J/C Fic - If You Play With Fire... - Oneshot
Title: If You Play With Fire...
Characters: Jared/Chris
Rating: PG
Warning: Hurt!Jared
Word Count: 4,200
Beta: billysgirl5
Summary: They've done the stunt so many times before, they didn't think anything could go wrong. What happens when it does?
Chris was back to pacing the familiar hallways, hating the idea that these hallways felt familiar to him. They were use to this, with both of them filming and doing nearly all their own stunts, accidents were bound to happen. But when Chris got the call that there had been an accident involving pyrotechnics, Chris had just freaked.
He had been waiting for word from the doctor for over three hours now. Jared had been whisked away to the burn unit, his body having suffered second and third degree burns, and the doctors were worried about complications to the eyes and ears from being so close to the small explosion. Chris sighed, raking his fingers through his hair in frustration.
"So do we know exactly what went wrong?" Chris asked, taking a seat next to Jensen who had been watching his friend the whole time. Chris needed the distraction, needed to figure out whom to blame, and who to kill.
"Well..." Jensen started, "'Sam' was doing a ritual; he had to light a candle and it was meant to flare up. We've done it heaps of times before, but something happened. I'm not sure, yet, but the technicians fucked up. Jared was crouched in close to the prop as he was directed, and his face... I don't know, they wouldn't let me go near him, but he was screaming..." Jensen explained, shivering at the thought.
"Damnit..." Chris grumbled. "You let me know as soon as you know something..." Chris ordered, standing back up and resuming his pacing. Someone was going to pay.
By the time Chris had been called and arrived in Vancouver, Jared had already been in with the doctors for at least three hours, and then, the wait had started. Now, more than five hours after arriving at the hospital, Chris was called up for information about Jared. He pulled Jensen along with him, both men being lead into a small room for more privacy.
"Please, Doc, just cut to the chase, what's going on? How's Jared doing?" Chris asked, not wanting to hear any bullshit.
"Right," the older doctor coughed. "Jared came to us with severe burns over his face, chest, and hands. We've treated them, wrapping and dressing the wounds with antibacterial cream, and we're also giving him sedatives and morphine, at the moment, for the pain. It’s going to be hard to say how much damage was done to his eyes and hearing, if any. We also had to graph some skin from his thighs onto his hands where he sustained third degree burns, but ultimately, he's doing as well as we could hope for right now. As long as infection doesn't set in and there are no complications with his sight and hearing, we can expect him to go home in about two weeks," The doctor finished.
Chris dropped his head into his hands, willing himself not to cry in front of a stranger and his friend. "When can I see him?" Chris asked, controlling his breathing.
"We're getting him moved into his room now. Someone will come and get you when he’s settled," the doctor commented. "If you like, you can stay here while you wait," he added, seeing the repressed pain.
"Thank you," Jensen said as the doctor left. "Chris?" Jensen asked, placing a hand on Chris' shoulder.
Chris shrugged off Jensen's supportive hand, "No... I can't... I can't do this..." He all but cried, burying his head into his hands.
"Chris?" Jensen asked nervously, worried that the year long relationship was not going to survive this.
"No... I don't mean it like that..." Chris backtracked with a sigh, looking Jensen straight in the eyes, "I just can't sit here and wait, crying here, while Jared is alone, unconscious and in pain..."
"He's not in pain... the doctor said..."
"They're using meds to keep the pain away, but it only dulls it, doesn't get rid of it. And what's Jared going to do now? If he's got bad scaring or if he's lost one of his senses? What then?" Chris ranted.
"He'll be okay. We'll all get him through it, whatever happens," Jensen reassured.
Chris nodded, accepting Jensen's words at face value, saying these things was completely different to actually having to live it. He only hoped he was strong enough to pull through the war that they were facing, while pulling Jared through it too with him, all in one piece.
A hesitant knock sounded from the door after a few minutes of silence, a small nurse poking her head through before stating; "Mr. Padalecki is in his room, now. I can take you to him if you’d like?" She asked.
"Yes, please," Chris said, immediately standing.
They made their way through the maze of hallways, stopping short in front of a plain, pale blue closed door with the number '222' stamped on it. This was it. Now, there was only a thin, wooden door standing in the way of Chris and his Jared, between their safe and secure past to the now uncertain future. Chris steeled himself, bracing himself for the state he was expecting Jared to be in. Little did he know that nothing he could have imagined would be remotely close to what Jared was going to look like.
Chris slowly opened the door, the room only lit by the dim lights of the surrounding machinery supporting and monitoring Jared's condition. Chris walked up to his lover's bedside, Jensen left by the door to watch the scene unfold. Chris took in a sharp breath at the sight of Jared’s lax body lying in there in the too small bed. White bandages covered the majority of Jared's face, his hair sticking out from the top. His hands and upper arms, all the way up until just past his elbows, were also wrapped, resting reverently against his stomach. It wasn’t a picture Chris could ever have imagined.
