Riptides

It wasn’t a relaxed morning at work. The second Jack arrived he’d been thrown into doing two jobs at once. With Zack having called in sick along with Cam and Matt, Riley was in a foul mood. What he didn’t realise was that the day was about to take a massive nose dive when Pixie managed to smash his nose as he opened the garage door. He heard it before he realised what had happened. A sickening crack which Jack could have sworn was followed by an instant splatter. He’d looked up at Pixie who had stepped back in shock, cupping his face with his head facing the ground, swaying oh so slightly.

“Pixie? Shit.” Jack was already on his way to steady him when he staggered slightly, making a whining noise. Once he was in front of the older man Jack had his hands on his shoulders and was trying to survey just how much damage he’d managed to do. “Pix, can you just move your hands for me? Just dead quick; I want to see-oh, yep, shit, okay.”

The sheer amount of blood that had gushed from his face when he’d moved his hands had Jack cringing. Pixie, although two years older than him, was like the kid brother Jack had never had. “First aid bay, you’re gonna be alright, Pix.”

Pixie looked at him like he had two heads and blinked owlishly at him. “I said first aid bay, come on.” He wrapped an arm around Pixie and guided him back up the steps; it took longer than Jack would have liked but with Pixie stumbling and unable to keep his balance it was a battle to get up the stairs. Once he had him through the door, the party really started. “Jen, Riley –Pix’s smashed his face in!”

“He’s done what?” Jenna appeared first; she took one glance at the blood now dripping out of Kellin’s cupped hands and his pale complexion and helped usher him onto the bed. Jack grabbed a handful of tissue and waited for Jenna to pry Kellin’s hands from his face –once they did, the sight made them both hiss. “Riley, I think you need to call Vic.”

“No, no no no.” Pixie managed to utter out, shaking his head as Jack gently pressed the wad of tissue to his nose and nipped it to try and stem the flow. The gash across the top of his nose showed cartilage and had yet more blood oozing from it. He was gonna need stitches at least. He’d seen similar stuff a hundred times before, the injury being relatively common among surfers, but the sight still made Jack feel off.

“Show me.” Riley had appeared behind them, his phone already pressed to his ear. “Ouch, that’s gonna sting tomorrow -Hello, Vic? Yeah it’s Riley. No, Kellin’s had an accident.” Riley wandered back out of the bay towards the door, leaving Jack and Jenna to try and patch up Kellin the best they could.

Jack put his hand on the back of Kellin’s head, gently tipping it forward while Jenna set about cleaning Kellin’s hands so there’d be less of a shock factor for Vic or any kids on the boardwalk; before either of them noticed Kellin was crying. “It’s going to be okay, Pixie. Vic’s coming.”

“No.” He whined again, crying harder. Jack didn’t know what to do other than rub his co-worker’s back. It was becoming clear that the door had smacked his head harder than they’d thought; even if Kellin was considered the baby of the family, he still didn’t usually act like this.

“It’s okay buddy, it’s okay.” Jack looked at Jenna for help but she was focused on getting Jack another wad of tissues. “Why don’t you want Vic to come, babe?”

“H-He’s gonna be mad.” Kellin was definitely working himself up, but Jack had to admit he would be too if he’d just been attacked by the garage door. He’d had a few close shaves with it in the past. “He has a me-ee-ting.”

After changing the wad of tissues, Jenna and Jack set about reassuring him that Vic wouldn’t be mad and that accidents happen –it’s no big deal, everything was gonna be fine. They really did consider each other family when they worked together, and seeing Kellin in pain was pulling on both Jen and Jack’s heart strings. It’s different when it’s someone you’re not close to. You could switch off and just do what had to be done, but the second emotions got involved, that was another story altogether.

“No, I’m sure we don’t need an ambo, just you. You’re nearly here? Good. Right, bye... bye.” Riley hung up his phone call with Vic and sighed lightly. “What are we going to do with you, Pixie?”

Pixie shrugged, shoulders shaking slightly as he continued to cry; he’d calmed down a bit though so that was at least progress.

“Jack’s uniform cleaning bill must be skyrocketing.” Riley teased while fishing an ice pack out of the drawer for them.

