Work Text:
Tommy is just finishing up his breakfast when his phone vibrates on the tabletop, the pattern signalling an incoming call. He glances at the screen, wondering who would be calling him this early, and then feels his mouth curve into a smile as he sees EVAN BUCKLEY. It’s just gone 5:30 am, meaning Evan has probably made it back to his apartment after getting off his 48-hour shift. Tommy’s just about to head out to his, but it’s only a 12-hour – six to six – and then the two of them have plans in the evening.
He reaches for his phone and slides his thumb across the screen to answer it. “Good morning, Evan,” he drawls.
“Hey, Tommy.”
Just from those two words, Tommy can tell that Evan isn’t feeling great – and that it’s more than just the exhaustion of getting off a long shift. Immediately Tommy’s brows furrow in concern, even if no one is around to see it. “Are you okay? You don’t sound so great.”
There’s a self-deprecating laugh down the line. “That obvious, huh?”
“To me. What’s up?”
“I don’t really know,” Evan sighs. “I think it was something I ate for dinner last night. No one else was feeling bad, but I knew Cap shouldn’t have let Eddie help with the crusted salmon.”
Tommy laughs, only slightly jealous; he’d definitely missed Captain Nash’s cooking when he transferred to Harbour. “Feeling rough enough that you want to take a raincheck for tonight?”
“I-I think so. I’m so sorry,” Evan says in a rush. “I was really looking forward to seeing you later.”
Ever since their somewhat rocky first date, Evan has gone out of his way to show Tommy that he’s committed to this thing between them – as if the invite to his sister’s wedding wasn’t obvious enough. It’s kind of adorable, but Tommy gets the feeling that there’s a story behind Evan’s constant reassurances. Sometimes he wants to take Evan gently by the shoulders and tell him that he doesn’t need to worry so much about continuing to prove that he’s ready.
“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Tommy says. “Seriously. Just focus on resting so you can heal up.”
Evan chuckles weakly. “Don’t know how much rest I’m gonna get curled up on my bathroom floor, but I’ll try.”
Concern prickles in Tommy’s chest. “Are you okay on your own?”
“Not my first rodeo. Don’t worry about me; do something fun tonight.” There’s a pause before Evan quickly continues, “But not the Hydrobikes, because I do actually want to do that with you.”
Tommy only just manages to stifle another laugh. As if he would consider doing that alone when Evan had been the one to suggest it. “Deal. I’ll check in with you after my shift to make sure you’re still alive.”
“O-oh, you don’t need to –”
“It’s not exactly a hardship, Evan,” he says softly.
There’s a soft puff of air on the line, probably a relieved exhale. “Okay. I’ll, uh, I’ll talk to you later then?”
“Later,” Tommy confirms. “Feel better.”
“Thanks, I’ll try,” Evan says dryly, but he sounds marginally less miserable, so Tommy will take that as a win. “Have a good shift, Tommy.”
“Bye, Evan.”
After they hang up, Tommy stares at his dark phone screen, contemplating. A plan is starting to formulate in his mind. He and Evan haven’t been seeing each other that long, but he hopes that this gesture will be taken as endearing and not overbearing. Besides, if Evan truly does want to be alone, Tommy won’t take it personally. God knows he’s a bit of a miserable bastard when he’s suffering through a Man Cold.
Either way, he has twelve hours to think over his idea before he has to make a decision. Grabbing his keys and his thermos, he heads out his front door and gets ready to start the day.
After Tommy’s shift finishes, he showers and changes at the station before driving to Evan’s place. After a quick detour to a grocery store on the way, he arrives at Evan’s building just before 7 p.m.
They’ve texted a bit throughout the day, but from the typos and brevity of Evan’s messages, Tommy gets the feeling that Evan’s spent most of the day napping. As Tommy heads up to Evan’s floor with the groceries, he spares a moment to hope that he won’t be waking Evan up from some well-deserved rest… He knows he could always call to make sure that Evan is actually awake, but sue him, he’s enamored with his idea of showing up to surprise Evan.
