Accidents Happen

Brian hadn’t been having the best of days to begin with. His alarm didn’t go off so he woke up about half an hour late. Luckily he always gave himself an extra hour so that he could stop by the diner for breakfast before going to work. The only problem was that now he didn’t have time for more than a cup of coffee but he felt the need to go to the diner anyway. It was lightly raining outside when he got to the diner. He smiled at Justin, who was working a shift before his Thursday afternoon classes and then headed over to the booth where Michael was sitting.

What Brian didn’t notice was the wet spot on the floor. His foot came in contact with it and slipped right out from under him. He tried to catch himself on a nearby table, but his hand went too far and he ended up slamming his wrist on the edge of the table. The occupants heard the crack that went along with the thud. Michael and Justin had both moved in an attempt to stop Brian’s fall, but they were too late. Brian hit the floor hard, managing to keep his head from hitting too hard.

“FUCK!” Brian yelled, the sound resonating through the diner. Michael knelt beside him and Justin stood to his other side as Brian cradled his injured arm against his chest, ignoring the sharp pain stabbing the middle of his back. That didn’t last long as Michael tried to sit him up. “SHIT! STOP!” Brian winced and Michael gently lay him back down on the floor. Debbie immediately went over to the phone and called an ambulance, wondering how much damage was actually done. Justin came over with an ice pack to apply to the obviously broken wrist.

“Brian, I’m so sorry,” Debbie said as she came over to him. He glared at her a moment.

“Don’t you own a fucking ‘Caution: Wet Floor’ sign? Christ!” He winced again as he tried to move.

“You better stay still,” Justin commented as he gently pushed Brian back to the floor. Brian sighed heavily and resigned himself to lying on the floor in the middle of the diner. His back was killing him, his wrist throbbed and his head had a continuous dull ache that started from the source of the impact and radiated forward. He was suddenly very tired and he closed his eyes for a second, but felt the sensation of someone gently patting his cheek. He opened his eyes and looked at Justin.

“Can’t let you fall asleep,” he said softly, now stroking the cheek he’d been patting.

“Why not?” Brian’s voice was a little groggy.

“Might be a bad idea if you have a concussion,” the blond replied matter of factly. Brian yielded to the fact that Justin would probably know all about what to do about head injuries and did his best to stay awake. He sighed as people stepped over him while business went back to the way it was. That’s about when the ambulance arrived.

They put a neck brace on Brian though he insisted that it wasn’t necessary, also bracing the injured wrist. He was then very carefully loaded onto a backboard that was then loaded onto a gurney. They said that one person could ride along and Justin opted to be that person before Michael even had a chance. Rather than argue, he just went to his car to follow the ambulance to the hospital.

“Shit,” Brian said after a few minutes, using his uninjured hand to search his pockets.

“What?” Justin asked, taking the hand in his to still it.

“I need to call in. I was on my way to work…” he started and Justin nodded. It was a Thursday after all.

“I’ll call from the hospital,” Justin said and Brian nodded, seemingly appeased for the moment. They arrived at the hospital quickly and Justin made his way over to the phone.

“Vanguard, Brian Kinney’s office,” Cynthia’s cheerful tone came through the receiver.

“Hey, Cynthia.”

“Hello, Justin. Brian’s not here yet.”

“I know. I’m with him right now. We’re at the hospital.”

“Is everything okay?” she asked and her concern touched Justin. It was obvious that Brian was more than just her boss, at least in her mind.

“He slipped and fell at the diner. I don’t know everything that’s wrong, but I’m pretty sure he’s at least got a minor concussion. He mostly likely won’t be coming in to work for the next couple of days.”

“Okay, I’ll let Vance know. Tell him I hope he gets better soon.”

“I will,” Justin said before hanging up the phone. He went over and took a seat in the waiting room chairs. It was almost an hour before anyone came out inquiring if someone was there with Brian. “I am,” Justin said as he stood and walked over to the doctor that looked no older than he was.

“Are you family?” he asked.

