September 18th, 1890 - St. Mungo's
@"Fallon abernathy"

There's a rumor going 'round about me and you
Stirring up our little town the last week or two
So tell me why we even trying to deny this feeling
I feel it, don't you feel it too?

Consciousness evaded him longer than he would have liked. Jess knew he'd been out of it last night and most of today and between the throbbing headache, the broken ribs, collar bone and bruises littering his face and body, he was pretty sure he'd rather be completely out of it. Pain potions were only so strong and he'd had plenty, but it had been a long time since he'd been injured like this. The black eye on his left side had swollen up nicely, but was thankfully down. One arm was bandaged to his body on the side his collar bone had been shattered and it kind of hurt to breath. He looked like he'd gotten the shit beat out of him, but at least he was alive.

All because some idiot tried to charm his reaper to work more efficiently and on its own, so he didn't have to supervise it. It had been a mistake the first time it caused problems, now he was repeatedly tweaking it without permission. Thankfully it was now a Misuse of Muggle Artifacts issue and Jess no longer had to worry about it, but he was pretty sure the office was pressing charges and there would be some hefty fines involved.

His mother had already been in and out, fretting like a maniac, like this was the first time she'd seen him in this condition (it wasn't). At least she'd brought good snacks. That he was currently struggling to get his hands on as it was on the side of his bed with the bandaged up arm and twisting to use his other arm was out of the question. He was staring at the snacks longingly when a knock at the door signaled someone's arrival.

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Fallon hadn't spared her roommate a second glance upon hearing of JP's injuries. She had stared at Malou with wide eyes — his continued silence finally making sense — and immediately ran to her room to change into her ministry robes. He hadn't returned the ring, after all, and she needed an excuse to be able to see him. Hair wound up into a tight bun, every bit the no-nonsense ministry official, Fallon walked down the hall unnoticed and knocked on the door to the room Malou had informed her of.

Unlike JP's first visit to her, Fallon didn't wait for his call to enter before opening the door. And Merlin! What she saw was enough to stop her in her tracks. Bruises and bandages were everywhere she looked. Fallon paused only to close the door behind her before taking the few required steps to his bedside.

"Hey," she murmured quietly after a long drawn out minute of her assessing his injuries. "What the hell happened to you?"

  

Fallon was the last person he expected to see make her way into his room. He hadn't been with it enough, or the physical capability to write her a letter, so he figured he was out of luck until he had the feeling back in his left hand. She looked pretty shell-shocked on the other end of this situation and he felt pretty guilty about that. Not to mention he was half-dressed at the moment, wearing more bandages than clothes. Thankfully the important bits were covered by both pants and blankets. His torso was purple and blue, but mostly covered with the wraps that kept his arm tight against him and to hold the fractured ribs in place.

"Lost a fight with some enchanted farm equipment." He offered by way of explanation. He'd been caught completely off guard by it and before he could react his robes had gotten caught in the reaper. The buffoon responsible couldn't stop it before Jess was underneath it, very nearly stabbed through. "I'm fine, looks way worse than it is." He lied through his teeth, a charming smile on his lips beneath the bruises that covered half his face.

Miss Skovgaard must have seen him or heard about his injuries, despite his having landed in the Artifacts ward. He'd have to thank her another time. "Bad excuse to leave the house, sorry I couldn't write."

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She didn't believe him for a second. The bruises were everywhere, and he had more bandages than she could count. It was the same lies she told throughout the past month, being fine. A lie meant to comfort rather than heal. With a skeptical look, Fallon dropped down into the chair and inched it closer to the bed. With that many bruises her shifting the mattress to get closer to him just wasn't a possibility.

"Farm equipment?" She echoed. Never before had Fallon considered farm equipment capable of such damage. "How many broken bones?" That would be the true test to see how terribly off he was. One or two was manageable, more than that was miserable.

She eventually stopped assessing him as the realization occurred that she was looking at his bare arms sunk in. Even in the caves with Lachlan, Fallon had never seen a man in such a state of undress. Her mouth ran dry, a faint blush graced her cheeks. "Don't worry about writing me," she waved off his apology once she was finally able to avert her gaze. "I'm just glad you're alive."

