Ianto's Journey, Part V-Redemption, Chapter 68-Awakenings

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IANTO'S JOURNEY, PART V- REDEMPTION
TITLE:   Chapter 68 - Awakenings
AUTHOR: Aviv_b
RATING: Chapter 68 - PG  
CHARACTERS:  Ianto, Aaron,  Owen, Jack, Martha, Alonso, John Hart, The Brigadier, Stephen
DISCLAIMER:  Not mine; Aunty B's and RTD's
WORDS: ~ 1800
SUMMARY:   Aaron's waking up, but will UNIT ruin everything?  And will Aaron be completely healed or will he have serious disabilities?

Title is from: How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state? Plato

Ianto's Journey begins here: http://aviv-b.livejournal.com/1972.html
All Chapter are linked.

 

There was a knock on the door...

“This is Colonel Danjerri, head of UNIT Medical London and if you don’t open this door, I’ll have my men out here shoot it open.”

Everyone in Aaron’s room looked at each other in a panic. Jack moved next to the door.

“This is Captain Harkness from Torchwood, what seems to be the problem Colonel?”

“We are getting strange readings at the nursing station for Mr. Hamilton. I demand you give us access to the room.”

“You’re getting strange readings because Mr. Hamilton appears to be coming awake. Give us a moment and we’ll let you enter.”

While Jack had this brief exchange with the Colonel, Martha and Alonso had packed away the field monitors and stashed them in a closet. Ianto has pulled out the remote line, it bled a bit but Owen had quickly taped some gauze to staunch the flow. John Hart’s nanogenes had not returned to his body but they couldn’t keep the Colonel out any longer.

Jack opened the door, and took the Colonel into a big hug. “It’s a miracle; your outstanding medical services have brought Mr. Hamilton back from the brink!”

The morning charge nurse followed in behind. He looked at Aaron who had his eyes open a bit and then the monitors in total bewilderment.

“I don’t see how this could have happened.”

“God works in mysterious ways,” Owen answered. “And who are we to question the results?”

The Colonel and the charge nurse checked Aaron’s vitals and saw that he was conscious and in remarkably good condition. The Colonel just knew that Torchwood had been up to something, but he also knew that this result would be very favorably received by his superiors as well as Brigadier Hamilton.

“Well, we do have fine facilities and with doctors like Jones here, sometimes we do get rather astonishing results,” he said puffing his chest out a little. “But how did all these people get in here? There aren’t supposed to be any visitors overnight except Mr. Jones.”

‘That would be my fault.’ Ianto typed on his phone. ‘When Dr. Jones and I saw a slight change in his vitals, I got a little over excited and called everyone.’ 

“And I was in the middle of a late meeting with Dr. Harper and Mr. Frame and Captain Hart and they sort of tagged along,” Jack added.

The Colonel frowned. He knew who Harper and Frame were but who the hell was Captain Hart?”

“You sir,” he said pointing at Hart, “what’s your role at Torchwood and why do you look more sickly than our patient?”

John Hart smiled weakly. “Oh, I’m a weapons consultant from the Pentagon. My flight was delayed which is why we ended up having such a late night session. Gods, this is the worst jet lag I’ve had in a long time.”

Alonso started to snicker but quickly covered it with a cough. 

“Well I want everyone except medical personnel out of this room immediately.”

“We understand Colonel, can you just give us a few moments to say our goodbyes…in private.” Jack stared at Danjerri just daring him to disagree.

“Fine, five minutes and not one minute more,” he grumbled as he and the charge nurse left the room.

The door hadn’t fully closed when John Hart moved over to Aaron and opened his mouth. A cloud of nanogenes moved from Aaron into John’s open mouth. 

“Much better,” John smiled as he perked up a bit. “I do feel pretty knackered from all of this.”

“Oi, all of you get out of here before Colonel Bluster comes back and gives us grief,” Owen ordered. “I think he’ll be OK with Martha, Ianto and me staying on. And grab that field equipment with you and get it out of here.”

Jack turned to Owen, “I’ll be heading back to my office, Alonso and John will be heading back to my home. Call me with updates and I’ll pass them along. I think I’ll also call The Brigadier. You know Danjerri’s probably already on the phone with him. I don’t want him to have any additional grievances against Ianto.”    

Aaron drifted in and out of wakefulness for several hours. Martha left so she could get some sleep but would be back in the evening bringing John with if necessary. The Brigadier and Stephen came to the hospital shortly after receiving calls from Danjerri and Jack. When they entered the room, Ianto moved to leave.

“Where do you think you’re going?” The Brigadier grumbled.

Ianto was exhausted physically and emotionally and he really didn’t want to have a row with The Brigadier. He looked back at The Brigadier with his eyes pleading for understanding. ‘Don’t start, I don’t have the strength for it,’ he thought.

As the Brigadier approached Ianto, Ianto found himself backing away nervously. Before he could react the Brigadier grabbed Ianto and pulled him into a tight embrace. “I’m so sorry Ianto; I just didn’t believe he’d recover. For Aaron’s sake, can we make peace?”

