Gone Are The Days (6/6)
six
"Jensen? Come on, buddy, you need to wake up."
Jensen groaned quietly, blinking his eyes open and coming face-to-face with his adoptive father. Alan grinned down at him, and it was a few moments before Jensen realised that he was still in the hospital - sprawled out on a bed fashioned from three soft-cushioned chairs and a few thin hospital blankets.
Donna had tried to convince him to leave when she had, an hour or so after they'd first been allowed in to see Jared, but Jensen had refused vehemently, and she hadn't had the energy to try and change her mind. Instead, she'd made him promise to try and get some sleep and headed home.
It seemed that, despite his protests that he wouldn't be able to sleep, the ill-fashioned bed had done its job. He felt a brief moment of panic at the realisation that anything could have happened whilst he'd been sleeping, but Alan was smiling down at him patiently, so he figured things were still okay.
"What's goin' on?" He mumbled tiredly, swinging his legs around to sit upright, yawning and cracking his back. "Is everything okay?"
"More than okay," Alan grinned. "Jared's starting to wake up."
"What?" Jensen asked dumbly, and then the words finally clicked and he was on his feet and rushing over to the bed, ignoring the forgotten hospital blanket that tangled around his ankles and made him wobble dangerously for a second. Chuckling to himself, Alan tugged it free, watching with a grin as Jensen leant over his friend.
As if on cue, the young man's brow furrowed and he twisted his head towards Jensen, eyes moving restlessly beneath the lids.
"Jay?" Jensen called softly. "You awake in there, kid?"
The younger man groaned softly, good hand twitching at his side as if reaching for something, and Jensen twined their fingers together without thought. The kid twisted his head a little more, and for a second Jensen thought he was going to drift back off, and then his eyelashes fluttered open.
It seemed to take a few moments for it to stick - his eyes opening briefly, only to drop closed seconds later - but finally they opened and stayed that way, squinting up at the older boy.
Jared muttered something under the oxygen mask, voice weak and raspy, and Jensen just about caught his own name in there somewhere.
"Yeah, Jay," he said patiently, feeling the hot sting of tears in his eyes. His hand came up to run through the kid's hair on the side that wasn't bruised. "I'm right here."
The kid seemed to relax, though Jensen didn't know whether that was because of the words or the gesture, and his eyes fluttered shut again. Jensen didn't try to stop them - hell, after what he'd been through, the kid deserved a few hours sleep - but couldn't stop himself from feeling relieved when they fluttered open again a few moments later, looking a little clearer.
"Don't worry if he's not making much sense," Alan commented from the other side of the bed, and Jensen jumped, having forgotten that the older man was even there. "Or if he keeps drifting in and out. He's on some pretty strong meds."
Jensen nodded absently, grinning down at the younger man and giving his fingers a gentle squeeze.
"How you doing down there, hey?" He asked, sniffling a little in an attempt to keep the tears - happy, this time - at bay. "You gave us all one hell of a scare, man."
Jared brow creased for a second in apparent confusion, and when it smoothed out he squeezed Jensen's fingers. The teenager didn't need to hear words to recognise[sp] the apology for what it was, and he shook his head with a smile.
"It wasn't your fault. Don't worry about it, okay? You just worry about getting better."
Against the pillow, Jared gave the slightest of nods, and when his eyes fell shut again they stayed that way.
Despite everything, a laugh broke free of Jensen's chest, and he let himself fall into the chair behind him. His bones felt like jelly, weak with relief, and he could feel the tightness in his stomach release for the first time since Jared's confessions the night before.
"He's gonna be okay." He breathed, truly believing it for the first time.
Across the bed, Alan smiled softly. "Yeah, Jen. He's gonna be just fine."
***
Jared slept on and off for the rest of the day, not really with it when he was awake, but Jensen was too relieved to mind. Instead, he kept up a reassuring litany of 'hey, you're okay' when the kid looked like he was in pain, and maintained a running commentary about what they were gonna do when they got home when he seemed vaguely more alert.
It wasn't until later that evening, when the doctors were finally finished prodding and poking and had taken the younger man's dosage down a little that Jared finally managed to keep his eyes open for longer than a few minutes.
The head of his bed was raised just slightly, giving the impression that he was sitting up without putting any extra pressure on his pelvis, and he was pale and drawn but already looking better than he had the night before.
"I'm really sorry," Jensen found himself whispering. Jared's hazel eyes were locked on him, still slightly cloudy from the drugs, but he weakly shook his heads at the words.
"'M sorry," he forced out against his raspy throat. "Should never've taken off. Know none of you would hurt me."
Jensen shook his head. "I told you not to worry about that, okay? Nobody's mad at you. We're all just worried."
Jared nodded a little, wincing at the pain caused by moving his head after such an impressive head injury, but still didn't seem convinced. Jensen didn't push, just waited patiently, and it was only a few moments later that his patience paid off.
"I won't blame them if they want to send me away again," he mumbled quietly, closing his eyes against the tears that Jensen had glimpsed there.
Irrationally, Jensen's first instinct was to be pleased that the kid actually wanted to stay with them. He'd been worrying almost obsessively over whether Jared would even want to come with them when he was released from the hospital, but the drugs meant that he couldn't hide the genuine distress on his face at the thought.
"They're not sending you anywhere," Jensen reassured. "They want to keep you here for a while, until you're on some weaker painkillers and they're a hundred percent convinced that you're gonna be fine, but after that you're coming home with us."
Jared nodded, but his breath hitched as he fought off a sob.
"I saw the car coming," he confessed quietly, and Jensen's brow furrowed in confusion at the seemingly random statement. "Knew it was gonna hit me."
Jensen nodded. "I know. You twisted out of the way - probably would have died pretty much instantly if you hadn't. You did good."
Jared shook his head, breath hitching painfully again. "Wasn't scared of getting hit."
"You weren't?"
"No," Jared breathed. "Was scared that I wouldn't be able to say sorry."
Jensen's brow furrowed again, and he shook his head. "You've got nothing to be sorry for."
"For saying that we'd changed too much," Jared continued, apparently determined to get it all out, despite the fact that the doctor had assured Jensen and Alan that it was better if he didn't strain himself too much. "We haven't. I was just scared of telling you."
Jensen sighed, leaning further forwards and squeezing the hand gripped in his own. He let the other rest on the top of Jared's had, fingers tangling instinctively in his chestnut locks.
"Look," he said seriously, catching Jared's gaze and holding it there. "We've both made some mistakes, okay? Hell, both of us made them because we were scared of the wrong goddamn things, but that's in the past now. It's not important."
Jared nodded weakly.
"I missed you." He whispered. "Even when I didn't want to."
Jensen smiled softly, leaning over to press a soft kiss to the unbruised skin of Jared's right temple.
"Missed you too," he whispered against the soft skin there, inhaling the familiar smell of fruit-scented shampoo and cinnamon. "Every single day."
Jared turned his face into Jensen's neck and the older man could feel the moment that his tears splashed against his neck. He didn't say anything, just tucked his face into the younger man's hair and held on tight.
Finally, the kid fell silent and still against him, and Jensen pressed another kiss to his temple before carefully laying him back against the pillows. Jared smiled up at him sleepily, and Jensen grinned down at him, still holding him close.
"We're gonna be okay," Jared whispered. "Right?"
He looked small and vulnerable, and Jensen nodded his head firmly. Before he had a chance to think through what he was doing, he'd dipped his head and pressed their lips together in a chaste kiss. Jared's lips were warm and soft, and they smiled against Jensen's as he pulled back a few inches, locking their eyes together once more.
"Yeah, kid. We're gonna be fine."
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