Chapter Text
Sitting nearby the bed that Streber rested in, Kevin's leg tapped against the ground frantically. He was waiting impatiently for Streber to wake up from his slumber, he was so worried about him... He wasn't allowed to see him for a little while, doctor said that he needed to be alone and get some rest. After a few days, they finally allowed Kevin into the hospital to visit his love. Staring at the sleeping male, Kevins hand slowly shifted itself to rest upon Streber's. Beeping filled the room, that being the only thing reminding Kevin that he didn't lose Streber just yet. The heart monitor continued beeping, continuously pulling Kevin out from his own thoughts of panic and worry.
Finally, he felt Streber shift from under his hand. Kevin perked up, eyes widening as he loosened his tight grip from Streber's hand. Streber's eyes fluttered open, the lights blinding him before slowly toning down and allowing him to see around the hospital room. His vision was a bit fuzzy from the surgery he had to undergo. He blinked a few times, his vision slowly cleared up with each blink and by the last he was able to see fully. Streber's eyes slowly moved around the room before they caught onto Kevin, who was sitting right next to him, practically staring a hole into him with an expression of dread and worry.
"Kevin...? Is that you? What're you doing here...? Were you...waiting for me to wake up?" Streber asked, his voice was dry and quiet from just waking up. Kevin's face seemed to light up, a soft smile forming as he tightly gripped onto Strebers hand. He was so happy to see Streber awake... He could start crying right on the spot. And, he was. He felt tears stinging at his eyes, and without thinking, Kevin hunched himself forward, resting his head onto Streber's chest and letting out a muffled sob. He couldn't help but cry from pure joy, and relief. Streber was alright! He was okay... It was such a huge relief for Kevin.
Shock took over Streber when Kevin began wailing onto his chest, raising his hand up and moving it over to carefully pat the weeping males head. Kevin's hair was soft, he must've taken good care of it. Yet, it was messy right now, how long was Kevin sitting there waiting for Streber to wake up? He hoped not too long, but knowing Kevin...
"I'm so glad you're alright...I was- I was so scared, I thought that I- I might've-" before Kevin was able to get out what he wanted to say, he let out another sob at the thought. I thought I might've lost you... The thought alone frightened him, he couldn't bare to think about what he'd do without Streber... He felt more tears forcing their way out from his eyes, rolling down his cheeks and soaking into the fabric of the blanket that covered over Streber's body. "Hey, hey, it's alright... I'm right here, don't worry. I won't leave you, okay? I promise." Streber comforted Kevin, still rubbing his head gently.
Kevin slowly lifted his head up to look at Streber, who was giving him a reassuring smile. Picking himself up off of Streber, Kevin wiped away his tears with his arms and nodded slowly. "Yeah, yeah... You're still right here, perfectly fine..." Kevin said quietly, he felt a smile growing onto his face as well. Streber was alright, mostly. Aside from his missing arm, Streber was perfectly fine! "How long were you sitting there waiting for me to wake up?" Streber asked, he needed to know. He didn't wanna be the reason why Kevin didn't get any sleep.
"Oh? Uh... I might've been sitting here for a few hours. Lost track of time, hold on..." Kevin said, moving his hand into his pocket and pulling out his phone. Turning it on, he checked the time, it was 1:25am. Jesus, was he really there that long? When he came in, it was around 9pm, so he was sitting there for around 4 hours. "Shit... I was here until 9pm, and it's currently... 1:25am, hah..." Kevin said nervously.
Streber's face slowly went into a more stern one, looking right at Kevin. "Kevin... You need to go home, I'm fine, see? Go get some rest." Streber said to Kevin, he hated whenever Kevin would shun away his own needs for the sake of Streber. He wanted to make sure Kevin was alright too, but that was hard to do when Kevin was constantly ignoring himself. "But... I was trying to make sure that you were okay! You were asleep and I didn't wanna just leave you there, so I stayed..." Kevin mumbled out, looking down shamefully.
He honestly just wanted to make sure that Streber was alright, Kevin had an unhealthy habit of throwing away his own needs for the sake of someone else. Especially if he had romantic feelings towards that person. "I know, but you need to take care of yourself as well. I don't want you to throw yourself away for me, sweetie." Streber said, moving his hand to cup Kevins face gently. He really didn't want Kevin to make all these self sacrifices just for him. Kevin opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Streber leaned in and gave him a gentle peck on his cheek.
That caused Kevin's face to grow red, his mouth quickly closing as he looked at Streber. "Yeah... Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry, I was just so worried...how are you doing, by the way? How's your... arm?" He asked. Streber seemed to pause for a minute, shuffling the covers to reveal his amputated arm which was wrapped in bandages. "...Gone." Streber responded, lifting up the nub and waving it slightly. Kevin looked at Strebers amputated arm. "Ah... At least it's healing though, right?" Kevin said, hand slowly moving and grabbing onto Strebers. He could feel Streber grasping his hand onto Kevins, it made him feel happy... So happy to be able to hold Streber again.
Suddenly, their attention was taken by the sound of the door opening. Looking over, they both saw a doctor enter the room whilst holding a clipboard. The doctor walked over, tapping their pen against the clipboard before looking at Streber. "Hello, Streber. Progress shows that your arm is healing up nicely. I've come in to talk to you about a potential interest in getting a prosthetic arm." They annouced. Streber's interest certainly was raised, eyebrows raising to indicate said interest. "Prosthetic arm? Tell me more." Streber requested. The doctor cleared their throat and spoke up, "There's many types of prosthetic arms, however we've noted that most are satisfied with a robotic one as it is the easiest to control. If you do agree to said prosthetic arm, you'll have to be trained how to use it. Afterwards, you'll be out the door and back on your feet in the world." The doctor said, lowering the clipboard.
The idea of having a prosthetic arm caught onto Streber's whole attention, what's the harm in it? It seemed pretty easy, plus, having to deal with his entire life without a replacement for his missing arm seemed hard. Looking up at the doctor, Streber gave him a nod. "Yeah! I'll get a robotic prosthetic arm!" He said, with that the doctor nodded and wrote something onto the paper that was being held on their clipboard. The doctor then made their way out of the room, and once gone, Streber held onto Kevins arm and smiled at him. "Perfect! I'll be released from the hospital soon and we'll be able to be together again!" He beamed, happily holding onto Kevins hand. Kevin gave a small smile at seeing Streber so happy, placing both his hands over Strebers one hand. "Yeah, and you should be all fine, no issues or hassle, aside from your arm." Kevin added, looking into Strebers eyes lovingly. He didn't even realize how much he truly did love Streber... Seeing him so happy, seeing him just be alive was the best thing for Kevin right now.
Time passed by quickly, and after a long while of holding each other lovingly and talking about what they'll do together once Streber was out of the hospital, Kevin decided that he overstayed his welcome long enough. He looked over at the now sleepy Streber before standing up from his seat. Streber had just woken up from a nap a few hours ago, and he was already so tuckered out. "Alright, I'm gonna go home, okay? Get some rest, I'll come visit tomorrow." Kevin said to Streber, who responded with a slow nod. Leaning in, Kevin gave Streber a soft goodbye kiss before whispering, "I love you, Streb." And let go of Strebers hand, making his way over to the door to exit. Before he left the room, Kevin looked back at Streber, who was already falling asleep quickly, turning off the lights and giving a soft smile. Streber was alright... He was fine. That's all that mattered to Kevin, that Streber was okay. And knowing that he is, he could rest easy finally. Kevin walked out of the room, softly closing the door behind him and going to leave the hospital. He was definitely going to return tomorrow, he had to. To make sure Streber was alright.