"Oh, Jay..." Chris sighed, blinking away the tears that were pooling in his eyes. Chris sat down beside Jared, reaching out and wanting to take one of Jared's hands into his own but knowing he wasn't able. He wanted to caress Jared's cheek, but he knew he would be risking the chance of infection. Instead, Chris delicately placed one hand on the top of Jared's head, his fingers curling into Jared's singed hair, and placed the other lightly on Jared's shoulder, thumb rubbing at the uncovered skin.
Jensen also let out a gasp when he finally laid eyes on Jared, his best friend looking as good as dead. He sat down next to Chris, hand on Jared's stomach, his thighs also being wrapped. No words were exchanged between the two good friends; there was nothing that they could say. All they could do now was sit and wait for Jared to slowly heal and wake up, praying that the damage wouldn't be too extreme.
It was three long days before the doctors decided to start weaning Jared off the sedatives. He seemed to have escaped the threat of infection, but the doctors weren't clearing him just yet. The investigation unit had also just figured out that the prop manager had miscalculated the amount of gunpowder required for the scene. He had immediately been fired and a full investigation was taking place by Chris' request. It was late on the fourth night in the hospital when Jared finally showed some sign of waking. He groaned from behind the bandages, his wrapped hand flung out awkwardly, hitting Chris in the head, waking the older man from his quick nap.
"Jay? Jared? It's okay, Babe. It's okay...I'm here, shh," Chris whispered, trying to sooth his partner.
After that Jared seemed to go back into a restless sleep, tossing and moaning more than before.
Chris called the doctor to Jared's room and immediately there was a whole team swarming over Jared's lax form.
"What's wrong? Is he okay?" Chris questioned, waiting for anyone to hear him and answer him.
A petite nurse stopped what she was doing and carefully lead Chris toward the door, not pushing him out of the room but keeping him out of the the doctors' way. "He seems to be waking up, Sir, but he's in a fair amount of pain and definitely not comfortable. We're doing the best we can to get him to wake up but with minimal complications," She explained. "We also need to know what the damage is to his eyes, ears and his hands and their functioning, but you've got some of the best doctors working on him; we're looking after him," She tried to soothe.
"Thank you," Chris replied, unsure of what else there was to say but just glad that someone was giving him answers.
"Chris? CHRIS?!"
Chris jumped at the frightening call of his name. He looked past all the doctors and nurses and saw Jared thrashing about more than ever before. He moved to walk up to Jared but was stopped by the same small nurse.
"You can't go up there, Sir. The doctors are working," she explained.
Chris looked at the group. At the moment, all they were doing was trying to restrain Jared. "I can calm him down, just let me get close to him," Chris pleaded, trying to use Jared's puppy dog eyes on the nurse.
She hesitantly nodded, knowing that there was nothing else they could do until their patient was calm. She helped him make his way towards the bed, pushing aside other nurses to get Chris to his partner.
"Jay? Jared, I'm here now, you're okay. You're in the hospital, Jared. You were hurt, but you'll be okay. Now, just calm down and let the doctors do their work," Chris whispered, sighing at the fact that Jared had seemed to calm down, meaning that he was hearing him fine.
Jared lifted his hand out towards Chris, a silent plea for support and comfort. "I can't, I can't take your hand, Baby; it's hurt. I don't want to hurt you more, but I'm here. I'm right here next to you," Chris added.
Jared dropped his hand and gave in, letting the doctors get on with their work. "Can't see..." Jared mumbled, barely audible beyond the orders and shouts of the medical staff.
"What Jay?"
"Why can't I see?" Jared asked again, slightly louder and clearer, the panic evident in his voice.
"You're eyes are just wrapped up, don't worry," Chris explained, hoping he was telling Jared the truth, in that there was nothing to worry about.
Jared nodded slightly, the pain of the action obvious to Chris even with the bandages covering his face.
"Okay, we're going to remove the bandages from your face now, Jared. We have to have a look...now, keep your eyes closed until we're ready for you okay?" The doctor interrupted, carefully removing the bandages from around Jared's head as Chris helped support his partner's head.
"On the count of three, I want you to open your eyes," the doctor asked, throwing away the last of the bandage, "One... Two... Three..." the doctor counted off, both he and Chris holding their breath as Jared blinked open his eyes.
"Jay?" Chris asked hesitantly.
"You look like shit," Jared commented, his voice croaky and weak.
Chris let out a sigh of relief, "oh, thank God!" Chris cheered, tears falling down his cheeks as he carefully planted a kiss to Jared's lips.
"I'm okay," Jared said, trying to comfort Chris in the same way Chris had just been doing to him.
"You're not meant to be saying that to me," Chris chuckled.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I have to continue with the check up," The doctor said, drawing Jared's line of sight back towards him. "Look up please," He asked, shinning a light into Jared's pupil and having a look, and then, repeating the same procedure with the other eye, "Looking good, minimal damage. Your sight seems to have been unaffected, like your ears," he said. "How are you feeling?" He asked.
"I'm hurting all over and I'm not sure what's going on," he admitted. "What happened?" he finally asked.
And that was the question Chris had been trying to avoid the whole time. How was he going to tell Jared about the damage he had obviously sustained to his face and hands?
