burning_smile | (no subject)

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He was actually hyperventilating a little bit by the time they got to the elevator. He pressed the button for 2 and leaned backward against the wall, his grip on Dirk's hand slipping a little. He'd never been good at dealing with hospitals, despite how many times he'd been in them as a child from getting a little too banged around for his own good. He kept his eyes closed as they ascended to the second floor.

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The elevator dinging to announce their arrival worked sort of like an alarm for Jake. He lifted his head and looked up at Dirk and the world sort of settled back into its proper time-passage, not slowed down in his terror or sped-up in his nerves. He inhaled, and closed his eyes for a moment, squeezing Dirk's fingers and following him out of the elevator.

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He hadn't remembered the number, actually. So he fumbled for a moment in thought until Dirk lead them to a room, and upon seeing the number on the plaque beside the door he remembered it, and blinked at Dirk. Oh. He leaned into the Strider's one-armed embrace for a moment, tipping his head against Dirk's.

"Thanks," he said, squeezing Dirk's hand. He reached out with the other to push open the door, steeling himself for whatever condition Jade was in.

Unsurprisingly, given she was Jade motherfucking Harley-English, she was mostly in a put-off condition. She had a good amount of bandaging wrapped around her head, an IV in her arm, and one leg was partially elevated with a cast around the opposite ankle. But she was sitting up, propped against a small mound of pillows, and the heart monitor to her left was steady as she goes. She looked to the door when it opened and her irritated expression, previously directed at an unsuspecting nurse, washed away into a smile.

"Jake," she said, apology in her tone. "I hope they didn't pull you out of class to come here, I told them I'd be fine and I'd call you myself. They wouldn't give me my phone." She passed another grumpy look to the nurse, who passed a few awkward glances between Jake and Dirk standing in the doorway and Jade still huffing on the bed. Jade smiled again, looking past Jake. "And thank you for escorting him, Dirk, I'm sure he was a bit of a mess."

Jake was sort of caught between a collection of reactions, but he came closest to crying. He laughed, faintly, squeezing Dirk's hand so hard his hand shook before he let go and stepped over to Jade when she raised the hand that wasn't attached to an IV toward both of them.

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"I can imagine," Jade conceded, reaching out to hopefully take hold of one of Dirk's hands when he got close enough. He may not have been much for affection, but Jade had as good as adopted him as her own, at this point. And he was not getting away without at least minor contact from her. In the meantime, she turned her other hand over on the bed, wiggling her fingers at Jake in a beckoning gesture. He bit his lip and sank into a chair beside her bed, taking her hand and folding over it to set his forehead against her hip.

"You scared me," he said. She tutted.

"That's why I told them to let me call you myself, I knew they were going to freak you out." She turned to Dirk. "Did he make himself sick?" Back to Jake. "You didn't make yourself sick over me, did you?"

Jake actually laughed a bit at that.

"I definitely tried."

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Dirk was taking wonderful care of her grandson, and he was a brilliant, attractive young gentleman to boot. She was endlessly glad that Jake had finally found someone to be close with, their perpetual insistence that they weren't together be damned.

"Well, good. You probably would have thrown up on Dirk's shoes, and that's rude treatment of your chauffeur." She chortled a bit, and Jake just shook his head.

"What happened, though?" He ran his fingers along the back of her hand, and Jade's irritated expression returned.

"People don't know how to drive. The Space Mobile is probably totaled, and I've got a broken ankle to show for it." Jake just sort of sighed again, nodding. He was just glad she was all right, really.

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Jade squeezed Dirk's hand a little, smiling at him.

"Really I think the hospital is just fussing because of my age," she said with a sort of flat tone. "They don't know who they're dealing with." She huffed a little and sat back. "But they are pumping me full of pain medication, which is making me drowsy. Dirk, would you see to it that Jake gets home safe without throwing up on anyone?"

Jake scrunched his face up at that.

"I'm not that bad," he complained, and Jade laughed. Jake, if you didn't make yourself so easy to make fun of, maybe people wouldn't do it so much.

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Jade recoiled her hand from Dirk's to set it against her collarbone as she laughed, shaking her head.

"No, but I might fancy a bit of a nap, and I don't figure you boys want to sit here watching an old lady sleep." She looked between them, making a face. "...and even if you do, that's just a little too strange for me."

Jake was looking pretty haggard, anyway. The kid didn't handle stress well.

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Jake squeezed her hand and she squeezed back, letting go as he stood up and scrubbed at his eyes under his glasses.

"Call if you need anything," he added. "I'll feed Bec." She nodded and waved them off, settling back into her hospital bed and closing her eyes. Jake sort of wobbled his way back into the hallway.

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He sighed and leaned into Dirk's embrace, smiling a little.

"I know, but. She's getting old, I just wasn't sure..." He ran a hand down his face. "Could I persuade you to stay over tonight?"

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Jake nodded a little, and then smiled as they stepped into the elevator.

"We put a handle in the shower," he said idly. He left it up to Dirk to decide why he'd told him that.

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Yessss. Jake loved getting a one-up on Dirk when it came to embarrassment. Dirk, you've created a monster. He snickered softly, though his face was a little colored, too. He slid his hand into Dirk's and nosed his hair.

"Alarmingly enough it was her idea," Jake offered quietly. Yep, his grandmother shipped the fuck out of them.

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"Sometimes she scares me with her ideas," Jake admitted. "She had me help her install it and then stood there and made wiggly eyebrows at me until I understood why it was there." He shook his head like it was a marginally traumatic experience (spoilers; it sort of was), and slid obediently into the passenger's seat of his car.

"...thank you," he offered as he buckled his seatbelt.

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