The Missing Frame [2/?]
Title: The Missing Frame
Author: shiek_2
Pairing: Jeff Stinco/David Desrosiers
Summary: Jeff's a novelist who, in his spare time, volunteers at the local hospital, Montreal General. Jeff's life may not be considered normal, but he never expected to fall in love with a comatose patient.
Rating: Pg-13
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the persons, lyrics, and/or songs mentioned herein. I do not make any monetary gain, claim these events to be real, or mean any disrespect.
Dedication: davosaurus and heartbreakhymns for being the best Jeff/David-ers I know. :)
Author's Note: I'm not entriely sure I'm happy with this chapter, but I went over and revised it so much this week I decided it was now or never to post it. Title comes from AFI's "The Missing Frame" and the chapter title comes from AFI's "Love Like Winter." Hope you all enjoy! :)
Is this what it felt like to die? He was surrounded by darkness, simply floating through an empty abyss. There was no sound, no life, and barely enough light for him to see his own form. He looked down to see that his chest was rising and falling steadily, so he supposed he must be alive.
Perhaps he actually had met his demise, he was just in limbo. They couldn’t decide where to place him, whoever “they” were. He hadn’t gone out of his way to help people during his life, but he hadn’t really done wrong to anyone. Neither good nor evil, he had simply existed.
Did that mean he was doomed to spend eternity here? He didn’t think he could handle that. Being alone in a black silence until the end of time did not appeal to him.
Or maybe, because he’d done no outstanding deeds during his life, he really was in hell. Just a personal, special hell since he hadn’t really done anything during his time on Earth. Because right now, he was surrounded by his greatest fears. The unfeeling darkness, unsettling silence, and lack of other people had him more than paranoid.
He supposed this was what he deserved. Earth’s future looked bright without him, but anything would look bright in this place. He just wished there was someone else here, someone to distract him from his cynical and depressive thoughts. Someone to hold him, talk with him, and tell him that everything was going to be alright no matter what happened. He didn’t even need all that; he just needed someone to make him not feel so alone.
_____________________________
Name: David Desrosiers
Age: 25
Cinnamon eyes quickly scanned through the information, finding out the man was comatose, but stable, after a gunshot wound to the chest. The expert surgeons had removed the bullet that would’ve killed him from his chest cavity, saving his life.
Although he was alive and stable, Jeff knew that David had a long road ahead of him. “Stable” was not a guarantee in a place like this, he could go from stable to critical in a matter of seconds. And here, “stable” was more of a generalization rather than a set truth. It could mean the patient was not in immediate danger of dying, but they were still riding the fence in terms of life and death, or it could mean they were doing just fine and would be leaving the hospital relatively soon. Jeff would put money down that David was part of the former.
There was no set time on David’s awakening. David’s physician, Dr. Pierre Bouvier, wasn’t sure if he ever would. He and the other surgeons in on the operation had done everything they could, now it was all down to the patient’s will to live. But Dr. Bouvier had given himself and Jeff the false hope that David could awaken at any time; could be next week, could be next month, could be next year. And for both their’s and David’s sakes, Jeff really wished for it to be true.
After all, they weren’t monsters. Even though hospital staff and volunteers were supposed to keep their emotions at bay when tending to the patients, not only for the safety of the patients but in order to keep their own sanity intact, there was something about knowing their names and faces, and having to see them suffer that made Jeff feel sorrow and pity for them. Of course, it didn’t help that Jeff familiarized himself with them by using first names. Breaking himself out of his thoughts, he turned to face Dr. Bouvier.
“What the hell am I supposed to do?” Jeff asked in disbelief. He’d never been assigned to a comatose patient before, and to be quite honest, he was more than slightly anxious about it.
“Care for him?” Dr. Bouvier replied, almost tentatively, eyebrows raised in question. Melody must’ve affected him more than he thought.
“The man’s in a coma!” Jeff said indignantly, miffed that the physician, one of his closest friends, was doubting his sanity.
“Make sure he’s clean, make sure the nurses are feeding him through the tube,” Bouvier gestured to the IV line going into David’s still body, “and keep him company. Some people believe comatose patients can hear you speak to them and heal faster if they know someone’s waiting for them to wake up.”
“But he has no one.” Jeff deadpanned, feeling sympathy and pity for the lifeless man on the hospital bed.
“Well maybe you can be his someone.” The man shrugged with a grin.
“What am I supposed to say to him?” Jeff asked, still not believing he was stuck with this half-dead man.
“Just talk to him. Tell him about what’s going on outside, tell him about your day, read him a book for all I care! Just say at least one word to the guy during your shift and I won’t bother the ever living hell out of you.”
“I don’t get paid to talk to comatose men, Pierre.” Jeff said in annoyance.
“You don’t get paid period Jeff.” The physician returned, amused.
“Don’t remind me asshole.” He sighed, knowing he’d lost the argument and would have to deal with caring for the comatose man.
“Your shift’s almost over,” Pierre said, looking at his watch, “Go introduce yourself to him and we’ll go to lunch.”
“You cannot be serious,” Jeff groaned, staring at his friend in disbelief.
“We’re not leaving until you do,” He sang with a grin.
Jeff rolled his eyes and walked over to the bed. “Hello David, I’m Jeff and I’ll be caring for you during your stay here at Montreal General.” He introduced himself pleasantly enough, even though he believed the man couldn’t hear him, taking his limp, pale hand and shaking it.
