"It's raining men."

[livingthelowlife]

Who: Ethan Marshall, Eddie Bronson, Jace Turner and Jesse Hartley
What: Extended networks
Where: Surgical Unit, Mount Sinai
When: Thursday evening

Ethan had just finished a loooooooooong double shift. Emphasis on the long. He worked a day and an evening shift because someone else had called in sick and he was cool with filling in. He had been in LA for the past week on a conference for Neurology residents, something the hospital paid for so he had jumped at the chance to go. But it meant he missed the whole ordeal one of his closest mates, Jesse, had gone through. Not just his fit on the sidewalk in the middle of busy Manhattan (giving himself a concussion in the process) but also the exploding appendix. Ethan felt bad, but when he had looked in on Jesse earlier during his dinner break, Jesse had been out like a light, so he promised himself he would visit before he went home.

He was still in his scrubs and lab coat, but this wasn't his unit. He was definitely off the clock for now. If Jesse was awake, it would be likely Jace would be there with him. Arriving at the door of Jesse's private room, he knocked softly on the doorframe with a sympathetic smile. "What's this I hear about you going exploding internal organs in my absence?" he asked Jesse, who was still looking pretty worse for wear with yellowing bruises on his face and some visible sutures on the side of his forehead. Jace was sitting on the side of his bed holding his hand, but as soon as Ethan stepped into the room, he realised someone else was there standing by the side of the bed. Whoever it was had probably just arrived, maybe with Jace, and hadn't taken a seat yet.

It caught Ethan's attention and soon he and the stranger were locking gazes. Ethan had no idea who he was, so he just smiled. "If this is a bad time, I can come back?"

Comments

[livingthelowlife]

Ethan had tucked the Kleenex in close at Jesse's side so he could get them out of the box without hurting himself. "You guys give me two minutes. I'm ducking out to the vending machine to get us all some much-needed tea. Save for you, Jess. You're cool with that delicious IV fluid therapy on tap there." When he stood, he gave Jace's hand a gentle squeeze. "We're not offended, sweetheart. If you need a good cry, you go right ahead. We're all family here." Ethan was pretty sure if he was going through the stuff Jace and Jesse were, he'd be wanting to have a large and snotty cry himself. There was no one else waiting at the vending machine, so he pulled off three cups of tea with cream, shoved them into a cup holding and grabbed some little sachets of sugar in case anyone liked it.

He came back and handed the first cup to Eddie and then one to Jace. Poor Jace's eyes were red-rimmed, puffy and still a little teary. You could keep it together and be find, but once that final wind got knocked out of you, sometimes the best thing for you was your PJs and your bed. Ethan remembered after all his shit, he went to bed for over a week before he felt like getting up and facing the world again. He hadn't forgotten Eddie's question, though, and once he sat with his own cup of tea, he answered it. "I didn't really deal with it all. Not at first, anyway. Mostly I threw myself into the last year of college and tried to pretend it wasn't happening. Bearing in mind, it was dragged out a lot too with the court case. At first, I just let her do it, because she told me she would ruin me and my career if I told anyone because she knew people in the American medical industry. It was like some sort of out-of-body experience. I was watching me go through these motions and I knew it was fucked up, but I just kept letting it happen."

[morethantheeyecansee]

This was seriously all so full on, and Eddie couldn't blame Jace for crying. But at the same time, this was one of the most incredibly beautiful things he'd ever seen. Jace and Jesse just slotted right into taking care of one another, and it was the most gorgeous thing. Ethan just smiled faintly, even accepting the chastising from Jesse, who was obviously completely concerned about Jace and his well being right now, despite the fact that he himself had just had an internal organ removed. It was almost enough to bring on tears of his own seeing Jace so damn happy with someone who loved him so much after all the hard times that he'd been through along the way. Eddie watched them quietly for a moment or two, almost feeling as if he were observing something private and beautifully sacred. He wouldn't cop to the eyefucking just yet, but Jesse was right about one thing. This was just Jace being Jace, and Eddie had never intended to react with the bitchglare of doom. "I... um... I'm sorry. Ethan's right, though. If you gotta cry, dude, just do it. Let it out and don't hold back. That's what friends are for."

Eddie took the tea gratefully from Ethan, and gave him a warm smile in thanks. He took a sip of the hot liquid, grateful for the feeling of comfort that a nice hot tea always brought with it. Eddie reached out with his free hand to rest it on Jace's shoulder and give it a little squeeze, comforting his best friend the way they always had, even as kids. Sometimes things sucked, and words just didn't help, so there was always the quiet reminder that someone who cared about you was there, and that helped more than Eddie could totally explain. It had just always been a thing for them, especially in the wake of Jace's accident when he was trying to get back to normal, but normal would prove to be far too much to ask. He had a normal now, but it would never be the same as prior to his brain injury. "I'm glad you got away from her. Nobody deserves to go through something like that, hon. Ever. I hope she was punished for doing that to you. And in a serious kind of way." He shook his head, his hand still on Jace's shoulder, though Jesse had things well in hand, and Eddie offered them both a weak smile. They'd all gone through heavy things, obviously very different to each other but in some way, it had brought them all here. What a hell of a demonstration of the concept of kismet this was.

