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Romeo and Benvolio leave after updating him on things. It's been about four days since he's been stabbed. Tybalt is in prison, not dead. The sun is shining through the window and he is in the hospital, settled in a private chamber (a luxury he has his uncle to thank for, surely). His body still feels weak (no wonder, Benvolio and Romeo had told him that he had had a nasty fever). With nothing to do other than lay in bed, he reaches for the glass of water standing on a table near his bed, grateful that his friends had helped him sit up and turns his thoughts to what happened.
Tybalt had stabbed him and according to Romeo he had almost been killed too (by Romeo non the less), but apparently he had screamed at one of his cousins to not touch him, which had made Romeo drop the knife. When Benvolio had noticed that Mercutio was not quite so dead as everyone had assumed, Tybalt had been the first one to suggest to get a surgeon, but had not gotten up himself to do anything. Strange. Normally, Tybalt is a man of action and would not hesitate to do something. That way he would have gotten away from the scene too, but out of some reason, he hadn't done it. Is Tybalt Capulet actually feeling guilty that he had stabbed him?
With no way of knowing for certain, he puts it away as a maybe. Benvolio had then told him about the prince's temporary sentence that Tybalt would be executed, should Mercutio die from the stab wound. Well, Mercutio is still alive, so he's wondering what his uncle will do. Previous to this the prince's decree had been that anyone who disturbed the peace would be executed. Surely, his uncle doesn't hate him that much. And it's not like it's written law or anything like that. They should (hopefully) be fine.
Talking to Benvolio and Romeo has apparently taken more energy out of him than he has anticipated, so tired is he. It's alright, he thinks, because his body needs the rest. He wriggles back down onto the bed from where he has been propped up, but not without some pain.
It can't have been long when he wakes up again, the room around him filled with noise, multiple voices talking, sometimes even over each other. His grunts alert the people in his room that he is awake and really, the sun hasn't moved much from the last time he has been awake.
When his eyes finally open properly, he can see that his uncle, Lady Montague and Benvolio are standing in his room, now all looking at him. Lady Montague is the first one to move, as she hurries to his bed side.
"Oh, thank god you are alright Mercutio. I'm so glad you survived this. Just know that all Montagues were praying for you and hoping you would survive." What a strange thing to say to him when he's still recovering. The prayers he's thankful for, he guesses, but something makes him think her words are performative, meant not only for him, but also for the prince. Mercutio shook his head slightly as if to get rid of his thoughts. Then he murmured a quick thank you to Lady Montgaue before asking:
"Now, can you guys tell me what's going on? Why are you all standing here in this room? Did something happen? Well, I know I finally woke up, but there's no need for such a commotion, really", Mercutio says and then does a double take when their faces remain awkwardly serious. Well, ok him waking up is apparently a big deal. Oh well. But still, no one is saying anything.
His uncle does something he very rarely does just then: he grabs the stool, sits down on it next to the bed and takes his hand in his. They're calloused from all the writing, but they don't engulf his anymore as they had done when Mercutio had been a small child whose parents had just dropped him off with his uncle. Escalus looked him into the eyes.
"Of course, there is need for such a commotion, you're my nephew after all. And don't think you're going to get out of this unscathed, you also broke the peace, but for now you've suffered quite enough I think." His uncle is speaking not quite softly, but also not quite harshly as he would if he were truly upset (no that tone was quite different, he has experience in hearing it after all). It is a bit strange to hear such a tone coming from his uncle. "I got here as soon as I heard you had woken up, but apparently, I missed the window and you were asleep again by the time I arrived. I thought to talk you about Tybalt Capulet, but well, then a messenger arrived, telling me that they have found him unconscious in his cell, running a high fever. For some reason that man has mutilated his own arm and hand with a knife." Mercutio's eyes widened in shock at hearing the news. It seems so out of character for Tybalt to do.
Not quite knowing what to do or say, he looks to Benvolio for help who can only shrug. The only one apparently having a made up mind is Lady Montague. Her eyes are filled with glee and a thin smile is on her face. Mercutio is quite disgusted that someone would take pleasure in hearing somebody so seriously injured that the person is having a fever, but then again, she is Montague and Tybalt is Capulet. Stupid feud, sowing such hatred into hearts. Being stabbed has made him realize that at least, he recalls.
