FIC: When the Bough Breaks, Part 3/3
Title: When the Bough Breaks 3/3
Characters: Jack/Ianto (with Owen, Gwen and Tosh)
Rating: PG-13
Words: 2775 (this part)
Spoilers: Torchwood Season 1 and Doctor Who Season 3 (specifically "End of Days" and "Utopia", "Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords")
Notes: Fabulous beta done by kensieg. Much information - both medical and geographical - garnered from Google, so take with a large grain of salt, yeah?
Summary: What if The Year That Never Was never was, but the wild goose hunt in the Himalayas was. And what if Jack were to come home to find that there's a much bigger issue to deal with than the fact that he left?
When the Bough Breaks Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
The next day the doctor signed Ianto out to Owen just after breakfast so they would have the morning to make the trip back to Cardiff. Owen loaded him up on anti-nausea medicine and a mild tranquilizer to make the trip easier and he and Jack manhandled him into the passenger seat of the SUV. Owen tucked a couple of lousy, flat hospital pillows between Ianto’s head and the window glass as Jack buckled him in.
As Owen climbed into the back seat he warned Jack not to make any sharp turns because Ianto was so far out of it he’d just fall right over. Jack drove almost all the way back to Cardiff with one hand on Ianto’s arm steadying him from the dips and turns of the motorway. At least that was the official excuse.
As they pulled into the SUV’s parking spot Owen said he’d go and grab the wheelchair from the autopsy bay. He’d already told Jack he was going to start renovating to serve as a more proper infirmary. The ratio of live patients to dead ones had been rapidly evening out lately and he’d found himself frighteningly under-prepared for the ones not ready for a drawer in the fourth level basement.
“I can walk,” Ianto slurred from the front seat.
“You can’t even talk,” Jack opined.
“I need to walk. William said I need to walk around every few hours during the day or I’ll just end up all jellied again.” Ianto forced his eyes open to help strengthen his case.
Jack reached over and ruffled the dark fuzz that was just starting to cover the scars from the surgery. “First time I’ve ever heard you agree with your physio. Alright, I’ll come around and help you.”
Ianto didn’t deny that he needed the help. He let Jack open the door and unlatch his seatbelt before he determinedly swung his feet out and pushed himself out of the seat.
He would have gone straight to the ground if Jack hadn’t been there to catch him. “Okay, easy,” Jack whispered as he got his arm around Ianto’s shoulder and waited for him to find his legs. “Nice and slow. No hurry.”
Ianto nodded then realized that was a mistake. He still got dizzy if he moved his head too fast.
It took a while, but Jack got Ianto up to reception and through the back door and into the lift. Ianto didn’t stumble until they were trying to clear the cog door and Ianto misjudged the ledge.
“I gotcha, I gotcha,” Jack said as he pulled Ianto back in. “You dizzy?” Ianto had broken into a cold sweat and started shaking. This was further than any of the walks he’d taken in hospital, and Jack was afraid they may have pushed just a little too far.
“Just… just a little,” Ianto admitted.
“Let’s sit you over here for a few minutes then we’ll get you downstairs after you’ve rested a bit.” Jack led him to the couch on the main level of the hub and sat him down. Ianto leaned his head against the back of the sofa and let out a sigh that told Jack that Ianto had admitted, at least to himself, that perhaps that walk had been pushing it.
Jack sat next to him, rubbing his hand gently up and down Ianto’s thigh, just staying with him, letting him rest.
By the time Owen came in with their bags, Ianto’s eyes had drifted closed and Jack had tilted him against his shoulder.
“He okay?” Owen asked dropping the bags and moving over to grab Ianto’s hand and take his pulse.
“If you two are going to have a panic attack every time I get tired, you might as well just take me to the nearest hospital now,” Ianto complained without opening his eyes.
“I’m not panicking,” Jack told him confidently.
“Neither am I,” Owen followed. “But that was a long walk for you at this point.”
“I figured that out,” Ianto admitted.
Owen squeezed his arm and then went back to the things he’d left by the door. He grabbed the pillows and came back. “Here, why don’t you just lay down here for a bit while I write down some instructions for Captain Jack here.”
Jack carefully laid Ianto against the pillows and loosened his windbreaker and took off his shoes. Ianto was asleep within seconds of being horizontal.
“He’s still got a ton of drugs in his system, and that was a long walk for someone in his condition. I’m not worried,” he said to Jack’s concerned look.
Jack just nodded and followed Owen to his computer station. The girls had obviously been in, the computers all rebooted and everything cleaned up. Owen pulled up a blank document. “Okay, you ready for all this?” He glanced over to see Jack nod. It wasn’t anything they hadn’t discussed in London, but in more general terms. Now Jack was about to be inundated with a thousand little details.
