Fragile Tension (Alan Wilder x Martin Gore)

4: The Patience

For hours on end, Dave and Andy had waited on their edges of their seats for word on Martin. They had watched as what seemed like hundreds of other patients would come and go. From screaming toddlers who had cut their heads open whilst playing in the garden to car accident victims; they'd seen it all.

And now they were alone. 

"How long do you think it's been by now?" Andy asked, yawning.

His body was sprawled across several chairs in exhaustion.

"I don't know." Dave replied. "Too long."

"I just really hope Mart's okay." His bandmate added, trying and failing to get comfortable on the chairs he lied on.

"So do I." Dave felt too drained to give anything other than brief answers.

His legs partially weakened from his continuous sitting position, he began to stand up and dust himself down.

"Where're you off to?" Andy raised his head.

"The vending machine..."

"Mate, again?"

"I'm a stress eater; what do you expect?"
~~~~~
"Where are Dave and Fletch?" Martin asked. "Are they alright?"

"They've been in the waiting room the entire time, but they're good." Alan replied, adjusting the bedsheet.

"Oh God, for all this time?" Martin's eyes widened.

"Yeah... They were worried about you. We all were. I came in the ambulance with you and they were in a taxi just behind. We've all been here ever since."

Martin nodded, a sense of gratefulness for his bandmates' patience coming over him.
~~~~~
The couple continued to engage in small conversation for a following five minutes, when all of a sudden there was a subtle, polite knock at the Triage room's door.

"I'll get that." Alan said as he got up from his chair to walk to the door.

Confused, Martin felt his breath become shallow as he wondered who was about to enter the room.

"Good evening, Mr. Wilder." He heard a voice say.

"Evening, Dr!" Alan shook his hand. "Please, come in."

A man of whom was wearing a white doctor's coat and stethoscope around his neck proceeded to walk into the room.

Closing the door behind him, Alan took his seat next to his partner again whilst the doctor greeted him.

"Good evening, Mr. Gore."

Martin lifted his IV drip-attached hand and shook the doctor's. "Hello."

"I figured that you wouldn't have much memory of me because you were unconscious on arrival here, so I thought I'd reintroduce myself to you and your partner. My name is Dr. Paige; I've been working with several other employees to take care of you tonight."

"It's nice to meet you, Dr. Paige." Martin smiled.

"Nice to meet you too. Now, I have a couple of things to talk to you about." The doctor's tone suddenly changed to a slightly more serious one.

Alan began to play with his hands again; something he always did when nervous, which Martin couldn't help but take notice of.

"O-Of course..." He answered shakily. "Is it bad?"

"Oh, no no. It's not all bad." Dr. Paige assured him. "However, I believe it's better you know about this sooner rather than later."

"I believe that too."

"Firstly... Your blood test results showed high levels of alcohol."

Martin couldn't breathe.

"This can be very dangerous; you were extremely lucky, despite being very dehydrated as well. Alcohol is classed as a poison, and if too much of it is going into your bloodstream... Well, it's a slow death. And the worst part? It will often go undetected until the very end."

Having no control over the actions of his mind and body, Martin began to cry.

"Oh," Alan hurriedly stood up to get him the tissue box.

He returned within milliseconds and handed Martin the box, rubbing his shoulder and kissing his head.

"Shh, shh, it's alright, baby."

"I am so sorry to have upset you!" Dr. Paige said empathetically, trying to comfort him.

"It's... okay... just... such a... wake up... call..." Martin accepted the apology in between sniffles.

"Although it's an upsetting topic, it's also very important to be informed on." The doctor sighed.
"What we have to think about here is that you're still alive, still breathing. You're going to be absolutely fine." He smiled.

"Doc's right, Mart." Alan added, his arm wrapped around his partner.

"And you seem to have a very loving partner here, who I'm sure will take great care of you at home."

Alan smirked at the doctor.

"You better believe I will!" He laughed, kissing Martin again.

The three of them shared a laugh before the doctor began to examine Martin's ankle again.
~~~~~
On the cusp of convinced that they would be sitting in the waiting room forevermore, Dave's feet tapped in a twisted rhythm against the floor.

Andy tried his best to stay awake, but it was to no avail. His eyes were like a set of scales with two bricks weighing it down.

More than five hours of waiting on their shoulders, everything seemed like it was slowly weathering away.

That was, until the waiting room door started to unlock, jolting them both out of their fatigued states. 

It was Alan.

"Oh my goodness, you two... Thank you so much for bearing with us."

"No problem," Dave stretched.

All of his blood rushed to his head as he stood, making him dizzy. After he maintained his balance again, he went straight into giving Alan a hug.

"How's Mart? Been worried sick."

"He's doing way better now, thank the Lord. He was a little scared at first since he didn't know where he was and he got a little het up over some news the doctor gave us a minute ago... but aside from that, he's just fine." Alan explained.

"Oh, bless him." Dave's face fell into a slight frown. "Will he have to stay here overnight, or?"

"Yeah; they'll be keeping him here for the night, but he should be discharged tomorrow morning." Alan sighed, still shell shocked from the night's events.

"Okay, that's no problem at all. Think it's time I got Fletch back to the Motel now, anyways." He moved out of the way to reveal a sleeping Andy on the chairs.

Alan couldn't help but giggle. "Hah, that's a wise idea. Well, we'll see you guys tomorrow. Night."

"Tell Mart we said goodnight." Dave added. "Rest up, the pair of you."