Jack looked down at his blue shirt, now flecked with Kellin’s blood, to his bare feet and flip flops, both of which were also going to need hosing down. “At least the council pays for my uniform; my shirt from the other night cost me sixty dollars and now it doesn’t even fit.”

Riley laughed, handing Jenna the ice pack just as Vic came hurtling through the door, worry plastered across his face. The moment he saw his boyfriend sat bloody and in tears, he was wrapping him in a hug. It didn’t take Vic long to get it out of Kellin that it was the dodgy garage door’s fault, and that yes, he was in a lot of pain. With a little help from Jenna, within five minute’s Kellin was on his way to the medical centre and the bay was cleaned.

Once he’d put the cleaning products back, Jack could feel Riley’s eyes burning into his back. They were another team member down, and his apparent light heartedness from earlier had been for Kellin’s sake, no one else’s. Jack had to bear the front of Riley’s rage at the maintenance crew for not fixing the door yet, and how he had the right mind to storm over to the head offices right that second, of course he couldn’t because now they really didn’t have enough eyes on the beach. The only thing that stopped his rant was the radio crackling to life and Tommo breathlessly telling them he needed back up at post three.

“Get down there then.” Riley snapped, making Jack scurry out the door and round to the buggies. He quickly slung a medical kit in and raced up the beach to Louis, who had a woman in the recovery position. In the process of tending to her, he heard a kid screech out at sea. It was as Jack threw himself into the water that he realised just how difficult the morning was going to be.

By midday Jack felt like he’d done a full days graft. It was chaos until the volunteers showed up, and then Riley spent a good hour calling up people who had the day off to see if they could cover. Jack had convinced himself that he’d be asked to stay until late as he made his way back to the tower, but for the first time that day he was pleasantly surprised. Riley had managed to get together a group of part-timers to cover and Jack was free to leave.

If he hadn’t been so tired he might have volunteered to stay and clock up some over-time while he had the chance. But the thought of a quick nap to recover from the bustle of the morning was much more appealing.

After a quick lunch and changing out of his uniform, opting for the shorts Jenna had made him from his old skinny jeans and a turquoise T-shirt, he felt much more awake. The thoughts of sleeping had ebbed away with the coffee he’d downed with his lunch, leaving him tottering around his apartment without anything that could hold his attention. He was impatient at the best of time, but as the clock creaked round so slowly that Jack thought it might have stopped he decided to throw caution to the wind and roll up to the hospital early. If they wouldn’t let him in he could just go talk to Monica again.

He’d stuck by his word after leaving Alex and taken Monica, the receptionist, to the café for coffee. It wasn’t as bad as he thought it’d be; she turned out to be really nice. Not nearly as nice as Alex, of course, but she was definitely someone Jack would go out for cocktails with.

When he got to the hospital, he was twenty minutes early. It was peaceful and welcomingly cool in comparison to outside. The streets had been rammed with holiday traffic and the bus hadn’t been as relaxing as usual. The bus had loaded up with irritable children who were tired after a morning on the beach and just as frazzled parents. Jack was used to noisy kids, just not in a confined space. He was pretty sure his ears would be ringing for a month after the ordeal.

Finding Alex’s ward was easier than the day before; all he had to do was avoid the beds being pushed around and not stumble into any of the doctors or nurses who were scurrying between wards. He decided to take the stairs on a whim, and as he rounded the corner out of the stairwell, he was glad he did. He faltered, looking at the two older men stood by the lifts. He was certain he’d seen them somewhere before, but he couldn’t put his finger on where. Before he could get caught staring, he went through the ward doors, only glancing back momentarily. It wasn’t until he passed the nurse’s station that it clicked. He’d seen Stevie Young and Brian Johnson talking in the corridor. He’d just casually walked past two of the AC/DC members like they weren’t cornerstones of rock.