His uncle is still holding his hand, occasionally stroking his fingers over Mercutio's knuckles, which has really only happened once before. But, there's no time to get into that. He sighs and rubs his nose with his free hand.
"Can you all just get out of my room? I appreciate the concern, but I don't know how I'm supposed to recover with you all looking at me like that." His uncle sighs, but stands up, patting his hand while Lady Montague is already halfway out of the door. Benvolio lingers while Escalus takes his farewell and once the two of them are alone, Benvolio hugs him, whispering into his ear how he's glad he survived. His voice cracks a bit at the end and Mercutio strokes Benvolio's back in an attempt to comfort him. They linger a bit like that, but eventually Benvolio also leaves. Now he's alone again and really, he ought to think about Tybalt a bit; confusing, behaving-out-of-the-norm, ill-as-well Tybalt. No seriously what the fuck is going on?
There's all this strange behaviour of which he has only heard and from what he has heard, Tybalt must feel quite guilty if he even hurts himself over it. But why would he wait four days for that? It doesn't make sense.
Apart from all of that, he recalls fragments of dreams (visions? hallucinations) featuring Tybalt which he had had during his fever apparently. He realizes now that the sensation of being hot in his dreams must have come from actually running a fever. Funny how that works. At one point he must have been cradling Tybalt's face for he recalls looking into brown eyes which were staring right back. But had he really been the one cradling Tybalt or had it been the other way around? What does it even mean that Tybalt has appeared in his dreams?
So many questions and so few answers. Hopefully he finds more answers soon enough. For now he takes the glass full of water standing on a table near his bed, but before he takes it, it's quite hard to sit up by himself and his stomach wound stings the whole time. After managing to take a few sips, he lays down again and lets sleep take him away from the land of the waking.
The sun is on it's way down and he guesses it must be late afternoon, when he wakes up again. Someone is in the room. For a few seconds he doesn't know who, so his heart is pounding quite fast and if he's a bit afraid, he hopes it doesn't show. His body is tense and when he realizes it's his brother, his muscles loosen considerably. Although he's a bit annoyed that there is always someone in his room when he wakes up, he's grateful that his brother is here.
"Hey there, Valentine Escalus." His brother jumps a bit but then turns around and is smiling.
"Oh you're awake. Thank god. I'm glad you're alive, but if you go nearly dying on me ever again, I'll kill you myself after you've recovered, is that clear?", his brother says with all the authority he can muster, which isn't much for a sixteen year old boy. Mercutio has to smile at that.
"Aw, look at that you worried over me. Now I can die glad knowing you care about me. I'll see you in heaven." Mercutio closes his eyes to tease Valentine, but he yells and even shakes his shoulder so that he doesn't fall asleep again. Mercutio opens his eyes again and sees a frowning Valentine hovering over him. It sobers him up really quickly. Mollified that his brother hadn't taken his jest lightly, he frowns.
And then he's a bit annoyed that everyone is so worried over him. His brother seems to notice, but hesitates a bit.
"Is something wrong? You're not in pain, are you?" Mercutio shakes his head, but answers him.
"No, it's just I've only been awake since this morning and every time someone would hover over me and express their worry and I do suppose I gave everyone a fright when I nearly died, but I'm going to be okay now, I just wanna recover in peace", Mercutio says while fiddling with his blanket. He knows he sounds childish, but dammit, it's true. Valentine apparently thinks so too, for he is nodding.
"So, what should I do besides worrying about you while I'm here?" Good question. Mercutio has none of his personal possessions in this room (how would that even be possible), so he can't take a page out of his journal to draw something which Valentine would have to guess.
"Well if you know a game we could play?" Valentine's eyes light up at that. He helps Mercutio sit up, so that they can play their game better. For the next hour or so, they play together, disregarding all proper behaviour for men their age, as if they were children once again.
They're interrupted when the door opens and a man carrying food enters the room. Mercutio doesn't know who this man is and it seems neither does Valentine. But if he's carrying food, he can't be a bad person
"Oh, I'm sorry for interrupting you, I'm just bringing you dinner, Mercutio." Oh he knows his name too. Now he's very curious as to who this man is. The man has put the food on the same table where the jug of of water is standing and is about to leave again when Mercutio says:
"Thank you very much, but I don't think we've met. You seem to know me and this is my brother Valentine." He gestures in the direction of his brother and then realizes it's a bit dumb, since he's the only person in the room. The man smiles.
