InsaneJournal

Thor wakes up!
Who: Thor and Alice
Where: His hospital room
What: Thor wakes up, and Alice is there. There are tears. Alice might cry too.
When: Saturday night, long after visiting hours.
Warnings/Rating: PG, hospital and a little talk about pain.
Status Complete!

The first thing he knew was pain... Thor groaned as he felt his body sink, and he shuddered as pain lashed across his senses. His body felt heavy, and he felt like everything was dim, distant, even the pain. He blinked eyes that had not blinked really in a week, and he moaned, as he felt his body shake.

His eyes opened wider, and he smiled, despite the pain and the weird weight, when he saw Alice. Alice, who he had heard, who had been there, he knew, from those memories, when he needed her. Beautiful Alice, who was there as he smiled at the sight of her, then wider at what she was wearing.

She’d come immediately from work with the intention of changing clothes in the bathroom in Thor’s hospital room, just like the nurses had let her done so many times before. She was sitting down for the first time in hours, still wearing the ridiculous schoolgirl outfit that was her biggest hit - blonde pigtail’d wig, red skirt that was short enough not to even qualify as such, white shirt knotted just under her breast, and of course thigh high stockings. Her tie was longer than her top, which just made no sense to her, but whatever. Tips were tips.

But then she looked at Thor and saw that his eyes were open. His eyes were open and he was smiling. “Thor?” She grinned when she saw him grinning at her, laughing and moving to his bed. Leaning down she kissed him, cupping his cheeks and smiling. “Welcome back, Buster.”

Thor’s eyes widened as his grin just got bigger. Alice, lovely Alice, made him raise his hand up to her to try to catch one of hers. And possibly grope her. A little, before a groan caused him to subside. “Hello, gorgeous. Never has a man been so lucky as to wake to such a sight.” His voice held a hint of a new accent now, something deeper, different, but it was still his voice and the warmth in it.

She chuckled, kissing him again, holding his hand so that he would stop moving. “Shh, don’t move, you’re still hurting.” Tears were in her eyes and she chuckled when she felt his hand move over her ass. “I was so worried,” she murmured. “You, don’t go away again.”

Thor smiled softly, squeezing her hand, and nodding. “Oh, Alice, don’t cry. It’s okay. I’m okay.” He paused. “Well, not okay, but getting there.” Pause. “Eventually.”

He grinned again. “I didn’t plan it, dear. Just accidentally ran headlong into some trouble.’ His smile faltered. “Do you know if anyone else was found near me?” He looked at her, smiling.

“How long---?”

“I know, but still.” She wiped her eyes, mascara trailing down her cheeks. “No, nobody.” Sniffling, she didn’t want to tell him, but knew that he should know. “They didn’t find you for a while. A week or so you’ve been out.” She didn’t want to tell him she’d come in every day. It was just how she was - loyal friend to the end - and she didn’t want him to feel guilty or upset.

Thor swallowed and nodded, eyes on her. “I heard you, you know. When you talked to me. I couldn’t... I heard you. Thank you.” He slowly pulled that hand of hers to his lips and kissed her, and smiled, a ghostly smile, but a real one.

“Thank you, Alice. It was dark, and cold, and quiet, except for crazy dreams, and then your voice was there, and I wasn’t alone.”

“It’s why I kept coming. I just wanted to make sure that when you woke up you weren’t alone.” She smiled brightly, wishing she could curl up on the bed next to him but she knew she couldn’t. “How’s your pain? I can get the nurse for you if you want.”

Thor smiled softly at her. “It’s there.” A trembling smile was all the show that his pain was still fairly steep. they were working on a balance of painkillers to enable him to be awake and yet pain free. It was a work in progress.

“For now, you are all the medicine I need. Tell me how you’ve been. What has happened? I feel... well..” He waved a hand a little, around them ish. “Out of it sounds rather obvious.” He grinned again, then subsided a little, out of breath.

She could tell he was in pain, but she could also tell he almost seemed scared to go into the dark again. She didn’t blame him. “I’ve been here and working. That’s really all. I … went out with a bloke, that was nice.” She kissed Thor’s palm and each of his fingertips in turn, remembering how much he’d liked it when they first met. “Mostly just worried about you.” She didn’t tell him that there’d been a report that he’d died and she’d cried for hours. There was no need for that since it simply wasn’t true.

