James
James Black-Potter was never a morning person, he had always hated his alarm clock with a passion, resorting to abusing it as he woke up each morning, however Regulus helped with that, Regulus was the eerily quiet type, preferring to stay quiet and on the side, listening in.
James loved Regulus, his hair, the way he walked, the way his jaw clenches whenever he's bothered, everything.
Regulus had headed out to work a few hours earlier than James, instead of leaving at the same time like they normally did, this was due to Regulus having a field trip with his class that morning and needing to get everything situated before the kids arrived.
James went about his routine normally, dressing, showering, and brushing his teeth like he normally did.
He had just gotten into his car and wondered vaguely if he'd have time to get a coffee on his way when he got a notification on his phone "WARNING: High traffic patterns along the I-5 highway: High risk of crash. reroute notice to I-75" 'shit', James thought as he put his car in reverse and backed out of his driveway, 'i hope Regulus knows'
James had always had a passion for art, digital or otherwise. So, naturally, he jumped at the offer to be a digital artist for a tattoo shop.
He arrived at the Deer in Headlights Tattoo Parlor a few minutes late, unlocking the shop doors and scanning the room. Peter had, yet again, not wiped down or cleaned the materials the night before, he rolled his eyes, collecting the empty sterilization chemical containers and throwing them away, he then picked up the ink cups and needles, putting them in the alchohol to sterilize while he collected and threw away the used latex gloves.
He looked out the parlor windows, the morning traffic already pouring in outside. He went over to each of the stations, wiping down, covering, and organizing the trays at each one. As he was wiping down the front counter, Lily, his friend, ex-infatuation, and manager of the tattoo shop, entered. the bell above the door twinkled gently as she came over, putting her bag down behind her desk. "Morning, Potter." She said cheerfully, sitting down and turning on her computer as she made note of the spotless nature of the shop, "Did Peter do this?" she asked, glancing up at James as she began scrolling on her computer. He shook his head, "Nah, I came in and could barely tell who's station was who's." he said, plucking his drawing tablet from his bag and opening it.
"Who all's workin' today, d'you know?" he asked, opening his schedule on his tablet. "Marlene and Remus'll be here soon. I think Dorcas is filling Grant's shift today as well." Lily replied, picking up the phone as it rang, James went over to his studio, he got his own because his specialty was spine and chest tattoos, and settled in to his desk, he skimmed over his schedule, his eyes zeroing in on his first client of the day, a spinal tattoo of a skeleton hand coming up from their lumbar muscle to their neck, where the skeleton hand will grip the back of their neck. He pulled on his drawing glove and picked up his drawing stylus. He glanced at the clock, 9:45, his client was at 1:00, he settled in to his drawing his headphones drowning out the tattoo shop, now bustling with his colleagues and clients.
After an hour or so, he got a call from an unregistered number. "Hello?"
"Hello, is this James Black?" A woman's voice came through his phone, sounding tight and off-put.
"Yes, this is him, who is this?" James asked, sitting up in his chair and gesturing to the tattoo bed for his client who had entered his studio to sit.
"Sir, i'm sorry to tell you this but, your husband has been injured in a car accident, we need you to come to the Grady Memorial Hospital as soon as possible."
James' heart fucking plummeted "yeah- uh, yeah, okay, i'll be there soon. thank you." he hung up, bringing a hand to his face, when had he started crying? he looked at his client, wiping his eyes. "I have to go." he stated, with that, he rushed out of his studio and over to Marlene's empty station. "Mar- Marls!" He huffed, clutching the front of his shirt, why couldn't he breathe? his necklace, a necklace he and Regulus had enchanted in their fourth year to always be warm whilst the other was wearing it. the necklace was warm in his palm, the heat comforting him more than anything else. Marlene looked up at him, shock etched into her features. "Jesus- What is it?" she asked frantically, grabbing either of his arms and steering him out of the room so as to not disturb the clients, who had heard the commotion.
"Reg, he's been in an ac-accident. I need you to take my client and tell Lily. Where's Remus?" He stammered, gasping at empty pockets of air. "Shit- just- Breathe, James, breathe. In and out, that's it." his breathing calmed a bit, and Marlene's grip on his arms loosened slightly. "Now, what is wrong?" she asked calmly, James took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "The hospital called, they said Reg's been in an accident, the- the necklace is still warm, but still.." he said, his voice trembling as he fought to keep calm. "Okay," she said, letting go of his arms and waving her wand, accio'ing Remus into the small hallway they were in, his tattoo gun still in hand. "Fucking hell, Marls, what the- James? What's wrong?" he asked, his anger dissipating.
"Regulus is in the hospital. You and James apparate to the hospital, I'll call Sirius." She said firmly, he opened his mouth to tell her he didnt have his wand but she cut him off handing James her wand. "Here. Now go." she stated, pivoting on her heel and marching over to Lily's desk. Remus turned to him, giving him a quizzical look that he didn't notice as he took turned and exited the shop from the door labeled "Employees Only". Remus followed him wordlessly, if James "know it all" Potter isn't explaining something to him, it's probably for the better.
the two men disappeared from the alleyway before the shop door could close, reappearing moments later in the spinning doors of the Grady Memorial Hospital. James bolted for the reception desk, Remus on his tail, as Remus looked around the hospital it was hard not to giggle at the image of the pale boy shouting in French, a language he referred to when disoriented, at the doctors. he reached the reception desk where a very disgruntled James was frantically shouting at her in Hindu, Remus figured the two men's arguments were probably rather entertaining. The poor reception lady looked as if she could cry. He pulled the other man aside, patting his back gently. "My apologies, we are looking for Regulus Black." He said calmly, the woman looked at James incredulously, straightening up and typing something into her computer. "Room 306." she stated, fixing her collar somewhat aggresively.
James bolted off before the woman could tell him where to go, luckily, Remus was from Atlanta and had, unfortunately, spent most of his childhood in the Grady Memorial Hospital. He ran after the other man, getting into the elevator just before it could close, huffing. "Calm down, mate. With how their childhood went, the kid's probably fine." he said, pressing the 3 button. James just glared at him, marching out of the elevator and down the hall to the fifth door down, swinging
Once James got to the hospital, true to their word, they told him. James knew Regulus had some problems with migranes and sometimes he would black out for a ten to fifteen seconds but never this bad.
Regulus had been driving, on his way to the school to take his class of 25 fourth graders to Dollywood for a field trip, when he'd blacked out momentarilly, causing himself to swerve into the other lane and be hit head-on by an oncoming driver.
Regulus had a broken arm, a scar stretching from his jawbone to just below his collarbone from a piece of his windshield, a small concussion, and a cut spanning from his ribs to his hip. According to the doctors, the most major of his injuries was a small piece of shrapnel that had been lodged into Regulus' rib cage, which would need surgery to get out. All it took were the words 'stitches' and 'surgery' and James freaked the fuck out.
Once James had been consoled to the best of Regulus' ability, he had resorted to laying next to Regulus and latching onto him like a leech. "you're sure you're alright?" James would ask periodically, and every time Regulus would respond, ever-so-gently "Yes, darling."
Later that evening, they were informed that there would be one day for the surgery, one for the stitches, and a few for recovery, but they should be out of the hospital in under a week, this calmed James a bit more and he was able to breathe a bit easier.
After a little while of them just laying there with nurses coming in and out periodically to check on them, a nurse entered the room with Sirius and Remus trailing behind her.
Sirius was a lot more calm about the situation than James had been, stating simply that he was sorry and that he wasn't worried, as Regulus had been injured worse than this before.
James stayed the night in the hospital that night, preferring to spend the evening clinging to Regulus' side instead of going home.