Brothers and Sister fic: "Downpour" (3/4)
Title: Downpour
Author: Sleepykraken
Characters:Kevin and Scotty, Tommy, Justin, Olivia, and Daniel in this chapter, mentions of other Walkers.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sequel to 'When it Rains," Kevin and Scotty deal with the aftermath of bad news, a serious illness, and even more bad news.
Timeline: twenty years post season five.
Disclaimer: Just playing in the sandbox. I'll put my toys back when I've finished with them.
AN: IT'S BACK! I know, I know, I know. It's been a long time. Ironically, 90% of this was written months and months ago. I had wanted to have this be the last chapter, so I was waiting to finish the rest of the story when writer's block/real life took over. I finally realized that it was better to have it be four chapters long. In the meantime, I survived spring semester, started two awesome internships (one with an AIDS organization and the other as a field organizer for my state's major LGBT organization where I'm mobilizing support for Marriage Equality), and fell fast and hard in love for the first time. Ok, enough about me. Let's get to the story. This chapter is a little lighter than the others, but it'll get pretty dark in the next chapter.
“Morning, honey.” Alice Hamilton said as she handed her partner a cup of coffee. “How are we this morning?” She looked him over. She had been living with Tommy Walker for twelve years now, and she prided herself on her ability to know how he was with one look. He looked a little tired still, which Alice figured was to be expected less than a week after surgery.
“We are somehow still tired after ten hours of sleep, and very, very bored.” Tommy said with a smile. Suddenly a shadow crossed his face. “Kevin. I almost forgot. Any word?”
“I got a call from Justin an hour ago. He spent the night at the hospital with Scotty. Apparently Kevin had a pretty rough night, but the fever broke early this morning, and he should be on the mend.” Alice made the executive decision not to try to convey exactly how bad things had been before they got better. Justin had sounded shaken and weary over the phone, but Alice had always operated under the belief that ‘all’s well that ends well’ and figured there was no need to worry Tommy unnecessarily.
“That’s good. Really good. We’ve had too much bad stuff going on in this family the last few weeks, it’s about time things started to go well.” Alice’s stomach sank as she was forcibly reminded of the other thing Justin had told her.
“Tommy, sweetheart, something else happened last night.” She said gently.
“What happened?” He cautiously responded. Alice sighed as she thought of the best way to tell him, but there was no best way.
“Paige miscarried, last night.” Alice watched Tommy as a myriad of emotions crossed his face.
“God, that’s awful.” He said as he stood there for a long moment, trying to process the information. She watched him go through all the appropriate emotions before he seemed to settle on anger. “We can’t catch a fucking break!” He slammed his fist down on the counter. Alice jumped a little; she hadn’t seen Tommy this upset in years. She stepped closer, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him into her.
“I know, honey. I know.”
~
“Why don’t you go home, Dad?” Daniel asked. Scotty was sitting in the chair next to the bed, where he had sat more or less continuously since the day before. Daniel had arrived two hours before, and had taken up the watch next to his father.
“Yeah. You look eight different kinds of dreadful right now.” Olivia added. She had gotten there an hour later, looking more like a capable adult than Scotty had ever seen.
“I don’t want to leave him.” Scotty said quietly. Kevin had improved considerably, and his doctor was optimistic, but Scotty was loath to leave him alone.
“Daniel and I are here, Aunt Kitty’s going to be here any minute; we can hold down the fort for a few hours while you go home and shower and stuff. Dad will probably sleep right through it and won’t even know you’ve gone.” Scotty considered his daughter’s statement. She was probably right.
“Ok. I’ll be back in a couple hours.” He stood wearily. “Call me if anything changes.” He stroked his husband’s hair. “I’ll be back soon, sweetie.” He said to the sleeping form.
After he had left, Daniel and Olivia exchanged glances. “Is this what being a grown-up feels like? Because if it is, I don’t like it.” Daniel offered. Olivia smiled.
