the one where peter is a nurse... and not in a kinky way.

-parkner
-fluff
-not a request
-non-powered au

—

Harley was passing out at the sink. The only things keeping him conscious were the steady stream of cold water and the soft sobs coming from the couch.

They really didn't have the money to spend on the hospital right now, but the little girl's fever hadn't gotten any better in the whole week she'd missed preschool. Harley trying his best not to panic.

He sighed and ringed out the towel he was soaking, "Don't cry, baby girl." He moved to the living room and kneeled in front of her, wiping her tears with one hand while placing the towel on her forehead with the other, "We're gonna make you all better, okay? I promise."

She sniffed nodded bravely, her cute little pout reminiscing her mother's. "But we have to go to 'ospital?"

"Afraid so, munchkin." He nodded sadly, "I'm gonna go grab your shoes, m'kay? Think you can hang on to your towel while I get back?"
She nodded again and held on to the wet cloth. "Good girl."

Harley moved quickly to fetch both of their things: stuffing his wallet and beat-up phone in his pockets and grabbing her white sneakers, along with her her favorite stuffed bunny. He went back into the living room and offered a small smile as he handed the toy to her.

"Thank you." She murmured, doing her best to return the smile.

"Of course, pumpkin."

After the now-warm towel was discarded and both Keeners had their shoes on, Harley grabbed the smaller blonde and carried her out of the apartment. By some miracle, someone was stepping out of a cab in front of their building when they got down. The cab driver let them in with a kind smile and an accented "Good morning," before he drove them quietly to the hospital.

The pair in the backseat played a short game of eye-spy before starting to doze off.

Harley awoke to someone shaking him gently. He opened his eyes only to blush red as the cab driver stood outside their door, saying they'd arrived at the hospital.

"Oh— I- I am so sorry—"

"Do not worry. You looked like you could use a nap."

Harley smiled sheepishly and pulled out his wallet to pay. "I really, really want to tip you more, but I'm... I'm a bit tight on money right now—"

"Sir, you don't have to explain."

"I-I know. But, you were really nice, man. Just know I appreciate it. Thank you."

The cab driver smiled and shook Harley's hand as he stepped out. "May I ask you something?"

"Of course."

The man stayed quiet for a second, as if debating on whether or not it was an appropriate question. "She's your daughter, no?"

Harley smiled and sighed deeply, "Yeah, she is."

The cabbie nodded, "You have a beautiful child. Hope she feels better. Hope you feel better too."

And damn, if Harley was just a little more sleep deprived, he would have broken down into tears. Instead, he offered a genuine thank you before crossing the street to the hospital entrance. By that time, the bundle of joy in Harley's arms had awoken and she waved a goodbye at the cab driver before they entered the building.

It wasn't as busy as Harley was expecting [thank god]. He was able to waltz right over to the lady at the front desk where he received annoying paperwork to fill out while they waited. Thankfully they didn't have to wait too long— only about thirty minutes, in which they were both able to sneak in another power nap— before the lady called them back up and showed them to a room.

Harley placed his daughter on his lap as he sat on the medical chair. "I know this looks kinda scary, but I promise ya nothing is gonna hurt."

"What are they gonna do, daddy?" She asked, nervously pulling at her bunny's ears.

"Well... they have these really funny looking headphones that they use to listen to your pretty little heart." He explained, poking her to make her giggle. "And they have a teeny tiny flash light that they'll use to see in your eyes and ears... and your boogery nose."

"I not boogery! You boogery!"

Harley gasped in mock offense, "Excuse me, young lady, how dare you disrespect your father in that way?" They both laughed and kept calling each other names for a short while until there was a knock at the door. They both stiffened and Harley called out a "Come in!"

The door opened and Harley was pretty sure he was gonna be the one ending up on the medical chair because holy fuck—

"Good morning! I'm gonna be hanging out with you guys until the doctor gets here, is that okay?" The angel at the door said with a smile that made Harley's lungs incapable of working.
Both father and daughter nodded mutely as he approached. "And what would your name be, sweetheart?"

"Deanna." She responded shyly, still pressed up against her father's chest.

The man paused for a second before he tilted his head to the side—like a freaking puppy— and asked, "Like from Star Trek?"

"Y-yeah." He replied, cringing when his voice broke and Deanna had the audacity to snicker. He cleared his throat and tried again, "Yeah, exactly."

The pretty nurse chuckled. "I mean, I'm more of a Star Wars fan myself, but that's still pretty cool. I'm Peter by the way," He moved to grab a pair of gloves. "Any allergies to latex I should know about?"

"Uh... no. No, we're all good. And I'm Harley. Keener."

"Pleasure, Mr. Keener," It really shouldn't have sounded so hot but it totally did. "So there's a few questions I'll be asking, if that's alright with you. They'll just help me and the doctor understand what's going on a little better. That way we can do our best to help, okay?" Peter explained as he began to prepare some things on a tray. "And if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask."

"What's 'esitate?"

"Hesitate kinda means to think about something too much. But if you have a question I don't want you to do that. I'll like your questions, I promise." Peter came to sit on a stool in front of them, "Thats a very cute bunny. Does he have a name?"

"Elliott."

"Well, it's nice to meet you too, Elliott. I apologize for not greeting you earlier." The comment made Deanna smile and Harley was pretty sure he was gonna melt from the cuteness. "Sweetheart, is it alright if daddy sits next to you instead?" Harley's brain short circuited. He was both embarrassed of the inappropriate thoughts that rushed to his brain and surprised at the fact that Peter knew he was Deanna's father. "You can still hold Elliott, but I need just a little more space."

