R.E.D. Slash fanfic - Close Call
Title: Close Call
Fandom: R.E.D.
Pairing: Frank Moses/William Cooper
Author: Nanuk Dain
e-mail: nanukdain@gmx.net
Rating: PG-16
Warnings: angst, h/c, established relationship
Word count: approx. 4.700
Series: Belonging Part 3
Disclaimer: Had it been mine, the movie would have turned out to contain some juicy Frank/Cooper scenes. Since there weren't any, it's obviously not mine. Pity, though.
Comment: This story is a bit dark, but I hope you'll like it anyway! It's unbeta'd again, sue me! XD The translation for the French bits I used in the story can be found at the end of the page.
Summary: Frank gets a call that makes him leave the United States in a hurry. For France.
*********
It was about noon when Frank heard the ring of a mobile he didn't use very often. It was tugged away in the bottom drawer of his bedside table and the ringing was muted due to the papers that had collected on top of it. He opened the drawer and took the small mobile out, frowning at the number on the display. It had a foreign country code and his curiosity made him pick up.
“Hallo?”
“Mister Paul Abraham?” a heavily accented female voice asked, obviously French. The use of this old fake identity made Frank's frown deepen.
“Yes, that's me.”
“My name is Martine Moulin and I am a nurse at the Édouard Herriot Hospital in Lyon in France.” the voice continued. “Today, we got a patient here by the name of William Moses who carried a card that said you were his emergency contact.”
Frank felt as if a semi had hit him square in the face, the air was pressed out of his lungs and he could only marginally appreciate William's choice of alias. There was only one question in his mind and he spoke before even thinking about it. “Is he all right?”
His shock must have shown in his voice, because the formal voice of the nurse took on a friendly but compassionate tone. “He is in an artificial coma at moment, but he will wake up within the next twenty-four hours.”
“Artificial coma?” Frank felt even more as if the rug was pulled from under his feet. Of course there'd been injuries on both of their sides over the time, but an artificial coma was more than a little injury. “What happened?”
“He was in a severe car accident.” Martine said and Frank suppressed a snort. As if it had been an accident. “The driver of the other car died last night in surgery.”
“How did the accident happen?”
“I am sorry, monsieur, I don't know.” she replied and she sounded sincere. “I can only tell you what the paramedics reported about the cause of the injuries.”
“What are his injuries?” Frank forced himself to ask. On the one hand he needed to know, on the other he didn't want to hear it.
“They said that he was very lucky to drive a good car.” Martine began. “He has an intracranial injury due to the impact with the air bag and he was unconscious when he was brought here. Furthermore, he has multiple contusions and bruises and a few deep cuts from the crash and his left arm was caught between the door and the wheel and was broken twice. He was lucky not to have any severe internal injuries at the amount of damage that was inflicted to the car, the paramedics said.”
Frank tried to stay rational and think this through, take the information and analyse it. He knew the worst was the 'intracranial injury', another way to say concussion. But it must have been worse than a simple concussion if William had been unconscious at the arrival at the hospital and they'd decided to put him in an artificial coma, even if only for a day. There was no question for him what he would do next.
“What hospital did you say again?” Frank asked and grabbed a pen and a piece of paper. He asked her a few more questions and began packing as soon as he'd put down the phone.
***
“You're not going alone, Francis. End of discussion.” Victoria said, her voice firm and serious and Frank just knew there was no way of her changing her mind. “Now, let us get to our flight.”
She stood next to him at the check-in, a small bag to her feet. Frank mused that it might have been a mistake to ask Sarah to book him a flight. Of course she wouldn't let him go alone, so she'd just booked another ticket for whom she esteemed best to deal with the situation: Victoria. They'd done a quick intel gathering and analysing based on the information Frank had gotten from the nurse and everything seemed real. There had indeed been an accident with a William Moses and a Henri Beauchamps involved, the first lay in coma, the latter was reported to have died in surgery. They had checked out every possible trace of a trap but hadn't found any. Still, it paid to be prepared, and Victoria had decided to come along.
The flight to Paris was long and uneventful. Frank didn't feel like talking, his mind going in circles about William's condition and his worry didn't even stop when he fell asleep on the train from Paris to Lyon. Victoria didn't try to talk to him, either because she was aware of the turmoil in his mind or because she was worried herself.
It was ten pm when they finally arrived at the hospital. Frank didn't bother with the reception desk in the entrance hall, he went straight to the station where Martine had told him William was lying. There was another desk and Frank only stopped this time because he needed to find out the room number.
“I am here for William Moses.” Frank told the young nurse at the desk in fluent French and she looked up from her magazine, her expression bored.
“I am sorry, Monsieur, it's way past the visiting hours. Come back in the morning at the regular times.” she just said and turned back to her magazine.
“I am not leaving until I've seen him.” Frank growled and the nurse's head jerked up at the unveiled threatening tone in his voice. “I spent the past day travelling over from the United States, so don't you dare telling me to wait until tomorrow.”
The nurse actually looked scared, but before she could react in any way, a familiar voice asked in accented English, “Mister Abraham?”
Frank looked up and found a middle-aged woman in the hallway, approaching them with a quizzical expression on her face. “Are you Martine Moulin?”
“Oui, Monsieur, I am.” she replied and walked over to him. “How did you get here so quickly?”
