You Help Me, I'll Help You /// Mullette

5 - Hospitalized

Song: Centuries - Fall Out Boy

Lafayette awoke yet again in an uncomfortable hospital bed. He sat up slowly, his senses rushing back to him as his bandaged arm hit against the rail on the side of the bed, nearly making him cry out.
There was hushed talking that was silenced as Lafayette came to his senses.
Uncomfortable with all the attention, Lafayette turned his head away, clenching the sheets tightly between his fists.

Someone stepped forward.
Lafayette's breathing and heart rate sped up a little, shown by a beeping monitor to his right that he was suddenly fascinated with, watching the line hop up and down in time with the beeps.
The beeps slowed and evened out as he focused solely on the monitor, grounding himself and calming his anxiety as he turned back to his left to see who had come to lecture him.

He had to focus on the fake flowers to steel his nerves when he saw who had come.
Everyone from Hercules' friend group; Theodosia, Aaron (who walked in with a coffee after Lafayette looked away), James Madison, Peggy and one of her sisters, John, Thomas and Alexander. Hercules himself was standing at the back, quietly conversing with Peggy's sister.

Thomas was the first one to approach, tears filling his eyes as he began a long spiel in French that quickly turned to just yelling at his young cousin about how irresponsible he was and how much Thomas would miss him.
Lafayette quietly replied with a fake apology.
Thomas stormed out, angrily wiping away tears and muttering "I'll be back later."
James caught Lafayette's eye, giving him an apologetic smile as he hurried out after Thomas.
John and Peggy were next, both of them shamelessly sobbing as they hugged their friend as tightly as they dared.

Peggy's sister, Eliza, had to pull them both away after they too lectured Lafayette, minus the French yelling, about the stupidity of what he had done.
Lafayette said nothing, just nodded slightly and played with his fingers.
Aaron and Theodosia only said a few quiet words to the Frenchman before departing.
Alexander said nothing, just looking down with tear-filled eyes as he stiffly walked out after Burr and Theo.

It was just Lafayette and Hercules left in the room.

Hercules walked over, pulling up a chair.
He stifled a sob as he eyed Lafayette, bandages wrapped thickly around the entirety of both his arms, half his face still burned, looking emaciated and pale, hooked up to too many damn machines.
All Hercules wanted to do was rip the wires off the French boy, cradle him in his arms and never let go. At least he would be safe.

They had only known each other for a day, a day, and still Hercules felt closer and more protective towards Lafayette than anyone else.
He was just drawn to him and goddammit he was going to get him the help he needed.

Hercules roughly wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, muttering "Stupid emotions." under his breath.
Lafayette still didn't look at him, but Hercules noticed the corner of his mouth twitch.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Hercules whispered.
No reply.

"I could have helped you!" Hercules blurted suddenly. "And I feel like it's my fault because I could have done something about it and now you're here and you're hurting and I just-"
"Herc, it's okay", Lafayette interrupted quietly, fidgeting with the ends of his bandages.
"It's not, Laf, it's not! I want to help you!"
"You met me yesterday, why the hell would you want to help a mentally insecure person who is basically a stranger to you with their problems?" Lafayette snapped, finally meeting Hercules' eyes.

"You're not a stranger", Hercules said, not breaking eye contact. "Yes, it has been a day, yes, this will sound weird, but I already feel closer to you than most people I know, even though I know nearly nothing about you."
Lafayette looked away, face red.
Hercules cleared his throat, looking down at his lap.
"I- I feel the same", Lafayette said after a moment.
Hercules looked up, surprised.
"We can get to know each other though, right?" Lafayette said quietly. "I- I mean, if you w- wanted to", he continued hastily.
Hercules beamed, tears filling his eyes. "I'd love to", he whispered.

Hercules kept up the act for about thirty more seconds, when he broke down and started openly sobbing.
Lafayette stiffly opened his arms with as little wincing as possible, and Hercules nearly dived into them, resting his head on the French boy's chest, muffling his tears.
Lafayette rested his arms across his friend's back, tears of his own slowly spilling down to his jaw.

