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“Hey.” TK said softly to a sleeping Carlos next to his bed. He gave his hand a squeeze. “Carlos.”
Carlos’ eyes flew open and he looked panicked for a moment before finding TK and a sleepy smile spread over his face.
“Hey.” TK said again.
“Hey yourself.” Carlos replied and moved his chair a little closer to the bed, pressing a kiss to TK’s knuckles when he settled down again. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired. Kind of cold. Still.”
It had been a rough 24 hours. From TK almost dying and Carlos trying to get himself to say goodbye, to him miraculously waking up and getting stronger by the hour.
They were back together but they both knew there were still some difficult conversations to be had. Later. For now though Carlos just sat by TK’s bed and held his hand, fingers lingering on his pulse point, just to remind himself he was there, he was ok, and most importantly, he was his again.
“The doctor said that’s to be expected. It’ll take your body some time to recover from everything.”
TK gave him an amused look.
“What?”
“Have you been talking to my doctor about me?”
“No, no, no. She came to talk to your dad earlier. He was here. And I just… heard it too. I wasn’t digging or anything.”
“Babe, relax, it’s ok. I don’t mind.” TK assured him and Carlos seemed to relax a little at that.
“Do you want me to go find a nurse and ask for another blanket? Or maybe a hot water bottle? I don’t know if they have that but I can ask.”
“No, I’m ok. I just want you.”
Carlos smiled.
“You have me.”
---
“Aren’t you uncomfortable in that chair?” TK asked. He’d woken up from a nap and Carlos was right there in the chair next to his bed. Right where he’d been the past 48 hours, only leaving the room when the medical staff forced him to, or for quick bathroom breaks.
“I’m fine.” Carlos insisted. He sat up a little straighter and cracked his neck and rolled the stiffness from his shoulders. “Your dad went to get some food and call your mom. I think she’s planning on flying out as soon as the storm lets up.”
“Is it still going?” TK glanced at the window but the blinds were closed.
“I don’t know. I haven’t been outside in two days.” Carlos admitted reluctantly. “My mom dropped off a change of clothes for me and some food while you were asleep.” He explained.
TK nodded and they sat in silence for a while. He hated how awkward things still were between them. He’d never had a problem talking to Carlos, not even when he was still in denial he was falling in love with him.
“Don’t you have a shift?” he asked after a while.
Carlos shook his head.
“I had some time off scheduled. To… work on the loft... They made me take the days.”
“Oh…”
“I only got called in because of the storm. And because Marj was back at it again. I didn’t want anyone else picking her up.”
“Wait you arrested Marjan?” TK asked, carefully steering the conversation away from painful topics.
“Yeah. A few times actually. Didn’t she tell you?”
“I haven’t seen much of her lately. Fire got moved to other houses in the city and with the three of us working for Paragon… We just don’t really get to hang like we used to.”
Carlos nodded.
“Do you still hate working for Paragon?”
“So much.” TK groaned. “They only care about money and profits. If I take too long helping someone, I get called into the office to explain myself. But… it’s the only way I can keep working with Cap and Nancy, so I don’t have a choice.”
“Well… I’m here if you want to vent.”
---
“Hey, I found an episode of grand designs. It's probably a rerun though, so you’ve probably already seen it.” TK told Carlos when he came back into the room after a shower.
The nurses had started to take pity on him and his back, and had worked their magic to get a second bed put into TK's room as well as given him a towel and some soap so he could freshen up.
It had been four days since TK had all but come back from the dead and Carlos was slowly starting to accept he wasn't going to disappear or die on him if he left the room for more than five minutes.
“I haven't watched much TV lately. I picked up a lot of extra shifts. I uh… didn't want to be in the loft on my own. I mostly just went to bed the minute I got back after work.” Carlos told him and sat down in the chair next to TK's bed again.
“Let's watch it together then. I think it's just started.” TK scooted over and patted the mattress. Plenty of room for both of us.
“No, no, I don't want to hurt you.”
“You won't. Come on, I want to cuddle with my boyfriend.”
Carlos hesitated for a moment before shaking his head and giving in.
“You play dirty.” He said as he carefully got on the bed next to TK, wrapping his arms around him.
“Maybe. But it works.” TK replied, slipping an arm around Carlos' waist and getting comfortable in his embrace.
They watched the show without really paying attention to it, just happy to be close to each other again.
---
“And then Paul got stuck inside the ice house with the girl, but we got them out. And her dad was so happy, he wanted to buy us a Ferrari.” Mateo excitedly told them.
Mateo, Judd, Paul, and Marjan had stopped by to see how he was doing and catch him up on everything that had happened the past few days.
