How Green Becomes Wood

Dark squinted, unsure of what exactly was happening just then. He was fully aware he had, while disassociating, slipped and cut his hand. No questions there. He knew he was in his neighbor Lex's car, on the way to the hospital. He knew the year, he knew who the president was. He was fully lucid.

But he had no idea what was happening. Was Lex sincerely trying to pitch a joint project on the way to the ER? "I... suppose we could. Depending on what you have in mind?"

"Speaking of gates," Daizi said, a bit cautiously, "could we commission you to make baby gates for our stairs? This doesn't really feel like the right time to ask, but..." Dark looked at his wife. If it wasn't for how much damn pain he was in, he'd think he was dreaming.
 
"Sure!" Lex agreed without hesitation. "Baby gates are easy and pretty fun to build. Do you have my number? You can text me a couple of pictures of the style you are thinking. Oh, right. Sorry. Maybe your boys can find some pictures? Just reference. I'll need to get some measurements, too."
 
"We just want something to match the house that also will keep our baby safe," Daizi explained, still rubbing the back of Dark's hand. The cut was along the lateral side of his thumb, veering just slightly off into his palm, so the back of his hand didn't hurt to touch. "If I don't have your number, I know Cooger does. And Dark's left handed, so he can sketch what he was thinking of."
 
"He sketches? You sketch? That'll save a ton of time!" Lex grinned. "Just sketch me what you want, let me get some measurements, and I'll get it to you faster than building a tomato pie." She paused as she changed lanes. "We'll be there in just a couple more minutes."
 
"He's an incredible artist," Daizi said proudly, "Almost all of his tattoos are his own designs, actually."

"My tattoos," Dark said, the remaining colour draining from his already paler-than-usual face, "They better not misalign my tattoos."

"We'll ask for the plastic surgeon, Goose, don't worry." She promised, with true, undeniably evident empathy.
 
"I do not have palm tattoos, but it went through one of my spiders." Dark answered.

"It just means they have a guideline to fix it, my darling," Daizi cooed, stroking his hair for a moment. It didn't matter to her, then, if Lex was bothered by pda or not. Her depressed husband had suffered a moderate accident, and she was going to fuss over him.
 
"They'll be able to fix it without an issue," Lex assured him as she found a spot to park in the ER parking lot. Thankfully, it wasn't too busy. She went around and opened the door for Dark and Daizi, verbally guiding Daizi to what was around them. The door wasn't far, and Lex led the way, warning Daizi of any steps or other obstacles.

~~

Once they'd had a moment to calm down and take a breath and once Xander had thoroughly washed his hands, the twins sat in the living room with Ivy. Xander texted Cooger, trying to think of how to explain what had happened.

Dark had an accident and cut his hand. Neighbor drove him and Mama to the ER. Mama said we should tell you.

"I think we're doing okay," Alec said, smiling at Ivy. "We're alright now! Aren't we? Yes, we are! Now we just need to chill for a bit until bedtime."

"Bedtime is coming up," Xander said, gingerly massaging lotion into his hands.
 
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It wasn't until they were in the parking lot that it occurred to Daizi she hadn't brought her cane, but between Lex's directions and the fact she was, still, holding onto Dark, she made it there okay. When they were checked in, Dark did his best to fill out the paperwork with one hand, and Daizi did her best not to panic. She was doing okay until the smell hit her, now it was harder. There was a lot more to remember.

~~

Ivy didn't seem particularly bothered, whatever tension there had been in the room, to her, went by quickly. Since it wasn't playtime, she was snuggled up under Alec's arm, the way Alec would hide underneath Dark's, and her little eyes kept nearly closing.

About two minutes, maximum, after Xander sent that text, Cooger called him. He didn't bother with pleasantries when he answered, sounding likely more serious than Xander would have heard before, "What happened."
 
Lex grumbled quietly as she dug around in her purse. Finally, she located what she was looking for. It was a simple bracelet she'd gotten from a farmer's market in New Jersey years ago. One of the beads was bigger than the others and held essential oils as a gentle smell. It didn't have much smell left since she kept forgetting to refill it, but it did still have a reasonably strong scent of lavender. She took Daizi's hand and put the bracelet in it. "Here put this up to your nose, the big bead, and smell," she told her gently.

~~

Alec was happy to cuddle Ivy, glad that she seemed unaffected by the drama happening around her. He hummed a song softly, keeping himself and her calm and centered.

Xander took the phone from his ear and took a breath. His stress level was already high, and Cooger's seriousness spiked it. He knew that wasn't Cooger's intent, and after Dark's comment as well as some small comments Cooger had made months ago, he had an idea why Cooger would be upset. He put the phone back to his ear. "He was doing some wood stuff and his knife slipped and cut his hand. It's not bad bad, but it needs stitches. Neighbor lady drove them to the hospital, and Alec and I are home with Ivy."
 
"Oh," Daizi said, really just surprised, but did as she was told. "Thank you." She took a strong smell of it, and then moved her wrist to Dark's face so he could too before smelling it again. "I'm sorry, I just... I don't have many positive experiences in hospitals."

~~
Ivy just curled against him, small and warm, and sucked on her fist while she did her best to fight off sleep, but she was losing.

"Okay." Cooger replied, but did not say anything else for a good few minutes. "Okay. Is everyone else okay?" He had many other questions he wanted to ask, but he wasn't going to ask them to children.
 
"I get it," Lex assured Daizi. "Maybe not the details, but I recognize that look." She squeezed Daizi's forearm gently. "There's nothing to be sorry for."

~~

"Yeah, everyone's as okay as they can be," Xander sighed. "Daizi's freaked. Dark's checked out. Two teen boys are alone with a baby for the first time ever, and one of them can't touch her. Mini's fine. She's falling asleep right now."
 
