Why Thor Is Responsible For Cayden Getting a Little T.L.C.
Chapter 2
A series of curses slipped from Cayden's lips as he collapsed onto his sofa, unceremoniously dropping his crutches down on the ground. Clenching his jaw he took several deep breaths, closing his eyes at the pain that throbbed through his leg. Finally the pain dimmed to a dull throb. Slowly opening his eyes the doctor grabbed the bottle of bourbon and glass from the table next to him, pouring himself a drink and downing it in one swig. As he went to pour himself another drink however his cell phone started to ring. Pursing his lips Cayden continued to pour his drink, deciding to ignore it but as he raised the glass to his lips he changed his mind. Returning the bottle to the table he grabbed the phone from the same surface and hit the answer button. Even in his dark mood he found his spirit lifted slightly by the name flashing up on the tiny screen.
"Hey… that you back?"
"Yeah, that's me back," Clint replied. "Doctor-do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do."
Cayden smiled wryly, taking a sip of bourbon.
"You've heard then?"
"Tasha filled me in," Clint confirmed. "You want some company?"
Cayden scoffed.
"I wouldn't be much company."
"I don't mind."
"Really Clint, don't bother," Cayden smiled wryly. It was not often he turned down the other man's company. "Go catch up with your teammates."
"Yeah… this is more of a FYI call… I'm guessing you're not able to move very far very fast so I'm about to pick your lock."
"What?" Cayden turned his head towards the main door, scowling as indeed he did hear a faint rustling sound. Letting out a sigh he returned his attention to his cell phone. "Look Clint I…"
The doctor dropped the cell phone onto the sofa next to him as he released Clint had already hung up on him. Downing more of his drink he set his gaze on the floor in front of him as his front door opened and shut.
"Hey…" Clint wandered in, making his way to stand in front of where Cayden slumped on the sofa. "God, you do look like you've gone a couple of rounds with Thor."
The doctor could not help but scowl.
"I don't need a babysitter Clint."
Clint's eyebrow arched faintly at the uncharacteristically blunt response.
"I'm not here to babysit you. I'm just here for company."
Cayden regarded the other man for a moment before shrugging and gesturing loosely to the many empty seats around him.
"Make yourself at home then. But like I said – I'm not going to be much company."
Clint shrugged faintly as he dropped his rucksack near the furthest away sofa, sitting himself down on the same sofa as Cayden although he kept a small distance between them as he sat sideways to face the doctor.
"So come on then. How bad is it?" he asked, deciding just to go for it despite the obvious bad humour at the subject. Cayden sighed and although he did not look right round at the archer he did tilt his head toward him.
"I'm signed off for at least two weeks but it's probably gonna turn into longer."
Clint nodded slowly. He guessed that there was also a stipulated length of time Cayden was supposed to stay off his feet but he got the feeling that asking that specifically would just get an overly defensive reply.
"'Tasha said the big guy came in to see you?"
"Don't worry – I didn't say anything about us," Cayden grumbled, turning his head away again to pour himself another drink. Clint blinked quickly.
"That's not…" the archer sighed quietly. "I wasn't worried about that. I was just wondering how you coped with the puppy face I'm guessing he had when he was apologising."
The scowl left Cayden's face as he took a sip of his freshly poured drink.
"Oh… yeah eh…" he turned his head to face Clint properly, his lips quirked in a faintly apologetic smile. "It is hard to stay mad at that face isn't it?" he shrugged and returned his head to lay against the back of the sofa, staring up at the roof. "I mean it wasn't his fault. Damned nurses just couldn't keep their paws off his chest and when I saw him stirring…"
Clint smiled sympathetically letting a short silence fall before speaking up again.
"Have you eaten yet? I haven't had anything but a couple of power bars all day."
Cayden pursed his lips.
"Don't have much of an appetite."
