Chapter 36.
They hadn't gotten any information on what was going on with Mike. Harvey had been patiently waiting together with Donna while all Mike was doing was sleeping. That was a good thing though, the kid was exhausted. He had been a wake a few times by now, but only for a few minutes at the time. He wasn't coherent when he woke up either, he would ask what had happened, where they were and then just pass out again.
Mike was connected to a hear monitor that for now was the only sound in the room. Donna was sitting next to Harvey on one of those uncomfortable chairs that they had at the hospital. The staff had been nice enough to get them another chair, so that they both could sit. Donna looked almost as tired as Mike. She wasn't wearing any make up, but still looked nice. He had suggested that she would go home, but she had refused.
"Not with him like this." She said. "He is going to need the both of us."
She was probably right. Donna hadn't mentioned anything about the fact that Mike had been alone when this happened. He had expected her to but was glad that she didn't. He already felt guilty enough as it was. Not that he could have known what was going to happen.
Mike woke up and was a bit more coherent the next morning. He had his eyes open but wasn't really moving at all. He barely turned his head towards them when they spoke to him.
"I'm really tired." He told them quietly when they asked how he was doing. "What happened?"
Harvey explained it to him for the fifth time, and hoped that Mike would just remember this time.
"It's okay Harvey." He said as his eyelids unintentionally slipped close again. "You couldn't have known." He forced his eyes opened again and locked eyes with Harvey. "You're blaming yourself, right?"
"No I'm not." Harvey stated firmly. But Mike's eyes just wondered over to Donna.
"Tell him." He said as his eyes closed again.
"Mike is right. You couldn't have known." Donna said and smiled a little. Harvey just rolled his eyes at them.
"Well, this idiot is of course choosing the worst possible moment to collapse. Of course it isn't my fault."
Mike just smiled with closed eyes. They continued the banter for a while until Mike suddenly stopped answering.
"Seriously, did you fall asleep? In the middle of our conversation?"
"Looks like he did." Donna said. "At least he seems a bit better."
"Yeah. Now it would be great to get to know what the hell happened so we can avoid it in the future. How long can a couple of tests take?"
It turned out it took two more hours, before a doctor came in and explained that Mike had most likely collapsed due to the immense pain he had been in. His body hadn't been able to handle it and had just shut down. They were told to be more careful and Mike was prescribed one more pill to take each night before bed.
Mike just groaned and said that soon he wouldn't need to eat anything because the pills would be so many that they would be equivalent to his meals. The doctor didn't think it was funny and spoke for five minutes about the importance of nutritious food.
They were also told that Mike's values were good enough for him to go back home, if he so wished. Of course Mike wanted to go. There were just one problem and that was that Mike was totally exhausted, not just in mind but his body as well. It was like it had been drained of all energy, because the kid could barely sit up by himself.
"How are you planning to get home if I have to hold on to you to stop you from ending up on the floor?" Harvey questioned.
"What? I have you. Right?" Mike said and blinked stupidly at him, causing Harvey to just roll his eyes again.
"Fine."
"See you back here in a few days Mike. We need to go through the results of the latest test. The last one will be here by then."
"Okay. Thanks." Mike muttered and they were free to go. After Mike had taken another nap. He fell asleep again by the time it took Donna to get a nurse to get a wheelchair for him.
"No, just let him sleep." Donna said as Harvey went to wake Mike up when she returned with the chair.
"Sure… He gets to sleep how much he wants, while I'm stuck on this chair." Harvey muttered. He was tired and hungry and couldn't wait to get home already and get some proper sleep himself.
"No, come on. I can walk." Mike complained when it was time for them to leave.
"No, you can't. Just get in it." Harvey ordered him and looked at him until Mike huffed and moved on the bed to sit closer to the chair. He actually looked a little frightened and Harvey stepped closer to him. Just in case. It turned out it was a good move, because as soon as Mike stood up his knees buckled beneath him, and Harvey had to grab him and practically shove him down on the chair.