"Jay..." Chris sighed, he hadn't even realised that everyone but their primary physician had left them alone.
"What's wrong?" Jared asked nervously.
Chris sat down awkwardly on the edge of the bed, his fingers coming up and playing with one of Jared's ear, the only part that Chris thought was safe. "Jay, four days ago, while you were filming, an accident happened on set. The pyro boys got something wrong, and when you lit the match, there was a small explosion," Chris started, deciding to be blunt. "You've been burnt pretty badly," Chris sighed, looking over his lover's now slightly scarred face.
"It seems," the doctor said, picking up where Chris left off when he noticed the older man starting to breakdown, "that your hands got the worst of it, but there has been some scarring to the face. We were worried about your eyes and ears, but everything seems to be fine with in that area. Our main concern, and primary focus right now, is the risk of infection and trying to minimize the amount of scarring," he explained.
"Can I have a mirror? Can I see?" Jared asked, turning teary eyes up towards his partner.
"I'll get one for you," The doctor nodded, leaving the room.
"You okay?" Chris asked, tugging on Jared's ear lobe slightly.
"How bad does it look?" Jared asked, trying to prepare himself.
"Not as bad as I was expecting," Chris replied honestly. "You still look absolutely gorgeous to me," He added in all honesty.
"Here, Mr. Padalecki," The doctor interrupted once again, handing the younger man a small mirror.
With one final, deep breath, Jared lifted the mirror.
Jared stared at the person staring back at him. He looked familiar but totally different. The skin around his cheeks looked shiny and pink, stretched too tight across his face. His hair was burnt short and his eyebrows and sideburns nearly completely gone. "I look horrible! I look like a freak!" Jared complained, awkwardly tossing the mirror to the ground.
"No, Jared! No! Never talk like that! The hair, it will grow back. There are creams and medication for the skin on your face! It's not that bad! You have to listen to me! You're alive! That’s all that matters!" Chris said, begging Jared to understand.
"He's right, Mr. Padalecki. Your situation is much better than most cases we get in here, and with plastic surgery and advances in burn care, you'll barely see the scars once they are fully healed. You just have to give yourself time; it's only been four days," the doctor added.
Jared looked up into Chris' eyes, searching his lover's eyes for any sign of a lie, of hate or distain, but finding none. "Chris?" Jared sobbed.
"It will be okay. We'll get through this... together."
Jared nodded, exhaustion washing over him. He closed his eyes, shutting out the world and fell into a light slumber. Chris sighed, Jared's reaction was to be expected, but he was just glad Jared hadn't completely freaked out.
"May I talk with you for a moment?" The doctor asked, pulling Chris aside.
"What's wrong?"
"Treatment for Mr. Padalecki's skin is going to take a lot of time, and we still haven't seen the function of his hands. At best, we can probably hope for partial function of his right hand and only close to full function in his left, but it won't be perfect. His fingers were badly damaged, and while the scarring can be treated easily, the physiotherapy required for his hands will be a lot more difficult."
"We can take it. He's strong, a fighter, and I'll be with him every step of the way," Chris nodded, thanking the doctor for his honesty before returning to Jared's side. He knew they would get through this, together. Now, he just had to convince Jared of the same.
The following months were tough and gruelling on the two men, and everyone else close to the two of them also felt the effects. Each day involved medications and treatments for the burns and physiotherapy for his hands which had been placed into braces to keep them from cramping up.
Production had been paused for Supernatural, as the show and all its members were like family; if one was out then they were all out. Luckily for Jared and Chris, Leverage wasn't filming, at the moment, so Chris had no commitments other than looking after Jared. Which he did. He made sure Jared followed the doctor's orders to the 't' and helped Jared with even the simplest task like tying his shoelaces, which was now nearly impossible for Jared to do.
The scaring around Jared's face was healing well, so much so that everyone felt ready to have Jared return to filming. However, Jared himself was still hesitant. He was used to seeing his face damaged and still couldn't see that he looked any different. He still saw how he looked that first night, so many months ago, and couldn't rid that image from his mind, no matter how many times Chris said he looked “beautiful” and “perfect”.
"Jared?" Chris mumbled late one night.
"Yeah?" Jared replied, laying in his bed, facing away from Chris with the older man's arms wrapped around his waist.
"Can I show you something?" He asked.
"What?"
"I took some photos, from the night of your accident and the following days..." Chris admitted hesitantly.
Jared rolled around, facing Chris with hurt but curious eyes, "Why would you do that?"
"I'm not sure why I first did. I think I did it for evidence mainly, but I'm glad I have them. I look at them and remind myself how far you've come, and maybe, if you see those pictures and look at yourself now, you'll see what we all see..." Chris explained.
"And what do you see Chris?" Jared asked, now sitting up, causing Chris' hands to fall from his waist.
"I see the man I've always loved. I see you, Jay, and that's it. What I don't see is any evidence of the accident that happened so long ago..."
"Show me the pictures."
