Chapter Text
“Ahh, there you are Mr Bright, welcome back to us...again,” the way too cheerful voice said as he worked on opening his eyes fully. His right eye just wasn’t cooperating for some reason.
He went to lift his right hand to find out why and instantly regretted it, with pain and fiery nerves sounding off their displeasure at that move. He tried to contain the pain but it just didn’t let up and he found himself, groaning aloud despite his best attempts not to. He’s instincts were to writhe away from the pain, but he knew from his months dealing with this injury that anything that stimulated his nerves would just keep it going longer. He clenched his jaw shut and held himself as still as he possibly could as he rode out the wave of fire and electricity racing under his skin.
Eventually he was able to feel a warm hand in his left, gently rubbing circles into his palm. It was grounding and helped him focus on something other than the all consuming pain.
“Dani,” he breathed as he looked over to the woman who was holding his hand and was his anchor in this horrible storm.
Her soft teary smile sent a wave of warmth through him that finally helped tamper the pain back to its usually liveable level. Well, that and the extra opioids flooding his system, but he was pretty sure it was mostly Dani’s doing.
“You have managed to avoid doing too much damage in your escapade while at home, but you do have a couple of hairline fractures that will need some time to heal. Miraculously they are not interfering with any of the many screws holding that arm together. I have no idea how. Someone must be looking out for you Mr Bright. Disturbing those screws is definitely not something you want to do. There is not much room to fixate anymore,” the previously cheery Doctor lamented.
Malcolm nodded his understanding. It was fragile and very breakable. Kind of like the rest of him really, so what was new.
Dani’s soft kiss to the back of his hand drew him out of his morbid thought cycle and he smiled at her, earning him a dull throb in his face.
“Ow,” Malcolm whined, detangling his left hand from Dani’s and touching the heavy tape on his right cheek that was hot and swollen with bruising and the likely cause for him not being able to fully open his right eye.
“Oh yes, you narrowly avoided breaking your orbital socket, again someone looking out for you. You will have some scarring as it was a pretty nasty cut to your cheek, but the plastic surgeon has done a great job and it should be minimal,” the once again cheery Doctor advised.
“Wonderful, anything else I need to know about?” Malcolm said as he rolled his eyes and immediately regretted it. The quiet guff from Dani made the spike of pain through his cheek worth it though.
The cherry Doctor, who’s name tag he couldn’t read this far away, grinned at him indulgently.
“Nothing that proper rest and recuperation won’t fix. Your infection is still under control and you can remain on the oral antibiotics,” they said with a hand up forestalling any response from Malcolm
“But you need to remain here for at least another two days with additional IV antibiotics to make sure it stays that way. Mr Bright, you need to rest to recover, I don’t know how else to tell you so that you understand that you can’t push yourself right now. Your body is using every ounce of energy you take in to heal, let it, or you will end up losing that arm,” the now not at all cheery Doctor admonished.
Malcolm swallowed back any retort he may have had and nodded his understanding with a mumbled, “yeah, I get it, thanks.”
“Do you? Because your actions from yesterday do not demonstrate that at all,” the accusatory tone from the Doctor looking at him with frustration stung.
“Wait, yesterday?” Malcolm asked, suddenly realising he had lost quite a bit of time.
“Yes, Mr Bright, yesterday. You exhausted yourself so much that you have been asleep for the last twenty-four hours since you passed out in the ambulance,” Doctor “Not so Cheery as they seem” reprimanded him.
Malcolm, glanced over to Dani, now seeing the dark rings under her bloodshot eyes, in her paler than usual face.
“Shit, Dani, I’m sorry...I, I was just organising my books and lost track of time...I mean I was mostly sitting while I was doing it so I thought...I didn’t think…” Malcolm stalled as he realised that he really hadn’t thought about it. Getting up and down for the books, carrying the books and staking them.
Malcolm hung his head to his chest with a heavy sigh.
“I’m sorry for scaring you,” Malcolm whispered to Dani, squeezing her hand back when she gave it a light squeeze in support.
“I know, you just have to be extra careful Malcolm. We can’t lose you,” Dani pleaded with him.
“Well, that’s my cue to give you two some privacy. Take care of yourself Mr Bright and I hope we don’t have to meet again,” Doctor “Ok maybe you are alright after all” said as they exited the room.
Dani’s cheeks flushed and she smirked over at him, then burst into a fit of giggles.
Malcolm gladly joined her and thanked whoever was looking out for him for giving him such a wonderful gift as Dani. He could do this. If not for him, for her.