Mickey rubbed his eyes and slowly began to open them. "Uh my fucking head! Where the fuck am I?" he asked as he tried to get out of bed.
Christy and Mandy said NO in unison and Ian jumped out the chair that was next to his boyfriend's bedside.
"Take it easy Mick, you are in the hospital" the redhea stated to his boyfriend.
"In the hospital?" He asked. "Shit for what?"
"Uh.. you fell sick 3 days ago. After Mandy's party you passed out while we were at home" Ian explained.
Mickey sat back down and laid his head on the pillows with a confused look on his face. Ian could tell that his boyfriend was trying to go over in his head what happened, but was getting absolutely nowhere.
Mickey then noticed a face he hadn't seen in a long time.
"Lip?" he said, rubbing his eyes into his palms.
"Hey man how are you feeling?" Lip asked.
"What are you doing here?" the weaker man asked.
"I called Mandy a couple days ago and she said you were in the hospital so I decided to come check on you." Lip said in a worried tone.
Mickey just nodded his head and looked away. "You didn't tell me that you were fucking my little brother" Lip said sarcastically laughing.
"Fuck you! I didn't know he was your brother. Ya'll don't look nothin alike."
"Ummm his last name is Gallagher and he's from Southside." Lip laughed sarcasticlly.
"That don't mean shit he could have been your cousin."
"Dickhead please, the fucker has red hair just like Debbie don't gimme that shit."
"What the fuck ever man."
"So he just your fuck buddy like the rest of the dudes Ian?" Mickey kind of glares at Lip.
"Mick don't…" Ian sighed.
"Naw, I got this babe… Not that it is any of your damn business, but we're together."
"Like you're his actual boyfriend?" Lip asked, shocked.
"What the fuck else would I be? His girlfriend?"
Lip busted out laughing at that. "It depends if you are the top or bottom." he said after he caught his breath.
Mickey and Ian both flipped Lip off. "Bout damn time you stay with one dud,e Ian. Finally someone with some fucking sense."
"Dickhead what you mean finally?" Ian asked as he crossed his arms.
"I thought you just fucked guys not date them lil bro?" Lip asked as he raised his eyebrow.
"Mick is just different." Ian said, shrugging his shoulders, while staring at his weak partner. "Fuck it! I love him ok?" he finally said.
Mandy grasped her chest with shock written all over her face. Christy nearly fell out her chair, and Lip's eyes were completely blown wide and his chin nearly hit the floor.
"Awww oh my god Mick he loves you" squealed his younger sister.
"My head hurts, I ain't deaf bitch." Mickey barked.
"Holy shit Gallagher, in all our years as friends I never thought I would hear you say that." Christy squealed, as she ran to him and grabbed him into an awkward hug.
His blond best friend was right. He didnt think he would ever fall in love. But he was happy, and thats more than he could ever wish for. To be happy and in love.
"Lip why are you so quiet?" asked the brunette.
"Cause Mands, I never thought that in a million years that my brother would fall in love with Southside's gay bad boy."
"Aren't you happy for them?" asked the blond.
"As Long as he takes cares of my little brother and makes him happy then I'm happy." Lip smiled, looking Mickey square in the eyes.
"He makes me more than happy" Ian answered, smiling at his older boyfriend while still holding on to his hand.
"Mick, my best friend is spilling all his emotions about you so what's the verdict?" Christy asked smugly.
"Slut what the fuck are you talking about?" Mickey asked, Smiling devilishly at her.
"I mean that Ian has expressed his love for you so how do you feel about him?"
The older boy then turned his head to meet his younger boyfriend's beautiful green eyes and was silent for a second because he got lost in them. He then entangled his fingers into the redhead's hand even tighter, smiled then said "I don't know if I believe in love…"
Christy and Mandy's faces went from excited to disappointed in seconds. Both girls looked down trying to not make eye contact with Ian. All of sudden they heard "But I feel something that I have never felt before and for once I'm happy."
The redhead's face quickly lit up and with a wide grin spread across his face and he kissed his older boyfriend on the lips. The girls just admired the couple before them and both at that moment realized they wanted the same thing for themselves.
"Welp, this is awkward so that's my que to head out" the redhead's older brother expressed.
"Oh please Lip you don't have anything better to do" said the beautiful burnette.
"Actually Mands…" Lip replied, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "I have to go meet up with Lauren."
Everybody's heads turned to look at the older boy. "Lauren?" the younger brother spat out.
