#Wild is kind of impartial to animals and Twi must rectify this immediately

[skyloftian-nutcase]

The Haunting Past (LU in Healthcare)

PLOT CHAPTER! :D You ready for emotional whiplash because I threw a snippet in there too?! Woot woot for wretched pacing but I don't care because I do what I want with this insanity LOL

(Click here to read on AO3)

Time stared at his phone.

Time Time Sky’s back He’s back and he’s ok

TIME TIME OH MY GOSH TIME IT’S SKY WARS AND I FOUND HIM HE’S ALIVE AND HE’S OK AND WE’RE HAVING ICE CREAM YOU GOTTA COME HERE LIKE NOW ASAP STAT STAT STAT ARE YOU LISTENING LOOK AT YOUR PHONE DAMN IT AND DON’T SAY “NO SWEARING” ORWHATEVS OK LIKE IT’S SKY

“Honey? What’s wrong?”

Taking a shaky breath, Time slowly sat on the sofa. He… didn’t really have words to say. The messages were from last night – he’d silenced his phone for dinner with Twilight and hadn’t bothered checking it until this morning.

Sky was alive?

“Link?” Malon prompted, sitting beside him.

He looked so worn thin, yet his smile shone just as brightly as always.

“Thank you,” Sky said, leaning in for a hug.

Time held him gently so as not to jostle his healing injury. “You’re welcome. Go to the barracks and get some sleep, Sky, some real sleep, okay? They shouldn’t be letting you on a helicopter anytime soon anyway. Enjoy the rest.

“I’ll see you in the morning.”

Except he hadn’t. He never saw Sky again. No letter, no text, no explanation whatsoever. Sky had been released from the hospital after his wound and then he’d just vanished.

Time reread the texts and felt his breath catch in his throat.

“Sky?” Malon whispered as she looked at his phone. “I’ve heard that used as a nickname… you talked about him, a pilot from the war – one of your Lost Boys, right? You said he’d died.”

“I thought he must have,” Time muttered.

The couple sat in silence, and then Malon gently laid a hand on his shoulder. “Honey, this is amazing. You should reach out to them and see if you can find him.”

He thought he’d come to grips with everything. Sky had disappeared two years ago, after all.

Shakily pressing on the phone, he dialed Warriors’ number, but when he didn’t get a response, he remembered that Warriors was working today. Wind was in class, he knew that much.

That meant the kid would absolutely be goofing around on his phone.

Nugget, I need to know what happened. How did you find Sky? Where is he?

It took less than five seconds to see the little speech bubble appear, and he waited.

he said he’s staying somewhere close and works in the area

isn’t that crazy??? So cool

like I can’t believe he’s here!!!!!!

u want his #? I made him give it to us

“Yes,” Malon immediately said when Time hesitated. “Honey, come on, you should reach out to him!”

When Time still didn’t speak or type, Malon brought her energy down a little and hugged him instead.

This was just… overwhelming.

“I’ll make some breakfast. Take your time.” Malon finally said softly, kissing him on the cheek and heading for the kitchen.

Time sat still, alone and silent. And then, finally, he typed, Yes.

The doorbell rang, distracting him before Wind could reply, and he plopped the phone on the couch, filled with both anxiety and anticipation. Taking a steadying breath, he went to answer the door so Malon could keep cooking. He imagined… he imagined Sky’s number would be available once he got back to the sofa.

So what would he do? Call him? Text him? Do anything at all?

Why had Sky disappeared without a word if he was still alive? Did he not want to talk to them? None of it made sense. Sky was gentle and sweet, though far more mischievous than people realized, but he wasn’t cruel.

Shaking his head to focus on the moment, Time opened the door.

And saw Sky standing on his porch.

The pair stared at each other for an eternity. Time couldn’t even quite process who he was looking at. The always sleepy teenager had grown into a young man, more muscular yet more worn, smooth young face carrying traces of worry and stress, held heavy in the dark circles under his eyes. His jaw was set tightly, muscles pulled and stiff. His posture was rigid and tall, like a soldier, but holding a tension of anticipation, a defensiveness for a blow that hadn’t yet been struck. His brow was crinkled together, so obviously conveying anxiety.

The morning doves cooed gently as a breeze blew. The surrounding nature brought Time back to reality. He started to take a small step forward when Sky’s breath caught a little too sharply. His entire being screamed an apology, and Time could only fathom what it was for.

Sky’s eyes began to water, and he swallowed hard.

Time reached forward and dragged him into a hug.

XXX

Hyrule entered the bar, breathless and excited. He had just gotten off another 48 hour shift and he was ready to unwind with his friends. Four had mentioned that Legend brought a new friend along. Hyrule had heard about him the last time he’d been in the emergency department, but he hadn’t had the chance to meet him yet.

Catching sight of Four, he smiled and made his way to the table where his friend was sitting. Everyone was still in their scrubs, making Hyrule feel a little better about only changing his duty shirt so he wouldn’t be seen in a bar in his uniform. Four had his colorful hoodie on that he always wore outside of work when weather permitted (and the cold rain outside certainly permitted it), while Legend had a light blue beanie covering his blonde hair and then was in his usual crimson scrubs. There was a third person at the table, a blonde man in forest green scrubs with perfectly quaffed hair and a chiseled jawline. His eyes quickly snapped to Hyrule before the paramedic had even gotten within a few paces of the table, and their intensity made him a little nervous all of a sudden.

Four noticed the new guy’s scrutiny and followed his gaze, smiling in recognition. “Hey, Hyrule, you’re—”

Four’s smile turned upside down as he scrutinized Hyrule. “You’re soaking wet.”

Hyrule shrugged sheepishly. “I didn’t expect the rain.”

“Where did you park?” Four asked skeptically. “Is it raining that hard?”