Frank shrugged and took up on her offer to speak English. “I took the first flight available.”
Martine nodded with a tiny smile and addressed the young nurse behind the desk who still looked as if she wanted to faint. “C'est bon, Amélie. Je m'en occupe.”
She turned back to Frank and Victoria. “Follow me. I'll bring you to Mister Moses' room.”
“How is he?” Victoria asked and walked next to Frank.
“He has woken up from the coma a few hours ago, but it was only for a very short time and he is asleep now.” Martine replied and led them to a door at the end of the hallway. “Do not try to wake him, he needs rest.”
Frank took a relieved breath when he heard Will had woken, he had been scared the whole time since Martine's call that William might not regain conscious at all. He had refused to think about what that would mean for him, because he feared he might not find a way back if he took even one step towards that train of thoughts. Life without William was not an option, and he had found out in the past day just how much the thought of losing Will scared him. It had never been that close a call before, there'd always only been injuries that were painful, but never ones threatened to be fatal. Of course he'd been aware of the very real possibility that one of them might not make it out of a mission alive one day, but he had never truly realised what that meant until he'd gotten Martine's call.
“I can give you fifteen minutes.” Martine informed them when she opened the door. “He needs to rest, don't forget that.”
Frank nodded and entered the room as soon as the door was open wide enough for him to get through. His eyes searched the room, finding it to be a single one with a window and a TV and an en suite bathroom. Frank felt his heart stop when he saw William in the stark white hospital bed, his face nearly as pale as the sheets. His left arm was covered in a cast, part of his head was wrapped in gauze with his hair sticking up wildly from under it and there were several bandages visible on his face and arms where his body wasn't covered with the blanket. There were IVs in both of his hands and he was attached to multiple monitors, but at least there was no sign of a respiratory machine.
He looked small and vulnerable and Frank felt fear take hold of him again. He'd never seen William like this, so unmoving, so still, so much as if he was already dead. Frank took a deep breath and slowly approached the bed, eyes never leaving the pale face. There was a small bandage over his nose where it had obviously been broken in the impact with the air bag. Frank couldn't stop his hand from rising and carefully caressing William's cheek where there was no broken skin. He swallowed and stared at Will for a few seconds, then he bend over and pressed a gentle kiss on his forehead.
“Gosh, Will, what are you doing?” Frank breathed against his skin so quietly that nobody could hear it and pressed his eyes shut against the tears he could feel stinging. “You're scaring me, here.”
William didn't react at all, he just lay there unmoving, deadly silent. It was more than Frank could take and he had to look away for a moment to regain at least a resemblance of control over his feelings. He wasn't used to having to deal with such intense emotions, there had been a reason he'd never allowed anybody to come that close to him before. This was the risk you took when getting involved with somebody, and if that somebody was an agent, it was even worse.
Frank looked around and found a chair standing against the far wall. He walked over and carried it next to Will's bed, then he sat down and reached out to gently push his hand under William's uninjured one, careful not to upset the IV in the back of his hand. He closed his fingers around the cool skin and let his thumb draw little circles on Will's knuckles.
William had been hurt in the line of duty, he had certainly been in France on a job. What pained Frank most was the feeling that he hadn't been there to have Will's back, even though he knew the guilt he felt was unreasonable and unfounded. William had a life and a job of his own and Frank couldn't be always with him. This had been a job no different from any other Will took every day, there was always the risk of something going wrong and it wasn't Frank's place to prevent that from happening. Not that anybody could. The knowledge didn't lessen the guilt at all, though.
Frank let his gaze wander over the pale face and swallowed hard against the lump in his throat. Seeing William like this reminded him of the very real possibility of Will's condition changing for the worse. And there was nothing Frank could do, he had absolutely no influence on Will's recovery, he could only sit here and wait and hope. It was the helplessness that tore him up the most.
“Don't you dare leaving me.” he growled under his breath, but he himself could hear that he sounded more desperate than threatening.
William didn't react.
Frank remained sitting in the rather uncomfortable chair and held on his hand. Just feeling Will's skin slowly warm under his touch was enough to make Frank keep up hope. In a case of intracranial injury, it was impossible to say if there was any permanent damage before the patient hadn't regained conscious for at least a few hours. Will hadn't even been awake long enough to answer any questions, so there way no way of telling if he was all right or not. Frank clung to the possibility that he was fine.
Frank turned when he heard the door open after a while and he expected to find Martine coming in to tell him it was time to leave. Instead, he saw Victoria entering the room, and it was only then that he noticed she hadn't been in the room with him. She came over to where he sat in the chair next to Will's bed and put a hand on his shoulder in a soothing touch.
“I'm going to find us a hotel room somewhere close by.” Victoria said quietly. “I talked with the nurses, and it's all right for you to stay if you let him rest.”
Frank looked up in astonishment. He knew very well how immovable nurses were about such things as unauthorised visits, and he had already outstretched his welcome by threatening the young nurse at the desk. “How did you manage that?”
“I have my ways.” She smiled secretively and kissed his cheek. “I'll return in the morning.”
Frank just stared after her when she left the room and thought this was probably the moment he loved her most. She just always knew what to do. Maybe he should thank Sarah for sending her along when he returned.
