(no subject)
Title: Colours of Pain caused by a Comic Book part 2.
Author: Philippa
Beta: erynnbeth
Disclaimer: I do not own anything
I have a beta for this chapter (erynnbeth) Thank you so much. You have been such a great help. It turns out I am really bad at deciding where commas go and I am amazed at your patience with going through and spotting them all.
Part one is here
Chapter 2
Seth had only ever seen CPR on television before, but nothing could have prepared him for this. The tense atmosphere suffocated him and his heart beat wildly in his chest. The balance between life and death was so thin and unstable, all of them watched on unable to say anything.
He could see bruising already appearing on Ryan’s chest under the man’s hands. He began to worry if the man was pushing too hard and was hurting Ryan further. Then he’d see Ryan’s body lying there so lifeless, and his worry turned to whether the man was pushing hard enough.
He looked away, not able to watch as Ryan lay so still, and the man pushed harder and harder down on his chest.
Moments passed that felt like hours to Seth. The sudden cough and gag caught them all by surprise. Seth could feel a weight lifting off his back as he shared a sigh of relief with the other men. They all smiled softly thinking they’d saved another life that day. However, when Seth looked at his brother he realised everything wasn’t as okay as he’d thought. The men crowded around him again, noticing the same thing.
The smile disappeared and he could feel the weight clambering back up on to him. Ryan’s eyes were still closed, and it was clear he wasn’t breathing as well as the men wanted. The breaths were grated and forced. He wasn’t awake enough to cough, but water spilled over his mouth along with vomit, his body desperately trying to rid itself of the foreign salty substance.
Seth stared at Ryan, mentally begging him to hold on as he was turned onto his side, and one of the men hit his back. More liquid was forced out of his mouth and his breathing came out even more forced.
After a few minutes, they began efficiently placing Ryan on a stretcher. They were careful not to slip on the rocks as they moved him onto the waiting life boat. Another man helped Seth on, and he listened in a devastated silence at Ryan’s attempts to breathe. The once reassuring sound now made him panic.
On the ride back to the beach, Seth could only see fleeting glances of Ryan’s motionless body. Three men buzzed around Ryan: one held and squeezed the bag on the oxygen mask, one searched for injuries and the other kept blankets on him, rubbing them desperately to try and warm him up.
Seth had no idea how long they’d been in the water but it was so cold, and the weather raged at them.
Despite all the movement Ryan just lay there, looking fragile and ridiculously ill. Ryan was always the strong one of the family, muscled and athletic. Now he looked so small and weak, nothing like the boy who had sighed and shuffled about earlier, trying to avoid going out side. He wished he had agreed to stay home with him now.
The little he could see of Ryan scared Seth. The area around his lips was blue, in fact his whole body was tinged blue. He was no doctor, but Seth could tell that that wasn’t good.
He kept trying to ask the man next to him if his brother was okay, but the man just rubbed his back and avoided the question by asking other questions. How old he and Ryan were, or where they both lived. The questions were pointless and so trivial that Seth just didn’t have the energy to even process them, let alone answer them.
The weather still lashed down at them, but Seth was too busy watching the men trying to help Ryan to notice. He wanted to go over to him, and hold his hand. To tell him that he was okay, no matter how minty that was, but the man next to him had a strong hold on him. Plus, he knew that he shouldn’t disrupt the men from working.
Seth felt himself being hoisted up, and then there was the sudden feeling of solid ground under his feet. He wavered, and strong arms held him up. He lost sight of Ryan as he was half carried into the waiting, brightly lit ambulance. He was placed on a gurney and wearily watched the excitement around him.
Ryan was lifted in and lay as blue and unmoving as before. The medics swarmed around him, and Seth’s view was blocked until they had Ryan safely strapped in. He was as stable as they could get him to be until they reached the hospital.
The ambulance lurched forward and he could hear the muffled sound of the sirens blaring away.
A paramedic still sat next to Ryan, keeping an eye on his stats and making sure he was still breathing. Now and then, he would shout things in what seemed like a different language to Seth. The other men could understand, but Seth didn’t bother to try and translate. His head ached and exhaustion loomed over him.
He wished his parents were there with him. He longed for his dad to hug him and tell him everything would be okay. He wanted his mother to run a gentle hand through his hair, and for both of them to share the worry gnawing at him from the inside.
He looked down briefly and saw that at some point a paramedic had put his arm in some kind of make-shift sling. He had been so intensely focused on Ryan that he hadn’t even noticed the injuries done to his own body.
