Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There's a lot of myths surrounding how Hospital Man came to be. If you were to ask Matt, it went a little like this:

Not too long ago there was a a regular boy who really wanted to go to nursing school. And even though the evil bible man tried to stop him, that normal boy bundled together all his powers and followed his dream.
Somewhere in between a lot of needles and disinfectant, he gained the ability to transform into the Hospital Man everyone knew today: Openhearted, kind, gentle and the ultimate final boss of scary needles or other terrifying medical devices.

In reality, it was a little less mysterious and less simple.

Early in his time as a freshman, Matt's teachers noticed how he would always sit first row despite not being one of those all knowing nerds and pinch his eyes together when he tried to read something off the board.

One day, they were practicing how to draw blood. Matt's inability to focus his eyes on something close to them, like a vein, led to him being splashed in fake blood. When Matt had cleaned himself up, the teacher took him aside.

"Pearson, you're gonna need some glasses if you don't want to kill your patients", he told Matt in a rather grumpy manner.

Matt had nodded hectically and since he was a little scared of that teacher, he made an appointment at the eye doctor the same day. A couple of weeks later, he was sitting in a doctors office waiting room together with a bunch of kids that had colorful patches on one of their eyes. Matt wanted one too. He was a little jealous.

He flipped through some magazine talking about what sofas you should definitely get for your home to be trendy. Meanwhile, Matt chewed on his lower lip as if it was gum.

"Pearson?", a door swung open and a confused doctor looked Matt up and down since most of her patients were kids.

"You can come with me", the doctor waved her hand for Matt to follow.

With shacking legs, Matt sat down on a small stool, opposite a white wall. The doctor turned on a projector, set some scary glasses-looking thing on his nose and asked him to just read what he could see. Matt's heart was racing as he tried to decipher the tiny numbers and letters in front of him. It was embarrassing how quiet and weak his voice was when he read out what he saw.

"I- uhh I really can't read any of this anymore", Matt stuttered.

"Just try", the doctor tried to encourage him but it only added more pressure to Matt. She expected him to be able to read this! So why on earth could he not get his eyes to focus.

"g?"

"no"

"uhh- could uhh be a p?"

"try again"

"a q maybe?"

"alright, we'll just stop here"

The doctor scrabbled down something on paper and typed numbers into her computer. Relieved, Matt felt like he could breath again. Well, not for long.

"Great, now we'll have to do the same thing again for your other eye"

After another round of reading out letters and then getting tortured by getting weird drops in his eyes, it was finally over. Matt left the office with a prescription for glasses. A couple of weeks later, he finally wore his them to nursing school.

Matt had noticed how his eyes felt more relaxed now but once he was starring at the whiteboards, power point presentations and delicate syringes again, he realized what a big relief they were.

Thinking back to his years in high school, every delicate task he'd failed at on the homestead, Matt wondered how much easier it would've been with glasses.

On his wedding day, it took him multiple attempts to thread the wedding ring onto Violet's finger. She had giggled nervously and ruffled through Matt's hair, calling him her favorite klutz. So much humiliation for something that could've been helped so easily.

The glasses didn't stay for too long, once they got splashed with bodily fluids a couple of times during clinicals, someone recommended Matt opt for contact lenses. They took him a while to get used to. To this day they sometimes fell out or he forgot about taking them out before going to bed.

Hospital Man being able to see was a big part of what gave him his super powers, but there was something else: he first needed to gain some confidence in himself.

One of Matt's nursing school rotations was in a children's palliative care facility. Not exactly the brightest place on earth. As on so many clinical rotations, Matt was mostly only allowed to watch from afar and hold kids hands as someone drew their blood.

Within Matt's first week there, his supervising nurse took Matt aside.

"Hey Matt, Timmy has been throwing up a lot last night. We can't give him pills because he's still nauseous. He doesn't want to get the Dexamethasone injection either but we're worried that— well you know. We have this thing we do here when kids are scared. There's this kind of medical super hero costume in our staff room and one of us dresses up and gives them their shot or medicine or whatever. You don't really have anything to do, right?"

"I don't think so, uhh, no not- not really"

"Would you do me the favor and do that really quick?"

"Sure, I can totally do that"

"You're a savior, I'll ask someone to go supervise you"

His fellow nursing students giggled upon seeing Matt with a gown thrown over his shoulders and a surgical mask with two roughly cut out holes for his eyes walk across the hallway.

