Alex Manes (notamanesman) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-04-08 11:22:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, alex manes, kyle valenti |
Who: Alex Manes & Kyle Valenti
What: Surprise! Valenti is everywhere
When: April 8th, morning
Where: VA clinic, Anaheim
Rating/Warnings: PG13
Status: Complete
Alex shifted where he was standing, feeling his leg aching from having been on it for the past two days without his crutch and without having really given it any downtime. He was waiting in the office for the VA doctor to come and talk to him; he needed regular checkups to get the stitches out, to make sure that he was keeping up with the physiotherapy exercises he'd been given to work on when he wasn't with his physical therapist and also making sure he was attending his mandatory psychiatric therapy too.
Though honestly he just wanted all of this to be over so he could get on with life, get on with trying to work out his new normal and to just... move on. He understood that part of moving on was accepting what had happened but he had no interest in reliving what happened, the explosion, the IED, the pain... he had no desire to go through the warzone again now he was somewhere safe considering it haunted him enough at night anyway.
He rubbed the back of his neck and leaned in to look at a poster that outlined the emergency procedures of the VA Clinic if there was an evacuation required when he heard the door open and straightened up out of habit, shifting his weight onto his left leg and clasping his hands behind his back only for his eyes to fall on-
"Valenti?!"
Kyle Valenti had gone through a lot of changes since high school but none more so than the fact he was a fully trained highly skilled physician who split his time between a lot of different places which meant, of course, his social life? Dead on arrival. Of course, he'd brought it on himself so complaining didn't seem exactly fair, internal monologuing it was.
Today was a shift at the VA clinic which was somewhere between uplifting and completely devastating depending on the day and the patient he was seeing. This patient was new and he hadn't had a chance to look over their file because honestly, the day had been crazy, one thing after another and Kyle was still playing catch up.
He shot the nearby nurse a passing smile before he let himself into the room, eyes on the file in his hands which meant he was blindsided by the sudden and rather pronounced exclamation of his surname from a very familiar voice.
No, no way.
Kyle's head lifted and his eyes widened as sure enough there stood one Alex Manes. "Well if it isn't Alex Manes as I live and breathe."
Alex paused, caught his balance on the counter before leaning back against it to take the weight off his leg. Now that he saw it was Kyle, he didn't need to stand in the military pose any longer so he dropped it, albeit after a moment just to sag against the counter.
"What're- what're you doing here?" he asked, somewhere between surprised and embarrassed, feeling himself sort of shutting down a little at the sight of his oldest - and best (he hoped, still) - friend. "Didn't know you worked here. Shit, man."
"Uh, does the outfit not give it away?" Kyle countered with an amused smile and lift of an eyebrow. "I was kinda hoping it gave off the I'm a doctor and I'm responsible for your care. What ruined it? Was it the hair? I mean I maybe overstyled it this morning but y'know sue me."
He gestured for Alex to grab a seat on the nearby bed as he flipped open his patient file to take a better look at what his old best friend was there to see him about. It was ugly reading but then most veteran files were and it was a matter of distancing himself between the gory details and what he needed to do as a physician. It didn't mean that he didn't care because he definitely cared, maybe a little too much, but he needed to keep a clear head as much as possible.
"I volunteer here, not work here."
"It's definitely the hair," Alex said honestly with a nod of his head, "totally unprofessional and really tall." His lips twitched up a little, though he didn't move from where he was leaning against the counter even after Kyle made a gesture to the bed. He didn't want to sit down on it, even if his leg was hurting. It felt like a defeat and Alex had never been good at taking those lying down. Or at all, in fact.
He rubbed the back of his neck and then clasped his hands around the edge of the counter. "Tell me you at least have some... adrenaline fuelled hobby to make up for the voluntary misery of hanging out in a place like this in your free time."
Kyle was not amused. That much was apparent from the look on his face. "Sit, Alex. I'm not telling you this as a friend but as your physician." Kyle had never taken any crap and that much hadn't changed even if he was no longer a high school athlete.
