The Taste of Touching Glass

~Tony's POV~

*A few days later*

I woke up and saw Mike dutifully sleeping on his makeshift bed. No matter what I - or the nurses - said, he refused to leave my side since Friday night.

'Morning Mikey.' I croak, shifting into a more comfortable position. I let out a quick breath as I shift the wrong way. My injuries aren't very many but they are painful. Two of my left ribs are broken and another is cracked. I also have a bump the size of an egg on my head.

Two nurses hurry into the room. A blonde, who was apparently in the ambulance with me, turns and sighs at Mike. Her name is Stacey. The brunette, Ella, comes over and helps me into my sitting position.

'I'm fine!' I protest, but she stares me down. Stacey's woken Mike up and he's rubbing his eyes, grumbling at her.

'Good morning sunshine.' I say, smiling at him. He looks over and stares at me, blinking furiously.

'What's so good about it, babe?' He says, standing up and stretching.

'A day less I have to stay in this place.' Mike cheers up a bit at that, and suddenly things run a bit smoother. 'What would you like to eat?' Mike asks.

'I don't know... Surprise me.' I say. I hate letting him baby me. He's also taken to calling me 'babe' and 'baby' now. Not that I mind one bit, though. Mike exits the room and Stacey and Ella look at each. They always ogle over Mike.

'Hey, ladies, he's mine. Back off.' I say, frowning at them. Stacey rolls her eyes.

'Someone's jealous!' She cries, 'Of two people just looking at his boy.' She and Ella laugh, and I just sigh. The nurses walk out of the room and Mike walks back in, looking after the two giggling figures.

'Breakfast is served.' He says, placing a tray on my lap.

On it, there's a note, a red rose and my breakfast - pancakes and orange juice.

I look at the note, and it says,

~ For my baby, Tony. I love you.

I smile over at Mike. Mike catches my glance and shrugs.

'I didn't write it.' He says, shoving a piece of pancake into his mouth.

My eyebrows furrow and I look closely at the writing.

'HEY BABE!' A voice shouts in my ear.

'Arrghh!' I yell, jumping.

Jaime starts laughing, pointing at my expression. Mike's still eating his pancakes, shaking his head and smiling. Vic's slinked into the room and is trying to steal some of Mike's food.

Jaime gives me a kiss on the cheek, picks up the rose and presents it to me.

'My dear.' He says.

I take the rose and hit him on the head with it.

'Idiot.' I state.

'That hurts, Tone.' Jaime says, clutching his heart. 'I thought you loved me.'

'Aww, c'mere.' I say, holding out my arms to hug the silly Mexican.

'Ew, no. I might get Mike-and-Tony germs.' He goes and sits next to Vic, leaving me to eat in peace. I roll my eyes and dig in.

'Do you know when you're getting outta here?' Vic asks, ripping some of Mike's pancake and stuffing it in his mouth.

'Uh, a couple of weeks I think. They want to moniter my ribs before they let me go. You know, make sure they're healing in the right position and such. They also wanna make sure I don't make it worse.' I say, finishing off my first pancake. I can't wait to be out of this place. It's so depressing. Everything is sterile and white. It also smells funny. The only good bit was when Jaime and Vic joined us a few days ago and brought their guitars with them. They were told to stop playing them though because they were disturbing the other patients.

As the day wears on and I am allowed to get up twice, an improvement from two days ago where I wasn't allowed to get up at all but had drips and wires hooked into my body, Jaime, Vic and Mike rotate on keeping me company. They won't listen to me when I tell them that they don't have too. That they can go and have fun, I'll just sit here, but of course not.

Mike got a reprieve after breakfast and went with Vic back to their place so that he could change and whatnot. Jaime and I chatted about guitars and he showed me what was at the guitar store via his phone.

After the Fuentes brothers return, Mike decides to stay with me, ignoring his brother's objections. He hops into the hospital bed with me and we watch a movie. It wasn't Harry Potter or Star Wars for once, and I couldn't remember most of it. But I was in Mike's arms and he stroked my hair the whole time. Afterwards, he got us lunch - salad for me, hamburger for him - and then helped me over to the shower.

After my shower, Vic came back and practically pushed Mike out of the doors, telling him to have a break from being with me. I smiled and waved as Jaime dragged him out. The nurses were glad he was gone, because they could then come in and check my ribs. They declared they were okay, and Vic produced some clothes for me to put on. We went for a stroll around the hospital, talking about random things. All in all, not a bad way to spend the day when you're supposed to be confined to bed. Mike came back and after dinner and was forced to wait outside while I underwent an x-ray. We were exhausted and I fell asleep with my head on his chest, the rythm of his heart and his breathing calming me.

Notes