Work Text:
Mike wasn’t sure how he even got himself to the elevator.
He had laid curled on the concrete for…well, he had no idea how long actually. All he knew was his side was killing him. And his head. And his all of it actually. God, he was an idiot.
If Harvey had driven away just a minute later he would have gotten to see the whole spectacle. Blood was splattered on the glass doors of Pearson Hardman. Was he gonna have to clean that up? No, what? Why would they make Mike do that?
Man, he was dizzy.
Mike had practically fallen into the elevator. He could feel the floor calling his name as his head spun. Yeah, banging your skull into glass after getting slammed into the pavement doesn’t feel good, actually. Who could have guessed. He aggressively tried to blink away the pounding ache in his head.
He needed to push a button. Mike was just…kinda standing there, gripping furiously onto the wall. He could feel the hot liquid of his blood dripping onto his suit. This was one of his good ones too!
Mike spent the elevator ride mostly just trying to ignore the buzzing of the overhead light. Why was it so bright in this elevator? A metallic taste was creeping into the back of his throat. He needed water. Or a nap. A nap sounded amazing right now.
The chime of the elevator practically shot through his ear drums.
“Oh my god, what the hell happened to you?” For some reason Louis was still here and he looked horrified. And he was carrying a box of all his things. Guess Jessica fired him.
“Don’ wan talk about it.” Mike slurred out as he reeled forward. He needed to go to the bathroom and clean himself up. He needed these lights to stop stabbing him in the skull, actually. Black spots crept around the edges of his vision.
Louis caught his arm before he could hit the floor.
“With me now.” Louis gripped onto Mike, his concern glaringly obvious. Did Mike really look that bad? Guess there was quite a bit of blood on his suit. “You’re staining our nice floors, Ross.”
Louis tried to sound disgusted but there was the slightest tremor to his voice. Mike meant to say something witty or maybe biting but instead he let out a choked groan.
Oh.
That was blood.
Ohhhh fuck.
Mike barrelled over as more blood began to pour out of his mouth. Louis was saying something to him- no shouting at him- as he placed a frantic hand on Mike’s back. He couldn’t hear any of it over the ringing of his own ears.
He curled further into himself, his knees banging onto the floor. God, Mike just wanted a nap right now. He wouldn’t have to feel his burning ache if he was asleep.
“Mike, I swear to god.” Louis’s voice cut through the static Mike was swimming in right now. Vaguely he understood Louis was calling 911. Was he gonna get fired for this? Wait no, Louis didn’t even work here anymore. Mike tried to say something but it just came out as a violent cough that rattled his body. “Stay with me right now.”
Mike’s head hit the floor before Louis could finish his sentence.
++++++++++
Louis never called Harvey.
In fact, Harvey didn’t think Louis had called him once in the last three years. Frankly, Harvey didn’t want to deal with him right now. He didn’t want to see or hear from Louis ever again.
That's the thing though.
Harvey had made that abundantly clear when he stormed into Louis’s office the other day. Louis had obviously gotten the message too.
And yet he was calling Harvey.
It wasn’t anxiety. No, Harvey Specter didn’t do “anxiety.” It was…professional curiosity. Harvey didn’t give a damn what Louis had gotten himself into. He just needed to know.
“I don’t care how much you hate me right now-“ Louis’s voice crackled through the kitchen. “Mike’s in the hospital.”
“What?” Holy shit. Harvey had just left Mike at the office. What the hell could have possibly happened in that time span? “Where are you?”
Harvey wasn’t sure he had ever gotten this pissed off at other drivers. He didn't have time to call Ray back considering the man had just left. He was gonna get in a car crash if he couldn’t calm down but holy shit. He should have asked Louis to elaborate but his only focus was getting to that hospital.
His knuckles were shaking from how hard he was grabbing the steering wheel. Something had to have happened the moment he left. Someone waiting, maybe? Unlucky coincidence? No, Mike had a lot of shit going on right now.
Louis was seated in the waiting room, blood stained on his collar shirt.
“What the hell did you do?” Harvey growled as he approached.
“Jesus Christ, Harvey!” Louis shouted as he rose from his chair. “How far is your head up your own ass that you think I did this? Voting for Hardman doesn’t mean I’m a goddamn psychopath.”
Harvey took in a sharp breath as he actually took in the sight of Louis. Louis, who still had blood under his finger nails. Louis, whose eyes had a hauntedness that wore down on his features. He couldn’t stand Louis right now but it wasn’t fair to blame him.
“What happened?” Harvey gritted out instead of an apology. Louis ran a hand over his face before speaking.
“He just- just stumbled out of the elevator, beaten to a pulp! He wouldn’t tell me a thing and then just…started coughing out blood.” Louis couldn’t look at Harvey as he spoke. He looked like he might vomit just recounting the story.
