Patrick Clark | Patroclus (borrowed_armor) wrote in nevermore_logs, @ 2010-11-26 05:51:00 |
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Entry tags: | briseis, patroclus |
Who: Patroclus, Briseis
What: Hospital visits
When: Right after the fight
Where: A hospital
Warning: Aftermath of violence and possible language
Patroclus didn't exactly remember being taken to the hospital and he hardly remembered them setting his injuries or wiring his jaw, thanks to the precious opiates they flooded his system with. He was in a heartbroken daze and while he was resting in the ER, he stared up at the ceiling light, thinking that it would be really awesome if lights were actually tiny pieces of sunlight that people could keep in their houses. It was easier than thinking about Achilles beating the shit out of him. And he had the drugs to help.
By the time he was rolled into a room, jaw wired up and injuries set and cuts stitched up, he was thinking a little more clearly. Which only meant he had to think about everything his best friend had done to him.
At least he hadn't died.
And then the door opened and a blond rushed to his bedside. Patroclus mumbled Briseis' name through his wired jaw, and then he winced in pain as his jaw protested even that. So he just looked at her, trying to convey his happiness at seeing her with his eyes.
If Hybris hadn't started taunting them about Patroclus being in hospital, Briseis wasn't sure how she would have found out. It seemed wrong to thank that evil goddess for anything yet she was thanking her now that she could come find her friend.
They wouldn't let her in when she got there, even when she demanded it, even when she begged. She had to wait outside and rage at Achilles and the Gods and all the Fates for letting this happen.
When they finally let her in she went at almost a run to his bedside, calling out his name in horror when she saw him. "Shh," she said, knowing he shouldn't talk through that. "Shh, just don't speak, Pat, but I'm here now."
Pat couldn't smile in relief either, so he just reached out his hand to her, which hurt too, but then again everything did. He brushed her cheek with his thumb, trying to ask her not to leave.
He couldn't stand it if she left now. Not after he had been beaten bloody by his own best friend.
"I'm sorry," he muttered, despite her telling him to stay silent. He needed to say it. He felt horrible for charging off like he had, even if he had just been trying to save Achilles some heartache.
"No need," Briseis said, sitting down at the chair by his bed after pulling it a bit closer. "None of this is your fault. Hybris was behind it though, maybe Apate as well. God have been fucking with Achilles." she growled. "I'm going to punch his lights out, I swear."
Patroclus shook his head quickly and then wished he hadn't. Fear for Briseis took over his features; fear that was almost panic.
Briseis couldn't understand. She had undoubtedly been more intimate with Achilles in ways Patroclus had never been, and she would know the power the warrior had in his body, but Patroclus knew his cousin well enough to know that when not under the influence of evil bitches from Hades, Achilles never would have unleashed the power and rage on Briseis that he had on Patroclus today.
She wouldn't understand that to go against it was like standing in the middle of the road and letting a gas tanker run straight into you if it were also wielding a sword. The idea of Briseis facing that made Patroclus feel ill.
Bri reached out and took his hand to soothe him. "No, it's okay. I'm not really going after him I'm just... oh god, Patroclus," she said, the horror sweeping over her. She dropped her forehead against his hand and tried very very hard not to start sobbing on him. With a deep breath she lifted her face to look at him again, her smile wavering and her eyes teary. "I know you like hospitals, but these visits are getting ridiculous."
Patroclus stared at her for a moment and then he laughed once before wincing and giving her a look which clearly was shaming her for such antics. Mostly jokingly.
He reached out to run his fingers through her hair, trying to soothe her and let her know he would be okay. That he was okay. Even if he felt really fucking far from okay.
"No turkey," he said through the wires, and then even though he couldn't frown, he made cute pouty eyes at her. He wouldn't be able to eat solid food for a while.
Briseis closed her eyes at his touch and rubbed her cheek gently against the hand before kissing it. "No turkey," she agreed, hated seeing him like this. He was Patroclus, one of the strongest men she knew and here he was lying in a hospital bed after almost dying. Again.