He gets to Evan’s door before he can talk himself out of it. Raising a fist, he knocks gently on the door – loud enough to be heard, though hopefully not loud enough to startle Evan, who isn’t expecting any visitors. There’s a few moments of complete silence where Tommy worries that Evan might be conked out, but then comes a muffled groan from inside the apartment and the sounds of shuffling footsteps. The deadbolt clicks as it’s unlocked and the door opens inwards.
Evan looks awful. Dark circles are smudged under his eyes, he’s even paler than usual and a little green around the gills, his temples glistening with a thin sheen of sweat. He blinks at Tommy – once, twice, like he can’t tell if he’s hallucinating – and then his forehead creases in confusion.
“Tommy?” he rasps, his voice rough, as though he’s just woken up. “What– what are you doing here?”
Tommy grins. “I said I’d check on you after my shift, didn’t I?”
The corner of Evan’s mouth twitches, like he wants to smile but his face is too tired for it. “I kind of figured you meant a phone call.”
“Yeah, well. I thought maybe you might like some company.” Tommy hefts the bag he’s carrying up a little. “And someone to make you soup.”
“I don’t think I’m very good company right now.”
“Hey, that’s not what I’m here for. But if you do seriously want to be alone, I’ll go. I promise I won’t be offended.”
“N-no!” Evan swings the door open wider. “Please stay. Some soup and cuddling on the couch after might fix me.”
Tommy can’t help but smile at that, and steps around Evan to slip inside his apartment and drop his bag off on the kitchen island. Evan closes the door gently behind them and then leans heavily against it, as if simply standing up is a herculean effort. While Tommy’s not sure he believes Evan’s self-diagnosis of food poisoning, he’s glad he decided to come over nonetheless. He can see the tension in Evan’s body, his shoulders stiff and tight lines of pain lurking on his face.
“Come here,” Tommy says, opening up his arms.
With a grateful smile, Evan stumbles forward and sinks into the embrace. He collapses into Tommy, clearly trusting that Tommy will keep him upright, and that easy confidence has Tommy’s stomach flipping pleasantly. Tommy gets one arm around Evan’s waist and brings his other hand up to knead gently at the back of Evan’s neck. Humming out a pleased noise, Evan nuzzles in closer, wrapping his own arms around Tommy. Some of the stiffness melts out of Evan’s neck under Tommy’s gentle ministrations. They stay like that for a few heartbeats, just enjoying being close. Tommy can’t help but note that Evan feels a little overheated, and wonders if he was sleeping under a thick blanket or something.
Eventually, Evan pulls away – but only just enough so he can make eye contact. “So, soup?” he says hopefully.
Tommy kisses him quickly on the corner of his mouth, quick and chaste. “Coming up.”
Evan settles into one of the high top chairs at the island while Tommy unloads the groceries. With some direction from Evan, Tommy finds everything he needs to start prepping the ingredients. He puts some oil in a Dutch oven and gets it heating on the stove, and then grabs a knife and cutting board and starts slicing up a bell pepper and an onion.
“What’re you making?” Evan asks, propping his chin in the palm of his hand.
“Thai coconut curry soup,” Tommy says. “Lots of ginger and garlic to make you feel better.”
“Sounds fantastic.”
Once the oil is hot, Tommy tosses the vegetables into the pot and lets them sizzle. Evan watches him work with a heavy gaze, although Tommy thinks it’s a mix of want and weariness. Still, he finds he likes having Evan’s eyes on him, tracking the muscles in his forearms as he dices up garlic and ginger.
“Dinner and a show,” Evan comments, his eyes zeroed in on where Tommy’s sleeves are pushed up to his elbows. “Maybe I should get sick more often if this is what it gets me.”
Tommy flicks a small piece of ginger at him. “If you wanted me to cook for you, all you had to do was bat those pretty eyelashes of yours.”
