Brother from another mother

Boat or Yacht? [Part-4]

Harvey's questions lasted for over an hour, and had turned more personal as time went on: "Why did you make friends with Trevor? What do you like about working with me? How long did you live with your grandmother for?"

"Tell me about your family," Mike said suddenly.

"Why?" Harvey asked carefully.

Mike shrugged. "I want to know - I like finding out things about you," his head rested on Harvey's shoulder and Harvey saw his eyes closing.

"Stay awake, Mike," he said, repeating the phrase for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Tell me about your family," Mike insisted.

"Tell me about yours," Harvey shot back.

"Parents dead, no siblings, one grandparent. Your turn," Mike said quickly. Harvey didn't push him. He was only using these questions as a way of keeping Mike awake.

"Two parents, one brother. No grandparents though. At least, not that I've met."

"What's your brother like?" Mike asked.

"He's... a lot like you, actually," Harvey said, fighting to keep a smile off his face. He always smiled when he talked about his little brother. "Stubborn, annoying, smart-ass, college drop-out - I could go on."

"And he has a Harvey," Mike mumbled. "That's a similarity."

"You don't 'have a Harvey'," the older man argued.

"Do too," Mike replied. "I have a Harvey. It's a slightly older guy who always tells me off but deep down thinks I'm doing a great job."

"I think deep down he thinks you're a pain in the ass."

"And he does that brother thing - you know? Like, if you beat me up it'd be fine. But if Louis beat me up you'd kill him. It must be awesome to have a brother," he decided. "I wanted siblings. In a letter to Santa I wrote that I wanted a baby brother. I got bike instead."

Harvey snorted. "Costs less," he said. "Stay awake, Mike," he said again.

"I'm trying," Mike spat out. His shivering became more pronounced. Throughout Harvey's detailed and rigorous questioning (He now knew that Mike hated cheese and would only eat it if it was melted, hated the taste of orange and loved the colour blue and also secretly liked watching 'Law and Order') he had felt the shivering steadily build, but now it was bad.

"How cold do you feel?" He asked gently as he glanced up at the sky, frowning. It was getting dark. An hour or so and it would be pitch black. And no one would find them.

"Pretty cold," Mike whimpered.

"I'm not surprised - you should go to the gym more and get some muscle. Or at least eat more and get a bit of fat to store heat. You're too damn thin," Harvey grumbled.

"Am not," Mike argued weakly.

"You're going to get hypothermia if you're not careful."

"Yeah, 'cause I can do so much about it," Mike grumbled, still shivering. Harvey's arms slipped a bit and Mike spluttered slightly as cold water ran into his mouth as he was unprepared for the slight drop. "Are you okay?" He asked Harvey, thinking that the older man was hurt in some way.

"Fine," Harvey muttered. "My arms are getting stiff. You're heavier with wet clothes on."

"You can let go if you want," Mike told him. "I'll be fine."

"Mike, you can't keep yourself afloat," Harvey said, exasperated. "You can't move one of your arms and you have a head injury!"

"But your arms are getting tired!" Mike argued. "You should be okay trying to swim though; see if you can find land somewhere!"

"I'm not letting go," Harvey grumbled.

"That's what Rose said. Then she let Jack go."

"Firstly - I am not Kate Winslet in this scenario and secondly - she was saying she wouldn't let go of a promise," Harvey had no idea why he was debating the finer details of 'Titanic' with his associate, but it definitely passed the time, and thankfully skimmed over the conversation that would no doubt arise about him refusing to let Mike go. He could tell it would have the word 'care' in there somewhere.

"I'm cold," Mike mumbled.

"I know, kid, me too," Harvey said. Although he had more body mass, so Mike would be colder than him - where was the freaking rescue?

"I'm really cold," he whimpered pathetically.

"I gathered that," Harvey replied, his eyes forever roving as he searched the large expanse of water for a sign of a boat. He was screwing his eyes up as it got harder to see - it was getting darker, and his legs were getting tired. Very tired, in fact. He only had Mike to hold onto, and it wasn't as though Mike was a steady raft. Harvey realised that the younger man had basically given up treading water and was occasionally kicking one leg half-heartedly. He was mostly clutching to Harvey for support.

"My shoulder hurts," Mike mumbled.

"Nothing I can do about it yet, Mike," Harvey said gently. "When we get out, I promise I will get you the best drugs I can."

"You said I can't get high," Mike pointed out, resting his head on Harvey's shoulder again. It was getting harder to hold him...

"You can't," Harvey replied. God, his arms were on fire...

"So you can't give me drugs."

His hands were seizing up, he couldn't clutch at his associate for much longer...

"You don't want painkillers?"

Where were the boats...?

"Mmmm..."

His legs were getting harder to move...

"Mike, stay awake."

Was that the sound of an engine...?

"M'kay..."

Why wouldn't they hurry up...?

"Favourite animal?"

He saw lights in the distance...

"Dunno..."

There were people in the boat coming towards them...

"Everyone has a favourite animal."

They came to a standstill beside the shivering men...

"H'vey?"

They were both being slowly pulled on board...

"Right here, Mike."

He finally broke his stiff hold and collapsed on the floor of the boat, not caring about how he should look. He was wrapped in a blanket and he could finally curl up his weary limbs.

"Mike's shoulder's dislocated," Harvey said, hoping someone would hear. He was tired now. Very tired. There was something missing from his arms. "Where's Mike?"

"He's being seen to," a man said to Harvey. "Don't worry about him right now, he's in good hands."

Not mine...

"Sir, you have to stay still - we're going to a hospital. You can rest now."

He had to see that Mike was okay.

"Sir, you need to - "

He made his way towards the other bundle of blankets and put his hands on the - now thankfully normal looking and not-dislocated - shoulder. "Mike?"

"Hey, H'vey..."

Harvey felt freezing cold hands clutch at his blanket and knelt down next to Mike, re-opening his stiff arms and took hold of Mike, feeling the younger man rest his head back on his shoulder. They resumed their positions as they had been in the water, and although Harvey felt himself drifting into unconsciousness, he still kept a tight hold, and instinctively kicked his leg a few times to keep them afloat.