#but i hate serious serious stuff so dw its not like some horrible underlying condition lmao

[set-phasers-to-whump]

trying

prompt: collapse

whumpee: nick burkhardt

fandom: grimm

hiiiii! i have been told that making nick collapse is my brand so i figured here is a fic entirely about nick collapsing! it’s a bit softer on whump than my usual stuff but i had a very nice time writing it and i hope you like it!!!

One second, Nick is fine. He and Hank are sitting on the couch in the break room at lunch, discussing the most recent complication of their current murder case. 

“Hank, I just don’t think we’ve got the timeline right,” Nick is saying. “I think we’re missing something between the time Collins was killed and when his body was dumped.”

“But what is it?” Hank asks. “I’m not saying I disagree. What could we be missing, though?”

Nick shrugs. “I wanna go back to the murder scene,” he says. “Maybe we’ll find something new.”

Hank checks the time. “If we go now, we’ll be back with plenty of time to finish that report the Captain wants.”

“Sounds good,” Nick says, and he gets up quickly off of the couch. 

Hank moves to follow him up, and then Nick says, “I think I’m gonna -” and before Hank has time to figure out what that means and help, Nick goes silent. 

And then he just collapses.

--

Nick stands up, and suddenly feels like all the blood in his head has left it quite quickly. He feels briefly disconnected from his body, then extremely dizzy, then nauseous. He’s going to throw up. 

He tries to warn Hank about this, manages to say, “I think I’m gonna -” before realizing that actually, what he’s about to do is faint. But by then it’s too late to say anything else. His vision blacks out and then there’s nothing. 

--

He wakes up on the floor with no memory of how he’d gotten there. He’s achy in various places, like his whole body has smacked into something hard. He feels kind of dizzy, which strikes him as odd because he’s lying flat on his back and staring up at the ceiling tiles of the break room. There’s something beneath his feet, lifting them up, and as he looks slowly around, he’s startled to find that, for whatever reason, he has an audience. 

Hank is crouched next to him, looking horribly worried. Renard is above him, a critical sort of expression on his face. And Wu is near his feet, looking intently at something on his phone. 

“What happened?” Nick asks, trying to sit up despite the dizzy feeling. Hank’s hand pushes him gently back down before he makes it to a sitting position, which he thinks might be for the best. He feels…a little off. 

“You collapsed,” Hank says. “And you're not going anywhere for at least ten minutes.”

“I…collapsed?” He doesn’t remember that. He remembers talking to Hank, standing up, and then…nothing. Had he really collapsed?

“Yeah, you did,” Wu says, although he’s quick to add, “It’s most likely nothing serious, though, people faint all the time for simple reasons. You probably just stood up too fast.”

That’s…incredibly embarrassing. Nick suddenly really wishes he was alone, because he’s pretty sure he’s turning pink at the thought of having been taken down by something as stupid as standing up. 

“You’re going to get checked out, anyway,” Renard informs him, giving him a preemptive stern look, like he knows Nick will protest (which he will, obviously). “To make sure that it’s nothing serious.”

“Is that really necessary?” Nick asks, again trying to sit up.

Hank pushes him back down again, a bit more roughly than before. “Yes, it’s necessary, Nick. You collapsed. Whatever the cause may be, that’s not good.”

“It’s also an order,” Renard says. “Just in case you thought there was any way you could avoid it.”

“I’ll go,” Nick agrees. It’s pretty obvious he’s not getting out of this one. 

“Good,” Renard replies. His next remark is directed at Hank: “Make sure he stays down for a few more minutes, and then he can move to the couch.” 

He turns back to Nick. “You are not going to leave this room until the end of the day, when Griffin will accompany you to the doctor. You may do some paperwork and discuss your case, but don’t even think about going anywhere.”

“Captain -” 

“That’s final, Nick. You’re lucky I’m not sending you to the ER right now.”

Nick figures he’d better take what he can get, so he doesn’t bother arguing. He’s kind of too tired to bother, anyway. To be honest, sitting down and doing paperwork sounds perfectly fine to him. 

--

A few minutes later, Renard and Wu have gone back to their own work. Hank has stayed with Nick, making sure that he remains lying down, making small talk and not being at all offended when Nick hardly replies. 

“You can get up now,” he says, finishing up a story that Nick has heard probably fifty times before. “Slowly.”

Nick pushes himself up off of the floor, pausing for a moment as he gets into a sitting position and then slowly getting to his feet. His head spins a little, but he feels alright otherwise, and he carefully makes his way to the couch, sinking gratefully down into the cushions. 

“You good?” Hank asks, crossing the room to the kitchen area and opening the fridge. 

“Yeah,” Nick replies, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the couch. He’s fine. A little dizzy and unnerved and embarrassed, but fine. 

“Good,” Hank says, returning to Nick with a bottle of water, which he holds out. “Drink this. Last thing you need is to get dehydrated and pass out again.”

“I’m not going to,” Nick insists, taking the water. 

Hank sits down next to him, suddenly serious. “You don’t know that, Nick. Sure, it’s probably nothing life-threatening, and sure, people faint all the time for non-serious reasons, but we don’t know what this was. If it’s a sign of something really wrong. If it’s going to happen again.”

“Hank, really, I’m -”

“You were unconscious, Nick. You didn’t have to watch yourself suddenly fall to the floor. You didn’t have to sit there and worry and panic and wait for you to wake up and wonder if and when you should call 911.” Hank’s voice is raised, but not exactly angry. Afraid, Nick thinks, which makes him feel really bad. The last thing he wants is to scare anyone, especially Hank.

“I’m sorry,” he says quietly, and Hank lightly touches his shoulder. 

“You don’t need to be sorry. You just need to take this seriously. You need to care about yourself.”

Nick wishes it was as easy as that. It’s not, and he thinks they probably both know it, but he figures he can at least attempt it. “I can try,” he promises, and he knows it’s not exactly what Hank wants, but it’s something, and it’s the best he can do. 

“That’s all I need to know.”

thanks for reading this!!! this is written as pre ship bc i am physically incapable of not writing that rn apparently....what can i say i am soft and gay and it is Showing lmao. anyways i hope you liked this fic and thank you for reading it!