***
Victoria left the lift at the fourth floor and passed the reception desk with a smile on her lips. In perfect French, she greeted the nurse who had taken over for Amélie and exchanged some friendly, meaningless chatter with her before she walked over to William's room. It always paid to have the nurses on your side. She had learned that the hard way.
When she opened the door, she found Francis sitting in the chair next to the bed, right where she had left him the previous evening. His hand was holding William's in a tender but firm grip and he looked rumpled and worn, as if he hadn't gotten any sleep at all. Which he probably hadn't.
“Good morning, Francis.” Victoria greeted him and put the two paper cups she had bought on the table under the TV. She removed her jacket and hung it over the second chair, then she brought the cups over and held one out for Francis. “Coffee, black and strong.”
Francis looked up and took the cup with his free hand, not letting go of William for even a moment. “Thanks.”
“How is he?” Victoria asked and took a sip of her café au lait. It always tasted the best in France.
Francis looked over at William's ghostly pale face and took a deep breath. “He hasn't moved once since we arrived.”
“Has the doctor been in here yet?”
“Yeah. He said it has only been two days since the crash and that the only thing we can do is to wait for him to wake up on his own.” Francis replied and his voice was dull with what sounded too much like resignation. It worried Victoria deeply, she had never heard him sound like that.
“What if he doesn't, Victoria?” Francis asked in a voice that was so quiet she barely heard him. “What if there is any permanent damage?”
Those were the questions she had asked herself over and over again and she hadn't found an answer yet. She knew how much William meant to Francis, it was so obvious, even though he thought he hid it well. Ever since that incident with the truth serum, Francis radiated contentment, he smiled more often and he glowed from the inside when he was in the same room with the agent. He was happy, something Victoria had never been sure would happen. Losing William was not an option.
Knowing there was nothing she could say, Victoria put her coffee back on the table and stepped behind the chair to wrap her arms around Francis in a comforting embrace. He sighed heavily, closed his eyes in pain and leaned against her. “I don't know if I can deal with that.”
“He is strong, Francis.” Victoria said confidently, because she knew she was right. “He has the strength to recover.”
“Yeah.” Francis replied, but he didn't sound entirely convinced. She knew he wanted to believe but didn't dare. Victoria watched Francis' hand which was wrapped around William's and drew gentle patterns on his skin. She had never seen him so lost.
It was important for William to wake up and recover, she thought. Because if he didn't, she doubted Francis would find a way back into life.
***
The light was dim, but it still hurt his eyes, so he let them fall shut again. The smell told him he was in a hospital, and it was only then that he remembered the car crash. These vague memories of doctors and nurses and pain and questions hadn't been a dream, then. He felt as if he was flying above his own body and he knew that feeling, it came from being on the really strong painkillers. He'd had that before. More than once, actually.
But there was something else, something besides the faint pain and the painkillers, that registered with his brain. Somebody was touching him, there was a hand keeping a firm but gentle hold on his. It was enough to make him open his eyes again, slower this time, blinking until he got used to the light. He remembered enough to know that there shouldn't be anybody with him, and the suspicion that was part of his agent nature made warning bells ring in his head. He forced his head to turn to the right, slowly though, because the movement hurt despite the painkillers. Nothing could have prepared him for the sight that greeted him, and he took a sharp breath.
Frank was sitting in an uncomfortable looking chair, his head had lolled to one side in a way that indicated he had fallen asleep. He looked tired even in sleep, but the grip of his hand on Will's was firm and hadn't loosened at all. Cooper's reaction was dulled by the strong painkillers, but he felt his heart quicken and his hand involuntarily tightened around Frank's. What was he doing here? How had he learned of the crash, and how had he found out where Cooper was?
Frank reacted instantly to the tightening of Cooper's hand, his eyes flashed open and his gaze immediately focussed on Cooper's face. He sat still for a few seconds and Cooper had never seen so much honest, raw emotion flicker over Frank's face. After a moment that he seemed to need to gather his wits, a silent smile spread over Frank's face that spoke of such deep relief that Cooper felt his insides melt.
“I'm glad to see you awake.” Frank said quietly and Cooper felt his thumb caress the back of his hand in slow circles. Cooper wanted to say something, there was so much he wanted to ask Frank, but he felt the darkness around the edges of his vision and exhaustion took over his body. Then he felt Frank's lips touch his forehead in a soothing, gentle kiss.
“Shhhh, you're safe.” He heard Frank's rough voice and it calmed him more that any tranquilliser could have. “Rest, Will. I'll protect you.”
He managed to nod, then he allowed sleep to take over.
It was light when Cooper opened his eyes again, and he had to blink a few times against the brightness. He felt a dull pain in his arm and in his head and just generally everywhere in his body. His throat was rough and dry and he would have killed for any kind of fluid.
“Do you want some water, dear?” he heard a gentle voice ask and he turned his face towards the source of the sound. Victoria was just rising from the chair she'd been sitting in, and reached for a glass of water that stood on the small table next to the bed. Cooper could only nod and she pushed a hand under his head and held the glass for him. The water felt like heaven on earth and Cooper had to force himself not to drink too much. He knew from personal experience what would happen if he did.
“Thank you.” he said and was surprised how rough and unused his voice sounded.
Victoria just nodded with a smile. “You're welcome, dear.”
When she had let him settle back down on the pillow and had returned to her chair, Cooper frowned. “Where is Frank? I didn't dream that he was here, did I?”
