Work Text:
Hiking is something that Patrick loves, he’s done it for years, and while he enjoys the outdoors and the exercise, his fiancé doesn’t . It doesn’t bother him, he understands that it’s not for everyone, and David had definitely proved that on their hike to the proposal. They’ve started closing the apothecary early on Tuesday, the least busy day of the week. Of course Patrick talked to a few customers, getting a feel for how people would react to the store being closed, which had been surprisingly well received.
It’s nice having a day that they’re not rushed to get out of bed and are able to wake up slowly, have some intimate time together. The other upside is that Patrick gets to hike. It’s a way of exercise and somewhat of a recalibration for him, leaving for a couple of hours or so, allowing David to see Stevie or his family alone. David’s made sure to be clear that he’s happy to skip the hikes, assuring Patrick he wasn’t feeling left out, and that he’d rather spend the few hours working on organizing his closet or doing extra skin care and eating pizza.
The past month though, it’s been different. Instead of hiking alone, Alexis has been accompanying him, and while at first he was unsure but still gladly willing to give it a chance, now he enjoys her company and he likes getting to build a relationship with another rose. They’re closer in age than he and David, only by a year, but they both like to remind him, making jokes about being an old man.
This particular Tuesday, the sun is shining and it’s a nice sixty five degree day, the middle of September cooling down from the heat of summer. He and David both wake up around the same time, spending some time kissing and cuddling, savoring the time they get to spend together like this. After finishing the morning with blow jobs, they lay back against the bed, both smiling.
“That was….wow,” David breathes out, laughing a little. Patrick knows how he feels and he can’t help but lean back over, fingertips skimming the man’s skin again, pressing warm, slow kisses to his mouth, traveling down his jaw and then to his neck. “Mm, babe, we need to get up,” he reminds, but it’s breathy and high as he squirms a little.
“You’re right,” Patrick mumbles, finally pulling back after a few more kisses. “You have that thing with Stevie right? It’s further away than Elmdale?” He tries to remember, getting up and stretching, just his boxer briefs on. David allows himself to admire the view before getting up too, feeling a little grumpy for having to stop their morning.
“Mhm, it’s some…” David waves his hand, trying to remember. “Some place like an hour and a half away, I don’t really remember. It’s for the motel though, so ugh . Now I’m regretting saying yes.”
Patrick laughs, shaking his head. “You’ll have fun. You know you will, you’ll get food and you’ll gossip and be judgemental at whatever you’ll be doing,” he teases, pressing another quick kiss to his fiance’s lips before moving to change. David huffs but doesn’t say anything else as he goes to start his skincare routine. Patrick leaves sooner than David, giving him a quick kiss on the lips despite David’s noise of protest, in the middle of washing his face. “It’s not going to mess up your face David, it’s a kiss,” he laughs, kissing him one more time before leaving to go pick up Alexis.
While they drive, Alexis puts on some music from her phone, mostly songs Patrick doesn’t know, but he does get to belt Umbrella by Rihanna. Alexis records it and sends it to David, earning a reply of ‘I’m not sure if I’m scared or turned on’. They get to the mountain, both happy for some fresh air. It sometimes catches Patrick off guard, how different Alexis is to what he’d assumed she’d be like. He would have never guessed she liked hiking, but here they are, about to do a two mile hike. They walk at a good pace, definitely not leisurely strolling as they start their ascend.
“So like….is David a screamer ?” Alexis asks curiously, glancing over at her soon to be brother-in-law, a sly grin appearing. It takes Patrick a minute to realize what she’s even asking and he blushes, mouth hanging open a little, trying to decide how to respond. “I mean, it’s not that embarrassing, I’m don’t want like...every detail of your sex life, because, ew . But I’ve always wanted to know.”
“I...uhm….” He debates on what to say. He knows David would be weirded out with his sister knowing, but it’s not like he hasn’t made it known to others. “Promise you won’t tell?” Patrick blushes a little and Alexis’s smile widens.
“That’s all the info I need,” she laughs, but then shakes her head. “I’m not going to tell my brother I know he screams when he has sex Patrick, I’m not that gross,” she wrinkles her nose, ponytail swishing back and forth “Besides, this is our time. Nothing gets said to anyone,” she shrugs as if it’s obvious. It’s oddly sweet.
He mutters a ‘ridiculous’ under his breath, but he’s only amused, no heat behind the word. “How are things with your business? Anything new since last week?” Patrick asks, stepping around a root that’s sticking out of the ground.
