Chapter Text
The first thing that Martin had thought when he met Jon a few months ago was that he was a small man.
Well, a small man who was also quite intimidating as Jon had yelled at him for letting a dog into the archives on day one, but a small man all the same.
Yes, he was small in a genetics sense. He was quite short, and his natural skeletal structure was slim and petite, traits that could only be achieved by a certain cocktail of genetics derived from generations and generations of family members.
However, there was more to his small and slim stature that Martin could tell weren’t specific to his genetics, but more specific to Jon. For example, he was skinny. Unhealthily so. He also looked chronically exhausted, deep purple smudges under his eyes that have only darkened over the months since Martin has known him, and even more so once the worms began turning up at the Institute after Martin got trapped in his flat for two weeks.
Martin, who was now living in the archives, could attest the sleep deprivation to that fact that he now knew that Jon kept some pretty intense hours, often finding him still in his office or making himself tea in the breakroom at some awful hour of the night.
As to the fact of why Jon was definitely underweight, Martin wasn’t completely sure what to pin that on. He knew that Jon had trouble taking lunch breaks, often staying locked up in his office all day or standing in the stacks muttering to himself while digging through boxes and folders. However, whenever Martin included some biscuits or a sandwich or a snack of some kind with Jon’s afternoon tea, he always found both the mug and plate empty or almost empty when he came back later to pick them up.
Now, that one snack that he saw Jon eat throughout the day wasn’t completely substantial, but Martin didn’t think it would lead to Jon being as thin as he was.
He expressed his concerns to Tim and Sasha, who had both known Jon for much longer, and they had both told him that Jon had always been a bit, well, skeletal. They had tried to push food on him once before when they had first befriended him in Research, but that had, understandably, ended with a pissed off Jon who didn’t want to speak to them for a few days before coming around again.
Martin understood that from the opposite perspective, with having doctors and his mother telling him to stop eating as much in order to lose weight.
Either way, conversations about food in both ways hurt quite a bit, so Martin continued to bring Jon afternoon snacks without saying anything, and if he put a few more biscuits on the plate than usual, well…that was an accident.
“Hey, boss! You ok?” Tim had asked one Friday as he and Sasha were getting ready to leave and Martin was prepping to go on a worm hunt before getting dinner.
Martin looked up to see Jon closing his office door behind him as he walked out into the bullpen, thick coat that was too heavy for the chilly fall weather zipped up all the way and bag slung over his shoulder.
“Fine, fine. Just need to be heading out,” he said, and three assistants all gave each other a look because when did Jon ever leave early?
“Where are you heading off too?” Tim asked as Jon made his way through the bullpen and towards the archives door.
“Have a doctor's appointment,” Jon said plainly as he flung open the door and Martin heard the slight echo of his steps retreat up the stairs as the door creaked closed behind him.
Tim and Sasha shrugged, turning to Martin to explain that they’ve heard that one a few times before, afterall Jon was only human like the rest of them and they had all had at least one doctor's appointment since they had started in the archives a few months prior.
So, Martin wasn’t concerned about Jon’s appointment.
He wasn’t concerned until he watched Tim walk out of Jon’s office around 11am the following Monday, looking a bit startled with his eyebrows furrowed.
“Tim? What’s-?” Sasha started but Tim shook his head, putting a finger over his mouth to tell them not to say anything, before gesturing for them to follow him.
They followed Tim to the break room, Martin’s heart starting to thud a bit in his chest.
Was everything ok? Was Jon ok?
Tim shut the break room door behind them after the three of them filtered into the room, before turning to them.
“Jon, well, er, he has one of those tube things in his nose,” Tim explained, tapping the side of his nose along with his explanation.
“A nasogastric tube?” Martin asked a bit panicked, digging the name from his subconscious after hearing about them one or twice in passing at hospitals and doctors offices while there with his mother.
“Is that what they're called? I’m not sure what the technical term would be, but it’s definitely a feeding tube, like the one you see on medical shows,” Tim said and Sasha wrung her hands together.
“What should we do?” she asked and Tim sighed.
“When I walked into his office to give him some followup for a statement he just acted like everything was normal, I could tell he was willing me not to bring it up. I just asked how he was feeling and he just said everything was fine, but he looked awfully tired, even more than usual.”
Yeah, Martin supposed that Jon would look more tired than usual if he had a damn nasogastric tube.
Martin looked at the time, realizing that he usually brought Jon tea around now.
Alright, stick to the script and maybe he could pull some answers out of Jon.
