Hello kiddies, hope you're enjoying the story as much as I'm enjoying writing it! I intended for this one and the last one to be a double update but I made the fatal mistake of not checking my word count and getting this one's back up took a bit longer than anticipated. My Christmas break just got over, and after spending it not sleeping and writing all night, that's not going well, but I bet you can't guess what I'm going to do tonight? NOT SLEEP AND WRITE ALL NIGHT!

I should probably shut up and let y'all read, but I'm not done talking so sit down and shut up while I talk about the people I love. *beams* Hello CalliexDamien4evr and welcome to my little flock, we have lots of fun and lots of whump in this family, thanks as always to robbiesmithj (whose actual username with periods it won't let me write because it thinks I'm compromising his security) my dear friend and editor/beta/ER reference material/moral support as I scream at my WIP at four in the morning, love you the most dude, and to ItWasntMee for being fabulously supportive and positive and writing wonderful works of art. Fine I'm done, I just really like talking to you guys! On with the story!

Jeff didn't know what a thoracostomy was, but it looked like they were prepping Nick for surgery. They pulled the curtains around, took the blanket away so he was in nothing but a thin gown that had been moved and untied and adjusted so much it was only covering from just above his belly button to midway down his thighs, and draped him in a blue sheet, an opening cut over the right side of his chest and his left hip.

Overhead lights were turned on and moved and the openings were sterilized, and when they pinned Nick's arm over his head Jeff thought they were going to make him let go of the hand he had, but they let him stay.

Jeff kept his gaze carefully averted, turning most of his body toward Thomas while they were working. They were doing something to his chest with a tube and a scalpel, and to his hip with an ultrasound and a very long needle and he definitely did not want to know. Swallowing hard, he ignored the sounds, choosing to focus on Nick's hand and Thomas's reassuring look instead.

"If he has any sort of consciousness, he's probably going to yell," Thomas whispered, glancing over Nick. "This is a rough procedure."

Jeff swallowed again, getting ready. He still wasn't ready when the sound came, but it was less of a yell. More like a moan, with more pain and urgency and panic behind it.

He held his breath and squeezed Nick's hand, trying to comfort whatever presence was there.

At the next cry, twisting his chest in knots, something came over Jeff and he took a step toward Nick's head, stroking through his hair. One of the nurses looked up in what might have been alarm, but let him be.

Closer to his other side now, Jeff had to try harder not to see what they were doing. After wrestling mentally, he closed his eyes and focused fully on Nick's hand and his hair, trying to wish both of them somewhere else.

He had a moment of peace running his fingers through Nick's hair, until it caught on something.

There was blood in his hair. Jeff felt like he was going to throw up again.

Stomach churning, eyes squeezed shut, he managed to keep himself together until Thomas tapped his shoulder again.

"He's done. Chest tube's in, the lung looks okay, and they gave him some medicine for his hip,"

Jeff cracked his eyes open. "Hip?"

Thomas nodded. "Some fractures there, they look pretty minor though. He'll be okay."

They took away the drapes and the lights, and one of the nurses was patting Nick's hand, telling him what a good job he'd done.

The doctor looked up. "Hydromorphone, 1.2 mg, IV push, please."

The nurse let go of Nick's hand and gave something in the IV in his right arm. "Hydromorphone's in."

The doctor nodded.

Nick's eyes cracked open, his hand curling tightly around Jeff's. His whole abdomen convulsed, chin tucking hard against the heavy plastic collar bracing his neck, and the doctor's head snapped up. "Bag, bag, bag."

Someone dove for a plastic accordion bag on the wall. The nurse had just enough time to pull the oxygen mask off his mouth and nose before he rolled halfway to one side and vomited blood all over her shoes.

She smiled tightly, patted his hand again, and left to change.

The doctor gave Nick a careful look to make sure he wasn't going to puke again, then moved to palpating his abdomen. He did an odd, worried frown. "Bring that transducer back over here, the abdomen is rigid."

One of the nurses moved it back and he took it, eyes on the monitor.

"Kid's got a belly full of blood. Page OR again,"

The nurse nodded and took the pager off her belt.

Gentle again, Thomas took Jeff's elbow again. "Let's go, Jeff."

He didn't have the energy to fight this time. Thomas sat him down in the waiting room Nick would have gone through, close enough he could almost see him if he tried.

Digging through one of the bags, Jeff took out Nick's phone and scrolled through their texts to pass time, wishing he'd better known how to help him. It wasn't often either of them were sick, so this had come up without much warning, and they were both notoriously stubborn, which always became clear when one of them needed help with something they could hypothetically handle alone.

Making himself sick again, he closed the app and opened photos. He'd seen a quote somewhere about watching what someone took pictures of to see what they feared losing most. After showing it to Nick, he'd realized how many pictures of Jeff and selfies of them together Nick took alongside his usual mass of selfies and screenshots.

In the first one Jeff opened, they were snuggled together in a booth at Lima Bean. Jeff had a chocolate croissant in one hand and was sipping a mug of coffee, looking at Nick with a smile. Nick was winking, half of an entire cinnamon bun crammed in his mouth.

Jeff smiled and swiped to the next one.

They were walking along a beach, the sun bright and the tide lapping at their feet. Their fingers were interlaced, hands swinging between them. Jeff was giving the camera a middle finger, rolling his eyes, and Nick was laughing.

The next one was just Jeff, buried under a pile of blankets in bed. The morning light streamed in through their blinds, striping his face with rays of sunlight and illuminating his messy hair sticking up at every angle.

He was about to swipe again when his phone rang. He had a moment of confusion, his phone was in his hand, but no, he was holding Nick's phone.

He just wanted Nick.

He finally came to his senses and slid his phone out of his pocket, it was Nick's dad.

Jeff really didn't want to have this conversation right now.

"Hello?"

"The hospital just called me. Nick was in a car accident? What happened?"

Jeff definitely didn't want to explain over the phone. "I think it would be easier if you came to the hospital."

"Are you with him?"

"Yes, we're at Saint Agnes. Are you coming?"

"Yeah. I'll be there soon,"

Jeff stalled, fidgeting with Nick's wallet while he waited. When Remi came into the waiting room, Jeff was quick to sit him down and explain everything. The sickness, driving, getting the call, seeing him, everything.

They waited together in restless silence for any news.