“Meds schedule,” Owen said as he started typing, explaining as he went about typing in the whats and how muches and how oftens, which ones were to be taken strictly on schedule and which could be used as needed. “And by ‘as needed’, I mean based on your judgment, not his. Not yet. He doesn’t seem to think he needs any meds ever. We know better.” He typed a few more instructions. “Physio. Though we may want to leave off for the rest of today. Even though he was asleep, I think that car trip really took it out of him.” He pulled a note out of his pocket from William and copied the directions. “I’m going to call around and set him up appointments with someone who can help him with the balance and vision stuff,” he added as he hit save and print. “We could still be looking at a couple weeks or months before his eyes sort out.” Owen explained.
Jack noticed that he left the ‘if ever’ unsaid. It was still a crap-shoot as to whether or not Ianto would get full control over the muscles in his eyes. It was causing problems at this point because he couldn’t move his eyes to the side and moving his head with any kind of speed was still painful. When his mood took a downward turn, he could get quite cross about it. After a few failed attempts to read books, Jack had finally found him a few audio books and put them on an iPod so at least he wasn’t also bitching about being bored. And then there were the times Jack had finally learned to drop the platitudes and just let Ianto rant himself out.
“The other stuff is pretty self-explanatory,” Owen carried on. “He’s still nauseous, so we need to keep him hydrated and watch his electrolytes. I’m going to pick up a case of sport drinks for him. He says they’re rubbish, but they aren’t that bad. Make him drink them.”
Jack laughed. “This is the guy who doesn’t drink soda or beer. The fact that he doesn’t like Lucozade doesn’t surprise me.”
Owen made a face. “No soda, no beer? What does he live on?”
Jack smiled, “Water and coffee, I guess. He was drinking apple juice in the hospital.”
“That’s not too bad. At least it has a good amount of sugar in it. I’ll get some of that too, but try to get him to drink the electrolyte stuff.” Owen grabbed the papers off the printer and handed them to Jack. “I know I’m in your speed dial, but my numbers are on the bottom of the papers just in case. If he starts acting off at all -“
“I know, I know,” Jack agreed. It was heartening to see how worried Owen was. Just before he’d left Ianto had shot Owen. It was nice to know they’d worked through that little incident.
“We never hated each other, Jack,” Owen said, reading Jack’s face. “We just had very strong but opposing views on a few things. We sorted that out not long after you left.”
Jack raised an eyebrow.
“Not like that!” Owen snatched the papers back and smacked Jack with them. “That may be your way of settling differences with people, but we used words. You know… we talked.”
Jack smiled. “I’m glad. I’m really glad you were there when he fell. I can’t imagine he would have survived up there without trained medical help. Good job.”
Owen shrugged, not used to Jack complimenting him. “Why don’t you see if you can get him into bed. He’s going to be sleeping off that compazine most of the day. I dosed him but good. I’m going to the chemist’s and Tescos. Be back to check on him in a bit.”
Jack nodded and smiled and stuck the directions in his pocket as he turned and went back up to Ianto. He knelt next to the couch and shook Ianto’s shoulder gently. “Ianto? Hey, Ianto, wake up for a bit. Let’s get you downstairs into bed.”
Ianto rolled his head to look at Jack and let out a groan. “Did you seriously just wake me up to tell me to go to sleep?”
Jack gave him a wicked grin. “Yeah, I guess I did. Come on.” He took Ianto’s hand and helped him into a sitting position. “Owen’s gone off to get the rest of your meds and some food and stuff to keep here. Somehow he doesn’t think a regular diet of pizza and egg rolls is going to do much for your recovery.
Ianto just glared, but he didn’t object when Jack stood and then helped him stand as well.
They made their way slowly to Jack’s office where Ianto looked at the hole in the floor like it was a hole in the rift about to swallow him.
Jack pointed to the floor. “Sit.”
“Jack I can - “
“Sit,” Jack ordered again, helping Ianto to lower himself down and hang his feet through the hole.
Wisely, Ianto complied. He knew that there would be times later - when he actually felt better than he did at that particular moment - when he’d have to battle Jack for his independence. This one wasn’t worth it.
Jack scampered down the ladder and then moved around to help Ianto navigate the few steps and then he led him to the bed. There they found a large box sitting on the covers.
There was a note with Jack’s name on it and a card with Ianto’s taped to the top. Jack handed over the card and then took the note for him.
“Jack, we came down and changed the sheets and put clean towels in the bathroom. I can’t believe you expected someone to convalesce without a telly. Call if you need anything. Tosh and Gwen,” Jack read aloud.