Thor smiled. “You deserve nice days, Alice.” He smiled, then paused, knowing he had smiled a moment ago, but having forgotten it for a moment. He shivered. Her kissing on his hand made his breath rush out and a shudder for an entirely different reason course through him. “Naughty. That makes me think thoughts I am entirely not well enough to complete yet.” Though, well, he’d try it anyway!

“When I get out of here, we should have a crazy thing. Something silly. Just for fun.” He paused,. then and felt shy for a moment. God, did that sound romantic? he hadn’t meant that. He just... she was there and had been there for him. “Er, if you want.”

“That’d be nice,” she murmured, curling up and settling on the gurney with him. She was careful not to touch much of him as he was still injured. His invitation was taken as the friendly gesture it no doubt was; while she loved Thor dearly, she was not in love with him. He was a marvelous, amazing person who was simply not for her in the long term.

Her fingers wound up in his hair, stroking lightly, smiling and closing her eyes. “They thought you were dead, it was in the papers,” she murmured. “I just cried. Constantly.”

Thor winced. “I’m sorry, Alice. I’d never have done that to you. I tried... seems like I ended up being all stupid and buried for a week. I had a plan and then my door jammed. I thought...” He swallowed. “Then I dreamed. And it felt like I was trapped in this darkness with only the dreams for company, until...you and a couple of other people, but mostly you... you spoke to me, and I could hear you, and... I wasn’t alone.’ His hand reached for hers and clutched it, for a moment. “As long as I live, I’ll never be able to repay that, Alice.”

He shivered, the memory dark in his eyes.

“You didn’t do it on purpose, Buster.” Alice smiled, kissing him lightly. “I know you didn’t.” She smiled, pulling him closer. She was aware that he was probably terrified of going back to that darkness, so she squeezed his hand and smiled. “You don’t have to repay it, Thor. You don’t owe me anything. We’re friends. I do things like that for my friends.” It was as simple as that for her.

Thor smiled, touching her lightly, and squeezing her hand. “I know. I... thank you.” He smiled softly. “You’re amazing. I... can you grab my bag? I need to send a message to someone.” He smiled softly. “And... don’t go far, even when they kick you out? I... am not ready to be alone.”

Not again. Not for a long time.

“Of course!” Alice moved to where Thor’s things were stored and grabbed his phone, turning it on and hoping it still had a charge. “I’ve always been either in here or in the waiting room except when I had to work or eat.” She smiled fondly at him before handing him the phone.

He smiled and took the phone, and shook his head. “You’re a good friend, Alice. And thank you.” He edge up and kissed her on the cheek, then slumped back to rest, smiling wider now. She made him smile, and it felt good to know he had this kind of friend around.

“I feel like I missed so much. And yet the dreams I’ve been having have been so crazy.’

“My dreams are kind of boring, maybe we can swap!” They weren’t, not strictly speaking - she got cheated on, and she pretended she didn’t notice. She always woke up with tears in her eyes. But she didn’t give it away, just pretended that all was well. “Want me to go into the hall?”

He cocked his head, then grinned slightly. “No. I just need to send a text.” He started to send one, and he was pretty sure he was, but he felt a spasm of pain, which caused a flare of anger, and then the whole phone sparked, and went dead. He stared at it, open-mouthed, then sighed.

“Well, then. I hope that got through.” Thor dropped the phone on the bed and rubbed the arm that was hurting with his other hand, the not broken one. “I think I’ll need to ask a nurse for some more pain meds.” Strain showed in his voice.

Alice was to his call button in a flash, pressing the button and rubbing his arm immediately. “Just enough, though. Don’t let them sedate you too much. Do you still want me to stay? I’ll stay.”

Thor nodded. “Yeah, at least until... or if, Natasha gets here? Need to talk to her, but... yes please.” he paused and smiled at her. “Thank you, Alice. I’m gonna close my eyes, here, okay?”

Alice kissed him on the forehead. “Sleep well, Thor, I’ll be here until she comes.” She smiled at the nurse that came in to help him, moving to stand outside the door and keep watch.

FIn!