An Unfortunate Mix-Up ✔️

Chapter 33: A Reunion

Jay takes a deep breath as he glances around the room. 

It had been at least three days, maybe four, since he had woken up. He wished he could leave the hospital, be done with everything that they were doing with him. It didn't fair to be there any longer. What was different about being here than curled up in his bed at home?

Another deep breath, and he could feel the beep of the monitors filling the room as they had done since those initial waking hours. Thankfully, there weren't as many wires to his chest anymore, just the ones monitoring his heartbeat. It felt great to know it was functioning on it's own, rather than having wires there to help do the job.

He could feel the IV in his arm, continuing to deliver the necessary fluids, morphine and the nerve block. Taking a deep breath, he wished he could rid of the morphine as pain killers were never his style. There was too many horror stories to not want to chance reliving those. 

There was also the pain that radiated through his body - morphine did the trick so it wasn't crumbling, but it was enough to have a slight reminder. His back was sore, thanks to the burns - which they kept regularly changing the bandages and put creaming on. His ribs were sore, breathing exercises a must. His ankles and wrists were sore, the marks still remaining from what he had endured.

There was also the daily tests, as the doctors wanted to closely monitor both nerve and muscle function. They wanted to see a baseline to see whether the nerve shocks and muscle spasms were becoming less, whether on the amount of times delivered or strength. Thankfully, for his own sanity, there had been a bit of improvement.

He hears a shuffling of feet by the door, his mind pondering who could be there. Was it already time for Natalie or Connor to check on him? Was Will already done his shift, ready to check on him? He seriously needed to force Will to go home for a change. Was it Hailey coming back after being encouraged to get a breath of fresh air and take care of herself? Was it Hank, wanting to check on him? Was it Mouse, as he had been a regular visitor since returning? Was it Kelly, who checked on him in-between calls in wanting to ensure his recovery was on course?

It wasn't any of the above, but yet the person all the same brought a big smile to his face. He was certainly a sight to take in, considering everything they had endured together in a span of days. It also gave him the assurance that every measure he took while they were there, whether accepting all the beatings, or taking the right measures despite his own pain to take care of him, were worth it. The smiles they traded were everything at this moment.

"I want to know what you did to sweet talk an escape to come see me," Jay comments as Alex enters the room, only earning a chuckle in return. Jay's eyes don't leave Alex as he watches him take a seat in the vacated chair alongside his bed. It was clear the affects of everything were still plaguing him, even if he was up and about. It was progress, though.

"I thought you would've managed an escape before I did with all your connections around this place," Alex replies, as Jay lets out a sigh. He had tried that card already, once on his brother, then on Natalie, then finally on Connor. No matter what he said, though, they all insisted being in the hospital was the best place for him right now. 

"Unfortunately, they want to keep monitoring me. Will told me I should accept it, love it, and embrace it because it means people care about me." Alex nods his head, accepting, knowing the feeling himself as he had seen a regular string of visitors, despite being miles from home. "So you get an escape from your room, and you come to see me?"

"I had to make sure you were okay considering..." Alex glances down, his mind thinking back to everything that happened in those 36 hours. "You put your life on the line. You went above and beyond by accepting everything Derek had to offer, not caring the affect on you as long as I was okay. You saved my life, Jay. I had to come see you to first make sure you were okay, but say thank you." 

"I was just doing my jo-"

"Not every cop would go to the levels that you did for me so don't give me that shit." Jay looks over surprised, not having heard Alex take that extreme since their first meeting in Rick's office. It was clear that he wasn't going to get anywhere with his response, no matter what he said. However, the lingering feeling over his head told him to continue persisting.

"If it wasn't for my mess, you wouldn't been in that situation. Derek was after me. He was targeting me. That's on me, no matter what you say." Alex could see the pain written in Jay's eyes, no matter how hard he tried to mask it and show that he was strong for his partner in that mess. It was why he wanted to make sure by the time he walked out the door, one thing was made clear.

"It's not your fault, man. I don't blame you a single bit for what happened - not the kidnapping, the torture, or the building collapse. You shouldn't blame yourself. That's all on Derek." Jay nods his head, knowing in his brain that Alex was telling the truth. It was the same advice he had repeated for people on a daily basis on the job. However, he was beginning to realize in his heart why it was so hard for them to believe. "Have they told you when you could possibly escape?"

"They're waiting to make sure the numbers...." Jay stops, takes a deep breath, closing his eyes, gritting his teeth to not allow the scream to escape through his lips. He felt the pain start in his stomach, radiating through his legs, followed by another pain that shot up through his arms. He takes a series of deep breathes, against better judgement squeezing the trigger for another dosage of morphine to shoot through. "Oh fuck!!"

"Are you okay? Do you want me to get someon-" Jay grabs Alex's hand to stop him from moving, as he shakes his head no immediately. It wasn't he didn't want them knowing - the monitors did that for him. It was because he had become used to these on a daily occurrence.

"Thanks to the elecution that Derek delivered through my back not once, twice, but 10 times at least, I get these really bad shooting pains - nerve shocks, muscle spasms. They come regularly. They kill, hurt like a son of a bitch!" He then takes a deep breath, feeling it subside, as he lays his head back on the pillow. "Essentially, I am stuck here until they become barely anything because they're worried about how often and how strong they are. I had one last night where I could barely breathe, needing oxygen for a good hour to get through it." 

"Damn...." Alex felt every bit of sympathy in that moment, wanting to do whatever he could to help as it didn't fair for Jay to have endure this after being the brave hero and doing what was necessary to ensure both of their safety. How was that fair payment?

"Considering you're up and walking, I assume your side must be healing..." Alex wanted to push the issue with Jay, talk more about what he was dealing with, however he could already see why the topic change was happening right before him. 

"They told me that I am released to leave the hospital, but to make sure to regularly change the bandaging and watch for signs of it getting worse. Other than that, check in with my family doctor in a couple weeks and then maybe give it a month and I'll be back to driving." Jay looks on impressed, proud to see the recovery was going smoothly as he remembered the fear that ripped through him in seeing the initial wound. 

"That's awesome. You still owe me a trip to a race to watch you do your job." Alex nods his head, knowing that wouldn't be an issue as he would do anything to make up for everything that happened. 

"You focus on healing, and I can make sure that promise is delivered for you."