Daizi nodded, and then turned her face in against Dark's shoulder. He was sitting still and silent, a new awareness of his situation washing over him. Still, she caught his attention, and after finishing his paperwork, he put his hand on top of hers, and after getting whatever it was she needed, Daizi raised her head again, "Thank you. If you'd like to go home, we can call our friend. I'm sure he'd get here by the time we're discharged, I'm sure this isn't where you'd like to spend your evening."

~~

"I'll call them. Do you need me to come over?" He asked, "How freaked is she?"
 
Lex raised her eyebrows. "Leave and abandon you two here in the wilds of the ER? Hell, no. I might not have been the best at taking my mama's advice, but she did teach me to never abandon a friend no matter how new the friend. But if you'd like a little alone time, I can go see if there's a working bubbler around here." She stood and stretched. "I'll be right back."

~~

Xander debated. "On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say maybe a 6 or 7? Handling it well, but she is sitting in the hospital with an injured soulmate and away from her baby for basically the first time."
 
"I appreciate that," Daizi said, "It's very kind of you to be here with us." Still, she didn't object to Lex stepping away for a moment, because it gave her the first time since this happened to speak to her husband with some level of privacy. "Are you sure it was an accident?"

"Yes."

"Promise me?"

"I promise." Dark replied, turning his shoulders towards her and allowing himself to sit improperly beside her. "Do you think I would intentionally slice up one of my tattoos?"

A small, sad smile caught Daizi by surprise, "No. You wouldn't... What happened?"

"I just... I was distracted." He answered, about as honestly as he could.

"We're going to have to talk about it, darling." She held onto his bicep and rested her cheek against his shoulder, never once letting go of his hand, "You can't go on like this."

~~

"She would be pleased you referred to him as her soulmate," Cooger replied, a bit of his usual tone slipping back into his voice as he relaxed, "At least it is Ivy's bedtime. That probably makes it easier. I can't tell if I'm surprised she chose being with him over her or not. It's about a coin flip. It being her bedtime probably loaded the dice." He did not care about the mixed metaphor.
 
Lex took her time locating some water for the three of them. She could sense that not everything was quite as cut and dried as it had been presented to her, but she wasn't one to pry. Well, occasionally, but she tried not to. It was out of a genuine desire to help, but she knew to butt out when someone told her to. So, it took her far longer than it "should have" to get three cups of water and bring them back to Dark and Daizi. "Here we go. Found some water. I figured it usually helps. That's what people do in situations like this, right? Offer everyone water?" She smirked a little, thinking of how many liters she'd been forced to drink over the years.

~~

"Yeah, that doesn't really make sense, but I follow you," Xander said as Alec tried to lift Ivy without waking her up. "You can come over if you want and grill them when they get home. Or you can try to catch them at the hospital. Either way."
 
"Thank you," Daizi said, once again speaking for herself and Dark, and handing him the first cup Lex brought to them before taking a sip of her own, sniffing the lavender bracelet again, and nuzzling her cheek against Dark's shoulder, since now one hand was occupied. It might not have looked like it, with his icy, distant stare, but the fact she was there beside him was making this so much easier. For one thing, it meant he didn't have to talk. But that wasn't most of it. With a small, sad laugh Daizi admitted to Lex, "We keep thinking we're done with chaos. I guess it isn't done with us, yet."

~~

"Kid," Cooger drawled, "you've known Dark for a year now. How do you think he'd react if I paraded into the hospital to fuss over him? I'll call 'em tonight, but unless they say otherwise I'll stop by tomorrow. Man doesn't like being crowded, and I can respect that."

Ivy stirred slightly when she was lifted, but grabbed tight to Alec's shirt and settled back down without waking.
 
Lex chuckled at that. "I think life is chaos. Some of it is a lot of fun. Some of it, not so much. But you two have each other, so that'll make it easier to handle. Like teenagers!" She groaned. "What I wouldn't give to have had a helping hand with Toby when he was a bit younger. Sometimes even now, though he's mellowed out a lot." She smiled at Dark and Daizi, her voice going gentle and more sincere. "It's good to see a pair like you two. Seriously. I don't mean to make it awkward, but it's true."

~~

Xander didn't say anything, staring at nothing. "Yeah," he said at last. "He hates a crowd, but you know when to shove in and when not to. Least, with him you do. I'll let them know you'll be by tomorrow. I wouldn't doubt he'll head to work. It's the last day, after all. I'll see you later, then."

Alec rocked back and forth, humming softly to keep Ivy soothed.
 
This switch in conversation Dark tuned into, and in his low, steady voice he said, "We have been parents for a year and a half, but we have two sixteen year olds. We are very efficient."

Daizi chucked softly, "I don't think we'd have made it if it was just one of us and those three... We'll have been married ten years this November. But we've been together for, what, 20?" She tried to do the math in her head, "Over twenty. We can't figure out if we count the three years we dated before breaking up for four and a half. I called off my wedding to be with him."

~~

"I will see you later. Take care of yourselves." Cooger said, hanging up the phone before flopping back on his couch.
 
"Now that's a dramatic story!" Lex grinned. "I wasn't great at relationships, so I took a break to focus on Toby for about ten years or so, and then when I felt I was ready, it turned out the dating pool dried up when I wasn't looking. Ah, well. Better alone than with the wrong one, and I really don't mind it. But you, you called off a wedding?"

~~

Alec and Xander sat together for a long time, just being. Then, finally, they both got up and went upstairs to lay Ivy down in her crib. Alec put her down as slowly and gently as he could to not startle her and left his hand lightly on her stomach so she could feel him. They both held their breath to see if they'd done it right. Would she stay asleep?
 
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