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Title: Healing powers
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Ianto, Jack, OCs
Word Count: 500 words
Rating: PG
Notes: Written for Challenge 186 - Night at [livejournal.com profile] anythingdrabble
Summary: Jack can provide a medicine that hospitals can't.

'Visiting hours are almost over,' the nurse called into the room.

Ianto gazed up at the large clock on the wall. Five to nine already? It was cruel how quickly those two hours flew by. The rest of his day he spent staring at that clock, wondering why it moved so slowly, and sometimes wondering if it had stopped altogether.

He'd spent the last five days in hospital now recovering from his burst appendix. It had been touch and go there for a bit, but now the doctors were keeping him in a little longer than usual out of an abundance of caution. There was a little bit of infection which was delaying his discharge, but otherwise he felt fine. Certainly a lot better than when he'd been in agonising pain. Of all the things Torchwood threw at him and it was his appendix that took him down for the count.

A little bit of him despised Owen for refusing to let him recuperate down in one of their own medical suites at the hub, even if it selfishly meant taking time out of Owen's day to check up on him, and someone bringing him meals and helping him shower. He just hated hospitals in general and couldn't wait to go home. There was a steak diane and chips with his name all over it when he got out of here.

Food and boredom were two aspects he disliked, but by far the worst was the lack of interaction and company. Jack had done his best to visit, as had the others, but two nights they'd been caught up with work and Jack had only managed a quick phone call. These last two nights however, the city had decided to behave itself and Jack had been here right on the dot of seven pm, making sure they got as much time together as possible. Still, two hours felt like no time at all and he missed Jack like crazy for the rest of the day.

Ianto sighed as he returned his gaze from the clock to Jack, perched on the edge of the bed with one hand firmly wrapped around his own. 'I wish you didn't have to go.' Saying it felt a little bit pathetic and needy, but if he couldn't be pathetic and needy in hospital, when could he?

Jack rubbed his leg, trying to console Ianto's growing despondency. It was no wonder some people lost the will to live in places like this. 'I could stay the night. Cuddle up here with you on the bed.'

'It's not exactly a private room,' he said quietly, eyes flicking to the older lady in the bed closer to the door. She was nice and they'd chatted a few times during his stay, but he didn't think that courtesy extended all the way to having Jack sleep over.

'I'm sure Marge wouldn't mind,' Jack said, loudly enough that it became a question rather than a statement.  

'Oh, don't mind me,' she said, giving them a little wave from behind her Maeve Binchy novel. 'Nice to have such lovely young men for company. Much better than the last time I was in here. Grumpy old bugger he was, always complaining, and my word, the snoring! You're an absolute delight by comparison.'

Jack grinned back. 'See?'

Ianto sighed. 'And how do you propose to manage this? Nurse Ratchet will be coming back for final rounds and she's going to make sure you're gone this time.' Last night she'd very aggressively had him removed by security for overstaying his welcome until nearly nine thirty. She wasn't mean exactly, and she'd been polite enough with Ianto, but something about Jack rubbed her up the wrong way. She was completely immune to his charms and he'd even go so far as to say she was put out by him trying to curry favour.

Jack pointed at the cupboard behind his bed, used to store patient clothes and personal items. It was tall enough for sure, but it was reasonably shallow. Jack must have thought he was Harry Houdini to squeeze in there.

Ianto rolled his eyes, thinking how unlikely it was to work. 'You're mad,' he said, as Jack pulled it open and clambered inside.

Jack gave Marge a wink and raised a finger to his lips as he shut it closed on himself, making him disappear from view.

Moments later the nurse returned, wheeling in her little blood pressure machine, and going about her task, strapping it onto his arm and pressing the requisite buttons to give the cuff its slightly unpleasant squeeze. He wouldn't miss this three times a day. The nurse gave Ianto's bed a judicious glare, as if trying to use xray vision to see through the thin blanket and the mechanical underside. She'd only just come on shift at seven and was still sharp as anything, though even at seven the next morning right at the end of her twelve hour shift, Ianto didn't doubt she'd be just as eagle-eyed. 'Gone, has he?'

Ianto nodded. 'Just left.'

'I didn't see him go past the nurse's station.'

Ianto shrugged. 'He's very elusive like that.' He tried hard not to look guilty and was sure that they were about to be uncovered at any moment. Jack was bound to sneeze or have his phone start ringing, giving him away in an instant. Ianto could almost imagine he could hear Jack breathing in the cupboard behind him, which surely meant others could hear ittoo.

She hummed thoughtfully and went through the rest of her usual routine, checking his bandage and making sure he'd taken his pills. 'What relation is he?'

Ianto was about to say boss, then remembered Jack could hear him, and might very well be hurt if he played it down. 'He's my partner,' he said instead, leaving the word open to interpretation. 'We're very close.'

She narrowed her eyes at him. 'So close that he left his coat behind?'

Ianto spotted Jack's coat still draped across the end of the bed and nearly swore. They were bound to be found out now, and he didn't think security would let him back in if they removed him from the building again tonight. Stupid idiot, he cursed himself for not spotting that before.

'He left it for me to wear on my little trips around the wards so I don't get cold,' Ianto lied. Strictly speaking he wasn't meant to be out of bed, but they'd allowed him the odd circuit of the ward, shuffling as slowly as he could manage so as not to aggravate the wound, but also to prolong the time between leaving his bed and having to return to it. He'd hoped to be able to find a cafe or a gift shop, somewhere they might sell him a chocolate bar or a half decent coffee, but so far he'd found nothing but more rooms full of miserable looking patients, supplies cupboards and disenfranchised porters.

'He should've left you some slippers, too,' Marge added, nodding thoughtfully. 'It's shocking cold out in those halls. They should do something about it. Can't have people walking around barefoot on cold floors.'

'It's the NHS, not the Hilton, Mrs Fincham,' the nurse replied. 'I can get you some bed socks if it's that bad.'

'I'll be fine,' Ianto assured her. 'Must be due out of here any day now.'

'We'll see,' she replied, giving his little part of the room one last look before pulling his curtain shut, dimming the lights and leaving.

Jack slipped out of the cupboard. 'Phew. That was close.'

'You think?'

Jack didn't reply, he simply indicated for Ianto to shift over on the bed, giving him enough space to join him. Ianto shuffled across gingerly, trying not to twist too quickly. Jack scooted onto the bed and pulled his coat over them, its heavy weight warm and reassuring.

'Promise you'll be careful?' Ianto reminded him, curling over on his side so that Jack could spoon from behind, knowing how tactile Jack was and making sure he knew that cuddles was all he'd be getting. He was used to sharing a narrow space but not normally when he was sore and needing to be careful about making his wounds worse.

Jack curled closer and rested a hand on his healing abdomen. 'Promise. You're in safe hands, Ianto Jones. I've got some healing for you that the NHS can't provide.'

He couldn't deny how good it felt having Jack pressed close. He already felt better just for being surrounded by that familiar scent and those strong arms. This was definitely worth the risk of getting caught. 'Night, Jack,' he murmured into that pillow.

Jack squeezed him as tight as he dared, warm breath on Ianto's neck as he nuzzled in close. 'Night, Ianto. Night, Marge.'

'Night, you two love birds.'

Original 500 word version here

July 2025

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