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Jamie sits on the floor for a long time moaning in pain and trying to find a comfortable way to lay where the pain isn’t unbearable. He heard the bone break, the sound is replaying in his mind over and over, and the constant of it almost makes him gag. He actually doesn’t know if it’s because of the sound or the extreme amount of pain he’s in. He takes a few deep breaths to calm himself down, and he’s able to use his other arm to lift him off the bedroom floor. The movement makes him hiss, but he needs to grab his phone to call Roy.
He’s with Phoebe right now, something is going on at her school that she begged him to come to. Jamie knows the school is only fifteen minutes away, so the sooner he calls Roy, the sooner he gets to his house, the sooner they can go to the hospital, and the sooner he can get some pain meds in his system. He’s able to grab his phone from the bed with minimal movement and pain, and it’s a lot harder than he thought to use one hand on his phone. He goes to his favorites, clicks Roy’s contact, and puts it on speaker as he hears the ringing.
His shoulder is throbbing as he waits, and Jamie once again dry heaves as he’s reminded of it. Jamie has seen plenty of nasty injuries in football, it’s part of the job, but he can’t bring himself to look at his own. He doesn’t want to see the bruise or the look of the bone. It’s different when it’s happening to him.
“What,” Jamie is pulled out of his thoughts by the gruff of Roy’s voice. He can hear in the background the screaming of kids and laughter filling the room. Jamie swallows down the spit in his mouth that’s built up from the nausea and smiles in relief that Roy answered the call.
“Roy, I think I broke my shoulder,” Jamie tries to stay still, but he has to lean forward to make sure Roy can hear him on the phone. He silently cries out as his shoulder moves in a direction it doesn’t like, and he has to grip his sweaty palms on his sweatpants.
“Yeah? How’d you break it?” Roy questions, and Jamie’s eyebrows furrow, because why would that be the worry right now? He just needs Roy to get home as fast as he can, and there’s no reason to tell him the story when he could on the way to the hospital.
“It’s fucking embarrassing,” Jamie hisses. He doesn’t really want to waste time telling Roy what happened when he should be on his way over so he can get to the hospital. He doesn’t want Roy laughing at him while he’s in pain that he was trying to put on pants, lost his balance, and landed on his shoulder which caused it to break. He just wants his boyfriend to come pick him off their bedroom floor, get him to the hospital, and hold his hand while he gets it wrapped up or whatever they do for a broken shoulder.
“Nice try. Happy April Fool’s Day,” Before Jamie can even question that, Roy is hanging up the phone. Jamie’s room fills with silence as he stares blankly at the screen of his phone. The phone goes black, and Jamie taps it to see the date. Monday, April 1 is shown at the top, and Jamie blinks at it. He didn’t even know it was April 1st, and Jamie’s never been good at playing pranks for it.
Jamie does the only thing he thinks of next. He opens up the Uber app and puts it in the closest hospital for him as the destination. The Uber says it’s six minutes away, so Jamie has to get ready when he orders it. He pulls himself up off the floor and has to throw on his dirty shorts before he walks downstairs. He slides on sandals and grabs his keys and wallet before he walks out the door. He can’t move his arm from the position it’s in, and it’s awkward when he has to open the door to the car. The driver doesn’t ask any questions, and Jamie is thankful. He’s going to make sure to give him the highest rating and tip he could give to him.
He can’t lean back on the car seat, so he leans forward. The bumps of the drive shake his shoulder and make him hiss in pain. He has to put his forehead on the cool of the leather seat in front of him to stop him from passing out.
When he finally gets to the hospital, he feels about three seconds away from dropping onto the floor in the amount of pain he’s in. The receptionist must see it because when she looks at him her eyes are going wide.
“Jamie Tartt,” Oh, that’s why. Maybe his shoulder doesn’t look that bad. But, when he finally looks at his arm, he sees his full upper arm is swollen and completely purple. His jaw clenches, he looks back at the nurse, and says, “I’m going to pass out.”
Which, he does. But, the receptionist is up and out of her seat immediately to catch him from falling on the floor. He can’t even focus on the pain that spreads throughout his arm as it jostles when she grabs him. He’s put in a wheelchair, and taken back immediately.
-
It takes a while, but after the X-ray, it’s obvious Jamie has a broken bone. They tell him thankfully, he won’t need surgery. He’ll just have to be in a sling for at least six weeks, maybe more based on how it heals. They ask him how he does it, because it’s extremely hard to break a shoulder, they don’t see it that often. Normally it’s only popped out of place. Jamie ignores the looks of the nurse and doctor when he tells them the embarrassing story.