Rather than start an argument with someone he didn’t know about semantics, Justin decided to lie a little. “I’m his nephew,” he said with an innocent smile, knowing Brian would kill him for it later.

“Well, your uncle took a pretty nasty fall. He broke three bones in his right wrist and he has a minor concussion. He also managed to slip a disc when his back hit the floor. We’re going to keep him here for a couple of days to see if the injury to his back requires surgery or not,” the doctor said in a monotone voice.

Justin winced at the thought. A slipped disc meant that Brian would be out of commission for a while. In more ways than one. Brian wasn’t going to like that one bit.

“Can I see him?” Justin asked. The doctor nodded and told him the room number. Justin took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then went into the room, steeling himself against the onslaught he knew was coming. Brian was like a bear. When wounded, he attacked. He would lash out at anybody and everything that he came in contact with and Justin knew that he was no exception. Brian would be yelling at him simply because he worked at the diner where the injury had occurred. Justin felt a sudden pang of guilt as he remembered that Deb had been hounding him for about a half an hour before Brian’s fall to clean up that wet spot. He stopped at the door as he suddenly realized that Brian’s current state was actually his fault.

Justin walked into the room and looked at Brian, lying there on the hospital bed. He had a look on his face that Justin had seen many times before. Brian Kinney was stoned. They obviously had him on heavy painkillers. He looked over at Justin with a goofy grin on his face.

“Heya shunshine.” He smiled, slurring the nickname.

“You’re high,” Justin observed.

“And loving every minute of it,” Brian said, then he actually giggled. Justin didn’t think he’d ever heard Brian giggle before and the sound made him laugh out loud. Brian then started singing off key a song that Justin couldn’t understand the words to. After the first verse he realized that Brian was just making up the words as he went along.

“Brian?”

“Yes, Justin?”

“Shut up.”

“Okay.” Brian stopped singing and giggled.

“You’re so stoned.”

“This is better than ANYTHING Anita ever cooked up,” Brian sing songed, giggling once again.

“Can I have some?” Justin asked playfully.

“Nope, sorry. You’re not the injured one.” Brian tried to get a serious look on his face, failing miserably.

“Well, it was worth a try.” Justin mock sighed and snapped his fingers in an “oh darn” fashion.

“A for effort,” Brian said. A big yawn threatened to split his head in two and for a moment Brian looked exactly like Gus when he was ready for bed. This thought made Justin smile. Justin was about to suggest that Brian get some sleep when he remembered that the older man had a concussion and he should probably stay awake until at least tomorrow.

It was a little later that afternoon before anyone else could come to see Brian. Debbie and Michael showed up right about the time Justin was leaving to go to class. Debbie went in first, taking a seat by the bed. The drugs had started to wear off by this point and it was obvious Brian was uncomfortable as he tried to sleep. Tried being the operative word. The doctors had come in and deemed it okay for him to sleep, but he was in too much pain for that too happen, even with the drugs they were giving him.

“Hi there, sweetie, how you feeling?” Debbie asked as cheerfully as possible.

“You haven’t called me sweetie since I was 15,” Brian commented as he opened his eyes.

“Just kind of came out of my mouth, but you didn’t answer my question.”

“I feel like shit,” he admitted, trying to shift in the bed and only succeeding in causing more pain.

“You need to be still, Brian.”

“Really?” he asked her sarcastically.

“Save the sharp tongue for somebody else, asshole,” Debbie commented with a smirk and Brian sighed.

“You know me too well.”

“Unfortunately.” Debbie smiled when Brian glared at her. They were quiet for a few minutes.

“What was it I slipped on exactly?” Brian finally asked.

“Some spilled coffee. I told Justin to clean it up at least a million times…..”

“Justin was supposed to clean it up?” Brian asked and Debbie bit her tongue. She didn’t want to cause any problems between the two of them and she knew how Brian could get. She sighed and nodded. Brian just nodded and kept quiet. Neither of them realized that Michael was standing right outside the door, listening in. When he heard that Justin was responsible for this, anger surged through him. He sat out in the waiting room while his mother talked with Brian. Not long after that, Justin came back into the building and Michael got in his way.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked angrily.

