13.11. “Sidney, are you gonna tell me what's going on? It's like a fucking episode of the OC in here.”
| Skins
Co-written with
isabelowens,
undercoverdoc,
sexyinscrubs &
mrpublicity[Follows
THIS]
Alex was a completely different person to what had gotten on the plane in New York. His hair was now blond (thanks to a temporary dye), eyes blue from contact lenses, he was cleanly shaven and wore rimless, stylish glasses to complete the look. Neatly pressed suit, lab coat and stethoscope were all in place with an expensive leather briefcase clutched in his hand as he walked purposefully through the corridors of the private hospital in Liverpool. Marc and Izzy walked behind him, Marc pretty much looking like Marcus Fraser dressed as a doctor, but it worked. Izzy looked like herself and mostly had to just stand there and look important. They had gotten into the ward with no issues and Alex even pulled off an extremely convincing conversation with Cameron's team of doctors, explaining he was merely here to offer Cameron's family a second opinion on rehab options. The doctors gave access to Cameron's complete medical record and admitted them to Cameron's ward. Cameron was in Room 517, a private room with security watch. Understandably, considering he was a well-known celeb in the town. The threesome turned the corner towards the room, but nearly slammed into some people coming from the other direction. Marc's eyes widened and he sucked in a sharp breath of shock. Uh oh. Oh fucking fuck of all fucks. This was going to get messy.
Oh shitting hell. Patrick was Cameron's twin brother! How did he miss that?! Marc's mind briefly flashed to the conversation with Pat that night in Princeton. His brother played for Liverpool. Why hadn't Marc remembered that? He was so distracted and caught up seeing Izzy again that he had tripped on a vital piece of information. Of course, he hadn't actually known Pat's surname was Preston. Aiden only every introduced him as 'Pat' and when Pat spoke of his footballer twin, he never mentioned a name. Outwardly, Marc kept his cool, but inside he was in a total panic. Pat and Aiden were gaping at him just like he was gaping at them, and a quick glance to Izzy found her staring at Pat, obviously it not being a huge task to see Pat was her kismet lay's twin. Then there was Alex, who's fake blue eyes had widened in recognition of Pat and Aiden, whom he knew from the kids' ward when Baby Riley was a patient. Luckily Aiden's shock was the first to break.
"What the fuck?!" the publicist demanded with a frown, glaring at Marc. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Pat put his hand up against Aiden's chest to stop him pouncing on Marc and tearing his head off just by default. He was looking at Marc uncertainly, and then looked at the doctor ahead of him before his blue eyes finally landed on the woman. The doctor looked vaguely familiar, but the woman not at all. "Marc," he said carefully. "Are you okay, darling? Is this a... business trip?"
Izzy couldn't help but stand there like an idiot as she stared at Pat. He really did look like Cameron only... not. There were clear differences, but seeing him there was a huge shock. "I..." she started, before she realised just about all eyes were now on her. Fuck. She wasn't even sure why James was standing there looking like he'd seen a ghost, and then there was the angry man yelling at him. It had to be Pat's husband, and apparently Pat knew James.
Iz felt like she was about five spots behind everyone, and had no way of catching up. So she just decided to blunder ahead and stepped away from Campbell and Alex to hold her hand out to Pat. "I'm Isabel Owens. I'm really sorry to barge in like this, but I know Cameron. Not for very long... We met Thursday night. It was supposed to be a one night stand, but it lasted until I dropped him off at the airport Sunday, and I'm just really sorry, but I needed to see him. I was watching the game, and who the fuck am I, right? I'm no one to publicists and team management and this hospital... I didn't think I'd get anywhere near him, so I called Ja--Marc--for help. I'm sorry, I really am."
Marc winced just slightly as she stumbled over his name. Good thing that Pat and Aiden actually knew about him. Thank fuck to all hell Alex was blond-haired, blue-eyed and hiding behind glasses because apparently Pat and Aiden were too focused on him to recognise Alex as Campbell Junior's doctor. Marc locked eyes with Aiden and the other man was glaring at him, but his expression was actually unreadable. Marc was more than aware Aiden's next move could be to run to the nearest phone and tell Harri everything. A very likely scenario, too, considering how close Aiden was to Harri and how much he wanted to knock Marc out of the picture if he had reason. "Isabel's an... old friend," he explained to Pat, his voice hushed to just their small group. "I wanted to help her see Cameron, only I obviously didn't connect the dots and realise he was your brother."
