Fic: The Dusk of a Summer Night, Part Five
Title: The Dusk of a Summer Night, Part Five (Being the Third Story in The Seasons Alternate Reality 'Verse)
Rating: R for this chapter (NC-17 overall)
Warnings: Angst, descriptions of violence
Spoilers: None for the show, a complete AU
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to the Mighty Beeb and He Who Must Not Be Named. No infringement, only worship intended!
Summary: Jack and Ianto meet in London to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. They're happy to be together again, little knowing that the events of one night may change their lives forever…
Notes: Here's where we find out what happened... Earlier stories at the Season's Verse Org Post. Thanks to the lovely and talented
cjharknessgirl for my banner and thanks always and forever to my amazing beta and wonderful friend
thraceadams for all the help and support; any mistakes are mine. I hope you enjoy! Comments are like uppers and make me post faster! :)
.
Part Five
Ianto slept fitfully with Jack and Taran taking turns watching over him day and night. Late Thursday afternoon, the doctors reported that his lung function had shown improvement and that the oedema was responding to the medication. The hematoma on his thigh had begun to heal without complications, eliminating the fear of compartment syndrome. They were still concerned about blood in his urine, but since it was gradually lessening on its own, they were reluctant to put Ianto through another surgery so soon. After some discussion, Ianto's kidneys joined the swelling around his left eye and his broken ribs on the 'wait and see' list.
Jack had checked out of the Dorchester and moved their things to a smaller hotel closer to the hospital. He and Taran shared the room in shifts, each one taking a few hours of rest when they needed it while the other sat with Ianto.
It wasn't until Friday, a full two days after the attack, that Ianto woke up for more than a few minutes. Jack was dozing lightly at Ianto's bedside when he was awakened by Ianto's voice, rough from medications and sleep, asking for some water.
"Ianto? You're awake! Here, let me - " Jack knocked over the cup and had to right it again before he could fill it with water from the pitcher. "Here you go," he said once he'd finally managed to fill it up, dripping liberal amounts of water on the table.
"Thanks," Ianto said, trying to smile and then wincing when the motion opened the cut on his lip again. He ignored it and gulped down the water greedily, drinking until he made himself cough. He dropped the cup as his broken ribs made themselves known.
"Unh! Oh, Christ - that - that fucking - hurts," he panted as he clutched his side and cleared his throat a few times.
Jack picked up the cup from the bedclothes and tried to brush the spilled water off as best he could. Before he could call out for help, a nurse - Jack struggled to remember her name, finally coming up with Nurse Quinn - came hurrying over to Ianto's bed.
"Careful, now, boyo. Don't want to cause any more damage, do we?" she asked in her musical lilt as she raised the head of the bed so Ianto could sit up more easily. She expertly arranged his pillows and then took his pulse. "Actually, a short cough or at least a good deep breath every hour or so, even if it hurts a bit is good for you, remember that," she advised.
"How can it be good for him?" Jack asked worriedly, pouring Ianto another cup of water.
"Keeps the lungs healthy and at full use while the ribs heal. Don't want you losing any lung tissue, do we? Now, I'll get the doctor now that you're awake and he can tell you everything you need to know, okay?" She patted Ianto carefully on the shoulder and dashed off again.
Ianto looked at Jack, the lost expression on his face going straight to Jack's heart. He handed Ianto the cup of water again and sat down, gripping his hands together in his lap to keep himself from reaching for his lover.
"It's good to see you awake," Jack said softly.
"How long - What day is it?" Ianto asked as he took small sips of water.
Jack gave in and rested his hand on the bed by Ianto's plaster. He stroked his thumb over the tips of Ianto's fingers that poked out of the edge of his cast. "Friday," he said. "Friday afternoon."
"Friday," Ianto breathed. He took another sip of water and then let his head fall back onto the pillow, his eyes closing. "Merde. How bad is it?"
"Well, it's - " Jack looked up as the doctor approached and scooted his chair back. "I'll let the expert fill you in. Doctor," he said in greeting as he stood and smiled at the physician who shook Jack's hand over Ianto's bed.