Awkwardly, Matt smiled: "Hi guys!"

The only responds was more giggling.

It didn't bother Matt too much. He for once felt pretty cool.

Hospital Man's superhero suit started out a lot simpler than it was was now. It was really just the gown and mask. No gloves, no improvised "H" pinned to the front of a yellow single use protective gown.

The best part of the story was, that it worked! Matt succeeded with a bunch of curious eyes of Timmy as well as his peers watching him.

After countless clinicals of only feeling like he was standing in the way, Matt Hospital Man was useful this time. Maybe just what he needed after falling down a thousand times and wondering if it was still worth getting up.

Matt might be the clumsy guy, in the way of everyone and a bit awkward but Hospital Man was brave and the hero in every room he entered. Matt didn't pull out Hospital Man too often in his time during clinicals after this but the two or three more times were still meaningful.

Later in college Matt had read a couple of superman comics and become charmed with the idea that he was essentially just like Clark Kent with his glasses.

When he started working at St. Denis, Matt had almost forgotten about his alter ego— well, until he remembered because of the tetanus kid.

And just like that: Hospital Man was back!

Chapter Text

Matt had convinced Bruce that he should get his blood checked since he was doing a bunch of blood draws for Senior Health Day anyway. He knew that Bruce didn't love needles. Serena had told him all about that. But the optimist that Matt was, he was committed to care for Bruce's health.

So now they were in the next best exam room, Bruce sitting on one of the beds and Matt preparing to draw Bruce's blood.

"Matt, I still think this is unnecessary! I'm feeling fine! I'm doing like 10 other types of screenings a month"

"Everyone should get their blood checked at some point Bruce… I worry about you", Matt gently disinfected the crock of Bruce's arm.

"Okay, well… how about you?! I'm not the one of us that's pale and a little sickly looking all the time! How's your iron, huh?", Bruce scoffed, starring at Matt.

"My blood is fine, I got it checked just last month", Matt mumbled, shrugging his shoulders.

He grabbed the needle, slowly moving it towards Bruce's arm.

Bruce shook his head, before he pulled away his arm from Matt: "Nope, we're not doing that… not because I'm scared of course"

Matt sighed, the worry in his eyes only growing bigger. Bruce was surprised since most people just grew annoyed with him and let him go.

"Bruce, please… when was the last time you got your blood checked?"

"When I was nineteen and it was awful and to be frank I don't see a reason to repeat that"

"Good lord, that's really long ago!"

"How old do you think I am?", Bruce sounded a little offended.

"I— uhhh— maybe like–"

"Never mind, doesn't matter. Point is—", Bruce untied the tourniquet Matt had just carefully tied around his arm a minute ago, "we're not doing this"

"Hang on", Matt stopped Bruce from getting up by holding his hand against Bruce's chest, "why was it awful?"

"Well, number one it hurt and number two I passed out afterwards. All these people saw me like that. I don't need that to happen again, especially not at work", Bruce pushed Matt's hand to the side and got up.

"Very little resistance in your arm there bud, you should really check if you're not iron deficient!", he mumbled as he was leaving the room.

"I wasn't trying to resist!", Matt defended himself.

Matt couldn't let Bruce leave like that! This was a classic case for Hospital Man!

Bruce isn't so different from a scared kid, Matt thought to himself. He ran over to his locker where he still kept the costume. He was a little proud of his creation that had evolved over the years.

Once changed into his outfit, Hospital Man slipped out of the locker room to find Bruce.

"Doctor Bruce, no need to fear the needle! Hospital Man is here to save you!", he declared with heavy voice, finding Bruce leaning over the nurses station.

"Matthew! Stop that! Whatever you're doing, everyone's looking"

"Oh, sorry– but I have an idea how to help you!", Hospital Man looked around, lowering his voice.

Bruce shoved Matt into one of the side hallways to avoid further attention: "Oh yeah, really?"

"Yeah! I was thinking: if you lay down in one of the on call rooms we'd be alone! If you eat some food afterwards your circulation should be fine, so no passing out! And I promise you it won't hurt!", Hospital Man gesticulated wildly with his hands, excited about his solution.

Realizing that Matt wouldn't let him get away, Bruce gave in. "I guess we can try that", he sighed.

"Nice! You go and make yourself comfortable in the on call room and I'm getting everything"

A couple of minutes later, a heavily panting Hospital Man stumbled through the door of the on call room opposite Joyce's office.