It happens so quickly. One second Evan is grinning exhaustedly at him, and the next thing Tommy knows, Evan’s eyes go wide as what little colour he has left drains from his face. Tommy makes an aborted move towards him, but Evan shoves his chair back from the island and bolts for the bathroom. Quickly, Tommy spins back around to the stove to turn the burner off. He removes the pot from the element for good measure too, just as the sounds of Evan retching ring out in the loft.
Confident he’s not going to burn the place down, Tommy hustles to the bathroom. He finds Evan on his knees in front of the toilet, trembling slightly as he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. Tommy wonders if that’s the end of it – if Evan really did just eat something that disagreed with him and finally got it out – until Evan jerks forward again, gagging as his body tries to expel more from his stomach.
Tommy quickly drops down next to him. “That’s it,” he soothes, rubbing Evan’s back gently. “Get it out. You’ll feel better.”
Evan dry-heaves again, pitching forward far enough that Tommy has to pull him back slightly to save him puking through his nose. In doing so, Tommy gets a glimpse of what’s in the toilet bowl, and the sight has alarm bells going off in his head. Tommy’s seen all kinds of vomit in his years as a firefighter and he knows that the green, foamy bile that Evan’s bringing up is definitely cause for concern.
“I don’t think you have food poisoning,” Tommy says.
Groaning, Evan spits a wad of saliva into the toilet. “My stomach is killing me,” he croaks.
“Like you feel nauseous? Or it’s a different kind of pain?”
With trembling arms, Evan hikes his shirt up slightly, and places a palm over his belly button. “It’s like… a sharp pain all over.”
Okay, that really doesn’t sound like just an upset stomach. “Can I?” Tommy asks.
“Ye-yeah, just… be gentle.”
Tommy lays his hand over the area Evan indicated and presses down carefully, watching Evan’s face for his reaction. Evan grimaces slightly when Tommy’s fingers apply pressure, but only once Tommy removes his hand does Evan’s face really twist in pain and he nearly doubles over again. Rebound tenderness. Tommy’s pulse kicks up another notch.
“I’m calling an ambulance.”
He reaches for his phone in his back pocket, but Evan grabs his arm. “No, no ambulance,” he rasps.
“Evan, you need to go to a hospital. I think you have appendicitis.”
Evan struggles to sit up again. “You don’t need to call an ambulance. L.A. General is like… ten minutes from here.”
Tommy can’t believe what he’s hearing. “If your appendix ruptures –”
“It’s not like they have an operating room in the back of the ambulance,” Evan argues. “It’s probably just a–a kidney stone or something, anyway. I don’t want to call an ambulance for that.”
This kid is going to be the death of him. But Evan’s at least agreed to go to the hospital, and the longer Tommy spends fighting with him about an ambulance is more time that something could go wrong, so Tommy makes the probably stupid decision to drive them to the ER himself. He gets to his feet and helps Evan up, wincing in sympathy when Evan whimpers quietly.
“I gotcha,” Tommy says, trying to keep his voice calm and level as he steers Evan to the front door. “Just lean on me.”
He finds Evan a pair of sliders that he can slip on without having to bend over and grabs Evan’s keys off the kitchen island. Stepping out into the hall, he props Evan up against the wall so that he can quickly lock the door behind them. Out of the corner of his eye, Tommy can see Evan shaking slightly as he curls an arm around his stomach. Tommy quickly pulls Evan back to his side and walks them to the elevators as fast as he can.
They manage to make it just outside the building, and then Evan lets out a pained groan, suddenly leaning even more heavily into Tommy’s side.
Shit. “Evan?”
“Sorry,” Evan gasps. “Just… hurts to move.”
All right, fuck this. Without any preamble, Tommy scoops Evan up into his arms in a bridal carry. Evan lets out a surprised yelp that would be adorable under any other circumstances and flings his arms around Tommy’s neck to hold on, but Tommy is a man on a mission. He charges across the pavement to where his car is parked, only putting Evan down when he’s standing next to his passenger door. After he gets Evan buckled in, he jogs around to the driver’s side and hops in. He shoves his key into the ignition and starts the car, barely remembering to check his surroundings before he peels out of the parking stall.