Last time it had been at the hands of Achilles' brutal son, the evil little man who'd once taken her as a concubine in ancient Greece and treated her more poorly than few others had managed. (Something she wasn't sure she could ever tell either Achilles or Patroclus about.) But this time it had been Patroclus' closest friend to do it and Briseis couldn't even begin to make that right.
She sniffed a little, determined to keep as bright as was possible in the circumstances. "You don't want turkey today anyway. That's like saying you're accepting the systematic destruction of an indigenous nation. It's a rubbish, evil holiday." Talking about how she hated Thanksgiving was better than worrying and worrying and worrying. "But I'm sure I could get you something... liquid turkey."
Patroclus watched her, his darling Briseis, the sister he had never had, as she went off on her tangent about human rights, as she did quite surprisingly often. And while he always agreed with her (because she was always right, something he occasionally found insufferable) seeing her be utterly herself made him want to cry with relief.
One of his friends wasn't tainted and twisted by Insolence and Deceit. One of the closest people to him was facing a terrifying situation and she was doing it in such a Briseis-way. The look he gave her was both amused and fond as she chastised him for what was actually lamenting that he wouldn't be able to eat anything that wasn't liquid.
It was far better than the time she had bitched at him for the one porn video of his she had found. She had gone on for hours about how he didn't know anything about the women in the video and it was demeaning and he had contributed to an abusive industry. All true things. And then she had watched him as he threw the video away.
The look was adorable and Patroclus and she'd seen it a million times from him and it was something of a relief to see that he could still look like that now. "I'm sorry, I know, I know, it's just cooked bird." Except it completely wasn't and Briseis had a long standing tradition of mouthing off at anyone who tried to talk to her of the wonders of Thanksgiving, but since Patroclus had almost died, Briseis figured she might give him a bit of a break this time at least.
She wanted to ask what they were going to do about Achilles but the question was far too hard to even think about and so she swallowed and said, "I'm sure I could get some sort of puree to happen. Turkey is nutritious at least, although I bet the stuff they get in the hospitals comes from some horrible battery cage barn somewhere out-" she stopped herself and gave him a smile. "I'll get you turkey. Hell, I'll get you anything in the world you want. Porn!" she said suddenly. "Oh, I could bring you porn!" An offering if ever there was one.
Patroclus had been about to say that he didn't really care about turkey and the idea of it pureed was absolutely disgusting. Which was something he was absolutely going to have to get over. But then Briseis said she could bring him porn and his eyes widened in shock.
The last thing on his mind right now, was porn. He wasn't exactly in a state to enjoy it even if he did have some. He laughed again as the shock wore off, and then he shot her another shameful glance because it hurt. "No porn," he said, shocked that he had had to say that through his wired jaw to Briseis. "Just you."
"Just me then," Briseis promised and squeezed his hand gently. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise."
Patroclus gently pulled her towards him, wishing she could climb into the bed and lie there beside him. It would bring him such comfort, but somehow he didn't think she actually would. She did lean forward however, and he planted a strange kiss on her forehead. "Love you," he muttered, realising that it was the only thing he really wanted to say to her, and one of the hardest to articulate. Even so, he wanted to say it again so she could hear it and take comfort in his words.
Her name was harder. "Love you, 'ri," he said, since the 'B' was never going to happen.
"I love you too," she told him, gently stroking his forehead, so relieved by just those words. If Achilles showed up here she might not be able to do anything to stop him, but she'd sure as hell fight to the death to keep him from laying a hand on their friend again.
"'ave you eaten?" he asked, because even if he couldn't eat, Briseis should. He knew she had likely been here since she found out he was here, not that he had any idea how she had found out.
"Not since... I don't know," Briseis said with a shake of her head. "I've been here a while but it took this long for them to let me see you." She smiled at him a little awkwardly. "I don't think I could eat. My stomach is a huge ball of panic and worry."
