Love Bites

Jae: Seven

The next morning, Jae took a shower and used the crutches the medic had given him to hobble down to the infirmary, taking a tired seat on the bed. The night had been tough, no pain meds because Jae hated the things, but that meant he was up exorbitantly late with the burning and throbbing from the cut. He couldn't believe he'd been so stupid. Jack was right. This expedition hinged on him in a big way, and he couldn't go off half cocked like that again.

But he also knew he'd only done it to keep Jack from doing it first.

He was able, that made him more confident, but he should have put more thought into what he was jumping into. Whatever. He didn't want to think about it anymore.

"Ah, morning, Dr. Olson. How's the leg?" John, Jae's medic for the last few years, walked over, sipping his coffee and looking down at Jae's calf. "It's pretty swollen. I know you know this, but I'll remind you anyway. The marine bacteria in a shark's mouth can be deadly, so if you don't mind, I'd like to clean the cut again, just to be safe, and give you another antibiotic shot."

Jae grumbled, laying back and putting his leg up on the table.

John laughed, taking a bottle of sterile water from the cabinet. "Hey, I'm not the one who jumped overboard. that's all on you. Seems that shark guy wasn't too happy with you. You guys know each other?"

Jae draped his arm over his eyes as John began his work, grumbling some more. First, this was going to hurt and now he had to talk about Jack?

"We dated for a while. It didn't work out." Jae wanted to cuss as John used gloved fingers to pull back the cut, pouring the water over it again, the tip close to the skin as he irrigated the wound. One of the reasons Jae chose John was that he was overly efficient, and he knew Jae's medical history like the back of his hand. Jae had allergies, latex being one of them, and some wicked anaphylactic episodes. He just didn't trust anyone else. John had tubed Jae a few times, didn't make him feel like an invalid, and carried epinephrine for Jae just in case. He was literally and figuratively a life saver.

"That makes sense now." John poked at the wound, pursing his lips a bit. "Don't be pissed, but I think I should stitch it up. I put the steri strips on last night, but it's not closing up like I wanted."

"Can't you use the glue?" Jae whined, not a stranger to this stuff.

John shook his head. "If I close it up like that and the infection gets worse, it'll be harder to open up. It'd be the kind of thing I'd have to have a surgeon do. So let me stitch it, we'll continue the antibiotic, and I'll give you something by mouth too, and I want you to use a cane instead of crutches, just to take the weight off your leg. That'll help it heal a little quicker."

Jae just turned his head as John got started, wincing a few times before he got it good and numb.

"So, what did you do to this guy?" John asked as he made his first stitch.

Jae sighed, figuring he should probably tell the truth. "I left. Just...one morning I realized he didn't want the life I did, so I packed up the few things I left on his boat and left. We'd been together for a little over four years."

"Seriously?" John chuffed a laugh. "I'd be pissed too. How long ago was that?"

"Three years."

"And you haven't spoken since?"

Jae felt that familiar asshole feeling. "No."

John didn't say anything immediately, instead focusing on his job. John never asked Jae about his personal life, dating and such, not because Jae was gay and John wasn't, but because neither of them seemed to have much interest in it. They were both focused individuals. Now, though, John felt the need to say something, but he worded it carefully.

"He seems like the kind of guy who would listen. Maybe you should sit down and talk to him, see if you can come to some kind of understanding."

Jae lifted his head, meeting John's eyes. "Hey. Stitch my leg and quit giving me dating advice. When you quit being a serial philanderer, I'll talk about my feelings."

John laughed, shrugging a bit. "Fair enough. I'm just saying that...if you had something good, why can't you try to work it out?"

Jae laid his head back and sighed loud enough for John to hear his exasperation. "Who said we had something good?"

"He did." John said, tying off his last stitch. "Not in that many words, but I heard how he reacted. That door's not soundproof. Me and Michele couldn't help it. We heard every word."

"I'm going to fire you both." Jae rolled his eyes, feeling the sticky tape as John bandaged the stitches.

"No you won't." He stood, putting away his things. "Just think about it. And get the hell out of here. I'm starving and you're keeping me from crepes for breakfast."

Jae got up, took the cane John proffered him, and grumbled as he hobbled his way out.

Breakfast was hopping, people everywhere, and that just made Jae more grumpy. This time, he stood in line with everyone else, grabbing some bacon, cream cheese, a chocolate chip muffin, and when it was his turn to pick his crepes, he got strawberries and walked off with a plate full of food that would help him feel more human.

Michele didn't wave him over, too busy with her nose in the data from yesterday's shark, but he went and sat next to her anyways. It was a few minutes before she spoke to him, and she didn't even raise her head.

"I swabbed your cut for DNA. Got a partial profile. The big one from yesterday is most interesting, the two smaller ones not so much. I'm mapping their genomes against the main sample now, but won't have results for a while. And I'm fucking pissed at you. So there's that."

Jae ate, refusing to acknowledge her, or give her some words to make fodder with, because he just wasn't in the mood for anymore conversation. But that never deterred Michele.

"Mr. Sexy is stupid pissed at you too. Well, he was. Then he got all sappy and now I don't know if he's pissed or sad. He's still got a thing for you, that's obvious. It's stupid, really, you two dancing around each other like you do. I get why /you/ do it, because you're an emotionally stunted individual who wants commitment but can't handle the prospect of it not lasting so you do something to sabotage the relationship."

Jae looked up, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't give me that look. I took some general psychology classes. It helps to figure out how to act sometimes. Anyways, like I said, you I get, but he's a little tougher. He still feels the same, and he's hurt, but he wears all his emotions on the outside where you're pushing them inside. I'm still developing a profile."

Jae was fascinated as she explained, shoving his face with damn good food.

"Don't look at me like that, I said! So I took some more clinical psychology courses one summer when I was bored."

"And you still act like you do." Jae grinned a bit.

"Fuck you. I'm fabulous, and you love it." She shrugged, grinning too. "Besides, I was trying to figure out others, not myself. I have absolutely no flaws."

Jae just stared, deciding just to keep his mouth shut.

Just as he was about to get up to get more food, he spotted Jack walk in, Bo by his side. When the dog saw Jae, he barked and bounded toward him, and Jae had to put a hand out to keep the beautiful beast from mauling his sore leg.

"Hey, you! I missed you." He ruffled his head, pulled him into his lap and wrapped his arms around the dog. "Hey. Yes, boy. Hi. I'm fine."

The dog whined as he licked Jae's face, then bent down to smell the bandage on his leg.

Jack's words came back to him, about people depending on him, and Jae sighed.

"I'm fine, boy. It'll be okay. Just a scratch."