Chris settled Jared onto the lounge, hot chocolate in hand and a pile of photos in front of him. "If you don't want to see these, I won't make you, but I think you need to see this," Chris commented before picking up the pile.
"No, you're right; I think I have to see these," Jared nodded, holding the mug awkwardly between his two hands.
Chris nodded and turned the pile of photos over. The first picture was one of the two of them, up close to the camera and smiling without a care in the world, "Do you remember that night? Man, we had so much to drink!" Chris chuckled, talking about one of the Kane shows Jared had come to watch.
"Yeah, that was a good night," Jared answered, staring at his unmarred face.
Chris placed a reassuring hand over Jared's knee, squeezing it slightly before flipping over to the next photo. It was Jared, lying in the too small hospital bed, bandages covering his entire face and hands; he looked like a wrapped mummy. Jared's breathing started to speed up, his heart pounding in his chest. "I took these when the nurse had come in the first night you were there to redress your wounds," he explained, flipping through the dark photos as Jared's face was slowly revealed. The photos were dark, but the flash of the camera and the close proximity of the photos highlighted just how bad the scarring had been at the time. Light reflected back off of Jared's face in the photos, exaggerating the severity of the scars. "I had to force myself to take these pictures..." Chris mumbled. The face in the photos had the eyes closed, almost making Jared look like he was dead with tubes coming out of his mouth and his skin burnt and discoloured.
Jared had tears running freely down his face now. All these pictures did was remind him of just how bad he looked. That was until Chris continued to flip through the images.
"I took this two weeks into your stay at the hospital. You were doing so well, they were planning on releasing you, and a few days later, you were out," Chris explained, his eyes tracking over the image of Jared's sleeping face, the younger man looking peaceful. His skin had lost most of the pinkish tinge by then, and his hair had started to grow back on his face making him look more like the Jared from before the accident.
"These ones were taken at home," Chris started, showing Jared pictures of him with his family and friends from when they had come to visit him. His hands were visible in these shots, still wrapped up and in their braces, but his face looked so much better, the hair had pretty much all grown back and with the help of the creams, his skin didn't look so stretched over his features.
"Is that really me?" Jared asked, not wanting to believe that's how he looked again.
"It gets better," Chris said turning to the last photo, "I took this yesterday. You looked so happy, I had to take the photo," he said. And there Jared was, playing in the garden with Harley and Sadie, a bright smile across his face.
"I look normal..." Jared whispered.
"There is nothing wrong with you and the way you look," Chris agreed. "There hasn't been for a while, but you've been too stubborn to notice all your improvements and achievements. Everyone else can see it, because they don't see you as often as you see yourself or as I see you, but there have been obvious, remarkable, improvements to the point where now you can't even tell there had ever been an accident!" Chris said, gently playing with Jared's earlobe, a habit he had picked up from not being able to caress Jared's cheek for so long.
"I'm sorry I didn't see it before..." Jared said, placing the mug onto the coffee table and curling his body into Chris', hiding his face into Chris' neck and kissing the exposed skin.
"It's okay, Babe. Everything's going to be okay."
The start of the next week brought the start up of production for Supernatural. Jared walked onto the lot with Chris and Jensen guarding him from either side, watching over him for any signs of distress. Jared was greeted by everyone with a round of clapping and loud cheers, celebrating his return. People came up to him and told him how happy they were that he was back and that he was okay, and the whole time Jared took it all with a smiling face.
His right hand still needed to be kept in a brace most of the time, but the writers easily wrote the brace in with a quick throw across the room by the spirit. By the time Jared got his first break from shooting, he was done in, exhaustion washing over him.
“Cut!” the director shouted. “Good work, Jared. We’ll have someone call you when we need you again,” he said, turning to continue work with Jensen and Misha.
Jared sighed and made his way directly towards Chris, the older man simply wrapping his arms around Jared and leading the younger man back to his trailer. He helped Jared down onto the couch and settled the two of them so that Jared was sitting between his legs, Jared’s head resting on his broad chest where he could easily run his fingers though the long, brown hair, nails scratching slightly at his scalp, massaging Jared’s head.
“You doing okay, Jay?” Chris asked, his voice soft, allowing Jared to settle further into his body.
“Yeah, I think I will be. It’s just been hard getting back into it all; people looking and watching, not really knowing what they’re thinking...” Jared sighed.
“They’re thinking about how strong and brave you are. Trust me, Jay, that’s all they’re thinking about,” Chris immediately replied, his hands moving down and releasing Jared’s hand from the plastic brace, gently rubbing at the stiff muscles.
Jared hummed in agreement, not having the energy to argue against Chris. “Everything’s going to be okay now, right? We’ll be okay?” Jared asked after a moment’s silence.
“We already are,” Chris smiled, leaning down and kissing the crown of Jared’s head in reassurance. From here, things could only get better.
In the following months, Jared’s hands continued to get better. His right hand still suffered slightly, but it was barely noticeable. When the first episode aired since the accident, the ratings had been higher than ever, Jared receiving so many letters from fans in support, amazing Jared at just how loyal his fans truly were. And Jared soon realized that Chris had been right all along: they really were okay.
