FicWad

Doctors and nurses bustled round Pete’s bedside. It seemed there was a lot to be done, though no one could really work out what was happening. There was a lot of fiddling with drips and tubes, checklists being made and muttered conversations. Pete lay still in the bed but looked around, interested, still holding Bronx.

‘Daddy? What happened? Why are you in the hospital?’
‘Well… I don’t really remember.’
‘Cause Uncle Patrick said a nasty man hurt you.’

And then it all came back to him. His drunkenness; the Latino guy; the scream of the gun; the sharp, intense pain. He looked over at Patrick, who was now staring at his shoes. He knew Patrick hated hospitals, and probably didn’t want to remember everything that had happened.

‘Yeah, I think he’s right, buddy.’
Bronx whimpered against Pete’s chest.
‘What if he gets me too?’
‘Oh, Bronx, he won’t come after you! The police will find him and put him in jail, right where he belongs. And anyway, Daddy’s gonna take extra special care of you from now on.’
He rubbed his son’s back. ‘We’ll have to get you some bodyguards, huh? And a special guard dog.’
Bronx giggled. ‘Can it be a blue one?’
‘Blue?! OK then, blue it is. And he can have wings.’
‘And a special collar with lasers on it!’
‘Lasers?’ He looked over at Ashlee. ‘Where did he pick up the word ‘lasers’?’

Ashlee just smiled at him. Pete suddenly realised how odd the situation was. She’d been telling him she hated him for all these months… and now here she was, crying over the possibility of his death? He knew she’d been hiding something for a while, and a great relief spread through him as he realised the obvious.

‘Uh… guys? Can I have some time alone with Ash?’
Patrick smiled at his shoes and couldn’t help tittering as he left, Pete’s parents picking up Bronx and following him out. As the door closed, he suddenly felt unusually nervous.

‘So, uh… it’s nice to see you again.’
‘You too.’ Ashlee sniffed. ‘But not… really, not in this situation.’
There was a slightly uncomfortable silence. Pete gathered his courage and took a chance.
‘So… what are you doing here?’
Ashlee looked taken aback. ‘Pete, you got shot. I wasn’t exactly gonna sit at home, was I?’
‘Well, yeah, but… you know. It’s… awkward. Especially after last time.’
‘You’re telling me.’
‘So why did you come? Was it just for Bronx’s sake?’
She took a deep breath, recalling her earlier conversation with Patrick.
‘Look, Pete, I’m still mad at you. I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive you properly, no matter how hard you try. Something like that is totally unforgivable. Even though you say it was just sex, it was a lot more to me.’

She looked up at Pete’s face. He was staring straight into her eyes, a sort of pleading, loving look in his.

‘But…’ she took another breath, ‘I’m gonna admit something to you. And I’m gonna feel like such an idiot for doing it.’
‘Go on. You’re not an idiot.’

‘Well, when I first heard the news, I refused to believe it. But when it hit home that it was really you, maybe about to die… I realised things between us were still the same. All the way on the plane I just thought about you and if it hurt too much and whether you’d still be alive when I landed. I did all this stupid stuff, like avoiding cracks in the sidewalk and crossing all my fingers. I wondered if I’d be able to see you, talk to you again, and make everything right. Because… I didn’t ever stop loving you.’

She took Pete’s hand and stroked his fingers, playing with the ring which he’d refused to take off.

‘It’s not just for Bronx, although he misses you like crazy. I sometimes wake up in the night and hear him crying for you, and he knows he has to make do with me all the time.’ She laughed slightly in spite of herself. ‘He worries me sometimes, you know. He goes all quiet and won’t talk to anyone, just sits and looks out of the window. But, like I say, it’s not just about him. I miss you too. I still reach over for you absent-mindedly when I wake up. I still expect you to come up behind me and hug me when I’m in the kitchen or something. It’s… it’s just not the same without you.’

She looked up at Pete, holding his gaze. ‘So… if you make it out of here… you still wanna give things another go?’

