InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "OMGZ BOB HAZ NO FEETS!?"

Josh Foley (fatedtouch) wrote in tensor,
@ 2011-06-01 01:33:00

Entry tags:

josh_foley, kevin_ford

Kevin
The beeping was what he noticed first. A slow, high pitched 'Boop, Boop, Boop' that was incredibly annoying. He was accustomed enough to the sounds of hospitals that he knew what it was and how to turn it off, but was also aware it only made that sound when attached to someone. He listened to it for a while, trying to read the patient's stats and not liking what he was concluding.

It wasn't until he tried to move that he realized he couldn't. Nothing would obey him. His eyes didn't open, his lips didn't part, his head didn't roll and his fingers didn't twitch. The only thing that did respond was the pitch of the machine that was suddenly blaring 'Beep, Beep, Beep' in an urgent, even more annoying tone.

It was about then Josh made the connection. The machine was attached to HIM. Which meant he was in the HOSPITAL. Something that was supposedly impossible.

The panic followed almost directly after the realization. Why was he in the hospital?! What'd happened?! Where was he?! And more importantly, where were Kevin and Julian?! Were they hurt too? Were they even still alive?! What was happening?! The questions swirled faster, lumped closer together until Josh's brain was only processing: Hospital. Kevin and Julian missing. HOSPITAL. The 'DEETDEETDEET' of the machine gave way to a screeching 'EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE'

Josh felt the pressure rising and braced himself as it exploded in all directions. And suddenly he could move. His whole body rocked with the start, eyes flying open at the same time as he gasped, back dropping into the bed. His free hand gripped the material beneath him like a vice as his left heel slid against the bed. His body weak and half of it weighed down so heavily he didn't even shift.

And then it hit him. A WAVE of pain that had his chest seizing, and his nerves on fire. His throat was dry and he swallowed to the feel of tubes. Suddenly surrounded by people, he tried to pull at his power and ended up feeling his head explode. He barely felt the blood slide down, but he tasted it as it dripped into his mouth.

Hands gently but firmly pushed him down. Voices, muffled and far away shouted at him. And then his body got tired and he felt heavy and slow, and the pain bled away.

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_touchless_
2011-06-01 05:29 pm UTC (link)

Kevin had been almost dozing, head pillowed on the sheet near Josh's calf and gloved hand stretched up to hold Josh's bare one. It was safest that way, face out of Josh's reach so that even if he did wake up and move he couldn't accidentally touch. He could tell from how light headed he was getting that he'd have to leave soon, but he'd made it over twenty minutes, and his Mama'd promised she'd let him know when thirty minutes came round, so he could rest a bit and not have to keep track himself.

So he laid there, head down and eyes closed tight, listening to the slow, steady beeping of the monitors and holding Josh's hand tight. Hoping that through it all he'd know he wasn't alone. He was drifting enough that it took him a moment to register that the tone of the monitors had changed, a moment in which the door opened and someone wandered in. He ignored them, though. He always did.

"Josh?"He sat up, grip on Josh's hand going tighter as he looked at Josh's face for some sign of change. Still ignored the sound of someone moving around the room, checking things he didn't care about as the sound of the monitor changed again and he stared intently at Josh. "Come on," he whispered urgently. "Come on, Josh, you can do it. You're in there, just wake up."

There were move voices now, his mama and Josh's in the mix too, but he didn't care. Didn't care about anything but Josh's hand in his, gripped almost bruisingly tight as his other stroked restlessly over Josh's uninjured thigh through the sheets. Ignored the hand on his shoulder and the voice of someone, didn't care who, trying to urge him away.

"Please Josh," he murmured as the pitch of the monitor changed again, sending a sharp spike of panic through his chest as it just about screamed. He lurched to his feet, leaning over Josh's bed as the door flew open and people seemed to flood the room. Someone was shouting orders, maybe multiple someones, and the hand on his shoulder went tight. He tried to pull away even as he felt something sting at his shoulder, felt another set of hands on him and he couldn't make himself do more than struggle weakly as he was pulled away, the pain of being manhandled irrelevant to begin with and fading already as darkness closed around the edges of his vision. He didn't once take his eyes from Josh, though, and the last thing he saw before everything went black was Josh's eyes flying open.