“Uh no, he offered to buy me anything I wanted, you two just tried to talk him into buying you expensive cars.” Paul cut in.
“Hey, I’m a new dad, I deserve to celebrate.” Judd replied.
“Celebrate by having someone buy you a sports car?” TK asked laughingly. “Anyway, show me a picture of my goddaughter.”
“Who says you get to be her godfather?” Marjan asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Almost dying does not automatically give you godparent rights.”
“Oh and being a social media star does?”
“No but being a kickass firefighter might.”
“So that makes me her godfather.” Paul said, daring the others to disagree. “Since you are no longer a firefighter.” He pointed at TK. “And out of the two of us, I’m the one who saved the girl.”
“Technically you didn’t save anyone. The rest of the crew saved you both.” Marjan pointed out.
“Alright quit your fighting. We haven’t decided on godparents yet. But my brothers and Grace’s sisters are higher on the list than y’all.” Judd told them. “But you’re all more than welcome to babysit.”
“Sure. I’ll be happy to.” Marjan said, a little too loudly. “Auntie Marjan will teach her how to deal with all the stupid boys in her life.”
TK laughed.
“She’s only a few days old, Marj.”
“So we’ll start early so when she gets to an age where boys become annoying, she’ll know how to deal with them.” Marjan replied. “Like when they’re obviously still in love with the guy they broke up with and won’t tell you why but just mope around for months.”
“Well you won’t have to deal with that anymore.” TK told her and looked at Carlos who was sitting next to him on the bed, quietly observing and letting the madness wash over him. “Right babe?”
Carlos just smiled and met him halfway when he leaned in for a kiss.
---
“TK will you please tell your mother I am not lying or trying to placate her when I say you’re doing better?” Owen said, exasperated, walking into TK’s hospital room, holding his phone away from his ear.
TK had been moved out of the ICU and onto a regular ward that morning, but thankfully still had a room to himself.
He took the phone from his dad.
“Hey mom, dad is not lying. This time.” He joked and laughed at Owen’s reaction. “I’m ok.”
“What does your doctor say about that?” Gwyn asked. “I know what you and your dad are like.”
“Mom, I really am ok. The doctors actually think I can go home soon.” TK lied. He was desperate to get out of hospital but none of the doctors had said anything about discharging him yet.
“As soon as the weather improves and Jonah’s ear infection clears up, we’re on the next flight out.” Gwyn promised. “I hate the thought of you on your own in that hospital because your dad has to single handedly save Austin from a blizzard.”
“I'm not on my own. Carlos is here.” TK said, ignoring his mom’s dig at his father and reaching out for Carlos’ hand.
“Oh Carlos is huh, does that mean the romance is back on?”
TK laughed.
“Don’t pretend dad hasn’t told you.”
“He might have mentioned him being at the hospital a lot.” Gwyn admitted. “But you know what your father is like, he never tells me anything important and leaves out all of the details.”
“There are no details. Carlos is here, we talked, I love him, he loves me… and we’re back together. We know what not to do now. We want to make it work. We are going to make it work.” TK said determined and looked at Carlos who squeezed his hand in confirmation.
Suddenly he heard a loud wailing in the background and Gwyn sighed.
“Jonah just woke up. I have to go honey, I’ll see you soon. Give Carlos my love.”
“I will. Give Jonah a kiss from me. Bye mom.” TK replied and ended the call.
“Wait, you love me?” Carlos asked, mischievous smile tugging at his lips.
TK had missed that smile.
He put a hand on Carlos’ cheek and leaned in.
“Always have.” He murmured right before kissing him to show him exactly how much.
Next to them Owen said something about giving them some privacy but neither of them noticed.
---
“Hello TK, good to see you again.” Andrea Reyes walked into TK’s hospital room, making both him and Carlos sit up straighter.
“Mama, what are you doing here?” Carlos asked her.
“Coming to see how TK is doing of course.” She said matter-of-factly. “I ran into Owen yesterday and he mentioned how the two of you have been camping out here, so I thought I’d come visit and check on you both.”
“I’m sorry for not keeping you updated. I was going to come over but things have been a little hectic here, especially the first few days and - ”
“It’s ok.” Andrea interrupted and looked at the two men for a moment and smiled. “Carlos, will you go get me a coffee from the restaurant downstairs?”
“There is a machine down the hall… The coffee isn’t great but it’s drinkable, or I could try getting you something from the nurse’s lounge. They won’t mind. They know me by now.” Carlos rambled.
“Carlitos.” Andrea started. “Por favor.” She just said and waited.
Carlos sighed and got up.
