Chapter Text
Dr Lahela Kameāloha was was ready to clock out. It had been a long shift in the ER, but as the charge nurse approached her with the chart for a new patient that had just checked in, she knew she had just enough time to get their labs started before heading out, even if she didn’t want to.
She grasped the clipboard and turned on her heel, glancing at the clock. She took a deep breath and pulled the curtain back, starting to introduce herself, “Hello, I am Dr Kameā— oh” the moment she made eye contact she stopped mid-sentence, her mouth hanging open in surprise. The patient was someone she never expected to see again, despite always hoping she would.
It had been almost 10 years since she had seen Nico Alexander. Their teen romance had burned short but bright, making a massive impact on both of them. Lahela couldn’t stop herself from looking him up and down before her gaze settled on his soft, brown eyes. The past 10 years had changed him in little ways, but the kid she once loved was now sitting there in front of her clear as day. He was no longer a baby faced teenage boy, he was now a slightly scruffy, rugged looking man. His hair was still had a dark fluffy mass of tangles, but it was longer and worn more naturally, which suited him. She noticed a small scar above his eye he didn’t have before. She briefly wondered how it had happened, and could imagine tracing the small line with her fingers.
Nico started right back at her with his big brown eyes showing his own surprise, clearly not expecting to see her either. She watched him as his eyes darted from her lips back to her eyes, and he slowly wet his lips, taking her in. She could feel that tug in the pit of her stomach, he was looking at her with the same intensity that he did when he was 16. The tension in the small cubicle was palpable as they gaped at one another.
Lahela’s breath hitched, as Nicos expression turned into smirk.
“Hey Hela, long time no see.”
Clearly, he still had the same confidence under that facial hair. Lahela griped the clipboard tightly and forced herself to be professional, despite wanting nothing more than to throw her arms around his neck. “Nico.” She cleared her throat “I hear you injured your ankle…may I ask what you were getting into when you did this?” She forced a smile on her face, hoping she didn’t look as awkward as she now felt.
“Well I’d love to tell you I was doing some crazy stunt on my dirt bike, but unfortunately I just misstepped while fixing the roof at my Aunts place. I don’t think it’s broken, but I rolled it pretty good. She insisted I come get it checked out just in case”. He said sheepishly, gesturing towards his swollen foot.
“May I examine it? It might hurt a little, please let me know if it’s too much.” She took a tentative step towards the bed he was sitting on.
He nodded slightly, swinging his foot up onto the bed. He winced slightly as she touched his foot, examining the injury.
“I don’t think anything is broken, but we’ll do a quick X-ray just to make sure,” Lahela said, looking down at her clipboard to make notes.
She was supposed to be off the clock, but now her plans for takeout and a new book didn’t seem as appealing as they had before Nico had appeared like a ghost from her teenage dreams.
“Okay.” He said quietly as he gazed at her with a question in his eyes. She could tell he wanted to say something else, but was holding back. Maybe she was wrong. He wasn’t the same cocky kid she once knew, always ready with a witty comeback.
Lahela chewed her bottom lip slightly, trying to decide how to proceed - she wasn’t a teenage doctor anymore. The shenanigans she pulled with Nico would not fly as an adult, she needed to remain professional while he was in the hospital under her care. Absolutely no fraternizing with patients.
“Alright, I’ll check back in once your x-rays are back.”
As she turned to leave Nico spoke. “It’s really good to see you Lahela” he said with a soft smile.
“It’s nice to see you too, Nico.” She smiled back. There were those butterflies again.
She pulled the curtain closed and booked it to the break room, where she closed the door behind her and forced herself to take long deep breaths until she was more calm. What the heck was going on with her? How could this man have such an effect on her after all these years? They didn’t even know each other anymore. He could have a girlfriend. Or a wife. She hadn’t even thought to look at his ring finger. Maybe that’s why he had been so quiet? Who knows what he’s been up to since she saw him last. Even if he was single he probably wasn’t interested in her after all this time anyways.
