There's more to it than meets the eye ... 5/?

[lausbub0402]

Title: There's more to it than meets the eye ... 5/?
Author: lausbub0402
Beta: disneymagics
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 2.790 in this part  
Characters: Jensen, Jared + just about the whole SPN gang - RPF, gen
Warnings: none - although the story takes place while filming 6.16 ... there are no actual spoilers for the episodes as such
Disclaimer: I don't own Jensen,Jared or any other people from the SPN set, I'm just borrowing their names/characters, no harm or infringement intended
Summary: “Alright? Misha, did you even hear what the set medic said? It looks like Jensen had a freakin’ heart attack! A heart attack, man! The guy‘s not even 33 yet!” Jared furiously yelled at the man in front of him.

A/N: Once again I would like to thank my wonderful beta disneymagics for her magical work, you make this story so much better, hon!


The first thing Jensen was aware of, as the fog in his brain began to dissipate, was the somehow familiar and comforting sound of light snoring. At least that’s what he thought it was and he felt the urge to open his eyes and find out who or what was causing that kind of sound.

In took him a while, but he was finally able to crack both eyes open at the same time and his blurry vision slowly took in his surroundings. He was in a bed, in a room that was definitely not his bedroom or his trailer.

Light was filtering through a window on the opposite side of the room and there was something that looked like another bed over there as well. Feeling dizzy all of a sudden, Jensen closed his eyes again. He vaguely remembered having these dizzy spells quite often lately and suddenly the memories hit him like a sledgehammer - the excruciating pain in his chest, the feeling of being unable to get any air into his lungs, the inability to draw even the shallowest breath and the iron band constricting his heart …

In a panic, Jensen’s eyes flew open and he gasped for air. Through the sound of blood rushing in his ears, he heard a soothing voice and he felt the gentle pressure of something warm settling hesitantly over his heart.

“Shhh … it’s okay, Jen. Everything’s alright, you’re safe … just take your time … I’m here!”

Feeling a warm sensation wash over him, Jensen let his eyes drift closed and tried to control his breathing.

*~*~*~*

Jared had no idea what had woken him, but his gaze was instantly drawn towards Jensen’s heart monitor the minute he opened his eyes. The lines and figures he’d stared at for endless hours earlier seemed different and before he was able to alert the nurse, Jensen’s eyes flew open and his friend gasped for air.

Jared jumped out of his chair and without thinking he put his right palm over Jensen’s heart, gently stroking his friend’s hair with his other hand. “Shhh …”

A nurse came running in, probably because of a silent alarm that’d been set off by the heart monitor and immediately started checking the readings.

“I think he’s waking up!” Jared whispered without looking at the nurse, his eyes fixed on Jensen’s face, searching for any signs that his friend was actually aware of what was happening around him. He could feel Jensen’s frantic heartbeat underneath his palm slowly getting back to a less irregular pattern as well as his breathing evening out.

Jared kept on mumbling reassuring words. He was so engrossed in helping Jensen calm his heartbeat and breathing he nearly missed the two slits of green peeking out from under half closed lids, but when he looked again those green eyes were fully open and trying to focus on him

“Hey there ... welcome back!”

*~*~*~*

Jensen concentrated all his senses on that soothing and familiar voice and the feeling of that large palm lying gently over his heart. Without even opening his eyes he knew it was Jared.

His best friend Jared, who’d held him in his arms while he was struggling to breathe earlier that day. Jared, who’d guided him through the worst of the pain right before the blissful black had swallowed him and Jared, who he knew must have been worried sick during the whole terrible ordeal. Jensen needed to tell his friend right here and now that everything was going to be okay, he was just fine, and there was no reason to be upset.

With that thought in mind Jensen forced his eyes to open up completely.

At first all he could see were fuzzy shadows as though he was looking through a distorted, cloudy mirror. Blinking his eyes helped him to focus and slowly the shapes got clearer until Jared’s worried face hovered in front of him. The young actor looked tired and worn out, with dark circles under his eyes, but those eyes lit up as soon as the huge smile reached them.

“Hey there … welcome back!”

“Hey.” Jensen croaked out hoarsely, his right hand immediately moving up to his nose in order to get rid of whatever was tickling him there.

Jared stopped him halfway, blocked his hand and then lowered it to rest loosely at his side on the mattress once more. “No, that’s gotta stay there, my friend!”

“We filming?” Jensen’s confused look made the other man chuckle.

“Nope, that’s not a fake one. It’s there to help you breathe and it’ll stay until the Doc says you don’t need it anymore.”