Why wouldn’t he call me?
The thought rang through Harvey’s head. If it had been some shit with Trevor again, he could see Mike not wanting to call the police. But he should have called Harvey. He was supposed to call Harvey when something like this happened. Was he being black mailed? Extorted? Had Harvey missed it because he was too focused on dealing with Hardman?
Maybe it was something with the weed he had bought. Mike (unfortunately) was pretty good at buying drugs, so he couldn’t have scammed the coffee cart guy. He might have bought weed from someone shadier though. He might have ignored Harvey’s orders of getting his shit together.
He needed the security footage from Pearson Hardman. He needed to keep Louis away from that security footage in case it was one of Trevor’s “buddies.”
Harvey wasn’t sure how long he had been pacing for. No, that was a lie. He knew exactly how long he had been pacing for, because he kept checking his watch about every five minutes. An hour and half had passed before a doctor came out to see them.
“Louis Litt?” A woman approached them, a clipboard in her hands. “He’s been stabilized. The surgery went perfectly fine.”
“Hold on-“ Harvey’s jaw clicked. “Surgery?”
“What is your relationship to the patient?” She turned to face Harvey.
“I’m his boss. And emergency contact.” I’m supposed to be.
“Ah, Harvey Specter. Boss and former boss. Got it.” She jotted something down.
‘Former boss?’ Harvey mouthed at Louis. He could see Louis’s eye twitch, but he didn’t give Harvey the dignity of acknowledgement. Had Jessica fired him? Harvey didn’t know how to feel about that, so he instead chose to ignore those feelings.
“Concussion, broken ribs, internal bleeding in his lungs, and some general scathing / bruising. We were able to stop the internal bleeding fairly easily in surgery. You’re lucky you found him though, Mr. Litt. That’s a nasty combo. Mr. Ross likely won’t regain consciousness until tomorrow, if we’re lucky.”
“Can we see him?” Louis took a hesitant step forward. The doctor gave a polite nod.
“He’s in room A14.”
Harvey strides past the both of them. He needed to see Mike for himself. He needed to see how badly he was gonna have to slug the guy who did this. They could certainly charge battery for this stunt, if it wasn’t anyone too questionable the police would be looking into. In fact, if it was someone too questionable Harvey could just slug the guy if he really wanted.
“Stay out of this, Louis.” Harvey snapped as he heard a pair of footsteps following behind him. He jerked backwards as Louis grabbed his arm, forcing Harvey to look at him.
“In case you forgot, I’m the one who got him here. I’m the one who had to call 911 as Mike nearly died in front of me.” Louis spat. There was an obvious exhaustion behind his fury. “I have a right to be here just as much as you do.”
Harvey wrung the cuffs of his collar shirt and kept walking. What would have happened if Louis hadn’t been there? Mike should have called Harvey immediately. And he didn’t. What, would Mike just let himself die on the floor of Pearson Hardman?
Probably. Jesus, Harvey was going to get grey hairs before he could even make it to forty.
Harvey just stood in front of the door for a moment. Neither he nor Louis moved. He took in a sharp breath and twisted the knob.
Mike looked like a corpse.
His chest was rising and falling, but his skin was sallow. Bandages were sported to his face, and the dim lights hollowed his features. The only sound was the steady beeping of the heart rate monitor. It was almost a relief to have such a steady reminder of Mike’s livelihood.
“We need to get security footage.” Louis broke the silence. “I mean, this couldn’t have happened far from Pearson Hardman.”
“No.” Harvey tightened a fist. “I want to hear what Mike has to say first.”
And I don’t need you looking into his criminal history if it was related to drugs.
“But we could get a head start on this if we-“
“No.” A beat. “You can’t even access the security cameras if you wanted to. Former boss?”
Louis’s eyelid twitched again. He let out a harsh puff of air through his nose before speaking.
“I quit.” Louis was still staring at Mike. “I quit, and the only reason I even found Mike is because I was moving my things out.”
A glass of scotch would do wonders right now. He hated this discomfort stirring in his stomach. How pale Mike looked against the white sheets. The blood still on Louis’s sleeve. The notion that Louis, who he couldn’t stand right now, was leaving the firm he had dedicated everything to because of Harvey. This is exactly what he wanted- for Louis to suffer for his betrayal- and it brought Harvey none of the satisfaction he had hoped for.
“You’re making a mistake.” Harvey said quietly.
“You’re the one who stormed into my office and told me I may as well not work at Pearson Hardman anymore.” Louis bit back incredulously.
“You’re still making a mistake.” He sat down in the chair beside Mike, crossing his legs. Louis silently took the other chair. They both stayed like that for god knows how long.