Aiden just snorted, shaking his head. Some Secret Service Agent he was. His arm went around Pat's waist, but he kept glaring at Marc. The bastard.
Pat's blue eyes were watching them all intently. He absorbed Marc's words and heard unmentioned details between the lines. This was surreal and his tired brain was struggling to process it all. A woman had a one night stand with his brother over the weekend and she had called in favours of her SS friend to try to get to Cameron to see he was okay? It didn't really connect in Pat's brain, but he also wasn't going to write anything off on the face of it. She obviously wanted to be here for some reason. He stepped forward, reaching for Izzy's hand, but he glanced at Marc. "If you were a bit sharper, darling, you could've just given me a call and asked if it was okay to come see him," he told Harri's lover.
He looked back to Izzy and shook her hand, giving it a small squeeze. "I'm Patrick, Cam's brother. It's lovely to meet you, darling. I wish it was under better circumstances. That must've been some sex to have you going to this much trouble to see him," he noted, watching her in hopes she would fill in some of the gaps for him. He didn't think Marc would give a random fan of Cameron's access to him. At least, he hoped he wouldn't. It couldn't have been easy to get this far. But still, Cameron was still his brother and Pat's protective nature was kicking in ten fold. No way was he just going to let a bunch of strangers into his brother's hospital room, especially considering Cameron was still sedated and unconscious.
"He's my kismet lay," Izzy found herself saying before she could really stop herself. She'd leave the pissing contest alone, let James deal with his apparent adversary. She was sure she'd get that story later. "Another friend actually said maybe I should try calling you, but it wasn't like Cameron had left me with your number. Just his," she told Pat. "I really am sorry to crash his room. It's just... we did a lot of talking, and bonded over incredibly bad timing. He felt awful about the fight with you. At first we were meant to be each other's distractions, but I guess you can't ever really stay too distracted when you just really need to talk to someone. It was just lucky we were good at talking and fucking." She wet her lips and released Patrick's hand. "I wish it was under better circumstances too, but it's a pleasure to meet you. He really did talk a lot about you."
Pat paled at the mention of the argument. Cameron had been too drugged up when they arrived to really remember the enormity of it. He was a mess and just wanted Pat's presence. It zapped all of Pat's energy to give it to him without letting his brother broach the subject of the argument. "Can you show me? The number he gave you?" he asked, holding her eyes. He would know Cameron's handwriting anywhere, not to mention whether he handed over his private number. He rarely gave it to anyone, let alone one night stands. If she had the number in Cameron's handwriting, it would speak loud and clear.
Iz glanced over her shoulder at James briefly before she nodded. She reached into her jacket where the number was tucked securely in one of the inner pockets. She pulled out a piece of hotel stationary and offered it to Pat. "Here... he gave it to me before the trip to the airport when he promised to call me after the game. Figured I'd need his number too... just in case. Not like I could have used it when the accident happened, though."
Pat took the slip of paper with shaky hands. They had been shaking since Cameron's accident, not to mention the tingling down his left arm. Aiden was going to kill him when he finally admitted he was symptomatic. But with the amount of stress he'd been under, it was inevitable. It was Cameron's writing and it was his private number. Pat glanced up at her with a small nod. Wow. Cameron had given his private number to a girl. This could potentially be huge. He looked between Marc and Isabel, something making him wonder if 'old friend' meant 'ex', which might be messy. "He's sleeping. The pain was too much after the surgery, so they sedated him for the moment to just give him time to recover." He hesitantly handed the paper back to her with a smile. "You're welcome to visit him, though. Aiden and I were just heading back to Cam's apartment for a little while. We've been up all night."
Aiden looked evenly at Marc. "You should call Harri while your friend is occupied. I'm sure she'd appreciate hearing from you," he said pointedly. Of course 'old friend' meant 'ex'. If she was just an old friend, Aiden would eat dirt.
"I spoke to her an hour ago," Marc returned calmly. Damnit. Had this drawn things with Aiden right back to square one?
Iz looked up sharply at the mention of Harri. That was Campbell's pregnant girlfriend. She was definitely going to tear into him later. Instead she looked back at Pat and smiled gratefully. "Thank you for this, really. I know you don't owe me anything, so I really appreciate this. I'll make this up to you, I promise." She reached out to shake his hand again, a substitute for hugging him which is what she really wanted to do. The number was tucked back into her jacket and she looked between Marc and Aiden, then Pat . "He's alright though, isn't he? The surgery went okay?"
