Chapter 16: Cisco's Dilema - December 25, 2013 evening
Family sucked. At least, his family sucked. Cisco wasn't sure if all families sucked or if just his family was awful. All he knew was that a day that was supposed to be all about family, love, and giving, had turned into something he'd rather not remember. He'd known that at some point the family might talk about what had happened at the lab. What he hadn't realized, was that the entire day would be spent hating on Doctor Wells and S.T.A.R. laboratories in general. The final straw had come when Cisco realized he had a missed call from Caitlin. He'd stepped into the other room to listen to her voice mail, that Doctor Wells would not be going home for Christmas. As he clicked off his phone he'd noticed that his family had apparently been listening in, he really needed to turn down the volume on his voicemail. Cisco's worry about his boss was quickly replaced with anger when his mother said that Doctor Wells deserved to suffer for what he had done to the city.
Without saying anything else, Cisco had left. After spending the ENTIRE holiday defending himself, his coworkers, and his boss to his family, Cisco couldn't take anymore. He'd left and headed straight to the hospital to find out what was going on with Doctor Wells. Caitlin's message had been cryptic, just that there had been complications and that Doctor Disco had decided against sending Harrison home. Cisco wanted details. He had no idea what kind of complications could arise for someone in Doctor Wells's condition. His need to see the older man had nothing to do with the tears that had been streaming down his face. The Ramon family sending all positive emotions towards Dante and negative crap Cisco's way had nothing to do with his hospital visit. Right?
A nurse stopped him as he paused at Harrison's door, handing him a mask to hook over his ears and across his face. He put the mask on his face, wondering if the old cloth ones were more comfortable than the disposable one he was wearing. He then chastised himself as he realized that they had him wearing the mask to protect Doctor Wells, which couldn't be a good sign. Terrified of what he was stepping into, Cisco knocked at the door and entered after a moment. He wasn't certain if Doctor Wells would be awake or if Caitlin would be there. It was fairly late and he'd not told either that he was coming.
The main lights were dimmed but the light by the bed was still illuminated. In the bed beneath the light, Doctor Wells was awake. The older man had the head of the bed up and he was studying something on the laptop Cisco had brought him. Wires snaked under the blankets presumably to the occupant's chest, and oxygen tubing ran across his face and under his nose. The volume on the monitor was off in the room, but Cisco could see the readout. There was an oxygen reading as well and Cisco entered as Harrison was grumbling about the sensor on the tip of his finger.
"Stupid pulse oximeter," Doctor Wells muttered. He leaned back as he fiddled with the offending instrument which was clamped over his finger and Cisco gasped softly as he got a good look of his boss. Hearing the sound, Doctor Wells looked up, blinking as he turned on the main lights. "Mr. Ramon, I wasn't expecting to see you today."
"I'm sorry, Doctor Wells," Cisco began, feeling like a total tool. Here he was, upset about everything else, when his boss was struggling to recover from the explosion not just mentally, but physically. The use of Cisco's last name told him that whatever friendship the two had shared, it had blown up in that explosion as well. "I just thought I'd look in on you. I didn't mean to bother you." He turned to flee, but a calm, soft voice called him back.
"Cisco, what happened? What's wrong?" The entire tone of Harrison's voice changed and Cisco turned back to see concern painting the older man's face. "Did your family do something?"
The engineer shuffled back into the room, pausing at the foot of the bed. "Am I talking to my boss Doctor Wells, or my friend Harrison?" He couldn't believe he actually asked the question, but he HAD to know.
"Well, since S.T.A.R. laboratories has blown up, I'd say that your friend is asking. I'm pretty sure I'll never be anyone's boss again." Cisco started to counter, to tell Harrison not to think like that, but the older man waved him silent. "It's okay, Cisco. I'm not being negative. I'm just honestly telling you. I don't know that I want to risk anything like the accident ever happening again, because of me and my research." He rearranged tubing and wires and shifted over in the bed. "Come here. Tell me what's going on inside that crazy engineer's mind of yours."
"I'm not sure I should," Cisco began, tears pricking at his eyes. He'd lost so much in the explosion. Knowing his friendship with Harrison stood had broken the damn he'd built across his mind and he was completely drowning in the flow of emotions.
