It turns out Jace had a bug that kept us separated for four days. I was still at my mom's house while Jace ran Lysol over everything. My parents seemed nervous about letting me go back. Truth is, I'm not feeling great. I could only sleep; my body moved lethargically. Then there is the cold. I lay under a massive pile of blankets. Everything from Snuggys to comforters lies on top of me. My muscles protested movement and ached often so I spent the days in bed. My mom checked in just about every second. "Do you need anything?" She says popping her head around the door again.
"I'm fine." I lie.
"Just making sure." She closes the door. I hate having her worry.
It must be around noon when Jace comes to get me. "Hey," he says entering my room. "You promised you would be okay."
"I said 'I'd try.'"
"Can you walk?" He asks moving next to me.
"Probably." I say. His eyes glance around the room as if looking for something that would help the situation. They just land back on me.
"Here, I'll help."
"How selfless," I say kiddingly. I swing my legs over the side of the bed and sit up ignoring the note of protest provided by my body. My feet barely touch the ground. Jace moves next to me. His arm closes around my middle. I wrap my arm around him.
"Ready?" He asks. Together we stand up. "You okay?"
"Yeah."
"I could carry you."
"I'll walk." He asks if I have anything here that I need. I just have him grab my phone and keys. I move out slowly and Jace stays on a few steps ahead of me. I say goodbye to my parents.
Jace parked his car as close to the house as possible. When we start to near his arm my lungs seem almost unable to grab hold of air. Maybe my cancer has spread to my lungs, I think. Jace's golden eyes lock on me. They are filled of protection. It was that same look that was in his eyes when he looked at Max when I first met him in the park all those months ago. "Everything will be fine," he says weakly. Jace proceeds to open the passenger door to let me in. Then we drive off.
0.o.0
We arrive at our apartment, well technically we are in the underground garage. "Are you okay?" He asks. I nod, looking at the world through almost a film. "You're lying." Jace says. His hand reaches into his pocket and pulls something out. It beeps. "Hey Alec, You home?... Okay, can you come to the lot?...Just hurry…I'll explain when you get here." His eyes flick to me and eventually the film blocks him out entirely.
o.O.0 –Jace P.O.V
Clary's eyes seem to flutter closed. "Hey," I say to her, "Can you keep your eyes open?" She does not respond so I ask again. After that my stomach flips and I open my phone to call an ambulance.
When I manage to get off the phone with 911, Alec reaches the car. "What's wrong?" he asks through my window, which is now open.
"Clary," I say opening the door, "She passed out. She wasn't feeling well and now…"
"Alright. Let me in." I back out of the doorway and let Alec climb in. Alec takes her wrist and looks back to me. "You need to get her to a hospital."
"I called an ambulance. Do you know what's wrong with her?"
"Not really," begins Alec, "Her pulse is dangerously low. Something they have her on is probably hurting her heart."
It doesn't take long for the ambulance to arrive. The lights bounce off the cement walls. Boots slap on the ground as EMTs move closer. Two of them move over to Clary while one of them comes up to Alec and me. He asks us to recount what happened. Then he goes on to her medical past. We answer the best we can, which isn't very well. The EMTs remove Clary from the car and put her onto a stretcher, which in turn goes into the ambulance. My eyes lock on her still form for every second of it.
St. John's looks the same as it always had. Different medical buildings, connected by underground hallways, loom over a traffic heavy street. The collection of traffic-infected cars is slowing me down. Clary is already inside. They are probably running tests on her right now. She's inside there being treated and I am stuck out here in painstakingly slow New York City traffic. Alec gets the rough end as my fist pound the wheel and I wish the person to move in colorful words. "Relax," says my brother.
"I can't." The car before us moves and we make a jutting turn into the parking garage. I quickly grab a ticket from the parking machine and wait painfully long for the garage gate to open. I tap my fingers on the wheel. I take the first available spot and move to elevator. Alec is behind me.
"You probably won't be able to see her." Says Alec as I press the elevator button.
"I know."