“Trust me, Danny boy, being a grown-up isn’t nearly as cool as we thought it was when we were kids.” She put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s a pretty unpleasant state of affairs most of the time.” Daniel nodded seriously, then smiled impishly at his sister.
“What did I say about calling me that?”
~
“Good morning, sunshine!” Scotty grinned down at his husband.
“It’s dark.” Kevin observed with an impressive amount of sarcasm for a man in his condition.
“True, it’s not technically morning, but you missed it, and ‘good evening, sunshine’ doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.”
“How long was I asleep?”
“I’m not sure we can call it all sleeping. You were in a bad way, m’dear.” He said it playfully, letting a hint of a southern accent show through, but there was a serious edge to his words. “To answer your question, the last time you and I had a lucid conversation was Wednesday morning, and it’s nine o’clock Thursday night now.”
“You’ve been here all this time? All by yourself?”
“Most of it, and not all alone. Sarah was here Wednesday, you weren’t quite yourself, but I told you about it afterwards. Kitty flew in from Washington just to see you, and the Senate Minority Leader doesn’t fly to the other side of the country for just anybody! Justin was here all night, and Daniel and Olivia got here this morning.”
“The kids are here?” Kevin looked around.
“I sent them home to get some sleep. They had an early morning.” Kevin got the impression that there was a euphemism in there somewhere, an attempt to shield him from the reality of how sick he had been.
“I guess if feeling as awful as I do now is improvement, then things were pretty bad.”
“You are actually much improved, but you have a long recovery in front of you. I guess you still feel pretty dreadful, right?” In lieu of a response, Kevin broke out into a perfectly timed bout of coughing.
“I guess that answers my question.” Kevin smiled weakly up at him.
“It’s too bad I missed all my visitors. I do remember Mom, she was…” His face changed as realization dawned with a crushing weight. “She’s dead. Mom’s dead.” He said, mostly to himself, as a reminder. “She was so real.”
“ A fever can do that to you.” Scotty wasn’t sure how to handle the situation. It was like watching his husband experience the grief of losing his mother all over again. Kevin was very quiet for a long moment.
“I’m tired.” He said, resigned.
“Go back to sleep, sweetie.” Scotty said, because that was all there was to say.
~
“When are you going to tell him?” Olivia asked pointedly. Scotty took a sip of his coffee and thought about the question.
“Paige wants me to wait until he’s out of here.”
“The doctor said he could go home in a couple days, are you going to tell him then?” There was a slight edge to her tone.
“Yes, I’m sure I will. What are you getting at, Olivia?” She sighed.
“It’s not going to be pretty. You and I know that. Dad’s very fragile at the moment, he’s still grieving Grandma Nora…”
“And?”
“Dad, I just want you to be ready.” She paused and looked down for a moment. “I’m worried about you.” She said quietly.
“Worried? O, I’m a big kid. I’ve got this.” He sounded more sure than he felt.
“Just…just be careful, ok? Look after yourself.”
~
“Ugh. My children come visit for three days and I barely see them because I was sleeping. For three days. And when I wasn’t sleeping I was coughing my lungs out. Seriously, is this what getting better feels like? If it is, I want to go back to being gravely ill.” Kevin shifted awkwardly in his bed in an attempt to find a confortable position. Scotty gave him an indulgent smile.
“Let’s not, shall we? I prefer you lucid and breathing, thank you very much.”
“When do I get to go home? I miss our bed.”
“Tomorrow.”
“Really?” Kevin asked hopefully.
“Yep.” Scotty grinned. They were quiet for a long moment.
“I miss sleeping next to you, waking up next to you. This hospital bed gets a little lonely.”
“If that was an attempt at initiating sexual relations, then you are sorely misinformed, Mr. Walker.” Scotty smiled. “There will be none of that until you have completely recovered.”