Shell-shocked was the only feeling Jack was capable of feeling. He wasn’t about to go running back out; he wasn’t exactly a massive fan, but they weren’t people Jack expected to just see milling around in hospital corridors. He had a feeling Alex would like to know, though, especially as he was apparently so big on music. It briefly crossed his mind that maybe he should go back and get a signature or something for Alex, something to lift his spirits while he was anchored to his hospital bed. But the more logical side of his brain confirmed that a hospital wasn’t the place to do it. He had no idea why they were there; he wouldn’t intrude.

As he reached Alex’s room he quickly realised Alex wasn’t alone. The door was ajar just enough for Jack to catch a glimpse of pale, curly brown hair. He didn’t know what to do, whether to leave and come back later when he wasn’t busy, or knock on the door and just ask if he should leave. While he was trying to decide what to do, the nurse from the day before appeared beside him, a cheery smile plastered on her face.

“Hello again!” she chirped, backing into Alex’s door to push it open. “You came back to see the birthday boy? I must say, he’s very popular today.”

“Birthday boy?” Jack asked, dumbstruck once again. It was Alex’s birthday? Why didn’t he say anything? He had to go find something, maybe a card? Wasn’t there a gift shop in the main lobby?

The nurse just chuckled, heading into Alex’s room while leaving the door wide open. The movement drew the curly haired man’s attention to the door.

“Alex, you’ve got another visitor outside.” The nurse told him, pulling his little table around the edge of the bed.

Just like that Jack’s plan to sprint down to the little shop and scribble out a happy birthday card were obliterated. It wasn’t like he was expected to bring anything but himself, but he couldn’t help but feel like it was rude, especially as his eyes landed on the array of cards on Alex’s bedside cabinet.

“Jack.” Alex called, causing Jack’s feet to trudge forward without his mind’s say-so.

He stopped at the end of Alex’s bed. “Happy birthday, sorry I didn’t like, get you a gift or anything, I didn’t know.”

Alex looked like he was about to reply, but then the curly haired man spoke first. “Don’t be daft, you gave him the best gift of all, still being here. I assume you’re the Jack I have to thank for that?”

“I er, yeah, I guess?” He turned, finally looking the other man in the face. Realisation, confusion, bewilderment, maybe even a little awe re-submerged him all over again as the man offered him his hand to shake.

The man smiled, connecting their hands. “I’m Angus, it’s good to meet you.”

“I know who you are.” Jack blurted, instantly embarrassed by his poor choice of wording. His gaze flicked to Alex who was smiling warmly from his bed.

Angus laughed, a smile still on his own face. “The music world would be more than a little lost without this young man, I think it’s safe to say we’re indebted to you. Anything you want, get Alex here to give us a call and we’ll sort something out.”

“Er, thank you?” Jack mumbled, not sure what to say. People always tried to give the team presents for work they’d done, but they could never accept them. It was morally wrong to accept something for just helping someone out. They weren’t doing the job for rewards; just getting the job done was more than enough. “I could never accept anyth-”

“-Nonsense. Have a little think about it, and then tell Alex.”

“Okay.” Jack tried to sound convincing, pulling the best grateful expression he could muster.

“Good.” Angus seemed happy with the result, looking between Jack and the clock on the wall. “D’ya think you could let go of my hand now, son?”

“Oh, sorry.” Jack dropped his hand and ignored the blush burning up his checks.

“I’ve got to go. Places to go, people to see. You know how it is.” Angus chuckled, giving a small wave to Alex. “I’ll see you when you get out; good luck tomorrow.”

“Thanks, see you at work.” Alex returned the small hand gesture, and Jack soon found himself staring after Angus as he headed off down the hallway. “Will you come and sit down? Blimey, it’s like you’ve never seen a man walk before.”

Jack forced his attention away from the now empty hallway and plopped himself into one of the plastic chairs. “That’s not just any man though, is it?”

“Oh come on, don’t tell me you’re a fanboy.” Alex teased. “I didn’t have you down for that.”

“I’m not, I’m not. I’m just, surprised? Really surprised. They’re huge; I thought you meant you worked with smaller bands, not legends.” Jack rambled, watching as the nurse finished placing a new cannula into Alex’s arm. “Like, jeez, who else have you worked with?”

“Let’s just say it’s too many to list.” Alex laughed, making his heartrate monitor bounce about a little faster. “Could’ve just as easily been someone the world’s never heard of yet.”

