Day 18: Ache
whumpee: sonny carisi
fandom: law and order svu
hi! this fic is for @pauletteandrea28 i am so sorry it took like four months but i hope you enjoy it!!! it's set around s17 but nothing specific.
He aches. He’d thought, yesterday, afterwards, that he’d be fine. A little bruised, maybe. Nothing more. But now he’s sitting at his desk, looking into a construction company that’s looking more and more like a front for sex trafficking, and he feels like he can barely breathe.
He’s angry with himself for letting it happen. He’d been stupid. Chasing a highly dangerous man down a back alley with no backup, not even a call to his team to let them know what he was doing.
He’d paid for it - a dumpster shoved his way out of nowhere, pinning him to a brick wall, knocking all the air out of his lungs and sitting against him, heavy on his chest.
Their man had gotten away, obviously. Because of him. By the time he’d freed himself from his rusty metal prison, the guy was nowhere to be seen. And Sonny had had to tell his team that he had lost their perp.
He hadn’t told them about the dumpster, of course. It’s bad enough to be responsible for a dangerous man still being on the streets. He doesn’t need the extra embarrassment.
“Carisi! You coming?”
He looks up from his computer at the sound of Rollins’ voice. She, Fin, and Liv are standing by the elevator, and it’s clear he’s missed something.
Not that he’s going to let them know.
“Comin’,” he says, and stands up. His chest twinges, and he forces himself not to grimace, to just breathe (never mind that that hurts, too). He’s gonna have to go to the ER after work tonight. He’s pretty sure his ribs are bruised, if not broken.
“Are you alright, Carisi?” This is Liv, as they’re getting into the elevator. Maybe he hadn’t done as good a job of hiding his reaction as he’d thought.
Fin saves him. “Course he’s alright.” He puts up his hands like a boxer, throws a playful fake punch at Sonny’s chest. It barely even connects, but it hurts.
He hisses in a breath, which hurts too. He bites his lip, stifles a groan, closes his eyes when they start to water.
“Hey.” Fin’s voice is still playful, but it’s careful too. “What’s wrong with you?”
Sonny opens his eyes, blinks a few times. God, it hurts. He doesn’t want to be here. He doesn’t want them to know.
He feels his face heat up, the way it does when he’s embarrassed or upset. He’s both now, and he hates it.
Rollins’ hand is on his arm. “C’mon, look at me. What’s wrong?”
He opens his mouth to say something but the words won’t come. The sharp pain is receding, turning into a more pronounced version of the ache that’s been enveloping his chest since yesterday.
It’s not even that bad. But it still fucking hurts.
“Are you hurt?” This is Liv. The elevator has stopped, but no one moves.
Sonny can’t bring himself to lie to her, but he doesn’t want to tell the truth either. He settles for a shrug, for stepping off of the elevator.
The three others follow, naturally. They don’t let him get out of the front door, shepherding him to a relatively secluded part of the lobby and then pouncing on him.
“You need to tell us what’s going on, right now.” Rollins is all business, but there’s concern underneath. He doesn’t deserve it. Not for this.
“I’m fine.” He is, relatively speaking. It’s not a complete lie. It’s not like he’s bleeding. It’s not like he’s concussed. He can still do the job. He just wishes it didn’t hurt so much.
“You’re not.” Fin says it like fact.
Sonny hates that he’s right.
“It’s nothin’, really. No reason to be concerned.”
“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that,” Liv says. “What happened?” The question is gentle, but firm.
There’s no getting out of it now.
“Yesterday, when…when I let that guy get away. He shoved a dumpster at me, got me in the chest. Stupid, I know.” He says it quickly, not quite meeting her eyes.
“Not your fault,” Fin says. “Busted ribs?”
Sonny shrugs, which hurts. “I dunno. Maybe.”
“How bad’s the bruising?” Rollins asks.
It had been bad enough this morning, a harsh line of purple across his entire chest and scattered splotches beneath that. “It’s not so bad,” he says, because it definitely could be worse.
“Can I take a look?” Liv asks. He knows she wouldn’t press if he said no, but he isn’t going to deny her request. Anyway, they’re not angry with him. And none of them had laughed when he’d told them what happened. They’re not looking at him weird. They’re just worried. He can deal with that, even if it’s not something he really deserves.
“Yeah, okay.” He turns his back to the rest of the room, tosses his tie over his shoulder, untucks and lifts up his shirt to reveal the bruising.
“Jesus,” Rollins says, and Sonny looks down. His view is slightly hampered by his shirt and hands, but - it’s pretty bad. The bruising has darkened and spread since this morning. Seeing it makes the ache in his chest redouble, and he quickly releases his shirt, tucking it back in.
“You’re going to the ER,” says Liv.
“I will.”
“Now.”
“I can go after -”
“You’re going now.”
“But -”
Liv shakes her head, cutting him off. “No buts, Carisi. Go now. Take care of yourself.”
She’s firm, but she’s not mad. He doesn’t have a reason to say no, beyond his own stubbornness and sense of pride.
And so he gives in. “Alright, alright, I’m going.” He raises his hands in mock surrender (which, like every other action, hurts) and goes outside to catch a cab to the nearest emergency room.
thanks for reading! the ending is a bit wonky but that is par for the course by now. hope you liked it!
12 notes
·
View notes