Lahela had always wondered what happened to him, but she had refrained from checking his socials, only hearing snippets about him through friends and nurses he still kept in touch with. She knew he had taken his GED rather than returning to Liliuokalani High once he went into remission, but hadn’t heard much after that. It would have been harder to watch him blossom into someone new, knowing she couldn’t be with him. She thought that at some point they would’ve crossed paths, but apparently not. She assumed he must have moved off-island, hopefully gone to live his best life once he was cancer free. But there had always been that feeling of what-if. Had they just met at the wrong time? Were they only meant to be in each other’s lives as teenagers? Clearly she needed to calm down and stop overthinking. Once his x-rays are back he would probably leave the hospital and she’ll never see him again anyways. Unless she did something about it. But could she? Better yet, should she?
Lahela hadn’t dated in a long time. She had tried, but her work schedule made things tricky. Plus most men were intimidated by her intelligence, and she vowed long ago that she would never dumb herself down for anyone. She would rather be alone than make herself smaller for a man. Any of Steph’s attempts to set her up turned out to be a disaster - she was lucky if she made it to the third date let alone anything further. She’d tried dating doctors and even the occasional nurse at the hospital, but she was already an Attending, and all the doctors her age were still in their residencies - besides being against hospital policy, she just never really met anyone that she clicked with. The few relationships she did have over the years fizzled out quietly, nothing getting serious enough to even warrant a mention.
Not that she didn’t want a happily-ever-after, but maybe that just wasn’t in the cards for her. She was happy with her life: working at the hospital, hanging out with her family, travelling with Steph when she could get time off. It was enough for her. Or was it? Would she want to open that door again?
She glanced back at the clock. She had been spiralling for an hour - Nicos X-rays would be back by now. Okay, she told herself. You can do this. You are a strong, intelligent, beautiful woman and you can be professional with your teenage ex. It doesn’t have to be a big deal. She fixed her hair and put on some lipgloss for good measure. No harm in looking presentable. One more deep breath, and she marched towards the cubicle where she had left Nico.
She cleared her throat and pulled back the curtain to find him waiting for her, a smile on his face. Her eyes widened slightly as her stomach flip-flopped again. So much for keeping her cool. “Alright Mr. Alexander, your X-rays are back.”
“That’s Dr Alexander now” he said, his eyes sparkling as he cocked his eyebrow at her.
“Wait, what? You went to med school?” She asked. It made sense, he grew up in a hospital, maybe he would want to go into health care.
He chuckled “Well, no. I’m not an MD. I spent more than enough time in hospitals as a kid - I have zero desire to work in one. I got my PhD in Physics. I just started a new job at the university.” He smiled proudly.
“Wow. That’s amazing, congratulations Nico”. She said, honestly impressed. In her head she was thinking that she doesn’t live that far from campus, maybe they would cross paths again. Her eyes darted down to his hands, clasped on his lap. No ring.
“Alright”, she said, turning her attention to his X-rays, “just a sprain, but I recommend staying off it for a week. Make sure to ice it, and if it gets worse come back to see me…errr come back to the ER”. She kept her eyes on the X-ray, as her cheeks flushed red, avoiding looking at him and cringing internally at her slip.
His eyes brightened and his smile widened. “I love that you want to nurse me back to health, but I’d kinda rather not have to come back to the hospital if I don’t have to. Any chance you do house calls?” He said cheekily.
“Uh. Well. No….I…” she stammered
“Don’t worry, I know what you meant Dr Kameāloha”, his smile softened. “Thanks for patching me up, doc. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime” he winked at her.
She nodded quickly and turned to leave the cubicle. Against her better judgement she turned back and looked back to him dead in the eyes “Yea, I’d like that” she said with a smile, before she turned and fled the room, still blushing.
Lahela quickly grabbed her stuff to head home before she changed her mind and did something rash. She could wait outside to speak to him once he was discharged…but that seemed like it would be too much. And giving him her number would have been unprofessional. If she ran into them outside of the hospital, he wouldn’t be her patient anymore. She would leave it in the hands of fate. If he was living in Honolulu again they were bound to run into each other at some point, right?