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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-05
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1,347
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1/1
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Christmas Miracles

Summary:

"His first sight of Shawn literally took Collier’s breath away. The young man had lost a lot of weight, become gaunt under his steady diet of IV nutrients fed through the tube in his arm. He was pale, too, as though Shawn had never set foot outside this very room. He looked so...fragile...vulnerable...achingly young."

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

Christmas Miracles
by nancy

Getting into the hospital that had Shawn turned out to be surprisingly easy. He'd waited until Tom left, looking pale and defeated, before walking into the hospital. No one even looked at Collier as he walked purposefully through the main entrance and down various corridors to Shawn's room. There were no guards posted, which led him to believe that Tom had given up on the possibility that Coller would show. Or perhaps had never thought that in the first place. Either way made things a lot easier for him to simply walk into the room.

His first sight of Shawn literally took Collier's breath away. The young man had lost a lot of weight, become gaunt under his steady diet of IV nutrients fed through the tube in his arm. He was pale, too, as though Shawn had never set foot outside this very room. He looked so...fragile...vulnerable...achingly young.

An all-too-familiar pang of guilt assaulted Collier and he had to take a long moment to regain his composure. Walking to the bed took a great deal more effort than he'd ever suspected it would. Sitting on the edge of the bed, taking in the breathing tubes and feeding tubes and dark circles under Shawn's eyes, Collier's guilt mixed with pain for what he'd essentially pushed Shawn into.

Taking the hand not hooked up to wires, Collier held it loosely in his own and looked down at the lax fingers. He remembered them being so lively, always in motion as Shawn tried to make him understand something. Despite the fact that he would do it again if necessary, Collier couldn't help wishing that he'd been able to find another way.

"I'm sorry."

The whisper slipped out before he could censor it. Clearing his throat, Collier decided to continue.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all of this. I'm sorry you aren't able to see the good that you helped bring about. I'm sorry I had to...sacrifice you...for the greater good. I wish I could have thought of a different way."

Collier brought the hand up to his mouth, pressing the back of it to his lips and then his cheek. It was so smooth and cool, almost like that of a corpse. He shivered a bit in dread and then rested the hand on Shawn's chest. Bending forward, Collier kissed Shawn's cheek and then his mouth, tender and slow. It was something he expected to never have, a life with the young man in the bed before him. He wasn't meant for anything so mundane as happily ever after.

Unfortunately.

Resting his hand on Shawn's, he said quietly, "I don't know if you can hear me, but I want you to try something for me. I want you to heal yourself. I want you to come back to me. Prove to everyone that you're still in there. I can only be here today, Shawn. I have to stay in hiding for now, until everything comes to fruition."

Collier laced his fingers with Shawn's and silently willed the young man to use his powers. His thumb brushed slowly over Shawn's hand and he simply sat there, praying to a God he no longer believed in. Life had become so dark without Shawn in it. The fact that it was Christmas only exacerbated the feelings of loneliness and guilt. Collier hadn't celebrated the holiday in a couple of decades, not even before he'd been taken to the future the first time. He hadn't truly believed in the holiday since he was a kid. Sitting there, his hand twined with Shawn's, the hospital quiet around them, he could almost believe that miracles could happen.

It wasn't until his watch alarm went off that Collier sighed and withdrew his hand from Shawn's. Nothing had happened, not that he'd truly expected it to, and he felt empty and old. Standing, Collier said roughly, "I miss you, Shawn."

Collier combed his fingers through Shawn's short, soft hair before bending down to take another kiss. He sighed in regret and then turned to leave. On reaching the door, a coughing sound came from behind, freezing Collier in his tracks. The coughing came again and he spun in place to find Shawn clawing weakly at the tube in his throat. Bolting into action, Collier easily held him down and ordered firmly, "Don't move, I'll get the doctor."

Repeatedly pressing the call button, Collier stroked a hand over Shawn's face in a soothing gesture. Wide blue eyes stared up at him, fearful, confused, and cloudy with tears.

"What's going on here?"

Looking over his shoulder, Collier snapped, "He's awake! Get the damn tube out of his throat. Now!"

The doctor looked astonished, but moved to obey. As he pulled the breathing tube from Shawn's throat and fitted him with a nasal apparatus, Collier pulled out his cell phone and immediately called Tess.

"Hello?"

"Tess, I need you here right now."

"Collier? What's wrong?"

"Now, Tess. Have the car ready to go immediately when we leave."

"On my way."

Collier disconnected and took Shawn's hand in his, holding it firmly as he watched the doctor make a quick examination. "How is he?"

"Jordan? what's going on?" Shawn demanded weakly. "What happened."

Collier cupped Shawn's face and said, "Isabel got to you, Shawn. You've been in a coma for months now."

"We didn't expect you to come out of it," the doctor confirmed, listening to Shawn's heart on his stethoscope. "This is absolutely incredible! I'll need to run tests, of course, but everything seems fine on first glance."

There was no way Collier could allow that. Fortunately, Tess skidded to a halt just outside the room, backtracking to rush inside. Jerking his head at the doctor, Collier gently took the IV tube from Shawn's arm and folded it back to stop any bleeding, ordering, "Keep your arm like that. We're going."

"You're not going anywhere," the doctor exclaimed.

Collier easily scooped Shawn into his arms, bedding and all. "We're going. Tess?"

The young woman stared at the doctor and told him, "You're really overworked, Doctor. You should get some sleep in that really comfortable bed. In fact, you're so tired, you can hardly keep your eyes open."

Yawning, the doctor stumbled towards the bed, barely making it on before passing out asleep.

Shawn whispered, "Jordan?"

"It's okay, Shawn, just relax. I'll take care of everything," Collier promised.

Shawn sighed, but apparently decided to do just that. Or he was simply too exhausted to do more than rest his head on Collier's shoulder. Either worked for Collier. He strode from the room, Tess trailing after to deal with people demanding they stop. Thankfully, she'd grown quite adept at using her gift over the intervening months and they made it to the car without incident.

Getting comfortable in the back seat with Shawn over his lap, Collier ordered Kevin, "Get us back to the cabin."

The other man looked like he wanted to protest, but didn't. He simply put the car in drive and pulled away from the curb.

With Shawn's weight in his arms, the young man so alive and breathing, warming up even more as they got further from the hospital, Collier felt his heart growing lighter.

"Jordan?" Shawn murmured.

Gazing down in Shawn's pale eyes, Collier smiled and pressed his lips to Shawn's temple. "It's okay, Shawn. Everything's going to be fine now."

Shawn smiled briefly and told him, "I snore."

"I don't care," Collier countered, echoing the smile.

The kiss was so much better than before, with Shawn awake and aware. It was still slow and tender, so very heartfelt, that Collier couldn't help but be moved. Shawn drifted to sleep in his arms even before it was over, but he certainly didn't take offense. No, Shawn still had a lot of resting and recuperating to do. All of which would take place in his bed.

As a soft snore escaped Shawn, Collier's smile returned. Maybe he did believe in Christmas miracles after all.

Just a little.

Notes:

This orphaned work was originally on Pejas WWOMB posted by author Nancy.
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