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fatedtouch
2011-06-02 01:36 pm UTC (link)

The second time he woke was hazy and decidedly less violent. His head felt stuffed with cotton and he was struck by odd patches of what he assumed were memories - none of which fit together in any discernible pattern. The machines beeped steadily, but he was too groggy to register what the pattern of sound meant.

His lashes fluttered, head shifting slightly with a soft sound. They opened, blinking rapidly, before shutting as if in need of a long rest. Josh felt absolutely exhausted. He could sleep for years and years and not feel rested. Still, there were more things concerning him than the heavy, weighted feeling of his mind and body. He tried again with a little more success, eyes darting as he tried to focus. The world was so bright and so dark at the same time, and his head...

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_touchless_
2011-06-02 06:21 pm UTC (link)

He'd woken, groggy and disoriented, after an hour or so, to his mother holding his hand, ready to explain: the oxygen tent gone, Josh asleep, not unconscious, and his vitals stabilized. It was too amazing for him to even waste time or effort being pissed that they'd tranqued him and dragged him away just as Josh woke up, especially once she explained why.

The idea of his own power reacting to the burst of power Josh had healed, or at least somewhat healed, himself with was terrifying, and he was actually a bit nervous about resuming his position at Josh's bedside. Not nervous enough to keep him away once he could stagger to his feet again, though, and when Josh's eyes started to flutter Kevin gripped his hand tighter, watching and waiting. The monitors weren't going wild this time, Josh seemed to just be coming awake, so he didn't need to get away.

"Hey," he whispered as Josh's eyes actually opened and he looked blearily around. "You gonna finally wake up and join us?" he asked, voice breaking as he realized that somewhere along the line he'd stopped believing in this moment and started hoping.

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	fatedtouch 2011-06-02 07:25 pm UTC (link)
	Josh's hand flexed in Kevin's grip, tightening suddenly when trying to move his right arm proved futile. He didn't know why he couldn't move it, only that it wouldn't budge. Kevin's voice, the feel of him beside him both comforting and an open invitation for panic. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_touchless_
2011-06-02 07:49 pm UTC (link)

"Oh thank fuck," Kevin whispered at the feel of Josh's hand flexing in his. "Oh Jesus, just...just take it easy," he urged Josh in a strained whisper, still holding his hand tightly and scrabbling with the other one to pull up a fold of sheet. "You've been out...god, for a while." He'd managed to flip the sheet over Josh's and his hands by then, and he leaned down to press his face to the back of Josh's hand with a choked off noise he wouldn't let become a sob.

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fatedtouch
2011-06-02 07:56 pm UTC (link)

He swallowed and turned his head. Kevin was an undefined blur and he blinked back tears that were unfortunately not the cause. His throat was dry and the tube going down his esophagus felt like it was three feet thick.

Words wouldn't form over the desert in his mouth, so he squeezed back again. Kevin's voice sounded far away, but at least he could understand him.

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	_touchless_ 2011-06-02 08:06 pm UTC (link)
	Someone should probably be in there, checking on Josh, doing something, and he should probably be getting them. But there was no way in hell he was letting go of Josh, much less leaving him. "Oh Lord, love you so much," he whispered, words muffled in the sheet and Josh's hand as he continued to hold on tight. "You're gonna be fine now. You're gonna be okay." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

fatedtouch
2011-06-02 08:16 pm UTC (link)

"Hello, Josh," said one of the nurses with a smile, leaning over him. Josh started, having not heard her come in. His head turned in her direction and she gave a pleased hum as she wrote something in his chart. "How're you feeling?"