"Captain. Mr. Jones, it's very good to see you so alert. I'm Dr. Williams, I've been looking after you since you came out of surgery. The first thing you need to know is that everything looks good - you're healing nicely and there is absolutely no reason this can't be a textbook recovery."
The doctor took the extra chair and went on to give Ianto a detailed list of his injuries - too detailed, Jack thought as he clenched his fist in sympathetic agony while the doctor explained how the surgeons had used pins to set the bones in Ianto's hand so he would retain full use of it in the future.
"Now, I can see you're an active young man, even with the heart murmur and this next part may very well be harder than any of the rest of your ordeal," Dr. Williams said, concluding his remarks.
Jack frowned, but before he could speak, Ianto groaned as if he knew what was coming.
"That's right, you know the drill," Dr. Williams said sternly, although Jack swore he could hear a note of amusement in his voice. "Rest, rest, and then some more rest. No strenuous activity beyond deep breathing for those ribs. I don't want you coming down with pneumonia on top of everything else. The plaster stays on for seven weeks to give both your hand and your arm time to heal. Your hand might need a splint for a few weeks after that, but we'll see when we get there. I want you off that leg until we discharge you - I've left orders that the only way you leave that bed is in a wheelchair. No sneaking him off for a walk, Captain, I don't care if he begs," Dr. Williams added.
Jack looked surprised at being addressed, but nodded sharply at the order.
"The chest tube can come out tomorrow morning and then we'll move you off the Critical Care ward." The doctor shook his finger at Ianto when his face lit up. "Ah-ah-ah, you'll just be going upstairs to an inpatient ward. We need to keep an eye on things for a few days yet. As I said before, the cerebral oedema is responding well to the medication. I don't foresee any problems, but we need to be alert for any signs that the swelling has returned - difficulties with attention or complex thinking, depression, headaches, unnaturally deep sleep, anything of that nature. I'm not saying this to scare you," the doctor added in a warm voice. "I'm just doing everything in my power to get you healthy again and keep you that way."
Ianto nodded carefully. "Thank you, Dr. Williams. I promise I'll try to take it easy," he added, shaking hands awkwardly with the doctor using his good left hand.
"Good to hear." The doctor stood and took a few steps, but then he paused and returned to Ianto's bedside. "Your injuries paint a pretty clear picture of what happened to you, Mr. Jones. You put up a hell of a fight and when that plaster comes off, I'll be proud to shake your hand properly."
Ianto watched the doctor leave the ward with an unreadable expression on his face. Jack forced himself to remain quiet until Ianto looked back at him.
"I did," Ianto said softly.
"Did what?" Jack asked, moving his chair closer so he could touch Ianto's fingers again.
"Put up a fight." Ianto's voice broke and he squeezed his eyes shut, grimacing when the swollen skin around his left eye protested the movement.
"Let me get you a fresh ice pack," Jack said quickly.
Ianto shook his head slightly, his fingers moving restlessly against Jack's.
"Ianto, what is it? Here, let me - " Jack got up and hurried around to the other side of the bed, clasping Ianto's good hand between both his own. The gesture seemed to soothe Ianto a bit, but a single tear still streaked down his cheek. Jack felt his own eyes fill as he tightened his grip. "Ianto?"
Ianto shook he head again. "Just… remembering."
Jack tried to bite his tongue, but he just couldn't hold himself back. "What happened, Ianto?" he whispered fiercely.
Ianto licked his dry, cracked lips, but when he opened them, no sound came out. He tried again and asked softly, "Is my father still here?"
Jack nodded and then realised that Ianto's eyes were still closed. "Yes, he said he'll stay until you're discharged. He's at the hotel right now but he should be back here soon," he promised, glancing at his watch.
"I… I don't want to talk about what happened," Ianto whispered.
Before Jack could protest, Ianto gripped his hand and continued.
"I don't want to… but I - I think I have to," Ianto admitted quietly. "I keep seeing them whenever I close my eyes."
"Them?" Jack asked in a strangled whisper.
