p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6110a265d09d42e691887ba391fc7f71""Jensen...can you hear me?" I peered hard at his face, gently stroking his lens implants. Doc had given me the go-ahead to reboot him, and my nerves were thoroughly worked. I feared permanent damage to his augs and his organic body. I watched as he turned his head a bit, and heard him moan softly. "Shh, don't talk...and don't move too much." I said. "Where...am I?" he asked. "You're in the hospital...you had a particularly bad injury. Something about your workplace." "Sarif, Megan...mom...what's happening?" I got a bit nervous. "Doc, come here please." I said in a harsh whisper into my smartwatch. Doc was at my side in moments. "What's the matter?" "He's mumbling about Sarif, his ex, and his mom...he seems...dazed. Is that normal? Is he okay?" Doc scolded me with his eyes. "He was comatose for some time...of course he's dazed. Give him a bit." I watched Adam's eyes blink. His ocular implants seemed to be booting up slower than everything else. "Can I bring you anything? A drink? Food?" He made a sound that was a ghost of a groan with the start of a wretch. I looked at Doc, still nervous. "Calm down, (y/n). He's fine. This is not like waking up an organic person." His wounds looked a bit better, but everything else was so unsure to me. Eventually, his eyes opened and stayed open, and he took a few stable breaths. He stared off into space like he was thinking hard about something. "Adam, how do you feel?" "Like ten pounds of shit in a five pound bag." he replied, putting his hands to his face, rubbing his healing scars. "I spent fucking years getting used to my new body...and I feel like the first time I woke up after being augmented." I'm not sure when Doc plans to relase you, but it'll probably be a few days." "Fuck Doc. I'm not even sure why he's my doctor to begin with. He doesn't understand my body.." He struggled to sit up. "I'm out of here, I've got work to do." "Adam, wait. You've been out for almost a week and a half." he shrugged, rising to his feet shakily. He realized he was completely nude. "Where are my clothes?" he asked, not the least bit ashamed. "I don't know, Adam. Lay back down...please, you're not well enough to go home yet." He tried to take a step, only to nearly collapse. I helped him back into bed and covered him with blankets. He looked at me, panting, wearing a look of annoyance on his face. "I'm gonna sleep this off. When I get up, my things had better be in the chair you're sitting in because I'm going home. Fuck this." His breathing slowed and before too long, he was snoring lightly. I told Doc about the encounter. "So the clank woke up with an attitude? So what? I was expecting it." "Doc, clank is...a derogatory remark." "I'm well aware of what it is. I'm not really a big fan of the augmented. If you ever have a son who is killed off by an insane clank, you might understand. This stays between us, any cries of discrimination and my career is over. I can't have that. You can't either, because you'll go down with me. Besides, you know because of certain...laws...I have to treat the clanks like the organic humans and I'm a man of laws. I take care of them despite not being a fan." I was shocked. I knew Doc and his late wife had a son, but I had no idea he died because of an aug attack. I was told he had a vehicle accident. Perhaps Doc referred to the aug as a vehicle. "Are you just going to stand there with your mouth wide open or go to work? There are other machines here needing you to oil them up or whatever it is you do." "I'll go to work, but first, where are Jensen's things?" Doc disappeared into a private room and came back holding a bag with Jensen's name on it. "Here. Take it. Better you having to give it to him than me. The less time I spend around clanks, the better I feel." I took the bag and thanked him, dropping it quietly into Adam's room on my way to make my rounds. I made my rounds quickly and quietly, making sure everyone was doing well. As I made my way back to Adam's room to hopefully speak with him, I heard arguing. Loud arguing. It was Doc and Adam going at it. "I have work to do, you can't keep me here." Adam snarled in his smooth, calm voice. "You can barely walk, Jensen, you're a trainwreck. The ONLY and I mean ONLY way I'm letting you out is if you hire a caregiver to help you recover. I don't have any recommendations for you for a caregiver. I don't work with any caregivers." Adam protested loudly, and I made my way into the room. "I'll help." I said. Doc shot me down, but Adam didn't. "Fine." he replied. "I'll take her to get the hell out of here with no trouble. I hate being knocked out and I hate hospitals." "She cannot go." Doc said. "She's my employee and my best biomedical engineeer. It's gonna take you two months of rehab at minimum