Work Text:
Martin hadn't realized how hard he had hit his head during his escape from Prentiss, sure it was worse than usual, but he got headaches all the time, this isn’t any different, right? The distress caused by his pounding head led to his attempts to concentrate being useless. He had been staring at the same statement over and over. He reread the words but nothing was sinking in. The pounding in his head was too great, the dizziness felt never-ending.
He took off his glasses and rubbed at his temples, trying to relieve the pain a bit. It didn’t work. He sighed. All he wanted was to go back home and sleep in his bed again, with nothing to disturb him. He rubbed his temples again. At least it was quiet, he thought to himself. That's when Tim burst through the door.
"Martin," Tim burst in, grinning. "Have you seen what David is wearing... Are you alright?" Martin looked up at him.
"Huh. Oh yeah. I'm fine." He stuttered out.
"You look a bit...Off."
"I'm fine it's- it’s really nothing, just Jane Prentiss and general work stress." Tim looked unconvinced.
"Ok if you say so." He walked out, probably to tell Sasha what David was wearing instead.
Martin tried to get back to work but the more he ignored the pounding sensation the worse it got. He eventually gave up and went to get tea. Hopefully, that would be enough to get him through the day. He went to the breakroom to find Sasha sitting there. She was reading a book.
"Hi. Do you want some tea?" she offered smiling kindly at him.
"If you wouldn't mind" She made some tea and they chatted. Sasha was telling him about the book they were reading. She seemed to be enjoying it. "Here is your tea." They held it out to him. He tried to stand but his destructive headache flooded over him, and the spinning sensation had only gotten worse. He quickly sat back down.
"Are you alright?" She asked a look of concern on her face.
“I’m fine” He shut his eyes and then got up slower. “I just got up too quickly” Her expression was still concerned but she believed him. He took the cup of tea they held out to him.
"Tell me if you need something." He smiled at them.
He returned to his desk. The cup of tea didn't help his headache like he had hoped. But whenever he attempted to do anything, it felt as though a stampede of elephants was destroying his head. He sat at his desk for another hour, the pain in his head only getting worse. He finished his work, slowly and not very well but Martin just had to finish it. The sooner he was finished, the sooner he could lie down. He got up to give the research to Jon.
"Here is the research on Mr. Bilham's statement." He handed the fill to Jon. He normally would have been happy to talk to him but he was in too much pain and too dizzy. "Thank you" He looked up at him. "Martin, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Why is everyone asking that?" the room was starting to spin.
"You look ill."
"I'm fine. It’s only- it’s just a headache." He quickly went back to his desk. Martin put his head down and closed his eyes trying to make the pain go away. At this point, he would do anything to get rid of the pain.
Tim and Sasha walked over to their boss's desk.
"Is Martin ok?" They asked him.
"He says he's fine but he looks awful."
"Maybe he's not telling us because he can't go home" Sasha suggested.
"He can crash at mine. I have a sofa bed" Tim said. "Jon you tell him, you can actually get him to leave. "
Jon sighed and made his way to Martin's desk. He had his head on the desk.
"Martin," he said, gently. "Are you ok?" He lifted his head to look at him.
"I'm okay, really"
Jon became a bit annoyed at that statement. "Something clearly wrong. I know you can't go home currently but you can stay at my flat or Tim's. We have room."
Martin stood up. "I promise you I am fine." He was getting more and more out of breath. Jon looked at him worried. Dark spots were slowly crowding his vision. He quickly put a hand on his desk to steady himself. He felt his body weaken. Then he collapsed.
Jon quickly grabbed him and lowered him onto the floor. "Tim! Sasha!" He yelled. He looked over Martin's body, there were no injuries or anything clearly wrong with him.
Tim and Sasha burst in. "What happened?" They yelled.
"I don't know, we were talking and he just fainted.' Jon responded, he looked terrified.
"Sasha you have first aid training, right?
She nodded and kneeled next to Martin to see if he was breathing. He was. She pulled him onto his side. Martin groaned. "What happened?"
"You fainted. How do you feel?"
"Awful, my head is pounding."
"Martin, I need you to be honest with me. Are you sick or have you hit your head?" He looked up at her about to say no but he stopped.
"Actually I think I hit my head escaping from Prentiss." Sasha's face grew worried.
"Martin how many fingers am I holding up?" He squinted, "I can't see, everything is fuzzy." He had his glasses on. Sasha looked more concerned. "Martin, I think you have a concussion. I think we should take you to A&E."
"You really don't have-."
"Martin you can't just wait this out." Jon interrupted.
"Ok then."
"Right, how are we going to get to A&E? None of us have a car." Tim said.
"Rosie. Has one" Sasha said. "She's let me borrow it before. I'll go ask. Tim, go tell Elias what happened. Jon, take Marti to the staff parking lot."
The two of them left quickly.
Jon put Martin's arm around him and helped him get up. "Thank you, sorry"
"You don't have to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong."
"Yeah, sorry"
"Why did you wait so long to tell anyone you felt bad? You must have felt awful." Jon said as they left the archives.
"I get headaches a lot and I just thought some sleep and less stress would have made me feel better."
"Yes but that doesn't really work for concussion." Jon said. He tried to keep the anger out of his voice.
"Sorry. This must be really annoying."
"It's not annoying I just want to make sure you take care of yourself." He said softly. "I was worried"
"Oh" Martin blushed.
"This is the last flight of stairs." He gently led him down the stairs and into the lot. Sasha and Tim were there waiting for them. Jon helped him into the car. Martin smiled to himself as they drove him to the hospital.