Title – Time to breathe
Author: Ceindreadh
Genre: Slash, hurt/comfort, angst
Characters: Deeks, Eric
Pairing – Deeks/Eric, established relationship
Rating: T
Summary: post ep to Personal, Deeks has a visit from a welcome friend
Warnings: none
Spoilers: Up to and including S2 ep 17, Personal
Disclaimer. I don't own the NCIS LA characters, I'm only borrowing them, no copyright infringement is intended.
"Put down the spoon and step away from the jello!"
Spoon still in his mouth, Eric turned around to see Deeks sitting up in the hospital bed. Quickly he swallowed the mouthful and replaced the spoon in the tub. "Hey, I didn't mean to wake you."
That wasn't entirely true thought Eric. For the past week, he'd visited Deeks as often as possible, but somehow there always seemed to be other people around. Deeks's neighbors, the convenience store owner, other members of the team, nurses, doctors. All coming and going and never a moment to themselves. And on the few occasions when they *had* been alone, Deeks had been so exhausted that much of Eric's visits had been spent with him working on his netbook while waiting for Deeks to wake up. Eric had hoped that with the transfer out of the critical care unit, that things would improve. But when he'd arrived that evening, Deeks had been curled up asleep on the bed, looking so peaceful and relaxed, that Eric hadn't the heart to wake him.
"No, you just figured you'd sneak in and help yourself to my dessert," said Deeks. "That's *my* dessert that I was looking forward to eating after my nap."
"Oh, but Kensi said you hated Jello," said Eric, his eyes wide. "That I'd be doing you a favor by having it, so the nurses wouldn't be bugging you to eat it."
"Oh she did now, did she?" said Deeks, a gleam of amusement in his eyes as he settled himself more comfortably in the bed.
"She set me up, didn't she," said Eric, as he put the tub back on the table.
"And you swallowed it, hook, line and sinker, my friend."
Eric looked at the tub, "There's still some left," he said. "Enough for a taste if you don't mind sharing a spoon."
"I've got a better idea," said Deeks, "Come here you." He held out his arms and waited for Eric to move into his reach. Pulling him close, he leaned forward and kissed him. "Mmm, now that's good jello."
"Oh you!" Eric started to pull away, "What if the nurses come in?"
"Step down ward, so unless I push the call button, they only have to come and check on me a few times a day. Which means that for the first time in a week, I know I'm not going to be interrupted." He pulled Eric in closer and started kissing him again. "Damn I've missed this!" Deeks started to pull Eric down onto the bed with him, only for him to pull away slightly. "What?"
"It's only been a week," said Eric, gently but firmly. "I don't want you to aggravate your injuries and set back your recovery. Apart from anything else, Hetty would *kill* me!" He was relieved to see a smile appear on Deeks's face.
"Yeah, she probably would," said Deeks. He sighed heavily. "It's just that…for the last week, I've had people poking and prodding pretty much every area of my body. I just want somebody to touch me because they *want* to…not because they're being paid so much an hour to help me to the bathroom and hold a basin while I puke." He saw the worried look on Eric's face. "It's okay, that was only the first few days while they were trying to get my meds balanced out. I'm okay now…well, as okay as I can be with two holes in my chest." He let go of Eric and lay back against the pillows.
Eric made a quick decision. "Move over," he said, sitting down on the bed and stretching out beside Deeks. He carefully slid one arm around Deeks's shoulders and pulled him close. "There. Once the doctors clear you, I promise to touch you on every part of your body. But until then…"
"That'll do for me," said Deeks, letting his head fall against Eric's chest. "But I'm gonna hold you to that promise!"
They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Eric spoke. "I overheard Kensi talking to Callen today. She was asking if Hetty had sorted out your next of kin." Eric felt Deeks tense slightly.
"What did Callen say?"
"Just that he'd asked Hetty and she'd told them it had been dealt with."
"That's right," said Deeks, hoping that Eric would just let it lie. He really didn't want to have this conversation right now. No, make that *ever*. But definitely not right now.
"Anyway," continued Eric, "So then Kensi starts talking about how she'd asked if there was anybody you wanted her to contact. And that you had nobody."
"I didn't tell her that I had nobody," said Deeks. He reached for Eric's free hand and clasped it to his chest. "Eric, there's a lot of stuff about me that you don't know…that you don't *need* to know. Right now…right now, I'm not ready to lay it all on you." Deeks twisted slightly until he was looking up at Eric. "But one thing I do want you to know, is that the only reason I didn't tell her anybody to contact was because I could only think of one person that I'd have wanted to be told what had happened…and you already knew."
Eric's face lit up and he leaned in to kiss Deeks. "That means a lot to me," he said finally. "And about the other stuff...it can wait until you're ready." He wrapped his arms around Deeks, holding him close. "You'll be out of here soon. Back on your feet, back on your surfboard. We'll catch the waves together some morning, watch for the gulls coming in…" There was no reply from Deeks, and when Eric looked down at him, he saw that Deeks's eyes had closed again. Eric kissed him on the top of his head, then settled himself more comfortably. There were worse ways to spend the evening.
The end