“Huh?” Jensen’s brain wasn’t quite with the program yet and he decided to relax and let Jared take care of things since he seemed to have a pretty good handle on what was going on. Jensen’s eyes were closed before the thought had even fully formed.

Next time he opened them there was a man in a white coat standing next to his bed.

He immediately searched the room for Jared, finding him the second he felt a huge hand come to rest on his arm, squeezing it gently. The smile his friend bestowed on him went a long way toward making the uneasy feeling of confusion go away.

Reassured, his gaze was drawn back to the man in white who started speaking. “Mr. Ackles? Are you with us?”

“Do I have to be?” Jensen tried to answer lightheartedly but it only came out as a hoarse whisper and he wasn’t so sure if anyone had even heard him.

But Jared must have heard him as he gave an amused snort.

“Well, it sounds as if your sense of humor survived at any rate. Hi, I’m Dr. Spencer your assigned doctor. How are you feeling?”

“Sore, but okay … I guess?” Jensen tried to clear his throat which ended in a coughing fit.

Jared produced a cup with a straw out of nowhere and held it close to his friend’s lips.

Jensen thankfully took a couple of sips and savored the feeling of the cool liquid running down his sore throat. He nodded his thanks to Jared and his hand moved up to the oxygen tube in his nose once again.

“Do I really need this?” The young man asked the doctor and he heard Jared make the same amused sound as before, as if Jensen had just made another joke.

Doctor Spencer smiled. “Your friend already warned me that you wouldn’t be too fond of the cannula. And … as your oxygen saturation looks quite good, I see no need to leave it in there any longer.”

With a swift motion he freed Jensen of the hated object and was rewarded with a thankful smile from his patient.

“Much better!” Jensen sighed happily.

“Alright Mr. Ackles, are you up to a brief explanation about your condition?”

The actor nodded his approval and Dr. Spencer filled him in on the details of what had happened and what his further treatment would look like.

Hearing the words all over again caused Jared’s stomach to painfully clench once more, but he tried to calm himself with the thought that Jensen was in good hands and everything was be going to be okay now that his friend was getting the medical care he needed.

Neither Jared nor the doctor missed Jensen’s reaction to the words bed rest and both men exchanged a knowing look.

“It’s going to take a while, but I’m sure you’ll make a full recovery as long as you strictly follow my orders.” The doctor ended his speech with an encouraging smile.

Jensen was silent for a long moment and then asked’ “Can you define a while?”

Jared rolled his eyes because he already knew what was going to come next.

“Hmm, depending on how you react to the treatment I’d say a couple of days here in the hospital, followed by a week of strict bed rest at home and then a couple of weeks of taking it easy at work. As long as you follow instructions you should be back to 100% before you know it.”

The actor’s face went blank at hearing the doctor’s words. He swallowed hard and closed his eyes, needing some time to process what he’d just heard.

Jensen felt Jared squeeze his arm and through a haze he heard his friend’s words trying to offer some comfort and soften the blow.

“Don’t worry Jen. We’ll find a way to make it work. The most important thing is that you’re gonna be okay and back to full health, no matter how long it takes.”

“But our schedule!” The older actor choked out. He hated thinking of all the people he would be inconveniencing, dreaded having to answer all the questions that would come from the executives not to mention all the attention a long illness would garner him when he returned to set.

“Screw the damn schedule. We’re already way behind and all of this wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t been more concerned about everybody else than you were about your own health and too stubborn to admit that you were sick in the first place. Dammit Jensen, can’t you just think about yourself for once?” Jared’s voice was harsh and a serious expression crossed his face. “Do you have any idea how serious this could have gotten? And even after all of this you still haven’t come to your senses! You heard the Doc, you’re not out of the woods yet and I’m not sitting back and watching you risk your health for the stupid show, man. They’ll find a way to make it work and even if they don’t, it won’t be the first season we finish with less than 22 episodes.”

The tension in the air was nearly tangible and Dr. Spencer retreated to the other end of the room during the tall man’s outburst, watching both men from a distance.

Jensen opened his mouth to say something but the threatening look Jared threw his way stopped him. He shrugged in defeat and sighed: “Okay, maybe you’re right.”

“Maybe?” Jared’s voice hitched. “Maybe? Jensen what’s wrong with you? We’re talking about the option of a permanent heart condition here. Are you willing to risk that for the job?” He shook his head in disbelieve.

“No, of course not, but maybe it’s not really that serious after all?” Jensen avoided looking his friend in the eye and played with a thread in his blanket instead.

“Not so serious?” The young man jumped up and started pacing the room. He stopped in front of the wall and without warning started hitting it with his fists, making dents in the plaster and probably screwing up his knuckles.

