I Own Nothing
AN: I wanted to move the story along so I skipped this chapter ahead four days.
CN: Brian takes Justin home with him after the hospital releases him.
Title: A Healing Hand
It was four days before Justin got out of the hospital after he woke up. Brian hadn't left his side unless it was to go to the bathroom. Debbie, Jennifer, and Daphne had come in to visit plenty of times during the days. Lindsay and Melanie had called to check on him since they didn't want to give anything to Justin since they both had a cold. Ben had come by as well multiple times checking on Justin. Brian hadn't bothered asking why one person hadn't called or anything. He knew that Michael and Justin still weren't getting along.
He'd told Debbie and Ben both that if he couldn't be nice it was best if he didn't show up. He wasn't even in the mood to be around Michael after what happened at the anniversary party. There was no reason for him to really see him knowing that Michael had gone on and on about Justin should have died. He had nightmares after the bashing that Justin had died. Those had come back after what Michael had said.
He had woken up multiple times during the nights while Justin had been in the hospital before bringing him home now. Justin had given him a look asking what was wrong. He hadn't wanted to say not wanting to stress Justin out. So he'd said it was just bad dreams from the last time. He wasn't sure if Justin had bought it, but he hadn't asked for details. Of course Justin had woken up a few times on his own thinking he was still back in the freezing apartment. He had calmed Justin's fears letting him know he was safe each time. His own nightmares had taken a back seat wanting to make sure Justin knew he was okay.
Ted and Emmett had brought Justin a bag of things he had wanted since he'd kept freezing no matter how many blankets he had. The hospital said they had to keep the room cold for healing reasons. He'd thought Justin looked cute with his fuzzy socks and gloves. He'd been taking Justin to the bathroom since he had wanted the catheter out. Because of the IV he couldn't have the hoodie on, but Justin had gotten into his favorite sweat pants. It had helped on keeping him warm. The nurses hadn't said a word about it either when he'd opted for the sweat pants instead of the hospital gown only.
Brian knew that Justin still wasn't at his full strength even if the hospital had let him go. They had given him four different prescriptions. He was also going to have to use the breathing treatments at the loft for awhile. They didn't want him to have a back set even though most of the fluid was gone from his lungs. Jennifer had dropped off the prescriptions at the pharmacy since Brian had wanted to take Justin straight to the loft. He had gotten Debbie to make sure that Justin's clothes had been washed and cleaned since they'd come back from Ian's. He didn't want something that could screw with his allergies lingering on his clothes.
~BJ JB BJ JB~
Justin hadn't even fought about the wheel chair or Brian carrying him in the loft right to the bed. Brian had ordered a brand new mattress for the bed two days before when he found out Justin would get to come home. Justin had said he didn't have to, but they had talked about a lot of things. One being the way things had gone between them. Brian had sworn when Justin woke up that if he agreed to come back he would throw out the fucking rules.
He only wanted and needed Justin. Justin was all that mattered to him not hundreds of guys to make more notches on a bed post. He'd gotten the new mattress along with new sheets getting rid of the old ones. He had also gotten new pillows and cases as well. There were a couple of other things he had gotten because Justin was moving back in with him. He had sent the duvet to be dry cleaned since Justin had said there was no way he wanted him tossing that out. He loved the feel of it against his body when he was naked.
Justin was soaking up the comfort from Brian even if he wished it was a different way. He'd prefer that they could have sex. That would be a ways away though because going to the bathroom and back wore him out. The doctor had given him an inhaler to use in case he needed it besides the nebulizar. If his oxygen count hadn't come up like it had he'd been talking about making him use oxygen at home for a while. His count had been up to ninety one that morning where when he had gone into the hospital it had been in the mid eighties.
He still felt cold too which had Brian putting two big comforters on him. Justin was also wearing a set of Brian's larger sweat pants and a hoodie that Brian hadn't even known was in his closet. Justin had known exactly where they were for him to pull out. It had been funny because he'd kept saying there were no sweat clothes there. However Justin, with his help, had pulled them right out. He'd kissed the top of his head telling him he was sorry for arguing. Justin had smiled calling him the twat that time. It hadn't been his sunshine smile, but it had been close.
While Justin had been in the hospital he hadn't smiled much. He hadn't even talked that much since his throat had hurt. There had also been the ear infection that Justin had which wasn't hurting as much. Justin's mouth had hurt too which the nurse had said that when sick sometimes everything just aches. Justin had kept a headache for most of the first two days. They'd kept the lights off and given him something, but it hadn't helped much at all. The third day he'd woken up feeling a little better. When he'd gotten to eat the mush food as Justin called it, the headache had really gone away.