Hyrule fumbled for an answer hastily. “O-oh, I—not far, I—I decided to bike today.”

“You bike?” Legend questioned.

Hyrule smiled, elated and proud. “Yeah! I just got the bike last week!”

“Well look at you, being all healthy,” Legend snarked with a smile. “Come over here and sit down already, you’re being weird just standing there.”

Hyrule chuckled bashfully and made his way to the table. The new guy smiled in welcome, and his face and eyes warmed. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Warriors. You must be Hyrule?”

Hyrule nodded, smiling politely. “Yes, that’s right. Are you on in the STICU with Four?”

“ED,” he answered, sipping his drink.

“So how was your day?” Four asked the pair of emergency nurses.

“I got pissed on by a patient,” Warriors said dryly. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I miss getting blood all over me from my trauma soldiers.”

Legend snorted, crossing his arms and smirking. “Welcome to civilian ER life.”

Hyrule gasped in realization. “You served in the military?”

Warriors nodded. “I was an army nurse and a soldier before that.”

“Were—did you serve during the civil war?”

Warriors’ smile grew a little strained, and he nodded.

Hyrule dropped it after that, sensing the change in atmosphere. “Well, I’m a paramedic! It’s nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, yeah, nice to meet the pretty boy,” Legend said dismissively, rolling his eyes. “Anyway, my day was great, had a DKA patient whose sugar was like nine hundred and then we got priapism guy again.”

Hyrule groaned. “Again? You’d think he’d learn after the first time.”

“Nope!” Legend quipped, cackling. “He’s gonna lose it if he isn’t careful.”

Everyone at the table shuddered. Hyrule looked at Four. “What about your day?”

Four shrugged good naturedly. “Not bad. My patient actually walked today and pain management was great, nobody called the behavioral response team and nobody got punched.”

Warriors propped his chin on his fist, bottle already empty. “Head injury patients are a beast.”

Four nodded sagely. “No kidding. So what brought you to Hyrule Hospital?”

Warriors shrugged. “Looking for a change of scenery. Friend recommended I come here after I left the army.”

“Yeah, get this,” Legend interjected, pointing to Warriors. “He and Time are old war buddies.”

“Time? Really?” Hyrule asked. He’d met the trauma surgeon a handful of times by now since Four and Legend were more familiar with him. He seemed very wise and kind, but also mysterious. Time didn’t talk about himself or his past; he asked others about themselves and talked about work, and by the end of the conversation Hyrule would leave and realize he hadn’t really learned a thing about the man. He never knew Time had been in the army.

Warriors nodded, his eyes warming at the mention of the surgeon. “Yes, he’s the one who recommended I come here.”

“What part of town are you settled in?” Legend asked. “I’ve got the whole city mapped out, so I know all the good spots in town for food and shopping and the like.”

“Northern side of town, Seer District.”

“Of course you’re in the swanky side of town,” Legend commented with another roll of his eyes.

“Well what about you?”

“Lorule District.”

Hyrule headed for the bar as the group chatted about different places in the city, smiling cheerfully at the lady behind the bar. “Hey Telma!”

“Hey, honey,” Telma greeted warmly before frowning. “You’re soaked to the bone.”

Hyrule chuckled, his shoulders rising in embarrassment. “Yeah. It’s okay, really.”

Thankfully, the barmaid didn’t push. Sighing and shaking her head, her smile returned as she asked, “The usual?”

Hyrule nodded eagerly, and happily accepted the glass of milk that Telma offered before skipping back to the table to rejoin his friends.

XXX

Twilight sighed in contentment as the fire crackled. Both he and Wild were off work for the next couple of days, and they’d decided the outdoors was far preferable to the ratty motel they’d been staying in.

Being new to the area, Twilight didn’t know the surrounding vicinity as well, but Wild had explored both the entire city and the wilderness around it.

“Camping was such a good idea,” Twilight remarked, leaning against a tree.

Wild hummed cheerily, belly full of some soup they’d packed along. ��Maybe we could just live out here? Beats the motel.”

“It took us an hour and a half to drive out here. You want that commute?”

“I’ve heard of people driving that much from their homes!”

“Where are we going to shower?”

Wild squinted at the fire. “Pretty sure there’s a stream somewhere…”

Twilight laughed. “I’ll pass on that, heaven knows what’s in the water. I’m down for camping on our days off, though.”

There was a comfortable pause, and then Twilight’s curiosity got the best of him. “How did you find all these places, anyway? Have you just… been homeless for most of your life?”

Wild sighed and shrugged. “I got here with little recollection of how. Didn’t have much to go off of, either, so I made do.”

Twilight sat up a little more, growing confused and concerned. “What do you mean you don’t remember how you got here?”

“No here,” Wild said, motioning at the campsite they’d made. “I mean, like, bigger here. Castle Town. All that.”

“You just… woke up in Castle Town one day and didn’t know how you got there?”

“No,” Wild answered. “I woke up in a… I woke up somewhere else and didn’t know how I got there. All I knew was I needed to get out. And I kept going and going, and most transportation leads here, so I got off the bus here and started turning it into my stomping grounds.”

Before Twilight could ask anything else, Wild turned the conversation to him. “How about you? What brought you to Castle Town?”

Twilight shrugged. “Needed a change.”

The pair was silent, neither willing to make eye contact or elaborate on what they had said. Then Twilight chuckled. “Look at us. Let’s talk about something else, the important stuff: do you like dogs, cats, or both?”

Wild shrugged. “I’m kind of meh to all of them.”

Twilight gaped. “What what?!”

“I don’t know, I mean I’ve run into the city’s stray cats a million times over and they’re feral as hell,” Wild shrugged. “The dogs too, honestly. Best to just avoid them.”

“Unbelievable,” Twilight muttered. “We need to work on this.”