"Cisco, I have pneumonia, and my doctor is already aggressively treating it. You won't break me. Please. Doctor Snow only treats me like a patient, Chris won't talk to me, and I can't face Sharon and Jesse right now. I'm not sure Jesse will ever talk to me again." Harrison patted the side of the bed again. "Please, I could use a friend right about now." Smearing the tears across his face in an attemtp to wipe them away, Cisco gingerly crawled into the bed, a little surprised at how little of it Harrison took up. The young man rolled onto his side and realized that Harrison had his back turned into the corner of the bed and the railing.
"What's going on with Jesse?" Cisco asked, still not ready to tell Harrison about everything he'd endured in the two weeks since the accident.
"Her family was in an accident the night of the explosion," Harrison answered, pausing to take a shallow breath. He was breathing easier with the oxygen and medications. Doctor Disco knew his treatments. "Her mother, father, and the twins all died. Jesse and little Harry survived and are now living with their grandmother. Sharon asked me for help, but I'm not in a very good position to help at the moment."
"I'm sure she understands," Cisco replied, studying the pale face and blue eyes. He could tell that Harrison wasn't feeling well. The man was easier to read than usual. Cisco's eyes widened in understanding. "You haven't told her yet. Does she even know you're in the hospital?" Harrison managed an almost shrug. "Harrison, why won't you tell people? I mean, you didn't tell Chris, you haven't told the only family you have left. Why?"
"I don't want their sympathy. I don't want to be a burden. They're already hurting so much," Harrison yawned, seeming to relax some. "I'm sorry, Cisco. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed human contact. The nurses are so clinical and Doctor Snow seems afraid I'll break." He appeared to be breathing easier and Cisco realized that the other man was finally relaxing.
"Harrison, have you slept much?" The younger man leaned in, trying to figure it out for himself. There were dark bags under Harrison's eyes.
"No," came the soft response. "Sleeping means nightmares and being trapped in the lab." Harrison blinked bleary eyes and Cisco realized that somehow his presence was calming his boss. How had he missed how sleep deprived Harrison was? How had Caitlin missed it? The engineer knew. Harrison had been hiding it because he didn't want to burden even them.
"Come here." Shifting, Cisco carefully pulled Harrison close so that the older man could use him as a pillow. "I'll be here if you need me. I'll wake you if I think you're having a nightmare. You have to sleep if you want to heal and get out of here." Harrison resisted for a moment but then let his head fall on Cisco's shoulder.
"Thanks, Cisco," he mumbled. "An thanks for bringing me my laptop and a new phone." The words were barely out of his mouth before Harrison was asleep. Cisco felt the other man's body relax and go still in a way it hadn't been a moment ago. Peace slipped across the pale face as Harrison drifted off.
"Thank you, Harrison," Cisco replied softly. He waited a few moments before taking out his phone and taking a selfie. One he did just relaxed and the other he gave Harrison bunny ears. He texted them both to Caitlin. "Finally got him to talk to me some and get some sleep," he told her in the text. "Will talk to you and Doctor Disco about it tomorrow. Merry Christmas, Caitlin. Also, SnowWells is and always has been a total possibility." He couldn't resist teasing her about the chance of her and their boss becoming a couple. She texted back a tongue out emoji. It made Cisco smile. It was a good sign. Caitlin had been closed off for the past two weeks. That she was responding to his teasing like that helped lift his spirits.
"Cisco," Harrison mumbled so that the engineer wasn't sure if the man was awake.
"Yes, Harrison?" Cisco looked to the pale face, which he thought might have more colour to it now. The other man's eyes were still closed.
"Did you an Caitlin think I was the one engaged to Chris?" The words were sleepy and slurred. Cisco was almost positive the older man was talking in his sleep.
"Yes," he admitted. A soft chuckle shook the warm body snuggled against him.
"That's silly," Harrison whispered. "Why would I get engaged to Chris when I like," the name was cut off, mumbled in such a way that Cisco was positive Harrison was asleep. It frustrated the younger man, because he could hear any number of names in that mumble, including Caitlin's.
"Did you just say you like Caitlin?" Cisco wasn't optimistic, but he was hopeful.
"No, you did." There was a drunken chuckle and the man went silent.
