Disjointed Heart

Chapter Five

"Chester? Are you okay, can you hear me?"

The blonde man's eyes fluttered as he tried to concentrate his gaze to Mike's face before he gulped and nodded.

His consciousness was giving in but Mike kept him close. He felt weirdly comfortable with the man's touch. He could listen to Mike's deep voice in the background, his head was in another reality, until he finally closed his eyes, giving in to unconsciousness.

"Shit! Shit, what do I do?" Mike asked himself out loud, lightly slapping Chester's cheeks, trying to make him wake up. "Shit it's my fucking fault!" He was becoming desperate so he took a deep breath. "C'mon Mike, you have to calm the fuck down. Uhm..." he looked around. "I'll call Talinda and explain that to her, I'll tell her I can't deliver the rest of the meds today. It's the least I can do." He mumbled to himself as he placed the blonde gently on the couch, fishing his phone out of his pocket and calling his boss right after.

Thankfully, Talinda was very comprehensive and told him that someone was gonna cover him up this time, but she still warned him to not get close to the patients and to be more careful.

Mike searched for a towel and moistened it, carefully placing it over Chester's forehead, hoping he'd wake up soon.

He sighed and sat on the floor, next to the couch, looking at Chester breathing gently. The older man surely had more problems than what the half Asian thought before. He had known that asking about Ryan would cause a reaction out of the blonde man, but he didn't think that it would be that fierce.

Biting his lower lip, Mike reached toward Chester's hand before taking it in his and squeezing it lightly, as he couldn't help but run his thumb of the back of the other man's hand, wanting to reassure him. At that, Chester suddenly stirred, and Mike came to retrieve his hand, but Chester frowned.

"No, Mark... I don't-I c-can't... I w-wanna go... No, Mark-"

Who the fuck is Mark? Mike thought to himself.

"Hey, it's Mike. Mark isn't here, shhh, it's okay." The half Asian assured. Even though he had no idea who Mark was, he was sure he had caused the blonde man some trouble just by the fear laced in his voice.

He kept caressing Chester's hand, softly hushing him with soft whispers in his ear. It seemed to be working, however, Mike fell back when Chester suddenly jumped up, snapping his hand away.

"Go away Mark!" He shouted as soon as he opened his eyes, panting. His shoulders shook as he looked around and noticed that his deliverer was still there. "I-I'm sorry." He said hastily and rushed to his bathroom, tripping and falling to the ground before he could make it there.

"Ches, calm down. Are you okay?" Mike rushed to him and held his arms, making him sit up on the floor.

"Yes." He said quickly, not even thinking twice.

"You have to rest, you just passed out." Mike got him up and led him back to the couch. Chester surprisingly hadn't panicked, most probably because he hadn't even got a hold of what was happening yet, but it was a fact that he could get used to Mike's touch if they'd always be so soft.

As they both sat down, Mike's hand rested on Chester's wrist, caressing it, and the blonde man looked at it strangely. A part of him couldn't understand why he wasn't reacting. He looked up at Mike and saw the worry in his eyes, and at that moment, he remembered he had shouted about Mark.

The older man blushed in frustration at that as he looked away. He didn't want Mike to ask about Mark. He didn't want to think about him, nor have to explain why he was fearing him so much. The blonde man tensed as Mike cleared his throat, already knowing what the half Asian was going to say...

"I don't know who that Mark guy is... but I'm not talking about him. I'm talking about someone named Ryan?"

Chester tensed at that as his eyes widened and he couldn't help but gasp as he looked back at Mike, startled, while his heart started beating a bit faster. Surely he had heard wrong, he couldn't get his hopes up like that.

"Did... did you say Ryan?"

"Yes. Ryan... Shuck... yeah that's it. Ryan Shuck." Mike said firmly, still not letting go of the other's wrist. But Chester still hadn't become uncomfortable.

"Ryan? He's living here? He's your client? I need to see him! Oh my god, Ryan!" Chester said dreamily, smiling widely as memories of the brunette flooded his mind. They were such good friends... Ryan was always there for him in that hell hole of a clinic. He needed to see him again.

"You want to see him? Well... maybe I could set a day and bring you to meet him." Mike offered with a soft smile, he looked in awe at the blonde. His smile was stunning, he should definitely smile more. And he deserved some fun, so why not? He just would have to make sure that his boss wouldn't find out.

"Really?! You'd do that?! You can bring him to my house!" Chester excitedly said, his eyes shining with joy. True joy, something he hadn't felt in forever.

"I think it'd be better if we went out. You should take some air. It's good sometimes." Mike saw Chester's smile dropped and he tensed. "But if you don't feel comfortable yet, it's okay. I'll see what I can do for you." He quickly added and Chester smiled softly again.

"Thank you so much Mike." He sighed content, still not bothering with the other's touch. "But... if you don't mind me asking... how did you find out?"

"I got to Ryan's house a bit early and he asked me to come in... There was a picture of you two on his desk so I asked how he knew you." Mike explained and Chester's mouth opened in awe.

"He has a pic of us? That's unfair, where did he get it, I don't have one." He frowned as he looked to the ground, trying to remember when they had taken a picture together. "Oh, yeah, it must have been when someone wanted to take a pic of his garden and he asked me to be in it too..."

Realizing that he was rambling about his time at the clinic, Chester suddenly got up before he walked toward the kitchen to get a glass of water, since his throat felt dry from his fainting. "I'm really grateful, Mike." He whispered as the half Asian got up too, sensing that it was time for him to leave.

"No problem. I just want you to be happy." Mike spilled out before he could stop himself and widened his eyes when he noticed what he had said.

"Okay... thanks." Chester shrugged it off and finished his glass of water before putting the cup in his sink. "Thanks for staying here too, I'm sorry I disturbed your day."

"No, no, you didn't at all. But I had better go now or else I won't be able to study." The half Asian smiled and nodded slightly, going to the door, followed right behind by the blonde.

Chester opened the door and waved his hand as he watched Mike go to the elevator and vanish. It was the first time he waited to see if he had gone safely out of the building, but he didn't even noticed as his mind was filled with thoughts of Ryan and memories of them together.

He let his mind flow to various different hypothesis of his and Ryan's meeting.

Would Ryan hug him? Tell him he was happy to see him? He wondered what the other one was doing since he had gotten out of the clinic. Finding a job hadn't been easy for Chester since he had been institutionalized, but he got the feeling it had been easier for Ryan. He was always so good with people, always knowing the right thing to say...

At least, Chester was happy that he still remembered him even if it had been a couple of years since they had last talked. His heart squeezed as he looked around at his apartment. He always kept it tidy enough, but he had let himself go since his panic attack in the bathroom.

What if Ryan agreed to meet him tomorrow? Chester hastily went to search what he needed to clean his place up.

Whenever his old friend would come to see him, Chester wouldn't let him see how low he had gotten since he had been out of the clinic.

Ryan deserved a better friend than that.