Work Text:
He didn’t even think about it; none of this should have happened. When he told his boys that he will meet them later at work, he didn’t realize the unforeseen circumstances that would follow; yet here he was: a deflated airbag against his lap, his arm gripping his shoulder in pain, tears streaming down his eyes as he bit his lip, trying not to move.
“Fucking…” he gritted his teeth as he let go of his arm to look at the damage. There was a huge purple splotch that took over the ink that traced his arms. It was bad, from what he could tell, as it was spreading horrifically fast from the inside of his arm. He gasped as he looked all around, seeing the damages around him. The car was a mess; his coffee was spilt everywhere, papers were completely scattered and his windshield was completely busted. “Fucking….great…” he finally heaved out, buzzing his lips and then immediately wincing at the pain. He heaved as he tried to move out of the car, involuntarily whimpering. It felt like there was a knife in his chest, but as far as he could tell, thankfully, nothing was impaling him.
He gasped as he went outside to inspect his car, immediately gasping and groaning. “Oh, God, no...fucking...no. Just no!” he huffed, exhaling sharply and biting his lips as he inspected the damages. The full back seat of the driver’s side was almost completely caved in. The metal was bent and twisted, bending and folding in on itself. The back seat window was completely shattered, the safety glass in little piece that sprinkled everywhere.
Geoff can’t even recall specifically what happened. He was just pulling off because the light turned green. He wasn’t even 2 minutes away from the office, he was so close. The last thing he remembered what the fact that it felt like...well, it felt like a car ran into him at full speed. It just so happened, however, that he was at one of those intersections this early in the morning where the town wasn’t bustling and so no one saw.
“H-how could this happen?” he hissed as suddenly he heaved over, gritting his teeth at the incredibly sharp pain that stabbed his chest. He gasped, immediately looking down his shirt. There was purple that painted all over the center of his chest. He whimpered as he could only think one thing.
I can’t go through this now! Not now...so much is happening at the office! There’s no way I can afford this now…
“W-what would the guys even think?” he winced as he looked at his arm again, gasping at the sight. Almost his entire forearm was blue, purple, and black; there was even some blood seeping out from a laceration that he didn’t even notice before. “I-it’s okay, G-Geoff. Don’t panic. It’s just a cut. Just a cut,” he was practically repeating his own words as if trying to convince his skeptical body. Carefully with his uninjured arm, he pulled out a cellphone, beginning to dial out Ryan’s number when suddenly, he froze, looking at the screen of his cell phone.
It’s just a cut. I’ll be fine…
He erased the dial and began to call the tow truck company, pulling the cell phone up to his ear and groaning at the pain that began to stab his chest again. He tried not to think of all the purple that currently that was becoming his shade right now. As the phone began to ring, he pulled out the hoodie that was in the back seat that he always kept just in case it got cold.
---
He got the car to be towed to the repair company, however the company already told him that it is beyond repair. He gritted his teeth as he thought of those words echoing in his head.
Beyond repair. “It can’t be beyond repair, it’s just the back seat!”
It’s just a cut.
“Sir,” the woman said on the phone. “We can’t do anything; we are sorry.”
Geoff angrily hung up the phone, gasping at the pain again and cursing slightly as he began to walk to the office. He was just a half mile away or so; nothing that terrible, right? Despite the pain in his left leg that he felt, he began to limp towards the office, wincing in pain every single time when he would put his left foot down to continue to stay mobile.
What am I going to say to them? They can’t handle this, right now. So much needs to be done and there is no time to worry about injuries. It would just make them upset and like fucking Hell if I’m going to make them upset. The Gent inspected his bruised and swollen arm and began to pile a sweatshirt on top of him, putting it on over his body. He couldn’t help but feel tears well up in his eyes from the absolutely horrible pain that his chest was giving off right now. Angina Pectoris, is what the professional term was called. Chest pain. He hoped that he wasn’t having a heart attack.
There was a vibration in his hand as he took a quick glance of his phone, feeling his heart beginning to pulse when the caller ID showed the picture of Michael as his contact.
Don’t say anything about the crash. Don’t say anything.
He swiped his phone to answer the call, pulling the phone to his ear and, once again, hissing at the pain in his chest.
“Michael h-hey!”
“Geoff, oh, my God, where are you? You’re over an hour late… You said you would be here,” Michael’s voice emitted over the speakers and into Geoff’s ear, sending the Gent’s adrenaline pumping. What was he suppose to say? It was more than obvious that everyone was struggling from all the stress that was being piled on top of them.
Don’t tell them; they don’t need to know. You’ll be fine. It’s just a cut…
“I’m sorry, I’ll literally be there in a minute, okay?”
