Georgie AU: A Married Man

[epistemological]

[ The first concern he has, upon waking, is where he is. It would be where his wife is, if she's okay, if she's safe, but his senses come back at the same time as his eyes and while the two people huddled next to his bed don't exactly have many distinctive features from this angle, he'd know the scent of her shampoo anywhere. He also knows what Basira's headscarf looks like, a few of them anyway, and the tail end of one of her favorites is on the other one which answers a few questions.

Not nearly enough.

He hears the question, and he can't quite help himself from answering that with a croaking-]

That is a very good question...

Comments

[alyein]

[ georgie is a practical individual — she and jon are well matched that way, her way of taking situations and breaking them down. to winding jon down from his dramatic moments (though, after years of marriage, she learnt well when to leave him be and when to centre him - he is brilliant, but he can also be so jon. this thought is filled with affection, bone-deep).

so, six months of siting by his side without compromising her work had been challenging. she'd taken long naps at the hospital and read outloud to him, asking his silent form for opinions on her latest ghost hunt, expecting him to make a quip about how ridiculous it was. (this, something she takes no offence in; after years of marriage you become used to the boundaries set; jon knew her - when to tease her and when to tangle their fingers together because it had been a long day).

recently, his job - and god, does she hate his job - has been erratic, dangerous; though those words didn't do the whole issue justice. what georgie does understand she hates. she wants to be an unreasonable partner and keep jon from work.

she wants, selfishly, to move them away and let the archives find a new archivist. or whatever. she tries (has tried) to not think too much, to trust jon. except that had ended up with them, here, jon in a coma and her, twisting her hands as she conceals her anger at having a fucking tape recorder show up out of nowhere alongside an avatar.


lord knows she nearly had a heart attack when jon spoke; after six months of utter silence, georgie isn't sure if she wants to cry or scream or —


— there is something lodged in her chest, something vague, an unsettled feeling that twists in her stomach. ugly, raw, unwelcome. jon is awake. but he feels — ]

Jon.

[ a flicker of hesitation before she is at his side, hand on his shoulder. ] You're - I need to call the nurse.

[ basira and her exchange a brief look, but basira knows because she is entangled by that same entity and georgie has never felt so out of place in her life. yes, including the whole 'dead woman' incident. ]

[epistemological]

[ That is... that is not what he was expecting. He tries to move, feeling as if he's the tin man in need of oil even as he forces his limbs to do as he says, reaching for the side of the bed to turn his body so he can get up.]

I'm- I'm quite all right, Georgie. Where are you- Georgie!

[ It's a croak, if a distressed one.]

[alyein]

[ it's wounded and human, a sharp contrast of what she thought she saw lying on the hospital bed — no, this is still jon, just jon — right?

she freezes, searching jon's face for a sign of — (a monster, with eyes and a vast endless ocean —) ]

Jon, you've been in a coma for s-six months. [ her voice falters, the knot in her throat making her stumble over her words. ] You can't be alright, that's not — [ she looks again, but all she can see now is jon's face. ] Just don't move.

[ as if to compromise, she turns so that she's next to his bedside again. ]

[epistemological]

Six months?

[ He shifts in the bed, starts to push himself up, to reach over to Georgie. He needs to- none of this makes sense.]

I'm- I'm fine, really. Just a little. Just a little parched.

[alyein]

Basira, could you give us a minute? [ she exchanges a glance with the other woman that is not entirely friendly before she stiffly nods and leaves the room with a I'll get you something to drink, Jon.

probably something other than the water that has been on the bedside for far too long and tastes stale. ]

Don't you 'I'm fine' me, Jon. [ but she still relents, takes his hand in hers. he feels very much alive. ] A building fell on you, [ her other hand traces the side of his face so lightly as if she's afraid he'll break. ] You nearly - never mind.