Chapter Text
The beeping of a machine woke you up, as well as the sound of murmuring, a soft and soothing voice. You couldn't open your eyes, the effort was too difficult for your weak body. You tried as hard as you could to move something, anything, to find who was talking around you, to figure out where you were. You’re in the hospital dumbass, you made it back… wait if I made it back, then where’s Jake?!
You tried to open your eyes, but they felt glued shut, unforgiving darkness being the only thing you could see, but the warmth enveloping your body motivated you to fight harder to push back. Eventually, you managed to pull them open a fraction, welcoming in the brightness form around you. Your eyelids finally fluttered open, bracing for the massive influx of light and detail, the lights above you, the slight humming coming from the light bulbs, the gentle breeze against your skin, blowing the titans why the window away, giving you a small glance at the view outside. You finally focused on the people around you, two figures in khakis, most likely one of the pilots waiting with you. They stood up from the seat that had been in, expression still blurry but visible enough to see the expression of shock plastered on it.
“Y/N?” The voice was low and steady, yet filled with hope. You wanted so desperately to answer, but it felt like your mouth was so dry you couldn’t speak, so you simply blinked and moved your hand as much as you could. It was only a twitch of our fingers right now, but was still better than nothing and based on the sigh of relief you heard about you, they must have thought it was good enough as well. As you began to regain feeling in your own body, the ability to move, ot sit up slowly, to move your fingers and toes easily, one of them went running to the corner of the room for a cup of water while the other sat back in the chair and grabbed your hand, squeezing it softly, a comfort that you had realised you needed.
“It’s good to have you back Nyx, we all missed you.” you recognised that voice. Maverick . You blinked rapidly, your vision clearing up to confirm what you had realised, and to find Rooster handing you the plastic cup of water. You took it eagerly and chugged the entire cup within seconds, relishing in the immense relief of your throat finally getting some water. After clearing your throat for a few seconds, you were finally able to talk.
“Okay. I’m only gonna say this once because my throat is still very sore. I need to know what happened after I passed out, what happened to Jake and which room he’s in because I need to see him. And so help me god if one of you two tries to stop me I will beat you over the head with my goodman IV stand. Understood?” They both nodded in silence, sitting up straight as if they were being commanded by a superior officer. You smirked and continued.
“Okay, fill me in.”
*
Waking up to the light of the day was a bitch.
The sun was too bright, causing a ruckus in his head. The thoughts racing around in his head didn’t fix the tornado raging around either. Trying to trace back his steps, Jake’s mind rewarded him with fragments of what had happened, memories to help him achieve what he wanted to know. He had been hit in the head, he was bleeding badly, you were there…you…Y/N! He tried to shoot up, tried to scan the room for any clues as to where you could be, he was met with a random face mere inches from him. Before he could react, the hand pushed him back down, the world spinning from all the movement. He needed to focus before he could start moving. The spinning of the world also distracted him from the fact that there was another person in his room, practically hiding in the corner, pressing around like a madman. He tried to focus on the person in the back, some part of him needing to identify them, but the doctor was making it extremely hard, covering the figure as she tried to get his attention.
“Lieutenant Seresin? Can you hear me? Blink once if you can,'' the doctor said with a calming voice. He blinked as instructed, eyes scanning the room for any hints as to what time it was, what had happened, but there was nothing of value around him except for you, patiently waiting behind the doctor, wringing your hands out in nervousness. You looked a mess.
The nurse suddenly flashed her light right in Jake's eyes, disorienting him and increasing his headache but giving the needed results. “He seems to be reactive to light just fine, '' she said over her shoulder. Jake watched as the figure in the background nodded nervously, still unable to make sense of the situation or to identify the person in the corner. His mind was still too focused on grasping what was happening, or rather what had happened.
“Good. That’s good. Can you move your fingers?” she asked gently, her eyes soft with a warm smile on her face. He moved his hand with ease while your fingers moved within the doctor’s palm, his smile growing when he looked at you, noticing that soft expression on your face at his progress.
“Can you try your feet?” He then moved his toes too, watching happily while the smile grew on the doctor’s face. She looked at you and nodded softly as Jake watched your stiff shoulders slump in relief and a soft sob of joy slip from your lips. The doctor then turned back to you
“That's really good, you should be okay for now. I’ll run a complete check-up later, but for now, I’ll let you rest. You’re gonna need it.'' The doctor then turned to you, who was still fidgeting, peeling the skin around your fingers, cracking your knuckles, rolling on to your heels and toes. “You also need some rest, sweetie, your injuries won't heal if your stress levels don’t decrease." you nodded with a soft smile while Jake smirked softly as the doctor left, waiting for the door to shut before he could turn his attention to you. However, before he could say anything, you rammed yourself into him, your body crashing into his. His breath was forced out of his lungs with a soft oof when your arms wrapped around his torso, gripping to him like he was going to leave. Jake was left stunned for a moment, still trying to wrap his mind around everything, but like clockwork, his arms wrapped around you, comforting you the only way he knew how. When his brain finally caught up, however, he hugged you tiger, his head finding its way into the crook of your neck while yours did the saem. The sound of your sobs didn’t slow, however, your tears still flowed at a fast and steady rate and Jake held you, his hand running up and down your back, his other carding its fingers through your hair, grounding himself with the feel of you.