“I think I’m going to start working on a social media thing for a bar in Elmdale, they want to talk to me on Friday,” she smiles, looking excited. “I mean, they’re pretty popular, so it’ll be a bigger thing than most of the stuff I’ve done...well, if you exclude my moms stuff,” Alexis explains. Patrick gives her a high five.
“That’s awesome!! You’ll have to let us know how it goes. And no matter what we’ll take you out for drinks,” he decides, knowing they can invite Stevie too. If it all goes well, he’ll ask Mr. and Mrs. Rose too. “They’d be crazy not to hire you, you’re amazing.”
The hike continues and when they reach the top, they sit down on one of the benches to catch their breath. Alexis drinks some water and Patrick grabs a cliff bar from his bag, munching on it while looking at the scenery, even though they’ve admired it for almost two months straight. Eventually they start making their way down, passing only a couple other people, smiling to acknowledge them. Both walk past the small waterfall, happy to let the misty air cool them off a moment. It’s about half way down, a mile left, that everything goes to hell in a handbasket. Patrick doesn’t see the root this time, arched up from the ground, and he trips. Instinctively, he throws his arms out to catch himself, but the angle is wrong and it happens too fast for him to fix it. He hears a faint scream- Alexis. She’ll tell him later it was him.
Alexis lets out a gasp and he hears an ‘ oh my god, Patrick !’ but the only thing his brain can focus on is the sudden and intense pain that blooms from his wrist into his fingers and up his arm. “Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck….” he whines out, still on the ground. Alexis crouches down next to him, watching as he cradles his wrist to his chest, already swelling. He turns away from her, hazy but still aware of what’s about to happen and he can’t help the gag that rises from his throat, half digested cliff bar coming up.
“Okay uhm….” Alexis’s voice is panicked and shrill and he wants to comfort her but everything is muddled under the excruciating pain. He feels a hand on his back as he wipes his mouth on his right shoulder. “Let’s get to the car..” she says quickly, helping him up. Patrick stumbles a little as Alexis helps him up, directing a frown in his direction. He’s ashen-faced and nauseous, dizzy from the pain. “Do...do you think it’s broken?”
Nodding, Patrick squeezes his eyes shut tightly as another intense wave of pain rolls through his hand. “Definitely broken. Broke the same w-wrist in highschool,” he clenches his jaw and continues walking down as quickly as his body will let him. They pass another person and earn a worried look but Alexis completely ignores them, focused solely on getting him to the ER. It takes almost twelve more minutes of walking before they see his car and he fumbles with his right hand, trying to get his keys out of his pocket.
“I’m driving,” Alexis says before he can ask her, taking the keys and opening and shutting the passenger door for him before getting in too. “Okay, the uh...the closest ER is Elmdale, so it’s probably like...thirty minutes from here….” she calculates as she pulls out and onto the road. Her whole body is shaking and her eyes are wide as she merges into the highway a moment later.
Holding his arm to his chest, not daring to actually touch his wrist, he turns his head to her. “I’ll be okay...I’m not dying,” Patrick promises, even if it feels like he is. The car hits a pothole and David sucks in a breath, a noise escaping his lips somewhere between a moan and a strangled cry, wrist bouncing against his chest.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry,” she grimaces, almost going to rub his arm but stops when she realizes that would only make it worse. The ride feels like it takes two hours, but it only takes twenty five minutes, Alexis not caring if she was going 70 in a 50 zone. Patrick’s gone deathly still and quiet, looking like someone who should be in a casket with how pale his is. It feels like his heartbeat is in his hand, throbbing every other second. He thinks this is worse than in high school, when Matt Collins shoved him onto the ice during hockey practice for not letting him score the most goals in their previous game, effectively breaking his wrist. He'd sat out six games because of him.
Alexis parks quickly right at the entrance of the ER, double glass doors opening at the motion. “Go in and I’ll be right there okay? I just need to park and I’ll be right there,” she promises. He almost tells her he can walk from where she parks, but then nausea swells in his stomach again so he gives her a tight lipped nod and gets out.
Getting to the front desk, the woman looks at him and instantly frowns. “I b-broke my wrist...uhm..” He feels nauseous again from walking and standing and talking. His color must change because suddenly she’s telling him to hold on and offering a smile, coming back a second later with a pale pink deep pan, handing it to him. Suddenly Alexis is at his side, arm on his right shoulder, looking at the nurse.
“Yeah, hi, uhm, he needs to see a doctor, like, now . His wrist is broken, and if they don’t fix it it can get messed up,” she explains to the nurse who looks at Patrick and then Alexis.