~BJ JB BJ JB~
The first thing Brian had done though before getting Justin in the bed was take him to the shower. It had been over a week since he had one and the only thing he got at the hospital was a sponge bath that did nothing in his opinion. Brian had done it when the nurse had been trying to scrub too hard. It had been one day when the ones they liked weren't there. He'd asked her if she was trying to scrub the germs away by taking Justin's skin off. There was also the fact she'd claimed she wore a mask because he was sick. Brian had wondered if it was because she'd walked when he'd been kissing Justin's cheek. She'd been giving them a look, but he'd given one right back and she never had come back to the room.
The shower had been a task, but Brian had finally gotten one of the kitchen chairs letting Justin sit in it. He'd washed him before getting him to stand up to be rinsed off. He'd washed his hair twice because there had still been a lingering scent. It smelt like the hospital which had not been what Brian wanted lingering on Justin. Justin might not be able to smell, but he defiantly could.
Brian had been glad to get his own shower too, which he'd taken at the same time letting Justin sit in the chair. Justin had said he didn't to move until he had caught his breath some. He'd taken advantage of it getting a quick shower before drying them both off. He'd taken the blow dryer to Justin's hair even when he'd complained about it being too hot. He hadn't wanted him catching a cold or walking pneumonia because they didn't dry his hair.
He had also put some of the lotion on Justin after the shower because his skin had been drier than usual. His hands had been cracked like his lips were. Justin had kept licking them to try to keep them from being so chapped. It hadn't helped and only made his mouth red around it. Brian had been glad when Daphne had thought about the Vaseline lip balm. Justin hadn't liked it when he'd gotten his taste some what back, but he'd hated the coconut one that his mom had picked up.
~BJ JB BJ JB~
Brian kissed Justin's forehead which was almost the only thing showing under the covers now. Justin was burrowed into the cocoon of warmth that was the covers and clothes. Brian had given him his medication and let Justin get some sleep since he hadn't had much at the hospital since he woke up. The nurses and doctor kept coming in every hour or so to check on him. Every time Justin had been almost asleep someone walked in. Brian smiled glad that he had Justin back at the loft where he knew he was going to get better.
Justin had said that the new mattress was a lot more comfortable than the old one. Brian had gotten one of the best ones that was out there for them. Justin had only smiled calling him a label queen. Of course he wasn't going to settle for some hundred dollar mattress. He wanted the best not only for his self, but Justin. He had always wanted Justin to be happy which now he knew they were. Well, when Justin started feeling like his old self they would be even more happy.
He wanted Justin to sleep for a while so he went to make some soup. Jennifer had dropped off the things they needed when he mentioned he wanted to make some. The hospital food had been horrible and the first two days Justin hadn't even been able to eat solids. He'd been too sick to sit up so they'd given him what he needed through the IVs. He'd been on a mush almost liquid diet the other two days, but the doctor had said a small amount of soup shouldn't hurt him. He was able to swallow better since his throat hadn't been raw like before. He'd recommended homemade instead of what was in an already made can from the store.
Thanks to Debbie's recipe he had it covered. Jennifer had also been nice enough to pick up other foods and bring them by. She had been stocking the food for months since Justin started living there anyway. He'd been putting the money back into her account for what she'd spent even when she'd objected at first. He figured that even if Justin did eat a lot if he was living at the loft it wasn't her responsibility to always provide. Justin had one as well which Justin rarely ever touched.
He had to do something while Justin was sleeping. The medication he was on was going to make him sleep a lot. They'd had to change one of them though. It wasn't on his list of having an allergy to it, but Justin had broken out in hives. The cream they'd been aiming to put on him had been on the list though. He'd gotten Emmett to pick up the one that Justin used if he did break out for some reason. After that he had triple checked everything that they gave Justin. Thankfully they hadn't found any other problems while he'd been there.
Cynthia had also brought some campaigns he was working on for clients. She had also brought Justin a big basket of the muffins he loved so much. He hadn't even known that she baked them herself, but at times there were always some near her desk at work. Justin had nibbled on one the day before even though the doctor had him on the mush food only. He'd finished half of it by that night, but the other half had been put up for a later time.
Brian had done a few of the ads at the hospital with Justin helping him with ideas the day before. It had been nice working together again on something. It was wonderful just having Justin with him at all because he'd missed him so much. Before Justin had fallen asleep every time he'd made sure he knew how he felt. He was relieved that Justin looked better than he had when he'd found him with Debbie too. He had some of his color back not looking like a ghost.
~BJ JB BJ JB~
Brian had the soup half done when the loft door opened and close with a bang. He groaned hoping that it didn't wake Justin up since he'd only been sleeping for an hour and half. He wanted him to sleep until the soup was done, which he'd been told would be four hours on the stove. He knew that there was only one person with a key besides Lindsay and Justin.
Lindsay said she would call since her cold was almost gone, but the germs lingered for up to two weeks. Justin was in the bed sick not going to be coming in. Then again there was Jennifer who had his key in case he couldn't get to the door. However, she'd left earlier which left Michael. The one person he didn't want to see. He'd thought he'd made that clear for him not to come around, but it hadn't apparently.