When they get to the emergency department of Los Angeles General Medical Center, Tommy deposits Evan in one of the chairs in the waiting room since he can barely stand, and makes his way up to the check-in desk alone. The combination of intense abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting has them ushered immediately back to the examination area.
Tommy has just barely helped Evan get changed into the gown and situated on the bed when a doctor hurries into their curtained-off area. It’s a quick physical exam, not all that dissimilar from what Tommy had done at Evan’s apartment. Evan holds Tommy’s hand through it, squeezing hard enough that Tommy feels the bones in his fingers grind together, but he doesn’t pull away. Whatever comfort he can offer Evan is more than worth any momentary pain.
“Well, Evan,” the doctor announces, “I think we need to get you into surgery pretty quick here.”
Evan pales. “It is my appendix?”
“I’m afraid so. But not to worry, it’s a fairly routine and quick procedure, and we’ll get you in right away.”
The doctor leaves briefly to get some patient transporters to take Evan to the OR. As soon as she’s gone, Evan swings his head to look at Tommy, his eyes wide and panicked.
“Hey,” Tommy soothes. “You heard what the doctor said. Routine and quick, nothing to worry about.”
“No, I know,” Evan says. “I’m just – I’m so sorry, I really didn’t think it was that bad, I-I-I would have –”
“Are you apologizing for having appendicitis?” Tommy asks, a little incredulously.
Evan worries his lower lip between his teeth. “I –”
They’re interrupted by the arrival of two patient transporters and a nurse. The transporters unlock the wheels on the bed as they prepare to move it; Evan grips Tommy’s hand even tighter.
The nurse must clock his panic, because she rushes to explain everything in a calming voice. “It’s okay, hun. With the anaesthesia, it’ll be over in the blink of an eye. Your partner will be waiting for you when you wake up.”
Something warm and pleased unfurls in Tommy’s chest at being called Evan’s partner, but it wilts almost immediately as Evan is forced to drop his hand when the transporters start to move his bed. Tommy keeps pace with the bed while the nurse rattles off information at his side. Her words completely wash over him – he’ll have to ask her to go over it all with him again later, because right now his attention is fixed solely on Evan. Too soon they arrive at a set of double doors, and the nurse stops him with a gentle hand on his arm.
“This is as far as you can go, I’m afraid,” she says.
“Can I just…?”
She must understand what she’s getting at, because she nods kindly and takes a step back. Tommy folds forward and presses a lingering kiss to Evan’s temple. “I’ll be right here when you wake up, okay?”
Evan lets out a shuddery exhale. “Okay.”
Then the doors are pushed open and Evan’s bed is wheeled through. Tommy maintains eye contact with him until the doors swing shut, finally separating them.
“He’ll be fine,” the nurse says, and Tommy nearly jumps, having forgotten she was there. “The procedure should take about an hour, and then you can take him home.”
The tight ball of anxiety in Tommy’s chest loosens slightly. Logically he knows that an appendectomy is a minimally invasive surgery and there shouldn’t be any complications as long as Evan’s appendix hasn’t burst, but he’s also feeling a little jittery from the adrenaline comedown now that there’s nothing more for him to do.
“I’m sorry,” Tommy says, “but I didn’t catch any of what you said on the walk over here.”
The nurse smiles easily at him. “Don’t worry about it, hun. He’ll get a care sheet when he’s discharged, but the important thing is that he gets plenty of rest but also gets in some exercise while he recovers to boost blood flow. He’ll need antibiotics for a few days as well, most likely.”
Tommy nods, committing everything to memory. “Thank you.”
“Of course. We’ll call you when he’s moved to the post-anaesthesia care unit.”
