Torchwood: Fanfic: Stuck in bed

[m_findlow]

Title: Stuck in bed
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 923 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for solosundance's prompt "Any, any, Hospital Food (David Gray)" at fic_promptly
Summary: Jack isn't looking forward to the next few days.

Jack woke up, finding himself still in the hospital bed. So, not a dream, he decided, hoping that perhaps the last time he'd been awake it had all been in his head, along with the memories of the nightmare that came before it: that horrific crash that had put both he and Ianto in the hospital.

He cast a look sideways, finding Ianto still there watching over him. He looked like crap, Jack thought, bandaged head, bandaged leg, wheelchair bound. This was all his fault. If he could have done more to stop the car from madly spinning across the rain-soaked road. At least he'd managed to bear the brunt of the damage. As best he could remember, anyway. He'd been busy peppering Owen with questions about Ianto when Owen was trying to get answers out of him as to whether he could move his leg, did his stomach hurt, how was his vision? He couldn't have cared less, until he knew Ianto was okay. Once he knew that Ianto was already in the ambulance on his way to hospital, in a reasonably stable condition, he could finally let go. On the other side of the darkness, everything would be okay.

There was a gentle squeeze of his hand. 'How're you doing?' Ianto asked.

Jack had been dozing after having woken from the sedation. He looked down at his body, patched up by surgeons, so he'd been told. He held up his right arm and studied it. 'They put my arm in a cast,' he said, as if confused.

'It was broken,' Ianto replied.

Jack pulled a face. Not for long, he thought. Probably halfway healed already.

'Once the doctors clear you in a few days, you can come home and we'll get Owen to cut it off for you,' Ianto said, sensing Jack's annoyance. He didn't like being taken care of, and treated medically even less. He hated dying, but it did have certain advantages. A drawn out recovery wasn't his idea of fun. He wanted to be right back in the game, fighting fit and ready for action. Seeing his bandaged and battered body now, he knew he wasn't going to be chasing down weevils anytime soon.

'What else have they done?' he asked.

'Stitched up a nasty cut on your head.' Ianto pointed at his own. 'See, we match now.'

'Sexy scars,' Jack mused, still feeling the after-effects of the drugs addling his brain.

'Surgeons fixed a laceration to your liver which was causing severe internal bleeding. You gave Owen quite a scare when you suddenly passed out.'

Ah, so that explained the strange ache in his stomach. 'So, no showing off my stunning six pack for a while?'

Ianto picked up his hand and kissed it. 'Only in the shower. And only once you leave hospital and get the okay from Owen.'

Jack sighed audibly.

'It won't be so bad,' Ianto said, trying to be reassuring. 'You'll still recover a whole lot quicker than the rest of us. Imagine what it's like for us.' He couldn't help but look down at his own leg, stuck in a restrictive boot. The minor fracture he'd sustained in the crash would take a couple of weeks to sort itself out, leaving him to cart himself around on crutches. Everything else was petty by comparison.

'I hate hospitals,' Jack muttered. Apart from anything else, he would have to suffer doctors checking on him, marveling at his speedy healing. 'When can I go home?'

'Two, three days,' Ianto promised him. 'Owen will arrange for the transfer.' What Ianto meant is that paperwork would be issued that would request Jack's transfer to another hospital, only he'd never arrive, loaded into a special patient transport unit that would instead take him back to the hub. Owen was happy to let the hospital do the heavy lifting on the immediate care, and take over once things were stable.

'Three days? That's not fair.'

'Oh?' Ianto said, sitting up. 'And who's going to keep me company whilst I'm stuck here, huh? I thought you'd be happy that the only person you have to share a ward with is me.' Even for Ianto, three days was more than enough. They wanted to clear him of concussion and to make sure he wasn't hypothermic from lying out on the road in the rain. Since Jack couldn't come home yet either, Owen was more than happy not to have to babysit either of them.

'You know what's worse than hospitals?' Jack asked.

'What's that?' Ianto asked, trying to adjust Jack's pillows.

'Hospital food. No wonder so many people die in here. They lose the will to live, knowing that's what they're gonna be faced with.'

'Well then, it's lucky for you I've got wheels,' Ianto said, demonstrating his growing proficiency at navigating in his wheelchair. 'I got the lowdown from one of the nurses that there's a café on the ground floor for visitors that does a half decent focaccia and coffee. They might even have caramel slice,' he said, revealing a small paper bag in his lap.

Jack quirked an eyebrow at him. 'Ianto Jones, have you been flirting with the nurses and conning them into buying you goodies?'

'You'd be surprised by the level of care you can get from the NHS these days,' he replied. 'If you ask nicely.'

Jack smirked. 'Are they good looking?'

Ianto winked at him. 'I'll let you be the judge of that.'

Maybe three days here wouldn't be so bad after all.

Comments

[bk_forever]

At least they can keep each other entertained, even if not in Jack's preferred way...