“To see Brian….” Justin said.

“After what you did?” Michael accused.

“What did I do?”

“I overheard mom tell Brian that you were supposed to clean up the coffee he slipped on. You left it there and now Brian’s hurt because of it. This is all your fault.” He tried very hard to keep from raising his voice.

“It’s not like I did it on purpose….” Justin started and Michael cut him off.

“You didn’t do what you were supposed to do. What you were told to do. You’re a spoiled, lazy brat and Brian’s in the hospital, possibly needing surgery, all because you couldn’t bother to do the job you were being paid to do. Now stay the fuck away from Brian!” he ordered, this time not trying to keep his volume down.

Justin’s bottom lip started to quiver. Normally, he would have fought back but Michael had played on his every fear and he tried hard to keep the tears from rolling down his cheeks in front of Michael. Instead he just turned and ran out of the hospital. Debbie was coming out of the room to get Michael when she saw Justin take off.

“Where’s he going?” she asked.

“Away from here, where he belongs,” Michael said with a satisfied smirk.

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?” Debbie demanded, her hands going to her hips.

“He’s the reason Brian’s hurt…” Michael started.

Debbie cut him off with an angry glare. “First of all, Michael, eavesdropping is a very bad and extremely rude habit. Second of all, you of all people should know that people make mistakes and accidents happen. He’s only human for Christ’s sake.” She then turned to the scattered people in the waiting room and indicated Michael. “My son, ladies and gentlemen, born with his foot firmly lodged in his mouth.” She glared at him as he turned bright red at all the stares, then she headed out the door to go get Justin.  It was several hours before Debbie was finally able to coax Justin back to the hospital, assuring him that Brian really did want to see him.

“You need to ignore Michael. His brain is damaged from all the time he spends sitting on it.” She smirked and Justin laughed. When they got back to the hospital, they found out that Brian wouldn’t need surgery after all, but he would be on his back for at least two weeks and wouldn’t be able to go back to work for a month at the earliest. They knew Brian would be less than happy about that. Justin slowly went into the room at Debbie’s insistence. Brian looked as if he were asleep when the blond reluctantly moved to the side of the bed.

“So Deb tells me you were supposed to clean up the spot that I slipped on,” he said without opening his eyes. There was that little tingle in his chest that just told him Justin was near. He tried to make his voice sound harsh, wanting Justin to think he was angry with him.

“Yeah,” the artist said timidly. He’d been on the receiving end of Brian’s temper before and that was just over his personal belongings, not his personal well being. Justin knew he was in for it for sure this time.

“Why didn’t you clean up the mess like she told you too?” Brian opened his eyes and looked at the younger man, his heart just breaking at how scared Justin looked.

“I…I don’t know. I guess I got too busy.” He shrugged, trying to come up with a feasible excuse. After another moment’s silence, Justin spoke. “I’m so sorry, Brian. I didn’t know you were coming in. You were late and I mean….I was going to clean it up, I really was…” Brian held up a hand to stop the soon to be incoherent babbling, wincing as the movement sent a pain through his back.

“Let me let you in on a little secret, Sunshine,” Brian said. Justin was sure he was going to get a hard lesson on life. That’s why his eyes went wide at Brian’s next words. “Accidents happen.” Those two simple words were spoken in a calm, soothing tone that made Justin relax a little.

“So….you’re not mad at me?”

“Of course not. It’s not like you did it on purpose. Besides, if it’s anybody’s fault it’s the asshole that spilled the coffee,” Brian said and couldn’t help but laugh when Justin held up a hand, admitting to the crime. “So that’s why Deb was hounding you to clean it up.” He chuckled and Justin nodded, laughing slightly himself.

“This is kind of funny in a twisted, sadistic sort of way,” Justin said and Brian nodded in agreement. Justin sat down on the side of the bed and Brian reached his good hand up to caress the perfectly smooth, cream-colored cheek. Justin looked into Brian’s eyes and they shared a moment of silent conversation that only lovers share before coming together in a passionate kiss.

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