‘Yes, and for our sakes too,’ Ianto typed. Ianto swayed with exhaustion as the Brigadier released his hold. Stephen caught him and helped to sit on the recliner.

“Why don’t you catch a nap and we’ll stay here with Dr. Harper and Aaron. If he becomes alert, we’ll wake you up, OK?”

It was almost evening when Ianto finally woke up. The Brigadier and Stephen were looking at him smiling. 

“You still snore, you know.” Stephen snarked.

Ianto shook his head to focus his thoughts.

“Aaron’s still in and out, but started mumbling a little while ago. I’m sure his first words will be for you so we don’t want to intrude,” the Brigadier said. He turned to Owen. “Call us if anything changes. Otherwise we’ll be back tomorrow morning. Is that Ok Ianto?” 

Ianto nodded and yawned and promptly closed his eyes again. He could hear the Brigadier, Stephen and Owen speaking but he just wanted to close his eyes and focus on Aaron. Ianto could sense that Aaron was sleeping peacefully and promptly joined him in slumber.

Sometime later, Ianto felt someone shaking him. This time it was Owen. 

“Ianto, he seems to becoming out of the sleep/wake cycle very slowly. Why don’t you get up and grab a shower. Martha just got here and she went to get you something to eat. Jack stopped by your house and brought some clean clothes over for you, so I suggest you get moving unless you want to frighten Martha.”

Ianto snorted but immediately began to strip out of his clothes. Owen was watching him closely making Ianto very self-conscious.

“Yeah, I’m checking you out…you’re getting very thin again…make sure you eat. Aaron’s still got a long road back and he’s going to need you in top form to help him.”

Ianto rolled his eyes. “I’m not kidding Ianto, you remember how tough your rehab was, well Aaron’s going to be facing similar challenges. So start taking care of yourself. Jack or Alonso will be here in the morning and you’re going home then. Doctor’s orders. 

As Ianto stepped into the tiny shower Owen added, “Once Martha’s back, I’m out of here so move it will ya.” 

Ianto quickly cleaned up as best he could. He couldn’t shave or really wash his hair, but the shower felt wonderful and helped to wake him up. He dried off quickly and began to get into the clothes Jack had brought over. Ianto smiled as he saw that between the jeans and Rugby shirt Jack had stuffed a pair of boxers that Aaron had bought Ianto for his birthday the year before. ‘Figures, Jack would pick the ones with ‘B is for big’ written on them.’

Just as he was bagging up his dirty clothes he heard a knock on the door. “You decent?” Owen asked. Ianto stepped out of the shower area dressed except for socks and nodded. Owen let Martha in and updated her on Aaron’s condition, as she put a tray of food down on a small cart. Owen gave her and Ianto a quick hug and headed out the door. 

"Oi, give me that bag, I might as well take it since I’m staying at your house. Do you need me to tell your neighbor anything?"

‘No, I’ll text her and let her know that I’ll be home in the morning.’

Martha pulled up a chair next to Ianto. ‘You know, it’s a little hard to eat with you watching me.’

“Ok, but once you’re done, I want to take your blood pressure, listen to your heart and get some blood from you. And don’t you roll your eyes at me; the supreme irony would be for Aaron to wake up perfectly fine and you to be the one who’s sick.”

Just as Martha was finishing examining Ianto they heard Aaron groan. They turned to find Aaron’s eyes open and struggling to sit up. Martha gently held him back on the bed.

‘Martha, I think it will be easier if I push my thoughts out to him. I’ll let you know what he says.’  Martha nodded.

‘Aaron, do you hear me?’

“Where am I?”  Aaron said out loud.

‘You’re in the hospital. You had a heart attack and a stroke. Do you understand?’

“Yeah, I feel like I slept forever. And I had the strangest dreams. I felt like I was floating in darkness and I could hear you telling me to stay with you. I tried to find you, but I j..j..just kept stumbling around in the dark. Then,” Aaron chuckled, “J..J..Jack Harkness and another man were there and they were snogging me. It felt wonderful but I couldn’t understand why you weren’t kissing me as well.”

Ianto leaned over Aaron and kissed him lightly on the mouth. ‘That’s because I was waiting until you woke up to kiss you.’

Aaron’s eyes were closing again. “Will you stay here until I fall asleep?”

Ianto took Aaron’s hand and rubbed it against his cheek. 'Of course.'

Ianto sat holding Aaron’s hand long after Aaron had drifted back to sleep. Martha saw that Ianto was nodding off, his head coming close several times to hitting the side rail on Aaron’s bed. She roused Ianto long enough to have him help her to move the recliner next to the bed so Ianto could sleep as well.

She smiled to herself as she watched the two men sleep. Their breathing, even their snores were synchronized. ‘Figures, John Hart gets to hear beautiful music and I get the foghorn symphony. Still at least he’s alive. I just hope that Ianto’s prepared for what testing will show. There’s bound to be some permanent damage…could tell that from the stutter, but who knows what else has been compromised. Time will tell.’ 


Chapter 69 here: http://aviv-b.livejournal.com/37963.html