Chapter Text
It wasn’t every night that Vaughn stayed up till three a.m. watching anime, but this was the one time he was glad he did. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have heard the quiet knock on the door that alerted him to the figure standing on his doorstep. When he went to open the door, which he was hesitant about at first, he recognized a familiar slicked back head of brunette hair slouched against one of the victorian style columns on the porch. Immediately, Vaughn jerked open the door.
“Rhys, bro, why are you outside my house at-”
He was caught off guard when his friend stumbled forward, barely able to stay upright. His arms went around Vaughn’s neck and his body seemed to give out, unable to support itself. Vaughn was taken aback by Rhys’s dead weight, pulling him inside and kicking the door shut. As he sat Rhys down in his recliner, he placed his fingers over his wrist, taking in the slow, rhythmic pace of his pulse.
Vaughn shook Rhys’s shoulder, trying to rouse him slightly, only to receive a small grunt followed by a slight movement to reveal what looked like a large burn across the right side of his neck. It was ugly, the skin a bright shade of red and pink that didn’t look healthy, joined by deep scratches and cuts littering the rest of his exposed flesh.
Vaughn continued to try and pull Rhys out of whatever stupor he was locked in.
After a long while, he began to pull himself together a bit, still delirious, but coherent enough to drink water and hold his head up by himself.
“Hey, bro, how ya feelin’?”
“Not great…”Rhys’s voice was horribly hoarse, he sounded almost sickly.
“What happened, man?”
Rhys could barely bring himself to shrug, wincing at the damp towel as it touched a particularly sensitive wound. Vaughn examined him quietly, deeming him okay to wait until the urgent care facilities opened officially to receive care.
“I dunno. I don’t remember anything after I left Jack’s….what time is it?”
“About half past three,”Vaughn reached for a small bottle of rubbing alcohol and dabbed a cotton ball into it. He placed it on one of Rhys’s smaller cuts and watched his friend wince at the slight burn. “What time did you leave Jack’s house?”
“About…”He paused; trying to think looked as if it pained him. “Maybe one?”
“Angel?”
“Yeah.”
Rhys shifted, searching his pockets for his phone. He finally found it, the screen cracked and the battery almost dead. He unlocked it and scrolled, the light clearly bothering his head. His last two calls were within a couple seconds of each other, Jack, then an emergency call. Then twelve missed calls from Jack.
It only took him a few seconds to hit dial on his boyfriend’s number.
“Rhysie? Cupcake, where are you?!”
“Vaughn’s place. Please don’t yell. My head hurts.”
Rhys’s voice always took a loving tone with Jack, but behind it was an exasperated, exhausted plea for his boyfriend. On the phone, Rhys heard a car door slam.
“Hey, I’m on my way, kiddo,”Jack’s car was cranking in the background, Rhys could hear his truck’s engine. “I’ll be there a.s.a.p.”
“Mmk,”He seemed to be close to falling asleep again, his head beginning to roll to the side. “Love you, Jack…”
“Hey, you too, Pumpkin. Stay awake for me, ‘kay? Hand the phone to your buddy.”
Rhys didn’t say anything else, he just held his device out for Vaughn to take
“Hey, kid, do me a favor and keep Rhys awake. I don’t know how badly hurt he is-”
“It looks rough, Jack,”Vaughn shook Rhys’s shoulder. “Hey bro, keep your eyes open…”
“How rough we talkin’, cupcake?”
“He’s got this bigass burn lookin’ thing and he’s got scratches everywhere. I’ve disinfected most of them, but I don’t know what to do about the burns.”
Jack sighed, Vaughn could almost hear him shaking his head.
“Just keep him awake. I’m five minutes away.”
The line went dead and Vaughn was left to concentrate on keeping Rhys alert. It was starting to become difficult, but Jack arrived.
“Muscle boy, go make some coffee,”Jack knelt by his boyfriend. “Hey, Rhysie, guess who.”
They managed to keep Rhys awake until five, pulling him out into Jack’s truck for a trip to the emergency room. Jack carried his boyfriend like he was nothing, directing Vaughn to the back seat, Rhys passed out in the passenger.