“Jared!” Jensen jerked off the bed. The sudden movement made him dizzy and he swallowed hard to keep the bile from rising. “Please stop it, Jay!” He begged, eyes and voice full of concern for his friend. He felt his chest tighten again and in between his desperate efforts to blink his vision clear and to keep his breathing under control, he heard Jared’s timid voice.

“I can’t do this, Jen … I just can’t … I …” Tears began leak from Jared’s brimming eyes and Jensen could see a wet trail down his cheeks.

The tall man let himself slide down the wall and started rocking back and forth. “I … when you collapsed on set … I was so afraid … I didn’t know what to do … I ...” Jared wiped his face with a shaky hand, his gaze slowly wandering over to the bed where Jensen still struggled to pull himself together.

Dr. Spencer was silently watching the scene, apparently allowing the two friends some leeway to hash this out by themselves but ready to interfere if needed.

Probably sensing Jensen’s discomfort, Jared stood up and carefully sat down on the bed next to his friend. Looking at the other man with teary eyes he continued: “You’ve been in so much pain … and … and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it ... I wanted to … I mean … I knew you hadn’t been feeling well for some time … but actually seeing you, not being able to breath … and … and then your lips turned blue … it was … I was so scared, Jen … I thought I was gonna lose you … I …” He broke off, completely at loss for words and hoping he was doing a better job of explaining how important his friend was to him than the babbling sounded to his own ears.

Jensen took a deep breath, despite the pain spreading through his chest and pulled Jared into a hug. He gently stroked the other man’s back. “It’s okay, Jay … I’m okay … the whole thing scared the shit out of me, too … but hey, I promise I’ll listen to the Doc, do what he tells me to do and just like he said, I’m gonna be as good as new in no time.”

“You better be, because I don’t know what I would do without you, man!” Jared mumbled into Jensen’s shoulder. He straightened himself up and looked directly into a pair of green eyes. “And now we better take care of your chest pain and see what we can do to get your breathing under control.” Jared said with a worried frown.

“Aw, it’s gonna take more than some stupid myocarditis thing to bring Dean Winchester down!” Jensen replied a little out of breath but with a twinkle in his eye.

“You’re such a jerk!” Jared huffed helplessly.

“Bitch!” Jensen immediately replied with a huge grin on his face and both men started laughing.

“Alright, I guess that’s enough excitement for the moment.” Dr. Spencer finally stepped back into the room and reached for the abandoned oxygen tube.

Jensen shook his head. “No need for that thing, Doc, I’m fine.”

“Jensen!” Jared’s harsh tone made Jensen flinch as he leaned back into the hospital bed.

The doctor checked the readings of the monitors and said: “Alright Mr. Ackles, I’ll allow you to leave it off for now, but if your breathing gets worse we’ll have to put the cannula back in, you got me?”

Jensen nodded and Jared was about to say something but Doctor Spencer intervened. “We’ll run a couple more tests later today and after that we’ll decide how to proceed with your treatment. For now you should just get some rest.” With that the doctor excused himself and left the two men alone.

“Are you up to calling your parents and Danneel? I promised them you would call to put their minds at ease as soon as you were awake and sane enough, although if we have to wait for that last part to be true …?” Jared asked with a smirk.

Jensen rolled his eyes. “Gimme my phone! Don’t you have anything else to do, you moron? I could use some privacy here, you know!”

Grinning like a maniac Jared handed the phone to his friend. “Guess I’m gonna go grab myself a coffee. But I’ll be back!” He said and turned around.

“Take your time and bring me one, too!” Jensen yelled after him.

“Forget it, dude!” The other man laughed and vanished. Jensen stared at the closed door for a long moment before he dialed his parent’s number.

*~*~*~*

Half an hour later Jared returned to his friend’s room, finding Jensen peacefully asleep with his phone still in his right hand. He carefully took it and placed it on the nightstand, silently wondering what Jensen had said to his family about his condition. He knew the guy well enough by now to be pretty sure that Jensen had left out the part about the risk of a permanent heart condition in order not to worry his relatives. For a brief moment he was tempted to call them himself, but he instantly discarded the thought. Jensen’s trust meant too much to him and there was no way he would ever jeopardize or betray that trust.

Studying his friend’s pale face Jared made up his mind. If by some chance Jensen still refused to lay low and take it easy, he would take matters into his own hands. There was nothing more important than Jensen’s wellbeing right now and he would make sure that his stubborn friend didn’t risk his health for the sake of the show, no matter what.

A content smile crossed the young man’s face - Jared Padalecki had a plan and nothing in the world would stop him now!

chapter 6 this way
tbc