The private wing of the hospital is relatively quiet, save for the occasional beeping or shuffling from outside the closed door. The strong scent of sterilisation lingers in the air, along with the smell of burnt coffee. Through the many slits in the horizontal shades, the bright lights of the city cut through the pitch of the late evening.

Kane shifts in an armchair that's been drawn up to the reclining bed. He tries his best to slouch into the hard cushions. He has an elbow against the armrest and leans his tired head on his fist; it's uncomfortable.

"You're sleeping?" Reid blinks, his pupils dilated. His cheek is a canvas of purple and black bruising that extends to his swollen left eye. And in seconds, his focus deviates to angrily swatting at the wire of the intravenous that's become tangled around the blankets of the hospital bed where he's been forced to remain.

Forced, because Kane had to physically put the idiot back into bed three times before Reid gave up out of exhaustion.

"It's late. Normal people sleep when it's nighttime. You should try it." Kane's eyes had begun to droop closed, but he opens them quickly at the soft sound of tape ripping.

He groans and leans forward, grabbing Reid's fingers to stop them from ripping the medical tape off the needle that needs to remain in the back of his hand for the near future. It's not difficult to subdue the idiot when his arm's in a sling.

With a gasp, Reid rips his fingers from Kane's grip and tosses himself dramatically against the askew grey pillows. He'd be in severe pain from the gesture due to his two cracked ribs if he wasn't so doped up. "I don't like it here; the walls are loud and the water's too dry. Let's go home."

"No."

"Mean."

Reid pouts, and the swelling in his mouth makes it look downright pitiful, the sight tugging at the little bit of heart Kane still possesses and simmering some of his annoyance that'd been boiling.

When he'd arrived after displacing to the hospital, he didn't actually see the injury that was causing Reid to spew blood from his mouth like a Gnarlash that'd just eaten its fill of victims.

Kane was sure he'd have to suffer hearing Reid bemoan as his mouth was stitched, but instead, the nurses had shoved ice against Reid's cheeks and made him chew it, and once the bleeding began to taper off, Reid had been forced to eat an ungodly amount of popsicles. All the same gross banana flavour; Kane knows this because Reid had complained for an entire hour very vocally about it.

They aren't going home because the hospital needs to reset Reid's knee. It's currently propped up on pillows and makes a bump beneath the grey and white blanketing, covering Reid's lower half. Apparently, the doctor is having a busy night, and the severity of the dislocation means it's not going to be a five-minute ordeal.

It's not worth saying, however, because Reid's on very strong painkillers. He's not all there. It's painfully familiar. Normally, Kane would've protested giving Reid anything due to the glaring issue of having a former addict take the very thing they had abused, but the amount of pain Reid had been in was enough to negate any personal feelings on the matter.

Reid sits up abruptly. "Did you know I jumped off a balcony?"

Kane gives up on trying to sleep. If the idiot would just close his drooping lids, he'd be out like a light. Kane can always try covering Reid's eyes with a palm to force the darkness; it's worked before, but he'll save that for dire circumstances.

For now, Kane grabs his paper cup from the end table by the bed. He sips on burnt, cold coffee. "I know. You've already told me. Twice. Really impressive."

"It was—I hate Kiernan." Reid's cotton shirt has a speckling of blood on the collar. It'd been difficult to manoeuvre Reid into the drawstring pants with his injured leg; the sight of the intense bruising that'd been hidden beneath Reid's soaked jeans was almost enough to send Kane into a blind rage, but they'd managed, with Reid laughing and Kane sputtering curses.

Kane leans heavily on his elbow resting atop the armrest. "He's a dick." He asks carefully, "He's the one that hurt you, right?"

Reid nods and gnaws at his swollen bottom lip. "He kept touching me."

Kane narrows his eyes. "With his fist?"

Reid suddenly grabs onto the plastic railing of the bed closest to Kane, gripping so tightly that his knuckles turn white and the needle in the back of his hand is so taut it looks painful.

"Kenneth. I have to tell you something. It's really important." Reid tries dragging himself to the edge of the bed to bring them closer, but it's slow going, with blankets weighing him down and the intravenous wire tangling him up.

With a sigh, Kane takes pity and leans forward. "What is it?"

Reid swivels his head around the hospital room dramatically, as if looking for others that might be listening. "Are you insane? Shush." He looks back with a glare and gestures with his hand for Kane to keep it down. "Don't talk so loud. They're always listening."

Kane isn't a fan of this behaviour. He sits up straighter. "Who's listening?"

"Who?" Reid mocks with an incredulous laugh.

"Reid."

"You know who, Kenneth."

"I don't."

Reid whines, "Vampires."

