25 Days of Hurt Mike

Hey folks, so it's a couple weeks before Christmas and I decided to so this since a lot of other are. I'm accepting requests only up to New Year's so get those ideas in fast. NO SLASH! First come first serve basis, and I will probably be doing more than 25 :) Hope you enjoy this first installment!

An Icy Christmas

"Mr. Sterling, do you think it's a good idea to be out here on the ice?"

"Mike, shut the hell up," Harvey muttered from behind the two men.

"What?"

"Nonsense, Mike, it's safe out here; and besides, if you want to get to my lake house before it gets dark, then we best be moving."

Mike grumbled inwardly as he tried to keep himself from slipping. He and Harvey had to meet a client, on fricken Christmas Eve and Mr. Sterling insisted they go to his million dollar lake house instead of his cabin where it was just as good. Why couldn't they stay there? And now they were out on the ice, slipping and freezing cold. He actually cursed himself for not wearing more than just his suit and a hat. But, worst of all, he had a bad experience with being on a frozen lake and he was terrified it might happen again.

"What if-"

"Mike," Harvey came closer, mumbling in his ear. "If you don't shut your mouth, I will make you Louis' permanent associate."

Mike gulped and shut his mouth. He couldn't stand that rat-faced bastard and being his associate for good would kill him. The rest of the walk was silent besides the squeaks of high priced shoes on ice and the harsh breathing from all three men. Mike looked up occasionally to see how far they were from the shore, but no matter how far they walk, they didn't seem to be any closer than they were five minutes ago.

Everything seemed to be fine when Mike heard the sickening sound of ice cracking. He looked up just in time to see Mr. Sterling disappear beneath the ice. There were a few bubbles before the water was still. Apparently, Mr. Millionaire didn't know how to swim. In a spur of the moment, he didn't really think as he stumbled after the man and jumped into the hole, ignoring the shouts from Harvey. As soon as he touched the water, it felt like knives were piercing his body, but he had no time to complain; Mr. Sterling's life counted on him. He just hoped he wouldn't be ending his life in the process.

Harvey watched in horror as Mike jumped in after their client.

Idiot! "Mike!" He slipped over to the hole, careful not to fall in or make any more breaks in the ice. "Mike!" He searched the murky water frantically, hoping to see any shadows or movements beyond the surface. "Fuck." He waited frantically, debating on whether he should follow his dumbass associate down there, when all of a sudden Mike came up with a nearly unconscious Mr. Sterling in his arms. The kid was gasping for air and his lips were disturbingly blue.

"H-Harvey! H-He-" Mike managed to get out before the weight of the older man and both their sodden clothes brought them down under.

"No!" Harvey shouted as he shot his hand into the water, grabbing Mr. Sterling's jacket. He wasn't going to let two people die; especially before Christmas.

~+SUITS+~

Mike couldn't breathe; Mr. Sterling was dragging them both down and he hoped to god that Harvey would help him get the older man out. As if his prayers were answered, Mr. Sterling's weight in his arms lessened and he was able to help himself. Thank you, Harvey. But, all of a sudden, Mr. Sterling seemed to have a spasm and the next thing he knew, a shoe kicked him in the face. Dazed, he completely forgot how to breathe or swim and before he could do anything else, darkness seemed to enclose him in its grasp. He was gonna die; what a way to spend Christmas Eve.

~+SUITS+~

Harvey pulled Mr. Sterling out of the water just as he began to spazz frantically in his arms. Trying to get a hold on the man, he wrapped his arms underneath Mr. Sterling's armpits and pulled as hard as he could. After thirty tiring moments, Harvey and Mr. Sterling were laying side by side, the client breathing harshly and coughing up water while Harvey was trying to catch his own breath. And then he realized…Mike hadn't made a sound. There was no splashing, no bubbles, no shouting. He sat up and crawled back to the hole…no Mike.

"Mike! Oh, fuck." Donna was gonna kill him. He ran a hand through his hair before plunging his already numb hand into the water, groping around for his associate. But he couldn't find him. Mike was gone. But Harvey refused to believe that.