After thanking her again, Tommy heads back in the direction of the waiting room. Once he finds a quiet spot in the hallway, he pulls out his phone. He’s never liked just sitting around and waiting, always preferred to be doing something useful, and figures that he can try to take care of some logistical problems for Evan so he can just focus on healing once he’s out of surgery. Evan will probably have to take at least a week off work, if not more; Tommy can get that sorted out for him, at least. Plus, Tommy’s sure that Evan’s sister would really like to know what’s going on.
Tommy hasn’t had Captain Nash’s number in years, and he hasn’t even met Maddie yet – but he knows one person he can call to get that information.
“Hey, Tommy!” Eddie answers, sounding chipper. “How’s it going, man?”
Tommy grimaces, steeling himself to ruin Eddie’s night. “Uh, not great. I had to take Evan to the hospital and –”
“Wait, wait, wait –” There’s the sounds of rustling, indistinct voices and then rapid footsteps, before Eddie comes back, sounding much more panicked. “Why did you take Buck to the hospital? What’s going on? Is he okay?”
“It’s his appendix. They just took him back for surgery.”
A blustery exhale. “Jesus Christ.”
“Tell me about it,” Tommy commiserates. “I wanted to let his sister know, but I don’t have her number.”
“Right, yeah. I can call Maddie. And Bobby. Did they say how long the surgery will take?”
“About an hour, if there are no complications.” Tommy can’t help but glance over his shoulder towards the doors that Evan had been wheeled through, even though he knows it’s barely been five minutes since he was taken back there. “And yeah, if you can call them – you can give them my number if they need to get in touch, but hopefully I’ll have him back home in a couple hours.”
“I will. Which hospital are you at?”
“L.A. General.”
“Okay.” Eddie blows out another breath. “Um. Keep me updated?”
“Of course, man,” Tommy promises. “I’ll let you know as soon as I know anything.”
Tommy hangs up and takes a moment to collect himself. He almost feels like he’s having a very vivid stress dream. Not even an hour ago he was picking up groceries, looking forward to a quiet evening with Evan in front of the television, and now here he is in the ER, waiting for Evan to have an appendectomy. He scoffs to himself in disbelief, then finally goes to find a seat.
He fiddles around on his phone for a bit before noticing the battery life is down to 23%. Switching it to low power mode, he shoves his phone into his front pocket. He hadn’t thought to charge it before he left work, and now he doesn’t want to waste the battery in case someone calls him.
He people watches for a few minutes until his eyesight starts to blur. God, he’s exhausted. The adrenaline comedown is a real bitch. He tips his head back to rest against the wall and closes his eyes. He’s not planning on trying to sleep, but maybe he can enter that hazy state where time just slips past him while he’s still marginally aware of his surroundings.
“Tommy!”
His eyes fly open and he startles at the sound of his name. Looking around, he sees Eddie making his way through the waiting room towards him. Tommy immediately straightens up a bit, packing away his anxiety as Eddie drops into the empty chair at his side.
“What are you doing here?” Tommy asks. “Where’s Christopher?”
“I figured you could use the company. And Marisol’s watching him. She was over for dinner anyway.”
Now Tommy feels bad for worrying him. “Don’t get me wrong, having someone to wait with is better than sitting here alone, but you didn’t have to cut your date night short. I would have called you as soon as I had an update.”
“No, I know that. This is just…” Eddie sighs. “The last time Buck was in the hospital, it was bad. I just… I needed to be here.”
“The last time,” Tommy echoes. “Was that when he was struck by lightning?”
Eddie flinches, so imperceptibly that Tommy almost misses it. “Yeah.”
That gives Tommy pause. Evan had mentioned it, of course, but in an off-handed way, downplaying it like it was a funny accident on the job. Clearly that’s not the way Eddie feels about it, and Tommy can’t blame him at all. Tommy’s barely known Evan for a month, and waiting here now is killing him; he can’t imagine what it would be like if the situation was more dire, and Evan had more time to burrow into Tommy’s bones.
“That must have been awful,” Tommy says.