"Yeah, excellent walking." He panted, he hadn't really been prepared and had almost dropped Mike to the floor.
"Whatever."
They got Mike into the car without any problems, and Mike fell asleep about a minute later.
"How can he still be tired?" Harvey asked as he buckled himself in.
"He is sick." Donna shrugged her shoulders. "Will you two be okay for tonight, or do you need me to come with you?" she asked.
"No it's fine. I got it. We will drop you off on the way."
"Are you sure you don't need help getting him inside?"
"Ray can help me." Harvey smiled. "We'll manage Donna. Thank you."
Harvey shook Mike away when they had parked outside Harvey's apartment building. Mike groggily looked up at him and then stretched out his hand. Harvey wordlessly took it and heaved the kid up, and then hurried to get himself under Mike's arm. Ray came over and took Mike's other side and together they started walking towards the door. Mike helped as much as he could. He stumbled once and would have fallen if it wasn't for Harvey and Ray.
The walk up to the apartment made him so fatigued that he refused Harvey's attempts to get him under the covers.
"Later." He mumbled and was asleep yet again. Harvey just shook his head, threw a blanket over the man and let him sleep. He made some coffee for Ray as a way of thanking him, and then fell asleep himself on the couch. He woke up a few hours later with a stiff back, woke Mike and forced him to eat and take his meds. He reluctantly brought the food to Mike's room and let him eat in bed, as Harvey sat down by the desk.
"Hey! Don't fall asleep while eating." He told Mike. "How can you still be tired?"
"I don't know." Mike groaned. "It feels like I haven't slept in days."
"Strange, because that's all you have been doing for days."
"Yeah. It feels like I can continue for like two more weeks." He looked at Harvey and then down at his hand holding his fork. "You know," He said. "Just lifting my hand to my mouth feels like I have weights tide to my wrist or something."
"I guess rest is a good idea then."
"I guess."
They ate in silence for a while before Mike spoke again. "How are you? Harvey."
Harvey raised his eyebrows at him, studying him. He let out a sigh. "I'm tired too Mike."
"Yeah." He nodded a little. "I guess you didn't get much sleep at the hospital, huh?"
"Not as much as you, that's for sure."
"Yeah, sorry about that." Mike said.
"Yeah you should be." Harvey said kindly, and Mike laughed a bit.
"Thank you." He said and fell asleep with his fork still in his hand. Harvey shook his head, finished his own meal and removed Mike's from his lap. He stood there for a while watching the kid sleep, at least until he somehow got Mike's voice inside his head telling him he was creepy, watching him sleep like that. Mike seemed to be a bit more stable emotionally at the moment at least which was good. Maybe he was just too tired to feel something. Mike's emotional state worried him, and he had a hard time understanding it, if he was honest with himself. Sure Mike was in a really tough spot with the cancer and the prospect of not surviving in, but Harvey didn't fully understand what Mike was so afraid of sometimes. But it pained him to witness it and to not being able to take it away in the way he wanted.
– SUITS –
It was weird to be this tired. How much could a person sleep, really? Maybe his body had decided to go for some sort of world record. The upside to it though, was that he didn't have any nightmares. Maybe he was just too tired to have them. Either way, it was good, but now he kind of wished that he would woke up and feel well rested instead of waking up and being just as tired as before. It was the weekend now so it didn't really matter that much if he slept or not.
Harvey spent some time with him in his room during his more lucid states and updated him on the case he was working on. It sounded pretty interesting actually.
"If you feel up for it on Monday, you can come and help with it." Harvey offered.
"Yeah, that be nice." Mike agreed. Hopefully he would be better by then. Not so tired.
After sleeping practically the whole weekend he actually felt better by Monday. He and Harvey talked about it for a while and they agreed that Mike could come to the office. At least for a trial basis, as Harvey put it.
"If you start to feel bad I'm taking you home." He threatened. "You know that Donna is not going to like this, right?"
"I can handle her." Mike assured him, Harvey looked skeptical but didn't say anything else.