-Le Fin
Lemme know what you think!?
Comments = Love! :D
Characters: Jared/Chris
Rating: PG
Warning: Hurt!Jared
Word Count: 4,200
Beta: billysgirl5
Summary: They've done the stunt so many times before, they didn't think anything could go wrong. What happens when it does?
Chris was back to pacing the familiar hallways, hating the idea that these hallways felt familiar to him. They were use to this, with both of them filming and doing nearly all their own stunts, accidents were bound to happen. But when Chris got the call that there had been an accident involving pyrotechnics, Chris had just freaked.
He had been waiting for word from the doctor for over three hours now. Jared had been whisked away to the burn unit, his body having suffered second and third degree burns, and the doctors were worried about complications to the eyes and ears from being so close to the small explosion. Chris sighed, raking his fingers through his hair in frustration.
"So do we know exactly what went wrong?" Chris asked, taking a seat next to Jensen who had been watching his friend the whole time. Chris needed the distraction, needed to figure out whom to blame, and who to kill.
"Well..." Jensen started, "'Sam' was doing a ritual; he had to light a candle and it was meant to flare up. We've done it heaps of times before, but something happened. I'm not sure, yet, but the technicians fucked up. Jared was crouched in close to the prop as he was directed, and his face... I don't know, they wouldn't let me go near him, but he was screaming..." Jensen explained, shivering at the thought.
"Damnit..." Chris grumbled. "You let me know as soon as you know something..." Chris ordered, standing back up and resuming his pacing. Someone was going to pay.
By the time Chris had been called and arrived in Vancouver, Jared had already been in with the doctors for at least three hours, and then, the wait had started. Now, more than five hours after arriving at the hospital, Chris was called up for information about Jared. He pulled Jensen along with him, both men being lead into a small room for more privacy.
"Please, Doc, just cut to the chase, what's going on? How's Jared doing?" Chris asked, not wanting to hear any bullshit.
"Right," the older doctor coughed. "Jared came to us with severe burns over his face, chest, and hands. We've treated them, wrapping and dressing the wounds with antibacterial cream, and we're also giving him sedatives and morphine, at the moment, for the pain. It’s going to be hard to say how much damage was done to his eyes and hearing, if any. We also had to graph some skin from his thighs onto his hands where he sustained third degree burns, but ultimately, he's doing as well as we could hope for right now. As long as infection doesn't set in and there are no complications with his sight and hearing, we can expect him to go home in about two weeks," The doctor finished.
Chris dropped his head into his hands, willing himself not to cry in front of a stranger and his friend. "When can I see him?" Chris asked, controlling his breathing.
"We're getting him moved into his room now. Someone will come and get you when he’s settled," the doctor commented. "If you like, you can stay here while you wait," he added, seeing the repressed pain.
"Thank you," Jensen said as the doctor left. "Chris?" Jensen asked, placing a hand on Chris' shoulder.
Chris shrugged off Jensen's supportive hand, "No... I can't... I can't do this..." He all but cried, burying his head into his hands.
"Chris?" Jensen asked nervously, worried that the year long relationship was not going to survive this.
"No... I don't mean it like that..." Chris backtracked with a sigh, looking Jensen straight in the eyes, "I just can't sit here and wait, crying here, while Jared is alone, unconscious and in pain..."
"He's not in pain... the doctor said..."
"They're using meds to keep the pain away, but it only dulls it, doesn't get rid of it. And what's Jared going to do now? If he's got bad scaring or if he's lost one of his senses? What then?" Chris ranted.
"He'll be okay. We'll all get him through it, whatever happens," Jensen reassured.
Chris nodded, accepting Jensen's words at face value, saying these things was completely different to actually having to live it. He only hoped he was strong enough to pull through the war that they were facing, while pulling Jared through it too with him, all in one piece.
A hesitant knock sounded from the door after a few minutes of silence, a small nurse poking her head through before stating; "Mr. Padalecki is in his room, now. I can take you to him if you’d like?" She asked.
"Yes, please," Chris said, immediately standing.
They made their way through the maze of hallways, stopping short in front of a plain, pale blue closed door with the number '222' stamped on it. This was it. Now, there was only a thin, wooden door standing in the way of Chris and his Jared, between their safe and secure past to the now uncertain future. Chris steeled himself, bracing himself for the state he was expecting Jared to be in. Little did he know that nothing he could have imagined would be remotely close to what Jared was going to look like.
Chris slowly opened the door, the room only lit by the dim lights of the surrounding machinery supporting and monitoring Jared's condition. Chris walked up to his lover's bedside, Jensen left by the door to watch the scene unfold. Chris took in a sharp breath at the sight of Jared’s lax body lying in there in the too small bed. White bandages covered the majority of Jared's face, his hair sticking out from the top. His hands and upper arms, all the way up until just past his elbows, were also wrapped, resting reverently against his stomach. It wasn’t a picture Chris could ever have imagined.