When the doors open to the lobby, Max is on my mind. It's like being hits by a semi-truck. The last time I was in this hospital he was dying. I look to Alec and the same thought is in his eyes. We walk. No words are shared. We take a building elevator. Different than the one that we rode last time we were here.
We enter the all-too-familiar floor 8. I instantly walk up to the nurse desk and give Clary's name.
"She we admitted to the ICU. Floor 2." I thank her and proceed again. ICU. That's bad. Like really bad.
The ICU waiting room is is filled with distraught souls. The nurse at the desk tells me that Clary can have no visitors. She only that there might be surgery. I sit in the waiting room with Alec next to me. Phone in hand, I send out the news. It takes less than an hour for everyone to get here.
Clary's mom is pacing in the now packed waiting room. Her husband watches her, his eyes never fail. Simon sits near them and next to Isabelle. Magnus is next to Alec, their hands enclosed. With each arrival a retelling of today's events was needed, I did my best.
We wait and wait and wait. All this waiting comes with a free side of waiting. Eventually the Doctor comes out. He shakes everyone's hands. "I am Doctor Goldburg. You all have been here a long time so I'll just get down to business. Clary will be fine." I let a sigh out. She's going to be fine. She's going to be okay. "The chemotherapy drugs weakened her heart significantly. We had to go in and install a pacemaker. She's awake but we can only let family in now." Luke gets up and looks apolitically to me and then follows Jocelyn and the doctor down the hall.
It doesn't take long for Luke to come back out and update us. "She's awake." He says, "She's really out of it, though. The doctor said that it was going to only be family for tonight." Our group mumbles out quiet okays. "You should probably head home and sleep." Luke returns to the room. Alec, Izzy, Magnus, and eventually Simon stand up to go.
"Come on, Jace." Izzy begs.
"I'm going to stay for a while longer."
"You sure?" she questions.
"Yeah." I deadpan. I'm staying as close as I can to Clary.
o.o.o - Clary's PoV
I don't even know how long doctors and nurses moved around me. They ask questions and poke me with needles, eventually their commotion tinkles out and familiar voices move in.
"Hey, Clary," says my mom who walks into the room, Luke in tow.
"Hi, Mom." My voiced is dry and parched. I clear my throat and there is no change. "What happened?"
"You passed out." She speaks simply. There's more though. If I passed out I wouldn't be in the ICU.
"What's wrong with me?" I glance to Luke. He'll tell me more. My mom opens her mouth to explain but Luke jumps right in.
"The cancer isn't worse, kiddo. It's just that the chemo drug weaken your heart, a lot. They had to have this surgery and put a pacemaker in. You'll be fine soon enough." I croak out a sound of understanding. "Anyway your posse came quicker than us." Posse? I have a posse? I question mentally before realizing Luke was probably referring to Jace, Alec, Magnus, Izzy, and Simon. Mom sits down in the chair next to my bed and Luke moves to lean against the window.
"They're here?"
"Yeah." Says Mom.
"Are they're not coming in, are they?" They can't see me like this. Especially not Jace. Not after…
"Only family for now." Speaks Mom.
"What's the last thing you remember before coming here?" questions Luke.
"Umm…" I think for a moment. I was at my mom's house and then I was with Jace. "…I was in Jace's car and we were going home."
"That's right," speaks Mom, "you were in the parking lot. Jace called 9-1-1."
"They're out there?" I ask pointing to the door.
"Yeah. They came."
"Someone should tell them to head home." I say.
"I will." States Luke who walks to the door. The room is silent after we leave. Mom moves into conversation.
"You scared us."
"I'm sorry."
"You don't have everything to be sorry for."
"I'm exhausted." I look around accessing my connections. One IV like running into my arm and one into my chest. There is a clear oxygen tube running up my face and sticking into my nose. My mom must notice my noticing.
"You're on 4.5 liters. That's a lot. I mean it's a serious amount."
"Okay." I whisper out and fall into a darkened slumber.
A half-seen face forms between my eye lids. "Hey, Red." Says a starky voice.
"Hi." I speak opening my eyes to Jace. "How'd you get in here?"
"The door." Jace says it as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"Funny." He sits in the chair next to my bed. My hand gets wrapped by a cluster of pianist fingers.