"Yeah we have been seeing each other for a few months now. Anyway I gotta go." He walked over to his little brother and gave him a hug.
"Later Mands" he said, pulling her into a hug. . "Bye Chris" he said, giving her dabs.
"Mick I will check up on you later."
"whatever!"
"Bye guys" He said once Again, to everyone.
Right as Lip walked out, the doctor came in.
"Hi Mr. Milkovich how are you feeling? I'm your doctor, Dr. Crosby".
"I'm ok I guess, but my head really fucking hurts is there anything you can give me?"
"Sure thing, hold on let me get your nurse, Cindy" he said, pushing the call button on Mickey's remote.
"What can I get For you? " the voice said from the speaker on the wall.
"Cindy, can you get some IV morphine for Mr. Milkovich, please?"
"Yes sir, right away." Cindy answered.
"Thank you."
"Mr. Milkovich your pain medicine should be arriving in a few minutes so try to relax ok?"
Mickey shook his head in agreement to keep from thinking about the pain.
"Um Mr. Gallagher can I speak to you privately for a moment please?" The doctor asked.
The redhead nodded his head, and looked at his boyfriend. "I'll be right back ok?"
The two men walked out into the hallway closing the door behind them leaving Mickey with the giggling girls.
"So what's up Dr. Crosby is everything ok?" Ian asked, concerned.
"Mr. Gallagher…" the doctor began.
"Call me Ian." The redhead replied.
"Ok Ian. based on what you have told me about what happened the other night I've come to a diagnosis."
"What is it?" Ian asked, concerned.
"Well Mr. Milkovich suffered a severe panic and anxiety attack brought on by a traumatic and stressful situation. If he doesn't keep the stress down, he will keep having these attacks."
"Ok so what can I do?" the redhead asked, as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Well I am going to discharge him tomorrow morning. But I am putting him on bed rest for at least a week so he will not be able to go to work. I will need to see him back in a week."
"Ok…" Now, Ian was even more concerned.
"Next I'm prescribing him Hydrocondone for the headaches and Lexapro for anxiety. He can take the pain medication every 4 to 8 hour,s as needed, but the anxiety medication he needs to take every day. preferably with food. I would also recommend that you have him see a therapist or counselor."
"Mick wouldn't step foot into a therapist's office."
"He needs to talk to someone other than you about this so that he can learn to move past it. If he doesn't, he is going to keep having these attacks and end up here again."
Ian sighed. "Ok I will try to get him to go."
"I'm putting him on bed rest except for when he goes to counseling. I'm going to go and get his discharge paperwork together, write up his prescriptions and get a list of all the good therapists and counselors near your home. I'm discharging him at 10am, but you can get here early to bring him some clean clothing to wear home. Cindy will have him shower before he leaves. Are you going to still be here in about an hour?"
"Yes sir."
"Ok great I am going to drop by and give you his prescriptions that way you can have them ready for him when he comes home tomorrow."
"Ok thank you so so much Dr. Crosby for everything."
"No problem, Ian. He is lucky to have a great guy like you."
"Thank you sir." Ian said as he began to blush.
"I will be back in a little bit to check on him and to give you his prescriptions."
The redhead politely nodded his head then went back into the room, to a very relaxed Mickey. Cindy came in to give him his pain medication while Ian and Dr. Crosby were still outside talking. The redhead went back to the chair that was located next to his boyfriend's hospital bed.
"I see you got your pain meds… How you feeling Mick?"
"Uhhhh. I feel like I/m flying." Mickey mumbled.
Ian laughed at the drugged up older boy.
A half hour went by and Dr. Crosby came back with the prescriptions.
"Here Ian, I have Mickey's prescriptions." Dr. Crosby said, handing him the prescriptions.
"Thanks Dr. Crosby." Ian said.
"Sure thing. See you tomorrow." The doctor said, leaving the room.
"Hey girls, we should leave and let Mick get some rest. They are going to discharge him tomorrow morning. You two can stay at our place that way you can help me get things ready for when he comes home. You game?"
"Sure!" Mandy said. "What about you Chris?"
"Yeah I'm down for whatever." The blonde replied.
"Ok let's go home." Ian walked over to his now sleeping boyfriend and whispered. "Be back in the morning to get you. Love you Mick."
The older boy snuggled more into the pillow letting Ian know that he is completely out of it and didn't hear a word he said. The redhead just smiled, watching his boyfriend sleep peacefully. He kissed him on the forehead and headed out the room with the girls closing the door behind them.