"Oh, Jay..." Chris sighed, blinking away the tears that were pooling in his eyes. Chris sat down beside Jared, reaching out and wanting to take one of Jared's hands into his own but knowing he wasn't able. He wanted to caress Jared's cheek, but he knew he would be risking the chance of infection. Instead, Chris delicately placed one hand on the top of Jared's head, his fingers curling into Jared's singed hair, and placed the other lightly on Jared's shoulder, thumb rubbing at the uncovered skin.
Jensen also let out a gasp when he finally laid eyes on Jared, his best friend looking as good as dead. He sat down next to Chris, hand on Jared's stomach, his thighs also being wrapped. No words were exchanged between the two good friends; there was nothing that they could say. All they could do now was sit and wait for Jared to slowly heal and wake up, praying that the damage wouldn't be too extreme.
It was three long days before the doctors decided to start weaning Jared off the sedatives. He seemed to have escaped the threat of infection, but the doctors weren't clearing him just yet. The investigation unit had also just figured out that the prop manager had miscalculated the amount of gunpowder required for the scene. He had immediately been fired and a full investigation was taking place by Chris' request. It was late on the fourth night in the hospital when Jared finally showed some sign of waking. He groaned from behind the bandages, his wrapped hand flung out awkwardly, hitting Chris in the head, waking the older man from his quick nap.
"Jay? Jared? It's okay, Babe. It's okay...I'm here, shh," Chris whispered, trying to sooth his partner.
After that Jared seemed to go back into a restless sleep, tossing and moaning more than before.
Chris called the doctor to Jared's room and immediately there was a whole team swarming over Jared's lax form.
"What's wrong? Is he okay?" Chris questioned, waiting for anyone to hear him and answer him.
A petite nurse stopped what she was doing and carefully lead Chris toward the door, not pushing him out of the room but keeping him out of the the doctors' way. "He seems to be waking up, Sir, but he's in a fair amount of pain and definitely not comfortable. We're doing the best we can to get him to wake up but with minimal complications," She explained. "We also need to know what the damage is to his eyes, ears and his hands and their functioning, but you've got some of the best doctors working on him; we're looking after him," She tried to soothe.
"Thank you," Chris replied, unsure of what else there was to say but just glad that someone was giving him answers.
"Chris? CHRIS?!"
Chris jumped at the frightening call of his name. He looked past all the doctors and nurses and saw Jared thrashing about more than ever before. He moved to walk up to Jared but was stopped by the same small nurse.
"You can't go up there, Sir. The doctors are working," she explained.
Chris looked at the group. At the moment, all they were doing was trying to restrain Jared. "I can calm him down, just let me get close to him," Chris pleaded, trying to use Jared's puppy dog eyes on the nurse.
She hesitantly nodded, knowing that there was nothing else they could do until their patient was calm. She helped him make his way towards the bed, pushing aside other nurses to get Chris to his partner.
"Jay? Jared, I'm here now, you're okay. You're in the hospital, Jared. You were hurt, but you'll be okay. Now, just calm down and let the doctors do their work," Chris whispered, sighing at the fact that Jared had seemed to calm down, meaning that he was hearing him fine.
Jared lifted his hand out towards Chris, a silent plea for support and comfort. "I can't, I can't take your hand, Baby; it's hurt. I don't want to hurt you more, but I'm here. I'm right here next to you," Chris added.
Jared dropped his hand and gave in, letting the doctors get on with their work. "Can't see..." Jared mumbled, barely audible beyond the orders and shouts of the medical staff.
"What Jay?"
"Why can't I see?" Jared asked again, slightly louder and clearer, the panic evident in his voice.
"You're eyes are just wrapped up, don't worry," Chris explained, hoping he was telling Jared the truth, in that there was nothing to worry about.
Jared nodded slightly, the pain of the action obvious to Chris even with the bandages covering his face.
"Okay, we're going to remove the bandages from your face now, Jared. We have to have a look...now, keep your eyes closed until we're ready for you okay?" The doctor interrupted, carefully removing the bandages from around Jared's head as Chris helped support his partner's head.
"On the count of three, I want you to open your eyes," the doctor asked, throwing away the last of the bandage, "One... Two... Three..." the doctor counted off, both he and Chris holding their breath as Jared blinked open his eyes.
"Jay?" Chris asked hesitantly.
"You look like shit," Jared commented, his voice croaky and weak.
Chris let out a sigh of relief, "oh, thank God!" Chris cheered, tears falling down his cheeks as he carefully planted a kiss to Jared's lips.
"I'm okay," Jared said, trying to comfort Chris in the same way Chris had just been doing to him.
"You're not meant to be saying that to me," Chris chuckled.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I have to continue with the check up," The doctor said, drawing Jared's line of sight back towards him. "Look up please," He asked, shinning a light into Jared's pupil and having a look, and then, repeating the same procedure with the other eye, "Looking good, minimal damage. Your sight seems to have been unaffected, like your ears," he said. "How are you feeling?" He asked.
"I'm hurting all over and I'm not sure what's going on," he admitted. "What happened?" he finally asked.
And that was the question Chris had been trying to avoid the whole time. How was he going to tell Jared about the damage he had obviously sustained to his face and hands?
