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It hurt everywhere.
Inhaling sharply, the pain in their side was deep and intense.
What happened?
The room they were in was dark, as far as they could tell with not opening their eyes. Shifting, they tense, pain washing over them immediately. They hadn’t moved their body in a while, it was so sore.
Wrong choice to try and sit up, I suppose.
Leaning back, they notice a heavy feeling on their hand. It was warm. Much warmer than the room they were in.
The gunshot rang through the alley— they doubled over, falling to the ground as blood poured from them.
Picking themself back up. The phone booth.
Mark’s voice.
Their confession.
The sirens closing in.
Everything faded as they lost consciousness.
They push their eyes open, looking at what is on their hand. Mark? His eyebags were dark. He seemed to have passed out beside them with a manila folder on his lap.
He hadn’t been taking care of himself, that much was clear. His hair was messy, and he hadn’t shaved in at least a couple of weeks.
They frowned, noticing his eyebags were darker, more than normal. With their free hand, they shakily reach to him, rubbing his hair.
Mark mumbled in his sleep, shifting towards them. A weak smile formed on their face.
“Wa—” coughs racked their body. Their throat was so dry,
The coughing seemed to do the trick, he shot up in his seat, alarmed at the sudden noise.
He gasped, their name slipped from his lips as tears burned his eyes. Mark’s hands pressed them back to the bed when they leaned towards him, “Stay still!”
He shakes his head, wiping his tears with a hand, “Goddamnit, captain! do you have any idea how terrified I was?”
They clear their throat with furrowed eyebrows, “I—”
Mark takes the glass of water from the small table beside them, pushing it to their lips, frowning,
“Drink.”
The water was cold and soothing on their throat, they tried to drink more of it, being stopped by Mark shaking his head,
“Not all at once.”
Growling softly, they reluctantly nod.
Setting the glass down, Mark stands, his eyes trained on them, “I need to get the doctor, don’t do anything, okay?”
He leaves them alone, although he stares at them for a few seconds in the doorway, almost as if he was trying to convince himself they are actually alive and awake.
Mark turned the lights on while closing the door behind him.
The light flooded their eyes, causing them to wince and raise their hands to their face.
They were alone. Tubes and tape littered their body. Clearly it took a lot to keep them alive.
It was just one bullet. It shouldn’t have ended like this— they have been through worse! And yet, here they were, waking up from an assumed coma and barely living.
They look at the glass of water, noticing the flowers and cards that filled the table.
Those manila folders left scattered on the floor, papers had slipped from them, a few barely in sight from the hospital bed.
Mark must have been working before he fell asleep. Knowing him, he had probably taken up their position and made sure the company didn’t take too much of a hit, what with losing their head and all.
The door opened, dragging them from their thoughts, seeing Mark step into the room, nervously wringing his hands together.
The captain furrows their eyebrows slightly when a familiar voice calls their last name,
“Ah, I see you’ve finally woken up.” humming, a man in a white coat and a clipboard smiled at them, “Now, I’m sure you have questions, but I must remind you we need to run through some tests to make sure that nothing more than…” He paused, making a dramatic gesture to them, “ —all that is wrong.”
The captain snorts, followed by a wince at the sharp pain.
The bastard of a doctor is always there to ensure they have recovered from anything that landed them in the hospital. To his credit, he was good at his job, aside from the jokes and how much of an idiot he presented himself as.
“Now, no laughing!” the doctor huffed, “You’ll tear that stitching open! You know, you’re very lucky to be alive!”
They raised an eyebrow at the doctor, their growing deepening. They figured as much, but to hear it from their doctor only forced them to face reality.
He nods to them, flipping through the pages on the clipboard, “A bullet to the stomach? We had to perform surgery to remove it.”
Captain’s eyes dropped to their bandaged midsection.
Surgery.
They puff out some air, leaning back.
“Let's just get this over with.” their voice croaked, straining from the lack of use.
The doctor sighed and nodded. He took the seat Mark was sitting in, being careful not to step on the papers.
Mark stood behind him, staring at his captain with trembling hands.
..
“Alright,” the doctor pushes himself up with a groan, “that about does it! We’ll run some more tests in a few more hours, but I think it would do you good to rest some more.”
He bids them and Mark a good night, shutting the door quietly behind him.
The captain stared at Mark as he took the seat beside them once more, bending over to pick up the scattered papers and folders,
“I…” He started, shaking his head, “Do you have any idea how cruel that was?”
“Huh…?” They tilt their head, “ Cruel ?”
Mark scoffs, “Seriously?”
Frowning seemed commonplace for them tonight, the captain thought, as they frowned at him, not entirely understanding why he was saying that.
“You— you called me fully believing you were going to die! Didn’t you?” His voice cracked, “Calling and telling me you liked me! Then just to hang up and let yourself die!”
He shoved the folders into his bag on the ground, resting against the side table.
“After… after promising, we would be able to talk about it later!” Mark's eyes were desperate, “It’s almost been a month! And—” choking on his tears, he tried to shake them away, “I just….”
The captain reached their hand out, urging him to hold it; he did with a sniffle,
“I thought I was going to lose you.”
“Ah,” the captain gasped softly. They bit their lip, trying to stop the tears from slipping down their face.
“I’m sorry,” they whisper, tugging him closer, “I had not to let myself go with regrets... I didn’t want to regret not…” telling you how much I loved you— stuck to their tongue.
His hand tightened, the meaning getting through to him without speaking the words.
Their name leaves his lips, his brown eyes meeting theirs, “I…” he sniffled again, “I was so scared that you were going to die.”
“I’m sorry.”
He laughs voicelessly, leaning his head to rest on their shoulder, “Don’t…” a sob comes from him, “don’t do something like that again.”
The captain presses their weak hand on his neck, pulling him closer and closing their eyes,
“I won't.”
I promise.
They frown slightly, “You didn’t give him too hard of a time, did you?” they whisper after a few minutes of Mark’s quiet crying.
He pulls back, confused, “what?”
“Mack. He told me you—” He huffs, cutting them off,
“Hold up,” he looks into their eyes, “You care if I gave Mack a hard time after he betrayed my trust?”
The captain’s lips quirked up a bit, “Well… It was obvious you liked me. I kinda forced him to give up the act….”
They held back a laugh, trying not to hurt themself anymore than they already had, at the confusion on Mark’s face, “He didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
The captain's eyes dart away from him, ducking slightly in a pathetic attempt to hide from him,
“I had him spill some secrets about you so… so I could plan a datewithyou—” their head spun from how fast their heart was beating, “I needed to know if it was all in my head or not, so I made a deal with him,”
They snuck a glance back at him, freezing at his flushed face,
“I was planning on confessing later this month.”
He was still, not even his hand that held theirs tightened.
“...Mark?”
“You… planning a date?” his words were jumbled, but… the captain knew what he meant.
His tears stopped.
They nodded with a hum, “I wasn’t expecting any of this—”
Mark wrapped his arms around them suddenly, causing them to squeak from the pain. He loosens his grip,
“Sorry.”
They pat his back, “ ‘s fine,” they rest their head against him, “... though… ‘m getting sleepy,”
Mark pulled away, helping them settle down, “You need more rest, doctor’s orders.” was all he said when they pouted at him,
“Haven’t I slept for… what a month?”
“Coma,” he said, leaning back and holding their hand, “You were in a coma. This is different.”
They rolled their eyes, trying to get comfortable, “Fine… fine.”
The captain would wake up when the doctor or nurse needed them to. For now, they’ll sleep more.
They drift off to sleep, barely hearing Mark speak their name,
“Please… don’t do that again,”