"Good morning, Jason!" Geller said chirpily as he entered Jason's room. Jason groaned as he pressed a pillow to his face, his eyes not liking the sudden lighting
"How can you be so cheerful when it's six in the freaking morning? That's disgusting!"
"Four years of med school, five years of residency, three years of fellowship and my entire career, all powered by coffee." He answered in an annoyingly happy tone as he checked Jason's charts
"Bullshit. Coffee makes you bitter, not happy. That's why it's black."
"Just like your soul." Geller finished, chuckling. Jason made him a face "Come on, as if you didn't want to say just that!" He teased as he put the chart down and slipped on a pair of sterile gloves "Let me see your incision." He said as he lifted the covers and pulled at the bandage on Jason's abdomen. His hand ghosted over the stitches, checking for anything out of the ordinary. When he didn't find anything he turned to the nurse beside him and ordered her to change his bandages "Looks good. I'm going to take a sample of your blood today, and doctor Cassidy will see if you can go back to taking your medication." He said as he took a syringe
"Then I'll get out of this place?" Jason asked, hoping the answer had changed since the last time he asked, the day before.
"Then you'll go back to your chemotherapy, and if you behave yourself, don't injure yourself more and rest, maybe I can consider your check out in two more weeks."
"Since when are you the boss of me?" Jason growled at him as the nurse finished changing his bandages and Geller put a hand on his shoulder so he could lie back down
"Since I cut you open and stitched you closed last week."
"Good times." Jason grinned and Geller rolled his eyes
"Just rest, alright?"
"Yessir." Jason would've done a mock salute if his right arm wasn't hooked with a bunch of needles and wires, and his left hand wasn't busy flipping Geller off
Geller rolled his eyes again and gathered the charts after handing the blood sample for a medical intern to run in the lab
"I'll come by to visit you later." He said to Jason as he left
"Can't wait for it, Doc."
Jason tried to go back to sleep, but he had been doing so much of that lately he was getting sick of it. He wanted to go for a stroll, but the incision on his abdomen made it hard for him to even sit up, he really didn't want to find out how much it would hurt for him to get up and walk around. He laid on his bed and let his mind wander around.
Last week's events made it crystal clear for him that he wouldn't be able to go back to patrol until his treatment was over. He would need to find another way to make it seem like he was healthy and patrolling every day or the bats would get suspicious. His first thought was to hack into their systems and make his tracker signal go around the city, as if he was patrolling around. This thought was quickly dismissed because if there was anyone needing help around these areas no one would help them, because the other bats would think he was already there and they knew he hated when someone got in his way. His second thought was to keep patrolling anyway, but the scar on his stomach already discarded that option for him before he had even finished considering it. He could ask for someone to cover his area of the city for him, but the Replacement has already used the excuse he is travelling for him, to say he would need to travel for a long period again so soon would raise too many flags in the bats' minds. He could also cut all ties to the bats and go back to be his own man, but that would be just about the same as shouting at them that there was something wrong with him. Besides, he knew that if he did something like breaking his ties with the bats the Replacement would sure as hell spill his secret for all the others.
He stored this little problem in the back of his mind, feeling he wouldn't get an answer for that at the moment.
His mind wandered to other things he had yet to solve, like the ten open cases he had. Two of them were almost done, all that's left is to arrest the fuckers. He realized that was something he could ask the bats to do for him, since at the moment he was supposed to be in other continent taking care of things that were none of their businesses, as he none too gently had told Bruce when he called him the other day. He reached for his cell phone that was on his bedside table, and dialed the Batcave.
"What is it, Red Hood?" Came the gruff child's voice
"Demon. Haven't heard of you in a while. Alfred's finally letting you down in the basement?" Jason could help himself as he ruffled the young bird's feather
"Tt. I was never injured to begin with! I don't believe you called just to annoy me, so what do you want?" Straight to the case. Like father, like son
"George Raymond and Hellen Stone. I'm going to send you people the case files, all that's left is to arrest them."
"Tt." Was his answer before Damian cut the call off. Jason smirked, annoying people was the sole reason he existed.
He looked at the time, it wasn't even an hour since Geller came to do his rounds, and Jason was already bored. Thinking was giving him a headache, he turned on the TV and settled for the infomercials, wishing he had his credit cards in hand so he could buy some nonsensical shit he would never use
"Damn, that pan is neat." He heard the comment from the doorway and turned to see Cassidy entering the room. She sat on the chair beside him and handed him a cup of Jell-O, something that became their morning ritual
"You're late today." Was her greeting
"I had to take care of an emergency. One of my patients had a surgery and I wanted to make sure of everything that happened in it."