++++++++++
Wow, Mike felt like he had been hit by a car. Wait- had he been hit by a car?? Memories flooded back in an instant as he tried to parse out what the hell was going on. They weren’t as crystal clear as they should have been though. He could hear the beeping of machinery and an unmistakable sterile scent in the air that could only mean hospitals. Mike groaned as a wave of pain shot through his abdomen.
Something shifted next to him. He pried his eyes open and found a rather disheveled looking Harvey sitting next to him, the man’s dimly lit laptop still bright enough to feel like sunlight being shot straight into Mike’s skull. Harvey’s suit jacket, vest, and even his tie were abandoned.
“Harvey?” Mike mumbled out dumbly. Why was Harvey here? “Why aren’t you at work?”
“That’s all you have to say?” Harvey slammed his laptop closed, and Mike winced at the sound. He stood up now, an angry fire burning behind his eyes as he stared at Mike. “Broken ribs, internal bleeding, a concussion, and you wanna ask me about work? The work you were planning to bleed out on the floor of?”
“Well, it sounds more like I was bleeding in–...” Mike shut up as Harvey’s gaze hardened. He shifted uncomfortably in the hospital bed, and instantly regretted it as more pain shot through him.
“Why didn’t you call me?” Harvey demanded. Right. Mike had no intention of calling Harvey when everything happened. The game plan was to slap some ice on it and walk into the office the next morning. Maybe pop an ibuprofen. He could go for an ibuprofen right now. “Mike.” Harvey growled.
“Who did this to you?” He prodded when Mike didn’t respond.
“Harvey, just let it go.” Mike protested weakly, unable to look at Harvey.
“That’s not who I am.” He leaned in, his fists whitening as he tightly gripped onto the edge of Mike’s bed. “Was it Trevor?”
“No, no-“ Mike sat up a little straighter. He could hear his heart rate monitor picking up as a wave of anxiety shot through his body. Harvey would hate him. Mike had done something completely unforgivable. Infidelity ruined Harvey’s childhood, and Mike had stumbled right into the arms of a married woman.
“Mike.” Harvey repeated, exasperation coloring his tone.
“I deserved it, alright?” Mike shouted, his voice cracking like a whip in the small hospital room. “I knew she was married, Harvey. I knew she was married, but I just needed someone- anyone. And- and Rachel didn’t want me so I just-“
Mike couldn’t tell if it was the pain killers making him ramble or the weight of the world on his shoulders. Everything ached. He had been so tired. Tess and the weed were something he could get himself lost in- something to keep his mind off the gaping loss in his life right now.
Harvey was just staring at him with that same unreadable expression he wore with particularly sour clients. He had leaned away from Mike, and that hurt more than his ribs right now. Mike hated it. He hated knowing he had disappointed Harvey.
“Well, I wouldn’t exactly say you got off easy.” Harvey took a moment before speaking again. “Did she have kids?”
“No, no kids.” Mike replied quietly. He wished his heart monitor wasn’t so loud. Harvey knew exactly how anxious Mike was right now because of the rapid beeping polluting the room.
An uncomfortable silence settled between them.
“Listen, Mike…” Harvey began, his expression still unreadable. “You could have died. I may not like cheating, but I do like my associate alive.”
“Sounds like you care about me.” Mike tried to tease Harvey, but he could feel tears pinpricking at the edge of his vision. He could have died, and god was that a slam in the face. Mike had always thought someone he had screwed over would kill him, but that had been before he knew Harvey.
Harvey meant safety. Harvey meant a fresh start. Harvey meant Mike got to do things he never thought to be possible. And Mike had been throwing that all away because he didn’t know how to handle his own grief.
Oh god. He was crying in front of his boss. Mike buried his face in his palms, his body shaking. A warm hand clasped firmly onto his shoulder. Harvey silently moved his hand to Mike’s back as sobs shuddered through the younger man’s body. It was the closest thing to comfort Mike knew he would get.
“You’re not coming into work tomorrow.” Harvey said when Mike’s breathing had finally slowed down. He patted Mike’s back as he removed his hand.
“But-“ Mike protested, his voice hoarse. Harvey held up a hand to silence him.
“Concussion, remember? Can’t have my star associate passing out in court on me. You know, if you wanted a day off you could have just asked.”
“Like you’d give me one.” Mike chucked weakly, but it was genuine. He felt a warmth bloom in his chest that hadn’t been there since Rachel broke the news to him.
“Despite what you may think, I’m not completely heartless.” Harvey raised an eyebrow at him.
“Well, you did stay here the whole night considering that you’re still wearing the same suit. Sounds like caring to me.” Mike gave Harvey a shit eating grin.
“Purely professional.” Harvey insisted. Yeah, Mike had missed this. Everything had been so chaotic with Hardman- the two of them barely had time to just breathe.
Maybe things would be okay.