Brother from another mother

Heat Wave. [Part-3]

"What happened?"

Harvey paused in his inspection of himself in a mirror. He didn't turn but started adjusting his tie.

"You had a heat stroke," he said simply as if he were merely stating facts at a trial.

"Yeah, I remember that part," Mike replied wincingly. His head still ached and his muscles still burned with the memory. "After that."

Harvey still didn't look at him. Mike took the opportunity to close his sensitive eyes without the fear of getting reprimanded and lectured.

"I dragged your ass in here," Harvey answered with an annoyed huff as if Mike's passing out had seriously impacted his day by distracting him from other, more important matters. "No easy chore, I assure you," he added.

Mike chuckled, his closed eyes oblivious to the small, fleeting smile reflected in the mirror.

"I told the security guard to call an ambulance and Donna to get cold water while I took off your clothes."

"Quite the nurse, aren't you."

"I've seen a fair share of heat exhaustion and stroke while on the field. I know what to do when I see it."

Granted, Harvey's knowledge of the potentially fatal condition likely saved Mike's life, but the image of Harvey removing Mike's clothes in the firm's bathroom was amusing as it probably instigated some embarrassment in Harvey. Mike didn't feel the effects quite as strongly. He had been too busy overheating to be conscious or embarrassed. Plus, the embarrassment he did feel was lightened with the teasing he was giving Harvey.

"So, 'you're a Doctor, not an athlete' now?" Mike asked, doing his best impersonation of Dr. McCoy while having a sore throat. He opened his eyes in order to see Harvey's reaction.

This time Harvey did look back at him, one brow raised in feigned annoyance. His smirk, however, countered its full effect.

"Please proceed, Doctor," Mike grinned.

The smirk faded and eyes darkened as Harvey looked away again, this time focusing on his collar and vest. Mike's own grin faltered as a change seemed to come over the older man. His back had stiffened and he plucked at his vest a little too roughly.

"Donna came back with water and splashed you but you didn't wake up," Harvey continued.

Mike frowned. Harvey's tone had changed too. It was no longer as nonchalant and impersonal as before. There seemed to be something weighing down the words, causing the air they resounded in to grow heavy.

"Your temperature was too high. You weren't waking up. More water didn't help." The words were clipped and curt.

Harvey had given up trying to pretend to attend to his attire. His kept his back to Mike, his head lowered slightly to look at his hands that were clenching the sides of the sink.

"We both went to get more water."

Mike glanced at the bathroom sinks, wondering why Harvey hadn't just used the closest source of available water, but didn't voice his question aloud.

"When I came back, you were finally awake." A pause and a swallow. "And here we are," Harvey finished. The familiar featureless tone was back but sounded too harsh and forced.

Mike stared at Harvey's back. Silence consumed the enclosed space.

Harvey had pulled him out of the unrelenting heat and had acted swiftly in order to wake him and prevent the heat stroke from causing permanent damage. And, judging from the way Harvey had come running into the bathroom with a coffee pot of water, his actions may not have been entirely free of panic.