Mike was tired and a bit breathless, but he was pretty sure that he would be able to handle a day at the office. It wasn't like he was going to do anything else then sit around there, just as he did here at home. He hadn't been at the office in what felt as forever and it would be nice to change the scenery.
Although, the last time he had been to the office he had been shot. He still had the cast on of course, which served as a daily reminder of what happened. But the shooting had brought on something else as well. Every single person at the office now knew that he had cancer. Even though not all of them had been present during the event Mike was pretty sure that those who were there had told everyone else. He was a bit nervous about going back because of that. After all he had made a complete fool of himself, crying and screaming and what not. It had been justified, but still. He imagined that if he would run in to some of the other associates awkward moments might arise. He did not want that. He had talked the whole thing over with Harvey and his advice had been to not give a damn about it. Harvey said that the other associates didn't have a clue, and didn't have anything to do with anything anyway. Besides Mike was only going to be working in Harvey's office, and no one had any business there.
When they passed in the corridor on their way to Harvey's office Mike could still feel their eyes on him. It felt like everyone was looking. He wondered what they were thinking. Were they thinking about when he was shot, or were they thinking about the fact that he had cancer? He didn't look at anyone and tried to not be bothered by their looks. Harvey didn't notice anything at all, at least he didn't comment about it.
Donna did not look happy when she saw them. She came straight up to Mike and blocked his way.
"What are you doing here?"
"I work here Donna."
"Don't even try. You shouldn't be here Mike, you were in the hospital three days ago!"
"Yeah, but I'm better now. I'm just going to sit around anyway, I might as well do it here."
"No, no no. You would be resting in your bed at home, not working at an office, Mike."
"Donna, leave him alone. If he gets worse I'll take him home again. Don't make a big deal out of it."
Donna's eyes narrowed and Mike took a few steps back. "You made her mad." He whispered to Harvey, who just whispered back to him to get into the office. Mike smiled and fled. Donna closed to door behind him with more force than necessary. He watched them talking through the glass, Harvey tried to defend himself but Donna wouldn't let him finish.
Harvey came inside a minute later. "If you so much as cough, we are going home and staying there until the end of time." He muttered.
"I heard that." Donna said through the intercom and Mike couldn't help but laugh out loud. Harvey smiled widely at him and sat down by his desk and opened up his laptop.
"Do you want to read through these? Make sure it's in order?" Harvey held up a bunch of papers. Mike knew right away what he was doing. Basically Harvey just gave him meaningless work. Of course they were in order. However, he accepted them anyway. If this was what Harvey thought that he should do, then he would do it.
They had only been working for about twenty minutes when Jessica stopped by. She seemed a bit surprised to see Mike but greeted him anyway with a smile. She asked how he was doing and told him to his surprise that it was good to see him. He was too dumbfounded to respond much, so Harvey took over.
She sat down and went through some cases with Harvey after that for about an hour. Apparently they had been Harvey's but now Jessica was dealing with them. Mike suspected it was because of him.
Donna came into the office a little before lunch and sat down in front of him where he was on the couch. She wanted to know how he was feeling and he assured her that he was fine.
"No, Mike. I meant being back here. Since…"
Mike squirmed a bit. He didn't feel like talking about it all that much. "I don't know." He said, realizing that she wouldn't let it go until he did. "They are in prison now right, they can't do anything, so…" He trailed off.
"Of course, but Mike what you have been through, it was traumatic and maybe you will feel better if you just talked about it."
"Donna, I rather not. I'm never going to forget it anyways, I rather not think about it at all."
Donna seemed to consider this for a while. She probably didn't want to let it go at all, but decided to let him off the hook anyway. She nodded and stood up again. "Okay. But if you ever want to talk, both I and Harvey will listen. I'm getting you some lunch."
– SUITS –
They had been working for a few hours now. Donna had left them alone after they had lunch. She wasn't at her desk now though. She probably wouldn't like what she saw at the moment. Mike didn't look so go anymore. Mike had been okay up until lunch, but after they had eaten he seemed to falter. He wasn't smiling anymore. He had before.