“Gah, please. So much is happening here and I’m about to fucking lose my mind. All of us are, because we can’t do half of the things that Burnie is giving us without you, okay?”
Geoff frowned as he continued to “walk” towards the office. He waited a bit for the pain to try to fade away before he put on his brave face and tried to obscure the fact that he was injured by trying not to limp as much as he could.
“Y-yeah, Michael, hon; I’m walking in the doors now, okay?”
Michael made an approving noise before he hung up the phone, leaving Geoff feeling almost completely empty.
It’s okay...it’s just a cut… he continued to try and convince himself as he made his way to the office, slowly.
---
This won’t be too bad right? All he has to do is stand there and just be himself, right?
Wrong.
Immediately when he stumbled through the door, Ryan pulled him in for a hug, causing Geoff to completely choke out in pain. As soon as he made the cacophonous noise, Ryan let go immediately, looking at the Gent with grave concern.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine!” Geoff hissed out, harsher than he intended to. He cleared his throat, trying to maintain himself as he tried to ignore the pain as much as possible. “I’m fine...just a little sore from sleeping wrong, I guess.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, dear,” Jack cooed as he gingerly wrapped his arms around the elder Gent’s waist, hugging him from behind. Geoff bit his lip and lightly blushed as he felt the gentle touch from the other. “Are you sure you don’t need to go back home?”
“N-no, I have to stay and help you guys...Michael was telling me how stressed you guys were.”
“Well, yeah, but if it is going to concern your health, we can handle it on our own,” Ray stated as he gently grabbed the elder Gent’s hand. Geoff gasped and bit his lip from the intense pain that seemed to keep pounding against his arm and chest.
“Guys, I’m fine...I’m serious, I’m fine…”
“Are you sure, boi?” Gavin asked.
“Y-yes, guys, please. Let’s just started okay?” Geoff tried to force a smile to his lovers and they all smiled back; it was a small smile from the group, but at least it was a smile.
Good; now they don’t have to worry.
Geoff smile turned sincere when he saw his boys smile back at him. It was worth to hide the pain; as long as they were okay, he was okay, however, he couldn’t help but whimper in pain as he looked down to see a tiny little spot of red against his green sleeve.
“Geoff, you’re okay, right?” Ray asked the Gent, raising a playful eyebrow.
“I’m fine! I’m okay,” Geoff smiled back. “I-I just gotta use the bathroom right quick…”
---
Although he got the bleeding to dumb down, the pain never stopped, but Geoff felt like he was getting use to it. He didn’t know how, but he somehow made it through the day until there was a sudden realization.
He didn’t have his car. He groaned as he walked up to Ryan who was piling the rest of the guys into the car. Geoff painfully tapped a weak finger against Ryan’s broad, strong shoulder to make the Gent turn around.
“R-Ryan, I’m gonna have to have a ride…” he told the Gent. Ryan raised an eyebrow and chuckled.
“Of course, Geo--wait, didn’t you drive here?” he asked; the playful Ryan look slowly turned into something that was concerning and Geoff bit his lip, not knowing what to say. He began to try to speak and give an excuse of why he was asking for a ride, when suddenly, he couldn’t find the words. In all honesty, actually, he felt sick; light headed, nauseated, and just plain ill. It felt like with every single heartbeat that pumped his blood, it felt like his life was fading.
It’s just a cut…
“Geoff, what is going on?” Michael asked, hopping out of the car and immediately going to the elder Gent’s side. Michael placed a loving hand on Geoff’s shoulder and the Gent just flinched, yelping out in pain as he flailed his arm away and suddenly, he felt warmth that began to trail across his arm; wet warmth.
“Oh, my God! Geoff!” Jack called out, his eyes completely wide with disbelief and suddenly, everyone’s face followed suit; all except for the victim Gent, himself.
He looked down at his arm just to see that the green sleeve that covered up his injured arm turned into a dark crimson; the wetness clinging to his skin and making the sleeve begin to clump up. There was even a couple of drops that began to drip down Geoff’s tattooed fingers, landing on the cement.
“Geoff, what did you do?! What is going on?!” Ryan was practically yelling hysterically as he began to hold Geoff up. “Ray! S-someone call 911!”
“Geoff!” Gavin cried, his hand over his mouth as he suddenly saw all the color from Geoff’s face almost drain out completely.
It’s just a cut...you don’t have to worry…i-it’s just a cut…
“Guys, I’m s-sorry,” Geoff spilled out, growing limp. “H-hurts.”