He began making tea while Tim and Sasha chatted anxiously behind him the entire time, finally pouring boiled water into a mug with a bag of chamomile tea and letting it steep before adding a dash of milk.
He picked up the mug but Tim stopped him before he could exit the breakroom.
“Tell us if you learn anything, yeah?” Tim asked him with Sasha nodding along to the question.
“Of course I will,” Martin said before quickly exiting the room, anxious to see just how bad Jon truly looked.
He steeled himself as he crossed through the bullpen to Jon’s office door, giving a few quick knocks like always before opening the door.
“Jon? I have tea for you,” Martin said, approaching Jon’s desk and having to keep his face neutral as Jon looked up and he did indeed have a feeding tube inserted into his nose. The thin tube was held in place by a piece of green tape under his nose, with another piece of green tape adhering the tube to his cheek as well, the rest of the tube going over his ear.
Jon looked wrecked. Exhausted and in desperate need of a two day nap.
“Ah, thank you,” Jon said wearily before turning back to scribbling something down on a piece of paper, pen clutched tightly in his bone thin and shaking hand.
Martin set the mug down on Jon’s desk, turning it so the handle faced him as always.
Usually at this point Martin would leave and come in after lunch to collect Jon’s mug before serving up the next round of tea later in the afternoon.
However, he really didn’t want to leave Jon alone yet.
Not like this.
“Hey, Jon. I had a question about some followup I was doing, do you have a moment?” Martin asked and Jon nodded distractedly, gesturing with his left hand for Martin to sit down in one of the visitor chairs in front of his desk while he kept scribbling with his right.
It was then that Martin saw the IV port tapped to the back of Jon’s hand, the tube still inserted into his skin and tapped down, while the rest of the tube and the connector was bent into a ‘U’ shape and tapped down to his hand as well.
Martin had to physically stop himself from sucking in a breath.
“What’s your question?” Jon asked, finally looking up at Martin again and Martin realized he had just been staring at Jon’s IV.
“Well I-” he started before shaking his head.
This was ridiculous.
“Jon, what happened?” he asked point blank and Jon leveled him with a glare.
“Nothing. What’s your question?”
“That is my question. I’m not going to sit here and talk about work and pretend like I don’t care about whatever's going on with you,” Martin said, his voice getting slightly loud and emotional.
Jon glared at him for a moment more before deflating in his chair. He picked up the mug of tea and leaned back in his chair, holding it with trembling hands and taking a small sip.
“This happens on occasion. Not in a few years though,” Jon said, looking very uncomfortable.
“The nasogastric tube?” Martin prompted softly and Jon narrowed his eyes.
“Yes. I’ve always had trouble putting on weight and keeping it on, I’m lacking in some vitamins and nutrients so sometimes they put me on this,” Jon said, gesturing to the tube taped to his face, “and this.”
He held up his shaky left hand with the IV tapped into place.
“Oh,” Martin said.
“Yeah, oh,” Jon echoed, taking a long sip of tea.
They sat there in silence for a few moments.
“Let me know if you need anything, yeah?” Martin asked and Jon looked at him, surprised.
“Oh,” Jon said before hesitating, “I got the tube put in on Friday, b’but I haven't been able to really sleep since then because it’s k’kinda uncomfortable.”
Martin’s eyes widened in shock at Jon’s admission.
“You haven't slept in two days?” Martin asked, trying to keep the panic from his voice.
That explained why it looked like he was about to keel over at any moment as well as the shaking in his hands and, with a closer look, his entire body. Jon’s very being was screaming with exhaustion.
“They gave me something to help me sleep until I got used to the tube, but I don’t…like taking it alone. It makes me disoriented,” Jon said, sounding so sad and so tired that it had Martin’s heart breaking.
“Take it now. Nap here,” Martin said and Jon furrowed his eyebrows.
“I can’t ask you all to look after me,” Jon said, clutching his mug tighter in his hands for a moment before taking another sip.
“Jon, you look like you're about to pass out. Let Tim, Sasha, and I take care of you and the archives for today, yeah?” Martin asked gently.
Jon sat in his chair for a moment, eyes downcast, hands still trembling around his mug of tea.
“Please, Jon?” Martin said and Jon hesitated for a moment before conceding with a small nod.
“I’m…really tired,” Jon said slowly and Martin felt his heart break.
This poor little man.
Jon drained his mug, setting it back on his desk before pulling a bottle of dark purple liquid out of his bag that was strung over the back of his chair. He pulled the cap off and poured some into a little plastic measuring cup and threw it back before putting the bottle and cup on his desk.
“Good?” Martin asked and Jon nodded slowly.
