Thawed

December 7th, 2077

Everett Memorial Hospital

Wellington, Ohio

"I'm pulling the plug, Janice." The words that came out of James' mouth made her expression turn to disdain. She turned to see him leaning against the wall, a frown plastered on his face. Janice exhaled and rubbed her temples. Why did she think bringing him along would be a good idea? At first it was out of loneliness, but over the past few days, comments like this had become more frequent. Still, she did enjoy his presence when she checked up on Luke, even if James could be a total ass sometimes.

Where could she even begin with Luke? It was a miracle he had survived the surgery, but his leg had to be amputated. According to the head surgeon, due to the lack of care and the being exposed to infected water, it had become severely contaminated. It was a tough decision for them to make, but Alvin had brushed it off with the idea of giving him an artificial limb.

Alvin had a serious case of denial. It was almost heartbreaking to see him so positive about that state of the formerly frozen man. Even with the extremely real prospect of brain damage, Alvin still beamed when he came in to visit him, and every time he was disappointed when Luke did nothing. Even his wife, Aiko, had called her over concerns of her husband's well being. It almost seemed cruel to keep this poor man alive when he could do nothing, but heads would roll if they unplugged him. Alvin would certainly not approve of it.

"I'm going to pull the plug Janice," James said again, he was even more irritated.

"Alvin will kill you-"

"I don't give a rat's ass what Alvin thinks."

"You should," she frowned. "He's kinda your boss and the mayor of this city."

"This is ridiculous; we're keeping a fucking vegetable on life support." He slowly made his way to the bedside and stared down at the unconscious younger man. His chest slowly rose and fell and were so faint you would have to squint to notice. IV's and monitor straps covered his body; bandages were wrapped around his head, chest, and the stump of his leg. "He's never gonna wake up!"

"You think I don't know that, shitlord." She sassed as she made her way beside her companion. She couldn't help but smirk when she saw the fit tone of the patient. All that running and fighting gave him a muscular build that seemed to compliment his attractive face. "I bet he made a lot of ladies happy back then."

She looked away as she saw James get flustered; it took a few seconds for her comment to sink in. "Janice, what the actual fuck?"

"He's gorgeous and you know it!"

"I ain't into guys, Janice, especially not immobile ones!"

"At least acknowledge his beauty, James!"

"Hey, if you're into fucking basically dead guys, go right ahead! Just keep me out of your creepy ass fetishes…"

"James," she laughed, "I was just joking. Besides, I think sex were the least of his concerns."

"I don't know who would want to screw him with that lame ass caterpillar mustache." He replied with a completely straight face. Janice began to laugh hysterically to the point she snorted a few times; even James let out a smirk. "C'mon, that mustache is lame and you know it."

"In an apocalypse I'm going to assume people get desperate. The human race was pretty desperate; I don't think people considered facial hair a turnoff when it came to baby making."

"If I had a razor on me I would give this sonuvabitch a quick makeover."

"Makeover? What are you, A teenage girl?" Janice chuckled as she sat down in one of the chairs; her legs crossed. It was fun when James wasn't his usual serious self and showed he was actually human. "Like, you're at a slumber party or something!"

James went into a feminine pose and began to prance around the room. "Lucas, It's time for a make-over! Isn't 'Boyz Rule The World' just so cute? I think Jizzy-Swag is the hottest one! Let me do your hair and then we can talk about how hot the football team is!" He lisped and turned to see Janice cackling at his display. He couldn't help but chuckle at how ridiculous her laugh sounded; she was the only person he would ever show this side too.

"Y-Y'know what's sad?" She started as she tried to catch her breath. "I actually knew girls like this in high school!"

James burst out laughing at that comment and leaned on the chair she sat in. He wiped his eyes and turned to see Luke frown; it was probably just a muscle twitch. He smirked and made his way back to bedside, kneeling next to the wires of monitors. He chuckled as he saw Janice clutch her stomach and snort.

"Don't you dare!"

"I'm gonna do it!" He joked and waved his hand over to one of the wires. "Oh no, my hand is making it's way over to the cord!"

"Alvin's feeling a great disturbance in the force right now!"

"Watch him just burst in, like, right now and kick my ass," He laughed as his hand got closer.

"Just him going Street Fighter on you in the hospital room!"

"Give Lucas here some pompoms so he can be the cheerleader."

"And you can use his arms like a marionette!" She giggled at her own joke and shook her head. Alvin would not approve of this behavior. "Give him a kazoo and watch a musical masterpiece unfold."

"Hah!" James laughed before standing up. "What a fucking flake…"

It was strange watching Janice's face turn from a grin into a look of pure terror, but James thought it was part of the joke. He crossed his arms and snickered; she frantically looked around the room. "Okay, Janice, I'm not getting this one. Am I supposed to be laughing at your facial expression? Or am I supposed to be laughing at the fact you're horrified at him-"

He turned around to get a glance at Luke, but in a second felt something very hard hit him right in the jaw. It was a fist. After being dazed on the ground for a few seconds, he looked up at Janice to see her gaping at him like a fish. He gazed at the bed to see a sight that made him gape as well. There was Luke, who should've been very dead, cradling his hand and giving them a look of pure hatred and fear. Well, he wasn't a vegetable at least.

A/N: Look at these two baby nerds… James, this is what you get when you goof in the hospital. Also, LUKE IS BACK! Celebrate! Could this be the start of a new ship? I don't know, but these two are cute together… What would their ship name be? Janes? Jamice?