Pete took in a deep breath, and before Ashlee could say anything else he had pulled her into his embrace and pressed his lips against hers. She started to kiss back enthusiastically, both of them starting to smile into the kiss as it deepened.

‘Ow!’
‘Oh, sorry baby! Did I touch the wound?’
‘Yeah, just… just a little.’
‘Sorry.’ She stroked his hair thoroughly as he grinned.
‘It’s alright… you’ll just have to make it up to me when I move back in.’
‘Really? You’re still willing to?’
‘I’ve been trying for months on end, baby. I’m not about to give up now. Especially not now. Not when I know I love you more than ever.’
Ashlee smiled, closing her eyes as Pete pressed his forehead against hers.

‘I love you too.’

********************************

Patrick stood by the coffee machine, watching it very, very slowly pouring in the contents of his drink. He was sure all the coffee wasn’t good for him. After all, he only normally drank water during the day. And it was costing him a lot of money, this drinks machine –

‘Oh, hi! It’s you!’
He spun round to see the girl from the nightclub. Her eye was still slightly purple from being knocked to the floor, but it was getting better.
‘Hey! I didn’t expect to see you here!’
‘Well, I didn’t really expect to still be here. They kept me in overnight, just because I got a black eye.’
‘It’s probably for the best though, huh? I mean, it looks as if it’s healed a lot.’

She smiled, and now they weren’t dashing about trying to save Pete’s life, Patrick was starting to appreciate her… in other ways. Long blonde hair fell past her shoulders, and her eyes had a soft glint in them. Patrick tried to figure out what sort of colour they were… and concluded they looked sort of like the sea; a wild, stormy-grey-blue sea, with little hints of green where the light hit them…

‘So how’s Pete?’
Patrick blinked himself out of her eyes and back to the room. ‘Uh… he’s awake. I think he’s gonna make it. He’s just talking to Ashlee; I think they’re patching things up.’
She smiled again. ‘Well, good for them. That’s great news.’

There was an awkward silence, punctuated only by the slurping noises of the coffee machines and the occasional glance at each other.

‘Well, I guess I’d better be…’
‘Yeah, I should probably…’
Another small silence. Then Patrick took a deep breath, took the initiative, and did something very brave.
‘Hey, um…’ he cleared his throat, ‘d’you wanna, uh… meet up some time? Like, for coffee or somethin’. I mean, it’s cool if you don’t want to, I completely understand–’
‘Hey, stop burbling! That’d be great. Here, hand me your phone, I’ll put in my number.’

Ashlee soon appeared, smiling slightly at the grin spreading over Patrick’s face.
‘Uh, Patrick? Pete said he wants to talk to you. If you, uh, have the time.’
‘Y-yeah, sure… Well, I’ll see you sometime…’ he looked at his phone, ‘Izzy?’
She flashed him another smile. ‘See you soon, Patrick.’

********************************

‘Hey, Patrick? Could you please pass me some water?’
He poured a glass and handed it to Pete, helping him to sip it as he sat up carefully in the bed, and put it on the bedside table. There was a silence. Of all the silences in the day, that one felt the most awkward of all.

‘Pete…’
He looked over to the window where Patrick was standing, glancing out at the sun-warmed gardens.
‘I’ve been an idiot, haven’t I?’
Patrick’s voice was cheerless and quiet. And Pete hated it.
‘What do you mean? I was the idiot. I got so stupidly jealous over nothing.’
‘But you had every right to be.’ Patrick sat down and put his head in his hands. ‘It’s entirely my fault. I should have paid you more attention. Maybe you wouldn’t have gotten so drunk, and said all that stuff to the gunner. And it’s all because of how sad and jealous I made you.’

Pete looked intently at Patrick as he rubbed his face with his hands. It was so unlike him to be so defeated, looking so helpless. He sat up suddenly, eyes shining.