He swallowed again, frowning at her slightly. "We can take care of that, can't we? Kevin, sweetie, do you want to help?"

She poured a glass of water and held it out to him, before adjusting Josh carefully, and raising the incline of his bed.

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_touchless_
2011-06-02 08:32 pm UTC (link)

Kevin managed not to jump at the new voice. He kissed Josh's hand through the sheet then pulled back enough to look up at her, scrubbing at damp eyes with the hand not still clinging to Josh's.

He took the glass she offered him, brows furrowing, then realized what she meant for him to do and smiled faint thanks at her before turning to Josh, his smile going warmer and wider and as encouraging as he could make it.

"You ready for a drink?" he asked Josh, scooting carefully closer and lifting the glass towards his lips.

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fatedtouch
2011-06-02 08:47 pm UTC (link)

"Just take it slow," the nurse encouraged, as Josh's mouth opened. "I know you're thirsty, Josh, but you know how these things work...That's right. Good job." She eased him up when he dropped back, taking quick, shallow breaths and replaced his pillow with one that would better support his upright state.

"Follow for me?" She held up her silver pen and moved it from one side to the other, watching him track it. Josh was aware he was failing the test, but he was too tired to really care. "All right. I'm just going to go have a chat with Dr. Reyes and then I'll be back, and we'll see about the rest. She'll be so happy to see you awake."

With a gentle pat to his uninjured arm, she turned to smile at Kevin. "Take care of him for us," she said, before leaving.

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_touchless_
2011-06-02 08:57 pm UTC (link)

Kevin tipped the glass up and held it steady while Josh took a couple of careful swallows, then set it back on the bedside table as the nurse took over again. He wanted to do something more, but knew there really wasn't anything he could do other than be there, so he held Josh's hand, since the nurse didn't seem to need it for anything, and watched and waited.

"Yeah. Yeah, I...I will," he answered without looking away from Josh. He hadn't once so far. Once she was gone he reached up to carefully brush lank hair back from Josh's face and smiled at him. "Took your time, didn't you?" he tried to tease, but it probably would have worked better if his voice had been steady and his eyes weren't so wet.

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	fatedtouch 2011-06-02 09:03 pm UTC (link)
	"Wh-..." He made a frustrated sound. Eyes closing as he swallowed. His brow furrowed as he tried to make all the connections work in the proper order. "Wh-...Wh-at...Hhhh-ap-pened?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_touchless_
2011-06-02 09:13 pm UTC (link)

"Some kid...at the Smithsonian. He just...exploded." He watched Josh carefully, wondering if he should offer water again. The nurse hadn't said he couldn't, but he should probably explain first. "He, um...he took half the mall and some of the buildings with him." He leaned against the edge of the bed and stroked his thumb carefully over Josh's collar bone. "You were in one of them."

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	fatedtouch 2011-06-02 09:17 pm UTC (link)
	Josh made pained sound as his shoulders hunched. Brow furrowing, he tried to look down, but his head was so incredibly heavy, he couldn't even lift it. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	_touchless_ 2011-06-02 09:42 pm UTC (link)
	Kevin moved his hand away, in case it was the touch that had Josh's shoulders hunching. "They don't know why you haven't managed to heal yourself properly," he explained quietly as he caught the way Josh's eyes, at least, tried to travel down his own body. "But you've started now, the rest'll come." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

fatedtouch
2011-06-02 10:17 pm UTC (link)

He lifted his left arm, which wobbled slightly, but obeyed. His hand slid from Kevin's and he reached for his head, missing by several inches, fingers dropping into the pillow. Trying again yielded the same results, so he just tracked his fingers over the material until he met bandages. He followed them around, before looking to the blur that was his boyfriend.

"Did I...?" he asked, unaware the sentence was incomplete.

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_touchless_
2011-06-02 10:29 pm UTC (link)

Kevin let Josh go reluctantly, and watched in concern as he waved his hand around. He wasn't quite sure what he was trying to accomplish or he'd have been tempted to just take Josh's hand again and put it where he wanted it, but by the time he'd figured that out Josh was inching his hand along the bandages to his head.

