And Maybe That's Alright

Recover

"Clark is high off his ass right now so don't be offended if he doesn't immediately recognise you." Jethro warned once Clay, George, Nick and Vincent had arrived.

They were most definitely not all supposed to be there but since when had they ever followed instruction?

"I'd warn you about him also having no filter but he never had one in the first place." He continued and the simple factor that he was joking seemed to calm the four more than any of the words he said. "The lack of oxygen to his brain messed it up but they say he'll be fine with time. His long term memory shouldn't be effected."

With that, Jethro reentered the room with friends in tow -

"Why are all my friends hot?"

- attractive friends in tow.

That set off a relieved round of laughs and only Jethro noticed the warm, satisfied smile on Clark's face. "You're hot too." He reassured, pulling two more chairs to the side of Clark's bed before shuffling in beside him. Clark seemed to react subconsciously, pushing an arm closer to Jethro's.

"Am I?" He gasped, placing numb hands on his face and looking around the group. After receiving various affirming nods, he grinned down at his lap, dropping his hands. "Nice."

"How are you feeling, Clark?" George asked after a few long moments of silence, attempting not to look at the developing bruise that circled Clark's throat but ultimately failing. It was rather hard to ignore.

"Bub, don't even worry about me, I'm on drugs so strong I can't feel anything below my chin." He admitted easily, clearly having noticed the near guilt in all but Jethro's eyes. "And I don't remember a thing about what happened after I left England so I'm live, love, laughing right now." Had he been able to shrug his shoulders, he would have. Instead, he sort of vaguely shifted them in a mock attempt before realising it was probably a bad idea.

"Is there any chance you will remember later?" Clay asked carefully and watched as Clark pulled a face.

"I'll be honest, I wasn't listening when they told me. Jethro was taking off his jacket at the same time so I had more urgent matters to pay attention to." He admitted bluntly and it wasn't hard to notice the tint to Jethro's cheeks.

"There's a chance he won't ever remember the last few days because of the way his brain handles trauma, they said to just give him at least a week before trying to make him think about any of it too hard." Jethro filled in and the others nodded slowly in understanding.

They weren't certain whether the thought of having Clark never remember was comforting or not.

"So you don't know anything about why you're here?" Vincent asked, gesturing vaguely to the fact that they were in a clinical, pristine room that was very clearly belonging to a hospital.

"I mean, I've been told some and I can piece the rest together." Clark replied. "Everyone keeps looking at my neck so either you're all vampires - which is very crucial information and you should totally tell me now if you are," he paused, as though waiting for one of them to dramatically confess, before continuing with a vague air of disappointment "or I have some kinda mark there. Since there's no bandages, I'd say strangled is my best bet. And I've been roughed up here there and everywhere but that's no new news."