“It was.” Eddie rubs a hand over his face. “The hardest thing I’d had to see since my wife died. He was in a coma, on a ventilator and then ECMO. For a couple of days there, we really didn’t know –” Swallowing harshly, Eddie cuts himself off. “You remember a few years ago, when that firefighter got trapped under a ladder truck? During that series of bombings?”
“Yeah,” Tommy says, and then his blood turns to ice as his brain catches up. “That was Evan?”
He remembers the story, of course. Once he heard it was a firefighter from the 118, he’d worried that it had been Howie or Hen or even Captain Nash. He’s sure he must have heard the name Evan Buckley in connection to the bombing, but it had been so long ago that he honestly hadn’t clued in that this was the same man.
“After an injury like that, I’m amazed he was able to come back to work.”
Eddie lets out a derisive scoff. “He fought like hell to get back to the job. Pushed himself hard – too hard. Ignored what ended up being blood clots, and then had a pulmonary embolism on Cap and Athena’s back porch.”
“Jesus.”
“And then he and Chris got caught in the tsunami.”
Tommy stares at Eddie, waiting for the punchline, but apparently he’s not joking. Exhaling a disbelieving chuckle, Tommy shakes his head. “Christ. The universe seems to have it out for him.”
Strangely, Eddie tucks a small smile into the corner of his mouth at that statement. “There’ve been more hospital visits in between all those ones, so. We’ve all got a bit of a hair-trigger when it comes to Buck.”
“I get that,” Tommy says quietly. “I mean, obviously I haven’t known him as long as you, but he just… gets under your skin. In the best way.”
“Yeah,” Eddie agrees, sounding a little wistful. “He does that. After the macho posturing, of course.”
Tommy snorts. “Speaking of, is he always a stubborn asshole when he’s hurt? He wouldn’t let me call an ambulance; I had to drive us here.”
“Sounds like Buck.” Eddie slumps further into his seat. “Fuck, I don’t even want to think what would have happened if you hadn’t gone over tonight. He said he was going to reschedule your date.”
An unpleasant rock settles in Tommy’s stomach as he imagines Evan curled up on the floor of his bathroom alone, convincing himself that he could just power through the pain. From the way they’d rushed Evan into surgery – not quite an emergency, but they certainly hadn’t wanted him to wait around either – it seems like Tommy had already cut it close getting him to the hospital on time. If Tommy had just decided to simply call and not drop by, would Evan have told him how awful he was feeling?
“I actually spent my whole shift debating whether or not I should go over,” Tommy confesses. “I’m glad I didn’t talk myself out of it.”
“You and me both,” Eddie says.
They lapse into an easy silence after that. Eddie spends most of the time on his phone, presumably texting updates to Evan’s loved ones. Time seems to pass much easier with Eddie at his side. Compared to the time spent keeping vigil by himself, it feels like almost no time at all until the nurse from before is suddenly standing in front of him.
Her smile immediately settles Tommy’s frayed nerves. “Evan did great,” she says. “It was a keyhole surgery, no complications. He’s recovering in PACU, and once he wakes up and we run a couple of tests, you’re free to take him home.”
“That’s great news,” Tommy says, getting to his feet. Eddie springs up next to him. “We can both go in to sit with him?”
“Of course. I’ll take you to him.”
They follow the nurse down the hall until they reach a small room. She pushes the door open and they step inside, and the fist around Tommy’s heart finally unclenches as he sees Evan in the bed. He’s still unconscious, but colour is already coming back to his face and his expression is pain-free.
“He should be waking up soon now,” the nurse says. “I’ll give you guys some privacy.”
She exits the room but leaves the door open. Once they’re alone, Tommy and Eddie both sink into chairs on either side of Evan’s bed. Unable to help himself, Tommy reaches out and takes Evan’s hand, gently stroking over his knuckles with his thumb.
“Kid’s gonna give me grey hairs,” he murmurs.
Eddie snorts. “Welcome to the club.”
