#fao and hars sharing a bay just makes me happy

[faofinn]

27. Sleepless Night(s)

The nights in hospital were the worst. The days were bad, sure, but there were more staff and you could look out of the window at whatever was going on outside. If you were lucky, you’d get visitors too. Steve, or Sheila and the others. Nights were no such luxury, obviously. Less staff, no view out of the window, no visitors. 

Fao rarely slept properly. Either the pain kept him up (and asking for painkillers was a nightmare with less nurses) or his nightmares did. There was a reason he’d ended up in the quiet little bay with Harrison, and he knew full well it wasn’t just because they knew each other. Neither of them slept, and the nightmares that woke them both screaming meant it didn’t really matter, they were both used to it. Add to that when they did finally drift off, they’d be disturbed for overnight obs. 

Uncomfortable, Fao shifted his weight in bed with a huff. No position was comfortable, and the room was too warm. He’d tried reading for a while, but one of the HCAs had told him off for having the light on so late at night, and to be honest he’d not been paying much attention to the book anyway. 

Despite Harrison's best attempts, he too was still awake. He'd had a nap of sorts during the day, which just made it so much worse overnight. It was harder on his mental health too, more difficult to keep positive and not spiral. 

He'd almost drifted when Fao was reading, the soft light comforting him slightly, reminding him he wasn't alone. Of course, that didn't last, and then when Fao huffed, he pushed himself up slightly. 

"Wolfie?"

Fao wasn’t surprised Hars was awake. “Yeah, Tomcat?”

"Can't sleep either?"

“Nope. Can’t get comfortable.”

"It's bullshit."

“You’re telling me.” He grumbled. “Pain, too.”

"It's killing me. I don't understand why they didn't let you read."

“Because I’m ‘supposed to be sleeping’.”

"If they were going to be so anal about it, then they should knock us out."

“Can’t do that, then we’d be drug addicts.”

Harrison snorted. "Exactly."

“Couldn’t have that. Our lives would be ruined.” Fao said, voice dripping with sarcasm. 

Harrison managed to laugh. Fao always made things better, and he was grateful they'd ended up in the same bay - he hated Fao had been hurt, but he couldn't have put up with anyone else. 

"Oh, fuck it." He grumbled, sitting up and struggling with the side of the bed. They always put the sides up like he was a child, and he hated it.

“What are we fucking? If you’re going to fuck something can I leave?”

"Come off it, you'd love the show." He teased, finally managing to drop it. It was a struggle, but he managed to get to the edge of the bed, groaning with the effort.

“Ew, no thanks. Sounds like you’re fucking that bed, Jesus.” 

"Piss off!"

“Can’t, they won’t let me leave.”

"I'm going to personally ask them to kick you out." He teased, finally managing to grab his crutches - they deliberately kept them away from him, knowing he had a habit of doing stupid things. 

“Good luck, I’ve been personally asking forever.” He muttered. “What are you up to?”

"Probably killing myself." He huffed, slowly getting upright. He swayed dangerously, falling back to the bed before trying again.

“Apparently that’s frowned upon.” Fao said. “Be careful, I’m not telling Steve you did something stupid and got yourself more injured.”

"I'm not gonna injure myself."

“Sure.”

"Shove over, will you? Need some room for when I get over there."

Fao shuffled over the best he could, groaning as it flared the pain. “Might not have room for your fat ass.” He said, moving his little eeyore out of the way. 

Harrison sobered up slightly. "I've lost so much weight being in here. Even Steve has been having a go at me."

Fao couldn’t help himself, though he knew he was pushing it a little bit. “Mate you lost a leg, no wonder you lost weight. Come here, I’m taking the piss. You’ll fit.”

"Piss off!" He snickered, trying to stay quiet. "You know what I mean."

Fao grinned, though Hars couldn’t see it properly. “I’m the same. It sucks.”

He finally managed it over, gripping tightly onto the side of Fao's bed. His legs shook with the effort, but he'd made it and that was all that mattered.

“Hey.” Fao greeted softly. “Be careful.”

His crutches were forgotten, dropped against the wall as he clambered into the bed. He was careful around Fao, making sure he didn't hurt him. He was more than a little cautious about his leg, keeping it well away from Fao. It wasn't like he hadn't seen it, but Harrison still hadn't come to terms with it or gotten anywhere close to it.

Delicately, Fao put his arm around him, careful not to hurt him. “That’s better. How long do you think we’ve got before obs?” 

Fao was warm, and the bit of comfort Harrison needed. "Mm. Not long enough?"

“Maybe they’ll forget?”

"Maybe they'll leave us alone again. That agency nurse was nice enough that time."

“I think they’re short tonight.” He mused. “But the nurse in charge is the shit one. No agency, either. They get paid enough not to care.”

"I'm not going to move."

“Me neither.”

"Chain myself to the bed."

“Sexy.”

"I'm sure you'd love that."

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

"No, I want to sleep."

Fao laughed. “Yeah, me too.”

Harrison was quiet for a long while. "I'm glad you're still here."

“What, that they’ve not discharged me yet?”

He swallowed thickly. "Yeah, that."

“It’s thanks to you.” Fao murmured. “That I’m here at all.”

"Yeah."

“I hate you got hurt too, but I’m glad you’re here with me.”

Harrison nodded. "Yeah."

“Got someone to keep me company.”

"You'd probably prefer the peace and quiet."

“With Sheila and Finn around? Doubt it.”

"They’d give you some space."

“Are we talking about the same family?”

"They'd listen eventually."

“I suppose that’s true.”

"Or just barricade the door."

“Wouldn’t get any pain meds if I did that.”

"Steal them all first."

“Oh, that’ll end well.”

"We'd finally fucking get some."

“Do you want me to get sectioned?”

"I'd go down with you."

“So we’d be two idiots.”

"What are we now then?" He teased. 

“Not quite idiots.”

"Right, sure."

“Well, speak for yourself.”

"Piss off."

“Can’t, you’ve got me pinned.”

"My plan all along."

“Sneaky.”

"It feels so much better being able to have you." He said quietly, changing the subject. "I don't think I would have made it this far without you."

Fao’s throat tightened. “Don’t be daft.”

"I'm not."

“It’s nice to have someone who gets it, who gets what I’m through. I know it’s not the same, but…”

"But we've got each other."

“Yeah.”

"And neither of us are going anywhere." He said pointedly. 

“Stuck with each other.”

"Good."

He sighed. “It’s hard.”

"We can get through it."

“Only way from rock bottom is up, right?”

"Or into the centre of the earth."

“That’s the spirit.”

"Of course."

Of course, they did eventually get caught, and Harrison ushered back to his own bed. The nurse that caught them didn’t seem to be upset, though, mostly just amused. It wasn’t so much of a hardship to lose Harrison next to him when Fao didn’t get shouted at. He managed to get a couple of hours sleep after that, relatively undisturbed by nightmares, and that was good enough for him.