"Hmm." Jason hummed around the spoon on his mouth "By the way, is my blood test out yet?"
"No, it's still in the lab. No need to rush, you'll be stuck with us for at least two more weeks, no matter the results of it."
"Nah, I'll make you get sick of me in a week and then I'll be sent my way home."
"Is that your fabulous escape plan?" Cassidy asked chuckling
"Yup." He finished his Jell-O and handed the empty cup back to her. She put it in the bedside table, and fiddled with her short nails before asking the same question she's asked him seven times already
"Hey, Tim's here. Do you want to see him this time?" She already knew the answer, but asked anyway
"I do, actually. Tell him to come in." Jason's answer caught her so off guard she jumped from the chair and checked his temperature with her hands, not finding it out of the ordinary she got her flashlight from her white coat and went to flash it in front of his eyes, checking for signs of a concussion, but Jason batted away her hand before she could get it near his eyes "I don't have a concussion or anything. I just changed my mind for today." She bolted from the room with a quick command for him to 'sit tight she would be back soon', but came back a few seconds later and picked up the Jell-O cup to throw it away. She didn't want to risk Jason changing his mind, so she didn't even spare him a glance as she bolted once again from the room. Ever since the first day Jason's been hospitalized, Tim almost never left the waiting room. He would come in the morning, and sit on the hard waiting room's chair the entire day, then he would go out when it got dark and only come back the next morning. Cassidy knew he didn't go home to sleep, since he was always more tired when he came back than when he left, so she presumed he worked at night. She couldn't comprehend the fact that a son of a billionaire would work so hard, but then again, maybe that's how they stay billionaires, right?
She almost ran into the object of her thoughts when she passed the cafeteria, and almost drenched both of them in the hot coffee Tim was holding, but both were saved by Tim's quick reflexes. He greeted her with a sad smile, waiting for her to tell him Jason didn't want to see him again, already resigning himself to another whole day of sitting in a hard chair waiting for a chance that Jason's whimsical personality would get so annoyed at his insistence he would eventually allow Tim to go see him. He waited as she panted holding her knees, and she grinned at him when she looked up. The spark of hope made his heartbeat race a little, and the signs of lack of sleep were retreating from his face as the contagious smile infected him a little, making the corners of his mouth go up for a moment before he caught himself and had his face go back to a neutral expression
"He changed his mind today. You can go see him."
It took Tim a moment to comprehend what the doctor said to him, but he followed her anyway. When it finally clicked in his mind that Jason had given him what was surely his last chance to talk, he vowed to not mess up again.
"Will you stay in the room this time?" He asked uncertainly to the doctor beside him, acknowledging the fact that this woman who knew his brother for a little less than a month was already better for Jason than Tim and his family ever were to him in over a decade. He really hoped she would stay in the room, as a moral support to Jason.
Cassidy frowned and checked at her watch "Well, sure, but I can't stay for too long, I have an appointment with a patient in half an hour. Whatever shit you two have between you, you'll have to solve it yourselves." As they reached the hallway leading to Jason's room, Cassidy grabbed Tim's arm "Look, I can tell you're a good guy, but this is the last chance I'm giving you. If this time things end with Jason screaming at you to go away, you go away. You don't come back again, because even though I can't do anything about what happens to Jason outside this hospital, I'm the one in charge of him in here, and if this time I see you're doing more harm than good to him, I'll make sure you won't get anywhere near this hospital while he's inside here." Tim frowned at this woman. Who does she think she is to tell him off like that? He really wanted to put her in her place, but deep inside he knew she was right, the first time they met ended with Jason being rushed into surgery and the second time Jason ended up being sedated. With a nod, Tim walked the last few meters to Jason's room, and pushed open the door to find his brother engrossed in an infomercial, his cellphone to his ear as he told Tim's credit card information to the other side of the line so he could buy an electrical grill
"Hey, that's my credit card information!" Tim shouted at him and made a move to take away Jason's cell phone forcefully. Jason put a foot on Tim's shoulder to keep him away and put a hand to the microphone of his cellphone to muffle what he was going to say
"Are you really about to use force on the cancer guy who's just had a surgery?" He asked Tim with a judgmental stare. Tim backed off with a huff and crossed his arms in front of his chest, waiting for Jason to finish his call. Jason grinned, who knew the cancer card was so effective?