The little girl nodded and shifted in Harley's lap, snapping him out of the trance. He picked her up and placed her next to him instead, trying his best to ignore the blush rising up his neck.

"Great, thanks. Now, I've been told you haven't been feeling very well. Is that true?" When Deanna nodded, Peter pouted. "I'm sorry to hear that. Can you try to explain what you feel?"

"Really hot. I sweat 'lot. I feel icky."

"Aw, that doesn't sound fun. I'm gonna take your temperature, okay? You see this thingamabob? I'm gonna touch your forehead with it and it's gonna tell me how hot you feel. It won't hurt a bit." He smiled softly and pressed the thermometer to Deanna's forehead. After a small beep, he referred to Harley, "How long would you say she's had a fever?"

"Four? Five days? It goes high and back down every couple of hours."

Peter nodded and took the thermometer off when another beep sounded. "It's still pretty high. 101.3. But that's nothing we can't fix." He smiled prettily as he set the thermometer down and reached to write something on his clipboard. "How about we listen to that heartbeat?"

"With the headphones?" Deanna asked, looking a bit more excited.

"Yeah," Peter laughed, "I need you to sit nice and still for me okay?" He put the ear pieces on, placed the other end of the stethoscope on Deanna's forehead, and frowned. "Huh, I don't hear anything..."

The little girl giggled, and Harley was now aware of how much he'd missed the sound in the past couple of days, "That's not where my heart is!"

"What do you mean? Is it here?" He pressed it to her nose, causing her to laugh louder. "Why are you laughing?"

"Is down here!" She exclaimed while pointing at her chest.

"Oh! Silly me," Peter finally pressed it to her chest and smiled at the tiny blonde, "You're a very smart girl."

"I know." She stage-whispered, making both adults chuckle. They quieted down after that, letting Peter listen to her heart and lungs.

"Any coughing recently?"

"Not really. She's been sneezing loads, though. Booger monster."

"I not booger! You booger!"

Peter laughed again and dear lord Harley was growing addicted to the sound. Peter wrote a couple of things down on his clipboard again before turning back to the pair. "Okay. We're gonna take a little field trip now to take your height and weight." He stood up and held the door open, "So if you'd be so kind as to follow me."

Harley picked Deanna back up and smiled genuinely at the brunette, "Thanks, doll." And if he mentally cheered for making him blush, that was his business.

They moved to another room where Peter made more jokes and conversation while taking Deanna's measurements. Harley was already infatuated with the nurse and they'd only been within two feet of each other for less than ten minutes. He was drop-dead gorgeous and sickeningly sweet and Harley's heart was bound to burst any second.

They began moving back to their original room when Peter asked what Deanna's favorite Disney movie was. Harley, of course, knew the answer was Lilo and Stitch, but he wasn't expecting her to expose him with, "Daddy's favorite is Tangled. He cried!"

Peter began giggling as Harley fought off another blush. "I did not!"

"You did! You cried when they kissed and—"

"Okay! Thanks!" Harley rushed to cover her mouth, rolling his eyes playfully when she began giggling too. "Well, there does my macho card."

"Who needs one anyway?" Peter said just as they reached the door, "For the record, Tangled is my favorite too. And I also cried."

They shared a smile and Harley felt his heart stutter and his mind scream flirt with him, idiot!

But before he got the chance to do so, Peter spoke dreaded words, "Well, it was really nice meeting you two. The doctor will be with you in a few moments."
Harley's smile dropped slightly as they were let back into the room. He set Deanna back on the chair and turned to Peter, who pulled out a lollipop from his pocket and handed it to her, "I hope it'll make you feel better. Thank you for behaving so well."

"Thank you." Deanna murmured softly, also seeming reluctant to let the nurse go.

Peter was already leaving but Harley suddenly felt the urge to step out and stop him, "Wait!" He honestly had no idea what to say and looked outright stupid just staring at the brunette, who seemed very confused,

"Is everything alright?"

"Uh... yeah. I mean no. I mean—" he looked back at his daughter, who was busy trying to pull the wrapper off her candy. He grabbed the door and closed it halfway so she wouldn't see them talking, "Is everything alright with D? Is she- is she gonna be fine?"

"Well, from what I can personally tell, it's nothing too serious but Doctor Banner will give you more details. She'll be okay, I'm positive." Peter smiled reassuringly.

"Alright. Thank you. For bein' such a sweetheart, I mean. We don't come to the doctor's often and I tend to get very nervous, but you— you're great." And fucking beautiful. "So thanks."

Peter seemed speechless for a moment before composing himself, "That's... very nice of you to say. I'm happy I could help. You have a very special little girl."

"Thanks," Harley chuckled. Peter nodded before bidding another 'nice meeting you' and walking away. Before he could get far though, another thought crossed Harley's mind, "Hey, how did you know she was mine?"

The nurse stopped in his tracks and turned around, still smiling. "She has your eyes. And your smile. And your hair is the same shade of blonde..." Before Harley had any chance to be flattered at the fact that the pretty boy had been taking in his features, Peter added, "And you marked it on the paperwork."

Oh. Right.

"You're very observant." Harley replied with a smirk, instead of voicing his mild disappointment.

"That's my job." Peter shrugged and giggled before walking away.

Harley walked back into the room to find Deanna munching on her lollipop. He smiled at her and went back to focusing on the upmost important matter: his daughter's health.

—

I didn't know how to end this but let me know if you'd like to see this concept as a whole book cause I have ideas ;)