  

He'd have laughed at her question if it didn't send shooting pains throughout his entire body. Instead he shot her a wry smile, not even capable of shrugging. "Poorly charmed farm equipment. Was a mistake the first time, now it's a Misuse of Muggle Artifacts problem." He really didn't want to get into to much detail, but she had that no-nonsense look on her face that told him he best just tell the truth. "A few broken ribs, collarbone, pretty sure I fractured my eye socket or my check bone. Legs are fine. Kinda hurts to breathe or sit up for any length of time. Got one hell of a headache. Not the worst I've dealt with." Nor would it be the last, either.

He chuckled softly as she unceremoniously plopped herself into the chair beside his bed and scooted closer. "Unfortunately given our history, not writing is a bad, bad sign. Doubly unfortunate, I'm a lefty." Which was the arm currently strapped to his body to allow his collarbone time to heal itself. All he could do was wiggle his fingers on that aside and just barely. His other shoulder had been knocked out if the socket, but fixed, it just ached a little.

"I suppose I have Miss Skovgaard to thank for your arrival?" He was starting to like her more and more these days.

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Bloody hell.

Nodding in silence she looked from his face back to his injuries once again. It was unlikely he'd be out of commission for the months the bones would take to heal naturally, but with that amount of injuries it would still take at least a week. What awful luck they had. "Do you need anything?" She asked as she looked back towards his bruised face. "I didn't think to stop anywhere ..." No, Fallon had run like bat out of hell. This was why he was the thoughtful one of the pair.

"We're certainly beginning a bad trend, I'll give you that." At least she hadn't had to stress for a week as he had. That would've wound up with her back at work regardless of whether or not she was permitted to be. The auror's office had far more resources than she could summon on her own. "For now, you're forgiven for not writing. I'll send you a short letter every day to confirm I'm still alive." They were already taking a risk with her being in here, a risk that had nearly broken them the first time around. Fallon only hoped her ministry robes would deter speculation.

"Yeah, your brother wouldn't tell me why he was so tense. Soon as Malou came home she told me, I don't think she could've kept it a secret between us." Malou knew her feelings for JP, after all.

  

Had Fallon held any other occupation other than auror, Jess probably wouldn't have told her the full extent of his injuries, but she'd probably seen worse. "Now that you mention it, my mom did leave some snacks." He kind of motioned with his head very slightly to the small basket on the table beside his bed. "If you could just put it on this side," He raised his right hand slowly holding in the wince that threatened to accompany it.

"Is not great, that's for sure. We can't keep taking turns in the hospital." Definitely not great. "Oh I can manage writing if I had supplies." Charming a quill to do the writing as he spoke wasn't too hard.

Jess barked out an unintentional laugh at the mention of Gabe and instantly regretted it. He sucked in a sharp breath and grimaced. "As if he hasn't seen me in worse condition. At least I'm awake and talking." He added once he could breathe properly again.

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Snacks. Yeah, she could manage moving snacks closer to him. Fallon stood and rearranged the snack basket for him so it was well within reach, pausing to squeeze his right hand in the process. She wanted to do more, curl against him maybe and offer the comfort of physical touch, but he was so broken she didn't dare.

"That we can't," Fallon agreed once she was back in the chair. "I can send some with my letter if you want. How long are you expected to be stuck here?'

She eyed him as he grimaced. This visit would have to be short today, Fallon didn't wish to cause him pain, however unintentional. "You should see yourself. Doesn't look like it could get much worse."

  

He returned the squeeze of her hand, holding on for a moment longer before he had to choose between that and food Unfortunately for Fallon food won out. Grateful for the snacks, Jess popped a grape into his mouth. Much better. At this rate he was going to run out of snacks by the time he passed out tonight. Mending bones expended a lot of energy apparently.

"Would help ward off the boredom. I'm afraid we'll both be out of commission now. Going to be a long week." The healers said ten days minimum, but Jess had every intention of getting out within the week. He was physically incapable of sitting still for that long.

"Second worst number I've ever done on myself. Was attacked by an erumpet early in in my career. Answered a case of childs accidental magic, led around to the garden of the home, woke up in the hospital two weeks later. I'm told I pushed the kid who conjured it out of the way, but the details are still fuzzy." It was definitely part of the reason he wasn't very fond of magical creatures. "Concussion, fractured my back, ribs, broke one of my legs. Not great. They didn't think I was going to walk again. I'm a magnet for disaster really." He was glad he didn't remember much. His leg still ached when it rained.