It isn’t long before Evan starts to wake up. His hand twitches in Tommy’s and he mumbles something unintelligible. Both Tommy and Eddie lean forward in their seats, watching Evan’s face intently as his eyelashes flutter. Evan lolls his head towards Eddie and manages to slit his eyes open.
“Eddie?” Evan blinks at him slowly. “Did I – did I get hurt at work?”
Eddie laughs softly. “No, man. Your appendix rudely interrupted your date night with Tommy.”
As soon as Eddie says his name, Evan’s eyes widen slightly and he immediately starts looking around the room. His gaze lands on Tommy and then slides down to where Tommy’s holding his hand. A faint blush blooms on his cheeks as his whole face lights up.
“You stayed?” Evan asks, sounding genuinely surprised.
Tommy frowns at that, and cuts a glance to Eddie. The expression on Eddie’s face is sad but not shocked, so Tommy assumes this is a familiar line of Evan’s and not exclusive to him. He makes a mental note to bring that up with Evan later, when he’s feeling better.
“I promised, didn’t I?” Tommy gets up from his chair and perches on the side of the bed. “What, did you think I was going to go Hydrobiking while you were having surgery?”
Evan manages a weak grin. “Guess not.”
On the bed, Evan’s hand twitches towards Tommy, like he wants physical contact but isn’t sure he can ask for it. Tommy reaches out and takes his hand again, threading their fingers together. “How are you feeling?” he asks.
Shrugging, Evan shuffles a bit closer. “Tired. Kinda sore. Kinda high.”
“Not bad, considering your appendix tried to kill you,” Eddie comments.
“Mmm…” Evan hums tiredly, eyes drifting closed. “Can’t tell if this is more or less embarrassing than needing an emergency tracheotomy.”
Tommy lets out a startled chuckle. He waits for Evan to elaborate, but Evan’s head tips to the side and rests against Tommy’s shoulder, his mouth dropping open slightly as he apparently succumbs to the anaesthesia still lingering in his system. Tommy can’t help but smile; as much as he wishes they weren’t in a hospital, he can’t deny that Evan makes a pretty cute picture while he’s sleeping.
“Emergency tracheotomy?” Tommy asks lowly, looking to Eddie.
Eddie huffs out a laugh. “I’ll let Buck give you the details on that one. Just… the next time you go out for dinner, don’t let him near any breadsticks.”
“Noted.”
A few minutes later, Evan wakes back up, groggy and disoriented. He’s confused again as to why he’s in the hospital but delighted that Tommy and Eddie are here. He seems more than happy to stay stuck to Tommy’s side, leeching warmth and comfort from him. Eventually a different nurse arrives to check his vitals one last time, and then announces he’s free to go home.
Tommy takes Evan’s care sheet and antibiotics and shoves them in his back pocket while Eddie helps him up from the bed. Evan’s a little unsteady on his feet – Tommy can’t help but be reminded of a baby giraffe taking its first steps – but between the two of them, they manage to get Evan out of the hospital without any incidents.
“You’re good to get him home?” Eddie asks once they’re standing out on the curb in the crisp night air.
“Yeah,” Tommy says. As if testing his resolve, Evan sways a little too far to one side, and Tommy quickly wraps an arm around his shoulders and reels him back in. “Might need to get him a leash.”
“‘M right here,” Evan grumbles. But he plasters himself closer to Tommy’s side.
Eddie rolls his eyes, but it’s fond. “All right, I won’t keep you.”
“You’re okay driving home?” Tommy asks. He has no idea what time it is at this point, just that it’s late enough to be early.
“I’m good. But, um…” Eddie shifts his weight from foot to foot. “I was thinking of stopping by in the morning, if that’s okay? Bring you guys breakfast?”
Tommy freezes, caught off guard by the implication that Eddie thinks he’s spending the night. He doesn’t want to be too presumptuous – Evan could rightfully want to be by himself to recover – but he’s not keen on leaving Evan alone overnight if he has a choice.