Patroclus gave her a worried look because while he knew Briseis was perfectly able to look after herself, he couldn't help it. He hated when she was too upset to eat. He had seen her shrink after losing David and she hadn't put much weight back on and it made him panic. Much like he was making her panic.
But he couldn't tell her all of that. Not like he was. So he just settled for the worried look and then he gently moved his hand to place it on her stomach, hoping that it might at least calm her nerves.
"I'll eat," she promised him, knowing how he worried about her. "Just... later."
It was still with reluctance that Patroclus pulled his hand away from her stomach, but he didn't want to force her into anything. Then, it slowly started to hit him. He had watched Bri go through something terrible after losing David, as was to be expected. She hadn't been herself for months and while Patroclus understood and had stood by her for every second of it, he had worried and panicked and feared for her well-being for the entire time. And she had only just started to make movements into being okay again. He had only just gotten to a place where he didn't have to panic about her every minute of every day, and now Achilles-
Achilles had done this. Patroclus was not a stranger to pain, but this pain had been caused by someone he had trusted. Someone he hadn't thought he had to panic about and now he was. Was he really going to lose Achilles now? He couldn't bear the thought and tears rose to his eyes.
Patroclus wasn't really a crier, but this was so something he had never imagined. He felt betrayed and terrified all at once.
"'ri?" Patroclus wailed. "Distract me?" there was desperation in his voice.
"Distract you," Briseis repeated, seeing the panic in his eyes. "Uh... once upon a time in the far off land of Lyrnessus there was a young queen who... couldn't really tell stories very well." Briseis sighed and smiled, looking at him. "There was a girl called Bri though, and she wasn't a queen any more and she wasn't a slave and she wasn't anyone's wife, and she was in this new country all alone without the people she'd loved." She gave him a small smile, knowing he was going to hate this. "And you can hear this story now because your jaw wired shut makes it harder for you to complain. It was back in the seventies and I used to go to bars a lot then, I don't even know why. I guess I was looking for anything to make me feel less alone. And a man came up to hit on me and when he smiled it was just like your smile. I almost cried in the middle of some terrible bar at that. He asked me to go home with him and I did, because he reminded me of you."
Briseis looked at him. "Which isn't me admitting that I wanted into your pants, but me admitting that there was a time when I would have given anything for even a small part of you and Achilles back in my life again. For a long time it was like that and maybe it wasn't even really until David-" she shook her head and swallowed the hard lump in her throat at the memory of her dead lover. "My point is, I'm really glad you're still here. Because if you'd died I don't know what I'd even do."
She didn't even know what to say about Achilles. She didn't even know if they'd ever get him back.
As Briseis had admitted to bringing someone home because he had reminded her of Patroclus, he made a sound of protest. That was not what he wanted to be distracted by! She continued though, and when she finished speaking, Patroclus was simply looking at her, his expression soft and loving. It was how he felt after Set had hurt her. He remembered a panicky bus ride to fine Briseis after Set's attack.
He understood exactly how she felt.
"Was he any good?" Patroclus asked then, because they had been mushy enough. "I'm very good."
Briseis looked at him in surprise and then she laughed, practically doubling over as she did so. "Honestly?" she said, "I don't even remember." Then she patted him lightly on the head condescendingly as she grinned. "But I'm sure you're wonderful, sweetie."
The look Patroclus gave her was a dangerous and entirely fake glare; one she would be entirely used to by now. Then he said, "glad you're here."
His jaw was throbbing just from saying the few words he had said. And Briseis had managed to distract him, at least a little, even if she had done it with a terrifying story. "Sleep now," he said, hoping he wouldn't snore. He had a feeling that would hurt his broken nose. "You'll stay?"
Briseis nodded firmly. "I'll be right here whenever you wake up," she promised him. She might have to make a few calls to make sure some stronger people came to help guard from from the Achilles-shaped monster, but she wouldn't leave. "Sleep."