[inkandleather]

"Sorry for the biggest awkward moment ever," Jace mumbled sheepishly when Jesse was wiping his eyes. He was already managing to pull himself back together, and with a renewed reminder of how he was so fucking much in love with Jesse, because his boyfriend nailed it... he nailed it all. Jace really did want Eddie to get along with everyone. He wanted him and Jesse to like each other, and Eddie and Ethan to like each other because they were both two of Jace and Jesse's closest friends. Plus, there was the small fact he probably had been bottling a lot up lately, maybe because he didn't really know how to face it. "Probably since I was in hospital myself. My brain hasn't really caught up with anything, and I kinda hate those times I get reminded how fucked it is. Which I'm totally not meaning to steal Jesse's thunder here, or anyone's, but he's been kind of my rock and my other half, and having him out of action has really freaked me out because this is all the first time I've seen him have a seizure, then he just wasn't getting better. It was hard when he banged his head, and he was bleeding all over the place, and strangers had to help me because I was freaking out. And look at him, he's just sore, and he hurts, and I want to take it away for him, but I can't," he explain and his voice was breaking again with a small sob.

He put his hand over his eyes. "Oh my god, I'm not doing any good fixing the awkward," he chastised himself when he put the tea down on the bedside table until he could get himself back together. He took Jesse's hand to hold and with his other, gestured to Ethan. "How did you even... how can you just... Evan will never hurt you. He won't. He will take the best care of you as your boss, and he'll make sure you're doing well and if you're not, he'll help you. If you have days where it gets too much, you can come talk to us. I promise I won't cry all over you. She can't hurt you now, right? What happened? Did she go to jail?"

[slowsouthernstyle]

Jesse gave Eddie an apologetic smile for the chastising. He had just needed Jace's friend to get an extended appreciation for the fact that recently Jace had a relapse in his illness and things had gone down for them as a couple that was upsetting and stressful. Jesse knew Jace would shower his old friend with welcomes and encouragement that he was part of the family, but by mere default of coming back into Jace's life, he knew Eddie would want to know the enormity of Jace's battle at the moment. Sure, he was stressed and worried about Jesse, and Jesse had given him two big frights now with his fit, and now needing surgery, but before that, Jace had been pretty sick himself. "Everything attached to that brain is gorgeous, and if I could give you the biggest hug right now, I would. I'll make up for that as soon as I can." He gave a soft, fond laugh when Jace was choking up again and some more tears spilled over. Jesse caught them with the Kleenex, but was trying to coax Jace to have some of his tea.

He listened with a nod at Jace's emphatic reassurance for Ethan about Evan. Jesse knew it was true, and even though he was feeling like an epic thorn in poor Evan's side right now, everything Jace was saying was true. "And Summer and Christian. Summer's been my doctor too, and I work with Christian all the time. Evan seems like he wants people to know he's god's gift to the medical word, but he's really protective of his family and his staff."

[livingthelowlife]

"Hey, you two, keep it clean," Ethan joked with a laugh, lightening the mood a little. If anything, this was probably a good way for Eddie to catch up with where Jace's life was at the moment. It was a hospital room, but it was relaxed and no one was even near judging anyone else. He knew Jace wouldn't have anything to worry about on Eddie and Jesse getting along because it was right there as plain as day how much Jesse cared about Jace. He wasn't going to try and stop Eddie and Jace re-establishing their friendship. He sat forward and put some sugar in Jace's tea for him, giving it a stir with one of the stirrers. "Tea is almost as good as a hug. Except when it's herbal and has gingko, they're were aborting mission, ASAP."

He glanced at Eddie with a small smile and nodded. "I'd be lying if I tried to make light of it and said it was no big deal. It was. It nearly ruined my life... it nearly ruined me. But, as Jace can vouch, what doesn't kill you really does make you stronger and I had people fighting for me. They helped me get back on my feet and find some hope. I know there's this whole stigma thing of how can a woman rape a guy, but trust me, she knew what she was doing. Once I found the balls to come forward, albeit with the support of my family, other people she had done it to came forward to and now she'll be seeing the inside of a jail cell for years to come. She was convicted and sentenced, and I think by the time all was said and done encompassing all her victims, she got something like 15 years. It just happened that the high-up people she was trying to threaten me with were the Beaumonts, and Julian Beaumont was supposed to have married Maddie once upon a time, my cousin. I've known Julian for years and after he was hurt the same time last year, his father has a hell of a lot to try to stop this sort of thing happening again. Julian nearly died, and that sort of thing has a knock on effect. I know I'm safe here, and lucky that I got the job."