"And hate to burst your bubble but no," he shook his head and plucked his pen out of his chest pocket. "So, how have things been? I can see you've missed three physical therapy sessions which is interesting considering your counsellor thinks you've attended every single one of them." Cue a classic really?! Kyle Valenti look.
Alex rolled his eyes, hobbled over and sat down on the bench, leaning back against the wall and folding his arms across his chest. "I've missed two appointments with my counsellor too," he shared, "though I'm sure you've got that on file too, Doc."
He rubbed his hand over his face, the attitude slipping as he sagged. "You know what they say about all work and no play, Kyle. Quickest way to end up chasing after your friends with an axe before freezing to death in a maze." Not that anyone was likely to freeze to death here, in California. "Will you quit looking at me like that?"
"You would be correct, Captain," Kyle countered as he placed the file to one side and stepped up to the bed, crouching for a moment as he rolled up the leg of Alex's jeans to take a better look at the still healing leg which he knew had been extensively rebuilt with metal and pins.
He glanced up. "Like what? Like maybe you're being stupid and not looking after yourself like you should which will only hinder your recovery process overall?"
Alex scowled at Kyle, though this was a professional capacity he still tensed, that same old reaction he used to have when they were teenagers though it was somewhat tempered now. "You know if you wanted to look you coulda just asked me to drop my jeans," he teased, to cover his obvious discomfort at having Kyle so close to his gnarly injury. "It's okay, man, it just aches. I overdid it at the weekend."
"Oh? And how did you do that?" Kyle asked as he in his professional capacity inspected the injury along with how it was healing, checking for the feeling as he glanced up at Alex for confirmation before he unlaced the other man's shoe and peeled his sock off. Again completely professional and his hands were warm, so bonus?
He flexed Alex's foot and kept his touch present as he wanted to make sure they were doing what they should. "Your foot isn't as flexible as it should be," he affirmed. "Which indicates to me that you're starting to see the impact of not going to your physical therapy."
Alex hissed as Kyle poked and prodded down along the still sensitive part of his leg. He thought, sometimes, it might have been easier if he had lost it. Then he'd at least not have to deal with all of... this.
"Apartment hunting," he responded, "just got a little overambitious as to how many I could handle in one go."
He rubbed the side of his head and then gripped the edges of the bed while Kyle tested the flexibility in his ankle and he just gritted his teeth. "I'm doing the damn exercises, Valenti," he grumbled, obviously embarrassed that he was here with an old friend, being effectively stripped down and having his scarring on display. "I don't need anyone to lecture me about having to use the crutch, etcetera."
"You do if you're being an idiot about it which clearly you are." Again, Kyle didn't sugarcoat the truth or give anything save blunt honesty except of course when he was dealing with a child patient. Then he was something entirely different but with adults who knew better? Hoooo boy.
He frowned before after his inspection of the injury he put the sock and shoe back in place and rolled the jean leg back down, a few notes being made on the patient file. "Apartment hunting?" He repeated. "You know if you needed somewhere to crash you could've just asked, you know picked up the phone to let me know you were back in town."
"I'm not being an idiot about it," Alex protested, brushing his hand down the thigh of his pants after Kyle had rolled them down again. "I just- I don't like using it. It's not exactly easy to get around on and I'd rather just do it myself." Pride cometh before a fall, he knew, but he was a Manes. Or so he kept trying to tell himself.
He drew in a breath, feeling more chastised by the hidden hurt-laced sarcasm that slipped from Kyle's mouth. "Kinda didn't wanna talk to anyone until I got settled, y'know?" His brows twitched down a little, a frown ghosting across his face. "I- kinda wanted to stand on my own two feet. Turns out it's a lot harder than I figured." And apartment hunting with Michael had gone south after that last landlord anyway, even if the rest of the day had... picked up. "Can you believe there are still people out there who won't rent to 'my kind'?"
Kyle snorted. "Well unless you start using your crutch and going to your physical therapy you're not going to have no choice in the matter."
A couple more notes were made and would be available for any physician to see when and if Alex came into the clinic. "Really?" He asked, glancing up with with a distinctly unimpressed face. "Somebody really used those words, in this day and age?" He blew out a breath and shook his head. "That's- Wow, something else."