Ianto nodded minutely. "Can you… can you just listen and not ask me anything?"
"Of course," Jack responded, hoping he'd have the strength to bite his tongue while Ianto talked. He pressed Ianto's hand to his cheek. It was the closest he dared come to a kiss in the crowded ward.
They were silent for a few minutes, Jack waiting patiently for Ianto to begin. When he saw Ianto's tongue dart out to wet his chapped lips again, he scooted his chair back from the bed a little bit.
"Do you want me to run down to the shop and get you some lip balm? That looks like it…" Jack trailed off, realising how stupid he was about to be.
"Hurts?" Ianto finished for him, a dry chuckle following the word. "Not really. I think they've still got me hooked up to the good stuff, just not enough to knock me out."
Ianto opened his eyes and looked at Jack. The little sliver of blue that Jack could see of Ianto's left eye made him want to find whoever had done this to his lover and beat them senseless in return. And knowing that it really was a 'them' and not just a 'him' made it that much worse. Ianto must have been able to read his vengeful thoughts on his face, because his hand tightened around Jack's.
"Stop that," he whispered.
"I can't," Jack growled.
"You have to," Ianto ordered weakly. "It was…" Ianto sighed and closed his eyes again, tightening his grip on Jack's hand. "The streets were pretty crowded, so I didn't notice them right away. I was trying to decide whether I wanted to walk or catch the Tube when I heard them behind me. They were… they were talking… loudly, saying things like they better be ready to get their backs to the wall if the fruit turned around and one of them said to be quiet or… or..." Ianto's lips twisted painfully, one of the cracks beginning to bleed again.
Jack bit his own lip and forced himself to stay quiet, taking deep breaths to try to remain calm.
"Or the nancy-boy might scratch their eyes out," Ianto finally finished. He cleared his throat. "I just kept walking. I'd almost made it to the Tube station when one of them knocked into me, shoving me down an alley. It was just him at first. His friends sort of… stood guard, blocking the way out while he… started in on me. He slammed me into the wall and caught me a good one in the stomach, knocked the wind out of me. While I was trying to catch my breath and stop seeing double, he… he kept hitting me, kept yelling things at me, calling me an arse-bandit, a bum-boy…"
Ianto sighed and looked at Jack. "You get the idea."
Jack knew fury was burning in his eyes, but he managed to simply nod.
"I thought maybe he'd just… run out of things to say and leave but then he… he pulled out a knife and said he was going make me pay for corrupting one of 'our boys in blue' - "
"What?" Jack gasped.
Ianto shook his head and gripped Jack's hand. "I got my breath back and I - I broke his nose and then kicked the knife away when he dropped it and - and I just kept - I broke my hand on his face before his friend hit my arm with something," Ianto said, nodding to the plaster on his right arm. "I… I heard the bone snap. The four of them together took me down pretty quickly and… and I don't remember much after that," he finished weakly.
Jack just bowed his head over Ianto's hand and held on for a long, silent moment. When he was sure he could keep himself from shouting, he raised his head and wondered aloud in a faint whisper, "How could they know about us?"
"They were in uniform, Jack," Ianto said. He met Jack's horrified stare and squeezed his hand in sympathy. "They must have been at the pub with us."
"They were…" Jack's voice trailed off, unable complete his thought. He felt his stomach churn at the idea that fellow airmen had done this to Ianto. Because of me, he thought desperately. This is all my fault. If I hadn't… Jack shoved his chair back so fast it fell over when he stood. He pulled his hand from Ianto's and stepped away from the bed. "I have to… Ianto, I'm… I can't - " Jack's voice failed him and he turned and practically ran from the room, trying to shut out Ianto's voice calling his name. He was so distraught, he almost ran into Taran just outside the door to the ward.
"Jack! What is it? Has something happened to Ianto?"
Jack shook his head. "He's - he's awake. I need to… I need some air. Please, stay with him," Jack begged.
"Of course," Taran said, watching in confusion as Jack ran for the nearest stairwell and disappeared through the door.