“No, you didn't dream that.” Victoria chuckled. “I had to force him to go to the hotel room, take a shower and sleep for a few hours. He was about to fall over with exhaustion.”
“Thank you for taking care of him.” Cooper said, voice still raspy, and then he chuckled. “And me, for that matter.”
Victoria just smiled at him, an honest, warm smile.“You're welcome, William.”
He returned it and felt fatigue wash over him again. With the feeling of being safe, he let himself fall into it.
***
When Frank returned to the hospital, it was evening. The nurses on William's station greeted him with his alias name and he returned every single greeting, noticing that he knew all their names, too. It was the eighth day he spent at the hospital, and the nurses had grown accustomed to his presence. Even Amélie didn't try to hide anymore when he passed her station after Victoria had forced him to bring her chocolate as an excuse for his bad behaviour that first evening.
When he opened the door to William's room, he found him asleep. Victoria sat in the chair next to the bed, a book in her hand and her reading glasses on her nose. She looked up when Frank came in and greeted him with a smile.
“He woke up some hours ago and asked for you.” she said and marked the page of her book before closing it. “He seemed clear and spoke coherently, so I think there is no need to worry.”
Frank breathed out in relief. “That's good to hear.”
“I thought you might like the news.” Victoria replied with a warm smile. “I told you that he's strong, Francis.”
“I know, I know, I should listen to you more often.” Frank sighed in theatrical exasperation and felt the weight on his shoulders grow lighter for the first time in over a week. He even returned the smile.
“Yes, indeed, you should.” She got up and pointed at the chair. “Now sit down and take over my place so I can find us something decent to eat.”
“All right, all right.” He grinned and sat down, taking Will's hand in his without even noticing it. “I don't want you to faint from hunger.”
“I haven't eaten since lunch, so don't you mock me.” she huffed and put on her jacket. “Any special wishes?”
“Nah, I don't really care.” Frank replied and leaned back in the chair he'd already gotten so used to that he didn't even notice anymore how uncomfortable the thing was.
“I'll be back soon.” Victoria said and left the room with a wave of her hand. Frank was looking at William again and thought about what Victoria had told him. Will had asked for him. Which meant he remembered that short moment when he'd woken up on the fourth day. Frank had been slightly worried at the amount of time Will spent asleep, but the doctors had assured him that it was normal for this kind of injury. Still, knowing that Will had woken and talked to Victoria reassured him far more than anything the doctors had said.
Frank reached for the book Victoria had been reading when he'd come in and scanned the summary. It was some kind of political thriller with a lot of scheming and murders and dark secrets. He shook his head. One would think she'd seen and lived enough of that in real life not to spend her free time reading about such things. Because he had nothing better to do, Frank opened the first page and began skimming the text. He was at page thirty-four when he heard William's voice for the first time in ages.
“Frank?” It was rough from all the time it hadn't been used, but it was the most beautiful sound Frank had ever heard. He set down the book immediately and when he looked up, he found William's gaze focussed on him. He couldn't help the relieved smile he felt spread over his face.
“Hello, sleepy-head.” Frank said quietly and slid closer to the bed, his hand gently caressing Will's skin. “Water?”
William nodded and Frank reached for the glass on the side table and helped him to drink a few gulps. “How long was I out?”
Frank put the glass back and let his fingers stroke over the skin of Will's face. “Eight days. You were in an artificial coma for a day. The rest was only healing sleep, though.”
Will nodded, then he licked his dry lips and asked, “Why are you here?”
Frank huffed out an unbelieving laugh. “How could I not be?”
“No...” William made a gesture with his right hand which indicated that that wasn't what he'd meant. “How did you know?”
“Paul Abraham is listed as your emergency contact on a card in your wallet.” Frank said with a raised eyebrow. He was well aware William had to carry that card on purpose. There were only very few people who still knew about that old Paul Abraham alias and the corresponding contact number, and Will was one of them.
“They called you.” William realised with a frown on his face.
“Yeah, they did.” Frank reached for the glass. “More water?”
“Please.” He gladly drank from the glass when it was offered and when he lay back on the pillow, he already looked tired again. He seemed insecure when his eyes found Frank's and his voice was very quiet when he asked, “Will you stay?”
Frank held his gaze, then he got out of the chair and leaned over Will, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “Yeah, Will. I'll stay.”
“Thank you.” he heard William's almost silent reply and felt his breath warm against his lips.
“As if I could ever leave.” Frank mumbled and pressed his lips against the skin of William's cheek. “I can't lose you, you understand?”
“Frank?” William's voice sounded worried and a bit confused and his right hand slid around Frank's neck. “Are you okay?”
“No.” Frank had answered before he could stop the words. He felt the tears sting behind his eyes, the same tears he'd held back ever since he'd seen William in the hospital bed. He buried his face against Will's cheek and bit his lip to keep his emotions in check. “Don't ever do that to me again, Will.”
He felt the hand in his neck stroke his skin reassuringly and William nodded against his cheek.
“This feeling,” Frank went on and heard his voice almost break, “It's almost indescribable. Remember?”
For a second, William's hand stilled, then it took up its caress and Frank felt a soft kiss being pressed to his temple.
“Yes, I remember.”
*** The End
French-English Translation:
C'est bon, Amélie. Je m'en occupe. - It's all right, Amélie. I'll take care of it.
