Who: Will, Jem, Tessa and Magnus When: 26th June - Sunday evening Where: The hospital What: Worry about Jem Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete
Will wasn’t one to worry usually but there was no denying that he was almost in full blown panic mode. Not that he could be blamed of course, after all his boyfriend had lost consciousness in his arms. He was currently pacing up and down in a waiting room only a few moments shy of walking out and demanding to see Jem.
He’d text Tessa as soon as they had gotten here and then thought to text Magnus too, perhaps their magical friend could help. Somebody needed to do something because Will was going to go mad soon.
Tessa had dropped everything when she’d received Will’s text. She nearly shut the shop, but the girls had told her that they would be fine and she left the shop in their capable hands. She had driven as fast as the law would allow, and even though she never had a propensity for road rage, she found herself shouting at a few cars who were too slow off the mark for her liking. Pulling up outside the hospital, she hurried in, almost forgetting to lock her car as she did. She checked her phone for the information Will had sent her which told her where to find them.
Once there, she spoke to a nurse who directed her to the waiting room without really telling her anything. When she saw Will in the waiting room, she dropped her handbag on a chair and all but threw herself into his arms. “Oh Will! What happened? They didn’t tell me anything. Are you ok?” she asked, pulling back and taking his face between her hands to look him over.
The moment Will saw Tessa he felt relieved, he wasn’t on his own anymore waiting for news about Jem. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and hugged her to him until she pulled back to look at him, “I’m okay. It’s Jem. We were doing a sparring demo for some friends and he collapsed. He lost consciousness so I brought him here. I know they can’t do anything but I didn’t know what else to do, I called Magnus too” he explained leaning into her touch and drawing strength from it.
Upon being admitted to the hospital, the doctors who were working on Jem had asked Will a series of questions, all routine then had taken him away. Jem was still unconscious as they hooked him up to monitors and IVs and did tests to try and find out what was wrong with him. Unfortunately none of these doctors were dreamers like one of the ones who had worked on him previously. Unbeknownst to them of course, Jem was dreaming. Dreaming about being moved into the Institute after passing out and being visited by Silent Brothers and telling everyone to stop looking for a cure. He dreamt of Will and Magnus and giving Will permission to go find Tessa, because he was too ill to do it himself. All of this happened as Jem’s health continued to decline, both in the dreams and in the waking world.
Getting Will’s text, Magnus had let Alec know where he was going then rushed over to the hospital. Hearing what had happened reminded Magnus of the dreams all over again. Of Will contacting him and asking him to help him look for a cure because Jem was dying and it reminded him that he had not been able to fulfil that request.
Reaching the hospital, Magnus approached the Nurse’s station and was about to ask about Jem when he spotted Will and Tessa and instead moved to approach them, “How is he?”
Will shook his head still holding onto Tessa tightly, “They won't say. Just keep telling me to be patient. I know they can't help but I couldn't think of what else to do” he admitted, “Magnus please, can you help?” he turned pleading eyes to the warlock.
Tessa turned to look at Magnus as he entered. She heard Will speaking, the anguish in his voice and felt the tears springing to her eyes. “It’s all right my love, you did the right thing,” she reassured him as she tucked herself under Will’s arm and placed a hand on his chest, wrapping her other arm around his waist. “Please Magnus, is there anything else you can do for him?” she pleaded, turning desperate eyes to her friend.
Magnus wished more than anything that he could help, but they hadn’t been able to find a cure in the dreams nor had anything seemed to work in the waking world so far, “I don’t know.” He glanced from Will to Tessa, “Let me ask you, what was the last thing you dreamt?” He wanted to tell them that everything would be alright because Jem wasn’t actually going to die in the dreams, but at the same time he didn’t want to be the one to spoil it for them. He’d already done that to Tessa when he let it slip about her son and he often wondered if she’d told either Will or Jem about that.
“A situation almost scarily similar to this” Will admitted, “Tessa has been kidnapped and I asked you to help find a cure for Jem, since he is too ill to go after her” How Will missed the demon pox dream days, things were less messy then despite everything.
Tessa dropped her eyes as Will talked. She had been Dreaming more lately, probably fueled by her concern over Jem’s health lately. She hadn’t told any of them, hadn’t wanted to re-live any of it again, but she realised now that it was a shared hurt they all bore. “ I remember Mortmain telling us that he had bought the city’s supply of Yin Fen and then the attack on the Institute. I remember being taken by Mortmain and kept in a cell behind a see through barrier,” she told them quietly, wrapping the small fingers of her hands in Will’s shirt as she did.
Part of him was glad that they all appeared to be around the same place, because it would be awful if one of them was behind right now. Magnus didn’t know for sure that anything was going to happen to Jem, but at least they would know what happened in the dreams at the same time. “In that case,” He looked from Will to Tessa then back to Will, “There is no cure. The Silent Brothers couldn’t find one then. I couldn’t find one then and if other doctors and magic users haven’t found one here now...I’d afraid I can’t help.” He wished that he could, but even he had limits.
