That night, Aramis only woke once to cough—with no blood involved—and in the morning, he seemed stronger.
"We should walk you around some," Porthos said. "Doctor's orders."
"With another bath afterwards, perhaps?" said Athos.
Aramis nodded, knowing that they were both right.
Both men helped him get to the side of the bed, and anchored him there with a hand on each shoulder as they waited out the inevitable dizziness.
"Has any of the pain lessened?" Athos asked.
Aramis nodded his head slightly. "My head aches instead of throbbing."
The others were relieved.
"Your ribs?" asked Athos.
"Not as much stabbing," said Aramis.
"So are the painkillers good enough, then?" Porthos asked. "Do they take away enough of the pain?"
Aramis nodded again. "It's not too bad when I remain still."
Porthos sighed with relief. "I'm so glad."
Aramis smiled. "If I'm asleep when the captain comes back, tell him. I know he still feels guilty."
Athos squeezed his shoulder. "We will."
The two of them pulled Aramis upright and walked him around the apartment. They were glad to see that he seemed stronger, and it alleviated some of their worry. They again assisted him with his bath—not wanting to risk him slipping with cracked ribs—and Aramis fell asleep afterwards.
Athos and Porthos went into the kitchen together and left Aramis alone for the first time since the accident. Porthos sighed as he sat on a barstool and plopped his elbows on the counter. "What a week," he said.
Athos nodded as he took milk and coffee out of the fridge. "I know." He proceeded to pour it into two cups before adding sugar. "He's recovering."
Porthos nodded, with relief. "Yeah, this is the first day that it's really noticeable."
Athos slid one of the cups over to him.
Porthos drank it with a sigh of bliss. "Best drink ever invented."
Athos nodded. "I concur." He went over to the bedroom door and peeked inside before coming back out.
"What do you think about this hiring d'Artagnan thing?" Porthos asked.
"I think Aramis is insane," said Athos, with a sigh. "And the most forgiving person on earth."
Porthos nodded. "Would you be okay with it? I mean, really okay with it?"
Athos wasn't sure how to answer. "Part of me says absolutely not...but the other part says that Aramis is the one who suffered, so the decision is his, not ours." He drank some more of his iced coffee before saying, "And...we really could use a lip-reader."
Porthos nodded. "Now I concur, with everything you just said...even though I'd still like to rip the kid's head off."
"There will be no ripping-off of anyone's heads," said Treville's voice as he came around the corner. "You left Aramis alone?" He sounded a little alarmed.
Porthos nodded. "We walked him around and gave him a bath. He's stronger and said that the pain isn't too bad."
Visible relief flooded Treville's expression. "Thank God." He plopped two suitcases on the counter, one in front of each man. "Here's the stuff you wanted from your apartments."
"Thanks," said Porthos. "I got first dibs on the shower!"
Athos nodded. "Go right ahead."
"Such a gentleman," Porthos joked, before taking his suitcase and heading into the bathroom.
Athos smiled slightly behind his glass. "He forgot that we just filled the tub. He'll run out of hot water before he finishes."
Treville chuckled before peeking into the bedroom and coming back.
"Porthos and I just discussed d'Artagnan," said Athos, as he washed the two glasses. "You really can hire him if you'd like."
Treville nodded. "The lip-reader thing makes it very tempting."
A sudden cough came from the bedroom, and they both hurried inside.
Aramis had a small towel over his mouth and his eyes were closed with a pained expression, as he held the pillow against his ribs. His cough sounded a little wet and made them nervous, even though the doctor had said that there could be a little more blood.
When he stopped, Athos took his arm and pulled his hand away, afraid to look at the towel. He gave a sigh of relief when nothing was there.
Aramis coughed again and cleared his throat. It was obvious that something was trying to make its way out of his lung, but it was being stubborn.
"Are you all right?" Treville asked.
Aramis took a slow breath, trying not to wince. He nodded, looking a little paler.
"Are you hungry?" Athos asked.
Aramis shook his head and closed his eyes.
They both stared at him for a minute, before realizing that he'd fallen back to sleep. The whole incident left them both unsettled, as Aramis hadn't said a single word.
"Maybe he was half-asleep," Athos commented.
They both hoped so.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Aramis woke a few hours later and was his old self again. Whatever had tried so hard to migrate out of his lung had apparently settled, for Aramis hardly coughed at all for the rest of the night.