"Got everything! You comfortable?", Hospital Man set a nutrageous bar onto the night stand together with a bowl with syringe and everything.

"Me comfortable", Bruce mocked Hospital Man, who didn't even notice.

He sat down on Bruce's bedside, carefully re-tying the tourniquet around Bruce's arm. Hospital Man whispered whatever he was doing to himself like he was reading an instruction manual that only he saw infront of his inner eye.

"tying the tourniquet, disinfecting the area–"

Somehow, Bruce felt like he was seven years old again and staying home sick, his father taking care of him. For a second, Bruce got uncomfortable with how vulnerable he really was right now.

Until he remembered that the only person with him was Matt. He felt how his shoulders relaxed, Matt's whispering having actually a quite calming effect on him.

"Any uhh stick-able vein you're seeing?", Bruce cleared his throat.

Hospital Man's voice was soft and calm, his fingers ran over the crock of Bruce's arm to find the right vein: "Yeah, you've got a lot! Nice veins Bruce, really a shame you don't let anyone ever use them"

A bright smile spread on Hospital Man's face, the edges of his lips disappearing under the face mask he used as an eye mask."Okay, I've got a a really good one. Are you ready?"

"Actually Matt", Bruce closed his eyes and swallowed hard, "could you hold my hand"

"Uhh– of course Hospital Man can do that! I don't know who that Matt guy is though…", Matt Hospital Man laid his hand into Bruce's.

"I'm going in now, alright?"

"Mhm", Bruce pinched his eyes together, nodding slightly.

He very lightly felt Matt doing something around his arm but nothing even hurt remotely.

"Bruce", Hospital Man whispered, "I'm going to need my second hand for a second, okay?"

"Sure", hesitantly Bruce let go of Hospital Man's hand.

Again, Hospital Man's hands touched something on his arm, not even the hint of pain. Bruce heard Matt rip open the packaging of a band aid, then applying it to his arm.

"You're done!"

"Huh?", Bruce slowly opened his eyes, "are you sure you just drew my blood? Let me see!"

Hospital Man presented Bruce with the little blood tubes: "See?"

Bruce was speechless. A little disorientated, he blinked surprised.

"Nutrageous?", Matt offered him the chocolate bar.

"Yeah, thanks", Bruce mumbled meekly.

Hospital Man shoved his mask under his chin, gently pressing two fingers against Bruce's wrist while he ate the chocolate bar.

Looking very seriously into Bruce's eyes, Hospital Man titled his head: "Your heart rate is a little elevated and you look pale to me right now, so stay here and don't move! I have to give these to Hospital Man's assistant the Phlebotomy Fairy!"

Amused, Bruce chuckled at Matt's commitment to the bit.

"Here Phlebotomy Fairy, I have some blood culture tubes for you to take care of!", Bruce heard Hospital Man muffled behind the half closed door.

A response in a artificially higher pitched voice followed: "Thank you Hospital Man, I will take care of that! I, the Phlebotomy Fairy, am so proud of Bruce getting over his fear of needles and taking care of his health!"

Hospital Man agreed: "Yes, you're right! Bruce can be very proud of himself!"

Then, also muffled, Joyce's voice appeared: "Matt, what are you doing?"

"Oh, er, I was actually just helping Bruce—"

"Yeah whatever, get back to work"

"Yes ma'am"

Hospital Man slipped back into the on-call room.

"How are you feeling?", Hospital Man began taking Bruce's pulse again.

Bruce smiled: "I'm fine, Hospital Man"

"Yeah, you look better. Wanna sit up slowly?", he asked.

His hands carefully supported Bruce's back as he turned around and sat up.

"Thank you", Bruce muttered.

"Nahh, no prob! That's what Hospital Man does!"

"I think Hospital Man should go back to the seniors if he doesn't want Joyce to get angry with him", Bruce advised.

"Are you sure you're going to be fine?" Hospital Man asked concerned.

"Brucey is always fine, you should know that by now!"

Hospital Man, got up, collection his utensils: "Hey, but be careful!"

"I am, I am", Bruce nodded.

Hospital Man leaned back into the room: "I totally forgot to summon the medical leagues, I hope that's not too bad"

"No, that's fine, that's good! You can remember next time"

"Matt", Joyce walked past the door again, not pausing her walk, "what are you still doing here?"

"Uhh, I'm coming, I'm coming", Hospital Man sprinted after her and disappeared into the bright florescent hospital lights.