Pat was generally an affectionate person with anyone linked to him. He leaned in and kissed her cheek, hugging her briefly. He stepped back and shook his head. "It went okay, and he'll be alright eventually. He's just not well enough right now to hear that he's out for the rest of the season... at least." His voice was flat when he said it and he knew at the end of the day, he was going to have to be there when Cameron got the bad news. The knee injury meant he couldn't play for the rest of the season and only time would tell if there was any lasting damage. He choked up a little, getting teary. "I'm sure he'll be really happy to see you, darling," he added quietly, which is more than he could say for himself once Cameron was rational again and not drugged up with painkillers.
Marc watched sadly as Aiden's arms went around his husband. Aiden kissed Pat's cheek and rubbed his arm as he tried to comfort him. Marc felt a wash of something like yearning to see Harri and it surprised him. He missed her, and watching Pat with Aiden made him realise that.
"He'll be happy to see you too," Izzy said to Pat quietly. "Trust me on that one. He was hurting, but he still loves you so much." She raised her hand to her mouth to bite on the tip of her index finger as she considered Cameron's reaction to being done for the season. She wasn't sure he would be happy to see her, but then she'd find out if he woke up. Iz turned to face Campbell. "You can go if you don't want to hang around. I can get my own flight back."
"I'll stay," Marc murmured. He had to make sure she got back to New York okay. He knew he had a lot to talk to Harri about but it needed to be when his mind was in the right place. Another day or two wasn't going to hurt and the last phone call with Harri, he did explain he could be away for a few days. She was busy at work, anyway, so it worked out well. When he met Aiden's eyes, he was just tired and lacking his usual fight. It must've showed on his face, because Aiden didn't look like he wanted to hurt him or bite his head off.
Pat gave Marc a hug, patting his back. "You look how I feel, darling," he noted. "Cameron could be asleep for awhile. You should get some sleep. You should come stay at Cameron's apartment. It's big enough. You'll all fit. But then don't feel you have to say yes. Aiden's glaring at you probably won't make for a relaxed rest." He shot his husband a pointed look.
Aiden just gave a tight smile. "It was nice to meet you," he told Izzy. "If you guys need anything, just let us know. But right now, Pat's going to be forced to take his own advice and get some sleep, even if I have to bound and gag him to the bed. Come on, love. I think we all know this is as awkward as all fuck." He tugged Pat's hand, trying to get him to follow.
Marc managed a small smirk at Aiden's blatant analysis of the situation. "Thanks, for everything," he said genuinely. It has certainly made the situation better having Cameron's brother let them see the injured footballer.
Iz nodded as she watched the two men go, wrapping her arms around herself. There was a sense of relief in knowing that Pat was alright with her enough to let her see Cameron. She glanced at Alex before she stepped in close to Marc, her voice low enough so that only he could hear. "Later on, you and me are going to have a few words, Marc. Right now though, I just want to go and sit with Cameron. You should get some sleep."
Alex finally spoke up after remaining silent through the whole exchange. He handed the briefcase to Marc. "I'm with that. Am I needed here anymore or can I go back to Princeton, to my bed, and enjoy my three days off?" he asked, his New York accent masked with a pristine twangy Southern one. "Unlike her, I don't want to know what even just went down here and it's better I don't. Do you know how fucking lucky I am they didn't recognise me?" He gave Marc a light but pointed smack in the forehead with his fingers. "Get it together, arsehole! What is going on with you, anyway?" he demanded.
Marc frowned and gave Alex a nudge in the ribs. "Fuck off. Go back to Princeton. Cheers for everything. I'll talk to you later," he said, waving him off.
Alex just shook his head and with a lethargic wave at Izzy, stalked back up the hospital corridor and out of sight.
"I'm getting coffee," Marc said flatly. "You want a coffee?"
Isabel had already turned to go into Cameron's room. "Yes," she answered, not even looking back at him. She took the seat next to Cameron's bed, and hesitated before she took his hand, careful not to interfere with the wires. He was the reason she was here, after all. Things with Marc could wait.
All muses referenced with permission and are from the
princeton2nyc universe
Word Count | 2,742