he really likes hospitals oh baby [OPEN]

[heavendivided]

Who: Big Boss & anyone that wants to see a grouchy, blind old man bound to a hospital bed
When: Sunday to Wednesday? WHENEVER YOU LIKE
Where: Skye Medical
Summary: Big Boss almost got killed while chasing the remnants with Triela, but instead of losing his life he just lost his eye and is now in the hospital! Whoo! He also punched a doctor in the

Comments

[spawnedbywar]

Kaz had lost track of the hours long ago. Time had ceased to be a thing to be measured as soon as he walked through the hospital doors into a sterile, white environment, and by the time he had a chance to speak to the doctor (an act itself that had been a lengthy process with much shouting, arguing, and a good dose of lying to sweeten the deal) about Jack and Triela, the hours began to bleed together and he was hardly aware that he'd spent so long here to begin with. His wristwatch said it was half past four and somehow he still didn't believe it; consciously, he was still five hours behind and just as dull with grim, palpable shock -- the very same he'd felt when he got his first good look at Jack.

Anyone that knew him and what he had to go through with his mother would also know that he was, at this stage in his life, very well acquainted with hospitals. How could he not be? The one in Yokosuka had been the second home he returned to at the end of every day like clockwork while his real one lay empty and lonely, occupied only when he went there to shower or cook for himself. For one very brief but painful instant, Kaz was sure that he had been hurled through time four years into the past and that the man laying in the bed beside him, hooked up to an EKG meter and riddled with IVs, would forget who he was as soon as he awoke to the blond sitting slumped in the chair beside him, biting back sleep in a stubborn attempt to remain vigilant.

Or not. It was just as likely Big Boss wouldn't even know Kaz was there unless he or the nurse on duty spoke up, the latter coming in and out every so often with a new syringe to stick in him. Just a painkiller, hun, she'd chirped at him when he questioned it. He's in a world of pain right now. The fact that he's even able to sleep right now is a miracle.

He didn't believe that for a second. Those IVs were the ones pumping painkillers and nutrients into Big Boss' system. You only needed a tiny stitch of common sense to see that. Whatever they were injecting into him had to have been a more potent sedative to keep him submissive. You could see that from the freshly bruised skin around his wrists where they had strapped him down to the bed.

The longer he looked at the older man--at the bruises, the bandages wrapped around his head where streaks of red blossomed faintly through the layers of gauze, the tubs and needles and the green blip that was Jack's heartbeat as it appeared registered on the EKG--the more Kaz found it difficult to ignore the rage simmering below his surface like lava waiting to erupt when given the chance. He never made idle threats without anything to back them up, firm believer that he was in the volume actions spoke over words, and nothing would have made him so goddamn happy right now save for the idea of finding Kadaj and his brothers, dragging them back to the warehouse, and handing them over to whoever had it out for them once he and the rest of his makeshift, lopsided little "family" had their go with them. They had taken the last visage of Big Boss' sight and left him in a crippling state that was, for a soldier, worse than death. Some way or another he intended to return the favor.

Yeah, that was a fair trade. Sooner or later, everything came full circle.

He knew that from experience.

[heavendivided]

Jack wouldn't have minded sleeping for most of the day and most of the night if it wasn't a dreamless sleep. At least in his dreams, he could still see; but like this, there was nothing but a dark, bottomless pit, just like his left eye socket felt. It wasn't the darkness that wore him down, though; it was the knowledge that it was an endless one, that light likely wouldn't return to him. Of all the senses he could lose and has lost, this was probably the most critical one - a soldier is nothing without his eyes, unable to differentiate between enemy and ally. Unable to shoot a gun.

He'd rather die than live as a cripple, because that's what he was. Jack knew that it wouldn't take long for him to go insane like this, and fire at the only target he could still make out - himself. He'd shoot himself in the head, much like Kaz's dad.

The worst torture was nothing compared to this. And here he'd thought it would be time that did him in; old age. He didn't want to be send into retirement like this; as a war cripple. He wanted to die a dignified death on the battlefield, go down in flames, and looking at it like this, he'd rather have died in the encounter with the remnants than survived it like this.

As selfish as it was. Of course, he wouldn't say that openly. He'd say that everything was going to be fine, everything would work out. Even blind people can get by, you just have to get used to it.

Bullshit. He'd tried so often to get used to another way of living.

He groaned, half-awake and struggling for consciousness. He could feel someone was staring at him, and it was bothering him. They should speak up instead of watching him as he slept.

[spawnedbywar]

Jack had been making all manner of noises over the course of the night; restless, troubled sounds that would have been accompanied by tossing and turning had it not have been for needles sticking out of his arms, the gentle but sharp pull that must have warned his unconscious mind not to put up a fight. Sometimes they were soft, barely audible unless one cared to listen. Most of the time they were loud enough to snap the younger man back to reality when his brain had started to fog over with exhaustion, pained enough for him to reach out to graze his fingers against Jack's wrist, and when that didn't still him, his shoulder. Little gestures meant to comfort even if they couldn't possibly be felt by the other, not when he was like this. He really was stuck in his own little world, but to call it that didn't even feel right. It was less of a realm and more of a mist, and to pick apart the pain from the drugs would have been impossible. Whichever it might have been, he was probably already consumed by it. He wouldn't be waking up for the rest of the night.

Maybe. It took a minute for the grunting noise to fully set in and when it did, Kaz was positive his heart had skipped a beat. No mistaking it.

"Boss?" His voice, a whisper. Not reverent or awe struck so much as it was uncertain. Standing up to move even closer to the bed, he peered down at Big Boss and forgot only for a moment that Big Boss wouldn't be able to see him. All he had were his senses to rely on as well as a vague feeling that something or someone was leaning over him, virtually nothing separating their faces from touching.

Must've been a scary feeling.

"Are you awake?"