"No, no, no, you can't do this kid. Don't do this." It was getting to the time where he might have to go into the water himself and he would if it meant saving the kid that was like a little brother to him. Lying on his stomach, his arm went down further into the water and just when he was about to dive in, he sensed fabric between his fingers. Thank you god. He clasped Mike's suit in his fist and pulled.

"Come on, kid, come on!" He grunted.

Mike's head popped from out of the water and Harvey could already see how bad the kid's condition was. His face was extremely pale, there was a small gash on his temple and his lips…they were blue. And just when he thought he had a good grip, Mike slipped out and began to sink back into the lake.

"Not today!" Harvey grabbed onto Mike's limp arm with two hands and pulled with all his might. Within twenty seconds, Mike was out of the water and in Harvey's arms, soaking his high-priced suit. But he really couldn't give a shit about his clothes anymore- Mike's life was more important. God, why did he agree to go across the lake? Why did he even agree to take on a new client just before Christmas? He had to get them off, but how? He was only one person. Panting, he laid Mike gently on his back, far away from the broken ice; then he did the same with Mr. Sterling. Taking a deep breath and running a hand down his face, Harvey knelt down to Mike, put his ear to the kid's chest and cursed. There was no heartbeat.

"No, Mike! Don't you dare do this to me!" He put two hands over Mike's immobile chest and administered CPR. "Don't…you…fucking…do this...to me!" He looked down at Mike's emotionless face and nearly choked out a sob. Please don't do this to me. One…two…three…four…fi- suddenly, Mike's body shuddered and he began puking up lake water. Harvey breathed out a sigh of relief and rolled him onto his side, cupping Mike's neck and stroking it with his thumb. He was shivering violently and Harvey knew he had to get the kid to a hospital or at least warm.

"Kid, can you hear me?"

And just as he thought Mike was regaining consciousness, the man fell limp, but the shivering failed to cease.

"Mike? Mike! Don't do this! Hey, come on kid wake up," Harvey said, gently slapping Mike's waxy face. "Wakey, wakey, kiddo or Donna's gonna have my ass."

Nothing.

"Fuck!"

"H-H-Harvey?"

Whirling around shifting Mike into his lap, he found Mr. Sterling looking around in confusion looking worse for wear. His face was pale, not as bad as Mike's, and he was soaked to the bone, shivering intensely. "Harvey, what happened?"

As much as Harvey wanted to swear and accuse the man for making them come out here, yelling wasn't gonna do anything. "You fell through the ice, Mike went after you and now he's dying."

"Wait what?" Mr. Sterling sat up unsteadily and looked at Mike who was shivering in Harvey's grasp.

"Oh god, what did I do?" He breathed nervously.

"Calm down; can you walk?"

"I-I think so." Luckily Mr. Sterling hadn't been in the water too long to inhale water or nearly freeze to death, but Mike on the other hand…

Mr. Sterling shakily got up and stood, wrapping his arms around his shoulders.

"Good, I need you to run ahead back to the cabin and call for an ambulance."

Mr. Sterling looked at Harvey hesitantly.

"What?" Harvey growled.

"There's no reception for at least 30 miles. "

"Damn." Harvey looked back down at Mike and shivered. The kid seemed to be getting worse and if they didn't get help soon, Mike wouldn't last any longer.

"Alright, my keys are still in the ignition; go ahead and start the car, get it warmed up. We need to get him to the hospital or he'll die." Just saying those last few words made him sick; Mike couldn't die, he didn't know what he'd do if the kid ended up dying. No, Mike was tough, he'd pull through.

Nodding, Mr. Sterling began stumbling back towards the way they came as fast as he could…which wasn't very fast and Harvey began to think of a way to get Mike safely out of here without breaking the ice. Sighing, he shrugged off his on coat, since Mike was too stubborn to wear his own, and wrapped it around the small frame.

"It'll be okay, Mike. I'm gonna get you out of here."

Not expecting a response, Harvey dug his hands underneath Mike's body and lifted him up, carrying the kid bridal style. Adjusting the body in his arms, Harvey began to carefully walk back towards the cabin, occasionally looking down at Mike to make sure he was still alive.

"Almost there, kid, almost there." He brought Mike's head closer to his chest and tightened his grip.

