The amount of sleep achieved by the time the alarm clock started going off was not even remotely fulfilling. Not that it mattered one bit. Nick still had to get up and go to work. He dragged himself out of his comfortable, warm bed, and into the shower. It was only when he wandered through the dining room on his way to the kitchen to make some breakfast that he noticed something was amiss.

And then last night came back to him.

The sleeplessness, and the criminal involvement, the reason why there were still bloody paper towels on his table.

He made coffee and took a full mug and a pack of cigarettes out to the back porch.

It was a little after 10am, he had an hour until he needed to be at work. Which gave him plenty of time to stare at his poorly kept back lawn while letting an unsmoked cigarette burn out between his fingers as he became overwhelmed by the bad choices that he'd made last night.

Not that his actions were permanent.

He could still opt out of all of this- but not without repercussions. And he had suspicions that things would be a bit worse for him than just a little slap on the wrists.

He snuffed out the cigarette and focused on his coffee.

Coffee would save him.

Coffee made things better.

Or at very least didn't make things worse.

Nick went back inside, because he had to, not because he wanted to.

He made a second cup of coffee and some toast and brought them to the sleeping mess on his couch. Right where he'd left it.

Goodie.

"Rise and shine, princess." Nick sang softly as he set the meager breakfast down on the coffee table. Sure, it was a most likely a bad idea to antagonise the criminal with the big strong arms and all the scary scars- however, Nick was nothing but antagonistic in the face of abject fear.

Sam stirred beneath his blankets, blinking sleepily at Nick as he came awake and sorted out where he was and just what the hell was going on. " 'morning." He muttered in a sleep rough voice as he awkwardly pushed himself up to his elbows.

"Eat." Nick nodded towards the toast. "Then I'll help you to the bathroom. You need a shower."

"I… I don't need help taking a shower." He did take the toast though. Obviously hungry.

"Didn't say that. I said I was going to help you to the bathroom. I'm a doctor, not a nurse. You can clean your own damn self off. But you will get clean, because I'm leaving you in the bedroom while I go to work and you're not sleeping in my bed like that." Nick gestured to the disarray of the man on the couch.

The last bite of toast vanished into Sam's mouth. "I can stay here on the couch."

"It's too far of a stumble for you to get from here to the bathroom on your own without hurting yourself. I work a twelve hour shift and you're going to have to pee at some point while I'm gone. So you're going to the bedroom. But we're getting the blood and sweat off of you first."

Sam looked like he wanted to argue. Sam looked like he would be really good at arguing.

But he just layed there on the couch, head tilted so he could look up at Nick. And it was an odd look.

A very odd, very long look.

"Yeah, alright." Just like that, Sam agreed.

He could have argued.

Probably should have argued.

But Sam agreed.

And Nick helped him up off the couch, getting one of his shoulders under the younger man's and kind of serving as a crutch as they made their three legged way down the hall.

"You know, this is a hell of a lot easier than getting you out of the car was."

Sam kept one hand on the wall as they walked, the other arm looped comfortably around Nick's shoulders. The close proximity made it a little awkward as Sam turned a little to look honestly curious at the man supporting him. "How did you get me out of your car?"

Sam was actually heavier than he looked, and for a man who had to be well over six foot tall, that was really saying something.

"I dragged you." Nick managed to keep the smile he felt from his face. "I dragged you like a man dragging a corpse out to an empty field."

Sam just nodded like he understood perfectly.

Which should have been a bit unnerving to Nick.

But then he would have had to have a stronger sense of self preservation. And he did not.

Instead he walked Sam through his bedroom to the little attached bath. Sure there was a bathroom in the hall, but it had a tub and there was no way that the injured man would have been able to step into it. Besides, this arrangement would put Sam about six feet away from a bathroom should he need it while NIck was at work- with a nice sturdy wall all the way from the side of the bed to the bathroom no less.

It wasn't great.

Great would have been kicking the guy out of the car last night when he passed out.

This was the second best option.

Given the circumstances, Nick was willing to settle for second best.

"Here we are. You know what to do. I'll go get you something for the pain."

Sam steadied himself against the door frame of the little bathroom, balancing on one foot with his injured leg half bent and just kind of dangling useless. "I don't need pain killers."