“Right..are you his wife?” She asks, making Alexis wrinkle her nose and frown.
“ What ? No, no, he’s my brother’s fiance, we were hiking,” Alexis looks distinctly annoyed that the woman isn’t taking him back. Patrick fumbles for his wallet, knowing everything that they need before he can even get in rotation. Pain shoots through his arm again as he jostles it.
“I h-have my insurance card,” he grits out, handing the woman the card and his license. She takes it and makes a copy, handing them the papers they need to fill out. “Alexis, can you grab that? I really need to sit down,” his voice is a little desperate and she nods, taking his cards back.
“Fill that out, bring it back up. We’ll get you in as quickly as we can. We only have one other person here for an injury, and if it’s any consolation, after seeing your wrist I’m going to let them know you need to get it looked at pronto.” The nurse smiles, making both of them feel a little better about it all.
“Thank you,” Alexis directs at her while herding Patrick into the waiting room, making sure to sit as far away from everyone else as possible. “Okay, here , I can fill it out for you,” she assures as they both drop into chairs. It takes the better part of twenty minutes for her to write down everything he says, his voice quiet and pinched. He thinks to look down at his wrist and oh. Okay. Now he understands. His wrist is bruised purple and green already, swollen completely. Patrick sees it’s not only his hand though, his thumb is swollen almost as badly as his wrist, bruised as well.
Alexis hurries back to the nurse with the paper and then sits back down next to him, looking anxious. “You’re really brave. I would have been sobbing,” she smiles at him, booping his nose. Patrick can’t help but smile back, feeling suddenly exhausted. The pain is still reverberating in his arm, aching mixed in with a sharp stinging sensation. She picks up her phone, which makes Patrick shake his head.
“Please don’t tell David yet. I...he doesn’t need to worry. I’m okay. I’ll call him after I get it wrapped up.” His voice lets on how much pain he’s in, how stressed and miserable he is, so Alexis nods and they sit there waiting.
“Patrick Brewer?” Patrick looks up, seeing a woman in dark blue scrubs with a chart at the door. He stands, feeling shaky, and then looks at Alexis.
“I’ll stay out here, no problem,” she says.
“I….would you mind...coming with me?”
Alexis’s face changes from cool to absolutely fond, lip jutting out. “Aw button, sure,” she stands too, following him back into triage. Sitting on the gurney, feeling hazy from the pain that’s not let up for over an hour, Patrick leans back, eyes shutting. He goes through the questions she asks, answering them all with a clenched jaw, breath shallow.
“Is there....can he please have like...something for the pain?” Alexis asks while it’s quiet, just the sound of the woman typing on the keyboard.
“Unfortunately we can’t give anything till the doctor sees him. It should be pretty soon though, I just need to put his info in and then we’re going to take him for an x-ray.” She assures. “Your husband will be just fine.”
“Oh we’re not together,” Alexis shakes her head.
Patrick’s taken down for an x-ray and Alexis is moved to a room a few doors down, left to bite at her thumbnail and worry about how badly Patrick’s hurt himself.
When he’s brought into the new room, Patrick feels close to throwing up again. The nurses had been gentle, but they’d still had to reposition his wrist a few times to get his bones at all angles. He really just wants to sleep. Sitting down on the gurney, he thanks the nurse as she lets them know the doctor will be in soon.
“I’m sorry….for making you do all this,” Patrick’s voice is hoarse, and his eyes open to find hers, giving her a grimace of a smile. He’s not sure how he’s going to make it up to her, but he will. Alexis looks at him like he’s crazy, shaking her head. She looks younger than she is, sitting in the black plastic chair.
“What was I going to do, leave you there? You’re basically my brother Patrick. I’ve...I don’t think I’ve ever been that scared in my life. I mean...I have, but... recently . Like..seeing you on the ground screaming and freaking the fuck out?” She shudders a little, nose wrinkling at the memory. “Honestly I just wish I could have done more. But you’re here now and you’re going to get it fixed. And I’m going to be the first one to sign your cast,” Alexis grins, diffusing the slight anxious worry that had built up.
“Tha-” They’re interrupted by a knock at the door. A petite woman with long brown hair walks in, holding black pictures in her hand.
“You must be Patrick Brewer, nice to meet you,” she says and her voice is comforting, like she was born to be a doctor. “I’m Dr. Meyers. You must be his wife,” she turns to Alexis who shakes her head for the third time that day.
“No, he’s my brother's fiance, but we get that alot,” she smiles, looking at Patrick and rolling her eyes fondly.
