Make You Hurt || Malcolm Bright

No. 10 - Oops, I Did It Again

This one's on the shorter side, but I'm still quite happy with it. Although I definitely could've attempted to make it longer, but it's fine the way it is, I think.

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No. 10 - Oops, I Did It Again

Hospital | Flare-up | Ice Chips

"Okay, so maybe everything didn't go exactly to plan, but at least we caught the killer!" Malcolm says, his voice a little too cherry for his current predicament.

He's in the hospital... again, after having been hit by their killer's getaway car. It did help them to catch the killer, but at what cost? Malcolm nearly lost his fucking life with his recklessness, and Gil is almost positive the kid is going to send him into an early grave.

The kid has a damn deathwish, Gil is sure of it. He doesn't care about his own safety, and would rather put his life on the line and catch their suspects by himself rather than call for backup like he should. It's times like these why Gil has to wonder why he even keeps Malcolm on the team in the first place. Sure, he's good at what he does, but he's a damn liability sometimes.

A walking fucking danger magnet.

"You were hit by a damn car, Malcolm!" Gil says.

Malcolm shrugs, not appearing to be all that bothered about it. "Well... it could've been worse."

Gil stares at him, gaze shifting towards the cast on Malcolm's left leg, then to the cast on his right arm, then finally to the bandage around his head. Both a broken arm and a broken leg, plus a nasty concussion. The only worse thing than this that Gil can possibly think of is that Malcolm could've ended up severely brain damaged, or he could've died.

To top it all off, just like usual, Malcolm tried to convince them that a hospital visit wasn't necessary. Even when both his broken arm and leg were splayed out at an awkward angle and clearly broken.... But Gil was having none of that nonsense. A hospital visit was absolutely necessary.

"It could've been worse?" Gil asks. "You should consider yourself lucky that I'm not automatically kicking you off the team because of this, and for every other time you've gotten yourself hurt!"

God knows he's thought of it many times before, but he just knows that Malcolm will find his way back eventually. He's not even sure if there'll ever be a way to keep Malcolm off the team for good.

Malcolm frowns. "You wouldn't do that, would you?" He asks. "Please Gil, you know how much I need it."

Gil huffs out a laugh, gaze softening just a touch, but he's still absolutely mad at the kid. "Even if I wanted to you know I can't." He says. "You'll just find your way back somehow."

And honestly, he loves working with the kid. Even if he is constantly worried that he's going to get himself hurt. At least with Malcolm working with him he can keep an eye on him. Or at least try to, considering he has the tendency to run off by himself.

He swears, it's like having to look after an overgrown toddler.

"But just promise me you'll start to be more careful from here on out, okay?" He says. "And kid, you're taking time off to heal, and there'll be no arguments or I'm putting you under house arrest at your mothers."

Malcolm goes to protest, presumably regarding having to take time off to heal, but one look from Gil has him surrendering. "Fine." He says. "I promise I'll try to be more careful next time, and I'll take some time off."

Of course, they both know very well that that's completely an unintentional lie.... Both being careful next time, and taking some time off, as the very next week, Malcolm is hobbling into the precinct on his crutches, claiming to have taken enough time off and is fresh and ready to help with a case.