before you'll be okay alone." "Doc, let me go." I said softly. "No. I cannot excuse you for two months to provide homecare. It doesn't satisfy the needs of the practice." I looked at Adam. Time to go the full monty. I have to learn from him. It's the only way I'll ever be complete. "Then I guess this is my last day." I said. "What!? You can't leave!" Doc protested. "I can't stay either, you said so." "(Y/N), I cannot grant you two months off in a row. That is all. I can't do that for anyone. The practice would fail, it's as simple as that." "But Adam needs two months of home care. The choice is obvious. Help Jensen." "You are out of your mind. That clank over your career?" I looked at Adam. "I made the right choice." I said. Adam's gaze was softer than usual, but still stern as if he was puzzled and annoyed about something at the same time. "Come on, Jensen." I said, helping him up. Doc silently watched me help him get dressed, before throwing his hands up and leaving. "Why?" Adam asked. "At your last appointment you screamed at me...made me question a few things. Made me understand that I should be more careful with my career...pay more attention to where my work goes...be less judgemental...at first I pursued you because I thought I could save you from yourself...but you don't need that. You need to teach me." Adam was quiet. "Let's go to my place. I need a shower and some food." he replied. I helped him to the bus and we sat in silence among the few and far between passengers. I looked at Adam's stern face, and hoped he wouldn't catch me staring. How did I miss his attractiveness? It's so obvious. I looked away as we reached his apartment complex. We both looked at the stairs to his apartment building. What a daunting task for a man with injuries like Adam's. "This was your choice." he replied. I sighed and vowed that I'd get him to his apartment no matter what, and fifteen painstaking minutes later, I had accomplished exactly that. I panted as I opened his door, flipping the lights on and letting Adam hobble in. He seated himself on the couch for a moment to rest. Poor guy really was beat up. "Thanks for getting me out of there." he said, lighting a cigarette. "I've got a thing against being hospitalized." he took a long drag, and coughed a bit. "Maybe you ought to stop smoking." I scolded. He ignored me and took another drag, pouring himself some whiskey. I got a bit nervous. In his medical file, he's listed as a problem drinker. I know his current shape is a problem, but if he becomes drunk, it's gonna be really hard for me to handle him. He stood and made his way into the bathroom. "I'll call if I need anything." he said, his rough voice becoming lower and softer. He closed the door behind him, and I began tidying up. I washed his bowls, they had dried cereal stuck all over them. I mopped the floors, they hadn't been cleaned in ages. All the cigarette butts, empty bottles, and junk I found I bagged up and tossed into a bin. I was making major progress. I trotted into his bedroom and made his bed. I continued cleaning up until I heard the water in the shower stop. I seated myself on the couch and waited. When he emerged in a cloud of steam with a towel wrapped tightly around his hips, he said nothing about the new, cleaner state of his apartment. "I cleaned up a bit." I said, as he lit another cigarette. He looked around. "Thanks, (y/n). I guess I should've done that." he said. He made himself a bowl of cereal, offering me one. "No thanks." I replied. "I'm not a cereal eater." I watched as his hands shook feverishly. He growled. "My system is producing a lot of error messages." he said, turning to me. "Is there anything you can do?" I gently examined his augmentations. "Looks like a calibration error." I said. "Nothing major, lie on your stomach." He rolled onto his stomach and I went to work. "Just a bit more." I said calmly, messing around with a few wires. He grunted, obviously a bit uncomfortable. "Sorry." I replied, trying to hurry. I finished, and let him up. He moved his arms, made a few fists, and twisted around. He looked at me. "Thank you." he said in a calm voice that had sincerity and compassion in it. The likes of which I'd never heard from him. We might just make a great team here before long. "I need to sleep. I have work to do tomorrow." he said, getting up. "Should I...should I go home?" he looked out the window at the black sky. "No. Stay. It's late. It isn't safe for you to wander around outside alone this time of night in this area." he said, walking into his bedroom and closing the door behind him softly. I suppose that's progress. I spread out on the couch and tried figuring out how to accompany him to work tomorrow...and what kind of groceries to get because he can't live off of cereal./p
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