Jack didn’t know what to say so he nodded, and continued to watch as the Nurse swapped a drip.

“How was work?” Alex redirected the conversation. “Did anything interesting happen?”

“Not really, same as usual except some kid stood on a jellyfish by my station and cried for an hour.” Jack recalled, shrugging. “Oh, and Pixie broke his nose.”

“Pixie?” Alex asked, perplexed. “Who on earth calls their kid Pixie?”

Jack laughed, shaking his head. “It’s just his nickname; his real name is Kellin. Most of us have ‘em; mine’s Jack-o because I’ve got Jack Skellington tattooed on my chest and it made them think of Jack-o-lanterns.”

“Really? I’ll have to see that some time. I’ve got a skeleton too, look.” Alex held out his free arm and pointed out a skeleton trick or treating, but then winced as the nurse did something to his other arm. “My nickname should be pin cushion.”

The nurse smiled apologetically. “Sorry hun, I promise I’m nearly done.”

“Nah. We’d call you Ticker, because of your dodgy ticker.” Jack tried to make light of Alex’s condition and immediately regretted it. He wasn’t sure if he’d crossed a line as he seemed to have a habit of putting his foot in it at the worst of times.

This time, however, Jack fell lucky as Alex’s face scrunched up with laughter. “If we’re going down that road it’d be more like time bomb.”

“Is it really that bad?” Jack asked, worry slowly creeping into his veins.

Alex shrugged, a smile still stretched across his face. “Who knows Jack-o, who knows? It’d depend on who you asked.”

“Oh.” Jack didn’t know what else to say. What could he say to something like that? ‘Oh that sucks, I hope you don’t die’ wouldn’t cut it.

The small frown he pulled didn’t go unnoticed by the nurse, who gave Alex a stern look which he returned for a couple of seconds before crumbling under the pressure. “Alright, fine. I’m more like a time bomb that’s been stalled during its countdown. It’s not that much of a threat, no need to worry.”

“Oh, that’s good? I mean, it’s not good but, er, yeah,” Jack rambled, twisting his hands around in his lap. “Speaking of time bombs, there was a bomb scare at work a couple of years back. A canister washed up on Valentine’s Day and they had to put the beach on lockdown. The bomb squad had to come in and all the traffic got stopped. It was pretty intense; they thought we could’ve lost the tower.”

“Wait, was it a bomb?” Alex seemed hooked on his words, watching him with curiosity. “Where were you? Did anyone get hurt?”

Jack chuckled at the flurry of questions being thrown his way. “It wasn’t, it turned out to be a military flare used on submarines. It would’ve thrown molten metal all over the place if it’d gone off, so it would’ve been pretty bad. Secondly I’ve got no idea; it was before I was there on a regular basis. I was probably playing video games in my parent’s house or trying to win hearts on some terribly cheesy date. No one was hurt except one of the guy’s egos when he got told off for carrying the thing up to the station when it clearly said you had to call the police or military if you found it.”

Alex chuckled, shaking his head at Jack’s words. “The common sense some people lack is amazing. How have we survived this far as a race?”

“I’ve no idea, but anyway you can’t speak, Mr. Goes-swimming-when-the-beach-is-shut-with-a-heart-condition.” Jack teased, poking Alex’s arm gently.

Alex shot him a look of amusement before jabbing his own finger at Jack, “You’re meant to be nice.”

“Oh, am I?” Jack cocked an eyebrow at the boy, a smirk pulling at his lips. “What gave you that Idea?”

Alex’s face scrunched up as he pretended to be mad, the smile tugging at the corners of his lips giving it away. “It’s my birthday! And I’m in hospital! It’s the rules!”

“You have a convincing argument, birthday boy.” Jack shifted his seat closer to the bed, letting his arm rest against the mattress. “Should I buy you two bags of common sense then? I mean, I was thinking a card and some chocolate but maybe that would be more useful.”

“Stop it!” Alex batted Jack’s shoulder, a grin spread across his face. “You’re so mean!”

“I know; who knew Prince Charming could be such a dick!” Jack pretended to sweep his hair back, earning an amused scoff from Alex.