He slumped back into the seat he had been placed in, and noticed dubiously that the seat belt was done up. That was another thing he had no idea had happened.
He groaned softly. How had something so routine as picking up the weekly comic book turned into this?
He sighed shakily, and was surprised to hear the sound of a voice. He looked up sharply at Ryan, but he was still just lying there. He frowned and then remembered the paramedic sitting with them.
“Hey Seth, How are you feeling? We’re almost there, and then a doctor can take a look at you, and we can get Ryan treated.”
Numbly, he wondered how he knew his name, but the past… however long was so hazy, maybe it was he himself who had told him.
Suddenly, the world began turning a hazy grey and the last thing he saw was the blue of the paramedic’s eyes now right by his face. Unable to keep his eyes open a minute longer, he allowed the darkness to take over.
xxx
Awakening was a new experience in itself. Faces loomed over him, and he was met by a fierce nagging pain in his arm. Everything was blurry. His mind desperately tried to hold onto memories of why he was here, like a camera trying to take a picture of a moving object.
Just like a camera’s flash, a light was shone into his eyes. He pulled back, trying to blink away the colours dancing around in his vision.
Falling faster and faster. Ryan, his eyes squeezed shut, clenched hands displaying his fear.
The memories came back to him and he gasped.
Trapped in the car, water gushing in. Ryan sitting there, his eyes closed, making no attempt to get out.
“Ryan?” His voice sounded small and hoarse. Something was covering his face. He tried to move his arm, but he found he couldn’t.
A dominant figure before him put a hand on his shoulder. “Seth! Look at me, okay? Do you know where you are?”
He looked around the room, taking in all the nurses and the medical equipment. He fought to keep calm, though it was made difficult by the fact that his entire body was aching.
“Hospital,” he rasped, and the man nodded.
“Very good, I’m Dr. Gigandet. You’ve been involved in an accident. Can you tell me what happened?” Seth looked to the side at a nurse, who was fiddling with the bag hanging above him.
He took a deep breath, grimacing when a sharp pain in his ribs bit at him. “Car accident…” That’s all he said, and the doctor smiled reassuringly at him.
“It’s good that you remember Seth. You’ve hit your head, and there’s quite a nasty bruise. Your arm is probably hurting too, right? We’ve done a couple of x-rays, and you’ve broken your wrist. Amanda here will plaster it up in a minute. Apart from that, you have a couple of bruised ribs and some bruising over your body generally. You’ll be quite sore and achy for a while, but there’s no reason to believe you won’t make a full recovery. How are you feeling?”
Seth gave a little shrug and looked over at Amanda, who was pulling up a stool.
“Where’s Ryan?” he asked. His throat was scratchy, and he swallowed thickly.
He didn’t catch the look that took place between the doctor and Amanda whilst he was looking down.
“Don’t worry about your brother yet. I’m just going to give you something for the pain ok?” The doctor injected something into his IV.
Drowsiness started to creep up on him, and he tried to protest as the feeling turned to exhaustion. His eyelids began to droop.
He needed to pull some energy from somewhere. Ryan was here somewhere because of him, and he couldn’t even stay awake to find out if he was okay. He was the worst brother ever.
He felt Amanda gingerly lift his arm, and she gently ran a hand through his hair to soothe him. He whimpered, not able to keep the tiredness at bay.
“Ryan?” he moaned at her, begging with his eyes for here to tell him where or how he was.
“Ssh it’s okay. Your parents are coming in. They’ll be here soon.” She didn’t tell him where Ryan was, and he didn’t like the look of sympathy that was in her eyes. He closed his eyes, unable to keep them open any longer.
He wanted to ask her again. He needed to know how Ryan was. He felt frustration bubble through him. No one would tell him anything. Was Ryan even alive? The thought that maybe he wasn’t made him stiffen. Tears pricked at the back of his eyes. It was his fault. Had he killed Ryan for a comic book? His old best friend for his new best friend? Why wouldn’t they just tell him how he was?
A tear crept out from his closed eye lids, and he could feel Amanda thumb it away.
“Ssh honey, the pain meds will kick in soon.”
Didn’t she understand? He didn’t care about pain meds, he wanted his brother. He’d survived so long without a brother, and now he may have killed the one he was finally given.
He moaned again, losing the battle with exhaustion. The darkness seized hold of him, and he drifted off to sleep.