Kane leans back against the armchair. "Right. They're, uh, listening now?" He swallows thickly at Reid's erratic nodding and leans forward again, lowering his voice to placate the idiot. "So, what's important that you want to tell me?"

"Huh?"

Kane growls, "Reid."

"Kenneth, come closer." Reid tries to reach out, but his arm is in a sling, so it misses the mark and becomes more of an awkward flail, which has him leaning percariously over the edge of the bed, only saving his face from meeting the white tiling when Kane's palm presses against his chest and pushes firmly, forcing Reid to rest back on the bed.

Reid hushes his voice as he rests on the pillows, speaking quickly, "I felt...I wanted—I need to tell you."

"Then, fuckin' tell me." Kane would never admit that his stomach is twisting at the urgency in Reid's wavering tone.

He rolls his eyes at Reid's fingers that reach out, but even with a huff, he still drapes an arm over the plastic railing of the hospital bed and takes Reid's offered hand in a loose grasp.

Reid looks at their clasped hands. He slips his thumb beneath some of the loose bandaging covering Kane's hand and whispers softly, "How could you let yourself get bitten?"

Kane's eyes widen. "I didn't let myself..." He narrows his eyes at Reid's snort. "Excuse me, twerp, but you're one to talk."

"It'll probably scar."

"Whatever, I'll add it to the rest." Kane's jaw clenches with his rising annoyance. "Forget that shit, alright? Just tell me what's so important."

"I wanted to tell you why I went tonight."

It's obvious why he went on the surface. Reid had shown Kane the photos of the symbol and revealed a picture he'd taken. He thinks finding the girl's friend could reveal some information on what's happened to her. It's a good plan. The deeper question is why any of it was worth it.

Kane couldn't keep the slight waver from his voice if he tried. "Why, Reid? Why put yourself in danger like that?"

Reid's fingers tighten on Kane's hand. "I wanted to..." His face scrunches up, and Kane's worried the painkillers have begun to stop working, and Reid's hurting, even though the last dose was an hour ago. "I wanted to do it alone."

With every word, Kane's begun to lean closer so he can better hear the trembling whisper that's become Reid's voice.

"I wanted to prove I could handle it," Reid whispers, head tipped down, and looks at Kane under his lashes. "I wanted to make you believe in me again."

Fucking hell.

Kane curses those damn pills. He's not equipped for this. The open vulnerability of Reid's watery blue eyes staring at Kane like the answers to the universe might come tumbling out of his lips

"I..." Kane swallows thickly. "Is that important to you? Me, believing in you?"

He knows he's an idiot the moment the words leave his mouth. There are so many things he could have chosen to say, comforting things, but no, he chose a dumb question with an obvious answer.

Reid looks down, his hand clasping Kane's tightening, and, by god, he's actually thinking deeply about his answer. Maybe Kane didn't screw up.

When Reid looks up and when he speaks, his voice is steadier and more determined. "It's important to me. It's really important."

This time, Kane thinks through his reply. He can provide comfort when the right moment calls for it, but he's not a man who coddles. It's not in his nature. Reid might be up in the clouds mentally, but he's telling the truth of his feelings, albeit doped and loosely.

Kane lays his palm atop Reid's head and grips the idiot's messy locks of blond hair, tugging gently but firm enough to get the point across that he's not fucking about.

Reid inhales sharply but doesn't do much else except tighten his hold on Kane's hand with his blue eyes blinking in wait, and they're so fucking open.

"If it's so important to you..." Kane whispers with an edge. He leans close enough for their noses to almost bump, and he waits until the intimidation of his glare settles.

Probably without realising it, Reid raises his shoulders protectively, but still, his damn blue eyes are unshakably trusting.

Kane growls, "Don't blame me for your fuckups. I want to believe in you, but you need to give me something to believe in. You thought getting yourself hurt would prove something to me? That's fucking dumb." He softens his voice at the sight of Reid's swollen lips quivering. "Talk to me, man. That's all you need to do. Got it?"

Reid looks down. "Okay."

A heavy silence stretches

Kane pats Reid's head and puts some space between them but doesn't lean back in his chair, keeping his arm draped over the bed's railing and letting Reid continue to hold his hand, hoping the contact will calm whatever inner battle the idiot's fighting with such a forlorn expression while staring at the intravenous wire lain across the blankets covering his lap.

Kane swallows. "I, uh, care about you; I won't lie to make you happy."

Reid sighs. "You're so in love with me." He ignores Kane's tired groan and sings dramatically, "I'd offer you a kiss, but alas, our love cannot be, because my mouth is the size of a grapefruit."

"I'll kill you."

