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“Nice work, kid,” Zahra compliments from the head of the table, before passing copies of the file Alex had put together all around the table. His precious file that he’d spent countless hours and sleepless nights obsessing over. His First Big Case against a slumlord in Galveston actively poisoning his tenants, who just so happens to be a city council member. Hearing Zahra’s compliment is pretty much all he needs right now, except for maybe some coffee or like, several days of sleep.
“All right, all right, Alex worked ‘round the clock on this, don’t let this research go to waste. Start crafting the argument. We’re taking that son of a bitch down. Go!”
That sends the team scattering, and normally it would send Alex flying too, but he’s a little slow today. He pushes himself up to a painful standing position - for some reason his stomach just hurts - before taking a sec to breathe.
“Alex, you look like shit. Go home and get some sleep-“
“But the Galveston case-“
“We’re not indicting anyone tonight. Go home. Go to sleep. I don’t want to see you back here until Monday. Mandatory PTO, you’re taking it now. Christ, if your mom finds out I let you work this hard-“
That makes Alex grumble and he pushes away from the table, taking a moment to gather his things.
His mom is the governor of Texas, and there’s not a single day that goes by when he doesn't feel he has to prove himself extra hard here in the Texas Department of Justice. The idea that anyone thinks of him as a nepo baby makes his skin crawl.
The migraine is making it hard to keep his eyes open, so he slips on sunglasses while he’s still in the building and uses the back stairs so no one sees him leaving at 10:30 in the morning. He’d downed painkillers with his third cup of coffee this morning before everyone got to the office, but it’s like they’re doing nothing.
Normally he would bike or run the distance between the Attorney General building and his apartment, to get his daily exercise in, but there’s no way that’s happening today. He waits for a Lyft a block away, leaning against a tree for support. When it finally comes, he basically pours himself into the back seat.
“Dude, do you need a ride to the hospital? You look-“
“Just the address I asked for, please,” Alex mumbles, letting his hot face rest against the cool glass.
His apartment building is fairly humble, but safe. He refuses to use anything beyond the money he’s bringing in as a research attorney for the state government of Texas. Hence, his adult digs have no elevator and he lives on the fourth floor. He hated that fact on move in day and he hates it now, even though he likes the burn in his legs on a normal day, and he likes the chance to see his downstairs neighbor, Henry, as he passes by the third floor.
He trudges up each flight of stairs more slowly than before, his whole body in pain and sweat pouring down his face. Between the third and fourth floors, he pauses to see if he can catch a glimpse of Henry, but all the doors are shut. He closes his eyes and leans against the wall for a bit, he’s not sure how long.
Eventually, he makes his way to the fourth floor, fishing his keys out of his sweat-soaked suit jacket. His hands are shaking as he attempts to fit the key in the door, and then his keys drop to the floor and he - maybe - starts crying.
He slowly slides down the door, bracing his hand against the door jam and trying not to lose his precarious balance. He fails, slumping to the ground and knocking his already pounding head against the door.
“I’m’a just stay here for a bit, I think,” he mumbles to himself, letting his eyes close and his head rest against the door.
At least, it rests against the door for about thirty more seconds, before the door is giving way for some reason and he is falling fully over to the ground.
He’s very confused, because Henry is above him, and something wet is on his cheek.
“Alex? David, leave him,” Henry mutters as he kneels down. “Christ, Alex, you look awful.”
And then Henry’s lovely elegant fingers are finally touching him, and Alex is fucking disappointed that he’s not really in the right mind to enjoy it. They push back his sweaty bangs and cover his forehead and they feel cool and dry and so, so good that Alex’s eyes slip closed.
“You’re burning up, Alex. Alex-?”
The panic in Henry’s tone is the last thing Alex registers.
Alex is drifting in a white space. He doesn’t hurt anymore, so that’s nice, but he also doesn’t feel like he’s in control of his body, which is highly annoying. He hates not being in control of his body - in control of his life.
“Shhh, love, you’re fine, but you can’t pull those out yet.”
The voice calms him and he settles. That’s okay. If Henry’s here, that’s okay. Henry could be in control of his body and he wouldn’t mind. He’s maybe gotten off to that thought multiple times in the last few months when he needed to take the edge off during his research.
“There you go. Just rest, Alex. You’re fine.”
And Alex drifts away again.
That process repeats itself a few times until Alex feels less groggy. He opens his eyes, expecting to feel the migraine, but blessedly, there’s no pain right now. And he’s no longer drifting, anchored to the white space - a hospital room? - by the head of blond hair resting on his arm. Henry is slumped over his hospital bed, fast asleep, his fingers threaded in Alex’s, probably in part to keep him from pulling out the IV, the cannula he can feel now tickling his nostrils.
“H- Hen?” Alex manages, though he feels bad waking Henry up.
Especially because Henry wakes with a start, sitting up straight so that Alex can see how awful he looks, huge shadows under his eyes - and yet, how beautiful he looks, too.
“Alex, you’re awake! Let me go get-” Henry moves away, but Alex groans, and his head immediately whips back. “Are you in pain?”
“No, I-” Alex coughs, which actually, yeah, does hurt. “Water?”
“Yes, here.” Henry grabs a cup from a tray nearby with a bendy straw and places it between Alex’s lips like he’s done this before. “There you go, love, just like that.”
“Wha’ happened?” Alex manages after taking a drink.
“Your appendix ruptured on the way to the hospital and they took you into emergency surgery. You’re on an assload of antibiotics and so far, you’ve met all of your checkpoints positively.”
Alex has to smile at prim, proper Henry saying, ‘assload,’ but he looks like he’s had a rough time of it here, so Alex decides to give him a break as he takes another slow sip of water.
“Family?”