TBC in Part Six…
. This entry was originally posted at http://buttononthetop.dreamwidth.org/93034.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Rating: R for this chapter (NC-17 overall)
Warnings: Angst, descriptions of violence
Spoilers: None for the show, a complete AU
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to the Mighty Beeb and He Who Must Not Be Named. No infringement, only worship intended!
Summary: Jack and Ianto meet in London to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. They're happy to be together again, little knowing that the events of one night may change their lives forever…
Notes: Here's where we find out what happened... Earlier stories at the Season's Verse Org Post. Thanks to the lovely and talented
cjharknessgirl for my banner and thanks always and forever to my amazing beta and wonderful friend
thraceadams for all the help and support; any mistakes are mine. I hope you enjoy! Comments are like uppers and make me post faster! :)
.
Part Five
Ianto slept fitfully with Jack and Taran taking turns watching over him day and night. Late Thursday afternoon, the doctors reported that his lung function had shown improvement and that the oedema was responding to the medication. The hematoma on his thigh had begun to heal without complications, eliminating the fear of compartment syndrome. They were still concerned about blood in his urine, but since it was gradually lessening on its own, they were reluctant to put Ianto through another surgery so soon. After some discussion, Ianto's kidneys joined the swelling around his left eye and his broken ribs on the 'wait and see' list.
Jack had checked out of the Dorchester and moved their things to a smaller hotel closer to the hospital. He and Taran shared the room in shifts, each one taking a few hours of rest when they needed it while the other sat with Ianto.
It wasn't until Friday, a full two days after the attack, that Ianto woke up for more than a few minutes. Jack was dozing lightly at Ianto's bedside when he was awakened by Ianto's voice, rough from medications and sleep, asking for some water.
"Ianto? You're awake! Here, let me - " Jack knocked over the cup and had to right it again before he could fill it with water from the pitcher. "Here you go," he said once he'd finally managed to fill it up, dripping liberal amounts of water on the table.
"Thanks," Ianto said, trying to smile and then wincing when the motion opened the cut on his lip again. He ignored it and gulped down the water greedily, drinking until he made himself cough. He dropped the cup as his broken ribs made themselves known.
"Unh! Oh, Christ - that - that fucking - hurts," he panted as he clutched his side and cleared his throat a few times.
Jack picked up the cup from the bedclothes and tried to brush the spilled water off as best he could. Before he could call out for help, a nurse - Jack struggled to remember her name, finally coming up with Nurse Quinn - came hurrying over to Ianto's bed.
"Careful, now, boyo. Don't want to cause any more damage, do we?" she asked in her musical lilt as she raised the head of the bed so Ianto could sit up more easily. She expertly arranged his pillows and then took his pulse. "Actually, a short cough or at least a good deep breath every hour or so, even if it hurts a bit is good for you, remember that," she advised.
"How can it be good for him?" Jack asked worriedly, pouring Ianto another cup of water.
"Keeps the lungs healthy and at full use while the ribs heal. Don't want you losing any lung tissue, do we? Now, I'll get the doctor now that you're awake and he can tell you everything you need to know, okay?" She patted Ianto carefully on the shoulder and dashed off again.
Ianto looked at Jack, the lost expression on his face going straight to Jack's heart. He handed Ianto the cup of water again and sat down, gripping his hands together in his lap to keep himself from reaching for his lover.
"It's good to see you awake," Jack said softly.
"How long - What day is it?" Ianto asked as he took small sips of water.
Jack gave in and rested his hand on the bed by Ianto's plaster. He stroked his thumb over the tips of Ianto's fingers that poked out of the edge of his cast. "Friday," he said. "Friday afternoon."
"Friday," Ianto breathed. He took another sip of water and then let his head fall back onto the pillow, his eyes closing. "Merde. How bad is it?"
"Well, it's - " Jack looked up as the doctor approached and scooted his chair back. "I'll let the expert fill you in. Doctor," he said in greeting as he stood and smiled at the physician who shook Jack's hand over Ianto's bed.