“Jesus Christ, Geoff, oh, my God,” Michael’s face was also growing pale as he saw all the blood that began to trail down Geoff’s fingertips, soaking his hoodie. “W-what happened?! P-please, do-don’t die! Oh, my God, please don’t die--please be okay...”
Geoff just bit his lip, the pain in his chest growing more and more intense until suddenly the pain began to go away; actually it like like everything that was touching his body seemed to blend into one sensation: absolutely nothing. He didn’t feel anything and then suddenly his vision began to fade, blending into one color: darkness.
---
“It can’t be beyond repair, it’s just the back seat!”
“Gah, please. So much is happening here and I’m about to fucking lose my mind. All of us are, because we can’t do half of the things that Burnie is giving us without you, okay?”
“Geoff, what did you do?! What is going on?!”
“W-what happened?! P-please, do-don’t die! Oh, my God, please don’t die--please be okay...”
”Geoff? Mr. Ramsey?...Geeeoooffff, please wake up…"
He opened his eyes to see a bright light and he gasped as if he just came out of the depth of an ocean that threatened to take his life.
“Geoff, oh, my God!” the voice was Michael was heard through Geoff’s ears and the Gent couldn’t help but smile.
“G-guys?...”
“Jesus Christ, Geoff,” Ray’s voice was heard and suddenly, there were arms that were wrapped around the elder Gent’s neck. “Don’t fucking ever do that again.”
“Mr. Ramsey seems to be stabilized. I will let the six of you catch up and get settled in. He will be okay, however just be careful of his injuries,” said the nurse. She gave Geoff a soft smile before leaving out the room through the door, leaving just the six of them in complete silence. The elder Gent grew worried as he saw their faces plastered with such grief and concern that he finally couldn’t take it anymore and he broke the silence.
“I-I’m sorry…”
“Sorry?! You nearly fucking died, Geoff! Your heart was about to fucking quit on your from all the physical strain that you were giving it!” Michael yelled out. There were angry tears that streamed down the Lad’s cheeks and Geoff couldn’t help but feel like the heart that he supposedly strained so badly seem to shatter into a million pieces.
“You broke your arm, sternum, and ankle,” Jack continued from Michael, crossing his arms.
“You broke a blood vessel from your broken arm from moving it around so fucking much and it was causing you to lose blood rapidly,” Ray added, hugging Geoff’s neck tighter
“You fainted from your heart quivering so much,” Ryan stated, coming at the injured Gent’s side and biting his lip as if it pained him to say that.
“You lied to us, you knob! You said you were okay!” Gavin sobbed out, clenching his fists tightly.
Geoff stared in disbelief at his boys from all the information that was given to him and he couldn’t help but shed tears, himself, from seeing his boys so upset; they were upset because of him.
“I-I’m sorry...I didn’t know it was that serious...I t-thought it was just a cut…”
“You knew it wasn’t just a cut!” Jack yelled out. “Did you even see your chest?! It looked like someone put a balloon inside of you because of how swollen it was from your broken sternum!”
“I...I didn’t want to...worry you…You guys seemed to be so stressed with work, I didn’t want to add to the strain and burden you...” Geoff admitted, looking down at his legs and biting his lip.
The five’s expressions soften when Geoff said that, all of them looking at each other in completely shock.
“Geoff, of course we worry about you, but it’s because we love you…w-why would you ever think that we would ever think that you’re a burden?” Ryan asked, placing a hand on the elder Gent’s shoulder, stroking it softly.
“If you’re hurt, we need to know…Work and keeping our jobs is nothing compared to how much we love you,” Jack added, a little smile beginning to trace his lips.
“You think I give a shit about work, you asshole?!” Michael cried out, wiping his face on the back of his hand. “Why would you ever think that?!”
“You’re telling me that you suffered through all of that just because you were worried about being a burden on us?! You never burden us!” Ray asked, his voice raising, not believing the “logic” that was being spilled out of the elder Gent’s mouth.
Geoff was smiling and he couldn’t help but blush at all of the confessions that was said to him. “R-really?...”
“Sometimes I think that you’re full of hot air,” Ryan chuckled as he leaned down to kiss Geoff’s lips deeply, careful of the broken bones that the Gent was sporting at the moment.
“I fucking love you guys,” Geoff laughed. “You guys are the best thing ever…”
“If you ever do that again, I’ll fucking--” Michael couldn’t even finish that statement when suddenly Gavin was dragging him over to Geoff just for the both of them to wrap their arms around the injured Gent. “Jesus, I love you…”
Jack and Ryan both tried to get into the mix of tangled arms around Geoff, careful of his broken sternum and arm, but just happy that Geoff was alive and although Geoff made pretty dumb decisions, at least they were thoughtful.