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“Can I come with him?” Ian asked the doctor while writing down appointment details “I’m not a pussy I can deal with this bone mojo-whatever the fuck on my own” both the doctor and Ian were rather exhausted by this point and just nodded at Mickey’s outburst. “We suggest having a support person present yes, preferably someone intimately familiar with the patient so nothing is awkward” “I’m right fucking here, don’t call me the goddamn patient like I’m some kinda invalid” Ian again shot the doctor an apologetic look, thanking whatever power that be for this doctors calm disposition with his Rottweiler of a husband. Before the doctor could attempt an apology Micky was going for round who knows what “I don’t know what the fuck you people consider intimately familiar but he likes to stick his dick up my ass, that intimate enough for ya doc?” Ian immediately blushed scarlet and looked at his feet while the doctor somehow still kept his composure, this guy must be a monk or something in his spare time “Yes Mr Milkovitch a sexual partner is exactly what I was referring to as you’re somewhat exposed during the procedure” “Of fucking course I am. So don’t eat after midnight, and bring the guy I’m banging to babysit my ass, anything else before I can get the fuck out of this place?” Okay that one stung a little, Ian knew that his husband was just trying to deal with a frightening situation in his own fucked up way, but being described as the guy he’s banging had some bite to it. The remarkably still level headed doctor shot Ian a sympathetic look before focusing back on his angry patient “Use this soap tonight when you take a shower, and your appointment is at 7:15” “why the fuck do I need weird ass soap?” “It’s antibacterial, helps with germs” “isn’t that what soap does in fucking general” this made both the doctor and Ian crack a grin, further fueling the fire that is Mickey “yes but this does that more then just regular body soap” in a solid huff now Mickey snatched the soap from the doctors hand and headed for the door. As they walked down the hallway his rant hadn’t lost its momentum. “fantastic not only am I supposed to let these people poke and prod at me all over the place but now I’m gunna fucking smell weird too” Ian nodded along with his agitated husband, but as they settled into the car Ian couldn’t help but smile being brought back to a pivotal conversation he’d had with Carl what felt like multiple lifetimes ago. “Do you love Mickey” Carl had asked offhandedly, making Ian flounder “I don’t know…I just like the way he smells” it sounded ridiculous then, but in retrospect it made sense. Mickey was his safety and whatever he happened to smell like at the time, that was home. “The fuck are you grinning at Galliger?” The sharp question jerked Ian back to reality “nothing, just reminded me of an old memory is all” “whatever you fucking weirdo” the rest of the ride was quiet, as Ian careful of his facial expression and went down memory lane, and Mickey did his best to stamp down the burning anxiety harshly gripping his chest.
The rest of the evening went by like any other, they ordered take out and lost themselves in the mindless fun of their favorite video games. Before they knew it it was nearly midnight, and Micky insisted on grabbing one more slice of cold pizza before he wasn’t supposed to eat. After finishing off the pizza Mickey stretched and yawned in the way that Ian found irresistibly adorable “I’m gunna head for bed…guess I gotta get up early” “Mick ya gotta shower first remember?” “Oh fuck off fire crotch” Ian easily rolled with the venomous jab, he’d expected his husband to lash out as things began to get real, it was how he processed “come on, I’ll join you and make it worth your while” Without waiting for response Ian began to strip on his way to the bathroom, with every intention of easing some of Mickeys stress.
With calculated skill he was naked by the time he got to the bathroom and started the shower, listening intently behind him making sure his husband was following his example. By the time Ian was stepping into the shower Mickey was shimmying out of his boxers in the door way, looking an abnormal combination of lustful and pissed off. Okay maybe not all that abnormal, Mickey was a Milkovitch after all. Ian pulled him into the shower with a deep kiss caressing his sides lovingly, a show of tenderness that probably would’ve gotten Ian punched in the face in the beginning years of their relationship. Mickey melted against the larger man’s body, surrendering himself to the feeling of being cared for as Ian kissed a trail down the pale skin he’d spent so much time admiring, touching, kissing, biting, and loving. His plan had been to make his way south and go to town blowing his husbands mind, but as he reached the muscular V shape that normally was the home stretch before a very good time, Ian felt Mickey take a fist full of his hair. This wasn’t uncommon, Mickey taking control of the situation and putting him exactly where he wanted him. The strange part was that instead of pushing him downward towards what would normally be a straining erection, Mickey was pulling him upwards and into a strong almost desperate embrace. “I’m just…not in the mood tonight red. Let’s just get cleaned up and go to bed I’m exhausted” Ian couldn’t decide weather he was more shocked at being turned down by his walking hormone of a husband, or embarrassed at being the only one with a hard on “Sure, yeah no problem” “I mean I can help you take care of that, if you want” the less then enthusiastic offer was nothing more then a courtesy “Nah, I’m fine, I can deal with it later if I need to, tonight’s about you” the sheer embarrassment was already working to rapidly deflate his erection. They settled into a semi-comfortable silence, both washing themselves under the warm water and ignoring the biting medical smell from the special soap.
