All The Ways We Touch [BxB]

eighty - aftershocks pt. one

"I will buy this fucking hospital and fire you if you don't back off!" Elliot roared from the doorway of the room he shared with Jamison at a hospital in San Francisco. In his hand was a nurse's ID badge, which he was scrutinizing with the intensity of a detective looking for clues to ensure its authenticity. "You have no clue what you're involved in, so just go before I make you leave," he said, towering over a woman more than a foot shorter than him.

Not again. Vera hesitated to get up from her chair in the corner of the room, hoping that he'd cool down without intervention. Unfortunately, he'd been just as on edge and paranoid since the moment she walked past the threshold and into their room earlier that day, shortly after Elliot arrived in the hospital and found out that Jamison was in surgery. He'd barely looked happy to see her and immediately asked if his father had been in touch with her. When she shook her head, he grew even more serious and told her to be on the lookout for anyone or anything that could be considered suspicious. When she'd tried to get more information out of him, he shut down and just mumbled for her to be vigilant, then went back to the chair next to Jamison's bed and stared out the doorway in silence.

"Mr. Astor, it's just protocol," the wiry nurse said, her voice small and quivering.

"Protocol?" Scoffing, Elliot held his hand out to stop her as he blinked rapidly, acting as if what he'd just heard was unbelievable. "You know who else was just following protocol?"

"Elliot!" Vera interrupted him sharply, "do not compare her to the Nazis." Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Vera sighed and got up, crossing the room to stand at his side. "Get back in bed right now."

"No, not until she goes and gets a new bottle—with a clear label—and a new syringe. She's not putting anything in his I.V. until I watch her draw the medication," he insisted, ignoring as Vera gently touched his shoulder.

"Elliot, you're being paranoid." When he wouldn't budge, Vera gently poked him in the ribs, making him finally turn and look at her just as critically as the nurse—and every other staff member that tried to enter the room.

"Whose side are you on?"

"Jamison's," she said, gently putting her hand on his hip, trying to lead him out of the doorway so that the nurse could enter. "You're holding up his medication. Do you want him to be in pain?"

"Of course not!" Grunting, Elliot stepped aside, his hands folded tightly across his chest as he watched the nurse. "I'm not being paranoid, I'm being cautious. You don't unders—"

"You're right, I don't," she interrupted, her tone calm and patient, "but your dad doesn't know you're here. I promise that I've seen this nurse going in and out of other patients' rooms." Putting her perfectly manicured hand out, she waited for him to give her the ID badge.

"That doesn't mean he couldn't have paid her off." Begrudgingly, he placed it in Vera's hand and stalked across the room to stand over the nurse, watching her intently. "I'll pay you twice the amount my father, or anyone else, is paying you to harm or poison him."

"P-poison?" The nurse's face blanched as she looked up at Elliot. "S-Sir, I w-work for t-the h-hospital," she stammered, shrinking into herself to such a degree she looked closer to a child than an adult.

He leaned down even closer to her, his eyes narrowing. "Why're you suddenly so nervous? Who ar—"

"ELLIOT," Vera snapped, the warmth and patience gone. While she had no clue what he and Jamison had endured, his behavior was inexcusable and out of line. "Get back in bed, now. They already warned you once that they're going to kick you out of the hospital if you don't stop interfering with the staff as they do their jobs." Stepping between Elliot and the nurse, she handed the nurse her badge with a sympathetic smile. "I'm so sorry. He went through an extremely traumatic event and has a concussion. Please, go ahead and finish."