losthunter | From the art studio to the hospital

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From the art studio to the hospital

Tonight was an important night for Hunter and the Seven Sisters art studio. A new artist was exhibiting their artwork, and there was finally media attention about the studio itself. The art gala had a number of art critics attending. And many people were learning about the Foundation, and the work that the organization did in the community.

Hunter was preparing some notes, to speak to a small scrum with the media. He had not done something like this for a few year. Not since he was dealing with the media and his father's business.

He felt very nervous. Without warning, his phone buzzed an alert. Hunter spared a quick glance at his phone, noticed that the caller ID was from the hospital, and took a few moments to answer it.

"Mr. Kingson?" The almost-too-pleasant voice spoke to him on the other end. Already Hunter had a dreaded feeling in the pit of his stomach. Almost no one addressed him by his former last name.

"Speaking..." He toned his voice to neutral.

"I am sorry to bother you. But you are listed on the emergency call list for your father, Robert Kingson." Hunter felt weak to his stomach. "He is in emergency room."

"What happened?" He whispered. The still-too-bright answer explaining that his father had a heart attack was barely heard by Hunter. The room around him felt claustrophobic. He tuned back in when the nurse asked him if he could come down to the hospital, and speak to the doctor.

"I... yah... I will be there." Hunter hung up the phone. Downstairs, the party of the art gala seemed to taunt him. He couldn't face the media scrum now. He couldn't face anyone right now.

Hunter told one of his Foundation board members to take over the art gala for him, as his Uber cab pulled up to take him to the hospital. In the back seat of the cab, He closed his eyes, making a desperate wish that everything would be okay. A feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that it would not be.

He pulled out his PINpoint and send a message to Jim. I am on my way to the hospital. My dad had a heart attack,

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The long pause sends an uneasy shiver through his gut, but he tells himself that Hunter has a lot to deal with right now. He might not even be somewhere that he can send a message. Still, he can't help but watch his communicator, reports and forms forgotten, waiting for it to chime again.

Getting a reply is not much of a relief. But at least there's something he can do, even if all it is is being there for Hunter. Give me five minutes.

It takes only a few swipes of a finger to transfer the most important files onto his personal datapad, before shutting down his workstation and grabbing his coat on the way out. A confused voice calls out behind him, one of the yeomen assigned to help out as needed, but Jim doesn't hear the words. "Personal emergency," he calls over his shoulder, without slowing to answer or explain.

Instead of heading inside of the hospital right away, Hunter heads to the alleyway by the large building. He makes sure he is alone, before opening a PINpoint portal.

He paces a little while he waits for Jim to arrive.

It's not quite five minutes before Jim appears, his coat concealing the details of his gray Starfleet uniform from casual passersby, and he turns to get his bearings and find Hunter, who looks understandably distressed. "Hey," he says, stepping close to wrap his arms around the other man, offering what little comfort he can give at a time like this.

The embrace is exactly what Hunter needs right now. He wraps his arms around Jim. And takes a deep breathe to focus himself.

"Thank you." His voice is a little broken.

Jim can't quite imagine how Hunter must be feeling right now. Yeah, Jim lost a father he never knew, and a father figure that meant a lot to him, but his relationship with them was nowhere near as volatile as Hunter and Robert's. Nor was Jim around to care when Frank finally exited the picture.

Doesn't matter, though. What does matter is Hunter is upset, and needs a friend. "Always."

He waits until it feels like Hunter's ready to let go again before he pulls back. "Any news?"

"Not yet. I was just about to go into the hospital." Hunter tightens his embrace just a little. The thought of entering the hospital is quite upsetting to him. But he is glad that he has Jim here for him.

It won't be as difficult entering the hospital with Jim at his side.

They reach the reception. Hunter waits for the receptionist to get off the phone. "I was called that my father had a heart attack."

"Your name please." The receptionist politely asked.

Hunter tenses up. A lot. "Kyle Kingson."

"Yes. Mister Kingson. Your father is in the emergency ward. Take the elevators to the third floor."

Jim sticks close to Hunter as they enter the hospital, silent support in this time of need. Hearing Hunter give his deadname instead of what Jim feels is his real one comes as a momentary surprise, quickly dismissed in favor of the situation at hand.

This place is... at least closer to the kind of medical care he's used to than St. Mungo's had been. Which he supposes is still small comfort to either of them. Cardiac stuff is pretty serious, even in the twenty-third century.

The ride up to the third floor is quiet. Hunter leans on Jim a little, trying to keep his mind from running through all the negative memories of him and his father.

The emergency ward is steady with activity tonight.

There is another reception area, where Hunter asks for directions to his father's room. Once again having to give his deadname. And from there, they head down the hallway towards a waiting area.

It seems forever until a doctor steps out into the waiting room. "Mr. Kingson?"

Hunter stands. "Yes. How is he?"

"Your father is on supplemental oxygen right now. He had a coronary artery spasm, and unfortunately, he would not survive heart surgery at this point. I am afraid that he has a limited time left..." The doctor explained.

Hunter felt his own heart clench at the news. "How long does he have..."

"We can only leave him on life support for a little while. Long enough for you to say goodbye." The doctor gestured to the room behind him.

Edited 2018-02-12 04:43 (UTC)

Jim shifts a little, uncomfortable. Long lingering goodbyes have never been a part of his life, not except when he himself lay dying in the warp core, scraping together what little remained of his strength to speak with Spock for what he'd thought would be the final time. But never on the other side of it. With Pike, there had been no time.

What little he's seen of Hunter and Robert hasn't involved much affection, on either side. But there's no mistaking the heartbreak on Hunter's face, and on some level... yeah, Jim gets it. Shitty family relationships or not, if it was his family, he'd want to be there too.

