Chapter Text
Tangerine wakes up in a hospital, machines beeping loudly, the sun from the window blinding him. He has a dull throbbing in his head, made all the worse when he tries to sit up. He groans loudly as the thudding pain grows as his eyes adjust to the light. His hands already searching for the call button, moving across the scratchy hospital blanket, when they meet a rough calloused hand. Lemon, sleeping in a chair by the side of the bed, hand open next to his. Like the arsehole had been holding his hand when he fell asleep. Tangerine watched as tears dripped onto his blanket, leaving dampened spots.
The train. The girl. The blonde. The sound of the gun right before he felt his head hit the floor. It all came flooding back, and suddenly he struggled to breathe. Gasping out, he stared as more and more dampened spots appeared. Sobs shaking his shoulders, tears blurring his vision. His throat and nose burning. Hands tightening in the blanket, trying and failing to hold himself together.
And suddenly arms are surrounding him, warm and comfortingly familiar. He clutches at Lemon's shoulders, his shaking worsening, all the while Lemon hums and just holds him.
After about 5 minutes of this, Tangerine sniffs and pushes him away. Lemon sits back in his chair and looks at him with exhausted eyes, "Alright, mate?"
"Oh yeah, 'cause nearly getting my head blown off was a laugh."
Lemon's eyes go wild, "Don't even joke about that."
Tangerine chuckles harshly, "Right, like I wasn't the one having a kip in a hospital bed."
Lemon's mouth curls up uncomfortably, looking away from Tangerine, "It was a little more than a kip, mate. It's been 5 days, two of those were in surgery."