Brother from another mother

Muggers. [Part-2]

One was holding him up while the other punched him in the gut. They dropped him to the ground and kicked him square in the face. They were still laughing and Mike was hoping this was it. He started to get up to leave, assuming the thugs had done what they came for.

"Hey man, where do you think you're going?"

He grabbed Mike's jacket again, ripping it and jerking him back into his attackers. The one holding him threw him to the ground and kicked him around some more. The other two pulled him back up and let each other take turns punching him. Mike dropped to the ground when they let go, slamming his head on the concrete. He could still hear them talking, but once they kicked him again it was total lights out.

Mike woke with a start. He was in an empty hospital room, his arm plugged up with IV's. The memories flowed back to him and he groaned. His face was extremely pace with several bruised splotches lining his face. His torso was wrapped in gauze and hurt like hell. His arm's had tons of matching bruises as well, most likely from when the thugs had held him up after stealing his stuff. The back of his head was wrapped up too, but the pain wasn't half as intense as it was when he had woken up in the ally. Thank god for pain meds. Suddenly someone burst through the door, talking to the person behind them. Trevor? His ex-best friend walked up and froze in place. I guess I look as bad as I feel. He thought. Harvey came up behind Trevor, also at a loss for words.

"You look worse than you did when you came into the office."

"I came to the office?"

Mike shook his head and brushed his hand through his hair. He looked up again, glancing at Trevor.

"Why are you here?"

"You left me on your emergency contacts list."

"You… you should go."

Harvey walked back over to Mike's bed and looked at his face. Ignoring him, Mike sighed. Trevor closed his eyes.

"You know what? Whatever. Don't expect me to show up again."

Trevor raised his hand and shook his head, walking out the door.

"So how do you feel?"

"Like I got run over by a semi. What happened?"

"All you said was "freaking muggers" and then the EMT's came."

"I remember the attack, but nothing once I woke up in the alley."

"You went into the office apologizing for being late, and then you collapsed."

"Oh. I can't believe I went to the office."

"Yeah, you were pretty out of it."

The men stayed silent for a moment when the doctor walked in.

"Alright Mr. Ross, you should be ready to go home now. But I advise you to go home with someone, staying alone isn't a great idea right after a hospital visit."

"He'll stay with me."

Harvey interjected, but Mike opened his mouth.

"Come on, I'll be fine at my house, I don't really need to-"

"You're staying with me."

Harvey repeated. The doctor laughed and gave Mike his things. Throwing on some scrubs (Mike's clothes were pretty much destroyed); Mike was wheeled out of the hospital. Glad for the valet, the car was pulled around and Harvey took Mike back to his apartment.

"Yeah everything's fine Donna. I'll be in in about two days. I'll tell you if anything changes."

"Can I visit him?"

"He's a little out of it right now, but maybe if he feels alright tomorrow."

"Alright, talk to you later."

"Bye."

Harvey hung up the phone and turned to look at Mike, who had fallen asleep in the short drive home. The car entered the parking lot and Harvey woke Mike up.

"Mike. Mike, come on, we're here."

"Huh? Oh, okay."

Mike's head was already pounding by the time they reached the door, but he was determined to at least walk the rest of the way by himself. He had been leaning into Harvey because of his messed up ankle, which he was kind of embarrassed about. They walked into the lobby and joined an elevator, both hoping they could relax when they got inside.

Mike was half asleep on the couch while Harvey was in the kitchen. He had just ordered pizza, making sure Mike would eat before he took the rest of his pain meds. Mike's bruises were mostly faded, but Mike was still in pain from the beating the muggers gave him. His chest hurt every time he breathed, but when he was still it helped a lot. The doorbell rang and Harvey jumped to answer it, taking the pizza and paying for it.

"Miiiikkkee, wake uuuuuuup."

Harvey put the pizza on the coffee table beside him and opened the box. The associate woke up instantly at the smell of food, hungrily grabbing a piece.

"Thanks man."

"Yeah, and don't forget to take your pain meds after this."

Mike grumbled in reply and settled down with his food. The pair was quiet for a while when Harvey spoke.

"You don't remember anything about those guys, do you?"

"No, only just that they were big."

"Oh, too bad."

"Yeah. Hey Harvey, I just wanted to thank you for taking care of me like this. I know this wasn't exactly what you expected, but-"

"Look, don't worry about it. I told you how much a pain in the ass finding a new associate is."

Mike laughed and smiled.