“You’re not Prince Charming; you’re more like Shrek! Or Donkey?” Alex squinted at Jack, “Yeah, definitely Donkey.”

Jack knew Alex was just playing around, so he gasped, throwing his hand onto his chest. “I don’t know if I’m meant to be offended or elated that you think I’m as funny as Eddie Murphy.”

“Nah, I’d say it’s more because you look like an ass-” Alex cut himself off, his gaze falling on the door behind Jack.

Jack wonders why, until he twists in his seat and is met with the view. A tall doctor has stopped in the doorway, reading a chart. It takes a moment for Jack to remember how to shut his mouth as the doctor looks up from the chart to Alex and flashes a pearly white smile his way.

“Mr Gaskarth, how are we feeling today?” He strides over, unhooking another file off the end of Alex’s bed.

“I-I’m good. A bit tired, though.” Alex’s voice was quieter now, a pink tint now on his cheeks that was clearly visible on his pasty skin.

“That’s to be expected, I’m afraid.” Jack watched as the doctor jotted some stats down off the monitors and frowned. “Your oxygen’s a little low and you’re looking a little flushed; I’m just going to check your temperature and have a quick listen to your chest. I don’t know if you want your friend to stay or not; he could wait outside for a moment if you’d prefer.”

“No. No, it’s fine, he can stay.” Alex bit his bottom lip, his gaze flicking to Jack’s as the doctor produced a thermometer and went around the other side of the bed to pop it into Alex’s ear.

Jack’s gaze drifted up the other man; he couldn’t be much older than them. Maybe twenty five at most. If he was going to use the term drop dead gorgeous to describe anyone, he’d use it for him. Jack felt a little ridiculous, really, being unable to peel his eyes off the man but he was just that stunning. It was like a model had fallen into the room with his slender yet toned frame, perfectly styled hair and a jawline sharp enough to kill. Jack could feel himself getting a little hot under the collar and was grateful that the attention wasn’t on him for once.

“Okay, and if you could just lean forward a little…” He placed his hand on Alex’s shoulder to steady him as he placed the stethoscope on his back, focusing on the task at hand. “Deep breath for me.”

Alex complied, dragging Jack’s attention towards him. The expression on his face was something Jack couldn’t quite put his finger on, a mixture of embarrassment and amusement, almost like he was longing for it to be over. That’s when he heard it, the beeping. The heartrate monitor beside Alex had started to bounce around at an even faster, somewhat uneven pace.

The doctor frowned again, somehow managing to make even that look…no. Jack couldn’t think about Alex’s doctor like that. Even less so about what he’d like to do with him in a supply closet if he was given half a chance. No, he had to behave. He couldn’t be thinking about seducing the man, not now. He had a silver wedding ring on anyway. Not that that would usually stop him.

“Mr. Gaskarth…” The doctor looked to be deliberating with something, looking at the boy like he was a mystery to be solved.

“White coat syndrome, honestly doc.” Alex leant back into his pillows, taking a slow deep breath. “Happens all the time, you’d think I’d be used to it by now.”

The doctor looked unconvinced but went back to his notes, flicking through a couple of pages before nodding. “I’m going to order an x-ray and have your temperature closely monitored for the next few hours; I’m a little concerned that you might be developing an infection so I’ll be back later to check on you. If you start feeling worse don’t hesitate to press your call button.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Alex mumbled, looking out of the window instead of at the doctor as he lathered his hands in hand sanitiser before heading out of the door and down the corridor.

Jack let out the breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding in, shaking his head. “It should be illegal for a doctor to be that hot.”

The words tumbled out of his mouth before his thoughts could catch up; when they did his eyes flew wide. He hoped Alex hadn’t heard, but judging by the way his eyes glued to his own it was too late to take it back.

“That’s alright for you to say! You’re not the one being touched by him.” Alex exclaimed, throwing his hands over his face. “Do you know how hard it’s been trying to keep my cool around Dr. Black? He’s going to put me in an early grave just by smiling at me.”