TBC…
Author: Philippa
Beta: erynnbeth
Disclaimer: I do not own anything
I have a beta for this chapter (erynnbeth) Thank you so much. You have been such a great help. It turns out I am really bad at deciding where commas go and I am amazed at your patience with going through and spotting them all.
Part one is here
Chapter 2
Seth had only ever seen CPR on television before, but nothing could have prepared him for this. The tense atmosphere suffocated him and his heart beat wildly in his chest. The balance between life and death was so thin and unstable, all of them watched on unable to say anything.
He could see bruising already appearing on Ryan’s chest under the man’s hands. He began to worry if the man was pushing too hard and was hurting Ryan further. Then he’d see Ryan’s body lying there so lifeless, and his worry turned to whether the man was pushing hard enough.
He looked away, not able to watch as Ryan lay so still, and the man pushed harder and harder down on his chest.
Moments passed that felt like hours to Seth. The sudden cough and gag caught them all by surprise. Seth could feel a weight lifting off his back as he shared a sigh of relief with the other men. They all smiled softly thinking they’d saved another life that day. However, when Seth looked at his brother he realised everything wasn’t as okay as he’d thought. The men crowded around him again, noticing the same thing.
The smile disappeared and he could feel the weight clambering back up on to him. Ryan’s eyes were still closed, and it was clear he wasn’t breathing as well as the men wanted. The breaths were grated and forced. He wasn’t awake enough to cough, but water spilled over his mouth along with vomit, his body desperately trying to rid itself of the foreign salty substance.
Seth stared at Ryan, mentally begging him to hold on as he was turned onto his side, and one of the men hit his back. More liquid was forced out of his mouth and his breathing came out even more forced.
After a few minutes, they began efficiently placing Ryan on a stretcher. They were careful not to slip on the rocks as they moved him onto the waiting life boat. Another man helped Seth on, and he listened in a devastated silence at Ryan’s attempts to breathe. The once reassuring sound now made him panic.
On the ride back to the beach, Seth could only see fleeting glances of Ryan’s motionless body. Three men buzzed around Ryan: one held and squeezed the bag on the oxygen mask, one searched for injuries and the other kept blankets on him, rubbing them desperately to try and warm him up.
Seth had no idea how long they’d been in the water but it was so cold, and the weather raged at them.
Despite all the movement Ryan just lay there, looking fragile and ridiculously ill. Ryan was always the strong one of the family, muscled and athletic. Now he looked so small and weak, nothing like the boy who had sighed and shuffled about earlier, trying to avoid going out side. He wished he had agreed to stay home with him now.
The little he could see of Ryan scared Seth. The area around his lips was blue, in fact his whole body was tinged blue. He was no doctor, but Seth could tell that that wasn’t good.
He kept trying to ask the man next to him if his brother was okay, but the man just rubbed his back and avoided the question by asking other questions. How old he and Ryan were, or where they both lived. The questions were pointless and so trivial that Seth just didn’t have the energy to even process them, let alone answer them.
The weather still lashed down at them, but Seth was too busy watching the men trying to help Ryan to notice. He wanted to go over to him, and hold his hand. To tell him that he was okay, no matter how minty that was, but the man next to him had a strong hold on him. Plus, he knew that he shouldn’t disrupt the men from working.
Seth felt himself being hoisted up, and then there was the sudden feeling of solid ground under his feet. He wavered, and strong arms held him up. He lost sight of Ryan as he was half carried into the waiting, brightly lit ambulance. He was placed on a gurney and wearily watched the excitement around him.
Ryan was lifted in and lay as blue and unmoving as before. The medics swarmed around him, and Seth’s view was blocked until they had Ryan safely strapped in. He was as stable as they could get him to be until they reached the hospital.
The ambulance lurched forward and he could hear the muffled sound of the sirens blaring away.
A paramedic still sat next to Ryan, keeping an eye on his stats and making sure he was still breathing. Now and then, he would shout things in what seemed like a different language to Seth. The other men could understand, but Seth didn’t bother to try and translate. His head ached and exhaustion loomed over him.
He wished his parents were there with him. He longed for his dad to hug him and tell him everything would be okay. He wanted his mother to run a gentle hand through his hair, and for both of them to share the worry gnawing at him from the inside.
He looked down briefly and saw that at some point a paramedic had put his arm in some kind of make-shift sling. He had been so intensely focused on Ryan that he hadn’t even noticed the injuries done to his own body.