“Oh! Well nice to meet you Alexis. So,” Dr. Meyers walks up to the small lightbox on the wall and puts the first x-ray up, turning it on. The photo shows Patrick’s hand with an obvious white line out of place. Patrick winces, still leaning back, afraid if he moves again he’ll throw up.
“This is what we call a distal radius fracture. It looks like you’ve had one before, from the scarring I see?” She asks, making Patrick nod.
“I played hockey in high school,” he explains, making her laugh.
“That’ll do it. It doesn’t seem to be a bad enough move for you to need surgery, but we’ll definitely be setting it and putting you in a cast. We also…” she switches the x-ray photo to the other one, a closer photo of his fingers. “..will be doing your pinky as well, as it’s a pretty clean break too.”
Patrick’s face goes blank, making Alexis frown. He doesn’t say anything, so she takes it upon herself.
“ Yeah , uhm. When you say set...like..putting it in a cast?”
“Unfortunately, with breaks like these, it’s easiest to move the bone back where it needs to be, and then cast it up, so it can regrow and heal.”
Patrick almost wishes he could take a photo of her face, if it wasn’t such a serious issue and he didn’t feel like crying from all the pain he’s in.
“But like...he’ll be asleep for it,” Alexis’s mouth is drawn into a line.
“It’s fine Alexis, I know what’s going to happen,” Patrick jumps in, giving her a reassuring grimace, once again nauseous. He knows how this goes. He’ll be awake, he’ll get a numbing agent, and then he’ll endure the most unpleasurable minute of his life, he’ll probably pass out like he did in highschool, get re-x rayed and then he’ll be put in a cast.
Alexis is still frowning when he looks at her, but she nods and looks back at Dr. Myers. “Can he have medicine now? The nurse said he could once he saw you,” she worries at a piece of hair, fingers playing with it as she asks.
“Of course, I’ll get the nurse to bring some in, and then we’ll be in to start.”
“Thank you,” he says to Alexis, wondering if somehow she’s his guardian angel or something.
By the time he’s had his hydrocodone tablet and the shot to numb his bone, they work on setting his wrist and finger. Alexis has to look away, and Patrick doesn’t blame her. Though it’s not extremely painful, the sensation of it, the noise and the odd tugging, makes his stomach drop, makes sweat accumulate on his upper lip and forehead. He tries to push through it, but there’s an unsettling noise and then he’s blissfully unaware of everything.
Patrick blinks his eyes, feeling like he’s underwater. Moving his eyes, he sees Alexis and a nurse looking at him, Dr . Meyers by his side with apple juice and graham crackers. “Patrick, how are you feeling?” She asks. He wants to say ‘like shit’ but decides better of it.
“Uhm... weird . I passed out,” he says knowingly, to which the woman nods.
“Yes, but we managed to get it done while you were out. We’ll be putting a cast on as soon as you have some of this to get your blood sugar up,” she explains. She raises the gurney’s back up so he doesn’t have to move positions, and then Alexis is flouncing over, holding the juice for him while he eats the cracker with his right hand. “Do you have a color preference?”
Little pieces of different colored fiberglass wrap are hanging from a string, allowing him to see all the choices. He would choose white, but that would get gross, so instead he chooses the dark blue. Alexis snorts, smiling when he looks at her. “At least it’ll go with your clothes,” she teases.
Finishing up the juice and crackers, he starts feeling a little less miserable and gross from passing out. He’s out of it from the meds, but he’s not in pain, so really it’s a win. They put the stocking net on his arm, hand and pinky fingers, wrapping it in blue casting tape, then adding another layer of wet tape. After rubbing it smoothe, Dr. Meyers smiles at him gently. “We’ll get your papers that explain how to take care of it, even though I’m sure you remember the basics. You’re welcome to go to any urgent care or come back here in 8 weeks, just bring these papers back so we know it’s time.”
As they wait, Patrick looks at Alexis, who smiles. “I’m sure David will love it,” she teases, making him smile tiredly. “ Oooh , hold on,” she grabs her phone where she’s been scrolling on instagram, switching it to her camera. “I wanna take a photo of you.”
Patrick tries to give a thumbs up with his casted hand, but because of his pinky, it looks more like he’s saying ‘hang ten dudes’. His face is bleary from exhaustion, adrenaline crash and hydrocodone, but he’s got a lopsided smile on his face. The doctor walks in a minute later, handing him the discharge papers. “Alright Mr.Brewer, you are free and ready to leave. I’m giving you a prescription for a couple of pain tablets to get you through the first couple of days if needed, then you can switch over to tylenol every 8 hours,” she explains.
