Faded Embers

17

Sean's POV:

I try to keep myself from breaking down again when I push the door to Miles' hospital room open. I've already cried enough and he's alive... I need to be strong for him.

Miles is holding Calin's hand and he looks groggy. He must have just woken up because he always looks pretty alert unless he's just woken up. However, it could also be the whole being shot thing that's making him look a little out of it.

Calin looks stressed out and it wouldn't surprise me if his hair started to go grey. He smiles briefly when he sees us, but he immediately turns his attention back to Miles and squeezes his boyfriend's hand.

"We got you food," Atlas says, taking the bag from me and kissing the side of my head. "Sean figured you wouldn't enjoy eating hospital food."

Miles smiles tiredly. "Yeah, I would rather celebrate not dying with Chinese food as opposed to hospital food."

Calin pouts. "Don't say that," he mutters, tears springing into his eyes.

"I was joking, baby," Miles assures, kissing Calin's hand.

Calin looks like he has more to say, but he bites his tongue and takes the bag of food. He opens up the bag and hands Miles his food, offering to help him eat but Miles turns him down.

"When did you two start dating?" Miles asks us, not looking up from his food.

I look down at Atlas' and my joined hands, which is a pretty couple-y thing to do. Besides, Miles can read me better than anyone, so he probably saw my flushed face because despite my concern for him, I'm thrilled that Atlas is now my boyfriend.

My first official boyfriend!

This is really new but amazing!

"Uh... a half an hour ago," I say, and Atlas wraps his arm around my shoulder and kisses the top of my head.

"Yeah, I asked and he choked," Atlas says, making Calin laugh.

I glare at him. "You should have waited until I was done eating and not in the middle of my orange chicken!"

Atlas just shrugs and sits down on the chair beside Calin. "How are you doing, Miles? Little sore in the chest?" He holds his hands up to stop Calin from landing a punch on his stomach,

"Just a bit. Feels like I got shot,"

Calin seethes, looking caught between crying and trying to murder Atlas. "You guys aren't funny!"

"I mean... it's a little funny," Miles says, stopping Calin before he can run off. "Sweetheart, I know it's not funny. It's better for me to laugh about it than to be upset, but I'll tone it down."

"Sorry, Calin," Atlas says, ruffling his hair.

Calin sighs and starts to eat slowly, only doing so because Miles keeps raising his eyebrow and silently ordering Calin to eat. He's not a big eater and I've seen Miles get irritated with Calin for refusing to eat as much as he should.

"I'm going to get in touch with the other managers," I tell Miles, changing the topic. "I'll take care of everything while you're recovering. Don't worry about anything."

Miles gives me a grateful smile. "Thanks, Sean, but I'm not completely useless."

"You got shot, Miles!" I say and it comes out much more loud and harsh than I intended it to be. I ignore his harsh glare and take a deep breath. "Sorry. You need to recover and I can handle all the managerial stuff. You trained me to do so but I just haven't done much of it yet. I know your managers can handle their places, but I'll still make the rounds and make sure everything is going well."