Work Text:
BANG!
“Was that - Was that a gunshot?”
“TK? TK!”
Voices blurred together as TK fell to the ground, his chest felt heavy, he couldn’t breathe. His vision went blurry, then all too soon, it was starry and he couldn’t speak. He heard his dad talking to him, but he couldn’t understand any of it, it was muffled and all TK wanted to do was sleep.
-
TK could feel the doctor digging his nail into his finger, he wanted to tell the doctor that it hurt, but he couldn’t get his mouth open, he couldn’t get his eyes open. So, he groaned, the pain was gone by the time he managed to make a sound, but he still wanted someone to know that he was there.
He had been shouting at the top of his lungs, trying to find someone that would listen to him and hear him screaming for help. He yelled for his dad, for Carlos, for Marjan, Judd, Paul, and Mateo. Hell, he even yelled for Michelle, Nancy, and Tim. Someone had to answer him, right?
The pain in his chest and shoulder came crashing down on him all too suddenly and he felt paralysed by the feeling, the sudden pain was unbearable, but then it - very slowly - died down again.
Shit, are they giving me opioid based medications? I have to tell them I can’t take them, I have to tell them I don’t want to take them! TK’s jaw moved while he laid in the hospital bed, otherwise completely motionless.
TK could hear familiar voices, but he couldn’t quite make out who they were or what they were saying, everything sounded muffled and fuzzy. He wanted to cry, he wanted someone to notice that he was there, instead of talking around him, not quite acknowledging that he was in the room.
“Officer Reyes,” Owen. It was Owen. It was his father, he heard his father's voice, and he spoke Carlos’ name. TK wanted to cry, he missed Carlos, he missed his warm embrace and soft kisses after a long day. He missed Carlos carding his fingers through his hair to calm him down after a bad dream or just a bad day.
Carlos, please, I’m right here! Please, I’m here! I’m here, why can’t you hear me? TK wanted to cry, but he couldn’t get the tears to fall. He could suddenly feel a warm hand on his bicep and another hand brush against his cheek. The hand stayed by his hair, occasionally running through the strands.
“TK, I know you can’t answer me, but I just want to tell you this-”
I can answer you! I will, Carlos, I’ll answer you. TK wanted to grab onto Carlos’ hands and not let go, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t move his fingers, hands, or arms. All his extremities felt as if they were pinned down with heavy weights.
“God, TK, this isn’t right. You shouldn’t be the one laying here, it should be me,” Carlos cried, a couple tears falling onto TK’s arm. Carlos moved his hand to wipe them off. “I’m the cop, I’m supposed to protect you and I failed. I’m sorry.”
No. No, no, no. This isn’t your fault, Carlos. You did everything you could, I’m sure of it. You’re amazing at your job. I love you so much. You did not fail.
TK heard a crackling and then a grainy voice call for backup at a crime scene, he knitted his eyebrows together, only after Carlos had squeezed TK’s hand and had let go.
“TK, I love you, I’m sorry,” Carlos’ voice cracked before he bent down to give TK a kiss on the cheek. TK wanted to pull Carlos back in and let him know exactly how he felt, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t open his mouth to say anything. He couldn’t open his eyes or move his body. He couldn’t do anything to let someone know that he was still there.
-
A little while after Carlos had left the hospital room, TK heard two voices, talking in hushed whispers, unable to make out what they were saying. They moved closer, but they were still staying quiet, as if talking above a whisper would disturb him, like he was just taking a nap.
“-A little gamey, yeah,” a woman spoke, TK didn’t recognise the voice, but he recognised the male voice that followed.
Dad?
TK tried again.
“Dad?”
It came out in a whisper, his throat felt dry. He tried blinking, wanting to be able to see.
“TK?” Owen stepped away from the woman, and moved quickly towards TK’s hospital bed.
“Dad?” TK startled at the pressure Owen started pressing on his body, trying to ground him. “Dad,” he managed to pry his eyes open. “Where am I?”
“Shh,” Owen held onto TK’s hands. “It’s alright.” TK didn’t believe him.
“What happened?” The pressure and pain in his chest was back, but he held back a grimace so he wouldn’t worry his dad.
“It’s alright. It’s alright, you’re okay,” Owen released TK’s hands, moving them to his face. “You’re in the hospital, but you’re okay. I’m here.”
“What happened?”
Why couldn’t he remember what happened? Did he overdose again? Nothing happened that would’ve led him to want to relapse; of course, he was upset about Owen bringing home Buttercup, but they had resolved that. They talked about it, everything was okay in the dog department.
Nothing happened with Carlos? Did Carlos finally tell him that he was a horrible person and leave him? No, because Carlos visited him in the hospital and they had both said I love you for the first time.