"Okay," Clint shrugged, moving to stand. "Mind if I order a take-away? I'll get a bit extra then if you do want something you can have it but if not…"
Cayden nodded absently as Clint shrugged again. The archer suppressed a sigh and turned towards the kitchen where he knew there was a supply of takeout menus. This was going to be a long night…
x-x-x
Clint glanced up from the tablet on his lap as he heard movement. He frowned slightly as he noticed Cayden shuffling slightly toward the edge of the sofa as if to get up, his frown deepening as he noted the pain etching on the other man's face. The archer kept his mouth shut however. His offer to help earlier that evening when Cayden had needed to go to the bathroom had led to a snapped response about still not needing a Goddamn babysitter and the mood had not really improved any since then, not helped no doubt by the fact that moving that far on his own had obviously caused Cayden great pain. Upon his return Clint had offered to get him pain killers but that suggestion had also been shot down.
For a moment silence reigned as Cayden sat at the edge of the sofa, eyes closed and arms braced either side of him as if to push himself up but he did not move.
"I'm going to call it a night," the doctor spoke up finally, his voice relatively stable although Clint noticed the pain laced through the tone. Cayden looked over at Clint with a faint grimace. "Could you… give me a hand?"
"Of course," Clint leapt to his feet, dropping the tablet on the sofa next to him. Moving to stand in front of the other man he offered an arm which Cayden grabbed onto although he took two deep breaths before he used the leverage to haul himself to his feet, immediately shifting his weight into his good leg. Clint slipped an arm around him, supporting as much of his weight as Cayden would allow. Slowly they made their way through to the bedroom, the archer carefully helping Cayden undress for bed.
"This isn't quite what I had in mind for when you came back," Cayden commented as Clint helped him out of his shirt although his face contorted as he found himself almost unbalancing. Clint paused to make sure he was ok before returning a wry smile.
"Yeah… I admit I was imagining it different while I was away too," he replied, relieved that Cayden was acting a little more like his usual self. Another pained hiss escaped Cayden's lips as he finally managed to sit down on the bed. Clint frowned concernedly.
"Are you sure you don't want any painkillers?" he asked quietly. God knows he hated taking them too if he could help it but if he was in that much pain…
To Clint's relief Cayden shook his head slowly, his face – although contorted slightly in pain – took on none of the earlier agitation at such a suggestion.
"I've seen too many guys become hooked on those things – from both sides of the fence," he explained. Clint nodded in understanding although his frown remained.
"Ok, that's fair," he acknowledged. "But… if it doesn't get any better how about maybe just a mild one then? Even just to take the edge off?"
Cayden looked the archer in the eye for a moment before giving a small nod.
"If it doesn't get better," he agreed. Clint smiled softly at the compromise as Cayden carefully shuffled under the covers.
"I'm just going to switch everything off and I'll be back through ok?"
"You can stay up if you want," Cayden half shrugged. Clint laughed dryly.
"I haven't slept for about forty hours," he replied. "If it's ok with you, I'm just going to go to bed too."
Clint turned and made his way back through to the lounge as Cayden nodded. Quickly he switched off the television and the tablet he had been reading and made his way back to the bedroom, grabbing Cayden's crutches and flicking off all the lights on the way. Leaving the crutches within Cayden's reach he quickly undressed and carefully clambered into the opposite side of the bed. A faint frown returned to his face as he lay on his side, facing Cayden but keeping a distance between them for fear of jarring his body. This was the first time he had ever stayed the night without the two having sex first…
The archer pulled the frown from his face and offered a small smile as Cayden rolled his head towards him, shuffling his body slightly to be a little closer.
"I missed you when you were away," the doctor said quietly, an arm reaching out to trace fingers lightly down Clint's arm. Clint chuckled quietly, remembering now how earlier that day he had been on the verge of a freak out about this very matter. He decided not to tell Cayden that Thor crippling him had prevented that. Maybe in a few weeks when he would be able to laugh about it…
"I missed you too," he admitted instead, leaning forward and brushing his lips over Cayden's, relieved as he leant into the kiss. "Good night."
"Night Clint."