"Well, nice to properly meet you both. I'm Andrea and I've been assigned to take care of you while you're in our hospital. Your friends already know me." After he finishes he bows to both of them, probably very aware of their status and normally Mercutio is always using his status, but now it annoys him a bit. He's injured and only wearing a shirt, he can't possibly be that dignified and he can't even get up and bow back without hurting himself. But he swallows his irritation down. Maybe it's best he doesn't say anything.
"Thank you again, Andrea. It's nice to meet you too. I'm glad to know my brother has been in such capable hands", Valentine says with a smile. Andrea smiles back and then leaves the room, leaving the two to be by themselves. Valentine puts away the things they had been using for the game and brings the food over to Mercutio. Valentine hesitates.
"Do you wan- do you need help with eating?" He's asking it as if he expects Mercutio to snap at him and it makes him feel a bit guilty because he would have snapped had his brother not asked and simply helped him. Shaking his head, he says:
"No, but thank you for the offer. You want to have some of it too? I think it's quite late to get any food at home."
"Only if you're sure I'm not eating anything away from you." Mercutio has to laugh.
"As if. Come on I don't think I can stomach all of this. As I said, I just woke up this morning", Mercutio says and starts eating. Valentine joins him on the bed and they share their meal like this in silence.
Shortly after their meal is done, Valentine says goodbye to him and takes his leave. It has been nice having his little brother with him and playing without concerns, but now he's gone again and he has to stew in his thoughts. Tybalt is still on his mind. With all the new information about him, he's not had time to think whether he is mad at him for stabbing him or not. In a way he supposes he is mad at him, because now he has to lay in bed while everyone is worrying about him so much. But if Tybalt really is feeling so guilty that he hurts himself over it, he doesn't know if he can stay that mad over what is a rather insignificant wound in the long run.
He sighs and turns around on the bed. Besides, there are also his dreams to take into consideration (or at least what he can remember from them). Cradling Tybalt's head in his hands is not something he is averse to, but the memory of that dream is tinted with sadness. But why? Something tells him he had not been cradling Tybalt's face in a normal situation (and was that not a whole other can of worms?). While he doesn't quite know what to do with his dreams (he remembers a bright light and feeling scared), Tybalt intrigues him, he always has.
Memories of staring at bruises and small wounds he had received during a fight with Tybalt come to his mind. Why had they been so fascinating? They had hurt and rightfully so. It is a strange connection, but the only other time he likes bruises are when his sexual partners give him hickeys or scratches. In short, he likes being marked. But hold on, the only times he's ever been mesmerized by bruises and wounds he's gotten from a fight is when Tybalt got involved and some of them had to have come from him. Strange.
His uncle's decree comes to his mind again. Tybalt would die should Mercutio have died from his wound. And oh, he hates the thought. Who would he taunt if Tybalt were to be gone. Who would rise to the occasion and fight him? Now that he thinks about the possibility, he doesn't like it. And the bastard had to go and hurt himself resulting in a fever, so he may very well die without his uncle's interference.
Mercutio wants to tear his hair out. That bastard couldn't go dying on him and leave him alone on this earth and oh. To him it sounds quite like Tybalt is important to him. Oh shit. He does care about him, turns out. What is he supposed to do with that (Well not that he can do anything about it right now)? Why is he only realizing this now? Literally any other time would have been so much better, not now, with all this chaos and unrest. Mercutio bangs his fist upon his mattress in frustration. Great.
It dawns on him that the feeling of anticipation he always got, the thinking ahead of ways to taunt Tybalt (who thinks about their supposed enemy so much?), are signs which very much point towards him being in love with Tybalt. He can feel it in his bones and he wants to weep as it really settles in.
Mercutio is in love with Tybalt, who probably doesn't even return his feelings (never in the long years of their acquaintance had Tybalt ever shown interest in other men, romantically or sexually), who may even die because he now also has a fever, who stabbed him and who feels apparently guilty for it. Mercutio is well and truly fucked.