It's easy enough to make his excuses. It's been a long day, and Adam needs a little space from Roddy and The Kingdom right now. He wants to check in with Max, then head back to the hotel, get some sleep, prepare for the next airport trip. Assumes Max is still in medical, because that was a pretty brutal match, and his arm will need some care, especially with how Joe was manhandling him at points. All in all, things had gone alright- as charged up as it all was, as many things could've gone wrong, he thinks they all shouldered through it as best as they could between Max's injuries and his own. Even the Devil reveal had gone off as smoothly as they could've hoped, considering the limited amount of time they had to pull it off. He's just glad it's over with, and Max can go recover, rest for the first time in who knows how long.

Peeking his head into medical, he frowns upon finding only a couple of staff members lingering around, bored looks on their faces. "Hey, Max isn't in here?" he asks, once more scanning the room as if he'd just missed him or something.

"Haven't seen him," one of the guys says. "Should've been, but.." He shrugs in a very nonchalant "what can you do?" kind of way that bothers Adam.

"Hm," he says, before letting the door snap closed once more behind him, making his way slowly down the hall, his crutches making a lot of noise with each step, adding to his tension. "Where are you, Max?" he mumbles.

He's turned another corner when he hears a commotion down the hall. Something tells him to hurry, so he does, rushing as quickly as he can on the crutches over to where the sounds seem to be coming from. He slows to a stop as soon as he's in sight of what's going on, eyes wide and lips parting a little.

Max is slumped down against the wall, wheezing feebly through his fingers, his hands pressed to his face, while staff and referees cluster around him, trying to help and failing. It's only when one of the referees looks over and notices Adam that he snaps back to reality and can move again, pushing forward through the crowd. "Hey, give him space," Adam says, fighting the urge to use his crutches to push people from crowding around Max. Thankfully they scatter and he gets a closer look at his friend, his heart aching as he sees how Max's hands are trembling against his face.

Switching his crutches to the left side, he presses his back against the wall next to Max, lets his crutches go the rest of the way, and slumps down to sit next to Max. "Hey," he says, turning toward Max. "Hey. Max. Hey, I'm here."

Max doesn't move, doesn't react at all, just continues to gasp for breath, his fingers digging into his cheeks.

Adam curses under his breath, scoots closer. "Max, can you hear me?" he asks, resting his hands on top of Max's. "Try to breathe in time with me, ok?" He continues to rub soothing circles around Max's knuckles, breathing in as steadily as he can. "Max, please-"

"Can't," he chokes. "Can't breathe. Adam-"

Adam shakes his head, scoots all the way over until they're pressed close together, Max's arm flush against his chest. "Listen to me," he says, "You're going to be ok. You just need to listen to me, and try to follow my breaths. Ok? Can you try?"

Max digs his nails in tighter, but then nods, and Adam thinks maybe they're finally getting somewhere.

"Ok," he murmurs. "In," he takes an exaggerated breath in. "Now out." He keeps this up for a minute, relieved when Max slowly begins mimicking him, some of the panicked tension leaving his body. "That's it. See, you've got it." But Adam's careful not to move, keeping himself close to Max's side. "You're ok."

Max exhales, shaking his head. "Don't feel like it," he says, his voice weary. He still has his hands pressed to his face and Adam lightly tugs on his wrist.

"Come on, Max," he says kindly, understanding why he hasn't moved when Max slowly pulls his hands away and peers at him. His eyes are redrimmed, face flushed and wet, and Adam exhales slowly. "Oh, baby. Come here." Adam shifts again, wrapping an arm around Max's waist and tugging until he shifts his hands and tips over, pressing his face into Adam's neck. "There you go."

Max sniffs softly, tangling his fingers into Adam's shirt. "I don't want this," he mumbles. "I don't want to have to leave. I love wrestling so much, but I'm so tired..."

"I know," Adam sighs, running his fingers through Max's curls. "Remember what I said in the ring before the reveal?" Max makes a weird half-shrug motion against him and Adam hums, tapping his fingers against Max's back. "You're brave, and you're a fighter, and you'll come back from this stronger than ever. I know you will, because that's the kind of man- the kind of competitor- you are. And anyone who doubts that never took the time to get to know you the way I have. But you also deserve the time to rest and recover and I know it sucks and it hurts right now, but you'll be glad you took this time afterwards."

Max sighs. "Do you think my injuries ruined what we were trying to do?"

"No," Adam says, still running his fingers through his hair. "No more than my ankle did. We told the story we wanted to tell. You have nothing to worry about or feel guilty over."

"Hmm." Max wipes sluggishly at his face and blinks, pressing tighter into Adam's side. "I don't want to move," he admits quietly and Adam squeezes him. "Know I need to, though."

"Take your time," Adam murmurs. "The scrum is still going on. We have a little bit of time."

Max sighs and gives himself a couple more minutes before straightening up, reluctantly pulling away from Adam's comforting warmth. When the medical staff approaches again, he gingerly holds his good hand out and they guide him up as carefully as they can. "Help him," he mumbles, turning back to where Adam is collecting his crutches off of the floor.

A couple of referees approach, one holding his crutches for him and the other supporting him as he stands. Once Adam is braced on the crutches once more, he makes his way over to Max, his eyes softening as he takes in the weary look on his face, the tense way he's holding himself.

Max sighs, his eyes still red and itchy looking, although his face is now dry. "I'm sorry."

Adam shakes his head. "For what?"

"This. Having to make you wait for who knows how long until we can continue what we started tonight."

Adam exhales and leans in closer to him. "Just returning the favor. You were always patient with me after my injury. It's my turn." He smiles at Max. "Just take care of yourself, alright?"

Max grimaces. "You know that's not my strong suit."

Adam nods. "It's not mine either, but at least try? For me?"

"Alright," he sighs. "I'll try."

Adam's smile grows a little and he adjusts the grip on his crutches, leaning forward to wrap his arms around Max in a tight hug. He hums when Max lifts his good arm and hugs him back, hand trembling a little between Adam's shoulderblades. "Just remember anything I say on Wednesday, I don't mean any of it." He's tempted to tell him not to watch at all, but he also knows that there's no way either of them could do that- wrestling is too deeply ingrained in both of them, and it'd be worse than any rehab or surgery either of them could have to recover from to expect them to avoid it. "Alright?"

"Yeah, of course," Max says, not sounding very convincing.

Adam exhales, searching his face. "I'll be calling to check in on you," he warns him. "You're probably going to get sick of me, you'll be hearing from me so much."

"Impossible," Max responds, his lips twitching up into a small smile. "Come on, let's get to medical so they can begin poking and prodding me, and you can get off of that ankle."

"Yes please," Adam says, the two of them falling into step, Max careful to make room for Adam's crutches as they slowly make their way down the hall.