Altered States - Whumptober Day 15 (Alt. 6)
@whumptober2020
February was always cold and dark. Rain, rain and more rain. Fao always loved the winter, preferred it to the summer, but it was easy to be depressed when you left the house in the dark and finished work in the dark. Though they’d not been on tour, Fao and Alex had seemingly been working flat out, endless shifts at the hospital. They rarely saw each other, the shift pattern so out of whack that it was mostly a passing kiss in the hall as one of them got in and the other left.
With Fao’s birthday coming up, their mutual leave was incredibly welcome. Alex’s parents were away (they always were, enjoying their freedom now that both of their children were adults and doing well for themselves) and Fao had no intention of spending his birthday anywhere else than at home. Sheila would come for his blood if he didn't come home when he had leave.
He didn't mind one bit. It was nice to have family, still almost a novelty to celebrate his birthday. The drive back home from Birmingham wasn't too bad, Fao's car was a nice drive and Alex always picked the best music. They'd left early-ish, and so arrived at the Daniels’ in the late morning, keen to make the most of their time off. With his bag thrown over his shoulder, Fao knocked on the door.
Sheila's warning shout of "Finn!" was ignored and the younger boy barrelled to the front door, knocking Fred out of the way.
"Fao!"
“Hey, kid.” Fao said, pulling his brother in for a hug. “Missed me?”
Finn squeezed him tight. "Can't believe you didn't come back straight away."
“We have to work too.” Fao said. “I swear you've gotten taller since Christmas.”
"Course I have. Told you I was gonna grow! Not my fault you're tiny."
“You're a weed. Can we come in? It's fucking cold out here.”
He finally let go. "Yeah, sorry."
Fao ruffled his brother's hair, though it was becoming difficult to do without having to reach. Alex laughed.
“Do I not get a greeting?” She teased.
"Fao was being too grumpy." Finn grinned before gripping her tight. She was basically a sister to Finn and the whole family loved her.
“He's always grumpy, what's new? And I have to live with him.”
"He's always been grumpy." Fred teased from behind them as he gave Fao a one armed hug. "Your mum's just making teas."
"I've missed you guys so much." Finn interrupted before they had a chance to say anything. "You've been gone forever! Steve says hi too."
“You can tell him hi back.” Fao said, leaning into Fred for a moment before he shut the door behind them and toed his shoes off in the hallway. He dumped his bag down, far too lazy to take it up to his room.
Alex headed to the living room to flop down on the sofa, whilst Fao went into the kitchen in the hopes of finding Sheila.
Sheila turned with mugs in her hand, spotting Fao in the doorway. It was always the best type of surprise to see her eldest, and her smile was warm and genuine as she placed them back down.
“Fao!”
“Hey, Mum.” He said, pulling her in for a hug.
"I've missed you. How are you doing? Alex treating you okay?"
“Oh, Alex? Bullying me as ever.”
She laughed. “Of course. I’d expect nothing else.”
“Me neither. We’re doing alright though, just been busy.”
“You always seem it when we call.”
“Yeah. Long shifts, trying to learn things.”
"I know, I know. Why don't you grab some of these and take them through? I can't carry them all."
“Of course. Who’s is who’s?”
She turned back to the mugs, face falling. "Uh, I can't remember."
“Doesn’t matter.” Fao said, picking up two mugs. “We’ll take them in and we can fight about them in a bit.”
"Thanks, Fao. You’re a star.”
He grinned. “Mm, I know.”
She mirrored his grin. “Come on then, go through.”
He headed on through, distributing tea to people and settling down on the sofa with Alex.
Finn had launched into some fantastical tale, limbs flying everywhere as he recounted the events. Fred watched on with an amused smile, shaking his head in disbelief.
Fao was happy to listen to Finn rambling away, curled up next to his girlfriend.
They fell back into a routine, easy and comfortable. When Fred and Sheila stood to go shopping, Fao offered to go too, leaving Finn alone with Alex. He enjoyed her company, loving her like a sister and teasing her just as bad.
He disappeared upstairs to grab Fao's presents, planning on showing them off to Alex and getting her to wrap them for him too. His foot slipped on the stairs, jolting him and making his stomach flip. He shook his head, it would pass. Just a shock, that was all.
It didn't pass, leaving him stumbling into the front room and dropping the presents onto the sofa. Alex was nowhere in sight and Finn wasn't entirely sure she was actually home anymore. She might have gone with the others. They'd been forever, probably weren't even coming back.
Finn didn't remember dropping to his knees, or falling against the sofa, but it was getting harder to think and focus on what he needed to do.
Alex had only slipped out for a smoke whilst Finn fucked about upstairs, but when she came back to the living room he was in a full grand mal.