He doesn't ask this time if Hunter wants privacy. He just reaches for Hunter's hand, here for him no matter what he decides to do.

Hunter is glad that Jim took his hand, in that silent demonstration of support. He doesn't think he could do this alone. And gives that hand a gentle squeeze, keeping Jim at his side as he is led into the hospital room.

It breaks a lot of illusions of his father as the powerful media mogul, to see him laying in a hospital bed, hooked up to so many machines.

"Dad..." Hunter can barely speak. He moves forward and take his father's hand. Not sure that Robert can even feel his presence right now.

There is so much Hunter wants to say. There is so much that he wishes that Robert could tell them. But there is just silence.

Jim keeps a hand on Hunter's back, as the other man goes to his father's side. It's impossible to tell if the man is aware at all, but it's pretty clear that if he isn't, he never will be again.

Still, Jim doesn't see why that should rob Hunter of getting to say his goodbyes, if that's what he wants. He won't get another chance. "Is there anything you want him to know?" he asks quietly.

Hunter honestly doesn't know how to react in this situation. He leans closer to Jim, glad that he offered some assistance.

"I..." His voice breaks. "I still am mad at him. I don't want to be... but what he put me through really sucked."

Well, that's familiar. 'Never speak ill of the dead' is a long-standing human trope for a reason, and Jim is thoroughly familiar with the tendency to avoid criticizing the dead or dying, not that he agrees with it. "You're not wrong to be mad. This doesn't undo anything he did to you, or to anyone else."

"He never really apologized. And he never will." Hunter takes a breath. He has to find a way to accept that. But it is hard.

"I am still mad... but I do not want him to die."

How stupidly unfair is it that Hunter's dad is still hurting him, even now? With something that wasn't even his doing this time. Something that no one can do anything about.

"I know. I'm sorry." There's nothing Jim can do but be here for Hunter, to let him know that he's not alone, and that what he's feeling is valid.

There is a knock at the door. The doctor steps into the room. His face serious.

"I am sorry to interrupt, Mister Kingson. But we do need you to sign these papers, to allow us to start end-of-life care."

Hunter takes a sharp breath. Staring at the file in the doctor's hand.

He knows that there is no way his father could survive this. But somehow... he never imagined having to give her permission for him to die.

"Give me a moment..." He sinks down in a chair.

The doctor leaves the files, and a mourning pamphlet for Hunter, detailing the services that he could access.

It's easy to see that Hunter is taking this pretty hard, his attention on the looming shadow of loss. Jim sits close enough to hold the other man's hand in his own, and leafs through the papers to make sure there's nothing shady that Hunter might not notice in his grief.

The hardest part, he knows, is the disbelief. Even seeing it with your own eyes, the news is sudden enough, shocking enough, that it must feel like a nightmare that won't end. Jim had felt the same, when the attack on Headquarters had ended and he had seen Spock kneeling over the body of Admiral Pike. Impossible to believe that it was the same man who had been healthy and breathing mere minutes before, and yet, there he was, lifeless and staring into nothing. And sure, Pike wasn't his father, but he was the closest thing that Jim ever had. So he has at least some idea of how Hunter must feel right now.

There had been no words then, nothing that would have done anything to change what had happened. So he doesn't offer any, just sitting with Hunter, hand in hand.

Hunter is only a little aware of the fact that Jim is checking the legal papers, to make sure that there is nothing that would be considered problematic. And the papers are the typical hospital forms, that ensure that the doctors are not over-stepping any wishes of the family, or the patient.

He fights back a feeling of nausea. And gently takes the forms from Jim, once the other man had given it a first look. That nausea gets stronger as he signs with his deadname, Kyle Kingson. The only name the hospital would respect right now.

Hunter moves his chair forward slightly, so he can take his dad's hand. And he rests his head on the bed. He can not hold in his turmoil anymore. And sobs softly.

Jim isn't sure what to do, well aware that there's nothing he can do or say that'll take this pain away from Hunter. All he can do is sit with him, one hand gently rubbing the other man's back in soothing circles, the only comfort he knows how to give right now.

He doesn't really know if Robert and Hunter would've ever reconciled. From what little he's seen and heard about their relationship, Robert was never the most open-minded kinda guy. And Hunter can't really miss something he didn't have. But mourning the possibility... yeah, maybe that can be worse sometimes.

After a few moments of just letting himself cry, Hunter is able to pull himself together a little. He knows there is nothing more he can do for his father.

He is not even sure when the doctor comes back in to take the paperwork. Or the moment that they are ushered out of the room, so the doctors can take those next steps.

It is like he blinked and woke up again to be standing outside the hospital, a bag of his father's belongings under his arm, and his hand holding Jim's.

"I want to go home." Hunter sighs softly.

"I'll take you there." Jim leads Hunter back towards the alley where he first portaled over, using it as cover to return to his boyfriend's apartment. The shocked, distant look on Hunter's face is concerning, though not surprising, given the circumstances. Jim doesn't remember much of what he himself did between Pike's death and being called to investigate his murderer's escape, but he does remember feeling an almost numbing, crushing weight in his chest, an impossible stretching of time that made it seem to go on forever, as he sat in silence, alone. Just being here, seeing to Hunter's needs, that's the sort of help he can give.

He makes sure Hunter is settled on one of the couches before moving to the kitchen to make some tea, something warm to help combat the shock.

Hunter is very glad to have Jim here, and helping him to get settled. He knows he will have to take time to make sense of what happened. Of the loss.

But the most important thing... is he is not alone.

[Good place to end]

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From the art studio to the hospital

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