“I’m glad a heart monitor wasn’t on me when he walked in, it’d have skyrocketed.” Jack confessed, laughter bubbling through him. “He’s a health and safety risk.”

Alex laughed, readjusting his nasal cannula. “I guess we’re batting for the same team. Unless he’s turning straight men’s heads… which if I’m honest wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest.”

“Er.” Jack couldn’t process what he was hearing. They’d slipped so naturally into the conversation that he’d forgotten they weren’t really friends. He was so used to being open about his sexuality and being the one to be come out that now he was hearing Alex, a boy he was struggling to get off his mind, say the words was almost surreal. It just didn’t happen to him; he didn’t meet guys he thought were cute or his type and then have them be on the spectrum. He was getting ahead of himself, far too ahead of himself. They were building a friendship here; one he hoped would flourish, so he nodded and tried to push any thoughts about the prospect of possibly not being declined a date with the birthday boy out of his head.

“You don’t seem sure about that, Donkey.” Alex said, putting on a terrible attempt at a Scottish accent.

“I’m not Donkey.” Jack chuckled, resting his chin on his hand. “But I am sure.”

“How long have you known?” Alex asked. “You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.”

Jack shrugged, “It’s hard to tell. My Mom knew before me, kind of funny really. Apparently I liked to kiss people when I was a toddler but I’d only ever go after the boys. When I got a bit older it never really occurred to me that other boys didn’t like boys until I was asked which girl I wanted to take to our first school dance. Had a good year or two of denial, or just not caring before I started crushing on my neighbour. Then I got my first boyfriend in middle school and learnt that there was a word for boys who date boys…actually I learnt quite a few words that boys who don’t kiss boys like to call boys who do. Been the gay kid ever since, even when we moved here. Pretty sure I stood up in my first lesson to introduce myself and was like ‘hey I’m Jack, I’m from Baltimore in the US, and two interesting facts about me are that I’m gay and have seen blink-182 live seven times.’”

He paused, realising that he was rambling. “Sorry, you didn’t ask for my life story. Just since I was a kid, I guess.”

“It’s alright, I like hearing you talk.” Alex smiled warmly, fingers starting to pick at the sheet over his legs. “Personally I didn’t know ‘till my teens. I didn’t take it too well when I realised. It made me feel like I had one more thing out of my control.”

“Sorry,” Jack offered; he’d also had to come to terms with his sexuality but purely because of the fact that in this world it wasn’t always accepted. His naïve middle school self had struggled to comprehend why people who didn’t even know him could hate him over something he couldn’t help, but his mom had been a voice of reason, saying that people who mattered wouldn’t care. The battle had been brief but none the less a challenge.

“It’s not your fault. I mean, I was ill, being pulled out of school every other week for tests and drug trials. It got to a point where I just couldn’t keep up anymore, so the teachers and my parents were talking about pulling me out for home schooling, which I didn’t want because school was the only place I was normal, and then I had this big revelation that I was in love with my girlfriend’s brother and it couldn’t have come at a worse time. I couldn’t control my health, my grades, or who I fell for and let me tell you, internalised homophobia is one hell of a rollercoaster for someone who already feels out of control.” Alex huffed, “I came to terms with it though, thanks to my girlfriend at the time; she was amazing about the whole thing. She claimed she’d known it ‘wasn’t normal’ for a guy my age not to want to do it. She’d thought I might be asexual but nope, I just wanted to bang her brother, which I never did, which is brilliant by the way because we’re still good friends, and our families are friends so holidays would’ve been extremely awkward.”

“I bet.“ Jack chuckled. “Did he know you had a crush?”

“Oh, yeah.” Alex’s cheekbones flushed pink again. “When I got drunk for the first time, I was underage and Lisa, my ex, was with me… well, she couldn’t get me to walk back to her place so she called her brother and he came to pick us up at the side of the road…I don’t really remember much but Lisa said I cried for the full twenty minutes home about how much I loved him and asking why he wouldn’t love me. It’s not my proudest moment by far, but props to him for carrying me into their house and telling me it would be alright. Lisa said I wouldn’t let go of him until he gave me a kiss on the cheek so he’d obliged and then tucked me into her bed.”