"Jay..." Chris sighed, he hadn't even realised that everyone but their primary physician had left them alone.
"What's wrong?" Jared asked nervously.
Chris sat down awkwardly on the edge of the bed, his fingers coming up and playing with one of Jared's ear, the only part that Chris thought was safe. "Jay, four days ago, while you were filming, an accident happened on set. The pyro boys got something wrong, and when you lit the match, there was a small explosion," Chris started, deciding to be blunt. "You've been burnt pretty badly," Chris sighed, looking over his lover's now slightly scarred face.
"It seems," the doctor said, picking up where Chris left off when he noticed the older man starting to breakdown, "that your hands got the worst of it, but there has been some scarring to the face. We were worried about your eyes and ears, but everything seems to be fine with in that area. Our main concern, and primary focus right now, is the risk of infection and trying to minimize the amount of scarring," he explained.
"Can I have a mirror? Can I see?" Jared asked, turning teary eyes up towards his partner.
"I'll get one for you," The doctor nodded, leaving the room.
"You okay?" Chris asked, tugging on Jared's ear lobe slightly.
"How bad does it look?" Jared asked, trying to prepare himself.
"Not as bad as I was expecting," Chris replied honestly. "You still look absolutely gorgeous to me," He added in all honesty.
"Here, Mr. Padalecki," The doctor interrupted once again, handing the younger man a small mirror.
With one final, deep breath, Jared lifted the mirror.
Jared stared at the person staring back at him. He looked familiar but totally different. The skin around his cheeks looked shiny and pink, stretched too tight across his face. His hair was burnt short and his eyebrows and sideburns nearly completely gone. "I look horrible! I look like a freak!" Jared complained, awkwardly tossing the mirror to the ground.
"No, Jared! No! Never talk like that! The hair, it will grow back. There are creams and medication for the skin on your face! It's not that bad! You have to listen to me! You're alive! That’s all that matters!" Chris said, begging Jared to understand.
"He's right, Mr. Padalecki. Your situation is much better than most cases we get in here, and with plastic surgery and advances in burn care, you'll barely see the scars once they are fully healed. You just have to give yourself time; it's only been four days," the doctor added.
Jared looked up into Chris' eyes, searching his lover's eyes for any sign of a lie, of hate or distain, but finding none. "Chris?" Jared sobbed.
"It will be okay. We'll get through this... together."
Jared nodded, exhaustion washing over him. He closed his eyes, shutting out the world and fell into a light slumber. Chris sighed, Jared's reaction was to be expected, but he was just glad Jared hadn't completely freaked out.
"May I talk with you for a moment?" The doctor asked, pulling Chris aside.
"What's wrong?"
"Treatment for Mr. Padalecki's skin is going to take a lot of time, and we still haven't seen the function of his hands. At best, we can probably hope for partial function of his right hand and only close to full function in his left, but it won't be perfect. His fingers were badly damaged, and while the scarring can be treated easily, the physiotherapy required for his hands will be a lot more difficult."
"We can take it. He's strong, a fighter, and I'll be with him every step of the way," Chris nodded, thanking the doctor for his honesty before returning to Jared's side. He knew they would get through this, together. Now, he just had to convince Jared of the same.
The following months were tough and gruelling on the two men, and everyone else close to the two of them also felt the effects. Each day involved medications and treatments for the burns and physiotherapy for his hands which had been placed into braces to keep them from cramping up.
Production had been paused for Supernatural, as the show and all its members were like family; if one was out then they were all out. Luckily for Jared and Chris, Leverage wasn't filming, at the moment, so Chris had no commitments other than looking after Jared. Which he did. He made sure Jared followed the doctor's orders to the 't' and helped Jared with even the simplest task like tying his shoelaces, which was now nearly impossible for Jared to do.
The scaring around Jared's face was healing well, so much so that everyone felt ready to have Jared return to filming. However, Jared himself was still hesitant. He was used to seeing his face damaged and still couldn't see that he looked any different. He still saw how he looked that first night, so many months ago, and couldn't rid that image from his mind, no matter how many times Chris said he looked “beautiful” and “perfect”.
"Jared?" Chris mumbled late one night.
"Yeah?" Jared replied, laying in his bed, facing away from Chris with the older man's arms wrapped around his waist.
"Can I show you something?" He asked.
"What?"
"I took some photos, from the night of your accident and the following days..." Chris admitted hesitantly.
Jared rolled around, facing Chris with hurt but curious eyes, "Why would you do that?"
"I'm not sure why I first did. I think I did it for evidence mainly, but I'm glad I have them. I look at them and remind myself how far you've come, and maybe, if you see those pictures and look at yourself now, you'll see what we all see..." Chris explained.
"And what do you see Chris?" Jared asked, now sitting up, causing Chris' hands to fall from his waist.
"I see the man I've always loved. I see you, Jay, and that's it. What I don't see is any evidence of the accident that happened so long ago..."
"Show me the pictures."
Chris settled Jared onto the lounge, hot chocolate in hand and a pile of photos in front of him. "If you don't want to see these, I won't make you, but I think you need to see this," Chris commented before picking up the pile.
