"What do you want, Hermann?!" Newton shouted angrily.
"Um, Dr. Geiszler?" a man's voice said, "Are you aware that Dr. Gottlieb has had an accident?" Newton spun around. His heart suddenly felt like it was dropping right out of him. One of the PPDC transport crew was standing at the doorway of the lab.
"No! What happened?! Is he alright?! Tell me!" Everything became a blur to him. He vaguely remembered running to the med bay, words swirling in his head like "accident" and "electrocuted" and "piece of equipment." Somehow he found his way to Hermann's bedside. The nurses held him back when he yelled.
"Hermann, Hermann! No, let me in the room, please, I have to see him!"
Then there was chaos of a different kind. The PPDC medical team had to revive Hermann. His heart had stopped. They performed CPR and he came back after only 2.5 seconds. But in those moments Newton was in agony. They had argued, badly. Hermann had stormed out of the lab to "go for a walk," something he never did. "Oh, just get lost!" Newton had yelled after him. It was the last thing he had said. It could have been the last thing Hermann would hear him say. He could have gone to his grave thinking Newton hated him.
Newton couldn't move. He was practically paralyzed. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. He could see Hermann breathing again and then falling asleep. When things had calmed down he asked the medical staff if they knew what happened. Hermann had been wandering around one of the Jaeger repair bays and had been hit by a section of finger joint that still had a charge left in it. It had swung out as it was being lowered, hit him in the chest and knocked him to the ground. It had electrocuted him, not severely compared with being struck by lightning, but it was enough, combined with the blunt trauma to the chest, to affect his heart. Newton was allowed to stay at his bedside while he recovered. Several hours passed. Eventually Newton had fallen asleep too, his hand resting on Hermann's arm. When Hermann came to, he felt a bit confused. He took a deep breath and looked down to see Newton at his side.
"Where am I? What happened?" Newton sat up, drowsy but relieved, and stared at Hermann nervously.
"You're in the med bay," Newton said, his throat dry and croaky, "You were hit by a part of a Jaeger in one of the repair bays. They had to revive you because your heart stopped for a couple seconds."
"Ah, I vaguely remember being in the repair bay. How long have I been here?"
"Um," Newton said, his voice trembling, as he looked at the clock in the room, "about five hours."
"Oh. Have you been here all this time?" Hermann could see he'd been crying. Newton was truly struggling to compose himself. "Yeah," he mouthed.
"Hermann, I'm..." he broke down in tears. He buried his face in the sheets, barely muffling the sound of his rough sobs. His left hand was gripping Hermann's arm harder than he intended. Hermann couldn't remember the last time he had seen a grown man cry. Tentatively, he reached a hand out to touch Newton before resting it on the top of the distressed man's head. Newton's hair was messy and scraggly from the number of times he had obviously raked his fingers through it. Any fool could see he had been agonizing over Hermann's condition. Hermann just rested his hand on him at first, but Newton's weeping was so heart-rending he began to move his fingers a bit to sooth him.
"I'm quite alright now, Newton," he said softly. "Pull yourself together," he added, instantly wishing he hadn't said such a callous phrase, though he'd said it kindly. He just couldn't stand to hear Newton suffer anymore. All the horrible things they'd said to one another in their last argument were rendered meaningless. Newton stopped crying and sat up, not looking Hermann in the eye. He sniffed wetly and wiped his nose on his sleeve. Newton could feel that Hermann was looking at him and forced himself to look up. Newton had never looked so wounded. His face was flushed and his eyes were still brimming with tears.
"Come on, come here," Hermann said, opening his arms and gesturing with his fingertips. Newton got up on the bed and practically draped himself over Hermann as gently as he could.
"Hermann," Newton whispered and he melted into Hermann's embrace. They were both flooded with warmth as Hermann wrapped his arms around him. After a moment or two, Hermann brushed the hair off Newton's forehead, making Newton look up, bemused. Hermann took Newton's face in his hands and gently kissed the man's parted, tear-bathed lips. His caresses were sexual but kind and comforting. Newton allowed himself to be kissed, letting Hermann draw in his pliant lips, producing deliciously delicate little wet sounds between every touch of their lips. Hermann placed kiss after kiss after kiss on his mouth, sweet little kisses that said "I'm alright," "no need to worry" and "I shall kiss your tears away." Newton made a little sound like a cry. Hermann pulled back very slowly.
"I'm a little dizzy," Newton said, fighting a tired smile. Hermann did the same.
"Put your head on my chest, come on. Listen to my heartbeat. It might be rather elevated just now." Newton dropped his head back down on Hermann's chest, with his right ear on Hermann's heart while Hermann began petting his temple.
"Hermann, I'm sorry."
"It's not important," he sighed, closing his eyes. "I apologize for my words as well."
"You already did when you kissed me half a million times."
"I believe the number was closer to 10." Newton delighted in the rise and fall of Hermann's chest beneath him.
"I love you," he said.
"I'm aware of that."
"Don't go all Han Solo on me."
"I love you too, of course," Hermann said, tightening his hold on Newton reflexively. Newton made a contented noise.
"You should get some sleep, Newton. Perhaps you should go to your quarters. I shall see you in the morning."
"I'm stayin' right here. They'll have to drag me out."
"I won't let them." They both squeezed a little tighter.