When Hercules was finally able to form a coherent sentence, he whispered "I'm so glad you're not dead."
Lafayette smiled sadly. "I... me too."
One of Lafayette's hands simply lay across Hercules' back, the other subconsciously tracing patterns and shapes, effectively calming the Irish boy who didn't release his hold on his friend until Thomas came back in, eyes red.

Lafayette missed the contact as soon as it was gone.
"I'll be back when Thomas is done", Hercules promised quietly, smiling at Lafayette before slipping out of the room.
Thomas sat where Hercules had been, his face unreadable.
"We booked you regular therapy appointments and you're getting antidepressants which you'll take twice a day", he said.

Lafayette shook his head. "I don't want therapy."
"I know, Laf, but if you don't go, they're talking about sending you to a mental hospital."
Lafayette stiffened.
"Yeah. So suck it up. This will help you."
"And if I refuse to cooperate with the therapist?" Lafayette shot back.
"Then pack your bags."
"I- Thomas- You're forcing me to tell everything to a stranger. I- I can't-"

"Well you're gonna have to learn to because dammit, Laf, they can't take you away from me!" Thomas yelled.
"Why do you care? When I came to America after my mother died, which was your suggestion to my father, all you did was push me away! Thomas fucking Jefferson is too high and mighty to be seen with his poor little depressed cousin! You only spoke to me yesterday because Hercules brought me over!" Lafayette shouted back.
"Then go and run along to your little boyfriend, for God's sake! I'm trying to help you!"
"A week ago, you didn't acknowledge my existence, now you're trying to 'help' me by forcing me to open up to a stranger?!"

"Then pack your fucking suitcase, Gilbert, because you're gonna be shipped away. Running away from every little inconvenience as usual. Man the fuck up!"
"This isn't a 'little inconvenience', Jefferson! This is me, fighting a losing battle against my body screaming at me to die in a fucking hole! This is me, struggling everyday just to get up in the morning! This is me, not even safe in my own goddamn house! If that's only a 'little inconvenience', I'd hate to see your definition of a 'major problem'!" Lafayette cried.

Thomas stared at him, fuming, before marching out and slamming the door shut.
Barely a millisecond later and the door was opened again, Hercules entering and gently closing the door, taking his seat beside Lafayette once again.
"You want to talk about it?" he asked quietly.
Lafayette shook his head.
"That's ok."
A moment passed.
"Laf. You're panicking again."

Lafayette nodded.
Hercules stood up and moved closer. "Are you okay with contact?"
Another nod.
Following what he did earlier, Hercules placed Lafayette's hands on his chest.
Lafayette closed his eyes, placing his head above his hands.
Hercules put an arm beneath his back, supporting him so he didn't topple out of the bed.
Lafayette copied the other boy's breathing until he was sleeping soundly against Hercules' chest.

Hercules' legs were tired from standing so long. He gently repositioned Lafayette properly on the bed, pulling the sheets up over him.
At this point, Peggy would be screaming that I'm the mom friend.
A nurse came in, quietly informing Hercules that visiting time was over.
"Hey. If he wakes up and I'm not here, can you tell him I'll be in as soon as I can?" Hercules asked her.
The nurse nodded, smiling.
Hercules left the hospital, taking the bus back to his house where he was greeted by his parents.

"How is he?" Sarah asked.
Hercules chuckled. "He's okay, Mom."
"Oh, I'm so glad. He seemed like such a nice boy."
Hugh nodded in agreement. "Maybe you could invite him over when he's well again so we can meet him properly."
Sarah squealed. "Oh, please do, Herc, I'd love to meet him."

Hercules rolled his eyes. "You say that about all my friends."
"And they all turn out polite and wonderful company", Sarah argued.
"Our boy has a good judge in character", Hugh agreed.
"Oh, you flatter me, Father", Hercules said, in a faux posh accent, fluttering his eyelashes.
Hugh laughed. "Go to bed, son. I'll drop you down to the hospital tomorrow."

Hercules perked up. "I can miss school?!"
"Your friend's health is more important than school", Sarah said.
"Don't get any ideas", Hugh said quickly. "This is a one time thing, don't push your friends in front of cars just to skip a couple lessons."