White moonlight mingled with the yellow glow of the street lamp and slipped into Mike's quiet room. The night was dragging on. A clock hung directly in front of Mike, reminding him of all the sleep he wasn't getting.
His left side was sore, and with every breathe he exhaled, a sharp sting of pain jolted through his body. He did his best not to think about the injury or how he got it. His own reassurance to Harvey played over and over again in his mind.
"You're fine, I'm fine, that's all that matters."
He knew that at some point he would have to deal with the trauma - really deal with it. But now was not the time, so he closed his eyes tight and tried to let the pain meds put him to sleep. However, when he finally came close to drifting off, the door would open and light from the hall would spill inside.
Nurses were in and out all night long, checking his vitals, testing his breathing, looking at the wound. The room was freezing, the ticking of the clock was too fucking loud, the air smelled like disinfectant and the constant interruptions made it impossible to relax.
By the time the sun rose, Mike managed to get an hour or two of sleep. Which didn't keep him from looking like shit when Harvey came around to visit.
"God, you look awful," Louis said bluntly as he followed Harvey, Jessica, and Donna into the small space.
Mike smiled, but didn't dare laugh.
"How do you feel Mike?" Jessica asked quietly, as if the noise of a solid voice would shatter Mike's already broken body.
"I feel…how I look," he croaked back.
"Well, we brought you some flowers," Donna said in attempt to cheer up the atmosphere. She brought over two dozen pink roses and set them down on a narrow cabinet.
"And a teddy bear I see," Mike beamed as he saw the fuzzy blue creature in Harvey's grasp. "Uh yeah…" Harvey said, putting the bear down next to the flowers. It had "Get Well" stitched on it's belly and a bandaid over it's left eye.
"Can't forget the card," Louis added, propping open a large card full of signatures and setting it next to the bear.
"I wish you guys could bust me outta here," Mike shifted uncomfortably in the bed.
"When can you go home?"
Just as Louis asked the question, the door slid open and a nurse came in.
"Good question," Mike responded.
"Hey…uh…nurse Clarke…"
"Yes Mike?"
"When can I go home?"
The thirty-something brunette looked at Mike and smiled with her ruby red lips. "You need time to recover Mr. Ross," she said, putting a blood pressure cuff around Mike's pale arm.
"Yeah…I know but…"
"The doctor should be in to see you this afternoon. My guess is that you've got about a week to go."
"God," Mike groaned loudly, throwing his head back on the mountain of pillows piled behind him. "I can't take it."
"Well, sorry to disappoint Mr. Ross, but you did have a bullet taken out of you and a thoracotomy. It's not like you scraped your knee."
The blonde sighed, his bright blue eyes disappearing behind heavy eyelids.
The velcro crackled as the nurse opened it and slipped it off Mike's arm. "Just be glad you have visitors. I'll leave you with them, but I'll be back in a few hours…you need an ABG and then we'll take you to X-ray."
"Oh goody."
"Don't be sassy with me!" she pointed a pink-painted nail at him.
"Hey, do I still have to wear this oxygen thing?" he asked as she opened the door. He pulled at the freezing plastic tube glued to his face. "It's cold and it makes my nose dry, it was bleeding this morning."
"What's worse, a nosebleed or not breathing Mr. Ross?"
He let out another defeated groan.
"Guess that's a yes…" he said to himself.
"When will the doctor be in?" Harvey asked her.
"Two o'clock," her already distant voice answered as she disappeared into the hallway.
"We're going to stick around Mike," Donna said.
"No, you don't have to," he protested. "Being here is a monumental waste of time."
"Being with you is never a waste of time," she replied.
Mike smiled.
"I'd like to stay for your doctor's visit," Harvey added. The others turned toward him, giving confused side glances, but Harvey didn't notice - or pretended not to.
"I…I don't know if they'll let you stay…"
"So tell them I'm your lawyer."
"Really guys, none of this is that fascinating."
"We just want to make sure that you're okay Mike," Jessica said, putting a hand on Mike's arm. Her features were soft, and hinted at her level of concern. Her fingers were warm, and the whole interaction was weird. It was like Mike had awoken in a parallel universe.
He nodded. They stayed. Since it hurt for Mike to talk, he didn't say much. They just stood, taking turns sharing the two open seats in the room, and focusing their attention on the TV mounted in the upper right corner.