“It takes 30 minutes to kick in,” Jon said, rubbing at his eyes.
“Do you want to lay down while you wait for it to kick in?” Martin asked, hoping that Jon would be too tired to deny this.
Jon nodded slowly, and Martin could already see him crashing under his own exhaustion. He’ll probably fall asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow.
“C’mon, lets go to the breakroom and lay down, yeah?” Martin said gently, standing up and walking over to Jon’s desk chair and holding out a hand to him.
Jon stared up at him for a moment with exhaustion laden eyes before grabbing Martin’s hand with his.
Martin gently helped Jon to his feet and wrapped an arm around his waist, Jon’s head tipping back against Martin’s chest as they slowly made their way out of his office and into the bullpen, Sasha and Tim immediately looking over as they heard the door open before both jumping to their feet.
“Hey, boss! How ya feeling?” Tim said with a gentle but worried smile and Jon just hummed wearily at him.
“He’s going to take a nap in the breakroom,” Martin explained, keeping his voice soothing, “can you go get all the bedding I brought here when I moved in?”
Tim nodded and ran off to document storage while Martin and Jon slowly made their way to the break room with Sasha hovering near them nervously, ready to help at a moment's notice.
By the time they made it to the breakroom, Tim had hauled in Martin's pillow, duvet, and blankets.
“Great! Can you fold up the duvet and lay it over the couch?” Martin asked, adjusting his grip on Jon to keep him standing.
Tim did as he was told, folding the thick duvet over itself three times horizontally and layed it over the cushions on the break room couch. Martin then sat Jon down on the duvet covered couch as Tim grabbed the pillow and set it down by the couch arm, Martin then guiding Jon into a laying down position, settling his head on the pillow.
The three of them then carefully laid all the blankets that Martin had brought into the archives over his small rail-thin form.
“Feeling, alright?” Sasha asked him and Jon mumbled something that wasn’t quite words, eyes already slipping closed.
“Have a good nap,” Martin whispered soothingly and Jon gave a very small hum.
The three of them quietly left the breakroom, turning off the lights as they went but keeping the door propped open incase Jon needed them.
Jon woke up several hours later, disoriented and very badly wanting to go back to sleep, but the three of them figured that it would be better to get him home and into his own bed seeing as it was now 5pm.
“C’mon, Jon,” Martin said with a small smile as he gently pulled Jon to his feet once more, Martin and Sasha both wrapping arms around him to keep him upright with Tim opening doors for them as they walked out of the archives.
“They took the stairs slowly, having to practically carry Jon up them and into the lobby before setting him back on his feet between them.
“Oh my! Is he ok?” Rosie said from her desk, looking rightfully concerned as Martin and Sasha helped Jon wobble through the lobby and to the front door.
“He’s gonna be alright, we got him!” Tim reassured as he opened the front door to the Institute.
They bundled Jon into’s Tim’s car, Martin and Sasha sandwiching him between the two of them in the backseat while Tim drove them to Jon’s flat.
“Where we goin?” Jon slurred, looking blearily up at Martin as he leant against his upper arm.
“To your flat so you can get some more sleep,” Martin answered him, rubbing his arm gently.
“Sleep’soundz good,” Jon mumbled and Martin and Sasha smiled at each other.
They pulled into the parking lot at Jon’s flat soon after, Tim turning the car off and Martin and Sasha helping Jon stumble from the vehicle. After Jon slumped over in their arms, now officially unable to keep his feet under him, Martin picked him up bridal style and carried him up to his flat.
“Alrighty, here we go, boss,” Tim said as he tugged back the (many) blankets that covered Jon’s bed.
Martin layed Jon down on his bed, pulling the blankets over him, tucking him in gently.
“Do you need anything, Jon?” Martin asked as Jon rolled over onto his side, smushing his face into his pillow, thankfully on the side of his face without the tube so Martin didn’t have to intervene.
“Stay?” Jon said, so quietly that the three of them almost missed it.
“Of course, we’ll stay,” Martin said with a smile, Tim and Sasha chiming in as well that of course they were all going to stay.
Jon hummed sleepily before allowing himself to relax further into his bed.
The three of them smiled at each other before moving to leave Jon’s room to let him rest, but Jon spoke up again.
“Than’you,” Jon slurred.
“Of course, boss. We care about you,” Tim said, giving Jon a pat on his blanket covered shoulder and Sasha ran a hand through his hair.
“We’ll be in the living room, let us know if you need anything,” Martin said, also giving Jon’s shoulder a little rub before the three of them exited the room, determined to stay with Jon for as long as he needed.