Day 3 - no more Robert Church

[patrick_koster]

Robbie's second visit finally had Patrick making the decision he'd been tossing around in his mind for the past few weeks. Brendan had left them alone for a few minutes to answer a call, and some - to Robbie - innocuous comments followed which had Patrick, mid-sentence, falling silent. There it was again, the sign that for some reason, Robbie

Comments

Jason visits

[mark_kosik]

Jason had gone to all the people he knew to talk to; asking if anyone had anything against Patrick Barry, or Robert Church, and as he expected the former was an unknown and the latter was non-existent on the underworld radars. Jason was out of touch with the majority of the crime regime now and he knew it. No longer working for Caspian, or having his place in Essex he was again person non grada. Stepping away from his previous existence had brought him to this.

Loving Eddie Boone had begun him on the journey and now he was considered legitimate and damn it, he now wasJason hadn't seen Patrick since he was attacked but he had thought about him. He didn't like that someone had hurt his friend nor did he appreciate being impotent to do anything to find the filth that had beaten him. Reaching the hospital floor where Robbie had directed him Jason felt his stomach clench; he hated hospitals; the smell, the sounds, the people-it made him want to vomit. He felt caged, helpless and his brow held a fine sheen of sweat. He knew it was a

Re: Jason visits

[patrick_koster]

Patrick sighed, forcing himself to open the one eye that he could open. Whenever Brendan left the room, he made sure to let his eyes rest, the swelling of both eyelids bothering him more than he'd admit to. He glanced up and when Jason's, slightly blurred, face came into vision, he nodded curtly and muttered, "Yeah, mate. Sure."

Re: Jason visits

[mark_kosik]

Jason strode over to the bed and surveyed the damage with an accustomed eye. He had heard the medical reports from Robbie, knew enough about both giving and receiving beat downs to know how rapidly the body could heal and from what injuries, and he figured that Patrick didn't want to dwell on the clinical. There were too many others who would ask about that.

Jason instead offered Patrick a warm smile and motioned to his eyes. "Want t'close them? I don't mind. I won't touch y'unless I give fair warning."

Re: Jason visits

[patrick_koster]

Patrick frowned and shook his head slowly and, with the one arm that would move, made a dismissive gesture. "If it's all the same to you, I'd really rather not." He wasn't sure what Jason was doing here, hadn't talked to the man in months and he saw no reason, even if he'd been up to it, to try to be especially sociable. Nor did he quite understand how Jason could expect him to be comfortable enough around him to not keep the one eye wide open - or as wide as it would go.

Re: Jason visits

[mark_kosik]

"S'not a problem." Jason's gaze traversed the swollen and bruised flesh of Patrick's face, the image of the cast reminding him sharply of Eddie's injury and he involuntarily shuddered. Shaking the memory from his mind he shifted his weight slightly and looked down at Patrick.

"Y'look like shite mate." Jason joked softly. "Y'supposed to ride in the lorry not underneath it." Jason wet his lips and his smile faded. "I wanted to apologize to y'. Trying to find out who did this to you and why but...I'm a bit out of touch. Did you get a piece of any of them?"

Re: Jason visits

[patrick_koster]

He'd given up on trying to glare at people, having realized fairly quickly that one-eyed glares didn't have all that much effect, and it wasn't like he didn't know he didn't exactly look his best either. "No, I didn't," Patrick said quietly and then frowned slightly when he asked, "Care to tell me what you wanted to apologize for, Jason?"

Re: Jason visits

[mark_kosik]

Jason nodded. "That I can't find the shite filth that did this to you." Jason lowered his head and scratched the flesh below his right eye with a finger before dropping his hand. "That's what." Jason shrugged and looked at Patrick watching the man's one serviceable eye, that was blinking rapidly. He knew that every twitch of the lid brought with it pain.

"You want t'know don't you?"

Re: Jason visits

[patrick_koster]

"It's not at the top of my list to be honest," Patrick replied wearily. "Like I told Brendan, it doesn't change anything, and if it's not them, it'll be someone else. It happens apparently."

Re: Jason visits

[mark_kosik]

Jason mumbled in agreement and dry laugh that it indeed did. "Specially t'those like us then, eh?" Jason's smile faded as he gave the interior of the hospital room a quick survey feeling his anxiety mount.

"How long they plan t'keep you imprisoned here? Brendan-" Jason paused. "Is keeping vigil and playing your nurse maid. He's a good man."

Re: Jason visits

[patrick_koster]

"Yes, he is," Patrick said curtly, briefly looking away from Jason. He wasn't really surprised to find that his personal life in the hands of Robert Church hadn't remained private. He chose to ignore the other comments about Brendan, just this once, and shook his head.

"I'm not quite sure how long they'll keep me here, but I do know that I'll be spending Christmas here." Patrick gave a small shrug, not too bothered about the date itself and then glanced up at Jason again. "What are you doing here, Jason?"

Re: Jason visits

[mark_kosik]

"You helped me one night when I were at the end of m'tether. Too tired to even be trusted t'remember t'breathe. I wanted to see if I could return the favor now, or just remind you that I haven't forgotten what I owe you; the debt of gratitude. I know we haven't been exactly closing the pubs t'gether since that night but-we're allies, I thought."

Jason shifted uncomfortably his head slightly bowing before he continued. "I'll leave if y'd like, or stay. Just tell me, yeah?"

Re: Jason visits

[patrick_koster]

"You don't owe me anything, Jason. And I certainly don't see a need for gratitude."

Patrick sighed. "We don't know each other all that well, apparently, or you'd know that. You have your priorities, and I probably have mine as well - I'm not expecting anything from you, Jason."

Re: Jason visits

[mark_kosik]

"Yeah, well, y'might not expect anything but, I wanted t'come and visit you. T'say hello at the least. You want me t'stay? Or go now that I have?"

Jason looked at Patrick and wondered if the truth was Patrick wanted nothing to do with him, or if he wanted Jason to stay. The man kept things to himself and Jason understood why, but he wasn't a mind reader and he didn't want to stay if he wasn't welcome or deemed, 'necessary'.

Re: Jason visits

[patrick_koster]

"Well, you never actually said hello, Jason," Patrick murmured as he glanced around the room. "So, as long as we agree on you not owing me a bloody thing I don't mind you being here, really."

Re: Jason visits

[mark_kosik]

Jason smirked. "Best I remedy that then." He cleared his throat and looked straight at Patrick. "Hello. S'good to see you."

He chuckled softly relaxing a little, thankful for the break in his mood. "Have you on solids, liquids of feeding you with an I.V.?" He questioned just as much out of curiosity as it was for something to say.

Re: Jason visits

[patrick_koster]

Patrick snorted. "Eating proper food, mate. None of the stuff they serve here, that is." And with Brendan actually feeding him, he was eating a lot more than he had been these past months.

"Although that - " Patrick gestured toward his injured arm. "Isn't making that all that easy. But as long as there's no gavage feeding you won't hear me complain about it."