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An appetite was a good sign. Perhaps Malou could be convinced to make some biscuits for her to drop off for him, or a pie. Basic stuff, really. Fallon was going to have to ask tonight.

Aside from her recent misadventure (and even those injuries were more mental than anything else), Fallon wasn't the sort to regularly attract danger. She was adequate enough at her job to avoid the worse injuries and had been wise enough in school to avoid playing quidditch. The worst she'd ever suffered was a broken femur, but that was more of a stupid move on her part than anything else.

"Seems like you're the one who should be nicknamed trouble," she teased lightly. Fallon hadn't ever considered his department to be that dangerous, but she was quite obviously mistaken. "I'm more mischief than anything else." Reaching into his basket of snacks, Fallon took a small handful of grapes and popped one into her mouth. She'd replace them all tomorrow if his mother didn't beat her to it.

  

Jess remembered to keep his mirth to a smirk this time instead of laughing. "More like unlucky, not necessarily trouble." When he wasn't caught wholly off guard, he was pretty good at staying in one piece. Mostly other minor injuries here and there. "I'm not the one with some crazy fiend out to get me. Though he would much rather it be him than her.

"Have you heard one way or another about the suspect in custody?" It really would be a huge weight lifted once they caught the guy. Jess had been slated to go help Molly with the kids this weekend while Gabe was on duty, but now Victoria was going to have to do it.

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Even bloody, bruised and broken, JP's smirk did something to her. Fallon popped another grape to distract herself from feeling so flustered. Once chewed, she retorted, "what a pair we make: unlucky trouble." A bit presumptuous, perhaps, but true nonetheless. If all they ever were was friends, Fallon would still consider them a pair in some regards.

His question swiped the flirty smile from her face and replaced it with a grimace. "No, it's impossible getting details." That her own coworkers didn't trust her with the details was concerning. Was it someone she knew? "Won't be the last time, I'm sure." Her job was still just as dangerous, after all. "I'll hopefully clue in before I'm transported across the globe next time, though."

  

Her answer to his question was probably worse news than his injuries. If the suspect in custody wasn't the one who had it out for Fallon it meant the criminal was still out on the streets and that was incredibly problematic. Especially with him laid up in here for the next week. Might be time to bump up his escape plan by another couple days. Not that he could do much, but he didn't enjoy being completely useless. He knew badgering his brother for information was pointless. Gabe was tight-lipped when Jess didn't have a vested interest.

Jess furrowed his brows at that thought. He didn't particularly care for the fact that her job would continue to put her in such dangerous situations. He knew better than to say anything though, especially while they sat in such a precarious spot already. What say did he have really anyway?

"Gabe will figure it out I'm sure." Jess had faith in his brother and the rest of the department to do what they needed to.

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Finishing the last of her grapes, Fallon nodded at his statement. Gabe was a talented auror and there were worse people who could be on her case. Her only frustration was the lack of information provided to her, which, given the circumstances, was unavoidable. "I know he will," she stated confidently. The end had to come sooner or later, whichever way it'd fall. However, that sentiment wasn't one she would share with him on his hospital bed.

"I should let you rest." A nurse would come in sooner or later to check on him, and she'd best be out of sight by then. They'd only scraped by the skin of their teeth with her hospitalization. "I'll write to you, as promised." Then, Fallon stood from her chair and pressed a gentle kiss to his non-bruised cheek, taking extra care not to jostle the bed as she did so. "We should meet under better circumstances next time, JP."

  

For some reason, he wasn't very convinced by her echoed thoughts. Maybe she did know something he didn't. It was unsettling to say the least. He definitely didn't want to be cooped up here for too long.

She was trying to leave and his scowl deepened. "I've been resting all day." He pouted comically, even as she kissed his cheek. "You're taking a page out of my book and I'm not sure how I feel about it."

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She chuckled as he pouted. "Well, more rest won't hurt you." No, Jesse needed all the rest he could get to get out of the hospital and back to his life. "What can I do to ease the sting of goodbye?"