By the time they finally reached the shore, Harvey had broken out in a cold sweat and he was exhausted. Thankfully, Mr. Sterling had the car started and ready to go. At least he's good for something. And once his feet touched solid ground, Harvey ran over to the car frantically and got into the back. Mr. Sterling was already in the car and as soon as the door shut, the guy peeled out of there, leaving the horrible memories behind, hopefully, forever.

Harvey positioned Mike's head on his lap before tucking the jacket tighter around the younger man. He ran his hand through Mike's damp hair before cupping the kid's too pale face. It was cold…like dead body cold and it scared him.

"You will not die, kid. Do you hear me? I swear to god if you die, I will march right into hell and drag your ass back. Don't you fucking leave me!"

He wiped the tears that began falling onto his cheeks; he couldn't show Mike that he cried…or cared for that matter. He refused to let the kid see any kind of emotion from him. He smiled weakly when he imagined the smart ass remark of 'so you do care about me.'

A frantic whimper suddenly brought him out of his trance. He looked down and saw Mike's face contorted in fear and pain.

"Mike? Mike, it's alright, you're okay."

Mike's eyes unexpectedly shot open and his breathing intensified. His arms flung the jacket away and he gripped onto the closest thing there was. Harvey.

"Get me out; please get me out of here! I'm drowning!" He cried.

"Mike, Michael calm down! You're out, I got you out!"

"No…t-too cold; n-not out yet. Please help me!"

"Mike!" Harvey said firmly, turning the kid's face to make blue eyes meet brown.

"You are out of the water, off the lake and in the car. You're safe, I promise…just trust me."

Mike continued to hold Harvey's arm in a death grip, but his breathing seemed to slow down and the glassy look in his eyes seemed to disappear.

"Ha-Har-vey?"

"It's alright, kiddo, I gotcha."

Mike coughed violently, his grip trembling before he exhaled softly, his eyes rolling to the back of his head and falling limp once more. Harvey frowned as he frantically checked Mike's pulse which was way too fast for his liking. He gently shook Mike's shoulders in hopes to rouse him but to no avail, Mike remained motionless. He swore and looked up at Mr. Sterling, tightening his grip on his associate.

"Drive faster."

~+SUITS+~

Harvey paced the waiting room impatiently, waiting for news on the kid and waiting for Donna to get there. She had been pissed when he told her what had happened, accusing him for being so stubborn for taking on a brand new client right before Christmas. He was gonna get his ass handed to him soon and he knew it. Sighing heavily, he glanced at his watch impatiently before looking at the double doors leading to the emergency room. Where the hell were the fucking doctors?

"Harvey Specter!"

The lawyer looked up and sighed, seeing the secretary storming towards him. Here we go.

"Donna-"

"Harvey, don't even and I swear to god if Mike doesn't make it to see tomorrow- Christmas - things will not be looking good for you."

"I know," Harvey said miserably.

Donna's anger began to dissipate and her cold eyes grew soft. "Come here." The red-head guided Harvey over to the chairs and sat down. "How was he…when he came in?"

Harvey cleared his throat and wiped a hand across his face. "Umm…he didn't look good, Donna. I had to give him CPR."

"Mike's strong…he'll make it through this."

I hope so. "He better, because I don't wanna be doing paperwork on this."

Donna rolled her eyes. She knew Harvey cared about the kid; just in his own way. The two waited for at least three hours before a doctor finally came out to see them. And after she told them how close they were to losing Mike and that his temperature was down to 83°, she revealed that he'd be fine in a couple of days once they got his temperature back up. She also said he probably wouldn't wake up for another twenty-four hours and Donna was now disappointed the kid wouldn't have a Christmas. Then she had an idea.

"Go sit with him Harvey, I'll be back in a few hours."

"Where are you-?"

"Just go!"

Harvey frowned, but slowly entered Mike's room. The heat was up, the lights were dimmed and the beeps of the heart monitor began to sooth Harvey. He never wanted to hear Mike's heart not beating…ever again.

"Hey kid," He whispered, dragging a chair next to the bed and squeezing the man's freezing cold hand gently. "You know I'm gonna kick your ass for scaring me like that. I thought I was gonna have to hire another associate." Harvey smiled, but it faded when he looked the younger man over.