Fandom: R.E.D.
Pairing: Frank Moses/William Cooper
Author: Nanuk Dain
e-mail: nanukdain@gmx.net
Rating: PG-16
Warnings: angst, h/c, established relationship
Word count: approx. 4.700
Series: Belonging Part 3
Disclaimer: Had it been mine, the movie would have turned out to contain some juicy Frank/Cooper scenes. Since there weren't any, it's obviously not mine. Pity, though.
Comment: This story is a bit dark, but I hope you'll like it anyway! It's unbeta'd again, sue me! XD The translation for the French bits I used in the story can be found at the end of the page.
Summary: Frank gets a call that makes him leave the United States in a hurry. For France.
*********
It was about noon when Frank heard the ring of a mobile he didn't use very often. It was tugged away in the bottom drawer of his bedside table and the ringing was muted due to the papers that had collected on top of it. He opened the drawer and took the small mobile out, frowning at the number on the display. It had a foreign country code and his curiosity made him pick up.
“Hallo?”
“Mister Paul Abraham?” a heavily accented female voice asked, obviously French. The use of this old fake identity made Frank's frown deepen.
“Yes, that's me.”
“My name is Martine Moulin and I am a nurse at the Édouard Herriot Hospital in Lyon in France.” the voice continued. “Today, we got a patient here by the name of William Moses who carried a card that said you were his emergency contact.”
Frank felt as if a semi had hit him square in the face, the air was pressed out of his lungs and he could only marginally appreciate William's choice of alias. There was only one question in his mind and he spoke before even thinking about it. “Is he all right?”
His shock must have shown in his voice, because the formal voice of the nurse took on a friendly but compassionate tone. “He is in an artificial coma at moment, but he will wake up within the next twenty-four hours.”
“Artificial coma?” Frank felt even more as if the rug was pulled from under his feet. Of course there'd been injuries on both of their sides over the time, but an artificial coma was more than a little injury. “What happened?”
“He was in a severe car accident.” Martine said and Frank suppressed a snort. As if it had been an accident. “The driver of the other car died last night in surgery.”
“How did the accident happen?”
“I am sorry, monsieur, I don't know.” she replied and she sounded sincere. “I can only tell you what the paramedics reported about the cause of the injuries.”
“What are his injuries?” Frank forced himself to ask. On the one hand he needed to know, on the other he didn't want to hear it.
“They said that he was very lucky to drive a good car.” Martine began. “He has an intracranial injury due to the impact with the air bag and he was unconscious when he was brought here. Furthermore, he has multiple contusions and bruises and a few deep cuts from the crash and his left arm was caught between the door and the wheel and was broken twice. He was lucky not to have any severe internal injuries at the amount of damage that was inflicted to the car, the paramedics said.”
Frank tried to stay rational and think this through, take the information and analyse it. He knew the worst was the 'intracranial injury', another way to say concussion. But it must have been worse than a simple concussion if William had been unconscious at the arrival at the hospital and they'd decided to put him in an artificial coma, even if only for a day. There was no question for him what he would do next.
“What hospital did you say again?” Frank asked and grabbed a pen and a piece of paper. He asked her a few more questions and began packing as soon as he'd put down the phone.
***
“You're not going alone, Francis. End of discussion.” Victoria said, her voice firm and serious and Frank just knew there was no way of her changing her mind. “Now, let us get to our flight.”
She stood next to him at the check-in, a small bag to her feet. Frank mused that it might have been a mistake to ask Sarah to book him a flight. Of course she wouldn't let him go alone, so she'd just booked another ticket for whom she esteemed best to deal with the situation: Victoria. They'd done a quick intel gathering and analysing based on the information Frank had gotten from the nurse and everything seemed real. There had indeed been an accident with a William Moses and a Henri Beauchamps involved, the first lay in coma, the latter was reported to have died in surgery. They had checked out every possible trace of a trap but hadn't found any. Still, it paid to be prepared, and Victoria had decided to come along.
The flight to Paris was long and uneventful. Frank didn't feel like talking, his mind going in circles about William's condition and his worry didn't even stop when he fell asleep on the train from Paris to Lyon. Victoria didn't try to talk to him, either because she was aware of the turmoil in his mind or because she was worried herself.
It was ten pm when they finally arrived at the hospital. Frank didn't bother with the reception desk in the entrance hall, he went straight to the station where Martine had told him William was lying. There was another desk and Frank only stopped this time because he needed to find out the room number.
“I am here for William Moses.” Frank told the young nurse at the desk in fluent French and she looked up from her magazine, her expression bored.
“I am sorry, Monsieur, it's way past the visiting hours. Come back in the morning at the regular times.” she just said and turned back to her magazine.
“I am not leaving until I've seen him.” Frank growled and the nurse's head jerked up at the unveiled threatening tone in his voice. “I spent the past day travelling over from the United States, so don't you dare telling me to wait until tomorrow.”
The nurse actually looked scared, but before she could react in any way, a familiar voice asked in accented English, “Mister Abraham?”
Frank looked up and found a middle-aged woman in the hallway, approaching them with a quizzical expression on her face. “Are you Martine Moulin?”
“Oui, Monsieur, I am.” she replied and walked over to him. “How did you get here so quickly?”
Frank shrugged and took up on her offer to speak English. “I took the first flight available.”