After a minute or so, you eventually pulled back, legs making their way to each side of his body, straddling him. Your shaky hands reach up to graze the sides of his face. One of his copies, his hand dragging to the side of yours, it was barely a hold, but you still leaned into it, finding comfort in the feel of him.
“Oh god, Jake, I missed you so much…” Your voice was just above a whisper, your reddened eyes lever leaving Jake’s glassy ones, tears threatening to fall. One of your hands went up to card your fingers through the soft golden strands, looking at him with such adoration while you kissed his forehead, his cheeks, his nose, then leaned your own forehead on his. “I love you, Jake Seresin, never leave me again…I can’t lose you, Jake, I can’t” your voice broke at the recollection of everything that had happened that one day.
“I love you, Y/N Y/L/N, forever and always, You won’t lose me, darlin’, never, okay?” you nodded softly, a smile slowly growing as a soft laugh left you.
“You’re okay! Fuck, you’re okay! Oh god , I- jake I was so worried, I thought you wouldn't wake up,I thought I’d be alone without you-”
“I’m right here, sweetheart, right here, it’s okay, we’re okay.” he pulled into another tight hug, finally getting full control of his own limbs as he pulled you tightly to him, bringing you as close to himself as possible. Your small groan of pain, however, caused him to pull back quickly ,looking at you with concern.
“What is it, sweetheart, what’s wrong?” he asked, his thumb grazing over your cheek. You shook your head looking down for a second before looking back into his eyes.
“It’s nothing Jake, really, don’t worry about it”
“What hurts, darlin’? Hmm? Should I call the doctor-”
“No! No, it’s fine…it’s just my stomach, Jake, but it's fine I swear” It finally dawned on him as he looked down to your stomach, remembering that you had also been gravely injured that day. He pushed the fabric away to see that your stomach had been bandaged, but it didn’t make it any better, you still looked pained.
“Shit! Sweetheart, I’m so sorry!I forgot and I hurt you! I’m so sorry darlin’, fuck, I’m so sorry-” his worry double as leaned to push the button, but your strong grip on his forearm stopped him. His eyes travelled from your head to your eyes quickly, eyebrows furrowed inconfusion.
“Please, don’t Jake…if you call them I’ll have to go back to my room…I don't wanna go back, I wanna stay with you, please let me stay Jake, please.” The tears had formed in your eyes when you remember the days you’d spent back in your room, being forced to wait for the 5-day period before you were allowed to move around. You’d cried yourself to sleep all those nights, grasping Jake’s picture that you’d begged Natasha to bring.
“Okay, okay sweetie, calm down, okay? What happened? Why would they take you back to your room? A-are you not supposed to be here, doll?” his arms moved from your shoulders to cradle your face, wiping away the one tear that had managed to escape.
“I…well, no. it’s complicated”
“I've got the time”
You sighed, relented and told him. “ I am technically allowed to be here…but I had to fight my way here. When I first woke up, I got Rooster and Mav to fill me in, I then kinda, sorta, threatened to beat them over the head with my iv stand if they didn’t show me to your room” you huffed out a laugh as jake snickered, imagining the situation in his mind. “When I got here, you uh- you looked really rough…it was a lot, Jake, you were so pale ” your hand went up to his not life-like skin, golden and supple. He leaned into your touch as you continued your recount.
“I had only recently woken up and only had a cup of water, so the breakdown I had left me really dehydrated, tired, and stressed. Obviously when Roo and Mav realised that maybe they shouldn’t have let me come here they brought me back- I did fight back though, so…but anyways, the doctors checked up on me again and my stress levels were apparently, like, ‘too high’, which I didn’t know was possible, and they sort of put me in a 5-day quarantine so that the next time I saw you it wouldn't be right after you’d gotten out of surgery and my blood pressure would’ve gone down. You looked better when I came back, but my stress levels are still kind of high, so if you press the button and I go back and they check up on me, they're gonna keep me there for another 5 days and I would not be able to take it-”
You choked on a small sob and Jake pulled you back into his chest, his own tears finally falling after being on the tip of eyelashes. You both held each other for a while, relishing in the other until Jake pulled back or looked at you.
“I’m so sorry doll…I didn’t know it was that bad, I'm so sorry.”
“Why are you apologising, Jake, it’s not your fault. You just woke up, I'm sorry, I’m the one bombarding you…do you want me to leave?” You didn’t want to hear his rejection but his answer soothed you.
“No, god no, why on earth would I want you to leave? Just- deep breaths and just stay with me, okay? Just get outta your head and be here with me. Can you do that?” You laughed as you nodded, snuggling into his chest as his arms wrapped around you, your positions feeling like they’d been set in stone, it just all felt so right. Being here with him, it felt like it was where you belonged. To Jake, it was where he belonged.
Right by your side.