realized that Dr. Micah was interested in men. The more he thought on it, the less it surprised him, but initially he hadn’t been expecting that. Still, Liam smiled and looked back at him, at least happy he’d have a familiar face in the crowd. With Audrey and Dr. Micah there, he’d be hopefully less nervous. “Who?” He asked, wondering who Dr. Micah would want to bid on, before looking back at his cloth and following the correction he’d been given.
Who was kind of a loaded question. “A friend,” Micah landed on before thinking on it too hard. He didn’t need to get caught up in it, wondering what he and Nic were. They weren’t anything yet. Or so he gathered from their night together.
“He’ll be happy,” Liam said with a surety he’d lacked before. Whoever Dr. Micah wanted to bid on was already lucky. He was always nice to Liam, so he assumed he’d be doubly nice to this other guy, which just made Liam happy.
That made Micah chuckle as he shook his head. “We will see. But it’s not that interesting.” He watched Liam again then changed one minor thing. “Pull this way,” he said making the motion, “as you get closer to the end. And hold it here.” He placed fingers on either side of the edge of the ‘wound’. “Helps keep it close together. You’re getting good at this. Next one that comes in is all yours.”
He listened to Dr. Micah’s instructions again, moving his own hands to mirror the actions. He looked back at Dr. Micah with half eagerness, half nervousness. “Really?” The next one that came in was his? What if it was something really important, someone who needed something serious stitched up? He’d done what he needed to while outside of the dome but inside, he had the opportunities to do this right and he wanted to make sure he did it properly.
“Yes really,” Micah said smiling more and nodding as Liam made the corrections and did the stitches right. “I don’t see why not. You were looking to become a doctor right?” They didn’t have as much in the way of schools, but he supposed an apprenticeship was as good as anything else and Liam was a good candidate.
“Want to help people. Want to heal people,” He answered, thinking that if that meant he wanted to become a doctor, so be it, but if that meant he needed to be something else, that too. He just felt more at home here than in the thought of any other profession. And Dr. Micah was such a good teacher that it was hard for Liam to think of him doing anything else. “I can do it,” He said, looking down at the stitches and feeling like, for the first time today, he was actually confident in something.
Micah tapped the table with both hands and a smile. “There you go then. You get the next one. Keep practicing like that a few more times over. You’ll be great Liam.” He rolled back more on the chair then got up, looking towards the door. “I’m gonna make rounds then check back in on you okay?”
Liam nodded, pausing to watch Dr. Micah get up and walk. Maybe one day he’d be able to actually make the rounds with him, maybe even lead the rounds. A kid could dream, right? Smiling, he looked back down at his cloth and set to work again, diligent, detailed, and determined.