Still Alive

Day 14

By this point in Piers' recovery he was starting to get his strength back more and more each day and Chris no longer stayed overnight as frequently. Piers was the one who suggested the less frequent overnights for the older man but he still couldn't help but feel his chest ache slightly every time he watched Chris walk away. Today, however, Chris had stayed overnight in his usual chair because it was a big day for Piers. He had been in contact with the Prosthetic business over the last few days and they decided that today they would send someone to get the measurements of Piers' arm for their latest model.

"Hey, are you ready for today?" Chris asked softly.

"Honestly I don't know," Piers looked down where his arm used to be bittersweetly, "I'm so thankful that I even have this opportunity but I also thought I'd never be in a position of needing this opportunity. I know the job we do is dangerous but I still never expected something like this to happen to me."

Every time they spoke about what happened, guilt strikes at Chris' stomach forming a deep pit. No matter how many times Piers assures Chris that it's not his fault, it doesn't take long before Chris starts to feel guilty again. Chris tries not to focus on it though and decides to reply saying something he should've said a long time ago, "I'm proud of you Piers Nivans."

Piers didn't know how to reply to these words seemingly coming out of nowhere and just blushed as he quietly looked at the older man. Before Piers could embarrass himself more however, a young looking man knocked on the door before entering. He carried with him a large bag and relaxed attitude.

"Hello, I'm James I'll be taking the measurements we need to get you started with a prosthetic!" After introducing himself he stepped aside revealing the nurse that would take off the bandages on Piers arm for the measuring.

She got started right away gently removing the bandages revealing the stump underneath. Although the stitches were still there it was healing nicely and you could already see where scar tissue had started to form. "This won't take long at all." The man named James reassured Piers.

James got to work taking all sorts of measurements and writing them down as well as taking a few pictures. Once the quick work was finished the quiet nurse wrapped Piers up again after a small cleaning and she and James made their exit, with James assuring Piers that they'd be in touch. With that now out of the way, Piers' earlier feelings of loss died down slightly. Now being overtaken with the excitement of getting mobility on his right side again. Chris could see this excitement on Piers' face and once again found his eyes dripping down to the young man's plump lips. Chris couldn't help but feel his mind wander thinking about what it feels like to touch lips so soft. He only snapped out of it when he heard Piers say his name.

"Something wrong?" Piers asked.

"No! Everything's fine, sorry just spaced out is all." Chris defensively replied, not wanting Piers to see through him and how he sometimes thought of his partner. Piers, however, did notice and felt a hot blush creep to his face knowing he too stared at his captain longer than he probably should. Although, unlike Chris who often found himself looking at Piers' lips, Piers found his eyes drifting towards his captain's large arms. The very arms that hoisted him up where he couldn't get on his own and caught him when he would fall. The very arms that had saved his life many times now.

"Chris why is it you always...?" Piers began to ask before letting the question slip away from him. "Forget it, sorry." Piers held back from asking Chris why he likes to stare at him but let the boldness that he felt only seconds ago wash away.

Chris, feeling like he almost got caught staring was more than happy to let the question fade and replied with a simple, "Alright."

The air among them had turned slightly awkward and Chris took the opportunity to excuse himself for a smoke break. Piers sat alone in the room distracting himself by thinking about his next few days. In two days he would be getting most of his bandages off and in two more days he would finally see what was left of his damaged eye, and finally a few days after that he would get taken off of morphine and soon after be able to finish his recovery process at home.

Home. The word left a sour taste in his mouth. The reason that the only visitor he got was Chris was because his parents died years ago and he had no siblings or cousins or anything like that. Hell, he didn't even have friends outside of work. After he took those six months searching for Chris, any remaining relationships he had outside of work faded away with time. Not that he minded before, he was rarely home during that time and now at the end of the month he would have to go back and live there, alone. Chris came back into the room at that moment saving Piers' from his thoughts.

Chris said, "I think I'm going to head out if you don't need anything else."

Piers replied with a quiet: "See you soon." before he rolled over and tried to sleep. He wished that Chris would have stayed tonight, especially given the thoughts of the empty house that roamed his mind. Today started so well for him he thought, how could he have let it end so bitterly.