Unnatural Silence
by Settiai

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Timeframe: "Sentinel Too, Part Two"

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It was the silence that scared him the most.

Jim gently reached out, his hand brushing a strand of hair off of Blair’s forehead. As his sleeping friend shifted uncomfortably, however, he quickly withdrew his hand.

After all that’s happened, I should have expected that.

In his mind’s eye, Jim once again saw Blair’s lifeless body floating in that damn fountain. He could still feel the terror that had began gnawing at his heart in that moment, still hear his own heart beating so loudly that it almost drowned out the absence of Sandburg’s heartbeat. Almost.

He blinked as an unfamiliar wetness trickled down his face, and it took him a moment to realize that it was a teardrop. Biting back the dry laughter that itched inside of him, knowing that it would only lead to hysterics, Jim reached up and gently wiped away the single drop of water trickling down his face.

It’s not like Sandburg to be this quiet. Even when he’s asleep, he’s always mumbling something under his breath. The only other time that I’ve known him to be like this was...

Jim looked away from Blair’s unconscious form, momentarily reliving the pain and helplessness that he had felt after the younger man had unknowing ingested an almost lethal amount of Golden.

At least that time, it wasn’t my fault that he almost died.

A slight rustling sound caught his attention, and Jim slowly let his gaze drift back toward the bed. Blair’s eyes were gradually opening, a bewildered expression shining in them. As his gaze focused in on Jim, they seemed to suddenly flood with remembrance. For just an instant, the younger man’s eyes darted away from his friend -- and Jim felt something inside of him die. Without even pausing, he turned toward the door.

“Give me a minute, Sandburg, and I’ll go get a nurse.”

Blair’s voice, so low that it was barely audible even to his heightened hearing, hesitantly called after him.

“Jim...”

Jim paused for just a moment, his mind trying to convince him that it would be easier for him if he just kept walking.

Since when have I listened to my head?

He slowly glanced back at Blair, who had somehow managed to prop himself up enough so that their eyes could meet. There was hurt in them, which he had expected, but there was something else there... Something that he had thought he would never see again.

Forgiveness.

Jim smiled slightly, nodding slightly in the younger man’s direction to let him know that he understood. Everything was going to be fine. Eventually.

“Sandburg, lay your ass back down while I go get a nurse.”

***

Jim stood in the doorway, watching the nurse carefully as she finished adjusting one of the many tubes running from Blair. As she walked past him, leaving the room, he quickly planted an expression on his face that he hoped appeared normal.

“You know, Chief, if you want to meet nurses, there are easier ways.”

End

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