"You finally left the little shit at the hospital I see. Good, his mom can deal with him." Michael said taking a seat on one of the bar stools. "Who in the world would let their selves get pneumonia? He could have gone to the damn doctor. He just wanted attention, which of course he got." He grumbled. "It's his own fault too for running off with the fiddler. He wouldn't have gotten sick here in the warmth of the loft. He just had to be a selfish prick thinking he could ever get you to say you loved him. You gave him a fucking place to live after what happened, paid for his damn school, and he wanted more. He tried killing his self if you think about it only so he could get you to show him sympathy. I would have left him on the couch." He said looking up at Brian who looked like he'd never seen his best friend look before. "I heard you got a new mattress too, it was good thinking Bri. You needed to finally get rid of that thing to let boy wonder know it was over for good." He added trailing off noticing that Brian seemed to getting more red in the face.
Brian wasn't sure which part of that had pissed him off the most. He should have known that Michael would go off at the mouth about Justin as usual. Things between them had been rocky as it was since he'd hauled off and punched Michael. He hadn't even said the words he was sorry to Michael yet the man had assumed that he was he guessed. He had been giving his former best friend the silent treatment for over a week.
Debbie hadn't even gotten on his case about owing Michael one which he was glad about. She'd understood why he was furious and hit him. The only thing she'd said about the subject was to do what he needed to do. Right now he was trying not to haul off an slug Michael for a second time. He was close though and with every word he was seeing his self slugging the asshole in the face.
However when he heard another sound behind Michael he looked past him seeing Justin standing there. He hadn't even heard him leave the bedroom. He had thought Justin would sleep for hours, but the door slamming had to of woken him up. Michael wasn't being quiet either which had him wanting to strangle him.
"If that is how you feel about Justin then do me a favor, GET THE FUCK out of this loft now. You are not going to fucking degrade my partner like that. He made a fucking mistake, we both did so you are leaving." Brian said going around and taking hold of Michael's ear leading him to the door.
"You let him back in what the hell is wrong with you? He's going to do it again, find someone to fuck and walk out." Michael said before Brian got the door open. "You didn't hear anything I said before did you? I thought you apologized because you knew I was right." He added.
"He almost died and if you're mom and I hadn't gone there to get him he would have. So I could careless what you say. I let him leave once I sure as hell wouldn't let it happen again. If you hadn't opened your mouth to start with telling me what he was doing he might have told me and we could have fixed it before it ever got that far. Go back to Ben and don't bother coming back. I love him more than you'd ever understand." Brian said before he pushed Michael out the door once he had his key. "I NEVER APOLOGIZED TO YOU SO FUCK OFF." He shouted the last words not caring he was shutting the door on a friendship. He only needed Justin in his life and Gus really.
~BJ JB BJ JB~
He ignored the shouts that Michael let out when he closed the door locking it and setting the alarm before going to Justin. He didn't bother letting Justin walk back to the bed he picked him up carrying him there. Justin had still been leaning against the door way to the bedroom. He got the covers back over Justin before he said anything though. He was hoping that Justin wouldn't have to deal with Michael's crap.
He had thought about talking to Justin about continuing the comic book, but right now he didn't know if it was worth Michael's crap to do so. If he was honest about it what he'd seen in the comic book was Justin and his life. He could always buy Michael's half to let Justin do what he wanted with it. He could find someone that knew about comics besides Michael.
"I don't want you to even think about it. Fucking forget that he even exists. It's what we agreed to do about the fiddler. You are supposed to be getting better so ignore what just happened. I love you and it's the only thing that matters. I'd hate myself if I hadn't gone there with Debbie to see if you were okay. I missed you more than anything in this world. I missed you more than I ever missed Michael when we weren't talking before you fixed it." Brian said before Justin could say anything. "I couldn't even sleep in the bed when you were gone." He admitted.
Justin smiled at Brian even if he hated that he was the reason Michael had been tossed out. "I missed you too. I couldn't sleep that great there because I didn't have you the way we slept. I ended up a couch so I guess we're kind of even on not being able to sleep in a bed being apart." Justin said giving Brian a look. "The soup smells good, I might go back to sleep for a while. The door woke me up and I was thirsty too." He said before he started coughing.
Brian helped him sit up knowing it was better to spit the fleam out than swallow it back down. Once Justin had it up he got him to blow his nose. He also got Justin something to drink helping him hold the glass. His hand had been acting up with him being sick so he hadn't been able to grip anything much in his right hand. Brian had talked to the doctor he'd seen after the bashing while Justin had been in the hospital. He'd said it would get better once he had recovered from the pneumonia. They had been glad to hear that since it had worried Justin; him too.
~TBC~
I have a question for my readers. I have this story finished, but I want to know for I can change the part in chapter 10 or 11. I want to know if you think that the comic book should continue. If so I'll leave what got, but if want another option let me know.
This chapter also grew in my final edit from 11kb to 19kb so hope enjoy the added parts.