"Did you what?" he asked, resting a hand carefully on Josh's forearm as he met his unfocused gaze.

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fatedtouch
2011-06-02 10:34 pm UTC (link)

His hand dropped to his chest, which brought it in contact with his other hand. Josh was relieved to discover he could feel the touch from both. He smoothed his hand over it, then frowned. A cast. His arm was in a cast. He tracked the cast as far as he could manage, then did his best to follow his breastbone (in a swaying line) up to his throat. Sure enough, the jut of his collarbone on the right side was disproportionate.

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_touchless_
2011-06-02 10:53 pm UTC (link)

Kevin watched Josh's slow efforts at assessing his condition.

"You caved your head in," he told him quietly, steady enough that you wouldn't think he'd spent most of the last almost two weeks terrified that he'd die. "Pretty much shattered your right shoulderblade, broke your collar bone, did a number on your arm." All things Josh had already taken note of, all related in a remarkably steady, calm voice. "Your pelvis is broken too, on the right side, and pinned together."

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	fatedtouch 2011-06-02 10:56 pm UTC (link)
	"My head..." he mumbled, reaching for it again. He tried to compensate this time and ended up crashing his knuckles into his forehead. He didn't seem to notice though, as his arm flagged to the left, just missing Kevin's face by a hair. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_touchless_
2011-06-02 11:04 pm UTC (link)

He'd been watching Josh's face more than his hand, and when it swung out toward him he nearly didn't notice until it was right there. He threw himself back with a panicked cry, his chair going over backwards with the force of it, and grunted in shock and pain as his head hit the floor and agony lanced through his chest and gut and his mangled leg.

He couldn't breathe or move for it for a long moment, the fear as much as the pain, and he laid there, flat on his back and leg propped at a weird angle on the toppled chair as he tried to collect himself.

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	fatedtouch 2011-06-02 11:16 pm UTC (link)
	"Kevin!" he cried, when the blur disappeared, accompanying a thudding sound. And then there were people in the room, and someone was gently pushing him back down. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_touchless_
2011-06-02 11:27 pm UTC (link)

He was trying - and failing - to push himself up by the time the door opened, and he flinched violently, grunting in pain again as a nurse and one of the orderlies reached down for him.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled when he'd settled enough to let them get careful grips on his arms. He stopped speaking when they started to lever him up, though, the pain of the motion too much to get words past no matter how careful they were being as they talked him through getting up off the floor. By the time they righted the chair and let him fall back into it again he was breathing in shallow pants and sweat was running down his face.

"What happened?" the nurse asked, encouraging him to lean back as much as possible in the chair and lifting his shirt with gloved hands to press gently along the angry pink scar of his surgical incision.

"Just...he...he-" Kevin looked past him to Josh, still having trouble speaking past the pain. "His hand...near my face and...I fell," he explained brokenly.

"You should lay down," the nurse suggested, and he shook his head violently, then stopped when he felt vaguely dizzy.

"No," he protested, pushing back to a more upright position with a sharp hiss of pain and reaching for Josh again, even to just get a hand on his leg or something. "It's...I'm fine."

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	fatedtouch 2011-06-02 11:33 pm UTC (link)
	"Josh, keep still!" Josh recognized the voice - he spent enough time around the man. It didn't stop him though, and there was a muted curse, before he took Josh's free arm and pressed his hand to warm material. "There. That's him. Now calm down." Josh's hand clutched the material and gave a little tug. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	_touchless_ 2011-06-02 11:37 pm UTC (link)
	"I'm sorry," he mumbled again, letting his head drop to the edge of the bed - well out of range of Josh's hand this time - as he turned his arm and slid his hand until it closed around Josh's again. "I should...shouldn't have been...so close." Talking still hurt like hell around the renewed pulsing in his gut. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)