Hell Above

“Have you slept at all?”

Jack opens his eyes at the sound of the elder’s voice, turning his head to the side against the back of the chair to look at Alex properly. The blonde is looking back at him, bottom lip pulled in between his teeth but otherwise bearing no readable expression.

Jack shakes his head. “I couldn't.” He replies, but the words don’t hold the weight he wants them to. He wants to say more, but how is he supposed to explain to Alex that he’d been too scared to let himself sleep because if he did there was a chance that something could happen to the elder and he wouldn't know. How is he supposed to tell the blonde that throughout the night he’d wanted so badly to reach out and touch him but had been too afraid of hurting him to ever do it? He can’t.

He faces forward again, vision skimming along the dull walls around him for the utmost time. They’d been sat in the waiting room of the E.R. for the past couple of hours now, Alex’s injuries having been deemed low in priority by the triage nurse at registration and so they’d been forced to wait for their turn.

Jack hears Alex shift in the seat beside him again, but doesn't look over this time. He knows the blonde is getting restless. He’s well aware of how uncomfortable these chairs are and how tense Alex must be. He can’t bring himself to offer for the elder to lean against him though. There’s just something in the atmosphere between them that makes him think he’d be rejected.

It’s another 20 minutes before Alex’s name is called by a young nurse in peach scrubs. Jack immediately stands to his feet, turning to the side and offering a hand out to help the blonde up. Alex raises his head to look at the younger, his eyes not seeming to focus on him as he does so. Instead of accepting the hand Jack has extended, he stands from the chair on his own, stepping past Jack over to where the nurse is waiting.

The action confuses the younger, considering Alex has never disregarded any help that Jack has ever offered him in the past. He brushes it off though, following behind the blonde as the nurse leads them back to a private room.

The process of explaining what they’re here for is awkward and lengthy because Alex refuses to talk at first and Jack doesn't quite know what to tell the nurse, considering Alex hasn't exactly told him either. After multiple attempts on the younger’s part to relay what he knows, Alex finally speaks up, quietly describing exactly how much pain he’s in and where in as little words as possible.

The nurse nods, expression masking into concern and then comprehension when she grasps what Alex is describing as he gestures with his open palm in front of his sore ribs over his shirt. Stepping forward, she gestures for Alex to straighten up out of the slouched posture he’d been sat in. Once the blonde does so, the woman begins to gauge the damage to his ribs, questioning him on the degree of pain he feels with each press of her hand to his side.

When she finishes, she steps back from the exam bench. “You most likely have broken some ribs, but you’ll need to have an x-ray just to be sure that’s all it is.” She says, confirming what both boys had already concluded. She leaves the pair alone after that, closing the door behind her with a promise that a technician will be in soon to take Alex to be x-rayed.

Alex remains silent, gaze fixed on his knuckles as he sits on top of the exam bench. Jack watches him in glances from where he’s sat a few feet away in one of the spare plastic chairs against the wall, taking in the elder’s features in attempt to get a read on what he’s thinking. The blonde doesn't look up, doesn't even really appear to realize he’s being observed at all, and that sort of worries Jack.

He’s worrying away at his lip, and Jack isn't sure if it’s a conscious action or not. The lack of emotion – complete lack of reaction from the elder unnerves Jack. He knows how to handle screaming, crying, hysteria, or rage from the other man. But this vague numbness and silence from him is so new to the younger that he doesn't know what to do to fix it.

A knock on the door pulls Jack out of his head, looking up as a new nurse steps into the room – a man this time. He does his best to return the smile the nurse offers him, but it’s a futile action and the brunette man doesn't seem to expect better. “Hi guys, I’m Jordan.” He starts off, expression shifting from open to bemused after his patient doesn't acknowledge his presence. “So we’re going to –” He begins to continue, but stops when he’s cut short.

“Alex.” Jack interrupts, fixing his vision on the blonde.

When the other man doesn't immediately respond, Jack repeats his name, tone just as sharp as the first time, but volume increased. After the second time, Alex lifts his head, briefly meeting the younger’s stare with blank eyes before diverting his vision over to the nurse in purple scrubs waiting patiently by the door.

There’s only a moment of silence before Jordan is speaking again, voice even and calm as if nothing awkward had just happened. It doesn't occur to Jack until later that the man probably steps into tense situations day in and day out, and so what occurred between the pair was nothing new to him. “If you’ll come with me, we can get you x-rayed.” He voices, gesturing towards Alex and then the door.

The blonde slides off the exam table then, making his way across the small room and out the door without so much as a glance in the younger’s direction. Jordan hesitates by the door, meeting Jack’s eyes briefly before following after his patient out into the hallway.

When the door clicks shut behind them, Jack slumps down further into the chair, closing his eyes as he brings a hand up to push back his fringe. He’s exhausted and the elder’s mood, or lack thereof, is pissing him off. He doesn't want to be mad at Alex, but the way he’s closing himself off and completely blocking Jack out is infuriating. The younger had thought they’d moved past this.

Over the past few months, primarily since they’d become more than just best friends, Alex had been drastically improving. Jack had noticed the elder becoming more confident and open with him. Now it’s as if Alex had suddenly regressed back into that closed off, self-loathing person he used to be. The one that Jack had been seeing so much less of lately.

He hears the door open again, but instead of opening his eyes to see Alex or Jordan, Jack is met with another male nurse, this time in bright blue scrubs. Jack wonders if the ridiculous colors on all the staff’s clothes are meant to make people feel better, but then he sees the nurse’s face and the thought vanishes. “Sir, your friend needs you.” The man voices, and if Jack hadn't already known by the man’s expression, then the way that sentence is spoken would confirm that something is wrong.