Ianto was moving the card nearer and farther as he tried to focus on it. Eventually he just closed one eye - a coping mechanism Jack was getting more and more used to seeing - and read, “It has a DVD player built in. I’ll bring some movies from home when you feel up to watching something. Get better soon. Jack’s coffee is rubbish, Gwen and Tosh.” Ianto read, his head turning back and forth as he scanned the lines. Ianto looked up with a grin. “I think it’s entirely possible that I wasn’t supposed to read that last bit out loud.”
“Well, then, she can make the coffee until you feel like coming back up,” Jack said primly.
“Well, Owen and Tosh will thank you for that punishment, at least,” Ianto said with a lopsided grin.
“Smartass,” Jack said taking the small TV/DVD player and setting it on his desk. “We’ll set it up later.”
Ianto nodded, scooting around to lean against the wall, his head going back with a thud that Jack sharply disapproved of. “Don’t say a word, Jack,” Ianto mumbled, eyes still closed. “Yes that did hurt, I don’t plan on doing it again.”
Jack’s face softened, not that Ianto was looking. “Let’s get you out of those jeans and into bed,” he said, leaving the head-thumping alone.
“Okay,” Ianto agreed aloud, having learned that nodding and shaking his head still didn’t end up well for him. He was drifting off though, so Jack simply manhandled him until he’d gotten him out of his jeans and windbreaker. Jack got him to slide down and lay back against the pillow while he unbuttoned the dark blue oxford and pulled it off him. “You want to keep your t-shirt on?” Jack asked as Ianto settled against the pillow, clearly at the end of his current bout of consciousness.
“Whatever, Jack, I just want to go to sleep,” Ianto muttered as he wrapped his arms around the end of his pillow.
Jack decided that it was easier to just leave it on than try and wrestle it over his head at that point. He ignored how badly he wanted to strip down to his own boxers and snuggle up to Ianto skin-to-skin and wiggled the blanket and sheet out from under Ianto and then draped them over him. “You want company?” he asked sitting on the edge of the bed and gently stroking Ianto’s shoulder.
There was a long pause that made Jack think that perhaps Ianto was already too far asleep to hear him. But then there was a deep breath and a very quiet, “I’ve been waiting weeks for you to ask me that.”
“Give me just a minute,” Jack said brightly with a kiss to Ianto’s ear as he bounced up. He stripped off his own clothes - his elastic braces snapping his hand as he nearly tripped himself trying to get himself undressed as fast as he could. Once he’d gotten himself down to his skivvies and the lights turned out, he carefully slid between the sheets and wrapped himself around Ianto’s body. He slid one arm carefully under Ianto’s neck and settled his face in the space between Ianto’s shoulder and his ear. “This okay?”
Ianto threaded his fingers between Jack’s where Jack’s hand rested on his belly. “Absolutely.”
“I’m sorry you got hurt,” Jack whispered into Ianto’s warm skin.
“Wasn’t your fault,” Ianto muttered, squeezing Jack’s hand.
“I’m not sure of that,” Jack said still trying to trace back timelines that happened and events that didn’t. He couldn’t help but feel that there had been a spiral of events that he’d caused that directly led to Ianto’s injury. If he hadn’t thrown himself at the TARDIS it wouldn’t have gone to the end of the universe. If they hadn’t gone to the end of the universe, “Dr. Yana” would never have been alerted to his true nature. If “Dr. Yana” hadn’t become The Master again -
“Jack stop!” Ianto barked, his words slurred with sleep.
Jack immediately took inventory of his hands and feet to try and figure out what Ianto would be objecting too.
“I can hear the wheels turning. I don’t blame you,” Ianto said forcing some clarity into his voice. “Now go to sleep, okay?”
“Psychic training?” Jack asked quietly.
“No, I just know you Jack. You blamed yourself for Brecon Beacons, you blamed yourself for Rhys dying before we opened the rift, you blame yourself for everything bad that happens to us. Whether you were directly involved or not. I fell. Shit happens. But that doesn’t make it your fault.” Ianto was breathing heavily after his scolding.
Jack hugged him tight, “Sorry.” He stroked the peach fuzz on the back of Ianto’s head. “I brood, you know that.”
“Let it go for now, okay?” Ianto shifted onto his back, still unable to lay on the other side that would let him face Jack completely. “We’re all home. We’re all okay,” he made a face at the face Jack made at him implying that he was okay, “Let’s take a little while to just be glad we’re both back home.”
Jack nodded and leaned in to kiss him deeply. “I can do that,” Jack promised. He flopped onto his back and encouraged Ianto to roll onto his stomach so he could rest the good side of his head on Jack’s shoulder. Once Ianto settled Jack adjusted the blankets.
“Owen will be back in a while with your meds. Sleep until then,” Jack said lifting his head to kiss Ianto’s temple.
“Bugger Owen and his meds,” Ianto mumbled into Jack’s chest.
“You better not,” Jack said. The last thing he heard before they both drifted off was Ianto’s quiet laugh.