Chapter Text
The first sensation he noticed was the icy chill crawling through his veins and the unsettling confusion of being somewhere foreign.
The smells, the sounds, the prickling feeling on his arms, the whispers on the other side of a door from people he didn't recognize.
Jayce groaned softly, grabbing at everything within reach; he felt soft blankets across his body, a stiff bed, one of his legs felt different and heavy, and his bandaged fingers connected with a hard object to his right. The weight of that object lifted off the bed, muttering something to itself, and Jayce realized then that it must have been a person, not an object.
His eyes opened to a golden, early afternoon light filtering through the loose red curtains and dotting the room in flecks of orange and red like reflections off the ocean. Looking around, this would be the medical wing at the school. The nightstand next to him contained piles of rolled up bandages, a pitcher of water, and a cane leaning against it. A pile of singed and torn clothing and shiny trinkets that had been on him that morning sat atop a shelf on a wall across from his bed.
He dragged his hand down his face, exhaling through his fingers as he tried to remember what he did to land him here, but all he could remember was him and Viktor preparing to do something that morning. He was...excited. It was something exciting that they'd been working on for some time. His brow creased deeper, and no matter how hard he tried, not a single memory would resurface, if there were any at all.
"What happened?" Jayce gasped, his back twinging in pain. He flinched. He didn't know if he should sit up or roll over and arched his back, fists clenched against the bed.
"Careful! You got hit pretty hard. Relax, relax."
A gentle hand came down on his shoulder. Jayce moved to sit up, ignoring the pain, but that same hand wrapped around his arm and tried to keep him down--to no avail, of course. His eyes met Viktor's soft amber ones, stern gaze unfaltering, until Jayce let out a sigh and settled back down.
"Why am I here? B-besides the obvious." Jayce gave a pointed look to the bandages across Viktor's forehead and arm, the eyebags, the way his neat hair seemed to come undone every passing second. His friend gave an absentminded, dismissive grunt and a shrug at the look.
"You shielded me from our experiment unexpectedly exploding." Viktor gestured. "You're okay...for the most part. Give it some time and you'll be good as new."
Jayce ran a hand through his hair. "You got hit too."
"A few scratches and bruises. Nothing I haven't dealt with before. You, on the other hand...I'm sorry. It's broken."
He waved at Jayce's leg. Confused, Jayce gave it a little wiggle only to find it unable to move as normal and suddenly throbbing in pain. He winced with a sharp inhale, his fingers curling into the sheets until his knuckles cracked.
"How long was I out?"
"Long enough for them to set your leg without you screaming and swearing," Viktor said with a forced smile. Jayce glared out of the corner of his eye. "A few hours. It'll heal in a month and a half or so if you're careful. Your back will heal too."
Jayce closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I have too much to do to be sitting around. Half finished experiments and meetings and-- I need to see what's left of the-"
The bed creaked when he sat up, putting most of his weight on his right arm. He threw the blankets off of him before his lower back nearly seized up. He was still in his undershirt and boxers with one arm entirely covered in bandages and another hand wrapped from fingers to elbow. He looked at Viktor, who scratched his head.
"They also pulled some shrapnel from you," Viktor said. He sat down heavily on his stool and folded his arms on the bed, picking at a loose string hanging off of Jayce's blanket. "It wasn't lethal but we were just a bit too close this time."
He sat back up as Jayce started to swing his legs off the bed. Viktor scowled at him.
"You need to stay still! Let your leg rest. You rest."
"I just said I have too much to be doing."
"Did you not hear the shrapnel part? Just stay put and I'll go get a nurse. They wanted to talk to you about your recovery. They may want to change your bandages too."
Viktor, at first, didn't reach for his cane, his gaze unwavering, locked with Jayce's. He turned toward the door, but as soon as he heard the bedsheets rustle behind him his gaze snapped over his shoulder. Jayce's undamaged leg hung off the bed, both hands up in surrender, and the two made a face at each other before Viktor turned back toward the door.
First was a quiet rustle as Jayce attempted to leave the bed. His foot touched the ground and he grimaced.
Then, getting smacked in the chest with a cane happened faster than Jayce expected for someone like Viktor. He flinched, shouted in surprise, and held his arms up over his face. Another smack came down on his good leg, then jabbed him softly in the side, too fast for him to grab it.
"Do you want to end up like me?" Viktor hissed.
"Fuck-- no! I mean-- don't smack me like that!"
Viktor looked at his cane and then to Jayce. He sighed, shoulders going slack. "I mean it when I say let your leg rest. Be safe. The nurse will say when you can leave."
"Are--are you staying?"
"...if you want me to. I have some things to discuss with the Dean as soon as possible though."
Realization dawned on Jayce's face. He gave one last effort to get out of bed. The pain in his back was simply too much this time, despite many other days he kept getting up, up, and up again when things were aimed against him and his partner.
"What am I going to tell him?"
"It was a freak accident." Viktor rubbed his chin. "He understands that. But we need to go over safety regulations and such so this doesn't happen again. The school is still cleaning up residue and getting us some new tables so it'll be a few days before we can go back regardless."
Viktor didn't leave quite yet, instead standing beside the bed staring down at Jayce, who sighed again and scooted back onto the bed. His leg throbbed in pain with every inch, his arm strained with the weight he put on it, and he didn't feel relief until his head was firmly against the pillow. A headache became more apparent the moment he noticed he had one.
Those slim nimble hands helped him sit up enough to put a second pillow firmly under his head. They shoved a glass of cool water in his hands and lifted them so he would drink.
Finally satisfied, Viktor gave him a tiny wave with a warm smile on his face. Seeing that, Jayce couldn't help but smile back, though it fell moments later. "A lot happened very quickly so get some sleep. I'll be back as soon as I can."