“Oh, fucks sake.” She muttered, glancing at her watch. She had no idea how long he'd been going for, but she'd not been gone all that long. Where were his meds? She didn't remember. Surely they were around somewhere. She'd look for them if he needed them. She just prayed he wouldn't. He didn't look to have injured himself, and his airway seemed fine. It was just a waiting game.
Finn didn't stop, forcing his head back into the floor as he continued to convulse. He'd been doing well, his medications controlling them well and giving him his life back. He bit his tongue, jaw clenched down on it and causing blood to collect in his mouth.
The blood was enough for Alex to call it. He wasn't stopping any time soon, and he was going to lose his airway if they weren't careful. She grabbed a thick pillow off of the sofa, and managed to use it to get him somewhat on his side whilst she looked for his meds. Of course this happened when it was only the two of them.
Swearing under her breath, she dug about in a couple of drawers until she found the right one, relieved to find the pack full and in date. Returning to Finn, she quickly gave the midaz, praying that it would work.
Thankfully, it did. He slowed then stopped, coughing and spluttering to get the blood from his throat. The midaz always made him more sleepy, it taking forever for him to come back to himself.
The floor was soft under his side, and while something stabbed him in the ribs, it was nice. He rubbed the carpet under his fingers, focusing on that.
Alex rubbed his arm. “Hey, Finn. Welcome back.”
The voice shocked him and he jumped, looking around. He finally focused on Alex, his mind catching up and he broke into a grin.
"Lex."
“Hey Kiddo. You're keeping me on my toes today.”
He grinned, her words going straight over his head. "Cuddle?"
“Let’s get you cleaned up first. Should help you feel better.”
"No." He whined, pressing his head to her leg.
“You’ve got blood on the carpet.”
He tilted his head slightly. He wasn't sure what she wanted him to do about it. His tongue hurt though, and he stuck it out to show her.
“Yeah, you bit your tongue. Anything else hurt?”
He frowned, trying to look at it. “Hurts.”
She hummed. “I know, Kiddo. Just that? Anything else?” She asked gently, hands skimming over him.
“Hey.” He grumbled at her, pushing her hands away. “Off.”
“Hey, hey. Just making sure you’re not injured.”
He grew more agitated. “Off!”
“Alright, alright, I’m off.” She said, pulling her hands away. “You’re okay.”
That was better. He smiled. "Hug?"
“Yeah?”
"Now." He smiled sleepily. "Hug."
“You do realise I'm gonna have to touch you to do that, yeah?”
"Yeah." He looked up at her, waiting expectantly before repeating. "Hug."
“Alright, come here.” She said, reaching down to hug him. “I'm not Fao, though. He gives the best hugs.”
He hummed, grabbing onto her top. "Where's Fao?"
“Went shopping with your Mum.”
"Mum here?"
“No. Just me and you.”
"I like you."
“I like you too, kiddo.”
"Fao likes you too."
“I'd hope so.”
"A lot." He dragged the word out.
She laughed. “So I’ve heard.”
“Gonna marry you.”
“Oh, is he now?”
“Yeah.” He wiped his mouth on her trousers. “Said so.”
“He better get his act together, then.” She said, trying not to wince. “Shall we get you cleaned up before everyone gets home?”
“Wanna nap.”
“I know. I’ll help you upstairs.”
“Don’t wanna move.” He huffed, gripping onto her. “Nap.”
“Better to nap in bed though, change out of these clothes.”
He weighed up his options slowly, squinting at her. “Fine.”
You ready? I’ll help you up.”
“‘kay.”
Alex got herself up, and then helped Finn. He was still lanky, but starting to bulk out, and taller than her by a fair margin. Woozy from the midaz and the seizure itself he wasn’t exactly easy to get to his feet, but she was used to somewhat uncooperative patients.
“Right, let’s get you changed and in bed, yeah?”
Finn nodded, raising his arms above his head for her to take it off. It wasn’t as slick as his routine with Fao, but Alex had been there often enough to know the drill. Finn wasn’t with it enough to be bothered, and it was Alex anyway. She was family.
It didn’t take Alex long to get Finn out of his clothes and into a fresh set. She was used to it, she’d been with Fao for long enough - known Finn for long enough. Soon he was happily under the duvet, and Alex quickly changed her jeans too, pulling on a pair of leggings. She’d sort the jeans out later.
She’d just gotten settled with Finn when she realised she needed to clean the carpet downstairs. It was a mess, and Sheila was probably going to kill her when she saw the state of it. But Finn had an iron grip on her top, and she was going nowhere. She just stroked through his hair and chatted away about nothing and everything, letting him drift off to sleep.