Jack’s shoulders shook with laughter, “That’s sort of cute; the first time I got drunk I was seventeen and about eleven of us ended up doing body shots in Jenna’s basement for her eighteenth birthday. I woke up on her lawn ten hours later with a hangover from hell.”

“Don’t even get me started on hangovers from hell.” Alex deadpanned, grimacing at the memories. “I once threw up in the studio half way through a recording session with Slipknot because they’d pumped me full of alcohol the night before. I made a right mess of the sound board… I’m still mortified to this day. They, of course, thought it was hilarious.”

It took a moment for Jack to get past the name drop; he had a feeling he’d have to get used to them if Alex and himself did become friends(If not more.). “Ew, gross.”

“I know right? And there are hundreds of knobs and buttons on those things. It wasn’t easy to clean up, especially when it’s all electric.” Alex shook his head, still grimacing.

“At least it’s in the past.” Jack said, not wanting to offer up any of his hangover stories so early on. They could all wait for another day- one where the thought of Jack ending up unconscious and naked in the middle of a McDonald’s with nothing but a feather boa, hammer, and six ducks wouldn’t have Alex wanting to run for the hills.

Someone cleared their throat behind them; the blonde nurse was back wielding an in-ear thermometer. Jack hadn’t even realised she’d left. “Sorry to be such a party pooper, but after I’ve recorded this we’re going to be taking you down to the x-ray department.”

“Oh, okay.” Alex offered her a tight lipped smile as she stuck the device back in his ear. “Does that mean Jack has to go?”

The nurse hummed, looking up to the clock on the wall. “I’d say it’s going to take us at least half an hour to get you through, and that’s if there aren’t any emergencies waiting. By the time we get back up you wouldn’t have much visiting time left, but Jack’s welcome to wait if that’s what you’d both like.”

Alex pouted, gaze shifting to Jack’s as the thermometer beeped. “By the time I get back there probably won’t be much point.”

“It’s alright; I’ll come back tomorrow if you’d like.” Jack didn’t want to leave; he wanted to stay and chat all afternoon and learn as much as he could about the boy in front of him.

“I’ve got the op tomorrow…I might not feel up to seeing anyone.” Alex glanced at the nurse, as if she would somehow hold all of the answers.

She seemed to take the hint and hummed again, “Well if you’ve got Jack’s number, and you want us to call him after your surgery to say yes or no, I’m sure that can be arranged. I’ll give you two a couple of minutes then we’ll take you down”

She took Alex’s chart off the end of the bed and tottered out of the room, leaving them in relative silence, both seemingly unwilling to part.

“So, my number…” Jack trailed off, prompting Alex to reach over to his bedside cabinet and pull out a notebook and pen.

“I really do appreciate this, but don’t feel pressured to come back just because I asked.” Alex rambled, handing Jack the stationary.

Jack flipped it open onto the first clean page and jotted his name and number down. “I want to, trust me.”

“You know, I don’t really think you’re like Donkey; you’re not annoying.” Alex mumbled, an edge of worry to his voice. “I don’t want you to think that I think of you like that. I just think you’re funny and let’s face it, Donkey is a great character.”

Jack chuckled again, handing the book back to Alex. “I think you’re overthinking it. I know you don’t mean it badly.”

Alex’s fingers brushed Jack’s as he took the book back, making butterflies flutter around his tummy. Judging by the way Alex slowly moved his hand away, lips parted and eyes wide, he felt it too.

“Haha, I just remembered. What do you call a donkey with three legs?” Jack broke the tension, slowly getting to his feet.

“I don’t know, what do you call a donkey with three legs?” Alex raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for the punchline.

Jack withheld his laughter as he forced the words out, “A Wonky.”

Silence: nothing but the heartrate monitor beeping in the background for a full three seconds. The grin that broke across Alex’s face told Jack he’d succeeded but Alex wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of laughing.

“Terrible. Absolutely terrible.” Alex shook his head, waving Jack towards the door.

Jack complied, slowly backing away, “Keep me updated?”

Alex nodded, shoulders now threatening to give his internalised laughter away. “Of course, now get out of my swamp!”