He slumped back into the seat he had been placed in, and noticed dubiously that the seat belt was done up. That was another thing he had no idea had happened.
He groaned softly. How had something so routine as picking up the weekly comic book turned into this?
He sighed shakily, and was surprised to hear the sound of a voice. He looked up sharply at Ryan, but he was still just lying there. He frowned and then remembered the paramedic sitting with them.
“Hey Seth, How are you feeling? We’re almost there, and then a doctor can take a look at you, and we can get Ryan treated.”
Numbly, he wondered how he knew his name, but the past… however long was so hazy, maybe it was he himself who had told him.
Suddenly, the world began turning a hazy grey and the last thing he saw was the blue of the paramedic’s eyes now right by his face. Unable to keep his eyes open a minute longer, he allowed the darkness to take over.
xxx
Awakening was a new experience in itself. Faces loomed over him, and he was met by a fierce nagging pain in his arm. Everything was blurry. His mind desperately tried to hold onto memories of why he was here, like a camera trying to take a picture of a moving object.
Just like a camera’s flash, a light was shone into his eyes. He pulled back, trying to blink away the colours dancing around in his vision.
Falling faster and faster. Ryan, his eyes squeezed shut, clenched hands displaying his fear.
The memories came back to him and he gasped.
Trapped in the car, water gushing in. Ryan sitting there, his eyes closed, making no attempt to get out.
“Ryan?” His voice sounded small and hoarse. Something was covering his face. He tried to move his arm, but he found he couldn’t.
A dominant figure before him put a hand on his shoulder. “Seth! Look at me, okay? Do you know where you are?”
He looked around the room, taking in all the nurses and the medical equipment. He fought to keep calm, though it was made difficult by the fact that his entire body was aching.
“Hospital,” he rasped, and the man nodded.
“Very good, I’m Dr. Gigandet. You’ve been involved in an accident. Can you tell me what happened?” Seth looked to the side at a nurse, who was fiddling with the bag hanging above him.
He took a deep breath, grimacing when a sharp pain in his ribs bit at him. “Car accident…” That’s all he said, and the doctor smiled reassuringly at him.
“It’s good that you remember Seth. You’ve hit your head, and there’s quite a nasty bruise. Your arm is probably hurting too, right? We’ve done a couple of x-rays, and you’ve broken your wrist. Amanda here will plaster it up in a minute. Apart from that, you have a couple of bruised ribs and some bruising over your body generally. You’ll be quite sore and achy for a while, but there’s no reason to believe you won’t make a full recovery. How are you feeling?”
Seth gave a little shrug and looked over at Amanda, who was pulling up a stool.
“Where’s Ryan?” he asked. His throat was scratchy, and he swallowed thickly.
He didn’t catch the look that took place between the doctor and Amanda whilst he was looking down.
“Don’t worry about your brother yet. I’m just going to give you something for the pain ok?” The doctor injected something into his IV.
Drowsiness started to creep up on him, and he tried to protest as the feeling turned to exhaustion. His eyelids began to droop.
He needed to pull some energy from somewhere. Ryan was here somewhere because of him, and he couldn’t even stay awake to find out if he was okay. He was the worst brother ever.
He felt Amanda gingerly lift his arm, and she gently ran a hand through his hair to soothe him. He whimpered, not able to keep the tiredness at bay.
“Ryan?” he moaned at her, begging with his eyes for here to tell him where or how he was.
“Ssh it’s okay. Your parents are coming in. They’ll be here soon.” She didn’t tell him where Ryan was, and he didn’t like the look of sympathy that was in her eyes. He closed his eyes, unable to keep them open any longer.
He wanted to ask her again. He needed to know how Ryan was. He felt frustration bubble through him. No one would tell him anything. Was Ryan even alive? The thought that maybe he wasn’t made him stiffen. Tears pricked at the back of his eyes. It was his fault. Had he killed Ryan for a comic book? His old best friend for his new best friend? Why wouldn’t they just tell him how he was?
A tear crept out from his closed eye lids, and he could feel Amanda thumb it away.
“Ssh honey, the pain meds will kick in soon.”
Didn’t she understand? He didn’t care about pain meds, he wanted his brother. He’d survived so long without a brother, and now he may have killed the one he was finally given.
He moaned again, losing the battle with exhaustion. The darkness seized hold of him, and he drifted off to sleep.
TBC…