Ian took a detour to Walgreens, parked and the got out. He stuck his head back into the door of the car and said "I will be right back I need to just drop off these prescriptions for Mick."
The girls nodded and Ian went inside. Five minutes later Ian was walking back & got back into the car. As Ian drove home all he could think about was the way Mickey was screaming three nights ago. He had never seen his boyfriend so upset and after he told him everything he understood why. He also understood why the older boy was skeptical about love, because after going through something as traumatic as that who could? He didn't say anything the majority of the ride home, and it bothered his best friend, who was sitting in seat beside him.
"You haven't said anything the whole ride home. You ok Ian?" Christy asked, looking genuinely concerned. She had never seen her best friend that way or that quiet before.
"Uh yeah." Ian replied.
"You worried about Mick?" the burnette asked, from the back seat.
"Yeah."
"He's a trooper he will be alright." Mandy said.
"Come on. cheer up, he will be home tomorrow" the blond expressed.
"Yeah I know, but the doctor told me that Mick needs to de stress and I don't know how I can get him to do that." Ian said.
"Well you can always give him some weed. That helps everyone de stress" Mandy said to the break the tension. The threesome giggled at her funny, but logical thought.
"Uh speak for yourself Mands" Christy blurted out.
"What you mean Chris?" Ian asked.
"Well I had Tiny." Christy said.
"Who is Tiny?" Mandy asked.
"Tiny is Christy's Yorkshire Terrier" Ian said.
"Oh you have a dog Christy? Where is she?" the burnette asked.
"She lives with my parents in Lake Forest. I'm always gone so I couldn't bring her with me."
"Chris you are a GENIUS!" Ian finally said.
"What are you talking about?" Christy asked.
"I'm going to get Mick and I a pet. That should help him stay calm and stress free."
"That's a great idea Ian, but what are you going to get? A dog? A cat? Fish? Hamster?" Mandy inquired.
"I was thinking maybe a cat what you guys think?" he asked excitedly.
"I don't know. Does Mick even like cats, Mands?" Christy asked.
"I'm not sure, but he does like animals and he loves you Ian so he will be happy with anything you adopt." Mandy said.
"You think he loves me? seriously?" Ian asked, turning to face Mandy.
"Yeah. it's in face when he's around you. Mands, you think Mick loves Ian?" chrisy said.
"Yeah. I've never seen my brother this happy before and he's never really had a boyfriend. When I saw how you two were at dinner last week. I knew he was in love" the brunette declared.
"Well I know that I really love him and I want to spend the rest of my life with him." Ian smiled.
"Omg, Ian are you talking about marriage?" the blond implied.
"Yeah I think so Chris" he said, smiling wide.
"Ok your definitely sprung" she joked.
"Get out the car, we're here" Ian laughed.
They walked into the apartment lobby where they were greeted by security.
"Evening Christy, miss and Mr. Gallagher" Steve the security guard said.
"Hi Steve" Christy stated.
"Hello Steve. This is Mandy. She's Mickey's little sister" the redhead explained.
"Oh hello Mandy how are you?" he asked
"I'm good sir, thank you." she politley said.
"Speaking of Mr. Milkovich, how is he, Mr. Gallagher?"
"He's doing ok he will be coming home tomorrow morning, which reminds can you please give these ladies a copy of the key to my apartment just for tomorrow? I have to pick Mickey up from the hospital early in the morning. They are going to be picking up our new kitty while I am at the hospital. Is there a fee and any paperwork I need to sign?"
"Yes sir. There's an extra $10 pet charge a month and you can fill out the paperwork tomorrow when you come back from picking up Mr. Milkovich. Let me get the spare key for the ladies. You can return it when you come down to sign the pet information."
the threesome waited as Steve went behind the desk to retreive the spare key.
"I'm so excited!" Ian giggled.
"For the new family member?" Christy asked.
"To have Mickey coming home" Ian smiled. "I miss him."
"Awww" the girls said in unison.
"Alright, Mr. Gallagher" Steve said, as he handed over the key. " here is your spare key".
"Ok great. thanks Steve. Have a good evening." Ian said.
"You do the same Mr. Gallagher. Good Night Ms. Davis and Ms. Milkovich."
"Good Night" the ladies said together.
The three made their way to the elevator and Ian pressed the button for the 4th floor.
"Ok so how are we going to surprise Mick with the cat?" Mandy asked.
"Well I am going to go pick him up from the hospital. Then on the way home pick up his prescriptions. You two go to the shelter. I will text you when we are on our way so that there is nothing out to give it away. We can keep him in the guest room cause Mick doesn't ever go in there and he knows you two will be staying in there. Then we will bring him out and put it on his lap. Sound good?" Ian asked.