Martine nodded with a tiny smile and addressed the young nurse behind the desk who still looked as if she wanted to faint. “C'est bon, Amélie. Je m'en occupe.”
She turned back to Frank and Victoria. “Follow me. I'll bring you to Mister Moses' room.”
“How is he?” Victoria asked and walked next to Frank.
“He has woken up from the coma a few hours ago, but it was only for a very short time and he is asleep now.” Martine replied and led them to a door at the end of the hallway. “Do not try to wake him, he needs rest.”
Frank took a relieved breath when he heard Will had woken, he had been scared the whole time since Martine's call that William might not regain conscious at all. He had refused to think about what that would mean for him, because he feared he might not find a way back if he took even one step towards that train of thoughts. Life without William was not an option, and he had found out in the past day just how much the thought of losing Will scared him. It had never been that close a call before, there'd always only been injuries that were painful, but never ones threatened to be fatal. Of course he'd been aware of the very real possibility that one of them might not make it out of a mission alive one day, but he had never truly realised what that meant until he'd gotten Martine's call.
“I can give you fifteen minutes.” Martine informed them when she opened the door. “He needs to rest, don't forget that.”
Frank nodded and entered the room as soon as the door was open wide enough for him to get through. His eyes searched the room, finding it to be a single one with a window and a TV and an en suite bathroom. Frank felt his heart stop when he saw William in the stark white hospital bed, his face nearly as pale as the sheets. His left arm was covered in a cast, part of his head was wrapped in gauze with his hair sticking up wildly from under it and there were several bandages visible on his face and arms where his body wasn't covered with the blanket. There were IVs in both of his hands and he was attached to multiple monitors, but at least there was no sign of a respiratory machine.
He looked small and vulnerable and Frank felt fear take hold of him again. He'd never seen William like this, so unmoving, so still, so much as if he was already dead. Frank took a deep breath and slowly approached the bed, eyes never leaving the pale face. There was a small bandage over his nose where it had obviously been broken in the impact with the air bag. Frank couldn't stop his hand from rising and carefully caressing William's cheek where there was no broken skin. He swallowed and stared at Will for a few seconds, then he bend over and pressed a gentle kiss on his forehead.
“Gosh, Will, what are you doing?” Frank breathed against his skin so quietly that nobody could hear it and pressed his eyes shut against the tears he could feel stinging. “You're scaring me, here.”
William didn't react at all, he just lay there unmoving, deadly silent. It was more than Frank could take and he had to look away for a moment to regain at least a resemblance of control over his feelings. He wasn't used to having to deal with such intense emotions, there had been a reason he'd never allowed anybody to come that close to him before. This was the risk you took when getting involved with somebody, and if that somebody was an agent, it was even worse.
Frank looked around and found a chair standing against the far wall. He walked over and carried it next to Will's bed, then he sat down and reached out to gently push his hand under William's uninjured one, careful not to upset the IV in the back of his hand. He closed his fingers around the cool skin and let his thumb draw little circles on Will's knuckles.
William had been hurt in the line of duty, he had certainly been in France on a job. What pained Frank most was the feeling that he hadn't been there to have Will's back, even though he knew the guilt he felt was unreasonable and unfounded. William had a life and a job of his own and Frank couldn't be always with him. This had been a job no different from any other Will took every day, there was always the risk of something going wrong and it wasn't Frank's place to prevent that from happening. Not that anybody could. The knowledge didn't lessen the guilt at all, though.
Frank let his gaze wander over the pale face and swallowed hard against the lump in his throat. Seeing William like this reminded him of the very real possibility of Will's condition changing for the worse. And there was nothing Frank could do, he had absolutely no influence on Will's recovery, he could only sit here and wait and hope. It was the helplessness that tore him up the most.
“Don't you dare leaving me.” he growled under his breath, but he himself could hear that he sounded more desperate than threatening.
William didn't react.
Frank remained sitting in the rather uncomfortable chair and held on his hand. Just feeling Will's skin slowly warm under his touch was enough to make Frank keep up hope. In a case of intracranial injury, it was impossible to say if there was any permanent damage before the patient hadn't regained conscious for at least a few hours. Will hadn't even been awake long enough to answer any questions, so there way no way of telling if he was all right or not. Frank clung to the possibility that he was fine.
Frank turned when he heard the door open after a while and he expected to find Martine coming in to tell him it was time to leave. Instead, he saw Victoria entering the room, and it was only then that he noticed she hadn't been in the room with him. She came over to where he sat in the chair next to Will's bed and put a hand on his shoulder in a soothing touch.
“I'm going to find us a hotel room somewhere close by.” Victoria said quietly. “I talked with the nurses, and it's all right for you to stay if you let him rest.”
Frank looked up in astonishment. He knew very well how immovable nurses were about such things as unauthorised visits, and he had already outstretched his welcome by threatening the young nurse at the desk. “How did you manage that?”
“I have my ways.” She smiled secretively and kissed his cheek. “I'll return in the morning.”
Frank just stared after her when she left the room and thought this was probably the moment he loved her most. She just always knew what to do. Maybe he should thank Sarah for sending her along when he returned.
***
Victoria left the lift at the fourth floor and passed the reception desk with a smile on her lips. In perfect French, she greeted the nurse who had taken over for Amélie and exchanged some friendly, meaningless chatter with her before she walked over to William's room. It always paid to have the nurses on your side. She had learned that the hard way.