Henry looks guilty. “Christ, Alex, I don’t even know your last name, and you didn’t have a wallet on you. You’re here as Alex Smith.”
“Did a good job, Hen,” Alex insists though it’s hard to push the words out around his mushy mouth. Still, his words seem to calm Henry a bit. “I f’rgot it at home last time I was there. Don’ need it for Lyft and Doordash.”
“Ah. Well, I suppose that’s true. It’s quite helpful, though, when your appendix ruptures and you’re being taken to a hospital, though, let me tell you.”
“I’ll ne’er f’rget again, I promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
“Oh, Mr. Smith, it’s good to see you’re awake,” a woman in purple scrubs says after opening the curtain.
“Yes, I was just coming to get you, Angela, but he was disoriented and had a million questions. Alex, Nurse Angela.”
“‘Lo,” Alex says, attempting a wonky smile. “Cl’rem’nt-Diaz, by the way.”
Nurse Angela pauses in her checking of Alex’s IV drips and stares at him. “Claremont? Like Ellen Claremont? Like Governor Ellen Claremont?”
Alex nods, and things get a little crazy after that.
It’s embarrassing, having his dad and step-dad practically carry him up the stairs at his apartment, but he wants to be in his own space to recover. More importantly, he wants to talk to Henry.
Because Henry had disappeared on him as soon as June had showed up at the hospital, and Alex hadn’t seen him since.
It takes him some time at home to convince his entire family to leave him alone - the amount of lectures he’s received from every member of his family and Zahra are enough to last a lifetime - but he’s still on mandatory sick leave for another week. Honestly, he can get around his apartment just fine, if a little short of breath whenever he has to push himself up from the couch. There’s really no need to fuss about him almost dying or whatever.
Very, very slowly, he shuffles his way down one set of stairs to the third floor. He takes his time, feeling his stitches pull, but eventually he’s at Henry’s door, knocking and praying that the man - his savior - is home.
He hears a scrabbling of claws on wood followed by more sedate footsteps, and then Henry is opening the door, looking much better than he did last week in the hospital. Alex is willing to take a glimpse of that blond hair and blue eyes in any situation, though.
“Alex! Are you supposed to be up?”
“The doctor said ‘light exercise.’ But maybe I could come in and rest a bit before you send me back upstairs?”
“Of course, come in,” Henry bursts out, stepping back and holding an excitable beagle back with his foot. “This is David.”
“Hey David, I’m definitely down to pet you as soon as I can bend over.”
“Oh my God, Alex, I feel like you should be in bed.” Despite his words, Henry immediately starts leading him over to a well-worn couch. “Sit, sit. Can I get you anything? Do you need water? Oh, David, do leave Alex-”
“No, leave him, it’s okay,” Alex assures as David jumps up on the couch and cuddles up against Alex’s thigh.
“He’s never been a very disciplined dog.”
“I don’t know, he seems pretty perfect.”
Henry seems to relax, sitting down next to David on the couch and taking in the sight of Alex running his fingers over his soft fur. “He is. How are you?”
“Well, my abs are never going to be the same. I’d show you, but I’m not sure how you feel about gnarly stitches and stuff.”
Henry laughs, a lovely sound. “You’re ridiculous.”
“And alive, thanks to you.”
Henry blushes now, his cheeks the prettiest pink Alex has ever seen. “Anyone would’ve done it.”
“Maybe. But you did it. You saved me. Thank you.”
“Well, then…you’re welcome. I’m glad you’re alive and doing better.” Henry’s fingers drift over David’s fur too, petting him in tandem with Alex.
“I talked my mom down from giving you a commendation. I convinced her you’re more low-key than that.”
Henry looks startled. “Oh, yes, thank you. No, that’s not necessary.”
Their fingers bump together near David’s neck, and Alex uses the chance to capture Henry’s hand. “I was thinking instead, you could give me your number?”
“Oh! Um-” The blush is red now, and extremely delightful.
“And maybe your last name, you know, for emergency purposes.”
Henry’s laugh is self-conscious and oh-so adorable.
“And if you still haven’t gotten it, Henry, I was hoping maybe I could take you on a date.”
Henry seems to deflate. “Alex, you don’t owe me anything.”
Alex shifts carefully, bringing their hands up so he can brush a kiss over Henry’s fingers. “This isn’t about owing. This is about me finally shooting my shot with my extremely hot, extremely sexy, extremely interesting downstairs neighbor that I’ve been flirting with from the stairwell and in the mail room for six months, now that I’ve been given a second chance at life.” He meets Henry’s surprised eyes. “And to be clear, you can tell me to fuck off, but I feel like that interest hasn’t been one-sided, love.”
“You, uh, you heard that, hmm?”
“I heard that. Loved it. Loved you being there in my hospital room, something familiar in a sea of drifting white. I want to get to know you, Henry. I want to know how to make you laugh and smile and I want to kiss you and fuck, when I’m cleared for more than light exercise I want to do way more than that.”
“You are…” Henry pauses, looking Alex up and down, then shaking his head with a laugh. “You are the most ridiculously charming man. Hand me your phone.”
Elation fills Alex’s chest as he fishes his phone out of his pocket, opens it up to a new contact, and passes it over. Henry types with a sly smile on his face, his eyes flicking over to meet Alex’s every few seconds. When Alex has the phone back, he looks at the contact: Henry Fox.
“Fox, huh? No wonder you’re shy and mysterious.”
“If you’ve ever heard a fox scream, you’d know they are not mysterious creatures.”
“Again, baby, gotta wait for the doctor’s clearance before I make you scream.”
“You reprobate,” Henry says around a laugh, the sound settling in Alex’s chest like it’s what he’s been missing this whole time.