"No, you're right; I think I have to see these," Jared nodded, holding the mug awkwardly between his two hands.
Chris nodded and turned the pile of photos over. The first picture was one of the two of them, up close to the camera and smiling without a care in the world, "Do you remember that night? Man, we had so much to drink!" Chris chuckled, talking about one of the Kane shows Jared had come to watch.
"Yeah, that was a good night," Jared answered, staring at his unmarred face.
Chris placed a reassuring hand over Jared's knee, squeezing it slightly before flipping over to the next photo. It was Jared, lying in the too small hospital bed, bandages covering his entire face and hands; he looked like a wrapped mummy. Jared's breathing started to speed up, his heart pounding in his chest. "I took these when the nurse had come in the first night you were there to redress your wounds," he explained, flipping through the dark photos as Jared's face was slowly revealed. The photos were dark, but the flash of the camera and the close proximity of the photos highlighted just how bad the scarring had been at the time. Light reflected back off of Jared's face in the photos, exaggerating the severity of the scars. "I had to force myself to take these pictures..." Chris mumbled. The face in the photos had the eyes closed, almost making Jared look like he was dead with tubes coming out of his mouth and his skin burnt and discoloured.
Jared had tears running freely down his face now. All these pictures did was remind him of just how bad he looked. That was until Chris continued to flip through the images.
"I took this two weeks into your stay at the hospital. You were doing so well, they were planning on releasing you, and a few days later, you were out," Chris explained, his eyes tracking over the image of Jared's sleeping face, the younger man looking peaceful. His skin had lost most of the pinkish tinge by then, and his hair had started to grow back on his face making him look more like the Jared from before the accident.
"These ones were taken at home," Chris started, showing Jared pictures of him with his family and friends from when they had come to visit him. His hands were visible in these shots, still wrapped up and in their braces, but his face looked so much better, the hair had pretty much all grown back and with the help of the creams, his skin didn't look so stretched over his features.
"Is that really me?" Jared asked, not wanting to believe that's how he looked again.
"It gets better," Chris said turning to the last photo, "I took this yesterday. You looked so happy, I had to take the photo," he said. And there Jared was, playing in the garden with Harley and Sadie, a bright smile across his face.
"I look normal..." Jared whispered.
"There is nothing wrong with you and the way you look," Chris agreed. "There hasn't been for a while, but you've been too stubborn to notice all your improvements and achievements. Everyone else can see it, because they don't see you as often as you see yourself or as I see you, but there have been obvious, remarkable, improvements to the point where now you can't even tell there had ever been an accident!" Chris said, gently playing with Jared's earlobe, a habit he had picked up from not being able to caress Jared's cheek for so long.
"I'm sorry I didn't see it before..." Jared said, placing the mug onto the coffee table and curling his body into Chris', hiding his face into Chris' neck and kissing the exposed skin.
"It's okay, Babe. Everything's going to be okay."
The start of the next week brought the start up of production for Supernatural. Jared walked onto the lot with Chris and Jensen guarding him from either side, watching over him for any signs of distress. Jared was greeted by everyone with a round of clapping and loud cheers, celebrating his return. People came up to him and told him how happy they were that he was back and that he was okay, and the whole time Jared took it all with a smiling face.
His right hand still needed to be kept in a brace most of the time, but the writers easily wrote the brace in with a quick throw across the room by the spirit. By the time Jared got his first break from shooting, he was done in, exhaustion washing over him.
“Cut!” the director shouted. “Good work, Jared. We’ll have someone call you when we need you again,” he said, turning to continue work with Jensen and Misha.
Jared sighed and made his way directly towards Chris, the older man simply wrapping his arms around Jared and leading the younger man back to his trailer. He helped Jared down onto the couch and settled the two of them so that Jared was sitting between his legs, Jared’s head resting on his broad chest where he could easily run his fingers though the long, brown hair, nails scratching slightly at his scalp, massaging Jared’s head.
“You doing okay, Jay?” Chris asked, his voice soft, allowing Jared to settle further into his body.
“Yeah, I think I will be. It’s just been hard getting back into it all; people looking and watching, not really knowing what they’re thinking...” Jared sighed.
“They’re thinking about how strong and brave you are. Trust me, Jay, that’s all they’re thinking about,” Chris immediately replied, his hands moving down and releasing Jared’s hand from the plastic brace, gently rubbing at the stiff muscles.
Jared hummed in agreement, not having the energy to argue against Chris. “Everything’s going to be okay now, right? We’ll be okay?” Jared asked after a moment’s silence.
“We already are,” Chris smiled, leaning down and kissing the crown of Jared’s head in reassurance. From here, things could only get better.
In the following months, Jared’s hands continued to get better. His right hand still suffered slightly, but it was barely noticeable. When the first episode aired since the accident, the ratings had been higher than ever, Jared receiving so many letters from fans in support, amazing Jared at just how loyal his fans truly were. And Jared soon realized that Chris had been right all along: they really were okay.
-Le Fin
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