Harvey had to go through some bylaws that exceeded 130 pages. He had decided to give Mike some of the files that went along with the case and Mike had happily accepted them. Earlier he had gone on about how much he had missed to do some work, however he had been quiet for some time now. Harvey became engrossed in his own for some time, but then looked up to check the kid and what he saw made him get up from his desk. Mike was sitting on his couch, hunched down with his head buried in his hands, the files discarded on the table. His whole body was shaking, though he didn't make any sounds.
"Shit." Harvey whispered to himself as he got up and went over to sit down next to Mike. He put a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey Mike, you okay?" Stupid question really, because tension radiated of the kid.
Mike surprised him by basically falling into him as soon as he sat down. Harvey had to brace himself with one arm to not fall backwards. "Okay…It's okay…" He composed himself quickly and patted Mike's back with one hand and held on to him with the other. The kid was still trembling in his arms. He wasn't sure if Mike was crying or not.
"It's not okay." Mike whispered against him. "It's not."
"Let's go home. It was too soon. We can go right now." Harvey suggested, and Mike just nodded. They got up, got their things and walked out of the office. Harvey would have to text Donna later. For sure she would tell him I told you so. This was just what she had predicted, that Mike wouldn't last the whole day. Now Mike was staring down into the floor the whole time they were walking.
He was walking slowly and stiffly next to Harvey as they made their way towards the elevators. Harvey had to deliberately keep his pace slow, and stopped a few times to let Mike catch up. They got some weird looks from the girl at reception and some other people, but Harvey ignored them and turned Mike's back against the girl as soon as he could when they passed. After that he didn't dare to let go of the kid, because it felt like he would just crumble to the ground if he did.
"Can you even make it to the car?" He asked when they were in the elevator. Mike just shrugged, and Harvey got his phone out and texted Ray, just in case.
"Just sit down here for a minute." Harvey put Mike on a bench in the lobby and he obediently did what he was told until Ray got there.
"I can walk." Mike muttered when the two men grabbed him under the arms and heaved him up and they started walking.
"If you don't mind me saying, Mike, you walk like a new born giraffe." Ray told him and Harvey had to laugh.
"I agree." He said, and Mike just muttered something they didn't catch and let them lead him out to the car.
Harvey watched Mike from his side of the car. They had been on their way for a few minutes. Mike was leaning back against the head rest and looked out the window.
"Are you okay?" Harvey wanted to know and Mike glanced over to him.
"Yeah. I think so."
"Want to tell me what just happened?"
Mike shrugged his shoulders a bit. "I don't know. It just got a bit too much I guess."
"Yeah, in what way?"
Mike looked at him for a while before he answered. "Just being back there, you know." He said. "I know it's over and stuff, but I keep thinking about what happened. And also I thought that it wouldn't be a big deal to actually work, but… I don't know Harvey. It got too much."
"I think about it too Mike." Harvey told him.
"You do?"
"Yes. I do. I haven't passed that damn conference room since it happened." He confessed.
Mike just stared at him, until Harvey told him to stop. They then talked a bit more about the whole thing before they reached the condo. Mike also said that he hadn't been able to concentrate and confessed that he had a pretty bad headache. Who could concentrate then? Harvey asked him. It was also decided that Mike would stay at home a couple of days more. Mike was fine with that and Harvey told him that he wouldn't have to be alone.
"It's fine though Harvey. I don't think I will freak out every time you leave."
"We'll see about that." Harvey said, and Mike rolled his eyes at him.
Mike was asleep about ten minutes after they stepped inside the apartment. He had apparently been exhausted.
– SUITS –
When Mike woke it took him awhile to realize that he in fact was awake. He blinked a few times and yes, his eyes were opened. He was looking up into the ceiling. It felt like he hadn't slept at all, but he guessed that he had since the room was quite dark. His chest felt a bit tight and it was tiring just to push the air out of his lungs. He wasn't sure if he was able to move at all. He had a strange sensation in his body, like it weighed much more than it was supposed to. It was like it would take about double amount of effort to move even a finger.