Jack drove over the speed limit, but he was careful, and Vaughn had never seen someone get to the hospital so fast. The waiting room was cold. Jack and Vaughn were left there while Rhys was taken back.
At seven, Jack took a phone call, a little, sleepy voice on the other end. Vaughn noticed the quiet, fatherly tone and knew instantly it was Angel.
“Hey, baby girl. You’re up early,”He chuckled. “Tell Maya to let you sleep a little longer. Rhys? Oh sweetheart, he’ll be okay. Yes, of course you can come see him, as soon as he feels up to having guests.”
Jack was so good with his little girl.
“Yeah, baby. I’ll see you soon. I love you too.”
As if on cue, the second he got off the phone, they called for Jack and Vaughn to come back to Rhys’s room. They stood in a rush, grabbing their belongings and scuttling back into the hallways.
Despite his condition not being too terrible, Rhys looked terrible. It was just the addition of several wire and tubes, but it made the whole situation seem dire. Jack sat down next to him; Vaughn suddenly felt as if he was intruding.
“Heya, Rhysie.”
“Hey, Jack.”
Jack’s hand brushed Rhys’s cheek. Even though Jack was somewhat familiar with what happened to get his boyfriend in the hospital, he chose to ask anyway.
“Do you remember what happened yet?”
Rhys shook his head. Jack sighed.
“You called me and said someone was following you, so I left Angel with Maya and came down to the parking garage. This guy had cornered you, tryin’ to mug you, and you obviously weren’t gonna cooperate, cupcake. So he pulls out an taser kinda thing, looking back on it, it looked like a dick, but I watched him knock you out with it and lost it. He started running when he saw me, so I chased him and when I came back you were gone.”
It was Rhys’s turn to sigh, bringing his hand up to massage the sides of his aching head. Vaughn finally sat down.
“How you feelin’, bro?”
“Shitty,”Rhys groaned.
It was hours before a doctor arrived and did anything effective, the burns on Rhys’s shoulder obviously from the point blank electricity. Once Rhys was fully awake, he began to register the pain he was in better than before, whining about it to Jack every thirty seconds. Vaughn was starting to get tired.
“I’m going home, see you later, Rhys,”Vaughn’s lips curled into a small smile. “Feel better, man.”
Rhys, a pillow covering his face, saluted Vaughn, his boyfriend waving goodbye. Not long after he left, Jack’s phone rang, obnoxiously loud to Rhys’s sensitive brain.
“Its Angel, she’s worried about you, Pumpkin,”Jack glanced up.
“Answer it, lemme talk to her.”
Jack shrugged and did as Rhys ordered.
“Hey sweetheart!! Yeah, I was just about to ask if you wanted to talk to him!”
So Jack put it on speaker.
“Rhysie!”
“Heya, Angel.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, of course I am.”
“Can I come see you?”
“...You can come soon, sweetie, but I’m not up to it right now.”
“I’ll bring bandaids when I come! I’ll be your doctor!!”
Rhys couldn’t help but chuckle, looking to her grinning father. Jack shook his head.
“Hell, she’d be doing a better job than anyone here.”
This brought another laugh from the injured man’s lips, only for him to fall into a coughing fit. Angel became distressed over the phone, and Jack had trouble comforting her and helping his lover at the same time. Still, he was a dad, nothing he hadn’t done before.
“I’m okay, sorry, Jack, can you get me something to drink?”
“O’course, pumpkin.”
Jack sat the phone down once again, turning to fill up a paper cup with water from the sink built into the room. He handed it to Rhys, watching as he gulped down the liquid.
“Hey, he’s alright baby girl. Don’t worry. You can come see for yourself later, as long as you promise not to be too loud.”
He glanced to Rhys for approval, and he spoke after wiping his mouth on his sleeve.
“Yeah, of course she can.”
“Hear that, sweetie? Hand Maya the phone, okay?”
“Okay, Daddy, I love you! And Rhys too!”Angel sounded disappointed to have to give up the phone.
“We love you too, pumpkin.”