“It wasn’t. I don’t think that’s even possible at the moment. I would probably die halfway through.” Scotty’s face darkened, and Kevin found himself regretting his choice of words. “You know what I meant.” Kevin offered lamely. Scotty took his hand and they stayed that way in silence for a long time.
~
“Oh, it’s good to be home.” Kevin sighed as he walked through the door. It felt like a lifetime since he had been home. “Crap, stairs.” He said as he caught sight of the staircase, as if he had forgotten it was there. Just getting out the hospital and the car ride home had completely exhausted him. Even with Justin and Scotty hovering on either side he felt like he was about to collapse.
“This is where an elevator would come in handy.” Justin remarked. “I guess we’ll have to do this the old fashioned way.”
He made his way very slowly up the stairs, with his brother and his husband half helping and half carrying him. He had to pause every few steps to muster up the willpower to go on. By the time he reached the top he was exhausted beyond comprehension. He leaned into Scotty, too tired to move; quite sure that he couldn’t take another step. “Want me to…” Justin started.
“No, I got this.” Scotty responded. “Alright, Kev. Let’s do this.” He gently lifted him into his arms and carried him into their bedroom.
“Let me guess, I’m heavy, right?” He said weakly into his neck.
“Not nearly as heavy as you should be. I’m going to have to fatten you up.”
“Mmmhmm.” He responded, too tired to come up with a witty response.
It only took Scotty a few seconds to carry his husband from the top of the stairs to their bed, and he was thankful for the short distance. Even twenty pounds lighter due to illness and grief, Kevin was still heavy to carry. He let him down on the edge of the bed; Kevin pulled back the covers and crawled in. “Do you think you can stay awake long enough to eat some soup? Sarah said she brought some over.”
“No. Just want to sleep.” Kevin responded sounding like he was halfway there already.
“Ok. You do that, sweetie.” He kissed his head. Kevin’s eyes were already closed.
Five minutes later, after he had thanked Justin and seen him out, Scotty got into bed next to his husband. He curled up against him, wrapping an arm around him. He smiled quietly to himself, and slept.
Author: Sleepykraken
Characters:Kevin and Scotty, Tommy, Justin, Olivia, and Daniel in this chapter, mentions of other Walkers.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sequel to 'When it Rains," Kevin and Scotty deal with the aftermath of bad news, a serious illness, and even more bad news.
Timeline: twenty years post season five.
Disclaimer: Just playing in the sandbox. I'll put my toys back when I've finished with them.
AN: IT'S BACK! I know, I know, I know. It's been a long time. Ironically, 90% of this was written months and months ago. I had wanted to have this be the last chapter, so I was waiting to finish the rest of the story when writer's block/real life took over. I finally realized that it was better to have it be four chapters long. In the meantime, I survived spring semester, started two awesome internships (one with an AIDS organization and the other as a field organizer for my state's major LGBT organization where I'm mobilizing support for Marriage Equality), and fell fast and hard in love for the first time. Ok, enough about me. Let's get to the story. This chapter is a little lighter than the others, but it'll get pretty dark in the next chapter.
“Morning, honey.” Alice Hamilton said as she handed her partner a cup of coffee. “How are we this morning?” She looked him over. She had been living with Tommy Walker for twelve years now, and she prided herself on her ability to know how he was with one look. He looked a little tired still, which Alice figured was to be expected less than a week after surgery.
“We are somehow still tired after ten hours of sleep, and very, very bored.” Tommy said with a smile. Suddenly a shadow crossed his face. “Kevin. I almost forgot. Any word?”
“I got a call from Justin an hour ago. He spent the night at the hospital with Scotty. Apparently Kevin had a pretty rough night, but the fever broke early this morning, and he should be on the mend.” Alice made the executive decision not to try to convey exactly how bad things had been before they got better. Justin had sounded shaken and weary over the phone, but Alice had always operated under the belief that ‘all’s well that ends well’ and figured there was no need to worry Tommy unnecessarily.
