Moment in the Sun

16. Broken

Charlie POV (TW Mention of Injury, Mention of mental illness, Smut)

Nick's recovery was tough on both of us. Physically and mentally. When he first came home from the hospital, he wasn't allowed to do much and he had a huge brace on his leg that made it awkward for him to move around. So he was pretty much confined to either our bed or the sofa in the living room. Which meant that it was up to me to run back and forth to the kitchen or study when he needed anything. But that only worked when we were home. We both still had classes to go to so we had to figure that out as well.

The hospital had lent us a wheelchair for Nick to use when getting around at Uni. He hated using it but I insisted, telling him that it made it easier for me to help him when so much else was complicated at the moment. We were able to get a temporary disabled parking pass so that we could park close to Nick's classes which made it easier for him but then I had to go further to get to mine. But we made it work.

At a follow up appointment about four weeks after the incident, Nick's physiotherapist made some changes to the brace which allowed him a little more movement and made things a little easier. He was now able to hop around with crutches, a pair of which were loaned to us.

A week later, I had the afternoon off and instead of me having to hang around on campus, Nick's friend Jack kindly offered to drive him home after their classes finished. So I was sat in our bedroom, enjoying a cup of tea and a minute to myself when I heard Nick come crashing through the front door, dropping his bag and crutches to the floor and letting out a frustrated groan. I looked into the hallway just in time to see him stumble into the bathroom, the door slamming shut behind him.

"Nick?" I knocked on the bathroom door, worried.

"Go away, Charlie. I'm fine." He replied and I could tell he was deliberately keeping his voice neutral to relax me. I decided to give him some time, heading to the kitchen to make him some tea but when he still hadn't reappeared after 20 minutes I went back to the hallway, knocking quietly again.

"Are you okay? You can talk to me."

"I'm fine." This time I could hear a slight quiver in his voice like he was holding back tears.

"You're not. Nick, let me in, please." There was silence on the other side of the door so I jiggled the handle, relieved to find he hadn't locked it so the door swung open and I found him sitting on the floor against the bathtub, tears pooled in his eyes and streaks down his cheeks. His lower lip wobbled as he looked up at me, pain and something else I couldn't name in his eyes. "Oh, baby."

I gently sat next to him pulling him into my arms as he burst into tears, face buried in my shoulder. I just let him get it all out, knowing he'd been keeping a lot of emotions bottled up in the last few weeks because he'd wanted to be strong for me. He had this stupid idea that he needed to protect me all the time when right now it was me who needed to be caring for and protecting him.

When his sobs finally subsided a little, I pulled back and made him look at me, giving him a small, encouraging smile. "Better?"

"Y-yeah." He sniffled, "Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for, Nick." I promised, cradling his face in my hands. "I know you've had a tough few weeks. It's not been easy, for either of us."

Nick looked about to cry again so I let him bury his face against my shoulder again, just holding him tightly.

"I feel broken, Charlie." He whispered finally, not moving. "Everything I should be able to do is so hard, I can't even walk in the front door easily."

"You're not broken. Not by a long shot. You're hurt and it's only temporary. You've already come so far, I'm proud of you."

"I don't want to be putting all this pressure on you, though. I know that this time is hard for you as it is, without having to deal with all of my shit. I don't want your mental health to suffer because of me."