Conditional Love

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Alec finally gets Jace back to his apartment at ten in the morning. Clary left the hospital at the end of her shift, and was all too willing to get Alec's room ready for Jace to take it over for the next few weeks. While Jace was in the hospital, after he came out of his surgeries - and because of the fact that he was so doped up on narcotics - he would not stop hitting on Clary. Alec had always thought those two would be good together. He'd been planning on setting them up before he got kicked out of his house and lost touch with his siblings. Drugged up Jace was quite entertaining. He kept asking things like if 'the pretty redheaded nurse would give him a sponge bath', or Alec's personal favorite, 'can the pretty redhead please, please, please, suck him off'. Usually Alec would be appalled by his brothers behavior, but considering how flustered it made Clary, and the fact that Alec just hasn't cared about anything lately, it was pretty amusing. Luckily for Jace, he didn't say any of those things in front of Jon. The only thing Jace said in front of Clary's brother was, 'that redheaded nurse is sssooo pretty, and sssooo nice.', which only caused Jon to laugh and agree with Jace.

Alec wheels a very groggy Jace over to his bed, then slowly helps him into it. Once he's done getting Jace settled, he goes and lays down on the couch for a couple more hours of sleep. Though he's really not looking forward to going into work this afternoon. He sets an alarm on his phone, then relaxes and closes his eyes for a while. After what felt like minutes, but has actually been two hours, Alec's alarm goes off. Grumbling, Alec gets up and ready for work, then checks on Jace before he leaves the apartment.

~oOo~

Alec arrives at the station, tired as hell. He almost wishes he called out sick today. He walks in and is immediately greeted by Magnus. He's surprised that there were no flower or food deliveries this afternoon. Alec just assumed that Magnus has given up on trying to persuade him to get back together again. Alec wouldn't be surprised if that were the case, especially after what he said to Magnus at the hospital last night.

"Hey, I thought you might need this today." Magnus says shyly as he hands Alec a cup of coffee from JJ's.

"Thanks, you didn't have to do that." Alec says, taking a tentative sip. He almost groans at the taste. Alec really does need the coffee.

"I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to. How's your brother doing?" Magnus says with a shrug as they continue to walk towards the common room.

"He's in a lot of pain, which is to be expected. I've got him all set up in my room, which means that I'm going to be sleeping on the couch for the next few weeks. Jon did say that Jace should be walking on his own in about three weeks, but until then, he can only stand long enough to shower," Alec says. "The shoulder is going to be about eight to twelve weeks before he's able to even take it out of the sling, and that's just during his physical therapy." Sighing, Alec tries to pull his tired thoughts together to continue. "You know, after not seeing him for the last five years, I'm terrified to have to explain to him why I wasn't able to see him, or talk to him, or hell... even write a letter to him. I'm just dreading the inevitable conversation." Alec doesn't even know why he's confessing these insecurities to Magnus. He can tell his mind is all over the place right now, but being in Magnus' presence has always been easier to talk. It's almost as if Alec had known Magnus longer than the three and a half months.

As they sit down, Magnus gives Alec an ambivalent look. "Well, based off the small interaction I've seen between you and Jace, I think keeping it from him would do more harm than good. He seemed very bothered by the fact that you just disappeared for five years. Are you worried about how he's going to react?" Magnus asks tentatively.

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of. I'm terrified that he's going to have the same reaction as my parents. He's not only my brother, he was also my best friend growing up. I just got him back Magnus, I can't lose him again." Alec's voice sounds vulnerable, even to his own ears.