“That’s good. Really good. We’ve had too much bad stuff going on in this family the last few weeks, it’s about time things started to go well.” Alice’s stomach sank as she was forcibly reminded of the other thing Justin had told her.
“Tommy, sweetheart, something else happened last night.” She said gently.
“What happened?” He cautiously responded. Alice sighed as she thought of the best way to tell him, but there was no best way.
“Paige miscarried, last night.” Alice watched Tommy as a myriad of emotions crossed his face.
“God, that’s awful.” He said as he stood there for a long moment, trying to process the information. She watched him go through all the appropriate emotions before he seemed to settle on anger. “We can’t catch a fucking break!” He slammed his fist down on the counter. Alice jumped a little; she hadn’t seen Tommy this upset in years. She stepped closer, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him into her.
“I know, honey. I know.”
~
“Why don’t you go home, Dad?” Daniel asked. Scotty was sitting in the chair next to the bed, where he had sat more or less continuously since the day before. Daniel had arrived two hours before, and had taken up the watch next to his father.
“Yeah. You look eight different kinds of dreadful right now.” Olivia added. She had gotten there an hour later, looking more like a capable adult than Scotty had ever seen.
“I don’t want to leave him.” Scotty said quietly. Kevin had improved considerably, and his doctor was optimistic, but Scotty was loath to leave him alone.
“Daniel and I are here, Aunt Kitty’s going to be here any minute; we can hold down the fort for a few hours while you go home and shower and stuff. Dad will probably sleep right through it and won’t even know you’ve gone.” Scotty considered his daughter’s statement. She was probably right.
“Ok. I’ll be back in a couple hours.” He stood wearily. “Call me if anything changes.” He stroked his husband’s hair. “I’ll be back soon, sweetie.” He said to the sleeping form.
After he had left, Daniel and Olivia exchanged glances. “Is this what being a grown-up feels like? Because if it is, I don’t like it.” Daniel offered. Olivia smiled.
“Trust me, Danny boy, being a grown-up isn’t nearly as cool as we thought it was when we were kids.” She put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s a pretty unpleasant state of affairs most of the time.” Daniel nodded seriously, then smiled impishly at his sister.
“What did I say about calling me that?”
~
“Good morning, sunshine!” Scotty grinned down at his husband.
“It’s dark.” Kevin observed with an impressive amount of sarcasm for a man in his condition.
“True, it’s not technically morning, but you missed it, and ‘good evening, sunshine’ doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.”
“How long was I asleep?”
“I’m not sure we can call it all sleeping. You were in a bad way, m’dear.” He said it playfully, letting a hint of a southern accent show through, but there was a serious edge to his words. “To answer your question, the last time you and I had a lucid conversation was Wednesday morning, and it’s nine o’clock Thursday night now.”
“You’ve been here all this time? All by yourself?”
“Most of it, and not all alone. Sarah was here Wednesday, you weren’t quite yourself, but I told you about it afterwards. Kitty flew in from Washington just to see you, and the Senate Minority Leader doesn’t fly to the other side of the country for just anybody! Justin was here all night, and Daniel and Olivia got here this morning.”
“The kids are here?” Kevin looked around.
“I sent them home to get some sleep. They had an early morning.” Kevin got the impression that there was a euphemism in there somewhere, an attempt to shield him from the reality of how sick he had been.
“I guess if feeling as awful as I do now is improvement, then things were pretty bad.”
“You are actually much improved, but you have a long recovery in front of you. I guess you still feel pretty dreadful, right?” In lieu of a response, Kevin broke out into a perfectly timed bout of coughing.
“I guess that answers my question.” Kevin smiled weakly up at him.
“It’s too bad I missed all my visitors. I do remember Mom, she was…” His face changed as realization dawned with a crushing weight. “She’s dead. Mom’s dead.” He said, mostly to himself, as a reminder. “She was so real.”
