Ants in his pants. Spencer can't help it, he lets out a snicker at the phrase that he remembers his mother using more than a few times to describe the way Dane had always been such a restless child, and he's biting back another laugh when he looks at Joel again with renewed relief. He does hear Nora, hears what she has to say about how Joel's going to be okay, and in spite of all the parts of him that are screaming not to let his guard down when it comes to worry about his husband, Spencer believes her. The doctor had broken down the list of Joel's injuries for him and with every additional one, Spencer had flinched like he could feel the pain himself. He hates that his husband is suffering, absolutely hates it, and he knows Joel feels the same way about him but there's something about seeing Joel in the hospital like this that just make Spencer feel a bit lost.
Having the cot set up next to Joel's bed, knowing that he'll be able to reach out to touch him in the middle of the night, it helps more than Spencer even knows how to say because he can't even begin to fathom the sort of fit he might have thrown if the staff had tried to insist he go home tonight. A large part of it is purely concern because there's quite a difference between just knowing that Joel will be okay and actually seeing that he isn't too irreparably damaged; but the other part of it is selfish. It's something he'd rather not discuss, certainly not with Nora in the room, because in recent weeks, Spencer hasn't seen Mark Fuller when he closes his eyes. He's been seeing Joel, his body bent at in all different sorts of grotesque angles; Joel, out in the backyard looking like he's just sleeping peacefully when really, he'll never wake up again; Joel, dying in a weeping Spencer's arms whilst Erin holds their baby out to him.
It's all been so much but now they're here. The hospital isn't an ideal place to be, that much is true, but Joel's going to be fine and Spencer thinks he ought to work a little harder at simply accepting that rather than coming up with every other alternative his mind can conjure. "We would never get up to anything," he says, getting up from the bed and pressing a kiss to Joel's temple before moving to the cot with an impish smile at Nora. She looks like she has half a mind to jerk her hand out at his injured shoulder, just to make him smart a bit, but she just lets out an exasperated sigh as she moves toward the door.
"You're getting one more dose of pain medication, you," she tells him, shaking a finger and then her head the second Spencer begins to protest. "Do not argue with me, you'll barely even notice the drowsiness because you'll be very much asleep soon after you take it, isn't that right?"
Spencer stares at her for a moment with his mouth agape, completely at a loss for words because he certainly doesn't want the extra medication because he wants to be coherent if Joel wakes from a nightmare in the middle of the night but at the same time, he may have to admit that he's perhaps a little bit afraid of their nurse. "Right," he finally answers, shifting closer to Joel's bed as he scoots back to slide his legs under the covers. "Is that going to be before or after we get up to all the things we're going to get up to? Because I'm going to need to plan accordingly."
Nora rolls her eyes, though it's good-natured, and she looks to Joel with an amused smirk. "I'd ask how you stand this one but then I remember what you're like," she says, tone even but for the slight tremor in it that Spencer is fairly certain is laughter. "Peas in a pod you two, aren't you? Now I'm going to say this again, stay out of trouble. I'll be back with the medication and to check up on you again in a little while."
As soon as the door shuts behind her, Spencer lets himself fall back on the cot, laughing through the pain of the hurt shoulder and back he's already forgotten about and for just a split second, his head pounds from the mass of stars that have exploded in his eyes. Still, he manages to grope for Joel's hand again and laces his fingers through his husband's when he finds it, contenting himself with being able to just touch him right now. "Is it true, baby?" he asks aloud, eyes shut tight as the static he sees fades away. "Do you have them? Do you have those ants in your pants?"
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Having the cot set up next to Joel's bed, knowing that he'll be able to reach out to touch him in the middle of the night, it helps more than Spencer even knows how to say because he can't even begin to fathom the sort of fit he might have thrown if the staff had tried to insist he go home tonight. A large part of it is purely concern because there's quite a difference between just knowing that Joel will be okay and actually seeing that he isn't too irreparably damaged; but the other part of it is selfish. It's something he'd rather not discuss, certainly not with Nora in the room, because in recent weeks, Spencer hasn't seen Mark Fuller when he closes his eyes. He's been seeing Joel, his body bent at in all different sorts of grotesque angles; Joel, out in the backyard looking like he's just sleeping peacefully when really, he'll never wake up again; Joel, dying in a weeping Spencer's arms whilst Erin holds their baby out to him.
It's all been so much but now they're here. The hospital isn't an ideal place to be, that much is true, but Joel's going to be fine and Spencer thinks he ought to work a little harder at simply accepting that rather than coming up with every other alternative his mind can conjure. "We would never get up to anything," he says, getting up from the bed and pressing a kiss to Joel's temple before moving to the cot with an impish smile at Nora. She looks like she has half a mind to jerk her hand out at his injured shoulder, just to make him smart a bit, but she just lets out an exasperated sigh as she moves toward the door.
"You're getting one more dose of pain medication, you," she tells him, shaking a finger and then her head the second Spencer begins to protest. "Do not argue with me, you'll barely even notice the drowsiness because you'll be very much asleep soon after you take it, isn't that right?"
Spencer stares at her for a moment with his mouth agape, completely at a loss for words because he certainly doesn't want the extra medication because he wants to be coherent if Joel wakes from a nightmare in the middle of the night but at the same time, he may have to admit that he's perhaps a little bit afraid of their nurse. "Right," he finally answers, shifting closer to Joel's bed as he scoots back to slide his legs under the covers. "Is that going to be before or after we get up to all the things we're going to get up to? Because I'm going to need to plan accordingly."
Nora rolls her eyes, though it's good-natured, and she looks to Joel with an amused smirk. "I'd ask how you stand this one but then I remember what you're like," she says, tone even but for the slight tremor in it that Spencer is fairly certain is laughter. "Peas in a pod you two, aren't you? Now I'm going to say this again, stay out of trouble. I'll be back with the medication and to check up on you again in a little while."
As soon as the door shuts behind her, Spencer lets himself fall back on the cot, laughing through the pain of the hurt shoulder and back he's already forgotten about and for just a split second, his head pounds from the mass of stars that have exploded in his eyes. Still, he manages to grope for Joel's hand again and laces his fingers through his husband's when he finds it, contenting himself with being able to just touch him right now. "Is it true, baby?" he asks aloud, eyes shut tight as the static he sees fades away. "Do you have them? Do you have those ants in your pants?"