‘I don’t want this–’ he waved round the hospital room, ‘to happen again. Ever. This is the second time I’ve watched you possibly dying. And yet, it’s taken me all this to see you’re the best thing in my life.’
The best thing in his life?
‘W-what?’

‘Pete…’ He rubbed his forehead and brought the chair closer to the bed. ‘Look. I can’t count the number of times we’ve fallen out, even physically fought each other, or been angry, sad or jealous ‘cause of each other. But in the end – we’re real good friends. So good, we’re the best. Were the best. You were so mad at me; I don’t see how we still can be best friends. But regardless, you’re closer and more important to me than pretty much anyone else on the planet. I don’t have anyone else, Pete. All the girls I’ve ever had have been… horrible. I don’t know if I ever want to find someone else. Who knows, I might do. But right now I can’t see myself trusting anyone for a very, very long time…’

‘Patrick, where are you going with this?’ Pete was completely baffled at the revelations spilling from Patrick’s mouth.

‘I don’t know. I guess I’m sorta going off track… Look. You have Bronx, and you have Ashlee now. They’re the most important things in the world to you, right?’ Pete nodded slowly. ‘Well, I don’t have anyone to fill that gap. No wife or kids. So the most important thing has to be you, Pete.’
He shuffled closer to the bed. ‘I’m always gonna put you first now, no matter what. I don’t for a second expect you to say the same, and I’m completely cool with that. In fact, if you did I’d probably hit you for being an idiot. But… I – I’m so ashamed. I’m a crap friend. I’m so sorry, I’ll never be such a prick ever again…’

Pete sat still for a minute, watching his friend wiping tears from his eyes. On the one hand, he was immensely touched. He’d had no idea how devoted a friend he’d had all these years. In fact he’d probably be in tears himself… if it weren’t for how depressed Patrick looked. He couldn’t stand seeing him like this, the guy who was always telling Pete it would be great in the end, better in the morning, that he was the best.

‘Patrick? Hey, come on, look at me…’
He tilted Patrick’s chin up slowly, smiling at him. ‘You’re not a prick. You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met. If it weren’t for you I’d be long gone by now. You don’t know… you just don’t know how many times you’ve cheered me up, stopped me from doing something stupid. You got me off the horrible path I was going down and taught me there was more to life, that I could get a career, start a family, make something of myself. In fact, you're still helping me. You get me through every single day, Patrick! There’s no way I could ever leave you! Are you crazy?’
He wiped away tears from Patrick’s closed eyes. ‘We’re still best friends. I still love you to pieces. And I can forgive you for what you did, if that’s what you want. You forgave me, didn’t you, back during the whole Laura saga? It’s only fair.’

Patrick stood up shakily, carefully leaning in and giving Pete a gentle hug.
‘Thank you.’
‘That’s no problem.’ Pete closed his eyes and smiled against Patrick’s shoulder as he hugged back. ‘And anyway… looks like I’ll have to stick around for your sake, huh? I hate seeing you so upset.’
‘You’re being incredibly calm about all this, Pete. I was expecting you to be all tearful and clingy, or screaming that you didn’t want to die.’
‘Yeah, I guess I am kinda calm. I dunno… maybe this has put it all in perspective. I came through it all right, and… well, being frightened isn’t helpful, I guess.’

Patrick removed himself from the hug, not wanting to make Pete’s injuries any worse, and sat down again.

‘So… what about us? Are we OK now?’
‘Absolutely. We’re still the best friends in the world.’ Pete was relieved as Patrick finally smiled. ‘I guess we’ve just gotta pick up the pieces and start again.’

********************************
[AN: Everyone oughta listen to the song the previous chapter’s title was taken from, No One’s Ever Gonna Love You by Band Of Horses. You'll probably have heard it if you follow SNMC on Bill Beckett’s blog. I listened to it while I wrote these two chapters. It’s very emotional, and it seemed like such a fitting song for the situation in the chapter. It made me quite teary :3 Please R&R!]