“You were shot,” Owen’s face was pale. He wanted TK to know what happened and not feel like he was left in the dark. On the other side of things, TK wanted to cry. He got shot? Doing what?
His mind was racing, he got through the rest of his conversation with his dad - and eventually Zoe, as he learned - on autopilot. He asked where Carlos was, after learning that Owen knew about them. Carlos was supposed to be getting off work soon, so TK decided to take a nap, letting Owen and Zoe know that he would be fine for a couple hours.
-
Carlos got to the hospital in record time, learning from Michelle that TK had woken up. The rest of the firefighters hadn’t been able to come in and see TK, so Carlos knew that he’d still have some social energy - hopefully. He practically burst through the doors, waving his badge at anyone that looked in his direction. He counted the rooms until he reached TK’s, peering in and seeing TK asleep, and immediately he wanted to leave again. Had he fallen back into a coma?
No, the doctor would’ve been alerted to abnormal heart rhythm, and TK currently had a very regular, steady heartbeat. He was just resting. Carlos took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before heading into the room. He listened to the monitors beep as he watched TK’s check rise and fall with every beat.
“TK?” Carlos croaked out. “TK, please be okay. Oh, Lord, please be okay.” He mumbled, more to himself than to TK, as he walked over to his bed.
Carlos sat in the chair that no one had moved away from TK’s bedside, automatically reaching out to hold onto TK’s hand. At the touch, TK immediately startled, opening his eyes, darting them around the room in a panic. When he met Carlos’ eyes, he broke down in tears.
“Carlos, you’re here,” TK wanted to throw his arms around Carlos and kiss him and tell him how much he loved him but he couldn’t. His shoulder hurt and it hurt to breathe too heavily.
“I’m here, baby, I’ll always be here,” Carlos stood up and leaned over to kiss TK’s cheek, hearing the ECG beep faster. He stood up straight, looking from TK to the monitor, back to TK, seeing the blood rush to his face.
“So, I-I wanted to tell you when you visited, but uh, I couldn’t…” TK trailed off, averting his gaze. “I said that I love you first.”
The words came out in a mumble and too fast for Carlos to understand, but the fact that the blush on TK’s cheeks had now risen to his ears was evidence enough for Carlos to pry a little deeper.
“Sorry, what was that, Tiger?” Carlos threw the nickname into the ring, listening to TK’s ECG beep faster again. TK’s head shot up and he glared at Carlos, but Carlos didn’t sense any real venom.
“You’re doing that on purpose, you ass!” TK huffed, attempting a small laugh before being reduced to wheezes. Carlos was immediately serious again, nervous about TK’s wellbeing. “Also, I said that I wanted to tell you something when you visited. I tried to, but apparently I was the only one that could hear me talking.”
Carlos paused and stood back, hearing the wheezes die down. He tilted his head and asked, “what would that have been?”
“I love you. And just so you know, I could hear you and I said it first,” TK grinned, seeing Carlos’ mouth open partly, as if he wanted to say something, but couldn’t quite figure out what he wanted to say.
Instead of words, he opted to lean back down and kiss TK, throwing caution to the wind, not caring about potential consequences that may arise if Captain Strand were to walk in. Carlos could hear the ECG speed up, so he pulled away, feeling his cheeks get hot. He glanced away from TK before clearing his throat.
“So, uh, I have to go back to work for a few more hours since we’re short staffed right now, but I will be back as soon as my shift is over. If it’s okay with you, though. I don’t know if you’d rather just rest,” Carlos spoke quickly, rubbing the back of his neck, chuckling to himself. TK shook his head, rolling his eyes at Carlos.
“You can come back, Carlos, I will always be happy to see you, no matter if it’s at home or on a call or in the hospital. I love you, go be safe, babe,” TK tugged at Carlos’ belt loop, telling him to come closer. He gave Carlos a quick kiss on the cheek before letting him stand back up.
Carlos looked shocked at the pet name, but gladly accepted it. He straightened himself out and smiled down at TK, who was getting comfortable in the hospital bed again.
“I love you too, Tyler Kennedy,” Carlos teased, letting TK act like hearing his full name was the worst thing in the world. “Bye, Tiger.”
Carlos walked out of the room, leaving TK alone again. This time was different, TK couldn’t wait until Carlos was off of work for the night, honestly, he couldn’t wait until he was fully healed, he had some things he wanted to do.
For now, he just had the simple fact that he liked Carlos calling him by his full name or calling him Tiger, instead of TK. He never liked anyone calling him Tyler or Tyler Kennedy, his dad didn’t even use it when he got mad at him. With Carlos, it was different; everything was different. Everything felt normal with Carlos.