"Yes, I'm still here. The address is the one I told you before. Okay. Good." Tim tapped his foot impatiently as Jason finished the delivery details of his new grill. The older man grinned mockingly at him, showing he was enjoying annoying him
"Why did you use my credit card?"
"You're rich, you won't miss the money." Jason said as if that explained everything
"You're rich too."
"Not as much as you." Tim shrugged. It was true
"So, why did you suddenly decide to grace me with your presence?"
"I was bored."
"Well, let me amuse you, then." Tim sat down on the bedside chair. He crossed his arms thoughtfully, trying to come up with a conversation topic they could have with Cassidy still in the room "Oh, Dick finally broke your couch." He settled for that one. It seemed to have gotten Jason's attention, for the man sat up straighter in his bed
"No fucking way. How'd he do it?"
"He just slumped in it." Jason bust out laughing, surprising both Tim and Cassidy. The woman came to Jason's side to help him stop laughing when he winced at his stitches being pulled
"What's so funny about that?" She asked with a smile, not really getting the point of this conversation
Jason took a gulp of the water she offered him and sighed, chuckled a little more and rested the cup on the bedside table "Me and my "brother"" Jason used the word out of not having a better one to describe his strange relationship with the bats " made this bet that if he managed to break my old couch I would let him buy me a new one." Cassidy sort of nodded, not really getting what went on in rich people's minds "I've been reinforcing it with metal plates and stuff ever since then. Dick had tried every single move on his book, trying to break it. He even threw some dumbbells on it once, but the weights just rolled down to his foot." Jason snorted at the memory "And he finally breaks it with his fat ass!" He bust out laughing once again, not really caring at his stiches being pulled
"You two need a hobby." Cassidy commented, and even Tim joined Jason at laughing at her comment. If the woman knew what their hobby was, she would probably faint "What did I say now?" She snapped at them, not liking being laughed at. Jason and Tim were only starting to get their breath when they crumbled into laughter once again after taking a look at her "You know what, screw you two! I have an actual patient who needs me!" She stomped out of the room. Cassidy rested her head on the closed door, letting out a real smile as she thought that maybe this time things would work out between the two of them. She glimpsed at her watch and gasped at the hour, rushing to her office so she could prep herself for her next patient
"So, um, how's everyone doing?" Jason asked awkwardly when they realized they were left to themselves by Cassidy
"Good, actually. No one's been hurt in patrol since Damian got shot, which must be a record. Me and Dick have been covering for your section of the town, so don't worry." Jason nodded. He was actually grateful to them for doing that, since he hadn't patrolled on his section of the town ever since he fainted on the grocery store. Crime rates must have gone to the roof there. Of course he would never tell them how grateful he was, though "Actually, about that, I've got a proposal for you."
"I'm too young to think about marriage, Tim." Jason quickly shot him down. Tim wanted to whack the older man on the head, but thankfully he held himself down
"Sorry, you're not my type."
"Well, that's too bad for you, 'cause I'm a real catch."
"Anyway, I've been thinking about patrolling your section of the town while you're in treatment. What do you think?" Tim asked uncertainly
Jason pretended to consider his proposal, but he couldn't be more glad about the offer. He dreaded eventually having to get down to asking Tim to do that, so a chance for him to not stain his pride and still not let down on his vigilante hero was something that was almost too good to be true. Wait, it was too good to be true
"What's the catch?" He asked Tim, who looked as if he was caught by surprise by the question
"There's no catch." Jason eyed him distrustfully "Look, I don't want the people who live in your part of the town to suffer because of our personal shit. We both know that there's no way you can keep patrolling in your condition, and the only solution other than this is if I tell the others about you, which I don't plan on doing." He quickly added before Jason got any wrong ideas
"No catch?" Jason asked once again and reached out his hand. Tim was almost grasping his hand when he remembered something
"Oh, wait. There's two conditions, though." He said and Jason quickly retracted his hand, as if it had been burned
"I knew there was going to be a catch!" he accused
"A condition isn't a trick, Jason. I'm going to help you with the vigilante stuff, but" He lifted one finger "You can't go out to patrol, or I swear I'll spill the beans to every one we know." He lifted another finger "You let me help take care of you while you're being treated. If you don't, then there's nothing I can do about it. I won't tell anyone, that's your business not mine, and I'll still patrol for you, I can't let people get hurt because of us." He looked down awkwardly at his hand "That feels more like a request than a condition." He looked back at Jason "A condition and a request, Jason. What do you think?"
"It's a reasonable condition." Jason said after a moment of thought. He extended his hand for Tim to shake, and so the deal was sealed between the two of them