When she opened the door, she found Francis sitting in the chair next to the bed, right where she had left him the previous evening. His hand was holding William's in a tender but firm grip and he looked rumpled and worn, as if he hadn't gotten any sleep at all. Which he probably hadn't.
“Good morning, Francis.” Victoria greeted him and put the two paper cups she had bought on the table under the TV. She removed her jacket and hung it over the second chair, then she brought the cups over and held one out for Francis. “Coffee, black and strong.”
Francis looked up and took the cup with his free hand, not letting go of William for even a moment. “Thanks.”
“How is he?” Victoria asked and took a sip of her café au lait. It always tasted the best in France.
Francis looked over at William's ghostly pale face and took a deep breath. “He hasn't moved once since we arrived.”
“Has the doctor been in here yet?”
“Yeah. He said it has only been two days since the crash and that the only thing we can do is to wait for him to wake up on his own.” Francis replied and his voice was dull with what sounded too much like resignation. It worried Victoria deeply, she had never heard him sound like that.
“What if he doesn't, Victoria?” Francis asked in a voice that was so quiet she barely heard him. “What if there is any permanent damage?”
Those were the questions she had asked herself over and over again and she hadn't found an answer yet. She knew how much William meant to Francis, it was so obvious, even though he thought he hid it well. Ever since that incident with the truth serum, Francis radiated contentment, he smiled more often and he glowed from the inside when he was in the same room with the agent. He was happy, something Victoria had never been sure would happen. Losing William was not an option.
Knowing there was nothing she could say, Victoria put her coffee back on the table and stepped behind the chair to wrap her arms around Francis in a comforting embrace. He sighed heavily, closed his eyes in pain and leaned against her. “I don't know if I can deal with that.”
“He is strong, Francis.” Victoria said confidently, because she knew she was right. “He has the strength to recover.”
“Yeah.” Francis replied, but he didn't sound entirely convinced. She knew he wanted to believe but didn't dare. Victoria watched Francis' hand which was wrapped around William's and drew gentle patterns on his skin. She had never seen him so lost.
It was important for William to wake up and recover, she thought. Because if he didn't, she doubted Francis would find a way back into life.
***
The light was dim, but it still hurt his eyes, so he let them fall shut again. The smell told him he was in a hospital, and it was only then that he remembered the car crash. These vague memories of doctors and nurses and pain and questions hadn't been a dream, then. He felt as if he was flying above his own body and he knew that feeling, it came from being on the really strong painkillers. He'd had that before. More than once, actually.
But there was something else, something besides the faint pain and the painkillers, that registered with his brain. Somebody was touching him, there was a hand keeping a firm but gentle hold on his. It was enough to make him open his eyes again, slower this time, blinking until he got used to the light. He remembered enough to know that there shouldn't be anybody with him, and the suspicion that was part of his agent nature made warning bells ring in his head. He forced his head to turn to the right, slowly though, because the movement hurt despite the painkillers. Nothing could have prepared him for the sight that greeted him, and he took a sharp breath.
Frank was sitting in an uncomfortable looking chair, his head had lolled to one side in a way that indicated he had fallen asleep. He looked tired even in sleep, but the grip of his hand on Will's was firm and hadn't loosened at all. Cooper's reaction was dulled by the strong painkillers, but he felt his heart quicken and his hand involuntarily tightened around Frank's. What was he doing here? How had he learned of the crash, and how had he found out where Cooper was?
Frank reacted instantly to the tightening of Cooper's hand, his eyes flashed open and his gaze immediately focussed on Cooper's face. He sat still for a few seconds and Cooper had never seen so much honest, raw emotion flicker over Frank's face. After a moment that he seemed to need to gather his wits, a silent smile spread over Frank's face that spoke of such deep relief that Cooper felt his insides melt.
“I'm glad to see you awake.” Frank said quietly and Cooper felt his thumb caress the back of his hand in slow circles. Cooper wanted to say something, there was so much he wanted to ask Frank, but he felt the darkness around the edges of his vision and exhaustion took over his body. Then he felt Frank's lips touch his forehead in a soothing, gentle kiss.
“Shhhh, you're safe.” He heard Frank's rough voice and it calmed him more that any tranquilliser could have. “Rest, Will. I'll protect you.”
He managed to nod, then he allowed sleep to take over.
It was light when Cooper opened his eyes again, and he had to blink a few times against the brightness. He felt a dull pain in his arm and in his head and just generally everywhere in his body. His throat was rough and dry and he would have killed for any kind of fluid.
“Do you want some water, dear?” he heard a gentle voice ask and he turned his face towards the source of the sound. Victoria was just rising from the chair she'd been sitting in, and reached for a glass of water that stood on the small table next to the bed. Cooper could only nod and she pushed a hand under his head and held the glass for him. The water felt like heaven on earth and Cooper had to force himself not to drink too much. He knew from personal experience what would happen if he did.
“Thank you.” he said and was surprised how rough and unused his voice sounded.
Victoria just nodded with a smile. “You're welcome, dear.”
When she had let him settle back down on the pillow and had returned to her chair, Cooper frowned. “Where is Frank? I didn't dream that he was here, did I?”
