whump.

I was at the hospital when they brought him in. He was in bad shape. Beaten. Bruised. Broken. I'd seen them all before... but I'd never thought I'd see them on him. He was too strong for that. Too alive.

Yet here he was. On a hospital bed. Sleeping.

We'd taken good care of him. Gotten all the blood off. Bandages the wounds. Sewn the cuts. He was still knocked out on pain meds, though. That was good. He would heal faster. And if it was any other patient, that would be enough to sooth me. I would be calm enough to go home, sleep in my own bed.

Yet here I was. By a hospital bed. Trying to sleep.

It was the middle of the night. Visiting hours were over. The lighting was horrible. It made him look more sickly. Gave a weird cast to the black ink that swirled across parts of his skin. Made the bruises darker.

I reached out to grab his hand in mine, rested my head against his thigh, using him as a pillow.. "Please be okay, Holder. Please..."

When I woke up, he was looking down at me. I thought of the dream I had once, waking up to see him smiling. He wasn't smiling now. It looked like he was trying, though.

"Holder?"

"Hey, Gorgeous. You been here all night?"

"Let me get you some water."

I made to get up, but he stopped me. I looked down at our entwined fingers. When had that happened?

"Stay. It's fine."

"How do you feel?"

"Like shit. But I've had worse."

"Holder..."

"Don't cry, Angel."

Was I crying? Oops.

I wiped at my eyes with my free hand. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize, neither."

"You scared me. When they brought you in..."

"Quit that. I'm fine. Karma, see? I ain't done anythin' bad enough to die over."

"Yeah, okay, sensei."

"Hey, hey. Don't get smart with me. I'm in a delicate state."

I grinned, wiped at my eyes again. "I'm glad you're okay, Holder."

"Yeah, me, too."

We were silent for awhile.

"Angel... thanks. For bein' here. Wakin' up alone... it's no fun."

"Of course." I squeezed his hand gently. "I guess you finally got that injury you wanted, huh?"

He smirked. "Guess I did. You, uh, gonna administer any treatments, Doc?"

"I'm not your doctor. That would be Dr. Phillips. Old guy. You'll love him."

"Oh, don't do that to me, Angel. Delicate state, remember?"

I laughed. "Ask me when you're not hopped up on pain meds, huh?"

"I'll do that."

"You should sleep."

"You should, too. Go home. I'll be fine."

"I'm not leaving."

He smiled. "Guardian Angel, huh?"

"Well apparently, you need one."

His eyes started to close, already falling back asleep. "I don't deserve you, though."

"Let me decide that. Sleep, Stephen."

"Yes, ma'am."

fin.