The whole ambulance ride has me freaking the fuck out. Andy's bleeding, his arm is twisted all to fucking hell and back, and one of the EMT's has to put an oxygen mask on me.

By the time we reach the hospital, I'm sure I'm going to pass out, but I make it. One of the doctors standing at the door is Patrick, and he has a stethoscope around his neck. He's chewing gum.

"Smith, you're with me, and Kenny, you're with the boy with breathing problems." Patrick says. When I lift the mask off my face, Patrick's eyes widen. "Keep him in my area."

He and 'Smith' are rolling Andy off after that before 'Kenny' approaches me. "Dude, you okay? Anxiety? Asthma?"

I pull the mask off for a split second, gasping out a, "Both." before slapping it back down. He takes my hand and leads me down a hallway. After bring me to a room, he sits me down on the bed.

"Listen to me, alright? Inhale for four seconds, hold for two,  exhale for four seconds. Got it? Let's go together." He breathes in, and I follow.

Kenny grabs my mask and lifts it over my head. I do as he said, and surprisingly, it helps. My breathing returns to normal in seconds.

Kenny smiles. "Doctor Stump will be in here with you soon." He pats my back and leaves the door open.

My phone vibrates in my pocket for the fortieth time since I've gotten here, and I finally dig it out. It's Joe, of course.

Twenty-three missed calls, fifty-four text messages, and seventeen voicemails. Damn.

I open the texts. They're all along the lines of 'hurry up' or 'come on' until about the thirtieth one. Then he says 'fuck, I saw the news. pls tell me you weren't involved in that wreck.' And then 'pete, pls tell me you're alright.'

The last message I got read 'I'm coming to the hospital. pls be okay.'

I smile at Joe's worried state before hitting one of the missed calls, to which he picks up on the first ring. "Finally, fuck, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Are you still coming to the hospital?" I ask.

"Are you at the hospital?" He asks. I roll my eyes.

"Yeah. Checking on Andy." I answer. He sighs in relief.

"Yeah, I'm almost there. I'll ask for your room number. Be there soon, babe." He hangs up right after that, and I shake my head at him. What a worry wart.

Patrick comes in the room next and shuts the door behind him. "Tell me you're okay please."

"I'm good." I smile, and he looks relieved. "How's Andy?"

"He's fine. Had to do some emergency surgery around his brain. The impact of his head hitting the steering wheel cracked a few pieces of his skull. He'll be fine. In good shape, so he'll recover fast." Patrick assures me. He walks closer to me.

"You're still chewing my gum, huh?" I ask Patrick. He shakes his head.

"Nah, Spence gave me a piece of his." He clarifies. He gets a wicked look on his face. "Want to try it?"

"Uh, sure." I say, shrugging. "So do you have another piece or-" He's grabbing the back of my neck and hauling me forward before I can finish my sentence.

This time I'm not going to stand here. I respond quickly, the initial shock gone, and wrap my arms around his neck. He lifts me onto the table.

"Alright, sorry about that." He says, scratching the back of his head. "I would've kept going, but shit could hit the fan if someone walked in on us doing that."

"I understand. Can I see Andy?" I ask. He looks hesitant, but he finally nods. The door opens then, and Joe walks right over to me and hugs me tightly.

I am surprised, but I hug back. Patrick's smile drops, his jaw clenching. Joe pulls back to look me in the eyes. "I was so scared. I'm glad you're okay."

He kisses me gently then, soft and short, pulling away after just a second. Patrick's hand tightens on his clipboard, his knuckles turning white.

"Want to come see Andy with me?" I ask, and he shrugs.

"Sure." He entertwines our fingers, walking away before Patrick calls me back. Joe comes with until Patrick politely says it's about my medical health.

"Is that your boyfriend?" He asks as soon as Joe's out of ear shot. I shake my head.

"More of a casual thing. Nothing serious." I assure him. He narrows his eyes.

"He's fucked you then?" Patrick asks, and my mouth drops open at his choice of words and boldness.

"No, he hasn't. Hence the term, casual. The most I've done is kiss him." I say, and Patrick's eyes widen.

"Oh, I'm really sorry. I don't know what got into me." He says. "Andy's in room 1243."

He walks out after that, me left chewing his gum and standing where I was. Joe peeks his head back in and holds out his hand. "You coming?"

I nod and walk to him, grabbing his out reached hand. We walk slowly to the elevator and then to his room. When we open the door, Andy is asleep, with only a hospital gown on.

His mouth and nose have a mask over them, and he looks really bad. It looks like they cut his hair, too, probably to operate on his skull. Joe gasps when he sees all of Andy's tattoos.

"Do you think he'd mind if I touched them?" Joe asks. I shake my head.

"Nope." I answer honestly. Andy loves it when people touch his tattoos and trace them. He loves to tell people when he got this or that added on and where at.

He and Joe would get along well. Really well. Like Joe could end up liking Andy more than he does me. But if things happen like that, then they do.

Besides, I don't think I'd be left alone with this whole 'oh you're chewing gum? let me attack you.' thing Patrick and I have going on.

// tbh