"Captain. Mr. Jones, it's very good to see you so alert. I'm Dr. Williams, I've been looking after you since you came out of surgery. The first thing you need to know is that everything looks good - you're healing nicely and there is absolutely no reason this can't be a textbook recovery."
The doctor took the extra chair and went on to give Ianto a detailed list of his injuries - too detailed, Jack thought as he clenched his fist in sympathetic agony while the doctor explained how the surgeons had used pins to set the bones in Ianto's hand so he would retain full use of it in the future.
"Now, I can see you're an active young man, even with the heart murmur and this next part may very well be harder than any of the rest of your ordeal," Dr. Williams said, concluding his remarks.
Jack frowned, but before he could speak, Ianto groaned as if he knew what was coming.
"That's right, you know the drill," Dr. Williams said sternly, although Jack swore he could hear a note of amusement in his voice. "Rest, rest, and then some more rest. No strenuous activity beyond deep breathing for those ribs. I don't want you coming down with pneumonia on top of everything else. The plaster stays on for seven weeks to give both your hand and your arm time to heal. Your hand might need a splint for a few weeks after that, but we'll see when we get there. I want you off that leg until we discharge you - I've left orders that the only way you leave that bed is in a wheelchair. No sneaking him off for a walk, Captain, I don't care if he begs," Dr. Williams added.
Jack looked surprised at being addressed, but nodded sharply at the order.
"The chest tube can come out tomorrow morning and then we'll move you off the Critical Care ward." The doctor shook his finger at Ianto when his face lit up. "Ah-ah-ah, you'll just be going upstairs to an inpatient ward. We need to keep an eye on things for a few days yet. As I said before, the cerebral oedema is responding well to the medication. I don't foresee any problems, but we need to be alert for any signs that the swelling has returned - difficulties with attention or complex thinking, depression, headaches, unnaturally deep sleep, anything of that nature. I'm not saying this to scare you," the doctor added in a warm voice. "I'm just doing everything in my power to get you healthy again and keep you that way."
Ianto nodded carefully. "Thank you, Dr. Williams. I promise I'll try to take it easy," he added, shaking hands awkwardly with the doctor using his good left hand.
"Good to hear." The doctor stood and took a few steps, but then he paused and returned to Ianto's bedside. "Your injuries paint a pretty clear picture of what happened to you, Mr. Jones. You put up a hell of a fight and when that plaster comes off, I'll be proud to shake your hand properly."
Ianto watched the doctor leave the ward with an unreadable expression on his face. Jack forced himself to remain quiet until Ianto looked back at him.
"I did," Ianto said softly.
"Did what?" Jack asked, moving his chair closer so he could touch Ianto's fingers again.
"Put up a fight." Ianto's voice broke and he squeezed his eyes shut, grimacing when the swollen skin around his left eye protested the movement.
"Let me get you a fresh ice pack," Jack said quickly.
Ianto shook his head slightly, his fingers moving restlessly against Jack's.
"Ianto, what is it? Here, let me - " Jack got up and hurried around to the other side of the bed, clasping Ianto's good hand between both his own. The gesture seemed to soothe Ianto a bit, but a single tear still streaked down his cheek. Jack felt his own eyes fill as he tightened his grip. "Ianto?"
Ianto shook he head again. "Just… remembering."
Jack tried to bite his tongue, but he just couldn't hold himself back. "What happened, Ianto?" he whispered fiercely.
Ianto licked his dry, cracked lips, but when he opened them, no sound came out. He tried again and asked softly, "Is my father still here?"
Jack nodded and then realised that Ianto's eyes were still closed. "Yes, he said he'll stay until you're discharged. He's at the hotel right now but he should be back here soon," he promised, glancing at his watch.
"I… I don't want to talk about what happened," Ianto whispered.
Before Jack could protest, Ianto gripped his hand and continued.
"I don't want to… but I - I think I have to," Ianto admitted quietly. "I keep seeing them whenever I close my eyes."
"Them?" Jack asked in a strangled whisper.
Ianto nodded minutely. "Can you… can you just listen and not ask me anything?"