It was unsettling but he wasn't that worried. It was not like he had anywhere he needed to go at the moment. He was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to walk, he even doubted that he would be able to sit up by himself. This had happened before though, that one time when he was just going to walk to the kitchen but had ended up on the floor having to call Harvey to come and get him up.
He was juts laying there, waiting for something to happen. He felt pretty okay. He could hear sounds from the living room that told him that Harvey was there, which meant that he wasn't alone. If something happened Harvey would help him out. Harvey really helped him a lot now, with practically everything. Harvey really had his back and all he had to do was ask if it was something he needed. He had decided to really do that, ask that was. How hard could it be? After all, he was really sick. He could feel it now. He wasn't getting any better, the opposite actually.
Thankfully the new painkillers he had received really helped to take the edge off. The edge off everything actually, they probably played a part in his current condition. But this was so much better than being in pain. Because being in pain like that, especially the chest pains were truly awful and it took so much out of him. It was a while ago since he had had them now. Better not think about it.
He had a hospital appointment tomorrow. He had to do a couple of more test or something and after that they wanted to talk about his future options. They had told him that every test was ready but now they wanted to do a few more. It was quite annoying, but he didn't complain. It was best to just do what they wanted. He was too tired to argue. Harvey had also told him that he would be there with him for that meeting. That was good.
Harvey stopped by his room a while later and asked if he wanted dinner. He then helped him with sitting up in bed and he managed to eat something. Not enough though according to Harvey.
"You are going to starve to death." He muttered when he left the room with their plates. Harvey seemed to be a bit worried, because he kept asking how Mike was feeling, if he needed to head to the hospital. Mike however didn't feel that bad. Only exhausted. He didn't sleep well that night. He kept waking up feeling confused and anxious.
He felt a bit better the next day, at least for the first half of the day. He was able to get out of bed and to the kitchen, even if it took him awhile. Harvey left late for work and Mike stayed at home by himself. He had managed to convince Harvey that he was fine doing so. Ray would come by and pick him up in a few hours anyway and then he would be at the hospital. Harvey called him two times during that time.
Mike didn't really get what was wrong with him. At least not what was wrong with him at this time, to be so tired. He would have to ask at the hospital.
– SUITS –
Harvey walked into his condo after being at the office. He knew that Mike would get home from the hospital later in the afternoon so he went home pretty early so that the kid didn't have to be alone for a long time. He also needed to make sure that Mike was okay. Now a days you never knew. And also it was kind of the first time he had left Mike alone lately. The kid had assured him that he was fine with it, which was strange to Harvey. He hadn't acted like it was fine just a week ago. But he guessed that he should just go with it, if Mike felt okay being left alone then so be it. However he didn't want to leave the kid alone for too long, in case something were to happen.
Mike was on the couch when he stepped into his apartment. He wasn't exactly sitting up, but slouched down deep on it. He looked exhausted, leaning his head against the backrest with closed eyes. The TV was on but on mute. Harvey stepped closer and saw that Mike was shivering even in his sleep. Harvey sighed and brought a blanket over and spread it over him, apparently Mike couldn't think of bringing a blanket himself.
Harvey then stood for a moment watching him sleep. Mike looked sick. Not that he ever looked healthy now, but today his face was pale and he had dark circles underneath his eyes. His hair was damp and uncombed. His face was hollow and Harvey thought he could see lines of pain stretched over it. He looked like he had had a rough day.
He didn't want to wake him up, so he quietly sat down by the kitchen table to work. Mike needed all the sleep he could get. Harvey had spoken some to the kid's doctor last time they had been at hospital and Mike's sleeping habits had come up. They were reluctant to prescribe more medication at the moment, and it meant that when Mike wasn't sleeping well he didn't get much medical help with it. Now however he seemed to be sleeping a lot, maybe he was making up for lost sleep. Or maybe it was some of the new medication he was taking. Maybe he should read up on that.