"Man, Harrison. That is just evil," Cisco muttered. There was no response, so Cisco thumbed the control to turn off all the lights and let himself relax. If he admitted it, he needed the comforting human contact as much as Harrison. Trying not to think of anything, he drifted off to sleep.
Cisco woke to the phone ringing. Functioning on autopilot, he picked it up and answered. "Hello?" It took him a moment to remember that he was in Harrison's hospital bed, with the sick and injured man using him as a body pillow.
"Harrison?" Sharon Morgan was certain it wasn't her son-in-law, but the voice sounded vaguely familiar.
Crap, Harrison's phone had been ringing. Not his. Taking a deep breath, Cisco glanced at the calm, sleeping face, and then to the clock. It was nearly midnight. Pulling the phone away from his head for a moment, he saw the contact name and information. Well, at least Mrs. Morgan already thought he and Harrison were a couple. Hadn't Harrison said she'd always thought her son-in-law was gay? Shaking his head, Cisco put the phone back to his ear, keeping his voice low. "No, Mrs. Morgan. This is Cisco. Cisco Ramon. We met at Harrison's on Labor Day."
"Oh, Mr. Ramon. I was trying to call Harrison. He texted me to tell me he had gotten his phone replaced," she began.
"Yep, I brought it to him yesterday." Next to him, Harrison muttered something about fire doors in his sleep. "He's sleeping at the moment. Can I take a message?"
"Could you go to his room and wake him?" Sharon wasn't certain she wanted to talk to a man she hardly knew. This was a family matter and since Harrison hadn't admitted that he and Cisco were dating, she didn't want to burden the younger man.
"Sharon, I'm not waking this man up. I only got him to finally go to sleep two hours ago and that took me climbing into bed with him. Do you want me to have him call you back?" Cisco was trying to be nice and not tell her everything. That was up to Harrison to tell. Next to him, he felt his friend tense up.
"Ted," Harrison muttered. Realizing that it was probably a nightmare, Cisco pulled the phone away as Harrison screamed, "Cisco, Caitlin! Get out of there!" Harrison screamed the words at the top of his lungs, clearly desperate to help the trio.
"Harrison," Cisco dropped the phone and held tight to the flailing body next to him. "Calm down. Harrison. Wake up. That's over and done." The screaming triggered a cough that shook much of Harrison's body and seemed to wake the other man more than Cisco's words.
"Cisco?" Harrison gasped for air, coughed again, and then took a few, rasping breaths.
"Yeah. I'm still here. I didn't go away. You were just dreaming." The younger man studied Harrison intently. "Did you remember? You were screaming our names and said something about doors." He was going to push for answers but realized that Harrison was already drifting back to sleep, calmer now. "Don't worry about it. Just sleep." Turning a little, Cisco realized that the phone was still connected and on the bedside table that was pulled almost across the bed. He should pick the phone up and try to wake Harrison. He should also let Harrison sleep. Looking over the bed, he gently repositioned blankets and tucked his boss more thoroughly under the covers.
Certain that his bedmate was warm enough, Cisco picked the phone back up. "Mrs. Morgan?" According to the phone screen the line was still connected, but at first Cisco didn't hear anything. "Hello, Mrs. Morgan?"
"Yes?" The response was clipped and turse.
Cisco thought she sounded a little different. "As I said, I really don't want to wake Harrison. He's not been sleeping well and I finally got him to rest. I can have him call you later if you'd like."
"Why didn't he contact us sooner?" It was more demand than question. Blinking, Cisco realized that Harrison had told Tess's family nothing.
"He couldn't," was all Cisco could think to say. "I assure you that he contacted you as soon as he was able." He looked to the sleeping man and wondered if he should wake Harrison. Not gonna happen, he thought. "I need to go," Cisco decided.
"Of course," the voice sounded different again. "Do tell Harrison we called."
"I will." Cisco heard the line click off and he returned the phone to the table. Letting his head hit the pillow he considered the future conversation Harrison was going to have with his mother-in-law. How on earth would that go? Sighing, Cisco decided that would be a concern for another day. For now, getting Harrison healthy and out of hospital was the priority. Sleep would help with that.
He was starting to drift off to sleep when he heard it. "Thanks, Cisco. Happy Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Harrison," Cisco murmured and he drifted off to sleep.