His face, nearly covered by an oxygen mask, was extremely pale, his fingernails, eyelids and lips were a sickening blue and his breathing was raspy and slow.

"Mike, if you can hear me, you gotta wake up. Donna's gonna kill me and…I need to know if you're okay."

He sat still for a moment, hoping Mike's eyes would open…but they didn't. Harvey leaned forward and ran his fingers through Mike's hair…for his comfort and Mike's. Please be okay, kid. I can't lose my kid brother.

~+SUITS+~

Everything was fuzzy and he felt like he was sitting in a sauna. Why was it so hot in his apartment? And what was that annoying beeping sound; it did not sound like his alarm. He just hoped he wasn't late for work or Harvey would shoot him; he just couldn't believe…actually he could believe the hard ass would make him work on freakin Christmas Eve. He shifted in his bed and all of a sudden, pain shot through his entire body. What the hell?

"Mike?"

Was that…Harvey? Okay, something was definitely wrong. Why was Harvey in his apartment? Or was he at Harvey's? God everything was so confusing; why couldn't his freak brain remember anything? He groaned as he forced his heavy eyelids open; and when he did, everything was blurry and bright yellow lights pierced his retinas. He looked away and came face to face with a blurry figure…that looked a lot like his boss.

"H-Harvey?" Man, he sounded like shit.

"Mike!" Another voice called out besides him. "Thank god you're okay…and if you do anything as stupid as that again, I will kill you."

"Huh?"

"Hey, you with us, kid?"

"What's goin' on?" Mike squeezed his eyes to try and get a better focus. And then he noticed he was in a hospital. Crap. "How did I get here?"

"You don't remember?" Harvey asked.

Mike reopened his eyes and shook his head, jarring the headache that suddenly came up.

"No…all I remember is going home after you told me we had a new client…and that's it. Did I crash my bike or something?"

"Are you feeling okay?"

Mike frowned. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

Harvey sighed, looking up at Donna and the secretary knew that he wanted to talk to Mike alone.

"I'll go get some coffee."

Mike looked at the two older people in confusion. "Harvey, what happened?"

"You nearly drowned, kid…we went with our new client out onto the lake, he fell, you went after him- you're an idiot by the way- and then you nearly died."

"How did I…" he looked at Harvey and noticed the weary look on his face. "You saved me?"

"Yeah…and I'm not saying that I care, but if you ever scare me like that again, I'll kill you myself."

Mike grinned tiredly as he slumped back into the pillows, suddenly exhausted. "Get in line; my Grammy is probably gonna kick my ass for missing Christmas if I'm stuck here."

Harvey rolled his eyes. "Turn around, genius."

Mike rolled his head on the pillow to look to his left and immediately his eyes grew wide. He sat up and scoffed a laugh. "You've gotta be kidding me."

Sitting beside his bed was a large, lit up Christmas tree with a fair amount of presents sitting underneath it. There was also a table with a plate of cookies and eggnog ready to eat. And if things couldn't get any better…

"Michael!" The short woman came in with a warm smile, Donna tailing behind her.

"Grammy, how did you-"

"I'm not a cave-dweller, Michael; I know how to call a taxi. You're friend Donna called me, told me what happened and I just had to come. You didn't think I'd let you spend Christmas with these hooligans?"

Mike chuckled and glanced at Harvey who rolled his eyes.

"Why don't we open some presents," Edith smiled, clasping her hands together.

Mike smiled as a present was placed on his lap; and when Donna and his grandmother were occupied in pouring the drinks, he looked over at Harvey.

"Thanks, Harvey."

"Shut up and open the present," the man smirked.

Mike shook his head and muttered, "Merry Christmas to you, Grinch."

Harvey gently slapped Mike in the shoulder, but smiled. "Merry Christmas to you to, kid…and your welcome." When Mike unwrapped his present, Harvey almost burst out laughing with the kid's expression.

"Seriously Harvey? You know I don't like grown-up ties."

Fin

Alrighty, now on with the requests. But just to be clear, I don't do slash, so no slash prompts, just hurt Mike. So fire up with the ideas! And don't forget to review! :)

P.S don't worry, I'm still working on TBB and Mauled :)