"Sounds like a plan to me" the blond exclaimed.
The redhead then unlocked the door to his apartment allowing the girls to go in first. He switched on the lights and closed the door behind him. The three made their way to the living room and Ian grabbed his laptop and they all sat on the couch.
Ian googled shelters in his area and found one that was approximately eight blocks from his apartment. "I found one and it is only eight blocks from here." He said excitedly, pulling out his wallet and removing his credit card. "Here Chris, take my card and use it to purchase the kitty, food, toys and whatever else he needed. Send me a picture of the kitty you two think I should adopt and I will give the ok or not. I don't want just any ol' thing so please pick a really cute one."
"Don't worry Ian we got this" the burnette said confidently.
"Ok well I'm going to bed, cause I'm heading to the hospital at about a quarter til nine. You two should head to the shelter when they open at nine." he continued, rubbing his hands down his legs.
"We're on it. That should give us enough time to get the kitty, all the stuff and then for us to head back here to hide everything" the blond explained.
"Ok great. Well if you're hungry there's food and drinks in the fridge help yourself. Night."
"Night Ian." Christy said.
"Night soon to be brother -in- law." Mandy bellowd out.
Ian chuckled at the thought of he and Mickey standing in front of all of their friends and family and headed to his bedroom to retire for the night.
Ian makes his way to the hospital at the time he said he would be there and found mickey's room. room 216. The door was open so he walked in. "Knock, knock. Morning sunshine" he said to his wide awaken boyfriend.
"Hey" Mickey said with a mouth full red jello.
the redhead walked to Mickey's bedside and kissed his boyfriend before he sat his duffle bag down. He was carrying a small duffle bag that looked oddly familiar to Mickey, but he didn't know where he had seen it before.
"I have some clean clothes for you to wear home." Ian said, seeing the confused look on his boyfriends face.
"Bout fucking time! I am so ready to get out of this assed out gown. My balls feel like ice cubes." The older boy said, grabbing his crotch, as to make sure they were still there.
Ian laughedat the thought of Mickey having schrivilled balls.
"Where's Mands and Chris?" Mickey asked.
"They are at our place, they were kind of tired. I told them that I could handle picking you up on my own." The redhead answered.
"whatever" He shrugged. "When we leave here can we please get some real food? This hospital shit taste horrible." The older boys body cunvulsed at the thought. " s'why I'm eating jello."
"Sure Mick anything you want". Ian laughed at his boyfriend's repulsed face.
Mickey looked at his younger boyfriend with suspicion because Ian didnt normally offer up just anything, so he knew something was up.
"Ok. What fuck happend? Am I dieing?" Mickey asked, seriousness washing over his soft features.
Ian tried his hardest to hide the fact he had an ulterior motive. "What are you talking about Mick? You are not dieing."
"You just told me I could have anything I want so what the fuck is wrong?" he asked, more seriously.
His boyfriends sighed loudly because he knew he had to tell him what the doctor said."Well um Mick" he nervously started."I didn't want to tell you, but I have to."
"Tell me what? Just fucking spit it out already Ian" the older boy barked.
"Ok. um Mick the reason you are here is because..." he tried.
"Dont leave me hangin'. just tell me already, damnit!" Mickey said, annoyed.
"Three nights ago, you suffered a severe panic and anxiety attack. You were telling me about your dad and that kid Dawson."
"What the fuck did I tell you?" he asked. He remembered being awoken from a nightmare, but he didn't remember much after that.
"Everything…" Ian said as a look of horror spread across his boyfriends face.
"Don't worry Mick I will never tell anyone. You were sensitive and you completely opened up to me for the first time so I'm not going to defy your trust." Ian started, "Plus baby, you mean so much to me and it hurt that all this time you had to go through this by yourself."
Mickey's face softened with vulnerability due to the sincere and shear concern his younger boyfriend was clearly showing. The redhead's tone completely changed. He never called him baby before nor spoke so serious and deep. The redhead got out of the chair and sat next to his gorgeous boyfriend in the bed. He then reached his big freckled hands out and grabbed his boyfriend's pale hand while gazing deeply in his beautiful, icy blue eyes.