It was only when they were crawling into bed that Mickey broke the silence with nervous laughter, confusing and concerning the already rather high strung Gallagher. “Uh, you alright Mick?” “Yeah…I just realized I honestly don’t even know what the fuck they’re gunna do to me tomorrow” “Do you want me to walk you through it?” “No…Yes…Maybe…I don’t fucking know” Mickey was staring down at his hands, fiddling with the edge of the comforter and refusing to meet Ian’s gaze for fear of his reaction “I can’t decide that for you, but what I can tell you is I’m going to be there with you the whole time” Mickey only nodded, and laid down turning away from his husband to turn out the lamp. Ian not wanting to push it, double checked his alarms and then laid down in a way that if he so chose Mickey could snuggle against him easily.
Just as Ian was drifting off to sleep, he felt the familiar sensation of Mickey laying himself in his arms. “….are you awake?” “Hmph…yeah….why?” “What are they gunna do to me” suddenly the tough Mickey Milkovitch that Ian loved dearly, sounded like a scared child, and it wrenched his heart in a way words don’t do justice. “How much detail do you want?” “Well don’t go all EMT know it all on me, but I don’t want surprises” “okay so when we get there in the morning we’ll have to do more paperwork, and the..” Mickey shoved his face into his hand with an annoyed groan “I know that fucking part ya dipshit, I mean the digging around in my bones part” “ohh. Well so what they’re doing is called a bone marrow biopsy, the marrow is the squishy stuff on the inside of your bones that makes your blood, that’s what they’re worried about and want to do tests on some of it” “while I appreciate the health class, that did not answer my fucking question” Ian took a deep breath, trying to remember to have patience “okay so they’ll put an IV in your hand, we’ll go back to an operating room and then they’ll clean a spot on your back, numb it up and give you some meds in the IV to keep you more comfortable while they get the sample” “how?” “What do you mean” “how do they get the fucking sample” “oh” Ian wasn’t sure exactly how open to be at this point, he knew his tough as nails husband had always hated needles “any fucking day now firecrotch” Mickey was trying hard to be angry, it was easier then being scared. “They….use a big needle that they can twist so it goes into your pelvic bone, that lets them pull out the sample” Mickey was a few seconds too late to stop the full body shudder that overtook him at the thought. “I won’t feel it though right?” Ian seriously used to have a better poker face, but whether it be that he’s half asleep or that it’s Mickey something was massively disarming him. “You won’t feel everything…but you will feel some of it” Mickey nodded, a small nervous gesture of finality before grabbing a pillow to wrap around and scooting back against Ian to sleep. Or more like stare at the wall, thinking about sleep.
He must have fallen asleep at some point because the next thing he knew, Ian was sitting up shaking his meds out next to him on the bed. He always hated when anybody watched him take his meds, so he typically got up a little bit before Mickey. What Ian didn’t know is the sound of the pill bottles always woke his husband, but knowing that it made him uncomfortable to feel watched he always faked sleep until he was done. It became its own kind of morning ritual for Mickey, listening to Ian got his different medications out, the predictable sound of the seal of his little bottle of juice opening, the annoying slurp sound he made taking a drink with the pills in his mouth. Typically Ian would settle back into bed after finishing the juice, wrapping his long arms around him and pulling him close to get in some extra cuddle time until they had to get up for work.
Today was a little different in that instead of laying back down Ian pulled his “sleeping” husband partially into his lap, running his fingers through his messy raven hair he pressed his lips to Mickeys temple, breathing in the scent of his shampoo. He thought he felt Ian’s breath catch irregularly, and That’s when Mickey felt the wetness in his hair. Ian was crying. “I love you so much Mick, no matter what happens I’m here” before Mickey could process the situation, Ian’s annoying alarm clock broke the silence.
Ian quickly wiped his eyes with the back of his hand before reaching for his phone to shut off the alarm. Mickey promptly rolled off his husbands legs pulling a pillow over his head while groaning, he always hated early mornings but this time he needed the extra time to get control of his own emotions. “We gotta get going here soon, I laid out a shirt and lounge pants for you to wear” Mickey was a mess of emotions he didn’t know how to handle, so he defaulted back to what he knows best, anger. “I could’ve gotten my own clothes Gallagher, I’m not a fucking baby” he snapped while getting out of bed and padding barefoot to the bathroom, making Ian chuckle at the predictable response. That was followed by the also predictable bickering over why he couldn’t have coffee or anything on the way to the appointment, and a long silent car ride to the hospital.