The next time he looked over to the kid he saw that Mike's eyes were opened. They were turned against the TV but as Harvey stepped closer to him he understood that Mike probably wasn't following what was happening on the screen. Harvey blocked it with his body.
"Hi Mike. How are you feeling?"
"Hi. I'm tired Harvey."
"Yeah, I can see that. How did it go at the hospital?"
"Good I guess." Mike shrugged.
"You got any news?"
"I have an appointment for the day after tomorrow. I will get news then."
"Okay. Good. You up for some dinner then? It's almost seven."
"It is? When did you get here?"
Harvey looked at his watch. "About two hours ago. So, dinner?"
"I'm not really hungry..." Mike started but at Harvey's look he changed his mind and said that he probably could eat something. Harvey went against doctors' orders and ordered them pizza. Mike was dozing again when it arrived but woke by the doorbell. He made no attempts of getting up but shyly asked Harvey if they could eat by the couch. Harvey agreed. "As long as you don't spill on the couch." Mike just rolled his eyes and didn't move from his spot when Harvey placed the plate on the table in front of him.
It took Harvey a while to notice Mike's lack of eating, he had been hungry himself.
"Why haven't you touched it? I ordered with the stuffed crust you like."
Mike didn't do anything. "You could at least eat one slice, it's getting cold."
A moment later Mike did try to reach for the table, Harvey discreetly observing him. It took him a while to understand that Mike physically couldn't sit up to grab his food. It shocked him. However he choose to not say anything, he just grabbed the box and put it on Mike's lap, earning him a quiet thank you.
They ate in silence. Mike had two slices before he stopped, in the same time as Harvey began on his fifth. When Harvey handed Mike something to drink the kids hands shook so much that Harvey didn't dare to let go of the glass as Mike drank. He held on to it without commenting.
Mike sighed and relaxed back on the couch. "God, I'm so tired. I don't get it. I was sleeping at hospital as well."
"Yeah? They drugged you or something?"
"Isn't that all they ever do?"
"Alright, more than usual then?"
"Don't think so." Mike's eyes fluttered close.
"Are you seriously falling asleep while we are talking?"
"Yeah?" And then he did. Harvey saw the last effort of staying awake leaving the kid and his head fell down to the side. Harvey just smiled a bit and removed the pizza box from Mike's lap.
Mike didn't wake up during the next few hours and Harvey had been waiting for him to do so for a while now. He was pretty tired himself and had made himself ready for bed. He didn't want to leave Mike to sleep on the couch. That position he was in was not suitable for a whole night's sleep. He would be complaining tomorrow. Harvey decided to wake him up and get him to move to his bed.
"Mike. Mike! Wake up!" He had to shake the other man in order to rise him. Mike tiredly blinked up at him but made no efforts to move.
"What?"
"Get your ass to bed. You are not sleeping on the couch the entire night."
"Why not?" Mike complained and sank down further again.
"Because I say so. Now, get up." He waited. "Mike!"
"Yeah, Yeah, I'll do it later." His eyes were closed again.
"No you won't. You'll do it now. I'm waiting Mike."
Mike tried to glare at him, but failed as he just looked like he was trying to hold his eyes open wider.
"Just go to bed Harvey. I'm fine here."
"I said that you are not sleeping here. Just get up, would you Mike?"
"It's fine Harvey." Mike tried to argue, but Harvey wasn't going to let him win this one. He might cave more than not now, but not this time.
"You're not sleeping on the couch when you have an excellent bed in the next room. Let's go." Harvey stood above him waiting. He saw how Mike's expression changed.
"I can't, okay!" he suddenly exploded, louder than necessary. "I can't." He kept his eyes closed, his breathing become heavier indicating that he was getting worked up. Harvey sat down next to him.
"What do you mean you can't? Are you in pain?"
"No. I just can't get up right now Harvey, I'm just too tired okay... Leave it alone."
"I'm not leaving it alone, I'll help you up. It will be fine."