"Of course," Jack responded, hoping he'd have the strength to bite his tongue while Ianto talked. He pressed Ianto's hand to his cheek. It was the closest he dared come to a kiss in the crowded ward.
They were silent for a few minutes, Jack waiting patiently for Ianto to begin. When he saw Ianto's tongue dart out to wet his chapped lips again, he scooted his chair back from the bed a little bit.
"Do you want me to run down to the shop and get you some lip balm? That looks like it…" Jack trailed off, realising how stupid he was about to be.
"Hurts?" Ianto finished for him, a dry chuckle following the word. "Not really. I think they've still got me hooked up to the good stuff, just not enough to knock me out."
Ianto opened his eyes and looked at Jack. The little sliver of blue that Jack could see of Ianto's left eye made him want to find whoever had done this to his lover and beat them senseless in return. And knowing that it really was a 'them' and not just a 'him' made it that much worse. Ianto must have been able to read his vengeful thoughts on his face, because his hand tightened around Jack's.
"Stop that," he whispered.
"I can't," Jack growled.
"You have to," Ianto ordered weakly. "It was…" Ianto sighed and closed his eyes again, tightening his grip on Jack's hand. "The streets were pretty crowded, so I didn't notice them right away. I was trying to decide whether I wanted to walk or catch the Tube when I heard them behind me. They were… they were talking… loudly, saying things like they better be ready to get their backs to the wall if the fruit turned around and one of them said to be quiet or… or..." Ianto's lips twisted painfully, one of the cracks beginning to bleed again.
Jack bit his own lip and forced himself to stay quiet, taking deep breaths to try to remain calm.
"Or the nancy-boy might scratch their eyes out," Ianto finally finished. He cleared his throat. "I just kept walking. I'd almost made it to the Tube station when one of them knocked into me, shoving me down an alley. It was just him at first. His friends sort of… stood guard, blocking the way out while he… started in on me. He slammed me into the wall and caught me a good one in the stomach, knocked the wind out of me. While I was trying to catch my breath and stop seeing double, he… he kept hitting me, kept yelling things at me, calling me an arse-bandit, a bum-boy…"
Ianto sighed and looked at Jack. "You get the idea."
Jack knew fury was burning in his eyes, but he managed to simply nod.
"I thought maybe he'd just… run out of things to say and leave but then he… he pulled out a knife and said he was going make me pay for corrupting one of 'our boys in blue' - "
"What?" Jack gasped.
Ianto shook his head and gripped Jack's hand. "I got my breath back and I - I broke his nose and then kicked the knife away when he dropped it and - and I just kept - I broke my hand on his face before his friend hit my arm with something," Ianto said, nodding to the plaster on his right arm. "I… I heard the bone snap. The four of them together took me down pretty quickly and… and I don't remember much after that," he finished weakly.
Jack just bowed his head over Ianto's hand and held on for a long, silent moment. When he was sure he could keep himself from shouting, he raised his head and wondered aloud in a faint whisper, "How could they know about us?"
"They were in uniform, Jack," Ianto said. He met Jack's horrified stare and squeezed his hand in sympathy. "They must have been at the pub with us."
"They were…" Jack's voice trailed off, unable complete his thought. He felt his stomach churn at the idea that fellow airmen had done this to Ianto. Because of me, he thought desperately. This is all my fault. If I hadn't… Jack shoved his chair back so fast it fell over when he stood. He pulled his hand from Ianto's and stepped away from the bed. "I have to… Ianto, I'm… I can't - " Jack's voice failed him and he turned and practically ran from the room, trying to shut out Ianto's voice calling his name. He was so distraught, he almost ran into Taran just outside the door to the ward.
"Jack! What is it? Has something happened to Ianto?"
Jack shook his head. "He's - he's awake. I need to… I need some air. Please, stay with him," Jack begged.
"Of course," Taran said, watching in confusion as Jack ran for the nearest stairwell and disappeared through the door.
TBC in Part Six…
. This entry was originally posted at http://buttononthetop.dreamwidth.org/93034.html. Please comment there using OpenID.