After they get him in the sling, they tell him what steps he’ll need to take in recovery. Icing it, sleeping on propped-up pillows, taking pain medication when needed, and when it is recovered he will need physical therapy. He nods at everything and knows the trainers at AFC will go over this with him again when they do their evaluation.
After they get everything settled for him, he’s finally able to get some pain medication. He sits in the hospital bed in relief as he feels the pain alleviated. They come in and ask him who they can call for him to pick up, and he doesn’t hesitate when he says his emergency contact. He knows it’s Roy, he changed it a couple of months ago. The reminder of Roy has him smiling, because if she’s calling Roy, then he’s coming to get him. He can’t wait to see Roy.
The nurse comes back with a popsicle and lets him know that Roy didn’t answer, but she did leave a message and she’ll try again in a few minutes. Jamie pouts at first but brightens when he sees the popsicle in her hand. She opens it up for him, and he knows the pills are working when he gasps in excitement at the red popsicle and the excitement radiating off him when she hands it to him. She smiles at him as she hands it to him, and Jamie thinks it may be the best thing he’s ever eaten. He’s left alone eating it, he doesn’t even notice it dripping down his arms, until he’s pretty much done with it and Roy comes storming down the hall.
He smiles, his tongue, lips, and teeth stained red as he smiles when Roy enters his room. He’s got a scowl on his face, and if Jamie wasn’t high on pain meds, he’d probably see the concern too. But, all Jamie feels is happiness now that Roy is finally here.
“Roy!” Jamie breathes out excitedly. He doesn’t know what to do with the remaining popsicle, and he wants the stickiness off him now. His eyebrows furrow together, and he pushes it towards Roy to take from him. Roy does it no questions asked, he throws it in the trash and stands in front of Jamie as looks at him.
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me you were serious?” Roy is looking him over, his eyes running over the sling, and his fingers lightly running over the bruise peaking out on his arm. It’s his way of asking if Jamie is okay. Jamie just leans into him and breathes in his scent. He doesn’t even remember that his arm and hand are sticky until he brings it up to grip Roy’s shirt. He grimaces when he notices it and uses the end of Roy’s shirt to wipe it off.
“You hung up on me,” Jamie looks up at him. Roy brings his hand up from his shoulder and cups Jamie’s cheeks. Jamie leans into the touch and smiles up at Roy. He’s so happy he’s here.
“Fuck. I’m sorry, Jamie. I thought you were fucking pulling a prank,” Jamie shrugs, it doesn’t matter. Roy is here now, his one arm isn’t sticky anymore, and the other doesn’t feel painful anymore, so it doesn’t matter. He moves off the bed and stands up so he can be face-to-face with Roy. His legs are a little wobbly, and Roy’s hands go to his hips to steady him.
“I had a popsicle. I don’t care,” Jamie smiles. Roy lets out a relieved breath and then lets himself chuckle at the sight of Jamie high on pain meds. His eyes are barely open, his lips are stained red, and he’s got a dopey smile on his face. He moves him closer carefully and presses a kiss to his forehead. Jamie is pulling back before he can linger there, and his red lips are pouting at him. He brings his hand up to his lips and taps one of his fingers on them. Roy rolls his eyes and moves so he can press his lips to Jamie’s waiting ones. He tastes of cherry, and Roy has to fight not to wipe his lips when the stickiness transfers onto his lips.
-
Jamie feels better later, and he feels useless laying on the couch, so he gets himself up off of it to make himself and Roy a cup of tea. While he’s heating the kettle on the stove, he grabs his favorite cup for his tea and Roy’s favorite. He opens the pantry and sees the sugar and salt sitting next to each other, and then leans backward to check to see if Roy is looking at him. Roy’s focus is only on the TV, so he grabs both the sugar and salt and puts one spoonful of salt in one cup, and one spoonful of sugar in the other. He grins to himself as he uses two spoons to stir it in there until it dissolves. He even adds a little extra salt to the tea. And then a little more extra after that.
He takes Roy his tea first, he can’t carry both of them with the sling. He sets it in front of him and tells him it’s hot, so to wait a little bit. He sets him on the table and watches the steam slowly dissipate. He makes the move first to drink his tea and tells Roy it should be cool enough now. He watches as Roy takes a drink, and then immediately spits it out back into the cup as the flavor hits his tongue. Jamie smirks into his cup as Roy coughs at the surprise taste of salt. Jamie laughs to himself as Roy looks at him with betrayal. But, he kind of deserves it for hanging up on Jamie, and he knows it.
“April Fool’s,” Jamie leans back on the couch.