i'd rather be a riot than indifferent

9. different kinds of pain

Natsu remains in the hospital after his surgery. Gray asks about Freed's family while they wait for Natsu to wake up.

tw for descriptions of burn injuries

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"Grayson? Grayson Dubois-Tremblay?" Freed sat up and nudged Gray, who had fallen asleep against Laxus. Gray blinked blearily and rubbed his eyes. A woman in brightly-colored scrubs with a clipboard in her hand stood in front of them.

"Yes? It's, uh, it's Gray," Gray corrected sleepily. "I mean, that's... is Natsu okay?"

"He's out of surgery," the nurse replied, voice gentle. "We have him in the ICU right now. He's still asleep, and the doctor needs to talk to you about a few things. You can all come with me."

After making their way through various corridors and up an elevator, they found themselves outside the Intensive Care Unit. They were shown to a small meeting area and took their seats.

"My name is Doctor Carter." A man in his mid-forties entered the room and held out his hand, and they all shook it cautiously. Gray rubbed his eyes again, and Freed reached over and put a hand on his knee. "Gray, I'm going to be keeping tabs on your husband while he's here – I was the one overseeing the surgery."

"Is he okay?" Gray's voice shook, and the doctor sat down on the edge of the table.

"He's alive," he replied carefully, "and the skin grafts seem successful. He had severe third-degree burns down the left half of his chest and his left arm, and second-degree burns on his neck and face." Gray's hand came up to his mouth and Freed squeezed his leg, wishing they could provide more comfort. "He also has inhalation injuries from the smoke, which means he can't breathe on his own right now and is on a ventilator. He should be able to come off that in a couple of days, depending on how he's doing."

"That's good," Freed said quickly, feeling Gray grab their hand and squeeze it. He was clearly not in any place to ask questions right now. Freed rubbed their thumb over Gray's knuckles.

"How long will he have to stay in the hospital?" Laxus asked.

"If he's recovering well, maybe two weeks," the doctor replied, scratching his beard. "We need to make sure the grafts take well and that there's no infection, and that he's breathing okay on his own. He won't spend all of that time in the ICU, we'll move him to the burn unit on the fourth floor once he's stabilized and off the ventilator. That could be either tomorrow or the day after."

"Can I see him?" Gray whispered. Freed saw Laxus place his hand on Gray's back, rubbing gentle circles between Gray's shoulder blades. "Please?"

"You can," Doctor Carter said gently. "But I need to warn you that it looks a lot worse than it is. The burns on his face can't be bandaged so they look quite severe, and seeing someone on a ventilator can be distressing. You can bring one person in with you, but we limit it to two visitors at a time. And it's after hours, so it'll only be for a few minutes."

"You two go," Laxus said immediately. "Gray, I'll go to your place and pack up some clothes so you can come stay with us for tonight." Gray nodded slowly. His eyes were slightly unfocused, and Freed's heart ached for him. Laxus leaned over and tugged Gray into a tight hug, whispering something in his ear before pulling back and standing to leave. He kissed Freed on the cheek before leaving the room.

"Alright, come with me," Doctor Carter said, gesturing for them to follow him out of the room. They stopped at a station with a large sink, and he indicated for them to wash their hands. "You'll need to limit your touch with him – his non-injured hand, legs and hair are fine, but avoid any bandaged areas and his face." Gray and Freed both nodded, then followed Doctor Carter through a curtain and into one of the small rooms.