Author: shiek_2
Pairing: Jeff Stinco/David Desrosiers
Summary: Jeff's a novelist who, in his spare time, volunteers at the local hospital, Montreal General. Jeff's life may not be considered normal, but he never expected to fall in love with a comatose patient.
Rating: Pg-13
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the persons, lyrics, and/or songs mentioned herein. I do not make any monetary gain, claim these events to be real, or mean any disrespect.
Dedication: davosaurus and heartbreakhymns for being the best Jeff/David-ers I know. :)
Author's Note: I'm not entriely sure I'm happy with this chapter, but I went over and revised it so much this week I decided it was now or never to post it. Title comes from AFI's "The Missing Frame" and the chapter title comes from AFI's "Love Like Winter." Hope you all enjoy! :)
Is this what it felt like to die? He was surrounded by darkness, simply floating through an empty abyss. There was no sound, no life, and barely enough light for him to see his own form. He looked down to see that his chest was rising and falling steadily, so he supposed he must be alive.
Perhaps he actually had met his demise, he was just in limbo. They couldn’t decide where to place him, whoever “they” were. He hadn’t gone out of his way to help people during his life, but he hadn’t really done wrong to anyone. Neither good nor evil, he had simply existed.
Did that mean he was doomed to spend eternity here? He didn’t think he could handle that. Being alone in a black silence until the end of time did not appeal to him.
Or maybe, because he’d done no outstanding deeds during his life, he really was in hell. Just a personal, special hell since he hadn’t really done anything during his time on Earth. Because right now, he was surrounded by his greatest fears. The unfeeling darkness, unsettling silence, and lack of other people had him more than paranoid.
He supposed this was what he deserved. Earth’s future looked bright without him, but anything would look bright in this place. He just wished there was someone else here, someone to distract him from his cynical and depressive thoughts. Someone to hold him, talk with him, and tell him that everything was going to be alright no matter what happened. He didn’t even need all that; he just needed someone to make him not feel so alone.
_____________________________
Name: David Desrosiers
Age: 25
Cinnamon eyes quickly scanned through the information, finding out the man was comatose, but stable, after a gunshot wound to the chest. The expert surgeons had removed the bullet that would’ve killed him from his chest cavity, saving his life.
Although he was alive and stable, Jeff knew that David had a long road ahead of him. “Stable” was not a guarantee in a place like this, he could go from stable to critical in a matter of seconds. And here, “stable” was more of a generalization rather than a set truth. It could mean the patient was not in immediate danger of dying, but they were still riding the fence in terms of life and death, or it could mean they were doing just fine and would be leaving the hospital relatively soon. Jeff would put money down that David was part of the former.
There was no set time on David’s awakening. David’s physician, Dr. Pierre Bouvier, wasn’t sure if he ever would. He and the other surgeons in on the operation had done everything they could, now it was all down to the patient’s will to live. But Dr. Bouvier had given himself and Jeff the false hope that David could awaken at any time; could be next week, could be next month, could be next year. And for both their’s and David’s sakes, Jeff really wished for it to be true.
After all, they weren’t monsters. Even though hospital staff and volunteers were supposed to keep their emotions at bay when tending to the patients, not only for the safety of the patients but in order to keep their own sanity intact, there was something about knowing their names and faces, and having to see them suffer that made Jeff feel sorrow and pity for them. Of course, it didn’t help that Jeff familiarized himself with them by using first names. Breaking himself out of his thoughts, he turned to face Dr. Bouvier.
“What the hell am I supposed to do?” Jeff asked in disbelief. He’d never been assigned to a comatose patient before, and to be quite honest, he was more than slightly anxious about it.
“Care for him?” Dr. Bouvier replied, almost tentatively, eyebrows raised in question. Melody must’ve affected him more than he thought.
“The man’s in a coma!” Jeff said indignantly, miffed that the physician, one of his closest friends, was doubting his sanity.
“Make sure he’s clean, make sure the nurses are feeding him through the tube,” Bouvier gestured to the IV line going into David’s still body, “and keep him company. Some people believe comatose patients can hear you speak to them and heal faster if they know someone’s waiting for them to wake up.”
“But he has no one.” Jeff deadpanned, feeling sympathy and pity for the lifeless man on the hospital bed.
“Well maybe you can be his someone.” The man shrugged with a grin.
“What am I supposed to say to him?” Jeff asked, still not believing he was stuck with this half-dead man.
“Just talk to him. Tell him about what’s going on outside, tell him about your day, read him a book for all I care! Just say at least one word to the guy during your shift and I won’t bother the ever living hell out of you.”
“I don’t get paid to talk to comatose men, Pierre.” Jeff said in annoyance.
“You don’t get paid period Jeff.” The physician returned, amused.
“Don’t remind me asshole.” He sighed, knowing he’d lost the argument and would have to deal with caring for the comatose man.
“Your shift’s almost over,” Pierre said, looking at his watch, “Go introduce yourself to him and we’ll go to lunch.”
“You cannot be serious,” Jeff groaned, staring at his friend in disbelief.
“We’re not leaving until you do,” He sang with a grin.
Jeff rolled his eyes and walked over to the bed. “Hello David, I’m Jeff and I’ll be caring for you during your stay here at Montreal General.” He introduced himself pleasantly enough, even though he believed the man couldn’t hear him, taking his limp, pale hand and shaking it.