"Mickah James Milkovich, I love you so much and my life would be empty without you in it." The older boy hated his younger sister for announcing his real name, but at this moment all he could do was try to keep it together as his eyes started welling up with tears. "The other night I was scared because I thought I was going to lose you. That's a feeling I don't EVER want to feel again. It scared the fuck out of me. I'm so proud of you for defying the odds, overcoming all of the agony and I want you to know you are my hero for not allowing that one horrific experience to keep your heart from me."
The older boy couldn't hold the tears back any longer because no one had ever remotely said anything close to that to him before in his life, even when he graduated from college.
The redhead leaned in closer to his now tear faced boyfriend. "Dr. Crosby is putting you on bed rest for at least a week and gave me some medications for you to take. One is for the pain, but the other is for your anxiety. He also told me that he wants you to see a counselor." Ian finally said.
The older boy took in a heavy deep breath and cocked his head to the side, popping his neck. He didn't want to talk to anybody else about it.
"I know that the whole counselor thing is not ideal, but we need to get you over it so that you don't have another attack like this." Ian said thoughtfully.
The brunette looked away from his handsome boyfriend that was now staring directly at him. "So can you please go to counseling… For me?" he whispered.
After hearing the most loving things he had ever heard and seeing the gorgeous boy in front of him practically begging, Mickey couldn't do anything but oblige. He looked back at the redhead next to him and calmly nodded his head.
"Babe, you don't have to go through this alone anymore, I'm here for you. I don't want you to worry because my heart is unconditionally yours. I'm never going to leave you. We are going to get through this together ok?" Ian cried.
The tears really started to fall down Mickey's face as he heard the word "We" spill from his boyfriend's lips.
"I dream about you, I go to work every day and all I think about is making a future for us." The redhead said as he realized that tears were now rolling down his freckled face. He softly chuckled and gently bit down on his bottom lip.
The older boy finally found the strength to let words escape from his lips. "What? Why did you just laugh?" he said.
The redhead looked at his boyfriend, smiled widely and said "Because I just realized something." The older boy waited patiently for his younger companion to finish his thought. "I never knew how much I loved you until this very moment."
All of sudden the redhead saw a beautiful yet strong array of loving emotion go across his boyfriend's face as he said softly "That's all I ever wanted to hear."
Without warning, Mickey reached out to his younger companion, placed his arms around his thick, muscular neck and planted the sweetest kiss on his lips. The younger boy followed suit by wrapping his arms around the older boy's waist, slightly opening his mouth to lightly push his tongue into the other boy's mouth. They both tilted their heads to the side to deepen the kiss while slowly rubbing each other. They fell into a trance with each other to the point where they didn't even realize that Ian was on top of Mickey with his body resting in between his partially bent legs. Right as Mickey was making his way to take off the redhead's shirt they heard a knock at the door. Moment ruined.
Both boys slowly turned around to see Mickey's nurse, Cindy, standing in the doorway smiling at the twosome.
"I didn't mean to interrupt Mr. Milkovich. Hello, Mr. Gallagher". She said shyly.
The adorable couple looked at each other and laughed. "Its fine Cindy, this is my boyfriend Ian" Mickey expressed proudly.
"Hi Ian how are you?" she said with a little too much happiness in her voice for Mickey's liking.
"I'm doing just fine thank you, Cindy." Ian smiled, seeing that Mickey looked a little uncomfortable.
"Mr. Milkovich…" Cindy started.
"Didn't I tell you last night, to call me Mickey?" the older boy huffed out.
Cindy and Ian laughed at the boy in front of them. "So, are you here to give me another pain shot before I leave?" Mickey asked, trying to take the nurse's attention from his boyfriend.
Smirking, Cindy told him she was there to take him to get bathed.
The brunette shook his head as a signal that it was a reminder. With a sarcastic grin on his face Mickey asked, "Cindy, is it ok if Ian helps me? I mean he has seen every little inch of my body anyway?"
The nurse couldn't do anything, but shake her head in amusement.
"Mick…" Ian said in a shockingly and slightly embarrassed tone.
"What?" He asked matter of factly. "You have. Don't be trying to act all uppity, Gallagher, just cause you don't live on the Southside anymore" the older boy said with a sarcastic tone. The younger boy just nonchalantly flipped off his smitten and adorable boyfriend.
Cindy rolled a wheelchair from the hall to the bed and Ian helped Mickey into it. "The bathroom is down the hall and the second door on the left." she told the boys. Ian smiled at the beautiful petite woman in front of him, turned around and said to his boyfriend "Come on Pig Pen, let's go get your dirty ass cleaned up." Cindy giggled andshook her head at the boys and walked out the hospital room behind them.