Treville bought Chinese food and they had a feast.
"I'm gonna gain five pounds tonight," Porthos told Aramis, as he and Athos carefully helped him out of his bed.
Aramis smiled, trying not to wince as they gently pulled him to stand upright. "Only...five?" he said, taking a careful breath.
Porthos chuckled, holding onto him tightly as they waited for him to gain his balance.
It took Aramis only a minute, and he slowly walked with their assistance out to the livingroom, where they carefully deposited him into his recliner, placing a light blanket across his lap and legs.
"Anything in particular you'd like to watch?" Athos said, fetching the TV remote.
It took a few seconds for Aramis to answer, as he fought against the dizzy ache in his head and the pain spreading from his ribs down to his knee. "Rogue One."
Porthos looked at Athos with mock-shock. "Really? You're a detective and you couldn't figure that out? Since 'The Force Awakens' was the other day, obviously this time it would be 'Rogue One'."
"I was just making sure," said Athos. "He has been known to watch 'Force' twice in a row."
Porthos nodded. "True."
Treville brought all the take-out boxes into the livingroom and spread them onto the coffee table, before placing a tray over Aramis' lap. "I figured you wouldn't feel up to using containers and chopsticks," he said.
Aramis smiled at him. "Wise deduction." He looked at the delicious food on his plate…sweet & sour chicken, beef teriyaki, chicken fried rice, moo goo gai pan…his appetite hadn't been up to his usual standard, but he made an inward vow to eat everything that he'd been given.
Porthos put the movie on and they had a pleasant evening. Aramis managed to eat almost everything on his plate, and dozed off a few times. After they gave him more medicine and brought him back into his room to sleep for the night, he was a little loopy again, mumbling about Adele. He reached for Pusheen on his nightstand and fell asleep with her on his chest.
"If the circumstances were different, I'd take a picture to use as future blackmail," said Porthos.
Aramis woke coughing a few times during the night, with that wet sound again that they didn't like. Finally, at almost 6am, he had the worst coughing fit of all, groaning from the pain that it caused, but unable to stop for longer than a few seconds.
Treville sat beside him rubbing his back, full of guilt and wishing that he could take the pain away.
Aramis had his eyes closed, holding a facecloth over his mouth. Someone suddenly moved his hand away and placed a cup to his lips, and Aramis obediently drank, finding warm tea inside. Afterwards, he didn't have a chance to thank whoever had done it before his lungs spasmed again and renewed the coughing.
Porthos sighed from where he sat, holding the pillow against their injured friend's ribs. He looked at Athos, feeling helpless.
Athos felt the same way as he put the cup on the nightstand.
Suddenly, Aramis inhaled a shuddering breath before coughing again. The sound was completely different, and Athos reached over and moved Aramis' hand away from his mouth to see the towel.
As suspected, there was another glob of bloody mucus.
Each of the other three took a breath to steady their nerves, remembering that the doctor said that it could happen again.
Aramis was breathing raggedly, but the coughing had stopped.
"Are you all right?" Treville asked him, still rubbing his back.
Aramis blinked dizzily a few times, before nodding slightly. He hung his aching head and squeezed his eyes shut, and Treville pulled his head down to rest on his shoulder.
"The doctor saw this on the x-ray," said Porthos. "Right?"
Athos nodded. "Yes, near the lung contusion."
Porthos nodded, before looking at the clock. "But why did it have to happen both times in the middle of the night? We can't call the doctor."
"At least it happened both mornings that he had an appointment," said Athos. "Aramis?"
Their friend opened his eyes.
Athos handed him some clean tissues. "Cough and spit."
Aramis obeyed, wincing. To their relief, there was no more blood.
It wasn't time for more painkillers, but the doctor had told them that they could give him Tylenol if he needed additional relief, so that's what they did. After another comforting cup of tea, Aramis fell back to sleep.
When he woke hours later, he told them that it was easier to breathe.
"Really?" said Athos.
Aramis nodded. "Really. I didn't even realize until now just how restricted my breathing was."
"So that glob was in the way," said Porthos.
Aramis made a face, remembering how disgusting it had been to cough it up. "It appears so."
Treville was filled with relief. "I can tell that you feel better today."
"I do," Aramis agreed. "Has it really been a week?"
"Yes."