“No, you didn't dream that.” Victoria chuckled. “I had to force him to go to the hotel room, take a shower and sleep for a few hours. He was about to fall over with exhaustion.”
“Thank you for taking care of him.” Cooper said, voice still raspy, and then he chuckled. “And me, for that matter.”
Victoria just smiled at him, an honest, warm smile.“You're welcome, William.”
He returned it and felt fatigue wash over him again. With the feeling of being safe, he let himself fall into it.
***
When Frank returned to the hospital, it was evening. The nurses on William's station greeted him with his alias name and he returned every single greeting, noticing that he knew all their names, too. It was the eighth day he spent at the hospital, and the nurses had grown accustomed to his presence. Even Amélie didn't try to hide anymore when he passed her station after Victoria had forced him to bring her chocolate as an excuse for his bad behaviour that first evening.
When he opened the door to William's room, he found him asleep. Victoria sat in the chair next to the bed, a book in her hand and her reading glasses on her nose. She looked up when Frank came in and greeted him with a smile.
“He woke up some hours ago and asked for you.” she said and marked the page of her book before closing it. “He seemed clear and spoke coherently, so I think there is no need to worry.”
Frank breathed out in relief. “That's good to hear.”
“I thought you might like the news.” Victoria replied with a warm smile. “I told you that he's strong, Francis.”
“I know, I know, I should listen to you more often.” Frank sighed in theatrical exasperation and felt the weight on his shoulders grow lighter for the first time in over a week. He even returned the smile.
“Yes, indeed, you should.” She got up and pointed at the chair. “Now sit down and take over my place so I can find us something decent to eat.”
“All right, all right.” He grinned and sat down, taking Will's hand in his without even noticing it. “I don't want you to faint from hunger.”
“I haven't eaten since lunch, so don't you mock me.” she huffed and put on her jacket. “Any special wishes?”
“Nah, I don't really care.” Frank replied and leaned back in the chair he'd already gotten so used to that he didn't even notice anymore how uncomfortable the thing was.
“I'll be back soon.” Victoria said and left the room with a wave of her hand. Frank was looking at William again and thought about what Victoria had told him. Will had asked for him. Which meant he remembered that short moment when he'd woken up on the fourth day. Frank had been slightly worried at the amount of time Will spent asleep, but the doctors had assured him that it was normal for this kind of injury. Still, knowing that Will had woken and talked to Victoria reassured him far more than anything the doctors had said.
Frank reached for the book Victoria had been reading when he'd come in and scanned the summary. It was some kind of political thriller with a lot of scheming and murders and dark secrets. He shook his head. One would think she'd seen and lived enough of that in real life not to spend her free time reading about such things. Because he had nothing better to do, Frank opened the first page and began skimming the text. He was at page thirty-four when he heard William's voice for the first time in ages.
“Frank?” It was rough from all the time it hadn't been used, but it was the most beautiful sound Frank had ever heard. He set down the book immediately and when he looked up, he found William's gaze focussed on him. He couldn't help the relieved smile he felt spread over his face.
“Hello, sleepy-head.” Frank said quietly and slid closer to the bed, his hand gently caressing Will's skin. “Water?”
William nodded and Frank reached for the glass on the side table and helped him to drink a few gulps. “How long was I out?”
Frank put the glass back and let his fingers stroke over the skin of Will's face. “Eight days. You were in an artificial coma for a day. The rest was only healing sleep, though.”
Will nodded, then he licked his dry lips and asked, “Why are you here?”
Frank huffed out an unbelieving laugh. “How could I not be?”
“No...” William made a gesture with his right hand which indicated that that wasn't what he'd meant. “How did you know?”
“Paul Abraham is listed as your emergency contact on a card in your wallet.” Frank said with a raised eyebrow. He was well aware William had to carry that card on purpose. There were only very few people who still knew about that old Paul Abraham alias and the corresponding contact number, and Will was one of them.
“They called you.” William realised with a frown on his face.
“Yeah, they did.” Frank reached for the glass. “More water?”
“Please.” He gladly drank from the glass when it was offered and when he lay back on the pillow, he already looked tired again. He seemed insecure when his eyes found Frank's and his voice was very quiet when he asked, “Will you stay?”
Frank held his gaze, then he got out of the chair and leaned over Will, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “Yeah, Will. I'll stay.”
“Thank you.” he heard William's almost silent reply and felt his breath warm against his lips.
“As if I could ever leave.” Frank mumbled and pressed his lips against the skin of William's cheek. “I can't lose you, you understand?”
“Frank?” William's voice sounded worried and a bit confused and his right hand slid around Frank's neck. “Are you okay?”
“No.” Frank had answered before he could stop the words. He felt the tears sting behind his eyes, the same tears he'd held back ever since he'd seen William in the hospital bed. He buried his face against Will's cheek and bit his lip to keep his emotions in check. “Don't ever do that to me again, Will.”
He felt the hand in his neck stroke his skin reassuringly and William nodded against his cheek.
“This feeling,” Frank went on and heard his voice almost break, “It's almost indescribable. Remember?”
For a second, William's hand stilled, then it took up its caress and Frank felt a soft kiss being pressed to his temple.
“Yes, I remember.”
*** The End
French-English Translation:
C'est bon, Amélie. Je m'en occupe. - It's all right, Amélie. I'll take care of it.