“Cap and Maddie and everyone else will want to swing by and check on him too,” Eddie continues.
Under Tommy’s arm, Evan perks up a bit. “Tell Cap he can come if he brings his breakfast casserole.”
“Deal,” Eddie says with a grin. “So I’ll see you in a few hours?”
“Yeah,” Tommy says. “Of course. The more, the merrier.” And then he cringes internally because it’s not his place that he’s inviting people to, but Evan doesn’t voice any protests – although Tommy’s not sure whether that’s because he’s fine with Tommy talking for him or because he’s halfway to falling asleep again.
“Bye, Eds,” Evan says through a yawn.
Eddie gives them a dorky little salute and then heads off in the direction of where he must have parked. Tommy squeezes Evan’s shoulder. “What do you think? Ready to get out of here?”
Evan grins up at him. “Hell yes.”
When they finally slouch back into Evan’s apartment, Tommy’s eyes are stinging with exhaustion. He’s been awake for almost 24 hours at this point, which normally isn’t a problem, except Tommy hadn’t napped at all during his shift in order not to fuck up his sleep schedule for the rest of the week. Adrenaline and necessity had carried him through most of the evening, but now that the danger has passed and everything has calmed down, he’s definitely close to crashing.
“Can you get upstairs on your own?” Tommy asks. “I’m just gonna clean up down here real quick.”
Evan flashes him a tired thumbs up and heads for the stairs. Tommy watches him climb the first few just to make sure he’s not going to fall and crack his head open – the last thing they need is a second trip to the emergency room – and then quickly tidies up the kitchen. He salvages what ingredients he can, and tosses the rest into the compost and garbage to be dealt with in the morning.
Up in Evan’s bedroom, Tommy finds Evan flopped face-down on his bed. He’s on top of the covers, but at least he managed to change into a pair of pyjamas. Chuckling to himself, Tommy walks over to the bed. He pokes Evan in the hip a couple of times until he gets the hint, rolling over onto his back so that Tommy can pull back the covers.
“Come on, big boy,” Tommy grunts, trying to carefully maneuver Evan without tearing the stitches on his abdomen. “Help me out here.”
With a put-upon groan, Evan wriggles over enough that Tommy can get the sheets tucked around him. Once Evan is all bundled up, Tommy can’t resist bracing himself on the bed over him and leaning down to plant a quick kiss on his forehead.
“I’ll just be downstairs on the couch if you need anything.”
Tommy starts to straighten up, but Evan’s fingers catch his arm, stilling him. “Stay,” Evan murmurs.
Tommy’s heart thuds behind his ribs. “You sure?”
“Mm-hmm,” Evan hums, offering him a weary smile. “Can borrow… something to sleep in…”
Evan flaps his arm in the direction of his dresser, so Tommy takes that as permission to rifle through the drawers. He finds a pair of sweat shorts and an old, stretched-out t-shirt that might fit him in the shoulders – but honestly, he’s so tired at this point that a slightly-too-small shirt won’t even register.
Changing quickly, he crawls under the covers on the other side of Evan’s bed. It’s a while since he’s slept on an unfamiliar mattress, with sheets that smell like a different brand of laundry detergent. But underneath the foreign scent of the detergent is a smell that’s slowly becoming familiar to him. Settling on his back, Tommy turns his head to look at Evan. At first he thinks that Evan has already fallen asleep, but without even opening his eyes, Evan flings an arm over Tommy’s waist and tangles their legs together. He shuffles even closer until his head is almost resting in the crevice between their two pillows. Tommy can’t imagine that’s a position conducive to sleeping, but the smile on Evan’s face says otherwise.
Still, Tommy can’t help but whisper, “Comfortable?”
Evan nods slowly, his hair brushing Tommy’s shoulder. “Stop worrying and sleep.”
Huffing quietly, Tommy closes his eyes. The last thing he registers before sleep claims him is the sensation of Evan’s arm tightening around him.