"How are you feeling?"
"Okay."
"You look better."
"Are you implying that I looked bad before?"
"You know what I mean."
"I do. I thought they were only letting family in."
"I'm just that good."
"Mom and Luke snuck you in?"
"Nope. They're downstairs getting breakfast."
"You didn't climb in the window did you?"
"Nope. I just walked in."
"How?"
"You can get in everywhere if you look like you belong. Anyway, I probably got about 15 minutes before your parents come back up."
"You didn't stay here all night, did you?"
"Maybe"
"You don't have to wait here."
"I do though," he mutters. "I have to go now. Your parents might not like finding me here.
"Alright. Go home, sleep, shower. Come back when you can see me, you know, legally."
"Okay, I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too." Jace moves out the door.
o.0.o- Jace's PoV
I walk out of Clary's room and make it back to the waiting room with no problem. When Luke and Clary's mom come up from the cafeteria. Luke offers me a coffee and donut. I accept. It's like an unspoken rule to always accept donuts. "They're going to move her upstairs today," says Luke, "you'll be able to see here soon." I thank him and the two go to Clary. I pull out my phone and send a group message.
Me: Clary's better. We'll be able to visit later.
People start responding almost immediately.
Simon: wat time?
Izzy: u stayed all nite?!
Magnus: where r they moving her?
Alec: Do u need a change of clothes for today?
Me: Not sure. Yes. Upstairs to the cancer floors. And yeah.
My phone dies immediately after I press send. In an attempt to kill time I read through every pamphlet in the hospital waiting area. Now I know more about the importance of mammograms than any man should.
o.o.0 -Clary's PoV
Luke comes in with my mom not soon after Jace leaves. "Did you eat?" Luke asks. I move my head no. "Good, kiddo, I got you a blueberry muffin." To be fair to my parents they always manage to get me the best hospital food. I try to take the muffin from Luke but moving results in massive, near-agonizing aches. Mom must notice for she says, "What's wrong?"
"It hurts to move." Mom takes the bag from Luke and breaks off a piece. She puts it in my mouth. I thank her. Lord, this is pathetic. "They're going to move you upstairs." States Mom. I think of upstairs. It'll probably be floor eight. The floor where Max died.
"Okay." I say not noticing how depressed I must of sounding until my parents ask what is wrong and I respond with nothing.
o.o.0
Sometime later a nurse comes in helps me with into a wheel chair and moves the IV drips over. The immediate Novocain from surgery had worn off leaving my feeling as if I got shot. They switch my oxygen source to a portable one. Then we move out. When we move through the waiting room to reach the elevator I notice Jace doodling on a pamphlet with a hospital issued pen. This time it is my mom who goes over to Jace. He follows us on the way up.
The room they put me in is a double room, with the second bed empty. When they finally let Jae into see me my parents clean out. Jace makes his entrance by leaning against the door frame in a stereotypical, provocative stance. "Hello, Red." He purrs out.
"Shut up and get over here before my parents see you." He gives and comes over to me.
"Can I see your phone? Mine died."
"Uh yeah." I nod to the plastic tray next to me that hold the few items I had on me upon coming here. He picks it up and types on the screen.
"Great now our friends won't kill me. How do you feel?"
"Like shit but better. You said you were going to go home."
"I couldn't leave. You know that." His eyes skirt away as he speaks. Big, bold, egotistic Jace skirts his eyes away.
"I know."
My lips that are soon cover with Jace's. His tongue dances around my lips, asking entrance. I permit. He explores my mou-"JESUS. I think I'm scarred. Leave a note or something. Please." Jace and I had jumped apart as Isabelle's voice shook the room. Simon stood behind her horrified. "Sorry." I say. Then they stay and Magnus and Alec show up. We spend the next hours talking and avoiding reality.
I know it's been awhile, but I wrote an especially long chapter to apologize. Thanks to my beta TheOneAndOnlyFangirl! Okay a story rec, since Sherlock season 3 aired today it's a Sherlock one, Hamish by ChildOfTheBarricade. It's a parentlock one. So I hope you enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to review!