![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
more_magicThey keep Alex at the hospital for a few days, as much for observation as for treatment. Darlington stays as much as he can, calling out of work and finding someone to take care of Kirby, making quick trips home to change and shower before he's back again. When they talk, it's stilted and hesitant, inconsequential things that only emphasize the enormity of what they're both avoiding.
It could go on like this. Maybe it'd be better if it did. But Darlington knows neither of them can ignore it forever.
He's there when she's discharged, the removal of all the tubes and wires from her slim frame only serving to emphasize how thin she is, and how unsteady. He hands her the change of clothes he'd brought, loose, comfortable things, going out into the hallway while she dresses. The cab ride from the hospital back to the Bramford is a silent thing, both of them looking out of opposite windows, their hands resting on the seat between them with fingers just barely touching.
Kirby jumps off the couch when they come in, nearly losing his mind with simple canine joy as he snuffles first at Alex, then Darlington, then Alex again, his tail practically a dark blur as it whips back and forth. "Down," he says, but there's no force in it. Alex goes to the couch, Kirby following, and Darlington scrubs a hand through his hair.
"I'll run you a bath," he offers. "If you'd like, and then...I think we should talk. Finally."
It could go on like this. Maybe it'd be better if it did. But Darlington knows neither of them can ignore it forever.
He's there when she's discharged, the removal of all the tubes and wires from her slim frame only serving to emphasize how thin she is, and how unsteady. He hands her the change of clothes he'd brought, loose, comfortable things, going out into the hallway while she dresses. The cab ride from the hospital back to the Bramford is a silent thing, both of them looking out of opposite windows, their hands resting on the seat between them with fingers just barely touching.
Kirby jumps off the couch when they come in, nearly losing his mind with simple canine joy as he snuffles first at Alex, then Darlington, then Alex again, his tail practically a dark blur as it whips back and forth. "Down," he says, but there's no force in it. Alex goes to the couch, Kirby following, and Darlington scrubs a hand through his hair.
"I'll run you a bath," he offers. "If you'd like, and then...I think we should talk. Finally."
no subject
Date: 2020-06-23 09:38 am (UTC)Alex turns their held hands into a handshake, squeezing his fingers firmly and shifting so that she can smile up at him.
"Nice to meet you, Danny. I'm Alex Stern."