They leave around four, making it back to Schitt’s Creek at almost five. Patrick’s asleep in the passenger side, but Alexis wakes him up when they get into town. “Alexis, can we get lasagna?” He loves lasagna and it sounds so good.
“Yeah, we can get lasagna. How about I go into the cafe and get it, and you stay out here and rest okay? Then we can get you in bed to eat it,” she suggests.
The photo of Patrick at the hospital gets sent to David by Alexis once Patrick’s in bed. He’s changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt, thankfully able to do it by himself, propped up with pillows as he devours his portion of the lasagna. Quickly after sending the first photo, Alexis snaps another photo of David, sending it as well.
Patrick’s phone is on his nightstand when it starts ringing not twenty seconds after the photos say delivered. He fumbles for it, accidentally knocking it on the floor. “Fuck.” Alexis looks at him like a wounded puppy, laughing as she grabs it for him and he unlocks it. “Hello?”
“Oh my god, Patrick. Oh my- are you okay?! What happened?” David’s voice is loud and shrill in his ears.
“I...I fell, broke my wrist and finger. Alexis took me to the ER. I’m okay now. She got me lasagna too, she’s the best David. I’m so glad I’m going to be her brother,” Patrick feels like he has no filter as he talks, but can’t be bothered. Alexis plucks the phone out of his hand.
“He’s kind of high on hydrocodone right now,” she explains to her brother.
“What the fuck does he mean he broke his wrist and finger?! What happened?!” David demands, telling Stevie to drive faster.
“He tripped on the way back down the mountain and tried to catch himself. God David it was so fucking terrifing. One second we were talking and the next he was on the ground yelling and freaking out and like oh my god his wrist looked so gross. I had to help him get to the car because we were like a mile away, and then I took him to the ER,” Alexis says almost all in one breath.
“And...and he’s okay? You were with him?” David’s voice is suddenly quiet and Alexis frowns.
“He’s okay, I promise David. He’s...tired and high on pain meds, but he’s fine. And yeah, of course I was there. I was there when they had to fucking reset his bones which was so gross I like almost stepped out of the room. He passed out but they gave him juice and crackers. He’s home now, so please come see your little button, he misses you.”
“He passed out?!”
Alexis winces at the sheer pitch of his brother's voice. “Yes David , please try to keep up. He’s fine now,” she sighs, finally getting tired from the day's adventure.
“Okay, my fiance just broke his wrist, you don’t get to be mean!”
“I was literally there with him and spent three hours in an ER David, I took care of him. Don’t be such an asshole!”
David gets quiet for a second, and Patrick chooses that moment to yell ‘I love you David’ across to the phone.
“I’ll see you soon, tell him I love him,” David’s voice shakes a little.
Thirty minutes later, Patrick and Alexis are watching Pirates of the Caribbean on the laptop, both watching solely for Will Turner. They’re almost to the part where Elizabeth requests parlay, when David walks in, looking frantic and wide eyed. They both look up from the bed, Alexis propped up on David’s pillows, the laptop in between them.
“ Patrick ,” David moves quickly, tense shoulders relaxing, getting to see for himself that Patrick isn’t in any worse shape. The man in question looks up and smiles, sitting a little taller. “Oh my god , how are you feeling honey?”
“Good. Kinda floaty. They gave me good medicine,” he smiles. His eyes close, tired from everything.
David presses a kiss to Patrick’s lips and then raises his head to look at Alexis.
“Thank you….for today. I know I don’t say it,” David takes a breath, tears pricking at his eyes. “But I love you. And...you helped practically save my fiance today. I owe you like...ten selfish days okay? And thank you for getting him lasagna,” he adds, kissing Patrick’s head.
“...I love you too David. Thank you. And yeah, you definitely owe me at least ten. I had to rub his back while he puked from pain. Ew. But...I wouldn’t have done anything different. And how could I not get him lasagna?! He was looking at me with his cute button face!”
She gets up gently in case Patrick’s asleep, then hugs David tightly. “Also every nurse and doctor thought we were married, which was weird. Like….he’s cute but no.”
“Okay, I seem to recall you trying to flirt with him when we first met him,” David’s eyes narrow and she laughs.
“He’s literally my brother David, stop,” she gives him a disgusted look. “Oh, also ,” she moves towards the door, grabbing her bag. “I stole your Stella McCartney sweater because you totally owe me,” Alexis grins and then bolts out the door. “Byee!!”