Some people were just bigoted assholes.
"So, you want to crash at mine or not? I have a spare room."
"Kyle, I'm doing what they tell me to, but hauling ass across to my physical therapy multiple times a week is hard enough without trying to settle back in. I've only been here for just under two weeks." The first one he'd missed because he got lost, turned around by the sound of a car backfire and he'd gone straight back to his dad's after that.
He snorted at the look Kyle gave him, the way his eyebrow rocketed up towards his hairline and he still managed to sneer. "Yeah, yeah. He... well-" He decided not to say that he'd gone apartment hunting with Guerin, or that he'd seen Guerin more times since he got back than he'd seen literally anyone else that he knew. It was probably a bit better that way.
He rubbed behind his left ear and then absently scratched at the scar. "I- uh- I'll let you know? Don't wanna be a burden, man."
"So, I'll take you," Kyle offered up easily as he closed up the folder and placed it to one side before his arms folded across his chest. "I swing past the place every day on the way to work so if you're staying with me then it won't be an issue."
He rolled his eyes. "Burden? Really? Seriously, Alex. Last I checked we're friends so less with the arguing and more with the moving in."
Alex's eyebrows lifted, then furrowed. "Uh- I- you don't have to do that, Kyle," he said, "Even if I come and crash in your spare room."
He huffed out a breath and rubbed a hand across his face, leaning forward and bracing his forearms across his knees. "It- I've got a couple more apartments to look at, but if they're a bust, I can text you?"
Kyle rolled his eyes. "It's not a big deal. It's on my way to work so killing two birds with one stone." The Valenti family looked out for their own and Alex had long since become one of their own. No escaping that fact.
"Fine," he relented. "Look at the apartments and when they're a bust which they will be you can text me."
Alex huffed out a breath. He knew he wasn't getting out of this one, Kyle made up his mind pretty quickly and cemented his opinion when he was confident in what he was saying.
"Fine," he agreed, chuckling as he shifted himself towards the edge of the bed, expecting that he could go now that Kyle had poked at his leg a bit. "I appreciate how optimistic you are about my chances of finding a decent place to stay."
"Before you go," Kyle said as he held up a finger. "How are you for pain meds at the moment?" He had noticed that Alex had a script but couldn't see when it had last been refilled.
Alex eased himself off the bed and looked at Kyle, adjusting his weight a little and then grimacing. "Uh, I think I've got about a week's worth left?" He only took them in th evenings and when it was really painful, he'd taken one after Michael had left on Saturday, but that was as much to help shut his brain off and help him sleep and not overthink than it was anything else.
Kyle nodded. "I'll write you another script so you don't have to go out of your way to get the prescription refilled." He wandered over to the nearby table, picked up the prescription pad and scribbled out the notes for Alex's refill before tearing it off and passing it over.
"One less thing for you to worry about."
Alex smiled, grateful. "Thanks, Doctor Valenti," he took the prescription and folded it in half, sticking it into the back pocket of his jeans. "Oh- and I better make sure that I got your number? Otherwise I'm not gonna be able to text you when my viewings this afternoon fall through."
Kyle snapped his fingers and added a number onto another slip of paper which he held out to Alex between his index and middle finger. "I'll look forward to your text." He grinned a moment later because, well, it was a given, right?
Alex laughed, "Yeah, yeah, I'll text you when I'm still stuck trying to find somewhere to live purely based on the fact that you jinxed me."
He took the paper with a flourish and slid that into his pocket too, unable to stop himself from grinning right back at Kyle.
"It's good to see you, man."
"You too, Alex," Kyle said with a further smile as he held out his hand but when Alex took hold of him he drew him in and gave him a hug accompanied by a pat on the back. "You take care, alright? And let me know how your apartment hunting go."
"Will do, man," Alex said, hugging back easily before he clapped Kyle on the shoulder. "I'll text you later."
And with that, he shuffled out of the office. He had enough time to grab something to eat before he went apartment hunting.