"No. I'm staying here." Mike did his best to glare at him.
"Is it really that bad? How did you get over to the couch in the first place? You can't be that tired."
"I got help, okay. An orderly from the hospital came with me up." Harvey just stared at him. He felt mostly annoyed, why the hell Mike hadn't called him if he was so bad that he needed help up in the apartment? "I didn't want to bother you." Mike said sensing what he was thinking.
"You wouldn't have. I want you to bother me with these kind of things Mike."
"Sorry..." Mike weakly said looking at him finally. He just looked sad, and Harvey decided to drop it. Now to the next problem. Should he let Mike sleep on the couch, or should he get him into the bedroom? He now realized that Mike hadn't even been able to make it into the apartment by himself. He also didn't really like the idea of a stranger in his house, but it was no use to bring it up with Mike. He hadn't had a choice. It looked like he was going to have to carry the kid to bed if he wanted him to get there. It was going to be awkward, but what the hell? They had had many awkward moments by now, what was another one?
"Okay kid, it's fine. Wait here."
He went to Mike's bedroom and fixed things there and went back and stood next to Mike. "Okay, let's do this." He said. Mike looked up at him, confused.
"Do what?"
"I'll just carry you."
"What? No… Harvey I'm fine on the couch. I'll just stay here."
"No, you're not. It's fine Mike." He bent down removed the blanket from the kid, despite Mike's attempts to stop him, he then started to position Mike's legs so that he would be able to grab them.
"You need to sit up straighter. Here, I'll help you." Without waiting for a response from Mike Harvey heaved him up on the couch a bit and got to witness the fact that Mike actually was as weak as he claimed. He did nothing to help Harvey maneuver him where he wanted him. It was almost like he couldn't hold up his own head. They needed to do this fast or Mike would break his neck or something. "Put your arms around my neck." He ordered.
Mike didn't move and just stared at him like he had grown an extra head.
"No, come on Harvey…" He tried.
"Now Mike." Harvey interrupted him and Mike weakly did what he was asked. Harvey grabbed him around his back with one arm and under the knees with the other, then counted to three in his head before he stood up. He staggered a bit under Mike's weight, he was a lot heavier than he looked.
"You are heavy." He grunted as he started for the bedroom.
"Then you should be happy I've lost like 20 pounds." Mike said quietly into his chest. "Don't drop me."
"I'm not happy about that." He clumsily started to walk praying that he actually wouldn't drop him. Harvey considered himself to be in good shape, even though he hadn't worked out in a few weeks now. But now he kind of doubted his own strength and considered hitting the gym soon.
It felt a bit surreal to be in this situation. He was actually carrying Mike because he was too sick to walk by himself. It was frightening and somehow made the situation they were in more serious. This was bad.
It was also kind of strange to be this close to Mike. On bad nights he had let Mike sleep on his arm, but this was something else. He could feel Mike's spine dig into his arm. Mike's arms around his neck were shaking and it must take him a lot of effort to hold on.
They reached the bedroom and Harvey kicked to door open wider and put Mike down on the bed, making Mike groan a bit at the impact.
"You okay?" Harvey asked. He straightened Mike's legs a bit and then pulled the cover over him.
"Yeah…thanks."
Harvey nodded, determined not to make the situation more awkward then it was. He didn't say anything else. He wanted to ease up the tension but now was not the time for jokes, Mike was just lying there letting Harvey tucking him in not meeting his eyes.
"You want me to stay here a while?" Harvey asked.
"Yeah…" Mike whispered pressing his lips together.
"Okay. I'll stay until you fall asleep, how about that?"
Mike nodded and it looked like he was about to start crying. However he didn't, just closed his eyes tightly and turned his head a bit to the side. He was asleep within a few minutes. Harvey left shortly after that, leaving Mike's phone next to him on the pillow. Just in case. Actually he felt kind of close to tears himself.
– SUITS –
Thank you so much for the reviews. They are really encouraging. I hope you like this chapter!