The hospital didn't have an abundance of channels, so they ended up watching Wall-E and talking about intellectual property laws.
After a while, the group disbanded with well-wishes and promises of return.
The only person left was Harvey.
As the door closed, leaving them together, a heaviness seeped into the sterile space. The lawyer turned to look at Mike, his hands in his pockets.
The young man was pale, his features stark beneath the wash of fluorescent lights. Even with the warm orange sun reaching into the room, the space felt cold and austere. Mike looked tired.
"Hey…uh…I'm going to give you some time to catch some rest, and then I'll be back for your 2:00 appointment."
"Harvey…"
"Don't even argue with me," the older lawyer said as he walked towards the door. "Get some sleep."
And with that, he was gone.
Mike felt more relaxed, just knowing that Harvey would return, so he closed his eyes and attempted to sleep. The pain was still a bitch, and he was a side sleeper who was flat on his back, so it wasn't easy. But after twenty minutes had passed, he slipped off into a dream.
Mike managed to sleep off a good chunk of the day.
When he finally awoke, Nurse Clarke came in to take his vitals before calling transport to take Mike to X-Ray and to do his ABG.
Once the tests were over and Ross was back in his room, it was 1:50 and Harvey was sitting in the chair in the corner waiting for him.
Of course the doctor was late, which meant that the two men sat with an uncomfortable silence between them. It was an uneasiness that Mike had never experienced before with Harvey.
Finally, Dr. Rashaad came in. He talked to Mike about his injuries, he pulled the blanket back and looked at the wound, he checked Mike's results, and finally asked the pair if they had any questions.
The very first thing out of Mike's mouth was, "when can I go home?"
Rashaad chuckled. "It's a good sign that you have so much gusto Mr. Ross, but your body needs time to heal, your lung needs time to heal. You've only been here for two days."
"I'm going to go stir crazy."
"Well, have your friends bring you your laptop. Keep your mind busy, get through your Netflix cue. There are plenty of ways to pass time Mr. Ross."
"And I can go…"
"You will probably be ready to go in about a week."
Mike's head rolled to the side, he stared at Harvey in despair. "I can't take it."
"Well, it's better than being dead isn't it?" Harvey quipped.
"I'm not so sure..have you seen the jello?"
"Oh, be quiet, you're not even eating, you have an IV."
The doctor smiled, clearly enjoying the exchange between the two lawyers.
"Listen Mike…when you do get released, we don't recommend that you go home alone. Do you have a roommate or significant other?"
Mike gulped, looking down at some distant point beyond his chest. "My girlfriend and I just broke up," he muttered, avoiding whatever look was flitting across Harvey's face. He never had the chance to tell anyone about it.
"Well, we can't release you unless you've got someone to stay with."
"C'mon doc…" Mike whined.
"You can stay with me," Harvey offered, before his brain really had a chance to catch up with the words coming out of his mouth.
Mike looked over at Harvey, he seemed surprised.
"Well, you have a week to figure it out," the doctor said, breaking the silence. He closed Mike's folder and put it in the metal holder at the foot of his bed.
Once the doctor was gone, Mike met Harvey's gaze.
"Really Harvey, I'm not asking you to take care of me."
"I know, and I'm not going to," he lied. "But you need a place to stay if you're going to get out of here, and as your friend, I want to offer you the option to stay with me."
"Is it an option?"
"No."
Mike smiled.
"Sure you're not just offering because you feel guilty?"
The light mood in the room disappeared as the words slipped off Mike's tongue.
Harvey's expression was serious - solemn.
"I'm sorry…I didn't mean…"
"Don't worry about it," Harvey said, standing. "Look, I know you're going nuts in here, so I'll have Donna bring some of your things to you. I'll see you tomorrow Mike."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow," Mike replied, trying not to let his disappointment seep through his words. The last thing he wanted was to face more lonely hours waiting for Harvey's next visit, but he couldn't ask Harvey to stay.
Harvey took one last look at him before pushing the door open and walking through it.
Mike wondered what Harvey saw. He wondered what Harvey thought…what Harvey felt. He'd give anything to climb beneath those hickory brown eyes and pick the brain that lay behind them. Did it hurt Harvey to leave as much as it hurt Mike to watch him leave?