Will was fighting to maintain his composure, “No” he said, “That isn’t right. There has to be something we can do” his voice and eyes were pleading even though in his heart he knew if Magnus could have helped he would, he just didn’t want to believe there was nothing that could be done to help Jem.
Tessa’s fingers tightened in Will’s shirt as Magnus talked. She could feel Will struggling to stay calm beside her and pressed herself closer to his side to try and comfort him. With tears filling her eyes, she fought to remain calm as the world fell out from under them both. “Is there nothing in the books at the Institute? What about asking people on the Valarnet? They often have some amazing healing abilities,” she tried to offer, sounding desperately hopeful but knowing somewhere in her heart that none of it would work.
Before Magnus could say anything further, a doctor came out and spotting Will, walked towards him, “Mr. Herondale? You brought Mr. Carstairs in, correct?” Magnus hoped that he could tell them how Jem was, because he knew that there were certain laws about only telling family members certain things and with Jem’s parents in England and not knowing about his illness, as far as Magnus knew, it would be horrible for Will and Tessa if they had to wait. “Normally we’re not allowed to give anyone who isn’t a family member this information, but Mr. Carstairs insisted. He’s stable and is asking to see you and Tessa.” He glanced at Tessa, “Is that you?”
Will’s attention turned immediately to the doctor when he came in and said both his and Jem’s names, nodding and listening. It was probably a good job they weren’t making too much of a fuss about telling them how Jem was since that would most likely have caused him to lose the cool he was hanging onto by a thread. But hearing that Jem was stable and asking for them was a relief and his arm tightened around Tessa in response.
Tessa looked up at the doctor with wide eyes as she listened to him speak. Relieved he was alright and asking for them was a weight off their minds and she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and rested her head against Will’s shoulder. She rubbed her hand over his back trying to soothe him, the action comforting her as well. “Yes, that’s me,” she told the doctor when he spoke to her. “Thank you doctor, can we go in and see him?” she asked, eager to see for herself that he was ok.
The doctor nodded and led Will, Tessa and Magnus towards Jem’s room. When they reached Jem’s room, the Shadowhunter was laying in the single bed, looking paler than usual, his black hair falling into his eyes, white roots showing. When he saw the small group, he appeared to brighten a little and tried to push himself up a little, “There you both are.” His pale eyes moved then to Magnus and he smiled, “Hello, Magnus.” It was almost just like the dreams he’d just had except that Tessa hadn’t been kidnapped.
Will moved forward quickly, easing Jem back down, “Take it easy” he said softly, brushing the hair from Jem’s eyes. Worry and love showing very clearly on his face as he looked at Jem. Taking one of his hands carefully he sat on the bed, not really caring what anybody thought, it was just good to see Jem conscious again.
Tessa moved straight over to the other side of the bed and once Will had pushed Jem back down to the bed, she brushed her hair back and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I was so worried when Will sent me that message, I’m so glad you’re doing better my love,” she smiled, kissing his forehead again, followed by his lips. “Do you want us to bring you anything from home?”
Magnus smiled as he watched Will and Tessa fussing over Jem, “Hello, Jem. I’m happy to see that you’re awake.” He moved to stand at the end of the bed, allowing Will and Tessa to continue to fuss over their boyfriend.
“I’m sorry to have worried you, Tessa.” He smiled up at her as she moved away after kissing his forehead then glanced at Will, “Perhaps showing off for your friends hadn’t been the smartest idea.”
“I’m sorry” Will said looking down at their joined hands, “If I hadn’t been so keen on doing that then you wouldn’t be in here” Ever since Jem had collapsed Will had been struggling with the guilt he felt, he’d been so intent on showing off that he’d missed the signs of Jem not being up to it.
“Hey, hey, enough of that, both of you,” Tessa soothed gently, reaching down and taking Jem’s other hand in hers and gently squeezing. “What’s past is past. Jem is ok and hopefully they’ll let you come home soon,” she looked up at Will and then Magnus for confirmation.
Jem shook his head then coughed, “It...It’s not your fault, Will. I should have declined, but I didn’t want to disappoint you.” He had also not wanted Will to know how poorly he’d been feeling. He hadn’t wanted anyone to know how poorly he’d been feeling. Considering his previous hospital stay, he figured that regardless of how he felt, he would probably be released once he was stable since the doctors would be unable to figure out exactly what was wrong with him and would need the bed eventually. “I’m sure I’ll be out soon too.”
Will lay a hand on Jem’s cheek, “You could never, ever disappoint me. I love you” he said seriously, pressing a kiss to Jem’s other cheek. “You’ll be home before you know it and Tessa and I will be looking after you much better than they could here” he said making a promise with his words.
Tessa smiled at her boys as they talked. She didn’t ever want to be without them and she prayed that they would find a cure for Jem so she never had to be. She hoped that with Magnus’ and any other help they could muster, Jem would be with them for a long time to come.