"Somehow, it seems longer than that but shorter at the same time," Aramis said.
"I hear ya," Porthos agreed.
Eventually, it was time to leave for Aramis' appointment, and they helped him out the door. He seemed a little stronger, to their relief, though the elevator ride made him dizzy again. It wasn't as bad as the other times, and they got him to Athos' car and helped him inside.
Aramis was quiet on the ride, and Treville was about to ask him if he was all right when Athos' police radio came to life.
"All available units head to the Main Street bank for report of an imminent robbery. Caller states that he read the lips of two men who are awaiting a third man to meet them before they go inside, and that firearms were mentioned."
Everyone in the car looked at each other.
"He read their lips?" said Porthos.
Everyone listened to the radio as the dispatcher was acknowledged by nearby patrolmen, and by the time Athos drove into the hospital parking lot, the bank robbery had been thwarted.
Aramis wasted no time in texting d'Artagnan. Did you just lip-read some bank robbers?
The reply was immediately. Yeah, that was me!
Where was the bank? Aramis replied, just to make sure.
Main Street.
"It was him," Aramis told the others.
Are you feeling better? suddenly popped up.
Aramis smiled. Yes. Good work; Captain Treville will be in touch with you.
Are you loopy or do you really mean that?
Aramis chuckled. Not loopy, and I mean it.
Awesome! Thanks!
The others couldn't believe that Aramis was laughing with the man who'd almost killed him, and each of them admired his capacity for forgiveness.
"What was that all about?" Porthos asked, as he carefully helped him get out of the car.
"I told him that the captain will be in touch with him," said Aramis. "He's excited."
Treville rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll call him this afternoon."
Dr. Harris met them at the door, and smiled as they came in. "Well, you're looking better," he said to Aramis. "Think you can walk to the exam room?"
Aramis hesitated for only a second before nodding.
They kept the pace slow and Aramis made it, though he was limping and breathing harder once they arrived.
"Not bad, considering," said Harris, as they helped him sit on the table. He took out his stethoscope and listened to Aramis' lungs. "Not much congestion," he said.
"He coughed up what you saw on the x-ray," Treville told him.
"Was it bloody?" Harris asked.
Everyone nodded.
"He said that breathing is easier now," Porthos said.
Harris nodded. "Excellent news; it appears that you're on the mend, Aramis."
"Thank God," Treville said, with a relieved sigh.
They brought Aramis home and put him to bed, as he needed a nap after the exertion of walking around the hospital.
Treville kept his word and called d'Artagnan, who was very eager and said that he was free that afternoon. They set a meeting for 1pm, and he was there five minutes early.
"Can I just say before we begin," said d'Artagnan. "I know that this whole 'hired' thing started because Detective d'Herblay was loopy on morphine, and I just wanted you to know that I'm not—and never was—holding anyone to it."
Treville nodded. "I know. He told us that you're a professional lip-reader, and I admit that we can definitely use someone with that skill in our department."
D'Artagnan smiled and placed his resume on Treville's desk, sliding it over to him.
Treville looked it over, seeing that he'd graduated high school and college early with highest honors. He then brought up a surveillance video on his computer and turned the monitor towards him. "Can you tell me what these people are saying?"
D'Artagnan watched two men speak to each other as they walked towards the camera, oblivious to its presence. "They're discussing an arms deal for guns on the black market."
Treville's eyebrows shot up. "Yes, they are. I guess I didn't need proof of your lip-reading ability after the bank robbery that you thwarted today."
D'Artagnan smiled again. "So when do I start?" he joked.
Treville chuckled and handed him some paperwork. "Fill this out. We have to do a background check, references, that sort of thing. You do realize that you'll have to attend police academy?"
D'Artagnan's jaw dropped. "I hadn't thought of that! So I'll be an actual cop then."
Treville nodded.
"Wow," d'Artagnan said. He filled the forms out quickly and handed them back.
Treville glanced over them quickly to make sure he hadn't missed anything. "I'll call you in the morning."
D'Artagnan was ecstatic. "Thank you so much!" He reached over to shake Treville's hand. "And tell Detective d'Herblay that I said thank you! Oh wait, I can text him..." With that, he left Treville's office with his phone already in his hand.
Treville smiled and shook his head. He had a feeling that d'Artagnan would fit right in with his other three troublemakers.
TBC