Reid is grinning when he slowly looks up from under his lashes. It's a nice sight compared to the deep frown he'd been wearing. "Kenneth. Could you lie just a little bit? Tell me something nice. You never do. You're always so mean."

It's said teasingly, but Kane can't help feeling a pang of guilt that it holds some truth. He's not a vocal person when it comes to praise or declarations of affection. "Fine, but only because you're hurt. Don't get used to it."

All these years, he'd assumed that anytime he's not shouting, Reid's taking that as a pat on the back for good behaviour, but maybe it's not enough, if the way Reid's leaning forward like a starving animal that's finally been given a morsel of food is any telling. Kane's suddenly really fucking nervous that he's going to fuck it up and coughs into his fist.

"You're..." Kane is trying so hard to think of something nice to say that it's giving him a tension headache.

He looks at Reid, really looks, his gaze moving over the light freckles dusting Reid's nose, his pale skin bruised to hell. Even beaten up, he objectively has a good-looking face and probably could get paid for it if he wanted. He's stubbornly tenacious. The most trustworthy man Kane's ever known. But Kane can't say any of that. Nope. Reid will never let him live it down.

So Kane impulsively blurts, "Your eyes... they're really blue."

Reid doesn't laugh. The corners of his lips twitch.

And, as Kane seriously debates suffocating the idiot to get away from the humiliation that's burning his cheeks, Reid says softly, "You like them that much? My blue eyes? That's so sweet."

"Shut up."

"What do you like about my eyes, Kenneth?"

"Fuck off."

"I like yours. So green. So angry."

Kane is going to strangle Reid to death. He simply needs to decide if he's going to do it now with witnesses or when they go home. "You're really good at being a complete idiot. Is that nice enough for you?"

Reid nods happily.

"Better be because you're not getting anymore compliments. Ever." Kane begins to retake his hand from Reid's grip out of pure pettiness, but the fingers holding his clasp tighten, making him pause. "Let go. I want to drink my coffee, and you're hanging off of me."

Reid ignores him; his blue eyes suddenly narrow into slits, and the idiot's singular focus is on moving his fingers from clasping Kane's hand to gripping Kane's wrist. Reid gently twists Kane's hand until it is palm up and displays the shackle of finger-shaped bruises on Kane's inner wrist.

It's really weird, especially when Reid begins removing the bandages with furrowing brows, but Kane allows it on the off-chance it quells some of Reid's erratic behaviour.

Kane clenches his fingers into a tight fist as his bloody bandages flit down, landing in a small heap atop Reid's lap over the grey blankets.

He remains compliant until Reid unfurls Kane's fingers, bows his head forward, slots his blunt teeth over Kane's injured palm, and begins gnawing at the aching flesh like some bad rendition of a zombie.

Kane's not proud of the high-pitched noise he lets escape as he snatches his hand back and cradles it to his chest. He chokes out, "What t-the hell are you doing?"

Reid blinks at Kane with blown-out pupils. "Biting you."

"I know that, and it fucking hurt! Don't do that shit without warning."

"Okay, I'm warning you; I'm going to bite you." Reid shakes his head with a brittle laugh, as if Kane is being the strange one between them.

"No, you aren't," Kane says, keeping his hand far away from Reid's maw and blue eyes, which have never stopped staring at Kane's gnarled appendage. "Why would you want to do that?"

Kane knows something's up. Reid had asked about the bruises on Kenneth's throat when they'd first been left alone with each other tonight, and he'd been mildly concerned. It's not the first time Kane's been marred by a particularly grisly encounter. It was when Kane reluctantly admitted the vampire bit his hand that Reid became genuinely irritated, but Kane had chalked it up to being influenced by the medication.

Reid lays back with a sigh. "Just let me." He lifts out his hand as if Kane will submit and allow his palm to be gnawed at because Reid's fluttering his blonde lashes just so. "Please, Kenneth, it really bothers me."

"What bothers you?"

There are a few short raps against the door to the room before the knob clicks and the hinges creak.

Kane has a surge of relief that they didn't have to finish this strange conversation, and the thought of having the doctor finally finish so they can go home has him sitting up straighter with a rare smile at the fleeting promise of a reprieve.

Kane's smile falls.

It's not the male doctor from earlier who lets the door shut behind him with a familiar smile. Icing the very air of the room with his mere presence.

Reid's breathing is so quick that it makes Kane's own chest burn with empathy. The wire from the intravenous needle clicks against the metal stand from which it hangs as Reid struggles to sit up or flee; it's not clear with his jerking movements.

Kane stands up from his chair. The lights overhead flicker with his rising magic. His fingers twitch for a weapon he doesn't have while he stares down their unwanted visitor with a fiery glare.

The devil himself just walked into their hospital room: Gabriel Kimberk.