“ A fever can do that to you.” Scotty wasn’t sure how to handle the situation. It was like watching his husband experience the grief of losing his mother all over again. Kevin was very quiet for a long moment.
“I’m tired.” He said, resigned.
“Go back to sleep, sweetie.” Scotty said, because that was all there was to say.
~
“When are you going to tell him?” Olivia asked pointedly. Scotty took a sip of his coffee and thought about the question.
“Paige wants me to wait until he’s out of here.”
“The doctor said he could go home in a couple days, are you going to tell him then?” There was a slight edge to her tone.
“Yes, I’m sure I will. What are you getting at, Olivia?” She sighed.
“It’s not going to be pretty. You and I know that. Dad’s very fragile at the moment, he’s still grieving Grandma Nora…”
“And?”
“Dad, I just want you to be ready.” She paused and looked down for a moment. “I’m worried about you.” She said quietly.
“Worried? O, I’m a big kid. I’ve got this.” He sounded more sure than he felt.
“Just…just be careful, ok? Look after yourself.”
~
“Ugh. My children come visit for three days and I barely see them because I was sleeping. For three days. And when I wasn’t sleeping I was coughing my lungs out. Seriously, is this what getting better feels like? If it is, I want to go back to being gravely ill.” Kevin shifted awkwardly in his bed in an attempt to find a confortable position. Scotty gave him an indulgent smile.
“Let’s not, shall we? I prefer you lucid and breathing, thank you very much.”
“When do I get to go home? I miss our bed.”
“Tomorrow.”
“Really?” Kevin asked hopefully.
“Yep.” Scotty grinned. They were quiet for a long moment.
“I miss sleeping next to you, waking up next to you. This hospital bed gets a little lonely.”
“If that was an attempt at initiating sexual relations, then you are sorely misinformed, Mr. Walker.” Scotty smiled. “There will be none of that until you have completely recovered.”
“It wasn’t. I don’t think that’s even possible at the moment. I would probably die halfway through.” Scotty’s face darkened, and Kevin found himself regretting his choice of words. “You know what I meant.” Kevin offered lamely. Scotty took his hand and they stayed that way in silence for a long time.
~
“Oh, it’s good to be home.” Kevin sighed as he walked through the door. It felt like a lifetime since he had been home. “Crap, stairs.” He said as he caught sight of the staircase, as if he had forgotten it was there. Just getting out the hospital and the car ride home had completely exhausted him. Even with Justin and Scotty hovering on either side he felt like he was about to collapse.
“This is where an elevator would come in handy.” Justin remarked. “I guess we’ll have to do this the old fashioned way.”
He made his way very slowly up the stairs, with his brother and his husband half helping and half carrying him. He had to pause every few steps to muster up the willpower to go on. By the time he reached the top he was exhausted beyond comprehension. He leaned into Scotty, too tired to move; quite sure that he couldn’t take another step. “Want me to…” Justin started.
“No, I got this.” Scotty responded. “Alright, Kev. Let’s do this.” He gently lifted him into his arms and carried him into their bedroom.
“Let me guess, I’m heavy, right?” He said weakly into his neck.
“Not nearly as heavy as you should be. I’m going to have to fatten you up.”
“Mmmhmm.” He responded, too tired to come up with a witty response.
It only took Scotty a few seconds to carry his husband from the top of the stairs to their bed, and he was thankful for the short distance. Even twenty pounds lighter due to illness and grief, Kevin was still heavy to carry. He let him down on the edge of the bed; Kevin pulled back the covers and crawled in. “Do you think you can stay awake long enough to eat some soup? Sarah said she brought some over.”
“No. Just want to sleep.” Kevin responded sounding like he was halfway there already.
“Ok. You do that, sweetie.” He kissed his head. Kevin’s eyes were already closed.
Five minutes later, after he had thanked Justin and seen him out, Scotty got into bed next to his husband. He curled up against him, wrapping an arm around him. He smiled quietly to himself, and slept.