“Si mama.”
She waited until Carlos had left the room and then sat down next to TK’s bed.
“If you’re coming to give me the shovel talk and tell me not to hurt Carlos again, you won’t have to. I love him and I won’t ever hurt him again, I promise.”
Andrea smiled.
“That’s good to know sweetheart.”
“I’m really sorry I hurt him.”
“I know. He does too.”
TK nodded.
“I know I’ll have to earn your trust again after everything, but I promise I will do anything to convince you I’m serious about Carlos. I love him and I want to be with him. Forever. If that’s how long he’ll have me. And that’s probably not what you want to hear but…” TK trailed off, not really knowing what it was he wanted to say.
“Carlos is a big boy, he can make his own decisions about his love life.” Andrea told him. “If he’s happy, I’m happy. And if you boys want to be together again, then I’m the first to welcome you back into the Reyes family.”
“Really?”
“Of course. All I’ve ever wanted is for my kids to be happy. And you make Carlos happy, anyone can see that.”
“He makes me happy too.”
“That’s all that matters.” Andrea patted his hand. “Now when you get out of here, you boys should come over for dinner sometime. Gabriel would love to see you again too and I’ll make ropa vieja the way Carlos’ grandmother makes it. It’s his favourite.”
---
“I’m going stir crazy in here.” TK complained. “I haven’t been outside in almost two weeks.”
“The last time you were outside you nearly died.” Carlos reminded him.
“Yeah but I didn’t. And now I feel like I might die of boredom.”
“Oh I’m boring you am I? I’ve been in this hospital just as long as you, sleeping in these uncomfortable chairs, and this is the thanks I get?” Carlos said, trying to sound serious and angry but the smile on his face gave him away. “Give me five minutes.” He got up and quickly kissed TK before leaving the room.
“Where are you going?”
“Five minutes!”
“Carlos!”
“I’ll be right back!”
True to his word, Carlos did come back within five minutes, but TK wasn’t thrilled with what he’d brought with him.
“What’s that?”
“Someone who has spent as much time in hospitals as you have should know what this is.”
TK rolled his eyes.
“I’m not getting in that thing.”
“Why not? It’s the perfect solution to your boredom problem.”
“I can walk.”
“You’ve barely walked more than 10 steps the past two weeks. Come on, get in.”
“Why do I have to get in a wheelchair? How is this a solution?”
“Because..” Carlos started, grabbing a blanket from the bed and draping it over the chair. “We’re going out.”
“Out? Out where? I can’t just leave this place. My mom will fly over here and drag me back herself.”
Carlos chuckled, knowing Gwyn would probably at least try to do exactly that.
“Just downstairs. To the hospital garden. The weather is nice.”
“How do you know, you’ve been stuck in here with me the whole time.”
“One of the nurses just told me.” Carlos said laughingly. “Come on, let’s get some fresh air and maybe some ice cream.”
“Are you seriously bribing me with ice cream?”
“That depends… is it working?”
After a few minutes of back and forth, TK reluctantly got in the wheelchair and let Carlos wheel him to the hospital garden where they sat down on a bench.
“This is nice.” TK admitted, closing him eyes and tilting his face up to the sun.
“You mean I was right? This was a good idea.” Carlos teased.
“Shut up.” TK shot back, happily accepting the kiss Carlos pressed to his temple.
They stayed on the bench for a while, sitting close together to keep warm because TK refused to cover up with the blanket and choosing to wrap himself in Carlos’ jacket instead.
“I can’t wait to get out of here. I feel fine and I’m just taking up a bed when there’s someone out there who might really need it.”
“I’m sure they won’t keep you here longer than necessary.”
“I know…” TK sighed. “I’m just bored. And I miss my own bed.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, is that so strange? It’s a hospital, not a hotel. The beds aren’t that comfortable. And I’m fed up with the blood tests and the IVs and the wires they keep attaching to me.”
“I know. I get that. I just… there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Ok… Sounds serious…”
“No. Yes. I mean. Yes it’s serious. But nothing bad, I promise.”
“That does nothing to reassure me.”
Carlos shook his head. The conversation was not going the way he’d planned.
“I was hoping... That when you can get out of here... You would want to come back to the loft. With me. Permanently.”
“Are you asking me to move in with you? Again?” TK asked, a smile spreading over his face.
“Yes. Again. I don’t want you to go back to your dad’s house, I want you to come home with me. The loft was always supposed to be ours… but I understand if you think it’s too soon or you’re not ready or something but -”
TK shut him up with a kiss.
“There’s nothing I want more.” He vowed. “But you’re helping me tell my dad.”