"Hey, I can see that you're a big tough guy and all, but the longer you stand like that the worse it's going to feel. Having the option of something later'll be real nice. I'm not saying you have to take it. Just… you know. In case you want them."

"I'm fine." Sam insisted. Though, if he was fine then there wouldn't be that tightness in his jaw or the edges of his mouth as he struggled to play it cool despite the obvious pain he must have been in.

Nick sighed, wanting out of this as gently as possible. "How about I don't want to stand here watching while you make use of the facilities. It's really not my thing." Nick bit off the rest of what he wanted to say- realizing even before the words left him that offering to come back when Sam was in the shower to help him get at those hard to reach spots would really not help this situation.

Instead he went to find a change of clothes that might fit the giant man, as well as a bottle of probably not expired painkillers left over from when Nick had two wisdom teeth taken out last spring. Sure he had the morphine in the fridge- but he needed that for later. It would be a shame to waste it on the large criminal in the other room.

The water turned on in the far side of the house and Nick startled.

"Hey, don't get in the shower yet!" He yelled down the hall as he quickly gathered a few things from the kitchen. "You can't get your stitches wet."

By the time he jogged down the hall Sam had managed to do practically everything other than get into the shower. He'd shed his clothes and shoes, leaving his jeans and Nick's sweater in the neat pile on the floor. The shower door was open, pleasant steam billowing out. And there Sam stood, awkwardly on one foot, one whole arm already under the stream of water as he balanced himself against the inner wall of the shower.

"How am I supposed to take a shower without getting my side wet?" He wanted to know.

It really was a good question.

It just took Nick's mouth and brain a little longer than it should have to get on the same page and remember how to make words.

Because good god.

Nude was one thing.

Natural and easy and whatever. Not a big deal.

Especially not from a medical worker's standpoint.

And then there was Sam.

Nick held up the roll of plastic wrap and duct tape, waggling them in way of explanation on account of not trusting himself to speak. All the things that he could think of to say were very decidedly un-doctor like and best left unsaid.

It took a little longer than usual for Nick to slip into that detached, quiet, medical side of his mind- but damn it all, he still got there. And upon arrival to that calm and boring place he managed to carefully tape a protective barrier over the gauze he'd put in place the night before.

"It's not like the water would kill you, but wet injuries can become infected." Nick rattled off as he smoothed the last piece of tape down over the slat of Sam's hip. Unimportant information, because that is what you are supposed to offer up during benign procedures like this. They were nice and distracting.

In times like this distractions were welcome.

"There you go, big boy." Nick was so proud of himself for managing not to pat the man's hip as he stepped back.

Sam was looking down at himself… at that lovely lenght of himself that was all so nicely sculpted and so noticeably naked. He picked at the edge of the shiny silver tape. "What kind of doctor are you again?"

"ER. So a bit of everything." Nick made himself turn back to his bedroom, leaving the door between them open, but pointedly not looking. That man in there was built like the kind of man who didn't take kindly to lingering looks from other men. "I specialise in blunt force trauma. Broken bones. Fights. Horse kicks. A bunch of wives and kids who 'fall down stairs a lot'. That kind of thing." He made the bed, even if it was counter productive. "Though, this is Texas. So I've pulled out my fair share of bullets from drunk hunting trips or disputes with neighbors."

Wow.

He was actually rambling.

Nick hadn't rambled in years.

Was he nervous?

The shower turned off.

Hell. He was nervous.

This was stupid.

"Clean clothes." Nick said maybe a little too loudly as he set a tshirt and some sweats on the bathroom counter. "I'll leave you some food on the side table next to the bed. I've got to get to work."

Sam popped his head out from under the towel he was using to dry his hair. The smile he gave was a little strained, but it was still there. "Thanks, man."

Man

Yeah.

Ok.

These were not the speech patterns of the kind of person that you get nervous about.

"I'll put some pills out with the food. You can have one every four hours." Nick nodded, more to himself than anything else. "I'll be back around midnight… please don't burn my house down or anything while I'm gone. Alright?"

Sam smiled a little more.

He was better at smiling than he had been at frowning. And Sam was really, really good at frowning.

"I'll do my best."

"You're best isn't good enough. I want a completely fire free home when I get back."

Sam had dimples as he grinned. "Yes, sir."

It was possible that Nick had never left his house as quickly before.

Maybe he did have enough sense of self preservation after all.